One of the marketing techniques I borrowed from the fitness industry is the 5-for-1-referral theory. The theory is that each new student you enroll in your fitness program will tell at least five other people about it. You probably have heard similar ideas in martial arts marketing, but I think it works especially well in martial arts fitness, considering the majority of students in martial arts fitness are women.

This became very clear to me when I first started teaching fitness at my school. A woman is much more likely than a man to tell her friends. Most women enjoy telling their friends about new activities. I include gloves and hand wraps in all of my fitness programs, so new students can show them to their friends, as they are telling them about the course.

My referral programs have always featured prizes that referring students could earn, starting with a T-shirt for one referral to four Disney World tickets (I’m located near Orlando, Florida) for five referrals.

I’ve revised my referral programs slightly, so now there is a time limit to receive referrals from new students, and we’ve increased the rewards. Like me, you want to take full advantage of the fact that your new students are excited about your program. If you add to that excitement a referral program that benefits new students to bring their friends, then you’ll have very motivated sellers of your martial arts fitness programming.

I’ve set up my referral program, so that as soon as a student enrolls in one of my programs (10 week UBC, 5-week guaranteed weight loss or maintenance), he or she is given a referral sheet with five complementary passes that can easily be detached to give to their friends. The sheet includes space to write the friends’ names and phone numbers. The referral benefits are explained to the left of the list of names:

“FITNESS FOR THE 21^ST CENTURY: For each person that you refer, who enrolls in the UBC, within 30 days, we add one FREE MONTH of maintenance training to your membership. Or, refer 5 people who enroll, and you will receive ONE FREE YEAR!

“Encourage your friends to visit us by using the five complimentary guest passes. All you need to do is provide the names and phone numbers of the 5 people you believe would most benefit from the Ultimate Bodyshaping Courses.

As an added bonus, we will give you a UBC APPARREL ITEM of your choice for just giving us five referral names within one month of enrolling.”

After distributing all of the passes, the referring students gives the top part of the referral sheet to our manager, who then follows up with a phone call, inviting the referrals to a free class.

I highly recommend that you schedule each prospect or referral to a free class in which his or her friend will participate. Your current or referring student will feel obligated to make it a positive experience. Think about the last time you recommended a restaurant or a movie. Didn’t it mean more to you that your friend enjoyed it also? You can take advantage of this concept of mutual enjoyment when the prospect and his or her referring friend are in the same class. Your current student will do all the selling for you.

This type of incentive program has helped me more than double my referrals, and I had already obtains the majority of my students from referrals. You must take advantage of the student’s excitement when he or she first starts your course. The newness of the activity wears off quickly, so present your referral card program to each new student right after he or she enrolls. Not only will your new students leave your school with gloves and wraps, but also a referral sheet.

There’s a huge amount of material available on how to answer a traditional martial arts call, but little to none on how to answer a fitness call. Many school owners and staff have the traditional martial arts school inquiry down pat, but are lost when it comes to calls about your fitness course.

There are many similarities between the traditional martial arts and fitness calls, but there are also some very important strategies that have proven to increase success, when it comes to martial arts fitness information calls. First, determine what you are selling. If you’re just offering a couple of aerobic style fitness classes a week, then you’re not offering many benefits; and benefits should be the focus of selling martial arts fitness.

From your prospects’ point-of-view, they need a complete picture of your benefits to be convinced to enroll, and you are the “artist” to paint it for them.

Let me explain this further by giving you an example of one of my UBC phone scripts. This is a very common call for my UBC program:

Caller: How much is your UBC program?

Staff member: Is this program for yourself or a family member?

Caller: For myself.

Staff member: How did you hear about the UBC? Do you know someone in the course?

Caller: I saw your ad in the local paper.

Staff member: The Ultimate Bodyshaping Course is a ten-week fitness journey that combines fitness kickboxing, resistance training, a sound nutritional program and flexibility training. The best part about the UBC is that you are not doing it alone. You’re put on a team and assigned coaches. The coaches are people just like yourself who have experienced great results from the UBC program, and are now volunteering to guide you through the course.

Our next start date is January 19th. On that day, you will meet your coaches and teammates and receive your fully illustrated manual that presents you the entire whole course. You start with a complete fitness evaluation, so we can determine your current fitness level - a level you will exceed during the next ten weeks.

Caller: I’m 50 years old and haven’t worked out in years. Can I do this?

Staff member: Anybody can do the UBC. We have had people take time from their marathons, people who’ve lost 40 to 50 pounds and people from 16 to 60 years of age. Anyone can do the UBC because all the classes are self-paced.

Caller: Sounds great. How much does it cost?

Staff member: The 10-week course is only $349 and that includes your gloves, hand wraps, a personal training session, coaches, fitness evaluation, everything. You can even win a cruise vacation with our bodyshaping course; and if you register now, then you can train to the start date at no additional cost.

I’ll stop the example phone script here. You should be able to recognize how the staff member painted a complete benefits picture for the prospect. After we explain the course completely and state the price, it’s not uncommon for prospects to ask, “Is that all?” It’s important to understand that you cannot just state the price, without first relating all of the benefits they’ll receive from your fitness program. You may have noticed that the staff member ignored the first question about the money, and diverted the conversation by asking a question.

This provides the staff member with the opportunity to paint the complete picture of all the benefits and services offered, before stating the price. After we’ve painted the picture, we then try to make an appointment to watch a class. We also try to instill a sense of urgency by letting them know that we have limited space available for the next start date, so if they are interested, then they need to act soon.

To be able to sell martial arts fitness successfully, you must have a program that is worth selling. As I stated before, if all you have to offer is a couple pf classes a week, then it becomes more difficult to impress the caller and charge more than $100 a month for your program.

This is the main reason so many of my UBC sponsor studios have such great success. From the very beginning, they have a multitude of testimonials with “before and after” photos that prove the success of the Ultimate Bodyshaping Courses (UBC). You must have proven results, such as the following testimonials, to have success in fitness. Testimonials have proven time and time again to be the best marketing tool, especially in the fitness industry.

From Erik Heydman, Northwest Martial Arts, Gardnerville, Nevada

“My wife was the one who wanted to get in shape, so I thought I would surprise her by signing both of us up for the UBC. I thought we could spend some time together; and all those extra pounds I was carrying around weren’t really helping me anyway.

“At the five week mid-evaluation, I couldn’t believe that 26 pounds were just gone. Michelle and I could really see our bodies changing. We were both so encouraged.

“We could never have imagined the total transformation in only 10 weeks. I lost a total of 23.25 inches and 48 lbs. I can do things now that were memories of my youth. We are still having a great time and going regularly; and Michelle looks and feels great also. The UBC has changed my life. We can’t thank you enough. Again we say Thank You!”

From Jennifer Lewis, Dinh’s Martial Arts, Murray, Kentucky

“I went to college, was married, had two children and managed to gain 35 pounds!

“It was clear to me, in the first week of the UBC, how amazing this program is. I made it through the first week, following the plan exactly. After five weeks, I had lost 10 lbs., 4% body fat and 12 inches. I was losing inches all over: stomach, hips, thighs and even my ankles and wrists! It was an amazing difference and gave me more confidence and determination to finish and get into the fit, healthy shape I had been.

“At 10 weeks, I had lost 18 lbs., 7% body fat and a total of 21 inches. I’m stronger, healthier and my body is in great shape, especially for a 34-year-old mother of two. I have improved my self-image; I feel better physically and mentally. The UBC has given me the foundation to build and sustain a healthy way of living. It’s just the beginning. The UBC has given me a new life and I’m going to live it!”

From Amy Otten, JJ Fitness, Sioux City, Iowa

“WOW! I feel like a million bucks! I neglected to take care of myself after my two sons were born. It was the middle of May, and I, of course, wanted to buy some new summer clothes. I refused to spend money on clothes, other than the size 5/6, I had worn previously. The next day I saw an advertisement in the paper for the UBC. My husband thought I was crazy, since I had invested so much in exercise videos, with many of them still in their original boxes. As with anything in life, all it takes is a decision - and that’s all it took.

“I am so pleased with the results from the program. I lost 24 inches overall and 17 lbs.; my clothes fit and I am back to my original 5/6! I feel great and have extra energy to take care of my two boys. I have continued in the maintenance program five days a week and, within a couple of weeks, I will be taking the coaches’ training course to help others achieve their fitness goals and changes for life. Thank you, UBC, for such an incredible program! Your dedication to excellence is making a difference for so many! God bless.”

In the past, the compliments were mostly about how a child improved in school or how much more confident he had become. We all know the positive benefits martial arts can have on a child’s life. It can be life changing, so don’t think I’m trying to say that the testimonials I receive about my current UBC programs are any better, or more impacting. They are just different.

I’m now running “adult-only” programs, so what is being said, of course, will be different. Not many adults will say that they’ve improved their behavior because of my programming. Surprisingly, the biggest difference is how much impact I now can have on someone’s life in such a short period of time. Read the following testimonial and go to Ultimatebodyshaping.com to see Roy’s before and after photos. It will blow you away.

“Look at the difference between before and after! I still can’t believe it myself. Several years ago, I had a hip replacement and was restricted to lifting no more than 25 lbs; instead I gained 53 lbs.  The additional weight was causing severe pain in my right leg. 

“I am a three-time cancer survivor, thankfully, and this last time scared the living daylights out of me. When I went into remission, I decided I needed to do something positive for my family and myself. 

“The UBC coaches and the team challenges added fun and excitement to the course; and it really made losing weight easier and more fun than just diet and exercise at home or at a gym. It wasn’t just a routine, but something to look forward to. I wasn’t only competing to accomplish my personal goals, but to have the cruise dangled in front of me was added motivation! At the end of 10 weeks I had lost 48 lbs!

“I am a new me. I feel better, my hip doesn’t bother me as much and I look GREAT! I owe it all to the lifestyle changes I made with the help of UBC. I learned better ways to nourish my body and continue exercising. I made new friends at UBC. I really appreciated the support and motivation from everyone. It’s amazing what you can do with a little support! \My family and co-workers can’t get over how good I look.

“Thank you Jim Graden and the UBC Team!”

Roy’s story is rather amazing; and the really amazing part is that this was written after training only ten weeks with me.

In a traditional martial arts setting, it wasn’t until a student made at least Green Belt (six months of training) before the parents noticed a change in their child, and told me about it. Now, every five weeks (I start a new UBC every five weeks), I have people telling me about the profound effect the program has had on their lives. It’s quite amazing to make such an impact in such a short period of time.

You may not think that losing weight or being in better shape can be compared to the benefits of traditional martial arts training. I would beg to differ. I’ve had students reduce their cholesterol counts from more than 300 to less than 180. An obese person who was unable to rise from a seated position on the floor can now spring to his feet after training in the UBC. I know that my programming extends people’s lives and I love martial arts fitness for that.

What I’ve found is that many of my students come to me because they’ve read a testimonial like Roy’s and are looking for a fast track to health and wellness. Once I help them improve their shape in a short period of time through martial arts fitness training, they feel like they’ve found a life-long fountain of youth. This is one of the great things about martial arts fitness training and why I love it. I have truly changed people’s lives, and you can too, above and beyond what they ever dreamed of, just because they came to us to lose a little weight.

The benefits of martial arts fitness training should be your greatest selling point and the fact that it can happen in a short period of time is all the better.

The elements that make up a good MA fitness class are not the same as a traditional martial arts class. The key elements of a good MA fitness class are consistency, simplicity and intensity.

Consistency is important for martial arts instruction, but traditional classes must keep changing as students advance in rank and learn more material, so the classes are inherently inconsistent.

Consistency in your MA fitness program is a key element to its success. Your fitness students must be able to count on the consistency of the workout. For example, what would you guess is the most popular form of aerobic conditioning at a fitness center? Aerobics, step or maybe spinning? No, it’s a treadmill!

Yes, the dreaded treadmill is still the most popular equipment for aerobic conditioning because people can count on the consistency of the workout. They know every time they step on the treadmill they will receive a real workout.

The next key element is to keep it simple. Traditional martial arts is not simple. Achieving a Black Belt is a complicated process, compared to practically any other sport or activity.

A martial art fitness class must be simple. People don’t want to have to think too much, while they work out. They must be able to enter the aerobic zone where they can push themselves physically by performing repetitive motion with little thinking. Basic techniques can be added one at a time to build to a simple combination, so students don’t have to stop and think about what they are supposed to do next.

Another key element to your MA fitness programming is short, but intense, classes. Most schools have intense traditional martial arts classes for their mid- to upper-belts, but think how long students must train during the majority of their classes before they stop learning and start working out at an intense level.

In fitness, the shorter and more physically challenging the class, the better. The hardest classes are the most popular classes; plus, the average adult just doesn’t have time for a 20-minute warm-up and a 10-minute cool-down. They want fast and intense. If students don’t feel the class is physically challenging and lacks intensity, then they will not participate. The problem with intensity is that everyone is different. What is physically challenging for one person is a cakewalk for someone else.

You must have class structures that allow the students to vary the intensity. This is why my Ultimate Bodyshaping Courses (UBC) kickboxing classes are heavy-bag workouts. Student can hit the bag five times in a minute or fifty times a minute; it’s their choice. Everyone is doing the same activity, but at different intensity levels.

The point I’m trying to make is that martial arts instructors must understand that what they do during martial arts classes will not work in a fitness kickboxing class. This refers to the needs of your students and why they are at your school. Your martial arts students are there to learn and achieve their Black Belts. Your fitness students are there to lose weight and re-shape. Different needs require different approaches.

Traditional martial arts is a personality-driven business. Because of the complexity of martial arts, it takes a unique leader to be able to teach and motivate enough people to follow him or her and make his or her martial arts school successful.

A good MA fitness program should be about the system, not the instructor. Take my UBC instructors, for example. They can choose from a variety of basic combinations, but they cannot teach new material or change the structure of the class. The instructor is only there to motivate and to make sure the class flows from one technique to the next, without requiring that students stop, pause and think about what to do next.

The best part about running a MA fitness program is that it’s much easier to create a system that is consistent, simple and intense than it is to find that unique leader to teach traditional martial arts.

I’ve been saying for a long time that one of the best qualities of martial arts fitness programming is that the market perceives it differently than traditional martial arts. The majority of martial arts fitness students are adults, not children. A martial arts fitness program is often successful because you can schedule classes during morning hours, which would never occur in traditional martial arts. This contrast also applies to merchandising. For the most part, traditional martial arts is limited to uniforms and gear and maybe some instructional videos and T-shirts. By contrast, fitness students will buy nutritional bars, supplements, meal replacement shakes, apparel, training videos, home workout equipment and any other allied or complementary products that you can present to them when they first start training with you. Realize that the average fitness student is an adult woman.

Did you know that women buy 80% of the consumer goods in this country? Men buy the big items, such as cars and houses. Women typically buy clothes and food. Just as a woman is much more likely to tell her friends about your program and bring her friends to you than a man is, women are also far more likely to buy whatever you are selling to support their new fitness adventure. When you introduce a martial arts fitness program, not only will you add additional tuition revenue, but also you’ll create a new revenue stream in fitness merchandising. You’ll be able to expand your retail display are to support your growing fitness clientele. Many schools have doubled or tripled their merchandise sales, since they introduced the UBC.

At my UBC studio, I have developed a complete structure to maximize the opportunities for students to buy additional products. I have even created a system with my new Guaranteed Weight Loss course that generates residual income even if the student doesn’t continue to train at the studio. If this becomes the case, then the nutritional products are still shipped directly to their homes.