Krama is the Sanskrit word meaning ‘step-by-step’. It describes a succession of actions to achieve an outcome. For Yoga teachers, we encounter this term most commonly in relation to sequencing. For example:

  1. Tadasana

  2. Urdhva Hastasana

  3. Uttanasana

  4. Ardha Uttanasana

  5. Chaturanga Dandasana

  6. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.

And so on.

In this article I’m proposing we adopt this systematic approach to the development of our content — the posts, episodes, comments, captions, blogs and articles we share with our communities online.

A few years ago I launched a training program called ‘Writing from the Heart’. I have a background in writing and editing, from publishing my own work to copyediting novels and reports for others. I’ve won a couple of competitions, given a few talks, taught a handful of classes. Since moving fully into Yoga business coaching, I’ve become aware of how many Yoga teachers fear the written word. When I created it, my intention for this course was to show Yoga teachers it is possible to be authentic, confident and clear in writing… without being an expert. My hope was that by doing the course the participants would overcome their fears about writing.

Some worried they didn’t have anything meaningful to say.

Some worried that everything had already been said by someone else.

Some feared that not doing well in English as a kid meant they’d not have the chops for it now.

One even worried about the additional power consumption housing her content online would cause.

Perhaps, it strikes me, writing copy and sharing it on the internet elicits the same type of fear as public speaking does for so many people. So, how to overcome this angst?

Krama.

In this article I’m drawing on a portion of my Writing from the Heart course to share with you the step-by-steps of repurposing your copy so that when you do get something great written, it can then serve you (and your readers!) again and again and again.

Using your copy more than once is not only going to save you time and give you valuable content to share with your community, using the same or slightly modified material across different platforms is a GREAT way to build brand continuity and know/like/trust.

Here are 9 steps to repurpose your copy:

1. Record your verbal presentations then transcribe them into newsletter content

I have written transcripts for about half of my podcast episodes. I use an ‘actual person’ for this task, but there are also great apps, including free or small fee ones like Otter. If you have a 45 minute podcast (like I do) you’ll end up with anything up to 7000 words! That’s a lot of copy to reuse!

2. Use sections from your newsletters for social media

If you’re one of those teachers who agonises over your newsletters, editing over days, sending yourself numerous test emails and then still grumbling about a typo once you hit ‘send’, it’s time to make all that effort work more efficiently for you! A paragraph of information or motivation from a newsletter — the call to action to sign up for something, the welcome note about what you’ve been up to for the fortnight, the additional tip for a home practice — all make for really great individual social media posts.

3. Use sections of your blogs for newsletter content

Do you have a blog? Well, why not use it as your newsletter, as well? Better yet, use PART of it in your newsletter and then entice readers over to your website to read the remainder, boosting your web traffic at the same time. Nice one!

4. Use sections of your articles for Insta comments

If you write for publications or other people’s blogs, or perhaps publish your own articles on platforms like LinkedIn or Medium, use smaller sections of those articles for your Instagram posts. You could split an article up into 5 parts across a week to keep people coming back to your profile for the next instalment, or send them to the full version using your bio hyperlink. (Note: if you’ve sold your article to a publication, make sure you’re allowed to repurpose in this way.)

5. Save your email campaigns and duplicate them for seasonal events

This is such a simple trick but most teachers skip it. Writing an email that your subscribers like to read and then like to BUY from is a coup! When you write a winner (and you’ll know from the analytics part of the CRM you’re using), make sure it’s well titled and saved into a well-named folder so you can easily find it again. You can use it as a template for future winning campaigns or — even better — use it in full when you offer the same workshop or training the following season or year.

6. Turn your teaching notes into guides and e-books

If you’re the sort of teacher I am and take copious notes to guide you through the delivery of a workshop, why not reuse that work and give it out to your community? You could create small info products for sale or even use it as a freebie to entice people onto your mailing list! Again, Asteya applies here. If you’ve found material online, be sure to reference it appropriately or assimilate it into your own ideas.

7. Use your FB event copy on your flier

Writing a succinct but evocative paragraph for a Facebook event is a skill worthy of honing. But don’t leave it there! Once you’ve distilled it down to the essence, reuse it on the posters and the Eventbrite listing as well. And why not also put it in your newsletter and on your social media, too?

8. Use FB comments from other people as testimonials (with their permission)

Occasionally I’ll post up a throwback pic on Facebook about an event I’ve hosted or a retreat I’ve run. Participants often comment kindly about their experiences and these make for really authentic testimonials that I can then go on to use as FB posts in their own right (with the contributor’s permission, of course)! You can use them as the post comments or even make memes with them, incorporating your brand fonts and colours. (See another one of my articles about how to determine those.)

9. Cut and paste parts of your ‘about’ page to your Insta bio

Are you agonising over getting your Instagram or LinkedIn bio just right? Chances are you’ve already written something wonderful for the ‘About’ section of your website. Head over there and copy and paste. You might want to cut it down slightly — or even convert to bullet points — but chances are you’ll be at least two thirds of the way to having a really well written bio and it’ll be much faster than starting from scratch.

And a final ‘pro tip’ for repurposing: alter your schedule.

Online content moves fast. While I hope that you write an amazing blog that brings people back again and again, wildly driving up your SEO and bringing you new students straight from Google, chances are most of your content will be quickly forgotten, or at least the specifics of it will be. (This happens to us all!)

Before you feel disheartened, consider this reframe: the fact that people don’t remember the specifics of your content means you can repurpose on different platforms at different times and people will think they’re receiving a fresh message from you each time.

For example, publish your blog today. Then schedule 3 FB posts with 3 paragraphs from that blog to appear in three weeks. Put the blog copy into an on-boarding email sequence that will form a sales funnel you’ll use in a month. Drop it in to a file for Instagram comments in 6 months. This way you’ve repurposed your content significantly AND your audience won’t remember that they’ve seen your great ideas, thoughtful tips or motivating stories already.

Krama Ananda!

Want more support from me? Why not check out my weekly podcast, ‘Abundant Yoga Teachers’ here.