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Hiring Instructors: Meeting Your Martial Arts School’s Growing Needs

April 16, 2023 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

As a martial arts school owner, you are always striving to provide the best possible experience for your students. But as your school grows, it becomes increasingly important to assess your school’s needs and determine when it’s time to hire additional instructors. In this blog post, we’ll explore the signs that indicate you might need more staff, how to assess your school’s needs, and tips for hiring the right instructors for your martial arts school.

Signs Your Martial Arts School Needs Additional Instructors

Increased class sizes and decreased individual attention

If you notice your class sizes are growing and your instructors are struggling to provide personalized attention to each student, it’s time to consider hiring additional instructors. This will ensure each student receives the proper guidance and attention they deserve.

💡 Growing class sizes mean less individual attention. Hiring more instructors is crucial for maintaining quality martial arts instruction.

Difficulty accommodating diverse skill levels and age groups

A growing martial arts school often attracts students of different skill levels and age groups. If your instructors are having trouble adapting to these diverse needs, bringing on more instructors with expertise in various disciplines and age groups can help maintain the quality of instruction.

Instructors feeling overwhelmed or burnt out

Your instructors are the backbone of your martial arts school. If they’re feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or burnt out, it’s a sign that you may need to hire additional staff to help share the workload and ensure your instructors remain happy and productive.

Assessing Your School’s Needs

Evaluating current instructor workload and capacity

Take a close look at your current instructors’ workload and capacity. Are they teaching multiple classes back-to-back without breaks? Are they consistently working overtime? These are signs that you may need more instructors to better manage the workload.

Analyzing student feedback and satisfaction levels

Your students are the best resource for understanding what’s working and what’s not in your martial arts school. Regularly survey your students and gather feedback on their experiences. If you notice a trend of dissatisfaction with class sizes or instructor availability, it’s time to consider hiring more instructors.

Identifying gaps in expertise or style offerings

As your martial arts school grows, you may find that there are gaps in the styles or expertise offered by your current instructors. Hiring instructors with diverse backgrounds can help fill these gaps and provide a more well-rounded experience for your students.

💡 Assessing your school’s needs is like taking a vital sign. It helps you identify the areas that require attention, so you can hire the right instructors and equip your martial arts school with the tools it needs to grow and thrive.

Hiring the Right Instructors for Your Martial Arts School

Qualities to look for in potential instructors

When hiring new instructors, consider their experience, teaching style, communication skills, and ability to work with students of different skill levels and age groups. Also, ensure they align with your school’s culture and values.

Ensuring a good fit with your school’s culture and values

Hiring instructors who share your martial arts school’s values and culture is essential for maintaining a consistent and cohesive environment. This will help create a strong sense of community among your students and staff.

Maximizing the Benefits of Additional Instructors

Offering specialized classes or workshops

With more instructors on your team, you can offer specialized classes or workshops, catering to specific skill levels, age groups, or martial arts styles. This can help attract more students and increase overall satisfaction.

Expanding class schedules to accommodate more students

Additional instructors allow you to expand your class schedule and offer more time slots, making it easier for students to find a class that fits their schedule.

💡 Expanding class schedules not only allows for more students to join the martial arts school, but it also creates opportunities for personal growth and development for both the students and the instructors.

Enhancing overall school reputation and customer satisfaction

Hiring additional instructors can improve the overall quality of instruction, enhance your school’s reputation, and ultimately lead to higher customer satisfaction and student retention.

As a martial arts school owner, it’s crucial to continually assess your school’s needs and determine when it’s time to hire additional instructors. By recognizing the signs of growth and addressing the challenges that come with it, you can ensure your students receive the best possible experience. Hiring the right instructors who align with your school’s values and culture will not only help maintain the quality of instruction but also contribute to the overall success and reputation of your martial arts school.

Remember, the key to a thriving martial arts school is to adapt and grow with your students’ needs. By proactively addressing these needs and making the necessary changes, you’ll create a positive and supportive environment that allows both your instructors and students to flourish. Keep assessing, keep growing, and keep your martial arts school on the path to success.

Book a live demo today to experience how Spark Membership Software can help you simplify your operations, efficiently manage your memberships, and expand your martial arts school.

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Why Regular Staff Evaluations are Crucial for the Success of Your Martial Arts School

March 30, 2023 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Why Regular Staff Evaluations Are Crucial For Martial Arts School

As a martial arts school owner, you know how important it is to provide high-quality training and a positive experience for your students. However, it can be easy to overlook the role that your staff members play in the success of your school. Regular staff evaluations can help ensure that your instructors are performing at their best and contributing to the growth of your school.

Understanding the Purpose of Staff Evaluations

The purpose of staff evaluations is to provide feedback to your instructors on their performance, identify areas where they can improve, and set goals for the future. These evaluations can help your instructors develop their skills, increase their confidence, and improve their teaching techniques. They also help you ensure that your staff is aligned with the vision and mission of your martial arts school.

💡 Regular staff evaluations provide the opportunity to align individual performance with the overall purpose and goals of your martial arts school, ensuring a path towards success that benefits both the staff and the students.

Setting Expectations for Your Staff

Before you can evaluate your staff, it’s important to set clear expectations for their performance. This includes outlining your school’s values, teaching methods, and expectations for how your staff interacts with students. You should also provide training and support to help your staff meet these expectations.

Evaluating Your Staff’s Performance

When evaluating your staff, it’s important to assess their performance in several key areas:

Technical Skills

Your instructors should have a strong understanding of the martial arts techniques they are teaching and be able to demonstrate them effectively.

💡 Technical skills are the backbone of any martial arts school, and regular staff evaluations are the sharpening stone that keeps them razor-sharp.”

Teaching Skills

Your instructors should be able to communicate effectively with your students, provide clear instructions, and create a positive and engaging learning environment.

Interpersonal Skills

Your instructors should be able to build positive relationships with your students and provide a welcoming and supportive atmosphere.

Professionalism

Your instructors should be punctual, reliable, and present themselves professionally.

Adherence to School Policies

Your instructors should be aware of your school’s policies and procedures and be able to adhere to them consistently.

Providing Feedback to Your Staff

After evaluating your staff, it’s important to provide feedback that is clear, specific, and actionable. This feedback should focus on both areas where your staff is excelling and areas where they need to improve. You should also work with your staff to create goals and a plan for how they can improve their performance.

Benefits of Regular Staff Evaluations

Regular staff evaluations can have numerous benefits for your martial arts school, including:

Improved Instructor Performance

Evaluations can help your staff develop their skills, build confidence, and become better instructors.

Increased Student Satisfaction

By ensuring that your instructors are performing at their best, you can provide a positive and engaging experience for your students.

Increased Staff Retention

When your staff feels valued and supported, they are more likely to stay with your school long-term.

Improved School Reputation

By providing high-quality training and a positive experience for your students, you can improve your school’s reputation and attract new students.

💡 Regular staff evaluations provide valuable feedback for growth and improvement, ensuring that your martial arts school stays on the path to success.

Regular staff evaluations are a crucial component of any successful martial arts school. By setting clear expectations, evaluating your staff’s performance, and providing feedback and support, you can ensure that your instructors are performing at their best and contributing to the growth of your school.

Try Spark Membership Software to streamline your operations, manage your memberships, and grow your martial arts school.

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Effective Employee Retention Strategies for Your Martial Arts School

March 12, 2023 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Employee retention is a critical component of running a successful Martial arts school. When you have high staff turnover, it can lead to decreased morale, lost revenue, and a decline in the quality of your programs. Fortunately, there are many effective employee retention strategies that you can implement to reduce turnover and keep your best employees.

Actions you would take to increase retention of employees?

Emphasize Personal Responsibility:

In a martial arts school, promoting personal responsibility is crucial. Encourage your staff to take ownership of their work, make decisions that align with the school’s mission and values, and hold themselves accountable for their actions. This creates a culture of personal responsibility, leading to a more productive and harmonious work environment and reduced employee turnover.

💡 Emphasizing personal responsibility empowers and retains employees. It fosters a culture of excellence and loyalty in your martial arts school.

Respect:

It’s crucial to foster mutual respect between employees. Treat your staff with empathy and appreciation, actively listen to their opinions, and acknowledge their hard work. Encourage your employees to treat each other with respect, promote teamwork, and celebrate diversity. When your staff feels valued and respected, they are more likely to be engaged and committed

Reward:

Offer rewards that are meaningful and aligned with your staff’s interests and needs. This can include bonuses, promotions, opportunities for professional growth, and recognition of achievements. Celebrate your staff’s accomplishments publicly to show that you value their contributions. Meaningful rewards help to keep your staff engaged and committed to your organization, resulting in reduced employee turnover.

Relaxation Time:

In a martial arts school, promote work-life balance by allowing for breaks, time off, and flexibility in scheduling. Provide resources such as yoga or meditation classes and counseling to support your staff’s mental health and well-being. Encouraging work-life balance can help to reduce stress and burnout, leading to a more positive and productive work environment

Effective Employee Retention Strategies

Keeping employees engaged and motivated is crucial for the success of any organization, including martial arts schools. High turnover can result in lost revenue, decreased morale, and a decline in program quality.

Here our employee retention strategies you can apply in your school:

Invest in Employees’ Careers:

Investing in your employees’ careers is a great way to retain top talent. Provide opportunities for professional development, offer training programs, and support employees who want to pursue certifications or further education.

Recognize Employees’ Contributions:

Acknowledging and recognizing your employees’ contributions is crucial to employee satisfaction and retention. Celebrate their successes and milestones, and show your appreciation for their hard work and dedication.

Reassess Compensation:

Compensation is an important factor in employee retention. Ensure that your employees are being paid fairly and competitively, and consider offering benefits packages that include health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.

💡 Reassessing compensation isn’t just about dollars and cents, it’s about showing your team that you value their contributions and are committed to their growth and success.

Prioritize Work-Life Balance:

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for the well-being of your staff. Offer flexible schedules, encourage employees to take time off, and consider providing resources such as counseling or stress-management programs.

Create Pathways for Growth:

Providing opportunities for growth and advancement can help to retain top talent. Offer clear paths for career advancement, provide mentorship programs, and support employees who want to pursue leadership roles.

Improve Organizational Culture:

Creating a positive and supportive organizational culture is essential for employee retention. Foster a sense of community, offer team-building activities, and prioritize communication and transparency.

💡Creating a positive and supportive organizational culture is the foundation for building a loyal and motivated team. By valuing your employees and providing opportunities for growth, you not only retain talent, but also foster a community where everyone can thrive and succeed.

Help Employees Find Purpose in their Work:

Helping your employees find purpose in their work can help to increase job satisfaction and retention. Encourage them to connect with your mission and values, and provide opportunities for them to contribute to causes that are meaningful to them.

Employee retention is essential for martial arts schools to maintain a positive work environment, improve employee satisfaction, and reduce turnover. By implementing the seven effective retention strategies discussed in this post – emphasizing personal responsibility, mutual respect, meaningful rewards, work-life balance, career development, recognition of contributions, and improving organizational culture – martial arts schools can build a strong and committed team of employees invested in the school’s success.

💡 Helping employees find purpose in their work is not only key to retaining them, but also to unlocking their full potential and creating a culture of passion and dedication within your martial arts school.

Streamline your operations with Spark Membership Software – designed specifically for martial arts schools. Manage memberships, track attendance, and process payments all in one place. Sign up today and take your business to the next level!

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Maximizing Your Martial Arts School in January 2023: A Guide to a Strong Start

February 6, 2023 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

As a martial arts instructor and school owner, January is a critical time to establish the tone and direction for the upcoming year. The holiday season can be hectic, and it’s essential to take a step back and evaluate the past year. This process can provide valuable insights that can help you make informed decisions and set achievable goals for the future. The beginning of a new year is an opportunity to start fresh and make positive changes, both for yourself and your business. In this blog, you’ll learn about some effective strategies for making the most of January and setting yourself up for success in the months to come. Whether you’re looking to boost enrollment, improve operations, or simply get organized, these tips will help you get off to a strong start in the new year.

Up Your Marketing Budget

To combat the natural slowdown that occurs in January, it’s important to increase your marketing budget, especially in digital marketing. Make sure your outreach programs are in order, and target local children’s organizations for outreach opportunities.

💡 Invest in your marketing budget to increase visibility and reach of your martial arts school, because a strong start in January 2023 sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Focus On Your Team

January is the perfect time to get your team on the same page and identify any challenges from the previous year. Make sure everyone is clear on what went well and what needs improvement and take the time to do a full analysis using your school’s KPI data.

Analyze Your Stats

Take a look at your gross income, student count, lead generation, and enrollments from January 2022 and 2023, and compare the two. This will give you a sense of direction and allow you to nip any issues in the bud early on. If you’re doing better than last year, focus on keeping that momentum going throughout the rest of the year.

💡 The key to success lies in the analysis of your stats. Maximize your martial arts school by staying ahead of the game and utilizing data to guide your progress towards a strong start in 2023.

Stay Focused

Make sure you and your team are laser-focused on your goals for the year. This means staying on track and working to improve any areas where you may be falling short.

Identify Areas for Improvement in Your Statistics

Analyze why there may be a difference from the previous year and what steps can be taken to improve those areas.

💡 To achieve greatness, you must constantly assess and improve upon your weaknesses. Identifying areas for improvement in your statistics is the first step towards maximizing your martial arts school.

In conclusion, January is a month full of opportunities to evaluate your martial arts school and set yourself up for a successful year ahead. Whether it’s through planning, reevaluating your goals, or investing in new tools, taking advantage of this month can have a lasting impact on your school’s success. Remember, success is a journey, not a destination, so start the new year off right and make the most of January. With these tips and a positive mindset, you can ensure a strong start to the new year and set the pace for continued growth and success in the future.

Join the revolution of small gyms that are making their mark in a crowded market! Take action today and learn the tips and tricks on how to make your small gym stand out. Read our blog How to Make Your Small Gym Stand Out in a Crowded Market.

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Protocols Every Martial Arts School Should Have

January 13, 2023 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

We will discuss how protocols can increase enrollment, retention, and upgrades, as well as how to create a positive experience for students. Whether you’re a school owner, educator, or parent, this blog will provide valuable insights that you can implement in your school or education setting. Let’s dive in!

Maximizing Enrollment, Upgrade, and Retention Ratios

As school owners, it’s important to maximize our enrollment ratio, upgrade ratio, and retention ratio. Doing so, it not only improves our bottom line but it also helps us grow our school. However, this also presents challenges, such as language barriers and cultural differences.

One way to overcome these challenges is to implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) that anyone can follow, regardless of their language or training level.

Creating a Welcoming Experience

For example, when it comes to increasing enrollment, it’s important to focus on building relationships with our students. One way to do this is by creating a welcoming experience for new students, such as providing a welcome packet with a personalized card and a toy or water bottle with our school’s logo.

💡Welcome students with a warm smile and create an inclusive environment for their journey to self-improvement

Catering to Emotional Needs

Another way to create a positive experience for new students is to focus on their emotional needs. For instance, if a child is shy, it’s important to give them the confidence they need to participate in class. One protocol that we use at our school is to take a picture of the child on their first day and present it to them framed at the end of class. We also call the child up to a breakout board to give them a chance to showcase their skills.

💡 By catering to the emotional needs of our students, we not only improve their overall martial arts experience, but also empower them to reach their full potential both on and off the mat

Building Tight Relationships

To build a tighter relationship with our trial students, we offer a four-week trial program for $29 that includes a karate shirt. To make an emotional impact, we test them for their white belt around the third week of the trial and have them recite the student creed out loud. This not only boosts their confidence but also makes them feel like they are part of the school community.

In conclusion, implementing protocols that focus on emotional impact can help increase enrollment, retention, and upgrades. By creating a welcoming experience, building relationships, and catering to the emotional needs of our students, we can create a positive and memorable experience for them.

Upgrade your martial arts school’s membership management with the best software on the market – Spark Membership Software! For only $1, you’ll have access to a variety of protocols that will keep your school safe, organized, and efficient. Don’t miss out on this unbeatable deal. Try Spark Membership Software today!

Read one of our blogs: How to Increase Booking Trials and Show Ups

Why Growing Your Martial Arts School Is Impossible Without Automation

October 16, 2022 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

The process of opening a martial arts school is gratifying. It enables you to do what you preach within the field and particular art, give back to your community and become your employer. Ownership isn’t easy, though, just like running a business.

Being skilled in martial arts is only a small part of what it takes to run a successful martial arts school. It requires stamina, careful planning, a sturdy stomach, and a lot of devotion. This guide will assist you in comprehending the components of growing your martial arts school, as well as why automation is necessary for growth.

Automation is the key to reducing the struggle of martial arts school owners

Teachers are leaving in droves all over the world. And they aren’t keeping quiet about what’ s causing this huge influx. Stress. Stress is an epidemic, and it is having a significant negative impact on education around the world. To address the problem, a lot of things must change – and change profoundly.

Automation is one of the most exciting technological solutions. Martial arts schools with agile manifesto values are currently working hard to bring the interactive, flexible, and time-saving automation that they require. Automation has the potential to relieve a significant amount of work. It has the potential to free up a significant amount of admin time for owners and also students. Time for them to unwind, get ahead with preparation, and do what they do best.

The following are the problems that martial arts owners face and how automation can solve them:

Enrollment process difficulties

Student enrollment is among the most time-consuming processes that educational institutions face. It typically consists of a slew of paper-based tasks that, when performed manually, are progressively vulnerable to human error. It is time-consuming to approve student application forms, validate documents, and manually confirm student eligibility for a given course. Automated school processes are the most effective way for institutions to ease this burden while remotely collecting correctly completed forms, papers, applications, and affidavits from students.

Struggle to keep schedules

When it comes to managing educational processes, meeting planning and preparation are critical. Typically, an organizer will check the availability of students and parents before scheduling a meeting. They then notify each student and parent individually, informing them of the meeting’s date, time, and location. When something changes, the organizer must go through the entire process again.

Nevertheless, with an automation solution, the whole scheduling process can be completely automated, reducing the need for human intervention. The organizer only needs to set up a simple workflow that checks each attendee’s schedule and makes notifications.

Attendance Issues

Another routine but necessary process that most martial arts schools must perform on a daily basis is attendance monitoring. And if you believe that attendance only affects students, you are mistaken. It is also critical to keep accurate records of faculty and school administration in order to guarantee equitable compensation for all team members.

You can, for example, collect information for your employees’ work logs by using special education automated software for daily attendance monitoring. This approach enables for more equitable evaluation and permits each employee to receive the appropriate compensation based on their presence within an institution’s routine procedures.

Reporting difficulties

Most martial arts school owners are obligated to fill out progress reports for each student in their class in addition to supervising exams. Needless to say, that’s a lot of tedious work to keep up with. Automation can be of great assistance in this situation. After storing student grades digitally, you can utilize special education automated software to retrieve the data needed from the spreadsheet.

You can also pre-fill progress cards and send progress reports to those who are interested (e.g., parents). By doing so, you are not only eliminating this tedious task but also freeing up hours of daily time that can now be dedicated to more productive work.

Advantages of having a martial arts software

It’s crucial to have a strong management system in place if you own a martial arts school in order to make running your company easier on a daily basis. You are aware that organizing your staff’s schedules, payroll, class schedules, attendance records, and student billing takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work. Because of this, it’s crucial to use martial arts software to streamline member administration and cut down on everyday administrative tasks.

Make the process

You can cut down on the amount of time you spend chasing down unpaid members by employing martial arts software. You can quickly collect one-time or recurring payments for any product purchases or membership fees using automatic billing. So that you and your employees don’t have to waste time pursuing members for past-due membership fees continually, you can quickly set up and send automated payment reminders for any upcoming invoices or missed payments.

Boost efficiency

A school uses a variety of resources, including manpower, energy, paper, and fuel. During the peak season of admissions and exams, school personnel must bear a heavy workload. In contrast, the school management system can level up to boost preparation within the same resources. The scalability feature will assist school personnel in reducing workload by automating core processes.

For instance, it was discovered that the manual process of fee collection required more resources and that the staff was under financial pressure. However, automation of fee collection not only reduces workload because online transactions are completed in a matter of seconds, but it also resolves the issue of money handling because digital transactions solve it.

Lower operational cost

One advantage of employing a software platform is that you can immediately cut down on the amount of time you and your personnel spend on tiresome administrative tasks. You may automate your email follow-ups and reminders while automating your billing procedure, class scheduling, attendance monitoring, and financial reporting by using a software platform. In this manner, you may concentrate on expanding your firm without having to pay for more staff members to handle those regular responsibilities.

Streamline member management

You can effortlessly track your member’s attendance, billing history, belt colors, and other milestones with member management software, which keeps everything in one single database. Your members will have easy access to update their financial information, schedule lessons, and digitally sign waivers with a built-in member portal. This will lessen the amount of time spent doing back-end administrative work, going through old notes, or gathering pointless paperwork.

Increase your marketing activities

Make the most of your marketing and sales efforts by combining your software with potent online forms. You may easily add new website leads, member signups, and subscription information to your software’s CRM system by using the lead-gathering forms. To encourage new trial signups, membership sales, or product purchases, create personalized email campaigns to send to website leads, existing clients, or other prospects.

Simplify your belt-tracking and reporting

Use your software to create thorough financial reports that will help you monitor and control your cash flow. To track your monthly sales efforts, retention rates, and future income forecasts, view reports for monthly payments collected, expiring credit cards, canceled memberships, churn rate, and product sales.

Track your member’s past accomplishments, belt colors, and benchmarks for the highest rankings attained or earned using member detail reports. You will be able to more accurately track your members’ performances and make wise decisions about the course of your business by streamlining your reporting and data collection.

How to increase the success of your school using martial arts automation software

Running a successful school takes a lot of work, and without the right equipment, one may still fail despite having a passion for martial arts and business-savvy strategies. Automation capabilities in martial arts software are useful tools that can assist your staff in handling time-consuming and laborious duties, freeing up their time so they can concentrate on improving the experience for your students.

Automated online registration

Giving your students the option to sign up for classes online whenever they can boost enrollment overall. It will also free up time that would have been used by your personnel to communicate with kids. Any cancellations or modifications to the class registration, whether they are for regular students or walk-ins, should be possible with good martial arts software.

Automated reminders for payments

Martial arts software automation must automatically send out notifications at any point during the month, as opposed to personally reminding each and every student that payment is due. This time-consuming task can improve customer satisfaction by lowering the possibility of multiple or missed payments.

Automated social media

The creation of compelling content, answering questions, and conducting outreach can take a lot of time, making social media management among the most time-consuming tools in any company’s marketing arsenal. Automation for martial arts software enables you to plan postings in advance and keep track of impending events, freeing up your attention for other daily activities.

Automated email

If you want to keep your students informed about the newest events at your dojo, wish them a happy birthday, or assist in celebrating their anniversary, email newsletters are a terrific way to accomplish so. However, these communication methods can take a long time to complete. You may set reminders for when and who should get these messages using email automation.

Things to automate in your martial arts school

You’ll undoubtedly experience difficulty with at least one of these typical issues at some point throughout running your martial arts business:

You don’t take pleasure in “the business”;
Your time and effort are not yielding a growing cash return;
Your studio’s routine operations are tedious and ineffective.

But, don’t worry, you’re not alone. These issues are a natural aspect of managing a developing company. Also, don’t lose hope; there is a remedy. To expand your business and give you more time to do what you love: work with your customers, the key is to create and automate intelligent martial arts business procedures. Think about being able to;

Add new members without using manual processes;
Streamline the process of gathering all member-related data and placing it in one central spot;
Contacting one member is just as simple and affordable as contacting 1000;
Identify your best customers so you can sell them higher-level packages.

These options are not only possible; they are also transforming struggling martial arts schools into successful ones on a daily basis, and your studio might be one of them. To successfully run a martial arts school, martial artists should automate the following business systems.

Marketing system

To attract more potential members, you require a marketing system that is operating continuously. Do you have a website that is appealing, expert, and focused on making sales? Is it interconnected with your social media? Has your email marketing been automated? If none of this is incorporated into your martial arts marketing plan, potential customers are lost.

A marketing system is a process that a marketer utilizes to carry out their daily tasks and is repeatable and predictable. When connecting with clients, launching social media campaigns, collaborating with celebrities, or even mailing mailers to present to customers, marketers frequently use marketing systems to recreate routines.

In order to avoid starting from scratch each time a campaign or marketing activity needs to be launched, each of these marketing activities can be improved by developing a set of instructions that the marketer can use.

Selling system

To turn prospects into members, you must have an effective, automated sales strategy. Are your follow-up emails effective at converting? Selling systems refer to the practice of offering linked products or services as a unit for sale as opposed to offering them separately or independently. Products that are combined under systems selling are typically complementary products. As a result, a manufacturer can sell more goods, and customers can buy similar products simultaneously.

Businesses frequently produce a single core product that benefits the consumer. However, in order to use the single product effectively, some add-ons or complementary products are needed. In order to provide a comprehensive benefit, the maker sells both the primary product and its accessories in a system. However, both products can also be bought separately. The selling system produces a win-win situation for both parties because it increases the number of things sold while also saving clients’ time.

Delivery system

You must be able to quickly set up new students, handle payment arrangements, and receive alerts when an issue arises or an upsell opportunity presents itself. The numerous methods a product is made available to the client are referred to as delivery systems. Direct mail, online, and physical stores are all options for doing this.

Different approaches are needed for each of these techniques. With the help of these techniques, you can make sure that the product is delivered on time and that it satisfies the expectations of the client.

Delivery is crucial because it contributes to the success of your company. You cannot deliver things to customers without them. The finest possible delivery of your product is your responsibility as a business owner. Your company will be able to expand and better serve clients as a result.

Payment system

All businesses are in operation to generate revenue, so it is unacceptable to allow that revenue to be lost due to subpar payment processing. You require a system that monitors and collects payments automatically.

Organizations can use payment automation, an integrated system, to make wire transfers as well as check and ACH payments. Sending payments to the suppliers after invoices have been received and processed automates processes beyond the “ok-to-pay” that purchase-to-pay (P2P) solutions offer.

Accounts payable automation makes it easier to complete tasks like verifying that billed amounts are accurate and notifying all necessary parties. This reduces the need to search for missing data, and if a hiccup occurs in the process, you are aware of the exact cause and solution.

Retention system

Who are the clients completing their plans? Who hasn’t recently visited a studio? A robust attendance tracking and member retention system enables you to stay in touch with your customers during key moments to ensure their loyalty.

The power of integrating these five functions into your own business is considerably greater than automating them for your martial arts enterprise.

Here is where we can support owners of martial arts schools. Spark Membership Software offers clear and user-friendly martial arts administration software that enables you to develop and automate these processes. Get in touch with us right away, and we’ll help you make your martial arts studio profitable so you can rediscover your studio’s charm.

How To Grow 100 Students In Your Martial Arts School In 90 Days

October 14, 2022 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Whether it’s your customers or your programming, the goal of any business should always be growth. In addition to having fewer students enroll in your martial arts school, failing to concentrate on expanding your business could ultimately result in financial disaster.

Even though it’s simpler than you might imagine, it might be challenging for many organizations to begin this seemingly difficult process. One of the crucial elements of a successful martial arts school is marketing. Therefore, we’ll look at how to expand your martial arts school by 100 students in just 90 days in this post.

Setting business goals and intentions

What’s your business’s mission? What do you want to accomplish? Do you want to change the world? Save the whales? Make money? Maybe it’s just about making good food for people in your community. Whatever it is, write it down. You may not be able to hit every bullet point on your list, but if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there?

Once you’ve written down what you want for yourself and for your business, start thinking about how those things might be achieved. For example:

If we want to help as many people as possible when starting a school, we might decide that building local relationships with other businesses would help us reach our goal.

If you already know your business goals and intentions, you can now make these:

Create a strong business presence

Create a strong Facebook business page

Facebook has changed how people engage and communicate. Facebook is becoming a popular audience-reaching tool in schools. Even though Facebook is extensively utilized, many schools haven’t used it as a formal communication tool

Because parent contact is so important, schools should use Facebook to engage parents, communicate news, and build an audience.

Your company page should have a great cover photo, business hours, and tons of photos. Post daily safety tips, homework help, and classroom photos.

Help as many people when starting a school

When starting a school, one of the most important things to realize is that there are a lot of people who can benefit from what you’re doing.

Starting a school is not just about educating students, but it’s also about educating the community around the school. You can do this by helping them understand what you do and why it is important to them. If you want to make an impact in your community, don’t just focus on the student’s education, but also on how they will help others grow as well.

Be authentic and transparent with your mission statement and core values.

Craft your vision

Vision is the fundamental purpose of a business. It’s the reason for the existence of your company. The main objective of any business is to make money. But not all money is the same. The way people make money is different from one another, so it’s important to understand what kind of money you want to make and why you want to make it.

Once you have created a clear vision of what your business will be like in the future, write down everything that comes to mind with regards to this vision using words that convey emotion such as “happy,” “excited,” “motivated” etc… These words will help get your point across when speaking about your business as well as help others understand what makes your company unique from others out there.

Once you crafted your vision you can do this:

Collaborate with nearby schools

Another excellent place to look for fresh sign-ups is local schools.

You can collaborate with local schools that have a similar vision to your business, martial arts, or fitness studio. This is also a great way to build relationships with people in the community.

The key is to offer a discount or gift card to students who refer their friends and family. If it’s a good deal, they’ll spread the word and bring in new students for you!

Consider student groups
- Potential students should be welcomed when they request information.
- Ask group members to share your Group on or web offer twice a month, along with group material and relationship-building strategies.

Build your team

When you’re starting out, your team may be small. The more people you have, the more things you can do. This also means that someone is always available to help students out with their questions, and some students prefer to go through a real person when they have questions.

You should focus on building the right team for your company. This means getting people who are passionate about what you’re doing, who share your vision, and who want to see it succeed. They should also be skilled in what they do, whether that’s teaching or providing customer service.

When you and your staff don’t know what to do next… Ask yourselves these 3 questions:

What gets me my next student?
What connects me to another business owner?
What can I do to improve existing student relationships?

Handle the speed bumps

When you’re starting a business, speed bumps are there.

Speed bumps are the challenges you face.

These challenges can be financial, operational, and even personal.

When your expected number of enrolees are lower than what you’ve expected, this is one of the most common speed bumps that martial arts school encounter.

If you’re having trouble closing sales or gaining traction with your product, it’s time to rethink your approach and try something new. There’s always room for improvement when it comes to marketing, so don’t give up!

Choose the best membership software

It’s no secret that most martial arts schools are run by passionate people who are truly dedicated to their craft. They want to help people and make a difference in the world.

We know you are worried about something:

Whether you run a martial arts school, fitness, or yoga studio, chances are you got into the game for more freedom and a better lifestyle – not to work 80-hour weeks.

Your gift is being able to impart your skills and knowledge. You’re in the business of helping people and changing lives.

But when it comes to the business side of things, it can often feel like your business owns you…

Spark Membership automates your daily operations with one simple-to-use tool. It’s like having full marketing, sales, and admin team – without all the wages. More work is done every day. A lot less effort is wasted.

Fruits of your labor

It’s important to see the fruits of your labor, it means you also have progressed from day 1. You can put on your studio’s wall the awards you received, pictures of students, or even your own merch. It’s a great way to attract clients and tell them about yourself.

The fruits of your labor are not all the material things, it could be the community you built is growing, more support, and an increase in the number of students.

You can sell your own merch or just give it away as gifts to those who support you and your studio.

Reflect on your journey

Read the related blog: **A Complete Guide to Retention Marketing**

The journey is not perfect when you are starting a martial arts school. It’s hard, and it’s frustrating and it can be really lonely. But there’s nothing better than being able to look back on how far you’ve come, and realizing that you’ve made it through the hard times together—with your partner, with your staff, and with the people around you.

Run a martial arts school that supports your passion

Even if you’re passionate about your product or service, it can be challenging to run a successful business. You’re probably here right now because you want your martial arts school to be successful. You’re frequently always focused on growing your business, retaining clients, and getting notoriety. You’re halfway to running a well-known martial arts school if you already have a solid foundation.

Prepare a thorough business plan

Everyone who owns a business should always start with an actionable business plan, regardless of the industry they are in, whether they are in the martial arts business or in a completely different sector of life.

Your marketing strategy, in addition to your company’s regular operations and functionality, will influence how helpful your martial arts school will be to you in the future. It’s important to understand every component of this master plan, so make sure everything is thoroughly accounted for. Do your best not to miss anything!

Research

Now that you are aware of your goal, it is crucial to conduct research. Recognizing your industry and the present business environment can help you move on the proper route. How many people do you want to be part of your target market’s clientele? What activities influence prospective students to enroll in a martial arts school? How do classes draw people in? It also benefits you in that you may protect against tuition costs by discovering what the average pay is.

Goal setting

To fully concentrate on making progress, you must decide on your goals in advance. Smart, precise, quantifiable, attainable, reasonable, and timely objectives are a few instances. These standards define what is necessary for your company in order for it to follow a predetermined course. Included are the goals selected, the people they will impact, a completion date, and your rationale for doing so.

Goals may be linked to quantitative or qualitative performance indicators. Achievable objectives are ones that are both challenging and reasonable. Before attempting to succeed, consider all pertinent elements. Financial resources, your abilities, commitment, the company environment, and other factors are among the important ones.

When you need to address difficulties fast, timely deadlines will help you move forward. You are usually more driven to complete the tasks faster when there is a time limit involved.

Competitive environment

Naturally, if your martial arts studio is not close to four other martial arts studios, your performance there will improve. If it does, don’t give up. You’ll be able to articulate your distinctive value offer by differentiating yourself from the competition. Try to identify what sets your studio apart from others.

Is it your staff, your workplace, or your tools? Your studio may be the friendliest since you consider the safety and well-being of each student. Be vigilant and attentive to your surroundings so you can look for chances to elevate your school and stand out from the competition.

Put quality service first

It’s time to concentrate on the service itself: martial arts classes, now that the business strategy has been taken care of.

Types of classes and programs

You can provide several types of lessons, like judo and karate, at different levels, depending on the type of base you have for your martial arts business. Take suggestions from your pupils and use them in programs that will speak to your target audience based on relatable reasons.

Think about what may occur if children were the only clients of your daycare. You want to provide several after-school programs, summer program activities, and beginner commitments, among other things. While advanced, one-on-one instruction may be necessary for intermediate students.

Instructors

Think about what may occur if children were the only clients of your daycare. You want to provide several after-school programs, summer program activities, and beginner commitments, among other things. While advanced, one-on-one instruction may be necessary for intermediate students.

The best teachers will also teach out of a true passion, and students will always be grateful for instructors who are obviously passionate about what they are doing. So, make sure to show them your passion and sincerity!

A Formula for Creating a Successful Culture in Every School

September 20, 2022 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Why is it so important for a school to be successful? Because this is one of the foundations you have to have in order for you to scientifically have a successful program.

P-I-A-T-R-U Formula

P- Progress
I- Interest
A- Attendance
T- Testing
R- Retention
U- Upgrade

One of the most important things we have to do is immediately impact the students every time they come to class. Ideally, every time they come to class, meaning they are emotionally impacted by what they are learning. Once you establish progress, this is where you have to really think about your curriculum. The curriculum is very important because, when talking about the arts, a lot of school owners design curricula from their mindset. You and I have been studying martial arts most of our lives, so our mindset is completely different, so our buckets are constantly filling. Imagine a completely dry, empty bucket. How different it will be. Even the weight is different; even the look is different. Everything we have to become the empty bucket mindset when we are designing this curriculum. I mean, simple things to us with our subconscious just make it a piss just to make sense, but those are all little things that have to be explained scientifically, so the students understand.

So one of the most important goals as an instructor is to constantly work towards being understood because if you are teaching with that mindset, then the students will understand. The only way they’re going to understand what you’re doing is for you to be in the mindset of being understood, so you have to design the curriculum, and that’s it. That’s why all the beginner students in our school have a white notebook. We don’t teach them forms or sparring or how to use a weapon; they just learn the foundations, and if you really break down the foundation, there’s so much to learn. So design the curriculum in a way for students to really progress. It’s not too hard, and of course, you don’t want it to be too easy either, or you’ll create more dumb people. You want it to be challenging, and that’s one of the most difficult things to do is be steady in the middle. Consistently so, once the students feel progress, you spark a fire inside them. Passion is the motivation.

The excitement, the enthusiasm, and that are where the interest comes in when they’re interested. When human beings are interested in something, then it triggers, subconsciously, the learning mindset. So, what do you want to do if you’re interested in something? I want to get to know you a little bit more.

When that spark of interest ignites, they will now become their own teachers, seeking knowledge on their own. They will go to YouTube and look at what they learned. Look at the home site. Number one, they will go to YouTube and look at that. They will do research, and then that’s the power of interest.

If they’re interested, they will come to you. If they’re interested, if they want that knowledge, they will come to you. So they will attend classes for you.

And you also want your attendance scientifically set out, so your students come in a controlled attendance. You don’t want them to come all the time. Especially with children, they can lose interest. Plus, holding back a little bit of time creates more interest and desire. You just give it all at once.

You want to set up the attendance in a way that makes them want more. Okay, next. If they attend, the next thing they’re going to be tested. And you want them to test because PIA all this testing doesn’t give them a goal. Testing also creates a certain sense of emotion, all right, when you’re learning something.

What if your child says, “Okay, you’re going to be tested on everything you learned this Friday?” That stirs up a whole other set of emotions. Emotions of fear, like challenge and excitement. So testing is a very important part of a student’s success because it makes them feel certain emotions.

And also, it helps in the set goals because once they test, they pass, and they go to the next level of testing. Okay, next level of testing. And that’s where the next letter comes in. If you retain them and they keep progressing, they will want to keep going. So the last word is upgrade.

Upgrade, meaning you are going to offer nature. Same thing in education. Once you finish a certain course, you test, and you pass, you move on to the next course. It’s a higher course. And improvement is very important to the martial arts school because it only creates the whole science of Pier True.

Upgrade also generates a tremendous amount of income for the school because it should be based on the concept of purpose, meaning they have a purpose. You don’t want to just do PIA True for nothing. You want them to have the ultimate purpose. The ultimate purpose is for them to accomplish one of the greatest goals in what they’re doing. In the case of martial arts, it is what?

Read the related blog: **Trend That Our Industry Needs to Be Aware Of**

Belt. Black belt. Exactly. So it’s very important that you, as an instructor, understand the whole organization and constantly remind yourself that you have to teach. In a way, my students are making progress, so it creates interest.

So they keep attending. So they want to look forward to testing and achieving their next goal.

Then they will say it will create retention. Retention also will increase my student body, and then they will upgrade to a higher program. They will make that commitment of a long-term journey, a long-term goal. And that’s what we want. We want all of our students to have a sense of accomplishment.

Try the best membership software. Spark Membership is the number one management software in the Martial Arts space. Try it now for just $1.

94+ Ways to Market Your Martial Arts School

June 21, 2022 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

Most of the school owners who decided to open a martial arts school wanted to share their passion with others. But then realize that it’s not enough to be just good at what they do. In keeping the school running, it’s really important that other people know that the school exists and keep the community informed of the benefits of martial arts.

That’s why marketing a martial arts school can be one of the most stressful parts of running a school business, it can be overwhelming if you don’t have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish or how you want to accomplish it. Yes. Marketing is a lot of pressure, but it doesn’t have to be. The best way to handle the stress of marketing is to have a plan and stick with it.

I talked to one of the best martial arts school owners and in this article, I’ll be sharing with you a long list of practical guides to marketing a profitable martial arts school.

Disclaimer: Massive action produces a massive result, so the monthly techniques I’ll be sharing won’t work unless you apply and take action. So, apply this guide to be known as the “best dojo in your town.”

Without further ado, here are 93+ ways to promote and grow your martial arts school. These ways are extremely powerful but before applying, it’s crucial to understand why you need to do it and what you can achieve.

THE VIP METHOD:

Create a VIP Pass: This can be used at any public place with a potential prospect: eg: Walmart, Publix, the Street, Parking Lots, Little League Field (parents are watching in stands), etc. You have different ways you can VIP them.

At lunch, VIP everyone in the restaurant

Leave a VIP in every “Register to Win” box.

Create a list of VIP-friendly locations; include the items when this location is busiest.

You can use this script to strike up a conversation: “Hi. my name is John from Martial Arts Advantage here in New Tampa. As part of our New Tampa community outreach program, we are giving a free month of self-defense and safety classes to all children in our community.”
Hand the person the pass and if they give any hint of interest, move to get the phone number and set an appointment. (Pro Tip: sending them to a spark landing page can automate this process!)

Find a large crowd and give them a VIP pass. Keep on the lookout for community activities and events.

Gather the local community newspapers. Scour the upcoming events section where you can give a VIP pass or perform demonstrations. Follow through with a phone call and visit schedule the demonstration.

Set two progress checks or upgrade conferences today. Aside from the marketing side of things, it creates a mindset around improvement for your students.

Ask for referrals during the progress check or upgrade conferences.

You can also print a large-scale print advertisement or billboard that the public can easily see.

Set up a community Facebook Group, Newsletter, or run a targeted Facebook ad campaign.

Aggressively get referrals from introductions and VIP members. You can ask them if they know relatives or friends who are interested in learning martial arts.

Give VIP passes at Belt Graduations.

Hand out VIP Passes to the students as they leave classes. Also, educate them on the benefits of helping the martial arts community grow.

Do a Halloween VIP guest pass around holidays or other events.

Set up a table in front of the school and sign up VIPs.

OFFLINE METHODS:

Pizza Box Marketing (trade marketing with a local Pizza Delivery company). The pizza delivery company will get benefits from this such as follows…

You will pass out flyers and verbally encourage your members to order from them.
You will print door hangers with their pizza company on one side and our martial arts school on the other side at no cost. Communicate to them that the advertisement will expand better exposure for their business.
In exchange, you will ask them to place your flyers on every pizza box that goes out of delivery or store. Of course, make sure you will be the one who will provide the flyers.

Send direct mail (postcards, letters, invitations) to your list of leads.

Send an invitation to grand openings of businesses nearby. This way businesses can acknowledge that your school exists and it can establish potential collaboration in the future for an employee’s benefit.

Offer students of other schools 30 days free. This can be very sneaky but you can potentially attract your competitor’s students by showcasing the unique brilliance of your school.

Set up a booth inside malls or businesses where you can place information about the benefits of martial arts and the programs your school offers.

Do demonstrations in these places, you can also bring your students

A movie theater (especially the premiere of a movie related to kids or martial arts).
Elementary schools
Junior High Schools
High Schools
Local Malls
Boy Scout/Girl Scout Meetings
Day Care Centers

Hang a banner outside your school for common events:

“Back To School Classes Now Forming”
“Summer Classes Now Forming”
“New Year Classes Now Forming”

Wrap a city bus with a banner of your school to promote it around the area. The area will get to see about your school and the benefits of martial arts.

Do some rack cards. Double business cards in a holder placed at businesses around town. They are replacements for lead boxes, a simple “Take One” display.

Offer corporate rates to local businesses and their employees. You can present the benefits of martial arts to the management.

Conduct a Buddy week where students can bring in their friends, siblings, and family members to participate in a real martial arts class.

Plan an Open House in your school. Get all of your students involved in the demonstration to ensure you get a lot of spectators and guests. Friday nights work great – plan 1 or 2 hours of the demo, a raffle to insure you collect names, addresses, and phone numbers, refreshments, and a free trial class.

Put a flyer flush or print door hangers for residences so they can easily see what your school offers.

Make a list of local apartment complexes in your area and meet the local apartment manager and arrange an ad in a monthly newsletter and a door hanger. Apartment complexes usually have a monthly newsletter, so if you go there on the 28th of each month, you can stuff the newsletter with a flyer.

Partner with like businesses (dance studios, yoga studios, or gymnastics) and may give free discounts for their students who want to learn martial arts.

Put flyers at local businesses on community bulletin boards, you can ask the management first if you can post flyers to promote your school.

Put a sign in the lobby, “Refer A Friend, Get Free Belt Test”

Put a sign in the lobby, “Refer A Friend, Get Free T-Shirt”

Send welcome letters to new residents or new businesses. You can get a list from the Chamber of Commerce and Electric Company).

Do an open house for your school where your potential students can see what’s inside your school.

Conduct a fun day in the parking lot, like playing games or doing demonstrations with your students.

Introduce yourself to each business in the centers. It may result in a potential collaboration together with your school.

Sponsor a local high school team/band so they can give you a shoutout during gigs.

Contact all of your white belts and get referrals.

Send a letter or call all no-shows and “B-Backs” and re-ignite their interest. Initiate a program that will spike their interest to join.

Participate in school activities such as carnivals, field days, talent shows, and fund-raising events.

Make sure you have a structured training course established before you get started.

Make sure you have sufficient staff and assistants ready to help at special events and carnivals.

Have a plan of how you can establish a win-win relationship between you and the school.

If necessary, hire a special events and activities manager to do all of the legwork for you.

Gather as many testimonials from your student’s parents as possible. You can put these testimonials in a binder to take with you to your appointments.

Do a movie night, it will give students a chance to build friendships within the school and your school becomes a focus of activity and that is something that kids are always looking for things to do. Have a sign-up sheet at the front counter.

Day camps– It’s one of the most profitable revenue-generating events. The goal is to satisfy the needs of parents who work during the day and would like a sade, planned activity for their children to participate in.

Conduct a Glow Chuck and the beauty behind it is that the students must purchase the Glow Chucks and the profit from the purchase is the revenue you create in the 30-45 minute class/seminar.

Do a mall kiosk, a booth at a fair or mall show and offer a FREE Child ID kit with the 10 Safety tips letter. This would be a super community service and a great way to introduce your school’s services.

Call schools in your area and introduce yourself and your school programs and how it can benefit their students.

Get involved with school special events and activities.

Establish a fund-raising program with the schools. The more you give, the more you get.

Conduct a ‘Pad Holding Class’ the whole purpose of this class is to educate the parents on how to hold the focus pads properly at home to help enhance their child’s martial arts skills and have a quality time with their children. Offer a discounted rate if they decide to join up today and pay in full or put them on a family program.

Community outreach program– Approach businesses throughout the day and ask to speak to the manager or owner. Explain that you have a community outreach program and are selecting area businesses and offering free monthly membership for all their employees and families in the Martial Arts Program. There is no cost to either the business or the employees.

RAISE AWARENESS AND GIVING VALUE METHOD:

Spread awareness of the benefits of martial arts and do demonstrations with your students on Child Safety Day.

Share information about martial arts as self-defense at the Women’s Self Defense Course.

Join Birthday parties and do fun demonstrations that will execute martial art.

Do an enrollment contest it is a referral drive:

Free test
Free upgrade gear package.

Write articles about bullying, self-defense, concentrations and etc for local newspapers. It can position you as a go-to expert in your area and you will be at the top of their mind.

Collect testimonials from your students and how your school specifically martial arts transformed them as a person.

Do a press release by announcing the story behind why you built your school and spread information about how martial arts can help the community.

Educate basic program students on ASF’s Pass-A-Friend Program about martial arts and what are the benefits of it.

Reactivate the past students by inviting them to an event where they will reignite their desire to practice martial arts again.

Come in as a special guest at the school and give motivational speeches to the students.

Speak at special events at school such as PTA meetings, open houses, and parent nights.

Host an on-site martial arts training course at the school as an after-school program for elementary students, or during school for pre-schools.

Make sure you have age-specific and event-specific speeches written and practiced before you get started.

Send a letter home to every student 12 & under to give to their teacher. The letter simply requests the opportunity to speak to the class about having a positive attitude and being the best they can be.

Visit a school and give a very motivating speech and by the end of the speech do a quick Q&A game reviewing the key points of the speech.

Send out mail to the schools you wish to work with, and draft a letter that describes the details of your on-site martial arts training courses. This is best for pre-schools and private schools.

MONTHLY METHOD:

January– New year, new me. The majority of new years resolution includes getting back in shape. It’s the best time to run an ads campaign for “get back in shape doing martial arts.”

February– Spread love. Give flowers to students’ parents on Valentine’s day. It will grab attention with entertaining elements and will spread how nurturing and thoughtful the school is not just to students but also to parents.

March– Dedication to all mothers. Give a flower to moms during the week of Mother’s Day. Additionally, you may conduct free training for moms for the month of March.

April– Celebrate with an Easter Egg Hunt. Kids have no school usually on Good Friday so it will be the best time to conduct an all-day tournament or seminar.

May– It’s summertime. Invite all of the missing in action students to come and conduct a fun activity with them.

Additional summer activities you can do:

Set appointments for presentations with daycares, summer camps, and boy/girl scout pack meetings.
Summer enrollment contest (set up big prizes like bikes, computers, trophies, etc)
Conduct a free event called “Summer Buddy Bash”.

June– It’s Father’s Day. Conduct a “Dad’s train with the kid’s event” or the Dads will have an opportunity to be the coach during the class. Most importantly, all dads will be trained for free in the month of June.

July– Back to school. This is one of the most important months that you should leverage, it’ll take months of planning, but the best way to attract more students to your school.

Back to school marketing:

Develop a back-to-school offer marketing campaign. For example, a 4-week free trial program, with a free uniform for the first forty callers, no commitment to continue.
Run an ads campaign with your back-to-school special.
Send pizza to different schools for the teachers for their lunch break. Plan on visiting the school and ask the teacher to have them invite you as their guest teacher of the week.
Plan massive seminars discussing topics like children’s self-defense, bully-proof, martial arts for concentration, and so on.
Plan make-up classes for students of yours who needs extra help from missing any classes this summer.

August– Be prepared because this is usually a huge month for enrollments, especially if you executed the plan for the month of July.

September– Have a back-to-school party. Call those students who have quit during the summer and invite them to a special “Fast Back” program to get them back on track.

October– It’s time for a Halloween trick or treats party.

Halloween activities you can do:

Halloween VIP Cards– ask each of your students to hand out the cards to every “trick-or-treater” that comes to their door.
Halloween Party– bring your friends
Costume contest– limbo, musical tombstone, and bobbing for apples

November– This month will be short as we will lose one full week because of Thanksgiving, so make sure that during the first three weeks you can enroll students.

December– It’s Christmas time. Conduct a Christmas party for your students and run an ad campaign for a Christmas Special: Uniform and 30 days for $29.00.

REFERRALS METHOD:

Referrals– For every student that gives the name, address, and phone number of 5 friends we are giving them a choice of a Free T-shirt or Duffle Bag. The idea here is to market the program through announcements, flyers, and emails.

There are three primary sources of members referrals:

First is when a referral happens on its own and the prospect referral calls or visits the club without having been encouraged by a salesperson.
The second is called a point of sales referral where the new member is asked for referrals at the time of enrollment, usually having been given an incentive for providing more names.
The third is called an existing member referral and it is the result of some sort of referral campaign or program that the club is running and offers gifts or potential prizes for the member referrals.

Enrollment Referral Systems

Enroll your new student as you have always done so.
Explain to the new student or parent right after they fill out the paperwork and give the downpayment. “Our best students come from referrals. If you simply fill out this form with three names of friends, we will add a FREE month (or uniform, t-shirt, equipment bag, etc. as an option) to your program as our way of saying thank you.”
Ask the new student if it’s alright to use their name when you call their friends and offer them a FREE VIP mini membership.
Call these referrals within the next few days. If they hesitate be sure to explain all the wonderful benefits of training at your school.

At the appointment setting with new students ask them to bring a friend to the first class.

Establish a rewards program with the school based on referrals.

You will have to organize your contacts and referrals, determine the amount of staff you will need, determine any revenue you wish to invest, have a goal and keep an updated schedule of all your plans.

Talk to your friends and see if they can arrange an appointment. Ask them for help if they have any connections.

Network in your community to generate interest, referrals, and respect. Wear clothing with your school’s logo on it and hit the streets. Give away free passes and donate what you can.

Capitalize on those community leaders and officials who pay your compliments by asking them for referrals and testimonials.

Do an enrollment contest it is a referral drive:

Free test
Free upgrade gear package.

Guest Passes– You must be very good at getting students to give passes even after the initial pass to a friend. You may use the following techniques:

“Students, we find that students who get the best results are those that train with a friend. The support and competition bring out the best in people. We normally charge friends $15 a class, however, I have 5 free passes for everyone. Would you just take a few minutes after class and write down 5 friends’ names and numbers and I will prepare the passes for you.”
“Who had a great class tonight? Please raise your hands. Who feels that they are either getting more confidence, are in better shape, feel more energetic, or are able to defend themselves better? Who has a fellow worker, friend, or family member who could use those benefits? Please see me after class and I will prepare a free week pass for that person.

BACK TO SCHOOL METHOD:

When summer ends students are gearing up for back to school. And here’s a fun fact, did you know that back to school is like Christmas time at martial arts school? It’s like a department store jam-packed because people are busy buying Christmas gifts, that’s how back to school is like for martial arts school.

Develop a back-to-school offer for your marketing campaign. Use this offer in all of your marketing to be consistent. For example, your offer this year would be a four-week FREE trial program, with a FREE uniform for the first forty callers, with no commitment to continue.
Run ads with your back-to-school special. You may run ads in local newspapers, coupon magazines, Facebook ads campaigns, on road signs, with your direct mail, on pizza box tops, and in area school newspapers.
While you are contacting your area school newspapers, ask them to run an article that you have written about: Child safety, self-defense, history of the martial arts, the benefit of martial training for children, or any subject that you are an expert on.
Order all of the items that you will need to promote your school now. Such as pencils, bookmarkers, logo stickers, book covers, book bags, coffee cups, tumblers, frisbee, and so on.
Plan to send pizza to a different school for the teachers during their office hours several weeks before the school starts. Also, plan on visiting that school 2 days later to pass out any teacher gifts you have on to speak to the PE instructors about scheduling you to be the guest teacher of the week. Have copies of school presentations to leave with them, if they have to think about it and follow up 2 days later.
Plan a massive intro seminar for the next 9 months and plan on how you can market them. Ideas for the seminars may be about Being Bully-Proof, Children’s Self-Defense, Kid Safe, Karate for Concentration, and so on.

Easter Egg Hunt– You can hold the Easter Egg hunt at your school, however, if the weather is nice you would do better at a local park. Some schools do it for students only and others encourage students to bring friends.

Outdoor Breaking Class– Combine a Board Breaking Class and a Picnic to add a new twist to the Bring A Friend Break A Board event. This event is clearly outlined in a special package under Revenue Generating Events. By bringing this outdoors you are combining a social event with chances of enrolling new students. The key here is to use the Mass Enrollment class the following week at your school. All guests that break a board are invited back to the school to take a free class and receive a free uniform.

Getting Registration Box Locations

Do not walk into a store with the box.
Ask to talk to the owner/manager. Explain that you are from the Martial Arts School and as a part of your community outreach program you would like to present them with a free membership to your school including a uniform. The only thing we ask is that they will display one of our registration boxes in the store during the time of the free membership. You will service the box once a week.

Corporate Programs– There are 3 ideas that will help your school establish a working relationship with the business in your community.

Give local businesses financial compensation for every member they refer to your school. This idea works well for small schools that are just starting out.
Ask local businesses to host a fund-raising event such as board-break-a-thon, freestyle competition, or intra-school tournament at their location. Taking your school’s events and bringing them out to the public will give both your business and their business great exposure.
Approach businesses about investing in a corporate package for their employees. Once your school is established, you can give big businesses in your area financial breaks for all of your programs.

That’s it, you are now armed with extensive guides to market your martial arts school in your town. Bookmark this guide as your marketing campaign manual. If you forget or are unsure what to do for the month then you can revisit this article.

Remember that it’s not enough to be good at what you do, people in the community have to be informed about your service.

Being creative in your marketing strategy will help you expand your reach and word of mouth will spread like a wildfire.

If you are looking into easily managing, systematizing, and automating every part of your business – that includes marketing. This is what Spark Membership Software can do for you.

With Spark, it aims to automate your school so you can have more time, freedom, and money. Some of the features that Spark can do for you are automating your reports, text flows, and email systems so that you don’t need to manually call your leads or students. It can also launch your online campaigns, special events, and more. These are some of the many features that Spark can do for your school.

You can enjoy all of these features for just $1 for 8 weeks.

Click here to get started and ready to automate your business operations.

Read one of our blogs: An Effective 10-Step Guide To Creating A Gym Business Plan

Things to Consider if You Want to Open Multiple Locations

June 21, 2022 by Spark Team Leave a Comment

So many school owners think that opening another school in different locations can double or triple their income, but the reality is that it never works out that way, especially if it’s not done well.

The ideal time to open a second location for your school is when your first location has already established a proven concept that it already has the level of profitability that is ready to scale it up.

The issue of some school owners is they open a second location before they really should, and the other problem is having the mindset that opening another location is not that difficult at all. However, it is a completely different skill set.

The school must have standard operating procedures in every spec of your school if you’re gearing towards multiple schools.

Also, the system is about developing a lifestyle – by making an impact on the community.

In order to duplicate, you have to start with a system and a written process.

Next is the curriculum. It is our driving force as martial arts school owners, and it should be good for the average martial arts student.

The curriculum must transcend every student’s experience.

Remember, the most important thing in your martial arts school business is your training floor.

What can you teach in three years that you’ll be proud of your student and you’ll be proud of yourself.

The student must progress to have the interest to continue to attend. You will then test them to give a sense of accomplishment to retain and upgrade them.

Everything we do as school owners funnel down to our dojo.

Then, staff training by having a progression system and by making the instructors certified to be more confident in what they are doing.

Be persistent and relentless. We cannot teach somebody if we cannot teach our mastery.

Read one of our blogs: How To Open A Crossfit Gym – Everything You Need To Know To Start

If you want to grow the members of your gym, spark membership offers you a great way to do it by helping you manage and run the gym better.

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