How do you bring in adults 
Try incentivizing your current students to refer new ones. For example, if a current student refers a friend who signs up the original student gets 50% off the next months Tuition. People are much more likely to talk in your doors if they have a friend already training. 
"have a schedule that's conducive to working adults (early AM) and "Fitness Center" quality showers"
Class schedule is very important, especially to shift workers like me.
Stress the physical fitness aspect (much more "fun" than going to a regular gym and doing the same exercises over and over.)
There is no single answer.
Some people want self-defense. Others want fitness. Some want to play a sport. And some are just looking for a cool hobby.
Don't assume your program is exactly right for all of these people. Examine and assess what you offer. Target your marketing accordingly.
MMA, self defense and lots of blogging with social links and content delivery to audiences works really well for us.
Gone are the days of a straight pitch. People are wise to that and you need to earn their trust before hitting them with an offer.
Ironically rewriting a lot of the news on here as it comes will give you a great boost in SEO lol.
In terms of the offer its up to you:
Free class
Free week
30 day trial
Paid trial
They all work the same. They are an "offer" to a "warm" audience. Warm meaning that they know you now via blog, fb or otherwise. Just find an offer you are comfortable with :)
But you need to have some sort of offer. Not having an offer is suicide.
For a example check out http://selvabjj.com/conor-mcgregor-officially-out-of-ufc-200-coach-kavanagh-ticked-off/
Thus post got me 4 leads for an ad spend of $10, to people who like my page and their friends...needless to say I ramped it up to $100 right away ??????
Hit me up on Facebook if you have any questions. My email on fb is selvabjj@gmail.com
Good luck!
twinkletoesCT -
There is no single answer.
Some people want self-defense. Others want fitness. Some want to play a sport. And some are just looking for a cool hobby.
Don't assume your program is exactly right for all of these people. Examine and assess what you offer. Target your marketing accordingly.
This. We have early ass morning classes and showering facilities and even then those classes are small as hell. People always have excuses but in reality until they make the commitment its just BS. You can have as flexible a schedule as you want w black belts teaching all classes and people will still find excuses. See it monthly.
SELVABJJ - MMA, self defense and lots of blogging with social links and content delivery to audiences works really well for us.Impressive!
Gone are the days of a straight pitch. People are wise to that and you need to earn their trust before hitting them with an offer.
Ironically rewriting a lot of the news on here as it comes will give you a great boost in SEO lol.
In terms of the offer its up to you:
Free class
Free week
30 day trial
Paid trial
They all work the same. They are an "offer" to a "warm" audience. Warm meaning that they know you now via blog, fb or otherwise. Just find an offer you are comfortable with :)
But you need to have some sort of offer. Not having an offer is suicide.
For a example check out http://selvabjj.com/conor-mcgregor-officially-out-of-ufc-200-coach-kavanagh-ticked-off/
Thus post got me 4 leads for an ad spend of $10, to people who like my page and their friends...needless to say I ramped it up to $100 right away ??????
Hit me up on Facebook if you have any questions. My email on fb is selvabjj@gmail.com
Good luck!
Thanks. Lots of trial and error, to get the system down! Lol :)
Currently doing online marketing in the medical field now, but my first love is still Bjj!!!
So, anytime I can give back to the bros, I do.
Also in talks to bring low cost/no cost kids only BJJ to the heart of East Los Angeles...more details on that to follow!!!
It's all about customer service. I can't tell you how many clubs I've gone into in my travels where no one greats me at the door or says anything. Because I've moved almost every 3 years since I've started training in 2000 I've attended many schools and they tend be cliquey and the instructors show no interest once your cheque clears or they realize your not going to be a world champ.
Best clubs I've been to customer service wise are the Gracie Academy, Gracie Humaita, and Oama. The word of mouth those places get for their customer service is part of why they are so successful. Happy students is your best way to get more students.
Hire deebo to punk people into signing up
Word of mouth and referrals are the best leads and customer service will keep em there...but you NEED a marketing plan for sure!
I think word of mouth. Give incentives for current students to refer friends. Like refer 1 new member get a free private, refer 2, get 2 months free training, refer 3 get $500 cash. Or every new student that you refer you get a free month.
Behavioral retargeting based on a get location with a decent offer
Geo location
bigraydaddy - "have a schedule that's conducive to working adults (early AM) and "Fitness Center" quality showers"
Class schedule is very important, especially to shift workers like me.
Stress the physical fitness aspect (much more "fun" than going to a regular gym and doing the same exercises over and over.)
This is very solid advice. On a related thread dealing with quitting, I project my view that my instructor's school has taken off because of his AM schedule, which is almost exclusively working males in their 40's. They are in an environment of their peers, no one has an illusions about winning the adult division of a major championship, and they want the practical and physical benefits of BJJ over -say L.A. Fitness - and the facility is very clean with full amenities. Those with pre-schoolers can have their kids hang out and get indoctrinated.
Once you decide on the appropriate message, find the right media for your target audience.
Don't try to use snapchat to bring in senior citizens. Don't put ads in the newspaper for teens.
The two biggest "bang for your buck" approaches are your website and your referral program. They cost almost nothing to operate, and they can drive a lot of traffic.
Your website needs to be attractive, easy to read, correct in its spelling and grammar, and most importantly - it needs to send all visitors down any easy to follow path that gets them contacting you. It needs to have a very compelling offer, so they pick up the phone right now, today. Also, it should be created with search engine rank in mind, so there will be a lot of content planning and keyword analysis to do before the copy is written.
Your referral program should be one that encourages people to bring in guests and visitors all the time. Rewards are great, but they won't motivate people alone -- it's more important that you deliver value in all of your classes, and then remind students that the best way they can help you keep the value high is to help grow the training community. Rewards are a nice bonus after that, but no substitute foa sincere personal request and consistent value. Fun events are a lso a nice way to boost your referral rhythm.
When my gym was new, I had pretty much no budget for anything, so I did lots of training & read lots of books to understand things like SEO, copywriting, website design, etc. There were lots of nights of 2am writing or graphics editing. If you have a marketing budget, you can offload a bunch of this. But make sure you know the big picture before you start paying people (or investing your own time) to do implementation.
Also, I've been saying this a lot lately, but read "The E-myth Revisited" by Michael Gerber. I wish I had read this book back when I had my gym. It keeps your head on straight when it comes to all the responsibilities of running a business where you are also the lead employee.
Also check the folks at digital marketer for their membership site. It's very good but also can be very overwhelming if you're a newb.
I would recommend doing these courses in there in order:
1) Social list building
2) Boomerang Traffic plan
3) $10/day traffic plan.
Do NOT deviate from the above recommendations, in that order! It's very easy to get distracted on there lol!!!