grow your business

35+ ways to grow your business (without working more hours!)

35+ ways to Grow your Yoga Businessas yogis, we're in the business of service.
we want to help as many people as possible, but when that means teaching 15, 20, 25 public classes a week, we can only grow our yoga career so big before we tap out.
if you're stuck in a business model that has you working too many hours for too little money, it's time to rethink your strategy. 'cause trading time for money only gets you so far -- and often burn out hits along the way.
of course, time in-person with students is essential -- it keeps us inspired, connected to the community, and is the reason we started teaching in the first place. but, we can't rely solely on ourselves as teaching vehicles.
what if we get sick? want to start a family? or want to travel?
what happens to our business if we're not actively working it 24/7?
if you can't step away from your business without it falling apart, it's time to restructure your business model so that you can enjoy more ease and abundance in both your LIFE and business.
below is a list of 35+ ways to grow your yoga business WITHOUT working more hours. after your initial time investment, the suggestions below will bring in passive income. meaning, you'll be making money while you're in savasana!
(this list is by no means all-inclusive -- it's meant to inspire you to think outside the box, create multiple streams of income, and help you stop trading your precious time for too little money!)
Sell a virtual product
1. e-book
2. yoga videos
3. recorded meditations
4. cookbook
5. class plans (check out TheYogaRecipe.com)
6. tip sheet
7. audio recordings of your classes (check out AudibleYoga.com)
8. yoga sequences
9. anatomy of a pose info sheet
Host an online event (record it & sell the recording)
1. webinar
2. speaker series (like i did here)
3. telesummit
4. virtual conference
5. online class
6. group Q+A
Sell an actual product 
1. open an etsy shop if you're crafty
2. sell stuff on ebay
3. post yoga items on craigslist
4. start a yoga shop on amazon
Create a virtual program
1. teacher training
2. yoga immersion workshop
3. online course
Sell your virtual program other places
1. gumroad
2. udemy
Offer a monthly membership subscription for...
1. meditations
2. thought for the day
3. healthy recipes
4. yoga sequences
5. yoga videos
6. online classes
7. written content (blog posts, poems, stories, etc.)
8. podcast
Sell someone else's program (if you believe in something that someone else is offering, ask them about becoming an affiliate!)
1. online course or program
2. teacher training (virtual or live)
3. workshop (virtual or live)
4. virtual conference
so, there you have it. over 35 ways to bring in more money without working more hours. and, the cool thing is, you can tailor these offerings to further develop your unique yoga brand and give your students more ways to work with & learn from you. it's a win-win for everyone!

have an online offering already? share a link to it in the comment section. i wanna check it out!

how to recruit students for 1x1 work

so, you want more private yoga clients, eh?
BUT, you hate being "pushy" and "salesy"?
i feel ya.  i hate it too.
(that's why i full-heartedly embrace marketing -- the sharing of ideas and inspiration to educate my community! but that's a topic for a different day :-)
the truth is, often the more you push your yoga offerings, the more resistant people become. no one likes being sold.
but, in order to grow your yoga biz and get more private clients, you need to sell, right?
it seems like your basic catch 22...
in today's video i cover 4 ways to recruit students for private yoga sessions without being pushy, salesy or inauthentic.  it's all about feel-good offerings and feel-good marketing -- no car-salesman-style pitches here!
if you're looking for a way to confidently, proudly and comfortably "sell" your offerings, i've outlined the proper etiquette below! enjoy!

i LOVE hearing from you!

in the comments share which tip you're most excited to try out!

 

how to get more private yoga clients

wishing that you had more private yoga clients?  but not sure how to expand that area of your yoga business? no worries.  in today's CALM biz video, i share a number of tips and techniques for finding and keeping private clients, all of which are easy, cost you nothing and you can start using them right away.  but first, let's talk about why you would want to teach privates in the first place.

private yoga students are great for a number of reasons...

(1) you can really ensure that they're getting the intended benefits & see the progress they're making

(2) you develop a deeper bond and understanding of their needs

(3) it allows you to expand your repertoire and teaching know-how by working with a number of different bodies one-on-one

(4) you earn much more per hour than you do teaching public classes

(5) you get honest and instant feedback about your teaching, assisting, demos, explanations, and more!

(6) private students are loyal, LOVE you and refer you to family and friends :-)

ok, now that you realize the benefits of having private clientele, let's dive into today's video so you can begin to find, attract and keep private yoga clients!

have more tips or creative strategies for drawing private clients to your teaching?  i'd love to hear them!

share them in the comments below!

 

 

 

 

 

biz: how turning pro changed my life & career

do you know what separates the yoga teacher hobbyists from the yoga teacher pros? hint: it's not their training, or their salary, or their resume.

the ONE THING that truly distinguishes the amateurs from the pros is a decision.  a decision to "turn pro", and approach their yoga teaching as a career and a business, not just a hobby or part-time gig.

now, keep in mind, this decision will not transform your yoga business overnight, but it will transform the way you do business -- which, over time, will result in greater success and happiness is all areas of your life.

so, what did turning pro look like for me?

the shift occurred for me after my final weekend of Anatomy & Therapeutics, a 100 hour Yogadharma yoga training.  our entire last weekend was focused on the subtle body -- studying and observing our prana, and what depletes us and what energizes us.  i realized that one of the things that constantly left me feeling stressed was my irregular morning schedule.  mondays i would "sleep in" until 7ish, on tuesdays i had to be out the door by 5:45am to teach class at 6am, wednesdays i was up around 6:30am, thursdays up at 5am to take an early bird yoga class, and fridays i'd "sleep in" again.  this roller coaster drained my energy, and constantly left me feeling behind and rushed.

another area that i realized needed to be addressed was my work schedule.  i would haphazardly chip away at business projects, hoping they'd get done, but never with a concrete timeline or plan in mind.  i'd work more on the things that i liked, and spend less (or no) time on the elements of my biz that i didn't like so much.  that needed to change too.

so, that final sunday night, after my last day of training, i set my morning alarm to give me more consistency -- monday, wednesday & friday it wakes me at 6am, and tuesday & thursday, it goes off at 5am.  upon waking, i brush my teeth, and get on my cushion for 15 minutes of meditation, and voila -- i'm off on the right foot!  (a simple enough change, but i was resisting it -- i wanted to have "leisurely" mornings that weren't dictated by an alarm, and in the process i was sabotaging myself.  hindsight is 20/20, you know...)

as for my schedule, this took a little longer to figure out, but eventually i got in the habit of planning out my entire week on the friday afternoon before.  now, every friday, i sit down, look at my to-do/goal list, and see what needs to happen in the next week to move me closer to my goals.  again, another simple change that has worked wonders for my business (and my sanity).

so, i ask you -- how are you sabotaging your yoga career?  this may not be an easy pill to swallow, but chances are there's something you're doing (or not doing) right now that's getting in the way of your potential success.

remember -- pros don't make excuses.  pros don't hope something will get done, they do it.  pros don't haphazardly market their offerings, they have a plan.  take a good hard look at the way you conduct yourself, and ask yourself, "am i a pro?" -- if the answer is no, i challenge you to make one small shift that will move you in that direction!

you could...

  • schedule time to write your blog every week
  • do research about starting a yoga newsletter -- and send out your first one!
  • google "how to make a wordpress website", and start building one
  • watch 1 hour less of TV per week and devote that time to your yoga business
  • put that workshop you've been wanting to design & teach on the calendar, and then reverse engineer what you need to work on NOW to make it happen
  • email 1 yoga teacher each week that you would like to network with (think BIG!)
  • contact a yoga blog (like elephant journal, mindbodygreen, etc.), and pitch a guest post idea that you could write (then do it again the next month, and the next...)
  • get up 30 min earlier in the morning and meditate

so, what ONE THING are you going to do to help you transform from amateur to yoga pro?!

for more turning pro advice, check out this book by steven pressfield :-)

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