Making Our Marketing Accessible and Aligned

Tristan Katz seen from waist up in black long-sleeve shirt
seated at a desk working on a laptop

by Tristan Katz


Many yoga teachers feel a thing when they hear the word ‘marketing’—it might be dread, it might be a sense of being overwhelmed, or perhaps it’s just simply… ick. Yoga teacher trainings hardly cover the basics of marketing, and so we go out into the world with our 200-hour certification knowing we have to do it, but often feeling unsure about where to begin. Enter Accessible Marketing.

Accessible Marketing is an invitation to bring your yoga into your business---if you're someone who chooses to create a business bringing your teaching into the world. Accessible Marketing is an acknowledgement that only you know how to speak about your work in a way that aligns with who you are and why you do what you do; it’s an acknowledgment that each of us has different capacities, lived experiences, perspectives, and growth edges.

Systems such as capitalism, colonialism, and white supremacy can lead us to feel disconnected from ourselves and others; yoga invites us back into connection. And marketing can be explored from this place—from a place of connection both with ourselves, and with others. Because ultimately, marketing relies on something we’re already doing, which is teaching. We can and must explore ways to bring what we’re already sharing in our classes and offerings into our marketing. When we embrace this exploration, we are more likely to truly reach people with our unique voices and gifts, and we’re more likely to cultivate relationships. This is the core essence of marketing. It doesn’t have to be transactional. It doesn’t have to feel forced. And it doesn’t have to make you want to pull your hair out.

Accessible Marketing is an exploration of strategies and best practices so that you can find your way through this practice, and so that you can integrate what you’re already doing in your own work as a teacher and student of yoga into your marketing.

Accessible Marketing centers on the nuanced discussion of how each of us have different roles to play based on our identities and the realities of systemic oppression. In order to grow our work and stay aligned with yoga and social justice—which is really an extension of the yogic teachings (think ahimsa or non-harming, for example), we must engage in a conversation about how we show up and take up space, and how we might be contributing to social change, equity, and genuine belonging, or potentially perpetuating harm.

It can be hard to share about our offerings beyond sharing our weekly class schedule. In order to truly connect with our audience, and with new students, we must learn how to create content that actually serves our community—content that makes an impact. Though many of us might not see a connection between yoga, social justice, and marketing, the truth is—especially at this moment in our culture and world, yoga, social justice, and marketing go hand in hand.

Tristan Katz (they/them) is a writer, educator, and digital strategist specializing in business and marketing coaching-consulting, web and graphic design. Based on the ancestral land of the Cowlitz and Clackamas peoples, now known as Portland, OR, Tristan teaches workshops and trainings centered around queer identity and trans* awareness with an intersectional lens, along with justice-focused digital marketing strategies for yoga and wellness professionals. Through their podcast, articles, digital resources, and workshops, Tristan supports those who seek to grow their work while staying aligned with the practices of yoga, equity, diversity, and inclusivity.

Tristan Katz is a member of Accessible Yoga's Board of Directors and will be presenting at the Accessible Yoga's Conference Online October 14-17, 2021.

This post was edited by Patrice Priya Wagner, Editor of Accessible Yoga Blog and member of the Board of Directors.

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