Thread: Studio Memberships?

My studio has now been open for almost 6 months (yay!) and I'm starting to notice a new trend with my students...I have about 5 or 6 students that attend EVERY class that I offer. Its awesome. And it seems like I have a few more that are starting to trend in that direction, especially now that I'm getting ready to offer fitness classes. (Coming soon: Bikini Belly...fitness bootcamp with a bellydance twist!)

So I'm toying with the idea of offering a monthly membership in addition to class cards. Think of it like an unlimited class card...they can attend as many or as few classes in a month for X number of $$. Similar to a gym membership.

Has anyone else tried this? Success? Pitfalls?

Anyone who hasn't tried but can see a potential problem?

oohhh, as a student, I'd love something like that! How many classes do you offer that 5 or 6 are taking all of them? Just trying to figure out how much money each one is paying vs how much an all inclusive pass would be.

Thinking like a teacher now, you would have to charge enough for the pass where you wouldn't lose money, but it would still have to be affordable for people to buy. Seems like it could be a real fine line. However, I think you would get a lot more people in!

You could always do it for the summer. Like, a summer pass. That way, you test it out and get more interest from people who may stay when things go back to normal in September. If it's a success, then keep it like that. If you're losing money, then you have a scheduled time when things are going back to normal. I think if you bring more people in, you could make more money though as opposed to losing it.

On a side note- I live over here in Ocean Springs, MS. Are you coming to the Bellydance Festival this Saturday? I see you're over by New Orleans ..g.:

One studio I used to attend did this and many people liked it. It was month to month. Another thing this business owner did was provide discounts on workshops to people who pay for the "everything" package. Incentives are always good.

I do not see a downside as long as you price it accordingly. Also - make sure your refund policy is in place.

congrats to you ;-)

It wouldn't work for me, because my studio is small and a few of my classes are often full.

But then, I don't do drop-in classes at all, for a whole bunch of reasons. If a drop-in system is working for you, then a monthly pass could be very good.

What I do have is a discount system with sliding discounts for people who take more classes.

Originally Posted by alyssaraks

oohhh, as a student, I'd love something like that! How many classes do you offer that 5 or 6 are taking all of them? Just trying to figure out how much money each one is paying vs how much an all inclusive pass would be.

Thinking like a teacher now, you would have to charge enough for the pass where you wouldn't lose money, but it would still have to be affordable for people to buy. Seems like it could be a real fine line. However, I think you would get a lot more people in!

You could always do it for the summer. Like, a summer pass. That way, you test it out and get more interest from people who may stay when things go back to normal in September. If it's a success, then keep it like that. If you're losing money, then you have a scheduled time when things are going back to normal. I think if you bring more people in, you could make more money though as opposed to losing it.

On a side note- I live over here in Ocean Springs, MS. Are you coming to the Bellydance Festival this Saturday? I see you're over by New Orleans ..g.:

I'm offering 4 classes a week that are walk in friendly at the moment, which is about to expand by 1 more soon. I have one other class that requires permission of the instructor. I'm also bringing in two more instructors soon so we'll be adding even more classes. We're growing!

I like the idea of doing it for the summer...that could be a very cool way to test it out. Especially since i"m launching the fitness classes for the summer. We're testing those and if they are popular I'll be keeping them.

Me and some of my girls will be at the Gulf Coast Festival this Saturday, but not until the evening. Didn't find out about the date for the festival until I was booked already (speaking engagement and teaching a class in the AM). So we won't be in any of the classes, but we are coming up to check out the shopping and catch the show that night. Would love to say hello to you in person if you will be there!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

It wouldn't work for me, because my studio is small and a few of my classes are often full.

But then, I don't do drop-in classes at all, for a whole bunch of reasons. If a drop-in system is working for you, then a monthly pass could be very good.

What I do have is a discount system with sliding discounts for people who take more classes.

I'm keeping the drop ins relegated to my beginner classes and it seems to be working. I've also got all three beginner I classes on the same schedule...whatever we do on Tuesday AM, we do again on Tuesday PM and Thursday PM. Most of the students attend one class in particular, but then will drop in on another class because they want to work on what we did in class that week more. I almost moved over to session but when I mentioned the idea there was a mini riot...they love the system...so I didn't do it.

I use a class card system...you can get 4, 6, 8, or 12 classes on a card and they can be used at any of the open level or beginner's classes...and if you meet the pre-requisites for the upper level classes they can be used for those as well. So they get a discount for buying in bulk.

I'm thinking that this is something that I could do to "reward" my students who are there all the time. I could also offer to set it up on direct debit (which I won't do with class cards because its too much work for me). I'm thinking that if I price it right I might even get some students who don't come to all of the classes to sign up solely for the convenience of it. Hmmmm...that would be awesome!

Originally Posted by ravenadesigns

One studio I used to attend did this and many people liked it. It was month to month. Another thing this business owner did was provide discounts on workshops to people who pay for the "everything" package. Incentives are always good.

I do not see a downside as long as you price it accordingly. Also - make sure your refund policy is in place.

congrats to you ;-)

Good idea to offer a discount on special events to my monthly people! Even more incentive to join monthly!

I've got to figure out a refund policy on it. I think if they sign up for direct debit I'm going to go with a 30 day notice to stop policy (that's pretty standard for gyms/karate schools/etc around here). Maybe I'll check around and see what the refund policies with gyms, etc around here is. Cause I can anticipate getting into some complicated math trying to prorate the month if I dont' come up with a clear policy in advance.

Originally Posted by safiradokos

So I'm toying with the idea of offering a monthly membership in addition to class cards.

Zahra's studio here in LA has the option for a 1-month unlimited membership in addition to the 10-class card. Not sure how much it is, but I'm pretty sure Tahira just bought one so maybe she'll chime in shortly...

Originally Posted by safiradokos

I'm offering 4 classes a week that are walk in friendly at the moment, which is about to expand by 1 more soon. I have one other class that requires permission of the instructor. I'm also bringing in two more instructors soon so we'll be adding even more classes. We're growing!

I like the idea of doing it for the summer...that could be a very cool way to test it out. Especially since i"m launching the fitness classes for the summer. We're testing those and if they are popular I'll be keeping them.

Me and some of my girls will be at the Gulf Coast Festival this Saturday, but not until the evening. Didn't find out about the date for the festival until I was booked already (speaking engagement and teaching a class in the AM). So we won't be in any of the classes, but we are coming up to check out the shopping and catch the show that night. Would love to say hello to you in person if you will be there!

Yes, I'll be there. ..g.: I'll be in the show that evening too. I figure, if I live in town, I might as well grab the opportunity. There aren't too many people around offering classes or workshops. If you have a newsletter or email list, could you add me? If you ever have weekend workshops, I'd drive to New Orleans for the day once in awhile to take one. I'll be around shopping and stuff too. I think there is a dinner after the show at a nearby restaurant and also drinks after that at a Tapas Bar a block or two away. My husband and I are planning to go to both. Hopefully I'll see you there!

Originally Posted by nasila

Zahra's studio here in LA has the option for a 1-month unlimited membership in addition to the 10-class card. Not sure how much it is, but I'm pretty sure Tahira just bought one so maybe she'll chime in shortly...

It's $195 a month and for me it's worth it. I have been taking 5 classes a week which, with discounts and break downs is $55 a week. So the unlimited card saves me about $25. PLUS it allows me to take more classes if I want to. which may be happening soon. I also get to take from a variety of teachers, which is a great incentive to me. . .

If I were in a smaller city, I might look for a studio which had basically punch cards. One dancer here in LA used to do $15 a drop in class or you could buy a card of 10 classes for $120. And you would have 12 weeks (three months) to take all the classes. What she found was that most people did not take all the classes. BUT when they bought the cards up front, it helped to cover expenses for the weeks when she didn't really have enough students show up to justify having the class.

{{HUGS}}}

I think you'd want to look at your own business model to make sure that you are rewarding students for their custom, but not cutting your income.

If your classes are all running half empty then, the monthly scheme makes sense.

If like Lauren, you're all full. Doing offers and discounts would like be like opening your bank account and writing a bunch of cheques. Might feel good initially, right up until you have to pay your bills.

If 3 of your classes are full, and class A and B are empty, then perhaps a buy (some) get class A and/or B for free would be in order. The business speak for this is a "win-win".

Originally Posted by tahiradancer

It's $195 a month and for me it's worth it. I have been taking 5 classes a week which, with discounts and break downs is $55 a week. So the unlimited card saves me about $25. PLUS it allows me to take more classes if I want to. which may be happening soon. I also get to take from a variety of teachers, which is a great incentive to me. . .

If I were in a smaller city, I might look for a studio which had basically punch cards. One dancer here in LA used to do $15 a drop in class or you could buy a card of 10 classes for $120. And you would have 12 weeks (three months) to take all the classes. What she found was that most people did not take all the classes. BUT when they bought the cards up front, it helped to cover expenses for the weeks when she didn't really have enough students show up to justify having the class.

{{HUGS}}}

I'm doing the punch card system right now...and the students like it. They like the freedom of being able to come and go. I'm planning on keeping that system...thinking of the unlimited as the biggest card you can get.

Kind of like cell phone plans. You got your angel fare which has hardly any minutes (that's my once a week students). Then you got your unlimited minute plan that takes care of your hard core student.

Its all helped keep things even keel with the studio like you said...my cards expire 4 months from purchase. Each time you walk in, you get a tick off your card. I've got a friend who is writing me some software for the studio right now to help me track it all more easily. Can't wait to get the software!

Originally Posted by Bellydancingcaroline

I think you'd want to look at your own business model to make sure that you are rewarding students for their custom, but not cutting your income.

If your classes are all running half empty then, the monthly scheme makes sense.

If like Lauren, you're all full. Doing offers and discounts would like be like opening your bank account and writing a bunch of cheques. Might feel good initially, right up until you have to pay your bills.

If 3 of your classes are full, and class A and B are empty, then perhaps a buy (some) get class A and/or B for free would be in order. The business speak for this is a "win-win".

These are some of the concerns that i had. Right now I'm thinking that I'm going to wait until the fall when I introduce more classes and more variety in my classes to test this out. Then I'll feel like they are getting more bang for buck!