An Adult Seeks Beginner Classes | The Developer Dances
I figured that if I provided marketing and technical advice to dance studios, it would really round out my expertise if at least I took a few dance classes. Unbeknownst to me was the huge salsa community in the big dirty apple (aka NYC.) I guess it shouldn’t have been much of a shock, but when I got the urge to shake it, I simply Googled SALSA and, that glorious Sunday night, up came a few (not one or two but a few) Salsa “parties.” I thought, “what is there to Salsa but a few steps turns and shakes of the booty.” Um, well you know where that lead.
I showed up at the event that was attended by over 300 Salsa dancers (at $11 a pop, not a bad night’s take.) But no one would dance with me because I didn’t know how! This was serious stuff. And so I began my search for the perfect Salsa class. Salsa got under my skin.
Interestingly, a few of the men I met at the party recommended GroupOn or Living Social, which I did try, but for naught. No good deals going on. Another teacher was recommended to me by three different men (interesting) but when I looked up his class and times, they were neither near my office nor my apartment. Plus he had a cycle and I was ready to start right now. (Nothing like impulse dance class.) Which brings me to:
Point #1: Offer one beginner trial class every week to catch the impulse buyer.
Next, I dropped into the studio 2 blocks from my office. Their schedule and “cycle” was so confusing, I had to have the receptionist explain it to me. Additionally, this school has drop-in and 4-week cycle classes. Apparently, there are two types of Salsa that the receptionist did a bad job of explaining. Lastly, that dance studio had a drop in Salsa class that evening, which I had to ASK to observe. (I was allowed a free observation.)
Point #2: Your receptionist can help you or hurt you. Luckily I was so determined to find a Salsa class, that I pushed my way into this drop-in class. A more timid person might have just walked away and then never joined.
In class, my feet immediately started tapping to the beat. My instructor, Nick said, “don’t just sit there, join the class. Won’t that be more fun?” When I replied I was only a beginner (this class was intermediate,) he assured me that if I just picked up the one basic step, it would be great. And guess what? I did! I was so impressed with Nick that I was determined to go to the Sunday DROP IN beginner class.
Point #3: Your teacher can make you or break you.
Nick was welcoming, patient, hip, and an awesome teacher. He made sure that I didn’t feel clumsy, which I was, and also made sure that I got that first basic step down pat.
After the class, I was so inspired that I wanted to buy some appropriate clothes for my next Salsa class, but guess what? No shoes, no tops, no pants. Missed opportunity? Maybe. Maybe this studio doesn’t want to get into the clothing business–this is New York and we are surrounded, but…
Point #4: If you have room, sell something!
High margins make for a decent profit.
Ok, so I am really digging my Salsa… love the beat, love the exercise.. it is much better than the eliptical. So, this is NY, lots of Salsa. I again use Google to find another class, and thanks to great search engine optimization, find: