You Can Make a Living as a Feldenkrais® Practitioner cm ! by Miriam Levenson Copyright Copyright 2002 by Miriam Levenson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained within. Although every precaution has been taken, the author assumes no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Feldenkrais®, Feldenkrais Method®, Awareness Through Movement(R), Functional Integration® are registered trademarks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America. Feldenkrais Practitionercm and Feldenkrais Teachercm are registered certification marks of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America. Miriam Levenson http://www.effortlessaction.com [email protected] Phone numbers: toll-free in US 866.394.2733 Belgium, ++32.9.272.8082. ebook designed by ebookgraphics.com 2 Table of Contents Copyright................................................................................................................................ 2 Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. 3 Dedication .............................................................................................................................. 5 Part One: Getting Started Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 6 The Truth ............................................................................................................................... 8 Who Are You Talking To? .................................................................................................. 12 Communicating With Your Students/Clients .................................................................. 16 How and Where to Teach ATM ......................................................................................... 17 A Place to Do FI.................................................................................................................... 20 Paperwork and Liability ..................................................................................................... 24 Emotions and Your Child-Self ............................................................................................ 25 Getting Stuff Done ............................................................................................................... 28 Nine Things to Try ..............................................................................................................31 Part Two: Marketing Marketing as Relationship ................................................................................................. 33 What Does Your Target Customer Care About? ............................................................. 35 What Does Your Target Customer Think Feldenkrais Is? .............................................. 36 Personal Contact ................................................................................................................. 37 Talking To Your Potential Student About Feldenkrais .................................................. 38 Public Speaking or Death… ............................................................................................... 40 Targeting Your Market in ATM Teaching ........................................................................ 42 Marketing to Your Existing Clients ................................................................................... 45 Word-of-Mouth Referrals.................................................................................................... 46 Anonymous Advertising Through Written Communication ......................................... 48 Other Forms of Anonymous Advertising ......................................................................... 56 Interpersonal Skill ............................................................................................................... 58 Using the Feldenkrais Method to Improve Interpersonal Skill ..................................... 60 Professionalism ................................................................................................................... 65 What Activities Support Your Marketing Relationship? ................................................ 68 Your Marketing Strategy .................................................................................................... 70 How do you know if your marketing relationship is working? ..................................... 72 Part Three: Finding Neutral From Poverty to Abundance.............................................................................................. 74 Competition or Collaboration? .......................................................................................... 77 Money - What It Is and What it Isn’t .................................................................................. 82 Your Money Fog-Factor ...................................................................................................... 83 Your Break-Even Business Budget .................................................................................... 85 Profit: Your Way to Financial Neutral............................................................................... 87 Debt and Savings ................................................................................................................. 90 3 You Can Make a Living as A Feldenkrais® Practitionercm! Cost-Benefit Analysis .......................................................................................................... 93 The Big Question: ................................................................................................................ 94 How Much Should I Charge? .............................................................................................. 94 Giving it Away ...................................................................................................................... 98 Knowing What You’re Doing: Bookeeping, Taxes and Accounting .............................. 99 Forming an Intention ........................................................................................................ 102 Why Produce and Sell a Product? ................................................................................... 105 Writing a Book ................................................................................................................... 107 Video and Audio Projects ................................................................................................ 109 Success and Failure .......................................................................................................... 111 Final Thoughts ................................................................................................................... 114 Appendices Appendix 1 ......................................................................................................................... 115 Appendix 2 ......................................................................................................................... 120 Appendix 3 ......................................................................................................................... 125 Appendix 4 ......................................................................................................................... 128 Appendix 5 ......................................................................................................................... 133 4 Dedication I dedicate this book to you, because you are going to make Feldenkrais a household word. 5 PART ONE: GETTING STARTED ChapterChapter Introduction 1 If you wish to make a living as a Feldenkrais Practitioner, you are reading the right book. Whether you are a student, a new graduate, or a practitioner, this book gives you essential information that will increase your Feldenkrais-related income. Graduating from a Feldenkrais Training doesn’t guarantee an income. Knowing how to teach ATM and FI is the basis of being a Feldenkrais Practitioner, but it is not always enough to grow a financially sustainable practice. The Feldenkrais Training’s sole purpose is to make ordinary people into Practitioners of the Feldenkrais Method in a little under four years. Most new graduates have little or no entreprenurial desire or knowledge of business management. They are essentially “Feldenkrais Technicians,” but Feldenkrais Technicians don’t necessarily know how to attract people to their practices. Their Felden-skills lie dormant, in wait of students who never come through the door. This unfortunate situation could be remedied with a supplement of basic business and marketing skills. Business skill is different than Feldenkrais skill. Business, like anatomy, is something you can and should learn outside the Training program. The good news is that basic business skills can be learned quite quickly. This book gives you the essentials. Building a practice happens on two levels simultaneously: your inner world, where you develop ideas and awareness; and in the outer world, where you have conversations, do marketing, and manage the day-to-day issues of your practice. Your intention, which