Hosting a virtual summit in a creative, non-business niche might seem intimidating, but what if I told you it could actually be easier than hosting business-focused events? Today's guest is living proof that B2C summits not only work—they often outperform B2B events in every metric that matters.
I'm chatting with Hortense Maskens from Knitting with Chopsticks, a Belgian pattern designer who has hosted four incredibly successful virtual summits—two for knitters and two for crocheters. She's transformed her business from scattered pattern sales to a thriving membership community with 260 members, all thanks to her strategic use of virtual summits.
You'll hear how she more than doubled her profit through summits, evolved from hosting standalone events to launching her membership through them, and how her deep understanding of her audience helped her customize proven strategies to work perfectly for her "little old ladies" (her words, not mine!). Plus, she shares the fascinating insight that 60% of her audience does both knitting AND crocheting but behaves completely differently depending on which craft summit they're attending.
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Episode at a glance:
[1:45] Hortense's business background started with pattern designing for both knitting and crochet, plus hosting collaborative blog hops and bundles. After taking time off for family, she decided she needed to do something big to show the world she was back in business. That's when she discovered virtual summits through another summit and thought, "I could do this—it sounds like a bundle!"
"I am scared of a lot of things. I'm scared of everything in real life, but I'm scared of nothing online, because worst case, I close my laptop and I'm done."
[5:05] Instead of hosting one broad summit covering both knitting and crochet, Hortense chose to create two separate, niche-specific events. Her reasoning was brilliant: she didn't want half her audience complaining that half the content wasn't relevant to them. This decision to stay ultra-specific paid off massively, bringing in 5,000 new email subscribers and way more revenue than her modest $2,000 goal.
"The engagement was the best part that I did not expect, because it was like, people are loving this. Like, genuinely, this is changing their knitting life... it really felt like, Okay, I'm in contact with real people, and not like, nasty internet profiles."
[7:11] The incredible engagement from her first summit inspired Hortense to launch her membership. She realized she had the patterns, the teaching ability, but was missing the community component. The membership became her way to create a safe, closed environment where members could connect with each other, not just with her.
"I wanted something where we're all equal, and that doesn't work well for me. It doesn't work any other way than in a membership where it's like, closed and friendly... it's not about them talking to me."
[10:18] Through her summits, Hortense brings in an average of 110-180 people to free membership trials, with an impressive 45% conversion rate to paid memberships. Since launching her membership in November 2023, she now has 260 members—a testament to the power of using summits as a membership launch strategy.
[11:21] Hortense's deep understanding of her audience (affectionately called her "little old ladies") has been crucial to her success. She knows that 2025 marketing tactics don't work on them—they need straightforward, upfront communication and extremely simple tech solutions. Europeans are "20 years behind" Americans with technology, so every step of her summit experience is designed with this in mind.
"I really have to think through all the whole process and, like, every step and be like, Okay, this is how we do it for like, 25 to 40 year olds. But like, what do I need to adjust for my audience?"
[13:32] Here's something fascinating: 60% of Hortense's audience does both knitting and crochet, but they behave completely differently at each summit because the industries around each craft are different. Crocheters expect more free content, while knitters are used to paying for courses. This means she has to price her all-access passes differently—$47 for crochet summits vs. $57 for knitting—because a $10 difference literally doubled her conversion rates overnight!
[15:49] To accommodate her tech-challenged audience, Hortense keeps everything as simple as possible. Free presentations require no login, she admits everyone to her Facebook group regardless of technical signup status, and she creates walkthrough videos showing attendees exactly how to navigate her summit website.
"I always think about it, if my mom joined, and I had to explain it to her, what would I need to say? She still joins and still calls me with questions."
[18:20] Her advice for creative business owners worried about summits being "too businessy"? Don't worry—they're actually better for non-business audiences! Creative people are more engaged, more bought-in, and more likely to participate authentically because they're not jaded by constant marketing messages.
"Normal people don't do that. They actually read... they're more excited, and they're more bought in, and they participate, and they join the community, and they love all of that. And that's what we want."
About Hortense Maskens
Hey! I'm Hortense. My mom taught me to knit, one summer when I was bored on the beach at age 10. From there, my love (some would say obsession) of yarn was born, and I never stopped stitching.
A few years ago, I started to dig into the online world of yarn and discovered so many techniques, constructions, and concepts I had never heard about before.
Slowly, I started to move away from following patterns until 2018 when I finally launched my blog, Knitting with Chopsticks, where I share my easy knitting & crochet patterns.
My goal is to break down knitting and crochet so they become simple enough for you to create exactly what you want, the way you want it, through my patterns, blog, eBooks, courses, the Stitching Squad and summits.
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