Basic Marketing Tips

"If you don't have a marketing plan, you just have a hobby"

I just heard a business consultant tell us this the other week. Its really true. You can be the best at your art, a super nice guy, great at keeping books, and have all the best intentions in the world.. and still fail miserably if you don't have a good marketing plan.

Look at McDonalds. Worst hamburger on the planet. But everyone knows them and they rake in the money. Why? Because among other things, they are always marketing and marketing well. Its unfortunate but true. So what can you do?

Before you do anything else, read some books and articles on basic marketing concepts. The basics go a long way. I'm going to assume you know the basics or are about to learn about them. These ideas I'm about to present aren't super advanced or anything so don't worry. Here are some things that have worked for me.

1)Google rank. Get a website and get your google rank up. Google rank is the importance that google puts on your site. The formula itself is complicated and secret. But it pretty much comes down to how many people clink and link to your site. When you have a higher rank, your site will appear higher on searches. Learn about SEO. "Search Engine Optimization" This will help your google rank a lot. My websites have always been my best marketing tool.

2)Web site. Make sure you are really getting the most out of your site. Does the feel of the site appeal to your target audience? Do you have call to action phrases with links to promotions or sign up pages? Is it easy to navigate? Does it look good? Making a good martial arts website really needs its own blog post.

3)Have a marketing budget. Take a percentage of your monthly revenue and always put it into marketing.

4)Marketing isn't just advertising. An ad is what you expect to see on TV or in a newspaper. Marketing is the whole plan. How are you presenting your service (your art)? What are the stages? What media outlets are you using? Just passing out a flyer isn't marketing.

5)Track your marketing. There are many ways to do this and this could really be its own post as well. Just make sure you know how many people are calling you or coming in from your marketing efforts. This is so you can know which ads to keep running and which to pull.

6)Be great at what you do, and be different from your competition. This is very important. People want to train with talented teachers. You don't have to be a Michael Jordan of your art but you should be constantly working on improving yourself. Students like to see that. At the same time, you need to find a way to differentiate yourself from your competition. Do you appeal to a female audience? Kids? Do you like to teach inner city kids while everyone else is in the burbs? Or vice versa? Do you give an amazing workout? Find your niche. People might really like one particular art but not really fit in at a particular school. I have gotten tons of kids in my 3 to 5 year old program simply because no one else in my city offered classes for kids that young. People drove literally an hour each way for a 45 minute class for their kids.

I'm a big fan of looking at what everyone else is doing, then doing the opposite. I like filling in the vacuums left by other schools. Its great business for me and its great for keeping a good relationship with other schools. Its great to see what other schools are doing right, but if they are all gung ho on college kids, no problem! Look to see about starting teen classes or family oriented classes. Or vice versa.