2020 Holiday Gift Ideas to Grow Your Yoga Business2020 Holiday Gift Ideas to Grow Your Yoga Business

Last week we talked about planning for your 2021 year in business. If you missed that episode, be sure to go back to episode 67 so you can take these steps. But now it’s time to turn our attention to our students as we prepare for the holiday season.

I received this question the other day from Christa Fairbrother and it’s a fantastic one! Here’s what Christa said:

How to make Black Friday/Small Business Tuesday/the holiday season in general effective for us as yoga teachers? Such as sales, gift certificates, private sessions, affiliate links, etc whatever you think would be helpful. Thank you — Christa

I loved this question and wanted to highlight it in a full episode because I know it will help more than just Christa as we are all planning for the holidays. And even though 2020 was a crazy year, there’s something special about the holiday season and I think we all have our fingers and toes crossed that it’s going to be a great one.

So in this episode I’m going to share some holiday gift ideas for your yoga business. Specifically, how to make money or grow your email list during the holidays. Whatever your goal is, I’ve got you covered!

Okay, let’s dive into talking about holiday ideas….

It’s time to think about the holiday’s and last year I had a few yoga teachers tell me that simply by posting on social media about gift certificates that they made more money than they typically do in the month of December.

BAM, there’s one idea for you! Post about gift certificates on social media.

More. Than. Once.

But I’m not stopping there! I’ve got lots more for you. I just wanted to share one with you quickly because it really worked last year.

Now I know 2020 is different than 2019 but hang with me — people are still going to be buying each other gifts. Maybe they look different this year but it’s still going to happen.

And bonus — more people are thinking about mindfulness and virtual yoga. Use this as an opportunity to grow your business! This is your chance to get referred to others. And I know this is something you want!

But let’s look at a few other ideas for holiday gifts that can help you grow your business:

Holiday Gift Ideas

Gift certificates

First, make sure you let your students and broad audience know they are available. They don’t know unless you tell them. You also want to remember that there are multiple reasons someone could buy a gift card:

• Buy them for others
• Buy them for themselves
• Let others know that’s what you want as a gift

Holiday/Winter Workshops

The changing seasons is a great time to host a workshop that’s catered to your dream student. And what a better time to say “take care of yourself” than during the holidays when people are typically taking care of others. Let them know they can ask their family for the workshop as a gift! Remember to focus on the safety of your students this holiday season:

• Focus on the safety measures you’re taking to ensure safety during the in-person workshop
• Host it virtually to 100% ensure safety (communicate that this is why you’re doing this)

Family / Friend / Couple Packages

People are craving connection right now. Think about your dream student, who they want to spend time with and put together a workshop or series for them. You create and hold the space for them to connect with their people.

• Virtual sessions — people aren’t traveling as much, help them dedicate time together virtually
• In-person safe sessions — get friends together with some yoga and something else. Wine, art, journaling, simply talking, whatever it is, this will help them make it happen and create an experience for them.
• Date night — yes, this can be a real thing! Many couples aren’t getting out as much right now, make it easier for them to have a date night. Collaborate with a local restaurant and get some food too!

Packages

Think about bundles or packages that you could put together that would serve your dream student. Can you bundle a few things together and give a discount if they buy the bundle?

• Pre-recorded sessions — yoga or meditation
• Session + a gift card to buy a candle/eye mask/etc for the session in advance

Registered Series

These help all year round (listen to episode 33 with Nyk on this concept) but this is a great idea especially due to the crazy holiday schedules. This helps with consistent income because people are registering for a series of classes instead of just one at a time.

Freebies

What is a special freebie that you could offer during this season to grow your email list and then have an offer to go along with it. Think about your dream student and what would help them.

• Meditations
• Pre-recorded classes
• Basically anything people can do at their own pace/time/schedule is a good idea

Yoga + Food

Food is typically something that’s top of mind during the holidays, do you have some combination that would be best for your students? Share them! This can be a freebie or a low-priced offering that you create once and serves many people. Or it can be a special workshop.

• Recipe and Movement — — pre-recorded, a live workshop, a freebie
• Movement & Meals — — use the play on words to entice your audience ‘get it while it’s hot’

Yoga + Scents (aka: smells)

Fall and winter have wonderful smells and people tend to talk about them. How can you take this idea and create something special for this time?

• Essential oils for the holidays — — freebie, a resource on your website, a series of IG posts with diffuser recipes
• Common cold/sinus essential oil recipes for the holidays

The list could go on and on — here are the things I want you to think about:

1. What’s your goal? Do you want to grow your email list or do you need a fast injection of cash in your business? This will help you determine which way to go with your holiday offer.

Growing Your Email List — go with a freebie or low-priced offer. This is when you want the thing to be a no-brainer for the student. Make it “gift-able” if it’s a low-priced offer. Think about it like a gift that someone can buy for someone else. Make this process EASY for them. You don’t want to sell 50 of the things and then have to deal with all the customer service emails if it’s not clear how to send the gift to someone else.

Making More Money — promote your higher priced offerings as a gift for others or something the person can ask for as a gift.

2. Who’s your dream student? Create something for them. If you’ve been thinking of ‘trying out a niche’, now’s your time. Get their attention during the holiday season with something special.

Your next step

Decide on a goal — email or revenue growth.

Decide on an offering.

Go all in and have fun with it! Test something out that you have wanted to test.

Make sure you’re excited about this offering because then you will actually market it.

Until next time give yourself permission to have a fun holiday package and grace along the way. Talk to you soon!