There are many choices, when it comes to advertising and marketing your Yoga teaching skills for Yoga studios and Yoga instructors. As I’ve mentioned in other books, and interviews, the biggest difference between advertising and marketing, is cost. Advertising will usually cost you money. Marketing and public relations can sometimes cost you nothing, if you do it yourself.
You can market by press release, Email, FAX, mail, referrals, public relations, shoe leather (cold call – knocking on doors), and community outreach. Knocking on doors is a very inefficient use of your time. Whatever you do, remember that press releases about charity drives, interesting news in your studio, or your last visit to Tibet, are interesting to the public and cost you nothing.
If you send anything electronically, please make absolutely sure you have permission from the recipient. There are a number of penalties for sending out “Junk Email” (Spam). In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission and can result in fines or imprisonment.
You should not Fax prospects without permission either. Within the US, there are penalties for sending “Junk Faxes.” The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 and the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005 have rules that ban sending unwanted advertisements to a fax machine, without first receiving the receiver’s permission.
Therefore, learn the rules of electronic marketing or hire a service that does. It is in your best interest to know the law. Most Yoga teachers do not want the prospect of teaching Yoga, as an inmate, in prison. It is much less expensive to learn the rules and laws, or hire someone who does.
Advertising your Yoga business, on the other hand, will cost you money, and you want to get the best return for your investment. The return on investment is what makes the Internet so attractive to small businesses, such as Yoga teachers and Yoga studios.
The Internet is your absolute best return on investment. Yes, that’s right, and you will notice every major ashram, wellness center, studio, Yoga school, and Yoga teacher, who is worth their weight, has a website. You won’t see many “fly-by-night” Yoga teaching services, with a strong natural search engine ranking.
The reason is – it takes a little while to establish your business on the web. Realistically, it takes about five months for a website to gain a strong presence in the natural search engine rankings.
Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. He is a master instructor of martial arts, with multiple Black Belts, four martial arts teaching credentials, and was recently inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness to children, adults, and seniors in the greater Providence area. Recently he wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students, who may be considering a new career as a Yoga teacher. http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html
