Everyone loves free stuff. In any form. Whether it’s free food samples at the grocery store or promo items like pens and magnets. So, what does this have to do with your yoga business?

Well, almost every yoga studio has some sort of promotion targeted at new students - $10 discounted price for your first class, 20% off if you buy a series of classes, etc. But why not go that extra step and give away that first class for free?

Yes …FREE!

Why?

There are already so many hurdles a potential client goes through before they finally land into one of your classes. Maybe they’ve finally found the time, maybe they were unsure of what practicing yoga can do for them, maybe they felt intimidated, maybe they thought they’re too old, too young, too physically weak, too busy and all those other excuses to finally decide to give yoga a shot.

Now what? They have to find a studio or teacher. They look through the phonebook, do searches online, talk to friends, co-workers. Then comes all the other decision factors. Do they choose your studio? Is it the closest? Are they catered to beginners, is this the right style of yoga and one of the primary decision criteria potential students use…how much does it cost?

So why not remove this barrier altogether and make their first class for free? Or even the first week free?!

Like the old adage – it’s better to give than to receive. With the recession, you may have noticed many large corporate companies all running free programs – McDonalds free coffee, Starbucks free lattes, and KFC free chicken combos (which got a mention from Oprah!).

This gets them in the door and without any guilt in spending their hard-earned money on trialing an activity they’re not sure they would enjoy. If they paid $10 for their first class, their perception of the benefit and value from that first class is judged against the fee they paid.

Think about if you were at a restaurant, see an item on the menu that you’ve never tried before and ordered it. Say it cost $30, your review of the meal will now be based against the cost and you might not have enjoyed this new dish as much (too cold, too hot, too bland)…now imagined if the waiter came by and said your meal was free, all of a sudden, you’re now glad you tried something new, and pleasantly surprised to learn that you actually really like eggplant!

In general, people are more likely to buy when they feel they have received something initially for free.

And what does free get you?? A lot! You will get more potential students to trial your studio that could turn around and be regular members. If they don’t convert right away, you’d have their name and email address that you can use for future opportunities. Maybe they’ll even bring a friend for their first time, now you have 2 potential new students. They’ll get a chance to see what your studio is like, the atmosphere, the teachers, the other students. You will also get you word-of-mouth opportunities that people will pass on.

Try it out at your yoga studio for a month or so and see if this brings in more trial students.