MASuccess Magazine

by Perry William Kelly

The pandemic has hit the world’s economy like a side kick that knocks the wind out of a white belt in his first tournament. It would have been simple enough if our industry had could have followed the example of other small businesses that shifted gears to stay afloat — for example, distilleries that started making hand sanitizer and clothing companies that began fabricating facemasks. This option, however, was not available to us. Our end product — martial arts instruction — simply cannot morph into something else.

To help school owners cope with the fallout of the pandemic and the shutdowns, MASuccess organized a virtual roundtable with professionals from across the country who agreed to speak about how they weathered the crisis. All are small-business owners not unlike you, and they were able to not only navigate the COVID chaos but also beat the odds that the pandemic had stacked against them.

Our Experts: the COVID Kickers

• Denisse Ramos is a four
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by Jason Flame, MAIA Elite Consultant

Communication is the key to success in any relationship. It’s important that we go above and beyond when it comes to communicating with our students and parents. Having systems in place to maintain frequency and consistency of contact will prevent students from “falling through the cracks.”

Keep in mind that our families are often inundated with information from other activities, work and their personal lives. Face-to-face interaction is always best, but when we need to communicate and are unable to see them in person, we have several options for staying in touch. When relaying information to our students, we should keep these simple yet valuable communication methods in mind.

Phone

Nothing beats letting someone hear our voice when we really need to communicate something urgent or significant. Progress checks, enrollment notifications, renewal reminders and upgrade decisions all require discussion. Every quarter, we should make a point of ca...

Trying to process how to move forward with the coronavirus out in force? Read this blog and watch our most recent Facebook Live here.

By: Mike Metzger, MAIA Elite Consultant

If you turn on your T.V, hop on your Iphone or surf the Internet, there is one word that keeps popping up all around the world:

Coronavirus.

As of about two weeks ago, we have entered uncharted territory for our industry. Because of COVID-19, people are staying home, classes are getting cancelled and school owners are really starting to feel the pressure for their small businesses.

The world we live in right now isn’t exactly beaming with hope either.

However, with every challenge comes a new opportunity. And as long as you keep an open, proactive mind (which is tough nowadays), you can get through this (and maybe better out the other side).

So today, I want to share with you some new strategies we've been implementing with the COVID-19 disruption and how we, at Championship Martial Arts, are changing the...

By: Cris Rodriguez, MAIA Digital Marketing Specialist

Over the past year, we’ve had over 200 school owners graduate from my 8-Week Marketing Mastermind Course. They took a deep dive into Facebook, Instagram, and Google Advertising, and learned how to use those major platforms to grow their Martial Arts Academy.

Many of them have seen amazing results with their new-found knowledge and skill set. However, many of them also realized that digital marketing can be time consuming and frustrating, especially if it’s not something you’re passionate about.

Most school owners have enough on their plate already. However, it is vital you have a presence on those major platforms.

Why? Because if you’re not, your competitor will be.

And this is exactly why I created Grow Pro Agency.

In the ever-changing online world, keeping up with the constant updates of social media can require not only your time, but also your energy.

And that’s why we’re here — to take the burden off your hands.

What ex...

By MAIA Division Manager Melissa Torres

Facebook is dying. Social media is officially coming to an end.

And now that I have your attention — no, it absolutely is not. Hopefully, none of you got your hopes up. The fact is, social media is growing in prevalence and in importance to our industry. We can’t escape Facebook, Instagram, Twitter — you name it. The great news is, when used correctly, social media can help you tremendously.

I know what you’re thinking: “I don’t know how to run paid ads.” “I don’t even have a Facebook page for my school.” Or maybe, “I have Facebook and Instagram pages, but they don’t get me new students and they’re not worth the headache to keep up with!”

Hopefully, some of you are already ahead of the curve and know a thing or two about what and when to post. You may even have an idea of how to drive new students to your doors. But most school owners are simply so busy answering phones, training instructors, teaching classes and cleaning bathroom...

By MAIA Division Manager Melissa Torres

Times are changing. They have been for quite some time now. And as for social media, it seems to change daily! I’m sure that as busy full- or part-time school owners and instructors, most of you can’t honestly stand up and declare yourselves digital marketing experts.

Not many people can. I certainly don’t claim to understand every facet of the ever-changing world of social media. This is why MAIA brought in an expert on the subject.

Cris Rodriguez is MAIA’s newest consultant, specializing in digital marketing. She’s dedicated the past 10 years of her life to studying digital marketing and its impact on her school, Gracie PAC MMA. If you got a chance to hear her speak at the recent Martial Arts SuperShow, you know that she is the best in our industry!

When Cris joined the MAIA team, she knew right away that the social media aspect was something we were missing in our coaching. She started speaking at our Elite conferences, and the response...

With today’s digital capabilities, you can now distinguish yourself from your competition and reach out exclusively to your target audience. In this article, an expert explains the top trends in digital marketing and shows you how you can effectively target new recruits for your martial arts school.

The most common digital marketing tactics being used today are: Retargeting, Geo-Fencing, Geo-Conquesting, Historical Retargeting, and Behavioral/Contextual Targeting. 

Martial arts school owners and entrepreneurs should be aware of and start using them today. Here, I’ll explain why and how to apply them.

#1Retargeting 

 Have you ever heard of this online commerce website named Amazon.com? Have you ever searched for something on its website and not purchased whatever you were looking at? 

What usually happens next? Say that there you are checking out your Facebook feed, when what appears on your feed? Yep! That exact same thing you were shopping for on Amazon. This is what is known ...