Your Retreat Pricing & Net
Today we’re covering pricing! Questions like should your retreat be all inclusive or non-inclusive and what do you want to net on your retreat?
If you need another copy of the worksheet here it is.
Question 7: Do you want your retreat to be all-inclusive or will folks be paying for their lunches and dinners separately?
Pricing is an important factor in creating your retreat, of course. So you’re going to need to think about whether you want to do all-inclusive pricing or not. I find all-inclusive is pretty attractive for most folks, that way they don’t have to think about anything once they’re at your retreat!
You’ll also have to decide if you want to have a price for your teaching program and keep that separate from the lodging and food package – or just price that all together. If you don’t include all the food and activities into your pricing your clients won’t really be sure what their total outlay will be financially at the end, so keep that in mind.
I personally like all-inclusive, but when you price like that the total advertised cost will definitely be higher and some marketers believe that it’s better to not include everything and keep the price lower. There’s no right or wrong here, it’s totally up to you.
Question 8: What do you want to net from your retreat?
You’re going to be much more emotionally involved with your clients on a retreat vs. a workshop or live event from the stage, for example. So you have to be realistic about paying yourself. Most facilitators vastly underprice their retreats and then feel resentful afterwards for working so hard and making so little. Let’s not let that be you! It’s important to be clear about your self-worth. If you show great value in your marketing you’ll be able to command the pricing you deserve.
One thing I learned from my teacher don Miguel Ruiz, who wrote The Four Agreements, is that everything‘s an exchange of energy and if you’re giving great value and helping to create great transformation in others – you prevent the flow of energy when you refuse to accept what you’re worth in the world from others. And that my friend, is very selfish.
Maybe this sounds a little woo-woo to you, but I really find this to be truth. For example, my friend Ann was doing bi-yearly retreats and caught up with me after June event – and even though her trip was completely full with 20 gals, she was complaining to me about the trip over the phone. I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on so I just stopped her mid-sentence and asked if I could ask her a personal question. Of course she said yes, and I asked her what she made from her recent 7 day retreat. Oh boy. She told me she netted the usual amount from her retreats, $5000 an event. I almost fell out of my chair!
I said to her; “Ann, you know I teach retreat planning for a living and all this time you’ve only been adding in around $250 per person net for an entire weeks’ worth of teaching!! You can’t do that and feel okay about it. That’s why you’re feeling so irritated with your event and your clients!”
I was so upset I gifted her my Retreat Blueprint Program and asked her to please follow the formula and we would re-do her pricing together. I had no idea she was pricing her events like that and thankfully that was the last time she did. Now she feels properly compensated for her work, deeply valued, and excited to work with her clients – and the same needs to be for you.
So please don’t make Ann’s mistake and make sure you make it to the webinar so you don’t miss the part on pricing. So as usual, once you finish today’s questions – come on over to the Facebook Group and post what you’ve come up with!
**PS: And if you’re wondering – what exactly are the Retreats Made Easy and the Retreat Blueprint Programs? They are our signature programs where we teach you everything you’d want to know about planning, filling, profiting and monetizing retreats!
