You did it! You became a yoga teacher. Maybe you practiced for 2 years before taking your teacher training, maybe 20, but you came to the realization that you wanted to share your passion for yoga and for a better life with other people, and you took the steps necessary to teach. And then you realized just how hard it is to make money teaching yoga. How can you be an effective yoga teacher when you're stressed out about your business? Follow these 9 tips for success!
Tip 1: Attend Other Teachers' Classes.
Practicing with other teachers not only keeps you fresh and energized; it also gives you an opportunity to network and market yourself. The more students get to know you, the more they will come to your classes.
Tip 2: Introduce Yourself.
The next time you take a class with another teacher in your studio, ask them to introduce you as the teacher who gives the vinyasa class (or whatever it is you teach) on Saturday mornings (or whenever it is that you teach). You'll find that more people start to come to your classes.
Tip 3: More Practicing, Less Teaching.
The number one mistake that yoga teachers make when they start teaching is to allocate too much time to teaching, and not enough to practicing. The best yoga teachers teach what they practice. Without your own practice, what are you teaching?
Tip 4: Get Paid Per Head.
Getting paid per hour is fine if you never want to make money. When you get paid per head (per the number of people that attend your class), you have more control over your earnings, and you can do your own marketing - and have it pay off! The more people like you, the more you'll make.
Tip 5: Cancel low-performing classes.
How much is your time worth? If you have a class that consistently gets only a small number of people, cancel it and focus on the classes that bring in more people.
Tip 6: Split-Test Your Classes!
Split testing is a term that is often used in internet marketing. When you split-test, you test to see what works best, and you do more of it. For instance, let's say you teach two ashtanga classes, one at 10:00 AM and the other at 5:00 PM. You teach them exactly the same, but you consistently get more people at 5:00 PM. Cancel your 10:00 AM and start another class at 5:00 PM on a different day. Then, split test something else - perhaps the way you start class, the type of class you teach, how repetitive you are, and so on. Consistently do more of what works, and then try to make it work even better.
Tip 7: Advertise!
Carry around your business.educationeasy.net business card. Introduce yourself as a yoga instructor. Hand out your flyers and class schedules. Set up a web page with information on yoga, where and when you teach, your philosophy, and anything else you think people might want to know about yoga. Learn to market online - that's where most people look for information nowadays.
Tip 8: Make What You're Worth.
A huge mistake that many new yoga teachers make is to assume they should earn less than more experienced teachers. You have your own style, and many people will prefer your classes for variety of reasons, regardless of your experience. If you accept less than you deserve, you will end up feeling frustrated. You will never make more than you think you are worth. Decide how much you want to make, and stick to your goal.
Tip 9: Do Something Else to Bring in Money.
In certain areas, especially away from the city, it may be difficult for you to get many people to your classes. To keep your sanity, you may need to do something else to bring in money. A good idea is to start a simple online business that can make money for you while you focus on other things. Teaching yoga is much more relaxing when you know that you have other money coming in!
If you follow these nine tips, you should be well on your way to success as a yoga instructor. Here's to educating others on the road to enlightenment!
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About the author:
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Liane Carmi, a High School ESL teacher and yoga instructor, has joined entrepreneur Jay Kubassek of CarbonCopyPRO in his mission to create 100 millionaires by 2012. To get better-educated about starting an online business please visit better-educated.com?t=yoga Better-Educated.com
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