How to increase students?

[StarKodama]

My boyfriend Ryuuji was given a brand-new dojo to head by the shihan, and it opened in April. The location isn't the best-- it's kind of far from the station (15 mins on foot) and in an area not many people walk to.

When the dojo opened we had a poster advertising us in the station, and we also posted flyers to all the nearby residences. We also made a blog on the internet. But 3 months later we still don't have as many students as we'd like, especially adults.

Any ideas on how to increase students?

[Bloke]

You mey get some ideas from this thread

http://www.kyokushin4life.com/forums...-students.html

If its any consolation our dojo is about 18 months old and we just cover the rent each week.

[milwaukeecop2]

This one is a little sneaky. go to the martail art section of bookstores and libraries and put your flyer in each martail art book. people who are contemplating taking up martail arts usually do research( the serious ones, at least).
Our club has had modest success with this method.

[Dent]

Osu!

Word of mouth. It's the best possible way to get people through the door. Now the trick is to find a way to talk to people about Karate.

Speaking of consolations, our prospective Dojo just got killed by Zoning. The current owner of the building also found out that the value of his place has dropped by about two-thirds.

One of the things I've found that is toughest for a new Dojo is that new students have very few seniors to look up to. Most newbies don't expect to be like the teacher, but they'd like to see that it is possible to work toward those dizzy heights. It's a catch-22 though. By the time you have a variety of Kyu grades, you should have the adult number issue sorted.

Osu!

[meguro]

The financial success of karate dojo lies in children and their parents. Kids need something to do after school, moms need something to do during the hours their kids are at school, dads need something to do to keep up with their wives and kids. Contact local schools and notify them of your kid friendly programs and hours. Advertise in local parenting magazines. Promote karate classes in English to draw in the expat crowd or folks who want to maximise English exposure for their Japanese kids.

[Aunty Ichigeki]

It's hard to get the critical mass in the door. I've heard of a study (we haven't tried this yet) that showed the best results from flyers placed in various locations came from HAIRDRESSERS! When you think about it Mums make most of the decisions regarding what their kids will or won't do & when they're sitting getting their hair done they're a captive audience!

We have had some success recently by being part of a fundraising voucher book. The kind where people pay $50 for a booklet full of discount vouchers. We offered a term of training for free for a person AND their friend. It felt pretty stink when kids started coming in & training for free (we were full anyway and they were the type of people who didn't buy a uniform or make any commitment) but sure enough they're hooked now, are buying stuff & are paying their way. It's weird if you tried to give away a free term people would probably not come but if they pay for the voucher they want to make the most of their investment!

[Kurisu]

What about trying to get some kind of press coverage? Are there small local papers that might be able to do a story on the new dojo?

All the other suggestions given so far are great. I'm going to steal all of them

[GJEChamberlain]

Osu!

This might cause howls of protest from traditionalists, but first and foremost, kids want to have fun. If they have fun they come back and tell their friends. If they come back they learn skills, get fitter etc etc.

I now never correct kids for at least a month. Adults rationalise and understand degrees of difference, while kids starting out just feel any correction means they did it wrong. Plenty of time to guide them later, but first get them in there, enjoying their training, and forming a good habit - trying. Lots of races, lots of games etc breaking up the technical bits to keep them buzzing. Above all, let them know by constant positive feedback that you're on their side, not standing aloof with an "I'm it, worship me" attitude.

Adults usually seek a good sweat without pain, so I make sparring optional in the general class. Don't bother telling me this isn't traditional - until someone stops the world on it's axis and we're all frozen forever in time - things move on. I find natural curiosity soon prompts people to want to test themselves, while forcing them to spar before they feel ready just puts them off. If people never want to spar, I still teach them but obviously higher belts are not available. Although I expect more etiquette in the main class, I still refuse to be a despot. (My students may disagree) If you can't get people to try without making the atmosphere threatening, you need to brush up on your inter-personal skills. Long term, self-discipline is the key, not imposed discipline.

By this way, I get referals from people who enjoy their training, not just horror stories circulating from the ones who want to boast about how tough it is!

We all know the hardest bit about training is getting there. Finding the time in a busy schedule is easier if the dojo is seen as a place of support and mutual respect.

Gary

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by GJEChamberlain

I now never correct kids for at least a month. Adults rationalise and understand degrees of difference, while kids starting out just feel any correction means they did it wrong. Plenty of time to guide them later, but first get them in there, enjoying their training, and forming a good habit - trying.

Oh, I like this idea too! Another one that I'm going to add in for sure. Thanks, Gary!

Osu!

[Nix]

We have the luxury problem that we simply get too many new students in the childrens classes (around 50 twice a year). When we don't take in new students, parents call us all the time anyway, just to check. Most of the students stick around.

I believe our junior-ka really have fun. Warm-ups almost always consist of fun and play (often in the adult classes as well), and the rest of the class is business. The students often show up half an hour early, if not more. In my opinion, children are easy to recruit, and easy to keep. Adults are harder, since they are more likely to find excuses not to go. On that note, I've also noted that adults whine way more than children do!

[kakatootoshi]

Dear Nix,
What about organizing a tournament to let the kids beat up each other, and let the survivors stay at the Dojo?

OSU!

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by Nix

We have the luxury problem that we simply get too many new students in the childrens classes (around 50 twice a year). When we don't take in new students, parents call us all the time anyway, just to check. Most of the students stick around.

I believe our junior-ka really have fun. Warm-ups almost always consist of fun and play (often in the adult classes as well), and the rest of the class is business. The students often show up half an hour early, if not more. In my opinion, children are easy to recruit, and easy to keep. Adults are harder, since they are more likely to find excuses not to go. On that note, I've also noted that adults whine way more than children do!

You are a lucky pup! I know that most people here wish they had your problem, Nix.

Regarding the whining, I think that's the best reason to separate kids and adults. Adults are often fearful of going outside their experience zone, while kids are adventurous. When the adults appear fearful though, it really puts the dampers on the kids.

Osu!

[Nix]

Originally Posted by kakatootoshi

What about organizing a tournament to let the kids beat up each other, and let the survivors stay at the Dojo?

I like your style of thinking, kakatootoshi!

Originally Posted by Dent

Regarding the whining, I think that's the best reason to separate kids and adults. Adults are often fearful of going outside their experience zone, while kids are adventurous. When the adults appear fearful though, it really puts the dampers on the kids.

Indeed, and we do of course separate them. But to illustrate my point, I was stand-in for another instructor not long ago, and instructed his adult students. Since the weather was nice, we took a jog through town, and some sprints across town square. A good third of the students failed to do this. We then jogged on - I shouldn't really say jog, because it was more of a casual stroll, and I had to pause continuosly because people could not keep up. We then reached some stairs, and we did some excercises, including walking on hands up and down said stairs. This were not possible for half of the class, who kept insisting that they could not do it, and claimed they had tried (I highly doubt that). Incredilous, I went through the same program with my regular junior (aged 9-14) students the next day. Not one complained, they simply answered with a loud and clear "Osu!" when receiving orders. I ended up extending the excercises at the stairs, and we finished the warm-up with a few sprints up and down a steep hill. Sometimes children are easier to teach, because they comply instead of complain.

Children aside, we do have problems recruiting adult students, so I've pondered how to do this. I think "self-defence" and "getting in shape" are keywords here, but also to appear like you are having a lot of fun and get along well with your fellow students. Also, I think it would also be a good idea to use girls on the marketing material and your public demo's, to send the message that karate is not just a "guy-thing".

On that note, do some public demo's (try not to make it "violent") and hand out pamphlets. Let yourself be seen and heard, it can be so simple as taking the class outside or entering a local city run in dogi and bare feet. I'm very eager to hear other suggestions.

Good luck!

[Tameshigiri]

Let me see If I can help a little here.

Dojos are unique, means what work for my dojo maybe dosn't work for yours and biseversa.

Record all your history to know what works for you.
In our membrship aplication we have : how do you find about us?__________
For us most awnser are: By banner. There is way we cange our banners 4 to 6 times a year (ups... It's time to place a new banner in our terrace)

Local new papers for us is a big NO.

Flyers door to door or in cars doors work OK but remember it's not to give 200 or 5000 flyers in one month, flyers works 24/7 and should be (as example) 5.000 per month means 60.000 a year. From here you will found a lot new students. Remeber it's important to divide your dojo zone in 5-6 ..8-9 -10 areas and work each area each two month or less.

Ho... B.T.W... We have 120 active members. most are 50 % adults 35 % juniors and 15 % Little ones. This take 8 years, the 3 first years I had full time job to pay the rent, and I had to live in the dojo at that time.


Wish you luck.

[tmd]

We have a lot of kids and most is word of mouth, you get 5 in from the local school and pretty soon you're gonna have 25 giving it a go - we do very little advertising but we do do a lot of school open days exhibitions - one fairly new phenomena is the number of parents joining in which is great.

With regards to the limited number of new adult student try and get some of the students form other dojos in to have a range of grades in the class - you could offer them a discount on the training fees to fill the class out a little, this will allow the beginners to see the path to the front line.

PS: Great post from Gary with some excellent tips once they're there.

[smoothsake]

I have a degree in marketing so I'll give you the academic answer first... know your 4 C's vs 4 P's. There's different interpretations of what these stand for, but the 4 C's I learned in class is customer, cost, competition, and capabilities/benefits. The 4 P's equals price, product, position/place, and promotion. Understanding these and writing down a strategic marketing plan will do wonders for your business/dojo.

In addition to that, I am also a strong believer in guerrilla marketing tactics. Basically marketing on the cheap (i.e. free) that indirectly spurs interest. I like the ad stuffed in the martial arts books. I would also do it in kakutogi magazines at the bookstore and 7-11. Flyers are okay, but consider the trees before you print out thousands of these things that will 95% likely end up in the trash. Walk around in the dogi in the neighborhood of your dojo. Perform a demonstration at the local school. Offer up free self defense courses to those willing to check out the dojo. Get written up in a local newspaper/magazine. Introduce a referral program. Offer up family packages. Hold a local tournament. Do community service with the dogi on. Jog around with the dogi on. Plenty of good ideas out there.

[Aunty Ichigeki]

Funny you say jog in dogi. My employer just did an article on 3 of us employees because we are karate black belts & 2/3 of us became interested in karate by seeing people running in dogi. Not a massive sample but still!!! Okay so it took me 14 years from seeing the people running until stepping into a dojo but hey... think long term! Time flies!

[ksan]

Originally Posted by milwaukeecop2

This one is a little sneaky. go to the martail art section of bookstores and libraries and put your flyer in each martail art book. people who are contemplating taking up martail arts usually do research( the serious ones, at least).
Our club has had modest success with this method.

I like this one.. wouldnt have thought of that...

I`ll remember it..

Osu