The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast
255: Creating a Niche Online Course with Laura Fowler Massie
Description:
A lot of yoga teachers experience doubt and hesitancy around picking a niche, but it can work wonders for your yoga business. In this episode, Laura Fowler Massie shares how she created a niche online course and successfully marketed it during the pandemic.
Laura has been a yoga practitioner for over thirty years, the owner of Yoga Chelsea, and creator of Calm Kids Yoga. She became a yoga teacher in 2008 and took specialty training so she could offer Slow Mindful Yoga, Yoga for Pelvic Health, Yoga Nidra, and Children's Yoga. Laura is also an Early Childhood Educator with a BA in Psychology and a Masters degree in Education. Just before the pandemic, Laura created and launched a specialized in-person course designed specifically for Early Childhood Educators, but she had to shift gears when the lockdowns began.
Laura explains how she dealt with having to shift her offering from in-person to online because of the pandemic. Despite the change, her course has been very successful and allowed her business to grow. Laura shares how she reached her target audience to market her niche offering, and how she leveraged a free Facebook group to grow her audience. She also talk about what helped her on the tougher days, why showing up consistently is important, as well as a lot of the fears and objections people have around niching down.
This is a great episode for anyone who has been hesitating about picking a niche.
Key Takeaways:
[3:22] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Laura Fowler Massie.
[6:24] Shannon gives a shout out of thanks to sponsor, OfferingTree.
[10:14] What does Laura do and who does she do it for?
[10:58] How did Laura decide to combine yoga and early childhood education?
[14:09] How did Laura market her offering and who did she market in order to get such a great turnout?
[16:29] How did Laura deal with the fear that most people have around niching down, that they will have fewer people to market to?
[19:30] Laura shares some of her marketing strategies to really promote her niche offering.
[22:28] Marketing can be tough, and some channels can be successful while others fail. What are some things that helped Laura on those tougher days?
[23:47] Laura has stayed consistent in putting out free content to her Facebook group as a way to market her offering and grow her audience.
[25:06] Laura shares more about the business coaches she has worked with and learned from.
[27:35] Does Laura also share her Facebook Live videos to YouTube?
[30:27] When does Laura's next training start? She shares a little more about how her course is structured.
[34:54] How did Laura come up with the wording and messaging that allowed her to connect with early childhood educators?
[37:46] Connect with Laura via her website and her Facebook group.
Links:
Gratitude to our Sponsor, Offering Tree.
Quotes from this episode:
“I always had it in my mind that I was going to turn this into an online offering because it would just make it so much more available for people."
“I use my professional expertise to really market myself as a subject matter expert."
"Start before you're ready. Done is better than perfect. And everything is figureoutable".
"I feel like also word of mouth, even in the internet world during a pandemic, it still is wonderful advertising."
"You have to speak in the language of your target audience."
"I feel like I was being sincere and honest by really responding to what the people were saying they needed from me and they were interested in learning about."
The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast
254: 3 Must-Have Legal Agreements with Erika Kullberg
Description:
Wondering if you need to have a Privacy Policy or Terms & Conditions page on your website? Perhaps you’re interested in preventing people from stealing content you created online, such as a course, curriculum, or PDF. In this episode, Erika Kullberg answers all of these questions and more
Erika Kullberg is the founder of Plug and Law, a company that provides online businesses and entrepreneurs affordable legal services, and an award-winning attorney who has been featured in publications like CNBC, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider and the Washington Post. She has years of experience in corporate law and represented Fortune 500 companies prior to founding Plug & Law. Today, she shares useful tips, tricks, and hacks online to help people make more money and save more money, and has over 6 million followers across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
Erika explains what are the three must-have legal agreements for any business owner - Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and a Disclaimer, and why they’re so important. She also shares how yoga teachers can protect their intellectual property through Trademarks, Copyrights & Patents, as well as some things to take note of when signing contracts, such as non-compete and non-solicitation clauses.
Erika shares all this legal information in a way that’s easy to understand and apply, so this is the perfect episode for anyone who has been wondering about the legal aspects of running a yoga business.
Key Takeaways:
[5:24] Shannon introduces her guest for this episode - Erika Kullberg.
[7:38] Shannon highlights some that Offering Tree specifically offers yoga teachers. offeringtree.com/shannon
[9:53] What does Erika do and who does she do it for?
[11:20] Erika and her husband recently decided to become digital nomads!
[12:38] What is the terms and conditions document, and what is a privacy policy? Why do yoga teachers need them?
[18:16] What are some common mistakes or things that online businesses overlook?
[19:56] Erika offers templates that yoga teachers can use on their websites. She shares more about how these templates work.
[21:08] Are Erika's templates ready for yoga teachers to use or do they need to be checked by a lawyer?
[22:13] What are Erika's thoughts on using clearer language in these legal documents, rather than legal language?
[23:20] How often should you update these three documents on your website?
[24:35] Erika recommends keeping a log of your terms and conditions, privacy policy and disclaimer to keep track of the changes you have made.
[25:13] When does a yoga teacher need to set up an LLC? What is an LLC and how does it protect yoga business owners?
[28:17] What are some considerations to keep in mind around non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in contracts?
[31:08] As a yoga teacher at a studio, you are a contract worker. Keep this in mind when signing any contract with non-compete clauses!
[32:36] Shannon shares her personal experience with non-solicitation clauses in contracts.
[33:37] How can yoga teachers protect themselves when it comes to people stealing their ideas from online courses or PDFs? Erika shares more about copyrights, patents, and trademarks as ways to protect intellectual property.
[37:32] How can yoga teachers prove when they created something?
[38:28] When is it helpful to have a trademark? How can yoga teachers go about getting something trademarked?
[40:32] What's the difference between registering a business with a certain name and registering a trademark?
[41:41] Erika has some final thoughts around legal considerations for online businesses.
[43:16] Erika shares some of her services that yoga teachers may be interested in.
[44:23] Learn more about Erika and her work via her website, and check out her YouTube channel for personal finance tips!
[45:52] Is it necessary for every yoga business to include a disclaimer?
[47:12] Shannon shares her takeaways from this interview.
[49:07] Shannon gives a shout out to a listener who left a review.
Links:
Gratitude to our Sponsor, Offering Tree.
Quotes from this episode:
"The privacy policy is not only essential for your website, but it's also required by law."
"These terms and conditions are going to lay out all of these rules for your website so that there's no ambiguity."
"A disclaimer basically states what you are and are not responsible for."
"[Legal agreements are] to take care of our yoga students as well as ourselves." - Shannon
"Make sure when you are signing an agreement, you understand every single word because these are legally binding."
"Also remember that everything is negotiable. If you're not happy with the terms that they want you to sign, push back on them."
"Prior to signing, that's when you're in the greatest position of power to speak up."
"If it is something that's very important to your brand, it's best to register your trademark earlier rather than later."
The Connected Yoga Teacher Podcast
253: Reflect & Plan [Part 4] with Shannon Crow
Description:
At the end of every year, Shannon has a personal practice of reflection and planning. In this episode, Shannon shares her process of goal setting. She explains the SMART goals framework she uses, and why she only chooses 1-3 goals to focus on for a 90-day stretch. Shannon also reveals her tips and tricks to help her stay motivated in accomplishing her goals, and how she actually reaches her goals. This episode is part of a series, and an excellent guide to return to every time you need to take stock and review how things are going in your yoga business.
Key Takeaways:
[4:53] Shannon recaps the first three parts of the reflect and plan framework she has been sharing.
[6:00] Don't be afraid to take this framework and adapt it to what fits you!
[8:28] Choose 1-3 goals to focus on for the next 90 days.
[10:44] Shannon uses the SMART goals framework to set her goals. She explains what this means.
[15:08] Define if your goals are habit goals or achievement goals, and which area of importance it fits into. Also outline the benefits of this goal, and the small steps you will take to complete the goal.
[18:50] The magic step to reaching your goals is to get it on your calendar!
[22:31] Something that helps Shannon in reaching goals is trying not to break a streak, and having accountability.
Links:
Gratitude to our Sponsors, Pelvic Health Professionals and Offering Tree.
Quotes from this episode:
"Make this fit your life and your beliefs and whatever suits you."
"A habit goal is something that you do daily or on a regular basis, whereas an achievement goal is something that you finish."
"The magic step is getting it on your calendar."