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Moving From City to Country—How My Pilates Career Survived
When my husband and I moved from New York City to a small town about two hours
north,I didn’t have a plan for the next phase of my career as a Pilates instructor.
I had been working around the city in a few busy pilates studios, and all I had ever
experienced was a very full teaching schedule. Since I originally decided to became a
pilates instructor because I figured it was a career I could take with me anywhere in
the world, I figured everything would somehow just work out fine.
Everything did end up working out fine, eventually. It took two years of hard work,
careful scheduling, and networking to get to the point where I am now—happy and
financially secure. I’m also proud to say that my hard work really paid off in the long
run. In August 2007, I was asked to buy a busy and popular pilates studio, Rhinebeck
Pilates, near my home. I was so happy that my freelance efforts and networking
brought me to a place in life where I was able to run a full-blown pilates studio on
my own with confidence and success. Here are 10 ways I created business for myself
as a freelance Pilates instructor.
1. I had good, quality business cards printed.
I knew I had to get nice business cards made or else no one would be intrigued to
take class with or hire me. I had cards printed, front and back, with raised type and
beautiful colors. The cards listed my name, website, phone number, and a brief
description of what I specialized in (at the time it was “Private and group classes in
your home or office”). I handed them out, posted them around and left them
everywhere I could.
2. I hired a photographer.
I hired a professional photographer to take photos of me doing and teaching Pilates.
The photos were for my website, and as I began to teach in various locations, I knew
they would ask for photos as well. We chose a beautiful location and I brought along
a few changes of clothes, all brightly colored. I also brought as many Pilates props
as I could—a Magic Circle, a resistance band , weights, balls and a foam roller—to
keep the photos interesting and dynamic. My husband and sister were nice enough
to pose as clients in the photos.
3. I created my own website.
Looking back, this was the most important thing I did. I was in a new territory where
nobody knew me and few people had ever done or heard of Pilates. In order to sell
myself and the method, I needed an easy way to communicate with as many people
as possible. I found a web designer who wanted to trade Pilates for her design work,
which helped offset the cost.
In a few months, my site was up. This was a place where I could post my bio, Pilates
history, new classes I was teaching and photos of the exercises. Not only did the
website give me exposure, it also saved me time from always having to explain what
Pilates is and where I’m from—it was all on the site.
4. I taught at community college.
All it took was a phone call and a brief interview and I had a class slated for the
next semester. Community colleges send out their schedules to nearly 150,000
people per quarter or semester, which means many people reading your name, bio,
web address and class description. The college will also post all of this info on their
website, so it’s fantastic exposure. This particular college let me set my initial rate
for the class, so I was paid fairly. I had an average of 20 people in each mat class
and many people returned each semester—with their friends.
5. I searched for empty spaces.
I scoured local magazines looking for yoga studios, dance schools and health
centers, assuming that each place would have an empty room and space in the
schedule for Pilates classes. When a location said yes to Pilates, I publicized my
classes by handing out fliers to my community college class, posted all new classes
on my website and posted fliers on local bulletin boards.
Most places asked for a 50/50 split per class, which meant I might not get paid well
unless I got creative. I ran my classes in 8-week sessions to be paid upfront and
have the classes attended consecutively. I ran a discount if the students came with
friends. It worked—my classes were full, students were happy and I received
sufficient payment. The 8-week structure worked for me—if a class was not doing
well or I was not happy with the location, I could end it easily after 8 weeks.
6. I made house calls.
As I mentioned above, I taught mat classes in 8-week segments. Sometimes, I would
decide to stop teaching a particular class. Very often, students in the class would
ask if I would continue teaching the class in their home. It was perfect because
they would invite their friends to join the class and there was no overhead.
7. I kept my costs down.
I wanted to put my money in places that would boost my career such as the photo
shoot and business cards. In every class I taught, I asked that students bring their
own mat and weights. The only things I supplied were resistance bands, which I
purchased from a website in a large roll at a low price.
8. I worked at a local Pilates studio.
Teaching a shift or two the local Pilates studio was great because I could teach
on the equipment and meet other Pilates teachers. It can be great for a freelance
instructor to teach at a studio because a lot of the scheduling work is typically
done already, advertising is taken care of and the pay is fairly consistent.
9. I commuted to the city.
I commuted to the city once a week to see some private clients in their
apartments. I made sure that the money I made that day exceeded the cost of
traveling to and from the city.
To find private clients in the city, all I had to do was look at my client list in the
country. Many of them had apartments in the city and were there during the
week. I would teach them in the country on the weekends and in the city one
day per week.
10. I was a guest teacher.
During the summer months, certain areas outside of New York City are booming
with tourists, weekenders and summer residents. I blocked out a couple of weeks
per summer to work at my friend’s busy Hamptons studio. It worked great for both
of us—she got a break from teaching and I got to make extra money. These trips
also served as mini-vacations for me and I was even able to pick up some new
clients who wanted to continue working out when they returned to the city
at the end of the summer. |
