Why Your 20-Year-Old Marketing Doesn’t Work Anymore

Posted by Mike Massie on July 14, 2009

“You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” – Charles F. Kettering

Stuck In The 90’s, Longing For The 80’s… That’s Where Most Of Your Competition Lives

Who would have thought this movie would usher in the golden age of martial arts business?

I actually started my journey in the martial arts in the early 80’s. 1984 was the year The Karate Kid was released in theaters, and when Lee Van Cleef and Sho Kosugi were running around in black pajamas in the T.V. series The Master.

Back then you could swing a dead cat and hit someone who wanted to take traditional martial arts classes.

Every kid wanted to be either a ninja or washing cars for a karate master. The economy had shown a strong upsurge after recession, the dollar was strong, unemployment was down, and incomes were rising. It was the “golden age” of the martial arts business industry.

Fast forward to the late 90’s… this internet thing is really taking off! Venture capitalists were throwing money at dot coms like cheap rice at a wedding. Although other parts of the world were suffering through stagnant economic growth, the U.S. economy was booming. High-paying jobs were plentiful, credit was easy to get, and the dollar was strong…  a trend that would last well into the new millennium.

But alas, the good old days are long gone. Too bad most of the industry hasn’t figured that out yet.

The Internet Kills Simple Easy Advertising

One thing people in the industry have failed to notice is that not only has the economy changed – the way we find and attract new students has changed as well. In fact, it’s changed dramatically…

For big business, the era of making big bucks selling average products through massive advertising budgets has ended. Why? They can no longer use television advertisement to monopolize the public’s attention like they could in previous decades.

“What we’ve learned is this: In an era of too much noise and too much clutter and too many choices and too many channels and too much spam, you can’t make a good living by interrupting people over and over.” – Seth Godin

For smaller local businesses like martial arts studios, this has resulted in a slightly different fallout. We’ve never been able to take advantage of mass media to market our schools – so the way we reached the majority of our local market was through using:

• Yellow pages ads -
• Newspaper advertising -

Now, tell me – where’s your copy of the local phone book? Can you remember the last time it was even delivered to your doorstep?

And how many people do you know who actually read – I mean really read – the newspaper? Why pay $1.50 when I can get the news for free on Yahoo or Google?

Face it – the good old days of reaching 80 – 90% of your local market using phone book and print ads are long, long gone…

And the following stats reveal EXACTLY where those eyeballs have gone:

Percentage of U.S. households with an internet connection:

1. Some college or associate’s degree: 69 percent
2. Bachelor’s degree or higher degree: 84 percent

And, 97% of people with online access will research products and services online before they purchase -

Note: These are buyers, the people with money – in other words, our market.

So, when nearly 100% of educated shoppers research online before they buy a product or service – where do you think you need to be advertising?

Of course, most of you already know this (thankfully I have smart, savvy readers). But I also know that a lot of you are not advertising online yet, and many of you who are advertising online aren’t doing it effectively.

The reason is that there is still a huge technology gap in online marketing for small business owners. While large corporations can hire a whole staff of web designers and search engine specialists to handle their online marketing for them – we obviously have not been able to afford that luxury.

How You Can Quickly Get Over The Online Marketing Technology Gap

Thankfully, the technology gap has shrunk considerably in recent months, allowing small businesses to market online cheaply and effectively.

In fact, for less than the cost of a single cheap newpaper ad, you can now run an ongoing local online marketing campaign that is:

1. Targeted to within five miles of your school…
2. Listed in the most important local search engines: Yahoo Local and Google Maps…
3. Pushed out to major websites like CNN, Food Network, Facebook, and thousands of other popular sites…
4. Optimized and monitored for optimum performance…
5. Measurable – you get to see how your campaign performs (no news or yellow pages ad could ever offer that)…
6. And, handled by experienced online marketing experts who do online marketing for a living.

(By the way, this is the EXACT same multi-pronged online marketing approach I used to turn my school around after the summer of 2007 when the recession first hit everyone really bad.)

If you’d like to find out more about how you can take advantage of this new leap in local online marketing for small businesses, you’ll want to attend our webinar this Thursday:

Webinar Time: Thursday, Jul 16, 2009 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM CDT
Registration Link: Click here to register and reserve your seat

Please be aware that we expect this webinar to fill up quickly, as this service is brand new and many school owners are going to want to be the first in their areas to take advantage of it. Please register immediately to get a spot in the online conference.

If You’re Decisive And Want To Start Right Away…

If you are already convinced this is something you need to do for your school, please complete the following form to get started immediately.

And, be sure to include your phone number so I can call you to get the details for your local online marketing campaign:

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Is Your Marketing Confusing Your Prospects?

Posted by Mike Massie on May 27, 2009

If you're not getting the results you want from your advertising, it could be that your message is confusing your potential clients...

“I tried that and it didn’t work.”

“We ran ads in the paper, and never got any calls.”

“I can’t see the point in updating our website – it never brings us any students, anyway.”

“I don’t understand… we used to get great results from our ads, but they’ve dropped off to almost nothing.”

“Advertising doesn’t work, so we rely on word-of-mouth.”

“Business cards are a waste of money.”

3 Common Marketing Mistakes That Confuse, Dilute, and Hinder Your Marketing Message

Each of the above are statements I’ve heard over the years from school owners regarding advertising and marketing.

All too often, when a school owner’s advertising efforts fall flat, they are quick to blame everything from the advertising medium to sunspots for their lackluster results.

However, the real culprit is often that the school is sending mixed messages in their ads… and, due to the fact that “a confused mind almost never takes action,” the school’s marketing efforts subsequently produce pitiful results.

Sending The Wrong Message

For example, have you ever seen an ad for a women’s self-defense seminar featuring a picture of a terrified-looking woman being attacked and pulled into a vehicle?

This represents an obvious mixed message – the image of defeat and the message of increased safety through acquired knowledge are in conflict (and the negative image almost always wins out). So, if I wanted to attract women to a self-defense seminar, it would make much more sense to include a picture of a woman successfully defending herself from an attacker.

Here’s another example, and one you’re likely familiar with: A school runs an ad for children’s martial arts classes, promising to build self-esteem and teach valuable life skills. But, the picture in the ad shows two kids sparring, with one of them getting clobbered in the process.

Obviously, the emotion evoked by the image is incongruous with the message in the ad copy, because getting kicked in the head is probably not going to do much for that child’s self-esteem ( and while dad might think it builds character, moms are the ones who generally decide what activities their kids participate in…)

Trying To Be All Things At Once In Your Ads

Sometimes, the issue of mixed marketing messages has to do with the school placing an ad that advertises every single program the school offers. “Kids Karate! Mixed Martial Arts! Grappling! Weapons! Women’s Self-Defense! Inverted Trapeze Combat!” and so on.

The problem with this is that by trying to include something in your ad that will appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one. Your message ends up being too diluted to have any real impact.

A better approach would be to publish a single, laser-focused ad that zeroes in on a single market with just the right product and marketing message to appeal to that audience. In this way, you maximize your ad’s effectiveness and (although it seems contradictory) you also get a lot more mileage from your advertising dollars.

Not Providing A Clear Call To Action

The last, and perhaps most common mistake, is that of failing to provide a clear and unencumbered path to the desired action. Think about it – the purpose of the ad or marketing piece is to get that person to call, fill out a lead capture form, or walk into your school. If you haven’t made it clear to the prospect how they can do that, your ad is practically worthless.

You’d be amazed at how often this happens. Open up your local paper and start looking at the ads. I bet you can find multiple ads on every page that fail to tell the reader what to do.

• “Call us at…”
• “Visit our website now at…”
• “Come visit us between the hours of…”

Just by simply ending an ad with instructions on exactly what you want the prospect to do, you can increase the response rate significantly. I know, it sounds obvious that you want them to call you, but unless you say it (and display the phone number prominently) chances are good the reader won’t contact you at all.

In Closing

So, have you been sending your prospects mixed messages, or confusing them in your ads? take a moment today and look over all of your marketing materials. Pick out those ads and marketing pieces that are ambiguous, confusing, or that fail to clearly state the action you want the audience to take.

Then, fix them immediately! They’re your marketing dollars, and ultimately it’s entirely up to you as the owner of your business to make each one count.

—

Mike Massie is the author of Small Dojo Big Profits and runs a martial arts business coaching website for new instructors and small school owners, StartingAMartialArtSchool.com. Click here to purchase Mike’s business manuals and materials.

Texas Martial Arts Schools Should Fight Classification as Day Cares

Posted by Mike Massie on February 28, 2009

Does this look like your school? The Texas State Legislature thinks it does...

Are you a Texas martial arts school owner that has martial arts classes that last for longer than 2 hours in the afternoon and evening?

Then, you should know that the Texas State Legislature thinks your martial arts school is a daycare facility.

Think I’m kidding?

This is an email I just received from Danny Passmore in Waco – I checked it out on the Texas Legislature website and it’s legitimate:

Friends,

Follow this link for a short news clip. If these bills pass with their current language, many martial arts, dance and gymnastics schools would be forced to license as a daycares or shut down.  It’s not just the expense involved (which is several thousand dollars each year), but we would also be required to purchase certain types of toys for certain ages, have a minimum number of instructors per certain number of children, have certain square footage per child and attend yearly workshops for continuing education (as many of us attend seminars to stay updated in our industries).  There are also plans in the works to require daycare staff to have a 4 year college degree in child care (CDA).

This language is not a mistake as stated by one bill co-sponsor.  Many fear if after school programs (such as the Boys and Girls Clubs) are put out of business, the government will need to step in and build after school centers for low income families.  Everyone could then send their children there and avoid the high cost of for-profit daycare which would put them out of business as well.  The fear is that it’s a tactic for bigger government and higher taxes.  That notwithstanding, we are not daycares.

If you live outside of Texas, remember that once a bill passes here, it will be coming to the rest of the country soon.

I will be addressing the Texas House of Representatives Committee on Human Services regarding the language of House Bill 601.  You are urged to call your Senator and tell them to vote no on Senate Bill 68. These two bills are almost identical, so if one doesn’t pass one branch, it may pass in the other.

Don’t assume definitions.  For example: there is no definition of after-school programs.  We all assume this means after school until parents get off work, but that language is not in the bill.  Remember, this is written by lawyers. Midnight is after school. Lawyers could and will spin this to mean any evening recreational business.  That is just one example.

Please pass this along to people you know if martial arts, dance, gymnastics, cheer and other for profit after school programs.

Thanks,

Danny Passmore, President
Martial Arts Hall of Fame

Here’s a link to the news story featuring Danny’s school:

http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=9921955

And, here are links to the House and Senate Bills:

Senate Bill 773

House Bill 601

What you should do:

1. Look up your STATE representatives and urge them to vote “NO” on the above bills before they go to vote.

Click here to find out who represents you:

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Home.aspx

2. Inform your representatives that we are not daycares – our mission is simply to teach martial arts! We do not tutor, feed kids, give them naps, etc. Urge your representatives to include language that excludes martial arts schools, gymnastics schools, and dance schools from this legislation based on their status as skill-based educational programs.

3. Point out that this will absolutely kill many small businesses in Texas… businesses that are already struggling during this period of economic recession.

Act now, or next year you may find that your children’s martial arts programs will have to be licensed as daycare facilities as early as next school year…

Martial Arts Business Advice on Raising Your Martial Arts Tuition Rates…

Posted by Mike Massie on February 10, 2009

Inflation and your operating expenses go up every year and so should your tuition rates

Here’s a question for all you martial arts business owners out there…

When was the last time you raised your martial arts tuition rates?

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the Consumer Price Index has risen on average about 3% every year for the last twenty years.

That means your costs and expenses for running your business also increased roughly 3% a year since 1989.

Have you raised the cost of your martial arts classes to match? Here’s some food for thought…

If you were charging $80 a month for martial arts lessons in 1989, and had raised your tuition to match consumer inflation accordingly, in 2007 you should have been charging $137.05 for monthly martial arts tuition, according to the DoL’s inflation calculator.

Now, just think… if you’re charging what the average school charges these days (around $100 a month), that means your expenses have increased 71% while your tuition has only increased by 25%.

So, you’re basically paying yourself 46% less than you were in 1989.

The bottom line? Start increasing your tuition on a yearly basis to keep your profits constant in relation to the economy.

—

Mike Massie is the author of Small Dojo Big Profits and runs a martial arts business coaching website for new instructors and small school owners, StartingAMartialArtSchool.com.

Questions? Comments? Completely disagree? Let the world know – post your comments below:

UFC Announces Launch of National Chain of Gyms – Do You Need To Be Worried?

Posted by Mike Massie on January 28, 2009

Well, I said I didn’t see it happening anytime soon, but it looks like the UFC may coming to your home town after all.

And it ain’t going to be pretty.

Yesterday, Dana White of the UFC announced the launch of a nationwide chain of UFC branded gyms. White says he’s partnered with a private equity firm to help fund the venture (read: a bunch of people with a lot of freaking money).  White’s partner, Mark Mastrov, says they have plans to open between 5 and 10 locations in the next 6-12 months.

Click here to see the interview on CNBC.com

That’s a very aggressive launch, and I don’t doubt that they’ll be able to do just that. In fact, if you operate a school in a large market (like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston, Las Vegas, etc.) you should probably expect to be competing with the UFC very soon.

Yep, that’s right… you can expect to be going head-to-head with the biggest marketing juggernaut the martial arts industry has ever seen.

So, Should Martial Art School Owners Be Worried?

In a nutshell, yes. The UFC has the power and financial backing to do what no one else has done before – and that’s take martial arts instruction and training into the big box gyms.

Just imagine what it would be like if Bally’s, Gold’s, 24-Hour, or World Gym started hiring martial arts instructors and offered a full compliment of martial arts classes, that their members could take in an a la carte fashion… all incuded for their $20 – $40 a month membership price.

I think you can see where this is going. Even though White and Mastrov say they’re going after all those big-box gyms I just mentioned above, this bears some very bad mojo for martial arts school owners as well.

(And think about this for a second… if you have UFC equipment, hats, t-shirts, heavy bags, mma gloves, etc. on display or for sale in your school, you could very well be advertising for your future competition.)

So, Are There Any School Owners That Don’t Need to Be Concerned?

Yes, and here they are in no particular order:

• Martial art schools that have extremely low overhead and high profit margins; basically, those schools that follow a Small Dojo, Big Profits business model. (If you’ve been doing well during this recession by following such a model, you’re on the right track.)
• Martial art schools that cater to children, or that earn a significant portion of their income from teaching kids -
• Martial art schools that cater to families, and those that offer a family-friendly environment -
• Martial art schools in smaller communities and markets; chiefly those that don’t already have one of the big chain gyms in their area -
• Martial art schools that are owned and operated by savvy instructors who know how to capitalize on the UFC’s popularity (see below).

But, Here’s The Good News…

But, there is an upside to all this. Once again, the UFC is going to be doing something that no one else has been able to do on the same massive scale in the history of the martial arts industry.

And, that’s to introduce martial arts to the masses. So, it’s going to be up to the individual, independent school owner to capitalize on the UFC’s move into the fitness market, and to turn that to their favor.

How?

By doing what I’ve been telling you to do all along… and it’s the exact same thing that the most successful independent personal trainers in the fitness industry have been doing for years:

1. Go small.
2. Go niche.
3. Go personal.
4. Go boutique.
5. Charge more.
6. And, offer a higher quality of service than the big-box gyms can possibly ever offer.

In other words, don’t try to beat Wal-Mart at their own game. Specialize by picking a niche and do it better than anyone else in your market. (And you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be coaching my clients on how to do exactly that in 2009.)

A Few Parting Thoughts

Overall, since Dana White took over the UFC has been very good for the martial arts industry in general. Dana has taken a sport that had become something of an embarrassment to the industry, and he turned it into a household name.

And, in doing so, he’s helped bring a lot of business to martial arts schools worldwide.

So, if you end up with a UFC gym in your backyard, and you can’t find a way to turn the increased awareness and public interest in the martial arts that it’s going to bring into more business for your school, then don’t blame Dana White.

Instead, blame yourself for not figuring out your game plan now when I first told you about this potentially huge change in the martial arts industry.

—

Mike Massie is the author of Small Dojo Big Profits and runs a martial arts business coaching website for new instructors and small school owners, StartingAMartialArtSchool.com.