3a-Current Networks

I have read through this task a few times before I made my decision as to how to approach it. There are a few variations of interpretation on other Blogs, some people have diagrams showing their networks for example Iona Holland, others have used bullet points and text.
I have decided to approach it from a conversation point of view where I can question and answer my thoughts.

I have many current networks that I have established over the years. On the outside it may seem that some of these have no relation to other parts of my network, however, occasionally there can be a cross-over.

With my Pilates teaching, one of the best networks that I have is my existing clients. When I initially started teaching there were very few teachers in the area, so I was able to secure classes within a gym environment. I have, over the years, used the clients from these classes as contacts for people who wish to participate in a Pilates class but do not belong to a gym. Thankfully because of the specificity of Pilates it is easy to use networks to promote yourself. I have used professional networks of physiotherapists and osteopaths/chiropractors to promote myself and also offer advice to their clients.

Interestingly I have not used and digital media or social networking for this particular part of my job. There is of course the possibility of using Facebook and my existing network on Facebook to promote my business and this could potentially introduce some younger clients?

I rely very strongly on personal promotion, face to face with current an potential clients. I have, in the past covered various fitness classes for people and participants have spoken to me afterwards about bad hips or backs and I have encouraged them to attend a Pilates session by explaining who something mechanical could be affecting them.

I have two professional friends who use Facebook for promoting their classes and there approach and the amount of work that they put into this is fantastic! Please see https://www.facebook.com/debbie.jenner.01?fref=ts and https://www.facebook.com/SamHortonFitness?fref=ts
The first person - Debbie Jenner although she does not directly use her Facebook page for her business, she constantly posts about her website and how you can view classes on line. She actually teaches sessions via webcam to anyone who subscribes to her website.

I do, however use Facebook to promote my Zumba classes, having created a page, I encourage participants to "Like" the page so that their friends can see the information. I can also use this to post information about the class and also messages of encouragement! When I first started teaching Zumba, I used my "friends" network on Facebook and invited them all to "Like" of join the class!

As a dance teacher, I have several networks that cross over. At the public school where I run the dance department, I have the parents, the teachers at the school and the pupils themselves.
The parents are a big part of my network for both the Prep school and the senior school which has day students and boarders.

I use email to contact all boarders parents for timetables, invoicing and any other issues that my arise! This has proved invaluable as the majority of them live overseas. I have a lot of face to face contact with the parents at the Prep school, and although I use email and texting as back up communication, I try to speak to them face to face as I believe this personal side is very important when you are teaching their children. The difficulty with this is that I am aware of keeping conversations short so as not to disrupt and class that may be due to start. In the dance school environment, where I teach for another lady, there are often situations like this where she  is able to continue any conversations with parents as I can carry on teaching the children. However it is not viable to have an assistant work for me at the school so that I can occasionally speak to a parent.

I have a very good network of other BBO teachers in my area as well as all over the UK. We meet at various courses that are put on for continuing Professional development. The teachers local to me are available to help with all sorts of issues such as only having one group to take an exam! Equally I would do the same for them. We use email, Facebook and texting to communicate, although we have the teachers area on the website to use for information. The days that we have on teachers courses, either at Elmhurst Ballet school or at HQ in London are very important for networking. Still the old fashioned personal communication, and I often come away feeling motivated and encouraged from discussions with other teachers.

In the future, I think it would be fantastic if we were able to have training courses via Skype. For example, if there is a change made to a syllabus then it could be demonstrated via webcam with commentary and the feedback discussions could be held via Skype. This would certainly enable many other teachers to participate in the training as often to attend in person is prohibited by time and finances.

All in all, although I have many networks of friends, parents, clients, fellow teachers, Zin network ( for Zumba teachers), very old friends from my performing days, I think I use them quite well, but could probably make more use of them if I wanted to really promote myself.

I have noted from a few other Blogs that self promotion is more relevant dependant on age and career. In this day of digital media, this has to be an essential tool for an actress, musician or dancer or even a business person with something to sell.

Although I feel that I do make good use of my current networks, I am certain that if I was new to my profession that I would making even better use of them.