‘smart marketing for creative teachers’
A practical 3-part online course to help you stand out, improve your website and get more workshop bookings
available immediately
Are you a creative professional who teaches workshops, courses, retreats or creative experiences, but finding it harder than it used to be to get bookings? Not sure how to promote your workshops, or are you using the same marketing as you do to promote your products & art? Be aware: teaching is a service and intangible, which is very different than marketing and selling products or art.
If your students love learning from you already, and you want teaching to be a bigger and more rewarding part of your business, but your marketing feels inconsistent, your website and positioning needs attention, or you’re struggling to explain what makes your teaching different from everyone else’s ... this short but very in-depth and specialist marketing course is for you.
The creative teaching market has changed dramatically over the last few years.
More creatives are teaching than ever before, audiences have more choice, and simply posting occasionally on social media is rarely enough to fill workshops consistently.
This practical brand new short online course will help you create a clearer, more distinctive and more professional teaching offer, improve your website and positioning, and develop a marketing strategy that genuinely helps the right people find you, trust you and book.
Most importantly, this is a marketing workshop focused only on marketing creative workshops, designed & delivered by an expert in teaching and marketing for creatives.
By the end of this practical, 3-part course (7.5hours) you will have:
A clearer training niche statement & positioning to stand out in the crowded teaching market
A much stronger understanding of who your ideal participants or students are
Greater confidence what you’re worth and what to charge (and how to increase your prices)
A more strategic website with better sales pages that attract and convert your ideal participants
Learn how to use key words, timely email marketing and better social media to attract new clients and stay in touch with existing ones
Create your own 90-day marketing & launch plan for your next training, incl. to attract new and repeat clients, with clear marketing & sales goals and specific marketing actions
BONUS: Patricia has created a range of very useful downloadable tools and planners for you to use as part of this course.
THIS COURSE HAS TAKEN PLACE ALREADY and you will get immediate and full access to the 3 video training recordings, presentations & additional resources till 31 March 2027.
This brand new short online course is created and hosted by creative business adviser & trainer Patricia van den Akker, who has been teaching for over 25 years, and is the author of the book ‘Teaching Creative Workshops in Person and Online’, which was published by Bloomsbury in 2025.
A practical 3-part online course to help you stand out, improve your website, drive better traffic, and get more workshop bookings.
The Key Facts
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Format
3 x 2.5hour short online course
Immediate access to recordings, presentations & resources till 31 March 2027
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Outcome
Improve your website, branding and positioning. Drive better traffic with keywords, email marketing & social media. Create your own marketing plan to get more bookings.
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Especially for
Creatives who teach in person or online workshops, courses, or mentor who want practical marketing advice, especially to promote their teaching.
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Your tutor
Patricia van den Akker – Director of The Design Trust, successful teacher, and author of the book ‘Teaching Creative Workshops In Person & Online’.
Does this sound familiar?
You love teaching creative workshops (in person or online), but getting bookings often feels stressful, inconsistent or last minute? Workshops that used to fill easily are now much harder to fill.
You’re not really sure how to promote your creative workshops. You use the same techniques as promoting your creative products or art, but you know something is not entirely right.
You know your workshops are loved by your participants, but your website doesn’t really communicate ‘that’. Your sales pages explain the practical details, but don’t capture the atmosphere or experience people will have, doesn’t really highlight your reputation as a creative or teacher, or make you stand out in a saturated creative workshop market.
Perhaps you rely mostly on Instagram and word of mouth, but feel frustrated by how little engagement your social media posts are getting these days.
You might have considered separating your teaching email list from your product sale or commission list - as not everybody is interested in both - but you are not sure how to do that.
You’re not alone.
Many creative teachers are working incredibly hard to create wonderful creative learning experiences, but are relying on marketing approaches that no longer work as well as they once did. And the market for creative workshops has become a lot more competitive!
Why creative teaching needs a different approach to marketing
Marketing creative workshops is very different from marketing creative products or art.
Why?
When somebody buys a ceramic bowl, a print or a scarf, they can see exactly what they’re getting.
When somebody books a workshop, they’re buying something much less tangible.
They’re buying into something much more intangible – your expertise, teaching style, personality, atmosphere, encouragement and the overall experience you create.
They want more than ‘just a nice day out’ or ‘learning a new skill’. They are often buying creative confidence, creativity, community, inspiration or simply a much-needed day away from everyday pressures. And if they are professional creatives they want to get a bit of your expertise and experience to use in their own practice.
That means creative teachers need marketing that builds trust, communicates value and helps potential students understand why YOUR teaching is right for THEM.
This Smart Marketing for Creative Teachers short course is designed specifically for creative professionals who teach and want a more strategic, practical and sustainable approach to marketing to get more bookings, or to sell higher end experiences.
THIS course IS not ABOUT DOING MORE!
Most creative teachers don’t need more marketing ideas.
What you really need is … more time, structure and accountability to actually put those marketing ideas into practice!
That’s why this short online course has in-build accountability, and is full of practical exercises, reflective journaling exercises & group discussions DURING the 3 workshops. Patricia has created some very handy downloadable worksheets to make it even easier to implement during and after the course. And we have included practical & creative homework exercises after each session to help you MAKE IT HAPPEN!
We recommend that you spend 3-4 hours after each session to make improvements to your niche, branding, website, sales pages, email marketing and the other marketing activities.
We’ll also start workshops 2 and 3 by reviewing what you’ve actually done, what worked, what felt challenging and what you’ve learned along the way. This is a great opportunity to share any questions or challenges you might have too while you are doing the course! (As you will watch the recordings you can learn from creatives who did this course live and ask any questions in the private course hub)
My goal is NOT simply to teach you marketing skills and give you useful inspiration to promote your creative workshops.
My goal is that by the end of this short course you have tangible improvements already made to your website, workshop pages, positioning and marketing for your creative training.
Perfect timing to get ready to launch your creative training this autumn!
Session 1
Position Your Teaching to Stand Out
Recording & presentation immediately available
In this first workshop we’ll look at what makes your teaching distinctive and why people really book creative workshops. You’ll explore your creative teaching niche, ideal students, pricing & positioning and what you want to become known for as a teacher.
We’ll look at the common reasons creative teachers undercharge and how to create a more sustainable range of offers. You’ll begin to map out your teaching ‘ecosystem’ – from lower-entry offers through to premium experiences, to create a ‘learning journey’, to encourage repeat business and make your training business more sustainable.
At the end of the workshop we’ll look at working with organisational clients & teaching venues, like museums and craft fairs, to host talks, workshops or demonstrations.
BONUS: You’ll get useful downloadable resources created by Patricia in the private course hub, incl. Niche/Ideal student worksheet, pricing reflection worksheet, planner for your teaching ecosystem, website audit checklist.
Outcome:
A clearer niche, stronger positioning and greater confidence in how you describe your teaching
Understand who your ideal students are in more detail
How to improve profitability by offering different price points and focus more on getting repeat students
Review and update your pricing
Your practical marketing homework:
Refine your niche statement
Complete your ideal student personas
Review your pricing
Map your teaching ‘ladder’ to offer training at different price points
Audit your website. Identify your weakest sales page.
Identify, research & approach potential organisations or venues for teaching opportunities.
What we’ll cover in this short course …
Session 2
Let Your Website Do the Hard Work
Your website should be at the heart of your teaching business, not just for marketing but also for taking bookings, easier admin and getting paid.
Your website is your most powerful & creative marketing tool to get bookings for your creative teaching.
In this 2nd workshop we’ll review common website mistakes creative teachers make and explore how to create stronger workshop pages that build trust and turn visitors into actual bookings.
You’ll learn how to improve various parts of your teaching website, including your workshop titles & descriptions, About Page, visuals and overall website structure. During this workshop you’ll start to rewrite one of your training sales pages. We’ll also cover some practical SEO for creative teachers so that more of the right people can find you online (we will come back to this important topic in the final session).
BONUS: You’ll get useful downloadable resources in the private course hub, incl. A website review checklist, sales page structure guide, and an SEO workbook.
Outcome:
A clearer website strategy, with stronger sales pages for your training, and other website improvements at low cost
Unique content ideas for your emails & social media with loads of inspiring examples
Patricia will teach you exactly what to do to identify and use SEO keywords to get found easier by potential new clients
Your practical marketing homework:
Improve your website navigation and (sub)categories
Rewrite one sales page with a better SEO title, keywords, description, and testimonials.
Improve your ‘About Me’ page.
Create a keyword library for your training
Develop more content ideas for your emails and social media
Write one marketing email
Session 3
Smart Marketing That Actually Gets Bookings
The final workshop focuses on creating a realistic & practical marketing strategy and 90-day marketing plan that works for creative teachers to get more workshop bookings.
The focus is not on ‘doing everything’, but on understanding what actually gets bookings, what creates repeat business, and what kind of marketing is realistic and sustainable for you.
We’ll deep dive into the number one marketing tool for creative teachers: email marketing! Why email marketing is so important, and how creative and effective email marketing can be for creative teachers – to get bookings, to onboard new students, and to keep in touch.
We’ll return to repeat business & student journeys. How to create interesting content, and how to create and launch your autumn training. You’ll finish the course by creating a practical 90-day marketing and launch plan.
BONUS: You’ll get useful downloadable resources in the private course hub crated by Patricia, incl. An email marketing planner, seasonal content calendar (with ideas), and 90-day marketing launch plan.
Outcome:
A clearer overal marketing strategy, stronger visibility and a practical 90-day marketing action & launch plan to help you get more bookings – this autumn and beyond.
Learn practical marketing skills that work and can use immediately in your training business and use for life!
Practical marketing homework:
Create an email marketing plan to get more signups and with creative content ideas for your training
Create a plan to get more repeat clients
Finish the content planner for your social media & emails
Finish the 90-day marketing launch plan for your autumn training
What’s included in this short course?
When you sign up for our Smart Marketing for Creative Teachers course you will get:
Recordings to the 3 live online workshops (7.5 hours in total) – You will get access to our private course hub, with the 3 recordings & presentations (till 31 March 2027), so you can learn at your own pace.
This is not just training to teach you essential marketing skills and give you inspiration to use in your own teaching business, but this programme also has built-in group support and accountability. We highly recommend that you join us live, and that you reserve 3-4 hours after each session for implementation to make the most of this short course. This course is highly action-orientated to make improvement in all aspects of marketing your creative workshops.
You’ll receive a range of practical resources and downloadable worksheets to help you implement what you learn. For details see above. You can download, print and keep these for as long as you like.
Who is this course for?
This short, online course Smart Marketing for Creative Teachers is for creative professionals who teach workshops, courses, demonstrations regularly, and who want to improve their marketing knowledge & confidence AND get more consistent bookings. Or maybe you offer mentoring or 121 training? You work freelance, and either teach in person or online, or both.
It’s especially suitable for:
Professional creatives: Artists, designer makers, illustrators, photographers, textile artists, jewellers and ceramicists
Creative facilitators & workshop leaders
It’s particularly valuable if you know your teaching has real value but struggle to communicate, position or market it effectively.
This online course would also be useful for teachers working in well-being, performing arts, creative writing, yoga etc. If you have any questions if this course is right for you then email us on info@thedesigntrust.co.uk
It is not suitable if you are not yet teaching regularly.
PATRICIA’S BOOK ‘TEACHING CREATIVE WORKSHOPS IN PERSON & ONLINE’
In 2022 Patricia was commissioned by Bloomsbury Publishing / Herbert Press to write ‘the handbook for creatives who teach’. After 3 years of research, interviewing many creative teachers in a wide range of disciplines, loads of writing and rewriting, editing and designing … her first book Teaching Creative Workshops In Person & Online was published in February 2025.
This is a really practical, visual & action orientated book for creative who want to teach workshops, courses, memberships or 121 – either in person or online – and who want to create and deliver more creative and unique training, get organised and stand out from the crowd, and price and promote their creative training professionally.
It’s packed full with her practical expert advice, with reflective and action-taking activities and expert tips to move your teaching forward. With a lot of detailed info on what makes teaching online different & challenging, but creative too! With 16 case studies of creatives who teach, including textile artists Ekta Kaul and Hanny Newton; gold leaf painter David A. Smith; illustrator agent Lilla Rogers from Make Art That Sells, and many more!
You can buy Patricia’s book Teaching Creative Workshops in Person & Online from Amazon, Waterstones and other online retailers, as well as from your local independent book shop.
We highly recommend that you purchase Patricia’s book in advance to accompany this marketing course as it is full of additional marketing strategies and activities.
patricia van den akker
Creative business trainer & author
Patricia van den Akker is an award-winning creative business adviser, trainer and coach, and the Director of The Design Trust – the online business school for creative professionals, based in London, England.
I’ve been teaching creative business development for over 20 years to creatives, both in person and online, and regularly work with organisations including the Royal College of Art, University of the Arts London/Central St Martins, GNCCF, Cockpit Arts, QEST, Heritage Crafts and many others.
I’m also the author of Teaching Creative Workshops In Person & Online (Bloomsbury), a practical handbook for artists, makers and creative professionals who want to create more meaningful, impactful and profitable learning experiences.
This short online course combines my experience as both a business adviser and a teacher, bringing together the strategic, practical and marketing skills that creative teachers need right now.
FAQ: Got any further questions?
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To make the most of this workshop and implement your learning into your business we recommend that you reserve 3-4 hours after each workshop - to work on your marketing, training offer, website, branding, email marketing ...
How much time it will take depends partly on how much time you want to spend, and also on your existing experience or resources.
But it is by DOING the marketing afterwards that you will get more bookings, feel more marketing-confident and attract better students.
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You can pay in 3 monthly instalments by selecting the ‘Paypal Later’ option at the check out.
And our Business Club & Dream Plan Do Club members get 15% discount on this course as part of their membership. See the homepage of the BC and DPD courses or recent emails for details.
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We would love you to join us!
Although our expertise is working with creative visual artists and designers, in crafts, visual art, photography, illustration etc, we think there is a lot of similarity in marketing, your website and creating creative training offers.
We think this short course is very suitable for you too, and that you will get a lot from this course to promote your training too.
However, you might need to be a little more creative and think 'out-of-the-box' with some of the examples that we share.
If you have any questions if this training is suitable for you then email us on info@thedesigntrust.co.uk with what you teach, who your ideal students are, and what your marketing questions or challenges are, and we can give you a more specific & personalised answer. We are always very honest in our recommendations.
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Our private online platform (where you’ll find the presentations + recordings) is really easy to use too. You’ll only need basic computer literacy in order to navigate it.
However, to implement your marketing you might need some additional digital & email marketing skills, although we love using 'traditional marketing' too!!
You might want to get some extra support to make changes to your website, incl. a designer, copywriter and a photographer. It's really up to you what marketing activities you want to focus on, and get more creative with the skills you got already!
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Ideally yes, although it doesn't need to be perfect.
Many participants join because they want to improve their current website and workshop pages.
Having a website is very much part of being a professional creative and teacher.
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When you buy an online workshop from us then you purchase a single license, which means that you can NOT share the recording or presentation with others. Like you, we are a small creative business, and this online course is full of our copyrighted material and expertise that Patricia has developed over many years. If you share with others who haven’t paid then you are basically stealing from us. We know you wouldn’t like it if others did the same to you.
So THANK YOU for not sharing with others.
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This course has taken place over summer. You can access the private course hub and watch the recordings (accessible till 31 March 2027).
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As this course has started we will not offer any refunds.
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If you have any other questions then please get in touch with us. We are always happy to help.
A practical 3-part online course to help you stand out, improve your website, drive better traffic, and get more workshop bookings.