Strategies to attract adult students

[Wastelander]

Can you send out a mailer? Those can canvas a wide area, and adults are the ones who will generally be seeing them, so as long as the mailer is targeted at an adult audience, it seems like a good place to start.

Can you get the boxing club or MMA club to host you as a guest instructor, here and there, for cross-training purposes for the people who want to develop their kicks? That might generate some interest from those folks, so they would start doing both, especially given some of the kicks that are becoming popular in MMA competition in recent years.

Can you set up seminars at the local college? That might generate interest, in short bursts, for people wanting to get involved in something active.

Can you use Olympic TKD marketing materials or strategies to assist your current approach? That might help pull in younger adults, with a mind for competition.

Just throwing out some ideas.

[sensei8]

Can you send out a mailer? Those can canvas a wide area, and adults are the ones who will generally be seeing them, so as long as the mailer is targeted at an adult audience, it seems like a good place to start.

Can you get the boxing club or MMA club to host you as a guest instructor, here and there, for cross-training purposes for the people who want to develop their kicks? That might generate some interest from those folks, so they would start doing both, especially given some of the kicks that are becoming popular in MMA competition in recent years.

Can you set up seminars at the local college? That might generate interest, in short bursts, for people wanting to get involved in something active.

Can you use Olympic TKD marketing materials or strategies to assist your current approach? That might help pull in younger adults, with a mind for competition.

Just throwing out some ideas.

Solid post, Noah!!

[sensei8]

I can't stress it enough, so I believe it bears repeating it...

Adults are the most finicky students about the MA than children can ever be!!

So attracting adults to your dojang can be tricky but doable by trail and error. Even once a sound selling approach is initiated, different approaches have to be entertained. Shelf one idea for the time being, then at the right appropriate time, bring back an old approach from time to time. That too is reinventing yourself as well as your dojang. Find at least 5 top selling approaches, then rotate them quarterly.

Have no less than 12 Discount Sales, once per month, for tuition's. Sales are initiatives, and prospective students need initiatives to attract them. Adults always are always looking for bargains to meet their monthly budgets.

I always remember that adults must know the difference between a need and a want. I need to pay rent, utilities, food, medical, transportation, and things like those. What I don't need is MA lessons because they are a want, I don't need it, I just want it because I THINK I need it when I actually don't.

Ok, that was my opening statement. Now, I'll address your reply to my first post in this thread.

Is your dojang a business or not?? There's no middle ground!!

Short answer is yes. I want to turn a profit at the end of the day and the dream would be to have this as my full time income.. However I certainly do not want to sell out.

That was great to read that your dojang IS a business!! That, I believe separates the difference between those MA schools that are successful compared to those MA schools that aren't.

You'll never ever sell out if you're always doing the right thing across the board; you're integrity is valid, and without any ambiguity whatsoever. Once your integrity is gone, so is the MA school in a blink of an eye. Keep your integrity and you'll keep your dojang, especially with your community and adult students, prospective or not.

Is what your dojang offers, is it what adults want??

I think that's the million dollar question. I teach traditional Taekwon-Do and I know other instructors within my org teach exactly the same curriculem to adults.

My former instructor is also 5 miles away in a neighboring town and he has adults attend his classes.

Do adults want to be taught or be lectured?? No, they want to be challenged without listening to a lecture; lectures bore the tar out of adults. An explanation goes farther than a lecture; briefly explain, then allow them to train.

Imho, having your former instructor, one's who well established already, only 5 miles away isn't the most ideal situation. 5 miles away from you the same TKD is being taught by someone's much more knowledge and experience, and let's be honest, even though I don't believe in it, but Rank attracts prospective adult students; they don't understand, for the most part, the differences from knowledge/experience and Rank.

My first dojo was 20 miles away from our Hombu. Within the San Fernando Valley in southern California, one can travel from one side to another side (West to East, South to North) in about 45 miles or about 1 hour.

5 miles is way to close to have that type of competition, unless your a far better CI AND marketer of your services, and prospective adult students have heard enough negative things about your former instructor, IF there are any negative issues.

If you're stuck where you are, then you'll have no other solutions other than being far better across the board, especially in business savvy!!

Are the classes challenging??

Yes. With the teenagers I have currently the work rate is high but with my family class I do make adjustments and try to offer 2 levels to each exercise we do. And of course they are mentally challenging.

That's great to hear!! Keep changing drills up so that they're never ever bored to death. Never have dead air; always be doing something effective in improving your students MA betterment.

Are the classes long enough or too long??

1 hour classes each. Would be about the same as any class you might attend at a gym.

That's about right. Have you considered adding an extra 15 minutes to 30 minutes to that existing 1 hour?? At least to the adult time frame!! That would give them that much more time on the floor, and floor time is priceless.

Can you teach adults??

Yes and to be honest I prefer it.

I knew already that you can teach, no matter the age, but I just wanted to read that from you in a no-nonsense way. You preferring adult students is cool, even though you teach all ages because the bottom line must be reached every month.

Are you a kids instructor or an adult instructor or both?? If both, then be both equally, otherwise, one will suffer.

I am both but my kids classes are separate from my adults classes (except for my family class). All of the classes are structured differently and have a different feel. The kids classes are higher pace with more focus on general conditioning and movement. My adults classes are traditional TKD as I was taught but also with more functional strength involved.

Now, that's a solid approach that'll reach the community, in which it should attract prospective students of all ages. SELL YOURSELF!! You're the biggest drawing potential for your dojang...YOU!!

Are you teaching exactly what you promised??

Yes

Nothing else needs to be said...except...now that you're meeting expectations, now EXCEED their expectations.

Are you utilizing Yard Signs?? Are you utilizing any signs, of any type, meeting local ordinances?? Are your signs, of any type, positive/negative attention getters??

What do you mean about yard signs? Out of the front of my property? At the moment I rent two locations, the Monday night cricket club is down a private driveway in a quiet residential area, and the dance school is on an industrial estate. Functionally I know that both locations are fine as I have a kids class at each which are near capacity and both the dance school and cricket club have people coming and going all the time.

A yard/lawn sign is a sign that's found at any yard anywhere. Any yard!! However, public easements are the easiest parcel of land that you can place your yard sign at. Anywhere else might require permission from its owner; I stay away from private easements/yard/property.

A yard/lawn sign has to meet local ordinances at all times. Check out this link...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_sign

I use them all of the time, and they work!! If my sign is a sale, I make sure I take them down when the sale is over because it's the right thing to do, and it's Business 101. If the sign is not for a sale, I leave it up.

I drive around weekly to check on my yard/lawn signs. Are they still where I left them?? Are they tattered/torn?? Are they standing still?? Are they being blocked by other signage?? Etc!! Make sure the sign is simple and readable as well as inviting, with the means of contacting you!! I life buy the maxim that says...7 times down, 8 times up. If someone takes my sign down, I put up 5 more in its place.

Are yard/lawn sign allowed in UK??

I've used signage on city buses and benches!! Anywhere I can advertise, I do it at least once, and if profitable, then I do it constantly.

What type of MA schools are around your location and how many?? Visit those schools, if possible. Find out that which they don't have that you DO HAVE, and teach THAT.

I have a very successful boxing gym and a successful MMA gym in the same town. Less successful schools are a Kung Fu school, a traditional karate style, and also a very small school of the same Taekwondo style. The Taekwondo school I'm not bothered about as I have eclipsed them completely.

Blanket your town, especially around those MA schools that aren't that successful, by passing out flyers and the like. Be that visual, and not hiding inside the dojang. You have to bring the business to you if the business won't come to you. After all, the cream does rise to the top, and you're the cream.

Have you reached out to other MA schools, no matter their MA style, to see if you can collaborate an beneficial network that'll increase each others businesses??

No I haven't. How would you approach this? In my mind they are my competitors and we are all fighting for the same prospective students. The dance school has advertised for me as has the cricket club and I have students from both... but only children at this point.

There's a saying...

Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies even closer!!

Your competition is your enemy. Contact them face to face to introduce yourself. Ask them if there's anything that you can do to help them; volunteer yourself to help them by maybe some yard work or cleaning their parking lot...something. This can lead to you to sharing guest teaching at each others schools. This is rare, but it's about approach, but it can let their students know what you offer, and oftentimes, they'll see that you've tangible things to offer that their style doesn't teach...and through that they can decide who's the better CI.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There's risk in business at all time, and all risks are calculated, in which you benefit one way or another; not all profits are monetary!!

I've done demos right across the street from my competitors more than once, and as often as I could. They hated me more, but there's no love in war, and business is war.

Is their a local MA network and/or Governing Body that you can join

I'm a member of all the relevant national bodies but I'm not aware of anything in my target location (town of about 90 000).

I try to join any local governing bodies, usually in an administrative role of some type. This isn't about the schools, but about the Student Body within the local community; in which, you scratch their back, they'll scratch yours. That's how I started in Bakersfield, California, with a population of over 300,000. I helped in any and every way conceivable to improve the betterment of the local MA community. I'd Arbitrate most of the time. I competed in local tournaments often, winning one Grand Championship after another.

Adult males want adult male instructors for the most part!! Sad, but you'll have to change their narrowed minds in a very positive way. So that male students forget that you're a female instructor, and only see you as the CI PERIOD!!

I figured this for the most part. But I thought the flip side might be that female students would feel more comfortable with me.

Very true!! But, again, sell YOU the CI, and not you the female CI. That still might not be enough, but if not, those narrow minded male adults will be missing out on quality MA taught by a extremely qualified CI.

What's the demographics around your dojang??

In the town? Population 90 000 or there abouts. Mostly mid-level education, mix of skilled and unskilled workers. 50% commute elsewhere for work. What else would be useful to know?

Ages!! How many are females and how many are males!! How many families?? Those income medians!! How many college/universities students/ages?? Do those colleges/universities have a physical educations program?? Almost anything that can paint you a understandable picture of the area your dojang is in.

Lean A LOT to your strengths because your strengths attract prospective students, especially adults. You compete quite a lot, in which I'm sure you're nationally and/or internationally ranked, and you've earned a ton of trophy's and medals and the like, and/or you've won a Championship or two or more!?!? IF SO...MARKET that!! You have to bring live and energy to you first, before you can bring any prospective student inside of the dojang.

That is something I'm trying to do, but more in that I'm trying to celebrate my students' successes and show that I taught them how to do it.

You're doing what you're suppose to do to improve your students MA betterment. Your students' successes are your successes, in which it'll translate well into profits. IF YOU are a ranked competitor, that will attract students both male and female because they want to learn from a Champion, even if a competitor earns the top 3 spots consistently. You've been a coach for a MA competitive team, so, sell that!! That's the honey that attracts the bears!!

Get involved with your community much more!! Network your dojang as much as you can in your community, but aim towards the adult demographics.

I definitely agree. What ways do you suggest? My school isn't where I live and I confess to not knowing too much about the local area. I've been approached already to get my students to help out with the charity santa sled at Christmas (goes around the housing estates asking for donations for charity).

I love what you do with the Santa Sled!!

Your business IS IN THAT COMMUNITY!! You best better know about that community. What are the needs of THAT community, and find out how you can help them. Hold can drives or food drives or whatever other drive that can help THAT community. Not just to help your business, but more importantly, THAT community. Every community has needs, find out what they are, and then help them without expecting anything from it because its the right thing to do. Your dojang will start reaping its rewards in time!!

Get in THAT communities Christmas Parade; wear your doboks and have a banner or two by having all of your students in that parade with you in their doboks. Do it year after year, no matter the season.

Reinvent yourself/your dojang often without ceasing and always!! Opening any type of MA school will take a keen marketing savvy, however, the CI better be able to teach with quality or all of the marketing in the world won't attract prospective adult students to your door!!

Got to invent myself first.

You've ALREADY invented yourself already to a certain point!! Had you not, you'd not have opened your dojang in the first place!! Sure, you have to fine-tune yourself from time to time. Those most successful are always reinventing themselves one way or another.

How good is your phone interview?? How good is your opening/closing sales pitch?? Do you have a opening/closing sales pitch?? You have to sell yourself!! Prospective students are sizing you up and make their decision mere minutes once they meet you.

I'd like to think I have this down as I work in sales for a living.

Then SELL yourself to your community, then to your prospective and current students all of the time.

How strong is your trial lesson(s)?? Do they give the student the unquenchable desire to want to learn from YOU?? Does your trail lesson wet the prospective students palette

They get 2 trial lessons and I follow up consistently. To be fair I have signed up 90% of adults coming through the door. My issue is in getting them through the door in the first place.

To get them to and through your door will take long hard work from you across the board by selling yourself as the right choice throughout THAT community. Doing the right thing always trumps the wrong thing always!!

What do you think you're not doing to bring them to and through the door??

Location, location, location!! Is where your dojang conducive in attracting prospective adult students?? Is the size of your dojang measurable per its square footage per needed adult student??

That is what I'm trying to determine

You're way to close to your former instructor, and I'd address that immediately. The proximity of your former instructor to your dojang might be bleeding your profit potentiality dry. What does your former CI have that you don't??

How many students are needed to make profit?? Of those, how many adult students are needed for profit??

My kids classes are maxed out so I'm turning a profit already. I don't need adults but I would like to fill my class up. I'm trying to decide whether to drop the family class as it's costing me more than it makes me.

I'd not close the family class because that'll impact your bottom line in the long run. It might send the wrong signal to your Student Body, in such a way that they'll start thinking you're about to close all together.

Kill that class!! Have just the one or two kids class and the one adult class. If the numbers aren't there for the adult class, spend more time in THAT community to attract more adults.

What are you doing for YOUR Brand?? Are you doing anything for YOUR Brand??

I'm trying very hard to create a brand. You can see what stage I'm at on my website: https://www.nuneatontkd.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NuneatonTKD or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/NuneatonTKD/

I've been working hard on the website and I now come up as the first result when you Google "Nuneaton (the town) Taekwondo" and all the various ways to spell this. I also currently come up as number 4 for "Nuneaton Martial Arts" and rank top 15 for "Nuneaton self defense / defence". I'm listed on all the various directories including number one listing on the Yellow Pages online.

Your Brand Management is SOLID!!

Can prospective adult students find your dojang easily??

As above

As I've said, I don't think my issue is in getting people to stay once they try my class. It's in getting them to my class in the first place. I've now introduced a waiting list for my Monday kids class as we're at capacity and my Friday class will soon be the same. I can market to kids (or their parents) but I'm struggling to hit on the winning formula for adults.

Is the front door facing the street?? Is the traffic moderate or worse?? Is there signage that CAN'T be missed by anyone, particular the motoring public??

Signage helps make the dojang. I know you rent the space, and that limits what you can and/or can't do compared to what one can do with a commercial space all to yourself. But ask those you rent the space from if you can put and leave a A-Framed sign outside so that the public can see you're there. Ask them if they'll let you put some flyers up inside where they/it can be seen by others who visit that building. Ask them if they'll help you get your service out in the community.

Your best marketing tool is WORD OF MOUTH!! Make sure it's a positive one always!! That begins and ends with YOU!!

I promise that my next post will be much shorter!!

I hope what I've shared is of some help to you. I could help you much more if I was in the UK with you, to see exactly what you're faced with.

[JR 137]

All I have to add is the adults class schedule/time...

Friday night isn’t a good time for adults around me. My dojo closed Friday nights due to it, and my former dojo did miserably on Friday nights. My former sensei eventually gave me and another student the keys and let us run Friday nights. We did a lot of working out together because no one else showed up. We got a few guys our age to show up every now and then, but nothing consistent.

Friday night might be good for kids (if at all), but I haven’t seen anywhere around here have any success with adults on Friday nights.

With limited class availability, you’re going to have to be pretty good at determining the best time for adults. When I was restarting karate, one of the places I was interested in (it was my top two) had one adult class 3 nights a week. I couldn’t make it to two of those nights due to work. Needless to say I didn’t visit. If I was a prospective student for you, and I didn’t want to take class on Friday nights, that only leaves me with one class per week.

Perhaps switch the family class and the Friday night adult class?

Edit: 8:15-9:15 pm is late. I know you’re at the mercy of space and time availability. The times and days may be holding your enrollment back. At 8:15 on Friday night, I’m not thinking about training. Either I’m too burnt out from the work week or I’m out doing other things. If I’m a prospective student looking into your school, I wouldn’t visit due to the schedule. There are other places that fit my schedule better. Sorry, just the honest truth.

[sensei8]

All I have to add is the adults class schedule/time...

Friday night isn’t a good time for adults around me. My dojo closed Friday nights due to it, and my former dojo did miserably on Friday nights. My former sensei eventually gave me and another student the keys and let us run Friday nights. We did a lot of working out together because no one else showed up. We got a few guys our age to show up every now and then, but nothing consistent.

Friday night might be good for kids (if at all), but I haven’t seen anywhere around here have any success with adults on Friday nights.

With limited class availability, you’re going to have to be pretty good at determining the best time for adults. When I was restarting karate, one of the places I was interested in (it was my top two) had one adult class 3 nights a week. I couldn’t make it to two of those nights due to work. Needless to say I didn’t visit. If I was a prospective student for you, and I didn’t want to take class on Friday nights, that only leaves me with one class per week.

Perhaps switch the family class and the Friday night adult class?

Edit: 8:15-9:15 pm is late. I know you’re at the mercy of space and time availability. The times and days may be holding your enrollment back. At 8:15 on Friday night, I’m not thinking about training. Either I’m too burnt out from the work week or I’m out doing other things. If I’m a prospective student looking into your school, I wouldn’t visit due to the schedule. There are other places that fit my schedule better. Sorry, just the honest truth.

Solid post!!

Prospective adult students might be a parent(s) who's kid(s) have a monster of a schedule in and/or out of school. The more kids a parent(s) have, the more demanding their time constraints across the board are...and Friday night is no exception, with many sporting games are held on Friday night, wherever they might be.

Friday nights, as JR has already alluded to, are the start of the weekend, and we all know that Friday night is the time to get together with family and/or friends somewhere, anywhere.

Having said that, there are methods to that madness, and there's good news. The good news is that not everyone is involved in going out Friday nights...not everyone!!

At the start, I would hold Friday night open-workouts, but the type where I was there to train WITH them, and not just teach them. Having that visual presence motivated them because they knew that I wasn't going to sit in my office ignoring them and letting them train on their own. Oh I still hold open-workouts, but not just one day/night.

Just have to make the dojang appealing of Friday nights. Creative juices have to flow if you want to meet expectations financially. I've adult students that come on Friday classes, and afterwards, they go to a dinner and a movie.

The dojang has to be appealing. You have to find the hook, and reel them in, hook line and sinker!!

I know that I've got their attention on a Friday night once every 3 months because that's when I hold my Quarterly Testing Cycles, and depending on rank, if they miss a Testing Cycle, they'll have to wait up to a full year. Yes, that doesn't make up for the other Friday nights.

I've a full house every Friday, but I had to work at that day after day and night after night. Once you discover what hook(s) work in your community, the rest in quality time. I've held Friday night guest seminars, I've held parties Friday nights but we still train before or after the party, or I've held Weapons classes on Friday nights. However, those activities have shifted to Saturday night because once I found the hooks and reeled them in on Friday Nights, I didn't need to entice them anymore.

A willing student makes life so much easier!!

Drive around one Friday night, just drive by, to see your competitors schools, and see what their Friday night student turn out is. When you find the school that's the busiest, park outside and just watch to see what they're doing.

Earlier I suggested that you could speak with the other CI's, even if they're your competitor, to just ask them how they're generating adults, and adults on a Friday night, or anyone on a Friday night.

No matter what, you'll still have to have the necessary amount of students on the floor to still make Friday nights financially viable. If a class has a low turn out for 2 weeks in a row, that means that that class will NOT be available after the 4th week. It's like college, if there are less than the state required amount of enrolled students for said class, that class is cancelled immediately!!

[DWx]

Can you send out a mailer? Those can canvas a wide area, and adults are the ones who will generally be seeing them, so as long as the mailer is targeted at an adult audience, it seems like a good place to start.

Can you get the boxing club or MMA club to host you as a guest instructor, here and there, for cross-training purposes for the people who want to develop their kicks? That might generate some interest from those folks, so they would start doing both, especially given some of the kicks that are becoming popular in MMA competition in recent years.

Can you set up seminars at the local college? That might generate interest, in short bursts, for people wanting to get involved in something active.

Can you use Olympic TKD marketing materials or strategies to assist your current approach? That might help pull in younger adults, with a mind for competition.

Just throwing out some ideas.

Thanks Noah.

I did over 1000 leaflets when I first started. One side was aimed at (parents of) kids and the reverse side was for adults. Now it could be the leaflet design, it could be the locations I targeted but I got 1 child sign up and no adults so I haven't attempted it again and stuck instead with the Facebook marketing which is giving me more bang for my buck. Hypothetically, as an adult, with no background in MA, what features and benefits are going to attract you to sign up to my lesson? My original posters are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/m7YgQ4NdhhgD5qG37 Have I chosen the wrong image? Or highlighted the wrong benefits?

There's a very prominent boxing club in the town. To be honest I hadn't thought about making contact as I see them as competing for the same prospective students.

The seminars idea is good. I am intending to contact the local primary and secondary schools in the new year and offer to come in and cover some of their phys ed classes and offer something different to the normal football and netball.

Olympic TKD marketing is an interesting idea. In what way are you thinking? I don't teach Olympic TKD so would want to steer clear of any suggestions that this is what is on offer at my school.

Edited November 27, 2018 by DWx

[DWx]

All I have to add is the adults class schedule/time...

Friday night isn’t a good time for adults around me. My dojo closed Friday nights due to it, and my former dojo did miserably on Friday nights. My former sensei eventually gave me and another student the keys and let us run Friday nights. We did a lot of working out together because no one else showed up. We got a few guys our age to show up every now and then, but nothing consistent.

Friday night might be good for kids (if at all), but I haven’t seen anywhere around here have any success with adults on Friday nights.

With limited class availability, you’re going to have to be pretty good at determining the best time for adults. When I was restarting karate, one of the places I was interested in (it was my top two) had one adult class 3 nights a week. I couldn’t make it to two of those nights due to work. Needless to say I didn’t visit. If I was a prospective student for you, and I didn’t want to take class on Friday nights, that only leaves me with one class per week.

Perhaps switch the family class and the Friday night adult class?

Edit: 8:15-9:15 pm is late. I know you’re at the mercy of space and time availability. The times and days may be holding your enrollment back. At 8:15 on Friday night, I’m not thinking about training. Either I’m too burnt out from the work week or I’m out doing other things. If I’m a prospective student looking into your school, I wouldn’t visit due to the schedule. There are other places that fit my schedule better. Sorry, just the honest truth.

Valid points. All I can say is that Friday nights at my instructor's school (just over 5 miles away in a neighbouring town) are the busiest nights he had. The dojang was always full on a Friday at similar times as people wanted to finish the week on a high.

Technically I offer 3 nights a week when adults can train, Mondays and Fridays at 8.15 and if they can put up with kids in the room, Wednesday nights at 7pm. Unfortunately due to my work schedule its unfeasible to offer classes any earlier in the evening.

My kids class on a Friday gets on average 15 or so students (18 have their names down for this class) and I wouldn't want any more in there. Since writing my original post I have 2 more additions to Friday bringing me up to 7. Hopefully I can use this to get a bit of traction and pull more in.

[DWx]

Imho, having your former instructor, one's who well established already, only 5 miles away isn't the most ideal situation. 5 miles away from you the same TKD is being taught by someone's much more knowledge and experience, and let's be honest, even though I don't believe in it, but Rank attracts prospective adult students; they don't understand, for the most part, the differences from knowledge/experience and Rank.

My first dojo was 20 miles away from our Hombu. Within the San Fernando Valley in southern California, one can travel from one side to another side (West to East, South to North) in about 45 miles or about 1 hour.

5 miles is way to close to have that type of competition, unless your a far better CI AND marketer of your services, and prospective adult students have heard enough negative things about your former instructor, IF there are any negative issues.

If you're stuck where you are, then you'll have no other solutions other than being far better across the board, especially in business savvy!!

A valid point and it's not ideal. However the situation might be more unique in that whilst the towns are very close (a major road divides the two in half), the two communities don't often mix. Having been with the previous school for just shy of 20 years, I never knew anyone coming to the school from very far away and certainly not from the town I am located in. Here's a map to better explain: https://goo.gl/maps/564czZBWNuL2

I'm in Nuneaton, they're in Hinckley. Nuneaton's population is about twice that of Hinckley's and I can pull prospective students from the south side. If anything they have a smaller available audience.

I appreciate all the other advice in your post sensei8. Obviously you know what your doing having had successful dojos in different locations. I'll take some time to digest it and will come back to you on a couple of points.

[sensei8]

Listed is some things that I've done to attract students...

1) Went to libraries and book stores. I'd find the MA sections, and then I'd put my business card inside each and every book/magazine.

2) I always wore either a T-Shirt or a baseball style cap advertising my school. I'd have catchy phrases like..."Want to learn Martial Arts? I can teach you!!" blazing on the front or the back of the T-Shirt..on the cap..."I teach the Martial Arts!!"

Crude?!? Maybe!! What's more crude?? An empty class or near empty class!! What's a teacher without students?? A guy/gal taking a walk alone!! I had no shame in my marketing came because what's more shameful is an empty bank account.

3) I had a refer-a-friend program. If they referred someone, they'd get one month free or $20 Finder Fee or $20 in MA supplies.

4) Bring A Friend Day. This worked out pretty good in the long run.

5) Hold a MA Tournament once a quarter or once every 6 months or annually. If not, I went to tournaments as a vendor selling my dojo!!

6) I put a large transparent sticker on my rear window of my car!! Attractive and easy to see by anyone, and safe for me to see out the rear window while I'm driving. And I NEVER took that thing off...I'd change it out once every 3 months.

Anything and everything I did I recorded it on some spreadsheet or the like for tracking purposes...a kind of P&L statement. The things that I tried that were duds, I killed them. However, I tracked for 1 solid year for comping-up data. However, what didn't work in Q1, I'd try it in Q2 and so on and so forth...tweaking here and there adjusting here and there trimming and adding here and there. If you first don't succeed, try, try again!!

There's a few things I'd do, and still do, to attract students, and they work for all ages.

[Alan Armstrong]

Advertise that what you teach is not for children

Reality based martial arts taught here, no ifs ands or buts, this includes tiny mythical flying tooth collecting people carrying wands.

We teach Martial arts where adults are not treated like children.

We teach martial arts for adults by adults to fight like an adult.

There is nothing childish about the way we play.

No this is not a pyjama party and we don't fight with pillows.

Warning, this is Martial arts for adults, childish behaviour will not be tolerated.

Do you know where your parents are? If not, visit your local Dojo and kindly pick them up after class.