Ideals needed

[kicksindabank]

Hello everyone:

I need some idea on how to attract students to our academy. We have some general idea (self-defense class, tai chi, etc). This is good have proven successful, but I am looking for a little more.

We don't have a lot of adults in our school (there is me and another brown belt, and three white belts). I would like to have more. To the point we have seperate class just for adults.

I look forward to hearing from you!

 

[terryl965]

Cardio kickboxing always bring them in, offering a seperate adult class is always good especially for those not wanting to be around childern.
Hope this helps, Self defense only class.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I just opened a school up and will be watching this thread.
I am learning that things I assume would work don't.

Here is a MUST read: http://martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42320

From that, I found this:

Marketing Things That Tend To Not Work

Free local shopper newspaper ads tend to not work for us.

Free local sports newspapers tend to not work for us.

Newspaper ads tend to not work for us.

Radio ads tend to not work for us.

TV ads are too expensive (We get good TV exposure free-see above)

I have found this to be true so far. I have my ad running in five different newspapers and "shopper papers" and have not gotten a bite from that.

Also, on that above Martial Talk thread link, I found this:

Marketing Things That Tend To Work

Coupon Books: We are chronically in the coupon books that are sold, often by charities, in the community. We offer a coupon for one months free lessons. We generally generate between fifteen and twenty students per coupon book. Those student then convert as normal. The key is the bang we get for absolutely no buck. Coupon books are free. Great media-no cash spent.

Yellow Pages Ad: This is the only paid media our dojo does now. It does work. Most other paid media we have tried does not work for us. It is true, as evidenced in our studies the yellow pages are often the first place where students become aware of your dojo.

Storefront Signage: If at all possible, get a dojo sign up and visible for passing consumers. If your dojo is in a heavy-traffic area, such as a strip mall, or on a major street, advertise your specials and events in the windows for all passers by to see.

Free/Charity Self Defense Seminars: Work with a Food Bank and give a FREE self-defense course to the community (participants bring a food item). This has worked incredibly well for us. We have converted many students from our self-defense seminars. Also, get the local TV stations to cover it--we get literally thousands of dollars of free TV time by doing these kinds of activities. This is a win-win-win. The participants receive, for all consideration, a free self-defense seminar. The charity receives donations. The dojo receives new students and the associated dues.

Gi & First Month Special: This traditional, special approach has worked well for us. In Lincoln, Nebraska, we offer a gi and one-month's karate lessons for $39.95. Lightweight gis are really inexpensive. We generally advertise this with posters in our dojo window as well as flyers distributed throughout the community by our students.

Summer Specials: In May of each year, we offer 3 months of classes for youth at a fixed rate ($90 for the summer in our case. Regular dues are $45). This offers parents some summer activities for their children.

New Student Competition: We stage a competition within the dojo and points are given to students if they enlist a new student. Points vary and increase with the duration the new recruit stays. The competitions are generally run over a three-month period. The competition winner gets a new gi.

Buddy Nights: We have, every third Wednesday, what we call a Buddy Night. Students can bring a friend or relative to train at no cost. The Buddy Night training sessions are modified to accommodate brand new students.

Flyer Posting Party: Every three to six months, we have a posting party. We meet at the dojo and students are assigned certain areas of the community where they will post the general dojo flyer. We divide into groups and can canvas the city in a couple of hours. We meet back at the dojo and go to the home of the host (generally the Business Director) for a post-posting party. This activity increases the awareness for the dojo and requires no budget (the flyers are donated.

Benefit Tournament: Twice every year we stage a benefit tournament. Over the years, we have worked with the Special Olympics, the ShrinersHospital Fund, Santa Cop, and a number of other charities. A pre-determined percent of the net profits of the tournament are donated to the charity. We generally gross about $3,000-$4,000 from the event with costs of facilities and trophies being about $1,000. Sometimes the facility is even donated. We then split the gross profits with the charity. We generally get about $2,000 and the charity gets the same. EVERYONE WINS!

Seminars: We stage seminars at our dojo for the general martial arts community. This generates extra revenue to augment dues. The seminars tend to be related to the martial arts, but are not conflictive with regard to Ryu ha or styles. For example, we have had the following types of seminars and had good attendance from other dojo and styles: Tea Ceremony / T'ai Chi / Yoga / Chi Gong / Neurology Seminar (conducted by a dojo member who is also a neurosurgeon).

Youth Lock-ins: For youth members of the dojo we stage overnights or lock-ins. We try to stage these events around times when parents have trouble finding baby sitters-Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, or around school holidays. Students are encouraged to bring friends and relatives. This activity generates additional revenue and recruits new students.

Demonstrations: We conduct numerous demonstrations, and these tend to generate interest in the dojo (be sure to have flyers to give interested people at the demonstration). Places to do demonstrations are wide and varied. For example, each year we have a half-time demonstration at a StateUniversity basketball game. We also do a demonstration at the State Fair. We have done demonstrations at Asian Cultural Festivals at the University. Special retail events also offer a demonstration opportunity. Demonstrations do generate interest and you must be armed with dojo information in order to capitalize, so to speak, on the opportunity.

That was a very helpful article to me and I even saved a copy into my hard drive. There may be something there for you.

I did get some students on one odd way though: I went to http://groups.yahoo.com and found some home schooling groups in my area. I posted my notice there at those Yahoo groups and got four students that way. Four students is great seeing it was a free way to get word out.

AoG

 

[The Kidd]

If you are looking to get more adults then the best way is thru their children, we get more adults because their kids begin taking and they want to come as a family. Have a family discount with the first 2 people paying the rest of the family is free.

 

[ShinKen]

Create gift cards that offer a free month and a free uniform. Give them out to your current students to give to friends and family and try to use the "New Years Resulution" line. Advertize them as "Free month of Karate for children or Free month of self-defese classes for Adults". Most adults don't understand what the martial arts really are. They usally don't understand that self-defense doesn't exist alone. It always comes from some type of martial art. I had a girl come in a few years ago. She wanted to take a self-defense course. I started to talk about our martial arts program and she said she wasn't interested in that and started to leave. I then told her she can do just the self-defese course if she wants and I gave her the same class times as our karate. She is now a black belt. She came in, not knowing the truth because of so many mis-leading programs and would have left, never benefitting from training the last several years.

We give them out as stocking stuffers around Christmas, but it is never too late to get new students.

The other question is this: are you haveing a hard time getting them to sign up, or a hard time keeping them after they did a trial?

 

[Cryozombie]

I had a girl come in a few years ago. She wanted to take a self-defense course. I started to talk about our martial arts program and she said she wasn't interested in that and started to leave. I then told her she can do just the self-defese course if she wants and I gave her the same class times as our karate. She is now a black belt.

So you lied to her to get a student. I see what kind of man you really are now. Its no wonder your wife follows you to class now... its a trust thing, eh?

 

[kicksindabank]

The other question is this: are you haveing a hard time getting them to sign up, or a hard time keeping them after they did a trial?01-05-2007 09:30 AM

It is a mixture of both. So many the adults in our area give the excuse of "too busy", "That is more for kids, than adults" or my personal favorite, "I am not old for that."

When they do come in, they only stay for so long and then they leave. I think, most have the thoughts of what they see on TV is how a true martial art is done. So when, they get into journey of the art and see the real picture, they want to quit.

It is so dishearting...

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I have my ad running in one weekly "shopper" paper for 10 weeks now, another weekly for 7 weeks, and one daily for a few times. I learned the hard way what the article I linked to said, and that was newspapers and shopper papers don't work.

One odd thing I found that worked is Yahoo! groups. I found some local home schooling Yahoo! groups and posted my class info there (which was free) and immediately got two new students with two more coming next week. That link is http://groups.yahoo.com Search for your city and see if any sports or home schooling groups in your area comes up. To post, you only need a Yahoo! user name.

Also, I put 3 months of classes on eBay for a very low rate and no one bid on it, but later got a phone call from someone who saw the auction and wanted details, so in a way it worked. That auction got 30 views and I had the city name put in the title, so it did get a little bit of notice. If that family that called me joins, it was worth the one dollar listing fee.

One thing I haven't tried yet, but am about to is to open a Myspace Page for my school. That would get hundreds of hits from people in your zipcode, so it may be worth a shot.

AoG