Drowning in the sea of Information

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Permalink Reply by Darren Prasad on February 24, 2009 at 6:48pm

Hi Santanu,

If your website is generating most of your leads, you should really consider making it easy for new students to find you by using Search Engine Optimization(unless you already are).

SEO makes your website rank highly on major search engines, and takes your lead generation to the next level.

Trusting MA Consulting businesses is an issue many school owners have, that's what this community is here for, so you can network and discuss martial arts business with your peers, rather than consultants or marketing experts.

Feel free to join some groups, and add some friends, there are some really helpful people around here who have been very successful in Martial Arts.

For increasing your marketing efforts, I would strongly consider SEO as it makes your website and your martial arts school easily visible to potential students. Many companies offer SEO as a service and they pair it with your existing website.

Also, this is one thing I have told many martial arts school owners to do in the past, build relationships with the local schools in your area, go do a martial arts demonstration for a Physical Education class, that way you are directly in front of potential students.

In addition, if you find yourself getting lost in the amount of information here, use the search function in the webinar or article forum and search for keywords like "marketing, growth, etc." that way you're only seeing information you really need and have time for.

Good Luck and let me know if you need any more assistance.

Thanks for joining!

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Permalink Reply by Santanu on February 24, 2009 at 10:07pm

Thank you for replying Darren. SEO's sound expensive. I got totally reamed by Citysearch, although, I do have relatively high rankings, but it definitely was not a ROI. Citysearch is a big scam these days, and I had to go all the way up to the regional manager and get some things changed, because I was totally baited-and-switched.

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Permalink Reply by Darren Prasad on February 25, 2009 at 10:04am

Santanu said:

Thank you for replying Darren. SEO's sound expensive. I got totally reamed by Citysearch, although, I do have relatively high rankings, but it definitely was not a ROI. Citysearch is a big scam these days, and I had to go all the way up to the regional manager and get some things changed, because I was totally baited-and-switched.

If SEO seems too expensive (and I know can look that way) you will need to hit the streets running with a more "old-school" marketing approach by making your school as well known as you possibly can in your community.

Look for community centres in the area, anytime they have events, be there. Contact the public schools in the area, the elementary schools, and the high schools, do demos and at the end of the demo offer an intro lesson.

You may already do this, but really emphasize referrals through your existing students, young people are more likely to get enrolled in something if they have friends already doing so. Offer the first 2 months at half off for friends and family referrals.

I hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by Santanu on February 25, 2009 at 10:53am

Thanks again Darren, I appreciate it. The public schools are bombarded by businesses, and tend to try to keep us at bay. So any strategies you could recommend in terms of getting into and through to a public school would be helpful.

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Permalink Reply by Darren Prasad on February 25, 2009 at 6:43pm

Santanu said:

Thanks again Darren, I appreciate it. The public schools are bombarded by businesses, and tend to try to keep us at bay. So any strategies you could recommend in terms of getting into and through to a public school would be helpful.

Hi Santanu,

In terms of getting through to public schools, try contacting their Physical Education Departments, make sure to have information about "how it will benefit the students" rather than making it about signing up new students for your Martial Arts School.

I know you mentioned earlier that you are strapped for time, but I would strongly recommend you attend Sensei Nick Dougherty's Webinar.

He's going to cover the topic of "How to Make Student Referrals Work For You."

Also, if you are reaching the limits of your marketing budget and not seeing many results, I would seriously consider cutting some of your current campaigns that aren't bringing in a significant ROI, and re-direct that money towards Search Engine Optimization.

Over 70% of consumers use a search engine to look for products and services before they buy, if your school isn't growing the way you expect, then you can't afford to miss out on over 70% of leads!

I know SEO can be expensive, but its an investment that will take your website, and hopefully your school to the next level.

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Permalink Reply by Santanu on February 25, 2009 at 11:16pm

Thanks again for the advice and feedback.

I'll tell you what my #1 problem with an SEO is - paying for random irrelevant clicks that don't turn into leads. That's what happened with Citysearch. They had me on every search engine, and had me on sponsored this and that, and yeah, I got TONS of clicks/visits to my site (and I had to pay $1 for each one). But not one, NOT ONE, turned into a phone call or e-mail inquiry. Thousands of hits (that I had to pay for). And I was locked into a 6 mo contract for this.

So I'm going to be a REALLY hard sell on the SEO. My school is called Austin Kung-Fu Academy. If you type in Austin and Kung-Fu, I have a pretty high ranking already.
I really have no confidence that an SEO is going to give me a different experience than Citysearch.

So moral of the story for anyone who is following our conversation, more hits to your website does NOT equal more inquiries. It is a myth. Don't learn it the hard way I did.

Sorry Darren-bhai, I'm not trying to undermine your expertise - perhaps it works very well for your school (you are a martial arts school owner, yes?), but my experience has led me to some strong opinions.

But very great point about contacting the school's PE dept. I'll most certainly look into this, and Nick Doherty's seminar.

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Permalink Reply by Saeed Ashrafinia on February 26, 2009 at 2:37am

Interesting thread.

It looks like there are some things lost in translation here.. A lot of it boils down to SEO ( what Darren is suggesting ) vs SEM ( what you have already attempted with Citysearch - at a extremely high rate I might add but we wont get into that ) which are two related, yet completely different marketing channels.

I've did a presentation covering this and other new social media marketing strategies at Melody Shuman's Escape 2008 Seminar in Florida, I hope she posts it in the community for everyone.

Back to your question...

Santanu, I would highly recommend that you re-evaluate your current system instead of looking for additional traffic. This is a classic example of the age-old "closing your back door" theory.

Focus on whats on your plate instead of bringing in new food.

In this case specifically, this translates through your "conversion rates". It looks like you track your CTR ( click-thru rates, or website visits ) but you are not converting that traffic.

You should view a website visitor in the same respect as a person who has walked into your school. He is already sold on "Martial Arts Training", you just need to convince him that your school is the right choice for him. This is your sales processes.

Sooo.. why are the same visitors on your website not signing up or converting by filling out a web2lead form? It goes back to your sales process. Is your website attractive? Engaging? Does it provide me with incentives to fill out a form and provide you with my personal information?????

As you stated, your website is well ranked on search engines for local traffic. First make sure you are tracking that traffic, even if its organic and then second, be sure to convert that traffic.

What sort of average conversion rate should you be shooting for?? Well it all ranges by styles, areas and your brand ( or product offering ) but there are some number to aim for.

2-3% conversion seems to be the accepted norm. A Forrester research study (August 2007 ) places the ratio of orders to overall site visits at 2.9 percent for eCommerce stores. eCommerce websites will typically range from 5% to 8% visitor conversions.

For lead generation and other non eCommerce websites, conversion rates will range 2.9 to 6 percent. Adding a clear lead generation form can boost conversions to the 8%-20% range.

This is only one marketing effort but basically the "moral of the story" is that there is no billion dollar marketing idea. You need to treat all your marketing efforts with professional level understanding if you want professional level success. Granted we are martial artists and not MBA's... But just know that with the power of the internet and some dedication, you can achieve greatness.

Take the example of Akrit Jaswal of India... Worlds youngest surgeon who performed his first surgery by age 7 and now at age12 and is working on a cure for cancer and aids. All with just one computer connected to the internet and a heart filled with passion.

Yours in the Martial Arts,

Saeed

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Permalink Reply by Mike Dolpies on March 18, 2009 at 9:10am

Think of it as a sea of oppurtunity not a sea of information. Yes there is really a ton of stuff out there, i hear ya! below i pasted in 31 ways to market your school ( i did blog here by the same name a while back)
Remember - it is wise to look for help- believe it or not my most successful clients are the ones who email and call with questions on a regular basis.

all the best to you!

31 Ways to Market Your Martial Arts School

1) Newspaper Advertising

2) Website

3) Blog

4) Podcast

5) Search Engine Marketing

6) Pay-Per-Click Marketing

7) Social Networking Sites

8) Email Marketing

9) Creative Direct Mail

10) Networking

11) Publicity and Press Releases

12) Community Outreach/Special Guests Programs

13) Speaking

14) Contributing Writer to a Publication

15) Author of Book

16) Tele-Marketing

17) Publications (other than newspaper)

18) Voice Broadcast

19) Endorsement from Local Celebrity

20) In House Events

21) Free Seminars

22) Birthday Parties

23) Booth Space

24) Demos

25) Door to door fliers

26) VIP/ Clipboard

27) Lawn Signs

28) Car Magnets

29) Newsletter to Current & Past Students

30) Direct Mail to Current Students

31) Charitable Fundraisers for local organizations

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Permalink Reply by Mike Dolpies on March 18, 2009 at 9:16am

It's not just about comming up in the searches- your site has to appeal to the self-interests of your prospects- the words gotta be right- here's an example of a client who site was "comming up" but not producing any students-

he had..
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that dates back to over 2000 years,
today modern Taekwondo is practiced in over 170 countries worldwide
and has been a official Olympic sport since the Sydney games in 2000.

Here’s the copywriters perspective…

"How an Ancient Korean Art & Modern Day Olympic Sport
Can Give You or Your Child The Confidence, Discipline, Focus, And
Athletic Skills To Be A Leader Not A Follower...

he started getting leads that turned into students the following day

Santanu said:

Thanks again for the advice and feedback.

I'll tell you what my #1 problem with an SEO is - paying for random irrelevant clicks that don't turn into leads. That's what happened with Citysearch. They had me on every search engine, and had me on sponsored this and that, and yeah, I got TONS of clicks/visits to my site (and I had to pay $1 for each one). But not one, NOT ONE, turned into a phone call or e-mail inquiry. Thousands of hits (that I had to pay for). And I was locked into a 6 mo contract for this.

So I'm going to be a REALLY hard sell on the SEO. My school is called Austin Kung-Fu Academy. If you type in Austin and Kung-Fu, I have a pretty high ranking already.
I really have no confidence that an SEO is going to give me a different experience than Citysearch.

So moral of the story for anyone who is following our conversation, more hits to your website does NOT equal more inquiries. It is a myth. Don't learn it the hard way I did.

Sorry Darren-bhai, I'm not trying to undermine your expertise - perhaps it works very well for your school (you are a martial arts school owner, yes?), but my experience has led me to some strong opinions.

But very great point about contacting the school's PE dept. I'll most certainly look into this, and Nick Doherty's seminar.

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