Ways to get new people in the door

[TallAdam85]

Now 1 Thing a karate school needs is new blood to keep coming in for every 1 who leave 2 new ones to come in. Now there is a lot ways to get new people in just wondering what you use. I made a myspace profile and adding people in the area with the karate myspace plan on doing a leaf lit flyers with other coimpanys to save on flyer cost. Give a free shirt when try 2 weeks at 19.95
but lets hear what u use to get people in.

 

[newGuy12]

Give a free shirt when try 2 weeks at 19.95
but lets hear what u use to get people in.

A t-shirt for coming to class for two weeks @ ~ $20.00 ? That sounds like a good idea!

We do first class is free.

This will be a good thread!

 

[TallAdam85]

Yea i plan on doing is having a free 30 min over view 20 mins of class showing basics and last 10 explain history and give pricing info.
and 1 free class for them to try it in groups.

so 2 free classes

 

[Shodan]

What is the karate myspace plan?

 

[TallAdam85]

.

 

[TallAdam85]

adding people and get some replys about where and how much classes are
i search profiles in the area so like of like talking to people in the area face to face or keyboard to keyboard and sparking an intrest

 

[turtle]

The free first class seems to work best, especially as a "bring a friend" kind of thing where current students can bring a buddy to class to try it out.

 

[TallAdam85]

... any one here ? we all have to get people to walk in the door other wise the dojo is just a empty room with out people

 

[terryl965]

Talladam you need a hook since you are a new school and not even a branch. Do something different then all the other schools in your area. I know I do free SD classes once a month for women and childern and then have snacks and drinks after and then try to get them to sigh up right after when it is still fresh in the re minds. The catch is the free Sd type class, they will come and then it is up to you to get them hooked.

 

[gudmundson]

Hey guys, I noticed that you were looking for ways to get more people in the door. I have a link to some good videos and articles on the subject that I think would be really helpful. The one by Melody Shuman's probably the best!

Check out http://www.championsway.com/promos/landing-pages/kick-start-your-school.html

 

[AJPerry]

If you teach kids classes then hold a Game Day on a weekend.

Get your existing students to invite friends to join in. The Game day should only run for a couple of hours and it is a great day to get the existing students and their parents involved.

Any friends that are brought along should be given a take-home pack with a certificate for attending and contact info for the parents if they wish to sign their kids up for your regular lessons.

Because they already know people in the class the success rate for adding new kids this way is very high. They also tend to stay as they bond quickly with the rest of the group.

I have written a Manual of Martial Games that are great to use if you want to run a Game Day.

Cheers
AJ
www.martialgames4kids.com

 

[ArmorOfGod]

The Myspace thing has helped me, but in a non-direct way. I linked to the local library Myspaces. They invited me to do seminars and that got me new students.
I am a regular at several of the local libraries and have a lot planned there this summer: self-defense seminars, bully awareness seminars, and one demo. I love libraries.
Another odd way is through freecycle.org That is an online national group where you can give and take things, but not trade or sell. Go there and find your local FreeCycle group. Go onto the group and offer coupons for free classes. Make sure you are doing it with no strings attached or Freecycle will not allow you to post it. That is a good way of getting people in the door without spending money.
I have tried posting my ads in local trade papers, but that does not work around here. I have had some luck at posting my events at the tv stations' websites under the "calendar of events" section. That is also free and may get you a few students.
One great way is to write articles for your local newspaper. Make sure the article is not a sale pitch, but an un-biased article about self-defense or exercise. Then make sure they post your name, school name, and website at the bottom of the article.

AoG

 

[TallAdam85]

NEW ONE WORKS GREAT.
SO I have been paying the local kid who lives near my karate school to wear one of my old GI Tops and hold a Sign that says FREE Karate Trail I have had 5 people stop in from that.

 

[PEP-REP]

One mistake I see so much and I used to make was what I call "SMALL THINKING" when I first started running a true business my master instructor told me I had to give away a free uniform with my intro program.. I was like you kidding me I pay 10$ sell for 40$ I will go broke. at that time I then started running a 29$ 2 week special with a free uniform.. my enrollment went through the roof!!!

Now my point being, small think = small rewards... big thinking = big rewards..

A few ideas just off the top of my head...

Coloring contest where you design a ninja turtle in an ad the run the ad in the paper or where every you can distrubute them day cares will always take stuff like that because it gives the kids something to do there. the kids color them bring them or send them to the school you hang them around the school then pick a grand prize winner.. In our st louis schools we would give a season pass to six flags as the top pick but any thing can be good depending on where you live.. of course all the others win a free month of training... This will bring you many new students!!

Day Cares and offer free safety course for their kids. You need to design a short program to teach them ( if any body would like I have many programs I would be willing to share) and of course all the children have to sign a waiver form so you have all the contact information to market them after the course.

Buddy Week Offer a buddy week at your school. Each student who brings in a friend earns a special patch/t-shirt/anything to show school support. If you have a children class of 20 kids you can easily expect getting 10 new kids with this. I keeping in mind the BIG THINKING attitude give free uniforms to all the buddies... this makes them feel more apart of the class and you will normally enroll 7-8 of the buddies afterwards on a black belt program more than paying for all the uniforms you gave out.

There is just a few ideas... we have new programs to bring in students for every month of the year.. having a complete marketing plan is the most important thing to ensure you school grows and remains healthy!

Good Luck

Glenn

 

[Kempojujutsu]

The best form of advertisement is word of mouth. Many of my clients have been refered by someone else. I also use index cards as guess passes and have them at several different business. The passes are good for one week of classes. The more time you put into something the better it's going to run. For the last 15 years I have tried running a school as a part time job to my regualr job. I was putting in 60-70 hours a week and would have about 50 students tops during the peak season. Then most would quit during summer. I quit my day time job work about 35 hours a week have 3 locations now where I teach and have over 110 students. Most of my students are staying on during the summer, because I can offer daytime classes for them. Now baseball, swimming lessons and everything else don't effect my classes.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

Coloring contest where you design a ninja turtle in an ad the run the ad in the paper or where every you can distrubute them day cares.....This will bring you many new students!!

....and you end up being a day care yourself rather than a martial arts school.

 

[PEP-REP]

....and you end up being a day care yourself rather than a martial arts school.

LOL ah No you teach them martial arts.. LOL why would you say you become a day care? this is a great way to get new students in your academy..

Glenn

 

[ArmorOfGod]

LOL ah No you teach them martial arts.. LOL why would you say you become a day care? this is a great way to get new students in your academy..

Glenn

No, that was just me being a little sarcastic.

It is a good way to get students in the door, I just have personal issues with teaching very young kids. I prefer ages 10 and up, but have lowered it to ages 8 at my school.
I had a lady two days ago ask if her 3-year old could enroll. I told her that I teach asian culture, language, sparring, take-downs, and arm-breaks (I added the last part to watch her face). After that, I asked if he could tie his shoes yet. She said no, so I told her to ask me again when he is around 10.
When many parents are informed that martial arts involve learning how to fight, they get the dumbfounded look on their face. The public has been conditioned to see martial arts as another seasonal soccer/baseball kind of sport and not something where you are learning how to hurt people.
Now, from that, bump over to the Kung Fu Panda/ATA thread going on right now.

BTW, Pep-Pep's suggestons were good.

AoG

 

[PEP-REP]

No, that was just me being a little sarcastic.

It is a good way to get students in the door, I just have personal issues with teaching very young kids. I prefer ages 10 and up, but have lowered it to ages 8 at my school.
I had a lady two days ago ask if her 3-year old could enroll. I told her that I teach asian culture, language, sparring, take-downs, and arm-breaks (I added the last part to watch her face). After that, I asked if he could tie his shoes yet. She said no, so I told her to ask me again when he is around 10.
When many parents are informed that martial arts involve learning how to fight, they get the dumbfounded look on their face. The public has been conditioned to see martial arts as another seasonal soccer/baseball kind of sport and not something where you are learning how to hurt people.
Now, from that, bump over to the Kung Fu Panda/ATA thread going on right now.

BTW, Pep-Pep's suggestons were good.

AoG

hehehe I kinda thought maybe you were playing around lol .. most of the students you will attract with a coloring contest are in the younger age group, but I was suprised to see how many older 12-16 years old participated also..

at our schools we have 3-6 years old class 7-10 and a 11-13 group. each group we have different goals for the children.. whether it maybe just following directions and learning basic coordination skills to the older children where martial art skills become much more emphasized...

We stress a "life skills" program to our kids.. trying to give them a head start in school and other life activites. As they stay with us and get older we fine tune there martial art skills.

Glenn

 

[Lynne]

Have a Parent Appreciation Day. This is when parents get to appreciate the hard work their children do in class by attending class with their children.

I went to Buddy Week with my daughter and was hooked, have been doing Tang Soo Do for over a year now and don't plan to stop. Make sure parents are allowed to be the "buddy" or one of the buddies.

Our school has a Demo Team and perform at a variety of functions but I don't know how effective the Demo Team is for bringing in new students but they attract some very large crowds.