And, it reminded me how effective this kind of direct marketing can be.

Why use door hangers?

• They are incredibly affordable at about $0.05-$.10 each.
• They are easy to blanket several homes in a short period of time.
• You can target the right neighborhoods close to your school.
• They always reach your prospect.
• Your competitors don’t know you’re doing it making it harder to copy you.
• They can generate a lot of leads!

You can either design them yourself or you can try to use templates version available like at GetStudents.com (sample of one of their door hangers on right).

Whichever way you decide to go, following are some tips to help your door hanger pull new leads for your martial arts school.

1. Make it stand out

Color is a simple way to get attention. Don’t use dull, boring colors use colors that pop like yellow, blue, red, orange and green. You should also use an attention-grabbing photo that should tie into your offer. You only have a few seconds to get their attention. Make them count. Avoid clutter and hard to read fonts.

2. Attention: Headlines engage prospects!

Now that you have their attention, you need to create engagement. And, nothing does that like a good benefit driven headline. A good approach is to make the headline the solution to their problem. A sub-headline can provide supporting information to help clarify or add value to the main headline. > Body copy

Body copy helps you to elaborate on how your prospect will benefit from your programs. It can also help add clarity to your offer. Don’t overwhelm with details. Just give enough to whet the appetite.

3. Give them a reason to respond now

Don’t let your offer be opened ended because if there is no urgency, there is no reason to take action now. Give them a deadline… “This offer expires on Saturday so call today before it’s gone forever!” You can also limit how many people you will accept which can also add another layer of demand.

4. Give them a coupon

People always respond well to coupons, especially during harder times. Add a unique coupon at the bottom of your door hanger. This will not only give your prospect a reason to call, but it will give you a way to track redemptions so you can calculate your return on investment (ROI).

5. Two sides are better than one

Given you don’t know who lives in the house, it’s best to use both sides to cover the bases. On one side, you could target adults who want to get into better shape and kids on the reverse. Decide which side of the hanger is going to face the prospect. If you see kids toys in the yard, perhaps you put the kids side forward. If you don’t see any, perhaps you put the adult side forward.

6. Make it easy to respond

Make it simple to respond to your offer by making your contact information stand out. This can be done with oversized type, color, prominent placement or all the above. If it’s not easy to respond, believe me, they won’t.

How effective have door hangers been for your martial arts business?

Share your experience in the form of a comment below!

If you do offer an after school program, how has it helped your martial arts school grow?

If you don’t offer one, why not?

Please join me in congratulating the following martial arts school owners who submitted their ideas on how to attract potential students from the release of the next Karate Kid movie:

1. John Young

1. Bring in your ticket stub from the new Karate Kid movie and receive a free week of lessons!

2. Have a karate kid movie night where you watch all the original films and students can bring a friend to the event.

3. Have bully busting classes free to the public since that is what the movie is about..bullying!

2. Sensei George

There is a drive inn movie theater within a few miles of my school. We have worked out an arrangement that in addition to performing an demonstration on the opening weekend of the Karate Kid movie we will be printing all the concession stand menus which include an ad for my karate school on them. Every car that comes to the drive in is given one of these so after people get excited about the karate kid movie they have a take-away that leads them to our door! We plan on printing the menus for them for the whole run time of the movie so we will have at least 4- weeks of solid advertising targeted to people interested in karate!

3. Brenda Guiden

1. Plan to take your school as a group to the movie (pre-sell matinee tickets to students), preferably on June 12th (day after the opening but is on a Saturday when most kids will attend). Make sure all your students are wearing their school T-Shirts which will look very impressive as a group. Make sure instructors are there and have business cards. Anyone who remotely shows an interest in your school should get a card and offer to present the card for a week of free beginner lessons and a personal invitation to come witness your next belt testing.

2. Any community event attended by your school should always (if permitted) have a drawing box for a free pair of tickets to “The Karate Kid”. Info can be added to your data base.

4. Raymond Bennett

My wife and I own a small Kung-fu school and are operating on a shoe string budget. However, we are going to try and purchase 10 tickets and advertise in the local paper, “The first 10 people to stop in and try our Free Introductory Class receives a free ticket to the movie.” Or something to that effect.
If there are no takers (not a pessimist, just a realist) then we’ll take our students to the movie wearing our school t-shirts.

And/or, have our students waving bright signs near the theater with “Ask me about FREE Kung-Fu lessons” Then hand out our fliers with “Bring in your Karate Kid ticket stub and receive 1 month of Kung-fu lessons FREE!

5. B Basche (Send me your email address!)

I think a large park on a Saturday and Sunday doing some demos. Offer one free class and for everyone that signs up, there will be a drawing for a free movie pass to Karate Kid

If you see your name listed here, you won!

I’ll send you an email requesting your address so I can send you a poster. If you are B Basche, I need your email address so I can request your address.

Your posters will be dropped in the mail by Tuesday (assuming I get your address by then!).

How did they win? They entered their ideas on how to attract new students from the release of the next Karate Kid movie and their idea was selected.

While the contest is closed, you can still share your ideas by commenting at the bottom of this post:

Karate Kid Marketing Ideas for Martial Arts School Owners PLUS Movie Poster Contest

Congratulations everyone!

As part of a promotion, Sony sent me five Karate Kid movie posters (<— see left) and I’d like to share them with you.

All it takes is for you to share a new marketing idea to help other school owners out and you will be entered to win. It’s that simple!

Here are four marketing/promotion ideas to help get you started:

1) Contact local movie theaters and speak with the manager to see if you can set up a table and do demonstrations on opening night. I was contacted by one so I know they are open to it.

2) Take prospects to the movie! Buy tickets in advance and have your students bring their friends who are interested in taking lessons. Your treat. Turn it into an enter to win contest to build the excitement then make them an offer to get started.

3) Develop a “Karate Kid” trial package you can use to help recruit new students. Advertise it on your website and at your martial arts school.

4) Look into advertising on the movie screen at the movie theater. Sometimes this can be very affordable. When you’re on the phone with the manager, be sure to ask about rates. Run this for as long as the movie is playing at that theatre.

Remember, taking full advantage of this event is not just about marketing before the premier, it’s the entire time the movie plays in the theaters and even when it comes out on DVD!

1. All Professional Martial Arts Schools are McDojos (Which is also getting a ton of comments you’ll want to check out)
2. 35 Direct Response Techniques that Improve Response Rates
3. 50 Killer Ideas for Building a More Profitable Martial Arts School
4. Top 8 Pages Every Martial Arts School’s Website Should Have
5. How to Make a Living Teaching Martial Arts

Two pages are also worth mentioning and received a ton of traffic this month:

• Top 10 Most Popular Posts of all Time
• A Practical Guide to Building a Better Martial Arts School Website

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. Your opinions and experience helps add dimension to the topic.

The martial arts school was closed but they did have a outdoor brochure rack where I took the black white photo copy. I give them props for having some information available to help lure people back when they are closed.

Definitely a great idea.

However, as I flipped through the brochure, I noticed it was missing some critical information every trifold brochure should have.

Are you making any of these same mistakes with your tri-fold brochure?

As I said, the tri-fold brochure I picked up missing some pretty basic – but pivitol – information.

It was a copy of a copy (not a great first impression) and was 50% schedule – the entire inside spread was dedicated to their class schedule. There were no photos, no competitive advantages and no testimonials. They did, however, make an offer and talk about their various programs and did have a call to action.

NOTE: I have intentionally not uploaded a copy of the tri-fold brochure I mention. I may do that in the future but it will definitely be with all the pertinent identifiable information blurred out. If you want me to scan it in and upload it, let me know in the form of a comment. If enough people want to see it, I will upload.

Not a terrible start, but not great either.

The good news is that it wouldn’t take much to whip this tri-fold brochure into shape.

The Terrible Truth About Most Brochures

Most small business create a trifold brochure that focuses on just nuts and bolts information.

They learned it from stealing a competitors brochure and thought that’s what is supposed to be done.

No one springs to action after reading a dull and boring brochure.

What’s worse is that most people don’t have much expectations from them and don’t treat it like a part of the sales and marketing process.

So how do you make your’s something that gets people to spring out of their chair, sprint to their phone and call you?

The Secret to a Better Tri-Fold Brochure

I know… most marketing people tell you a brochure should just be nuts and bolts.

But I’m here to tell you those people should get a round house kick to the face.

Your brochure should be a lead generating machine, just like every other marketing vehicle you have.

Otherwise, why invest the time in it? Right?

Your brochure should be built around direct response principles.

TIP: What is your desired outcome after someone reads your brochure? Sign up for a trial program? Request a free DVD? Whatever the case, decide on that first and sculpt the rest of your messaging around that outcome. Everything needs to move your prospect in that direction.

Here is one recommended layout that is tried and true:

*Front Cover*
Like a book, a brochure is often judged by its cover. It has to entice someone to open and look further. Write a compelling headline that targets your audience and gets their interest to help accomplish this. Use a photo that draws attention and compliments the headline.

*Back Cover*
This is reserved for your contact information. Phone number, address email, domain name. Maybe a map. Avoid the temptation to add anything more to this space.

*Inside front panel*
Aside from the cover, this is the next most important panel. Put your most important message(s) here. I highly recommend adding some photos with testimonials from some of your most rabid fans in this panel. Nothing will sell your program better than what you’ve already done for your other students.

*Inside Three-Panel Spread*
This is where you tell your story and you’ll have plenty of room to do it.

• Start by telling your prospects what you’ll do for them.
• Sell the benefits and back them up with features.
• Use headlines to break up the content areas. This will make it easier to scan for info your prospect wants.
• Susinctly describe each of your programs.
• Use photos with captions.
• State your competitive advantages. Perhaps use bullets to do this.
• Make an offer! This is one thing most people forget to include however it’s the biggest reason to get people to actually respond.
• Tell them what to do next with a call to action.  This can be done at the bottom of the page, or you can dedicate an entire panel it. Drive them to your website or pick up the phone. Whatever the case, include a call to action!

If you can afford full color copies, great, but it’s not required. Save some dough and use colored card stock to help make it pop a little more. You’ll want to use a little heavier stock to make it feel a little more substantial.

So should you include your rates or schedule? I’d say no. I would recommend saving that once the prospect is more qualified.

Give them enough info to wet their appetite. Don’t give them everything. Remember the purpose of the tri-fold brochure is to help further qualify and sell them so they ultimiately sign up. It is not just to give them nuts and bolts information.

What other tips would you recommend for a better brochure?

The martial arts marketing forum is a place to discuss marketing and business related ideas and is unaffiliated with any martial arts marketing association or billing company. So, you can ask about anything and everything related to running a martial arts school without worrying about the sales pitch.

Why launch this forum? Basically, I launched this martial arts marketing forum to help everyone in our community grow and prosper.

Whether you are a traditional martial arts school or a mixed martial arts gym, this forum can help you get new and innovative ideas to help attract more students to your business.

I have created several categories to kick things off but will be adding more shortly. If there is a category you want added, please just send me a note and I’ll get it live as soon as I can.

Otherwise, jump in and start asking questions!

Please note that in order to post, you have to register first. Sign up now to participate in our martial arts marketing forum!

I have tried just about every special. Just mailed out post cards to 10,000 homes for the cost of 650.00. 7 calls and set up trials to only have them not show up. Do a special and at the end they say to much do not want to sign up. How do I attract students as well as adult students — Ms. Ramires, N. Carolina.

Thanks for the great question and for trying direct mail!

Let me start by saying I don’t think direct mail failed you. I think there were a few other major contributing factors that I suspect made your direct mailer tank.

Why Your Direct Mailer Likely Failed

Given that you sent to 10,000 addresses with a 0.07% response rate and a 0% conversion rate, I suspect the list wasn’t very targeted or pre-qualified.

An average response rate for direct mail is usually 2%. That means you should have had about 200 response to your direct mailer. 100 at the minimum. Something clearly went haywire.

You can have a great offer that no one else offers and is very compelling. You can even have a great looking postcard that reads like poetry and sets the standard in graphic design. However, if your list isn’t targeted, it doesn’t matter how many you send. No one will care.

Case in point: I receive mailers from the AARP all the time. Great creative and offer. They hit me up all the time and try all sorts of formats on me. However, they missed one important fact… I’m in my 30′s and 15-20 years away from caring.

In a nut shell, I suspect your direct mailer didn’t produce the desired response rate because of the list you mailed it to.

The 40/40/20 Rule

Many direct mail experts state the following 40/40/20 rule. This rule means that 40% of the success is on the list, 40% on the offer, and 20% on the creative. So, the two biggest areas of impact are going to be 1) who you send it to and 2) what you offer them.

Assuming you had a decent offer, it comes down to the list you rented.

Choose Your List Carefully

As the old saying goes, it’s not about quantity, it’s about quality. You need to look at the demographic breakdown of the list and make sure it’s going to prequalified prospects for best results.

I would ask the following questions to better understand your list:

• Did it go to people with limited income? Say less than $30,000 a year?
• What as the age range of your list? Did it go to people outside your target age range?
• Did you send a kids specific offer to single adults without kids?
• Did you send it to people outside of 3-5 miles of your martial arts school?
• Did you filter out renters?
• How old is the list you used
• Etc.

If you don’t pull out people from your mailing list who aren’t in your target market and aren’t very good prospects, then you’re wasting your time and money and your response rate will plummet. The more targeted you can make your list, the more impact you will have when you send direct mail to it.

How to Segment for Parents

If you’re going after parents, the mailing list should target couples roughly ages 25-49 with 1 or more children, have an income of over $50,000, own their own home and cars, and live within 3-5 miles radius of your martial arts school. All of these list selects (a term used to describe list variables) will help you filter your list to make it more targeted. You can get even more finite than that to help filter even more. Check with your list provider for more information.

How to Segment for Adults

If you’re going after adults, then, you probably don’t want to target parents. I would target single people before couples because they are more likely to have the time and resources. And, I would go after younger adults ages 18-39 years. You might even want to segment further and break it out by male and female and develop separate mailers to each audience then develop specific offers to test for each.

Remember, parent’s typically put their kids activities before theirs so they aren’t usually a good target. By targeting singles, you will likely get a more receptive audience.

My Recommendation

Before doing another mailer, I recommend you determine who you want to attract (parents or adults), get a list that targets that specific audience, develop an offer that goes after that audience, and write copy that speaks to the benefits they care about with corresponding photos.

Further, I also suggest you do a couple of smaller test mailings using different offers to see what gets people to respond. Once you have a clear winner, I would send out to the rest of the list using that offer.

Many give up on direct mail thinking it doesn’t work. it requires a lot of focus, targeting, and testing. However, it’s one of the most effective ways to market a product or service. You can’t do it once, get a low or no response, and think it sucks. You have to keep testing until you find the right combination.

In the United States, direct mail comprised 29% of all mail in 1980 and 43% in 2003. So, it does work. You just need to make sure you’re targeting it to the right people, first.

How do you target the right audience for your martial arts direct mailers? Share your insight in the form of a comment below!