For Yoga Teachers

62. A step-by-step guide to get private yoga bookings from your group yoga classes

• Yoga Hero • Episode 62

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If building your private yoga offering is something that you want to work on in 2025, then starting with people who already come to your classes; people who already know and like your style of teaching is an absolute no-brainer.

But, approaching and asking people who attend your group classes if they’d like a one to one with you can be a bit of a minefield, well no more!

This is your step-by-step guide to getting private yoga bookings from your group yoga classes.

See the shownotes here

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Useful episodes: 

Episode 52 - How much to charge for private yoga lessons

Episode 53 - How to build a solid private yoga client base

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 Hello, and welcome to For Yoga Teachers. This podcast has been created to help yoga teachers teach with passion, avoid burnout and earn a fair living. 

If building your private yoga offering is something that you want to work on in 2025, then starting with people who already come to your group classes, people who already know, and like your style of teaching is an absolute, no Breda. But approaching and asking people who attend your group classes, if they'd like a one-on-one with you can be a bit of a minefield. It might be controversial and it might be totally nerve-wracking. Well, no more. 

When you've been teaching your group classes, you've probably noticed that someone could do with a bit more support on their alignment. Or someone who's having a recurring niggle, maybe not an injury, but just a niggle, and you think you could offer some modifications to take some weight off the area, for example, Or maybe someone's building loads of strength and loads of flexibility, and you think you could show them a couple of options in some poses to make it more challenging for them. These things that you are noticing are absolutely perfect to explore in a private yoga class. 

So. This episode is your step-by-step guide, to turning those little things that you've noticed about your yogis, into private yoga bookings. Let's crack on.

Step one. Determine the rules of the places where you work. 

So if it's your class, you've rented out a community hall and you've recruited your yogis, then you really probably don't need to worry about this. However, if you're working in a yoga studio or a gym or a leisure center, Then you'll want to get permission from the owner or the manager. You are effectively recruiting for private yogis and for more income under their roof. As a studio owner, I couldn't be less bothered by this, but everyone is entitled to their opinion and to run their business as they wish. 

So go and ask permission. If they say, no, you could respond with, well, is there any way that we could work together to make this work for both of us? Maybe I could hold the session here and pay you room rental. 

Step two, define your private yoga pricing matrix. If you don't yet have your private yoga pricing matrix defined, listen to episode 52. How much to charge for private yoga lessons after this one? Easy peasy. 

Step three. Define your terms and conditions. This is a must. An absolute m How much notice do you need to change the date and the time of the class? If your private Yogi cancels, do they get a refund? What happens if they're running late? What happens if you're running late? What happens if you're sick? Get basic terms and conditions written up. And then if, and when you come across any sticky situations, update your terms and conditions accordingly and send them out to all of your private yogis to resign. 

Step four. Practice your spiel. 

So once you've got all of the basics set up, you want to practice what you're going to say to people when you approach them after the class. You can use these words. I'm not precious about them at all, but it might sound better if you change it more into your words to make it sound more natural to you. And you might think I'm a bit mad suggesting this, but I do really recommend it, practice seeing your spiel to yourself in the mirror. A lot. And the more nervous you are about approaching people after class, the more you need to practice. And you're going to say something like, hi, Yogi. How are you doing? 

Did you enjoy the class today? I noticed that we could. X Y or Zed, like refine your alignment in plank a bit. Or I think you might be strong enough to get up to Crow pose. Or 

could I teach you some modifications to see if that reduces your wrist pain or your knee pain or whatever. This is something that we could work on together in a private yoga session. Would you be interested in that? Currently it's and your pricing, 80 pounds for an hour or 250 for a block of four, whatever it is that you've decided in your pricing matrix. Oh, you'd love to. 

That's fabulous. I'll send you my availability and we'll get you booked in. 

Step five. Get it booked in. This means taking payment first. Hear me, yoga teacher. I hear me loud and clear. Your private Yogi has not confirmed their session until they've paid. Please, please, please take payment up front. Maybe this is a simple as a bank transfer. Maybe you do your bookings and payments through Calendly or some other software. But please yoga teacher take payments up front. And if you can combine that with your private Yogi, agreeing to your terms and conditions as well. 

Well, that would be very efficient. Indeed. 

 Step six. Continue to build your solid, private yoga client base. 

Now that you have your private Yogi booked in, hopefully you're feeling proud and really ready to give them an amazing class. And now is a great time to build on that momentum, and create a solid private yoga client base. And this is exactly what we cover in episode 53. So go and give it a listen soon. And that's it, yoga teacher. Six simple steps to work with your yogis on a private basis. Keep remembering. You're sharing yoga. People come to your classes because they love it. And you're giving them an opportunity to practice more and feel better. So there's no reason to feel nervous because all you're doing is helping them live a more peaceful life. You've got this. If you've enjoyed this episode, would you send it on to a fellow yoga teacher? 

We would be so grateful. And as always happy teaching.