The Least Stressful Way To Start A Group Program

Today I'm gonna talk about one of the fastest and least stressful ways to start a group program. Let's say you're excited to run a signature program beyond your private practice, and you know you want it to be a small group. I relate. I LOVE running groups. Just a few reasons you might be in love with the idea of creating a group program: Participants benefit from each other's wisdom and feel less alone. You make more money. A sense of accountability is often bigger in a group. Groups give you energy. You're gifted at running groups. In a group, you get the richness of discussion. Let's imagine this is you. You've written up a sales page or registration page for your program. You've told everyone you know all about it. You've sent out emails to your small but growing email list. You've posted on instagram, in FB groups and anywhere else where it's appropriate to post. You've reached out to every single colleague who might make a referral. You've even reached out directly to a handful of people who you think would be great participants with a no pressure invitation to check it out. All your friends and colleagues are excited for you. You keep hearing: "People will want this!" You've got the outline ready. You've got the zoom link ready to share. The group calls are on your calendar. You've figured out how to accept payments. You are just SO ready. You offer a free consultation to anyone who has questions about the program and might want to sign up. And then the consultations start… You talk to one person who might be interested but not right now and is wondering when you'll run it again. You talk to another person who might be interested and will let you know. You talk to a third person who decides to sign up. Yay! You talk to a fourth person who says they want to do it but then realize they'll be away for the first 3 weeks of your program. And then…no more consultations. No more sign ups. And your start date is next week. Arg! Did you do something wrong? Is your group not meant to be? First of all, you are not alone. This has happened to me. This has happened to many people who run successful group programs now. This often happens when you're transitioning to a new kind of business. Even if you already had a full therapy practice, this can easily happen when you step into selling a program for the first time. Perhaps your mistake (if you made one) was to start with a group program. Perhaps you should have started with a 1:1 structured, niched and outcome based program. What?! We just talked about why you really prefer to run a group. But you STILL might be better off starting your pilot program 1:1 and then turning that offer into a group when your business is ready. Listen to the episode in which I break down why starting with a 1:1 structured, niched and outcome based program might be your fastest, least stressful way to create a group program. Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/218