| Friend,
I've studied digital marketing for some time now, and one catchphrase that you hear in that field time and again is the word, "metrics."
Metrics refers to nothing more than the act of measuring something to gauge the results. Metrics are considered to be a requirement for effective digital marketing, as they are for any small business as well.
Unfortunately, many martial art school owners don't really understand the necessity of keeping and tracking metrics. Many take more of a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" approach to running a martial art school...
...and then they wonder why their school doesn't grow.
If you've been a suscriber to this newsletter for any length of time you've heard me say that if you don't measure it, you can't improve it.
And that's because, in order to improve your results from anything, you need to have a starting point from which you can measure your results.
Imagine a scientist setting up an experiment, and never gathering initial data before they begin. Or a pollster (and we're hearing from them a lot right now, aren't we?) taking a poll without gathering enough information on the people polled to categorize them into demographic groupings.
In each case, the data would be absolutely meaningless, because there's no context by which to measure the results.
By the same token, you need to track and record your numbers in your school in order to recognize trends. These trends will tell you whether or not you're on track to hit your goals, or whether you need to course-correct in order to stay on target.
And you do have goals for your business, don't you? I'm not talking about vague goals like, "I want to be a millionaire" - such goals aren't helpful or even beneficial in the day-to-day operations of a business.
No, I'm talking about specific goals regarding your target enrollments, gross profit, and net profit for your business. Meaning, the exact numbers you need to hit to have the sort of lifestyle you desire.
If not, spend some time today and write them down. Starting tomorrow and through the rest of the week, I'll be explaining the most basic metrics that you need to track in your business, and why.
But first, you need to know where you're going... even before you determine your starting point - which is where your dojo is at, right now.
So spend some time today figuring out where you ideally want to be in your business, and I'll be back tomorrow with more on metrics.
Until next time,
Mike Massie
P.S. - For many of you, I know that numbers are boring. But, I've never seen a financially successful martial art school that didn't have an owner who was a stickler for tracking numbers.
P.S.S. - And while I've seen some school owners have flash in the pan success while flying by the seat of their pants, eventually they crashed and burned. Trust me, you need to know your numbers if you want to grow your school.
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