Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’
First, if you haven’t read the manual yet, then read the following article before you start implementing this marketing plan.
“Marketing Basics for Martial Arts School Owners”
What follows is a marketing plan I wrote for July, but it will give you a good idea of how to write your own 5 x 15 plans throughout the year.
Once you read it, it should be painfully obvious that you don’t need a billing or consulting company to do this for you. You can easily come up with a workable, effective marketing plan that is customized to your needs, just by setting aside 30 minutes once a month to do so.
5 x 15 Marketing Plan: July, 20__: Read the rest of this entry »
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The Top Things Successful School Owners Do To Achieve Financial Success
When you think about successful school owners, do you ever wonder how they get to where they are? You see, everyone wants to enjoy success, but the reason so few do is because so few people are willing to do the work to get there. Every successful school owner understands this. As millions of people have learned from Stephen Covey’s books, successful people tend to follow the same success habits in their daily lives to achieve and maintain that success. And, starting and running a martial art school is no different. There are things every successful school owner does on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis in order to achieve success. And if you want to be a successful school owner, you need to do those things. Here’s my list of the success habits that successful school owners follow. I suggest you make each one of these habits part of your daily routine for the next month, until they become a habit for you as well.
Success Habit #1: Showing Up
Successful school owners show up to work each day. And, that doesn’t mean showing up 5 minutes before class – it means they invest long hours outside of teaching classes into their business. For every hour you spend on the floor, you should be spending two productive hours working on your business. This includes time you spend doing strategic planning, on marketing, on staff development, on planning events, on public relations, on curriculum, and yes, even on personal and professional development.
Success Habit #2: Being Present
Successful school owners are present with their students, staff, Read the rest of this entry »
On Being A Hunter…
Author: M. Massie
You Can Learn to Hunt, or You Can Starve with the Rest of the “Lazy Grazers”
Here's one cat that won't go hungry during times of drought. She's at the top of the food chain, and eats all the "lazy grazers" who are starving during lean times.
Here’s a story for you that I know you’ll like.
I have a friend who runs an MMA and karate school in an economically “average” area (25,000 people, household median income of $50K). He’s the first person I ever coached through starting a school, and I check in with him now and again to see how he’s doing.
I’ve been on him to get a website for years, literally.*
Yet, he does quite well in his school. He said his school was dead during the end of summer, then he “got busy” and enrolled 15 people in ten days.
Without a website.
So how does he do it?
Read the rest of this entry »
A Heartfelt Approach to Bringing Back Inactive Students
Many students drop out because they think you don't care. Here's how to show them otherwise... and get some of them back in the process.
However, many of those students who drop out do so because they simply didn’t feel appreciated. In the book Appreciation Marketing, authors Tommy Wyatt and Curtis Lewsey cite a recent study that indicates 68% of clients who leave do so because of perceived indifference*.
In other words, most clients leave because they think you don’t care. And, I’d say that’s doubly true in our industry, due to the unique relationships we develop with our students. Think about it – teaching martial arts is a very personal business.
Yet, all it really takes sometimes is a little show of appreciation to get those inactive students back and training at your school. And, it takes very little on your part to do so.
In this article, I’m going to show you how to do just exactly that. Read the rest of this entry »
Attack Of The Killer Guest Pass Ideas, Part 2
Here's a whole stack of guest pass referral program ideas so you can open up a can of whoop-butt on your marketing...
Just in case last month’s gargantuan list of guest pass referral ideas wasn’t enough, you’ll find the second half of my big list of 99 ways to use guest passes to get more students at the end of this article.
But first, let’s review a few key points from last month’s article on using guest passes…
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…
- Guest passes are most effective when you convey and retain a high perceived value for the guest passes.
- So, make sure you PRINT THE ACTUAL VALUE ON THE GUEST PASS. For example, “Valued at $100.00″.
- You may find it helpful to only allow staff and students to hand out free guest passes. While this will limit the number of ways you can use guest passes, you will find it creates a very high perceived value in the eyes of the recipient. I always tell my staff and students, “Only staff and students are allowed to give these out, and they’re worth over $100 each. So, be sure you tell whoever you gift them to how much that little card is worth!”
- One way to get around that issue of limiting distribution is to have two different guest passes; a one month guest pass that only staff and students may give away ($100+ value), and a “FREE WEEK!” guest pass that you use in all other guest pass promotions ($25+ value).
Although a guest pass is basically a business card with value, if you treat it nonchalantly you’ll blunt the effectiveness of this marketing method. So, work hard to retain the value of your guest passes! To get a solid introduction to using guest passes in your school, you should read the following articles FIRST before starting to implement the ideas listed later in this article:
Using Referral Programs to Get New Students
Using Holiday Guest Passes To Get New Students
My BIG List Of Guest Pass Referral Program Ideas…
Now without further ado, here’s the second half of my BIG list of guest pass marketing ideas:
After Marketing Comes Selling – Where The Real Fun Begins…
While the phone may seem initimidating to you at first, the sooner you start seeing it as your friend, the faster you will be able to grow your school.
Many would-be school owners and aspiring full-time instructors have convinced themselves that they don’t need to know how to sell to be successful. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Accept this now – you have to be a good salesman (or “sales person” if you prefer) in order to run a successful school. However, this doesn’t mean you have to use sneaky tactics or adopt a hard sell approach to enrollments.
On the contrary, these tactics will work against you as you grow your school. Tricking or manipulating potential students into signing up often creates problems down the road, especially if your programs and customer service are substandard.
Instead, learning to be a good salesman as a martial art school owner requires learning how to treat people right, and selling by demonstrating the value of your programs. Remember – telling informs, but showing convinces. And, only the truly convinced will invest both their money and their time into becoming a long-term member of your school.
Treat ‘Em Right, And They’ll Stay – But First, You Have to Get Them To Try It Out
The thing is, demonstrating value requires that you actually get the prospective student (hereafter referred to as a “prospect”) to try your school out. The introductory course is where the real convincing occurs (this is sometimes called a “trial course” – language you should avoid, since it suggest a lack of commitment on the student’s part). But in most cases, a bit of selling is required to convince a complete stranger to try your school.
So, how do you do it? It’s simple really, if you follow a few basic principles. And while I can’t really go over the complete sales process in a short article, I will go over the basic principles here to get you started. Read the rest of this entry »
“Are You Nuts? You Want Me To Give Away Free Classes?”
It's easy to get focused on your current students and forget you need to attract new ones. Using guest referral passes is the second most effective marketing method among martial art school owners.
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 »
Why It’s Not Always Good Idea To Try To Build A Better Mousetrap
Learning the business of martial arts is a lot like working your way up through the ranks. You take things in sequence, learning new skills that build on those you learned in previous stages.
One thing I’ve observed since I started offering business coaching to martial art school owners is that we have a tendency to want to do our own thing.
Take for example the numerous styles and systems that exist today. There are as many styles and systems as there are instructors who believe they have something unique to offer. As one of my students once put it, “It seems like every instructor reaches a certain level, then they want to create their own system.”
In similar fashion, I’ve observed that martial arts instructors seem to want to create their own systems for starting and running their businesses as well…
Creating a unique expression that bears the mark of one’s individual personality and preferences is fine in the context of artistic expression. But in the context of running a martial art school, this often has disastrous results.
Mastery In Martial Arts Does Not Translate Into Martial Arts Business Mastery…
Think about it… by the time an instructor decides to codify their unique expression of a martial art style or system, they typically have decades of martial arts experience, study, and training under their belt. Thus, their unique approach is based on decades of trial, error, and experimentation. Read the rest of this entry »
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Using Colors To Strengthen Your Local Brand And Unify Your Business Image
Sure we use a lot of color in our schools... but how about using color in a whole new way to help grow your business?
Colors are strongly tied to emotion, and this is just as true for marketing as it is for the way you decorate your school.
- Strong, vibrant colors convey energy and excitement.
- Warm colors and earth tones convey a sense of peace and calm.
- Green conveys healing and well-being. It can also be associated with wealth and money, at least here in the United States.
- Black is foreboding, but can convey strength (plus, young men think it’s cool).
- White backgrounds are easier to read with dark text. Light text on a dark background is much harder to read and remember (this has been proven in studies regarding how people learn and retain information).
You should consider your colors carefully when decorating your school or creating a marketing piece. The right colors and layout can go a long way to improving your results when it comes to attracting new business.
Decorating Your School
Chances Are It’s What You’re Not Doing That’s Hurting Your Business…
What does this have to do with martial arts business success? Read on to find out...
How to Increase Your Business Dramatically Without Increasing Your Overhead
In Jay Abraham’s excellent book, Getting Everything You Can Out of All You’ve Got, Mr. Abraham claims that there are only three ways you can increase your business:
- By increasing your number of clients -
- By increasing the average size of the sale per client -
- By increasing the number of times clients return and buy again.
So, let’s take a look at Mr. Abraham’s observation above, and see how exactly we can apply that to the business of teaching martial arts. Read the rest of this entry »
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If You Schedule It Without Promoting It, They Probably Won’t Come
Most intelligent and thinking school owners know that the more services they offer their clients, the more opportunities it creates to increase their school’s income.
Think about it… your students are going to spend money on “extras” each month, anyway. They may as well be spending that money at your school.
The thing is, it can be quite frustrating to plan, schedule, and host a special event, only to have a poor turnout. And, it’s even worse when you lose money. However, there’s a simple way to make certain every special event you host makes a profit… Read the rest of this entry »
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How to Create a Lead Generating Machine In Under 90 Days… (Almost) For Free!
Most everyone asks me about martial arts marketing; or more specifically, how to get more students into their school. This seems to be a universal problem for school owners across the country.
For the majority of school owners, the main challenge with regards to getting more students is getting your programs in front of enough people (in other words, lead generation).
This is typically due to one of two issues:
- A lack of or inadequate amount of marketing -
- Ineffective marketing -
More often than not, with new school owners they aren’t marketing enough due to lack of funds with which to do so. Ten years ago, I’d have told any such school owner to get out and do some flyering and door hangers, an extremely time-intensive (but usually very effective) task.
Thankfully, we now live in an internet age where everyone has a world of potential customers at their fingertips. The question is, how do you reach them?
Well, that’s what this article is going to explain. Read the rest of this entry »
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Do Your Enrollment Numbers Look This Good?
I don't promise you that money will fall from the sky when you join MASAI... but you will discover how to get (and keep) new students.
How To Increase Your Martial Arts Enrollments in 2010
Everyone wants more martial arts students in 2010. Here's how to get them.
- Make sure your school is in tip-top shape. First impressions are everything. It won’t do any good to get a ton of people in the front door, if the front area of your school looks like a dump. Make sure everything is cleaned, mopped, dusted, and polished at least twice a day, and that all equipment is Read the rest of this entry »
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"Small Dojo Big Profits" way!
