Mr. Wolfson,
I love the look of your dojo - very tastefully done! Simple and aesthetically pleasing, I like it a lot.
A few things I have done and my opinions as I've built my dojo:
First and foremost I track every detail of how people heard about us, what brought them in to our dojo etc as I receive emails, phone calls and talk to people in person - I track all this information on spreadsheets and enter it into a database.
1. Newspaper advertising - a waste of money - for the cost, the return on investment is very low. A small ad in my area in a community based newspaper costs between $75 - $100 and often times we get no response, sometimes we get a few people.
2. Flyers / doorhangers distributed throughout the community - mixed results, better than newspapers but VERY labour intensive to distribute. I've found these work best in conjunction with demonstrations at fairs (community, seasonal, health and wellness), holiday celebrations, etc.
3. Car lettering - one of the best investments I made. For less than $200 I had our website address, phone number and the 'Bu' kanji put on the side of my car - five years later I still get people who come up to me at the bank, grocery store etc asking for information (make sure you keep flyers and / or business cards in the car....)
4. Business cards - don't just use them when people ask - I leave them with my tip in restaurants, drop some on the counters of local shops I frequent, pin them up on community billboards etc. A great use of resources, if used correctly.
5. Billboard advertising - in the community arena and local grocery store I have a small (18" x 44") ad with a picture of my 2 daughters (aged 4 and 5) in gi's with my wife and I - welcoming smiles, on the sign it simply lists what we teach and where we are located. Ther is also a brochure and business card holder on the plexiglass frame - I keep them stocked.
6. Brochures - I am a loyal patron of a number of locally owned businessess - coffee shops, pharmacy, department store, restaurant, book store, theatre etc - they allow me to place a brochure holder in their seating area / lounge and / or counter where people pay for their goods - very good visibility - very easy to maintain and low cost, again make sure you keep them stocked.
7. Sandwich board - plain white background, black and red lettering indicating what we teach and an arrow pointing in the direction of our building. I move them from directly in front of our property to the intersections closest so that they don't become something that people get too used to looking at. Make sure you check about municipal / town bylaws before you put them out or you may get a fine or have them removed / destroyed.
8. Word of mouth - the BEST advertising possible, encourage your students to bring friends and family in for classes and reward them for it. Once a year I do a promo month where I encourage students to bring friends for free classes and enter both the prospective student and the one who invited them into draws for gift certificates (for the dojo and other places) or prizes (dojo clothing, martial arts gear, gift baskets from local businesses etc). If students bring in friends / family who join outside of this promo period I make a point of thanking them and often time give them a gift card for a coffe shop / movie theatre etc etc. People knowing that their efforts to grow the dojo are appreciated and desired is a wonderful geasture.
9. I'm not much on public demonstrations but I will do them periodically, I stay away from gimicks and BS and simply demonstrate what we teach and do - preferably I have my students do the demo's - who cares about what I can do after a lifetime of training, it's more impressive and important that they see what my students can do after a few short months or years of training.
10. Website - keep it neat, keep it simple and keep it updated, for four plus years my website was an incredible tool and then I lost the ability to update it myself and it has been a headache for the last six months, I am in the process of having it redone and moved to another hosting solution, hopefully the move will be done soon.
Hopefully this is useful to you, good luck on your dojo. Treat it like a business if you want it to succeed and thrive but don't let it become about the money and compromise your ideals and teaching chasing a dollar.
Jason G. Bilodeau
Hello Matt,
First of all I must commend you on a very nice looking dojo and matching web site. Both have a good feel to them.
There have been some really good suggestions already made. To those I will add this. There are two books you really want to get :
Growing a Business
by Paul Hawken
http://www.amazon.com/Growing-Busine...2308127&sr=8-1
Guerrilla Marketing
by Jay Conrad Levinson
http://www.amazon.com/Guerrilla-Mark...2308209&sr=1-1
For me have a consistent web presence has been the most effective marketing tool. I have done some of the other things that people have mentioned. Nothing has been a more powerful tool than my web site (www.roundrockbujinkan.com).
The other thing I would say is be patient. I have been steadily running my dojo for about six years. For the longest time I would only have about two or three regular students. Interestedingly, in the last nine months we've been seeing eight to ten students regularly. I am like you in that I am not looking to have a big school either. I think that you have to be in the market for a while before you can establish a core group of regular students.
I wish you the best of luck. i really like what you have done with your web site and your dojo.
Ganbatte!
John Hidalgo
www.roundrockbujinkan.com
Wouldn't the people working at the bookstores get mad at this? I am wondering. I used to work in a library and I don't think I would get mad if I found something like this in the books being checked out. But bookstores are about making money and might want a piece of the action. The idea of someone using their place for advertising without getting permission might anger them and cause trouble.
Does anyone know how bookstores feel about this? Because I probably would hesitate myself. I am curious as to whether they would care or not.
I have seen this done for years without a single negative response from the book stores. And even if they did have a problem with it, you could always say that you have an overly zealous student who went crazy with the handbills. It's really no big deal. You put the flyers in certain books that your target would pick up. Same goes for the public library too. It's guerilla marketing, not rocket science.
Bill Haynes
#1 pickup line of all time: "Hey, does this rag smell like chloroform to you?
hello,
I would like to thank everyone that responded. I am greatful that so many people have taken the time to give excellent advise based on there experience.
matt