02.11.08
Developing A Yoga Program
– By Veronica Shaffer
Are you looking for more yoga clients and an opportunity to increase your income or add zest to ongoing classes? When a busy Holistic Health Center offering yoga classes seven days a week asked me to design a spring program for them, I was reluctant. I was intimidated by the center’s competitive teaching positions, and the large clientele who filled the classes— but decided to accept the challenge and create a new program for the center.
To begin the process, I asked several questions: What are people’s needs? Which styles of yoga are currently popular, and what could I use as a marketing strategy to attract clients? The first thing that came to mind in the “needs” category is weight; everyone is looking for the magic weight-loss potion, a new solution to an old problem. Stress is another concern. People are perpetually seeking techniques to reduce stress in their lives. The final key point is commitment, because most of us always vow, swear and promise to take care of ourselves in a more healthy way, but don’t follow through on the promise. Convincing people to make that phone call to register for a class means getting them to commit emotionally and financially. I have taught many courses, and learned that being prepaid for a specific time period is important. People will take their involvement much more seriously if they have put money on the line. You may want to add an incentive such as “Pay by a specific date and receive a 10% discount, or full price after a later specific date.”
Keeping in mind the components of weight, relaxation and commitment, I started to write out all my basic thoughts on paper about these topics. For the advertisement, I came up with the heading “Fit and Wellness.” These words I hoped would draw the reader’s attention to the practices of being fit and staying well. For the class, I wanted a catchy phrase that hooked the reader and sounded like a different approach to weight loss. So “Stretch, Sweat and Shed” became my focal words. I expanded on those three words, defining how this would work in my yoga program. I explained that we would be doing Hatha yoga, a gentle stretching and breathing. I added the word “hot” to show that with the temperature raised, participants would sweat and shed.
After grabbing the readers’ attention with my catch phrase, the ultimate goal would be for them to continue reading and enthusiastically sign up for the course. I waited anxiously as the center’s newsletter was sent out, and within two weeks I had sixteen sign-ups, the maximum for the class. I ran the program again and twelve enrolled, with three from the previous class choosing to recommit.
The amazing thing about this course was that on the first day of class I asked, “Who has done yoga before?” Only three had! Here was a wonderful opportunity to introduce yoga to a new community, and it also told me that the weight focus had been the marketing lure. The group shared during those six weeks they were feeling better, had more energy, were able to handle stress in a relaxed way, slept well and looked at food differently, and overall made healthier decisions.
