Casey Conrad - The Business of Yoga: A Step-by-Step Guide for Marketing and Maximizing Profits for Yoga Studios and Instructors

THE

BUSINESS

OF YOGA

THE

BUSINESS

OF YOGA

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR MARKETING AND MAXIMIZING PROFITS FOR YOGA STUDIOS AND INSTRUCTORS

Casey Conrad & Howard VanEs, E-RYT500

The B usiness of Yoga A Step-by-Step Guide Marketing and Maximizi ng Profits for Yoga Studios and Instructors

Published by: LetsDoYoga.com

ISBN: 978-0692256411

Copyright 2014 by Casey Conrad and Howard VanEs. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, or recording without express written permission from the author, except for brief quotations or cr itical reviews.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

I remember the day I met my co-author, Howard VanEs, like it was yesterday. It was April, 1992. I was a young consultant in the health and fitness industry trying to make my way onto the international speaking stage. The path to getting there was to first establish a strong regional presence. I was doing just that by giving a workshop on Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) in membership sales through the New England Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (NEHRSA). The seminar was being hosted at a club in Wallingford, CT called Healthworks. I happened to be in the GMs office prior to the start of the seminar when Howard arrived. He was doing the ad design for the club.

Howard was the president and founder of an award winning ad group. He and I established instant rapport when he heard the seminar topic because he, himself, was a long-time NLP practitioner. We exchanged cards and later learned we had much more than NLP in common.

I engaged Howards company to design the cover of what was to be my first sales and marketing book entitled Selling Fitness; the complete guide to selling health club memberships . This was the start of a life-long friendship and several business vent ures together.

Later, an economic and personal health crisis brought Howard to attend a workshop at Kripalu Yoga & Retreat Center in Lennox, MA. His high praises for the facility led me to follow in his footsteps and so began our own individual journeys into the world of Yoga.

Seeking a Life shift in search for more fulfilling work, Howard closed down his ad agency, packed as many belongings into his car as was possible, and he and his dog Murphy headed to California to pursue a Masters Degree in Expressive Arts Therapy. It was during his second year in graduate school that Howard got his yoga teaching certification through Mt. Modonna Center in Watsonville, CA. And, as is the case with many things in life, after attaining his degree his passion for yoga outweighed his interest in becomin g a therapist.

Over the years that followed, Howard taught yoga at many health clubs, local recreational centers and yoga studios. During our regular phone conversations he would constantly mention to me two things in particular: First, the growth of mainstream yoga was immense, which led him to write his first book, Beginning Yoga: A practice manual . Second his witnessing the struggle that most yoga teachers and facilities had in growing and maintaining their studio and/or clientele. Of course, his background in advertising and marketing gave Howard a distinct advantage in growing his own classes and customer base.

While Howard was on his journey I was on my own. My speaking and consulting business had grown over 1,000% since the launch of my Selling Fitness book, which was translated into multiple languages. I grew the company and produced dozens of sales and marketing materials specific for health club operatorssome of which Howard and I created and prod uced together.

Unlike Howard, my yoga life consisted of an annual one weekend trip out to Kripalu and the occasional class while visiting him in California. My travel and type A personality simply was not embracing a regular yoga practice. All that changed, however, when a nagging back problem turned chronic. It was then that I tried out many different forms of yoga, ultimately falling in love with a hot, vinyassa flow.

As each year passed Howard and I would constantly say, We need to combine our expertise and do something that will help yoga teachers and studio owners build a more successfulstablebusiness. After years of discussion we are glad to say we finally have done it!

Why now, you ask? A lot of reasons, but one big one is that with the popularity of yoga reaching all-time highs, more and more yoga entrepreneurs are struggling. This pains us. And because we are both passionate advocates of yoga and serial entrepreneurs ourselves, we felt compelled to finally put words to paper and bring this important infor mation to you.

We have organized this book in a way that allows you to either read it from cover to cover or take each chapter individually. Our goal with the material is simple: provide you with step-by-step instructions of how to build a profitable yoga business.

We start with a general understanding of the three ways to grow revenue in any business and discuss them as it relates to a yoga practice.

Next, we outline for you how to create a marketing plan and provide you with very specific strategies in the most popular and pertinent marketing categories as it relates to a yoga business. This will include traditional marketing, internet marketing and social media marketingall of which are necessary in todays competitiv e marketplace.

We then turn our attention to discovering ways to generate more revenue from existing customers with creative packaging and product and serv ice offerings.

Of course, no business book would be complete if we didnt discuss the process of selling. In this book we will focus on the general sales process and how your business can ensure they dont get a bad name as it relates to the customer sal es experience.

Next we will discuss an extremely important aspect of a successful yoga business, which is client retention. In this section we will provide you with lots of ideas and strategies on how to keep your students happy, long-time attendees at your cl ass or studio.

Finally, we will spend some time discussing KPIs, which stands for key performance indicators. The reality is that business is a numbers game and when you know what numbers (KPIs) to track and watch, you will ultimately make better busin ess decisions.

Whether you are brand new to the business of yoga or a seasoned veteran, whether you actually own a yoga studio or are simply trying to grow your own class following, youll find this book is packed with many great ideas and insights that will ultimately help you maximize your profits and success in your venture, no matter how big or sm all it may be.

Great care has been taken to provide you with a thorough overview of yoga marketing and for some this may be overwhelming, especially if you are new to this subject. While we recommend that you read over the entire book, you might find the implementation of the information presented easiest when you take one chapter at a time. We also suggest that many of the techniques and ideas offered can be effectively implemented through the use of an administrative or vir tual assistant.

In good health, Casey Conrad & Howard VanEs

CHAPTER 1

STANDING THE BUSINESS OF YOGA ON ITS HEAD

M ost people who end up teaching yoga or owning a studio do so because they want to share their love of yoga and its many benefits with others. Few go into the business of yoga realizing they need a solid business or m arketing plan.

This is not surprising for three reasons. First, yoga teacher programs are woefully inadequate at teaching teachers how to market their practice. Even credentialed programs usually dont offer more than an hour or two of marketin g instruction.