How to Start Getting Students Into Your Quilting Class
- Tori McElwain
- Jul 13
- 5 min read
Hey Tori! Answering Your Digital Marketing Questions for Creative Entrepreneurs Podcast
You did it! Your workshop exists. You have an objective, you mapped the content, you priced it with confidence. Maybe you worked through my book, Workshops Unleashed, to get here. The class is a package — a gift, ready to go. And now you're staring at it thinking: okay… how does anyone actually find out about this?
If that's where you are, you've hit the most common freeze point I see with new teachers. It's not the designing that stops people. It's the marketing, so let's fix that.
Hey Tori! Podcast
Listen to the Podcast Episode Here:
What you'll learn in this post/episode:
The two paths for marketing your first (or next) workshop — and how to pick yours
Why “do everything” and “do almost nothing” are both the wrong plan
The Program Path: borrowing trust from audiences that already exist
The Content & Email Launch Path: building an asset nobody can take from you
A 20-minute assignment that ends with one pitch email
“My Workshop Is Ready — Do I Need Some Big Program to Fill It?”
Across the past three Workshops Unleashed book clubs, I hear some version of this consistently: “My workshop is ready. Do I need to build a system to get people in it? How many classes do I need to have ready? Or can I just post about it, send some emails, and see what happens?”
Underneath those questions is real confusion about scale. Should this be a big structured push, or can it be a simple content launch?
Here's what I see a lot: teachers think they have to choose between doing everything — building an entire class series first, running paid ads, posting every day — or doing almost nothing and hoping one Instagram post is enough. Neither of those is true. There are two paths you can start with, and they eventually work together.
Path One: The Program Path — Borrow an Audience That Already Exists
If you've been around a quilt guild, you know what a program is — many guilds call them lectures or talks. This path is about building something designed to reach larger groups at once, in front of an audience someone else has already gathered. Think quilt guild lectures, the teacher sampler for the Global Quilt Connection, summits, hosting your own webinars, or pitching yourself to shops and guilds directly.
You're borrowing trust and reaching an audience that already exists — in exchange for showing up and teaching well. The program section of Workshops Unleashed includes frameworks to build these out, including one anyone can use: A Quilter's Journey. Every quilter has a journey, which means every quilter has a program in them.
Path Two: The Content & Email Launch Path — Build an Audience You Own
This is where most online classes live. And here's something I believe — and believe isn't a strong enough word: if you want to teach online, you have to market online. Your audience lives online, so that's where you show up. If your audience is in person, show up more in person — and post online too, because your in-person students are also scrolling.
A content launch takes more effort up front because you're building your own list. But that list is an asset you own forever. Instagram can change its rules. Nobody can take your email list away from you. And each launch gets easier than the last.
Which Path Should You Start With?
The Program Path | The Content & Email Launch Path | |
What it is | Teaching in front of an audience someone else already built: guild lectures, summits, the Global Quilt Connection teacher sampler, webinars, pitching shops and guilds directly. | Launching your workshop with content and email to an audience you build and own — where most online classes live. |
Start here if you | Already have guild connections, are comfortable in front of a room, or want proof of concept fast. | Are building your audience from scratch, want full control over pricing and calendar, or are more comfortable writing than presenting live. |
Effort | Medium to high — but the room is already put together for you. | More effort up front to build your list — but each launch gets easier. |
What you get | Borrowed trust, fast first students, real testimonials. | An asset you own forever. Nobody can take your email list away from you. |
How to get students for your quilting class: How the Two Paths Feed Each Other
Most teachers eventually use both. Programs give you real practice and real testimonials fast. As you get into a rhythm and build a network of guilds, those in-person presentations, webinars, and summits keep bringing new people onto your email list — so you're never launching from zero again. Then you share every workshop with that growing list. That's the whole loop.
Once you've launched a class, move those launch emails into a regular newsletter — I suggest at least twice a month. It keeps your people warm and keeps you top of mind between launches. (Newsletters deserve their own episode, and they'll get one.)
If you go the content and email launch route, this is exactly why I built CELA — the Creative's Email Launch Assistant — inside the Digital Marketing Magic Coaching Program. She takes the framework from the book and helps you build a ten-day launch plan of content and emails, written in your words, for your workshop. But you don't need CELA to do this. The framework is in the book; CELA just gets you there faster.
Coming Up: A Teacher Who Took the Program Path
Next episode, I'm bringing on our very first Hey Tori guest: Tonya. She took the program route, designed her own programs for quilting shows, and built a business out of it. She'll share how she markets herself and how she's grown since taking the book club. I can't wait for you to hear her side of this.
Hey Tori Takeaway
Pick one path. Just one.
Leaning toward the program path? Spend five to ten minutes writing down a few topics you could present. Start with your own quilter's journey — what lessons can you pull from it to teach other quilters?
Then write one email pitching yourself to your local guild or shop. See how it feels. You might be ready to hit send right now.
One email. Twenty minutes. That's the whole assignment.
Both of these paths — the program and the content launch — are covered in detail inside Workshops Unleashed. You can grab the book, Workshops Unleashed here! If you'd like company while you work through it, the free Workshops Unleashed book club walks you through building your own launch plan week by week, with real accountability instead of reading alone — it runs every January and July. Click here to see the Book Club. And if you want more hands-on support, the Business Intensive meets live, where I give feedback on your marketing plan.
When you're ready for ongoing help running these launches — tools like CELA, live coaching, and a full launch strategy built around your calendar and your business — that's what the Digital Marketing Magic Coaching Program is here for. The best first step is a free 30-minute strategy session where we go through your goals and how I can help — no pressure, just clarity on your next move. Book yours here.
About the Author: Tori McElwain is a digital marketing coach for quilting and creative businesses. With 24+ years of quilting experience and a Master's degree in Education, she helps quilters attract more students, sell more patterns, and grow their businesses online - without losing the joy of creating. She's the author of “Workshops Unleashed” and cohost of the Hey Tori! and the Quilting on the Side podcast.
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