Is it one of your dreams to have a career doing exactly what you love? This article will give you 10 tips for starting a successful career in yoga.
There is an incredible amount of joy to be had from starting a career in yoga. You can follow your passion with a spiritually fulfilling practice that helps people get in shape.
And while this is a lot of fun, you also need to do it the right way. The world is filled with aspiring yoga instructors who could not find success. They may have the desire, but they don’t have the tools or discipline.
Much like being a meditation instructor, this is a rewarding but crowded field. So follow these tips to be a successful yoga instructor.
Use Social Media
Social media is an important part of our day-to-day lives. No longer just a separate online persona, it has come to be a true extension of our brands.
This is particularly true for yoga instructors. There are a lot of platforms out there to help yoga instructors develop a strong fanbase. As a matter of fact, “fitstagram” accounts have grown incredibly popular.
You should absolutely take advantage of Instagram’s potential for your yoga business. If you’re starting a career in yoga, you can use it to build up a following and even earn extra money as an Instagram influencer.
Be Authentic About Why You Started A Career In Yoga
As a yoga instructor, you have your own unique story. Maybe you grew up around yoga, maybe it helped you get in shape, or maybe it’s been incredibly helpful for you to find inner peace.
Sharing that story with your followers is absolutely essential to developing your brand. Include it on an “about” section on your website, or in your blog and marketing materials. Remember not to be shy about who you are as a professional.
Use Free Public Classes For Exposure
You may not think that business should be about turning a profit. And it is. But if you’re starting a career in yoga, you should use free public classes to build up a reputation in your local market.
Taking advantage of free public classes is absolutely essential for yoga instructors. They don’t need to be particularly detailed: something as simple as a weekly video class or yoga in the park will make you popular and serve as a great opportunity to introduce yourself to potential customers.
If you want to try earning a small amount of money during these classes, you should make donations optional. You can benefit your career by networking and collecting donations, which will be absolutely essential to your career development.
Have A Specialty
There are a lot of yoga instructors out there. With over 50 thousand yoga teachers registered in the United States, it can be easy to get lost in the crowd.
If you want to stand out, you should have an area of specialization for yourself and your studio. If you consider our previous advice about telling people your story, these things can go hand in hand.
For instance, if your career in yoga is influenced by mindfulness practice, include that on your marketing materials or in your class style. If you do aerial yoga, market yourself as a provider of that service.
You have a lot of options as a yoga instructor. So try to avoid offering “just yoga.”
Consider Offering Online Instruction
We live in the 21st century. There are people who need to take classes on their schedule, and might not have the ability to get to your place of instruction.
Similarly, you may want to offer home instruction without having a car or the budget for gas. If you want to have the versatility of home instruction, but aren’t sure you can afford it: offer online instruction.
This is one of the best ways to develop your career in yoga today. You can offer your services to busy people without having to pay out the nose. All you need is a webcam and some at-home space for instruction.
Rent Out Space Before Opening A Studio
If the goal of your career in yoga is opening up a studio, you should consider renting out some space during classes before making that move. This is because that rental will provide you with the information you need about the demand for your classes.
Spend at least 6 months offering classes at a rented-out space. Closing on a property can be incredibly expensive, and you should do whatever it takes to avoid losing money in this endeavor.
The one exception to this rule is if you’re planning on running a studio out of your own home. If this is the case, it would be more cost-effective to use your personal space for yoga instruction. This is particularly true considering that you would be able to get a tax deduction for using this space as part of your career in yoga.
Network And Go To Conventions
Networking is absolutely essential in the yoga industry. It can make it easy to learn about new trends in the industry, and when a person from one market has clients move to another, your name will be on their recommendation risk.
There are a number of conventions you can go to for the purpose of meeting yoga professionals. They are offered all around the world and can be perfect for anybody seeking to take their career in yoga to the next level.
You should also try to find networking opportunities within your market. While there is a limited amount of utility to meeting other yoga instructors in your area, there are other fitness professionals that would be happy to recommend you to their clients. People like dance instructors, gym owners, and more, can all be incredibly beneficial to meet.
Remember to take the networking opportunities you experience seriously. They add up, and ten years down the road you can find yourself meeting potential clients that you never would without putting serious effort into your networking opportunities.
Learn About Class Prices In Your Area
One of the most important things to do as a yoga instructor is pricing your services properly. And while it can be easy to look at national averages for yoga prices, it also isn’t effective.
An hour of yoga in San Francisco will have a different price than an hour of yoga in Anchorage, Alaska. A community that offers a wide variety of yoga classes will probably have more pricing competition than a community that offers only one or two classes.
You should call various yoga instructors and gyms in your area to learn more about pricing. Figure out what different classes cost at different times, and what is included with these classes. It can go a long way towards making sure that you can compete with other studios.
Bonus points if you also read customer reviews of these classes. Websites like Angie’s List and Yelp can help you determine whether or not cheap yoga in your hometown is also good. This will make it incredibly easy for people who want to price their classes without skimping on quality.
Get In Touch With Community Centers and Colleges
If you want to offer discount classes while building up a good reputation in your community, one of the best things you can do is get in touch with colleges and other community centers to see if there’s an interest in a weekly, biweekly, or monthly yoga class.
If you have a career in yoga, there are a lot of opportunities to attract a large number of people without sacrificing your profit opportunities. Particularly if you’re offering your classes on college campuses, you will likely be able to collect a paycheck from organizations like the student activities board.
Similarly, there are a number of organizations such as youth centers, Jewish community centers, and YMCAs that will pay instructors while offering their services at a discount to their members. While you will not be collecting the same amount of money per member, you will be collecting an impressive price overall for your services.
Get Certified
If you want to have a career in yoga, you need to be certified. Most people simply will not take a yoga class from somebody who does not have the required paperwork. Luckily, there are easy ways to get your yoga certification online.
We offer certifications in a variety of areas. That includes a yoga instructor certification for only $69.99. That is an incredibly impressive deal: yoga instructors earn about $40 per hour. That means your certification will only cost an hour and a half worth of labor in your new career.
A certification is not enough to become a successful yoga instructor. You need passion, experience, and drive. But once you have those things, the next step is working with us to get a solid certification for your practice.