Diversify your products

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about diversity in your business. 

I could say with equal confidence you just need one good product and focus on selling that product and don’t get distracted.

I could say with equal conviction you need to have diversity in your business to increase revenue and be safe.

While I would definitely say that if you are starting out you just need one service, product or offer to focus on in your business.

I.e beginner course or 10 class pass.

But when you are more established in business then diversifying your products can be a fun, creative, and good way to increase revenue.

Offering workshops, special classes, retreats, privates, and props in addition to your class passes will increase revenue.

Of course, you only want to be doing these things if there is going to be a profit.

Well, I won't say only.

I sell props at the studio and we make a very small profit, nothing worth calculating, but we offer it as part of the service, so we are a one-stop-shop for everything yoga.

I’ll give you some figure examples from my business because some things are definitely going to be more profitable than others

Watch the video for all the details on diversifying.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.
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Content Ideas

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about content ideas. What to post, video, and blog about.

Content that your audience really wants to engage with.

Let’s face it, these days there is just so much content out there.

It can be seriously overwhelming to know what to talk about that will engage your audience, but more importantly, I want to make sure I am not wasting my audience's time.

Their time is as precious as yours and I want that time spent on socials or online to be worth it, not wasting and draining.

So today I want to talk you through a bunch of ways how to come up with content ideas that are going to have your viewers wanting more and feeling grateful for your knowledge and sharing it.

I seriously get emails every week from my viewers thanking me for something they saw or read and share with me how that piece of knowledge was helpful.

Let’s aim to create content that yes has our viewers buying from us down the track, but that immediately satisfies a need or pain point they have.

Good content will help us to connect with audiences beyond selling. 

So get your pen and paper out and be ready to create firstly a 

Content mindmap

I am going to help you create a list of all the things you can possibly share on so that you feel confident that you will never run out of content ideas and have the best piece of content to share at the right time.

The first thing you have to be clear on is WHAT you help people with.

I’m going to use Yogabranches my online business as an example.

I help people create a sustainable home yoga practice.

Write down one sentence that tells me who you help. What is the specific pain point you are helping them with? 

I help people with anxiety. I help people with money mind madness.

The write out 6 main topics you can write on to help people achieve that.

Ie, back to my Yogabranches example.

My main topics to teach on are

1. Time management

2. Yoga and travel

3. Sequencing

4. Props & equipment

5. Injuries

For each of these main topics get more specific on strategies you can teach people to solve that problem.

For example for Time Management

• Prioritizing time

• Removing roadblocks/excuses

• Calendars and schedules

• Practice durations

• Routines

So if you write out 5 topics for each main topic you already have at hand 25 pots topics to teach on.

We want to deliver small bite-size content, this method will help you achieve that rather than over-delivering and sharing everything you know about one topic in one post and ultimately overwhelming your viewer rather than encouraging them with one small actionable step they can take.

Answer the public.

Use this search engine to give you the when which, who, what can, where why, on your topic. It is a great way to get ideas on what your audience might themselves be searching in google on your topic.

Market Research

This is an excellent way to not only get ideas on what to teach but to be confident you are creating content your audience wants.

Ask them what they need help with.

Chat to your students before and after class and really listen to what they are saying. You don’t have to ask them, what do you need help with you have listened to their pain points when they talk.

For example, a student mentions they are too tired to practice yoga at home when they get home from work. There you have a topic to teach on, and more than one. 1. You can teach Viparita Karani, the perfect home practice asana after a day at work. 2. Carve out time before work to practice to avoid the trap of being ‘too tired to practice’

Do you get the idea?

My Stories

What is happening to me in my life is a great source of content ideas, because I am on the same journey as my audience, just a few steps ahead. :)

So if something happens to me in my practice, it is very likely that my audience has had the same thing happen to them and this is a great way to connect with your audience, by sharing a story about something that happened to you and what you learned from it.

If you do each of these strategies, you will get cross-over, but you will also have a huge list of content ideas to write on so you are not a content machine rather than feeling drained and exhausted and struggling for something to engage your audience with.

With these approaches you will be able to create content that engages your audience, helps them and has them coming back for more.

IF you have 25 pieces of content, you know you can also repost them, just because you posted it once, it does not mean everyone saw it, and it’s old news. 

So get yourself a content scheduling software so that you can recycle the content to repost every couple of months and your social media platforms will be pumping with engaging potential clients.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.
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Repurposing Content

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about engaging your audience and building a trusting relationship within content that doesn't take hours to create.

Now I know that the idea of creating content can be overwhelming, and I am guessing like the rest of us you have tried to implement a content calendar, but it still feels like creating content is hard, takes time, you don’t know what to write on and who knows if anyone is even reading it so what is the point?

I’ll tell you the point.

I've told you these statistics before, but I am going to share them with you again because they are particularly important for the WHY you should still create content for your audience.

1-5% Are ready to buy from you

1-5% Will buy soon

60 % not now thanks maybe later

30% will never buy from you

My point is that 60% are who you need to focus on and look after and we can do that with engaging, informative, and free content without it taking you hours every week to create

If you continue to provide this 60% with informative, engaging content that they can apply and is useful and gets them results their trust in you will build and they will continue to follow you and eventually buy from you.

There is a trick in finding that sweet spot of not giving away all your IP for free and creating a gap so that while they can learn and get results from your content, there comes a point they need more help from you and will have to buy your service to get that extra advanced hand-holding service, which is worth $, right.

We have to create content that reaches our audience on a regular basis so that we stay on their radar and continue to help them in small ways.

We know our audience likes to consume content on different platforms and in different ways.

Mostly being 

Email

Facebook

Blogs

All of which can include a combination of video and written word.

So this is what I do to create my content.

I have no shortage of ideas on what to write on and that is a whole other office ours video on content creation ideas:)

• Once I have chosen my content ideas.

• I spend up to 2hrs once a month. 

• I write 4 posts, fully written content word for word how I would say it if I was talking to someone, sharing information on a particular subject.

• If it needs some pictures I’ll create them to accompany the copy.

• If I am also offering this content in video format, I’ll film all the scripts one after the other and then have videos to accompany the words.

• Then I repurpose the content. This content will go on all 3 platforms, Fb, email, and blog.

• A blog allows for long-form content where I will post the entire written script and video

• Fb asks for shorter content and video works well, so I’ll just include the first 2 paragraphs of the copy and then the video plus a link to the blog for long-form.

• Email I’ll include some of the stories and cut them down to a step-by-step, dot point form so it is still informative but not all the details and again link to my blog for all the deets and the video.

Then all you have to do is schedule the content.

So a quick overview

1. Plan what content topics you want to write on

2. Create the content

3. Tweak it for different formats

4. Schedule to each format

5. Hit your audience on all fronts with engaging, informative content they can’t get enough of

Stay tuned I've got great training on how to come up with great content ideas week after week. 

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.
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Ideal Client

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about attracting new clients and focusing your energy in your business.

This community voted in my poll yesterday that "attracting potential clients" and “where to focus energy in their business” were the biggest challenges they currently face - so let's talk about it.

You might be thinking that...

❌You need to cram "more value" into your offers

❌You need to slash your prices

❌You need to chase a larger following

And I'm here to tell you today, you don’t need to do any of these things.

Doing all these things I just mentioned means, we start to spread our energy. A sure-fire way to burn out…

And you will probably experience that when you do these things you still hear crickets, it does actually increase sales. 

Here is the thing…

Attracting potential clients is not just getting people to buy from you.

Actually it means taking them on a journey which starts with you recognising where they are right now. Connecting with them in their current challenges in life in that moment. 

We do this with social media posts and emails.

Then, Building a relationship with them through resources & email communication

Then after time, we have to allow time for them to feel ready to work with you. 

But before all of this, there is one key thing you must do, know your audience.

Who is your ideal client/student?

Have you thought about this? Have you done the work to identify who it is you really want to work with? Who you can serve the most and also who you don’t want to work with they will ultimately drain you. Right?

So if you are offering a free trial or some kind of freebie and you are getting a low attendance or little uptake on that offer, then you are likely offering it to the wrong audience and that is perhaps because you have not identified your ideal audience.

Are you catering to "anyone" and "everyone"?

Are you thinking I can’t narrow my audience down, it will be too small? Do I need to reach as many people as I can?

I am sorry but this is not the approach.

You need to speak to the people you believe you can best serve and first you have to ask yourself who is that.

Your problem is not the price. Ie. How much you are charging.

Your problem is not the service, ie group classes or private or workshops

It's speaking to people who want what you have to offer and first, you have to 

1. Identify who that is

2. Then write to those people in your posts and emails

3. Then offer them what it is they need to help solve their problem

If you have a very clear image of who your ideal client is, then you can appeal to these people with the written copy, messaging, and offers that will resonate with them.

I know it is hard to narrow your audience and believe that this is not going to narrow down your sales, but can I give you an example to help you understand the value of knowing who your ideal student is.

Imagine JBHIFI, your one-stop-shop for everything electronic, imagine the shop full of people, all different people with different needs and desires, some are looking for a robot vacuum, others for a mobile phone, someone else is looking for a computer, and someone else for a computer and as you are familiar with this shop there are about 10 options for each of these needs. 10 different robot vacuums, 10 different computers, 10 different mobile phones, etc.

Imagine a mobile phone shop, all they sell are mobile phones, everyone entering the shop is only looking for a mobile phone and they are there because they need a mobile phone or want a new mobile phone. 

The mobile phone shop is going to convert much better because they know what their client wants, however, JBHIFI doesn’t know exactly want the client wants and they overwhelm their clients with so much choice that often you leave feel overwhelmed with choice, or not buying what you went in for because you got distracted by other things, and not sure its the best place to buy from because they do not specialize in what it is you are exactly looking for.

If you can get clear on your ideal student, what they look like, their age, profession, income, their problems, and desires, then you can offer them one product that is going to match them.

This will enable you to know where to focus your energy in your business and support you to attract new clients who will stick with you.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PREVIEW OF THE LIVE VIDEO

You can find all my Yogandbusiness tips in my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness.

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How to Improve Email Open Rates

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about how to improve your email open rate.

I am assuming in today’s training that you have an email list and are emailing them.

Now I know from a previous poll that many of you are sending emails from your Gmail or Hotmail account and if this is still you… 

Please watch my previous office hours about email marketing tools because without an email marketing tool you don’t even know what the open rate of your emails is.

And with an email marketing tool, there are functions that will assist you to increase your email open rate and click rate.

I am going to give you some tips today on this you can immediately do to improve your email open rate.

1. Use tags and segments to target who you send your emails to.

2. Tweak your subject lines to increase the open rate

3. Email regularly, you won’t get your emails opened if you are a stranger to them.

Look at your data, which you can only do if you have an email marketing tool. 

The healthy open rate is 30%. The average Click rate is 2-5%

Use these as guides to determine how well you are doing in your email marketing.

Watch the full training here

You can find all my Yogandbusiness tips in my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness.

Join the Yogandbusiness FB group HERE.

Email Marketing Tools

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about email marketing tools.

I have to say I was slightly alarmed when I saw the response to the poll asking you what email marketing tool you used to send your emails and everyone selected Gmail or Hotmail.  No one even chose Mailchimp which by the way is almost as crap as Gmail and Hotmail but they charge you for it.

So today I want to talk about email marketing tools.

A system on your computer that houses your email list.

I'd love to hear from you on this one, friends.

Which one are you? 👇

1. I don't have an email list

2. I have a list but don't email them

3. I have an email list and use it all the time

Here is the thing.

They do much more than house your email list and send them emails.

They have functions that make them a marketing tool. So you can market your audience.

I’m including a link right now into the comments where you can read my Yogandbusiness blog.

Now what you probably don’t realise is the page you arrive at when you click that link is a landing page which is a built-in tool as part of my email marketing tool.

What you don’t realize is that when you enter your email and subscribe you not only join my email list but you get tagged so I know where you fit within my list of people. You will get tagged with business whereas a student who is clicking on a link for another service of mine will be tagged with student, so when it comes to sending emails to my audience I can choose who I am sending it to based on what information or offer I and talking about. That marketing, targeting your audience.

There is a heap of other tools available like being able to create a series of emails that send out over a period of time, so you are not chained to your computer every day sending emails. Write them all in one go, schedule them, and off you go and teach, knowing your students will receive daily, weekly emails depending on how regularly you have scheduled them.

See how specific and direct a tool this can be? Unlike Social media.

The truth is if you hadn’t already noticed social media is random. The algorithm determines what your followers see, which definitely does not mean they see every post you put up.

However, with email, you can choose exactly who you want to send your message to and make sure they receive it and if they want to find it an hour later they can.

Does that not make you go crazy when you see something on FB you want to revisit and you spend hours scrolling never to find it. right?

I have thousands of people on my email list and although I am super active on social media I absolutely do not rely on getting my message out via social media.

So here's how to get started if you aren't utilizing email marketing yet...

1. Try a bunch of email marketing providers, see which one is easy for your to navigate, which is feature-rich, remember you want it to have more features that you even understand because want to be able to grow into it. I started in Mailchimp and outgrew it within 6 months of growing my business. Some you might like to check out are ConverKit, Active campaign, Get response, but to be honest there are many out there, and yes expect to pay for it, it’s worth it.

Here is a perfect example FB banned me for 7 days (I didn’t do anything wrong) anyway i had no way of connecting with my community of followers. They just thought I went silent for a bit. As you will have experience FB changes its rule and algorithm all the time, you can not reply on them for you followers. You need email addresses, not FB profiles.

2. Once you have an email provider it will be super easy to start collecting more emails because you have a way to attract them, get them, and house them.

3. Email your dang list! Remember there is an unsubscribe button at the button of the email if they want to stop receiving emails from you.  But to keep people on your email list make sure you include information that is valuable to them in your emails. Be relatable and build trust by giving them information that will help them not clog up their inbox. Think about how you manage your inbox, you keep the emails you don’t have time to read but want to, you unsubscribe from the spam and actually I am grateful for when I get another email that reminds me of an event of an offer that is about to end because life is busy and I need reminders.

The hard truth is that yoga teachers aren't taught the basics of business & marketing. That’s why I’m here. I am coaching yoga teachers in business and marketing strategy to help grow their business and survive in this over-saturated market.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

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Data to Make Decisions

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about data and numbers.

Don’t click away or pause the button because you are thinking boring who wants to look at data.

Data and numbers can be sexy:0

Well maybe sexy is an overstatement but when you learn to read data and can use that data to make decisions in your business you will feel empowered and more importantly like you are making informed decisions and as result progress rather than just hopping from one experiment to another not sure if it attracted new students or not.

So stick with me for today’s training where I am literally going to walk you through two different campaigns I ran to attract new clients to my studio and by looking at the data I could decide which was the most cost-effective way to attract new clients. 

I will walk you through two different campaigns, how much I spent on advertising and how many students I attracted, but more importantly how much those students then went on to spend, because that’s what matters, having the students stick around, not just come for a free class and then disappear.

Campaign 1.

I did a Facebook ad offering new students to sign up for a free class at a specific time and date. This was important because it made the ad offer have some urgency for them to click on it because the class was within the week. When there is an end date or a specific date for your event, click rates will be higher than just offering a free class pass they can take any time. There needs to be some urgency in your offer. 

Everyone who signed up for the free class was sent a reminder email the day before the class to remind them to attend it. It is one thing them clicking a button that they want to come to the class, it is another thing them actually getting off the couch and coming. You need to take all measures in the campaign to get them to take up your offer.

I taught the special class I had created on my timetable specific for these new students and then at the end of the class before they packed up their mats and left I offered them a special discounted pass they could not refuse.

You might think I can’t let them roll up and over from savasana and sell them something. Yes, you can, it is the best moment, they are feeling amazing from the class, they want to do it more and they need prompts every step in the campaign to take action.

There is a gentle and supportive way to sell a pass at the end of the class.

I spent $428 on FB advertising, I had 22 new students come to the studio (this does not include those who signed up but didn’t come to the class, which was quite a few)  so from that, I determine it is costing me $19 in advertising / new student.

At the end of the class when I offer a month of unlimited class for $59 and everyone takes it, I have just made $40/student. Yes, the first month they are not paying for their classes essentially but we have them in the studio and have made a monthly commitment to the studio right. This is called a loss leader. What matters is the lifetime income from the student, not their first purchase.

What is important is to cover your advertising costs at a minimum. 

Campaign 2.

I did a Facebook ad offering their first class free and they could try any class on the timetable that suited them. They just had to sign up, claim their free class pass and they could use it to attend any class anytime within 7 days.

Now with this group, they all get a reminder email to use the free class pass within 7 days before it expires.

My Ad spend for this campaign was $338, I attracted 28 new students to the studio so that is $12/student and you might think I’m doing better than the $19 for the previous campaign, however, there was virtually no further sales because after their first class they just walked out the door, my teachers are yoga teachers not sale and marketing staff and don’t think to follow up with the students after their first class.

If I were the teacher and noticed a new student I would ask them after the class if they enjoyed it and then proceed to offer them another pass.

Thankfully I have all their emails and can see who used the free pass who came again whose expired and I can send individual emails to each of those different groups to follow them up depending on where they got to.

Time-consuming, yes but I am not going to let them slip through the gaps, I paid for them to come to a class, so I want to make a few more opportunities for them to come back with emails offering them some specials.

As a result, I have not made my money back on my ad spend which is key to deciding which campaign is most effective or what needs to be tweaked with each method for better results.

I could choose to train my teachers to sell because having a campaign that hums in the background is great.

Or I can choose to keep running the first campaign with the extra work.

My point is one did better than another but I am not just going to abandon it. I’m going to make decisions moving forward that are informed by my numbers, results, workload, etc.

In all of this what is critical, is knowing my numbers.

I have done it myself and warn against trying something, thinking a few people sign up, it didn’t meet your expectations and you think it failed and then you just drop it and move on to the next fad.

NO, the data will tell you and give you the information you need to tweak and make better decisions depending on your results NOT what you think happened.

So my advice today is that for whatever you are doing to attract new students make sure you do an evaluation and look at the numbers and data and act from there.

Often it is just a tweak and touch-up, don’t throw the baby put with the bathwater because it failed, or rather didn’t meet your expectations.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

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Marketing to increase class numbers

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about marketing to increase class numbers.

There are so many different things you can do in marketing to increase class numbers. I will give you the big long list but then just elaborate on one of those strategies for you to try yourself.

Marketing means the processes for creating, communicating, and delivering, offerings that have value for customers. Not so bad right?

I think marketing is taboo or has a bad wrap, especially in the health and wellbeing sector. 

When I found this definition of marketing it resonated with me and I realize why I enjoy it so much.

Because I love to create and give value.

So when it comes to marketing your yoga classes or studio i am sure you are overwhelmed with the list of things you could or should be doing to increase numbers right?

Things like 

• Facebook advertising 

• Flyers and brochure distribution

• Emails

• Blogs

• Social media presence

• Free class trials

• Expos and public events

• TV commercials

• Word of Mouth

I won’t’ keep going I do not want to increase your anxiety about what you are not yet doing and get you st start with my favorite strategy. Which I am modeling right here actually.

Giving away content for free, that is valuable to your audience and gently reminds them that you are there for them when they need you most.

I call this strategy 3 Ways because you are kicking three goals at once.

Here is what you do.

Create one piece of content that has information for your clients or potential clients that is useful and that they can immediately apply and see a small result.

Post that content into a blog, send it in an email, post it on your socials.

This is called repurposing content and it is brilliant and not a massive time sucker.

You just need one good post.

I am even going to share with you exactly what I have shared with my community this week.

My top tips

1. Keep it short and easy to consume in 5 minutes

2. Send them out regularly. You need to decide how often and create a schedule and stick to it. Some I do weekly others I do monthly.

3. Always have a clear call to action at the end of the post. 

The example I am sharing with you is right below click here to read the blog post, which then got sent in an email, and posted on social media channels.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

Join the Yogandbusiness FB group HERE.

Working on Ourselves to Increase Class numbers

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about seasons and the ebb and flow of students and what we can do to increase class numbers specifically what we can do in our own personal practice.

We all know class numbers fluctuate and at times it feels busy and other times studio numbers feel so low and so do you.

Have you noticed that when your classes are busy you feel confident, positive about your teaching and ability and you feel ‘liked’

Have you noticed that when your class numbers are small you feel confused, disappointed, lack confidence in your teaching, and your energy drops?

I can relate to this. Yes the ego is at play and this is when we have to use the tools of yoga to support us, or it is a downward spiral.

Do you realize your students pick up on your energy and how you are feeling.

So if you are bummed that you only have 3 students booked into a class and this eats away at your confidence and feelings of worth, your student will pick up this energy and to be honest it’s not very attractive, compelling energy and they may not come back if you are dragging your feet.

However if you can let go of being popular, having big classes and just focus on being grateful for who has come to your class, serve them and be positive, your students will also pick up on that energy and they will appreciate it and come back for more. They will probably even tell their friends and the next week you will have more students.

What I think is really important to remember when it comes to class numbers is there are multiple factors.

The style of class, the time, the teacher, and the students.

As teachers we are quick to doubt and question ourselves and not acknowledge these other factors at play.  

The biggest being the student. Our students do not practice yoga like they eat and sleep. It is not a given that they will do their yoga class, actually they are more often than not hopeless at being regular and consistent and they are victim to the busyness of life's demands, this is more often than not why they are not in your class.

Remember that when class is small don't take it to heart. Just be positive, do your best with whoever is in the room and your class numbers will grow.

My tip for today is

1. Don’t have a knee-jerk reaction when your classes are small. 

2. Teach those who have showed up they came for you and what you have to offer

3. Catch your negative thoughts about yourself and squash them. If you catch yourself saying ‘They don’t like the way I teach’ switch it to ‘ no matter what or how I teach everyone will get something good from it’

In my next video, I’m going to talk about what we can be doing in our marketing to increase class numbers, but we need to work on ourselves first right?

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

Join the Yogandbusiness FB group HERE.

Sending Emails

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

Your email list is the most valuable thing you own.

I don’t care how many followers you have in IG for Likes you get on a Facebook post or even if you have hundreds or thousands of people in your Facebook group. It’s nice, it might make you feel ‘liked’ but what really matters is how many people you have on your email list.

I have 15k people in my Home Yoga Practice Facebook group, and I work to nurture, engage and support those people, but I really want to turn that 15k into names and faces that I am really connecting within a much more personal way.

And I can do that through email.

And you have control over your email list you have no control over your Facebook or IG accounts and from one day to the next they could be gone, or you could be banned. Yes, I was once banned for 7 days from my own group for violating community standards.  BTW I did nothing wrong, it was a Facebook glitch, but it made me realize that I needed a way more secure way to connect to the people that I had control over.

Hence the focus is on growing my email list.

There is a lot to say about emails, like how to grow your email list, and email tech, and email writing, but in today’s office hours I just want to talk about your approach or shall we call it mindset to sending emails.

Tell me in the comments are you a bit afraid to email your mailing list? Are you worried you are SPAMing them?

If you have been following me for a while you will experience that sometimes I send lots of emails other times few, but I am definitely more than less and I have a few mantras that support me to send as many as I do.

1. Always offer value in your emails. If there is some helpful information in the email you are more likely to have people who want to continue to read them. If you continue to offer even a small bit of value people will not unsubscribe, because they want to learn from you and it’s free so they like that.

2. Emails are a good way to share longer-form content and connect to your audience. We need our audience to know, like, and trust us if we want them to buy  from us. You are way more likely to buy from someone you know like and trust than from someone you just met right. So use emails to get to know and share with your audience about you.

3. Life is busy and an extra email or two to remind your readers about a deadline or discount, they will be grateful for. If they don’t want the offer and don’t unsubscribe then take that as a ‘no thanks, maybe later’ rather than they don’t like me or want what I have to offer.

4. You are not holding your subscribers hostage, they can unsubscribe anytime and be happy when they do. It means you can be confident that you are emailing people who really want to hear from you and you don’t have to worry about spamming them. And hey, when people unsubscribe it's a good thing, it will keep your email software fees down too:)

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

Join the Yogandbusiness FB group HERE.

Lets talk Websites

Does it have to be me to break this news to you?

When I first learned this in my early days of business, I had just finished building my Yogabranches website.

I’d spent too many hours with the layout and content and fussing about things that would never make a difference to moving the needle in my business.

Have you guessed what I’m about to say?

You don’t need a website.

There I said it…

Now your jaw has dropped or you are pushing back with thoughts like “What! Everyone needs a website”

Yes and No.

What I want to stress in this post is exactly that question. Do YOU need a website?

I don’t. But I learned that the hard way… after I had built it.

Here are some questions I want you to ask yourself to determine if you need a website, or could you spend all the time and money on moving the needle in other ways.

Now before we jump into the questions, I think it’s important to explain I don’t need a website for one of my businesses but I do for the other.

My online business Yogabranches does not need a website, although I have one that I never look at and I doubt anyone else does either.

My yoga studio business does require a website and is visited daily.

With my online business, I drive traffic to landing pages that sell my online services or have people sign up for my online services. Landing pages as I explained in the #officehours is a far more direct route to getting a conversion, i.e. result.

A website is a roundabout way.

In simple terms a website is good for information, like reading a tourism pamphlet or perusing the aisles of a book shop, 80% of the time you don’t buy, you are just getting information or killing time:)

Whereas if you have landed on a landing page it is because you are looking for something specific and clicking on the landing page leads you to believe you will find it there. On a landing page, you can’t cruise around and get lost in information, there is only one thing you can do on that landing page, sign up or buy.

Your business website accommodates various paths to take while landing pages accommodate a more specific action.

So my question to you is… do YOU need a website?

Still, thinking yes?

Answer these questions and find your answer.

What do you sell?

1. Service

2. Product

3. Both

How do you currently get customers?

1. Cold calling, emails, flyers

2. Word of mouth

3. I don’t have any clients

What do you hope to gain from a website?

1. More people buy from you

2. Generate more leads

3. More people know about you

If you answered A more than once I’d say you don’t need a website and should really do your homework about the benefits of building one for your business.

You can find all my Yogandbusiness tips in my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness.
Join the Yogandbusiness FB group HERE.

FREE Offer

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about free offers.

Free offers are a great way to attract new students to your studio or classes.

Giving something away for free does not have to cost you anything and in today’s office hours I want to give you some ideas on what you already have or can easily make to give away for free to attract new students.

In previous office hours videos, I talk about Opt-in, which is essentially a way to get a new potential client’s email address so you can start communicating with them about your service.

In order to get an email address, we need to give the new potential student something in exchange for their email address.

For people to give their email you have to be offering them something they really want that is going to help solve a help problem they have.

First, you need to identify what the problem is they are trying to solve.

In my business coaching program, I spend quite a bit of time with my clients working on this step because it is important to identify what the real pain points of your potential clients are.

But for the purpose of today’s videos, I’ll just give you some examples of problems your client might want to resolve with yoga to get your mind ticking.

Think about a student who has recently joined your classes and why they joined yoga with you in the first place. I hope you know why.  It is important as a teacher but also as a business owner to ask these questions of your students, this is important market research.

For example I recently had a few guys join the studio because they work long hours in hospitality, they are on their feet all day and need to stretch and relieve body aches and pains.

Or another student recently started because they had a miscarriage and want to look after their body better and settle their minds after the unsettling experience of the miscarriage.

Once you know what your students need it is easier to decide on what to offer them for free in exchange for an email address to attract them to your studio.

A final example I will leave you with is you hear students returning to yoga after a break and the only reason they stopped was that they got out of habit and found it hard to get back.

In this case, the best thing I can think of to give these students is a free class to come back and restart a routine.

For students who are suffering minor pain and strain from their work, perhaps you want to offer them a PDF sequence with 3 postures they can do at home at the end of a big workday.

The free thing may or may not bring them directly to your classes. 

Remember the point of the free offer, it is to 

1. Begin to help solve their problem

2. Start a relationship with the new potential client

3. Begin to build trust so that selling to them down the track is easy

I will give you a big list of potential free offer ideas to get your thinking cap on and start to come up with something that you can easily create, that will help someone and not cost you anything.

Quiz

Downloadable pdf

Video file

Audio file

Free class

Competition

Worksheet

Template

Checklist

Once you have your freebie, give it a catchy name.

Remember that what you are offering needs to link directly to solving their problem. Make sure you can draw a direct link between the two so that you easily attract people to sign up for your freebie.

For example, if your student’s problem is neck and shoulder tension, then a 10-minute neck and shoulder PDF illustrated sequence are ideal for them.

Lastly, the freebie needs to be easy for your audience to consume. You want it to be something they can easily do and get a quick result. So if you are offering a video class, make it short, so they can do it with ease.

Once you have your free offer you can then create an opt-in page and start sharing on your social media and to your email list to attract new potential students.

 If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

Join the Yogandbusiness FB group HERE.

Productivity Tip, 3 top task to move your business forward.

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about productivity.

Can I ask how overwhelmed do you feel on a scale of 1-10 with everything you ‘think’ you ‘should’ be doing for your business.

Seriously I want you to comment in the post on a scale of 1-10. 1 being not overwhelmed and 10 being so overwhelmed it is disabling you.

There was a time when I thought I had to be doing it all at once and if I wasn’t I was failing, or not pushing the needle enough to make my business successful.

I was disabling my progress because I would see all the things other businesses were doing and compare myself to them and think I’m not doing enough.

Does this sound familiar?

I felt so overwhelmed by the to-do list or social media posts, Facebook posts, Instagram stories, emails to students, workshops, new student promotions, timetabling and the list goes on, and I am pretty confident you have a to-do list that is so long, that you just keep adding to and continue to be overwhelmed by.

I am going to share with you a brilliant strategy to remove the overwhelm, learn how to prioritize doing what really matters, and get that to-do list down to 3 things.

My first tip before we get into this life-changing  is strategy is 

STOP comparing yourself to other yoga businesses or teachers. STOP looking that their websites, or timetables or price list, or list of offerings.

I’ve heard it said the same when you are working on a yoga posture and looking at BKS Iyengar in what appears a perfect pose, and you are trying to achieve this pose, you have to think of everything he did to get to that position, and recognize that he is in a different stage of practice to you.

The same applies for business, you are at a different stage of business to those you are comparing yourself to, and thinning you should be doing what they are doing when they are 3 years ahead of you is not helpful.

This is distracting but also disabling STOP comparing.

Now I’m going to show you on my whiteboard but I want you to do this on an A5 piece of paper, after some practice, you will be able to do it with a sticky note size piece of paper.

Also, you are not allowed to do this sitting at the computer or with your computer anywhere in sight. This is a pen and paper activity for a good reason.

I have in the past attempted this with the computer nearby and partway through writing my list, I think I’ll just jump onto the computer and do that one task now so it is not on the list, before I knew it 45 minutes had passed and one thing led to another.

No computers. Just pen and paper.

Here it is.

Draw 3 columns

1. Wishlist

2. Must do

3. Actions

Once you have nailed this as I have, these days I just have a sticky note with the 3 top actions I will take for the day that is going to have the biggest impact on my business.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

Join the Yoganbusiness FB group HERE.

Opt Ins

Today in Office Hours I’m going to talk about Opt-Ins and Landing Pages.

A landing page is essentially a webpage but you will notice that it has no navigation bar and on the page, you can only do one thing… Opt-in to the offer on the page.

This is what makes landing pages and opt-ins so effective. 

There is only one thing they can do on the page, give you their email address and opt into your offer.

Landing pages and opt-ins are a direct route to getting people interested in what you are offering to find out more without having to sell anything to them. 

With a landing page opt-in we are offering your interested new potential students something free in exchange for their email address.

An Opt-in is essentially a form embedded in a landing page in which you can get permission from a potential client, (in this case yoga student) to start communication with them via email.

Opt-ins are a marketing tool used to grow your email list of potential new clients.

The most popularly opt-in when digital marketing started as a newsletter sign-up. Give your email address and we will send you a weekly newsletter. 

Remember those?

While you will still find these on websites they are less successful these days in converting because people are more selective about what they receive in their inbox and having the opt-in on-page in your website is far less convertible than if it is on a landing page. 

For the simple fact on your website they can choose to click and a number of places and buttons but on a landing page they can only do one thing. Enter their email and click submit button.

So I mentioned you need to give the new potential client something in exchange for the email.

For people to give their email you have to be offering them something they really want that is going to solve a problem they have.

I know your mind is racing with what can I give away that won’t cost me anything… pause take a deep breath I’ll cover opt-in offers in another training video.

One thing at a time is so important to remember, otherwise, you will feel constantly overwhelmed and inconsistent in your approach.

So for now let’s stay focused on opt-ins and how you might build one, then we can worry about what you are going to offer on it.

Before I talk about how you can build one, I want to tell you one more thing about why opt is are so powerful in growing a healthy email list.

Opt-ins have an inbuilt function called a double opt-in. Now without getting too technical on you, this function forces the new subscriber to confirm they do want to receive emails from you.

This is important, you don’t want to gather a list of fake emails, nor do you want to be emailing people who don’t really want to hear from you.

The double opt-in function is critical for growing a healthy email list of people who genuinely want to learn from you and hopefully buy from you down the track.

Want to know how you can get one of these babies set up so you can start getting the email addresses of potential new students?

There are a few ways you can 

1. Use a landing page builder like click funnels or lead pages

2. Use a built-in feature in your website builder which is called a promotional pop-up

3. Use an email marketing app as Mailchimp or Convertkit built-in landing pages

An Opt-in is a great way to get new potential clients’ (students) email addresses so you can send them information and opportunities to buy your service.

Keeping in mind once you get an email address you don’t just start selling them your service. You’re building a relationship and it is time to start nurturing them with content and information that is useful so you can begin to build their trust in you.

That’s another training video:) What to write and how often to email.

Now you know what an opt-in is and how powerful it can be in capturing a new market of people. Join me next week and I’ll walk you through different things you might offer in exchange for an email address.

If you liked what you heard and want more tips like this come and join my private Facebook group Yogandbusiness where yoga teachers from around the world are gathered to support each other in the business of yoga.

Join the Yogandbusiness group HERE