Time is the greatest asset any of us have, why?
Because we get less of it every day.
The statement ‘be careful how you spend your time’ is very true because it implies there is a cost to time, we actually ‘spend it’.
But there is a financial cost to time, and this is known as ‘opportunity cost.’ Every time you spend your time on one action, there is a cost to something else you could have been doing.
So let’s get super practical on this. You get a great job in the city, and you have to commute to work at least an hour a day each way. So that is a two-hour journey.
Over five days you have spent 10 hours driving, over the average month this adds up to over 40 hours.
That is a full working week spent travelling to work every month.
Kind of makes you think what else you could have been doing with your time?
That is the opportunity cost of taking that job in the city for more money; the cost is your time.
It is time where you could have seen the kids for an hour before and after school or it is a time where you could have gone to the gym.
So how does understanding this help me to sell self-defence lessons?
Let me explain:
Why Time Causes Most Self-Defence Businesses To Fail
When I first taught self-protection, I did not know anything about marketing or business.
But I now know that time is the biggest cause of failure because unless your self-defence business earns money quickly, you will have to stop.
After all, you need money for rent, equipment, insurance and of course for your wage!
So you need to get students that pay and do it fast!
Now here is the tough part;
At any time any of your students can leave so you need to have a process in place that delivers new students on a regular basis and this is where people also fail.
But that is for a different article; today I am going to give you step by step ways to gain new students fast!
Ready;
Let’s do this.
Rapid Student Acquisition
The process of gaining new students quickly is all about moving fast in a lot of directions. So here goes, once you start applying a lot of these methods your success will increase.
Facebook Ads:
Nothing works faster these days than Facebook ads that are targeted correctly. Facebook allows you to connect with people in your area for free, but their paid advertising platform is incredible and low priced.
Your ad will need to be eye catching and relevant but as you are teaching self-defence that should be easy! (Note if you are teaching self-defence and not using Facebook ads you need to ask yourself some serious questions about your goals)
School Assemblies and Colleges:
Yes, this is simple but effective. Make sure you book in with local schools to deliver a demonstration and also a free child safety talk. Then ask to send leaflets home in the school bags as payment (there may be a charge for this).
The aim is for little Sam to come home and be pumped and tell his parents so they call you!
For colleges, you can arrange to do impromptu sessions at lunchtime for free or perform a demo, free workshop or safety talk.
Radio:
Yes, Radio does work, and you can get onto radio easily if you know how.
Pop down to the local studio and offer yourself as an expert on personal safety and ask to do a week long segment (pre-recorded) on safety advice.
To assist with this make sure you take with you an article from a national or local newspaper that is recent and revolves around assault. It reminds them that there is a story there.
Now even if they say no, they might use you if something does happen and this helps you at some point!
Sales Stands:
Yes we know they work and they do so fast, so why not set up a sales stand in an excellent location, local laws allowing. This can help you to communicate with people and tell them about what you do.
Summer Fairs/ Local Events:
Is there a local event this week going on that you can jump on and perform a demo or set up a stand?
If so ring the organiser and ask them, most will say yes!
Business Owners:
People work at companies, and you train people. Join the Chambers of Commerce or local networking groups and offer free personal safety sessions at lunch for their staff! This again gives you a chance to sell.
Door To Door:
Oh yes, remember that one, it is simple, walk door to door and ask people if they are interested in coming. Yes, it is hard work, but it also delivers results!
Twitter:
Start to connect with people in your area and use local hashtags to join in conversations. Once someone follows you, message them and offer them a free lesson.
Instagram:
Exactly the same here, use video ads, video posts and of course pictures and engage hashtags then DM (direct message) people and offer them a free lesson.
Facebook Friends:
Most of us have at least 200 friends on Facebook, find all the ones locally and message them either offering a free lesson or invite them to look around at your class.
Local Newspaper:
Ring the newsdesk and offer them a view on a story they have run about violence, or directly ask for advice on how to get featured in the newspaper (they will help you).
Call People:
Yes, get out your phone and ring 200 friends and invite them personally to your class. You will be surprised how quickly this can work!
What Next:
These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg, but if you are struggling for students, you need to move fast to earn money.
Yes, this requires hard work but you are asking people to pay you money in return for training and if it were easy everyone would be doing this.
I have a friend who was a bank manager, and she told me once that the pressure she faced to sell services was immense. She was called every few hours to see how many products the team had sold.
So let that sink in and imagine if you had a boss and they called you up and said “what have you done today to gain more students ?’
Do you have a plan? Do you know how to plan your schedule to make the most of your time?
Have you audited your time to see how you are spending it now and actually looked at how much time you spend trying to sell your services?
All these are questions you should be able to answer if you want to earn a good living teaching self-defence.
Here at Defence Lab, we know the business of selling self-defence lessons inside and out.
This allows us to be able to help you to earn your living, teaching something you have a passion for!
Why not contact us today to start your DL journey.
Thanks for reading