What to do When Nobody Shows Up – Crying is NOT an option.

Today I am here to say when you teach classes, host events and organize meet ups, it is going to happen.

There’s going to come a time where NOBODY shows up…

Even when you’ve prepared the bejeezus out of what you’re going to say. Even when you’ve got confirmed sign ups & RSVP’s. Even when people tell you face to face, Oh I’ll be there.

Yes, this really sucks. Yes this feels really crappy in the moment. But there is one thing you’ve got to remember. This has nothing to do with you! 

Last week I had scheduled a virtual coffee date here on Hipstitch Academy. We host them once a month and anyone is able to attend and they are 100% free.  We chat about all things involved with running your own sewing & teaching business and have been doing them for the last year or so. They’re super fun and I have loved getting to know other sewing teachers from all over the world!

This last chat was honestly the first time where nobody showed up!

There were like 6 or 7 people RSVP’ed for the chat, so I looking forward to a lively discussion about Business Mentorship. Let me tell you, I was kind of confused when I was sitting in the Virtual meeting room all by my lonesome for 10 minutes.

I hung out for what I felt was a reasonable amount of time and then I  decided to end the meeting (with myself) and figure out something better to do with my hour.

YES – At first my feelings were a little hurt, but honestly that only lasted about 30 seconds.

I quickly remembered that people are running their own businesses. People are VERY busy and important things come up. This is not at all about me. (What?!?) This is not about what I’m offering and that people don’t want to participate. This has to do with a lot of things that are out of my control!

Then I also remembered that because there is no charge for this event, people are way more likely to skip something when they know they’ve not invested money to be there. Think about how many times a day you consider skipping something because you’re in the middle of something else and don’t feel like stopping what you’re doing. The first question I ask myself in this case is  – Did I spend money to be there. Usually if that’s a yes, I’ll stop what I’m doing and attend that thing. If it’s a free event, I’m way more likely to skip…

Please note: I’m not saying, by any means saying that I’m going to start charging for the Virtual Coffee Chats.  I wanted to bring up this point in case anyone is holding free events in their sewing studio. It’s never really worked well for me (I assume because people are having similar inner dialogue – see above) and I find charging even $5 or $10 for something will ensure more people showing up.

Overall, I think the best thing you can do after you find yourself in this spot is quickly pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on! Try to take what you’ve learned from the experience to make the next event or class better and filled with people.