How did you get started with Billetto?

Do you know what, it popped somewhere and someone said to me, OK, that’s gonna be a good idea because a lot of people don’t like to or don’t use cash and I’m not one of those people but I realised that there’s a lot of people like that. And then Billetto popped up, and I thought that was a good idea, because I always try to count change at the end of the event, and sometimes I have 50 people at the event, and so afterwards, when you try to count the change to give to everybody, it’s very confusing. So, it’s great. No more dealing trying to count my Euros in the dark, normally as well. At it has been working for me well ever since.

How do you think your class attendees like Billetto?

A lot of them find it very easy. I mean, I always have a Facebook event and I link it straight to Billetto and from that they click on “Buy tickets” and that’s a very simple process. Everything was just so easy. It’s very simple, follow the instructions and press “Publish”.

What’s your biggest challenge as a yoga teacher organising an event?

My biggest challenge would be, I think it’s getting enough people to see the event. Because at the regular classes you always have regular students, and this isn’t so much what you worry about, but, events when you really want a lot of people to see it and a lot of people to be able to communicate with you easily and buy tickets if you need to buy tickets easily. So, the biggest challenge is definitely, simplifying everything and getting people to see your event - that’s number one key.

How do people find your event?

[Facebook] and then the word of mouth. Because I have been teaching in the city now for four years, it builds momentum in that way and people talk to people and when you relate to somebody and you think your friend would relate to somebody, you know when you’re “come along with me”, you’re going to like this person, you’re going to like this class, you’re going to like this style of yoga or whatever it is that they identify with.

How did you get started with the yoga classes?

Everything started here. I’ve been here for 11 years, so, it’s most of my adult working life in Barcelona. But it started with a group of volunteers and this friend of mine. I just finished my yoga teacher training, and a friend said to me, OK we want classes now and there was a group of volunteers here in Barcelona, so I would go every Tuesday and Thursday to teach them and it was by donation, so I would get paid in vegetables a lot of the time, which were really nice organic vegetables but this was more of a spirit of it rather than exchange of money and it just grew from there. So, it grew very organically and I’m lucky enough to live in the city where I can teach outdoors most of the year. So, I wasn’t restricted by studio space or anything like that, it was great. It really just happened like that.

Why would you suggest Billetto to other yoga teachers like yourself?

Just take that stress of money and of trying to keep a track of your cash and stuff like this, because it can get really confusing at the end of the class. And you know, get it all into your bank account and then you can see, also you have everybody’s contacts, and the thing from Billetto, you have their name, if they follow you you can have their connection to Facebook, if they connect their Facebook to Billetto. So, you’ve got your Marketing and social media and everything in one. And you don’t have to worry about counting change at the end of class. So, simplify your life.

Do you collect any extra data on your event attendees?

I really just ask if they’re interested in more events and if they would like to sign up to the newsletter. And then I can always send correspondence. Which doesn’t always work that way with people, because I don’t think, I think they get a choice to answer the question or not.

I just normally ask if they’re interested in more events or they’re interested in normal schedules and that’s it.

And at the end of the yoga class everybody’s a bit Zen and including me, and I’m not really thinking right, you know, dreaming away, those kind of things can get lost, basically, because you’re just in the moment completely and you’re not really thinking about “Oh, I must get everybody’s email addresses”. I’m sure people do it, but for me, I’m in a different world afterwards, so, I prefer that I can deal with that afterwards and I don’t have to think about it, when I’m in my peaceful moment after class.

Have you tried any other tool for scheduling your classes before?

I tried some online scheduling tools and stuff like that, super complicated to use, just a nightmare with most of them basically and Billetto has been so easy for me, I do it for all of my events now. And maybe they don’t always get used, but it always has that presence, it’s another place for people to go, to check the information. I think that people like that. They know how much it costs easily, it takes this kind of, I don’t even know the word, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say. I think people like things to be very straightforward. And a lot of time when you’re looking at a Facebook event you have to scroll through stuff to find prices and whatever. You click on “Tickets”, you get to Billetto and you see the price. It’s very clear.

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