October 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

How to Generate a QR Code

Have you seen these funky square bar codes looking things in print or online and ever wondered what they were or how they work?

They’re called QR codes and creating them is actually really, really simple.

Why Create a QR Code

Creating a QR code allows anyone with smart phone and a QR reader app the ability to scan a code then be redirected to targeted content. It’s much simpler than writing down a URL as it automatically forwards them to the content.

How to Create a QR Code

Creating a QR is easier than you might think. And, best of all, it’s free.

With the QR Code Generator available from Kaywa, you can create QR codes that will forward anyone who scans one to:

  1. URL
  2. Text
  3. Phone Number
  4. SMS

How to use a QR Code

Using a QR is actually pretty flexible because they can be used in print material as well as online. Some examples include:

  • Direct mail
  • Magnets
  • Flyers
  • Websites
  • HTML Emails
  • Signage
  • Print ads
  • Window stickers

They can be used in conjunction with:

  • Contests
  • Promotions
  • Coupon codes
  • Special events
  • Providing directions to your location
  • Linking to your website
  • Request more information

Try it out and let us know how you used it in your marketing materials by leaving a comment below.

Popularity: 8%

Filed Under: Marketing
July 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Are Your Color Choices Sending The Wrong Signals?

Choosing the right colors for your martial arts school is very important for your brand as they can say a lot about your business — good and bad.

Colors are a powerful way to communicate what your business is all about in a very visual manner.

Colors interact with each other both positively and negatively and so having a basic understanding of color and how they work is important as you select what colors you want to use for your martial arts schools’ brand.

Besides color relationships, each color has its own characteristics and meanings.

Types of Colors

Colors fall into various groups including primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors, warm colors and cool colors.

Primary Colors

There are three primary colors are those that when combined or removed make all other colors.

There are three primary colors:

  1. Red
  2. Yellow
  3. Blue

Secondary Colors

Secondary colors made when combining two primary colors. An example would be purple which is when red and blue are mixed.

Tertiary Colors

Tertiary colors are when a primary color is mixed with a secondary color.

Warm Colors

Warm colors are those that have an stimulating effect.

  • Red – Red is a primary color that creates excitement and evokes strong, intense emotions. It is a stimulating color associated with such traits as activity, life, love, passion and strength.  Red can raise blood pressure and respiratory rates. It’s also believed to enhance one’s metabolism, too
  • Orange – Orange is a secondary color that is vibrant, stimulating and happy. It is a combination of red and yellow and is often associated with cheerfulness. Positive associations with this color include being lively, energetic, extroverted and social. Some see it as a color that represents change and movement.
  • Yellow – Also a primary color, yellow is a cheery, warm color. Because it is a bright color, it is the most fatiguing of all colors as it reflects the most light. Yellow can increase metabolism and is often used in signs as an attention getting color as it is highly noticeable.  it is often associated with hope however in nature is a sign of danger.

Cool Colors

Cool colors are those that having a calming effect.

  • Green – Green, a secondary color, is a tranquil, quiet and natural color that symbolizes new beginnings, growth, health and wealth. Because of it’s calming effect, green is often used as an accent color by interior designers. It also can be associated with jealously or envy.
  • Blue – Blue is a primary color and represents calmness, stability, security and comfort.  It can also be seen as a cold color and is generally preferred by men. Blue is not an energizing color and is often associated with sadness and depression.
  • Purple – Purple is a secondary color that projects wisdom, luxury and exclusivity. It has long been associated with being regal. It’s also associated with being creative and having imagination, too.

Neutral Colors

Neutral colors have a unifying effect and enhance bolder, more vibrant colors.

  • White – White signifies purity, hope and simplicity. However it can also signify loneliness and is associated with clinical environments.  It is on the opposite side of the color spectrum from black but also works with every color around it. Interestingly, most martial arts school’s I’ve seen have all white walls.
  • Black – Black projects power and mystery. It absorbs all light in the color spectrum and can be used in combination with all other colors. It is the strongest of all neutral colors. In the martial arts, black represents mastery. It is also associated with death in many cultures so use wisely.
  • Gray – Gray communicates being conservative, quiet and and calm. Like blue, it is a color associated with sadness. In business, it can communicate formality and professionalism and is considered a sophisticated color.
  • Brown – Brown is a natural color that can evoke a sense of strength and reliability. It is a warm neutral color that is associated with earth and wood. Lighter colors of brown include beige and tan and take on the characteristics of the colors around it; be they warm or cool.

If you’re teaching Tai Chi or Yoga, having bright, vibrant colors might be contrary to the message you’re trying to project You may want to use a more calming, soothing color pallet because it best matches what you teach. If you’re a high energy place with a ton of cardio or conditioning related programs, having a bright vibrant color pallet might be more suitable.

Walk into almost any fitness club and you’ll see they use bright and vibrant colors. Everything from their logo to the wall colors. That is 100% deliberate. There is a lot to learn from their use of color as it changes the mindset of those training there. Who wants to go workout in a dull, lifeless room? High impact colors bring a whole different energy to their facilities. And, they can work the same way for your martial arts school.

Understanding then choosing the right colors can help you project the right attributes for your martial arts school. Choosing the wrong colors can conversely send the wrong message. Whether it’s in your marketing materials or the colors on the wall of your martial arts training facility, choose them wisely.

Popularity: 8%

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: color, design
March 8, 2011 By 2 Comments

Competing Against Big, Multi-School Franchises

This question came in from Andy Wheatly on the Marketing Martial Arts Facebook Fan Page:

“I have a small club and I’m wanting to know how do you compete against big multi school franchises that seem to have loads of money?”

My response to the David vs. Goliath question on Facebook:

“@Andy, great question. I had to think about that a long time when I got started as a way to make my studio stand out in sea of full-time, large, multi-school strip mall martial arts schools with more hours, classes, programs, etc. It’s called positioning. You’ve got to first figure what their weaknesses are and how your establishment offers something better. There must be differences your target market cares about or will care about when you show them the difference. What do you offer or provide that the big chain doesn’t? Being big can be seen as a weakness when it comes to personal attention. How are you better? Limited class sizes? Once you discover the differences, start incorporating it into all of your marketing.”

Once you know how you stack up, and it’s much easier to communicate to your prospects how you’re different.  And, that could help you discover your martial arts school’s unique selling proposition; which can help you in your marketing and positioning of your martial arts business against your competition.

Popularity: 8%

Filed Under: Marketing
September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Back to School Marketing for your Martial Arts School

Back to school season is here.

Is your martial arts school ready?

Back to school is a theme that you can easily build a solid marketing campaign around.

For many martial arts schools, back to school represents a huge opportunity for new student enrollments.

Parents are looking for activities that will help their little Billy grow and develop into a responsible and mature adult.

And, you’re program is the ultimate solution to help them with that problem.

Your mission should be to educate parents on how you can help them with the development of little Billy in a way no one else can match.

All it takes is a little homework and elbow grease.

Here are a few things that can help you figure this all out for your martial arts school.

What’s in it for the prospect?

Remember, your prospect love three things: “Me, myself and I.”

If you’re not talking to them and what’s in it for them, you’re not talking to your audience.

You’re wasting their time.

You have to write to your target audience and speak to what they’re looking for in order to get their attention.

You can’t ignore this.

Parents want to know how you can help them and their child.

Be specific and clear.

Remember, if they have to hunt for it, they usually won’t bother searching.

How easily can they redeem the offer?

Obviously you need an offer to get parent’s to take action.

Then you need to make it easy to redeem so your prospects can get one step closer to becoming paying students.

Do you make it an easter egg hunt on your website to find out how to redeem the offer or it is on every page in highly visible areas?

Again, be clear and specific.

Do they respond by phone?… By email?… By contact form?

Keeping it simple keeps it effective.

Don’t give them 10 ways to respond.

I (usually) only use one.

What’s your message?

As part of your messaging, you’re going to want to speak to the benefits so parents easily get why martial arts training is a great idea for their child and how it will help them in school.

Here are some of the many benefits that martial arts training provides to help get you started:

  1. Better concentration
  2. More focus
  3. Improved self confidence
  4. Self discipline
  5. Modesty
  6. Courtesy
  7. Patience
  8. Self control
  9. Integrity
  10. Goal setting
  11. Respect
  12. Positive attitude
  13. Healthy exercise

All that and a positive atmosphere where homework is encouraged and may even be a part of the program (after school programs).

All of these things can ultimately help improve grades, which is a BIG seller for many parents.

Don’t stop talking about how much your program can help their little Billy.

How will you get the word out?

Now we’re talking about promotion. Here are 15 ways you can get the word out:

  1. Window Signs
  2. Facebook Fan Page
  3. Twitter
  4. Flyers
  5. Your Website
  6. Text messages
  7. Direct mail
  8. Pay Per Click
  9. Your email list
  10. Door hangers
  11. Media releases
  12. Classified ads
  13. Newspaper ads
  14. Window display
  15. Referrals
  16. etc.

Just remember, not all parents know and understand the benefits of placing their child in your martial arts program. You have to educate them, first.

How is your martial arts school leveraging back to school?

Popularity: 7%

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: benefits, cta, features, usp
April 27, 2010 By 6 Comments

Are You Telling a Story in Your Marketing? (VIDEO)

Are you one of the martial arts schools that just writes plainly about your features and benefits with no real personality?

While features and benefits are certainly important, they aren’t the only things you should communicate.

Have you ever tried telling a story?

“Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

Stories can be powerful marketing tool.

Think about it… when we were all little, we learned about the world through stories.

Even as we got older, we were told stories to help us learn about the World and how it all works.

Think about the last time you went to church, watched the news or read a magazine.

You were either told or read a story.

We’re captivated, if not mesmerized, by stories.

That’s why it’s so important to use stories in your marketing!

There are many ways to tell stories and many stories to tell.

  • How/why you got started in the martial arts
  • How/why your students chose your martial arts school
  • What makes your martial arts school different
  • Etc.

Here is a video I have on my site that helps me tell the story of how I got started in the martial arts:

I chose to lead with this type of video as it can be a very powerful way to connect with potential students.

Using this approach, my prospects begin to know, like and trust me before we ever even meet all from sharing my story.

Why didn’t I start with a demo video?

Because they can scare the hell out of prospects if not done right.

While they do demonstrate what you do, they can do more harm than good.

More on this subject in the near future.

Sharing stories can help prospects relate with you and your martial arts school in a way a demo video cannot.

Sure, action footage can tell a story, but it might be telling the wrong story.

So, what did you think of the video and this approach?

Popularity: 7%

Filed Under: Marketing, Online Marketing Tagged With: story telling
March 11, 2010 By 1 Comment

Don’t Make this Common Conversion Killing Mistake

You prospect searches for you in Google and is looking to sign up little Billy into martial arts lessons.

They find your website at the top of the search results.

Awesome.

They click the link and land on your site. After jumping through a couple of pages, they are ready to take action and give you a call.

But what happens next is something that’s common on so many martial arts schools websites and is a big mistake you might even be making and not even realizing it.

Do you know what it is? Read on to find out what it is.

You can have the greatest design in the world… the fastest loading website …. the best headlines and copy… and the greatest offer, ever. But, if you don’t have that one thing, it all doesn’t matter.

That one thing?

Simply put, make it easy to contact you.

Shocker, I know.

However, so many websites have their contact information buried on their site and it’s like an Easter egg hunt for your prospects to find it. Don’t make your prospect work to contact you and have to hunt around like it’s Easter Sunday.

Put your contact information on EVERY page above the fold (which refer the portions of a webpage that is visible without scrolling). Then, if you make a call to action at the bottom of your page, add it again there, too. In fact, you should also have a whole page dedicated to your contact information just to be safe.

Make it as easy as possible to find then use your contact information. I’m talking about your phone number and an email address (or contact form). You’ll also want to make your address prominent, too.

Sometimes we overlook the obvious.

And, unfortunately, something so simple can really be hurting your business if it’s not done correctly.

So take a minute and check your website.

Chances are, you might need to fix this.

Popularity: 8%

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: cta
January 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

7 Often Overlooked Martial Arts Marketing Tools

Here are seven marketing ideas you might not have considered (or haven’t done yet) to help attract new prospective martial arts students this year.

1. Advertise in city publications

These are usually cheaper than your city’s newspaper and can be a good resource for prospecting. Print publications are hurting right now due to online competition now is the time to get some good deals. You might even be able to get a deal where you are both in their printed publication and their online equivalent.  Worth looking into, none the less.

2. Go door to door

While many talk about this idea, few actually do it. While dropping off flyers, door hangers or postcards in area neighborhoods is not as targeted as doing direct mail (because you don’t know who lives there and if they specifically match your demographics) it can still be a relatively decent way to stir up some interest.

3. Do direct mail

Doing direct mail can be cost effective and usually frightens off most martial arts school owners. However, you success is all in how you segment the list you buy, present your irresistible offer and the design your mailer.  Remember, sending one mailer might be enough.  It can take up to 7 times or more before someone breaks free from their comfort zone to respond. That’s not to say you want to send the same mailer seven times, it’s more about making seven points of contact.

4. Network with local businesses

Networking with businesses who are around you is a great way to get referrals. Plus, if you use their services or buy from them, they are more likely to refer people over to your martial arts school. You can even start a local business networking group where you meet once a month to talk, have speakers, introduce new businesses and exchange information.

5. Advertise on your vehicle

Wrapping your vehicle is gaining a lot of momentum and becoming more affordable. Plus, you should be able to write off the cost of your car and gas if it’s you rolling billboard. The photo above is a great example of getting people’s attention using this newer medium.

6. Local coupon mailers

I’m talking about Money Mailers or ValPak type mailers. You might even have a lower cost local option available in your area. These can be a little expensive but you have segmenting options available to help reduce waste and reduce costs so you reach your exact target market. I don’t see any martial arts schools in my area doing this and might be a great way to break through in your area.

7. Decorate your front windows
If the only thing you have on your front windows is your logo and hours it’s time to consider adding some marketing punch. Hire a window painter and advertise your current special… feature your after school program… the dates and costs of your next trial program… whatever… just make sure it’s noticeable and in vibrant colors. You should consider swapping this out quarterly to keep things fresh.

Popularity: 8%

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: direct response, networking, offer, referral, referral marketing
December 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Top Posts for November 2009

Here are the top 5 posts for Marketing Martial Arts in Novemeber 2009; according to how many times they were uniquely viewed by our visitors:

  1. 50 Killer Ideas for Building a More Profitable Martial Arts School
  2. 10 Types of Irresistible Offers You Can Make to Prospects
  3. All Professional Martial Arts Schools are McDojos
  4. 35 Direct Response Techniques that Improve Response Rates
  5. Top 8 Pages Every Martial Arts School’s Website Should Have

Make sure to check out our martial arts marketing forum where you can get answers from fellow martial arts school owners.

As always I highly encourage you to share your thoughts in the form of a comment at the end of each post.

Popularity: 4%

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: top posts
November 11, 2009 By 2 Comments

10 Types of Irresistible Offers You Can Make to Prospects

As a follow up to one of my most popular posts How to Create an Irresistible Offer Your Prospects Can’t Refuse, I wanted to expand on some different kinds of offers you can make.

An offer is something you’re willing to give your prospect for taking action and can range from free information to those that cost you money.

It’s not necessarily about how much actual dollar value your offer has, it’s about the perceived value of what you’re offering that matters most.

An offer with a high perceived value will work like gangbusters and can help drive even more people to your martial arts school.

The trick is to find the right offer that motivates your prospect to take action. In other words, all of these offers aren’t equal and one might work better than another. It’s best to test these different offers to see which type works best for your market.

10 Types of Irresistible Offers

1. Free trials
Free trials are a great no risk way for someone to come in and try out your classes. I used this for years and found it to be a great way to get people in the door.

Examples:

  • Get two lessons free
  • Get one week of martial arts lessons free
  • Free introductory lesson

2. Free information
This is even lower risk than doing a trial because people don’t have to physically come in to redeem this. This could be a free report or guide you email them or paper copy in the mail.

Examples:

  • A woman’s guide to self defense
  • A man’s guide to self defense
  • A child’s guide to self defense

3. Free tours
This sounds less involved than a trial and might be all you need to get someone in the door. I have heard of many martial arts schools who have have used this successfully to get new students.

Examples:

  • Free tour of your facility

4. Free giveaways
What can I say, people like free stuff. This is a great enticer to get people in the door.

Examples:

  • Free coupon voucher for a trial program
  • Free martial arts school T-shirt
  • Free DVD about your school
  • Free info pack or report

5. Contests
Enter to win contests are a great way to get a list of people who are interested in your program.

Examples:

  • Enter to win 3 free lessons with a black belt instructor
  • Enter to win a free week of martial arts lessons
  • Enter to win a free month of martial arts lessons

6. Two for one
This one is often overlooked but very powerful.

Examples:

  • Two people sign up for the price of one (trial program)
  • Get one month free when you pay for your first month

7. Discounts
I don’t anyone who wants to pay full price if they don’t have to so offering a discount is a great way to make people feel special.

Examples:

  • $0 sign up fee
  • 50% off your first month of lessons
  • Pay for 6 months in advance and get 20% off

8. Limited availability
If everyone and anyone can get this offer, what makes it so special that someone would take action? Offers are great when there is scarcity involved as it gets people to take action. People also like to feel they’re getting something no one else is.

Examples:

  • Limited to only the next 5 people who respond
  • Only 3 spots left so act now
  • Be one of the next 7 people to respond and receive XYZ

9. Free bonuses
This could be anything like a free private lesson upon sign up to merchandise…you name it.

Examples:

  • Free subscription to Black Belt Magazine
  • Free upgrade to higher quality uniform
  • Access to online instructional videos

10. Guarantees
If you’re not guaranteeing your services, I  guarantee you’re not getting as many inquiries you could be.

Examples:

  • 30-day money back guarantee
  • 110% money back guarantee
  • 60 day money back guarantee plus you keep all free bonuses

What types of offers do you make at your martial arts school?

Which ones work best in your experience?

Share your experiences in the form of a comment below!

Popularity: 8%

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: offer
October 28, 2009 By 12 Comments

I need your help

I thought I would do something a little different and ask a question and get your feedback.

I love helping whenever I can because I know how frustrating it can be when you just need some basic direction and no one is there to answer your question.

So, with that in mind…

What more than anything do you want to know about online marketing? What questions do you have?

Why would I do this? It’s simple: I really appreciate you reading this blog and I want to give back so I know how to help you better.

Leave me a comment below and ask those questions you’ve been dying to ask to help bring more students to your martial arts school using the Internet.

I will do my best to answer them all as soon as I can.

Popularity: 5%

Filed Under: Marketing