The Digital Studio

This adaptation to online teaching has had both pros and cons. On the one hand, teaching online has made yoga more accessible to people all over the world, allowing teachers to reach a much larger audience than they ever could in person. On the other hand, teaching online comes with its own unique set of challenges, such as the need for technical skills and the difficulty of creating a sense of community and connection with students.

According to a survey by Yoga Alliance, the number of yoga teachers has increased by 40% since the start of the pandemic (Yoga Alliance, 2021). Many teachers have moved their classes online to reach a wider audience. This has benefited teachers and students, as online classes provide flexibility, accessibility and a wider range of options.

Despite the benefits of teaching online, many yoga teachers still face barriers to making the switch. It requires a different set of skills and knowledge than teaching in person. Some yoga teachers have struggled to transition to online teaching, facing challenges such as a lack of technical knowledge, difficulty engaging with students through a screen and the need to market their classes effectively.

Here are five steps that all yoga teachers can take to start building a successful online yoga business:

1. Define your niche: The first step to building a successful online yoga business is to know who you will serve so you can tailor your offerings to meet their needs. By specifying your ideal student, you can create content and offerings that are specifically designed to attract and serve them
2. Build your brand: Once you have defined your niche, the next step is to create a visual identity for your business, as well as develop a clear message and mission. Your brand should reflect your unique personality and values and should be designed to attract your ideal students.
3. Curate smart, authentic offerings: With your ideal student and brand in place, the next step is to create your offerings. This means developing workshops, membership, online courses and other offerings that are designed to meet the needs of your ideal students. It is essential to create high-quality, valuable content to help your students achieve their goals.
4. Market your offerings: Once you have created your offerings, the next step is to promote it through social media, email marketing and other channels. It is important to create compelling content that will attract your ideal students and encourage them to sign up for your classes, workshops and other offerings. Posting your schedule and practice on social media is not enough as a marketing strategy in 2023. You need to have a real plan if you want to launch successfully and fill out your offers.
5. Engage your community: By building a strong community, you can create a loyal following of students who will continue to support your business for years to come. The idea is not to have thousands of followers. I believe you can actually reach 50k income per year as a yoga teacher with less than 50 students and the right offers in place

Teaching yoga online requires a different set of skills and knowledge than teaching in person. No one is born with those skills, and it is something that we all need to learn and implement if we wish to grow a yoga business online. This is exactly why yoga business programmes such as Elevate Program (find details on yogacareerwithgwen.com) are essentials for yoga teachers to learn the exact step-by-step method they need to apply to create and sell online yoga offerings.

Gwen Ferreria is founder of Yoga Career with Gwen. With almost 10 years of teaching yoga experience, running online and in-person YTTs and mentoring students online and in-person, she is now helping yoga teachers grow their businesses online since 2020. If you’re unsure about your next step as a yoga teacher, take a FREE quiz and discover what strategy is right for you: yogacareerwithgwen.com/quiz

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