Dojang Facebook Page

[Laurentkd]

Do you have one?
If you do is it a person's page, or a fan page?
What do you use it for (pictures, event info, etc)?
How have your students responded to it?

 

[terryl965]

No do not have one and probaly will never have one, I find the whole thing just wrong for any business.

 

[Laurentkd]

No do not have one and probaly will never have one, I find the whole thing just wrong for any business.

And why do you think that sir?

 

[terryl965]

Well for me Face book or even myspace has to many flaws withen there own system for it to be any real use. Most of the people that I know that visit them is not the types I would want in my school. We each have some reason for things mine is just to many bad sort of people take a liken to rooms with a personal agenda when they visit. Trying not to say everybody is a looser on there but alot of the people are flaky in my opinion.

 

[Steve]

Our school has one. Coach posts competitions results and pictures, announcemts and such. I don't think they work well as a recruitment tool. Rather, social networking keeps existing friends up to date.

 

[granfire]

You'd be surprised how many serious people of all walks of life utilize either, facebook or myspace.

Myspace has a pretty active MA community I have been told (though I have also heard rumors that individuals have not been advanced in rank because of their internet activities - if you don't want you Mom to see/read it, don't put it on the net)

It is a free and easy to use window to the world. Well, supposedly, I can't make hand nor foot from it. Of course, why would one need a internet page for a local school....

Myspace/facebook can be a valuable tool if used with care, or a total disaster.

 

[Laurentkd]

Our school has one. Coach posts competitions results and pictures, announcemts and such. I don't think they work well as a recruitment tool. Rather, social networking keeps existing friends up to date.

That was more my thought.
It was mentioned at the KKW Instructors Course (NOT from the same guy who said to sell hot chocolate!), and I thought it could be a good idea. Not as recruitment tool, but more like giving people an area to "brag" might be good (post pictures, say congrats, etc) or just another way to give out information (dojang closed due to inclement weather). People like to be a part of a group, so this may give them another "feel good" by having TKD be in another part of their every day life.
That was my automatic reaction to the idea.

Agree or disagree?

 

[spinny]

I know of a couple schools that use facebook. One uses a person's page, and it seems to work OK, except it's weird that it's a school, not an individual like the page was designed for. Another school I know has a group, which I would prefer if I ever created something for my school. It's not that there is much you can't do with pages and groups. But I think it makes more sense for something like this to be a group or a fan page.

Maybe someday I'll make a facebook group, but I just got us a website, and I'm still working out exactly what I want that to accomplish.

I agree that people like to have the things they are interested in as a part of their online social networking experience. I think that holds for everything from martial arts to what their city park's department to their favorite local grocery store is up to.

 

[mango.man]

Our team has a Facebook "Group" Page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56083165763&ref=mf

For the most part I manage it. We use it to keep our teammates and followers up to date on what is going on, post events, pictures and video from events, results from events.

If I could convert it to a "Fan" page I would but Facebook says it can't be done, so I will just leave it as a "Group" for now.

Anyone can join, so feel free.

 

[Laurentkd]

Why would you make it a fan page Mango?

 

[mango.man]

No particular reason really. I just think it would be better suited as a fan page.

 

[chungdokwan123]

Well for me Face book or even myspace has to many flaws withen there own system for it to be any real use. Most of the people that I know that visit them is not the types I would want in my school. We each have some reason for things mine is just to many bad sort of people take a liken to rooms with a personal agenda when they visit. Trying not to say everybody is a looser on there but alot of the people are flaky in my opinion.

No so very long ago, I would have come closer to being in agreement with you........I think MySpace, at least at one time, projected an image of a conglomeration of loser kids doing virtually nothing but playing around and posting garbage on that site. There is still a bit of that, indeed.
I dabble at Facebook.......now and then.......with work colleagues and old classmates. Honestly, I think it wouldn't be a bad thing for a school to have one.......and then again I don't really see a great positive return for doing so, at least in my area. Perhaps it would be different in other locales?

 

[xfighter88]

That was more my thought.
It was mentioned at the KKW Instructors Course (NOT from the same guy who said to sell hot chocolate!), and I thought it could be a good idea. Not as recruitment tool, but more like giving people an area to "brag" might be good (post pictures, say congrats, etc) or just another way to give out information (dojang closed due to inclement weather). People like to be a part of a group, so this may give them another "feel good" by having TKD be in another part of their every day life.
That was my automatic reaction to the idea.

Agree or disagree?

That's kind of what we use this sight for issn't it?

I do like it for social networking although my dojo hasn't tried it.

 

[Miles]

Our school has a FB page and it is for announcements primarily while the website is being rebuilt. I've posted photos from tests and seminars there too.

 

[dortiz]

FB is clearly a great tool. I would seperate personal page versus a school page. At the same time everyone at the school around the school and associated with the school can be fans or friends. Its one of the best ways to get the word out in todays world.
A student is more likely to join due to their friends link on FB than an ad or a flyer.
More business models will need top start looking at this and really fast.

Dave O.

 

[d1jinx]

I have neither. I' m affraid of who will find me! no need to have an Ex from the past show up and start creating problems. An outlet for drama and problems is how I see FB and MS. I have many friends and fellow instructors who try to convince me to start one.... And I do see a benefit from it.... but I just feel it would be more trouble than it is worth.

 

[Archtkd]

I was initially sceptical about facebook, but it's something I had to use because a large portion of my marketing strategy is digital. I now have a business facebook page which I totally control. The page compliments my web site -- which has turned out to be my best and cheapest way to attract potential students. I mainly use the facebook page as a social tool to easily keep my students, potential students and friends aware of what's going on at my dojang and the taekwondo world in general. This is a long way of saying "creating buzz."

I've also found the business facebook page, my personal facebook page and my personal linkedIn page help drive traffic to my web site, which in turn translates to new students, the bulk of who are serious professional adults.

 

[dancingalone]

I do not use one currently because I am not soliciting new students right now. I am fully aware of the advantages of Facebook, Twitter, blogging, etc. as well as optimizing your website for search engines. These are all tools any school seeking to attract new students should be using - old advertising methods like the printed Yellow Pages are probably close to useless at this point.

I am planning to start publishing some videos of the type of training my dojo offers on Youtube. This will be more for informational purposes than marketing, to let prospects know exactly what being a member of my school is like and what type of training they would expect to learn.

 

[terryl965]

Well hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have a facebook page, I have been turned to the darkside.. I hope it is really useful for us as a school and helps keep my parents up to date on everything.

 

[granfire]

Well hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have a facebook page, I have been turned to the darkside.. I hope it is really useful for us as a school and helps keep my parents up to date on everything.

Do they really have cookies on the dark side?