Posts Tagged ‘Truth’

Getting Social to Get Leads and Build Your Database

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you build your email list - which in turn increases your local direct marketing reach.

Social media, social media, social media blah blah blah…

Okay – so I bet you’ve heard a lot about social media. By now you might be totally in love with it or sick and tired of hearing about it. Possibly a little of both.

Regardless of where you are with it, social media really is just ‘the internet’. The internet itself has morphed from a monologue into a dialogue and now more than ever information, news and rumors spread at a fantastic rate.

By its most basic definition, social media is a conversation, just digitized. It’s a dialogue, connecting the world in ways that have never been possible before.

And, it’s pervasive to our modern culture. That’s why you need to at least understand what social media is and how it affects your business – and your email list. Read the rest of this entry »

Knowing and Doing the Basics is the Key to Martial Arts Business Success

Do you have your basics down? Not your martial arts basics, but your business basics. Find out by reading this article.

Do you have your martial arts business basics down?

You know – those top priority concepts, skills, and tasks that are essential to running a successful martial art school?

Maybe you haven’t given much thought to what those are… but if you’ve read Small Dojo Big Profits, you know about the 80/20 rule (Pareto’s Principle).

Pareto believed that eighty percent of your results come from just twenty percent of your efforts, and I’ve found this to be true in my own businesses.

That’s why it’s so important to know what those “20% activities” are. Once you do, you can focus in on those activities, and cut out most of the extraneous stuff. By doing so, not only will you become more productive, but you’ll also have more time away from your school.

So, let’s examine the “basic foundation” of running a successful martial arts school, and then we can look at which daily tasks and goals we need to focus on to leverage our workday and maximize our effectiveness.
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Don’t Get Too Comfortable With Your Success – A Small Amount of Worry Is A Healthy Thing

"Do it now!" is Brian Tracy's favorite maxim, and mine as well. And, I would also add, "Plan for it now!" - read this article to find out why.

One of the most difficult truths to convey to instructors is the fact that complacency will destroy your business.

I very nearly learned this lesson the hard way a few years after opening my first school. When I opened that school, the main challenge I faced was overcoming the negative impressions previous schools had left on the local community.

However, after about six months I was able to develop a positive reputation as an honest school that provided quality martial arts instruction. I enjoyed a period of a few years in which I was the sole full-time school in the area.

Yet, this period was to be short-lived as two chains (one local, one national) opened branch locations in my town in the following years. And, it caught me completely by surprise.

Ah, complacency. It can sneak up and hamstring you if you’re not careful. Let’s examine what we need to do to stay on our toes without going crazy with worry.
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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 »

Learning What Triggers Buying Decisions Can Mean The Difference Between Failure And Success

Are you a white belt in sales? Learning what makes people buy will go a long way toward getting you out of the beginner's class in sales skills.

Do you know why people buy?

It seems like such a simple question, one that most people would glibly answer, “Because they want stuff.”

True, but that really merely scratches the surface. In truth, people buy for a multitude of reasons, but what triggers a consumer to make a buying decision…

Well, that’s a whole different story. And, if you can identify and leverage buying triggers, you can greatly increase your chances of growing and running a thriving martial arts school for years to come. Read the rest of this entry »

Oftentimes, prospective martial arts business owner start their schools without ever taking the time to write out a specific game plan for their success. I know that I was guilty of this mistake when I made my first few attempts at opening my martial arts business. Oh, I did all the “business owner” things; I secured a location, had business cards printed (they made me feel like I was officially in business), put an ad in the paper, and told everyone I knew about my programs. Yet, my first few attempts at opening a martial arts business were Read the rest of this entry »

You know the type… they are never satisfied with “good enough”, and no matter how hard you work, they always want you to do more. The typical slave driver boss. Man, I’d hate working for a guy like that. But the thing is, I am sort of already working for a slave driver boss… me. Yep, I’m a slave driver when it comes to getting things done. Now, the good news is that I’m my own boss, but that doesn’t mean I get to slack off… heck no! Actually, I work harder for myself than I ever Read the rest of this entry »

In the business world, secrets are funny things. Many times, successful business owners will spend a great deal of time, money, and effort guarding information that is seemingly insignificant… to the uninformed. And this strikes at the heart of what this tip is about today. For those who don’t know any better, the way a successful school owner operates their school may seem virtually identical to the way someone operates who is just getting by. However, it’s the often the little things that make all the difference in whether someone fails or succeeds in business. That’s because Read the rest of this entry »