My feeling within ATSuccess this week is that we can do away with Alexander Technique thank you very much, but NOT the work. The old man said it had to evolve, but into what? There's the rub - when it stops looking like what he did, the traditionalists worry. It's right that they worry, but not helpful to them, helpful to me. Why? I know I am doing something different when the feeling all around is "No - that is wrong." Hang on - isn't that exactly a indicator of change? (But not a good one I hear them yelling!)

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Banish Alexander Technique Please!
At BodyChance we rejoice when we manage to create a description of the work that has NO MENTION of Alexander Technique within it. I am no fan of those two words, and in fact I am embarking on a campaign to replace them with BodyChance Method (because we don't do chair, table and extensive touching) when we do have to "name" what we do. I am a cheerleader of banishing the words 'Alexander Technique' and stop mystifying people - let's get simple. We are here to help people do what they want to do in a way that integrates with their true Nature. Owari! So bravo for your new way!

Who Says It Is Alexander Technique Anyway?
BTW - Alexander never called what he did "Alexander Technique" he called it "the work" just as Katie describes what she does. I think of it like the wind - you can never see "it" but only see the way it influences the things it is not.

What Is The Simplest Way To Explain?
Niching to the activity and talking about what causes their known problems in specifics is what I have found the most effective way to express the work in terms that people get. I think it is not so much that we can not explain it - I have many simple, easy-to-understand catch phrases - more that people experience a disconnect between from the words they hear and the experience they have. I sometimes talk about "logical" Alexander and "mysterious" Alexander, because I have noticed that people do struggle to reconcile the clear, easy-to-understand descriptions, with the actual experience they have. I love that you are passionate to communicate this - that is the reality of the work. Communication.

#Hashtags
Last year Robert Rickover was encouraging all AT teachers to use #alexandertechnique on twits they were sending about the work. People can search the hashtag and find your message if they want. Only a certain class of people will be doing this - is that how your niche behaves? See? The niche solves all your marketing challenges!

Teaching is Meandering Within Know Territory*
There was a time in my teaching when I obsessively prepared my classes. This was between 2002-2006 when I was developing BodyChance's Teaching Education program. These were not beginners, these were the same people month after month and all my old ticks were all used up. I had to invent. I have a pile of note books written over those years that I could pile up to the ceiling. Now I find I have internalized most of that. So I totally get where you are coming from Cecile - there is a need for a rigorously conceived plan behind the "apparent" wandering.

My Big, Bold Predication (When Did I Ever Do Anything else?)
My biggest, boldest prediction - which I won't live to see - is that corporations will be the ultimate funders of the AT evolution. Once they get how their bottom line can be extraordinarily transformed in ways only Alexander's discoveries can deliver, there will be no hesitation in funding it. The problem will be finding sufficient teachers able to deliver it. BodyChance's mission is to prepare for that day.

My Personal Facebook Group

[NOTE: The second half of to-day's blog contains posts from my ATSuccess Group in Facebook. They contain personal or specific information that is inappropriate for public consumption. You can join the group by becoming a member. Participants of enjoy privacy protection to express opinions openly. It gets interesting. Trusting each other creates a context to take risks. In ATSuccess no-one cares where you trained, they only care you succeed.]

*Should I Charge The Same?
Charge more. No question. There are people who will ALWAYS go for the higher priced option (I am one of them) because they rightly believe that genuine quality costs more. The number you attract this way may be less, but they will listen better, apply suggestions better, and convert better to your service. You don't want students who buy on price, you want students who buy on quality.

*Listening
I love that line Jennifer " I'm listening to what people want, and going with that." It's at the core of my message: listen and respond. That's the core strategy behind niching.

*Social Proof for Singers
Social proof comes in many forms and it does exist for singers. I personally know of three "institutions" of singers - in LA, San F and Australia - that bring AT teachers into their domain. Take a look at Kate Colkin's website, Greg Holdaway's website and any well know AT singer teacher. (Beret in NYC) They've done some of that research for you. Testimonials are in the public domain - if you can find "AT" versions, rather than personal "she did... he did..." versions you can use them as another form of social proof. Anyone else with some ideas for Peter?

*Making An Impact
Sweet. (Angelica's TEDtalk got a pupil for Mark in NYC). I love to see the day when you ATSuccessers start to be noticed in our community for your courage, determination and savvy in applying the technologies of biz, marketing and sales to making an AT biz work.

*The Difference Between Price and Value
Dana's comment is a good one: "...or make a special offer if they mention they found you from this listing." Do not use price to attract people, but DEFINITELY use value as a way of achieving the same effect. What can you concretely offer that the young teacher can not? Some written material of some kind comes to mind, but I do not understand the situation well enough to advise you beyond these generalities....

*Facebook Advertising
Bravo! Slowly I believe ATSuccess can eventually create a culture in the AT world that Facebook is a natural medium to convert new students, and not leave that job to STAT, newspaper articles or books. Cecile on the radio - that's what you all need to be thinking about. Not waiting till they find you, you find them!

*Aho Alexander
Re this: "OTM Yoga mini class at a yearly local Wellness Fair event I have been participating in last year" Go search for "Aho Alexander" in the blog posts. You need something like that - a simple, dumbed down "exercise" that easily delivers an eye-opening realization experience. It takes genius to dumb it down, but you can hands down.

*Self-Hate And Improvement
Great work Cecile - I am sure your radio interview was way better than you would have us believe, but pleased to read of your final 90% rating. However, I do believe that you don't have to go into self-hate to discover ways to improve your performance, so by all means look for the place where you can develop your delivery.

*All About The Foot, NOT
Sorry Dana, I am late to the party on this - I don't visit the group on blog days usually. Here's what I think - walk everyone of them. Did you say the group size? If not - demo many over your 30 minutes. In doing so, get across the point that it is about the foot, NOT. The foot is a speaker for whole you, all you. Let them know that all the foot's problems in life start at the head and work their way down. This you can easily show with walking lessons. If you go the high heels route, then it's all about "standing on a hill, then trying to straighten up when you are already leaning forward (because your heel is off the group)." Get the message in their heads - they need to know the whole, and guess what? You're the gal with the secret sauce!

*Luck Has Nothing To Do With It.
The English have an expression for you Cecile - you're a "jammy bas***d" which means opportunity seems to continuously knock on your door. This is wonderful, you seem to be on a role. You got the opportunity because it is time to undo this story you have about driving to Boston. Work on that during your drive in, and you will have a wealth of immediate insights to illuminate your interview. (Love all those i-starting words in a row!)

*On Wildly Improbable Behaviour
A few days back I sat down and binged for a whole day on a wonderful new series I found from BBC. I was crying my eyes out nearly every episode, lying on my bed, undoing my guilt between each episode, eating bananas and wondering if this was turning off or what the heck I was doing?

I would undo all that till I decided "I will watch another" and eventually got through the entire season. Next day, I came up with my idea of the "break" and blogging stop and felt I had "come through" something. These days when I hear a voice saying "go on, do this, do this" I usually succumb if it is basically harmless to my health. But you know, as I wrote that, I still wonder about that day... So I get where you are. Who knows? Only you.

*The Value of Retreating
Then create your time out. It may be you exit your family, rather your family exiting you as happened this time. I take my Self off to retreats when I can - a whole week of just me, my thoughts and an intention to create clarity about who I am and what I doing in this life. It's a wonderful energy-charging process, and everyone running their own biz needs to "schedule" in this reflective time. It will pay you back in ways you can not conceive. I am still running on the insights of my last one. Thanks for the reminder - I need to schedule another.

*A New Website in 3 Days Or Less
Brilliant effort Jennifer - very inspiring. How did you get those pics done so quickly?! I do think our mind overrates the difficulty of doing anything that is unfamiliar to it. Often it turns out the task is way easier than your imagination would have you believe.

Yes, I concur with Elyse about the vagueness of "wellness" - it's the same conversation we had previously. Do you use a "going towards" (wellness) or a "going away" (stress reduction) USP? I am not sure about stress reduction as the replacement words - it's not really catchy and is already in a million places - but the principle here is identifying something that a person can instantly recognize as valuable to them.

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Anything to add? A new thread?

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