Collaborative Post
Running an online yoga studio is a relatively new thing. With the world going into lockdown mode because of the COVID-19 pandemic, most yoga studios have gone online. It’s not easy to teach a physically-intensive thing like yoga online. There are many ways you could go wrong, but in this blog, you’ll learn exactly what you need to do to make it a success.
While it may seem counterintuitive how a thing like yoga can be taught online, this industry is actually booming since 2020. The two most fundamental reasons for that are A) it allows students to pick and choose their yoga instructors in a few clicks and learn at their own schedule, and B) instructors can connect with a global customer base and create an online community with a substantial following.
If you’re just starting out, however, establishing an online yoga business can be tough — let alone promoting it. This blog is divided into two sections. The first part deals with how to establish your online yoga business, whereas the second part discusses how to promote it online.
How to establish an online yoga studio
If you’re thinking of starting an online yoga studio, you must have been doing yoga for a number of years to know everything about it. If so, you already know the kind of content your audience would best resonate with. But that’s not all. You need to be mindful of a number of things.
Develop your niche
Before establishing an online yoga studio, you need to develop a particular niche or an area of expertise you’re known for or have the credentials to back up. The main purpose of doing this is to set yourself apart from the competition. For instance, if you’re looking for a grade 10 high school Chemistry teacher, you’d find a plethora of teachers teaching the same curriculum.
What sets each teacher apart is their experience and, more importantly, their mode of instruction. How do they teach Chemistry? Do they focus on concepts or more on practicing past papers? Similarly, you need to develop the specifics of your mode of instruction. Dive into the specifics of it all.
Ask yourself, do you have a unique approach to practicing mindfulness? Do you prefer educating your students on how to create their own flows? What’s your target audience? Do you focus on pre-and post-natal yoga? These are all the questions you need to answer to develop a solid curriculum for your students.
Discover your voice
Once you’ve crafted your curriculum and identified your target audience, it’s time to discover your voice. That has to do with the style of your teaching. This can be hard to figure out, and you’ll definitely need to experiment with it a bit to find your unique style. If you’re unsure, do a regular yoga class with a few students a number of times — that’ll help you understand how you want to teach your students online.
But teaching online is not the same as teaching in real life. You have to be very careful not to confuse students and say the right things at the right time. So, we recommend checking out other yoga channels on YouTube and seeing how they teach yoga to your target audience. This will help you pick out the voice you want to adopt in your lessons.
Create a dynamic website
Once you’ve done all the above, it’s time to create a website and formally establish your business as a real entity. Your website represents your yoga studio, so build it in a way that reflects your yoga philosophy, vision, and brand identity. As a rule of thumb, a yoga website should be minimalistic with calm colors.
Also, make sure it’s well organized so that visitors can check out your services, customer testimonials, and tutorials with ease. It should exude a professional vibe and make you appear as an expert yoga tutor. If you’re running any limited-time discounts on early admissions, make sure you advertise that on your website with a colorful and dynamic yoga poster. You can use an online poster maker like PosterMyWall to craft awesome posters in a few clicks and without having to hire a graphic designer!
How to promote your online yoga studio
Now that you’re done establishing your yoga studio as the go-to place for your audience, you must start promoting it to expand your clientele. There are many ways you can do this, but after much research, we’ve picked out the best promotional methods for you.
Content marketing is key
A major component of digital marketing is producing the right content for your audience. Content is the engine that drives traffic to your website. However, what many online yoga studios don’t realize is that they need to produce valuable content regularly. By valuable content, we mean content that truly adds value to your potential customers.
For instance, you could post a video on your YouTube channel about some basic yoga exercises for beginners who are curious about what yoga is and want to give it a whirl. Similarly, you could create a video on the benefits of mindfulness and the best ways to practice it at your home. Such content informs your audience, bringing them closer to buying your service without you being explicitly sales-y.
Consistency is the name of the game
If you think it’s enough that you’ve posted a couple of videos or articles, you couldn’t be more wrong. Content drives traffic to your website and social media channels, but only if you’re consistent. People like seeing content regularly, and if you fail to do so, they’ll divert their attention elsewhere.
For instance, if you have a website blog, try churning out 2 to 3 long-tail articles every week. Again, make sure they offer tangible value, be void of any fluff, and contain keywords for better SEO optimization (more on that in the next section). Similarly, if you have a YouTube channel, you could post a yoga practice exercise video once every week.
You need to have a content schedule planned out for the next couple of weeks. This will help you stay ahead of your game and facilitate your content marketing efforts.
SEO is not optional!
SEO (search engine optimization) is what makes the world go round. Every website you see on Google’s search results uses SEO techniques to rank itself higher on Google. Having the right SEO strategy is instrumental in making your online yoga studio more visible to potential buyers.
Statistically speaking, if someone types “best online yoga studio,” and your website appears as the first result, chances are that they will visit your website before anyone else’s. Imagine what you can achieve with a perfect SEO strategy. The possibilities are endless.
Some food for thought
The above-mentioned strategies form the fundamental framework you need to run a successful and thriving yoga online studio. However, keep in mind that not every online yoga studio is created equal. Each has its unique selling point and target audience(s), so make sure you tailor your marketing strategies to what produces the best results for you! For that, you’ll need to experiment to see what works for you.
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