You are now a yoga teacher! With a RYT certificate in hand, you start applying to gyms and yoga studios; however with the current economy you quickly realize there are few openings for new yoga teachers. So how do you find students and places to teach?[private]

Who is your ideal student?

A common thought in the yoga community is since everyone can benefit from yoga, you should market and offer yoga services to everyone that you come across. Often this leads to unfocused marketing campaigns that are ineffective and expensive. It also leads to students who simply are not a good fit – they are demanding of your time and energy and are often the same students who are asking for you to discount your services!

Focusing on a specific type of student allows you to become more efficient, create a stronger personal and professional brand and expand your business. Does this mean that you turn away students who do not fit this “ideal student” profile? Of course not! But you are more likely to attract the students to appreciate and value your teaching.

The law of attraction is a simple concept: like attracts like. So what kind of student are you attracting?

When I think of myself as a yogini and yoga teacher, there are several personal qualities that resonate with a specific type of student. I am very focused on my health and fitness, but I also value a relaxed lifestyle that is focused on friends and family. I eat organic and vegetarian most of the time, but I love a family cookout and a glass of wine. Staying in shape is important to me, but I don’t like to run. So the students I’m looking to attract work hard and play hard – they are looking to develop a yoga practice that provides energy, focus and personal growth in their life.

Another example could be a friend of mine who teaches Gentle Yoga a few times a week. She is a more mature woman with a sparkling personality and calm demeanor. Her voice is very soft and soothing. Her full time career is demanding; she prefers a relaxing and soothing practice. So her ideal students are a similar demographic – more mature, career oriented people who are looking for a practice that will be relaxing and soothing.

Create a description of your ideal student.

Start with these questions to identify who your ideal student is:

• Who is your ideal student?
• What do they do for work?
• Are they married or single?
• Do they have kids?
• How much do they earn?
• Where do they live? What kind of home/neighborhood?
• What kind of car do they drive?
• What do they do for fun?
• What stress/problems do they face?
• What kind of food do they eat?
• Why do they practice yoga?

Why are these questions important? Understanding the lifestyle, values, and stresses of your student allows you to provide more value.

When you focus on attracting students who you resonate with, amazing things begin to happen. People feel that you have created a class just for them! Students share their positive experience with friends. Word of mouth is the most effective marketing – so create an amazing experience!

Positioning yourself as an “expert” with a particular type of student is also helpful when approaching gyms and studios to get a job as a teacher.

Consider another friend of mine who is a former firefighter. He had started taking yoga while still in the fire department and knew the benefits yoga provided to those who have very stressful careers. Before he even finished his training program, he started talking to local fire departments about offering yoga to the fire fighters. Because he is a former firefighter, his students are more likely to respect and value him as a yoga teacher.

Next…where is your ideal student…

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Most new business owners think the first thing that they should do is start writing a business plan. While a business plan is imperative to the growth and success of your business, there is something even more important that you need to consider – creating a life plan.

As a business owner, many opportunities arise. Many of these opportunities will be incredible business opportunities to grow or increase income, however many of these opportunities will also move you away from your vision of your ideal life. A life plan is the foundation for not only your business plan, but also for the decisions that you will need to make in your business.
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Dream Your Life into Existence
As children, daydreaming was a daily activity. We imagined growing up to be doctors, firefighters, or famous rock stars. We dreamed of traveling the world, learning to surf, or meeting our heroes. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, society told us that it was time to stop dreaming.

Dreaming is a powerful tool. Take some time to dream about your ideal life. Imagine a day in your ideal life ten years from now. Describe it in vivid detail from the moment you wake up. Don’t censor yourself! Include details about:
• Who are you with?
• Where are you?
• What are you doing (for income/for fun/for health)?
• Why are you doing it?

If you have a significant other, include them in this process. Each person should create their own vision. Share your visions with each other. Are you on the same page? Can these visions happen together? With some creativity and comprise, you can create a vision for your relationship that allows both partners to live out a dream. The ability to dream and plan your life together is one of the secrets to happy and long marriages.

Focus on Values
Former Coca-Cola CEO Brian Dyson once said “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them: work, family, health, friends, and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But, the other four balls – family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”

Understanding your core values will help you to make better decisions to achieve your ideal life. For example, one of my core values is my marriage. My husband is my partner in life. I nurture that relationship and quickly back off of projects, situations, or business relationships that will prevent me from spending quality time with my husband.

When discovering your core values, here are some questions to consider:
• What’s really important to you?
• When you think about your life, what’s most valuable to you?
• What is the purpose of money in your life?
• Where do you want to spend your time?
• What do you want to contribute?
• What do you want to leave behind as your legacy?

Clearly write out your top five core values in a value circle. (If you have a partner, have them do the same.) Each decision you make should be helping you to live a life in balance with your core values. When you make decisions based on someone else’s needs or values, you will quickly find that life becomes more difficult, stressful, and unbalanced.

Set Goals!
Once a year, millions of people make a hoopla about setting a goal that will help them achieve (or get a step closer to) their ideal life. Lose weight! Save money! Spend time with my family! And two weeks later, these goals are long forgotten until the same resolutions are made next year.

People that achieve incredible things in their life are goal setters. They understand the importance of achieving small victories as you work towards the bigger vision. Goal setting is powerful. It is an inspiration to work towards your vision every day. A milestone in the creation of your ideal life. And most importantly – it is written down and reviewed regularly!

Start creating powerful goals! This technique will help you write clear goals that include the actions that you must take to achieve them. Consider each of the following when writing your goals for the next 1, 5, and 10 years.
• Specific – Describe in detail who, what, when and where.
• Present Tense – Write the goal as if you are achieving it today.
• Measurable – How will you know you have accomplished the goal?
• Time bound – Give yourself a specific deadline – down to the day!
• Challenge – If the goal is not challenging you, why aren’t you doing it already?
• Actions – Include what you are doing to achieve your goal!
• Affirmative – Write affirmative goals about want to want to happen – the law of attraction does not see the difference between what you do and don’t want. So leave out the don’t wants!

Here is a template for creating 1, 5, and 10 year goals for your personal life, health, and career.Download Goal Setting Worksheet

Now create your business plan!
Now that you have a clear picture of what you are trying to accomplish in your life, you can begin to manifest a career or business that will help you to achieve your ideal life!
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Learn the essentials of creating a functional business plan with The Yogipreneur Blog – Creating a Business Plan coming June 24th!

As a spiritual entrepreneur, you probably started your business with a unique vision. A dream of what your business could be. A studio that creates a community of yogis. A teacher training that graduates new teachers around the world. A non-profit that brings the benefits of yoga to underprivileged children.

If you do not have a clear vision, start clarifying it immediately. Without a clear vision, you have nothing to work towards. It becomes easier to get off track – and for others to get you off track. You might appreciate all the “great” ideas – until you realize that implementing those ideas have absolutely nothing to do with your ultimate vision.

Take a moment now and consider that vision. Imagine that you had achieved this ideal business. What does it look like? What are you doing? Where are you spending your time? What kind of services do you offer? Who are you helping? Who is on your team? What is your ultimate goal?

Hold this mental picture of your ideal business in your mind. See yourself in that vision. From this day forward, each time an opportunity or idea arises, ask yourself if it will bring you closer to your vision. Action in the direction of your ideal business will magnetize your dream to you.

Imagine that there is a huge hurricane flooding a town. People are ordered to evacuate. A bus approaches a house and tells the owner to get on the bus. The owner says “No – God will save me”. The waters continue to rise until the owner is forced to the second floor. A boat approaches the windows and the driver says “Get in!”. The owner replied “No – God will save me”. The house is completely under water and the owner is clinging to the chimney. A rescue helicopter approaches and lowers a ladder. “Grab the ladder!” the pilot said over the speaker. “No – God will save me”, replied the owner. After he drowned, he saw God. He asked God “Why didn’t you save me?”. God replied “I sent you a bus, a boat and a helicopter! What more do you want?”

As you are focusing on manifesting your goals, are you listening? Chances are, the opportunity to achieve your goal is right in front of you. The key is to be open enough to realize that the opportunity might not come in the form you thought it would. If you are waiting for the opportunity to present itself directly to you, say “Here I am – this is your opportunity!”, you will miss out on the other opportunities that require your action to take advantage of them.

Gratitude is powerful. It can make or break a relationship – including the ones you have running a business.

Everyone has been in a situation where they feel unappreciated. Remember those times. Did you want to work harder? Most likely not. You probably started doing the minimum required.

Now think of a time when you felt appreciated. When you truly felt cherished. How much stronger was that relationship? How much harder did you work? How much more did you want to give back to that person?

Create an attitude of gratitude. Don’t just tell people – show them! Send out a handwritten personal note when your student has a moment of transformation. Take your staff out for a mani-pedi party (definitely one of my favorite thank you’s I ever received!). Get creative and make it fun!

I’m so grateful for all you!

This is something that I think about often. As a Pitta-Kapha, that Kapha piece of my personality always wants to keep giving and giving – without stopping to think that maybe I’m running on empty! After years of struggling with this, I am finally learning to know when I need to stop and refuel. Self-care can be very difficult when you just want to help others.

But for a yoga teacher, self-care is so important! You can only help others when you have a full tank of inspiration to run on. Students know when your energy is stagnant. They can tell when your classes all start to look the same. And some of them may get bored and stop coming all together.

How can you continue to teach yoga without continuing to practice as well? GET ON YOUR MAT! Read a new book! Set a new goal and work towards it!

The law of attraction states that like attracts like. So think about this:

Bored teacher = bored students = boring community = boring life

Inspired teacher = inspired students = inspired community = inspired life!

Which would you rather be?