Namely...
How To Get Adults Into Traditional Martial Arts Classes
Thus far we’ve discussed the children’s market, and the lucrative opportunities it offers. Likewise, we’ve looked at the self-defense market and how we might better attract adult students into self-defense classes.
And finally, we examined the adult fitness market, discussing how we might “crack” this market and use fitness programs and classes to financially support our martial arts classes.
But what if you’re not inclined to offer fitness classes?
"But Mike... I Just Want To Teach Martial Arts!"
I get that. And if that's the case, then I suggest you focus on children's martial arts programs in your studio, or that you teach an adult-oriented art like Muay Thai or Brazilian jiu-jitsu or Krav Maga, because those arts are most attractive to adult students.
Granted, I still strongly encourage you to offer a fitness class like a fitness kickboxing program in your dojo. Primarily because it's easy money, and you can easily hire someone else to come in and teach that class for you.
But what if you're a traditionalist, and you want to attract more adults into your programs? Let me tell you what my friend Dave did to get more adult students in his traditional tae kwon do school.
How To Get Adults In A Traditional Martial Arts Program
After years of running a full-time dojo, Dave decided that having an enrollment comprised of 150 kids and 15 adults was no longer kosher. He was tired of teaching mostly children, and he wanted to do something about it. So, he began making his school more adult-friendly.
This included offering adult classes at times that were more convenient to adults (lunchtime classes and offering at least two adult classes earlier in the evening, instead of after 8 pm). And, he added information on his website that would make his programs attractive to adults. Finally, he started marketing his adult programs more heavily in his area.
This also meant making his advertisements more appealing to adults. He started talking more about the fitness and health benefits of tae kwon do training: flexibility, weight loss, improved muscle tone and stamina, and so on (sound familiar?). And he started featuring pictures of happy smiling adults in his ads.
The result? He nearly tripled his adult program enrollment over a six-month period.
This demonstrates that, if you want more adults but you don't want to turn your school into a kickboxing or fitness studio, there is a way to do that if you're so inclined. But to do so, you'll need to take a customer-centric approach to revitalizing your services, to make them more appealing to the adult market.
Other, Ways To Attract More Adult Students
There are other, slightly less conventional ways to reach more adult students. And while these strategies may not be the ideal solution for some studio owners, they are tried and true methods for cracking into the adult market with traditional programs.
Teaching Corporate Classes - This is an oft overlooked but lucrative adult market subsegment. I live in an area where there are tons of high-tech companies like Google, Amazon, Dell, Apple, Intel, and so on, and these companies have deep pockets and they are always looking for ways to serve their employees better.
The reason is because they want to keep their employees healthy and happy. Healthy, because it lowers the insurance costs for the company. And happy, because that’s what keeps highly skilled employees working for the company.
So how do you break into this market? Get to know someone at the company you want to approach, then have them introduce you to the key person in charge of employee health and wellness programs in their human resources department. Then, find out if they’d be interested in hosting you for a short trial series of classes to gauge employee interest.
And remember, it’s always much better if you can get an employee at the company to “sponsor” you in, versus approaching them cold. Also, have your elevator pitch ready, so when the HR person asks you what benefits your programs will bring to their employees, you have a ready response that goes beyond “we teach people to break boards and stuff.”
Teaching Continuing and Adult Ed Classes - Adult education classes are another way to get out in your community and reach potential adult students where they’re at. It’s also a great way to leverage the marketing and communication resources of your local college or school district to get the word out on you and your programs.
Often, these classes are taught in short sessions, from a few weeks to a few months long, and they operate on a semester schedule. And while in some areas getting a community ed spot with the local college is highly competitive, in others community ed programs are clambering to find willing instructors to fill their catalog each semester.
Again, you’re going to need an elevator speech before you approach your local program. You should also do your homework. Find out who is the decision maker at the organization, so you can request them by name.
And, before you contact them spend time looking at the course catalog to see what they already offer, so you can be sure you’re offering to teach something unique and interesting that they don’t already have.
Teaching Free Outreach Classes - Teaching free outreach classes is a great way to introduce your programs to adults in your area. This could mean anything from giving a free lunchtime class to local government employees, to offering a free self-defense seminar for local teachers or real estate agents.
These classes serve as a way to get your programs and services in front of a captive audience who might not have otherwise heard about what you do. And while you shouldn’t expect the entire group to come running up after your class to enroll at your studio, by offering them a free follow-up class or a free week of classes at your studio, you can be sure to pick up a few students each time you teach an interesting, lively presentation to a new group.
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In each case, these methods work because rather than trying to get busy adults to come to you, instead you’re taking your classes to where the adults are. See, in many cases adults might be interested in taking a traditional martial arts class, but they’re on the fence because they’re busy and they have a million distractions.
But by taking your classes to them, you’ve overcome the greatest initial barrier to getting an adult to try your classes, which is time. Again, it’s all about convenience, folks. The more convenient your service is for your clients, and the higher the quality, the more likely you are to attract and keep quality clients.
Until next time,
Mike Massie
MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
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P.S. - There's no reason why you can't run a successful traditional martial arts program for adults. Many school owners have done it. You just have to be really good at marketing, and know what your market really wants, in order to attract those adult students into your school.
So, get to know your market. Ask busy working adults (like the parents of students in your kid's programs) what might convince them to try an adult martial arts program, and what might prevent them from doing so. Ask them about schedules, things that might make it more convenient (like child care), and about what fears or apprehensions they might have about trying martial arts.
Then, address those issues, start or relaunch your adult classes, and market the hell out of them. That's how you get adults into a traditional martial arts program.
