Every business is seasonal. For most of us, the summer is traditionally a slow time. Kids are on vacation, people are traveling, and routines are more relaxed. With a little planning, you can learn to use this time to grow your business and position yourself to have an incredible fall and winter!
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Summer

By the time July rolls around, there isn’t much time to create and implement new marketing or events before school is back in session. Attempting to put together a new program within weeks generally leads to poor results and destroys the integrity of your brand.

There are some things you can do to see a dramatic difference in both your students and the bottom line.

• Relationships Many of your students came to yoga to learn about themselves. They had a goal – to achieve a certain yoga pose, to lose weight, to reduce stress – that is probably forgotten. A strong relationship with your students doesn’t only feel great – you work with friends all day – but you are helping them live their ideal life. So while things are a little slow, send a note to all your students to express your enthusiasm and support for their hard work and include an incentive for them to come visit you!
• Newsletters If you don’t have a newsletter, now is the perfect time to start putting a monthly newsletter together. Begin by gathering all the email addresses of current students. For up to 50 addresses, you can simply used the CC on your email, however to make a more dramatic impact Constant Contact or Mail Chimp are great newsletter programs. Newsletters are a great place to feature stand-out students or teacher, announce upcoming events and promotions, and include an article to reinforce the students commitment to yoga & their health.
• Summer Promotions Summer is a great time to run a promotion on classes! Announce to all of your classes that you are having a special on class packages. Put the announcement in the newsletter. Post an announcement on your facebook page. Send flyers home with every student. Make sure you tell every student you come in contact with – even telling people during class. Take the promotion to the next level by including a referral promotion – buy one get one half off! Bring a friend and get a free class! Be creative and reward your students for bringing their friends!

Now is the perfect time to start planning events for the fall. Once families begin to settle back into school routines and people are back from vacations, they will be ready to return to their regular yoga routine. So what can you do now to prepare for the fall?

• National Yoga Month Yoga studios have a great opportunity to start the fall off strong in September! National Yoga Month is all about educating and sharing yoga with your community – a great time to bring in some new faces to your studio. Plan special events to be held throughout the month – some ideas could include: free or donation based community classes, strategic partnerships with another holistic health provider (massage, reiki, chiropractor), or:
• Global Mala September 19th-20th is part of the Global Mala Project. Enroll your studio to participate in this Global Mala for Peace at www.globalmala.org. This site includes flyer templates and education you can use to promote this event. Host as a free community event or raise money for a charity!
• Fall Schedule Class schedules should be created at least a month in advance. The best class schedules allow students to maintain a yoga practice at regular times throughout the week – such as Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10AM or Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7PM. The key to a successful schedule is maintaining it – studios that cancel class often will lose students very quickly. Students should not have to check the schedule before each class – set the schedule and commit to it!
• Workshops & Events If you will participating in Global Mala, you may want to set up workshops for the months following September. Bring in a guest teacher and watch your workshop fill the room! Workshops are a fantastic way to expose your students to new styles and deepen their practice, and also a great income generator.
• Special Class Series A series of classes can be a fantastic way to introduce people to yoga. Organize a 6-8 week series for beginners, brides, men’s yoga, yoga bootcamp – whatever your community is asking for. Set a special price for the entire series – asking your students to prepay for classes not only increases your bottom line, but greatly increases their commitment to completing the entire series.
• Promotions Each quarter, you should have a special promotion. You don’t want to overuse promotions as this will dilute your brand image. What kind of promotions will help your studio? Prepaid class packages or monthly packages. You are doing your students a huge favor by offering these at a discount – they will become more dedicated to their practice, achieve their goals quicker, and you’ll save them a few bucks by offering a discount.

With two months till Fall arrives, you have just enough time if you get started now. Here is a quick timeline to follow:
Week 1&2: Create a fall gameplan! Decide what you will be doing for September – November. Outline the class schedules, set dates for events, and start putting together flyers or other materials for marketing. Make sure you’re following up with your students and generating some summer business too!
Week 3&4 Line up your support! If you are bringing in teachers for events or workshops, make all the arrangements and get contracts signed. Make sure the events calendar is on your website and facebook! Start sending out a newsletter and let your community know of the events you are planning.
Week 5&6 Time to start marketing! Engage your entire team in active marketing – talking to people face to face will generate more interest than just leaving some flyers laying around. Presell all special events and workshops. Make sure you tell people that the workshops are limited to a specific number of people. Don’t let students wait until the last minute! Offer an early bird discount for up to a month before the event.
Week 7&8 Make sure your students and community know what to expect this fall! In the weeks leading up to September, families are settling into “back to school” mode, so you will need to over-communicate for anything to stick. Send emails, newsletters, flyers, events on facebook, or whatever you need to do to let your community know what you have planned for them!
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