Posts Tagged ‘Parents’

Selling The Intangible Benefits of Martial Arts Training

This month's martial arts marketing materials can be downloaded from the member's download area.

When marketing martial arts classes for children, you should be aware of what motivates parents to spend money on extracurricular activities for their children.

If you believe parents are motivated by the same motivating factors that get children interested in martial arts, you’re way off base.

In fact, parents motivations for enrolling their children in martial arts are often the exact opposite of that of their children.

Let’s examine these motivations in brief to help you better understand how to market your children’s programs to the greatest effect. Read the rest of this entry »

…And It’s When You’re On Top Of Your Martial Arts School Marketing!

It’s a fact: in martial arts business, competition doesn’t matter if you’re marketing-savvy.

I have clients who have schools right across the street from them, or down the block, etc. Many times these styles and schools are very similar in what they teach.

However, if style mattered, then it would also follow that all the businesses in other industries that sell exactly the same thing would be putting each other out of business.

Think about it – when you have a McDonald’s on one corner, a Burger King on another, and a Jack in the Box on the third, why don’t they all fail?

It’s because competition can actually be a good thing. When the big chain school down the street advertises all over town, they are raising the awareness of your product in the community. And if you can ride on that wave, it can help you tremendously. Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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 Steps To Increase Retention While Making Your Job More Rewarding

Showing students (and parents) that you care can go a long way toward keeping them around for the long haul.

You may not realize this, but retention is a whole lot easier when you invest time in letting your students know that you care about them, both personally and as martial arts students.

Sure, you care about your students… but do they know it?

Let me be the first to admit that martial arts instructors tend to not be the most sensitive people in the world.

Admit it – you probably don’t often express your feelings toward others, and usually just expect that your feelings are “understood.”

Well, unless you’re teaching jedi knights and X-men (mind-readers, in case you’re not a sci-fi junkie like me), chances are good that no one in your school is quite sure whether or not you really care about them – personally, or otherwise.

And, even if you don’t find it difficult to express that you care about other people, you may not even be communicating it in a way they can understand. Often, people have different ways of showing and interpreting appreciation (as any married couple can attest).

So, finding ways to make certain you get the message across to your students is a prerequisite to having good relationships with your students.

Don’t Sweat It – It’s Easier Than You May Think

Communicating that you care about your students really isn’t all that difficult or complex. All it takes is a little awareness and a few extra minutes invested each day in communicating with your students.

Here are a few simple action steps you can take to make sure your students (and parents) know that you are personally invested in their well-being: Read the rest of this entry »

A Simple, Effective Strategy

Mat chats are one of the easiest, most effective ways to increase retention and customer satisfaction in your school among your children’s classes. I’ve been doing them for over fifteen years, and I have consistently experienced greater retention and improved parent feedback in classes where I do regular mat chats. The great thing is, they take very little time to prepare, and when done properly I am positive you’ll find them to be a rewarding addition to your programs.

How to Do a Martial Arts Mat Chat

When to Do Them The best time to do a mat-chat is at the end of your kid’s classes, right before your “fun drill” time. This serves two purposes:

1. It serves as the best time to teach kids life lessons, because they will still be in “focus mode” from their regular class time;
2. It allows parents who may just be stopping in to pick up their child to hear what you’re teaching their children.

Most parents would never know about Read the rest of this entry »

Starting and Running A Summer Camp: My Own Experience

The first summer camp I ever ran was back around 2000, the summer after I got married. Oh, I had done some piddly little day camps and a Spring Break or Christmas Break camp or two, but nothing on the scale of what we were about to attempt. In preparation for this momentous event, we had just flown in to spend four days with a very successful school owner who ran after-school and summer camps at 3 schools in a large city in Florida, and I had seen for myself how successful his camps were. Read the rest of this entry »

Keeping Them After They First Step In The Door…

I do the same intro course process that I learned from Jim Mather 15 years ago. I’ve tried many other ways to do intros, and I always go back to this one because it has never failed me… Plus, we enroll 90% of the people who show up for their first lesson with this process. Here’s the skinny on what it entails – it’s pretty basic, but I’d rather do something simple that works than something complicated that doesn’t:

• 1Week for $19.95, including a free uniform, a 20 minute private or semi-private classes (I’ll schedule up to 3 at a time) and two group classes.

The private lesson is done either right before their first group class or the day before. Office staff catches the parents Read the rest of this entry »

If you can prove your value to your clients over and over again, you’ll keep them enrolled in your classes. In the new economy, consumers now know they have a great deal of choice and control with regards to the quality and customization of the services they purchase, and they simply will not stand for mediocre businesses that offer no additional value to their clients. And let’s face it – when things get tight, most families are going to cut out the expenses they can live without. If your program doesn’t have any added Read the rest of this entry »

New and prospective students require special attention and care during their first visit to your school. This is when the student and their family will form their first impression of you and your studio.

If they are not given ample time to ask questions, or if they feel they were mishandled in any way, chances are good that they’ll end up at another martial arts school. Remember, if they leave your school, they will miss out on a quality martial arts experience.

It’s a real shame when someone opts for a sub-par martial arts school because they weren’t handled in a professional manner at another school. Don’t lose anyone over a lack of professionalism and courtesy!

Here are some guidelines to follow to make a new student feel at home on their first day: Read the rest of this entry »