Dojo advertising

octopic · Yellow Belt

There is a dojo in my city that does a lot of advertising via posters and leaflets. They will basically leave a pile of their ads in any establishment that will let them. Now, I don't have a problem with a dojo doing advertising. It is, after all, a business, and they do need to make money. The problem I have is that they'll put up posters and leave leaflets in stores right next to other dojos. Personally, I think that this is disrespectful. I would tend to think that one dojo should not do that kind of advertising in the same shopping center as another dojo. The reason for this post is that I want to see what people on here think. Am I totally off base? Thanks.
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Hybrid · Orange Belt

Well, someone looking to get into martial arts might find this helpful, ya know? Being able to get two or more options without having to shop at every store. As long as the second dojo isn't "pushing aside" (literally) the others, and they have the store owners permission, I don't really see the problem.

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“Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through forging, it becomes steel and is transformed into a razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion.” ~Morihei Ueshiba

monkeygirl · KF VIP

True, it's disrespectful, but you said it yourself: it's a business. Competition is bound to occur, as unfortunate as that may seem

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1st dan & Asst. Instructor TKD 2000-2003

No matter the tune...if you can rock it, rock it hard.

Shorinryu Sensei · Black Belt

I agree with the others..business is business.

Fight back, put some of your flyers on his door! lol

I ran a dojo commercially for 5 years or so, and you know what I found to be the best advertisement? Word of mouth! Get your students talking. Offer them a free months class for every new student they bring in THAT SIGNS UP AND PAYS THE FIRST MONTH FEES(that's important).

Have them bring boyfriend, girfriend, sister and brothers. Aunts, uncles and cousins..friends, acquaintances..anybody! Offer family rates. Offer group rates to 5-10 from a same business, club, etc. Student discounts maybe?

I tried to encourage parents to get involved by offering free classes to parents of existing students, as long as the kid was enrolled in class. Got about 8 more students that way, and they brought in some friends that PAID!

I tried radio and TV advertisements, booths at the local fair with free drawings, newpapers and flyers and never had much success. But word of mouth is your BEST advertisement, because your students are talking to people, and telling how they like it. Enthusiasm spreads!

delta1 · Black Belt

I had my own business for a while (not martial artsrelated). One of the things I found was that you can treat competition either as an enemy, or as a minor partner. The gurus of marketing say that the average person has to be hit with about five to seven ads before they get the message and start to think it might be a good idea to get a particular product or service. So you can look at the competitions flyers as free advertiseing for your own service. If the fifth time a prospect is hit with an add he happens to be right next door to you, you might just get a walk-in that someone else paid for. I wouldn't get too upset about a competitors flyers being in the same mall. Beter there where people can see a similar option close to where they do business any how than across town. I'd encourage other martial arts schools to leave as many flyers as close to you as possible.
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