How to host an online beauty or wellness workshop

If you run a beauty and wellness business, you may be heaving a sigh of relief that you’re allowed to resume trade in the advanced level 3 lockdown, subject to strict health and safety guidelines. But if you are nervous about reopening or believe that some of your customers will be worried about returning, you can consider hosting online beauty workshops and virtual wellness events.

An online beauty or wellness workshop allows you to:

• Generate additional revenue outside of in-store services.
• Serve customers who don’t want to come in-store because they are self-isolating during the pandemic.
• Reach customers around the nation or even the whole world.
• Build brand awareness and customer loyalty.

All of these benefits are powerful during normal times — but they are even more useful during COVID-19 . Let’s look at how your beauty or wellness business can quickly set up revenue-generating online workshops and virtual events.

What you need to set up a paid online beauty or wellness workshop

To host an online beauty workshop, start with the basics, and then continue to add on and upgrade the experience each time you host a new event. Here are the three main things to consider:

Workshop content

Content is the substance of your online workshop. It’s the material that you deliver to your audience. Most workshops offer a mix of:

• Video content that walks audiences through a process or topic. Video content can be recorded or delivered live.
• Supporting materials that audiences can print and refer to before, during or after the workshop.
• Follow-up support provided after the workshop to answer questions or provide feedback.

Payment gateway

To offer paid online workshops, you need a way for customers to pay for their tickets. The easiest way is to simply allow clients to pay via EFT. But you can also consider running an ecommerce website with a payments gateway that allows people to pay with a card or digital wallet. For example, the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress  supports many of South Africa’s popular payment gateways.

Event platform

You’ll also require a platform where you can host your online beauty or wellness workshop. There are a variety of paid and free platforms you can use for your workshop. Options include:

You can also go live on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube, but you will need to make the group or page private to only allow customers with tickets to join.

Steps to get started

Once you have the tools you need, put together a plan for creating and launching your online event.

1. Start with a goal in mind

Think about why you want to host your event. Knowing what you want to accomplish before you get started will help you create a more successful workshop. Some specific goals for hosting an online beauty workshop might be to:

• Grow your social media following or email list
• Generate a specified amount of money
• Sell gift cards
• Schedule future in-store sessions

2. Develop your topic

Once you know your goal, consider what type of event will help you get back to that objective. Also, think about your target audience and what they would most like to see or learn.

For example, if the goal of your online wellness workshop is to attract a large audience so you can pitch them additional offerings like gift certificates, you may need a small entry fee (or no fee at all), and a topic that is broad and interesting for a wide audience.

Or, if you want to generate a high return on your event, you may need a high ticket price. Your topic will need to be in-depth and deep enough to warrant a more expensive ticket rate.

3. Create a sales/sign-up page

 Build a page where customers can learn about your online beauty or wellness workshop and sign up. You can set this up on your website or directly through a payment gateway platform.

4. Promote your event

 Put together a plan to attract existing customers by tapping into your client list and emailing them about your event. Also, engage in promotion tactics that will help you reach new audiences. Get active on social media and invest in ads to build your attendees list even more.

Pro tip: A website is a great way to promote your courses and workshops, gather customer email addresses, and offer people more information about what you do. With GoDaddy’s Websites + Marketing, you can get a professional website up-and-running in an afternoon. It also gives you the tools you need to send out marketing emails as well as to manage your business profiles on Google, Instagram and so much more.

Online beauty workshop do’s and don’ts

When you’re ready to launch your online wellness workshop or online beauty event, keep a few things in mind.

• DO give customers something valuable and interesting to do while at home.
• DO a test run so you feel comfortable with your broadcasting software.
• DON’T forget about lighting and background sounds that could impact your production.
• DO record every event so you can use the content later.
• DO think about if you want to interact with attendees, and set up a chat feature if you want to take live questions.
• DON’T worry if your first event doesn’t go off without a hitch. It’s a learning process, and every virtual event will be better than the last.

Support your business now and in the future

Running profitably is a big challenge for beauty and wellness businesses in these times. But, paid online events can be a source of income to help your business get through COVID-19 business disruption. Even better, you can use your new online beauty or wellness workshops to generate revenue now and in the future.

 

 

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