Latest / How To Run Profitable Retreats / How to Plan & Price a Profitable Retreat: Avoid the 80% Who Lose Money

Transcript

How to Plan & Price a Profitable Retreat: Avoid the 80% Who Lose Money · How To Run Profitable Retreats

• 0:10
  Episode Transcript - Sold Out & Profitable
• 0:15
  How To Run Profitable Retreats Podcast
• 0:21
  So first, question here in the chat, type a one, well, type a dream in the chat if you ever dreamed of hosting retreats and you have not, if that's one of the things you want to do, and then type a no in the chat if you've never dreamt of it, you do not want to host a retreat, it's not in your idea, you just are like, oh no, I'll just learn some sales things and profit.
• 0:21
  Thanks from lady, but I don't want to do retreats. And just tell me if you already hosted retreats. I already have hosted retreats.
• 0:21
  So I can also know the level and depth of our talk today. How deep we do, do we go?
• 0:21
  How technical do I go? Right? So that will really, really help me. Okay, so we have. Um, yes. Yes.
• 0:21
  Yes. Yes, Debbie, yes, you dream to host a retreat, Christi, you already hosted, yes, it's already a design of yours, already have ideas, amazing.
• 0:21
  Lillianne, you're dreaming of doing a retreat, awesome. Okay, Danielle, yes, someday, well, someday might be today, when you start really making that dream into reality.
• 0:21
  Let's see, after this talk, we'll figure it out. Brittany, yes, dream of creating a retreat. Valerie, one of your pillars are retreats and experiences, you've done three these years.
• 0:21
  Costa Rica, New York, I guess, OH is Ohio, is it Ohio? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Jennifer, yes, likely next year, once I have more under my belt.
• 0:21
  Well, you're coming to San Diego with us, so you'll definitely have more under your belt. Lori, oh, you love speaking at this event and couldn't make this one next time.
• 0:21
  Yes, we have one in November, and it's gonna be amazing. We'll send you a message afterwards. All right. Great.
• 0:21
  Amazing, ladies. This is so great. Okay. So I see there's a lot of retreat dreamers here today. So even though I will talk to the retreat dreamers, I will bring you up a notch.
• 0:21
  Yeah. So it might feel uncomfortable. Are we okay with being a little bit uncomfortable today with talk about retreats?
• 0:21
  Yeah. Okay. Perfect. I love to make people feel a little bit uncomfortable because that makes us what? Push ourselves to the next level.
• 0:21
  It allows us not to keep ourselves small because we do it so often. Yeah. Okay. So I am very, very excited that you are all here.
• 0:21
  So I want to start with this. By the end of this class, I am going to give you an opportunity to take that retreat dream you've been holding onto and to finally make it into a real profitable and repeatable business.
• 0:21
  Yeah. It's a very simple opportunity. Thank If get to say yes or no, if it's up your alley, then you come and you hang out with me.
• 0:21
  not, no problem, right? We all understand, at least I understand in my business, that retreats is not something that people are ready to indulge into in that single moment.
• 0:21
  But the reality is that building a retreat business, it takes time. And because it takes time, we need to start planning on it.
• 0:21
  So if you're dreaming about hosting retreats, you do not want to wait until you want to host that retreat in three months or in one month or two months, okay?
• 0:21
  Because there is a truth here that I want you to know, and I repeat this over and over again.
• 0:21
  80% of retreat leaders lose money from the retreats. Not because they're not talented or they're not an expert. Not because they don't care.
• 0:21
  Not because they do not want to change people's lives. It's because they don't have a system. And yes, you might be open.
• 0:21
  I am, I want to just flow with life and be amazing and just, you know, sit down and manifest my amazing attendees and as much as it is part of what the role that you have to do, you do need to have this process on how you can fulfill and how you can actually get into that space of going forward deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper deeper.
• 0:21
  Yeah. All right. Type a one in the chat. If, type actually a yes in the chat. If you are ready to allow yourself to believe that, yes, you can host retreats.
• 0:21
  Yes, you can make them profitable. Yes, you can help people's lives and still make money. Yes. Yes. Yes. Awesome.
• 0:21
  Okay. Bye. Very, very good. Okay. My goal for you today is very, very simple. I want you to believe two things before you leave this room.
• 0:21
  You can absolutely host a profitable retreat and that you can have that system. That system, without it, you will lose.
• 0:21
  Actually, you can go into becoming part of the statistics of these 80% of women losing money. And I'll teach you the main steps of this system today.
• 0:21
  Isn't that exciting? So you don't have to actually go and figure it out on your own. Okay. I'm going to tell you a little bit that my story as a retreat coach is a little bit different than other retreat coaches out there.
• 0:21
  Because I didn't spend 15 years hosting retreats and then decided to teach you my method. I was the consultant…
• 0:21
  As the strategist, behind the scenes, I was hired by coaches, entrepreneurs, and leaders to create marketing and sales strategies that field the retreats.
• 0:21
  I've worked in global brands like Mayor Deloy, the Ritz-Carlton, and I built loyalty and sales systems for coaches who had retreat dreams, but no plan.
• 0:21
  So what I'm sharing with you today is not going to be a theory, it's the exact system that I've implemented for hundreds of my clients.
• 0:21
  It's a system created to sold out retreats, to waitlist over 50 people, and create six-figure revenue streams. So, who would like, and just type another yes in the chat, because I love yeses.
• 0:21
  Who wants to actually have a six-figure retreat business? Right? Does that feel exciting? Yes. Sorry, Tanya. Yes. Yes. Yes.
• 0:21
  Please. Peace. luck. Peace. Easter. Yes, Intimidate. Perfect. I love you. Thank you for being honest. Yes. Yes. Okay. Ooh, great.
• 0:21
  So now you heard a little bit about how I do things differently. I come from a business perspective. So I do not teach you how to just run one retreat.
• 0:21
  I teach you how to build a retreat business. It's a very different approach. One is a one hit wonder.
• 0:21
  Let's see if my retreat works. And if it does, then maybe I host it again. Building a retreat business is having the big vision in mind, the big goal.
• 0:21
  How many retreats do I want to host per year? How do I want to upsell them into different offers?
• 0:21
  How does those retreat actually work into my business ecosystem? How do they fit in? How do they I create something and it's a rinse and repeat that later on, do not have to spend 200 hours organizing a retreat?
• 0:21
  Valerie, hi. Six Fears. I love you. Yes. Okay. So, my background, just so you know a little bit more about myself, and Chrissy always tells me, Leni, you don't tell people all the crazy things that you've done in your life to get to where you are today and to be able to teach this.
• 0:21
  And yes, I do not like to go deep, deep, deep into everything, but I'll tell you a couple of the things that I've done.
• 0:21
  So I've hosted events, right, for over 18 years now. I actually started when I was 16 years old. So maybe now it's 19, because my birthday was in July.
• 0:21
  Anyway, so I started working at events when I was 16 years old. Actually, I took Chrissy yesterday to the hotel where I started my journey, where I was being a hostess for weddings every single weekend.
• 0:21
  I was like, here's where my journey in hospitality started. It's a place where also I did my first internship on cost control.
• 0:21
  That's why I am. So and a nerd about pricing, that led me to actually have my own catering business later on, where I was catering weddings, baby showers, I was baking wedding cakes, believe it or not, and I was very, very happy, but I was living in this small city where I am now, because I do love the weather of the city, and I had bigger dreams.
• 0:21
  I wanted to travel the world. So I asked myself, where can I go in the world, that they will pay me to work in hospitality, that is very, very well located, and they do the craziest, the biggest, the most everything.
• 0:21
  And voila, I remembered, I saw this video on my school that where they were showing about the goals and the plans of Dubai, and how they wanted to make it this big, big touristic space.
• 0:21
  So yes, yes, I'm coming. I applied for a job. Three months later, I was in Dubai. I packed my stuff.
• 0:21
  and I never on I looked back. I started working at the Ritz Carlton. I was a server. I just wanted to get myself a foot inside of the door.
• 0:21
  But very, very fast, I grew. I became the trainer within six months. And then I started helping creating events inside of the Lovey Lounge where I was working.
• 0:21
  Restaurant managers started noticing. They were like, what the hell is she doing? Long story short, I ended up rebranding nine restaurants and one spa in the two and a half years that I was working at the Ritz Carlton.
• 0:21
  And I started as a server. So if I can do that, you can do anything in the world. That led me to move and actually be part of the team that launched Mary of the Bonvoy, the loyalty program.
• 0:21
  We'll be talking more about loyalty programs, but it's basically rewards for people who keep coming back and back over and over again.
• 0:21
  That helped me create dinner in front of the Giza pyramids. minutes. Thank Dinners in the Summer Palace of the King of Saudi Arabia, Immersive Experiences for Alice in Wonderland, I don't think we'll have time to watch the video today, but one day out, whoever wants to see it, just send me a message, I'll show you the video of that, of some of the events we've created, and much, much more.
• 0:21
  I hosted events, I have hosted events in over four continents, more than a hundred events, and these are events that I wrap, this is besides also my clients.
• 0:21
  But I knew I had to do something more. So I came back to Mexico on a self-reflection journey, right?
• 0:21
  I took a sabbatical. Again, I make fast actions. When I decided I went to leave Dubai three weeks later, I was back here.
• 0:21
  But I knew there was something bigger. And I started going, attending retreats. It was not my plan. But I started attending retreats.
• 0:21
  And they changed my... My freaking life. They were so powerful. I couldn't keep going. So I actually went to retreats every week for six months, one per week.
• 0:21
  I know. Did I go a little bit deep down the, you know, the deep end in retreats? Yes, I did.
• 0:21
  But I was just having so much transformation that I just couldn't help myself. And I just wanted, I had this thirst.
• 0:21
  Now, what happened there is I started meeting all amazing women like you, just one step ahead, that were hosting those retreats.
• 0:21
  But guess what? They were not making any money and they were not being able to do the retreats again.
• 0:21
  And these were women or men who were changing my life. I just couldn't believe it. There was this, there was a turning moment in my life.
• 0:21
  I attended this women's retreat. regional course, we felt werealned at And, oh gosh, if I tell you the things that I got to see about myself within that retreat, you probably would be like, Leni, it's not possible.
• 0:21
  How, like, how the hell did you not see yourself for 30 years until this moment? So I wanted to bring my mom, I wanted to bring my friends, I wanted everyone to experience the same transformation that I did.
• 0:21
  So when I asked, when was the next date, they said, we're not hosting another one, because we barely broke even.
• 0:21
  And I told them, how is this possible? Because you have 13 women sign up for your retreat, it's not like you didn't have people, you have 13 women.
• 0:21
  And that led me to my discovery journey of interviewing retreat leaders to figuring out what was going out, happening out there.
• 0:21
  What was happening out there in the retreat space, because retreats are really events that have. left and left. An intention to create transformation, yeah, that's what it is, they have certain things that are different, right, we retreat ourselves, but the intentionality of transformation is what brings all these women and men together into retreats, yeah, Jennifer, you're leaving my footsteps, yes, we're gonna become BFFs here, come, okay, Joy, come hang out with me, yeah, okay, amazing, so, I love it.
• 0:21
  So, this is very, very important for me, because it led me to the, to where I am today, with my company, The Retreat Planner.
• 0:21
  These thrive and thirst to help women like you start hosting those retreats and actually make them profitable, yeah, so you'll hear me talk about profitability over and over again.
• 0:21
  Okay, now let's gonna, we're gonna be honest here for just a second. Retreats have been a breakthrough. So for you, saw it in the chat for most of you, yeah, and I am, I'm gonna assume that you probably have in a moment imagined maybe the setting, know, the house, the location, the transformations, the breakthroughs in that room, but then that, in that doubt can come up, right?
• 0:21
  What if no one signs up? What if I lose money? And a big, big, big one, I don't have an audience, or a big enough audience, right?
• 0:21
  I want you to shift that mindset today, here, right now, in this moment, because guess what? You do not need a big, big, big audience in order to sell retreats.
• 0:21
  You do need to be very clear about who you are, who you serve, and what you offer. You can have a big, big audience.
• 0:21
  But if you don't have this other part, nothing will happen. You will not sell your retreats, or your courses, or your freebies, or anything you want to sell.
• 0:21
  So it's not about the size of your audience, it's about the clarity of who you are, who you serve, and what you offer.
• 0:21
  It makes a huge, huge difference. Of course, there's other layers in the system that I'll talk about in just a minute.
• 0:21
  Okay. Now, I also want you to think that retreats are not a vacation you're hosting, and they are not a hobby.
• 0:21
  I hear it over and over again with retreat leaders who are not really, you know, pricing for profit. That, oh, I just want my expenses for me.
• 0:21
  If my trip to Mexico to be paid off, If I get to go to Bali, I am happy. Type one in the chat if you have ever told yourself that in any short sort of way in your business.
• 0:21
  As long as I make enough in whatever shape or form that you tell yourself. Christy, yes. Okay. Anyone else?
• 0:21
  MJ? We all have. I have too. Yep. Mm-hmm. We've all been there. It is part of the process. But it is our chance to change that.
• 0:21
  Yeah. Because retreats are not a hobby. They are a business model. They are a business business model. That changes people's lives.
• 0:21
  Isn't that the best type of business model? I mean, I agree because I love retreats. They change my life.
• 0:21
  So, and it's, and my clients agree because they're extremely happy with what has happened with their businesses because now they have sold out retreats.
• 0:21
  They have 70 people on the wait list for their next retreats. They are taking 21 people to Spain. And they're fulfilling their dreams and what they want to achieve.
• 0:21
  Wouldn't, who wants to have that? Raise your hand. Yeah. I see MJ, Christie. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Retreats is one of the most powerful ways to add six figures into your business.
• 0:21
  And once later today in the day, when I talk about loyalty marketing, you'll understand even more. Why? Retreats. Retreats
• 0:21
  So one of the most powerful ways. And it doesn't matter if it's your retreat zero, right? You're starting off or your retreat 15 or your retreat 30th.
• 0:21
  What matters is having this system that will get you out of confusion into this clarity. Now, why am I talking about moving from this confusion to clarity?
• 0:21
  When we do not have a system, we do not know how to repeat certain things that work. When we do not have a system, right, or a method, we go and we're testing things and we're, oh, maybe this one will work.
• 0:21
  And we, you know, throw some confetti over here and then we go to the other one. We throw some confetti on the other direction and we're not measuring.
• 0:21
  We're not seeing what worked, what didn't, so we can actually go and repeat it. Does that make sense? And, well, we're going to have to...
• 0:21
  I don't time for me to teach you how I do this, but I teach you a method and a system.
• 0:32
  - Lori McDowell
• 0:37
  I've heard of a BHAG before, a big, hairy, audacious goal. If you don't have...
• 0:43
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 0:46
  There we go. Okay. All right. So, you know, life happens. Maybe I was not meant to say this. No, I will say it.
• 0:49
  Okay, so the way I teach my method is a method that will actually allows you to have flexibility and space for your creativity to go inside of it.
• 0:54
  - Lori McDowell
• 0:59
  I'm going for a hundred.
• 1:05
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 1:10
  Okay. Let's see. Chrissy, can you help me with, like, the people coming in and the microphone, if it happens again?
• 1:16
  - Lori McDowell
• 1:21
  That's the method that I'm going to show you of exactly how...
• 1:27
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 1:27
  You're omitting yourself. All right. Okay. Should we get back on track? Yes? Okay. Maybe I'm not... I'm not to talk about that much about this.
• 1:27
  But anyway, the idea is that you will have space for your creativity. I want you to know that this system does not mean you're going to become stiff.
• 1:27
  I teach you a way on how you create something that is your own, that is aligned with your vision, with your purpose, but gives you the foundations for you to actually have a business that has marketing and sales that feels connected to who you are.
• 1:27
  So for example, if I were to come and tell you the only way for you to sell your retreats is through TikTok, and you hate TikTok, are you're going to be, yes, I'm going to go and now jump into TikTok?
• 1:27
  No. I want you to find out within the system the thing that works for you. That's why I teach 22 different methods to sell your retreats, because I believe that not everyone is meant to do things the same way, but there are foundations that do not change.
• 1:27
  the are, find be. Thank Okay, so now I'm going to talk about why 80% of retreat leaders fail to actually profit from their retreats because I've been behind the scenes with a dozen of retreats and I see the same mistakes over and over again.
• 1:27
  Number one is booking a venue before even selling one ticket and the reason is, I'm not saying you can never book a venue before you sold one ticket, but the reason behind it, there is a a piece that comes from a unconscious.
• 1:27
  We put our money and we don't have the copy, we just see the venue and we're like, oh my gosh, this is the venue for my retreat business and it's going to sell out and then I, my date is not going to be available anymore and then no one will come because I did not have this beautiful, beautiful retreat center to host my retreat.
• 1:27
  What we're doing there is we're giving away our power to the retreat center. We're telling, oh, the venue is
• 1:27
  It's what brings the people, not me. See where I'm coming? Anyone, do we agree here? Yeah, maybe type one in the chat if you agree.
• 1:27
  This is important, yeah. So, booking the venue. Nothing wrong about booking the venue if you already have a proven system and everything in place and you know you can make money and you can get the people.
• 1:27
  But when you are doing it because you're hiding, because you're giving away your power and your responsibility to fill out the retreat, that's when it's not okay.
• 1:27
  Number two, my favorite, pricing based on your gut. I think I should charge 444 for my retreat. It's an angel number.
• 1:27
  Lol, yeah, I know. And I mean, I'm not a guest. If you want to, if you have a number, it's an angel number and eventually it works.
• 1:27
  But before you... Go ahead and be like, I think this retreat is worth two thousand four hundred and forty seven without actually doing the work behind the scenes.
• 1:27
  It's one of the biggest mistakes. You need to have your pricing for profit, right? Making sure that you have a profit margin, that you have flexibility.
• 1:27
  If you do not sell out, you're still making money. And you need to have this space where you know the perceived value of your retreat between, among your audience.
• 1:27
  It's not the value of the retreat, it's the perceived value. There is a difference. Anyway, if you decide to join me in our next step, you will learn more about what perceived value is and how do we actually measure perceived value so we can put our pricing.
• 1:27
  Marketing it like you're selling a trip, a vacation, instead of a transformation, that's the number of things people do.
• 1:27
  There's coaches out there that tell you that it's okay to lose money on your first retreat. And the first time I heard this, I was shocked.
• 1:27
  And there's still a lot of people out there. I have people come and say, hey, I want to work with you, and then when I tell them the profit margins that I want them to do, and they're like, how?
• 1:27
  My coach told me I should have a 15% profit margin. Like, which coach did you hire that told you that working for 200 hours should mean 15% profit?
• 1:27
  Did you, at least in the cost of your business, put the hours in charge, paid yourself for each hour of work?
• 1:27
  No. Why would I do that? Right? This happens. So what happens when you avoid these mistakes is instead of having all these empty spots and financial stress of like, how am I going to pay for this or how am I going to get back from this retreat, you get to have clients to get on your wait list because people know the value we're doing, you know the value, and you're doing things right.
• 1:27
  You have this order. Christy, do you mind coming up and just sharing your story about the retreat you hosted with 15 women in, what's it, wait, Orchard, was it in Orchard, somewhere, something like that?
• 1:38
  - Christi Kendall
• 1:43
  Foxnard, California. Foxnard, California.
• 1:49
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 1:54
  Yes.
• 2:00
  - Christi Kendall
• 2:01
  I've done probably 15 retreats in my lifetime and I'm unconventional. I do them my way. I have my own sales methods.
• 2:02
  But when Lenny was talking one day I was like, Oh my God, I have to tell you this story.
• 2:03
  really the You're. It was one of my, maybe my second retreat I ever did, and I just did it, I just threw it together and did it, and I had 15 women show up, they paid me like $300, and my game was get the women in and upsell them later, and that always worked for me, it still does to this day, but that particular retreat, I made my offer, and everybody went to the beach to go belly dancing with my partner that I brought in to go belly dancing, and I, nobody said yes, nobody even was like, oh, let me think about nothing, it was the first time I had that experience, and I'm a sales queen, I can sell, I can, you know, so to have that experience was, like, put me in a complete and total panic attack, and I was like, I'm not going to the beach, and I was just sitting there, and I was like, realizing that I had paid for a whole bunch of people to come, I had a photographer, I had a chef, and I had settings,
• 2:04
  The partner that I brought, and her boyfriend, he came to do massages, and I had spent a lot of money putting this retreat on, and nobody said yes to the upsell, and I can usually lean back, I know who's gonna buy, and by the end of the day, nobody had said anything, and I was like, I don't think I have enough money to get all these people home and to get myself home, and it was really panicky, and thank God, thank God, I just made another offer, I threw another bonus in there, and I got a couple people to say yes, and saved the day, but we wanted to share this story, because who wants that experience?
• 2:05
  Who wants to go and have all these people like, oh my God, you changed my life? But your method and your process set you up for failure in a sense, right?
• 2:06
  There was a couple things that I could do on the business side of that retreat, I could still do it in the method that I like to do it, sell them,
• 2:07
  It's free or cheap to get in and upsell when they're there, I can still do that, but I need to include strategies and different things in the business side of things so that I don't have that problem, that I'm creating profit before I even get there.
• 2:08
  And so if this resonates with you, if you've had an experience like that where you did not set yourself up for success, put up one in the chat.
• 2:11
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 2:16
  Valerie, you wanted to share something?
• 2:22
  - Valerie Pedigo | Renewed Spirit Adventures
• 2:27
  I wanted to ask a question. Yeah. Do you want us to wait till the end?
• 2:33
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 2:38
  No, go for it. Okay.
• 2:44
  - Valerie Pedigo | Renewed Spirit Adventures
• 2:49
  Well, I want to hear more about the waitlist from you, Lennie, and then Christy. So what, what do you think when you were reflecting, what was like, I don't want to say what was wrong, but where did you do the misstep in your upsell when they were there?
• 2:55
  - Christi Kendall
• 2:57
  Just having, I think I relied so heavily on my confidence to sell that I've always been able to do that process.
• 2:59
  success, right? think So Thank you. But sometimes, when it's, when it's going down like that, and you have to go reverse all your spiritual skills of like, you know, trust the process, somebody is going to say yes, it doesn't set you up for a long term six figure business.
• 3:01
  And so I do my retreats different still, but I make sure that on the front end, before we even get there, that my expenses are completely covered.
• 3:03
  And everyone's paid, and everybody can get home safely, and there is profit expected in advance. Mm hmm. So that's all, just some front end business strategies, Lenny's going to share some other ways to do that, but without getting into the nitty gritty, I mean, that, that was a long time ago event, I do everything completely different now.
• 3:06
  - Valerie Pedigo | Renewed Spirit Adventures
• 3:08
  Yeah, I am, I feel good about my pricing. Um, I have about a 50% margin, but I've also been just thinking about, like, like,
• 3:10
  So I also have a membership community, beautiful global membership community called the Renewed Spirit Sisterhood, and there's people from all different walk, women from all different walks of life, and one of the things with my retreats is that they get a complimentary three month subscription membership to it, and then the goal is for them to join continuously, because that's my month to month income, and recently I just felt like I haven't, I maybe need to take a different approach to it.
• 3:12
  So I was just curious on, you know, on that, we can, we can talk a little bit more specifically later on, but yeah, I just wanted to see, after your reflection, like, what you would do differently, and, you know, sharing these experiences.
• 3:17
  - Christi Kendall
• 3:19
  One thing that I focus on now, more than I ever, I mean, I didn't even know to back then, is the whole process, right?
• 3:21
  Where are these clients person, in the present moment? Where will they be during the retreat? And then where can I get them after?
• 3:23
  after? And so, for me, personally, it's more strategy and focused on loyalty marketing. So, the women coming in have usually invested in higher price point things, and they're usually, now they pay more.
• 3:25
  I'm at like $3,800 for a summit versus $300, that was, you know, back then. And now my upsells are $15,000 to $20,000 versus $2,000 with a hope and a pray.
• 3:28
  - Valerie Pedigo | Renewed Spirit Adventures
• 3:29
  Yeah. Okay, good. Yeah, I like to hear other people's experiences, because I feel really strong about my vision and how it's working, and I just want to continue to grow, and so I appreciate it.
• 3:30
  Yeah. I'm very interested in the wait list, because one of the things that I did when I first started out is I did select the venues first, and before I created my community.
• 3:31
  I already have a big network just from my corporate career and my other businesses, but I would have done it differently.
• 3:32
  Now, the point that I was in my life, I'm glad I did it the way I did, because I spent 15 days.
• 3:33
  Leni in Costa Rica and meeting people, and I needed that for my own mental health and, and redirection, but just going forward as I'm thinking about 2026, I use my intuition to select the, the actual locations and curate the experience, but then I'm very interested in not booking it first and creating the waitlist first, so, yeah.
• 3:39
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 3:41
  So what I'm going to be talking about at the end on how you can go, then we'll go deeper into the waitlist.
• 3:43
  I'll talk a little bit about the waitlist today, but it's, it's, it's a, there's a whole big, it's a whole marketing process behind the scenes that you can do in order to do that.
• 3:45
  So it's a little bit more on the advanced level. But anyway, we can always have a conversation. Yeah, yeah.
• 3:50
  - Valerie Pedigo | Renewed Spirit Adventures
• 3:55
  I like it.
• 4:01
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 4:01
  Thank you, Valerie. And thank you, Christy. I'm gonna keep moving on because I have still a lot to cover and 13 minutes.
• 4:01
  Okay, so I am excited to now tell you a little bit more about the six figure retreat system that I've been talking about.
• 4:01
  about. So, and this is what we're going to be learning also and go deeper into this opportunity that I'm going to present you all into.
• 4:01
  So, this is a framework that I use with my clients, yeah? So, first step of the system is pricing for profit.
• 4:01
  Pricing comes first. Before you even put a down payment, before you tell anyone, pricing comes first. Because without the right pricing, you're setting up yourself for failure.
• 4:01
  And yes, you can have a 50% margin, Valerie, and that's amazing. It's a great number. That's usually what I say, that should be the minimum.
• 4:01
  But the reality behind the scenes is that it also depends on perceived value and so many other things. So, your profit margin can shift also as you're shifting.
• 4:01
  Yesterday, I said, Christy, there's... She's going to be one of the speakers, she's going to be talking at the event in San Diego, and I was looking at her retreat, she has a retreat in a similar, like similar days in this, it's a speaking retreat, and her ticket for three days, it's $12,000.
• 4:01
  Do you think her costs are $6,000? They're not, but what she does, and the audience that she has, allows her to charge $12,000 per retreat.
• 4:01
  So that's why we need to have a system that includes certain places where you can have flexibility to make decisions, not just based on, this is the only way, there is a way.
• 4:01
  Okay, so number one, because numbers do not lie, yeah? Undercharging will kill your profit. If you are, oh, I need more people, then I'm going to drop my prices.
• 4:01
  No, that does not work, yeah? Undercharging will kill your profit. I see it And and over again, oh my gosh, I'm not selling, I'm going to drop my prices, I tell people, double your prices, I know, it sounds crazy, but instead of having, now you're dropping your prices, so instead of having to get one more person to break even, you need two, if you double your prices, you need half a person, of course, we look at it case by case scenario, yeah, don't think it's just a rule of thumb, but, I always say, if you're struggling to sell, increase your prices rather than drop them, because it's going to get you closer to that place of profitability, right, and if we have a proper plan, you have different price points as you go through the process of promoting and selling your retreat.
• 4:01
  Number two is about magnetic messaging. People will not buy seven days in Costa Rica. the Rest. Reset and Relax in Bali, one of my favorites, someone came and hired me for a consultation, like, I have my retreat, I'm like, okay, awesome, what's the name?
• 4:01
  Rest, Reset, and Relax in Bali. And I'm like, amazing. Who's your audience? Who's coming? Women? Men? Why do they need to relax, reset?
• 4:01
  The people who are showing up to those retreats is because they want to go to Bali. Not because they want to be there with you.
• 4:01
  Not because of the transformation they're going to get. But they will buy seven days to step into your story and rewrite it, for example.
• 4:01
  Or how to build a six-figure storytelling business. Something that's result-oriented. There's different ways on how to name your retreat, but this is one that works for, like, wonders.
• 4:01
  Results-oriented. Results-oriented. The next one for this system is the selling out plan, right? Having a marketing and selling process that includes follow up, yeah?
• 4:01
  So it's all about, you know, building excitement and pre-sale spots before you even put money down on a venue.
• 4:01
  I had someone reach out to me a couple last month, I think, yeah, I think it was last month, and they wanted to work with me.
• 4:01
  And they said, well, the thing is, I don't have my pricing, but I cannot pay you because I'm using that money to put the down payment for the venue.
• 4:01
  I said, the venue doesn't matter if you do not have your pricing, it doesn't matter if you do not know who you're selling, if you do not have your messaging, if you do not have a sales strategy.
• 4:01
  But they were adamant that they had to put the money down into the venue because the venue was going to sell out.
• 4:01
  There's nothing I can do about it. The only thing I could do was say, well... Let me know how that goes on it, Chrissy Southern's life because I'm just, I'm the person who's like, okay, right, that's it, because I am not in the business of convincing people, I will tell them what's going on behind the scenes, I'll explain the logic and the thought process behind it, but you need to take this step on your own, you are the one who needs to say, yes, I want to host retreats, yes, want to host profitable retreats, yes, I want to have sold out retreats, it's you, if I force you and I convince you, the only thing that's going to happen is that you're going to give away the responsibility of the success of your retreat to me, and I am not responsible for anyone's results, but it happens, people like to transfer that, that's why you need to be the one saying yes.
• 4:01
  Thank you. Because that way, you're going to get so much better results. Simple as that, yeah. And when you put this system together for you, retreats stop being risky, and you can build them into profitable, repeatable machines.
• 4:01
  I love the rinse and repeat method. We do not need to be creating and, you know, reinventing the wheel every single day.
• 4:01
  Someone already did. So I want to show you a little bit of what's possible. Matthew was one of my clients.
• 4:01
  He took one of my courses. It was a three-month course, right, so one of the intensives. Within six months of taking my course, he had sold out three retreats, took 21 people to Spain, Spain, and had already sold five spots for next year to take people to the Camino Santiago, and had 76 women waiting.
• 4:01
  happy thebie? have玩 and You're For the retreat that was focused on trauma. Now, what's the secret behind Matthew? Well, yes, he did send me a message saying, Leni, your system really works.
• 4:01
  But behind the system also, he was very, very clear about who he is and who he serves. He works with first responders, EMT, and veterans.
• 4:01
  That's it. Another one of my clients, he hired me to help him put out retreats for men. And I'll tell you some examples about women, but I do have, I have to tell you, have great results with men that work with me as well.
• 4:01
  There's a growth in men's retreats, by the way, just so you know. But he came and he wanted to do a father and son retreat because he loves his son so much.
• 4:01
  And he doesn't get to spend so much time with him as much as he wanted to because he got divorced so he wanted to create this container for fathers and son to come and bond in nature and they build eco-friendly houses like adobe houses and whatnot in Colorado and he had so many people come yes precious father and son retreat.
• 4:01
  So he had a dream yeah that's I'm telling you this because he had a dream he wanted to create a father and son retreat but he needed the system and then once he got the system it's all working over and over and over again now I'll tell you about Tiffany just for a second and this is kind of we're wrapping up I was like how the hell did like already all this time go through?
• 4:01
  So I'm She worked with me and it took around eight months, now she has quarterly retreats that sell out on their own.
• 4:01
  And then she does her luxury retreats as well, one luxury retreat per year. Yes, love that. So if they can, so can you.
• 4:01
  She built this dream business where she just has retreats. So she only has to be away from her family every three months.
• 4:01
  One luxury and three quarterly retreats or four retreats. Yes. And stories like those, I have many, many more. But the reality between those stories and those like you who are there in this space of wanting to host retreats is they stopped trying to figure it out alone.
• 4:01
  That's it. They stopped trying to figure it. They trying to figure it out. They realize they do not need to become the expert on their own to learn all of this by trying and error and waste money, time, energy.
• 4:01
  And honestly, sometimes it feels a little bit soul-sucking. You're like, I really want to do this. But anyway, in 50 minutes or so, I can only give you the big picture of what this entails, right?
• 4:01
  But if you're ready to actually implement this to map out your retreat, to it for profit, and sell out price, and live with your profitable retreat plan, we do need more than 50 minutes.
• 4:01
  So I want to invite you to this challenge that is happening this Saturday. I'm going to drop the link in the chat already so you can see Ta-da!
• 4:01
  Okay. Because you already know the power of training. Ta transformation, you know. It's why you became a coach, a healer, or an entrepreneur in the first place.
• 4:01
  I already assumed that you are into transformation. And for so many of you in this room today, hosting a retreat has been that someday dream.
• 4:01
  You've seen yourself in the room, guiding the breakthroughs, wanting to change lives. But the truth is here that a retreat isn't just a dream.
• 4:01
  It's the fastest way to add six figures to your business, and do it in a way that feels aligned, transformational, and deeply fulfilling.
• 4:01
  The problem is that most retreat leaders lose money. I mentioned 80% of retreat leaders lose money, because they treat retreats like a vacation or a one-off event.
• 4:01
  That's why I am all about building the system. And in this challenge, I'm going to show you how to make retreats into this scalable profit machine.
• 4:01
  A system that you can rinse and retreat make to generate 30 to 50k from one retreat without needing a huge audience.
• 4:01
  mean, type one in the chat if you do not want to, you don't want to need to have a huge audience to start hosting retreats.
• 4:01
  And that's exactly what we're going to be doing this Saturday in the Sold Out and Profitable Retreats Challenge. In four hours, yes, because we need four hours to go through this, we're going to learn how to price your retreat for profit so you don't end up part of this 80% that lose money.
• 4:01
  How to sell How it out, how if you don't have a big following. And how to build your plan so you can rinse and repeat a retreat that actually signals your business.
• 4:01
  This is a live event. It's interactive, so you get to participate. And if you grab it right now, for the next 30 minutes, it's only $7.
• 4:01
  I know. This is something that usually goes for $97, but for all of you, it's $7. give for of you, but $37.
• 4:01
  I know. it out. And if you've been waiting for the sign that now is the time to start, this is it, yeah.
• 4:01
  Click the link, join us on Saturday, and let's turn this retreat dream into a six-figure reality. Now, this is something that when people hire me privately to do for these four hours, it's $2,000.
• 4:01
  You get it for $7. I know, I was even feeling a little bit like, are you going crazy for giving it for this price?
• 4:01
  But the reality behind the scenes is that I want more people hosting retreats that are profitable. People need you out there.
• 4:01
  You are needed. You are wanted. The only thing that is missing, it's you. It's from 9 a.m. Pacific Time or 10 a.m.
• 4:01
  Pacific Time and then four hours. I. I. Okay. Let's see. Yes. All right. Well, that is it for me.
• 4:01
  I hope you enjoyed this presentation or this talk. If you have any thoughts, just put them in the chat.
• 4:01
  I'll reply to you privately, because now we have Debbie Lynn coming up. Christy, want to add something?
• 4:12
  - Christi Kendall
• 4:17
  We just hit... Okay. Can you give the hours of your class? We have somebody asking for the hours.
• 4:23
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 4:25
  Yes. I think it's either 9 a.m. Pacific time or 10 Pacific. Let me give me a second. I need to go into my system.
• 4:27
  I think it's 9. Lily, I'll reply to you in just one second. I'll send you a message there to tell you the hours.
• 4:29
  Okay. Christy, what are your thoughts after this?
• 4:34
  - Christi Kendall
• 4:37
  Well, how many people are excited about hosting a retreat? Does it feel doable? When you think about adding six figures to your business, doing a retreat, which has been a dream, how does that feel now after learning that there's actually a strategy and a system behind it that can make it possible the very first time you do one?
• 4:40
  Yes. Lily says yes. Very good.
• 4:45
  - Leni Cavazos (The Retreat Planner)
• 4:47
  Well, I can't wait to see all of you who sign up and be part of this. We get to have so much fun inside of the challenge.
• 4:49
  There's a lot of other amazing women in there already that are going to be joining us on Saturday. So you get to have this experience and connect with other people who want to host retreats.
• 4:51
  Yay! You'll be there on Saturday. I'm excited. All right. Christy, should we bring Debbie Lynn on stage?