Author: Being On Your Game And How It Determines Your Martial Arts Business Success
Game is something a lot of people talk about in many different arenas:
- Professional athletes talk about being “on their game” -
- Guys and ladies who are in the dating scene refer to pickup lines and techniques as “running game” -
- Sales people might say they were “off their game” if they failed to close an important deal -
- Coaches will tell players to “keep their head in the game” to remind them about staying focused -
- And, motivational speakers have even written entire books about how to “master the inner game” -
But really, what does it mean to “be on your game”, and how does that relate to the art and craft of running a successful martial art school?
In my experience, discovering the inner game of business success was a major revelation. For starters, realizing that there even WAS a game made a huge difference in how I approached my business.
And, realizing that I had to keep my head in it and be on my game at all times was (if you’ll pardon the extension of the metaphor), a game changer for me.
Let’s get into this a little deeper so you can understand exactly what I’m referring to and how this affects every aspect of your business.
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Use Social Networking to Promote Your Website
It’s almost impossible to find someone these days that isn’t a member of at least one social network.
Why not use that to your advantage in promoting your business?
Social networking provides you with free ways to promote your business and increase your website traffic.
And the best part is, you can access and use all the most popular social networks to market your business for free.
Here’s how…
The Social Networking Craze, and How To Leverage It To Promote Your Martial Art School
Social networking is one of the easiest ways to stay connected to friends and family near and far. You can share pictures, stories and send instant messages when you are both logged in.
This way of keeping in touch has extended into the business world and become useful as a marketing tool. The great thing is, it’s free, and these sites bridge the gap across the miles better than simple email. Read the rest of this entry »
What Your Accountant Needs From You to File Your Taxes
Tax time is extremely stressful for most small business owners. This is due usually to a last-minute rush to try and find the necessary paperwork needed by your tax accountant, or CPA, in order to finalize and file your small business tax return.
There is an easier way to avoid the stress of tax season. Know what exactly your accountant needs in order to do his or her job properly and get those items together ahead of time.
There are a couple reasons to have your items together before visiting your CPA:
8 Smart Marketing Lessons From An American Icon
(Note: The following is a fantastic article on common-sense marketing wisdom that I liked so much, I got permission to reprint it here. Enjoy! – MM)
#1: “Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising.”
Advertising is life made to look larger than life, through images and words that promise a wish fulfilled, a dream come true, a problem solved. Every successful ad follows Mark Twain’s keen observation about advertising.
The worst kind of advertising exaggerates to get your attention, the best, gets your attention without exaggeration. It simply states a fact or reveals an emotional need, then lets you make the leap from “small to large.”
Examples of the worst: Those TV infomercials for abdominal machines and ab belts that are supposed to do your workout for you. It’s an obvious exaggeration that must work because they keep running those expensive ads.
But, just because an advertising method works, it doesn’t mean you should use it. Think about your image before running outrageous ads that make you look the fool – once your image is lost, it is hard to get it back.
The best: Apple’s “silhouette” campaign for iPod and the breakthrough ads featuring Eminem—both catapulted iPod to “instant cool” status… and sold a ton of iPods.
Getting The Most From Your Referrals
This month's martial arts marketing ads can be found in the member's download area.
Valentine’s Day means a lot of different things to different people. For some, it’s time to start looking for a date for the 14th; for others, it’s time to book reservations for dinner with the significant other or spouse…
But for martial art school owners, it’s time to market your programs using guest pass referral cards.
It’s no secret that kids have to give out Valentine’s Day cards to their friends on Valentine’s Day. They’re in the mood to give stuff away anyway – why not give them a gift to place in their cards as well?
If you’ll look in the member’s download section, you’ll find a professionally designed card template that’s perfect for this purpose. Print them on full color card stock along with your school info, and provide them to parents to use in lieu of buying cards for Valentine’s Day for their kids.
So, now you know how to use those cards to get leads and trials… But how do you convert them and keep them coming back?
Here are some vital tips and tricks to make sure you get the most from your guest pass referrals – and not just during February, but all year long. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s Time To Go Back To School With Some Old School Marketing
In this day and age of the internet, texting, and social networking, it’s easy to overlook some of the old school marketing and retention methods.
However, in some cases those old school methods of reaching out and contacting people are just as effective, if not more effective, than those that use modern technology.
And, since many of your competitors are flocking to technology with the hopes of finding “push-button” marketing success (it doesn’t exist), you can step in and fill the void left by using some tried and true old-school marketing methods…
All of which will definitely serve to set you apart from your competition.
Old School Marketing That Still Makes The Grade
So, here are three old-school marketing and retention tactics that still work well for generating leads, enrollments, and renewals: Read the rest of this entry »
Getting Social to Get Leads and Build Your Database
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you build your email list - which in turn increases your local direct marketing reach.
Social media, social media, social media blah blah blah…
Okay – so I bet you’ve heard a lot about social media. By now you might be totally in love with it or sick and tired of hearing about it. Possibly a little of both.
Regardless of where you are with it, social media really is just ‘the internet’. The internet itself has morphed from a monologue into a dialogue and now more than ever information, news and rumors spread at a fantastic rate.
By its most basic definition, social media is a conversation, just digitized. It’s a dialogue, connecting the world in ways that have never been possible before.
And, it’s pervasive to our modern culture. That’s why you need to at least understand what social media is and how it affects your business – and your email list. Read the rest of this entry »
Tax Time Is Just Around The Corner
Tax time is right around the corner, and right now is the best time to start preparing to ensure you have a smooth tax season.
And, one the of areas that seems to trip up small business owners the most is understanding deductions.
So, here are some tips to help you get a grip on what some common tax deductions are, and which ones you may have overlooked. Read the rest of this entry »
Using Testimonials in Your Martial Arts Marketing
Using testimonials correctly in your martial arts marketing can greatly increase your enrollments and income.
There are many ways to market your school, and providing potential clients and customers with testimonials is one of the best ways to super-charge your martial arts marketing.
The power of testimonials should never be underestimated. In this day and age, consumers will only purchase products or pay for services they trust; typically, this means that product or service has been referred to them by people they know.
Since this is something that the small business owner has no control over, he has to do the next best thing… which is to get testimonials from his past clients.
Benefits of Using Testimonials
There are many benefits to collecting and using testimonials in your marketing:
Read the rest of this entry »
How to Turn Resolutions Into Enrollments
This month's martial arts marketing ads are available in the member's download area.
The New Year is a great time for adult enrollments if you’re a martial art school owner.
The reason? People are making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, get in shape, and start a regular exercise plan.
Many of these people have tried the big box gyms, workout DVDs, dieting, and other popular ways to lose weight or get in shape in the past, often with mixed results.
That means many people are open to trying something new. Maybe in the past they got bored, lost interest, or needed someone to help them stay motivated to stick with their program.
And, that’s what makes martial arts training the perfect answer for people who want to stay active by doing an activity that will keep their interest.
Your job is to get that marketing message across to local consumers during the month of January. We’ve designed the ad for this month to be in lock-step with the message that martial arts training offers a great workout that is never dull. That means step #1 of marketing fitness in the New Year has already been done for you.
So what’s step number 2?
Read the rest of this entry »
Keeping Adult Students Interested Isn’t Easy, But It Is Possible…
How do you keep adults in class? Here are a few ideas...
As hard as it is for some schools to attract adult students, you’d think they’d put more effort into keeping them around.
Even so, adult retention presents a real issue to school owners across the spectrum of styles and markets.
Adults seem to have ten times the distractions of children, and they don’t have parents paying for their lessons who make them go to class twice a week.
Work, family, dating, finishing a degree… these are just a few examples of things that can distract adult students and that may be competing with you for their attention.
So, how do you keep adults attending class?
I don’t have the 110% solution to that issue, but I can offer some helpful suggestions that may help boost your adult retention. Here are a few simple strategies you can use that may help increase your adult enrollment and boost your adult class attendance.
Read the rest of this entry »
Simple Honesty And Convenience Can Really Make A Difference In Your Bottom Line
Think you have some powerful sales kung fu? Put away those slick tricks. Honesty and convenience are better than tricks, any day of the week.
So, think you have some powerful “sales kung fu”?
If so, you likely are aware that your customers see the enrollment process as a buying process. They are shopping you along with your competitors, and will likely make their buying decision based on how good you are at convincing them to join your school.
Now, having said that, you should know that I am not a fan AT ALL of sneaky tricks and hard sell tactics.
So, before we go on let me present you with the number one rule I want you to live and die by in your sales process:
Massie-ism #674:
“When you have the truth, you don’t need tricks. Always tell the truth to your customers.”
No matter what you’ve been told, and no matter who told you – slick tricks work against you and not for you when you are building your enrollment.
Growing a school over the long-term is about building trust and a reputation for honesty in your community. Being known as the local used car salesman of martial arts instructors is not the best way to achieve that goal.
With that in mind, let’s look at a few key areas where you can use honesty and common sense courtesy to your best advantage to increase your sales and conversions.
Read the rest of this entry »
Knowing and Doing the Basics is the Key to Martial Arts Business Success
Do you have your basics down? Not your martial arts basics, but your business basics. Find out by reading this article.
Do you have your martial arts business basics down?
You know – those top priority concepts, skills, and tasks that are essential to running a successful martial art school?
Maybe you haven’t given much thought to what those are… but if you’ve read Small Dojo Big Profits, you know about the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Principle).
Pareto believed that eighty percent of your results come from just twenty percent of your efforts, and I’ve found this to be true in my own businesses.
That’s why it’s so important to know what those “20% activities” are. Once you do, you can focus in on those activities, and cut out most of the extraneous stuff. By doing so, not only will you become more productive, but you’ll also have more time away from your school.
So, let’s examine the “basic foundation” of running a successful martial arts school, and then we can look at which daily tasks and goals we need to focus on to leverage our workday and maximize our effectiveness.
Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t Get Too Comfortable With Your Success – A Small Amount of Worry Is A Healthy Thing
"Do it now!" is Brian Tracy's favorite maxim, and mine as well. And, I would also add, "Plan for it now!" - read this article to find out why.
One of the most difficult truths to convey to instructors is the fact that complacency will destroy your business.
I very nearly learned this lesson the hard way a few years after opening my first school. When I opened that school, the main challenge I faced was overcoming the negative impressions previous schools had left on the local community.
However, after about six months I was able to develop a positive reputation as an honest school that provided quality martial arts instruction. I enjoyed a period of a few years in which I was the sole full-time school in the area.
Yet, this period was to be short-lived as two chains (one local, one national) opened branch locations in my town in the following years. And, it caught me completely by surprise.
Ah, complacency. It can sneak up and hamstring you if you’re not careful. Let’s examine what we need to do to stay on our toes without going crazy with worry.
Read the rest of this entry »
Not Following The Monthly Marketing System To The “T”? Reading The Following May Change Your Mind…
Recently I coached one of our members on setting up a marketing system. Check out this video to see the results of him implementing the system:
Just the other day, Tony posted his final results for the MASAI 30-Day Challenge in the forums:
Well, I hit it and a few over. I’m sitting on 34 this month. This is the crazys month ever. I have got around 36 infos this month. I have had some busy months before but I don’t think any like this. Thanks for your help!
Hmmm… from 3 or 4 enrollments a month to 34 in one month. There must be some amazing secret, right? I bet you’re wondering, what was this mysterious system we implemented?
Read the rest of this entry »
"Small Dojo Big Profits" way!
