ran my first retreat in 2015 with someone else. We were lucky to get 9 women between the two of us.
Last year, nine women packed their suitcases, kissed their families goodbye at the airport, and got on planes. I’m sure most of them felt like they might not even belong in the room. They got on the plane anyway. They flew in from Australia, the UK, the Yukon, and various parts of the US. They flew to Halifax in Atlantic Canada to retreat with me. ME. A former teacher turned coach/digital marketer who grew up in small town Nova Scotia.
Antonia’s friends thought she was joining a cult – no kidding! She came anyway and boy am I glad she did. I’m glad every one of those nine women said yes. Every single one of them trusted something they couldn’t fully explain yet. They trusted themselves enough to say yes, and they trusted me enough to get on a plane.
I stood at the venue door on the first night watching them walk in and I got really emotional. They came looking for a plan. They were completely capable of figuring it out on their own but many were tired of spending their most valuable resource, which is time, on the wrong things. They wanted someone to look them in the eye and say, this matters, that doesn’t, do this next. They left with a sisterhood they didn’t know they needed.
Every single one of them is coming back this year. I also knew I wanted to invite MORE women into this experience. I had no idea exactly how easy it was going to be to sell it.
How I Sold Out My Retreat Without a Launch Strategy
Here’s how it actually went. I built the sales page. I made one post in my Skool community letting the ladies know the retreat was open. Within days I had ten registrations. I knew I would. I’d been watching the questions roll in for months and I could feel it. I gave my community an entire month with that link before I said a word to anyone else. They deserved that first look.
Last Tuesday I sent one email to my subscribers. It was short and direct. I was honest too. I told them the retreat was already 70% sold out and that the early bird price was only good for one week. They had one week to decide if this retreat was something that might help them.
Here’s the important thing you can’t miss: I have been sending out a weekly email to everyone on my list for a long time. I built up trust through delivering content just like this. So the jump to come to NS for a retreat was easy.
That was it. I wrote a simple email. I did not post about it on social media at all. A social media follower is not likely to be ready to invest in a retreat. They want to be entertained so I knew not to waste any time trying to reach a cold audience. There was no lead magnet or funnel to find registrants. The truth about what was available and how long they had to grab it was enough.
They jumped and I now also have a waitlist of women who wished they hadn’t waited.
I didn’t manufacture urgency. It was just already true.
What Online Business Confidence Actually Looks Like in Practice
I’m not telling you this to brag. If I’m being honest, the “good girl” in me has spent a long time learning that confidence isn’t the same as arrogance. I’ve also spent a lot of time fighting the urge to not show up as sales-y or promotional, like many of you.
Re-wiring my brain to be okay with saying what I know to be true has been a journey and I’ve realized that no one else is going to do this for me.
Here’s the truth: if I want to genuinely offer my help to the women I most want to serve, I need to get uncomfortable with talking about how I help and my results. Women are attracted to service providers who know their stuff.
Knowing what you’re capable of, standing behind it without apologizing, and then watching it land exactly the way you knew it would? That’s not bragging. That’s just knowing what you have.
That belief is what sold it. It wasn’t a fancy funnel or a social media content plan or a carefully timed ad campaign. Seeing the registration notifications light up my phone that first week was something I’ll never forget.
If you’re sitting on an offer you haven’t fully committed to, or you’re tweaking it for the fourteenth time, or you’re waiting until it feels ready, I want you to sit with this for a second.
Belief is the strategy.
When you know, without wobbling, that what you have will genuinely help someone, you stop performing and start inviting. That’s a completely different energy and people feel it.
You’ll get there too and I want to ask you something and I’d love for you to answer in the comments.
What offer are you sitting on right now that you haven’t fully committed to? The one you keep tweaking, or quietly hoping someone will ask you about, or saving for when you feel more ready?
Name it. I’m reading every single one. The first step to believing in yourself is to actually admit your dream. Let’s see what we can do to move you closer to your dream. I already believe in you. I’m living proof you can have a dream and it can come true.
