Ten Simple and Easy Things You Can Do During The Summer Holidays To Benefit Your Dance and Fitness Business

Sometimes things slow down a bit for dance and fitness businesses during the summer holidays.
Sometimes they don’t.
We try and cram it all in so that we can take that precious holiday we’ve worked so hard to get.

So, by the time we go on holiday, we just want to switch off – and that’s what it’s all about (although I love reflecting on the business when I’m on holiday and I often make lots of changes too).

So whilst we sun ourselves, carry on teaching and running our businesses, and perhaps juggle the kids too, we wanted to share with you our top ten simple and easy things you can do this summer to benefit your dance and fitness business – here we go:

 

1. Grab a business book to read on that sunbed

There are tons to choose from. And whilst you might think “no, I just really want to relax and not thing about work at all whilst I’m away”, we would totally recommend a business read. If you want to know more about making things work for you and your business, then we would recommend any of the following:

The Slight Edge
The E-Myth
Anything You Want
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
101 Marketing Tips for Dance Teachers!! written by our very own Chief Legwarmer Wearer, Sue Wybrow!

 

2. Capture Data

If you haven’t already started doing this – DO IT! It’s really, really important to capture the data of people visiting your website or attending your classes.

Have a very basic sign up form on your website and in class – we find that giving something away that will be of benefit to the visitor makes a big difference with people actually wanting to leave their details, i.e. we give away marketing tips for dance teachers – it’s useful, helps people to grow their business, and is of real benefit to them. And for our customers, we give away tips on how to be active, things to do with the kids and details of exciting offers and events.

If you are using a sign up form, remember to add in a tick box for them to sign up for your communications – including an Opt Out option.

Mailchimp is a great FREE software (it’s free up to a certain number of contacts) that you can use to capture data and also to send out communications. Remember to adhere to GDPR regulations.

 

3. Email your customers

Even if you don’t have many contacts on your database yet, or whether you have lots – start regularly communicating. It could be something as simple as “hey, we are on our summer break but can’t wait to get Popdancing with you in September for some exciting Halloween and Christmas routines”.

Just get started and you will find that your database will grow, and so with it will be your confidence in communicating regularly.

 

4. Blog

Do you have a blog? Blogs are amazing for your website and also for sharing on social media, with the press, with family magazines in your area – writing about your expertise and how your classes make a difference to people’s lives is hot news! People want to know about things that are going to make them happy, lose weight, tone up, get active, make friends etc. So tell them about it. Write your blog in a non-salesy way, honing in on the benefits and what’s in it for the reader.

Even if you wrote one paragraph of a blog whilst you are sunning yourself on that beach – it’s a great start!

 

5. Run some tasters

How about running a summer tea party? You could collaborate with other activity providers to put on a whole day of fun, or you could simply run an hour’s taster session for people to come along and experience what you have to offer. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune – simply hire a space, create a poster using free software such as canva (or if you are a Popdance Teacher, download from the POPShop) and get spreading the word.

You might like to run the session in aid of a charity and charge £1 for people to attend. You could also write a press release about it and send it to your local newspaper. Plus you could get the charity involved and someone along to represent them.

 

6. Write a Press Release

It sounds scary but it’s really not! Newspapers and family magazines are always looking for things to feature in their publications. A press release that’s written with a view to “what’s in it for the reader” are very attractive to editors. And, topped with a great photograph to accompany it, makes a good story.

Get writing over a croissant and OJ and you never know what it may result in.

 

7. Take a good look at your website

Is it still up to date?

Are all the links still relevant?

Do you have better, more recent images you could use?

What’s the customer experience like?

Does your website feature everything you have to offer?

Does any of it need rewriting?

If you don’t have a website, have you thought about getting one? Websites don’t cost what they used to. A simple WordPress site is pretty much all you need.

Spending time on your website as if you were a new visitor will give you a fresh approach. Why not ask a friend to take a look too. We asked Lucy, who came to work with us for her work experience, to take a look and give us her honest opinion on the navigation and content on our website – we’ve got a few things to weak and change now!

 

8. Pricing

Summer is a great time to look at pricing. Are you charging enough? Is it time to look at increasing pricing – not necessarily for September, but with a view to January. Giving people plenty of notice if costs are increasing is always better than short or no notice.

Have your outgoing costs increased? Can you justify a price increase?

Doing the maths can be very satisfying.

 

9. Tidy your office or work area

Having a tidy up and a clear out is very therapeutic. And how about putting up photographs or pictures of your achievements this year? And how about putting up photos or pictures of your goals? Perhaps you’d like a new sofa, or those new shoes you keep going on about? We know it sounds silly, but having images of your goals around you keep them front of mind and give you the determination to make things work. How many parties do you need to run to be able to get those shoes?

 

10. Reflect and Relax

Think about what you want. Are you too busy running around trying to juggle lots of balls and not actually stopping to think about what you are doing and where you are going?

Stepping back, calming down and thinking about what you’ve been doing and where you want to go is an amazing feeling actually.

Soak in the rays, close your eyes and don’t be scared to dream. We have a dream and we’ve been dreaming it for the last 10 years. We are determined to fulfil that dream and are making plans on how we make that dream a reality. From a new pair of shoes, to a lifestyle that enables us to spend time with our families – that’s our dream.

 

What’s yours?