Alexander Technique Resurrected! • Who Will Be The Donkey? • ATSuccess Week 2 - April 2014

After a spirited discussion, ATSuccess members effectively asserted that Alexander Technique is well and truly an expanding niche here to stay! I articulated my position that in the majority, Alexander Technique is chair and table work with non-stop hands on; whereases BodyChance Method exclusively involves group activities inspired by students passions within a balanced mixture of touch and meta-cognition. In Japan there are two methods for sale: Alexander Technique and BodyChance Method* BodyChance Method is a simple alternative. The specious separates, hills separate them, eventually a donkey forms. The question is: who will be the donkey? (*I might call it the Marjorie Barstow Technique, but is seven syllables really an improvement on six? No, four is cleaner and easier to remember. I loath to inflict upon the world a travesty of syllables-challenged articulations amounting to even more of challenge that Alexander Technique proved to be.) Click here to collect a treasure of AT-related Biz Development Ideas. *** Changing A Working Formula Hmmm. Don't fix what isn't broken springs to mind. When you find a sweet spot, keep working it till you don't. Something will indicate when to stop, but right now you are not getting that message, right? And Cecile's right - ask the ones who finally paid how important it was to them that the first workshop was free? There's your answer. Jeremy Wearing High Heels? My two high heels workshops were both a promotion for http://www.25ans.jp - they are a high-end mag with a subscription base that offers a tea-party seminar annually. We featured in both Tokyo and Osaka and both sold out quickly - via the mag, not via our own promotion. I did it to presence BodyChance in Japan. I tried to on sell a workshop, but it didn’t fly. A Search Engine With A Big Difference Ryan Deiss has a how-to program based on Amazon and Kindle books - some free stuff is scattered about the web I guess. Search for it. His point is that Amazon is really a search engine with a difference - unlike Google, people are actually intending to buy when they search Amazon. How To Negotiate The confidence-building position to be in any negotiation is knowing you are willing to walk away when it doesn't meet your criteria. First criteria: decide on your final position, after which you will walk away. Then pitch what you want and negotiate if necessary. Having already processed the idea that you can and should walk away if it does not meet this level gives you quiet strength to really listen to her needs. The second criteria (I suggest): go for win-win, not win (you) - lose (her). You could also be clear that if it is not good for her, you won't go ahead. Why? Because in the longer term it won't work anyway. If she does not feel it’s a win for her, she'll get less motivated, even become passively aggressive to your requests. So: 1. Know your minimum requirement (not your opening negotiation); and 2. Look after her so she wins too. Should I Merchandise Me? Ditch Logoware for now is my advice, stick to your teaching mission. Being a merchandiser is a whole new dimension of complexity you do not need to deal with. How Important Is Your URL? Not that much. Many other factors have a stronger influence than your URL. It is lower on the list. (unless you're a mega-site) Very little traffic comes from people typing your URL. It's not something to obsess too much about. Make sure your key words - your USP brand - are all over the place. People will find you by typing that in search, then your site will top the list because those keywords will determine the results, not URL alone. Having the URL match you USP is a plus, but not the most important factor. On Getting A Logo Design I went higher up than 99designs.com when I got BodyChance's logo Cecile. It was a $3,000 job by a top level designer, who usually charged $30,000. Since then I have had no need, but I would use 99designs if I did. I know others who have and did well with it. If it's for life, don't skimp. Get the professionals in. The lady I used interviewed me for over an hour to discover who my market was, what I was offering them, what impression I wanted to make - it was extensive. She then returned with three stunning logos - any of which I would have been proud - but the one I chose was a stand out for what I wanted. I so regret choosing it quickly, as she whisked away the other two wonderful designs she did and I never saw them again! Building A Dentist Niche In Japan What you are doing is great Aniko! Actually, last week I met a Dentist who is studying at BodyChance. He is also a horn player attracted through our music niche. He told me he is "niching" his dentistry to musicians. When wind players have teeth removed it can effect their ability to play - he is positioning himself as the "expert" they come to for anything that messes with their precious mouth. Interesting eh? When I asked about back and neck pain in Dentists in Japan he told me it was "Huge". I told him about you, and he is really interested to read anything you have. Hey - maybe we will bring you to Japan to do workshops for Dentists and expand your niche here? Why not? I am sure we will have Cecile here one day to do her Yoga stuff, so why not you? Let's start... Why Free? And... I don't like Free Workshops. For the future: think through how you can give something if they pay for something. And... Private Lessons --> Individual Sessions. People are sold on the idea of education --> they want solutions; and why Private? You mean 121, but people who are not into AT might not get that. Private does not always appeal. My Personal Facebook Group [NOTE: The second half of to-day's blog contains posts from my ATSuccess Group in Facebook. They contain personal or specific information that is inappropriate for public consumption. You can join the group by becoming a member. Participants of enjoy privacy protection to express opinions openly. It gets interesting. Trusting each other creates a context to take risks. In ATSuccess no-one cares where you trained, they only care you succeed.]

*People Free Yes Jennifer, I LOVE those "totally people-free" days where you get to be with the only person who cares about you all the time. *Buying On Price Yep Peter, concur with the girls. Only you know if you have the list of those people to begin with? If you do, $70 --> $90 can inspire their confidence. People do buy on price - the HIGHER one! *Starting Out in ATSuccess Elyse - did you get my email describing the resources? I am guessing yes, but wondering how I could have guided you more so you had a sense of what to do? Reading my book is still my suggested priority - taking notes, asking questions here, it all opens up like a cauliflower. I had one woman demand a refund in London recently because I was too big picture and she wanted parts. I don't do parts, I do whole you, whole biz, whole future. So start with my book - that's my suggestion. *High Heel Me Five! How fascinating - that's really getting into the activity plan of it. I did two sell out workshops for a high end fashion mag in Tokyo on High Heels. Dana - go seek out USA high end mags for an article/workshop-for-readers JV to get into a higher paying market. Meet someone who makes you their fashion protégé, introduces to the lavish super-model market awash with money. If you love fashion - why not aim for the top? In fact, during BCLA, one of our clients was a Super-Model and she offered to introduce us in New York a week before the big fashion week to offer workshops on walking. If that happened to us, it can happen to you... Dana - the fact that there are already others doing this: it's wonderful! Birds only feed where there is food to be had. It's a sign there's an income waiting for you. What you offer is going to be light years ahead of what others can do, the only difference being that they may initially have the lead on marketing and selling. However, using the technologies of communication we explore in ATSuccess - now you are ready to be competitive (if you want). I'd saw wish for a partner, a sponsor, someone who wants to present you to this world, that is already trusted by this world. This is Step 11/12 and long term, but if you like that direction, at least start looking through high end fashion magazines for the next few months... Amazon Local https://local.amazon.com/businesses/ Very interesting Karen - no I did not know about this service. Jeff is taking over the world - it is a bit scary. The skies and the mailboxes. Anyway, I just sent them an email asking if they have this service in Japan. Basil has one of the top selling books in the e-book area of Amazon here, so there could definitely be some synergy between sales of his books and workshops at BodyChance. Thanks! Update: Only in biz in USA and UK. *The Way Forward Looking through your 12 Point Plan Mark (which I will post for you to the Files Area so others can read - it is not in ATS website yet) what seems clear is that you need to build a community that sticks. You have the makings of one, but it is around AT itself. Then you start a school. If that is not your interest, then it's finding what you are passionate about and driving deeper into that till a community of followers emerges and gives you more than just a waiting list - it gives you long-term financial security doing something you love. *Best Name For A Workshop Is… "The Top 3 Body Mistakes That Hold Singers Back" without question. Everyone is doing it, because it still works. Even the Tibetan Buddhists rewrote all of Siddhārtha's wisdom into lists. It's the way brains like to work. *What's the Niche? Excellent Peter, excellent. Things to think about: What's the niche? It seems to be voice, but you've got Alexander Technique all over the place. How do you generate the right traffic for that? Why do you want to emphasise Alexander Technique so much? You are niched to voice, so why not go into "Why This Works" for voice and let it slip out you did the AT training. The Title of your whole website seems at odds with the wonderful titles you have of your workshop. Your niche is: People who have heard of AT and are into voice. My guess is that this niche is too small to make a living. Go bigger, strike out AT and fade in Peter, the expert.