Posted by Mike Massie on August 10, 2010
G.W., a Small Dojo Big Profits reader, recently emailed to ask me the following…
Q: We have slow months, in those months that we know are slow should we bump up our advertising or should we save our dollars and advertise in the busier times of the year ?
Should you ever cut back on your marketing during "slow times"? Not if you want your school to grow...
A: Just the opposite, in fact. Your marketing activity should remain at a minimum constant level throughout the year, but you should increase your activity just before those slow times in order to yield increased enrollments to carry you through the “slow times.”
The reason is because marketing works on momentum. You’ve heard the old saying that someone needs to see your ad a minimum of seven times before they buy? Well, that’s because a customer doesn’t typically have an immediate need for your service at the time they see your ad.
However, weeks or months later when they finally do develop a need or desire to take martial arts, the first business they are able to contact will likely be who they purchase from… So, if they were impressed by your previous marketing but don’t know how to contact you, then someone else is likely to get their business.
That’s why you need to keep advertising and marketing all the time to keep getting that business. You need to be seen over and over again by potential customers in your community, so you become THE business that comes to mind when they think about taking martial arts.
And, you need to be easy to find when they start looking for you… that means you need to have referral programs, internet marketing, direct marketing (mail or door-to-door), and a host of other marketing methods running 24/7/365 for your school.
Also, be aware that internet marketing is more effective and important in this day and age, but don’t discount other methods. As the poll we did just a few weeks ago indicated, plenty of school owners are getting good results with guest pass referral programs and door-to-door advertising.
If you want to get started on your internet marketing, but are confused as to where to begin, Facebook marketing is a good place to start. It’s low-cost, and when done right it can be a high-yield marketing activity.
Check out the new “Guide to Marketing on Facebook” I just released for a complete, step-by-step plan for marketing your school (or any small business) on Facebook.
Posted by Mike Massie on June 2, 2010
How To Get Small-Dojo-Big-Profits In Hard Copy At A Discount…
Real quick before I get into today’s article – I have a limited number of Small-Dojo-Big-Profits business system manuals in hard copy that I am selling at a discount. There is nothing wrong with these manuals, other than the printer messed up the shrink wrapping .
Normally hard copies of the manual go for $149. I’m selling these half-off at $77 + $5 for shipping.
I only have a few copies, once they’re gone, they’re gone…
Click here to order
Sorry, the books sold out quick. If you want to buy it at the regular price, check out the Small Dojo Big Profits website.
Now, on to today’s post:
The Dangers of Making Things Too Easy
What happens when you give students a black belt on a silver platter? All you have to do is look at our industry for the last 25 years to see..
Are you struggling with balancing retention versus quality in your school? I know I have in the past, and it makes things even harder when you’re worried about paying your bills and making rent each month.
But is there really any need to worry about this issue? For years, “experts” in the mainstream industry have told us that the reason why martial arts schools lose students is because they make things too hard and students don’t feel like they’re progressing.
Well, a funny thing happened on the way to the next century… we started seeing public interest in new trends in the martial arts… namely:
- Grappling
- Reality-Based Self Defense
- Mixed Martial Arts
At least based on the information I get from networking with school owners locally and across the nation, interest in these market niches is at an all-time high in our industry.
Yet, you don’t have to do much research to see that adults are flocking to grappling, MMA, and reality-based self defense programs by the droves… I think we can all agree on that.
But Here’s The Funny Thing…
Now, think about this for a second – there’s nothing easy about participating in those types of programs. Moreover, in arts that exist within these niches, rank is a secondary consideration to training and learning… exactly the way it should be in every martial art.
Case in point – Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Sure, every once in a while you hear about a BJ Penn or a Lloyd Irvin getting their black belt in three or four years. But those are extremely rare cases. For the most part, it takes the average student as long to get their first belt in BJJ as it does to get a black belt in the average tae kwon do school (not in my school, but we’re not the norm, either).
What gives? For more than 20 years, hasn’t the mainstream industry encouraged martial arts school owners to make the “black belt” the beat-all end-all goal in your school, in order to increase retention and to encourage students to stick around for the long haul?
If that’s the case, why is it that BJJ schools are seeing record enrollment numbers and interest among that most elusive of markets – the adult segment?
And, lest you blame this all on the UFC craze, let me draw your attention to all the Israeli martial arts schools and reality-based MMA and JKD schools that are doing extremely well in this economy. Once again, rank is secondary to training in those programs.
There Must Be An Explanation For This
Oh there is, believe me. You see, we are living in an information age, a time when the average person can go to Google and research anything they want… when anyone can go online and in just a few keystrokes find out what other people think about anything and everything.
The exchange of information is tremendous… and this has led to a consumer who is more educated than ever before.
That includes pubic opinion about which martial arts are best for self-defense, for children, for women… you get the picture. And, the result of 26 years of commercial karate and tae kwon do schools handing out belts like candy has resulted in a public perception that they are just for kids.
So How Did We Get Here?
Folks, it’s no coincidence that I’m writing this article just before the major motion picture release of The Karate Kid remake. Certainly, this movie will spark interest in traditional martial arts training among young people (or maybe just kung fu schools – who knows?)
However, the question we need to be asking ourselves is whether we want to continue to make the same mistakes that were made in our industry over the last three decades. You know… following the tremendous influx of children that entered martial arts schools after the release of The Karate Kid in 1984.
Money makes people in our industry do some stupid things, not the least of which is watering down a martial art for mass consumption in pursuit of profit.
So, How Do We Fix This Negative Perception?
Not that I’m saying you should change your kids curriculum so you’re teaching children like little adults…
However, I am suggesting that we place the emphasis in our schools on training and learning, instead of little pieces of cloth that don’t mean much without the skill to back them up.
And, let the public know that your school focuses on training, not selling belts. At the very least, maybe we can educate the public about how to know the difference between a “black belt factory” and a serious martial arts school.
Do you agree? Disagree?
Let’s hear it! Post your comments and opinions below – I’d like to know what you think.
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 April 9, 2010
If you’re still stuck in that old martial arts business paradigm that involves borrowing a ton of money to cover your start up costs, then gambling it all on getting enough students to cover the massive overhead on your super-sized school in under six months…
Then you should read this article:
http://small-dojo-big-profits.com/articles/run-a-small-dojo-big-profits-school-in-down-economy/
Posted by Mike Massie on March 31, 2010
Should You Lower Your Standards In Order To Increase Retention?
“How long does it take to get a black belt?”
We usually hear this question from new and prospective students, but the following question was actually posted on my member site forums this week by an instructor:
“How long does it take your kids to reach black belt? I have been told by my instructor that I will have extremely poor retention if it takes longer than 2.5 years, but I just don’t feel like that is enough time for the students to achieve the level that I expect out of a black belt.”
When is a black belt just a piece of cloth? Why, when it's bought and not earned, of course...
Kudos to this instructor for wanting to keep their quality high, even though their instructor obviously isn’t so willing to sacrifice profit for quality (I’d argue that improving quality leads to greater profits overall, but more on that later).
There were some great comments from the other members in response to the question this instructor posed. So if you’re a member and you get a chance, log in today to see what the other members have said so far.
Why I Insist On Keeping My Standards High For Achieving Black Belt
As for my answer? I replied, “As long as it takes.”
I’ve been teaching professionally for years (two decades + teaching kids). And, let me tell you…
If you set the proper expectations FROM THE BEGINNING, you are going to retain a HIGHER QUALITY OF STUDENT than if you set your school up to be a black belt mill just to make a quick buck.
Let me tell you something – the public is NOT stupid. They know exactly what is going on in your school when you “bump” someone in rank just to keep them around.
If You Think Your Clients Don’t Realize What You’re Doing Then Most Certainly, You’re The Fool
Case in point:
Last week I had an interesting conversation with a salesperson who called on my office. Once she found out what I do for a living, she quickly told me about her daughter, who has been enrolled in martial arts for the last five years. Her daughter is close to earning her junior black belt, and the mother just went on and on about all the benefits of martial arts for kids.
Her only gripe? That the instructors would often promote students whose skills and knowledge were grossly inferior to their peers, out of an apparent profit motivation. She said it was obvious they “wanted to move the kids up so they could keep making money off them.”
*Sigh*
Trade A Legacy For A Lexus? Not Me…
In my schools (where we teach a curriculum that is old school martial arts combined with modern self-defense) the average time is 4.5 years to 1st dan black belt.
For kids, it can take longer depending on at what age they enrolled. Younger kids just move slower through the junior ranks. Older kids sometimes move faster. And, we don’t give kids black belts – they get a half-black “junior black belt” in my schools.
Of course, teens and adults can do it in three years, if they’re dedicated. It’s only happened once so far, though. And, I’ll be honest – I simply don’t turn out a whole lot of black belts.
That’s for good reason. You see, I have a philosophy that not everyone is meant to be a black belt. That doesn’t preclude anyone from achieving it in my schools – far from it. However, few people will stick around and pay the price for earning a Massie black belt, because my standards are so high.
Sure, I could lower my standards and probably make a lot more money. But it’s an integrity issue for me, because I’m not going to be the type of instructor who stands on the shoulders of giants, only to walk all over their legacy.
A Quick History Lesson
I have more training and rank in Korean systems than any of the other “traditional” systems I’ve studied, and I was fortunate enough to come from a line of really hard core Korean-style instructors. Also, I am very well read and knowledgeable regarding the history of martial arts in America.
Historically, the trend surrounding taking people to black belt rapidly started with a certain large chain of Korean martial art schools, who built an empire on selling instant gratification to their students.
No, they weren’t the only ones doing it…
However, they were perhaps the most successful. Due to their success, many other school owners (including those from other styles) started seeing how much money they were making by selling belts, and it caught on.
A Few Bad Apples… Can Look Like The Whole Bushel
The sad thing is, lots of Korean and Korean-style instructors kept their standards high and refused to follow the practice. But unfortunately, the practice became so widespread among Korean-style schools that it eventually damaged the reputation of the Korean martial arts overall.
What a crying shame. Personally, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to show people how serious I am about martial arts to get respect from them, simply because of my background in Korean martial arts.
Never mind the fact that plenty of great martial artists have backgrounds in Korean systems. But, let me assure you there are still quality instructors turning out quality black belts from Korean-style schools.
But I digress… I only brought this up so you’d know how the practice of lowering belt rank promotion standards came about, and to illustrate to you younger instructors that it wasn’t always as easy as it is today to get a black belt.
Getting Back To Promoting Kids To Black Belt
Now, it’s almost the norm in American martial art schools that teach sub-styles of karate (Korean and otherwise) to rank people very quickly and rush them to black belt for fear of losing students.
Again, what a crying shame…
By making this practice the status quo, the martial arts industry in America has succeeded in doing the following:
1. They’ve watered down the martial arts in America by turning out black belts who aren’t really prepared at all to teach… who then in turn start schools before they are ready and teach their own students their own bad habits and pass on their underdeveloped knowledge of technical execution -
2. They’ve conditioned much of the public into expecting to get things quickly and easily when they enter a martial arts school. Certainly, I can teach someone to defend themselves in two or three years of study (sometimes less, depending on the student). But it takes much longer to train a competent black belt who is capable of passing on what they know.
3. They’ve led the public and their students to believe that the only prerequisite for being a competent instructor is to hold a black belt… a belief that in turn has made it much easier for the public to be duped. Typically this is by marginally-qualified charlatans and con artists posing as legitimate instructors who are more than eager to fool the public into thinking they’re getting good martial arts instruction – all while charging them handsomely for sub-par training and instruction.
Since When Did Maintaining Quality Become A Hindrance To Doing Business?
You know, one of the fastest growing martial arts styles among kids and adults in America is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. And, as everyone knows, BJJ instructors are famous for being “stingy” with rank – or, at least that’s how they’re often categorized.
Me, I say they do it right. Eight to ten years on average for earning a black belt is just about right to me, when you’re talking about preparing someone to teach and pass on what they’ve learned.
Sure, a good four or five year purple belt is more than capable of leading a good class… But I’ve long believed (based on years of observation) that it takes about ten years for an instructor to really gain a sufficient depth of knowledge regarding the subtleties of their art to become an accomplished instructor. (Note: I don’t certify a black belt as a full instructor until they’re 3rd dan or higher – which takes about eight to ten years typically.)
But wait a minute… it takes about two years on average to get the first belt in BJJ. Yet, we’ve seen people turning out in droves to join Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools over the last decade.
Could it be that the public really wants something that is real? Something that is worthwhile and truly earned? Something not watered down, but that’s been kept pure and honest?
I say, the answer to all of the above is a resounding “YES!”
So, Here’s My Advice…
So, here’s my advice to you – instead of worrying about losing students because you aren’t lowering the quality of your programs enough…
Worry instead about retaining students by teaching the highest quality program you possibly can – trusting that your reputation and high standards will be your strongest retention tool.
