5 Crucial Martial Arts Business Success Planning Tips For The New Year

Tonight is New Year’s Eve, and while most people are taking today as a holiday, it’s actually a crucial work day for your martial arts business.

Why? Opportunity, of course!

You see, the idea of a “New Year” means people are in the mindset that tomorrow is a fresh start. They’re making resolutions, determining goals, seeking new experiences…

And that means there’s an opportunity here to serve them, if you can only capture their attention. Besides that, it’s also a great time for you to be turning over a new leaf in your business and personal life as well.

So why not help other people reach their goals, and set and reach some of your own at the same time? Here’s what you need to be doing right now in order to capitalize on this to attract some new clients this month, and increase your business in the upcoming year:

Your Martial Arts Business Success Planning Action-Item List For The New Year

1. Send Out Reactivation Letters – The easiest way to get more students this month is reactivating old ones. Every year I talk about this, and every year someone emails me to tell me thanks for reminding them of this. Shouldn’t it be you, this year? So, go type up a letter right now that invites your former, inactive students and clients back with a free month with no further obligation. Then, spend those 30 days reminding them how much they enjoyed training with you by teaching insanely great classes. Which brings me to #2…
2. Plan On Being Present This Year – Have your classes gotten stale? Lost your zest for teaching? Maybe it’s because you’ve forgotten your first love, which is likely helping people become better people through teaching martial arts. So, get back to it! To do so, you need a plan. This very moment, write down three simple things you are going to do this year to ensure that you are mentally and emotionally present in every single class. It could be something simple like wearing a wristband to remind you to be in the moment enjoying teaching, instead of worrying about admin stuff when you’re on the floor. Or, it could be that you’re going to implement new ideas and curriculum this year, or put a new twist on your current stuff. Whatever it is, write it down.
3. Set Goals… and Write Them Down – Writing down your goals is like programming your GPS before you go on a trip. Except, the program is your written goals, and the GPS is your subconscious mind. So, I want you to write down specific goals for your school this year, such as “grow from 150 to 180 students” or “promote six people to black belt” or “start a new fitness program that generates $25,000 a year in additional income.” Oh, and please include your income goal for the upcoming year, and make it at least 20% greater than what you earned this year. Write those goals down, now.
4. Sett Up Tracking Systems – Today, before the end of the day, I want you to have a system in place for tracking your business numbers and stats. I don’t care if it’s using a spreadsheet or if you sign up for a free trial of a dojo management software system. Just get something in place so you can track your numbers… and use it. Remember, “if you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”
5. For The Next 2 Months, Focus On Fitness Marketing – You should definitely be taking advantage of the seasonal interest in fitness programs and weight loss. That means your marketing for the next six to eight weeks should be focused on fitness. So, you should be having snipe signs made, doing newsletter blasts, be running Facebook marketing campaigns and Google ads, and writing blog posts, all focused on marketing your fitness programs. If you don’t have a fitness program in place, either start one or just focus your marketing on how martial arts gets you in shape. And if you’re not in shape, start a diet and increase your workouts to lose weight. In fact, get your clients involved by offering a free 90-day weight loss challenge for the next three months, and take your clients through your own workouts and nutrition program. That, in fact, is the easiest way to get a profitable fitness program going.

So, there you have it – your action plan for getting the year started right. But if you don’t take action on it, it won’t help. So, take action on each of the five action steps above before the end of the day. Then, you can take a breather and enjoy the holiday, knowing you are on track to make 2014 an outstanding year.

Until next time,

Mike Massie
Author, Small Dojo, Big Profits

(P.S. – Need help with your marketing? Check out http://martialartsmarketingbook.com!)