Patrick

Welcome aboard, Christine. Glad to have you. Patrick

Good idea, neoravencroft. Online community is the focus of my work. I am an online publisher and manage communities (like this one). Drawing from my experience, I write books, speak for companies, conferences and universities and do some consulting, occasionally. Patrick

Thank you for the kind words, LLLEARNER, Bob, catlike, Bulltahr, John, MatsuiShinshii and Brian. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Patrick

Congrats on the second stripe! Patrick

Hello and welcome, Marlon Bangkil. Small aside, I just wanted to mention that many of our members are sirs, but many are not. No big deal, but just something to keep in mind for the future. Thanks, Patrick

Please read: http://www.karateforums.com/april-fool-s-about-patrick-s-dojo-vt50523.html Thanks, Patrick

Hey all, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com! Earlier today, in honor of April Fool's Day, we announced that I was launching my own all-digital martial arts instruction service, Patrick's Dojo. Through Patrick's Dojo, I would teach you the martial arts, just from what I have gathered here, reading posts on KarateForums.com and observing an alleged over 700 martial arts. Check out the website for Patrick's Dojo: http://www.karateforums.com/dojo/ You might say the website was just a little tongue-in-cheek, promising "the most complete, and most lethal, system ever created." With a process described as "quality, value, convenience" (the slogan for television shopping network QVC), worthy students would submit a two page paper and $199.98 (and $147.98) to be considered. Then I'd train them through a series of videos. And after a separate testing fee, they would potentially earn their rank - which would be reflected on KarateForums.com. This joke spawned out of an idea from Danielle (DWx) with Devin (Lupin1) providing some excellent copy for the website and JR suggesting some ideas, too, with support from the staff as a whole. Thank you to all of them. I found it funny in a couple of ways. First, obviously, the scammy-sounding nature of the page, where it is a little out there, but also kind of believable, too. It's not so much a critique of digital instruction, which I know some of us feel can offer value, but just of those who seek to separate a person from their money. The other side of it is that, if you've been here very long, you probably know that. I think this has led to some people to question my motives for running this community, even 16 years in, and the move to a cash grab totally plays into those suspicions. The idea of me teaching the martial arts is really absurd. I hope that you had a great day and that this fake service gave you a chuckle. Thank you for your patience. Patrick

That's so great, LLLEARNER. Congrats. Patrick

Update: This was an April Fool's joke. Please see: http://www.karateforums.com/april-fool-s-about-patrick-s-dojo-vt50523.html Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. I am proud to announce Patrick's Dojo, a new all-digital martial arts instruction service, bringing together my nearly 16 years of managing this community. Having observed more than 700 different martial arts, I have had the ideal vantage point to see what works, and what doesn't, and that is the knowledge that I have used to develop a series of intensive training videos that will broaden your ability as a martial artist. For all of the details, and to sign up to receive more information, please visit: http://patricksdojo.com Patrick's Dojo is about Quality, Value and Convenience. Instruction you can trust, at a price you can afford, that fits into your life. I am so excited to get to work and hope you'll allow me to help you grow as a martial artist. Thank you for reading. Sincerely, Patrick

Thank you, Safroot. That is very kind of you. I am grateful to have the group of people that I do on staff. And, again, I am really thankful for the outstanding contributions that you have made here. The way that you treat others is very much appreciated. Patrick

Good news, tubby!

I know tallgeese is watching. Who else?

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. This month, we are announcing a change to the program. From the inception of the Member of the Month honor, in July of 2004, we have only allowed each member to be honored once. Previous recipients were not eligible to be selected again. But this month, after 154 different members have been honored, we are opening the program up to those members who have not been honored within the previous 24 months. Our honoree for March, the first member to ever be selected as the Member of the Month two times, is... Safroot. Congratulations! Thank you for the amazing contributions that you have made to our community over the years. Sincerely, Patrick

Happy birthday, Nidan Melbourne. As you are in the future, I hope that you had a wonderful day. Thank you for all of the contributions that you have made here. Patrick

Hey Dani_001, Ah, yeah. Forgot about that. Hmm. You might be out of luck for a while. I shot Machinima a message on Facebook, perhaps they will be able to provide some info! Patrick

Happy birthday to Alex (tallgeese)! Thank you for all of the amazing contributions that you have made here over the years. Patrick

Hey Dani_001, You can watch the new series here: https://www.go90.com/profiles/va_408e7ce6f25c4338a113d64f514e23da Patrick

That's really nice, twistkick kid. Congrats. Patrick

Hey Ryan. Welcome to KF. Glad to have you! Patrick

My pleasure, MatsuiShinshii. Sorry for the delay in getting back here. I'm glad it was helpful. Thank you for the kind words. Thanks, Patrick

My pleasure. Let us know what you end up doing! Patrick

Hey Karate_John, Sounds like fun! My girlfriend, Kara, just got back from there! Here's what she said: She sent me a lot of pictures during the trip and it looked really great. Have fun! Patrick

If you want people to learn about your school, you should have a website. It's really that simple. If the above statement is true, I don't know if there are any good arguments against it. There are arguments of "I don't want to" or "I don't like it" or "we've been alright so far," but those aren't really arguments against having one. They're arguments against change, against understanding how other people find information and against making an effort or time. Framing it as a "need" allows people to feel defensive and/or dismiss it. Well, no, of course I don't need it, my martial arts style is legitimate, and we have a long tradition - word will spread! Or I'm already spending $X on X, so why do one more thing? Who Uses the Internet? It doesn't matter who you cater to, what age they are, where they are from, what their income level is, however you might segment potential customers, when people want to learn about you, a substantial portion of any demographic is going to Google and entering your name. They'll visit your dojo, shake your hand, go back home and Google you. It's not even just this generation. Pew Research conducted a study on how online U.S. adults use social media, in the spring of 2016. This is what percentage used Facebook a little under 1 year ago: All adults: 79% Sex Men: 75% Women: 83% Age 18-29: 88% 30-49: 84% 50-64: 72% 65+: 62% Education High school degree or less: 77% Some college: 82% College+: 79% Salary Less than $30k/year: 84% $30k-$49,999: 80% $50k-$74,999: 75% $75k+: 77% Area of Residence Urban: 81% Suburban: 77% Rural: 81% Also, since these are percentages of U.S. adults online, it is worth noting that, as of last fall, 87% of U.S. adults are online. And adoption is going up, not down. 48% of U.S. adults weren't online in 2000. In 16 years, it's down to 13%. Small Steps At the minimum, I'd suggest having a website and a Facebook page, even if they are bare bones. You should also claim and customize your Google My Business listing and your Yelp profile. There are a lot of things you can do, but don't worry about anything else. Don't worry about Twitter, YouTube, Instagram or anything else you may have heard of. Not yet. Again, these are small steps, which will make the time commitment minimal. Google My Business Just to briefly explain what this is and why it matters, take a look at this Google search for the name of tallgeese/Alex's school: https://www.google.com/search?q=Alpha+BJJ&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 See the section with the logo, phone number, etc.? That's what Google My Business controls. Add your hours, address, nice photos, a link to your website, etc. It'll take you a couple of hours. It's the first thing people see! Which is why it is important. (Also, when you view this search, you can also take a note to see how Alex has done good work. When you search Alpha BJJ, the first link is his website. The second link is his Facebook. The third is Yelp, followed by a local media story about the school opening, then his YouTube. It's all him! People who are deciding whether or not to visit his school go here, they search and they find it fast. It's a good impression.) Yelp and Online Reviews A word on Yelp: You will hear small business owners complain about it. You might even hear stories of business owners who "fought back" and really let those Yelp reviewers have it. Ignore and resist these stories with all of your strength. Simple truth: Yelp, and similar sites, exist. The only question is: Will you use them to help or hurt you? Help: As you have satisfied customers, encourage them to review you on Yelp, Facebook and/or Google (wherever they want) in a no pressure way. "I am so glad that you enjoyed class! No pressure, and I totally understand if you are too busy, but if you'd be willing to share your experience on Yelp or Facebook, it would mean so much to us." And leave it there. When negative reviews are posted, reply with the understanding that you are not just responding to that one person, who may or may not be reasonable, you are responding to EVERY PERSON who will ever read that review, and how they see you treat that unruly customer is how they think you will treat them. If you are nasty to that customer, they think you will be nasty to them. Hurt: Ignore these sites, tell yourself they don't matter. Complain about them to current and potential customers. Argue with negative reviews and really "put them in your place." All of these are bad moves that while temporarily satisfying, undermine your integrity and the trust people have in you, over the long term. Cost Time is your main investment. Setting up Facebook. Yelp and Google My Business is a matter of hours total, not days. Monitoring them, answering questions and posting the odd update or photo is something you can do a few days a week, taking up probably 30 minutes to 2 hours of your time each week. Creating the website can be a matter of hours, too. Updating it as needed. Start simple. Your location, nice photos, your philosophy, a list of what you offer, bios of your instructors, etc. That's all stuff you only need to update as needed, not regularly. Monetarily, the cost isn't prohibitive. Facebook, Yelp and Google My Business are all free. If you do the website yourself, you should register a domain name and pay for hosting. You are likely looking at $4 to $16 a month. Worst case scenario, you can use something like Wix, Squarespace or WordPress.com to make a website and it'll look decent. You can drag and drop elements around, and they make it pretty easy for you. If you feel totally out of your element, you can just ask an instructor or friend, who is more comfortable with it, to help you. But you can probably do it if you want to. A lot of great points have been made on this thread, so I'm just adding to those. Lupin1, Kusotare, ashworth, bushido_man96, JR 137 and Bulltahr all made posts that resonated with me. Hope this helps. Patrick

Thanks for sharing this with us! Keep going. I'll be thinking good thoughts. Patrick

Welcome to KF, syed1. Glad to have you. When did you first start taking a martial art? Patrick