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March 11, 2024 17 mins

In this episode, we guide you through the planning process of a successful open house, whether it's for a community-based micro-school or a homeschool hybrid. We provide a roadmap consisting of action steps, inspired by real experiences, to help you effectively showcase your educational venture to prospective families.

In a step-by-step manner, we deal with key facets such as setting up clear commitment schedules, leveraging impactful advertising strategies, and preparing necessary marketing materials. Regardless of the size or nature of your institution, our guide can help you host an event that truly represents your vision and the unique learning opportunities your school offers.

Moreover, we recognize that the success of an open house is heavily reliant on your stakeholders. Attendees, from staff to potential students and their families, are all significant contributors to the overall vibe of your event. We share tips for involving them in the process, ensuring their roles are clear and that they feel a part of the journey.

This episode will empower you to operate open houses that are not only tools to recruit students, but also effective platforms to show the world what your school has achieved, and to cultivate a sense of belonging and community spirit among all the participants.

Additionally, we introduce Microschool Masterminds, the first program dedicated to supporting educators who are starting or growing their micro-school or homeschool hybrid. The program offers guidance on time management, financial planning, strategic marketing, among other vital aspects.

Join Microschool Masterminds to gain access to practical resources, expert coaching, and a committed community to help you thrive. Enroll at TeachersLetYourLightShine.com/masterminds.

 

 

www.teachersletyourlightshine.com/masterminds

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Get started on your dream school right now! Get all the documents you need to jumpstart, market and enroll students! www.teachersletyourlightshine.com/shop  We have step-by-step instructions to help you write powerful marketing brochures, enrollment forms, introductory packets, and so much more! You’ll also find easy-to-use templates made to simplify your creation process, as well as beautiful real-life examples used by my micro-school, Lighthouse Learning, to give you creative inspiration when designing your very own forms.  You will be able to seal the deal with peace and clarity when you hand deliver your new handbook and contract.  Tune in to today's episode to find out more and head over to our shop to purchase your documents at teachersletyourlightshine.com/shop

 

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We know you are excited to enroll those students, but you also have this dream
of being able to showcase what you have to the world.
But there could be some fears. There could be some nervousness about putting
yourself out into the spotlight.
Well, in today's episode, I'm going to share with you the steps of planning

(00:21):
a really great open house, even if it's from your living room,
because that's where I started.
Now we are in a church and now we have opened it up to a wide variety of community members and families.
But I know the creating systems and processes are the key to making sure the

(00:42):
night or the moment ends up very, very well.
And you know exactly what it is that you are showcasing to families.
So stay tuned for a really great episode on the nitty-gritty of an open house.
Parents and teachers, the time has come.
The time for us to gather together and create the ultimate learning environment

(01:05):
for those of us leading the movement in education by creating micro-schools
and homeschool hybrids.
Now introducing Micro School Masterminds, the one and only program for those
of us who are dedicated to making a change and creating such incredible opportunities.

(01:26):
Not only for our community, for our own families, for our own life.
If you are tired of feeling overwhelmed and isolated in your journey of building
a micro school or homeschool hybrid, Micro School Masterminds is here to support
you through the frustration.
Music.

(01:49):
The wondering how to grow what you already have. Your answer is here.
You've been asking for this and we've created it.
Microschool Masterminds, the one and only ultimate solution to transform your
dream into your reality.
Boost your success with efficient time management, financial planning,
strategic marketing, and systems and processes to streamline all your wild and

(02:13):
amazing ideas so you can actually move the mountains standing in your way of your greatest success.
We know what it's like to struggle with analysis paralysis, financial insecurity,
and marketing challenges in your micro school or homeschool hybrid.
Music.
That's why we created Microschool Masterminds, an online community with weekly
support to help the beginner, current micro school owner, and the person who

(02:37):
is ready to grow their existing business and mindset.
With Microschool Masterminds, you'll receive monthly group coaching sessions
with me, Mackenzie private support, community access, and weekly content filled
with templates, videos, and printables to help you with all of your business building tasks.
If you're feeling stuck in a rut, battling time management issues,

(02:58):
needing clarity over your budget or your finances, if you're struggling to hire
the dream team or craving accountability and inspiration, Microschool Masterminds is your answer.
We've helped hundreds of teachers pave the way to to their microschool or homeschool hybrid dream.
We've created 733% of growth in our own microschool.

(03:19):
We're not letting stagnation, overwhelm, or missed opportunities hold you.
Now and join Microschool Masterminds to unlock the tools, the guidance,
and the community you need to thrive.
Don't miss out on this chance to transform your educational business and secure your success.
Visit TeachersLetYourLightShine.com slash masterminds to sign up today and lock

(03:42):
in introductory pricing for life.
Again, that's TeachersLetYourLightShine.com slash masterminds.
I will be waiting for you on the other side.
No matter where you are starting when it comes to an open house,
there are five really important tasks that play out.

(04:03):
Number one, we've got to put it on our calendar.
We have to hold ourselves accountable and we have to let everyone who's going
to be helping us with an open house know, even if you're doing this from your living room.
For an example, I started in my house, and anytime that I was going to be giving
an open house or touring or speaking with families, it was on my calendar.

(04:26):
I did not just speak with families on a whim and invite them over to my house.
I knew specifically when I was going to do so. I put it on my calendar.
I let my family know. I was not in the headspace of just letting people come
over because it was too stressful in that situation. you need to be prepared.
You need to have your introductory packet ready. You need to have your marketing materials.

(04:50):
You need to be able to share with people what it is that you're offering.
You want your space to be set up. Well, now that we've moved and we are in a
location, we're having a huge open house in just a couple of days,
it is very important that it's on the calendar, not just for myself, but for my staff.
For the people who are helping me, and for the families who are going to be involved.

(05:14):
So put it on your calendar. And I definitely recommend you doing so once you
open up enrollment or around enrollment.
I know that if you are, let's say, getting ready for the following year or the
upcoming year, and let's say that right now someone wants to have a meeting

(05:34):
with you, but they're not going to enroll for another year.
It's not an urgent request for you to have an open house or a tour with that person.
Now, when I say an open house, I'm saying anytime that you open up the doors for people to come in.
Now, where we're at today in our micro schools, we have a legitimate open house

(05:55):
where it's after school hours, families are coming in, we've got tables set
up, we've got marketing materials, we've got student learning materials displayed.
I've got staff there. But if you are talking in regards to a tour,
that is a little bit different.
That's still an open house, right? You're still opening up your doors.
You're still conversing with families. You're still asking or answering questions.

(06:20):
But an open house is what I'm explaining today, where you are stopping instruction,
you're opening up your place of service, and you are having multiple people come in.
This is quite different than a tour because you are, in a sense,
opening up the floodgates.
Now, prior to this, I would have an open house and it would be one week and

(06:47):
I would do tours at my house and I had specific days and times where I was giving tours.
That was my quote unquote open house.
Now that we're in a larger location, we're in a totally different arena here,
we have on the calendar months in advance when we're gonna have an open house.

(07:09):
So put it on your calendar so that you and your staff can be ready.
Number two, you of course have to have advertising around it.
We advertise on social media six weeks out. We have email marketing every single
week where we're letting people know about our open house.
We let everybody who is inquiring know that there is an upcoming open house

(07:30):
because a lot of people right now and you may be facing the same thing.
They want your attention right now. They want your attention tomorrow.
I even have where I have specific days and times where I am taking phone calls
from people to help streamline the amount of time that I have in speaking with people.
So I'm really diligent about my time and I hope that you are too.

(07:53):
I have scheduled times for phone calls. I have scheduled times for tours.
And if it's any time around open house, I'm not giving tours.
Open house is the tour. So hey, everybody.
Be sure you mark it on your calendar and come to open house.
Then if someone, let's say, is not able to make it to open house,
I will give them a tour later on within the week, maybe two weeks, whatever it may be.

(08:19):
But it's very important that we're letting people know we're not doing tours until open house.
Please come to the open house. It saves you time.
You definitely want people to see what you are saying.
This is why advertising is so important because people need visuals of what you are offering.

(08:40):
So for an example, I would make sure that you have some infographics,
that you have social media posts, that you're putting it into Facebook groups,
that you're putting it on your website, that you're letting friends and family know.
We are texting family members, texting friends, sharing a little graphic of
our open house so that people are well aware that it's taking place, it's an event.

(09:02):
An open house is an event and you want to be advertising around it.
Number three, you want to make sure that you have in your informational packets,
your marketing materials, your offer is ready.
We have colored copies of our introductory packet printed, ready to go.
We have folders ready with information in it about our school,

(09:22):
including the introductory packet at the different stations that people go around to.
We have our brochures for kindergarten through fifth grade, sixth through seventh
grade, then we've got our middle school enrichment, and our elementary enrichment,
which by the way, we never used to have all of these subsets.
It was just kindergarten through fifth grade, one offer, one enrichment,

(09:44):
but now we've diversified our income streams, which is something that I'll be
teaching in our micro school masterminds, how to diversify your income streams.
But it's so important that you have your marketing materials ready.
If you you have banners and we've got pop-up banners, we display those as well.
If you have any type of swag materials like t-shirts, hang those up in places.

(10:07):
If you have any photos that you can take of your students, hang those up in places.
Number four, you need to visualize.
You need to map it out. So a few weeks ago, I had it mapped out what tables
we needed, what our environment would look like, how the cleaning was going
to go, what brochures we needed, who was going to take care of which table.

(10:29):
Who was going to make sure that they had flyers at their table?
Were we going to have refreshments? What were our plans for beautifying the campus?
What were we going to do when it comes to children who are coming with their
families? How are we going to entertain our families? How are we going to display student work?
How are we gonna show our learning? What curriculum are we going to have on display?
What information are we going to have readily available for families?

(10:54):
So we literally visualized, mapped it out, drew pictures, wrote up,
All of the nitty gritty, and I shared it with my staff.
We had a staff meeting to prepare for open house.
And number five, which leads me to meeting with your stakeholders.
You need everybody who's going to be involved in this event to see what you are saying.

(11:16):
So I had my introductory packet, my offer for next year, ready for my teachers
so that they could see this is what we're offering next year.
This is how we're going to be teaching. We're doing project-based learning.
We're doing career pathways. ways. I was working all of this behind the scenes
along with one of my teacher leaders and one of my assistants.
We were compiling information, planning out our year, and I sat my teachers down.

(11:39):
I showed them what it was. They were like, Mackenzie, this is awesome.
And I cannot take the glory for that. That all literally goes to God and who
he has connected me with.
I have an incredible curriculum designer named Jane. She works for me.
She's a college professor. She's a parent. She's a teacher.
She's all of those combined for Lighthouse Learning.

(12:00):
And I made sure that we were able to collaborate together and then be able to
share that with our teachers.
So for an example, because we're going to be project-based learning solely for
kindergarten through fifth grade, our teachers immediately knew,
okay, for open house, we've got to have some projects displayed.
So our kindergarten through first grade teacher is going to be displaying her robot unit.

(12:23):
Our fourth and fifth grade teacher, sixth grade teacher is going to be displaying
the sales unit that they just created. it.
And then our second through third is going to be showcasing the gold rush and
really, really incredible writing pieces.
We also have our enrichment pieces up that we are utilizing for our farmer's day market.

(12:45):
It's a lot of artwork, a lot of pottery, a lot of painting, and that will be displayed as well.
It's a little precursor to our farmer's market at the end of April,
which is a really great cross advertisement for our farmer's day market as well.
We have printables of our curriculum for the next year.

(13:05):
We don't have all of our curriculum purchased, but we at least have it on it on a paper.
And it is clearly defined why we chose this curriculum, what curriculum it is.
And I know a lot of people get caught up like I want to show my curriculum.
Sometimes it's just not possible. Nobody is going to be sitting there strumming
through all of your books and all your materials.

(13:26):
They're trying to get a feel for what the environment is.
They want to see just an overall landscape of what you offer.
All the nitty-gritty details can come later.
So there we go with your top five open house. Put it on your calendar. Let people know.
Number two, go crazy as can be on advertising around it.

(13:49):
Number three, make sure you have all your marketing materials ready.
Number four, visualize, map it out.
And number five, meet with your stakeholders so that everyone can see the important
parts of this night and what their roles are.
Stay tuned for more really great opportunities
for our micro school masterminds the
wait list is open you can get introductory pricing so

(14:12):
that we can meet together you'll have tutorial videos on how you can maximize
your time your money and your marketing when it comes to your micro school or
homeschool hybrid that's www.teachersletyourlightshine.com slash masterminds
parents and teachers the time Time has come.

(14:32):
The time for us to gather together and create the ultimate learning environment
for those of us leading the movement and education by creating micro schools
and homeschool hybrids.
Now introducing micro school masterminds, the one and only program for those
of us who are dedicated to making a change and creating such incredible opportunities,

(14:57):
not only for our community, for our own families, for our own life.
If you are tired of feeling overwhelmed and isolated in your journey of building
a micro school or homeschool hybrid, Microschool Masterminds is here to support
you through the frustration, the uncertainty.
Music.
The building business task, the direction, the vision, the time constraints,

(15:18):
the fumbling through your finances, the wondering how to grow what you already
have. Your answer is here.
You've been asking for this and we've you've created it. Microschool Masterminds,
the one and only ultimate solution to transform your dream into your reality.
Boost your success with efficient time management, financial planning,

(15:39):
strategic marketing, and systems and processes to streamline all your wild and
amazing ideas so you can actually move the mountains standing in your way of your greatest success.
We know what it's like to struggle with analysis paralysis, financial insecurity,
and marketing challenges just in your micro school.
Music.

(16:04):
To help the beginner, current micro school owner, and the person who is ready
to grow their existing business and mindset.
With micro school masterminds, you'll receive monthly group coaching sessions
with me, Mackenzie Oliver, private support, community access,
and weekly content filled with templates, videos, and printables to help you
with all of your business building tasks.

(16:26):
If you're feeling stuck in a rut, battling time management issues,
needing clarity over your your budget, or your finances, if you're struggling
to hire the dream team or craving accountability and inspiration,
Microschool Masterminds is your answer.
We've helped hundreds of teachers pave the way to their microschool or homeschool hybrid dream.
We've created 733% of growth in our own microschool.

(16:51):
We're not letting stagnation, overwhelm, or missed opportunities hold you back.
Act now and join Microschool Masterminds to unlock the tools,
the guidance, and the community you need to thrive.
Don't miss out on this chance to transform your educational business and secure your success.
Visit TeachersLetYourLightShine.com slash masterminds to sign up today and lock

(17:14):
in introductory pricing for life.
Again, that's TeachersLetYourLightShine.com slash masterminds.
Music.
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