Hollyhock Retreat

The Marketing for Hippies First Ever 

Hollyhock Retreat

Sept 30 – October 4, 2015

Hollyhock Retreat Center, Cortes Island, BC, Canada

(Right next to Vancouver Island)

Dear Friend,
I will be hosting a five day retreat at Hollyhock and I thought I’d write up a few words to tell you a bit more about it and what to expect to see if it might be a fit for you right now.
What will it be like?
Imagine hot seats, mini TED talks, intensive dyad with people who know how to listen and have something worth listening to.
Imagine eating delicious, organic meals grown right there in the Hollyhock garden while sitting in the sun on the wooden deck and looking over the ocean and feeling all of your stress melting away.
Imagine having five days, in paradise, away from it all with a small but mighty group of perhaps ten entrepreneurs and finally having time to reflect on and do actually work on your business.
Imagine sitting with your laptop over lunch and having a new colleague walk you through redoing your homepage or sales page or taking a walk on the beach while you get feedback on an offer you’ve been thinking up. Or perhaps helping you rework your whole social media strategy.
Imagine sitting in a hot tub under the stars with your new friends with a glass of wine and being inspired by the creative marketing approaches they use in their business and feeling possibilities open up again as big as the sky.
Honestly, I’m still figuring out the best format and it will likely be shaped a lot by who’s going to be there in the room. But I promise it will be more than worth your while to be there.
It will be complete with a beautiful B.C. beach, hot tubs and I’m going to do everything I can to make it as affordable as possible.
This could be a great fit for you if you:

• have followed my work for a while and resonate with it.

• are willing to put in three hours of work before you come.

• have been in business for at least one year and ideally three or more.

• have a business and not just a hobby. You’re serious about growing it.

• know your business could be doing better than it is but you need help with your marketing.

• are open to candid feedback from a group of your peers.

Two Hollyhock Retreat Bonuses:

I want to make it a no brainer for you to come. So I’m including two bonuses that I think will go a long way in helping you get even more value out of this program.
BONUS #1 – Three and a Half Hours of Video Content:
Once you’ve registered, you will be emailed the full contents of my Marketing for Hippies 101 workshop (it’s 3.5 hours of video content that I sell for $80 on my site). And I am asking you to review this before you come. This means that, by the time we all arrive at Hollyhock, we’ll all have a similar language to use when talking about marketing. This is content you’ll be able to review over and over again after our retreat.
In this video, you will:

• learn 5 reasons why marketing matters in making the world be a better place (so you don’t see marketing as just a selfish act).

• get a lucid and simple answer to the question, “why does marketing feel bad?” (so you can make sure your marketing never does).

• learn about the dynamics of Posturing, Collapsing & Composure (which may help you see the exact dynamic that’s keeping you stuck – you may have never noticed this before).

• hear about the concept of “polarizing” in marketing (and how being extremely real, honest and vulnerable can get you more of the kinds of clients you’re craving).

• learn about the three kinds of prospectors. Every potential client you will ever meet fits into one of these three categories. Each of them requires an entirely different strategy. Learning this will let you know exactly what you need to do with each person you meet and avoid any manipulative tactics of any kind.

• get to explore the three roles of marketing. Most people think that marketing has only one role: to get people to say, ‘yes’. I disagree with this. Understanding these three roles is like hooking up a flawless diagnostic machine to all of your marketing that can pin point exactly where your issues are and what to do about them. It will also free you from the need to use any sort of approach to marketing that could feel even slightly bad to anyone (including you).

• learn the three core elements of your marketing strategy. Whenever I look at any business it is always through the lense of these three pieces. When these three pieces are in place, you attract clients without a lot of extra fuss and good vibes for everyone. When these three pieces aren’t in place, everything is a struggle.

• get three simple strategies for identifying and connecting with your hubs (and learn why this is the most important thing that anyone could do to attract more of the quality of clients that you want).

• learn the seven things your business can be known for (most entrepreneurs only ever focus on one of these seven). This is a conversation that digs deep into the notions of branding and identity.

BONUS #2: 60 minute, private coaching session with me.
You would normally pay $300 for this. This coaching session can be used at any point in the future.
My Problem is Your Opportunity:
I’ve got a big, fat problem.
But it might just be to your extreme and selfish benefit.
Months ago, I committed to leading a retreat at Hollyhock.
I couldn’t have been more excited. I’ve attended so many events there and read through their calendar every year wishing I could go to even more. Hollyhock is one of Canada’s best kept secrets and also a hub of Western Canada’s positive change making scene. I can’t even imagine how many collaborations have been started there that have made this world a better place.
So, to be featured in the catalogue had a real feeling of having “made it.”
My plan was to host a gathering of my favourite colleagues. I sent our a preliminary email and got excited responses of “of course we’ll come!”
“Do you think you’ll be able to fill it?” asked the staff at Hollyhock.
I was almost offended they even asked. “I’m going to have no issues filling it.” I teach marketing. I have an email list of 11,000 people. I’ve got a strong following on the West Coast. I’ve been in business almost 15 years. Filling one, very special workshop? Easy.

Boy. Was I Ever Wrong.

One by one, my colleagues sent their regrets that the timing wasn’t going to work for them this year. Even ones who’d expressed an excitement and commitment to go ended up needing to change their plans.
This happens in business. You come up with an offer you’re really excited about and then it flops. Not much response. It happens to the best of us.
But then it leaves you needing to pivot.
And with a Spring and Summer that had me travelling and then utterly burned out and in need of replenishment I wasn’t able to pivot as fast as I would have liked to.
The idea came finally: I’d turn it into a regular workshop/retreat for folks on my list. I’d open it up wide.
And so out went the emails but, still, the response wasn’t as large as I was needing.
Again, this happens in business. Things don’t work as well as you would hope.
And so this is my problem.
It’s looking like I’ll have about ten folks or so at my Hollyhock retreat at the end of September. I was hoping for 30-50 people.
Due to a number of factors we’re looking at smaller numbers for this workshop (likely have between 10-15).
Here’s what the small size of the group could mean for you:

• you get five days of my undivided attention on your business. Fifteen years of my experience, working with hundreds of conscious entrepreneurs just like you… and it’s all yours

• you get all of your important questions answered in depth instead of being one person in a group of fifty who maybe gets to ask one question each day. Most people really only have so many important questions before the well runs dry for a bit.

• you get solutions that are custom tailored to your situation instead of generic principles you’re encouraged to adapt and translate to your own situation

• for five days, you’ll have strong access to my personal brain space (and everyone else’s). This is important: in a group of 50+ people the chances of your remembering everyone’s names by the end of five days is almost nil. The chance of you remembering what they do and what their particular issues are? Non-existent. But that means that you’re more or less on your own. But, when the group is this small, you’ve got everyone’s awareness and attention. You’re issues are sitting their in the back of their mind the whole time and waking them up in the middle of the night with an idea they just have to tell you first thing in the morning when they see you

• there’s a very good chance your business will get hot seated at some point and receive feedback from the entire group (which is small but full of people with a lot to offer).

The forces of the universe have conspired to create something that will be fabulously unprofitable for me but that could be incredibly impactful, transformative and profitable for your business.
I can’t imagine another time where I will . . .

• be running a five day retreat (this is the first I have ever done)

• for a group so small (even most of my day-long events are bigger than this)
  in such a beautiful location

• This may, legitimately, be a once in a lifetime opportunity

To be crystal clear: I would never have set it up this way on my own. I would never, on my own, create an event that takes so much time and effort with so little financial return for me.
If you’ve ever wanted to attend a live event of mine, I can’t imagine creating one ever again that will be so tailor made for you to get value from.
Timing & Schedule:
You will arrive the afternoon of Sept 30th between 2-4pm to get registered. Then we’ll all enjoy dinner together and start our first session that evening to get to know each other.
October 1st – 3rd will see a varied schedule. It will likely look like sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening with plenty of spaciousness woven in to make sure you have time to absorb, do homework and enjoy the beauty of the area. Again, the schedule won’t be set precisely until we get closer and I know who is coming.
Wednesday, September 30 – 7:30pm – Orientation in the Lodge followed by a session
Thursday, October 1 – 9:30am-12:15pm, 3:00-6:15pm, 8:00pm-10:00pm
Friday, October 2 – 9:30am-12:15pm, Afternoon Off, *Presenter Evening
Saturday, October 3 – 9:30am-12:15pm, 3:00-6:15pm, 8:00pm-10:00pm
Sunday, October 4 – 9:30am-12:15pm
You will leave just after your session on October 4th.
Some Important Words on The Price, Food, Accommodations and Travel:
The price of workshop itself is $495. The deposit is $395. This is an incredibly affordable price for this kind of workshop.
Meals and accommodations are not included in this workshop fee.
This means that the price for you may vary a lot depending on where you decide to stay. If you provided your own meals (which I don’t recommend as it would take a lot of your time and take you away from the group) and have a place to stay for free, then it would be less. If you stay in a double tent, it is $87/night. If you stay in a dorm style room at Hollyhock it will be slightly more ($123 night) and, if you stay in a fancy room, even more ($287/night at the high end). These prices include food. You can learn more about Hollyhock’s room rates here.
You can find rooms off the Hollyhock site on AirBnb.com but that would only be cheaper were you to share with others.
And travel is, of course, on top of that. There are a few main options:

• You can fly into Vancouver and then take a float plane directly to Cortes Island

• You can or drive into Victoria and then drive up the Island and catch two quick ferries and you’re there

• Click on this link to learn some of the basics about traveling to Hollyhock

If you’re serious about coming, in order to figure out the best set of options for yourself, I urge you to call or email Hollyhock today to see what would work best. They can help you sort out food, accommodations and travel and questions like, “How much will it cost to travel? What are my options? How long do I need to be away from home to make this work?” They have years of experience in helping people make their travel the smoothest and easiest possible.
CALL: 800.933.6339 ext. 232 or 250.935.6576 (outside North America)
EMAIL: registration (at) hollyhock (dot) ca
To apply for a Hollyhock scholarship click here.

That’s all for now. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions at admin (at) marketingforhippies.com
warmest,
Tad
p.s. Here’s who you’ll be spending your five days with: https://marketingforhippies.com/hollyhock-participants-2015/
p.p.s. If there’s no way you can make it to the retreat you might want to check out my Marketing for Hippies 101 workshop home study version.
p.p.p.s. Some photos of Hollyhock to give you a taste of the place you’ll be enjoying. All of the photos you enjoy are from past events at Hollyhock from other programs. The photo at the top is from the Social Venture Institute which I have twice attended. I hope the pictures give you a feel for the place 🙂