The way Mind Oasis is Connecting 3,000students to online meditation
Five years ago, Karuna Schwartz found herself on a month-long meditation retreat in the Arizona desert. It was following her introduction to the notion of meditation through the yoga teacher in her class. It was a subject she knew might alter her life both personally and professionally.
"Even although I was not comfortable with the practice when I first started I began to realize that it was already affecting certain aspects of my life. I'm a realistic and Type A person. Prior to getting into this method I did not possess the skills I'd have to use to reach out to the world to help others rather than becoming an easy victim" she says.
In the course of three months, thinking about this idea of a retreat in the brand name of Mind Oasis came to Karuna. It was a concept that was completely foreign to her, all she was aware of was that she wanted to start an organization that links participants with meditation specialists on the internet, no the location they are located around the world.
"It's important to be aware that 2017 was a time that the idea of online learning wasn't so well-known and renowned like it is now. That's why I left my retreat, and headed back to my home. I met with my teachers and explained"I've thought of an idea to bring meditation into the modern world. They all backed me , even when I believed I would fail. However, Mind Oasis was born ."
The past year has seen Karuna has grown the world-wide Mind Oasis community to over 3300 people. Karuna has also increased her donation from $48,000 up to $200,000. This is how she achieved it:
Skip ahead:
- She identified her 'special Sauce' within the world of meditation
- Her business model straight from the beginning
- Her main goal is to naturally nurture the community
- The team of hers formed collaborations in her Curriculum and Promotion business with her teachers.
- She suggested a graduated pricing model that was based on her particular needs of the local community
- She used it to its fullest capacity
- Her failures and failures as a means to lay the groundwork to make sure she can achieve success in the future.
She recognized her "special taste' in the world of meditation.
Since the very beginning, Mind Oasis' mission is to spread the timeless advantages of meditation and mindfulness to all people across the globe. As part of this mission, Karuna has been determined to differentiate between guided meditationand to teach meditation as an integrated activity.
Karuna created Mind Oasis as an online educational platform. The website offered courses in yoga Nidra, Buddhism as well as Hinduism. The educational aspect proved to be a useful, Karuna's true passion was actually focused on the practical and meaningful elements of the practice of meditation.
She then realized that the "special characteristic" of the product was its existence of live, online sessions for groups of meditation - the concept later called "Community Meditation".
"Community meditation is the primary principle behind everything we perform in Mind Oasis. We have daily meetings and it's live and it's connected. The live component is our distinctive flavor because we think that creating and connecting communities is crucial, especially in this time and day. We want our education component to be a bridge between the people."
Her business plan right at the beginning
Based on over twenty years of experience in the management of non-profit groups, Karuna decided that Mind Oasis's values are most in line with the model of business used by an organization that is not for profit.
"It is really a source of irritation that meditation is unprofitable. All of it is about being present as well as creating money out of it. Making money from it does not seem to make sense for me. This doesn't mean the teachers aren't paid well, but this doesn't necessarily suggest that I'm earning an amount that isn't a lot," she says.
"I'm definitely not saying that there is no reason to not make money through mindfulness or meditation, However, the thing that I like about non-profits is that when you grow and earn income, and aren't accountable to shareholders, you're accountable to your purpose and the entire society.."
Despite her core conviction, Karuna is transparent about her challenges because of her non-profit model.
"There are times I've had to question my decision-making. The search for foundational support can be very difficult due to the way in which the Mind Oasis occupies a very distinct space. We're not an arts and culture organization or animal-related. So, we're unable to count on this type of foundation funding to create income streams that were hard to develop," she explains.
On the other hand the existence of an organization that is not for profit allows Karuna to go over and beyond to provide her students financial assistance.
"When students contact me to inquire, "I require a scholarship We're in a position to assist because it's within our reach. No matter how much that is awarded, it provides others with the opportunity to share their wealth to give back and contribute to people who make a penny less. For me, this is the most gorgeous base ."
She let her natural main goal be nurturing the naturally-community
Because of her distinctive method of conducting the business Karuna is confronted with a unique range of challenges regarding the conversion rate. The way she approaches business has marked different from traditional business-oriented approaches to marketing, that aren't up to her standards and instead she's let Mind Oasis the core product provide a lasting fan base.
"When you're trying to create sales funnels, do not trust us as specialists. We claim to be experts in the field of meditation. The process to convert isn't simple," she says.
"What we've seen work for us is organic growth , and the high product quality over the quantity. We're open to the fact that our product isn't an infant when you compare it to the big corporations and I'm certain to say that it's the truly awesome product that makes us stand apart."
Karuna will make her loyal students her most powerful listening boards. The idea of word-of-mouth marketing is what is bringing the life back to Mind Oasis.
"To truly be honest with you, take note of influencers that are paid to get many clients. My experience is not what's been happening with our students. The key is having students who have had an amazing experience when they meditate in groups." She continues to elaborate.
Although this system is in place Karuna says the million dollar challenge will be "How do we let people go through our doors What are we going to do?
"It's challenging because there's lots of competition within the market. We've tried more traditional strategies like advertising on Facebook as well as five-day mindfulness sessions, or even free classes. And we've tested everything. At the end of every day, in the event that you've created a fantastic product and have those who believe in your product, they'll inform their families and friends about it. This isn't the most effective method, but the product is strong, we're well-built, and we're staying strong."
She formed partnership with her curriculum and promotion company with her teachers.
Since Mind Oasis' early days, Karuna has been intentional concerning the proper payment of her teachers so that they can increase their capabilities. The majority of her income is given to her teachers due to this fact Karuna insists that they work with her in both the fields of education as well as promotion.
"The interactions we develop with our teachers can really help us get our attendance numbers up and to fill the seats. When we are putting together our curriculum, we're intentional of collaborating with teachers to create classes that can work together, in which teachers have the ability to develop their own RFP (request for proposals) which serves as the framework for most of our classes."
These RFPs Karuna's instructors are expected to offer different programs of meditation of four weeks and six weeks. programs that she'll be able to help with.
"The most important thing that we've accomplished is to help our instructors create an excellent course that is appreciated by the audience. I receive the course proposition, then they send me their picture, I make the course available online, and we then co-promote the course," she says.
"It's successful because we're no more required to unlock doors or put together all of the elements by themselves. Teachers are just trying to instruct the pupils and this approach lets them do the same. ."
She proposed an escalating price model, that is based on the individual demands
When she decided on the pricing structure, Karuna was determined to place accessibility in the middle of what she was planning. The first plan was built on what yoga studios cost as well as the price of a weekday session and divided it into an hour to arrive at the lowest cost.
One of the biggest aspects is one of the most important aspects is Karuna offers discounted pricing in the beginning. This allowed for the expansion of new heights.
"We provide three rates: an affordable Community rate as well as a support rate and the longest-lasting rate. This is the community cost. It isn't always the fair market value the product, but we will offer it to students who might not find it financially feasible to purchase it or. We offer a rate that is the fair market value, therefore it is the amount they'd pay if they need to travel the location of their choice. It can also be applied to make an additional amount according to your ability to provide it." She explains.
"Over the period of time, we've discovered the pricing system we use is based on averaging an amount that is fair to market but allowing anybody to be participants in Mind Oasis. Mind Oasis community."
In the year 2019, Karuna decided to raise her prices by five dollars to assess the market and see if she was able to convince people to sign up and avail the deal and even if this increase made the number of students her company had dwindled.
"I believe this test could succeed because of the tiered structures we have. In the wake of that rise we've managed to keep our rates within the same level. However, what we've found over the last six months around is that people are anxious about their economic outlook, however their savings aren't going in the same manner," she claims.
"We've experienced a slowdown from the margins of our earnings, but we're confident that we'll be able make up for it later by welcoming our new clients."
It was used to the best of her capabilities
Since Karuna discovered in the year of the year 2019, Mind Oasis has reached the highest levels of its teaching platform and its social network. Karuna has conducted numerous workshops as well as, according to her herself, Mind Oasis has served as the glue that brought all of Mind Oasis' moving parts together.
" does an amazing job at allowing us to build an online hub that includes live classes we run recordings, group discussions, group, and even PDFs. It's all the software is effortless, no matter if we were holding workshops or a meditation class that is engrossing," she says.
as a non-profitorganisation, Karuna declares that it has gone over and above in helping her work as a designer of courses.
" is very conscious of our status as a non-profit and has been open to us during times when we've gone through tough circumstances -- it's offered us a genuine feel of personalization through the help. This is like Mind Oasis is not just a huge company it's a place where I can always trust that the platform takes care of our health and well-being as well as the advancements we've made. I'm thankful for everything Mind Oasis has been able to Mind Oasis to do -- we would not get the level we have today with out Mind Oasis as partners.""
HTML0Failures and failures to establish the groundwork for her success in the coming years.
In retrospection of her of the creations until now, Karuna is very open about her realization that she was unaware of the ultimate purpose of her creation before she launched Mind Oasis. But, the first step to faith has gave her a variety of opportunities to learn that she wouldn't have without Mind Oasis.
"In my early stages of my career I would throw ideas around, and observing if I would get a reaction. It's been many times that was based on trial and failures. There are many massive successes as well as massive achievements as well as failings. I've lost more friends during the last five years than I have before, however I've made friends with more than I thought was possible," she says.
Based on her experiences, Karuna recognizes how easy to give the impression of being a fake and then compare yourself to others, especially when new to the world.
"Sometimes I get an overwhelming sense of expectation about the possibility 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 realize the difficulty of it due to the sheer volume of noise that's out there," she says.
"It is all about perseverance. It's possible to have 100,000 people will sign up right away. It's not my experience. I've realized the fact that slow and steady expansion are equally valuable."
Inspiring by Karuna's tale about the birth of an online enterprise that generates profits from online classes? Are you interested in trying this yourself? Sign up for the class and get started right away.
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