Posted by Mike Massie on April 20, 2010
“The way to succeed is to double your error rate.”
Thomas J. Watson
Definitely worth a read...
Recently, I’ve been reading “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” 
by Stanford psychology professor and researcher Dr. Carol Dweck.
I’d recommend it for anyone – it’s a clear and well-supported explanation of why your mindset has so much to do with success.
And since I started reading it, it has stirred some serious introspection regarding my own personal outlook on the challenges and failures in my life.
Take, for instance, my early experiences in starting and running a martial art school.
I thought it would be easy to open a school and get students – all I had to do was find a place to teach, run an ad in the paper, and I’d be sitting pretty with a classroom full of students.
I was wrong.
In fact, I failed three times before I finally started my first successful school… a story I detail in the first chapters of my martial arts business manual, Small Dojo Big Profits.
Surprised I’d be so open and public about my early failures?
Well, I am going to go out on a limb here and say I believe that’s one of the big problems in our industry…
That no one wants to admit:
- Their failures -
- When they’ve been wrong -
- When they’ve made mistakes -
- The times when they gave up and called it quits -
Well, I think I’ve mentioned before that I have not had an easy life. Oh, I have been blessed in many ways, but for the most part my life has consisted of a lot of struggles interspersed with some bright spots along the way.
I think it’s because of this that I’ve spent so much time studying people who have overcome adversity.
And, in the course of my observations I’ve noticed there’s a common thread in all stories about people who succeed in the face of great difficulty and disappointment…
The truth is, most people who achieve success fail much more often than they succeed. Or, as someone once put it, they “fail their way to success.”
But in our industry, there is a pervasive negative attitude regarding failure, and I believe it stems from a more deep-seated attitude toward weakness.
Martial artists aren’t supposed to show weakness. They’re not supposed to be “weak”.
Right?
I mean, we eat our own. Just let someone show weakness or be perceived as being weak, and I guarantee you that the jackals will be circling for the kill in no time flat.
So, martial artists get very good at hiding what they perceive to be their “weaknesses”.
And that leads me back to how “known” martial arts figures don’t want anyone to know that they’ve failed or made mistakes.
Maybe it goes back to the old image of the “master” or sensei being an all-knowing figure who is always right.
But, even though we want to believe in that image, we all know it’s just an illusion.
One that gets in the way of learning and growth.
The reason it’s such an issue, is because it leaves no room for error… and therefore, none for experimentation and growth as an industry.
Admit it – it’s darned hard to go out on a limb, when you know what public failure could mean. Ridicule, back-stabbing, and being shunned by the martial arts community.
It happens, you know it and I know it. We’ve all seen it.
But, the important thing to remember is that everyone fails… especially those who are willing to take risks.
And risks are part and parcel of being in business for yourself. It’s actually quite elemental to being an entrepreneur.
Look up “entrepreneur” in the dictionary, and here’s what you’ll find:
en?tre?pre?neur – a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.
So, what’s the takeaway from this?
First, that there are two ways to look at failure.
- One way is that failure is something to avoid at all costs.
- The other is that every failure is one step closer to success.
The second takeaway is that failure is only a sign of weakness when it can’t be admitted or discussed.
But when it’s out the in open, analyzed, examined, and learned from, it becomes the cornerstone that success is built upon.
Posted by Mike Massie on October 7, 2009
There Are No Silver Bullets When It Comes To Marketing Your Business
If you're looking for a "silver bullet" when it comes to marketing your school... well, you may as well be hunting for werewolves and vampires, too.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
There is no “magic bullet” when it comes to marketing your school.
So, knowing this… why is it that so many martial arts school owners continue to look for that mythical single simple solution to their marketing and recruiting dilemma?
If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…
Have you seen the ads in the magazines where the vendor promises to solve all your marketing problems?
And all you have to do is buy their product, or pay for them to visit your school and set up their marketing system for you… then voila! Your marketing problems will be solved forever!
As those of us who have been in the industry for a while know, this is a load of crap. If there was a single simple solution to our martial arts school marketing woes, everyone would be doing it.
Now, let me explain why there isn’t a single simple solution to successfully marketing a martial arts school…
Reasons Why Marketing A Small Business Is Inherently Challenging
One of the things I learned early on in my career as a small business owner is that marketing any small business is inherently difficult. There are very good reasons for why this is true, and I’ll list each one below so you’ll have a better understanding why marketing your school always seems to be a constant battle.
Reason #1: Multiple Marketing Channels. Back in the day, there were very few marketing channels available where businesses could reach consumers. In any given town, you might have a single local newspaper, three network television affiliates, and a few local radio stations that were well established in clearly defined markets.
However, that hasn’t been the case for some time now, as the internet has changed everything. Where schools could once get by with a weekly news ad and the occasional local T.V. or radio spot, in today’s marketing environment these marketing methods are nowhere near as effective… and that’s because consumers are getting their information and entertainment from multiple sources.
So, school owners who want to market their schools have a herculean task facing them… being seen everywhere on a limited budget.
Reason #2: Changing Market Conditions. Once again, the rapid advent of technology is to blame here. In this day and age, technology has become an integral part of our daily lives. To some extent, that’s a good thing, but unfortunately for the small business owner it means that when technology advances, things can change drastically in the market.
An obvious example of this can be found in advancements in digital media storage. MP3 players have all but obliterated the record store industry, and turned the recording industry on its head.
Think these sorts of changes can’t affect the martial arts industry? Think again. As life goes digital, many martial arts schools have been forced to adopt “new” technologies such as email and online video to reach consumers. And, as new technologies are similarly adapted by consumers, school owners need to be on the lookout for these trends and be ready to exploit them to successfully market their schools.
Reason #3: Increasingly Distracted Consumers. One of my all-time favorite holiday movies is “A Christmas Story.” The tale follows the trials and travails of a young boy who desires nothing more than to get “an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle” for Christmas. The movie was released in the mid-80s, back when the lifestyle in America at the time was still relatively close to the slow and comfortable pace of the 1940s depicted in the movie. (Ah, the good old days…)
But no more… In today’s world, typically both parents work outside the home. And, in single parent homes the parent necessarily works to support the family. Parents get up when it’s dark outside, see the kids off to school or daycare, rush off to commute to work, commute back home at quitting time, only to have to shuttle their kids here and there, then get home after dark in time to feed the kids, put them to bed, and maybe have a few minutes to themselves before they have to do it all over again the next day.
Kids have a slew of sports and after-school activities to choose from, not to mention video games, T.V., texting, and the internet to distract their attention. And, young professionals are faced with ever-increasing job responsibilities that cut into their social and personal time (a recent poll claimed that many young professionals are afraid to take vacations for fear of losing their jobs should something go wrong while they’re away from work).
With all this going on in the lives of consumers… how likely do you think it is that they’ll pay attention to your marketing the first time they see it? If you said, “Not likely at all,” you’re dead on. That’s why you have to get in front of the consumer repeatedly and regularly in order to effectively market your business.
So, What Does This Mean To You?
In short, it means that in today’s world you need to have a comprehensive marketing plan that exploits new technologies and that reaches consumers via multiple marketing channels. For most martial arts school owners, this may seem like a daunting undertaking. I know, because at one point I had to figure this stuff all out for myself… and then figure it out again, over and over again during changing times and economic upheavals.
That’s why I set up my coaching site to provide simple, easy-to-implement monthly marketing advice to school owners. Each month I tell the site members what they should be doing to market their schools (both via online articles, and through discussions on our member forums) and they have only to implement the plan I provide to them.
But, if you want to figure it out on your own, I can relate. Even so, I encourage you to give the membership on my business coaching site a try. It’s inexpensive, proven, and it will save you a lot of headaches… if you’re willing to take what’s provided and put it to use.
Because remember – there are no magic marketing bullets… only good marketing practices and hard work in putting those practices to use.
Until next time,
Michael D. Massie
Coaching Program: http://www.starting-a-martial-arts-school.com/
Adult Curriculum: http://selfdefenseblackbelt.com/
Social Network for Martial Arts Instructors: http://www.masainetwork.com/
Business Manual: http://www.small-dojo-big-profits.com/
Summer Camp Manual: http://startingasummerdaycamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MartialArtsBusinessDaily
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mabizdaily
Posted by Mike Massie on August 12, 2009
“Sitting On Your _ _ _ Waiting For Students To Fall From The Sky…”
I posted this in my member’s forums a few weeks back, and thought some of you would get a kick out of it:
A very common thing I see when people join this site, is that they look through the articles, download the materials, lurk on the forums… And then they don’t do a darned thing with it (the material on the site).
Sitting on your _ _ _ waiting for students to pour down from the sky isn’t going to do you any good.
And, knowing all the business and marketing systems is only half of what it takes to make things happen.
You know the other half – you have to implement, implement, implement.
Heck, I know it takes work, I know it’s time-consuming, and I know it’s a risk… and I know that if you fail, people are going to laugh, say “I told you so”, and so on.
It happened to me, and more than once when I first started.
But people are going to say those things anyway.
And, you HAVE TO WORK SOMEWHERE, AT SOMETHING.
So…
YOU MAY AS WELL BE HARD AT WORK BUILDING YOUR OWN FUTURE!!!
Put this stuff to good use – it doesn’t work if you don’t use it – but time and again, our site members have proven the converse… that it does work if you use it!
The Stuff Works
The fact is, I know it works because I teach what worked for me in real life. And I know my methods have a nearly universal applicability, based on the feedback I get from school owners from all over the world who take my information and run with it.
Which is why it boggles my mind that some people will pay good money for my information and then not do a darned thing with it. (And I’ve also observed that when the advice is given for free, the “sit on it and do nothing” factor goes up exponentially… which is why I quit giving out free coaching, even to my friends.)
School Owners Come, And School Owners Go…
Dreaming about building a successful martial arts school and not taking action is about as futile as dreaming about being in the UFC and never training to fight...
Since I’ve been running my martial arts business coaching website, I’ve noticed that people come and people go…
But the ones who actually dig into the material, then go out and implement what is being provided – those people inevitably end up thanking me for helping them turn their schools around, launch successfully, etc.
At this point, I can almost always pick out the ones who are going to be successful… because they’re the ones that don’t wait for osmosis to overcome inertia.
Instead, they learn something new, implement it… learn something new, implement it… learn something new, implement it. Over and over and over again.
Are You An Implementer?
“Implementers”, as I like to call them, are the ones who make it in this business.
Well, this Friday through Sunday I am going to be sharing three days worth of incredibly innovative, mind-blowing material with a room full of Implementers who decided it was worth three days of their time to learn some things that will transform their schools.
The material I’ll be sharing this weekend is the sum total of all the research and development I’ve done over the last three years, developing new programs and business tactics to help school owners thrive in today’s ever-changing social and economic conditions.
Those people who attend are going to be inundated with concepts, ideas, and tactics that will make it so easy to implement the information, they won’t be able to help but succeed with it. For the handful of lucky school owners who get to pick my brain for an entire weekend, it will revolutionize their businesses.
And yes, I’ll be offering this training again – a portion of it via upcoming webinars, and all of it in other live seminars we have planned for later this year and into 2010. A shame that you couldn’t make it, though – because this is the only free seminar I’ll be having for a good long while…
So, You Couldn’t Make The Seminar…
It’s understandable – life happens. But in the meantime, you can get the next best thing. Right now (until Thursday Sunday at midnight) I am offering the entire package of my business and training materials for just under $200 bucks.
It’s all the martial arts business training material I’ve put out to date – over $300 (retail cost) of material, with a value (including the bonuses) of well over $1,000.00… And you can get it all for less than the cost of one-way airfare to Austin, Texas.
Click here for more information and to order…
But remember… all the business knowledge in the world won’t do you a darn bit of good if you don’t implement it.
Want To See Updates From The Seminar Over The Weekend?
If you’d like to see updates from the seminar over the weekend, be sure to sign up for our social networking site for martial arts instructors, http://www.masainetwork.com.
We’ll be posting photos and video clips from the seminar throughout the weekend on the site, so be sure to check it throughout the weekend to get a sneak peak at the material and training.
Until next time,
Michael D. Massie
Blog: http://martialartsbusinessdaily.com/
Social Network for Martial Arts Instructors: http://www.masainetwork.com/
Business Manual: http://www.small-dojo-big-profits.com/
Resources: http://www.starting-a-martial-arts-school.com/
Summer Camp Manual: http://startingasummerdaycamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MartialArtsBusinessDaily
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mabizdaily
Posted by Mike Massie on June 29, 2009
Starting-A-Martial-Arts-School.com and MASAInetwork.com member Don O’Neal posted an excellent article on his MASAInetwork.com blog explaining how you can get your program into a YMCA or rec center:
http://www.masainetwork.com/profiles/blogs/getting-in-a-ymca-or-rec
(Hint: Be sure to register when you hit the site – it’s free!)
The martial arts social networking site for instructors.
This is an excellent primer on how to get your foot in the door by presenting yourself in a professional manner.
I’d have to say that the #1 reason instructors aren’t offered spots at YMCAs and rec centers has to do with not being taken seriously due to not presenting their program in a professional manner.
Check out the article – it’ll help you avoid making that mistake. Oh, and be sure to message Don to thank him for contributing the article on the MASAInetwork.com site.
Until next time,
Michael D. Massie
Blog: http://martialartsbusinessdaily.com/
Social Network: http://www.masainetwork.com/
Business Manual: http://www.small-dojo-big-profits.com/
Resources: http://www.starting-a-martial-arts-school.com/
Summer Camp Manual: http://startingasummerdaycamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michael.massie1
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mabizdaily
Performance Nutrition: http://truth.mymaxsystem.com/athletes.php
P.S.: Here’s some recent feedback on our business materials…
“I think your stuff is great, it is almost to good to share
but I am going to anyway. Thanks.”
Sensei Robert Taylor
Sidekick Karate
China Grove, NC
P.S.S: Still a few spots left for the August seminar:
http://martialartsbusinessdaily.com/event-registration
Posted by Mike Massie on June 26, 2009
We had quite a few people jump in early and grab the bulk of the seats for my free seminar August 14th – 16th in Austin, TX.
All the guys are looking to learn a lot about running a profitable school, training hard, and eating some good Texas BBQ.
(And, knocking back a few Shiners after the seminar while we all share ideas on what’s working for school owners right now, too… cause that’s how we do it in Texas.)
Now, I know some of you are going, “That’s great, but I don’t own the SDBP book and I’m not a site member.”
Yep, I know you’re concerned about every penny right now…
But seriously, the site is only $18 a month, and worth 5x that, easily.
Not only that, but the material I am going to cover in this seminar was responsible for adding thousands monthly to my bottom line.
Seriously…
If you can’t add 2 grand a month to your net within a month of coming home from Texas on the 16th, you’re either brain dead or the laziest school owner I know (and to date, I officially hold that distinction).
Why not join the site and get the $500 seminar for free to boot?
(Yes, this seminar is going to be $500 a person the next time I hold one… and the last group that came through paid $400 a person – for less training!)
What the flip!?!?
Go register now and get that last spot!
Join the SAMAS business info site first:
http://www.starting-a-martial-arts-school.com/join.html
Then get that last spot in the seminar here:
http://martialartsbusinessdaily.com/event-registration/
Until next time,
Michael D. Massie
Blog: http://martialartsbusinessdaily.com/
Social Network: http://www.masainetwork.com/
Business Manual: http://www.small-dojo-big-profits.com/
Resources: http://www.starting-a-martial-arts-school.com/
Summer Camp Manual: http://startingasummerdaycamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/michael.massie1
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mabizdaily
Performance Nutrition: http://truth.mymaxsystem.com/athletes.php
P.S.: Here’s some recent feedback on our business materials…
“I think your stuff is great, it is almost to good to share
but I am going to anyway. Thanks.”
Sensei Robert Taylor
Sidekick Karate
China Grove, NC
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