I know “promoting” yourself can feel a little icky. Yoga is supposed to be about love and light and union, not gimmicky marketing.
This is a mindset I see in my clients All. The. Time. And as a yoga teacher myself, I’ve definitely been there!
But in 2017, social media is non-negotiable for your yoga business. It’s not a good-to-have, it’s a must-have if you want to get yourself in front of more people, fill your classes, and sell out your workshops and retreats.
Think of it this way: you have a unique message that the world needs to hear. It’s not gross, or gimmicky, or “salesy” to want to share that message with as many people as possible, for the greater healing good of the world. In fact, it’s critical that you share that message with every single person who needs to hear it.
That is what social media can help you do.
Below are 3 key purposes of using social media for your yoga business. Next week, we’ll delve into exactly how to use different social media platforms, starting with Facebook.
1. Personal branding. There are so many yoga teachers, yoga businesses, and styles of yoga. Why would som
eone choose your class, video, workshop, retreat, or product over someone else’s?
The answer? Personal branding! Personal branding is how you differentiate yourself from everyone else. You are never going to be the only person doing what you do. But there are going to be people out there who love your unique style and your approach, and they will want to consume your content, take your classes, and buy your programs.
But they will never know how much your style resonates with them unless you share your style with them!
You can do personal branding in so many different ways on social media. A few great ways to do this are live video meditations and short yoga classes on YouTube and Facebook, snapshots of your life on Instagram, and blogging and sharing those blogs on social media.
2. Education and inspiration. You know that yoga doesn’t stop when you get off your mat…but not all of your students do. Similarly, teaching yoga doesn’t stop when you step out of the studio.
With social media, you can teach as often as you like and you can meet your students where they already are: online.
I don’t just mean teach asana, either! You can teach them meditations and Ayurvedic tips. You can teach them about the limbs of yoga and you can inspire them to live the yamas by the way you live. You can teach them what mala beads are and why they’re powerful tools for meditation.
The opportunities to spread your message far and wide are infinite.
3. Community. Sharing your message on social media can create a global community you may have never thought possible. Your message will attract the people who need to hear it, and those people will continue to follow you, interact with you, and likely engage with others who feel the same.
You can create communities in a more traditional sense of the word in many ways online: free Facebook groups, paid memberships, and paid Facebook groups. But you can do this on your regular pages, too, because you know the saying: your vibe attracts your tribe.
Community is everywhere online, and social media can help you create yours.
If you’re reading this and thinking “That’s great, but I have no time to do any of that,” then outsourcing might be the answer you need. I highly recommend checking out Edgepoint Social for your social media needs!
Have more questions about social media? Drop them below, and keep checking back each week for more in-depth blogs about social media, mindset, and all things yoga!