Teaching the Martial Arts

[BryceSPQR]

Hey everyone!

Hope all is going well. If you are on the east coast today, stay inside! Other than that I have an odd question/ request.

I would like to give out a few free copies of the ebook I just published. No strings or information needed, just message me and I will send you the kindle file. Here is the catch, I would like you to write a honest (hopefully awesome!) review for me!

It has proven kind of difficult to get experienced martial artists to review it. My friends and family have done ok, but I need some experienced eyes on it.

This book is essentially a beginners guide to creating small martial arts clubs that have scaling potential. It is only 60ish pages. I touch how to get students, how to keep students, and where to teach them. among many other things. You can check it out at the link here, or message me and I will send you the free copy.

http://amzn.to/1SE6uS2

www.northernshotokan.com

I wasn't 100% sure where to put this, and I figured since it is free I was ok. I legitimately need some reviews on this book!

Thanks,
Bryce

edit: Forgot to mention, you can also rent it for free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Let me know if you reviewed and what you thought!

 

[Paul_D]

Hey everyone!

Hope all is going well. If you are on the east coast today, stay inside! !

The east coast of what? The web is "world wide" you might want to narrow it down a bit ;-)

 

[BryceSPQR]

The east coast of what? The web is "world wide" you might want to narrow it down a bit ;-)

Excellent point! The east coast of the US!

 

[Andrew Green]

First question, "
He currently works as a program director for an after school program. "

Have you started and / or coached others through growing financially successful schools? Are connected with any of the other consulting groups?

 

[BryceSPQR]

First question, "
He currently works as a program director for an after school program. "

Have you started and / or coached others through growing financially successful schools? Are connected with any of the other consulting groups?

Yes, I have helped several instructors create, develop, and maintain their own financially successful clubs/schools. Personally, I have started several successful clubs/classes. Plus one or two that weren't succesful at all!

No, I am not connected with any consultant group. The books I write are completely independent from any organization.

 

[Andrew Green]

So I guess the obvious question is why are you working as a program director instead of managing your schools?

 

[BryceSPQR]

So I guess the obvious question is why are you working as a program director instead of managing your schools?

An excellent question. The after-school program I am directing is part of a martial arts school I work with. Tomorrow's Leading Knights with the Hwa Rang Do Academy. I will stress that my position as program director is very seperate from my personal martial arts.

However, the position involved a relocation. I am currently in the process of rebuilding my martial arta classes.

 

[Andrew Green]

So you did have a martial arts school that supported you financially without another job and with staff and choose to move?

 

[BryceSPQR]

So you did have a martial arts school that supported you financially without another job and with staff and choose to move?

I supported myself through college by maintaining a class of about 20ish adults and 25+ kids. After graduating I picked up a part time job but continued teaching for several years. There were some other shorter classes in there too, as well as some collaborations with other organizations that I am not going to elaborate on here. I didn't have staff. Volunteers for events, but no paid staff. The book is about starting classes that are "part time" or "hobbies" in nature, which is something I have a lot of experience in.

I moved for a chance to work with a larger facility in addition to working in a non-profit environment.

 

[Andrew Green]

I supported myself through college by maintaining a class of about 20ish adults and 25+ kids. After graduating I picked up a part time job but continued teaching for several years. There were some other shorter classes in there too, as well as some collaborations with other organizations that I am not going to elaborate on here. I didn't have staff. Volunteers for events, but no paid staff. The book is about starting classes that are "part time" or "hobbies" in nature, which is something I have a lot of experience in.

I moved for a chance to work with a larger facility in addition to working in a non-profit environment.

So here is why I suspect you are having trouble, your book has "clubs that make money" in it's title. A club of 45 total members is not making any money. You've never had staff, never had this as a full time position, etc. Building a club to 50 members is something pretty much anyone will achieve if they keep the doors open a little while and put any effort into it.

You've really never done what the title of your book suggests you are teaching people to do.

So why should someone read your book as oppose to someone with a bit of a track record for being able to build financially successful schools? Or a record of being able to sign up 45 students in a month consistently at a location instead of hitting that as a total?

If it's a book about having a little part time side gig of running a club, cool. But that's not what your title suggests.

 

[BryceSPQR]

So here is why I suspect you are having trouble, your book has "clubs that make money" in it's title. A club of 45 total members is not making any money. You've never had staff, never had this as a full time position, etc. Building a club to 50 members is something pretty much anyone will achieve if they keep the doors open a little while and put any effort into it.

You've really never done what the title of your book suggests you are teaching people to do.

So why should someone read your book as oppose to someone with a bit of a track record for being able to build financially successful schools? Or a record of being able to sign up 45 students in a month consistently at a location instead of hitting that as a total?

If it's a book about having a little part time side gig of running a club, cool. But that's not what your title suggests.

Depending on the expense of the facility you are using and the value of your time, 45 members can make a lot of money. I was able to secure a location that cost very little money on a monthly basis. This enabled me to earn and save a lot of money through teaching martial arts alone.

I don't feel that the title is misleading, but luckily, Amazon lets me change the title whenever. If readers consistently feel that it is misleading, I will consider other titles. The target audience for this book is people who have just started out on their teaching path. I feel that people doing it on the "side" will benefit more from this particular book, but "full timers" will also benefit from my mistakes an successes.

I feel that the title is accurate, and that this book will genuinely help martial artists at any stage of their instructing career.

However, I appreciate the input.

 

[hoshin1600]

I would rather not grill the guy on his background but instead judge the book on its own value. I haven't read it yet but as someone who has owned schools and many other small business I want to.

 

[Andrew Green]

I would rather not grill the guy on his background but instead judge the book on its own value. I haven't read it yet but as someone who has owned schools and many other small business I want to.

More trying to get an idea what the book is about. There are a lot of consultants in our industry that haven't really done what they are trying to teach, or haven't done it in years. I'd also question a book about running long distances if I was training for a marathon and thought the author had never done more then a 5km.

If someone writes a book about running a school, I'd like to know what sort of school they actually run, have run, and are trying to teach others to run.

A school of 45 has a very different set of issues then a school of 150, which is different then 300, and different from running multiple schools.

 

[Andrew Green]

Anyways, my suggestion right now is to give people a reason to want to read your book. It largely lacks that in the way it is presented.

If you can show people how to make a full time salary teaching part time with less then 50 students, sell that. People will want that. Make a bold promise and be able to deliver. A generic "How to run a business" book doesn't offer that.

Consider your competition: Mike Massie "Small dojo; big profits" there are some pretty appealing promises in his marketing, and he seems able to back them up. It's a much larger business model then you got as well by the sounds of it.

Or Frank Silverman's book. He's owns 12 schools, Executive Director of MAIA... credentials alone make that book interesting enough to buy.

Then there is the Team Parella stuff, where he's got multiple schools grossing 100k+ / month and runs a successful franchise and gets amazing reviews from his consulting clients (mostly at least).

Or Brannon Beliso, School grosses over a million, grew his second to a couple hundred students within months... that's intriguing as to how.

If you can market a < 50 members model that can bring in full time income, market that. Focus on people that want that. It is a model with problem, regardless of income, so make sure you address those. Lack of staff means if you go the school goes for one. With a one man show you are very much a personality business. And in all honesty a lot of people wouldn't call that a "business" as much as being self-employed. Which is fine, that's what some people want.

It's just like anything else, if you want people to read your book you need to give them a reason why they should. Maybe you have that, but it's not clear, at least to me, what that reason is.

 

[Andrew Green]

It has proven kind of difficult to get experienced martial artists to review it. My friends and family have done ok, but I need some experienced eyes on it.

Just to expand a little on what I mean, I think this line tells the problem.

If a school is having a hard time getting enough students you need to figure out where the problem is before you can fix it. Are they signing up a lot but losing them quick? Are they getting a lot of inquiries but not closing the sale? Are they just not getting enough inquiries?

You're looking for reviews, but it sounds like the first problem is getting people to read it. Best sales system in the world won't work if you can't get people in the door. If you got people reading it and still not wanting to leave a review that is a different problem.

Why should someone read your book? I think you want to say it's because you can help them create a very small club that can be run part time and still bring in a good amount of cash... but you haven't said that yet

 

[hoshin1600]

to add to the list of good MA books.
Success is Waiting: The Martial Arts School Owner's Guide to Teaching, Business, and Life: Buzz Durkin: 9780996575805: Amazon.com: Books
Buzz is the real deal. he is a 9th degree black belt in Okinawan Uechi ryu karate.

 

[BryceSPQR]

Just to expand a little on what I mean, I think this line tells the problem.

If a school is having a hard time getting enough students you need to figure out where the problem is before you can fix it. Are they signing up a lot but losing them quick? Are they getting a lot of inquiries but not closing the sale? Are they just not getting enough inquiries?

You're looking for reviews, but it sounds like the first problem is getting people to read it. Best sales system in the world won't work if you can't get people in the door. If you got people reading it and still not wanting to leave a review that is a different problem.

Why should someone read your book? I think you want to say it's because you can help them create a very small club that can be run part time and still bring in a good amount of cash... but you haven't said that yet

I would like to point out that the book has only been out about 4 days. Which is more so why I haven't had a lot of people review it yet. The martial artists I know in person are in the process of reading/reviewing it right now.

I like that last bit though. Mind if I use that?

Also, I will have to check out that book. Thanks!

 

[WaterGal]

Consider your competition: Mike Massie "Small dojo; big profits" there are some pretty appealing promises in his marketing, and he seems able to back them up. It's a much larger business model then you got as well by the sounds of it.

I have this book, and it had some good ideas but was mostly an ad for Massie's business consultant business. It was only like maybe $10, so I didn't feel like entirely I'd wasted my money reading it, but the whole book can basically be boiled down to "get your students to pay you more by offering them more products and services".

 

[WaterGal]

Depending on the expense of the facility you are using and the value of your time, 45 members can make a lot of money. I was able to secure a location that cost very little money on a monthly basis. This enabled me to earn and save a lot of money through teaching martial arts alone.

I think if you can emphasize this, you've got a good idea there. A lot of business books are about how to start a business you can sell and get rich, rather than how to start a small venture that you can use to make a grand or two a month extra on the side.

 

[BryceSPQR]

I think if you can emphasize this, you've got a good idea there. A lot of business books are about how to start a business you can sell and get rich, rather than how to start a small venture that you can use to make a grand or two a month extra on the side.

I like this idea a lot. For future revisions I'm going to try and work this it. At the end of the day, this book is for smaller scale schools and start ups. I do achknowledge larger schools and offer advice and experience there as well.

The thing is this. I tried to create a book that helps people teach the martial arts. Nothing more, nothing less. I am happy with what I wrote. I am not trying to get rich, and I am not concerned with competition. Im excited to share my experience to help others!

I truly appreciate every ones input