How to create your yoga brand masterclass

This masterclass is an implementable, inspiring and easy to follow workshop guiding you through creating a yoga brand that’s true to you. 

Useful resources: 

Episode 1 – Pricing strategies for yoga teachers?  Listen here 
Episode 8 – Renting a space for yoga Listen here
Episode 16 – Do I need a new sequence every week?  Listen here 
Episode 18 – Create your social media strategy Listen here
Episode 23 – Define who you are as a yoga teacher Listen here 

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Previous Episodes of Yoga Hero: Teachers Podcast

Episode 26: How would you teach yoga if you weren’t afraid?

Episode 25: Do I need a yoga brand?

Episode 24: Tips for new yoga teachers

Episode 23: Define who you are as a yoga teacher

Episode 43: Should yoga teachers care about money?

Episode 42: Should yoga teachers demo while teaching?

Episode 41: Should yoga teachers use Sanskrit?

Episode 40: The business of teaching Yoga Nidra

Episode 39: How to develop a consistent Yoga Nidra practice (even with a busy life)

Episode 38: A Yoga Nidra for yoga teachers

Episode 37: Yoga Nidra: The art of sleeping to wake up

Episode 36:: How I Became a Full-Time Yoga Teacher

Episode 35: How to Become a Full-Time Yoga Teacher

Episode 34: Balancing having a job and teaching yoga

Episode 33: Balancing Parenting and Teaching Yoga

Episode 32: How to teach yoga workshops

Episode 31: How much to charge for your yoga classes

Episode 30: How to create your yoga brand

Episode 29: How to layer your asana classes with yoga philosophy

Episode 28: What’s your WHY as a yoga teacher

Episode 27: Setting up your own classes as a yoga teacher

Episode 26: How would you teach yoga if you weren’t afraid?

Episode 25: Do I need a yoga brand?

Episode 24: Tips for new yoga teachers

Episode 23: Define who you are as a yoga teacher

Episode 22: Yoga adjustments: Some important considerations

Episode 21: Tips for teaching yoga beginners

Episode 20: The joys of being a yoga teacher

Episode 19: Overcome imposter syndrome as a yoga teacher

Episode 18: Create your social media calendar

Episode 17: A complete guide to sequencing yoga classes

Episode 16: Do you need to teach a new yoga sequence each week?

Episode 15: Introducing yoga philosophy in to your asana classes

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Setting up your own yoga classes as a yoga teacher – Transcript

Setting up your own yoga classes as a yoga teacher can be completely daunting, where on earth do you start? What if people don’t come? What if you invest in yoga mats and rent a space and it falls flat on its face?

We’ve all been there!

However, there are some simple and sensible steps you can take to set up your own yoga classes, without taking huge risks and without giving yourself absolutely loads of work to do.

So here’s where we’re going, we’ll start off with the most important thing to consider: who are the classes for, and who are you going to teach and what are you going to teach. This needs some serious consideration, so we’ll run through some useful questions to challenge your thinking here, and make sure it’s solid!

Then, we’ll have a think about the space you’ll hold your classes in. If you already have a space in mind, this might be a useful recap of what to look for and what to ask.

Then we’ll look at how to price your classes – including whether to teach week in week out, or whether to book in blocks, how to promote the classes and what to do if numbers are low.

Lastly we’ll look at logistics of last minute cover and cover for holidays, staying in touch with those who’s expressed an interest and who’ve booked, and finally, looking after yourself whilst committing to your own classes too.

Ok, so lots to discuss, so let’s get going!

Who are the classes for and what will you teach?

I know, i know, this sounds so simple. Well I’m going to teach yoga to the people who come to the classes. But think about it, the name, the write up, the location, the price of your classes will DICTATE who comes; who shows interest and who immediately thinks it won’t be for them. Have a think – what attracted you to yoga when you first started practicing? Maybe you love a challenge, and you were attracted to the name of the class: Power Flow… but this wouldn’t have attracted someone who’s looking to relax, even though the class may have had some relaxation elements to it.

This is down to deeply and confidently knowing who you are as a yoga teacher, and who you want to teach. If you are dedicated to helping runners avoid injury, there’s really no point in you setting up a class for office workers. If you are passionate about helping people deeply rest and relax, there’s no use you using your precious resources of time, energy and mental bandwidth teaching a power flow class to loud dance music. Not that there’s anything wrong or right or better or worse of any of these things… it boils down to this – who are you and who do you want to teach?  If you need help with this, well look no further – put your name down for our ‘How to create your yoga brand’ masterclass, because that’s exactly what we’ll be working through together. The link to sign up is in the show notes, and it’s completely free!

Where to teach your classes

Renting a space for yoga classes was easily my biggest challenge for the first three or four years of Yoga Hero before creating a permanent studio space. I’d view somewhere, think it was perfect, get there and teach a class and there’d be a band rehearsal next door, or the roof leaked in the rain, or the heating didn’t work, or there was one toilet that doubled as a changing room and so ten people were late starting the class because they’d been waiting in the queue.

Episode 8 – renting a space for yoga classes covers mitigating all these mistakes and more, it’s linked to in the show notes so do have a listen after this, it’ll hopefully save you a lot of the headaches that I experienced!

Its worth mentioning here that a space might be completely beautiful, but not right for your offering. Listen to your gut. If you feel like the space won’t work for the yogis you have in mind, don’t do it. Keep looking.

Lastly in terms of where to teach, don’t be shy in negotiating good terms for yourself. If you get a fair deal on renting the space, it really takes the pressure off the whole of the rest of the process. Some places will want to be paid a set rate, a certain amount per hour. Maybe you negotiate this down, maybe in return for offering someone who works there a free space at your classes. Some places will want a percentage of your takings; so then it’s in their interest that more people come – find out if and how they will promote your sessions and push them for a bit more. Be very sensible about signing up to anything long term before you have any idea of who and how many people will come, see if you can negotiate something like a six-week trial to start off with. It’s amazing how much a bit of peace of mind can help you put your focus where you really need it, rather than being distracted by worry!

How to price your classes

This is easily one of the questions I’m asked the most by yoga teachers. and it’s tough! It’s so tough! We have to walk the thin thin thin line between making yoga accessible for everyone but not underselling ourselves. Episode 1 is ‘pricing strategies for your yoga classes’ – definitely give that a listen too, it’s super useful as a guide.

But in short, there’s a few things that you can do to help:

Early bird price

encourage people to sign up earlier rather than later by offering a discounted early bird price with a strict deadline date.

Bring a friend

If two friends book together, they get 10% off the overall price, for example.

Block booking

Rather than booking just the one class, encourage people to book a block of say 5 or 10. Bear this in mind when thinking about whether to teach week in, week out or in blocks, which we’ll talk about later on.

If numbers are low

When you’re in the initial stages of setting up your own yoga classes, you need to take a bit of time to work out exactly how many people you need to break even; i.e. to cover your costs – and don’t forget to include paying yourself for your time, as well as paying for your transport, parking, equipment, etc as well as the cost of the room hire.

And you need to know how many people you’re aiming for; what’s the ideal number of people you need to really make the sessions work?

If you’re approaching the start date of your classes and your numbers are low – lower than your break even point, there’s a few things you can do:

Investigate why

If people have enquired about your classes but not booked on, you could email or phone them and – really politely – ask why. Yes, they might have forgotten and they might book with you there and then, but think about this more as a learning exercise. If the class wasn’t the right price / dat / time / location, this all feeds in to setting up your own classes at a different time or place in the future, so it’s really valuable insight.

Check the stats

First of all – how have you been promoting your classes? If it’s on social media, check the statistics and insights to see how many people have seen and interacted with what you’ve put out there. I am constantly amazed by how much repeating a message actually improves the results, you’d think repeating things over and over would get on peoples nerves but it seems to do the opposite! Think how many times you’ve seen the same billboard or Advert on TV, and actually it serves to reinforce the message that the company is trying to tell you. Let’s take the same approach. If you’ve done one or two posts and they’ve not really taken off; commit to telling people about your classes but from different angles. Episode 18 ‘Create your social media strategy’ will really, really help you here.

Use other methods of communication and advertising

Can you email people that you think might be interested?

Without annoying anyone and without setting off any GDPR radars, can you call people that you think might be interested? Is there anywhere that you could put any flyers; maybe any coffee shops or local businesses where you yogis hang out? Honestly, I would really advise, don’t worry about pushing your classes, I know it’s so so hard – selling yourself just feels cheesy and pushy and awful, but remember what you’re offering could improve someone’s life, so tell them about it!

Week in week out, or blocks?

Honestly, there’s no right answer here, other than what will work best for you. There’s a consistency to week-in-week-out that can really work for people, but teaching in blocks can give you a couple of weeks off for some R&R. But the break between blocks also serves as a break for your yogis, and sometimes they don’t get back in to the rhythm of coming back as quickly as you would hope.

It really depends on – shock horror – who you are, and who and what your’e teaching. If you yogis are parents who will no doubt struggle to come in the holidays, blocks is a sensible option. If you tend to get tired, you have lots on and like to manage your energy levels, blocks can work an absolute treat. If you’re savvy and organised, you just get people to book on to the next block before the current one has finished, ensure they’re clear on the dates and you’re golden!

I would say, if you’re planning on teaching week in, week out, that really is what you must do. If you cancel a class, expect people to get out of the habit of coming, and from experience, it takes people about 6 weeks to get back in the rhythm of coming weekly! After illness or holidays, you tend not to see people immediately back to class. Now, you definitely do not want to burn out, if you’re not well then that’s that, but if you can dedicate yourself weekly, your yogis are more likely to do the same.

Cover

This is really important to do now, before you’ve set up your classes: Work out your cover logistics! If you’re unwell or can’t make teaching your class for any reason, what are you going to do? Is there a teacher you know who can cover the class, if so, how will they open up, how will the check people in? How will they take payments? How do they lock up?

And consider putting clear rules and guidelines in place – can they promote their own classes? What should they say if people ask them where they teach? Do you have expectations about how your equipment is cleaned and stored? How and when will you pay them? Etc. This might sound over the top but I’ve known deep, long term friendships ruined over differing expectations of what should and shouldn’t happen during a cover class. It really is best to be clear.

Looking after yourself

Teaching weekly is a big commitment! Each class needs planning – well to a point, go listen to episode 16 ‘Do I need a new sequence every week’ if you haven’t already. Each class needs promoting. Each class has its own admin, such as checking attendees, who’s paid, who can’t make it, who’s signed a disclaimer or filled out a health questionnaire, who needs to know where to park, who are you bringing a mat for etc etc etc.

So, ensure you’re looking after yourself. This means non-negotiable downtime on the day you’re teaching; ideally you’re not doing a full day of your day job, if you have one, flying to your class, teaching that, then whizzing home to start on the house work. Be mindful of how you feel about the class, if you get nervous or apprehensive, be kind t yourself and sit with it – it’s just because you care!

Schedule in longer periods of downtime, maybe a couple of days off between classes.

Make sure you keep practicing and stay inspired.

And above all, be mindful of your energy levels, you cannot pour from an empty cup!

So that’s it lovely teachers! Setting up and teaching your own yoga classes as a yoga teacher can be an incredibly fulfilling way to teach your yoga, int he way that you wish to.  it’s really fulfilling and empowering! Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for The Clear and Confident Yoga Teacher course, the doors open soon!

If you have a couple of minutes free, we’d be so so so so grateful if you could rate and review this podcast where ever you’re listening to it, and if you can share with a training, new or experienced yoga teacher too, well that would be just amazing.

And as a reminder, our show notes are available for you, at yogahero.co.uk/podcast27

We’d love to know how you’re finding these episodes, and if they’ve been helpful. Please do let me know by emailing hello@yogahero.co.uk or sending a DM to @yogahero_teachers on instagram.

And, as always, happy teaching.