MASuccess Magazine

by Christopher Rappold

I have often said that I could learn the most advanced form of math provided I had access to a teacher who possessed the ability to meet me where my clear understanding of math comes to an end and build my knowledge from that point. In fact, I’m quite sure that most people, given a strong desire and a great teacher, would experience similar success.

If you follow this line of thinking, you know that your success as a martial arts instructor lies in your ability to break down concepts into small incremental-learning modules that build on each other.

When I was introduced to martial arts, the start of the journey was a rite of passage to see if I was tough enough to stick out the training. I learned how to spar by sparring. I remember my instructor telling us to find some boxing gloves in the closet, then grab a partner and start sparring. Simple as that. While there’s no denying that this can work, the percentage of people who are able to...

by Justin Lee Ford

Back in 2019, George Smiley, an IT executive, wanted to do something new, so he decided to invest in a franchise. Having coached his son’s soccer team in his younger years, he knew that athletic activities can be great for communities and families, as well as worthy endeavors in which to invest money. Although he’d never trained in the martial arts, his search for a franchise and his interest in improving the community through athletic activity eventually took him to Premier Martial Arts.

If case you haven’t heard, Premier Martial Arts is a franchise with more than 100 locations. Founded in 1998 by Black Belt Hall of Famer Barry Van Over, Premier has grown rapidly in recent years and now spans the United States and Canada and extends into England.

When Smiley met with Premier Martial Arts, he saw it as an opportunity not only to invest in a successful franchise but also to spread the benefits of enhanced focus, improved self-confidence...

What do you think of when you hear the word "summer"?

• Do you think of traveling?
• Vacations?
• Time at the beach or the pool?

Unfortunately for some school owners, when they hear the word summer, they think:

• Low revenue
• Tons of freezes
• Empty mats

If that’s you, this blog was perfectly crafted with you in mind.

When I first started working with Mr. Metzger, he taught me some marketing gold.

He said, “There are 3 times a year in your school where you have to increase your
marketing efforts."

Those times are:

• Going into summer
• Coming out of summer
• And going into the new year

Why is it you might ask that those 3 specific times are when you should go pedal to the metal with your marketing?

It’s because during those times, people are making transitions that affect their day-to-day lives.

When it’s summer time, school is ending, vacation time is taken, new activities are booked, and our typical...

When we first started martial arts, we never thought we would be where we are: full-fledged entrepreneurs making an impact on our communities. But here we are!

Many of us had to learn on-the-fly how to run a business. We spent long nights trying to figure out how to grow our schools into businesses.

Sometimes, we were moving so fast we barely knew what we knew, or more importantly — what we didn’t.

Do you know what a lead is? Truly? We know we want them, but what is the difference between a lead, a prospect, or a customer?

That’s why I want to stop and take a second to slow down and really talk about it.

Let’s start with the basics: your Customer Journey

[See video above] 

Lead

Before your prospect is — well — a prospect, they are a lead. A lead is someone who has a one-way interaction with your school or your brand.

During this stage of the Customer Journey, your Lead will be determining if they are interested or not and will likely need...

by Kevin Nevels

When my wife and I opened our first martial arts academy more than 10 years ago, we didn’t know much about running a business. To be honest, we hardly knew anything about running a business. However, we were sure about a couple of things: We knew how to teach good martial arts, and we knew that we needed to get out into our community and let people know what we were doing.

These two ideas turned out to be the beginnings of a blueprint for success.

In the years that followed, I’ve observed that most school owners know they should go out and tell people about their schools, but they don’t know how or where to get started. Some school owners say they don’t see the value in getting involved in their community because it doesn’t lead directly to the acquisition of new students. If you’ve read MASuccess for any length of time, you’ve seen the recommendations that MAIA consultants have shared to help you organize events that...