Unedited Rossella Buono

Another 12 Point Plan, this time from Pro Member Rossella Buono. Rossella has recently moved to Canterbury, Great Britain where she is seeking out ways to establish her identity in this small town. My format below is to publish her 12 Point Plan in full. My comments follow each of the numbered points under the three asterisks that look like this: *** NOTE: As I comment on your plans, do understand that the less information you give, the less detailed my advice can be. At the moment the website has no way you can update your plans directly – but if you want you can go to the survey site and submit a new version. I am working on adding this update functionality to the website, but until then I aim to update the list of plans every month. If you do another version, there is going to be a delay between re-submitting it, and having that appear in the 12 Point Plan Directory.

Rossella Buono's 12 Point Plan

1. What drives you towards this career? Love for the Technique, pleasure in teaching and practicing it, joy in seeing other people get better.  A better life for everything that gets a touch of AT. *** I know Rossella as a Member of the Pro level of this website: she is focused on building her career by doing many of the tasks I set. The "better life" part of her last sentence could include financial ease. Her situation is reasonably safe, and that comes through from her writing above. Focus will work, passion is not always a diver. 2. What is your niche/who will you teach? Posture. *** It's a niche. Where's the community coming from? 3. What place(s) will you practice? Canterbury, UK  Perugia, Italy *** A way to hear this question is: what kind of space have you created for your students? Is it convenient? Is it safe? How is it conducive to learning? How have you made it attractive? What is it about the place that will keep them coming? What are the reasons for choosing this way? Unfortunately, I have no idea of the answers to these questions from Rossella's answer above. Next month we will explore "place" so stay tuned for that… 4. Describe the kind of service and products you will offer… Private lessons  Group lessons  Workshops *** Doesn't tell me anything. Answers and explorations of this question can be rich if you deeply consider and answer it in relation to your niche… 5. Who are the people who will mentor/support your career development? David Moore, Australia  Jenny Thirtle, Australia  Richard Brennan, Ireland  Medeline Webb, Uk *** I'm not there! (yet?) 6. How is your skill in writing blog, email and website content? I like it, is a lot of enthusiasm a bonus?  My focus is on images, as I find myself a very visual learner. *** Enthusiasm is a saintly quality: more than a bonus, it is a form of grace. Lucky you that this inherent love of communication flows so easily from your mind. However, images don't sell. Images do attract attention, they will assist the eye in consuming text, they can "tell a story" if you are clever, but you will still need a CTA (Call To Action) to accompany your images. And something for the logical mind. 7. How will you gather a list of people who follow your work? Direct contact (open day, dinners, every social occasion really)  Advertising on news paper, facebook and radio.  Flyers  Contact with health clinics and centres. *** This may be brief, but it is thorough. It especially suits a small town environment. Advertising is feasible within a defined local area: then it complements the "sightings" people have of you. The small town interactions between people is functioning like it's own niche: inserting your Self as an item of town gossip is an effective way to gain the attention of your market. It still matters what you are saying to that market – at the moment "posture" is the keyword… Rossella is networking "posture" within a small town community – for some of you this may be much easier than writing. It may also be more effective depending on your niche… In Japan I am still working the Ballet Girls, and one information I received is "Ballet teachers don't read E-zines." I am not sure how accurate that is, but as I receive that information it leads me to question: then how do you contact them? Perhaps Rossella has some ideas for that… 8. What do you imagine as your back-end business? I really enjoy teaching, so I would be happy with days full of hands on and group work.  Lots of private clients  Teaching in a school  Set up/be part of a centre for the AT. *** It's a start. However, a well built business plan includes greater clarity of the back end which can facilitate the student committing to the path ahead. However I know that Rossella's future is has an instability that excludes committing to a school centre in the long term, and a school is long term. In that case, something more creative than a "school" and "centre" is called for… Trips away, levels of learning, short-term certificates: other choices do exist aside from the "Build my school" option. 9. What are the stories that stop you from being successful? None! *** Well, it's nice to know of someone who is an Alexander Technique teacher that is not as neurotic as I am! 10. What kind of expert advice will you offer others professionally? Advice about being successful?  You are a business, think like one, don't be scared of doing things. Pay for the services that you need and think big! *** Hallelujah to that. 11. Describe the process you will use to gather students… I talk about what I do everywhere and with everyone.  I got a studio in a good clinic with other complementary therapy practitioners, nice location.  I helped with the Open day, did a talk, private sessions, got 14 contacts out of it.  I have got business cards and flyers up in lots of shops.  Facebook page  With the other AT teacher in Canterbury we are negotiating a internet offer with Groupon.  I am in contact with 3 Yoga teachers (from the open day) and I have been invited to "help" in one of their classes.  Booking stalls at local markets and festivals. *** Can you feel the networking abilities Rossella is utilizing? For those of you feeling some hopelessness around blogging your way to success, this is good news. In BodyChance we have both types – Basil is best behind the veil: writing about his insights on FaceBook, blogs, books, videos and downloads; whereas Yusuke is great at going out: connecting with people, building win-win relationships that bring the business flowing in. Do you know what you are good at doing? 12. Who could be beneficial partners in building your business? Other AT practitioners  Any health practitioner  Business and advertising experts  Turist industry with a wellbeing focus *** I love that these later questions, often left blank or vague by many teachers, are simply and clearly detailed by Rossella. I know by talking with her that she is doing well rather quickly, and looking at these later answers it is clear why. We have our Pro skype call on this Thursday June 20th, so I am looking forward to catching up on progress and hearing of her new networking adventures...