Posts Tagged ‘Blog’

A Primer On Martial Arts Marketing In The Digital Age

Martial arts marketing has changed dramatically over the last several years – a fact I’ve pointed out over and over again on this site and my blog.

Without knowing how you need to market in these changing times, you’re sunk. No matter how much you long for the days when the yellow pages were king, those days are long gone.

So, what’s an old-school marketer to do?

Not to worry – I’ve got you covered. All you need to know is where to put those skills to use in today’s digital marketing age.

This article should serve as a primer to help those of you who are “old-school” to catch up with the young guns who grew up with a keyboard in their crib. Read on and see just how you can market your school using old-school techniques in the age of the internet… Read the rest of this entry »

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Getting Social to Get Leads and Build Your Database

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 »

How To Build Your Email List And Use It To Grow Your Martial Art School…

The fact is, even though email has been around virtually since the beginning of the internet, most business owners overlook it as a powerful and nearly free marketing tool.

And today with all the “shinier objects” online (like social media marketing for instance) many business owners discount or overlook the power of having a solid email list for their business.

This is a HUGE mistake! Email marketing remains one of the best, if not the best, marketing weapons to have in your marketing quiver. Think about it – except for the cost of your email newsletter and lead capture software, it is absolutely 100% free to send a promotional email out to your list.

And, you can do it as often as you like, typically in just a few minutes for a single promotional email (as long as it takes to type a few paragraphs and hit “send”).

But, there’s email marketing and then there’s really good email marketing… and knowing a few simple tricks and secrets can make all the difference in the world in how effective your email marketing is for your school.

So, let’s go over a few tips and tricks that will improve your optins (leads) and response rate (how many people respond to your emails).

Read the rest of this entry »

“Are You Nuts? You Want Me To Give Away Free Classes?”

In the recent survey I posted on my blog and in the member forums, guest passes (sometimes called VIP passes) came in at number two as the most effective form of advertisement and marketing for martial art school owners. This doesn’t surprise me a bit, as I’ve been using guest passes as an effective form of marketing since I was first introduced to them in the late 90′s.

Of course, my first reaction to using them was probably similar to that of most instructors. “What? You want me to give away free classes? Are you nuts?” The thing is, I was networking with some very successful instructors at the time, and I was able to verify the effectiveness of guest pass programs firsthand by observing their results. And, soon after I learned how to effectively implement them in my own school, we found they were in fact a great way to get new students.

Basic Concepts For Using Guest Passes Effectively

A few key points about using guest passes that will greatly enhance their effectiveness as a marketing method for your school… Read the rest of this entry »

Honesty And Integrity As A Central Approach To Customer Service In The Martial Arts Industry

Many years ago when I started training in the martial arts, customer service was definitely not a closely examined issue. You paid your tuition, attended class, practiced at home, and that was enough. From the student’s perspective, as long as the school was open and classes were held as scheduled, all was well. And, from the instructor’s perspective as long as the students paid tuition on time and showed up for class, he or she was satisfied with the arrangement. However, for better or for Read the rest of this entry »