Why Students really Come To Your Studio
March 19, 2010
Today’s tip is about the real reason students come to your studio. If you think it’s mainly because they want to practice yoga, you may be missing out on a lot of potential business. AND may be losing some students that you already have.
Check out today’s video below:
Thank you for posting this video. As I listened I had a flashback to a Marketing 101 class I attended many moons ago. The professor was talking about Amtrak. He simply stated that Amtrak was in the transportation business and not just a train company. I never forgot that.
Your point about people having different motives to attend yoga certainly rings true at our studio. We have a very eclectic class schedule and attract a wide variety of students so we’re always trying to meet different needs and expectations.
love all your help…. my dilemma i would like you to address… i send out over 900 emails now a month… unfortunaltely only about 170 are opened… people who read it love it and the format… many compliments… so how do i get others to open it or read it … if they dont do either one… why dont they just unsubscribe? any help or suggestions on this would be dandy!! thanks,,, om shanti
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Hi Mindy,
Great question. Email open rates are unfortunately NOT accurate. The only way for your email server to tell in an email was opened is if someone downloads the images – many people don’t. So treat this as a minimum number of people who opened the email.
What is of value is to compare your open rate from one email to the next. This gives you a relative idea of the open rate of people who do decide whether to open it or not from one week to the next. Generally, this depends on who it’s from, the subject line and when you send it. Experiment with different times of day and different days of the week. Monday morning email broadcasts have a much lower open rate than Friday afternoon in many industries, because people are busier on Monday mornings.
In the end, aim to get people on your list, and then keep giving them useful stuff.
Al
I plan to open a center. I have been gathering info. I have always enjoyed so much the information you have emailed me. I can not however enjoy the video. I understand your reasoning for doing them, but when it is written, I can go back over your points. I have usb modem and video comes in 6sec spurts. I plan to rectify that later but for now, the videos are useless. sorry blessings rebecca
Thank you! I am learning so glad you are doing this. Bless you. I am just starting out.
I work a full time job and am looking to teach yoga part time to build a clientele and eventually go full time yoga. However, looking for a space to teach has been an extreme challenge in terms of work schedule and affordable rental space. Please impart your wisdom so that I might gaine wisdom with this dilema.
Many Blessings
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Have you considered sharing a space with someone else to start with? New studios share space with everything from martial arts centers to dance studios to Buddhist Sanghas. When it’s not being used by the primary owner, you can teach classes. While it might not always be the purest space for a studio, it has the benefit of already having people passing through it who might take an interest in yoga classes. In other words, LOTS of free marketing. Think about the big-picture opportunities of sharing space, for example, even if kids are coming to a Karate studio in the afternoon, that it’s moms who drop them off and pick them up – the very same moms who take yoga classes while their kids in school.
Good luck.
Al
Al,
Thanks for the reminder of why people are really here. It’s not Yoga–it’s what yoga can do for us. (And when we think of business competition, we have to remember that it is not other yoga studios, but what other ways people’s emotional needs can be met.) Great to hear from you. btw, the field and birds were wonderful, though a little distracting. I could almost view a video of just them. Be well.
Dave
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Hi David,
Great insight. Competition is not just other studios – it’s whatever else promises to solve someone’s problem. A woman trying to lose weight might be deciding whether to spend her dollars on your studio, or on Jenny Craig. Whoever makes her feel like they understand her needs and can help her reach her goal most easily will get her business.
Namaste,
Al
Another excellent video clip, Al ! I couldn’t agree with you more…I have a sales and marketing background and have found Yoga and am now the proud owner of my own Studio.
So true about meeting people’s various needs.
Thanks for the insight!
Linda
Great tips as always for business yogis Al!
Tamara
I like your comments but I’d rather read them in a concise format rather than listen to them in a video clip. Thanks fo your tips and reminders.
HI Al,
I love these short videos you are doing, its great to see you practicing what you preach. I so appreciate your approach to marketing. What used to be a draining task has now become an interesting way to reach out, connect and serve people.
Much gratitude!
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Hi Janice,
So glad to hear this has been helpful to you.
Best of luck with your studio.
Al
Okay Coach Al, suppose you “funnel” (target) three groups, say stress relief, better sleep, ease back pain into one class.
I’m assuming that you as the yoga teacher are going to, during your class, make certain type of information sharing, about these three areas of interest, as you go through the poses. And maybe a reflective statement, near the end of class, once they come out of relaxation.
Any thoughts to make this seem fluid, when you are conducting your class?
Thanks!
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Good question. The key is to remember that the people in the class don’t know why other people are in the class. Instead of a teacher saying “Those of you who are here for back pain relief will be interested in how this pose can reduce your back pain…” try something like “By the way, this pose can be really effective in providing relief for people who have back pain.” the message gets across and only targets the people it needs to.
Great tips. I totally agree. The experience is the key. Tough to teach to new Yoga teachers though. But great video. How did you keep the sound on the video so clear?
Thanks very much, Al -
This was a worthwhile message to watch and hear – a good
reminder of what good marketing really is and very important, practical material.
Best,
Kathie
Hey Al, Been taping in and reading your emails for a long time. Just got to listen to this one great format as I can multitask! thanks for the thoughts, great idea.
Thanks, Lillah
[...] recently talked about why students really come to your studio (if you missed it, see this link . Today we’re going to dig a bit deeper. People who practice yoga come with very specific [...]
I agree that selling the result of something is the key in getting people’s attention and thanks for the reminder. My question is logistical- how do you actually do it? Do I send out there flyers at the same time with different result messages, or one flyer with all three messages, or one at at time spread out over a period of time? As I am writing it seems like it may be a silly question but if you are starting from a blank page where do you start?
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Cindy,
You ask a good question. How do you test your advertising and marketing?
It’s called “split testing”. We make 2 or more different versions of a flier, online ad, etc. and distribute them so we can track which generated a better response. With fliers, this might mean distributing different versions of your flier. Or even the same flier with two different headlines.
To track the results, require people to mention a special “discount code” (make it an easy-to-remember word) from the flier. If they mention it, they get something free or some discount. You’ve experienced this many times with buying stuff. This is why they do it – they’re testing their marketing to see what works best.
Online, it’s even easier. To test web pages, use Google Optimizer (www.google.com/websiteoptimizer). It’s free.
Good luck!
Al