First of, if you are reading this then a massive thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’re probably the only one, but that doesn’t mean you mean any less. You see for me it’s not about the numbers, it’s about following my passion and doing what I enjoy – that’s why this blog exists.
As a yoga teacher I’ve sat through plenty of online courses, workshops and webinars telling me how to market my blog, how to sell my courses and classes to everyone and anyone. The website is the key, apparently, and all traffic should head there. Which kind of makes sense, if you think of my website as a shop window. You can come along and browse, have a look at what I’ve got going on, maybe click on some nice pictures and then head on your merry way. No harm there, really is there?
But I’m supposed to be building authority and trust. According to the ‘experts’ it’s all about sales funnels and generating ‘ever-green’ content. I get it – yoga is a competitive business, everyone and their granny is offering a Yoga Teacher Training these days and it’s becoming more challenging to weed out the decent instructors from the not-so-experienced.
This is where my little blog comes in. You see I’ve always enjoyed writing. I wrote my first song at the age of 7, it had so many spelling mistakes but the love of writing was encouraged and nurtured by my parents. Fast forward several years and I still enjoyed writing poetry, songs, stories, in fact when my depression was at its worst the only thing that kept me going was writing. Everything I wrote is lost in the mists of time, unread by anyone but myself – that doesn’t mean that each piece of writing didn’t serve a purpose. Writing heals, and it has so many other magical powers if we only take the time to appreciate the effort and passion that goes into it’s creation.
And so to my blog. Established in 2016 when I created this little website, I knew that a blog had to be a part of my yoga business. For me it was non-negotiable and it still is. I love writing, especially about yoga. So why would I not give myself a forum where I can create and publish my own words? The potential issue comes from a recent survey I conducted with my clients – no one (except my mum, thanks by the way!) reads my blog.
I spend hours, days crafting a piece, editing it and curating the perfect image to illustrate it to all. I’ve even added images to Pinterest, and still in the survey no one even noticed my little blog existed. Despite this I have never once considered deleting it, because this is for me. Whether anyone reads it or not is besides the point. I teach yoga because I love it, it healed and continues to heal me. I know it can do the same for others, and over the last 5-years I’ve watched people use my classes as a start to boost their own fitness and well-being. My blog is the same. It has healed me in the past and it will continue to do so. Maybe it will help or inspire someone along the way too, which would be amazing.
The lesson I’ve learned is that in life I spend a lot of time doing things that other people want me to do – it’s called having a job. My yoga business is 100% my own. I get to decide what I do next, where I go and what I plough my time into and I chose to continue to write my blog because I enjoy doing it. Perhaps someday it will be turned into a best-selling novel, or someone will stumble upon it and be inspired to step onto their yoga mat. For now I’m ok with putting my writing out there and allowing the universe to do what it will. It’s called trust and I’m choosing to trust myself.
Yoga by Gillian 