Have you ever tried building up a group?

[profesormental]

Greetings.

Here is how I see it.

If you do not train future SiFus, your lineage will die with you. Your experiences and trainings will not be remembered, and your impact in the world will be limited.

Even more clearly, from the meaning of SiFu = Teacher-Father, if your kids do not become parents themselves, your line will die off.

That to me is unacceptable. All this discovery and training and refinement of what I do, and no one to remember it and benefit from it.

The answer is marketing... yet it is not selling out. Bear with me for a little bit as I state my case.

I have for many years ventured into marketing and I do marketing for many local businesses/clients. That is how I pay the bills, my studies, and it is quite fun. I specially do Internet Marketing and Direct Response Marketing.

If you want a small club of dedicated students, then you can market to get those students into your school instead of them going elsewhere and having their interest for old school Wing Chun ruined. You can also, structure so that you increase retention while increasing the level of training in your school.

It is my interest to keep Wing Chun and Kung Fu training alive, thus I want to help you guys out. If you PM me or call me we can chat and I will help you figure out what kind of marketing systems you can set up that will be comfortable for you, but will increase the visibility of your school in your local area, specially using the Internet and other "guerrilla" tactics. This is not about hard selling; this is about being high level educators and sharing the passion you have for Wing Chun with others. They will self select from that. The more people you can help through Wing Chun, the better your local community will be.

If you want more students and keep your lineage alive, then please contact me. The people here in this forum are among the coolest peoples in the Wing Chun circles that I know, since in so few places there is such an open sharing of knowledge that I'm sure has deeply benefited all of you to reach new levels of understanding of our Kuen Fat. This level of sharing is a MUST to be highly successful instructors. Also, this is recession proof stuff. No hard economic times excuses or time excuses.

This is my gift to you and my way of giving back for all these years of learning from you people. I've already done this with other Martial Arts friends and they are very happy with the results.

The least you will get is an interesting chat with me and my thanks!

Sincerely,

Juan Mercado
Academia de Karate Kung Fu y MMA de Carolina

 

[jks9199]

Profesormental -- that's a very generous and kind offer. Maybe you can put a few general ideas here in the thread or comment on the ones that have been listed, as well?

 

[Punchy]

I've done the Craigslist thing, flyers, yard signs ( that get stolen ) business cards, and website. The one that I seem to get the most results from is the website.
Another thing I have just recently started is a once a month Saturday workshop. It is on the first Sat of the month, that way it is easy to remember. We go for 4 hours, much like a seminar and I em encouraging the guys to start their own working groups, going over the things from the workshop.
I'm hoping by having multiple fronts in the way of several working groups, that we can grow the group at a better pace.

 

[profesormental]

Greetings.

I want it to be for those that are really interested, post and take action, not lurkers. That is why I'm not going over the things on the open forum. I could answer direct questions to help though. And I want to talk to you personally over the phone or something so I can really help depending on the specifics of your school. If you want a small club, but want a few more students is a different thing than the business plan of a 100+ student school.

Here's how I see it: the people here in Martialtalk, in this forum are really good people with a firm grasp of Wing Chun. If someone that is less qualified, but has better marketing gets your students, then you should get better at marketing. What I'll share are the things that can be done that are easy to do, fast to implement, do not require high investment (most are free to do), and make the process of selling an educational experience instead of a hard sell. There are people interested in old school, well executed Kung Fu, but they can't find them or they get caught by others first.

If you frame things right, just sharing your passion for Wing Chun and what Wing Chun has done for you should be enough to enroll a student. You can even point to videos, Ip Man movie, Bruce Lee and other stuff as proof of Wing Chun's awesomeness. The biggest benefits or Wing Chun are hard to see, and hard to believe most times.

Some of the things I'll share are:

- ways to target the market that you really want, and how to identify it.
- how to use the local Google algorithms to place higher in search engines for prospective students.
- stuff that can be done that doesn't take much time yet yields the greatest benefits.
- how to become the "Kung Fu Authority" in your local area, maybe the "Kung Fu go to guy".
- how to "syndicate" what you do all over the Internets, for free or almost for free.
and a lot more stuff depending on your needs.

Hope that clarifies!

Sincerely,

Juan Mercado

 

[shaolin_al]

sifu steve you have a website up which is a good start. I would consider posting the schedule on it and cost that tends to draw students right away. Maybe just try a craigslist ad. You could also make a few short clips of the training and on the youtube videos put a link to the website.

 

[WCman1976]

I don't have a school of my own, but I have seen this happen over the years at my Sifu's school. Right now I am the only senior student still there. My attendance is sporadic thanks to my hours at work. (12:30-8:30pm, when class is 6-7pm and I have only so many hours of vacation time.) People will come in for a month and be super serious...until they hit a plateau where their skills don't improve, and then they quit. Actually, I was the same way at first! When I first learned the style, I picked up on the techniques really fast...but when it came time to refine, I gave up!

But back to the original topic, I'm going through the same thing now with fitness too. I'm running a free fitness class and people say, "Free? Oh yeah, awesome! I want to be more fit! I'll be there!" And then no one shows. They make the excuse of I didn't tell them early enough and they were busy, or I told them TOO early and they forgot, or this, or that, or whatever. The truth I have found is this: people make time for what is important to them, and what they SAY is important isn't always what REALLY matters.

I try to let go of the frustration and just work with the willing. If you show up, then I will help you. Letting go of this frustration isn't always easy, but I'd like to think I win the fight more often than not.

 

[bully]

I have found it very difficult to maintain a group. Not being a sifu I gave my time to do admin, i.e. rent the room and email/text the guys reminders about training. It folded after only a few months as none of the participants wanted to take the class as that would require they put their time into it.

A huge shame as there were talented guys who's could have kept things together with help from the rest of us, unfortunately people would not step up to the plate and give any time.

I am a doer and when I say I will do something, then I do it. Not everyone is.

It has come to me either giving up WC in 2012 or heading to a guy who I don't know very well and the WC is very different to what I know. Needs must so I will head over to him and go in with an empty cup.

 

[WingChunIan]

Interesting reading all of the posts. Its the first aniversary of my school this month and so far I've got about 30 students across two classes. The attrition rate isn't too bad but it is really depressing when someone trains for a while and just when they start to look like they're getting it, they pack up. I'm obviously a bit of a mug but as a sifu, in a couple of months you do get that kind of paternal feeling towards the student and when they just stop coming it sucks.

 

[qwksilver61]

I did the craigslist....all I got was the let me show you types,a couple of people I shut down,others....I simply moved on.A lot want instant "now."I guess it's all in how you package it.congrats to the 30 student guy!

 

[geezer]

...it is really depressing when someone trains for a while and just when they start to look like they're getting it, they pack up ...you do get that kind of paternal feeling towards the student and when they just stop coming it sucks.

This is especially tru in a small group. I invest a lot of extra time, free of charge, to get people up to where they are half-way decent and it's very discouraging to lose them. My goal has been to build-up some people to the point where they can be more than just students and actually be worthwhile training partners. I'm not there yet.

 

[Blindside]

This is especially tru in a small group. I invest a lot of extra time, free of charge, to get people up to where they are half-way decent and it's very discouraging to lose them. My goal has been to build-up some people to the point where they can be more than just students and actually be worthwhile training partners. I'm not there yet.

Ouch, been there, just lost a guy that I have had for two years who was getting to the point where we could really start to play and then he just stops coming. Family time, I get it, but he's been in martial arts longer than I have (like 10 years longer) and he has just stopped coming. Frustrating.

 

[Xue Sheng]

This is especially tru in a small group. I invest a lot of extra time, free of charge, to get people up to where they are half-way decent and it's very discouraging to lose them. My goal has been to build-up some people to the point where they can be more than just students and actually be worthwhile training partners. I'm not there yet.

I'm there now and getting ready to throw in the towel, but it has only been about 6 months

 

[Stylez777]

I work in sales, and believe me day in and day out I hear every excuse in the book. I have no time, no money, not interested etc etc etc.

You do need to listen carefully and determine if what they are saying is an objection or if it is a valid excuse. No time is the easiet thing to say. It really is the oldest excuse in the book and everyone uses it. (someone already said this) If they really have an interest and it's something they really want to do they will find/make the time. If they aren't that means it's not a priority and you then have to decide is this a person you really want in this school? Is this someone worth my time to teach because they are not willing to make/find the time to dedicate. but if you want to get them here is a few things you can try:

Potential student say "I'd love to come but I just don't have the time"
Your reply "I totally understand how you feel, a lot of my current students felt they had no time when they first started, but once they came down and seen the benefits training provided them they found they did have the time to train" (you can mess with the wording but key basics here is Feel, Felt, Found)

Potential student "(they keep rambling excuses off time, money, I don't know etc etc etc)
You "_____(insert persons name), I know where you are coming from. Can I make a suggestion? (pause for them to agree you can) Why don't you come down to the __________(insert school, kwoon, dojo, class etc) check it out for 15-20 minutes and see what you think. There is no pressure and you'll be able to decide for yourself if it's right for you or not." If you want you can also add "Isn't it worth it to you to invest 15 minutes of time into yourself? What if that 15 minutes of time you do invest was able to help you feel ____(insert a benefit they would recieve from training), wouldn't that be worth it to you?"

Here is my FAVORITE thing to say to actually qualify if what they are telling me is truth or not.

Potential Student "It sounds great but I don't think I can do it because I don't have any money (could be anything money, time, wife won't let me, etc etc etc)
You say "(start knodding your head in agreement before you reply if you are in person. If on phone you can skip the knodding) I've spoke with many people that are in the exact situation as you. Let me ask you a question? (pause a second or 2 to see if they knod or agree or give you indication it ok for you to ask the question 90% of people will) If (insert the objection they gave you. Time money kids etc etc) money was no object would you sign up for classes? see what they say. If they say oh yes with out a doubt, then there ya go work with them on the money and they may join. If they still say well I don't know maybe I'd have to see etc etc then the initial objection they gave is phony and something else is the real reason so you'd have to ask another question like "If it's not money that is holding you back, what is it? Maybe I can help work with you. Is it me? do you not like my ability to train you??" This is a great response because you find out right away if they don't trust you. You want to get them talking and listen to what they say.

Those are just some quick objection handling respones. it's best to make them genuine and sound like it's you talking and that your not trying to recite something back to them. These will help you in many ways. Getting to people's real objections as to why they won't join your class ro school can help you in the long run find out what you may be doing wrong presentation wise and help you change. If most of them have to do with money then maybe your dues are too high, if they don't like your personality maybe you have to work on that, maybe your location they don't like or other people in the class, it could be hundreds of reasons. It's best to know the truth so you know how to progress goign forward to "close" more students so our business grows. Hope I was able to offer some basic help.

 

[qwksilver61]

Imagine Earth.......then imagine Mars.....just imagine the distance.....people in Miami have progressed,passed by me like a whizzing frisbee.. and all I do is wait,train alone, and hope.It is a terrible thing to want.....and to deal with knuckleheads."everybody wants to rule the world" who was that? tears for fears? so here i sit, lonely hearted tried to BLEEP! but only bleeeeped! man, maybe Wing Tzun was not meant to be...anywho I'll stay bummed...at least I have my beer...damn,no chips!:soapbox: go ahead laugh, I am.Take care......good luck to you all