The Way Mind Oasis is Connecting 3,000students to online meditation
Five years in the past, Karuna Schwartz found herself on a month-long meditation retreat located within the Arizona desert. The experience came about after she was introduced to the concept of meditation from the yoga instructor in her class. She was still aware it could change her life personally and professionally.
"Even even though I wasn't comfortable with the practice at the time, I realized that it was already altering aspects of my daily life. I'm a realist and a Type A person. Prior to getting into this method I did not have the techniques I would need to go out in the world and offer assistance instead of becoming an opportunistic victim" she says.
After three months of pondering about this idea of a retreat in the name of Mind Oasis came to Karuna. The whole concept was beyond her - all she knew is that she wanted to start an organization that links participants to meditation experts on the internet, no matter where they resided all over the world.
"It's essential to know that 2017 was a time when the phenomenon of online learning wasn't as well-known as it is today. So I left that retreat, and went back home. I visited my instructors and explained"I've come up with the idea of bringing meditation alive in the online world. All of them supported me even though I thought I'd not succeed. But, Mind Oasis was born ."
In the last year, Karuna has grown the world-wide Mind Oasis community to over 3,300 members. Karuna has also increased her charity's budget from $48,000 to $200,000. Here's how she did it:
Skip ahead:
- She identified her 'special Sauce within the realm of meditation
- Her business model straight from the beginning
- Her primary offer to nurture naturally the community
- Her team formed partnerships with her Curriculum and Promotion business with her teachers.
- She suggested a graduated pricing model that was based on her particular needs of the community
- She utilized it in full capacity
- She used her failures and disappointment as a way to lay the groundwork to ensure future success
She recognized her "special taste' in the world of meditation.
From the beginning, Mind Oasis' mission is to spread the timeless benefits of mindfulness and meditation to all people across the globe. In this effort, Karuna has been determined to make a distinction of guided meditation, and teaching meditation as an integrated activity.
Karuna established Mind Oasis as an online education platform. The site offered classes on yoga nidra, Buddhism and Hinduism. While this educational focus proved beneficial initiative, Karuna's passion was actually in the practical and practical elements of the practice of meditation.
She then realized that the "special flavor' of the product was the availability of online, live classes for meditation groups -the concept she later named 'Community Mediation'.
"Community Meditation is the core concept behind everything that we do at Mind Oasis. We have daily meetings and it's live and it's interconnected. The live element is always our unique sauce because we think that connecting and building community is crucial, especially in this time and day. We want our education component to act as the link between the people."
She formulated her business model right from the start
Based on more than twenty years of experience she's had as a manager for non-profit organisations, Karuna decided that Mind Oasis' values best aligned with the business model of a non-profit.
"It really upsets me to think of meditation being an unprofitable practice. It's all focused on being present as well as making money from it. Profiting from it doesn't make sense to me. This doesn't mean the teachers don't get paid very well, but it does not necessarily mean I'm not getting a small amount of money," she says.
"I'm certainly not suggesting that you shouldn't make profits from meditation or mindfulness, however the thing I like about non-profits is that when you grow and generate income and you don't have to answer to shareholders, you are accountable to your purpose and the society as a whole."
Despite her core conviction, Karuna is transparent about the challenges she's faced due to her non-profit approach.
"There have been times when I've had to question my choices. Finding foundation support is an enormous challenge because of the nature of the Mind Oasis occupies a very distinct space. We're not an arts and culture group or an animal-related. We've therefore been unable to rely on that type of foundation funding to create a revenue stream which was very difficult to come up with," she explains.
On the other hand , an organisation that is non-profit enables Karuna to go over and beyond in giving her students financial assistance.
"When students contact me with the request, "I require a scholarship' we're able to help since it's in our scope. Whatever the amount, it gives others with an opportunity to share their wealth to give back and contribute to people who earn one ounce less. For me, this is the most beautiful base ."
She let her natural primary offering be to nurture naturally community
Due to her unique way of doing business, Karuna faces a different range of challenges regarding conversion rates. Her approach has been a departure from conventional business-focused strategies for marketing, which do not meet her standards -- instead, she has let Mind Oasis the core product offering to build an enduring following.
"When your goal is to build sales funnels, don't trust us as experts. We claim to be experts in the area of meditation. But the conversion process isn't easy," she says.
"What we've seen work for us has been organic growth and the superior quality of our products over the quantity. We're not afraid to admit that our product isn't even a child when compared to the big corporations and I'm sure to state that it's our really awesome product that makes us stand out."
Karuna is committed to making her loyal students her most powerful listening boards. The idea of word-of-mouth marketing is the reason why it has brought life to Mind Oasis.
"To be completely truthful to you, be aware of some influencers who are paid to bring in many customers. But my experience is that's not how it has been for our group of students. The key is having students who've had a magical experience in a group meditation." she goes on to explain.
Although this system is in place Karuna says the million dollar problem will be "How do we let people pass through our doors?'
"It's challenging because there's lots of competition in the marketplace. We've resorted to more conventional techniques like ads on Facebook as well as 5-day meditation sessions or free courses. And we've tested everything. But at the end each day, in the event that you've created a fantastic product, and you have people who are devoted to the product, they'll tell their families and friends about it. This isn't the most effective way to go, but we're mighty, we're strong and are staying that way."
She formed partnership with her curriculum and promotion company with her teachers.
From Mind Oasis' early days, Karuna has been intentional concerning the proper payment of her teachers in order to enhance their abilities. Over 70% of her earnings are given to her teachers due to this fact Karuna demands that they partner with her both in the areas of education and promotion.
"The relationships we establish with our teachers can really aid us in getting our attendance numbers up and to fill the seats. In the process of forming our curriculum, we're intentional about strategizing together with teachers to create classes that work in tandem with one another, where teachers are able to create an RFP (request for proposal) and this gives the framework for most of our classes."
These RFPs Karuna's instructors will propose different meditation programs of four weeks and six weeks. programmes that she will be able to assist in.
"The most important thing that we've accomplished is that we've been able to help our instructors create a good course offering which will be appreciated by an public. They send me the proposal then they email me their picture, I put the course online, and we then co-promote it," she explains.
"It's successful because we're no longer needing to open doors or put together all of the elements by themselves. For our teachers, they're simply trying to teach the students and this method permits them to do the same. ."
She suggested a graduated price model based on her community's individual needs
As she was choosing the structure of her pricing, Karuna was determined to put accessibility at the center of her. The first model was based upon the costs yoga studios charge and she also took the price of a weekday class and split it by an hour in order to arrive at the lowest cost.
One of the most significant aspects is that Karuna offers discounted pricing in the beginning. This allowed for new levels of massive expansion.
"We offer three rates: an affordable Community rate , as and a support rate and a long-lasting rate. The community rate is student's rate. The rate is not always what fair market value of the item is, however we do offer it to students who don't be able to afford for it or. The rate we offer is fair market value therefore, this is what they would will pay should they travel to anywhere. It can also be applied to make an additional amount depending on your capacity to give it," she explains.
"Over the course of time, we discovered that our structure for pricing is that it's averaging to the fair market value but allowing anybody to be participants in Mind Oasis. Mind Oasis community."
In the year 2019, Karuna took the initiative to increase her rates by $5 in order to assess the market and determine whether she could encourage people to sign-up and take up the offer -- or even with this change the number of students she had decline.
"I think this test can work because of our tiered structure. Since that increase, we've kept our rates within the same level. But what we've discovered during the last six months or so is that the public is worried about their economy but their money isn't getting exactly the same way," she claims.
"We've been a bit sluggish from the margins of our earnings, but we're confident that we'll be able to compensate later on by welcoming our new clients."
She used it to the fullest capacity of her abilities
Since Karuna found out in the year of the year 2019, Mind Oasis has reached the highest levels of its teaching platform and its social network. Karuna has provided numerous workshops, and according to her own words, Mind Oasis has served as the glue which has connected all the Mind Oasis' moving parts in one.
" is doing an remarkable job of allowing us create a hub with the live classes we offer, recorded groups, discussion group, and even PDFs. The whole process of using is seamless, no matter if we were holding workshops or an immersive meditation series," she says.
as a non-profit, Karuna says has gone over and above in helping her job as a course designer.
" is very aware of us as a nonprofit and has been receptive to us when we've been through tough circumstances -- it's offered us a genuine feel of personalization through the help. It's like the company is not just a huge company, I'll always feel that the platform takes care of our well-being and the progress we've made. I'm grateful for everything that Mind Oasis has been able to Mind Oasis to do -- we would not get to where we are now without Mind Oasis as partners.""
Her failures and defeats to establish the groundwork for her success in the future.
In retrospection of her of creation to date, Karuna is very open about the fact that she was unaware of what her ultimate goal was prior to launching Mind Oasis. But, the first step of faith provided her with a wealth of learning possibilities that she wouldn't have without Mind Oasis.
"In my early years of career , I was throwing ideas around and seeing if they would get a response. It's been many times that were based on trials and errors. There have many huge successes, along with massive successes and failures. I have lost more friends during the last five years than I have ever prior, but I've also gained more friendships than I ever thought possible," she says.
Through her experience, Karuna recognizes how easy it is to fall an impression of imposter and compare particularly when you are just starting out.
"Sometimes I have an overwhelming sense of expectation that Mind Oasis somehow should be at the forefront of attracting many more students. For anyone who's looking at this as a course creator you'll be aware of how difficult it is because of the amount of much noise out there," she says.
"It is all about perseverance. It is possible that 100,000 people sign up right away. However, that's not been my experiences. I've come around to recognize that steady and slow expansion are equally valuable."
Inspiring by Karuna's tale of the creation of an online company that makes money from online courses? Do you want to try it on your own? Register for the course and get started immediately.
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