"Turning Setbacks into Strategies: What My 3rd Tough Workshop Taught Me"
My anticipation for my third workshop was through the roof. My two previous workshops had a pretty good turnout, including 2 people driving 4 1/2 hours just to attend! I made sure to market the event as much as possible, using social media as a free tool. Although it was my third workshop, it was my first-ever virtual workshop. And I was more than excited for it.
Using Eventbrite, I created the event and posted everywhere I could. As days turned into weeks, I checked the number of registrants, and the whopping number 0 would be the recurring sight. However, I didn't give up hope. I mean, anything is possible, right? So I continued to share the event with hopes of miraculously seeing at least 10 registrants on my notifications (my original goal was at least 20). Unfortunately, the number 0 was still there.
With much resilience, I carried on with still performing the workshop. I even included my wife. I did the workshop in a conference room at a local library. It was just my wife and me. As I set up my gear, I was ready to perform the workshop as if 100 people were in that room or online with me. Then, miraculously, one attendee logged on. (She was my friend from college and the same one who drove hours to attend my previous workshop.) I was grateful for the 1 person.
I then proceeded to give the workshop. My wife did a tremendous job, which she gave a 10-minute session. It lasted an hour and 30 minutes. I thanked my one attendee and friend for showing their support and then proceeded to pack up to leave the library. As I was leaving, I couldn't help but feel the looming emotion of despair and discouragement. I mean, I worked so hard to advertise this event, and only one person attended!
When I got home, my wife poured into me refreshing words of encouragement as well as constructive feedback. I always welcome that from her. And I always desire improvements for my workshops. But the feeling of discouragement returned as I remained a homebody for the rest of the day. As I shared this experience with a colleague, he provided a positive perspective, which became the contents of this blog. Here's what I learned.
Number 1. Gratitude
"Be grateful for the one." I can recall the Lord saying this to me as I was reflecting on the outcome of this workshop. This was key for me as it was humbling and helped me shift my focus from the number of attendees to having a supportive friend who genuinely believes in what I'm building. So as a result, I'll continue to provide content, even if it's just for one person. Of course, in building a following, I hope to reach as many as I possibly can. But I'm grateful for the one.
Number 2. Strategy
I'm a big NFL fan of the Atlanta Falcons. I know after every game, the coaches guide their players through a film study, where they reexamine the plays that contributed towards a victory or a loss. I've adopted that same strategy. With my wife's assistance, I reexamined my workshop's content, marketing & advertising strategies. Then I asked myself, what could I've done better to experience a better outcome for this event? This is vital in any profession because you always want to seek improvement.
Number 3. KEEP GOING
No matter what the outcome concerning any event I host, I'm going to keep going. In the process of building anything great, it's going to require perseverance and dedication. These are two ingredients for building anything successfully. Although I was tempted to let everything go, I had to remember my "why". I'm doing this for the thousands and millions of people that I probably will never meet, but will be glad that I never gave up. I help people write books. I help people become authors. I will keep going and I will succeed.
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