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This week on the podcast, I am joined by Nate Guadagni. Nate is the founder of Bo Yoga®, an accessible blend of gentle yoga, qi gong (Chee Gong) and meditation. He is the inventor of the new Balance Bar prop; a flexible, padded lightweight staff which helps with balance, alignment and mobility making yoga safer and more approachable.
Nate Guadagni has taught yoga, qi gong and meditation full time for over thirteen years and has managed six successful wellness centers in three major US cities. On top of that, Nate is a business badass, and on this episode we talk about the importance of having an email list and how to grow your email subscribers to 1,000 or more engaged people!
On this episode, we talk about how to identify your target market, how to determine your irresistible gift for your audience, how to get people to sign up for your email list, creating great automated emails, how to choose an email software, and how to nurture your email list once people are on it. Nate shares how to decide how often to send email campaigns, what to include in your email newsletters, and much more.
This episode is jam packed with information so make sure you have a pen and paper ready to take some notes!
Enjoy!
Business Lessons from this Episode:
- The importance of having a mailing list / email newsletter
- Why do you want 1,000 subscribers?
- Email list is the best way to gather a targeted, engaged following who know, like and trust you who have a potential to buy from you.
- 1,000 True Fans (Kevin Kelly) – If each one pays you $100/year you can make $100,000 per year and live happily ever after.
- Question: How can I give $100 in value to 1,000 people each year?
- Who do you want on your list?
- Who is your “favorite” student?
- If you could only take one student with you to a new place, who would it be?
- Find out as much info as you can about them and talk to them often.
- Focus all of your messages, pictures and creations for this one person.
- How do I grow my list? Create an Irresistible Gift that would appeal to your “favorite” student.
- What would be useful, valuable, attractive, exciting, must-have for them? What is their greatest need that you can fulfill. What do they say they get from you the most? Talk to them!
- What are your best creative skills? What do you like to create? What do you like to consume?
- Your Best Skills (the format) + Your Favorite Student’s Greatest Need (the content) =
- Research the Content – What are the 3 best ranking piece of content online that already exists for this specific topic? Read them and then make one that is more relevant or targeted to your favorite student.
- Spend the time to make it really good… however DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!
- How to get people on your list
- Ask friends and family to join your list. Reach them through Email, Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, etc. Ask them for feedback, ideas, etc. Include them in your process, they will feel more connected to you and your mission. (Don’t sign them up without telling them, that is annoying)
- Sign up sheets. In your classes (need studio permission) in workshops.
- Expos / Health Fairs / Festivals / Gyms / Dojos – look for your Favorite Students there. Where do they hangs out? Where do they gather?
- Website – Newsletter sign in form
- Facebook Page – Sign up button
- Pop ups / Exit intent popups (use Leadpages or other software to do this)
- Blog article – Content upgrade. Create an article that is related to your Irresistible Gift and then include the gift as a download which invites them to your list.
- Guest post – give your content to someone who has an audience of your Favorite Students with a link to you.
- Studio manager/ owner – on the intake form (they must choose to opt out, not opt in)
- Encourage walk-in visitors to join the email list with a gift (free class card, etc.
- Which Email service should I use?
- Mailchimp – Designed for small business and entrepreneurs. Free for the first 2,000
subscribers. - Must have Auto-Responder capacity
- Mailchimp – Designed for small business and entrepreneurs. Free for the first 2,000
- Nurture your list!
- You must email them frequently.
- Choose your frequency: quarterly, monthly, bi weekly, weekly, daily
- Never skip a beat! – You must be consistently giving value to your Favorite Students
- Content Ideas:
- Curate / Recommend other people’s content – Share a video, article, playlist, TED talk, podcast that would be relevant to your Favorite Students and tell them why they will like it.
- Student’s story – Testimonials. Include their picture!
- Music Playlist
- Personal story that relates to your offering
- LOL : Learn Out Loud
- Talk about what you are learning in your last training / workshop / online course. Let them learn with you.
- Share personal pictures – pets and kids are the best! Travel or historic places.
- Timely info: What Ayurvedic Season are we in and what does that mean for them?
- Current Events : Weigh in on relevant social / political issues. Take a stand.
- Your upcoming classes / workshops / retreats / specials – Share the story behind these offerings. Why are you offering them? Who are they for and what will people get out them? What have past participants experienced?
- Repurpose!
- Reuse the same content and share it on every platform.
- Take relevant parts of your email and immortalize them on your website, Facebook page or YouTube.
- Automate
- Create a 3 part Auto Responder Email
- Pathos: Let them connect emotionally with you by sharing your personal story, challenges, background. Show vulnerability, empathy and make it relevant to your Favorite Student.
- Logos: Explain logically what they are struggling with and why and how you can help them. Show them that you understand their problems and that you have a solution. Compare and contrast yourself with other offerings they may have tried or considered or given up on. Reassure them they have made the right choice to be with you.
- Ethos: Show your personal credibility with pictures or stories. Show yourself teaching to lots others, share testimonials from your students of how you have helped them. Any awards, articles, interviews, previous training experience, certificates, trainings, health care experience, etc. Share in a story format to make it natural. “When I was a nurse, I noticed how stressed my patients were…” “When I was leading a retreat in Guatemala one of my students had a life changing experience.” “When I graduated from my Yoga Therapy training I knew I wanted to help seniors and since I used to volunteer in a retirement home I knew just what to do.”
- Ask for engagement: Encourage them to interact with you. Ask them specific questions, try to get them to talk with you. It won’t take much time and they will be fans for life!
- And much more… Here’s the episode!
Connect with Nate:
Nate also has a special gift for listeners of M.B.Om! To get access, please join Yoga Business Badasses!
This episode of the podcast is brought to you by FavYogis! Here’s a business tool that’s really going to change the lives of yoga teachers.
The FavYogis app puts control and freedom in your hands. You can update your class schedule, offer YOUR OWN classes ANYWHERE, ANYTIME; and GET PAID all from your phone!
No more updating your schedule in multiple places and paying a ton of money each month for a software platform where students MIGHT stumble across your classes. Students simply open FavYogis and your schedule will be there.
On top of being able to send students notifications about class updates, set prices and ticket availability, and auto-send reminders to your students, you can also post workshops and events that will allow you to reach organic traffic through the search feature that you may never have been able to reach through simply putting the events on your website.
Head on over to the app store and download FavYogis for free! Use code MBOM and let them know that I sent you or sign up here!
Photos of Nate:
Thanks for the great talk Amanda!