are you on LinkedIn?
if not, you might want to consider signing-up for an account. it's free, and provides you with a lot of opportunities to network with like-minded individuals and also find future potential yoga clients for your biz.
according to wikipedia, LinkedIn is a "is a social networking website for people in professional occupations" and "is mainly used for professional networking."
so, how can that serve you?
well, as a yoga teacher you are a yoga professional, which means LinkedIn is a great place to meet, connect with, and learn from other yoga professionals. plus, since everyone can benefit from yoga -- LinkedIn will open you up to countless potential yoga students and future private clients.
if you're new to LinkedIn, or don't make use of it much, here are my tips to leverage LinkedIn to grow your yoga biz:
- find connections - LinkedIn allows you to import your email contacts to see which of them are on LinkedIn. this is a great place to start since the more connections you have, the more chances you have of making valuable new ones!
- join groups - search yoga groups on LinkedIn and join (or ask to join) any that are of interest to you. check them out, see the topics they're discussing, and when you have something to say -- share it! don't feel bad about mentioning your yoga business, studio, website, or newsletter -- since LinkedIn is a place where professionals hang out, that's totally PC, as long as you're not too pushy or salesy (which i know you'd never be!)
- reach out - when you come across someone of interest in a group or who is a connection of one of your connections, reach out to them and introduce yourself. you don't have to over explain yourself, simply say that you saw their comment/profile/etc., and would like to add them as a connection since you like meeting like-minded individuals -- or something along those lines :-)
- share news - when you write (or find) a great blog post, article or newsletter about an interesting yoga topic - share it! post it in one (or a few) of the groups you're in and pose a question for discussion. or, if you have a yoga workshop coming up or are offering your first online teacher training, post a link. aim to be helpful, not pushy, and people will respond well -- especially if you post it in appropriate groups. (i.e. post a link to your online teacher training in the I Love Yoga group, and post your bikram workshop intensive in the Hot Yoga Fanatics group, etc.)
- offer your help - once you get familiar with some of the groups and make some connections, you can start offering your help. for example, if you've interacted with someone in the I Love Yoga group who is also the HR director at a local company, ask her if her company has ever considered hosting an on-site yoga class as part of their wellness initiative. maybe even offer to teach one class for free, and if people respond well, you can take it from there! (remember: you'll need insurance to do this -- but that's a topic for another blog post :-)
are you on LinkedIn? let's connect!