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If you’ve ever read any of my writings about the yoga business, you already know what a fan I am of building business by building community. Yes, communities are organic, and it’s wonderful when they sprout up unaided, but the reality is that they usually require a catalyst — something that reaches into the heart of what matters most to its potential members and magnetizes them. I call that catalyst Intentional Communication.
Intentional Communication is a focused platform of sharing the benefits and beauty of the yogic lifestyle with your audience and starting a beautiful avalanche of conversations and connections centered around what meaning yoga holds for their lives. Isn’t that what we’re here for — changing the world one yogi at a time? But how do we spread our gift in the most efficient way?
I have found that of all the communication engines you could use to intentionally build community as well as your business, the online newsletter will produce the most rewards for the effort. The benefits can be dramatic, helping you to develop that inviting warm glow around your business, while, over time, significantly affecting your bottom line. For most yoga businesses, having an online newsletter is a really good idea.
Through this unique vehicle, your words you can help people feel important, celebrated, and a part of something wonderful. Plus, it provides you with an open, cohesive group of people that know you, like you, and trust you enough to do business with you. This, you will find, is your most important asset.
So, if the online newsletter is the most powerful means to grow community and your business for the lowest cost (aside from word-of-mouth, which will never be beaten), will the work it takes to put out a quality communication to your audience be worth it? That’s up to you.
Even when you embrace the idea — like yoga, it can only work its magic if you actually do it consistently. Publishing only once every few months and expecting great results would be like a beginner taking a single yoga class in January and expecting to go into full Padma-Mayurasana by spring.
Most yoga entrepreneurs I speak with about writing an online newsletter are concerned that it will be too much work, and that, ultimately, they will run out of ideas for content.
“I just can’t think of anything to write about…” is what I hear as the most common reason for not publishing. But all you really need is one idea a month that would be of interest to your community of yogis. After 5000 years of positively affecting human lives, yoga has no shortage of great topics. For inspiration, an abundance of article ideas is available in books and on the Internet.
If you’re ready to go, here are a few tips: Remember to keep your content focused on one main theme; make it easy to read; uncomplicated; and leave your readers with something useful that will help better their lives. Write in your own style. You don’t need to be Rumi, just be yourself. Your writing does not have to be perfect, just from the heart.
To start your creative juices flowing, I’ve compiled some topic ideas for your writing pleasure:
– Interesting Yoga Community news
– Asana tips (especially the real-life benefits of doing the pose, not just how to do it well)
– Results of surveys at your studio
– Case studies and testimonials
– Student of the Month write up, with photo
– Recipes for healthy cooking
– Articles on related subjects (Ayurveda, Environmental issues, etc.)
– Humor
– Spiritual writings
– Yoga product reviews and recommendations
– Profiles of a staff teacher
– Contests
– Karma Yoga opportunities and events
– Beginner’s issues
– Interviews with experts
– Inspirational quotes
– Request for submissions/feedback
This list can be made even longer. Content will never be an issue as long as you don’t make it one in your mind. To spark even more ideas, ask your staff! I also recommend subscribing to some email newsletters on subjects that are meaningful to you, and actually reading them.
Once you are ready, there are several questions to be addressed and steps to follow in creating your own online newsletter:
What will you call it?
Name your newsletter in a way that is meaningful to your audience. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Mine is called “The Yoga Business Journal.”
How often you will publish?
I recommend once a month, consistently. No more, no less.
Who will you send it to and how will you get their email addresses?
If you have a web site, I recommend a section dedicated to telling people what it is all about, why they might be interested, and an easy way to subscribe. Most people don’t want to share their email addresses if they think you’re going to try to sell them something, so share the aspect of celebrating community as its main focus. Also (especially if you don’t yet use a web site), have a similarly worded sign up sheet at your registration desk.
How will you deliver it?
Sending out hundreds or thousands of emails from your own PC is very cumbersome and will take too much of your precious time. Do a Google search on “Email Marketing,” and explore one of the many low cost online services like Constant Contact, Topica, MailerMailer, etc. If you’ve ever done it the other way, you’ll thank me.
A very satisfying example of intentional communication in action comes from a dilemma I had when starting my own venture as Yoga Business Coach: Since I am such a proponent of building community in my own life, but don’t see my clients face to face, how could I be the catalyst I’m asking you to become?
Well, it seems that yoga does indeed inspire creativity… In the two short years since publishing the first monthly issue of the “Yoga Business Journal,” my newsletter is now being read by thousands of yoga entrepreneurs in dozens of countries. A big part of what has magnetized this vibrant group of like-minded people is my having created a vibrant, yet virtual, community.
Each month in my newsletter, I invite readers to an interactive “Business of Yoga” tele-class on a new and relevant topic. Admission to the class is by seva, a donation of money or time to needy individuals or causes in their local communities. The idea took on a life of its own and letters started coming in from all around the world. People constantly write to me about how this monthly opportunity to interact with other yoga business owners gives them a sense of belonging to something larger, a community that understands them… they tell me they don’t feel alone anymore!
So no matter your circumstance — engage your heart and mind, get creative, and use this powerful tool to communicate intentionally. Endeavor to continuously build a community around your business… and thrive.
Namasté.
Alón Sagee,
The Yoga Business Coach
http://www.yogabusinesscoach.com
800.399.2977
Copyright 2004-2007, The Yoga Business Coach(TM).
All Rights Reserved.
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Source by Alon Sagee
