A client of mine from Toronto, Dee Dussault (pictured to the left), has figured out a great way to become a hub in the holistic scene. Throw a party.
Once a month, on the Friday nearest the new moon, she hosts her New Moon Parties. She describes it this way . . .
Every month on the Friday nearest the new moon, a group of healing-arts practitioners gather at Follow Your Bliss, and offer 20-minute samples of our services. We’ve had Reiki, Pranic Healing, Reflexology, Chair Massage, Reconnective Healing, Palmistry, Tarot readings, Yoga Nidra, Shiatsu, Hypnotism, and Thai Yoga Massage (to name a few!)
These parties allow new clients a chance to see how this eco-conscious, community healing home is developing, and enjoy socializing and networking with a conscious community over some wine, cheese, and great conversation!
With Child Care provided (upon request), it is a great chance to mingle, network, and share resources, while sampling amazing and affordable healing arts in between!
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We had experimented with a variety of pricing structures, and found that the current pricing scheme ($20 admission, which includes the first treatment, $35 for two friends… $10 for additional treatments) to be the best.
We used to have it at $30 admission, which includes your first three treatments, which is actually a better deal than the above one, but $30 seemed to be too high a price point for many of our guests. $20 seems to be the ideal. One bill. And then just $10 for additional. Most people receive three treatments, and end up paying $40 for them, so it works better for us than three for $30! – But more people come than if we’d given the three-for-thirty. Funny eh?
I think the impact of doing these New Moon Parties is that I get “street cred” from the other practitioners, yoga teachers, and movers/shakers in the healing-arts-consciousness-spirituality-yoga-scene.
Because I openly teach and talk about Ganja Yoga, people who don’t know me might think I’m nothing more than a stoner hippie. But I like to show them that I’m that, AND so much more!!!
So, being able to successfully connect practitioners with new clients shows that I’m as interested in community as I am in smoking a doobie. LOL. And building my online hubs (facebook, meetup.com, my website, my google group – the latter of which I post people’s events for them) has been amazing too! People say they “have heard of me” (or Follow Your Bliss) which is awesome.
Thanks again for everything Tad!
Consider the benefits of this: the practitioners get introduced to new clients. People get to sample various practitioners to see if there’s anyone they like. Dee becomes a hub – so people will know who she is and what she does and are more likely to refer her business because of it.
Once a month she does a small version of the parties and then quarterly she does a larger version. This is smart. Promoting events works best when they’re special in some way. As soon as they become routine – they often lose their draw. By making the big and exciting ones only quartely, they’re more likely to get buzz every time – and people are more likely to make the effort to come because, if they don’t, they know it’s going to be three whole months before they get another chance.
And, having been to two of these, I can attest to the fact that they are incredibly fun, full of great connections and good people. And food!
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