For several years now, I plan a Creator Retreat in January. It’s a great way for me to rest, get my energy back and work on my business without interruption. It’s my view that a well-designed Creator Retreat is a wonderful way to assert to yourself that your business has value and needs time to plan for and reflect on.
A Creator Retreat is basically the same as a Writer’s Retreat, an opportunity to lean all in on your business. A well-planned retreat lets you be for lack of a better word…selfish about being 100% focused on thinking about, working on and strategizing your upcoming business year for your creative business.
IT IS NOT A VACATION
Each year I look forward to the planning process, the actual experience of the retreat and getting work done. I thought it would be interesting to share what I ended up going and what I ended up working on while I was gone.
My hope is to inspire you to design a retreat whether it’s 24 hours or longer. Ok, I’ve kept you waiting long enough-here are the details.
Bingen, Washington/Hood River, Oregon
And Portland, Oregon
I shared a poll on my Thread profile asking people where they thought I was going to for my retreat. The three choices I shared were Portland, Oregon/Mexico City and Reykjavik, Iceland. All three places are spots that I absolutely plan on visiting-likely sometime this year.
Why did I ultimately decide on Oregon/Washington State?
There were a few reasons…
- I’ve wanted to visit the property that I ended up staying at for the past 4 years. I wasn’t excited to go during COVID so I waited.
- The weather is completely different from Denver’s weather. It was cloudy, grey and moody the entire time I was on my retreat. Perfect weather for working, resting and staying on task.
- The hotel’s amenities! I always want to soak in a hot tub or hot springs and embrace wellness practices during my trip.
- Where Did I Stay? The Society Hotel Bingen and The Society Hotel in Portland
- Cost! The trip was very reasonable. I spent $900 for 8 days away including all expenses.
- Proximity to nature-One compelling reason for going to this part of the country was that it’s absolutely beautiful! There was so much water, moss and greenery everywhere. It’s the opposite of Colorado.
- Good food-There is very good food in this area.
I share how I planned my trip and some helpful tips if you’re looking to plan a retreat too.
What Were My Initial Goals?
I had a number of goals that I set for my week away. They felt a bit aggressive, audacious and a little bit crazy. However, I was stuck in a grey, rainy, cloudy location without a car-I was pretty motivated. Here’s what I was hoping to do…
- Batch and get 2 months ahead on my content calendar for Creators Getting Paid
- Begin a new outbound pitching push-I now send out pitches a minimum of once a week. This could include pitching for the following:
- Podcast guest opportunities-Are you looking guests for your show?
- Grants/Scholarships
- Brand Partnerships/Sponsorships
- Programs
- Work on a monetization strategy-Specific to the different parts of my brand.
- Batch newsletter content-I was happy with getting at least 1 month ahead.
- Work on some opt-ins
- Templates
- Mini-Courses
- Record podcast episodes
- Rebrand Michelle Is Money Hungry
- Administrative tasks related to brand clarity
- Check and update my profiles everywhere
- Update my LinkedIn Profile
- Update some SOPs (standard operating procedures)
- Work on my One Pager and Media Kit
- Enjoy some good food
- Hang out at the spa-The space was glorious
- Visit Hood River, White Salmon and Portland
What Did I End Up Getting Done?
I thought it would be interesting to share what I actually worked on. I think this is helpful for context around the actual amount of content that I’m batching. Also, it might help some folks gage-the amount of batched content that may make a difference when working on your brand.
- Batch and get 2 months ahead on my content calendar.
- Yes! I was able to do this. I have at least one 1 post scheduled until the end of February on my website.
- Work on a monetization strategy
- Yes! I’ve actually been thinking about my monetization strategy for awhile now. I just tightened it up while I was here.
- Batch newsletter content
- Yes! I wrote 8 newsletter editions-this number doesn’t include other editions that I batched at the end of December.
- Work on some opt-ins
- NOPE-I did not get that done LOL!
- Begin a new outbound pitching push
- I’ve continued pitching! This is actually a huge area of focus for me moving forward.
- Record podcast episodes
- Yes, I recorded 6 podcast episodes
- Rebrand Michelle Is Money Hungry
- Done-but I needed to some help with the URL change for my website
- Michelle is Money Hungry is now called “Your American Money”
- Administrative tasks related to brand clarity
- Check and update my profiles everywhere
- I didn’t finish doing this
- Update my LinkedIn Profile
- I’m still working on this
- Update some SOPs (standard operating procedures)
- Still working on this
- Check and update my profiles everywhere
- Enjoy some good food
- I’m amazed by how good the food is in this region. Here’s what I ended up eating:
- Scandinavian food from Broder Ost-Enjoyed!
- Sushi
- Congolese food
- Farm to Table-Enjoyed!
- I’m amazed by how good the food is in this region. Here’s what I ended up eating:
- Hang out at the spa-The space was glorious
- Every single night I soaked, sat in the sauna and just got blissed out.
- Visit Hood River (it’s a little town)
- I ended up visiting on Monday because I was car-free and the shuttles didn’t run over the weekend.
- Visited Portland
- Technically I stayed in Portland for one day at the beginning and end of my trip. I’ve visited before and will be returning later this year for a conference. For this trip my priority was heading to Bingen-White Salmon, WA and Hood River, OR
One Last Reason Why I Do This
I want to happen to my business vs. having my business happen to me. I also wanted to be proactive vs. reactive with my content and give myself enough time to market all of the important stuff connected to my brand.
At a time when things fee so stressful, I feel refreshed and ready to get things done. Rest is a huge priority for 2025 and I’m looking forward to planning my next mini-retreats.
