HELP: Looking for tips from other instructors from Great Britain (If possible)!

[GhostDog]

Hello,

I'm hoping that the community on here will be able to help me out.

I'll give you a little bit of background information, I'm an ITF instructor from the north of England and I'm looking for tips on advertisement for my club, I'd like to know what has worked for other people on here.

I used to teach at a boarding school and I was quite fortunate as many of my students came from there, however the school has now closed after going bankrupt.

As such I'm now in a couple of new halls and one in a new area and I'm looking at recruitment methods.

I've found leafleting to be nigh on pointless, I've leafleted huge swathes of the local area with hardly any take up.

What I have found to be effective is advertising on local Facebook groups, nearly all of my students over the past year since we left the school have been from Facebook however I don't want to rely on it solely.

Any tips on what has worked for you in the past etc would be greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping to go full time by the end of the year as it's something I love doing and to be able to get out of the rat race would be life changing.

Warm regards,

Mark.

 

[marques]

I'm not an instructor from Great Britain, but usually I start searching in sites like that: dojos.co.uk Or just Google.
Many years ago I used flyers in social places and mouth-to-mouth.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Not from the UK either but in the states a web presence helps and I would go for more than just facebook

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Do you have a website for your school? The first thing I do when looking for schools in a given area is to check Google.

 

[Jenna]

Hello,

I'm hoping that the community on here will be able to help me out.

I'll give you a little bit of background information, I'm an ITF instructor from the north of England and I'm looking for tips on advertisement for my club, I'd like to know what has worked for other people on here.

I used to teach at a boarding school and I was quite fortunate as many of my students came from there, however the school has now closed after going bankrupt.

As such I'm now in a couple of new halls and one in a new area and I'm looking at recruitment methods.

I've found leafleting to be nigh on pointless, I've leafleted huge swathes of the local area with hardly any take up.

What I have found to be effective is advertising on local Facebook groups, nearly all of my students over the past year since we left the school have been from Facebook however I don't want to rely on it solely.

Any tips on what has worked for you in the past etc would be greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping to go full time by the end of the year as it's something I love doing and to be able to get out of the rat race would be life changing.

Warm regards,

Mark.

Mark, that sounds tough that the hit rate has been low.. I do not want to question what you have done, the one time we (old boxing club) tried that around NW1 we were practically inundated with kids and youth.. I am wondering what you have exactly on your flyers and is it attractive for the potential punters? Best of luck though! I am sure it is a matter some times of pure perseverance, all best wishes Jxxxxx

 

[Tez3]

Does where you live have those free advertising newspapers and little 'magazines'? These cost a little to advertise in but as they are delivered to homes it's worth it. The newspapers are commercially run but the little booklet/magazines are usually run by the local Chamber of Commerce who are also a good source of help and advice.
Where are you oop north? I'm in North Yorkshire.

 

[Jaeimseu]

I used to make arrangements with local schools to have flyers distributed. I usually got a nice response. The important thing is tracking where your responses come from so you can target more effectively on future runs.

 

[andyjeffries]

I am an instructor from Great Britain. I agree with the others, have a decent website (you can decide for yourself if mine is, but I know it's been successful for us - Stevenage Taekwondo - Olympic Sport and Korean Martial Art of Self-defence in Herts and talk to local schools, leisure centres/gyms, scout halls about putting some leaflets or a poster up.

Netmums.co.uk has also been successful for us (free to put an advert on there).

We have a Facebook group, but it's private for members (and friends of the club) only rather than used to advertise to a potential market.

What I would say is to be careful/conscious of the message your current adverts are putting across. For example, our current poster has my son in a sparring competition as the main image (so it shows they wear padding - it's safe - and it's not all burly adults kicking each other violently). The text highlights the benefits (fun, fitness, self-defence, sport) and the fact that we have a friendly, family atmosphere.

That may not be the right message for you, but try to think how what you are putting on posters may be seen by potential customers. If you want to post it on here or PM it to me, I'm happy to give you my thoughts.

Not everyone has great design skills (I'm not a great designer, but I feel I'm "OK"), but on fiverr.com I'm sure you could get someone to do you a cheap advert that would be better than most people only using Word could do... For example here's one such example that seems to be a good designer, but only charges a small amount.

 

[GhostDog]

I am an instructor from Great Britain. I agree with the others, have a decent website (you can decide for yourself if mine is, but I know it's been successful for us - Stevenage Taekwondo - Olympic Sport and Korean Martial Art of Self-defence in Herts and talk to local schools, leisure centres/gyms, scout halls about putting some leaflets or a poster up.

Netmums.co.uk has also been successful for us (free to put an advert on there).

We have a Facebook group, but it's private for members (and friends of the club) only rather than used to advertise to a potential market.

Have you managed to get much uptake from netmums? I did list us on their previously but I don't think it was an 'advert' as such?

Does where you live have those free advertising newspapers and little 'magazines'? These cost a little to advertise in but as they are delivered to homes it's worth it. The newspapers are commercially run but the little booklet/magazines are usually run by the local Chamber of Commerce who are also a good source of help and advice.
Where are you oop north? I'm in North Yorkshire.

I think there is something similar in my area (Skipton/Keighley) so I'll certainly have a look to see if I can find something out, that sounds like a really good idea thank you!

If you don't mind me asking, in what way did the local chamber of commerce help? Having had a quick look online it looks like the one that covers us is based in Leeds?

My other question is in terms of handing leaflets out in schools, is there an etiquette to this, I'd feel a little awkward myself going into the school reception and just handing over a load of leaflets - I'm not talking it down I'm just curious as to how supportive schools are?

Another question I've got is how often people get adults through the door? Children aren't a problem but the main thing I find with a lot of adults (especially young men) is all people are interested in is cage fighting etc. as it's the Kung Fu/Karate/Taekwondo of our age so to speak?

Thank you again to everyone that has responded I really appreciate it!

 

[GhostDog]

Do you have a website for your school? The first thing I do when looking for schools in a given area is to check Google.

Sorry forgot to mention, yes we do have a website (though it's currently being updated this month so it's off at the moment)

 

[Tez3]

lot of adults (especially young men) is all people are interested in is cage fighting etc.

It's not so much that it's the fashion at the moment but that you live in a 'golden triangle' of very good MMA gyms and fight promotions. I started my MMA reffing in Leeds, there's also some very good shows around the whole area including into Manchester so I wouldn't take it as being anything anti TKD just that there's a strong MMA base there, doesn't mean you can't get students though. You are only about an hour away from me, we don't have anyone ( other than the Gurkhas and they are closed to civilians) who teaches TKD very close, people travel up to Darlington and Middlesborough etc to train so widening your area for publicity to cover a larger area could help. People who live in the villages etc are used to travelling for any hobby/sport they want to do.
The Chamber of Commerce can help with ideas to publicise and spread word of your school, they are often the ones who publish directories of business, sports clubs etc.

 

[GhostDog]

You've got a good point about the villages I'll have a look into that.

And I see your point about the MMA gyms, one club rents a part of my instructors gym off of him and they draw in a lot of people.

Thanks again.

 

[Tez3]

Local newspapers are very useful too, our local Cheer Academy gets the guys from the Northern Echo along after a comp to show off trophies etc, the paper gets a good picture and article, the Cheer Academy gets their contact information in. The papers love this sort of local news as it increases sales for them.