If you are a Yoga teacher, or thinking about becoming a Yoga teacher, the concepts contained within this series will save you money and, potentially, earn you a lot more money. How much money you want to earn as a Yoga teacher, is up to you. If you are willing to put in your time, marketing your Yoga teaching skills, the sky is the limit. None of us has to teach Yoga; we choose to teach Yoga because we love it and know the many rewards of steady Yoga practice.
That is why I pass on Yoga Business and Marketing information to my Yoga teacher interns, friends, peers, Yoga coaching clients, and competitors. Many great Yoga teachers are guilty of unwise business decisions, and desperately scratch out a living, without the proper business skills.
Speaking of Yoga business competitors, you would be better off to network with other local Yoga teachers. Some of the neighboring Yoga studios, in Providence, RI, refer prospective Yoga students to me, and I do the same for them. You can?t fill every Yoga niche and do you want to really try? Even McDonald?s has a limit on the menu and we can all learn from this. Better to do one or a few things very well, than do nothing well at all.
?Yoga Business? ? Is this an Oxymoron, a Conflict of Interest, or Blasphemy? Do you feel guilty taking a Yoga students? money? Why should you? What do your Yoga students expect you to live on? Would you feel bad paying for scuba lessons, skiing instruction, golf instruction, or a day with a fishing guide?
Of course not - because these instructors put in the time, practicing a skill, and are worth the money you pay them. If you have Yoga students who do not appreciate your skills in the same way ? refuse to teach Yoga to them. You put in 200 or 500 hours of Yoga teacher training, worked on refining each aspect of teaching Yoga, and invested years of training as a Yoga student before that.
Yoga instructors deserve to be paid well. Continuing education courses for Yoga teachers, Yoga retreats, workshops, Yoga teacher seminars, books, Yoga correspondence courses for instructors, and Yoga videos are rarely free. If you join a local Yoga teacher association, or decide to become a registered Yoga teacher, that?s not free either.
So, where does all this guilt about taking money for your Yoga teaching services come from? It comes from being a ?giver.? Yoga teachers are some of the biggest givers I have ever met. Which is nice, and restores my faith in humanity, but Yoga teachers are also supposed to be a living example of quality life. You cannot support your family, pay your rent, eat properly, or receive medical care by teaching Yoga for free.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
Showing posts with label Insider Secrets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Insider Secrets. Show all posts
February 27, 2009
Insider Secrets to the Business of Teaching Yoga, Part 4
The authors, previously mentioned, have more than one motivational audio book out on the market - and this is only the ?tip of the iceberg.? Some of their stories will entertain you and give you insight to success. Every Yoga teacher, who succeeds, learns from past failures. It?s less painful to learn from other Yoga instructor?s failures and much less expensive, too.
If you brainstorm with successful Yoga teachers, or people in general, you will find many of them read or listen to inspirational material. They don?t participate in, or listen to, much negative talk, and you can?t afford to either.
As a Yoga teacher, you have to be positive when teaching every Yoga class. Your students will feel negative energy from you, and it is hard for any Yoga teacher to help others if he or she is ?feeling down in the dumps.?
Some negative thinkers will tell you to resign yourself to teach Yoga as a hobby. This is what each Yoga teacher should do if he or she doesn?t believe in success. Forget about your dreams, and believe in doom and gloom. You learn worthless concepts like:
?That will never work.?
?You have to be born with money.?
?Life sucks and then you die.?
Enough already! Stay away from these people, who want to shatter your dreams, of being a successful Yoga teacher, and believe in yourself. If you need more audio book or e-Book recommendations; send me an Email. When you develop a positive outlook, you will find yourself surrounded by positive people.
When each of us chooses to study Yoga, and then to teach Yoga; we learn about the many positive components of Yoga. Go back to the basics and cultivate prana. Practice positive meditation and positively visualize your future every day.
Eat a sattvic diet or eat as close as you can to sattvic. In truth, all Yoga teachers must ?walk the talk.? When we decide to become a Yoga teacher, we are supposed to be examples of good mental, physical, and spiritual health.
This does not mean we have to have perfect bodies, but all Yoga teachers should be in the best health possible. Otherwise, what kind of a message are we sending to the public at large? Being a good example of health is part of the job description if you decide to teach Yoga.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
If you brainstorm with successful Yoga teachers, or people in general, you will find many of them read or listen to inspirational material. They don?t participate in, or listen to, much negative talk, and you can?t afford to either.
As a Yoga teacher, you have to be positive when teaching every Yoga class. Your students will feel negative energy from you, and it is hard for any Yoga teacher to help others if he or she is ?feeling down in the dumps.?
Some negative thinkers will tell you to resign yourself to teach Yoga as a hobby. This is what each Yoga teacher should do if he or she doesn?t believe in success. Forget about your dreams, and believe in doom and gloom. You learn worthless concepts like:
?That will never work.?
?You have to be born with money.?
?Life sucks and then you die.?
Enough already! Stay away from these people, who want to shatter your dreams, of being a successful Yoga teacher, and believe in yourself. If you need more audio book or e-Book recommendations; send me an Email. When you develop a positive outlook, you will find yourself surrounded by positive people.
When each of us chooses to study Yoga, and then to teach Yoga; we learn about the many positive components of Yoga. Go back to the basics and cultivate prana. Practice positive meditation and positively visualize your future every day.
Eat a sattvic diet or eat as close as you can to sattvic. In truth, all Yoga teachers must ?walk the talk.? When we decide to become a Yoga teacher, we are supposed to be examples of good mental, physical, and spiritual health.
This does not mean we have to have perfect bodies, but all Yoga teachers should be in the best health possible. Otherwise, what kind of a message are we sending to the public at large? Being a good example of health is part of the job description if you decide to teach Yoga.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
February 25, 2009
Insider Secrets to the Business of Teaching Yoga, Part 2
Which would you prefer to be: A rich Yoga Guru or poor Yoga Guru? There are two financial paths for Yoga teachers to follow. As a Yoga teacher, you have a choice ? name your price with pride, or keep your head low, and take what you get. Think about your family, kids, lifestyle, vacation, and retirement. Do you really want to taste much poverty or any at all? Each time you take payments, for teaching Yoga sessions, remember your family.
A side note about poverty: If you have tasted it once in your life, you don?t want to taste it again. I found nothing particularly enlightening about going to bed on an empty stomach as a child. The Salvation Army Store has better clothes than I had. It did teach me humility and never to look down on others who are less privileged than I am. Why not put that into practice now and forget about poverty? It?s not a glamorous lifestyle and not a good image for a Yoga teacher.
As your Yoga business grows, have someone else in your Yoga studio do the tuition collecting, so you don?t have to be associated with the billing and collecting. To be honest, that?s what I do. It?s easy for me to bend and fall for a sob story. On the other hand, I have learned to point Yoga students toward the office for handling these matters; and I do not take payments for Yoga lessons.
The office, within our Yoga studio, has a job to do and so do I. My job is to teach Yoga classes and mentor Yoga teachers. The Office Administrator?s job is to see we stay in the Yoga teaching business. Sure, I look at the figures ? almost daily, but I don?t interfere in the operation of a ?fine-tuned machine.?
It wasn?t always like this. I was guilty of taking little, or nothing, for teaching Yoga, and getting no respect. It could have stayed that way, but I compiled this Yoga business and marketing formula, which will help you avoid my past mistakes and change your attitude about yourself, forever.
It started with motivational cassette tapes in the car. I needed to keep my spirits up, in transit, teaching Yoga by day and Martial Arts by night. With all that work, I should have been on ?easy street?, you might think. Think again, I was bashful about asking for a fair market price for teaching Yoga and Martial Arts.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
A side note about poverty: If you have tasted it once in your life, you don?t want to taste it again. I found nothing particularly enlightening about going to bed on an empty stomach as a child. The Salvation Army Store has better clothes than I had. It did teach me humility and never to look down on others who are less privileged than I am. Why not put that into practice now and forget about poverty? It?s not a glamorous lifestyle and not a good image for a Yoga teacher.
As your Yoga business grows, have someone else in your Yoga studio do the tuition collecting, so you don?t have to be associated with the billing and collecting. To be honest, that?s what I do. It?s easy for me to bend and fall for a sob story. On the other hand, I have learned to point Yoga students toward the office for handling these matters; and I do not take payments for Yoga lessons.
The office, within our Yoga studio, has a job to do and so do I. My job is to teach Yoga classes and mentor Yoga teachers. The Office Administrator?s job is to see we stay in the Yoga teaching business. Sure, I look at the figures ? almost daily, but I don?t interfere in the operation of a ?fine-tuned machine.?
It wasn?t always like this. I was guilty of taking little, or nothing, for teaching Yoga, and getting no respect. It could have stayed that way, but I compiled this Yoga business and marketing formula, which will help you avoid my past mistakes and change your attitude about yourself, forever.
It started with motivational cassette tapes in the car. I needed to keep my spirits up, in transit, teaching Yoga by day and Martial Arts by night. With all that work, I should have been on ?easy street?, you might think. Think again, I was bashful about asking for a fair market price for teaching Yoga and Martial Arts.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
Insider Secrets to the Business of Teaching Yoga, Part 3
In my early years of teaching Yoga, all I accomplished was to run myself ragged and have nothing to show for it. I knew how to find work, as a Yoga teacher. That?s the marketing part of the Yoga business, but I needed self-esteem, which I found in audio books from the self-improvement and business sections of bookstores.
These types of audio books serve as an inexpensive coach, and when you put some of the knowledge into practice, you will see results. The number of times you play them back is important too. This will burn the lessons deeply into your memory. Yoga teachers need to build their self-esteem too.
Since that time, I am never frustrated in traffic. I am not wasting all my time listening to a song for the 300th time, disc jockey antics that have lost any shock effect, or commercials. Seriously, I listen to the radio once in a great while, but the programming and songs don?t change much.
Here is a list of audio books I recommend for the knowledge and the positive attitude adjustment. Some are no surprise, and most are classics.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
Can’t Lose Sales Tips From The World’s Greatest Salesman by Joe Girard
How To Close Every Sale by Joe Girard
Creating Your World the Way You Really Want It by Wayne Dyer & Deepak Chopra
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
I can hear some of you now. ?I want to teach Yoga, not learn how to sell cars.? Personally, I never bought a car from a salesperson I didn?t like. Think about that, the next time you show a prospective Yoga student around your studio.
When human contact is involved in the selling process, people virtually buy the salesperson or the ?Yoga instructor.? You as a Yoga teacher, sell something everyday; it?s a ticket to better quality living. If a Yoga student stays long enough, he or she learns that Yoga works and you told them the truth.
My wife, Marie, and I bought five consecutive cars from the same salesperson because we liked her and she was honest. We would buy another from her, to this day, except that she retired.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
These types of audio books serve as an inexpensive coach, and when you put some of the knowledge into practice, you will see results. The number of times you play them back is important too. This will burn the lessons deeply into your memory. Yoga teachers need to build their self-esteem too.
Since that time, I am never frustrated in traffic. I am not wasting all my time listening to a song for the 300th time, disc jockey antics that have lost any shock effect, or commercials. Seriously, I listen to the radio once in a great while, but the programming and songs don?t change much.
Here is a list of audio books I recommend for the knowledge and the positive attitude adjustment. Some are no surprise, and most are classics.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
Can’t Lose Sales Tips From The World’s Greatest Salesman by Joe Girard
How To Close Every Sale by Joe Girard
Creating Your World the Way You Really Want It by Wayne Dyer & Deepak Chopra
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar
I can hear some of you now. ?I want to teach Yoga, not learn how to sell cars.? Personally, I never bought a car from a salesperson I didn?t like. Think about that, the next time you show a prospective Yoga student around your studio.
When human contact is involved in the selling process, people virtually buy the salesperson or the ?Yoga instructor.? You as a Yoga teacher, sell something everyday; it?s a ticket to better quality living. If a Yoga student stays long enough, he or she learns that Yoga works and you told them the truth.
My wife, Marie, and I bought five consecutive cars from the same salesperson because we liked her and she was honest. We would buy another from her, to this day, except that she retired.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Yoga Teaching Service, Part 3
Another clear fact about Internet advertising, for your Yoga teaching services, is the return-on-investment is there. Let?s face it, only people my age, or older, still read the Yellow Pages. Forget the papers, unless you can afford to be on the front page or right next to a mailing label. Most of the people who read the paper, from cover to cover, are older than I am and have a lot of time. Most of them don?t advise their younger family members to participate in Yoga. There are a few exceptions; it?s just not the rule.
The bottom line is that you will never find a better advertising tool, at this time, than your own web site. You can get a free web site, Blog, or a paid web site for next to nothing (average $150 per year). If you can?t do it, find someone young who will. If you are like me, and you want to do it yourself and have your hand held, go to Network Solutions. You can get a ?start up? site for around $75 per year.
There are always better deals around the Internet, but the Network Solutions template sites are ?user friendly? for the less technical people like me. You don?t have to know HTML, and even a dinosaur like me can learn how to put one together over a weekend. If you have your written content in a Microsoft Word format, and some pictures ready to go; you will be up and running in a day.
The only drawback with templates, or template sites, is that some are not search engine friendly. This will have an adverse effect on your search engine rankings, but if you are reaching into a specific geographic area, with specific keywords such as ?Los Angeles Yoga,? you have only so many Yoga teachers struggling for a front page rank. Some templates are more search engine friendly than others, so you should do some research before purchasing anything.
In other words, you are not competing with every Yoga studio and Ashram on the Internet. My studio in North Providence is not relevant to the Yoga student searching for classes in Los Angeles. The keywords that I focus on are related to my geographic area and to the services specific to our wellness center.
Therefore, the competition for any local Yoga teacher, within a specific geographic area, is limited. So, it should not be hard to establish yourself in the rankings, even if you are located in a large city. Every large city has specific keywords that refer to the exact neighborhood where you teach Yoga.
It does not matter if another Yoga teacher comes up first under the keywords ?California Yoga,? if a prospective Yoga student Lives at the other end of the state.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
The bottom line is that you will never find a better advertising tool, at this time, than your own web site. You can get a free web site, Blog, or a paid web site for next to nothing (average $150 per year). If you can?t do it, find someone young who will. If you are like me, and you want to do it yourself and have your hand held, go to Network Solutions. You can get a ?start up? site for around $75 per year.
There are always better deals around the Internet, but the Network Solutions template sites are ?user friendly? for the less technical people like me. You don?t have to know HTML, and even a dinosaur like me can learn how to put one together over a weekend. If you have your written content in a Microsoft Word format, and some pictures ready to go; you will be up and running in a day.
The only drawback with templates, or template sites, is that some are not search engine friendly. This will have an adverse effect on your search engine rankings, but if you are reaching into a specific geographic area, with specific keywords such as ?Los Angeles Yoga,? you have only so many Yoga teachers struggling for a front page rank. Some templates are more search engine friendly than others, so you should do some research before purchasing anything.
In other words, you are not competing with every Yoga studio and Ashram on the Internet. My studio in North Providence is not relevant to the Yoga student searching for classes in Los Angeles. The keywords that I focus on are related to my geographic area and to the services specific to our wellness center.
Therefore, the competition for any local Yoga teacher, within a specific geographic area, is limited. So, it should not be hard to establish yourself in the rankings, even if you are located in a large city. Every large city has specific keywords that refer to the exact neighborhood where you teach Yoga.
It does not matter if another Yoga teacher comes up first under the keywords ?California Yoga,? if a prospective Yoga student Lives at the other end of the state.
? Copyright 2006 ? Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
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