Teaching writers from Airbnb Experiences to E-courses
Five or six years ago, I rented spare rooms in our house through Airbnb. It was a great way to bring in some money and it led me to discover something called, “Airbnb Experiences.” These are one-of-a-kind experiences hosted by locals in cities all over the world. There are hiking tours, art classes, cooking classes and many other experiences for travelers to do in the cities they visit.
I’d taught workshops for several years in homes and for businesses about how to improve your writing, write for advocacy, and start a writing practice, so, I decided to host my own Experiences. I offered one called, “So You Want to be a Writer” for people who wanted to write a book or to get started writing anything. I offered another called, “So You Want to Get Published,” for people who were more determined about their writing.
Through these experiences I taught dozens of writers, sometimes in groups and sometimes alone. I eventually quit hosting through Airbnb but word got around about me and it led to what is now a thriving business coaching writers all over the world. Most of “my writers” are working on books, blogs, magazine, and online articles.
Recently, I’ve had increased interest from people who want to explore writing as a creative practice and people who have book ideas. They want to learn the basics like, how to get started as a writer and stay with it, what it takes to complete an article or manuscript, and how to choose a topic. I love that there’s an upswell in interest for people who want to tell their stories. I’ve believed for a long time that sharing our stories, writing what’s true and putting it out in the world are necessary for changing the global narrative.
Private coaching isn’t for every writer though, so I decided to meet this need by creating a couple e-courses and offering them on my website. One is “How to Be a Writer,” which covers tools, techniques, topic choice, intention, motivation, story mapping, outlines and then some. It’s just the thing for writers who are starting out, starting again, pushing themselves further, or writing-curious. The other is, “How to Write a Book,” which covers some of the same, but from a book-writing perspective. This is for writers who are ready to write a book, either because it’s a craft they want to explore, or because they have a topic they want to share in book-form.
I’m excited to share these courses and amazed at how far my coaching business has come from my early workshop days and Airbnb Experiences. I no longer rent rooms in my house or teach Experiences, but I still teach workshops and I love bringing what I know to businesses and groups. I love teaching clients who are invested in their writing practices and creative experiences. I feel fortunate to do this for a living and so grateful for each step and each student along the way. And I hope my clients all know how much I appreciate and am honored to be working with each one of them. They’re doing important work and I’m proud of them.
Check out the e-courses, will you? Share them with people you know who have great stories and could be great writers. I’d love to help more people get their stories out of their heads, onto the page and out in the world, for readers who need them.
Oh…one more thing…if you’re in Portland on Sunday, October 22, 2023, from 2-4PM, come by the Rose City Book Pub where I’ll be leading a Writing for Advocacy workshop. Times are hard. It’s time to write somebody about it.
