How To Transform Your Best Yoga Students Into Private Clients

yoga students

Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured. ~ B.K.S. Iyengar (Tweet this)

Building a yoga career is no small task.

But today we’re going to focus on another tool for crafting a sustainable, fulfilling and FUN yoga career—recruiting your yoga students for 1-on-1 work.

But first, I have a question to ask you…Does the following sound familiar?

We leave our 200-hour teacher training starry-eyed and ready to hit the ground running, only to realize that there’s a lot of business-building tools (like marketing, sales, business planning, budget-setting, community-building and more!) that we still need to learn about or fine-tune.

If you’re committed to crafting a yoga career that you love that supports you, then you know that a vital element of your yoga business is expanding your clientele and community. And, a really fulfilling and lucrative way to do that is to focus some time and energy on getting more private clients.

But, before we dive into how to get more private yoga clients, let’s first cover why recruiting your best yoga students for 1-on-1 work is a great idea for your yoga business in the first place…

  1. You can ensure that they’re getting the intended benefits, and clearly see and monitor the progress they’re making.
  2. You develop a deeper bond and understanding of their needs.
  3. It allows you to expand your repertoire and teaching know-how by working with a number of different bodies one-on-one.
  4. You earn much more per hour than you do teaching public classes.
  5. You get honest and instant feedback about your teaching, assisting, demos, explanations, and more!
  6. Private students are loyal, LOVE you and refer you to family and friends.
  7. It’s very rewarding professionally and personally to make a profound difference in your student’s life.

Now that you fully realize the immense benefits of building up your private clientele, I want to share 7 tried-and-true strategies for reaching and landing the perfect private clients for your teaching style.

1. Identify who your ideal yoga students are

First and foremost, you need to have a clear picture of who you want to teach. For example: do you like working with young bodies, old bodies, pregnant women, athletic men or teenagers? Do you like teaching Ashtanga or Svaroopa? Once you know who you want to teach and what you want to teach them, everything else gets easier. Your marketing improves, your communication gets clearer, you can develop better offerings, and the right students start finding you!

2. Remind current students that you offer 1-on-1

This tactic is super simple and very effective, but so many teachers don’t do it! Don’t shy away from self-promotion. Remember, the only way to help people and truly improve their lives with the power of yoga is to let them know what you offer!

3. Let your studio know

Your studio likely gets requests from students for private lessons. So, let them know you’re the person to contact. Fill the studio manager (or front desk staff) in as to what days you’re available, what styles you like to teach and anything else that’s important for them to know when booking privates. Then, they can send business your way when interested people request a private session.

4. Send out an email or card

A little marketing can go a long way! Send out an email or note to your student body and announce your 1-on-1 offerings and packages. Again, the only way to truly serve your yoga students is to give them as many doorways in to working with you as possible so, let them know what you’ve got going on & that you’re available to work with them privately.

Also, it’s totally okay to target specific students and send them a personal note if you sense they’re ready to dive into private sessions.

5. Trade business

A great way to find new private clients that aren’t currently part of your student body is to connect with referral partners who you can exchange business with. In order to find the right people to trade business with, consider complementary businesses that likely serve your ideal students like body workers, fitness trainers, massage therapists, nutritionists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, herbalists, meditation teachers, etc.

Introduce yourself and tell them about the work you do. Keep in mind this exchange does not have to be formal or stressful. It’s much better to focus on building one or two real relationships with like-minded business people than to simply focus on quantity.

6. Create packages

Students get the most benefits from regular practice and the same goes with private work. Instead of selling one-off sessions, sell packages of 4, 6 or 8 privates instead.  This does two things, it ensures your yoga students see the most benefits and get the most bang for their buck, and it enables you to have steady income that you can count on.

7. Build in bonuses

Think about enticing extras, bonuses or other add-ons that you can include that will set your private sessions apart and thrill & delight your private students.

A good way to do this is to draw from your other talents and interests.

Trained in Thai massage, acupressure, Reiki or mantra meditation? Why not offer a private package that includes some of your other skills? Love to cook? Pair private yoga with a healthy cooking lesson or two or a lesson in Ayurveda.

All these complementary talents that you likely overlook may be the very thing that would make a student select you over another instructor! Capitalize on your strengths and uniqueness, and you can’t go wrong!

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About the Author

Cailen Ascher is a marketing maven & yoga teacher/entrepreneur who wants to live in a world where everyone’s dream job is their day job and yoga pants are acceptable work attire. She has been spotlighted on GaiamTV, MindBodyGreen, YogipreneurTV, and more. She’s the creator of the revolutionary online course - Become a Yoga Brand.

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