NetWORKing

Who knew that a part time instructor job could turn into a full time marketing position. It's hard being your own boss!! I'm having problems with filling my classes. I usually get anywhere from 3-5 people show up, which is strange seeing as the class before mine is always packed. I tried begging people to stay, but no one ever does. I talked with the owner of the gym, and she said that usually October starts the busy season. I didn't want to wait until October, so I took matters into my own hands, and decided network myself by attending the two other instructor's classes. It was free, since my gym offers free membership to instructors, I was curious to see how they were doing numbers-wise, and to see what kinds of routines they were doing, and I also felt it was super important to support them, and show my face. That way I was part of the action, and not some mysterious entity who appears out of thin air, rocks her face off every Tuesday, and then leaves. I wasn't expecting the outcome at all. The first class I attended was packed to capacity. There were some faces I recognized, and I talked with them. It was fun to be on the other side of things, and to laugh and joke with my students when we messed up. Instructor #1 was super supportive, and even offered to meet up and exchange routines. My next class, some of those students came, and one even told me she came because she has fun dancing with me in instructor #1's class. So that was a success. Instructor #2 I had "met" on the website sittercity.com. I applied to be her Saturday morning babysitter, and through our conversations, we discovered we both worked at the same gym. Small world. The Saturday babysitter thing didn't pan out, since it turned out that she didn't need a sitter after all, and I got another instructor job. She's new to instructing too. I attended her class, and then wound up watching her son a few nights later (who is as adorable as can be, by the way). Now, were shaping up to be good friends. She is going away for 6 weeks, and asked me to sub all her classes. I'm so excited! Instructor 2 1/2 (she's not quite there yet,)was also in attendance that night. She had attended one of my classes back when I first started, and she gave me a huge hug and was genuinely excited to see me. So it was nice to put names to the faces, and to get my name out there. All in all, I think my mission was successful. I found out that people do like ME, they just don't like the time of my class (6:30), which is out of my control. But what can ya do? So, I made two new friends, and I now understand the meaning of Zumba-love!