M01.17 Passion Pays

After I produced and launched this website with paid membership plans – on a free 3 month trial basis -  an acquaintance passed on an email she received from a fellow teacher – who had been following my blog - that complained that when “Jeremy asked for money” this was just “too much” and the writer was “completely turned off.” It fascinated me as a response. Firstly, all this person saw was that “…Jeremy asked for money.” Somehow they missed the availability of a permanent free membership – Basic Lite - which continued to offer what had already been offered for free. In fact it offered more – the chance to read through some of the 12 Point Plans submitted as part of the design of my new website. (Yours will finally go up later this week – 92 of them and counting!) I was mystified by this teacher’s reaction. Why did he think I deserved no compensation for all the time and effort I put into this site? Then I read further and it all became crystal clear… The teacher wrote: “I have no need for further students, but yadda, yadda, yadda…” Ahhh. Now his reaction made sense. Why pay for what you really don’t want? Or put another way – the more passion a person has, the more desperately they pursue what they want. How many love stories are based on that premise? Desperation is the flip slide of passion. So let’s test that idea: why would an Alexander Technique teacher be desperate to find pupils? Because they are passionate about the work. Because they want their life to be about sharing this work with others. Their desperation is actually a measure of their passion. Alexander clearly experienced similar emotions when his final medical treatment failed:

My disappointment was greater than I can express, for it now seemed to me that I could never look forward to more than a temporary relief, and that I should thus be forced to give up a career in which I had become deeply interested and believed I could be successful.

Your best students are the desparate ones, because they are the passionate ones. Step 2 of my plan – finding your niche – is the flip side of Step 1 – finding your passion. Many Alexander Technique teachers are confused by these first two steps and move straight into Alexander Technique as their niche: because Alexander Technique is their personal passion. However - it is not your customer’s niche, because is it not your customer’s passion. How can it be when they have never heard of it?! You are looking for desparate people, because desparate people turn out to be people with passion for something. People with passion are willing to pay for the service the delivers what they want. It is that simple. The tricky part is finding people who are passionate about something: but first start by recognizing how their passion drives them. This is the Alexander Principle: you help others only through what is already understood by you. Understanding the structure of your passion is the means of understanding the passion of your student. It is another reason why Step 1 of my process is about taking the measure of your passion. If you can’t find yours, how do you expect to find theirs? Passion, when it is unrequited, takes the form of desperation. What are you desperate about? Because desperation is a customer willing to read what you suggest, try what you ask. When they discover through experience that your service delivers what they need – they will happily pay what you ask. An unpassionate person will most likely write a letter to a friend complaining about your pricing. Avoid them – they will waste your time and your resources. They don’t need you, and you don’t need them. Instead, look for the desperate people, because passion pays.