Through the Ranks - Martial Arts Marketing

How To Sell Against the Competition

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:26:58 +0000

Blockbuster Video is struggling to stay alive. OnDemand movies and Netflix have taken a toll on the once-giant video rental chain. A few days ago, I caught this interesting price comparison poster pop up in the local Blockbuster window.

Price comparisons can sometimes win over cost-conscious consumers. But there’s a danger in using them. Since they focus a buyer on price, not value, they tend to attract very price-sensitive buyers. This makes it hard to raise your prices later – AND – if somebody enters the marketplace with lower prices than you…well, everybody flocks to them.

That’s why “cheapest-price competition” is a strategy seen most in either declining or mature industries where the product or service being sold is seen as a “commodity”.

It’ll be interesting to see how the whole Blockbuster Video / Netflix war plays out over the next couple of years.

The Secret of Standing Out From Your Competition

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:25:19 +0000

What Small Thing Could You Do in an Extraordinary Way?

What’s the best way to separate yourself from your competitors and stand out in the marketplace? Well, here’s a quote from George Washington Carver that might reveal the answer:

“When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”

Often it’s the “small things” that spell the difference between an ordinary, “ho-hum” business and an extraordinary business.

Business doesn’t have to be that tough. You don’t have to put on a three-ring martial arts circus or a Taekwondo extravaganza to stand out in your marketplace. And usually, it’s not even your program itself that’s the crux of the issue. It’s all those little, “ordinary” things that you can do better. Those human touches.

Start small. Ask yourself, “Where is there room for improvement?”. For example…

Could you acknowledge parents more?

Could you acknowledge students more?

Could you answer the phone in a more friendly way?

Could you be more accessible to students?

Could you follow up better with past leads?

Could you have a quarterly (or better yet – monthly) “progress meeting” with each student to keep them pumped up?

Could you return phone calls sooner?

Could you keep parents and students informed better?

Could you do a better job of making sure everybody reads your newsletter?

Could you have more efficient staff meetings?

Could you become more organized? If so, in which small area?

Could you conduct a “new student orientation” when a new student enrolls in your academy?

Could you organize more school functions to unite all the students in your academy better?

Could you provide more information to prospects?

Could your signup process be smoother?

See, when you push the simple things in your academy to the forefront and execute on them flawlessly, not only do you set yourself apart from your competition, you also breed an attitude of “excellence only” in your staff. This carries over to other parts of your academy.

So…for the next 30 days, select one small area you can improve in your business. Don’t try to overhaul your entire school – instead, focus on one small facet of your operation. Then think about it. Ask yourself, “How would an extraordinary martial arts academy approach this?” Write down specific steps you could take to improve that area. If you have staff members, rally them behind the change. Then implement.

An extraordinary business is the sum total of many common tasks done in an uncommon way.

Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:24:02 +0000

Every business consists of three branches: marketing, operations and finance. In simplistic terms, marketing means “bringing money in”. Operations means “delivering a product or service”. And finance means “counting the money”.

All three branches of a business are important. Problem is, most small business owners focus primarily on one part: operations. It’s understandable: it’s the part that’s most visible. A caterer delivers meals. A plumber fixes leaky faucets. A martial arts instructor teaches martial arts.

What normally happens to marketing? The answer is simple:

it gets pushed to the bottom of the list. That’s because many small business owners approach marketing as an “afterthought”. If things are going well – and consistent revenue flows in from existing customers – the typical business owner feels like they don’t have to bother with marketing. If somebody walks in off the street, great. If not, that’s fine, too.

But when things start to head south, suddenly those same business owners scramble in desperation to get their marketing going. It’s often too late for them. Desperation mode is about the worst way to market: when your back is against the wall and you NEED to get sales, it’s often the toughest time to make things happen. Take this “down economy”, for instance. Business owners who have “coasted” over the last few years are now experiencing a sobering shock: their marketing skills aren’t up to par. They’ve relied on “word of mouth” to carry them for so long that they don’t know HOW to proactively generate sales. Either they’ve forgotten how to market successfully, or they never learned how in the first place. It’s too late for a lot of them.

See, marketing is a process, not an event. It’s not something you turn off and on like flipping a switch. A good marketing system takes time to get rolling. But once it does, it grows and builds on its own momentum. Success breeds success.

What Is Your Marketing Investment?

Ask yourself this: “How much money do I put into operations every month?”

If you crunch the numbers, I bet you’ll discover a big chunk of your overhead is devoted to operations – things like the electric bill, rent, salaries, internet usage and other overhead.

Now ask yourself how much money you invest in marketing each month. Is it comparable? I’d guess it’s not even close.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why the average small business owner has no problem signing a lease of, say, $3,000 a month for three years, but balks at budgeting $1,000 for marketing. When you consider that marketing is the only branch of your business that brings money in, it’s crazy.

Marketing expert Jay Abraham said it best, “Marketing is the only part of your business that creates money. Everything else is just a cost”.

Marketing isn’t a “luxury”. It’s not something that you can postpone until the “timing’s right”. It’s something successful school owners do on a consistent, regular, ongoing basis.

Giant “List-O-Benefits” Checklist

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:23:27 +0000

Are you ready to learn one of the most useful skills you could ever possess? I hope so, because once you master this skill, you’ll be able to pump out flyers, blog posts, tweets (and other marketing copy) that will fill your special events to the rafters.

Let’s get down to business.

First, let me start with one of the biggest mistakes I see school owners make when writing marketing copy:

They only focus on features!

Features are usually physical attributes of a product or service. They’re things such as weight, measurements and specs.

Features don’t sell. Features are important in supporting your selling arguments, but they should come after the benefits.

Only benefits sell. Benefits are what your product or service does for your customer. I like to think of benefits as “outcomes” or “results”: What is the final result your buyer gets after they use your product or service?

Are they safer? Do they have more peace-of-mind? Are they thinner? Healthier? Wealthier? Wise?

The most powerful benefits are emotional: feeling healthier, looking more fit, having greater peace-of-mind, gaining respect and prestige and so on.

Here’s a helpful list of benefits from “The Greatest Direct Mail Sales Letters of All Time” by Richard S. Hodgson. If the benefits of a product or service aren’t obvious to me at first, I’ll use this list to get the creative juices flowing. It contains 100 reasons why a person would ever hand you their money and buy your product or service.

Giant List-O-Benefits

To satisfy curiosity
To get a surprise
To be successful
To be more comfortable
To make work easier
To gain prestige
To be sociable
To be creative
To be efficient
To safeguard self and family
To protect family’s future
To be good parents
To be well-liked and loved
To appear different from others
To gain popularity
To add to life’s pleasures
To express a personality
To be in fashion
To avoid embarassment
To fulfill fantasies
To be up-to-date
To own attractive things
To collect valuable possessions
To protect or conserve possessions
To satisfy ego
To be “first”
To accumulate money
To preserve money already accumulated
To save time
To protect reputation
To satisfy appetite
To enjoy exotic tastes
To live in a clean atmosphere
To be strong and healthy
To renew vigor and energy
To get rid of aches and pains
To find new and uncommon things
To win others’ affection
To be more beautiful
To attract the opposite sex
To satisfy sexual desires
To bring back the “good old days”
To be lucky
To live longer
To feel important
To gain knowledge
To improve appearance
To gain praise from others
To be recognized as an authority
To enhance leisure
To save money
To have security in old age
To overcome obstacles
To do things well
To get a better job
To be your own boss
To gain social acceptance
To “keep up with the Joneses”
To appreciate beauty
To be proud of possessions
To resist domination by others
To emulate the admirable
To relieve boredom
To gain self-respect
To win acclaim
To gain admiration
To win advancement
To seek adventure
To satisfy ambition
To be among the leaders
To gain confidence
To escape drudgery
To gain freedom from worry
To get on the bandwagon
To get something for nothing
To gain self-assurance
To escape shame
To avoid effort
To get more comfort
To gain praise
To be popular
To have safety in buying something else
To take advantage of opportunities
To protect reputation
To be an individual
To avoid criticism
To avoid trouble
To emulate others
To “one-up” others
To be in style
To increase enjoyment
To have or hold beautiful possessions
To replace the obsolete
To add fun or spice to life
To work less
To look better
To conserve natural resources
To protect the environment
To avoid shortages
To relax

Whew! What a list.

Did it help you get the gist of what a benefit is? It did? Good.

Now that you know what a benefit is, think of your product and sift through that list of benefits, one-by-one.

Ask yourself: “Does my product satisfy curiosity? Yup. Does it help somebody get a surprise? Nah. How about be more successful? Nah. Does my product help somebody become more comfortable?” And so on.

Once you have uncovered which benefits your product or service targets, write them down. Then rank them in order from most important to least important. I call these “major benefits” and “minor benefits”. See, most products and services have many benefits. But for best results, you need to highlight the most powerful benefits.

Once you’ve done that, take the three most powerful benefits and put them into your headline. Once you’ve done that, take the “minor” benefits and sprinkle them throughout your copy.

Voila! Your copy now contains powerful benefits and reasons why somebody would come to your seminar, sign up for classes or buy that item from your pro shop.

Doing this exercise will improve the pulling power of your copy dramatically.

Do You Know Who Your Real Competition Is?

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:22:38 +0000

Is This Your Real Competition? (source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artwork_rebel/)

You might think your main competition is the martial arts school down the street. Or the YMCA. Or youth soccer. Or baseball.

Not so. While those other organizations might siphon students away from your academy from time to time, they’re not your biggest competitor.

What is? Inactivity. Inaction. Video games. TV. Social media. Online gaming. And so on.

It’s kids who don’t do ANYTHING sports-wise that represent your biggest untapped source of new students. And think of how many kids like that are out there! Is it any wonder the rate of childhood obesity is skyrocketing?

It’s our job as martial arts marketers to do such a great job of motivating kids (and parents) through our copy and marketing efforts to get up off the couch, put down the remote control (and PS3 controller) and get into class.

Think about it. And tailor your marketing efforts more at these families.

Be Ready to Defend Yourself Anywhere – Even on the Soccer Field!

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:21:31 +0000

Shocking video – you need to be ready to defend yourself anywhere – even on the soccer field!

Women in Martial Arts Facebook Page

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:19:38 +0000

Here’s a great Facebook page that has a bunch of videos of females doing martial arts.

Here’s an example of a few videos posted on that page. Check out the sheer POWER in this form!

Muay Thai Training

And finally…incredible strength, flexibility and balance:

Young girl in a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament:

How to Get More Testimonials for Your Martial Arts Academy

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:18:31 +0000

Testimonials can dramatically boost response to your martial arts promotions

Last night, while watching my kids’ class, I had an interesting chat with another parent. This parent, whose child has fairly severe asthma, sat next to me and we watched the kids warm up.

At one point during their workout, I turned to her and said, “Hailey has really come a long way since starting martial arts a few months ago. She can make it through the entire workout now”.

Well, lemme tell you: That was all it took. The benefits came pouring out.

The other parent (I don’t even know her name) gushed about all the big changes she’s seen in her daughter since starting martial arts. Here’s what she said:

Oh, her asthma is under much better control now. Exercise doesn’t trigger it as much as before. And she’s much more confident at school now, too. There were kids she’d never talk to before, now she does. Oh, and she’s also more helpful around the house and just a lot more outgoing. It’s been a great thing for her. It really has. I’m glad we found this school.

I said, “That’s great to hear. I believe martial arts is hands-down the best activity for kids ever. My girls have been doing it for four years now and I’m always amazed at how they grow outside of class”.

Frankly, I’m not surprised this family is having such a positive experience.

Almost every parent who enrolls their child in martial arts discover all sorts of benefits they never expected: Shy kids come out of their shells. Kids who were once bullies learn to respect others. Heavy kids lose weight. Skinny kids build strength. Hyper kids find focus and self-control.

Then I said, “Why don’t you write up a short testimonial for John (her instructor)? I think that would mean a lot to him”.

“Hmn. I guess I really should do that”.

Forcing her Hand

I know she’ll never write that testimonial. Why not?

She doesn’t know how to write one.
She’ll put it off.
She’ll forget about it.
She doesn’t realize how impactful testimonials are – or how much it would mean to her child’s instructor.

That’s why.

So after class, I talked to the instructor and said, “Hailey’s Mom just gushed about how much martial arts has done for her. I don’t know if she’s ever mentioned any of this to you, but I think we need to approach her for a testimonial”. Of course, he had no idea.

So…I’m going to write up a non-threatening one page ‘form’ she (as well as other parents) can use to write down their thoughts about all the positive benefits they have seen as a result of classes. Then, at the bottom there will be a release so that testimonial can be used for marketing purposes.

Then, at the next class, I’ll pass around a bunch of clipboards with these forms on them and have the parents fill ‘em out while they’re a “captive audience” sitting there watching their kids’ class. Sneaky, huh?

Here’s what I have in mind:

Feedback Form

Here at XYZ Academy, we take results seriously. We strive to make your kids more confident, focused, self-disciplined and respectful. But we’d like to know:

What are some of the benefits you’ve seen from your child’s martial arts training?

What changes have you seen in your child outside of class?

What do you like best about the instruction here?

(Please write on the back of this form if you need additional space).

Then I’ll give them a bunch of space to write stuff down.

Simple.

Once the parents sign the release at the bottom, it’s done. The parent feels good because they’ve told somebody about their kids’ success, the instructor feels good because he now has a few more success stories on paper (along with permission to USE those stories) and I feel good because a testimonial hasn’t fallen through the cracks.

Is Martial Arts an Effective Way to Prevent Violence?

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:07:15 +0000

Can martial arts prevent violence? (picture source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/elsamu/)

In a 2001 study, the researcher concluded that teaching children traditional martial arts in middle school can reduce violence.

Here’s the background:

60 boys in a large urban middle school were required to take a traditional martial arts course in their school. Before doing so, their teacheres rated their violent behavior.

The boys were separated into two groups: the “treatment group” (those taking the martial arts course) and the “control” group (those not taking the martial arts course).

What were the results?

There were significant differences between the groups on self-reported happiness and schoolwork and on one measure of attention. The treatment group showed decreased violence and positive changes in psychological risk factors.

And after the “controls” took the martial arts course, their scores fell into line with the treatment group’s scores of lower violence.

Their scores improved significantly in the areas of resistance to rules, impulsiveness, and inappropriate social behavior.

This study seems to suggest traditional martial arts training for middle school age children helps decrease violence.

How to Use Twitter To Build Your Martial Arts Academy and Stay in Touch with Your Students and Parents

Chris Whamond — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:58:26 +0000

How to use Twitter to build your student base

You’ve heard of Twitter by now. It’s everywhere.

But I must confess: I was slow in “getting it”. And I don’t think that was entirely my fault.

You see, I think Twitter’s marketing was atrocious when I first stumbled onto it in 2007. Back then, their core message was that Twitter was a tool that answered the question: “What are you doing now?”.

To me, that’s an okay use for Twitter (updating your friends), but I see Twitter more as a micro-blog platform. A place to announce new products and services, shout out your new blog posts, post cool videos and links and keep in touch with others.

Will Twitter replace email? No. Email is still the #1 tool you can use to communicate with your student base. BUT – Twitter is still a powerful weapon you should add to your communication arsenal.

I’m an active Twitter user now. I think you should be, too. Here’s how you can use Twitter to build your martial arts school:

1.) Announce school closures

It’s a pain to call everybody and let them know class has been cancelled. If you tell your students and parents to follow you on Twitter, when you have a school closure (or other time-sensitive announcement), just post a Twitter update and – PRESTO! – all of your followers have the news instantly.

2.) Use Twitter for special “insider offers”

Encourage your students and parents to use Twitter by letting them know you’ll be posting special “insider offers” just for Twitter users. They’ll be the first to know about an upcoming seminar, event or sale.

3.) Announce your blog posts

Every time you finish a new blog post, update Twitter with the URL. Think of Twitter as a “hook” to drive people to your “home” – your blog or website. That’s where the real interaction begins – you can generate leads, differentiate yourself from other martial arts schools and list all your programs.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are tons of other ways you can use Twitter to build your school. If you have other suggestions, please post them in the comments section!