How to Build Business Revenue Teaching Equestrian Clinics
Want to Boost Your Income from Teaching Clinics? Start with These 7 Proven Strategies!
If youâre a trainer or clinician looking to build your business and attract more riders to your dressage, show jump, or cross-country jump clinics, you may be wondering where to start. One of the biggest challenges organizers face is having the right content to promote the clinic effectively. The good news? You can easily gett ready with a few manageable steps. Here’s how:
1. Update Your Website to Showcase Your Clinician Skills and Pricing
Start by ensuring your website is up to date and effectively showcases your skills as a clinician. Donât just promote yourself as a competitive riderâhighlight your expertise in teaching. Include a professional bio, recent accomplishments, your teaching philosophy, and links to any clinic reviews or blog posts youâve written.
Be sure to post your pricing and teaching philosophy on your website. Organizers often need this information upfront, so make it easy for them to see your fee structure, availability, and strengths. Transparency here helps organizers make decisions faster.
2. Create a Self-Promotion Kit
To help organizers promote your clinic effectively and attract more riders, it’s important to offer a selection of professional, high-quality photos. Aim to upload 4-6 photos to your website, one of which should be a crisp, clear headshot that shows your eyes.
Why? Showing your eyes helps build trust and connect with potential riders. Studies show that people are more likely to trust and engage with faces where they can see the eyes.
Want to build a larger student base? Let riders connect with you on a personal level by showing your face clearly and making a genuine impression!
Offering professional photos that organizers can use will help them market your clinic more easily, getting the word out and boosting attendance.
Pro Tip: Ensure that you have photographer permission and the licensing rights to use the photos you selectâno screenshots! Be sure the images are clearly marked as available for organizers to use in their marketing materials. For example, you can include a note like: “These photos are available for use by organizers to promote my clinics.”
This reassures organizers they can share your photos without getting into trouble about copyright infringement, helping them effectively market your clinic and boost attendance.
3. Show Your Skills with Video
Videos are a fantastic way to give potential riders a preview of your teaching style. Many riders search YouTube or other platforms to see how you interact with students and deliver feedback. You donât need a professional setupâan iPhone video works perfectly! A quick, informal video showing you teaching or interacting with students will help riders get a sense of your personality and communication style.
Pro Tip: Host these videos on your website for easy access, and be sure to link to them in your clinic descriptions. Including a video link in your Strider activity or other promotional material helps riders connect with you even before they attend your clinic.
4. Create a Clinic Series with Clear, Identifiable Concepts
Offering a clinic series centered around a specific theme or concept gives riders a tangible reason to sign up. Whether itâs a series of dressage clinics focused on rider position or a show-jumping clinic series on developing rhythm and flow, clear objectives make it easy for riders to decide. Plus, once you get positive reviews from one clinic, it becomes easier to fill registrations for the rest of the series!
5. Leverage Email Marketing
Email marketing is a highly effective (and cost-efficient) way to stay in touch with new students, send reminders, offer training packages, and build relationships. Ask organizers for the email list of registered riders or use online entry services like striderpro.com to automatically compile your contacts.
6. Start Small if You Need To
If you’re new to hosting clinics, start small! Host a veterinary seminar at your facility, a Q&A session, or a simple social event to get people familiar with your facility and approach. Offering something simple like breakfast bagels or lunch chili can attract a crowd and give you the opportunity to interact with riders. Sometimes, all it takes is a friendly conversation to show riders that youâre approachable and knowledgeable.