Posts Tagged ‘Promotions’

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:

Read the rest of this entry »

“Building It” Fast Is Simply A Matter Of Following What Works In The Majority Of Successful Martial Art Schools…

Want to grow your school? Follow a proven plan.

Starting a martial art school is tough – and growing a martial art school is even tougher.

That’s why I spent a lot of time in my first school analyzing my operations and comparing them to what successful school owners did. I traveled and spent time with them, observing first-hand what they were doing to grow their schools.

From those observations, I compared what successful instructors were doing, and settled on the activities that were most common among the schools I observed…

It’s not like I kept a bunch of data tables and graphs; it was nothing so complicated as all that. Basically, if I saw a lot of successful instructors doing something, I figured it was important and made note of it.

Then, I made sure I was doing those exact same tasks and activities in my own school on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

Now after 15 years of doing this, I’m able to boil down the key elements to martial arts business success into a very simple formula and very thorough checklists, ensuring that I’m hitting on all eight cylinders in my martial art school operations.

This month, I’ve decided to share that formula and most of those checklist items with you in the remainder of this article. Want to hit 100 martial arts students fast, and then continue that growth? Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a dilemma most martial arts instructors face when they start teaching kids (well, those who are honest and have integrity, anyway). That is, how do you handle belt rank promotions for kids?

Obviously, kids don’t have anywhere near the emotional maturity, logical deduction, motor skills, strength, or learning ability adults have. Granted, kids can do a lot of things many adults can’t (full splits in three weeks, anyone?) but generally speaking they simply cannot perform like adults when it comes to retention of techniques, application of techniques, and performing like an adult black belt.

So how do you handle belt rank promotions for kids without lowering standards or becoming the thing you hate most? Read the rest of this entry »

Keeping Things Interesting And Active Keeps Students Coming In…

It really hurts to lose students over the holidays, but you really don’t have to if you do a little work to prevent that from occurring. Here are four super-simple strategies you can use to increase tuition and keep your momentum rolling over the holidays. #1 – Reactivating Old Students What better time to reactivate old students than in the New Year when they’re making resolutions to lose weight and be fit? Well, I can think of one better time, and that’s before Christmas! So, what makes this a perfect time to reactivate Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, I had a guy walk into my school to inquire about our programs. After I found out where this guy lived, my curiosity was immediately peaked. Why? Well, the guy lives in a posh, upscale neighborhood about 7 miles from our studio. Typically, most martial arts schools only draw students from a three-to-five-mile radius, which made me wonder why he drove so far to check us out. Furthermore, there are at least four martial arts studios within a three-mile radius of this guy’s neighborhood. So, I asked this gentleman straight-up why he Read the rest of this entry »