by Amanda Kingsmith | Oct 6, 2017 | Blog, Business
The whole is sometimes greater than the sum of its parts.
Your Instagram account is one of those instances.
If you are using your Instagram account as a branding tool (as an individual teacher, a yoga studio, a product, etc.), you need to be considering your account in terms of ones and nines.
This is because two types of people will see the photos you post on Instagram.
- Your current followers will see the individual photos you post as they scroll through their feed.
- New visitors (potential followers, and potential customers) will see your photo grid when they arrive on your profile.
This means:
- Individual photos need to look nice
- Your nine most recent photos need to look nice, and work together to tell a story about who you are (this number may be more, depending on how far down interested visitors scroll)
5 Rules for Having a Strong Instagram Nine
Keep it consistent: If you use filters, use similar filters on all images. If you are adding text to your images, use the same font as much as possible.
Rotate your images: Make sure your most recent photos reflect a well-rounded version of what you want to showcase. If your brand is all about yoga and vegan food, try to rotate what you’re posting so that visitors see a mix of both.
Choose images that reflect your brand: The easiest way to achieve this will be to use your own photos, rather than re-posting something that someone else made.
Notice how your images look next to each other: Choose to arrange your photos in a way that complement each other, rather than detract from each other. Posting grainy images will bring the overall quality of your feed down, even when positioned next to high-resolution photos.
Showcase your product: If you sell mats, your recent photos should include images of your mats.
What it looks like to have a strong nine:
@MyInnerFire
All of the images in the Inner Fire feed evoke the same mood. They use the same funky font consistently throughout their promotional graphics, and their apparel is showcased front-and-centre. Also, without saying it, they’ve positioned themselves as a brand for getting outdoors.*
@YogaTreeStudios
I love how bold this account is. Their font is bold. Their poses are bold. Their photos are taken inside, presumably at their multiple studio locations, and they’ve included their logo in the top left corner of several of their images.
@MisfitStudio
Every photo in this feed is in black and white, just like their website. Each image exudes confidence, strength, and motion. They have used the same font for all text, including their class schedule.
Notice how all three side-by-side have used the same principles to create completely different brands, even though they are all yoga businesses. Each photo works alone, complements those around it, and gives you a sense of the personality behind each company.
Laura Fraser is a yoga teacher, digital media specialist & hand lettering artist. You can learn more about her here.
by Amanda Kingsmith | Oct 3, 2017 | Blog, Business
As a yoga teacher you’re most likely over-worked and underpaid! Many teachers I speak to are running a constant schedule of weekly classes for no increase in rates despite the level of their experience, which in some cases can be 10 years or more.
This has taken the fun out of teaching for a lot of yoga teachers. So how can you get back your time, begin to enjoy teaching again and earn as much, or even more, than you currently are?
The answer is in offering an online yoga course to your students.
Online courses have gained popularity and credibility among entrepreneurs across a range of sectors in the health and fitness space, so much so that a number of software platforms have been developed to help people release a course.
In fact, many of the more high-profile yoga teachers around the world recognize and appreciate the benefit online courses can have for them, their students, and their business overall.
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by Amanda Kingsmith | Oct 2, 2017 | Advanced Yoga Teacher, New Yoga Teacher, Show Notes
Jessica Winderl is originally American, but is joining me all the way from Norway today. On this episode of the podcast, Jessica shares her path as a yoga teacher, how she overcame perfection in her teaching, taking her career to Norway and all of the challenges that came along with starting a business in a foreign country.
Jessica also shares how she was able to transition from teaching part-time to full-time in a sustainable way, and how she was then able to transition to doing what she loves: leading teacher training programs. We talk about what Jessica has learned about the business of yoga, including how to get your offerings out there and to create a brand that serves you and is sustainable long-term. She shares how she has overcome the challenges of running a business in a foreign country and how, as yoga entrepreneurs, we can learn to be resilient through any challenges that come our way!
Enjoy!
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by Amanda Kingsmith | Oct 1, 2017 | Blog, Lifestyle
Yoga is a type of exercise that allows the body to breathe and open up while stretching the muscles in ways that traditional exercise doesn’t. You’re going to need a mat of some style for yoga, and there are several styles to choose from online and in stores. Fortunately, there are a few tips that you can use to find the best one depending on where you’re going to perform yoga and how much time you want to put into caring for the mat.
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by Amanda Kingsmith | Sep 29, 2017 | Blog, Business
As I’ve started teaching private yoga classes, one of the more awkward (and most important) practices that I have found myself establishing has been a cancellation policy.
I was first introduced to this idea by Samara from Mindfulness Matters in a business of yoga workshop I took with her a couple of years ago. And, as painfully awkward as it may feel to establish boundaries, it’s territory I’ve had to cross as a teacher who respects my own time, and the time of my students.
Here’s what my cancellation policy looks like today:
- The student is responsible for the cost of the class if cancelled within 24 hours. Obviously, I take the reason for cancelling the class into account and can use my own discretion, but this saves me from being cancelled on last minute without the opportunity to book another class. When teaching yoga is, or is part of, how you pay your bills, there’s an opportunity cost for every class you agree to teach. Currently, this policy is included in the waiver that my new privates sign when we first practice together, so that it is a clear expectation from the get go.
- If I cancel the class within 24 hours, I’ll offer the next class for free. While this isn’t expressly stated in my waiver, I do think it’s entirely fair that the 24 hour window applies to both me and my students. I had to uphold this side of my policy this week when I called-in-sick for a private. It gave me the opportunity to handle my cancellation professionally, and also made our exchange a positive one.
So I want to open up the floor: Do you have a cancellation policy? If so, what has that been like to enforce?
Laura Fraser is a yoga teacher, digital media specialist, and hand lettering artist. You can learn more about Laura here.
