Yellowpages and Fun Book Do they work?

[TallAdam85]

I recently opened my own martial arts school now with in the first month I have been contacted by 3 different phone book companies and a few different companys to do some adds. Currently doing a add in one of the phone compaines and the local paper but I was wondering do the phone books ad work? Do you get alot of people to join from seeing your add? If so what makes yours different from the rest? Me I never looked in the phone book for a karate school.
but thats just me

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I recently opened my own martial arts school now with in the first month I have been contacted by 3 different phone book companies and a few different companys to do some adds. Currently doing a add in one of the phone compaines and the local paper but I was wondering do the phone books ad work? Do you get alot of people to join from seeing your add? If so what makes yours different from the rest? Me I never looked in the phone book for a karate school.
but thats just me

Yes they work okay. Still I would say that a good website is ten times better and cheaper too.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

http://martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42320
Read the first posting in that thread regarding advertising.
Then, read the whole article about ten times. It is excellent and very relevant to you right now.

AoG

 

[JTKenpo]

At this point getting your name "out there" is as critical as being open when you say you will be open. Advertising is a necessary evil (it hurts the pocket), but people won't know you are there just because you open the doors. I placed only a line listing in both the ylw pgs and ylw book. Cost effective in the beginning stage. People tend to use the ylw pgs, I have found, to call around and see what is out there. Sometimes we as Black Belts loose sight of the fact that not everyone knows the difference between Kenpo and TKD or a spinning back kick and an aerial. The beginner student and or their mom or dad may have taken a few classes when they were kids but most people are only exposed to what they see on TV. I started to drift off point, sorry. Anyway in the beginning it is crucial to get your name out there as much as possible. If you can't spend the cash on advertising make sure you spend the time networking, passing out flyers, and leave your business card everywhere you can. Remember this too, if there were no successful martial arts studios out there most of us wouldn't know the difference between martial art a and martial art b either.

JT

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I agree with JTKempo. It is about putting your name out there, but I am proving it can be done for free. It takes a lot of luck and creativity, but start calling libraries and churches to set up free seminars. Call the newspapers to tell them about those events. They will list them and somtimes cover them for stories. Start writing self-defense columns for your local newspapers. You won't get paid, but you will get your name out. Put your school info in every free circular you can find at every gas station and grocery store. Post fliers at local parks with free month "ripoffs" at the bottom. Make a Myspace page and link to every local business and library's Myspace page (that has helped me immensely). Once you get several students, walk in every local parade during the holidays. Go to orientaltrading.com and buy some cheap pencils with your website or school name on it and make sure those pencils get to kids at school.
Also, post any other ideas you come up like those for us to use.
;-)

AoG

 

[Xue Sheng]

Yes they work okay. Still I would say that a good website is ten times better and cheaper too.

Agreed.

But for my wife's business we use both. However in the Yellopages we now go for a cheaper add that pretty much is name, phone number and webpage address.

Not everyone uses the web, most do but not all. Some use both and some use only one or the other.

EDIT


Note: Be very careful with Yellow Pages. Make sure they are for YOUR area. We got nailed in the beginning by a notice that was from 2 Legitimate Yellow Pages that said we needed fill out the attached form and send it back or her add would not run. My wife, not being form the US sent both forms back, this was about 3 years ago. One was from Pennsylvania which I called and they cancelled the ad. The other was form Texas and they never answered the phone or returned calls they just sent us a Bill for about $200. We finally got them to answer after we got a Lawyer who sent them a letter. The result was it was going to cost us more it court than it was going to cost to pay them but at least they got a second letter from our lawyer with attached check that said to never contact us again and we want proof the add exists or we will pursue this in court. So far we have heard nothing from them since and just last month we got a yellow page book from them. Apparently this Texas group is famous for this type of shoddy business practice

For my wife’s business in NY it does us no good to run any add in any Yellow Pages in Pennsylvania or Texas.

 

[JTKenpo]

One of the best free for me and them programs I ever ran was a four week (one 30 minute session per week) trial at local daycares for kids 6 and above. After the 4 weeks I handed out certificates that said they participated and all the info they could carry about my school along with another free trial at the school. I did this for the first three years at 2-4 different daycares....I filled my kids classes with this program. I know have green and brown belts still here from that very program.

JT

 

[ArmorOfGod]

One of the best free for me and them programs I ever ran was a four week (one 30 minute session per week) trial at local daycares for kids 6 and above. After the 4 weeks I handed out certificates that said they participated and all the info they could carry about my school along with another free trial at the school. I did this for the first three years at 2-4 different daycares....I filled my kids classes with this program. I know have green and brown belts still here from that very program.

JT

That is an excellent idea!

AoG

 

[Perpetual White Belt]

For me the Yellow Pages worked fantastically. Last year I did one directory, but this year I'm trying three to see if that increases my visibility. Nice thing is that with all of the competition between the 3 directories I've gotten a ton of discounts on the ads!

 

[Jade Tigress]

As has already been stated, people have to know you're there to check the school out. I think a combination of a simple yellow page ad with a website listed is the best option.

 

[terryl965]

Word of mouth and some very short demo's at Librarys, daycare and senior centers. Make sure your local paper comes and does a story great advertising.