Top Five Marketing Tips and Top Five Planning Resources

A lot of planning and preparation goes into a retreat weekend that you hope will be filled with fun, fellowship and spiritual growth for the women who attend. One of ways we strive to help you minister is to connect you with ideas and resources that enrich your ministry... so without futher ado, here are five of my favorite marketing tips and five great retreat resources. Enjoy!

Marketing done well is a great thing! Let's face it, in order to have a great retreat you have to have women there. Marketing is kind of like... fishing. So get your "bait" out there and catch their attention!

1. Make it all match! Your invitations, posters, registration forms, programs, devotionals, handouts, crafts, etc... should all relate back to your theme. Use the same colors, scripture, picture or logo on everything and find crafts and activities that compliment your theme.
2. Cast a wide net. Send your invitations to everyone in your church, but also ask permission to place them in local businesses, restaurants, dentist offices, etc. Do the same with your posters.
3. Don't forget the bathrooms. One of the best places to put posters is in the ladies room of your church and community businesses. Sometimes a business may hesitate to put another poster in their window, but will agree to this "out of the way" place.
4. Create buzz. Involve many women in your planning. They don't have to be on your planning team, but you can delegate tasks or small parts of the event out to many women. This benefits your event in several ways: everyone who is involved will attend and be more likely to talk about the retreat and invite others to attend; also, many hands make light work; and finally distributing the work makes the event less stressful on the team.
5. Be creative. If your retreat is in the summer, advertise the event to men as a great Mother's Day gift. Do the same if your retreat is after Christmas. Find creative ways to make your retreat a "gift" to the women who attend.

I am always on the lookout for great resources and here are what I believe are five of the best retreat resources available today:

1. HeartSpa Retreat in a Box by Group Publishing - Absolutely everything you need to do a spa themed retreat is in this box... really! Group has produced a great resource for planning a retreat using the gifts of women in your church. (The program is set up to use without any additional speakers.) There are books for the director, worship leader, and small group leaders that include CD's packed with reproducable materials and presentations. All you need is the kit ($99) and a journal ($6 each) for every woman attending, but you can opt to buy craft projects, music CD's and other goodies at very reasonable rates. If you plan retreats.... this is worth checking out!
2. Chocolate Boutique Retreat in a Box by Group Publishing - this is the second offering by Group that offers everything HeartSpa does, just with a different theme. Let's face it... what woman out there would complain about a retreat themed on chocolate?! I sat down and figured out purchasing the journal, prayer box, sticker set, crafts, invitations, and follow-up cards and it added about $20 per person above the retreat center costs. Pretty economical.
3. Women's Retreats: A Creative Planning Guide by Sue Edwards. This book walks you through the retreat planning process. A good "nuts and bolts" tool.
4. Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies by Susan Friedmann. One of the first "secular" books I bought on event planning, this book offers great basic planning advice that can be used across the board in your ministry as well as retreats.
5. Retreats that Work: Everything You Need to Know About Planning and Leading by Merianne Litemen, Sheila Campbell, Jeffrey Liteman. This is one of the best "business" retreat planning books I have ever read. It was released in 2002 and will soon be offered in an updated version. It could possibly be worth its weight in gold to those of us who regularly plan retreats.

As always, I invite you to send me your comments or questions.  Email me anytime!

In Him... Robyne Beaubien, Editor

robyne@womensministry.net

This idea came to us as a Mother/Daughter Banquet, but we thought it would be appropriate for a Ladies Night Out or even a Retreat.

Based on: "The Purse Driven Life" and "Purse-onality" by Anita Renfroe

Decorations: We used old purses filled with plants, flowers, gloves, beads, etc. to decorate the tables. We also had some old shoes that were painted and filled with artificial flowers. Several women brought table settings to complete the table decorations.

Program: First we had a potluck dinner and then we watched the video, "Purse-onality" by Anita Renfroe (with approval, of course).

Door prizes: We found so many door prizes that were shaped like purses... picture frames, note holders, lamps, knick-knacks, etc., even the gift bags we used were shaped like purses.

This was a great outreach event, enjoyed by many women who do not attend our church, we received many many compliments on the evening. For those who are not familiar with her, Anita Renfroe is a great Christian comedienne and I would recommend any of her videos for a women's night or banquet.

Submitted by: sheila@daysofgrace.org, Morton IL 61550

Thanks to all of you who sent in your recommendations for a great study in Proverbs. We have to admit, there are not a lot of studies on the book and appreciate your comments. Here are the books that were recommended:

• Beautiful in God's Eyes by Elizabeth George
• PROVERBS, Ancient Wisdom for a Postmodern World by Sue Edwards
• Satisfied lives for Desperate Housewives: God's Word on Proverbs 31 by Beth Jones
• Proverbs (Lifeguide Bible Studies) by William E. Mouser
• A Woman of Value: 10 Studies from Proverbs : A Bible Study for Women by Dee Brestin
• Becoming A Woman Of Grace A Bible Study by Cynthia Heald
• Power Up! with Powerful Principles from Proverbs by Dr. David Jeremiah
• Pursuing Wisdom by Kenneth Boa

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