The choice between corporate and creative always seems like that between two extremes. However, our creator Shiv Kumar defied that mindset and aced both using two basic things- 1. Discipline, and 2. Exly’s features of workflow automation freed him from running additional errands. Let’s dive deeper into the journey of this fitness creator who gave us new definitions of productivity.
Who Is Dance Creator Shiv Kumar?
Shiv is a licensed Zumba instructor who hails from an engineering background. He has taught over 25 institutions all over Bangalore within the span of just a few years before starting his own business in the industry.
The most interesting fact about our Engineer turned licensed Zumba instructor is that he was utterly alien to the concept of dance before moving to Bangalore. Instead, he started it as an attempt at fitness and spent his weekends in a more productive way. Hence, he began his journey with the schedule of office on weekdays and Zumba training on weekends.
Beginner At Dance To A Dance Creator and Teacher
One year down the line, Shiv thought he was not getting any better at it and was almost about to give up on dancing. However, something in him told him to continue and not quit.
Eventually, he got better at it and found a new passion for fitness and dancing. Two years down the line, Shiv was approached by the very institution he learned dancing, to teach the same to children. For the first time ever, Shiv was offered compensation on an hourly basis.
Exly creator and Astrologer Nehaa Goyal scaled her business by 673% within the span of 6 months. Read more about her journey here.
How Did Our Dance Creator Manage His Office And Dancing At The Same Time?
For a period of 3 whole years, Shiv followed the strict routine of waking up early in the morning, taking his first Zumba class of the day, going to the office till 5, coming back home, and taking his second Zumba class for the day.
Although it sounded hectic and strenuous to us, Working in Corporate, Shiv enjoyed following that routine as his dance classes were not really a job for him but an escape mechanism that he loved doing.
Soon enough, Shiv started getting calls from prestigious institutions all around Bangalore that offered him 3 times more than the money he was currently making. That is how he made the record of working with over 25 such institutions all over the city as a freelance teacher.
Pandemic Hit, But For The Better
In 2020, when the world shut down its shutter and welcomed the virtual world as the “new normal”, Shiv, just like millions of other employees from around the world, faced the worst side of it all. The 9-5 office culture went for a toss and for the first time, Shiv acknowledged the necessity of a government job.
Left with no other option, Shiv now took his offline career in Zumba to an online platform. Even at this time, he had his share of doubts and second thoughts regarding being an online coach.
However, two major things changed his perspective and motivated him to pursue this full-time during the pandemic.
- The liberating feeling of having something of his own
- His first international clients made the fact evident that his efforts were now being recognized from all around the world.
On 31st March 2020, Dance creator Shiv had his first paid client online which has now become an impressive number of over 250 students just within the span of two years.
Did you know, the best way to communicate with clients with the least amount of effort is Email marketing? Read our detailed guide on “How To Build An Email List” here.
When Exly Met Shiv
To our surprise, Shiv revealed that initially, he was not at all interested in creating a website for his business. “Who will want to see or need my website?” was the thought that occurred to him. Not only that, Shiv was taken aback by the offers that Exly provided him with- in simpler words, he suspected the credibility of the promises offered by Exly.
“The offer was too good actually, and when something is too good for a less price, you tend to doubt that something is wrong with it.”
And that is why we call our services, “too good to be true.”
To our relief, however, after 1 and a half years of being associated with Exly, Shiv thanks his fate for having stumbled across Exly and trusting the team.
What Was Shiv’s No.1 Reason To Join Exly As A Creator?
Just as his business flourished, things also started to get more hectic for Shiv. And as he was not backed by a team of people, he started grasping at straws for multiple reasons:
- Collecting payments through online mode and checking the screenshots of those payments
- Maintaining an Excel sheet to get an idea of which customer is due on their payment or which client is renewing a service
- Marketing his courses on social media platforms as the “word-of-mouth” technique was not really effective anymore
- Address individual queries and communicate with clients
How Did Exly Help Shiv With His Journey?
Shiv, who initially defied the necessity of a website, admitted that it has now become his favorite tool of Exly. This is because of primarily two reasons.
- He could now collect payments through his portal itself, using just one single link. Payments made through that now automatically get registered and tracked.
Apart from that, Exly’s communication automation feature sent payment reminders, booking notifications, renewal reminders, et cetera on his behalf to his clients. And Shiv could access all this information using just a few taps.
- His website added credibility and professionalism to his brand.
Shiv also threw a special mention to the creator dashboard of Exly that allowed him to understand his individual and collective course performance in just a few glances. He could now just skip the complicated calculations and directly get on with the analytics and graphs.
“For me, Exly has been a blessing and I can tell this loud enough, but I don’t want to, because Exly feels like my secret superpower and I don’t want my competitors to find out.”
So, now that you know about Shiv’s secret superpower, what’s stopping you from trying them out yourself? Start for free today and witness your courses take on to new levels within weeks.
