I have started teaching crochet in October, 2010. At this time I have 5 stores that I'm scheduled to teach at. I have designated one day per week per store to teach or do a demo - depending on the Manager's budget. It is difficult to get students when I do all the advertising. Very few people visit the classroom where the story board is showing the finished items. I have made up small flyers/notes that are displayed in the yarn department. Signing up students for the classes are very difficult.
I have notied that the paperwork for the Crochet Classes gets lost in the huge binder for all other classes. Therefore, I invested in 5 small binders and stuck big labels on the outside: "Crochet Classes" and have them ready at the service desk. Included are all the signup sheets, copies of patterns for all 4 classes with a calendar in the front for the current month showing times/dates for the classes.I have not had anyone misplace paperwork for the crochet classes since I started this. I included a sheet in the front with my information if anyone wants to call or e-mail me. It is convenient for the staff to get hold of me when needed.
I have also mentioned to the Manager and as many staff I can talk to that I will teach the type of class a student might be interested in on a certain date/time. For example: single crochet class was scheduled for last week and will not be repeated for another month - sime time. If the student wants to sign up for that class this week - I will teach that class. This makes it more flexible for students to sign up and get the instruction they want or need.
I also mention to everyone that try to get people signing up to bring someone else to class so that there are at least 2 people in class. That will allow for one of the staff to take the class for free. This is a good incentive for the staff to get more people signed up.
All in all it is a very high uphill battle to get students to these classes but some of these tricks have worked for me in the past. I'm nowhere near the classes and students I would like to have in each store, but the more information given out by the staff the better chances I have to get people to sign up.
I hope some of these ideas helped to get your classes going. If you are interested in some of the paperwork I created for my binders, please drop me an e-mail at: crochetnana@rogers.com and I'll be glad to send them off to you.
Good Luck, Everyone,
Gisele/Nanabear
Toronto, Ontario, Canada