This conversation might open up some new possibilities for you about what marketing looks like. Today's guest is going to tell you about how she uses a free monthly workshop as her main marketing activity.

She'll explain how these monthly workshops accomplish a bunch of things at once:

raising money for a different anti-racist organization every month

selling her coaching program

collaborating with guest presenters

& growing her audience.

Introducing Ariana Lloyd.

Ariana is an LCSW and business consultant who helps therapists build liberation-oriented private practices. She proudly hails from the dry lands of Eastern Oregon, where she was raised along with her 9 siblings by her Mormon and Jew-"ish" parents. Ariana grew up farming and fighting and believes these strongly contribute to her approaches in both therapy and business. She now lives in Portland, OR with her two young children and her best friend, a golden retriever.

Here's some of what we talked about:

• Creating her first workshop and deciding to also make it a fundraiser
• Baking anti-racism into her business practices
• How she chooses her guests and topics
• The impact workshop fundraisers are having on her business
• The systems and platforms she uses to host and market the events
• How she prepares her guests
• How her 8-week program works

Here are some takeaways that particularly stand out to me:

Takeaway #1:

The Workshop Fundraisers started as a way to do a couple of important things at once: grow her business by collaborating and creating value AND raising funds for radical BIPOC organizations. Get creative rather than doing what you see everyone else do.

Takeaway #2:

Ariana used to feel nervous before her workshops, but now she feels excited. She's started focusing on her connection to her guest teacher, her connection to the participants, and what she's there to facilitate. That doesn't leave as much room for anxious thoughts.

Takeaway #3:

Ariana's advice for her guest teachers is great advice for any person who is presenting: Keep it simpler than you think you need to. "When you're an expert, you're so far ahead of your audience that you gotta bring it all the way back to the beginning and share from that place.Then you can add to it."

Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/157