How do you advertise your Dojo, etc?

[sensei8]

In that, I know that I/Shindokan Hombu is WAY BEHIND in utilizing every possible media to bring Shindokan to the forefront! I'M WRONG, therefore, I feel that I'm stuck in first gear, and have been that way for such a long, long time when it comes to this!!

The good thing is that each aspect of social media is not that difficult once you get a basic introduction. They fit together like a puzzle for some people at first but they actually work well together to enhance your message and content. The fact that there is an online presence precisely where it can be is a good sign that a company/group is doing well. Not everyone uses all aspects of social media but if you simply provide a simple anchoring presence in them I think its going to show off a greater impact. Just like with Alpha BJJ.

This has been a great topic thank you to those who've contributed.

Solid post!!

I just can't, for some reason(s) get out of first gear, or if I ever will!!

[tallgeese]

I've been meaning to tell you, Alex, that you are doing a wonderful job. I was looking at the Alpha BJJ stuff the other day and the way you use the tools is excellent. You are a great example of what is now commonly referred to as inbound marketing and content marketing. In short, the idea that you create great content that draws people to you, rather than buying their attention.

I know you don't consider yourself to be computer savvy, but as someone who knows a little bit about this stuff, I have to believe you are in the top 1% of martial arts schools in the U.S. when it comes to the savvy way you are using the tools.

I'd definitely recommend that folks go to http://alphajiujitsu.com and take a good look at how Alex uses YouTube, Facebook and their blog. It's good stuff.

Patrick

Thank you, Patrick! Coming from someone like you in the industry I consider that high praise. It's been a major learning curve, but one that I think has been worth it. It's something that I also feel like I still have a lot to learn about to really optimize it. We're always playing with things and formats to sharpen things up. For instance, I just switched software for video editing so we're looking at making some (slightly) more interesting stuff there.

For schools looking to expand their public image I really can't say enough about just jumping in. I'm consistently amazed about the capabilities that are available for anyone out there right now.

Having taught commercially at a small school in the mid-90s and now opening Alpha, I can really say that technology has VASTLY increased small dojo's marking options. For little front end investment.

Again, thank you for the vote of confidence, Patrick!

[Patrick]

Sure thing, Alex. There are definitely a lot more tools available these days, measured (in many ways, at least) more by the time you can spend than the money you have.

[sensei8]

I want a video camera so bad...I can taste it!! Word of mouth and fliers still works, but it's so archaic that it's alarming to the senses. I admire Alex for many, many things, and what he's doing with his camera is spellbinding. Alpha is new, but already getting favorable nods in the MA world.

[tallgeese]

Thanks, Bob! We appreciate it!

As to the camera it's not too hard these days. I use a simple Flip camera that's actually several years old now but works pretty well. My only real complaint is the audio capture. Which we could do better if we mic-ed up. It's a bit more effort than we want to go to right now.

I've been looking at switching to GO Pro for video. A friend uses it and I think it'd be pretty beneficial with the ease of controls. Still, I haven't make the jump.

All of the editing stuff is done via computer, which, for me, where you can make a bigger difference than with the camera. I just jumped from PC to Mac (and I'll NEVER go back- but that's a different subject and I find that we've just barely scratched the surface of that. For instance, the new software I have lets me easily insert title slides, etc. Something that I struggled with on PC's moviemaker due to formatting issues. You can see the difference in a couple of different videos.

Here's a common video format for us that we've run with most of the time:

Note, no intro, no info beyond what we say on the video. Not bad, good content, but I'd always wanted to do better.

Here was my first effort with the PC movie maker software (free with office):

Now, I get an intro but notice in the transition I lose a lot of the field of view and the actual video content (the major thing I'm trying to get out) is smaller. So it's a less effective (in my opinion) tutorial. Nor to I get enough easy info out to everyone on the slide (which I felt was a total pain to format, save, and get into the file)

I really hated the outcome of this one so I never did another one.

Now, here's our latest evolution:

I'm a much bigger fan of this. It was pretty easy to construct, has some built in visuals that really make it better even just with the base templates in the system. Again, this is free software that comes on the computer. It doesn't have to be expensive. That said, expect to sit infant of some software tutorials to sort it out. It's time, like Patrick said earlier.

But, I'm much happier with this out come. It still needs work. I need to play with formatting a logo and some on screen commentary tips. I think it would add a bit. So, for me it's still an ongoing project.

Again, thanks for the vote of confidence, Bob.

[sensei8]

Alex,

Thank you so much for this post. Many unanswered question I've had, have been answered in this post. Knowing the steps that you've taken, the trials and the errors, have opened my eyes considerable. Remember, I'm as dumb as a stick whenever it comes to anything remote like this: computers, video recording, editing, and the like...totally alien to me. For example...What's a flip camera??

However, with your post, I can NOW see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Now, that I'm in Houston, I've got to find someone willing to partner with me so that I can begin to video tape Shindokan Saitou-ryu!!

Thank you again, Alex!! Meant everything to me!!