COMPANION

Marketing

Marketing (within the Alexander Technique) practice includes planning, designing, advertising, publicity, PR, promotions, negotiating. Most teachers run their Alexander Technique practice as a self-employed person. There are two aspects to this, one, the business side in terms of finance (making a living from teaching the Technique), and two, advertising and marketing. The latter is more frequently discussed.

History

F. M. Alexander assidiously advertised himself and the Technique through a variety of flyers and booklets in his early teaching career. Later his books and articles and letters by grateful pupils functioned as advertising. In the period 1904–10 small adverts were placed in newspapers occasionally.

The subject of marketing appears only to have been written about from the 1980s onwards.

Articles

  • ‘Word of mouth: Reflections on establishing a teaching practice’ by Helene Weisbach.[1]
  • ‘Negotiating a Livelihood’ by William Walsh discusses on negotiation skills.[2]
  • ‘Leadership as movement’ by David Horsman is a philosophical journey into why businesses are slow to take up the Technique, covering change management, nebulosity, questioning assumptions, blind spots, second generation cognitive science, neurophenomenology, the Santiago theory of cognition, and more.[3]
  • ‘What role can the Alexander Technique have in business’ by Michael Gelb interviewed by Michael Frederick. Gelb speaks on how to approach business from his many years of giving seminars on creative thinking, accelerated learning and innovative leadership.[4]
  • ‘Exploring experience as brand’ by Andrea Matthews draws on contemporary marketing theory in considering how to communicate the experience that is the Alexander Technique.[5]
  • ‘Success as an Alexander teacher’ by Paul Cook reports on marketing case histories from a number of Alexander Technique teachers.[6]
  • ‘Teaching the Alexander Technique in the business world’ by Philippe Cotton discusses strategies and planning for approaching large companies.[7]
  • ‘The Alexander Technique: On the brink of extinction and poised to break through to the mainstream’ by N. Brooke Lieb.[8]
  • ‘Hit the ground running’ by Lauren Hill.[9]
  • ‘Marketing the Alexander Technique’ by George I. Lister.[10]
  • ‘Marketing: What’s getting in our way?’ by Brooke Lieb.[11]
  • ‘Practice building: Intention as the basis for business development’ by Jeanne Barrett.[12]
  • ‘The means-whereby: Building a practice building’ by Jeanne Barrett.[13]
  • ‘Speaking of marketing: An interview with Michael Gelb’ by Kathryn Miranda.[14]
  • ‘Marketing the AT and STAT: A review’ (no author).[15]
  • ‘Promote yourself for free’ by Richard Brennan.[16]
  • ‘Thoughts about applying for work in organisations’ edited by Francesca Greenoak contains advice on the application process and the interview process.[17]
  • ‘Business aspects of an Alexander practice’ by Chris Raff provides listings of ideas for advertising, marketing and presentations.[18]
  • ‘Teaching the Alexander Technique in the business world’ by Philippe Cotton covers a number of issues to consider when approaching coorporations about the Technique.[19]
  • ‘Alexander Technique coaching in the Victorinox company’ by Priska Gauger-Schelbert and Paul auf der Maur reports on planning and implementing the Alexander Technique at a large company where many workers are involved in repetitive tasks.[20]
  • ‘Alexander Technique in corporations’ by Josephine Gray discusses giving a successful presentation, and negotiating and planning a course in the Technique, including using feedback surveys, for teaching in large companies.[21]
  • ‘Tipping points’ by N. Brooke Lieb considers marketing from the viewpoint of reaching the ‘tipping point’ (as defined by Malcolm Gladwell in his book of the same name).[22]
  • ‘Communicating with officials and executives’ by Ulf Tolle; on how to present ideas within the frame of reference of officials and executives, emphasising an increase in competence as a result of the Technique.[23]
  • ‘A 12 step programme for 21st century job creation for Alexander Technique teachers and graduating trainees’ by Monika Gross proposes an initiative for a centralised team approach, and detailing 12 steps for working with an industry with a target population.[24]
  • ‘Why is the Alexander Technique not better known’ by Nicola Hanefeld reports from a members of a special interest group examining this question, and provides a summary of their discussions and points of agreement.[25]

Business models

  • ‘Building BodyChance’ by Jeremy Chance reports on the business model of BodyChance in Japan, a membership model, modules, and on the non-comsumer market and the importance of location.[26]

See also The Alexander Technique in the Workplace.

References
[1] ‘Word of mouth: Reflections on establishing a teaching practice’ by Helene Weisbach in The Alexander Review vol. 2, no. 1 (Centerline Press, 1987), pp. 26–33.
[2] ‘Negotiating a Livelihood’ by William Walsh in The Congress Papers, 3rd International Congress 1991 (Direction 1992) pp. 145-149.
[3] ‘Leadership as movement’ by David Horsman in Direction vol. 3, no. 3 edited by Paul Cook (Direction Journal, 2004), pp. 9–15.
[4] ‘What role can the Alexander Technique have in business’ Michael Gelb interviewed by Michael Frederick in Direction vol. 3, no. 3 edited by Paul Cook (Direction Journal, 2004), pp. 16–22.
[5] ‘Exploring experience as brand’ by Andrea Matthews in Direction vol. 3, no. 3 edited by Paul Cook (Direction Journal, 2004), pp. 23–27.
[6] ‘Success as an Alexander teacher’ by Paul Cook in Direction vol. 3, no. 3 edited by Paul Cook (Direction Journal, 2004), pp. 28–31.
[7] ‘Teaching the Alexander Technique in the business world’ by Philippe Cotton in Direction vol. 3, no. 3 edited by Paul Cook (Direction Journal, 2004), pp. 32–36.
[8] ‘The Alexander Technique: On the brink of extinction and poised to break through to the mainstream’ by N. Brooke Lieb in AmSAT Journal issue no. 10, Fall 2016, pp. 44-50.
[9] ‘Hit the ground running’ by Lauren Hill in AmSAT Journal issue no. 2, Fall 2012, pp. 11-12.
[10] ‘Marketing the Alexander Technique’ by George I. Lister in AmSAT News issue no. 78 (Winter 2008), pp. 17–18.
[11] ‘Marketing: What’s getting in our way?’ by Brooke Lieb in AmSAT News issue no. 78 (Winter 2008), p. 18.
[12] ‘Practice building: Intention as the basis for business development’ by Jeanne Barrett in AmSAT News issue no. 78 (Winter 2008), p. 19.
[13] ‘The means-whereby: Building a practice building’ by Jeanne Barrett in AmSAT News issue no. 75 (Winter 2007), pp. 10–11.
[14] ‘Speaking of marketing: An interview with Michael Gelb’ by Kathryn Miranda in AmSAT News issue no. 65 (Fall 2004), pp. 18–21.
[15] ‘Marketing the AT and STAT: A review’ (no author) in STATNews vol. 9, no. 1 edited by Jamie McDowell (STAT, May 2015), pp. 8–9, 11.
[16] ‘Promote yourself for free’ by Richard Brennan in STATNews vol. 7, no. 4 edited by Ann James (STAT, January 2011), pp. 19–20.
[17] ‘Thoughts about applying for work in organisations’ edited by Francesca Greenoak in STATNews vol. 6, no. 22 edited by Ann James (STAT, May 2007), pp. 16–17.
[18] ‘Business aspects of an Alexander practice’ by Chris Raff in The Congress Papers 1994, The Meaning of Change, 125 Years On, edited by David Garlick (Direction, 1996), pp. 107–110.
[19] ‘Teaching the Alexander Technique in the business world’ by Philippe Cotton in The Congress Papers 2008, From Generation to Generation Vol. 1 edited by Jean M. O. Fischer (STATBooks, 2009), pp. 138–43.
[20] ‘Alexander Technique coaching in the Victorinox company’ by Priska Gauger-Schelbert and Paul auf der Maur in The Congress Papers 2008, From Generation to Generation Vol. 2 edited by Jean M. O. Fischer (STATBooks, 2009), pp. 169–79.
[21] ‘Alexander Technique in corporations’ by Josephine Gray in The Congress Papers 2008, From Generation to Generation Vol. 1 edited by Jean M. O. Fischer (STATBooks, 2009), pp. 217–33.
[22] ‘Tipping points’ by N. Brooke Lieb in The Congress Papers 2008, From Generation to Generation Vol. 2 edited by Jean M. O. Fischer (STATBooks, 2009), pp. 40–51.
[23] ‘Communicating with officials and executives’ by Ulf Tolle in The Congress Papers 2011, Learning from Each Other edited by Siriol Jones, (STAT Books, 2012), pp. 380–85.
[24] ‘A 12 step programme for 21st century job creation for Alexander Technique teachers and graduating trainees’ by Monika Gross in The Congress Papers 2015, Empowering Humanity, Inspiring Science edited by Rachel Gering-Hasthorpe (STAT Books, 2016), pp. 53–68.
[25] ‘Why is the Alexander Technique not better known’ by Nicola Hanefeld in STATNews vol. 11, no. 4 edited by Jamie McDowell (STAT, January 2022), pp. 10–11.
[26] ‘Building BodyChance’ by Jeremy Chance in Direction vol. 3, no. 7 edited by Paul Cook (Direction Journal, 2010), pp. 24–28.
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