76. Why Every Yoga Teacher Needs a Newsletter (And How to Start One)

Have you ever noticed how even your most loyal yoga students eventually drift away? Life happens—schedules change, people move—and without a way to stay in touch between classes, those connections fade.

In this episode of Yoga Teacher Confidential, Sage Rountree breaks down why a newsletter is one of the simplest, most ethical tools yoga teachers have for building lasting relationships with students. You'll learn what permission-based marketing actually means (and why it should make you feel good, not guilty), how often to send your newsletter, and what to offer as a lead magnet to grow your list—using things you're probably already creating.

Sage also covers the ethics of collecting email addresses, including how to get explicit consent and why unsubscribes are a feature, not a failure. Plus, she tackles the often-overlooked topic of studio non-solicitation policies and how to navigate them professionally.

Ready to get started? Join Sage on March 19 at 2 p.m. Eastern for the Newsletter Launch Pad—a free live call inside Comfort Zone Conversations where you'll walk through choosing a platform, collecting addresses, and planning content without the overwhelm. RSVP at the link in the episode, and if you can't make it live, you'll get the recording.

Next week on Yoga Teacher Confidential: copywriter Sara Joelle joins Sage to talk about storytelling for yoga teachers—because once you have a newsletter, you need to know what to put in it.

RSVP for the open house—we meet at noon EDT on Saturday, April 18. I'll send a replay to all registrants after the event! Register here: Find Your Teaching Voice Live + 200YTT Open House

Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Get in the Zone at Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you—let's chat there!

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Transcript

0:00

Can I tell you something? I used to think that if I just taught a great class, my students would keep coming back, and they did for a while. But then life happened. Someone's kids started soccer on Tuesday nights. Someone else moved across town. And little by little the faces I loved seeing every week just weren't there anymore. Meanwhile, there was a yoga teacher I knew, and you probably know someone like this too, whose classes were always full students, drove across town to practice with her, and it wasn't because she was doing anything fancy on the mat, it was because she stayed in touch with her people between classes. She had a newsletter. Now, before you click away, I know. A newsletter sounds like homework. It sounds like marketing. It sounds like something you need a degree in tech to figure out. But here's the thing. A newsletter is actually one of the simplest, most ethical tools you have as a yoga teacher, and today I'm going to walk you through the basics so you can decide if it's right for you. I am Sage Rountree, and this is Yoga Teacher Confidential. Let's start with the concept of permission-based marketing, because this is what makes a newsletter fundamentally different from, say, a social media algorithm. Pushing your content at strangers permission-based marketing means that someone has actively chosen to hear from you. They raised their hand, they typed in their email address, they said, yes, I want what you are sharing. That's a big deal. In a world where we are all drowning in content, we did not ask for your newsletter lands in someone's inbox because they invited you there. This is the opposite of cold calling or spamming. You're not interrupting anyone's day. You're showing up in a space where you have been welcomed and where they can choose to engage on whatever schedule works for them. And here's why this matters for yoga teachers specifically. Most of us got into this work because we care about people. The idea of marketing can feel icky or pushy, or like we're suddenly supposed to become salespeople when all we want to do is teach. But permission-based marketing flips that script entirely. You are not selling your serving. You're sharing what you know with people who have asked to hear it, and if they ever decide, they don't want to hear from you anymore. They unsubscribe one click, done. No awkwardness, no guilt, no hard feelings. That's what makes a newsletter, one of the most ethical forms of marketing available to you. Your readers are always in control. Now let's talk about frequency, because this is where a lot of yoga teachers get stuck. They think, I don't wanna bother people, and so they send a newsletter once and then nothing for three months, and then another one with a lengthy apology for being absent. Here's what I want you to hear. You need to send your newsletter at least once a month at minimum. Here's why. If you go longer than a month, your subscribers start to forget who you are. They see your name in their inbox and think, wait, who is this? Why am I getting this? And then they unsubscribe. Not because your content wasn't good, but because you disappeared. Regularity is more important than perfection. A short, consistent monthly email typos and all beats a beautifully designed quarterly one. Every time your people need to hear from you regularly enough that when your name pops up, they think, oh, I love hearing from them. Not Who is this again? If you have been on my email newsletter list, you know I send plenty of emails, several each week. I keep a cadence that currently includes Tuesday podcast related emails, Thursday and Saturday long form content. This is YouTube videos or essays and Sunday yoga teacher tips. Plus, when I have a product launching like my 20 CEU courses, which are all part of my 300 hour yoga teacher training, I send sales emails. It's how I reach more people with my work I have to sell. This is my job, and at the same time, I also provide a whole lot of valuable content, not valuable to you unsubscribe. Don't like being sold to unsubscribe, and I will tell myself, you are never going to buy anyway. Now, before we move on, you might be wondering, but how do I get people to sign up in the first place? And the answer is simpler than you might think. You give them something they actually want. In the marketing world, this is called a lead magnet or a freebie, something valuable you offer in exchange for an email address. And as a yoga teacher, you have so many natural options here. It. Think about what your students already ask you about after your class. Do they want to know what songs you played? Offer your playlist. Then you could say, sign up for my newsletter and I'll send you this week's playlist. Or you can send a poem key to the theme from your class. Your students already want it, and now they have a reason to give you their email. Or maybe you record a short meditation, five minutes, 10 minutes, and make it available only to your newsletter subscribers. It could be an audio file or an unlisted YouTube video that only people on your list can access. It doesn't need to be especially polished or professional. It sure doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to be you offering something your students will value. The key is to keep it simple and aligned with what you already do. You're not creating a whole new product. You're packaging something small that you're probably already doing a playlist, a guided relaxation, a short video, and using it as an invitation to stay connected. Okay, so you're on board with the idea of a newsletter, but now comes the question I hear from yoga teachers all the time. Is it okay to collect people's email addresses? Doesn't that feel intrusive? I get it. As yoga teachers, we're used to holding space, not collecting data, but let me reframe this for you. When you offer someone the chance to join your newsletter list, you are offering them a gift. You are saying, I have something valuable to share with you, and I would love to keep sharing it. That's generous, not intrusive. That said, there are some real ethical guidelines to follow and they matter. First, always get explicit consent. Don't add someone to your list just because they came to your class or gave you their email for a workshop sign in sheet. That email was given for a specific purpose and using it for something else without asking crosses a line. Instead, offer a clear invitation. I send a monthly newsletter with yoga tips and class updates. Would you like to be on the list? Let them say yes. Second, be transparent about what you will send. If someone signs up expecting class schedule updates, and you start sending sales pitches every week, that could feel like a bait and switch. Tell people what they're getting and then deliver on that promise. Third, make it easy to leave. Every legitimate email platform, MailChimp, kit, flow desk, whatever you choose, includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email. This isn't optional. It's required by law, and honestly, it is a feature, not a bug. When someone unsubscribes, it means your list is getting more accurate. The people who stay are the people who genuinely want to hear from you and ultimately buy from you. Study with you, learn from you. That's a good thing. And fourth, and this one is important for yoga teachers. Respect the boundaries of the spaces you teach in. Okay. This brings us to something that catches yoga teachers off guard, non-solicitation policies at yoga studios. If you teach at a studio you don't own, there is a very good chance that studio has a policy written or unwritten about whether you can promote your own offerings to students. There. Many studios consider the students who walk through their doors to be the studio's clients, not yours individually. That makes sense. They did the marketing and created the brand that brought those students in. And some have explicit non-solicitation clauses in their teaching contracts. So before you put a signup sheet next to your mat or start mentioning your newsletter in class, do your homework. Read your contract. If there's no written contract, have a conversation with the studio owner. Ask directly, is it okay for me to invite students to sign up for my personal newsletter? This isn't just about following rules, it's about professional respect. The studio owner has built a community and you are a guest in that space. If they say no, and it's likely that they will honor that, you can still grow your newsletter through your own website, through your social media, through workshops you host independently and other events outside the studio. And if you do get the green light, keep it low key. A simple mention at the end of class. Hey, I send a monthly newsletter with yoga tips and updates if you'd like to get it. There's a signup sheet by the door is plenty. You're not hard selling. You're extending an invitation. Now, I know that right now some of you are thinking, okay, Sage, I hear you, but I don't even know where to start. What platform do I use? What do I write? How do I set this up? I've got you.

On March 19th at 2: 10:25

00 PM Eastern, I am hosting a free live call called the Newsletter Launch Pad. Start connecting with your students beyond the mat. It's happening inside Comfort Zone, conversations at Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual yoga studio, and it is exactly what it sounds like a practical, no jargon conversation about how to get your newsletter off the ground. We will talk about why newsletters matter and why social media alone isn't enough. We'll cover how to choose a platform without getting lost in decision paralysis. We'll walk through how to collect email addresses without feeling sleazy, and we'll talk about how to plan content and deliver value without burning out. This is not about becoming a marketing guru or spending hours at your computer. It's not even about creating a sending cadence that mimics mine. It's about creating one simple tool that helps you build community, fill your classes, and make your teaching sustainable so that you can focus on what matters. Teaching real humans. If you can't make it live, no worries. RSVP. Anyway, I will record it so you can listen whenever works for your schedule. But I hope you can make it live because in the hour of the call you could follow along and get this newsletter set up in place. Plus we'll be able to chat live. Sign up at the link in the show notes. Okay, Here's what I want you to take away from today. A newsletter is one of the simplest, most respectful ways to stay connected with your students beyond the mat. It is permission based your reader's. Chose to be there. It is ethical. They can leave anytime and it's powerful 'cause regularity builds trust and trust fills classes. The basics are straightforward. Get explicit consent. Be transparent about what you'll send. Send at least monthly so people remember who you are and respect any studio policies about solicitation. You don't need to be a tech wizard. You don't need to be a copywriter. You only need to be willing to share what you know with the people who have asked to hear it and that, well, that's just teaching in a different format. If you want help getting started, join me on March 19th for the Newsletter launchpad. It's free, it's practical. It's exactly the kind of conversation I wish I'd had when I was figuring this out. Check the link in the show notes.\ and speaking of sharing what you know next week on Yoga Teacher Confidential, I am talking with the extremely fun copywriter, Sarah Joel, about storytelling for yoga teachers, because once you have a newsletter, you need to know what to put in it. And storytelling. That's one of the most powerful tools you have for connecting with your readers. You won't want to miss it. If you found this episode helpful, I'd love it if you'd rate and review the show. It helps other yoga teachers find us and I read and appreciate every single review Thank you for joining me. This is Yoga Teacher Confidential. I'm Sage Rountree, and I'll see you next time.