Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be motivated to achieve by such a lofty goal as benevolence? I must confess, however, that in the early years of my struggle to succeed, my motivation was much more down-to-earth. My reason for succeeding was more basic. In fact, it fell into the category of what I like to [...]
Last month, I challenged you to schedule one IDEA DAY per month that you spend reading and studying all of the business educational materials, books, CDs, DVDs, etc. that you invested money to acquire, but have had no time to focus on the contents. This month, in part 2, I’ll present you with rules for [...]
This is a brief excerpt of my in-depth Inter-view with Dan Kennedy. You can read the entire interview and participate in a live call, with Dan Kennedy and me, on July 15. Visit NAPMA.com/DanKennedy to register.Stephen Oliver: Let’s start with the so-called elephant in the room: the economy and the dreaded “R” word. Economists recession [...]
If not, is your School DOOMED for Mediocrity (or Failure)? Last month, my column explored the influence of our environment on our performance as entrepreneurs. Picture Donald Trump making his way to the boardroom, but, in place of his regular staff of executives and experts, are a bunch of interns and mailroom employees. Now, I’m [...]
Although experience is the best teacher, I believe that most established business owners would want new business owners to avoid falling into the traps that can appear on the way to business success. I am confident you will avoid some of my mistakes, twenty of which I’ve gathered in a series of articles; this column [...]
If not, is your school DOOMED for mediocrity (or failure)? The debate goes something like this: Are you simply born with “it” or are you the sum total of your experiences? Was Muhammad Ali predestined to become a championat conception, or was he compelled to greatness by his circumstances? One thing is certain; in today’s [...]
In the last column I explained that most school owners who want to do multiple schools probably shouldn’t. I gave you a few questions to ask yourself prior to considering a second location: Why do I want a second location? Am I capable of managing multiple locations? Is my existing staff focused on our growth [...]
At last year’s Extreme Success Academy, Pat Burleson was presented with the 2009 NAPMA Lifetime Achievement Award for his pioneering contributions to the martial arts professional school instruction industry. Grand Master Burleson created many of the business systems that are now standard in the model used by most schools. He studied under Grand Master Jhoon [...]
I’ve just been listening to the audiotapes from my boot camp, “The Summit of Martial Arts Millionaires.” As I sit here listening to over 22 hours of tapes, I am blown away by the incredible content. As I facilitated this discussion of how to most effectively run multiple locations, one theme surfaced early: Most school [...]
Part 5: The Anatomy of an Ad: Body Copy What Is your Sales Story? Many of the marketing pieces of martial arts school owners start with egocentric descriptions of their businesses and credentials, instead of the information that prospective students and their families need to solve their problems. This is a common copywriting error that [...]
Part 10: The Anatomy of an Ad: Body Copy, Part 6, Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Why Would They Say “No”? When someone is reading your ad or other marketing material, they are having a conversation with themselves . They are naturally skeptical of you, after all, you’re trying to “sell them something,” and they will [...]
Martial arts is about reaching your potential. Like learning an intricate kata, success is a matter of learning the right techniques, and then executing them in the correct sequence. It’s not a miracle, nor does it depend on luck. This magazine and the ACMA program present you with techniques and sequences. Your job is to [...]
Last month, I told you how I moved away from the deck. This month, I want to take the role of devil’s advocate: How can I return to the deck again? If you’ve ever read Michael Gerber’s business book, The E-Myth, then you know that most of us who opened martial arts schools [...]
Where you Use your Keyword Counts!
In my previous column, I explained how to determine the optimal key phrase for your Web site as well as some online tools to help you with this process. As I have already mentioned, Search Engine Optimization is selecting keywords (or key phrases) that rank your Web site higher in the list of search engine [...]
Why I Love Martial Arts Fitness
I’ve recently been reflecting on the impact my programming has had on people and the difference between what I hear my students say today as opposed to when I taught only a traditional martial arts program. In the past, the compliments were mostly about how a child improved in school or how much more confident [...]
Protect your Assets with the Right Business Entity, Part 1
As I wrote in my August/September column, the best way to keep what you have is not to have anything in your name. To implement that strategy, you must choose the right business entity (or entities) to limit exposure of your assets to (successful) lawsuits and separate your asset ownership. This month, I’ll explain Sole [...]
