Using Acuity Scheduling for Events, Workshops & Classes (Step-by-Step Tutorial)
In business, there's one thing we all strive for; automation. Making your workflows and processes as automated and smooth as possible is the best way to ensure consistent output, experience and quality.
Acuity Scheduling is known as a powerful automated appointment bookings tool. However, not many people know that Acuity Scheduling works great for monthly, weekly, or even one-off events as well!
In this post, I'll take you through a step-by-step tutorial on you can use Acuity Scheduling for your next event.
Why Acuity Scheduling?
Acuity Scheduling is a powerful online appointment scheduling tool that allows you to automate and manage your appointments. Whether you're a freelancer, consultant, or small business owner, Acuity Scheduling can help you save time, reduce scheduling conflicts, and improve communication with your clients. By integrating Acuity Scheduling into your Squarespace website, you can provide a seamless booking experience for your clients while streamlining your internal processes.
Getting Started with Acuity Scheduling
Starting with Acuity Scheduling is a seamless. You've got two paths: head over to AcuityScheduling.com and sign up for a free trial, or kick things off directly from your Squarespace website. For our demo today, we're using a fictional website called Homebase, which offers cooking classes, including a special pasta-making workshop.
Your step-by-step to get your event up and running:
Sign Up for Acuity Scheduling: Go to their website or start from Squarespace. Either way, you'll land a 14-day free trial to get your bearings.
Create Your Event: In the Acuity backend, navigate to "Appointment Types" and click to create a new one. Let's say "Pasta Making Workshop". You'll need to set the duration, price (let's say 50 pounds per person), and accessibility (public for everyone or private for select clients).
Specify It's a Group Class: Decide on the maximum number of attendees per slot. For our workshop, we're doing an intimate setup with just two spots per time slot.
Offer Your Class: Now, set the date and time for your class. You can offer multiple slots throughout the day to accommodate more attendees.
Customize Your Booking Page: Head over to "Customize Appearance" to tweak the look and feel of your booking page. This includes choosing your view (daily is recommended for single-day events), playing with font styles, and colors, and adding descriptions.
Connect a Payment Gateway: Since we're charging for the workshop, connect your Stripe account to handle payments directly through Acuity.
Set Up Payment Options: You can choose to require full payments upfront or allow for a deposit. For our example, we're asking for a 20-pound deposit, with the option for clients to pay the remainder later.
Integrating with Your Website
Once your event is all set in Acuity, the next step is to make it easy for your clients to find and book. If you're using Squarespace (or a similar platform), embedding the scheduling right on your site is straightforward:
Embed Your Scheduler: On your site, add a new section for scheduling. You can use pre-designed templates or start with a blank slate and customize as needed.
Select Your Event: Make sure your scheduler is set to display your pasta-making workshop, showing available spots, duration, and cost.
Save and Share: Once you're happy with how everything looks, hit save. You can share the scheduling link directly or embed it in your website, making it super accessible for your clients.
And there you have it! With Acuity Scheduling, setting up and managing bookings for your events is not just possible; it's easy and efficient. Whether you're hosting cooking classes, workshops, or any other event, Acuity offers the tools you need to automate your booking process, freeing up more time to focus on what you love.
