Inbound Method Part 1, Gurus Step Aside

marketing Jul 31, 2015

In this article I'd like to introduce you to a marketing model that has not yet been discovered by most industries coming online but will completely change the face of how studio owners pursue success if used correctly. By name, inbound marketing is relatively new coming from the online and digital marketing space, but conceptually it's a marketing method that's antique and based off the premise that if you consistently deliver quality content to an audience ready and willing to consume it, your audience reach will grow. 

Many studio owners are sold a bundle of goods that range from $100 - $2,500 per month and are worth less than the paper they’re printed on. These goods are the template posters and flyers they get in their monthly subscription kit, that includes a DVD with some business guru telling them how to use this flyer to create a stellar event that will bring in hordes of warm bodies ready to sign a contract. They will go on to teach some base-level...

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Facebook Friday. There is Only 1 King

social media Jul 08, 2015

No Queen, no Prince. Just a King.

These are the words in my notes from today's training. Literally.

So who is the king according to Facebook? Engagement.

In other words, posting a content piece on Facebook without an engagement goal strategy is stupid. Why stupid? Because it's a waste of time, which to you ... means money.

Let's face it, social media is a massive time vacuum if you think the world cares about your complaints, your cute kids doing funny things or how pretty the sunset is. What's worse, is this type of content - delivered to an audience with value-centered expectations - become offended from you not delivering what they expected! Thus, decreasing your engagement opportunity and being less friendly to Facebook's algorithm in terms of traction for the stuff that makes you money.

If you'll recall, in the previous article Correct Timing For Your Facebook Ads, I walked you through how to properly time your ad campaigns, but also added that organic engagement...

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Managing Your Online Reputation

marketing Jul 04, 2015

Build your online reputation based on confidence, acceptance of criticism and appreciation of honesty. Bend to nobody and remember, when emotions rise, intelligence drops. Stay cool. Sounds like a few good rules in life to follow, but these are pretty much all you need to know about managing the online reviews of your business. While many small business owners lose their cool and publicly flip out, ridiculing a patron who gave an honest review of their experience, others just ignore such reviews assuming they have no effect on their business.

The truth is, most have no clue what’s being said about them online. In this article, I’ll breakdown how you can manage your online criticism for the best outcome to serve your business and your clients, customers, prospects and staff.

No matter how you cut it, your customers will talk about you one way or the other, your ability to maintain control regardless of the content they post about you can bring about an outcome that...

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Spartans of Applesauce

marketing Jun 03, 2015

As a parent of four little kids, I can tell you how much the GogoSqueez product is valued in my kitchen. Actually, my wife and I usually get two cases of it every time we shop. They love the stuff.

And why not… Here’s a US based company that’s making a tasty product. As a parent, it’s easy for me to get my kids a healthy snack, that’s US manufactured and affordable. Plus, it’s a natural product not packed with crappy ingredients that is next top impossible to avoid.

As a business owner, I’m inspired by a fellow New York business doing so well. Providing jobs at a midwest plant, where I know (as an importer myself), they could be banking a much better margin offshoring their stuff. Then I admire their concept of <em>upcycling </em>their product packaging, keeping an eco-friendly product not just on the shelves, but in front of my kids. To me, this is important.

I’ll admit, I never researched anything about this...

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Facebook Friday. Focus On Basics

social media May 26, 2015

One of the most important, (and repeated) terms I heard over and over from my Sensei in Japan was 'focus on basics'. Practice does not make perfect, especially in the world of marketing online, where the environments and technology change so rapidly. But if your basics, your foundational framework is solid - both in your skill set AND commitment to practice - then your ability to adapt to the evolving and ever changing space of the web will be much easier.

Too often we pigeon hole ourselves into practices that have less and less to do with the greatest possible outcome for our time invested. In facebook terms, when people I've worked with are running ads, they have never ventured off into discovering their analytics, monitoring their reports, split testing their ads, creating their look alike audience groups, building their interest lists from their campaign results and so much more.

Instead, they continue the same cycle of posting bullshit photos, boosting them with zero...

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You Will Be Downgraded Today

search engines Apr 28, 2015

If you haven’t prepared your site for this, it’s too late.. well not really, but it was announced over two months ago and your developer should have known about the algorithm change Google made today, April 21. Their goal is to give more authority to websites that are responsive for mobile and downgrade sites that are not.

Even if you’re certain your site is mobile friendly, take a minute and check, especially if you’re a school owner who counts on their web presence. I’ve provided Google’s link below…

Google Developers Mobile Friendly Tool

Once there, type the domain of your URL and see if your site is mobile ready. If not, you must contact your developer and get this resolved immediately.

If you have any questions or need any help, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly to get your site updated so that this update doesn’t put your business at risk.

Was this article helpful? Let me know. 

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Facebook Ads, Timing Is Everything

social media Apr 24, 2015

In this article, I'm going to share with you a few basic steps you can take to ensure that your Facebook content campaigns and boosts are getting maximum traction for your school. In other words, people are actually seeing your stuffliking what they see and clicking to see more.

If you read marketing blogs at all then you've heard the complaints about constant algorithm changes that Facebook makes. Ranging from people whining about not getting any traction with their advertisements to reports showing that audience groups were not converting as they should be.

 Actually, at the time of writing this article, Facebook hasn't changed their algorithm for a year and a half. The problem is that people continually put out crap content and think that because they are paying $5 they should be getting a few hundred clicks.

It doesn't work like that.

First, if your content isn't being getting any engagement, the algorithm won't give you much recognition. It's lacking...

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Steal My Shit, Making Good On Content Theft

marketing Dec 14, 2014

Note to reader: This article is written for the business owner who creates multi-media content to serve their customers. It is a detail of my own personal experience with internet piracy and theft of my own intellectual property. This article in no way condones or promotes the unlawful and immoral theft of property. Rather, it’s my goal to bring some clarity to how a fellow business owner can use the existing landscape of the net and it’s trends toward open sourced and shared content to their advantage. In the end, I am certain we will win.”

In 2006 I invested sixteen grand into creating a DVD set for the customers at my martial arts school. Like everything else I do, I went the distance with professionalism and quality. Sure I could have taken short cuts, done it myself on some Apple editing software, but that’s just not my way. Audio and image quality, voice overs, angles and packaging of the product, all these items could not be fulfilled by DIY, so I...

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7 Benefits To Having An Online Studio

dojo culture marketing Nov 24, 2014
That Most Industry Business Gurus Completely Missed 

I think it was 2006 was the when I first read the acronym, LMS (Learning Management System). It was during a time when I was searching for information and researching how to deliver content online to paying students abroad. Believe it or not, most of my research was done on Barns and Noble’s magazine section, not online. I needed to peer into the looking glass of web’s future and see what was to come.

At the time, all I could uncover online for teaching martial arts courses to students in other countries was pretty crappy technology geared heavily toward industry systems and a very, very small amount to higher learning, mostly in the medical or engineering space.

 

Yes, there was YouTube and a few other sites providing a resource for experts to upload content for viewership, but linking the pieces together to offer a topic centered, single solution ecosystem that offered a private learning...

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How to Build a Lead Generating Website: Part 2

websites Nov 06, 2014

In Part 1 of this article on how to build a lead generating website, we looked at some first steps that must be in place in order for you to create a solid inbound marketing framework for your page. I hope you took some time to review your page(s), taking what steps are necessary to tighten up any loose ends. 

Now, let's get into the heavy lifting of functionality, getting new prospects to gain trust in our message, provide some authority in our space and deliver massive value to our loyal students.

Before we dive in. You might feel really overwhelmed, but don't. In fact, you find yourself spending hours trying to figure out one little step on your site that seems to be screwing everything up. Don't let this be a wrestling match you just can't win. There's a community of people here, including myself, who can help so don't be afraid to reach out. Also, look to signing up to our Online Studio Mastery program and put it all on autopilot (yes, shameless pug). 

Let's dig in....

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