Image via Flickr user The Yoga People

Did your invitation to headline Wanderlust get lost in the mail? Yeah, mine too.

Bill Murray isn’t begging you to come to his vacation home for a $500 private yoga session? Don’t take it personally. I’m sure his agent is just having a hard time finding your contact information.

That yoga studio in Paris didn’t return your calls when you pitched them with your great new workshop idea? Bummer. I’ve always wanted to go to Paris, too. Maybe you should work on your elevator pitch?

Or maybe it’s time to get creative! There are so many cards stacked against the small town, independent yoga teacher. I won’t belabor the point–the brilliant Michelle Marchidon nailed it a lot better than I could in this post.  Unless you’re one of the, oh, 25, yoga teachers nationally who get invited to travel the world teaching festivals and workshops, appear on the cover of yoga magazines, or teach the rich and famous, making a living as a yoga teacher these days is no easy feat. It’s a nice dream, but it’s time we ll came to the realization that for most of us, teaching lots of yoga classes just isn’t going to be enough to pay the bills.

I ‘m still figuring it all out for myself, but I’ve been paying attention to how some of the most financially free yoga teachers make a living. And it may not be what you think. Here are a few ideas I’ve been toying with.

1 – Create and Sell a Product. 
Whether it’s a book, DVD, or online video course or teacher training, many teachers are supplementing their incomes by creating a product once, and selling it over and over again. Even if you’re not a well-known teacher with a huge following, with a little Internet savvy it shouldn’t be that hard to make enough on the project to make it worth your time. And of course, once you’re a social media superstar, companies will be happy to pay you for your influence.. (But yoga teachers with that much influence, really don’t need my advice, do they? So, let’s move on!)

2 – Cut Out the Middle Man. 
Once upon a time, it was my goal to teach at cute, local yoga studios–then I realized that if I was lucky enough to get a slot on the schedule, the studio owner would take as much as 80% of what the students pay to take a class. If you’re doing tons of marketing yourself anyway, you might as well set yourself up so YOU can pocket most of the class fees. I’ve done this by teaching in a public park (free!), renting stand up paddleboards for SUP Yoga classes, partnering with a painting studio to have yoga and painting classes, renting out a local dance studio, and even renting out a room in a yoga studio during their off hours. I’ve seen other teachers have lots of success by teaching at public beaches and even in their own living rooms! It can be a lot of work doing all the marketing yourself (and it’s a liability going it alone, too), but most yoga teachers have to market themselves to fill their classes anyway. You might as well maximize your earning potential, too. You may never make tons of cash this way (I haven’t yet!), but at least there’s the POTENTIAL to make some if a class idea takes off. Plus, it feels good to me knowing your success (or failure) is completely in your own hands.

3 – Join a Network Marketing Company You Love. 
I admit that the first time I saw Elena Brower had become a high level “beauty ecologist” for natural skincare company Pangea Organics, my ick alarm sounded pretty loudly. Is it taking advantage of students to sign them up to be a part of a “network” and then make commission from the work that they do? (For the uninitiated, that’s how companies like Pangea Organics, Pampered Chef, Arbonne, Young Living, etc. work. Person X signs on to be a consultant and works hard to get Person Y to sign up, too. Once Person Y makes the investment to become a consultant, Person X makes a small percentage on any sales Person Y does as well as her own sales.) There’s a lot of money to be made for a persuasive go-getter with a lot of contacts and influence in her community. After I thought a little more about this idea, I came to the conclusion that while the way network marketing companies PAY is a bit different, being a part of one of these companies is a lot like selling your students any other product–even yoga class becomes product when you’re getting paid, am I right? Why not share a product you love and make some extra income when someone you know decides to purchase it based on your recommendation?

4 – Don’t Just Teach Yoga–Teach Life!
I know lots of yoga teachers who teach yoga part time because they love it. The other part of the time they pay their bills through one-on-one life coaching, health and nutrition coaching, or even business coaching. Of course, all of these things probably require a little more training (something I’m unlikely to do), but I wanted to throw it out there because coaching seems like a good option for teachers who are really gifted at helping others take their yoga practice off the mat.