How do you advertise??

[JiuJitsuNation]

Hey! I just saw one of my google ads pop up on the bottom of the forum! I got excited, sorry, so I thought I'd ask everyone. Also what types of referral programs do you utilize in you school? Is school a good generic term? As I don't know what everyone calls their place of training.

[isshinryu5toforever]

The two most common forms of advertising I've seen are websites and demonstrations. Demonstrations are a bit easier for the striking crowd I suppose, because they can do breaks and such that the audience likes.

A good, simple website can be very effective though. As long as the layout is easy to comprehend, the color scheme isn't ridiculous, and all the answers about how to get to the school, how much it costs, when it's open, and how to get there are readily available, it should be fine. There are also tricks you can use to bring your school higher up on Google searches. You use certain keywords and such. I'd have to ask my friend, or someone who does web design, but I can let you know if you want.

A lot of schools have a two week free promotion as well. They offer two full weeks of classes at no cost with no commitment. At the end they talk to the person about signing up for some sort of 1-3 month contract (they're getting very common). Some places even throw in their first uniform free.

[JiuJitsuNation]

The two most common forms of advertising I've seen are websites and demonstrations. Demonstrations are a bit easier for the striking crowd I suppose, because they can do breaks and such that the audience likes.

A good, simple website can be very effective though. As long as the layout is easy to comprehend, the color scheme isn't ridiculous, and all the answers about how to get to the school, how much it costs, when it's open, and how to get there are readily available, it should be fine. There are also tricks you can use to bring your school higher up on Google searches. You use certain keywords and such. I'd have to ask my friend, or someone who does web design, but I can let you know if you want.

A lot of schools have a two week free promotion as well. They offer two full weeks of classes at no cost with no commitment. At the end they talk to the person about signing up for some sort of 1-3 month contract (they're getting very common). Some places even throw in their first uniform free.

I have put together some pretty exciting demonstrations but I don't think I use them enough or set them up enough. Although it was challenging in the beginning. I actually started adding thing to my demos based on when my students would respond with oooooohs and aaaahs.

Pricing on line is something that I have considered but for some reason I'm having difficulty just making the decision. You feel this is a good idea?

[AndySike]

MY Dojo just uses word of mouth. Thats how good his classes his are.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Pricing online is something that I was pretty against as little as a few years ago. However, having moved from New York to South Korea, I enjoy being able to navigate Korean websites and see what they charge. It keeps me from having to call 15 dojang to get quoted on prices. If you're in an area with a lot of martial arts schools, then putting your price online might be a good idea. If you have a few here and a few there, it's not as necessary, but could still be a good idea.

I like your website, but you might want to think about keyword optimization. When I did a quick Google search for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Smyrna TN, yours is the very first result. It comes up on Google maps and everything. That makes perfect sense.

Most people don't know if they definitely want BJJ though, so if I do a Google search for Smyrna, TN martial arts, your school doesn't come up in the first 5 pages. Most people won't go past the second. If you look up marketing and keywords, you'll come up withe plenty of sites that will give you advice on keyword optimization.

MY Dojo just uses word of mouth. Thats how good his classes his are.

Word of mouth is a wonderful tool, but if you live somewhere like New York City, or any city with a multitude of martial arts and martial arts schools, word of mouth only goes so far. That's where marketing comes in. Schools that are much, much older, thus more established in the community can rely on marketing less. If your school is say 20 years old, your instructor probably has very little need for marketing. If your school is relatively new, however say less than 7 or 8 years old, you need to market yourself. Especially when competing with much older schools for the same pool of students.

[JiuJitsuNation]

Thanks isshinryu5toforever. I will get on the keywords immediately. My sites have only been live for a couple months and took a lot of work getting them to where they are now. I have a great core group that recruits for me but I have just recently opened after teaching at another location, for 10 years, one city over. So yeah starting over in many ways but my name is known in the area already so that helps. Its just getting the new school name branded. I really appreciate the thorough response!

[isshinryu5toforever]

You're welcome. I worked as an intern in the marketing portion of a web company for a few years. I got to learn the ins and outs of keyword optimization, because we were in direct competition with both meetup and facebook in different ways. If I can think of anything, design-wise or marketing wise that could help you, I'll definitely let you know.

[sensei8]

My methods might not be as sophisticated as some posted here, but nonetheless...

Word of mouth

AND

Blanket an area with flyers. With this one, one has to be careful to not break the law.

Yeah, they're both time consuming, but, they've worked well for me.

[JiuJitsuNation]

Thanks Sensei8!

[Rateh]

My methods might not be as sophisticated as some posted here, but nonetheless...

Word of mouth

AND

Blanket an area with flyers. With this one, one has to be careful to not break the law.

Yeah, they're both time consuming, but, they've worked well for me.

I've got plenty of flyers, but where do you put them? Could you give me some tips?