Marketing Your Yoga Business

Introduction

• Do you have a tendency toward engaging in marketing only when you think of it, or only when you have few classes or low attendance? Consider, instead, to make marketing a regular practice.
• You may wish to focus less on clever naming and more on identifying the feeling and experience that your classes or studio provide students.

FOCUS ON A REGULAR—DAILY IF POSSIBLE—MARKETING PROCESS

Just as breath control gives you greater flexibility in your yoga postures, controlling your marketing will give your business greater flexibility, energy and resilience. There are going to be lean times and there are going to be times when your classes are packed, mat to mat. In both cases you should still be focusing on a regular, daily if possible, marketing process. It could be as simple as updating your Facebook page or website with new class information, or writing an email to your subscribers and students informing them of an upcoming workshop or weekend retreat. A packed class one week does not guarantee the same attendance the next. Just as one deep breath does not guarantee a relaxed and clear state of mind. Unfortunately, many new yoga teachers fall into the trap of only thinking about marketing when their classes are empty. That’s a bit like only thinking about warm up stretches after you’ve pulled a muscle. – Jules Barber 

See Also

• 5 Tips to Empower Your Business Online – “Having a website is good, but without strategizing your purpose in the online ecosystem, it is a waste of time, money and energy.”
• Guide to Getting Yoga Business Cards – has some nice sample layouts for different styles of cards for yoga teachers.
• How to Name Your Yoga Business

To Brand or Not to Brand?

DEFINING YOUR “BRAND”

The word brand is usually synonymous with a product, and one that has an original, reliable and well-defined offering. Nike trainers make you run faster, Fairy Liquid keeps your hands soft and Red Bull gives you wings, that sort of thing. How can this apply to yoga given that we are people, and not products? There are a number of more helpful definitions, but this is my favorite:

• It’s what people say about you when you are not in the room.
• It’s the promise of an experience.

And here’s the rub: given that yoga is a highly experiential activity, students will attach as much, if not more, importance to the ‘feeling’ they get from a teacher or a studio as they would to other practical considerations like cost or location. – Jules Barber 

CHOOSING NOT TO WORRY ABOUT A BRAND STRATEGY

My personal feeling is that setting up a brand strategy is the last thing you should worry about as a new or freelance teacher. The reason I say this is because most teachers who try to brand their style of yoga think that all they need to do is come up with a clever name and start a Facebook fan page or website in order to have a brand. The main issue is that most teachers don’t have a clear reason for setting up a brand. – Erin Aquin