HEY THERE GREENBLASTERS!

(Caps lock was on when I started typing. I’m keeping it though)

Sorry I missed ya last week, but I’ve been KINDA busy.

(I’ve been working on my free workshop Aug 20th, more on that later).

But first, I wanna tell you something that will BLOW YOUR MIND:

Anything you want to sell, needs a name.

Ok, obviously not that mind-blowing. But it’s crazy how long it took me to learn this.

1n 2017, when I first started my speaking and coaching career, I didn’t bother coming up with NAMES for my talks or coaching services.

My invoices to my clients read:

“Public speaking coaching, 5 hrs.” or “90-min public speaking workshop.”

Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly raking in the cash and opportunities (although I was lucky that a few people saw past my terrible marketing and realized there was value in what I did).

When things changed

Do you know this guy in the pic below?

Daniel Priestly is a massive entrepreneur influencer by now, but in 2018 when I met him, he was still relatively unknown.

I signed up for his course “Key Person Of Influence” which taught me a lot, and shapes how I built my biz to this day (whatever I think of Daniel’s politics, he knows business).

And in one of the seminars in downtown Toronto, he said something so obvious that I couldn’t believe I never thought of it before:

“To make your service into a product, the first thing it needs is a name.”

A few months later:

I sold a “productized” version of my coaching called “Elite ESL Communication” (not great, but it worked) to Wayfair, for a lifetime total value of over $220,000.

A good name makes service-based offerings like coaching & workshops real, and should help people understand:

1. What is it?

2. Who is it for?

3. How is it different?

4. And why is it valuable?

How to name YOUR workshop

As you know by now, I’m an advocate of developing a Signature Workshop.

But whether you’re ready to create one for yourself, OR you just want your next workshop to win the “agenda war” at the conference you’re speaking at:

You need to answer the 4 questions to come up with your name.

Let’s take em 1×1:

1. What is it?

Literally: what will you be teaching, and on what subject?

To come up with this, boil your workshop down to a:

• Big Idea (read more from my client Vince Pierri)

• & Main Exercise (roleplay, pair work, game, writing exercise + group discussion to take it up, etc)

This will help you name the workshop, when you ACTUALLY know what the focus is!

2. Who is it for?

If it’s for “everybody,” it’s for NOBODY. You should know that cliché about business by now.

Choose based on one or two of the following:

• job title (VPs, etc)

• corporate department (sales teams, wellness, etc)

• industry (tech, events, etc)

• personality (introverts, high achievers, etc)

• demographic if that’s your thing (women, Gen Z, etc.)

Obviously, you can change this depending on the audience for the talk! Just make sure it’s clear in the name of the workshop.

3. How is it different?

Sorry to say:

You’re not the only one who’s realized that meditation is useful for business leaders.

Or that communication skills are important. Or that better AI prompts make for better outputs.

What makes your take on this unique?

To truly answer this, I believe you need to go into your 3-Act Origin Story, but for now, just think about your background and life experience:

• Were you a competitive athlete before becoming a coach/speaker? How did that shape you?

• Do you have an artistic background? What insight does that help you bring to an audience?

• Are you from another culture, country, etc? What perspective has that given you?

• Any big life events that are relevant? What did that teach you that others might not know or think about enough?

Remember: what makes you different is what makes you interesting.

Don’t hide it.

4. Why is it valuable?

The ten thousand dollar question. Meaning:

$10K is what you can charge once you answer this question (and establish yourself).

I know speakers who charge $20K, even $40K for a workshop, because they can communicate the value to a corporate buyer.

Answer this:

What PROBLEM will your workshop help them solve? Ex:

• slow sales cycles

• talent leaving the organization

• remote employees disengaged

• underperforming and wasteful marketing spend

Whatever you teach, it has to help them tackle a sticky, shitty, costly business problem, and that needs to be clear, otherwise you’ll never be able to charge what you’re worth.

You want an example???

FINE. Here’s the name of a recent workshop I did:

Story FIRST: How loan officers can earn trust of skeptical prospects through personal storytelling

Not amazing, but clear, specific, differentiated, and (hopefully) valuable.

TL;DR:

Your workshop needs a (better) name! It should cover:

1. What it is

2. Who it’s for

3. How it’s different

4. & Why it’s valuable

And remember when I said "more on that later”?!

Well, if YOU want help with YOUR first/next workshop, join me and 67 people already signed up for my “Free ‘Paid Workshop’ Workshop” on Aug 20th:

It’s gonna be so much fun, and I promise you that I WILL try to sell you something, but only at the very end, and you’ll learn a ton regardless.

Hope to see you there!

Greenblast, OUT 🚀