Patrick

Give that link another try. There is nothing harmful there. Thanks Bob.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone. No shortage of solid ideas! The reason that your posts on your personal page may receive more interest than your posts on your business page has everything to do with how organic reach works on Facebook. It is much easier for you to post something on your personal page and have it reach your Facebook friends than it is for you to post something on your business page and have it reach people who have liked that page. The easy way to overcome this is to pay Facebook for advertising. Which, if you do your homework, can be a good idea. Facebook has so much data, you can easily target an ad to whatever demographic you want (people who like karate in Secaucus, NJ, for example). The harder way to grow organic reach is by posting content that people engage with (comment, like or share). The more someone does that, the more likely they are to see what you post. (Again, lots of good thoughts above). When people think about posting engaging comment, they immediately think of taking stuff (videos, photos, text) from other people, which isn't a great idea. Instead, focus on creating your own content, as much as you can. You can post nice photos of class or your school, tagging where appropriate or maybe adding an inspirational quote. You can post events that people can RSVP for (big, important ones, not just every class). If you share video, uploading that video to Facebook (as opposed to linking to YouTube) is far more likely to ensure that the people who like your page actually see that video. Even if it's just a preview of the longer video, the way Facebook prioritizes video is dramatically different between when you upload the video to them vs. when you link anywhere else. Every post is an experiment. You'll find that some things work better than others, and that's the direction you'll want to go in.

Welcome. What's your background in the martial arts? Patrick

While I wouldn't say that training to the point of vomiting 3 times is a good practice (not trying to be annoying!), I am glad you made it through and hope you get good news soon! Patrick

That's great, Bulltahr.

*cough*

Thanks man. I appreciate that. Patrick

Love to update, cheesefrysamurai! Thanks for sharing.

Haha. Thanks Alberic Blau and JR. Patrick

Hi kenpo4life, Sorry to hear about your situation. I don't see any reason why members can't share their thoughts here. As a starting point, read these threads: http://www.karateforums.com/how-do-you-advertise-your-school-vt48718.html http://www.karateforums.com/how-do-you-advertise-your-dojo-etc-vt48047.html http://www.karateforums.com/so-you-want-to-open-your-own-martial-arts-school-vt47139.html Thanks, Patrick

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. The December selection is... neoravencroft. Congratulations! Thank you for the great contributions that you have made to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

The Dolphins season is a disaster of mediocrity. It's alright. Just another year without a Super Bowl. We're climbing these charts steadily: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NFL_franchise_post-season_droughts

Belated congrats to Devin's cousin on being named the NL Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote! Crazy impressive. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14148411/2015-mlb-rookie-year-kris-bryant-chicago-cubs-named-nl-winner

Haha, yeah, I made that smilie a very long time ago for a member who has long since moved on. Hope everyone who celebrates it had a nice Thanksgiving. Patrick

It's great to read all of these replies. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everyone, and for your kind words, Alex. Small fix: I had linked to the wrong poll thread for Article of the Year. If you didn't realize, you can click the name of the award to view the poll results tied to that award. Thanks again, Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. After a month of nominating and voting, the 2015 edition of the KarateForums.com have come to an end. It is now time for us to announce the winners. Before I do so, I wanted to once again congratulate everyone who was nominated. Regardless of whether or not you won the award, the fact that you were nominated means that, when asked to identify a member who really stood out in the past year, your fellow community members thought of you. That's pretty cool, and you should be proud. If you did not win or were not nominated, please don't take it badly. These awards do have meaning, but they are also for fun and not everyone can win or be nominated. Please join me in congratulating our winners. I would also like to thank everyone who participated in the process by nominating and voting. It is the community that selected the nominees and decided the winners. There are no KarateForums.com Awards without you. Several nominees took the time to vote in categories where they were nominated. Since you can't vote for yourself, your choice is to vote for someone else or not vote at all. Though I can't reveal who voted for whom, please know that I appreciate everyone who thoughtfully voted in the categories where they were nominated. It says a lot about you, and I love to see it. Without further ado, here are our winners: 1. Member of the Year: JR 137 2. New Member of the Year: JR 137 3. Community Spirit Award: sensei8 4. Staff Member of the Year: DWx 5. Funniest Member of the Year: (tie) Hawkmoon, Judodad_karateson and mazzybear 6. Karate Contributor of the Year: sensei8 7. Jiu-Jitsu and Grappling Martial Arts Contributor of the Year: tallgeese 8. Equipment Contributor of the Year: chiliphil1 9. Health, Training and Fitness Contributor of the Year: tallgeese 10. Instructor Central Contributor of the Year: sensei8 11. Article of the Year: 5 Ill-Advised Things Every Brown Belt Should Do by Lupin1 Congratulations to JR 137, sensei8, DWx, Hawkmoon, Judodad_karateson, mazzybear, sensei8, tallgeese, chiliphil1 and Lupin1! It was a good year for members with the number 1 in their username. JR 137, Judodad_karateson, mazzybear, chiliphil1 and Lupin1 are all first time honorees. I would also like to congratulate sensei8 on becoming the all-time leader in KarateForums.com Awards, and the first to reach 15 total, now with 16. Furthermore, congratulations to tallgeese on reaching 10 total, now with 11, which is third all-time. For past winners and all of the awards historical data, please check out: http://www.karateforums.com/awards.php Thank you for reading and for supporting the KarateForums.com Awards. Sincerely, Patrick

Beautifully said. Thank you, Heidi, for the thoughtful commentary and your kind words. This announcement represents the first of what I hope will be a fun tradition here. For the last 14 years, I have posted an announcement on our half-birthday to mark the occasion. From this point forward, the most senior staff member will be invited to address the community on this day. Thanks, Patrick

Hey all, I just wanted to mention two big things coming to KarateForums.com over the next 3 days. On Saturday, November 21, we will mark our half-birthday. Our community is 14 and a half years old! We are starting a new tradition this year. For the last 14 years, I have posted an announcement to mark the occasion. Beginning this year, the most senior staff member will be invited to address the community, covering a subject of their choosing that relates to KarateForums.com. Heidi (ninjanurse) will have the honors. On Monday, November 23, I will announce the winners of the KarateForums.com Awards. The voting results have been audited and the honorees are finalized. I can't wait to make the reveal. Thanks again to everyone who voted. Thank you for reading and for visiting KarateForums.com. Sincerely, Patrick

Thanks man.

Hey Kyonovice, The Member of the Month is chosen by the staff of KarateForums.com. Some of your posts must have caught their attention. Thanks, Patrick

Welcome to KF, harpingon. Glad to have you. Patrick

Best of luck, Liam.

Voting is now closed. Thank you to everyone who voted. The results will be audited and announced soon! Patrick

Thank you for the replies. And thank you to everyone who has voted thus far. If you haven't voted yet, please be sure to do so!

Welcome to KF, Luan Bueno. Glad to have you here. Patrick