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Getting The Word Out

Amber Murphy
Purple Dragon International Karate
Jiu Jitsu Assciation

"The most important part of my marketing strategy is keeping quality in the school. I find that word of mouth marketing is the best advertisement, students with enthusiasm for their programs is the way to go."

Sensei Amber Murphy started studying martial arts when she was 16. Now, at 25, she owns her own school in Vancouver, a franchise of Purple Dragon International Karate Jiu Jitsu Association.

She used to run the school as a volunteer when it operated out of a community centre, but decided that it was time to start her career. After working extensively on her business plan, she applied for a loan from the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. She looked for space, found it in Kitsilano, and opened her full-time martial arts school. Amber chose that facility because it was the best location she'd seen. But it turned out that there are also lots of schools nearby, and they've become a mainstay of her marketing strategy. She draws students to Purple Dragon by hosting events such as mini-slam championships, karate boot camps and doing demonstrations at festivals in the community.

She also markets herself as a young, energetic role model. "I promote my achievements, such as being thefirst female Canadian Black Belt in the Don Jitsu Ryu System, and the first female Canadian Sensei in this style of martial arts."

Amber has another marketing advantage. There are not many female Black Belt martial arts instructors who run their own school, and this attracts attention.

"People come to Purple Dragon Academy for many different reasons: our international world class reputation, self defense, or to gain more confidence and fitness. Our school has a family environment, and I think people like that."

Your market research is the foundation of your marketing plan. It will determine how you will deliver your product or service, how you will present yourself, (your 'branding'), what messages your customers will respond to best, and where you should concentrate your advertising and promotional efforts to get the best response.

There are hundreds of ways to spend your advertising budget, from direct mail, e-mail campaigns and trade shows to traditional radio, television, newspaper and magazine advertising. Whatever you choose, if you can afford it, hire professionals to help develop your support materials, logo, packaging, advertisements and sales messages.

Tried and true ...

"Four Ps" of Marketing

Marketing plans are implemented through:

product/service: how it's designed to meet your customers' needs;

pricing, relative to the competition, regulations and profitability;

placement, or location and distribution channels;and

promotion, advertising, selling or publicity.

Networking is still one of the most powerful forms of marketing. The good news is that it can be as informal as "seeing and being seen" at community events, networking groups, industry associations or social gatherings. Networking is great way to tap into the benefits of 'word of mouth. 'People will get to know and remember you, and refer your services to others.

... or relatively new

At the other end of the spectrum, a website works as an advertisement, a resume, or a virtual storefront where you showcase products and services or sell them online. Invest in the services of a web design company to develop a professional, appealing and user-friendly website. They should offer technical programming, professional graphics and writing, content design, and marketing science for your website.

If you want an effective web presence, you must also advertise your website, and that includes paying for "web seeding" services. This will get you listed with major search engines such as Google and Yahoo, so customers can find your site by typing in key words. The whole process can be time consuming, but is essential in ensuring your website is an effective and powerful marketing vehicle.

... or new horizons

One way to expand your customer base is to export your product or service outside our borders. New technologies make this especially attractive for knowledge-based industries.

Resources

Exporting Resources

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