Should You Join a Martial Arts Marketing Association?
August 29, 2008 by Ryan Wheaton
Filed under Marketing Concepts
Many martial arts school owners have to make a tough choice when it comes to marketing: Continue doing what they’re doing and hope for the best OR look for ways to improve their marketing skills.
And, one of the first places martial arts school owners look is at joining a martial arts marketing association to help grow their school.
But is joining a martial arts marketing association the right thing to do?
The Need for Martial Arts Marketing Associations
Stephen Oliver of the National Association of Martial Artists (NAPMA) said he recently sent out a mailer to 18,000 martial arts schools across the USA and 3,000 were returned because the studio shut down. That’s roughly 16% in closures. Ouch!
Clearly, there is great demand for marketing education to help keep martial arts schools open and to help those just starting a martial arts school. While these closures may be attributed to other factors, I would venture to say that a lack of marketing competence was one of the biggest reasons those martial arts schools shut down.
Why Join a Martial Arts Marketing Association?
When you join an association, you typically have access to a variety of new instructors who are all have varying levels of experience. Having different points of view and a network of people to bounce ideas off of as well as share experiences is never a bad thing.
There are two main marketing associations in the industry: the National Association for Professional Martial Artists (NAPMA) and Martial Arts Teachers Association (MATA). Both were started by John Graden. However, now he is focused exclusively on MATA while Stephen Oliver is at the helm over at NAPMA.
They provide several networking opportunities including conference calls, seminars, and conferences. They also provide marketing templates for direct mailers, newsletters, ads, fliers and more. In addition, they offer forums where you can share your experiences, ask questions, and get new ideas. Some have newsletters and/or magazines that shares personal success stories of many of their members which can be very inspirational.
From what I’ve heard, there are also many teaching, curriculum, business, and other useful tools they provide for both the new martial arts school owner and the seasoned martial arts school owner alike.
How to Evaluate a Martial Arts Marketing Association
Make sure you do your home work before joining. Go to their website. Sign up for their magazines and/or newsletters. Read the forums. Find testimonials. Scour the Internet for reviews. Ask your peers if they belong and if they recommend one over the other. Then decide whether if the cost will outweigh the benefits you will receive.
Is a Martial Arts Marketing Association Right For You?
Whether you self-educate or join a martial arts marketing association, you need to have one thing in mind with respect to your marketing: You need to have an empty cup.
A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “You are full of ideas. You come and ask for teaching, but your cup is full; I can’t put anything in. Before I can teach you, you’ll have to empty your cup.”
You need to be ready to learn and be ready to try new things. If you’re not willing to have an empty cup when it comes to your marketing education, like you had to have when you started in your art, then don’t bother signing up to an association. You will waste your money. Same goes if you go it alone. It’s all about your mindset.
And, you have to realize that not every marketing tactic will work at your martial arts school. Some things will work. Some won’t. The only way you’ll know what works is by testing. Realize that you might try 5 things that don’t work but maybe on the 6th you find a gem.
Will Joining a Martial Arts Marketing Association Make You A Sell Out?
I’m of the belief you don’t need to comprise your art to grow your school. I think you can have the best of both worlds. And, joining a martial arts association also doesn’t mean you have to sell out, either.
Don’t do anything that will comprise your integrity, but at the same time, be ready to push yourself and know if it’s not making you a little uneasy, it’s probably not a big enough push. In order to grow, you have to take yourself out of comfort zone and push things past what you normally do.
Martial arts marketing associations aren’t for everyone and I’ve heard mixed experiences. For some, it’s exactly what they need to grow or start their martial arts school. While for others have a hard time benefiting from them. Personally, I don’t belong to any at this time but wondered what others have experienced.
Do you recommend joining a martial arts marketing association? Share your experiences and thoughts in the form of a comment below!
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I'm Ryan Wheaton and I work with martial arts school owners to help them attract more students. Many martial arts school owners are confused at how to best market their business and feel awkward in selling situations. I help them overcome those challenges to become confident and competent in marketing and selling their services - helping them become more profitable so they can live the lifestyle they want to live.
Hi,
nice balanced article. I just thought one thing was missing. In terms of the marketing associations, you mention both of the John Graden ones and not MAIA: Martial Arts Industry Association. Just wondered why this was.
NAPMA is now a platform for Mr Oliver to promote himself which I think is a shame as NAPMA used to be excellent. MATA has some good stuff but MAIA is now, probably, the most balanced package now available but that’s only my opinion.
Do one thing: decide what result you want from them BEFORE joining then ask to speak to some of the customers of these associations and see if you get a fit for your desired result. Check out as many as you can. That way you can make a choice based on the result you want.
Chris, thanks for the note. As for MAIA, when you do a search for “martial arts marketing associations” they aren’t on the first page in Google. Based on that, it didn’t seem like that was their focus so I didn’t include them. I will investigate them further for future consideration. Thanks for suggesting them and for your comment.
Hi Ryan,
Great advise. I was going to join one of those organizations that offered both martial arts marketing AND payment processing, but at the last minute changed my mind. Anyways, I am now apart of starting-a-martial-arts-school.com. Yes, the URL is a bit crazy, but I guess a few years ago, hyphens meant a lot in the URL. How things change… Well, this is a great association to be apart of, even though they are not as large as NAPMA or MATA. It’s organized by a guy named Mike Massie, who runs a very successful MA school in Texas – however he’s a bit different. He hovers around the 150 student mark, where these large associations push for the multiple schools, and huge active student count of 200, 300, 400, etc. He offers great advice from marketing your school as a new owner to helping you get over that hump of active students. In addition, he has a forum where many members can converse and share ideas, bring up topics, etc. His membership is WAY cheaper, but his advice is well thought out – with good reason behind everything. As you mentioned, doing your research before making a commitment is a great idea. But, I would also add, “what do you (school owners) want to get out of your Karate studio?” Write those things down. Then compare those various associations on the market – because there are quite a few of them… See which one’s will help you meet your goal. I’ve been apart of this association and so far, it’s helped me get a bit organized with my marketing, as far as where I should focus.
Javier Lozano, Jr.
The Dojo of Karate
I think this article is well written. I belong to MATA and found this site due to Mr. Graden siting articles here. As a new school owner, I NEED IDEAS to market my school that are both effective and low cost. I have found MATA to be a great source of inspiration. The other things that I picked up were how to run more effective classes, better scheduling, implementing programs that capture parent attention and focusing in an area… not on everyone. We have to market to our target market, not everyone and hope someone comes in.
I am FOR joining an association but the cost of MAIA and NAPMA is 10 times more than MATA or starting-a-martial-arts-school.com
Just because I have a black belt doesn’t mean I am a marketing guru and we need to get rid of ego and ask for help from those willing to give it.
While Stephen Oliver is indeed at the helm of NAPMA, it is not solely for the purpose of marketing Stephen Oliver. If anything, the content has become much more professional – especially considering that it’s now drawn from arguably the most successful multi-school owner in history. With the addition of Jeff Smith to the staff, you have the education of two of the best minds in martial arts.
Do yourself a favor and listen to what they say – it took me to 3 schools and 1200 students in 18 months….
Rob, thanks for the respectful comment. It’s good to see someone from NAPMA here contributing to the conversation. Would you recommend NAPMA for a single location martial arts school with no intention of growing to 3 schools and 1,200 students? Not everyone wants this and seems to be a big focus of your organization.
Stumbled across this and thought it might be useful to “chime in.” Some of the ideas expressed above are off-base or just plain misdirected.
First. Since the ownership transition the biggest change in NAPMA has been several people who have in fact run single and multiple schools through boom times and recessions and through “martial arts booms” and slack times. Unfortunately many of the organizations and consultants suffer from one of several problems.
1. Ran a school many years ago and teach dated ideas that don’t work in the current environment, or
2. Never ran a successful school and teach theory or translate other people’s ideas while adopting them as their own.
3. Experienced short-term success and then start selling their ideas.
Frankly, rule #1 is never take advice from someone who hasn’t done what you want to accomplish.
Second. NAPMA is NOT focused on BIG schools or Multi-School owners. It is VERY focused on attracting intelligent, highly motivated owners who aspire to run both a high quality school with strong profitability.
I’ve written extensively including in Martial Arts Professional Magazine that “Bigger Isn’t Always Better.”
We do teach maximizing student value, improving student service and student longevity, while teaching marketing skills and techniques that are in fact working in today’s market.
Third. “NAPMA’s” only to Promote Stephen Oliver?? I’m not sure where that would come from and, certainly it’s a strange comment. I created “NAPMA Squared” while John Graden was still owner of NAPMA, it was picked up by Century, and under their ownership “morphed into” “Maximum Impact”
The NAPMA Squared Program then Maximum Impact portion of the program was created by me and I was always the primary author.
Actually since the ownership transition I have brought in a variety of my “friends and associates” adding contributions from a wide-range of contributors from Jeff Smith, Terry Bryan, Paul Hartunian, Lee Milteer, Dan Kennedy, Dave Kovar, Bill Clark, John Hackleman, Jhoon Rhee and many others.
Toby Milroy and myself have added contributions to NAPMA’s regular newsletter mostly by answering submitted member questions.
NAPMA’s range and quality of contributors far exceeds anyone else in the industry and continues to expand.
Fourth, RE Pricing. Frankly NAPMA, MAIA, MATA and others are laughably inexpensive. What’s important to consider is “Return on Investment” to get a 10 to 1 Return on Investment (HUGE BY ANY STANDARDS) all a school would have to do is add $2,000 a month in revenue.
Long before I had any contract with or ownership in NAPMA (while a Board of Director’s member of Educational Funding Company) I told anyone who asked to do as I did and be a member of everything since only one good idea a year would create a huge ROI from membership.
Anyway. The conversation can get windy. We offer everyone TWO Free Months of our Maximum Impact Membership with over $2,000 in free bonuses including 24 interviews ranging from Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy to Jhoon Rhee, Jackie Chan, and Joe Lewis.
Stephen Oliver, CEO
National Association of Professional Martial Artists
Hi Ryan,
Sorry for the delayed response….
I would absolutely recommend NAPMA for a single location with a few caveats:
1) if you plan on joining NAPMA (or any information source) and don’t use the materials and implement the systems – then DO NOT do it – the only thing that you will accomplish is your frustration level rising and your blood pressure going up. Then the other part is that you will blame NAPMA (or whomever) for the failure of the system or information.
2) keep in mind that the systems will take you to whatever success level you chose and that is solely up to you. Even if you have no desire for a multi-school operation, the materials can increase the quality of what you offer to your existing students as well as systematize your current operations.
Here’s the bottom line – most of us started schools because we loved martial arts, not because we are great business people. To that end – our business skills are not quite where they should be and the school suffers and eventually shuts down. UNLESS we go back to school to learn marketing and business skills.
It’s like Michael Gerber talks about in The e-Myth — we are bitten by an “entrepreneurial seizure.”
That’s where NAPMA comes in to play as our virtual business university.
NAPMA provides information that can take you to a business Black Belt to go along with the Martial Arts Black Belt that took you many years to earn. Except this one is a whole lot less painful!
Give it a try if you haven’t and get the 2 month free trial – IF you implement it will be worth it.
All the best,
Rob Tucker
6th Degree Black Belt, Master Instructor
Director of Sales – NAPMA
RobTucker@NAPMA.com
Rob, absolutely LOVE Michael Gerber. Chris Dewey recommended the E-Myth Seminar to me last year and it changed my thinking radically. Glad to see you mention it.
I have a unique perspective on this great topic… I worked for both NAPMA and MATA as Consultant/ Senior Consultant-Director for many years… This gave me the opportunity of viewing BOTH companies from the INSIDE. And I was flown out to Oklahoma City and offered a job by MAIA as well, granting a limited view of their operation. Now I spend my days as CEO of Pro-Star Mixed Martial Arts, owning and working for a separate entity with NO financial ties to any… So I believe I can make a relatively unbiased comparison of these companies.
In the days Mr. Graden owned NAPMA, it was at the forefront of the industry in terms of marketing and business. I witnessed Mr. Graden create life changing content for martial arts schools both large and small.
When Century acquired NAPMA, I was still handling all the consulting and, had just sold all of the first 100 or so NAPMA Squared programs after its debut. The absence of great leadership left in the wake of the takeover and upcoming turmoil motivated me to follow Mr. Graden in his new endeavor – MATA. But while MATA was in its infancy stages, I could not compare companies on an even keel. I had to choose which had a better future.
I viewed Mr. Graden’s vision of an internet-based information and marketing company as revolutionary. Why deliver a box of physical material (DVD’s, CD’s, Ad-slicks, etc.) and charge over a hundred dollars per month when you can receive 10 TIMES the material, at ONE QUARTER the cost by downloading the same content from the internet?
That was the main difference… NAPMA (at the time) charged over a hundred per month including shipping, and delivered a physical box, while MATA charged $24.95 and sent you nothing… instead MATA gives you access to a website where you can download much more material… instantly. So of the three, I would have to recommend MATA, hands-down. (In the interest of full disclosure, I had already sold my chain of 7 martial arts schools and was looking for the best company to partner and launch a gym-based martial arts franchise/ licensing system I was working on for over 5 years. So my decision to choose MATA was influenced in part by this.)
I have not had the pleasure to work with NAPMA since Stephen Oliver acquired it from Century. But I spend all day, every day talking to school owners… So I have heard the rumors about Mr. Oliver using NAPMA solely to promote his MHK Franchise. First, Mr. Oliver has never been shy about the fact he’s trying to sell you something. For one salesman to another, I give him credit for having the guts to never apologize for being a good at marketing, and we should follow his example of constant promotion. Do I agree with the assertions listed above? No. For some reason, many school owners will pick up a NAPMA box, or MaPro Magazine issue and read 90 pages of great content, and 10 pages of franchise promotion. Instead of focusing on the 90 pages of great content, they only remember the 10 page “sales-pitch.”
When Mr. Graden and I started Pro-Star Mixed Martial Arts, at first, we were accused of similar self-promotion – using MATA to promote Pro-Star MMA. Even though this was not the case, Mr. Graden and I decided to separate MATA and Pro-Star completely to eliminate the appearance of impropriety. Perception is reality. I focused completely on Pro-Star while Mr. Graden focused entirely on MATA. We separated offices and divested ourselves from the other company. So far, it’s worked great.
But I’d like to offer yet another choice for everyone… MATA/ NAPMA/ MAIA offer information and provide general consultation. But often, they produce conflicting advice. So in order to take ALL GUESSWORK out of running a martial arts school, we created Pro-Star… (Here comes my sales pitch now!)
Imagine taking the discipline, respect, and modern ranking system from traditional martial arts, and coupling it with modern Mixed Martial Arts Techniques in a Rotating Curriculum Format….
Imagine the ability to log onto a website, and see EXACTLY WHAT TO TEACH, Year 2, Term 5, Week 7, Class 2, Minute 11-20! That one, ten minute segment may have anywhere from 1 to 5 streaming videos lasting from 30 seconds to 6 minutes! We’ve FILMED 3,000+ video segments in the last couple years and we’ve only begun adding lesson plans for Year 3 of the curriculum…
Now imagine having a FULL Business System and Marketing Strategy that coincides exactly with the Curriculum…
This is exactly what we’ve done with Pro-Star Mixed Martial Arts! And since we’re still in the phase of accepting “Founding Members,” school owners have the ability to get in at less than HALF OFF what we will charge when all 5,000 videos are completed and perfected.
And the best part is, you DON’T HAVE to change the name of your school, or even change your base curriculum. You can use Pro-Star MMA as an ADD-ON PROGRAM or as the curriculum to teach to your BBC!
So my advice… Go with MATA for inexpensive and great information and consultation, and go with Pro-Star MMA for EXACT directions, step-by-step on what to teach every class, and what to do EVERY day to make your school grow beyond your wildest dreams! I can’t begin to tell you how recession proof MMA is turning out to be, and how EASY this material is to teach. The BEST instructors to teach MMA to the “masses” are instructors that BEGIN in a traditional martial arts curriculum… NOT guys who began as high school wrestlers! (“Masses” is defined as: Anyone who does not have dreams of fighting in a cage in 6 weeks.) A good teacher can teach anything they know well, and we’re proving this every day by taking guys with 10 years traditional martial arts experience but little to no grappling/ kickboxing experience, and in 6 months, they are taking students to NAGA competition and THEY ARE WINNING! Some have “chosen” to even train amateur fighters, and they too… are winning. Some of our guys get 200 inquires about MMA in a single month, FROM THE INTERNET ALONE! MMA is NOT another fad like cardio-kickboxing or Krav-Maga. There are BILLIONS of dollars behind MMA right now, so it’s not going anywhere in our lifetime…
NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS EVER BEEN DONE BEFORE IN THE HISTORY of MARTIAL ARTS… So we have lofty goals of changing the face of the industry forever with Pro-Star MMA. The only question now is… will you inquire about Pro-Star before your competition does???
As you can see, I’m very passionate when I KNOW something WORKS. Call or email me and I’ll be more than happy to spend a half hour on the phone with you to explain exactly how the entire Pro-Star MMA Curriculum, Business System, and Markeing Strategy works. In the meantime, check out our sample videos on Youtube.
Thanks,
Joe Brignoli
CEO, Pro-Star Mixed Martial Arts
I joined NAPMA Maximum Impact for the trial two months where you pay only shipping and handling for the fist two months. So far the experience has been terribly underwhelming.
The first mailing I received had an “Explosive School-Growth Guide” that is approximately 90% testimonials and NAPMA advertisements. The rest was selling me on what NAPMA was *going* to do for me. I would have expected this information as part of the sale… and maybe that’s the idea. I bought 2 months of NAPMA sales material.
A DVD was included which was part of a Steven Oliver seminar. This had some interesting information on it. Nothing particular new to me… but could be very useful for someone else. There was enough information to whet the appetite and give some powerful ideas. The DVD was respectable. The “guide” is an embarrassment.
Today, May 3, I received an email announcing:
This Month’s “Maximum Impact Teleconference”: Wednesday, March 4th, at
2:00pm Eastern Time
Ah, the speed of technology. Right now I am wondering whether to bother waiting for the second mailing before canceling. I would warn anyone that asked me — given my experience so far. If I were to follow NAPMA’s example, I suspect I’d have some very disappointed customers.
Steven Oliver said on his DVD that you need to be a Master Teacher first before being a marketeer. The reasoning is that if you are not, and marketing brings people to your door, customers will find out you are a fraud. Good solid advice.
Well, NAPMA marketing has brought me to their Marketing Dojo door. So far the mats are smelly, bathrooms are dirty, and no one is at the front counter.
But I’ll let you know how it goes…
Bob,
Thanks for sharing with our readers and I’m sorry to hear that. Keep us posted.
Ryan
From John Graden:
This has been entertaining to say the least. Thanks everyone for your kind comments.
Here is what I know. On New Years Day, my brother Mark was “let go” of his job at NAPMA by Oliver. Happy New Year Mark.
That officially brings an end to the Graden families’ influence on the company I created with great pride in 1994. My brother had been with me from the beginning and stuck it out after Century sued the company into bankruptcy and “acquired it” from me.
Rob Colasanti left NAPMA over a year ago. Rob was my first karate student when he was 15 and my first NAPMA employee. Kathy Marlor, who was senior consultant at NAPMA during my reign has been serving at a similar role at Member Solutions until she too was released last month. Merry Christmas Kathy.
In meeting with my students and family, I have a clear insight as to what is going on at NAPMA. They have implemented a three year rotating curriculum which recycles 36 months of old boxes in a loop. What was once $99, is now $399.
I have no idea what is going on at MAIA, other than getting a call from a Duane someone who said he used to work there and now is getting sued by Century. Welcome to the club.
MATA is being overhauled for the third time in six years. The MartialArtsTeachers.com site will now be a free information and news hub where you will find my podcasts, articles etc…
The member side has been moved to MartialArtsSchoolOwners.com and is on a more powerful platform which will help us serve our members even better.
I no longer have any involvement with Pro-Star Mixed Martial Arts.
First quarter 2010 I will role out a new curriculum program that will be unlike anything the martial arts has ever seen. You will be blown away at how easy this will be to manage and teach. Within three months you could have locations all over town teaching this program to a market hungry for it.
I hope everyone has a great New Year. I’m certainly excited about it.
Thanks,
JG
I have been trying to answer this question for many years. Unfortunately my experience working for and belonging to other organizations have been more negative than positive. I checked out MATA for one of their trials, but was turned off by one of their reps. I called NAPMA looking for the MA Pro magazine, but I have not checked out their materials yet due to several reservations, not to mention I’m a cheapskate and I don’t want to shell out the couple hundred a month.
I feel that I have developed the mindset of being a (martial arts) professional who runs a (martial arts) business. This mindset has gotten me blacklisted at several schools, and a pink slip at a youth organization for which I used to work. However my ‘crazy ideas’ have been verified by some of these organizations, or at least I seem to be doing some of the same things they do.
Still, the answer for me so far is “No,” you don’t need to join a martial arts marketing association to be successful. At risk of sounding like an arrogant know it all, I don’t think that these associations will teach me anything I don’t already know. That said one of the early lessons I’ve learned is to always question, and to examine carefully. I’ve always assumed that meant to start with yourself… So at some point, I’ll probably shell out the cash to check out NAPMA, MAIA, PMA, etc. to see if I’m missing something.
But if you are a person who wants to be a professional martial artist and/or school owner, you do need to educate yourself. Although it is possible to now earn a bachelor’s degree of martial arts in America, I still don’t know of any college or university that offers martial arts marketing degrees in America or overseas. Though I am not a member of any of these associations, I say “Bravo!” to those who offer any improvement to the martial arts, the business, the industry.