If you are reading this blog you have clicked on the headline because it caught your attention.
And I am guessing that you either run a self-defence school or would like to.
If so, great because in this post I am going to show you exactly how to grow your self-defence school in 2019.
And the best thing, you can do start this today!
Ready, let’s do this.
Does This Sound Familiar?
You teach a small but dedicated group of students, perhaps you also have a day job and have to work full time?
But you would like to go full time with your teaching or at least reduce your hours at work?
Perhaps you would like to see your school thrive and more students come along to classes?
Well if so, you are not alone.
Growing a self-defence school is hard work, but in 2019 you can make your school bigger and better than ever.
Because there is a secret to running a successful self-defence business, well there are 3 secrets in total, and I am going to share these with you today.
1. People Like Us Do Things Like This.
I once did some marketing work for a Krav Maga school, the issue was that they didn’t grow, but way back when they decided to look at their branding I said to them “are you sure you want to go down this route as it will put a lot of people off”.
They ignored the advice and built a club for them. It was a club based on their worldviews, dark, serious and almost military.
Well, like attracts like and sadly if you want a club full of students you can’t go in the direction you want, you have to go in the direction they want.
You might see this when you look at what people call ‘McDojo’s’.
Martial Arts schools full of people going through the motions lacking any real skill.
But this is what appeals to them; they wouldn’t last 5 minutes in a BJJ school or boxing club.
But someone has said, ‘hey all you out there who want to dress up in a funky coloured Martial Arts suit, we are for you, all of you who want to say you train in Martial Arts but actually don’t want any bruises, we are for you’.
You might not like it, but this is what happens.
So the first secret for growth in 2019 is to decide WHO you are for.
Is your school for 30-year-old men, or 20-year old students?
Is it for middle-aged women or MMA style fighters?
Decide on this first because you will struggle to grow if you don’t.
And the term to describe all of this is culture.
Because the culture you want to grow inside your business matters if you want your business to grow.
Now, this doesn’t mean selling out!
It doesn’t mean teaching ineffective techniques.
It means that you need to decide who you want to help and serve and build your system from there.
2. Branding Matters
If you think you can skip branding in 2019 think again.
Branding is the sum total of your marketing.
It is what people think of you when they think of you.
This is more than just a logo, but it is a logo.
It is more than just a website but it is your website and so on.
You might run your school out of a Church Hall, but you can have branded T shirts that don’t look like they just came from a shop on Blackpool seafront.
You can have roller banners at the door when people walk in, and you can have branded focus pads.
In short, your branding makes people feel part of something bigger than them.
You can’t skip this part in 2019 because you are competing against bigger brands: Cross Fit, the Gym, and many more.
3. Making Offers
In 2019 you need to make offers.
I don’t mean special offers but offers.
“Come and have a lesson” is one offer.
“Come and enjoy a free trial is another.
Paid or free, it doesn’t matter too much, that is your choice. The point is, people won’t train with you unless you ask people to train with you.
Remember that special someone you always liked when you were younger?
You know why they didn’t go out with you….you never asked.
And now, if you look at your current relationship or past ones, how did they start?
By someone asking.
The power is in the asking and in business an ask is an offer.
More offers = more yes’ and more no’s.
But until you start hearing the No’s you can’t fix the reason for the no’s and yes you should ask.
Because you can then work on fixing your closes.
And by closes, I mean turning those ‘No’s’ into a yes.
Is This Too Much To Do?
Ok, right now I get it, you have a lot to think about.
Branding, offers, culture
But it can be easy.
You can have all of this done for you.
You can access a system of self-defence that gives you the offers (and how to use them for maximum effect).
You can have a branded system of self-defence that is backed and supported by Liam Neeson.
And you can create a thriving self-defence business.
To do this all you need to do is to become a Defence Lab instructor.
Get in touch to learn more and in any case make 2019 your year.
Thanks for reading.