Day Six – A Glimpse Behind The Scenes

I had a half-written blog prepared on the plane last night, but once I landed in Australia and checked our secret Facebook group (where 43 teachers share as part of the paid area of my blog) I was overwhelmed by the volume of comments to behold! So instead of posting a blog, I decided to post answers and comments in Facebook. Then I worried that the members may not have caught my torrent of replies in the midst of a messy, scrolling Facebook page, so I decided to post them here. How original ideas are born. I have removed the name of the teacher in question to maintain their privacy – it’s not even possible to find out who is in this group. You can’t search it or find it on Facebook. A joyful result of this privacy – that many of the teachers and students have expressed in the group – is a delicious feeling of freedom to post directly on any matter Alexander, personal or professional. Here are some of my comments today… On limit of Group Size? Definitely no limit, but teaching technology and outcomes are different. I will post on that, thanks. I watched Marj teach and transform groups of 100+ so what is possible is only limited by the beliefs you have around that. It comes back to: are you in the experience produces thinking model, or the thinking produces experience model? The former is not scalable, the latter is. On Describing Your Niche Saying your niche is "office workers" is like saying your niche is "musicians". You're still in the realm of millions, and horizontal marketing. To get vertical to the specifity of your emotional hook, you need to identify the internal monologue of that thirst for freedom. The executive branch will think differently from the clerks, the CEO (who have lots of money, no time) from the 2ic. If it's music niche, first you niche to wind, then down to brass, then to French Horn. Get it? How will you niche down in "office workers"? On Making No Money From Group Teaching …it's many things: a structural biz problem (absurd to be paying those rates), a niche problem (you don't mention what, if any, is the niche), a place problem (no studio?) and a product problem (my guess) and I haven't looked at how you teach. This group is about long-term strategy, not quick fixes. If you haven't read through my 12 Point Plan - honestly, that's your first step. There's a download of my book available as a bonus of joining here (please do not distribute it to others - information is available on my blog if people really want it) and you can do that here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ATCSProMembers/files/Download "12 Step ATCS book.pdf" Happy reading! (NOTE: Only logged in BASIC members of ATCS can download my book. But you can sign up here.) How To Structure My Groups To Make Money I am glad you all mentioned this, I will think through some intermittent steps you can take to fixing this. First, find your own students and go for a rental contact, not an income share. Second, niche your group which lets you price it higher, Third, develop a "product" that puts them into regular monthly attendance - banish the concept of a "closed period" group and start cultivating a "monthly membership" concept OR a ticket system. Basically treat groups like you treat 121 lessons. That's a start. All of you let me know your thoughts on this, and I will work up a blog later on in the month. On Asking My Students What They Want To Do Each Lesson I wish I could claim ownership, but it was one of the profoundly simple but innovative changes that Marj introduced in her teaching technology. You can preview the others if you want here: http://bcla.bodychance.com/pro-members/course-curriculum/7-ways-we-are-different/ On A Marketer Shared By One Of The Members Thanks for sharing that - there's a lot of value there I agree. What she calls "specific audience" I am calling a niche. When she says it is a mistake to ask "What do I know?" when organising your group, it's the same as Alexander Technique teachers offering Alexander Technique in their group lessons. It's not about what you know, it's about what they need. She has taken the timeless marketing and selling technologies and elegantly weaved them together in her own original way - I can see Dan Kennedy behind her in many different ways. As a sales letter she hits all the points - emotion, logic, credibility, giving away real and valuable information, testimonials, social proof, reciprocity, authority, agitating fears - we haven't got to her guarantee yet, but I promise she'll have one. Very good act to study, together with great information to absorb. Glad you discovered her for us - thanks! To A Prolific Sharer in Our Group… Honestly, for someone so prolific with wonderful anecdotes, stories and ideas - it is insane that you NOT are pumping this stuff into the public domain. I will be going on about this every time you post a long anecdote, story or idea to this group. It's time you put that stuff out there. Write it, then post a link to it around FaceBook. That tiny change will focus your energy on how to get real, live new prospects connecting to your blog. Sometimes it will not feel right till you start "farting in the air" as you put it (I love it) - but once you seriously start, THEN you make the discoveries you need to realign it towards building your business in a constructive way… You have a torrent of stuff inside and a blog is the place to put it. Forget for now about people reading it, strategy and all that. Just get into the habit of journaling every day on whatever you want. It will be AT related because that is now part of your DNA as a person. Just do it. On How To Feel Good About Charging A Lot of Money Go out to somewhere where incredibly rich people hang out. Sit there and (for example) order a $24 coffee and a $50 cake, and say "This is me." Experience that you are that person if you decide you are. It's all about knowing what you are worth, and acknowledging that some people WANT YOU to be that FOR THEM. Further on the negative change that happens when you have people paying you a lot of money: what do you start saying to your Self? First step in our work is recognition. We are perfect, imperfection is what we add - so what are you adding? One way to get that out is to write down on a piece of paper what you think of "rich people" - do it honestly, get EVERYTHING out. Once you have done that, then ask: would I want to be that person? Phew! A Day in the Life of ATCS. Tell Me What You Think [NOTE: This second half of my blog is a paid area describing ideas and exercises (to design and market groups) which are explored in a closed Facebook group together with 43 other teachers and students. Don't miss all the discussions - be part of a new community of teachers intent on building their AT businesses. Get 30 lessons this month, but join now for less than the cost of one lesson.]

This is an experiment, and I how doing this is for you all? My initial impetus to create the blog like this came from my desire that you would all be able to easily catch my output today. As I wrote in the group I decided to spend it commenting on your questions to me, but finding all the comments is a bit of a messy and time-consuming process. This may be a better rhythm for you? I know what it is like to go into overwhelm, and I am wondering if daily posting is serving you in the best way? This is an evolving experiment – we are pioneers in figuring out how Alexander Technique can be explored online in a constructive, learning environment. My decision for now is to continue as is, but I look forward to your thinking on the matter… https://www.facebook.com/groups/ATCSProMembers/