Getting New Students

[Darkmoon]

I've been teaching T'ai-Chi for about a year now. Does anyone have any good ideas for getting students? Anything! I'm listening!

 

[mook jong man]

When i was with a wing chun school we used to do demonstrations at various events, hand out flyers at a busy railway station, give people free trial lessons, and we used to get a fair few people joining up after a school open day.
I think you have to get out and show people the art and make it look exciting. I dont know if you are with a school or by your self maybe you could teach a friend to help you with demonstrations. We faced problems because wing chun does not look spectacular compared to other martial arts it just looks like a machine gun going off.
But what seemed to work really well was showing various self defence scenarios with all protective gear on so the public could could hear the strikes and see the effect of them as well.
I mean to say if we just stood there and did chi sau we probably would have got no one joining up, and i think you might face this problem as well if you just do push hands or something like that.
We know the value of these drills but the general public doesn't know or care. Unfortunately you have to jazz it up and make it look cool.
Some instructors and i did a wing chun demo at a hapkido school once, i think we were invited or something, anyway this hapkido school had a lot of students and i mean a lot of students and when i saw there demo i could see why. They turned the lights down and they all come out tumbleing and doing somersaults and what not with glowing nunchakus in their hands in a full on choreagraphed show, it just looked fantastic.
Im not saying you have to go to that extent but you get the drift.
Put some ads in the local paper, notices at a library or some where and make sure you've got a sign out the front of where your teaching, also one of those little A frame signs with reflective writing on it so cars coming past can see it at night.
Its late and thats all i can think of at the moment sorry.

 

[Phadrus00]

I've been teaching T'ai-Chi for about a year now. Does anyone have any good ideas for getting students? Anything! I'm listening!

Darkmoon,

First of all congrats on opening a Tai Chi programme! I run one south of Boston and am always glad to hear about more people getting out there and teaching the art. Where about do you teach?

In terms of getting new students, you have hot on a fundamental question that all teachers must face. There are a few traditional approaches and then some others less traditional you may want to try. Before that all happens though you need to think about who it is that you are trying to attract. It is Marketing 101, "Know Thy Customers". You are probably looking for adults more so than children and also loking for people who are overcoming physical challenges or looking for relaxation and stress releive and not MMA wanna-be's. This is important because knowling who you are targetting shapes how and where you spend your time and money.

Okay, on to techniques for acquisition. First of all traditional:

1/ Flyers - It's old school but it does net results. You may want to target coffee shops, yoga studios, fitness clubs, train stations, etc. You can also canvas mall parking lots as well but try local grocery stores as they tend to have more of a local crowd than your average shopping mega-complex.
2/ Advertise in a local paper - This costs some cash can be very effective and is very focussed.
3/ Teach at other locations - you may be trying to get things going in your new school but it can help to reach out to other locations and teach out of there to gain exposure. Approach local gyms and yoga studios about offering a program. You can also approach your local recreation center if you have one to really target the local populace.

Now non-traditional:
1/ Start a Facebook group and reach out to freinds and family - Use Social Netowrking tools to help find interested people.
2/ Put an ad in Craigslist if they have a site for your area - Craigslist has a HUGE following and can get you read by a lot of people!
3/ Put on a special program for the summer - Try a Tai Chi in the Park summer program and work with your local parks department to get it advertised and supported.

Good Luck!
Rob

 

[stickarts]

Word of mouth and website always remains our top ways of gaining students. Doing demos, advertising, telephone book, drive-bys/walk-ins, and interacting with the community all help too.

 

[terryl965]

Demo's and special to get them in the door, then one must be able to close the deal.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I have had a lot of luck giving free seminars at local libraries. The libraries love me since they are responsible for booking events and I get free publicity. Also, I contact the newspapers that I am doing it and they usually cover it, which gives me free newspaper coverage.

AoG

 

[ArmorOfGod]

Here is a relavent section from this thread: http://martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42320

I highly recommend reading the entire thread. That helped me immensely when I opened my school almost 2 years ago. Pay attention to the part at the bottom that tells of things that do not work, such as newspaper ads and radio ads. I found that is true for me as well.

_________________________________

Marketing Things That Tend To Work

Coupon Books: We are chronically in the coupon books that are sold, often by charities, in the community. We offer a coupon for one months free lessons. We generally generate between fifteen and twenty students per coupon book. Those student then convert as normal. The key is the bang we get for absolutely no buck. Coupon books are free. Great media-no cash spent.

Yellow Pages Ad: This is the only paid media our dojo does now. It does work. Most other paid media we have tried does not work for us. It is true, as evidenced in our studies the yellow pages are often the first place where students become aware of your dojo.

Storefront Signage: If at all possible, get a dojo sign up and visible for passing consumers. If your dojo is in a heavy-traffic area, such as a strip mall, or on a major street, advertise your specials and events in the windows for all passers by to see.

Free/Charity Self Defense Seminars: Work with a Food Bank and give a FREE self-defense course to the community (participants bring a food item). This has worked incredibly well for us. We have converted many students from our self-defense seminars. Also, get the local TV stations to cover it--we get literally thousands of dollars of free TV time by doing these kinds of activities. This is a win-win-win. The participants receive, for all consideration, a free self-defense seminar. The charity receives donations. The dojo receives new students and the associated dues.

Gi & First Month Special: This traditional, special approach has worked well for us. In Lincoln, Nebraska, we offer a gi and one-month's karate lessons for $39.95. Lightweight gis are really inexpensive. We generally advertise this with posters in our dojo window as well as flyers distributed throughout the community by our students.

Summer Specials: In May of each year, we offer 3 months of classes for youth at a fixed rate ($90 for the summer in our case. Regular dues are $45). This offers parents some summer activities for their children.

New Student Competition: We stage a competition within the dojo and points are given to students if they enlist a new student. Points vary and increase with the duration the new recruit stays. The competitions are generally run over a three-month period. The competition winner gets a new gi.

Buddy Nights: We have, every third Wednesday, what we call a Buddy Night. Students can bring a friend or relative to train at no cost. The Buddy Night training sessions are modified to accommodate brand new students.

Flyer Posting Party: Every three to six months, we have a posting party. We meet at the dojo and students are assigned certain areas of the community where they will post the general dojo flyer. We divide into groups and can canvas the city in a couple of hours. We meet back at the dojo and go to the home of the host (generally the Business Director) for a post-posting party. This activity increases the awareness for the dojo and requires no budget (the flyers are donated.

Benefit Tournament: Twice every year we stage a benefit tournament. Over the years, we have worked with the Special Olympics, the ShrinersHospital Fund, Santa Cop, and a number of other charities. A pre-determined percent of the net profits of the tournament are donated to the charity. We generally gross about $3,000-$4,000 from the event with costs of facilities and trophies being about $1,000. Sometimes the facility is even donated. We then split the gross profits with the charity. We generally get about $2,000 and the charity gets the same. EVERYONE WINS!

Seminars: We stage seminars at our dojo for the general martial arts community. This generates extra revenue to augment dues. The seminars tend to be related to the martial arts, but are not conflictive with regard to Ryu ha or styles. For example, we have had the following types of seminars and had good attendance from other dojo and styles: Tea Ceremony / T'ai Chi / Yoga / Chi Gong / Neurology Seminar (conducted by a dojo member who is also a neurosurgeon).

Youth Lock-ins: For youth members of the dojo we stage overnights or lock-ins. We try to stage these events around times when parents have trouble finding baby sitters-Valentine's Day, New Year's Eve, or around school holidays. Students are encouraged to bring friends and relatives. This activity generates additional revenue and recruits new students.

Demonstrations: We conduct numerous demonstrations, and these tend to generate interest in the dojo (be sure to have flyers to give interested people at the demonstration). Places to do demonstrations are wide and varied. For example, each year we have a half-time demonstration at a StateUniversity basketball game. We also do a demonstration at the State Fair. We have done demonstrations at Asian Cultural Festivals at the University. Special retail events also offer a demonstration opportunity. Demonstrations do generate interest and you must be armed with dojo information in order to capitalize, so to speak, on the opportunity.

These marketing-oriented activities serve to recruit for new students as well as generate revenue that can supplement dues. With an aggressive marketing program as outlined here, the dojo should receive enough income so as to not have to be a black belt factory, or otherwise be in conflict with the spirit of budo.

While these things have tended to work to generate new students and new revenue, there are some marketing activities we've tried that didn't work for us . . .

Marketing Things That Tend To Not Work

Free local shopper newspaper ads tend to not work for us.

Free local sports newspapers tend to not work for us.

Newspaper ads tend to not work for us.

Radio ads tend to not work for us.

TV ads are too expensive (We get good TV exposure free-see above)

from : http://martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42320

 

[MeatWad2]

Lead Boxes...offer free classes to your current students if they bring in a friend...but honestly, lead boxes are going to be key.

 

[stickarts]

Demo's and special to get them in the door, then one must be able to close the deal.

Very good point.

 

[girlbug2]

What are Lead Boxes?

 

[stickarts]

What are Lead Boxes?

I understand those to be boxes you put around town such as in other businesses. People can place a slip in there with their contact info if they are interested in finding out about your classes. You can also make a raffle out of it so some people win a fee intro course. You still can then also call all of the people that didn't win and tell them about your place.

 

[Guro Harold]

Find a park, gym, or Y with a lot of traffic and practice and teach some of you private lessons or classes out there.

You are your best card or flyer!

BTW. Make sure of course you have the right permissions.

 

[Darkmoon]

Thanks for all the advice.
For those who said "do something flashy" you're right. I see the best demos are flashy.
The only flashy thing I can do is long stick work with my Partner instructor.
Oh yes I do teach with another instructor.

I like the library idea.

To answer another question I teach in Ferndale, MI at Mejishi center for the physical arts.

Any other thoughts?

 

[ArmorOfGod]

Someone above mentioned business cards. That is probably the foundation advertisement. Just don't use those homemade ones from your computer. Those look terrible (imo).
www.raisedlettercards.com will make 1,000 for $19 and even put your logo on them for free.
www.vistaprint.com will send you 250 for around $4 or $5. They won't add your logo, but do have some decent generic layouts and clipart.

AoG

 

[stickarts]

Thanks for all the advice.
For those who said "do something flashy" you're right. I see the best demos are flashy.
The only flashy thing I can do is long stick work with my Partner instructor.
Oh yes I do teach with another instructor.

I like the library idea.

To answer another question I teach in Ferndale, MI at Mejishi center for the physical arts.

Any other thoughts?

The only other thoughts are persistence, and while I have seen some schools show amazing growth overnight, I think many are like me, its a matter of steady growth over time. Retention is key. If you get lots of new students but most quit in a short time period, then that still doesn't work. We do well getting new students but our retention is very good which has made a huge difference in my schools growth.

 

[Darkmoon]

I have both problems getting and keeping students. I use this site for cards and other printing needs; t-shirts, hats, ect. Some of there stuff is cheap.

vistaprint

I don't like the raised letters site. I'm just saying.
Any other ideas?