How To Make Your Studio More Inclusive (In-person & Online)
September 16, 2024What Do Yoga Students Want Yoga Instructors to Know?
October 2, 2024Your Ultimate Guide To Business & Marketing As A Yoga Teacher
In this guide, we’ll show yoga teachers how they can swap their perspective from yoga instructors to powerful business owners, share our tips on growth and networking, and offer advice on how to best market their yoga businesses in a modern, digital world.
They’ve got a skill, they charge for that skill, and their yoga students pay to learn from them.
What many yoga instructors overlook is that they’re not just freelancers or teachers–they’re business owners. With that mindset shift toward yoga business success comes the permission to grow, thrive, and market themselves as a business.
If you find yourself on the edge of that fence, starting to view yourself as a business but not sure how to go about embracing it wholly, this article is for you.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Yoga teachers should shift their perspective from freelancers to business owners to grow and market their yoga businesses effectively.
- Networking is crucial for organic business growth, allowing yoga teachers to connect with the community and expand their reach.
- Having a well-optimized website is essential for searchability, credibility, and providing students with easy access to services.
- Building and nurturing an email list ensures direct communication with interested students, bypassing social media algorithms.
- Consistent and strategic social media marketing helps engage a broader audience, build a personal brand, and diversify income streams.
- Continuous learning through webinars on audience building, Instagram strategies, and conscious business marketing can support business growth.
Top Tips for Yoga Marketing & Yoga Business Plans
If you’re ready to take charge of your career, embrace your business owner era, and grow your yoga career, these tips can help you tackle those goals head-on. The best part? These are tips that any yoga teacher can use–no marketing degree or fancy business experience is required.
Networking & Expansion: What You Should Know About Yoga Marketing
Why Networking As A Yoga Teacher Is So Important
As a business owner, it’s important to get the word out about your business. Your normal efforts for marketing matter–like digital, social media, and paid advertising. But a big piece of organic growth for businesses comes from networking.
Networking acts as a different form of marketing. It involves you–the face of the business–getting out there and opening up so people can get to know you, decide if they like you, and associate you with your business.
Networking is great because it’s not just a hard pitch to get people into your studio–it’s a chance to connect with other people in your community, other business owners, and expand your network of people you know. In other words, networking widens your circle in an organic, community-based way.
Tips For Networking & Expanding
In our modern era, networking doesn’t have to mean dressing up and going out to Chamber of Commerce-hosted networking events. While in-person events are definitely important–especially to get to know your community and everyone in it–you can expand your horizons. Here are a few options and tips for leveling up your networking efforts.
- Take to social media! Try fun new things like collaborating with other business owners or yoga teachers on reels and social media posts.
- Host virtual hangouts, happy hours, and co-working sessions. Why not set up a free, hour-long networking event from your studio where attendees join online? This ensures that more people can join you–whether they’re local or not.
- Create a free yoga event in a public space. Teach a free class in the park and invite your community to be a part of it.
Creating & Optimizing Your Yoga Business Website
If you’re running a yoga instructor business without a website, it’s time to step into the digital age!
A website might feel intimidating or expensive, but we assure you–it doesn’t have to be either. Without a yoga business website, you’re missing out on major benefits and business growth.
Here’s some need-to-know information about creating and optimizing your own yoga teacher website.
Benefits Of Having A Website
First of all, having a website isn’t really a “nice to have” anymore–it’s an essential part of growing your business, serving your students, ranking in the digital world, and offering the social proof many need before they book a class with you.
Here are just a few ways having a well-done website can benefit you and your yoga teacher business:
- Boost your searchability and help you rank for “Yoga Near Me” on Google and other search engines.
- Show up higher on search engine page results when people search for yoga in your city.
- Collect and leverage stellar reviews to provide social proof and attract new students.
- Build trust, show off your credibility, and provide need-to-know information about what you offer and who your ideal student might be.
- Empower your social media efforts by giving your students a place to book, learn more, and sign up for your email list.
Easy Website Optimizations You Can Implement Now
A yoga teacher website doesn’t have to be an incredibly expensive, overwhelming task. There are plenty of free and affordable places to build a yoga website that won’t break the bank. Here are a few things you should include on your website to best optimize your searchability.
- A home page, an about page, a service page, and a book now page so that students can save spots in your classes directly from your website.
- Run some 101 SEO keyword research to figure out what your ideal yoga students are googling, and create words for your site that help you rank for those keywords. Consulting an SEO specialist or a copywriter can help make this task easier, though there are plenty of free educational resources online to help you handle this part.
- Cross-link to all of your other social media platforms on your site (and link to your site from all your other social media platforms).
- Include clear contact information so yoga students can reach out to you directly.
- Make sure your site has a fast speed and is easy to use and navigate.
- Include photos of you on your site and share about what kind of yoga you teach, tell your story, and help your potential students get to know you.
Building & Nurturing Your Email List
One of the best things you can do for your brand is to create and nurture an email list. If you’re wondering why this matters in the world of social media, remember that you don’t actually own your platforms on social media, and the algorithm ultimately controls who sees what.
With an email list, these are people who knowingly signed up to get communication from you! They want to see what you’re saying, they want to hear from you, and they want to stay updated on what’s going on with you. That’s powerful in the world of marketing!
How to Start Building Your List
You can begin building your list in a few different ways.
- When students sign up for classes, they’ll need to include their email address–make sure it’s known that they’ll be signing up for your list when they do this.
- Offer a free resource that requires an email sign-up
- Create a waitlist for new class times that requires an email address
- Ask directly if your students want to be on your email list
Maintaining Your List Is A Must
Don’t just accumulate email addresses and then never chat with the people on your list! Create a regular schedule for sending emails so you can nurture that list and keep them “warm.” Share your weekly class schedule, share your behind-the-scenes insights about yoga, and send them a video of your latest asana. Nurture this list so that they’re on a list that’s providing value.
Social Media Marketing Tips
The world of social media is a must for yoga teachers–especially if you want to expand your reach, get locals in your studio, or teach online classes to students across the country.
This is also a great way to diversify your income and revenue beyond just teaching live classes. The larger and more engaged your audience is, the more likely they’ll want to work with you–whether that means signing up for your weekly classes, signing up for your email newsletter (like we just discussed), or buying digital products from you.
Here are a few tips to elevate your social media marketing strategy:
- Create social media strategies. Don’t just throw content at the wall and hope something sticks.
- Find the platforms you like posting on and choose those time and time again. Being present and consistent online doesn’t have to mean being active on social media platforms that you don’t enjoy.
- Be consistent in your online spaces. Don’t post and ghost.
- Engage, engage, engage. Social media is supposed to be social. You’re not just posting and walking away. Talk to your audience, share behind the scenes with them, make them feel included in your life, and most importantly, don’t leave them hanging when it comes to communication.
- Lean into your personal brand, and that’s what everyone wants to know. Students book and trust yoga instructors they connect with, vibe with, and would want to be friends with. Leaning into who you are is what’s going to make them.
Business & Marketing Webinars To Learn From
Of course, one of the best ways to learn about growing your business is from those who have gone before you! If you’re ready to learn about marketing, business plans, and growth, we highly recommend these webinars to get that process going.
- Audience Building 101
- Instagram for Yogis
- How to Consistently Grow Your Yoga & Wellness Business
- How to Market Your Business Consciously
Remember, you’re not just a yoga teacher–you’re a business owner. When you switch that mindset and accept how influential your career can be, you’ll start feeling more confident making these marketing changes and business plan decisions.
Our advice? Embrace your business owner era, and don’t be afraid to grow, thrive, and nurture your business (and your students) along the way.