The Way Mind Oasis is Connecting 3,000+ Students to Online Meditation
Five years in the past, Karuna Schwartz found herself on a month-long meditation retreat located in the Arizona desert. Her experience was just recently given the idea of meditation by the yoga instructor in her class- yet she knew it had the potential to transform her personal life as well as professionally.
"Even even though I was not comfortable with meditation at that time, I realized that it was already altering aspects of my life. I'm a realist and a Type-A person, but prior to getting into this method, I didn't have the techniques I would need to go out in the world and be an aid instead of being a victim," she says.
Following three months of contemplating on this retreat concept for Mind Oasis came to Karuna. The entire concept was beyond her -- all she knew is that she wanted to start an organisation that connects students to experienced meditation teachers online, regardless of where they were around the globe.
"It's vital to be aware that 2017 was a time when the phenomenon of online courses wasn't quite as well-known as it is now. So I left that retreat and returned home and went to my instructors and explained"I've got this idea of bringing meditation alive online. All of them supported me, even when I was convinced that I'd fail. Nevertheless, Mind Oasis was born ."
Since 2017, Karuna has grown the world-wide Mind Oasis community to over 3,300 members. She has also increased her non-profit budget from $48,000 down to $200,000. Here's how she did it:
Skip ahead:
- She identified her 'special Sauce' in the world of meditation
- She formulated her business model straight out of the gate
- Her organic main offering to naturally nurture community
- Her team formed partnership with her curriculum and promotion company with her teachers.
- She suggested a tiered price model based on her particular needs of the community
- She utilized it to her fullest capacity
- She used failure and disappointment as a way to lay the groundwork for future success
She recognized her "special flavor' within the realm of meditation
Since day one, Mind Oasis' mission has been to bring the timeless benefits of mindfulness and meditation to all people around the world. As part of this endeavor, Karuna has been determined to draw the distinction between guided meditation and teaching meditation as a holistic exercise.
Karuna established Mind Oasis as an online education platform. It offered courses about yoga nidra, Buddhism and Hinduism. While this educational focus proved to be a beneficial venture, Karuna's heart was in the more real and practical aspects of the practice of meditation.
Then she realized the'special sauce' was the provision of live, online classes for meditation groups -- an idea she later called 'Community Mediation'.
"Community Meditation is the underlying principle of everything we do in Mind Oasis. We have daily meetings and it's live and it's interconnected. The live element will always be our special sauce because we think that connectivity and community is so important especially in the present modern day and age. We want our education component to be the bridge between people."
She formulated her business model straight from the beginning
Based on the more than 20 years she has worked in management of non-profit organizations, Karuna decided that Mind Oasis' values best aligned with a not-for-profit business model.
"It actually turns my stomach to think of meditation being a for-profit practice. The practice of meditation is about staying in the moment, and profiting from that doesn't feel great to me. This doesn't mean the teachers don't get paid very well, but it does not necessarily mean I'm not earning a little bit of money," she explains.
"I'm in no way saying that people shouldn't earn income from meditation and mindfulness, however the thing I like about non-profits is that when you expand and earn money, instead of answering to shareholders, you're accountable to your mission as well as the community at large."
Despite her core conviction, Karuna is transparent about the challenges she's faced as a result of her nonprofit approach.
"There are times I've questioned my decision. Finding foundation support is a huge challenge due to the fact that Mind Oasis occupies a very special space. We're not an arts and culture organization or animal-related. Therefore, we've been unable to rely on that type of foundation support to generate a revenue stream which has been very challenging," she explains.
However, on the other hand an organization that is non-profit enables Karuna to go above and beyond in giving her students financial aid.
"When students come to me and says, 'I need a scholarship', we're able to help since it's in our scope. Regardless of pay it provides other people with the chance to share their wealth to give back and contribute to those who have an ounce less. This to me is the most beautiful base ."
She let her natural main offering to naturally nurture community
Because of her unconventional business method, Karuna faces a different variety of issues in terms of conversions. She has veered away from the traditional business-oriented marketing techniques that do not match her ideals -- instead, she has let Mind Oasis' core product offering to build an enduring fan base.
"When you're trying to establish sales funnels, we're not experts. We only claim to be experts in the area of meditation. But the conversion process isn't easy," she says.
"What we've seen work for us is organic growth, the quality of our products over quantity. We're the first to admit we're barely a baby compared to those big companies and I'm confident to say that it's our really awesome product that is what makes us different."
Karuna has been intentional about helping her faithful students become her most powerful listening boards. The concept of word-of mouth marketing is what has breathed life to Mind Oasis.
"To be completely truthful with you, recognize some influencers out there who get paid to bring in many customers. But my experience is that's not what has worked for our group of students. The key is having students who've had a magical experience in a group meditation." she elaborates.
Even with this system being in place Karuna says the million dollar question will always be "How do we let people get through the door?'
"It's hard because there's plenty of competition on the market. We've resorted to more conventional methods like Facebook advertisements, 5-day meditation exercises, and free trial courses and we've tested everything. However, at the end of every day, in the event that you have an amazing product, and you have people who are devoted to you will tell their family and friends about it. It's not gonna be the most efficient way to go, but we're mighty, we're strong, 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 regarding paying her teachers properly to maximize their capabilities. More than 70% of her profits are paid to her teachers -due to this fact Karuna demands that they partner with her both in an educational and promotional capacity.
"The relationships we establish with our teachers can really help us get our attendance numbers up and fill up those seats. When it comes to forming the curriculum, we are intentional about strategizing together with our teachers by forming classes that are companion to each other where teachers can make the RFP (request for proposal) -- this provides the structure to most of our classes."
In these RFPs Karuna's instructors will propose various four-week and six-week meditation programs which she can assist with.
"The one thing we've achieved is that we've been able to guide our teachers into a good course offering which will be appreciated by the audience. They send me the proposal, they send me their picture, I put the course online, and then we co-promote," she explains.
"It's winning because we're not having to knock down doors and put together all of the elements by themselves. For our teachers, they're just trying to educate the students and this method permits them to accomplish the same. ."
She suggested a tiered price model based on her community's individual needs
When she was deciding on her pricing structure, Karuna was determined to put accessibility at the center of her. Her first structure was built on the rates yoga studios charge and she also took the price of a weekend class and divided it up by an hour in order to come up with the most reasonable price.
The most important thing is, Karuna has offered tiered pricing right from the beginning, which has unlocked new levels of substantial growth.
"We provide three ratesthere is an affordable Community rate as well as a supportive rate, and a sustaining rate. The community rate is a student's rate. This isn't necessarily what the fair market value is yet we offer the rate to students who might not have the money to pay for the cost otherwise. The sustain rate is fair market value, so this is what students spend if they were to go to any place. The supporting rate can be used to give a little bit higher if you're in the capacity to do so," she explains.
"Over the course of time we discovered that the structure of our prices is averaging at the fair market value, while allowing anyone to become members in the Mind Oasis community."
In the year 2019, Karuna made the decision to raise her prices by $5 in order in order to check the market to determine if she was able to encourage people to sign-up and enroll -- and even with this change the number of students she had decline.
"I consider this test to be effective due to our tiered structure. Since that increase, we've kept our rates in the same range. But what we've discovered during the last 6 months or so is that the public is worried about their economy but their money isn't getting in the same direction," she says.
"We've had to suffer somewhat in the margins of our profits, but we're confident that we'll compensate for it down the road by continuing to welcome new customers."
She made use of it to the maximum extent of her potential
Since Karuna discovered in 2019, Mind Oasis has reached the highest levels of its teaching platform and community. Karuna has offered many courses , and in her statements, Mind Oasis has served as the glue which has connected all the Mind Oasis' moving parts in one.
" is doing an remarkable job of allowing us to have a hub that features our live classes, recordings discussions, group discussion, and PDFs. The whole process of using was seamless regardless of whether we're holding workshops or an immersive meditation series," she says.
as a non-profit organisation, Karuna says has gone over and above in helping her work as a course designer.
" is fully aware of us as a nonprofit and has been receptive to when we've gone through tough circumstances -- it's given us a real sense of personalization in the assistance. It's like the company is much more than a big company, I'll always feel that the platform cares about our wellbeing and our progress. I'm extremely thankful for everything that has allowed Mind Oasis to do -- we would not be where that we are today without them as a partner.""
She used her failures and disappointment to lay foundation for her future success.
Looking back on her course creating journey to date, Karuna is very open about the fact that she was no idea of what her final objective was when she started Mind Oasis. However, taking the initial step of faith provided her with a wealth of learning possibilities that she could not get otherwise.
"In the beginning of my career I was just throwing ideas around and seeing if they would be accepted. It's been many times that have involved trial and error- there's been huge triumphs along with massive successes and failures. I have lost more friends in the past five years than any time before however, I've made more friends than I ever thought possible," she says.
With her experiences, Karuna recognizes how easy it is to fall an impression of imposter and compare particularly when you are just starting out.
"Sometimes I would feel this huge expectation that Mind Oasis somehow should be at the forefront of attracting more users. For anyone who's looking at this as a course author, they'll know just how hard it can be due to the sheer amount of much noise out there," she says.
"It all comes down to stick-with-it-ness. Perhaps you'll see 100,000 customers join right off the bat However, that's not been my experience. I've come to realize and recognize that steady and slow growth are just as valuable."
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