advertising your club

Hey,

I am looking to do a recruitment campaign in the new year as it's a good time, and my club only has about 7 students.
here are some of the things i plan to do:
-send a poster to every school in the area
-leaflet drops (seems like giving them out in town is more effective than letter boxes)
-posters around town and in shops
-demo/charity events to advertise in paper
-facebook advert
-advert in local paper

Do you have any suggestions as to what was really effective for you, and things i shouldn't bother with? I feel that a lot of people look to the local leisure centre for activities which i why i get "missed out" as i am in the YMCA hall in the town centre. i think people look there, find a club and that's it. i'd really appreciate some input

Many thanks

Recently a Tae Kwon Do instructor (not TAGB) spent the day at my son's primary school demonstrating as part of the school's fitness/ health awareness day. And handing out leaflets. From what I understand he got at least 10-15 new students going along to club.

I'd though of that only I have a problem! I am a teacher myself so wouldn't be able to get a day off school time
Maybe I can nominate my BB to do it...10 to 15 sounds pretty cool

Getting your BB to do it would probably be a good idea. You mention local paper. Our club has managed to get stories (about competition and grading success) into the local paper fairly regularly. We write the article and submit along with pictures. We always include contact numbers, dates and times of training as well as stressing first lesson free. Again each time we have an article new people come along.

A final thought, which we have never tried at Tae Kwon Do, is the "bring a friend along". I don't know the age of your students but I do know that this is the kind of thing that groups such as the Cubs do regularly with apparent success.

thanks for the suggestions. All my students try hard to help as they don't want to close the club, but they haven't got anyone to bring along. The local paper won't print my stories, and I heard that it is possibly that the sports editor does Karate or something and doesn't like promoting other clubs/martial arts. my actual town on the other hand is great at this!!
I don't want to sound like i am dismissing any ideas - i am very grateful for all suggestions, however i have tried quite a lot and looking for more!

How about local University? if they do not have a Tae Kwon Do club already (and it appears they don't) then maybe target them with some posters or perhaps more fomally through their sports association? You could try offering student discount etc.

Michelle,

I've found that different things work at different times of year, in different areas;

We've had sucess with demos at schools - summer fairs - but they need to be backed up with flyers/leaflets.

Local advertsing has tended to be least effective and yet news articles in local papers have worked very well in keeping a high profile (they're also free). Whenever, have a good news story to tell (grading, tournament etc) we send the article and photos and, invariably, they get printed - we always inlude website address and phone numbers within the body copy of the text. Try and get friendly with your local council in promoting a positive youth activity - this can hold sway with the local media.

Leaflets have really only proved most effective when dropped through people's letter boxes. We've left leaflets in shops and so on but had little take up.

Personally, I'd avoid universities - unless you can get some sort of funding because, by and large, the fees just don't stack up commercially.

One thing that people forget is that, especially with kids, the students are your best form of marketing and advertising. The "show and tell" sessions in schools are great for this - usually with primary school kids - so we introduced laminated "student of the month" certificates which the kids love to take in to school and show their mates. Very low cost PR and it works.

Bear in mind that you build your club one student at a time and sometimes in can seem a real slog. I started a club in Farnham two years ago, had an initial influx, then lost some earlier this year and am now up to 28 but mainly kids. Promotion of your club has to be relentless but, most importantly, look after your existing students and get them to spread the word.

Are you in the Eastbourne area? The Gazette and Herald used to be very approachable. My brother is in Eastbourne and has some contacts at the Herald and I know a national journo from Eastbourne (now in Bexhill) who managed to get us a half page article about the TAGB in The Daily Telegraph.

Let me know how you're getting on and I'd be happy to help if I can. You can PM me through this forum I think.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Tim

What about getting a gazebo and going to a boot fair and put up posters and leaflets. It has worked for me with my company (not taekwondo) but I only went there to sell my service. ( not a pimp either before anyone says anything). Ask cinemas if they would mind putting up posters or local community centers etc.

If you'd like a website created for your club, please get in touch!

oliverdavies wrote:If you'd like a website created for your club, please get in touch!

Hi i would be interested in a web site for my club, at the moment i use vista print, i thnk they are good it does the job but it could be better i cannot just post a picture etc. It has brought me some students though what would i have to do to get my own web site and what would it cost please

Thanks Sioux

sioux wrote:

oliverdavies wrote:If you'd like a website created for your club, please get in touch!

Hi i would be interested in a web site for my club, at the moment i use vista print, i thnk they are good it does the job but it could be better i cannot just post a picture etc. It has brought me some students though what would i have to do to get my own web site and what would it cost please

Thanks Sioux

Hi Sioux,

I've sent you an email.

Best regards and a Happy New Year!

Ollie.