Posts Tagged ‘Recipient’

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 »

“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 »

Skip The Middle-Man And Go Directly To Your Local Consumers

Can this little piece of paper make the difference between marketing failure and success for your school?

Direct marketing is an area of marketing that can be very successfully used by savvy martial art school owners. But just what exactly is “direct marketing”?

There are two qualifying characteristics that distinguish direct marketing from other forms of marketing:

1. It is delivered directly to the consumer via mail, email, telemarketing, or other direct means -
2. It is focused on “call-to-action” marketing; in other words, the marketing piece focuses on getting the consumer to take a specific action immediately -

Direct Marketing For Martial Art Schools

For our purposes, we typically focus on three forms of direct marketing:

• fliering and door hanger distribution,
• email,
• and direct mail marketing.

Fliering houses, distributing door hangers, and direct mail all are pretty much in the same category as far as direct marketing goes.

However, I believe door hangers are the superior method. Here’s why: Read the rest of this entry »