Posts Tagged ‘Money’
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 »
“Work” – The Dirty Word in Martial Arts Marketing
Work.
It’s that dirty little four-letter word associated with martial arts marketing in all its varied forms. There’s no avoiding it, and no denying it.
Marketing your studio takes work.
Yet, without marketing you’re dead in the water. Just as a fisherman can’t catch fish without casting a net or line, you can’t expect to get leads and clients without doing any marketing.
And, just because it takes time and effort to market your school, that doesn’t give you an excuse to ignore or avoid it. In fact, if anything it should be the first thing you knock out every day, since it’s often the most time-intensive activity each day.
Why I Look Forward To Doing My Marketing
Yes, I actually look forward to doing the marketing for my martial arts business. Why? Because I’ve invested enough time and effort into it that I’m good at it, and because of that I know there’s a reward at the end of every successful campaign I invest my time and effort into.
Notice, I didn’t say, “Invest money into.” That’s because with today’s technology, it actually costs very little to market a small business… if you know what you’re doing.
Yet, I have coaching clients who are anything but marketing geniuses who are successfully using technologies like blogging, social media, and email to market their schools and studios – and to great effect.
In fact, if you check out the MASAI site updates that appear later in this article, you’ll find out how to market your school for around $60 a month. Seriously. Read the rest of this entry »
How One Little Piece of Paper Changes the Whole Dynamic Between You And Your Students
Does using membership agreements hurt or help your school? Read this article to find out.
Why use membership agreements?
This seems to be an ages-old controversy among martial art school owners, and it’s one that bears examining.
First, let’s examine why there is so much controversy surrounding the use of membership agreements in the first place.
If you’re against using membership agreements, I’ll bet it’s because of one of the following three reasons:
- You’ve seen them used unethically in the past,
- You’ve seen them used ineffectively in the past,
- You’ve seen them used inconsistently in the past.
Can You Run A Successful School Without Them?
Everyone wants to know this, and here’s my honest answer after running schools for over 15 years and speaking to literally hundreds of school owners:
Read the rest of this entry »
As part of the MASAI 30 Students in 30 Days Challenge, I’ll be posting some special martial arts marketing articles specifically geared toward the quickest ways I know to get students and grow your school.
Today’s article is geared specifically on how to get to the top of the local search listings… FAST!
MASAI 30 Students in 30 Days Coaching Article #1: How to Get to the Top of Google Fast
Getting to the top of the Google listings is powerful, powerful stuff. And, this is the fastest way I know to get to the top of the Google search engine results, for free.
(Of course, Google Adwords will get your site seen quickly, but it takes a bit more search engine marketing technical know-how, and it costs money. Do both if you have the budget, but start with this method, first.)
It’s not hard, it just takes some work… but you can easily knock this out in an afternoon.
Here’s what you need to do:
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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
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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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.
Are They Fired Up?
Author: M. Massie
Remember those old football cheers?
“We – are – fired up, yes we are fired up!”
Nope, I never belonged to my high school cheer-leading squad, but I remember those cheers (and cheerleaders) well. Ever wonder what makes a person get out in the cold weather and freeze their tail ends off just to watch a bunch of people chase a pigskin up and down a field?
Figure it out yet? If you’re a football fan, you know why – it’s the emotional high you get while you’re watching your favorite team play their hearts out on the field.
Now, let’s take that lesson indoors to the dojo floor, and apply it to our students… Read the rest of this entry »
How To Become A Top School By Focusing On The “Big Five” Principles of Martial Arts School Management
Just like learning martial arts, launching and growing a school simply requires focusing on the correct "technique"
Running a martial arts school successfully is really pretty simple – it’s getting your school off the ground that is the hard part. Even so, the same principles that allow you to manage a school effectively are the very same principles needed to get you through your launch period.
Think it’s complicated? It’s really not… launching and growing your school is really just a matter of staying focused on the “Big Five” areas of martial arts school management.
No matter where you are in the business life-cycle, I recommend that every month you should review your current operations as they relate to each of the “Big Five” management principles, then pick one crucial thing to implement/improve upon in each area, and then repeat this process every month thereafter.
By the way, the “Big Five” areas are: Read the rest of this entry »
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I really believe in using a six-week special during the summer, since it brings in a lot of extra income during those notoriously slow summer months. Now, I’ve heard some of the “experts” out there tell people not to run short-term summer specials because (they claim) you are losing long-term business by doing so.
Well, that’s not necessarily true. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry »
(Note: Although this article is not specifically written to those of you writing a martial arts business plan, remember that lenders and investors are all looking for the same things no matter what the business is. I suggest you read this article carefully, and if you’re stuck, refer to the resources listed at the end of the article.) The best way to show bankers, venture capitalists, and angel investors that you are worthy of financial support is to show them a great business plan. Make sure that your plan is clear, focused and realistic. Then show them that you have the tools, talent and team to make it happen. Your business plan is like your calling card, it will get you in the door where you’ll have to convince investors and loan officers that you can put your plan into action. Once you have raised the money to start or expand your business, your plan Read the rest of this entry »
The Key to Easy Upgrading – Stop Selling and Start Recruiting
It’s important to have the right mindset when you start offering upgraded student memberships. It has to be a privilege, something that a student earns the right to be a part of, instead of just a way to make more money. Remember that you are choosing students for elite membership upgrades on their merits, and they should be honored that you have given them the opportunity to join.
Once you adopt this attitude, upgrading students becomes much simpler. In fact, more often than not you’ll have students approaching you about joining, versus your having to approach them instead.
The Upgrade Process – Make Them Work For It
Here is the process we used to get students to upgrade their memberships: Read the rest of this entry »
Every week or so I get an email from someone who is starting a school and wants the low-down on how to do it right.
It’s a pretty tall order to sum it all up in an email, which is why I wrote a book about it. However, there are a few things I’d like to share on the topic – kind of a quick and dirty list of tips and suggestions for prospective school owners:
Read the rest of this entry »
"Small Dojo Big Profits" way!
