Claim your Worth: Branding on Social Media

There is an opportunity that happens with each of us as we walk the path of a teacher. How do we embody and live our teachings in an authentic manner while also growing our classes and paying our bills?

So, you’ve decided you’re going to grow your practice.
You’ve been getting by fairly well, but you’re ready to expand.

Maybe you teach yoga (or have a certification you would like to use), or maybe you’re a massage therapist or other wellness professional.  

It doesn’t matter the modality you use to serve, it matters that you serve your community.

There are several stories of Ardhanarishwara (Parvati/Shiva aka Shakti/Shiva). As I stated in my previous blog, do yourself the favor and check out the devata mentorship when it becomes available.

They serve as some amazing ways to experience the philosophy and mythology around these stories. I know Ana Pilar, Libby & Susan are planning on doing some preview classes, so keep watching.

For the sake of our conversation, let’s simply take a look at the iconography.

This image (art by Ekabhumi Charles Ellik) of Parvati and Shiva statues are depicted as still, as evenly balanced, divided down the middle, unmoving.

But we are living, and life is not two-dimensional.

There is a flux and flow between the masculine and feminine.

Sometimes we are more this, sometimes more that, but sustaining true balance, 100% of the time, is impossible.

As within us, so around us.
This includes how we as wellness professionals engage in business and wealth.

I, very much, live by the principle that everything in life is a part of our spiritual practice, not just when we sit to meditate or show up to a yoga class,all aspects of life are an opportunity for spiritual growth. Sustaining the self-discipline and passion to expand in your career is very much a living practice.

When I was first starting out as a massage therapist and yoga teacher, social media wasn’t even a thing.

I grew my business through the classic finesse, word of mouth and referrals.

Connecting to people and networking was easy for me as “I’ve never met a stranger,” but I understand that there are people who need extra coaxing to actually build in this way.

Connecting and building face-to-face can be very grounding and nurturing.

It’s like the boon (the prize) for putting yourself out there, in person. It may seem way scarier than reaching out into the abyss of online marketing, but the nurturing reward is potent.

*Side note/tip: If you are growing your business online and start to feel super vata-deranged/ungrounded/unconnected, talking with people in person can bring you back to earth. The internet is ruled by shakti and expansion, so working in the ethers can make us a little airy. Get down to earth by reengaging in person, it helps, trust me.

I remember right before I launched my first website, a yoga teacher said, “this is when things really start to change.” It did for a bit, but now just going online and plopping down a website with your hours, isn't enough to attract or maintain clients.

Just being there, just showing up isn’t enough.

More and more people are offering continued value, whether through social media, email, newsletters, or other outlets. With more access to options, being of value while also getting your message out (clearly and to your ideal audience), are both crucial in expanding your private practice and establishing yourself as a trustworthy resource.

And that’s where we start to get hung up. We don't want to be “all markety” or “annoying”. We assume that going online suddenly means the spiritual consciousness has been taken out of the experience.  

IMPOSSIBLE! Because even if you feel crummy around idea of promoting yourself or educating and inspiring online, the internet is a representation of the Goddess of Knowledge herself, Sarasvati. (If you want to hear that story again, get into that mentorship with Ana, Libby and Susan as soon as it opens. It will sell out, so if you dig philosophy and mythology, get in there!!)

Barbara Stanny has a great quote on resistance. “The degree of resistance you feel about something is equal to the amount of power that’s there for you on the other side of the resistance.”  

That goes for meditation, your finances, growing your business, and so on. So if you are experiencing some form of resistance, there could be some power on the other side.

It’s all yoga, it’s all a practice.

If you ever wondered, “what is Beth all about?”, I’m all about smashing that Piscean, out-dated, limited mindset that to be a healer or wellness professional or a teacher means you are less valuable than a lawyer or a doctor (not that those careers are not valuable. All ships rise, ya know.)

Growing our practice, sharing our light, being of value, receiving value in return: they all are spiritual practices. < ---- Tweet this!

They all start just like everything else, as an inside job.
When we are mindful and present, that which we focus on, grows.

I see this a lot when mentoring new wellness professionals. They want to use the online sphere to grow their practice, but they don't know how to make money inspiring people, so they just keep trying a bunch of different things and nothing ever gets any traction. They may end up popular, but they don't end up profitable. Usually, they just end up feeling burnt out.

Or I see the opposite, they know the web is a tool that could be used for their business, but they’re only comfortable with referrals and networking in person, because posting online is forever.

So they spend a ton of time researching the best strategies, SEO strategies, buying expensive equipment, and so on. They obsess over perfection, they question every draft for days before posting, they check and recheck all the analytics to post at just the right time.

They know all the things they should do, but it’s so overwhelming, they instead end up doing nothing and keep waiting until the website is perfect, until my teaching is perfect, until my body is perfect, until the timing is perfect.  

They are deep in that ol’ perfection paralysis.

Shakti energy is expansive and Shiva energy is containing. We need both the masculine, linear, “to-do list” energy and we need the feminine, the cyclical, the creative force to birth our businesses and our offerings into the next level.

Want to know more about masculine and feminine play in receiving value? Check out my previous blog.

Growing your wellness business online is like playing a beautiful piece of music. As Ana Pilar suggests, music is the co-mingling between Shiva as silence and Shakti (Parvati) as sound.

No Shakti, no creative flow. Then you just have silence.
No Shiva, no consistent process. Then you just have noise.

We need both to make music, sometimes more shiva practices, sometimes more shakti.  

As most of you know by now, I am all about giving away some extra value because you’re worth it, and the more of us who rise up to claim our worth, the more we uplevel the paradigm for all teachers and wellness professionals.

I recorded an intro to the Shiva and Shakti Practices of using social media to market and brand. I usually save this for in person events, but I heard some of you couldn't make the last few workshops so here you go. No worries,  just get to growing!

Click this link to get your free copy of my webinar.

if you're ready to grow your practice, we've put together the Claim Your Worth course.

(AND if you are a 200-hour yoga teacher working towards a 500-hour, this course can count as 20-hours towards that, double bonus!) 

I’ll be presenting with some of the leaders in our community, including Alyson Simms, Kewal Hausmann, Scout Chavers, and Fanny Priest.

You can find out more about Claiming your Worth here.

If you’re looking to create more ways to give and receive value or, grow a business that feels sustainable and in alignment with your values, or, you’re just starting out and feel overwhelmed with the 4-hours of business training required by the Yoga Alliance, then this course is for you.

Sign up here before August 8th to receive your early registration discount.

Now over to you, if you’re a wellness professional or yoga teacher, what is you favorite way to share your wisdom?

Do you blog, ebook, video, in-person workshops, etc?

And again, what is your favorite Way?
what feels the best, what feels like home?
Let me know in the comments below.

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