​Mike and I are four days back from our four weeks in Mexico. We were there, in part, for warmth and to escape the Idaho winter. Our main objective was to visit friends and family – and to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday (Jesus wasn’t the only one born on December 25th, you know).

We were also there for work. One of our primary goals in launching The Business of Us and The Sweet Life is to organize a series of Mastermind retreats. We visited a number of venues, from hotels to vacation rentals to spaces that fall somewhere in between.

We signed two contracts for two retreats. The first contract we signed the day before we left and the second one on the DAY we left, right before heading to the airport.

Some of our friends were surprised to learn that we booked two different venues. Why not simplify things and have everything at one place? But we have two different groups in mind. The first retreat will be for writers and the second for couples.

We found the perfect place for the writers’ retreat – beautiful, tranquil, unique, inspiring.

And…

We found the perfect place for the couples’ retreat – luxurious, romantic, 5-star, and small enough that we’ll only have 7 couples in attendance.

The first place was almost too calm for the couples, but perfect for writers.

And the second place was almost too romantic for the writers, but perfect for couples.

Both retreats take place in June which is a perfect time to visit Todos Santos. Not too hot like August, not too buggy as it is later in the year, or too busy as it can be over the holidays.

So we started thinking… June… school is out… it’s time to go to camp! The kids get to go to camp, why not the adults?

Writers Camp and Couples Camp.

We’re structuring each so that people just have to get themselves to the airport, we take care of the rest. Everything from transportation to sunscreen to drinks and gourmet meals. And we fully recognize that this needs to be something special. We need to give people more than just an opportunity to have a drink by the pool.

That got the wheels turning faster. Salsa lessons, art classes, writing exercises, beach walks, yoga, relationship building, massages. Different activities for the different groups. We’re walking that line of building the perfect itinerary – enjoyable, inspiring, enlightening, shared experiences of a lifetime – without totally running people ragged.

So now the work begins. We’ve invested a lot in this because we believe in it. Now we have to make a go of it. We’re building websites, compiling footage, and working to be the living proof that the systems we’ve developed and the principles we live by work. They work for writers. They work for couples. In both aspects of our lives, we strive to look forward, to be our best, and to continue to learn and grow.

Chances are we haven’t yet met most of our attendees. We might have a few friends interested, but for the most part I suspect we’ll be making new connections. In any case, we’re super excited about this new adventure, so we’ll continue to share the journey.

When we decided to organize killer retreats, one for couples and one for writers (but both designed for positive, growth mindset-type people), we knew what we were getting into.

Sort of.

We know how to exceed expectations.
We know the town of Todos Santos and how best to experience it.
We know what makes a great itinerary – just the right balance of awesome & downtime.

What we didn’t know was if people would sign up.

I’ve written before about how “If you build it, they will come” is not a good business strategy. We’d do well to remember that it’s really just a cheesy line from a Kevin Costner movie.

When it comes to what we’re building, in the first iteration of The Sweet Life retreats, we have Couples Camp and Writers Camp coming up in June.

Within 24 hours of emailing our contacts that registration was live, we had a couple sign up for Couples Camp. These are long-time friends of ours and I couldn’t imagine better people to spend a getaway with. But they weren’t prospects by any means. We never tried to sell them or even contacted them directly about it. But they receive our emails and they raised their hands. It came out of the blue.

Having one couple sign up might not seem like much, but it is when you consider that at this retreat we can only accommodate a max of 7 couples. So now we’re down to 6 spots.

Within 48 hours of that email that went out to our contacts, we had two writers commit to Writers Camp. One was unexpected, but a very good friend. The other was someone I approached directly as I knew she was looking for this very thing (an acquaintance and client whom I’ve never met in person).

We haven’t started running ad campaigns yet or really even announced publicly – beyond that one email – that registration is open (by the way, registration is open), though I’ve sent the link to a few who’ve expressed interest.

It is both exciting and nerve-wracking to see how this plays out. We know we have killer retreats lined up and again, we know we’ll exceed expectations. Now we just have to focus on filling registration to be sure we at least break even.

Advertising has never been my strong suit. I can create (books, presentations, retreats, you name it), but dear lord don’t ask me to sell it! In the coming months I’m going to have to change that – interact with people I don’t know (gasp!), and communicate the value of what we’ve created: an off-the-beaten-path, unique, luxury experience of a lifetime. This may not be my comfort zone, but I’ve also never been one to shy away from a challenge.

Wish us luck. And if you’re interested in checking out an off-the-beaten-path, unique, luxury experience of a lifetime before we take this out into the world, I’m posting the link here.