Quote:
Originally Posted by melhahn
I have inquired and several yoga instructors have told me that it feels self-serving to promote oneself.
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I've been lurking for a few days, and just registered, primarily because of this statement. I've encountered this attitude myself, but I don't really get it. Teaching yoga is a great way for me to remain a serious student and to pursue my passion while sharing the gifts of yoga with others, but I went into this with my eyes open to the fact that I was becoming a small business owner.
I've been teaching full-time in the Central Indiana area for about 18 months, and I've grown my business by over 34% since this time last year. I'm still not at the place where I want to be financially, but I've gotten to the point where I can be a bit more choosy on jobs I take.
Right now, I'm trying to follow some of the suggestions here to build up my private client business, and my goal is to be able to, in 6 months, divest myself of some of my lower-paying gigs because I will have found better paying clients to take their place. Better, perhaps I will be able to sub-contract those jobs out to newer teachers and retain a small percentage of commision. I do have a couple of group classes that I plan to keep, even though they are not as profitable, simply because I get a lot of energy and inspiration from the students. I'm also considering offering a weekly free yoga class for senior citizens or prison inmates as a karma yoga offering. As much as I'd like to make more money, sometimes my decisions are motivated by other factors so that I maintain a balanced business as well as a balanced practice.
Some things that have worked for me:
1 - I follow up on EVERY lead, even if it's something that I don't think I'll be able to make work. Sometimes I've been right, sometimes other opportunities have come from these calls.
2 - I gather names and emails and send a monthly, or sometimes semi-monthly, e-newsletter detailing upcoming workshops, classes and intensives that I teach. I also include a brief "dharma article" and I try to promote at least one event happening in the yoga community that I'm not involved with. Starting with my next e-newsletter I'm going to focus on privates, semi-privates and couples yoga.
3 - I cold-call, or drop by, any facility where yoga classes might be a good addition. A couple of the better-paying gigs I've gotten have come from this.
4 - Networking with other teachers and studios, and getting my name on their sub lists and newsletters
5 - When I teach a workshop at a retreat or studio, I "brand" the workshop with the name of my business (for example, my business is called Conscious Warrior Movement...I'm teaching a Partner class called "United Warriors")
6 - I maintain a list of a few reliable subs who I respect as teachers, and if an opportunity comes my way that I can't take, I refer the client to someone on my list.
7 - I'm starting to look at other possible revenue streams that require little-to-no start-up costs (I want to explore the "pay-per-click" idea more, and I'm talking with some people about helping me design some logo-wear which can be offered on a print-on-demand website).
I'm looking forward to trying out more of the techniques I've found here, and getting feedback from site members.