Level up your kids programs!
Get your free class games for jiu-jitsu programs pocketbook. Containing 32 games that help teach actual martial arts skills and keep your classes fun and exciting!
And the Ultimate Jiu-Jitsu Birthday Party guide, complete with everything from email / website copy, scripts, time lines, prep, etc. Everything you need to launch a Birthday party program anyone can run that generates leads, gives you bigger community exposure and generates additional revenue.
It’s only a few weeks out until back-to-school.
And at this point you are likely already seeing those back-to-school inquiries.
So if you haven’t done so, these are some systems that should definitely be reviewed and updated:
1 – Sales. September can make or break your school for the next year. If you’re sales procedures aren’t doing their job and trials are walking out the door without a membership, this needs to be reviewed. The difference between signing up 25 out of 30 trials and 15 out of 30 trials is $1000’s of dollars.
2 – Lead follow up. Don’t rely on automations. Don’t rely on text messages alone. Call them. Not just once and leave a message, keep calling them until you connect. They filled in the form, they asked you to contact them. If it takes 2-weeks and a dozen calls to connect, then make it happen.
3 – Retention. There is nothing worse then signing up 30 people, then a month later realizing half of them haven’t attended more then 3 classes and are already on the way to cancelling.
4 – Pricing. If you haven’t raised your prices in years, it’s long over due. Inflation makes the cost of everything go up. Having the same fees now as 2 years ago means you are charging less, for what is hopefully a better product. Not just membership prices either, everything you offer.
5 – Inventory. Nothing creates a bad experience in a completely unnecessary way then not having something someone new needs. When everyone is in uniforms but the new kid because he’s waiting on a order to come in, that’s avoidable. Order now and be ready for the influx.
6 – Gym aesthetics audit. We’re in our gyms every day, all day. We don’t notice that the paint is chipped, the light bulb is burnt out, that one ceiling tile is discoloured, etc. Take a few minutes and have a really intentional look around. A can of paint and some plaster can make a big difference.
7 – Schedule out events. Are you doing a back-to-school BBQ? Upcoming parents Nights? Graduations? In-house tournaments? A halloween event? Get those dates set and blocked off.
8 – September means a influx of kids looking to celebrate their birthdays. If you have a birthday party program, review it and see if anything can be updated. If you don’t have one… book a call and lets fix that. Parties are people paying you to bring you leads and can be run by jr. coaches during off hours.
9 – Set goals. How many members do you want to sign up in September? How many can you actually take in without crashing all your systems. One year we missed that second part and went really hard. We signed up 130+ members on 6-week trials in September. At the time, we were not ready for that and while it sounds good, caused us a lot of problems.
10 – Inventory. Get orders in now for the gear you will need in a month. All the suppliers are about to get slammed as well. Get orders in so you are ready. When everyone is in uniform but that one new kid because his size is out of stock and backordered, her’s not having a great experience.
11 – Curriculum & delivery method review. Part of being a better coach is constantly trying to improve how we coach. Trying new things, reading new books on coaching. It also keeps things fresh. One common problem is curriculum bloat. When overtime we keep adding and never removing. Sometimes the best thing to do is simplify so that more time goes into the most important things.
12 – Class schedule. Any classes that should be split? Any that should be merged? Any classes that are just a couple people and need to either grow or go?
13 – Merch drop. Back-to-school means clothes shopping. Which can be a good time to drop some cool new branded apparel.
14 – Marketing. Successful marketing isn’t about doing 1 thing. It’s doing a whole bunch of things and those things work together. Yes, you can just dump money into paid ads. But it’s far more effective to be in many different places and have people seeing you everywhere they look, not just when scrolling on their phone.
And finally, and this is a big one… Don’t do everything in a bubble. Connect with others, talk to other successful schools. Go to events. Book a call with me. Don’t just book with me, their are lots of great coaches out their helping gyms. Book with a few, find one that fits your vibe.
Start here: https://app.calendarbridge.com/book/fQB4gaf if we aren’t a good fit, I can hopefully point you to someone that is 🙂
One way to get old members back, and some new members in is with a big, back-to-school party.
Really, it’s a open house… but we don’t call it that. We call it a party.
It’s a 100% free event. We will have bounce castles, inflatable jousting ring, oversized yard games, a dunk tower, free hotdogs, chips & drinks, a cotton candy machines and more.
So how does a free event that costs a fair bit to put on actually help?
It brings people back. A lot of the people that were off for the summer, members that have been gone for an extended time, people that just came to a event, etc. We invite them all. It gets them back into our building, back to seeing our coaches, and back to thinking about the fun times they have with us.
While their is bounce castles and food, we also have our coaches on the mats doing quick lessons. Teaching a takedown or armlock, holding pads for a minute or two per kid. Getting them doing martial arts.
Anyone that tries some martial arts gets a raffle ticket to win some prizes at the end of the event.
We collect contact info on everyone that attends. Non-members all get a special day of offer, a really cheap one for a short term trial. After a day of bounce houses and free lunches for the family, it’s not a hard ask.
There are posters for the offer, they get texts and emails before and after.
We go big, but it doesn’t need to be as big as we go. But a back-to-school event that gets people back in the building and encourages bringing friends is a “must do” for September
I find a lot of new coaches often struggle with perspective.
You’re in the middle of the mat, kids are all around you, and your peripheral is just constantly picking up kids not training, kids talking, being silly, etc.
A really simple thing in what feels like chaos is just to go to a corner, take a minute and watch the class as a whole from the outside, not the middle of it. Many of those problems you pick up win your peripheral correct themselves within a few seconds.
Sometimes it just takes another person to come in, and observe from the outside. When things seem chaotic that outside perspective can often instantly see what the real problem is and what’s causing the problems.
On the mat, another (hopefully more experienced coach) and in your school another owner that can look at things from the outside can be your greatest asset.
The same thing is needed in business. Someone with experience to be able to look at your program / school from the outside and help course correct.
Book here for a free 30 minute consult: https://app.calendarbridge.com/book/fQB4gaf
Booths / Tents at other peoples events can be a great way to get a lot of leads fast. Especially if that events audience aligns well with your schools audience.
But, like all things, you can’t just set up and hope people come to you. You need to get noticed.
The idea of a lead magnet is not just a online concept, but it is equally important at in person events as well.
Step 1 – Get Noticed
When you set up your booth / tent, you’ll probably have a table. Someone should be at that table, but you also want someone out in front pulling people in to that table.
So in any setup there are two roles. Someone to talk to people at the table, and someone to bring people to that person. If it’s a larger event, a couple of each is a good plan.
What you don’t want to do is approach people by just going up to them and asking them about joining your gym.
Someone handing out free stuff, telling them about a draw for something (not martial arts related), someone in a mascot costume, etc. Someone that can get attention.
We’ve found for kids branded foam swords work really well. Having someone with an armful of them and chasing down kids. It also helps to have 100’s of kids waving around foam swords with your school name on them all day long.
Step 2 – Free Stuff
Brochures are the obvious, but also show up with stickers, temporary tattoos, pins, balloons, etc. Ideally something that won’t fit in a pocket or purse (ex foam swords, novelty hats, etc.)
We’ve also done a cotton candy machine. (They get people to come to you really well, but they are messy and take someone dedicated to them) Which work well at outdoor events that aren’t too busy.
Step 3 – Talk to Them
Once your puller gets them to the booth, there should be someone there to talk to them and give them some free stuff. You don’t want to spend too long with each person as it should hopefully be a continuous stream of people coming to the table.
Build a little rapport, see if they have any interest in what you do, and if so get them to enter a draw (giving you name, email and phone number).
The draw can be anything. But if you go outside of what you do (ex. Win a free iPad) you will get lots of leads that have no interest in your program. A 6 or 12 month membership gives a lot of value, and attracts people that have at least some interest.
Step 4 – Be a Photo Op
Festivals mean parents with cameras posting to social media. Getting your booth / tent in more peoples feeds is a good thing. As well as drawing more people to your booth.
Having a mascot is great, a simpler solution is just some really cool props. We like to take swords, having a giant Master Sword (Legend of Zelda) sword will draw in lots of kids that want to hold it and get a picture.
Step 5 – Be Interactive
Take some soft pads, boards, a 2x2m section of mat if you can. Some foam swords (not the giveaways, ones you can train with) and let kids do something interactive. We’ve had line ups of kids waiting to do a 60 second round of hitting pads at events.
Not only do they enjoy it, it draws more attention.
Step 6 – Tiered Offers
Once they enter the draw, have a really cheap offer and a better value offer. Both only active for the length of the festival. You can do sign ups at the table, but also have a QR code they can scan and a flyer for the promotions.
This might be a 4 or 6 week + uniform promotion for a substantial discount as your value offer. And a 5 classes for $10 as a really easy offer if they aren’t ready to go for the bigger offer.
Step 7 – Follow up
After the event, you draw the winner and contact them.
Then you contact every other name in the box as “runner ups”. Which could be a 1-week pass, or an invitation to a special introduction to jiu-jitsu event / workshop. Whatever your school can handle. (Don’t try and flood 50 people in 1-week trials into your classes unless you can handle that many). A mass intro might be a better option.
You could invest $1000’s into online ads and maybe get there.
But there really is only one way to get 100’s of leads every month.
And it’s events.
Nothing else even comes close.
Event leads might not have the same level of intent as someone filling in the form on your website. But what they do have is a personal experience. They met you or your staff. Depending on the event, they already did an intro class.
When they do see your online ads they will be far more likely to actually notice them as they met you face-to-face.
Last month, June, one of the slowest months of the year for most schools, we brought in over 500 leads. A single weekend event, a bunch of birthday parties and general inquires through our lead form.
Many places don’t get 500 leads in a year.
And no matter what happens with search algorithms, AI overview or social media advertising, events will still bring in leads.
Events also build community, culture, and help keep those people in your schools longer.
And with many events, they bring in revenue instead of being an expense.
If you want to bring in people fast, nothing will beat events. But they are a lot of work, and you do need to know how to use them.
Book a free call and see how events can help your school: https://app.calendarbridge.com/book/fQB4gaf
This one is going to start hitting.
Parents fill in the lead form, but they aren’t looking to start now, they are looking to start in September.
They come in, they do the trial, we go to sign them up… and… “We are away a lot in the summer, we are looking at things for fall.”
So what do we do?
The answer should not be offer to touch base in September.
Here is a really simple option:
“Great, let’s get you signed up for September to make sure you have your spot saved. You won’t be billed until September, and if something comes up before then just let us know.”
“And since summer classes are a little smaller, what we can do is if you buy his uniform now, you can finish the summer free, billing still won’t start until September. That way if you can only make a few classes here and there it’s ok and he/she will be better prepared for a full start in September.”
Back-to-school season is a great time to hold an open house. But… people generally don’t get too excited about a “open house”.
So we never call one that. That’s “internal language”.
We through an Easter Egg Hunt in the spring and an Anniversary BBQ in the fall. And we max out registrations on both in no time.
A successful “open house” should bring in 100’s of leads, dozens of paid trials, reactivate some old members, and if you want to, some paid in full memberships.
They are free events, but we do require registration to keep our capacity under control. And we do want that contact info as well.
The Fall BBQ / Open House serves a few purposes:
What we market it as is a free anniversary BBQ or a back-to-school BBQ.
We have multiple bounce castles, We rent a giant grill and buy 1000 hot dogs. We have a cotton dandy machine spinning (this year we are going to need 2 machines), drinks, chips, etc.
They play games in the gym, we do quick martial arts lessons with any new kids. Our students do some demos.
All free, but they have to register.
We raffle off some prizes. Including getting to soak their coaches with ice water in the dunk tower.
It’s an open house, but one no one will want to miss 🙂
Events are by far the best ROI on “ad spend” we ever get. Whether it’s big free community events, birthday parties, tents at festivals or anything else. The most important thing is being a part of the community that everyone sees.
The Kids Jiu-jitsu program is the only program designed to help grow your kids program and make your school explode. Book a free discovery call to see if we are the right fit for your school: https://app.calendarbridge.com/book/fQB4gaf
I really dislike it when someone asks about running a gym and the responses all say the money is in the kids classes. It’s not. The money is in making a positive impact.
When we focus on making a positive impact on our community money just tends to follow.
With kids programs we can make huge impacts on our members. A small change young can create massive life long effects.
If we focus just on money, people sense that. It creates a negative environment. If we focus on making a positive impact, people sense that too.
If you’ve been in this sport long enough, you’ve probably seen several people that think they, as white belts, are better off just watching Danaher videos and going to open mats rather then having a coach.
It’s possible that they have just experienced bad coaching… but more likely they just don’t understand the value of a coach.
Every professional athlete out there will have a coach. At higher levels, they are likely to have several. A top pro can easily be spending more on coaching than most people make.
Coaches come with an outside perspective. They see things from an outside perspective, keep us on track to our goals, and focus us on the right things at the right times.
As coaches we need to make sure we aren’t just presenting information, but actually providing coaching to our members. Get them doing the right things for them, at the right times. Not just spamming something they saw on a instagram reel.
Our business is no different.
Most of us started our gyms as white belts in “how to run a gym”. I’m pretty sure 26 years ago when I first opened I wasn’t even deserving of a white belt in running a gym. Then we muddle about and learn a little as we go making tons of mistakes and implementing all sorts of bad ideas an experienced gym owner would correct us on immediately.
The Kids Jiu-Jitsu Playbook has a goal of trying to help with that. Less than 6-months ago we opened our doors, sharing lots of what we do as free content. And in that time this group has blown up to nearly 1300 members!
I have had many business coaches over the years, and they are a big part of why my gym is where it is.
So now it’s our turn.
Book a free consult call. If things feel like a good fit, the VIP membership is there to give you our experience in our own gym and working with others. To help you 10x the investment and get your school to be a successful business.
Book your call here: https://app.calendarbridge.com/book/fQB4gaf
ps – We only have a few more spaces in the VIP Coaching group before the price goes up. So get in soon and keep the founders rate for life.
