Is the yoga sector consuming itself?
As the number of yoga teacher training courses continue to burgeon, consider diversifying your income, finding a niche, and offering real value to students.
Back in the 1990s, yoga teachers were doing pretty well. Yoga was just beginning to have mainstream appeal and the relatively few yoga teachers around were able to pack their classes.
Nowadays, studios and teachers realise that teaching teachers is a lucrative source of income and a natural extension of their love of teaching. Problem is, if the number of yoga students doesn’t continue to expand, the yoga sector risks devouring itself.
Photography © Yoga Portraiture
So what to do?
Diversify income
Some students respond best to verbal instructions, some to demonstrations, and others to adjustments and corrections. We all learn differently.
Consider other methods of teaching yoga outside the studio. Diversifying your income stream will not only mean that you’ll appeal to a broader type of people, but should challenge and strengthen your knowledge as you adjust your message for your medium and your new audience. Perhaps most importantly, it means your income will be more secure and sustainable.
Consider:-
Speaking and writing. Both do best with an existing, extensive fan base to draw on to buy your book, turn up to hear you, or subscribe to your podcasts. Speaking can take the form of guest lecturing at other studios on teacher training courses, motivational speaking for corporations, regular radio spots on health and lifestyle programs, or regular podcasts.
Training and mentoring. There’s a lot of training courses but not a lot of ongoing mentoring. To be a trainer and mentor, you need to know your subject inside and out and it helps if you also know complementary and opposing disciplines, such as physiotherapy, kinesiology, psychology or osteopathy.
Organising and networking. Being a facilitator can be perfect for those good at organising and networking.
Go hard and narrow
I spoke last month about the importance of finding a niche. From yoga in the construction industry to yoga for Christian youth, finding a niche means you can go strong and narrow in your expertise while introducing a new group of people to yoga, thereby widening the audience for teachers who come behind you.
Offer real value
I am sometimes asked on Twitter to recommend a yoga teacher training course. My response is, ‘what are you looking for?’ Some courses are stronger in anatomy and physiology, some in philosophy and yoga tradition.
Find and define your teacher training courses unique selling point, don’t try to be all things to all people, and offer real value, delivering beyond expectations.
In August I presented on online and social media marketing at the Australian Day Hospital’s annual conference at the Sydney Convention Centre, and I’m pleased to be presenting for the second time to Yogacoach’s 200-hour and 500-hour yoga teacher trainees on ‘the Business and Marketing of Yoga’ in October. Yogacoach’s teacher training niche is teaching teachers to find their niche and specialise in one-to-one yoga therapy.
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See more E-news.
Back in the 1990s, yoga teachers were doing pretty well. Yoga was just beginning to have mainstream appeal and the relatively few yoga teachers around were able to pack their classes.
Nowadays, studios and teachers realise that teaching teachers is a lucrative source of income and a natural extension of their love of teaching. Problem is, if the number of yoga students doesn’t continue to expand, the yoga sector risks devouring itself.
Photography © Yoga Portraiture
So what to do?
Diversify income
Some students respond best to verbal instructions, some to demonstrations, and others to adjustments and corrections. We all learn differently.
Consider other methods of teaching yoga outside the studio. Diversifying your income stream will not only mean that you’ll appeal to a broader type of people, but should challenge and strengthen your knowledge as you adjust your message for your medium and your new audience. Perhaps most importantly, it means your income will be more secure and sustainable.
Consider:-
Speaking and writing. Both do best with an existing, extensive fan base to draw on to buy your book, turn up to hear you, or subscribe to your podcasts. Speaking can take the form of guest lecturing at other studios on teacher training courses, motivational speaking for corporations, regular radio spots on health and lifestyle programs, or regular podcasts.
Training and mentoring. There’s a lot of training courses but not a lot of ongoing mentoring. To be a trainer and mentor, you need to know your subject inside and out and it helps if you also know complementary and opposing disciplines, such as physiotherapy, kinesiology, psychology or osteopathy.
Organising and networking. Being a facilitator can be perfect for those good at organising and networking.
Go hard and narrow
I spoke last month about the importance of finding a niche. From yoga in the construction industry to yoga for Christian youth, finding a niche means you can go strong and narrow in your expertise while introducing a new group of people to yoga, thereby widening the audience for teachers who come behind you.
Offer real value
I am sometimes asked on Twitter to recommend a yoga teacher training course. My response is, ‘what are you looking for?’ Some courses are stronger in anatomy and physiology, some in philosophy and yoga tradition.
Find and define your teacher training courses unique selling point, don’t try to be all things to all people, and offer real value, delivering beyond expectations.
In August I presented on online and social media marketing at the Australian Day Hospital’s annual conference at the Sydney Convention Centre, and I’m pleased to be presenting for the second time to Yogacoach’s 200-hour and 500-hour yoga teacher trainees on ‘the Business and Marketing of Yoga’ in October. Yogacoach’s teacher training niche is teaching teachers to find their niche and specialise in one-to-one yoga therapy.
* * *
To receive our E-news fresh to your inbox once a month, in all its HTML glory, please subscribe. And as a thank you, you'll receive our 'Facebook Cheat Sheet for Yoga teachers' to use Facebook more effectively and escape the time sink. While you can access our E-news without being a subscriber, we value our subscribers and show our appreciation with exclusive offers.
See more E-news.
