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The Importance of Multiple Streams of Income

by | Planning Your Martial Arts School

Setting Expectations for Martial Arts Students Upfront

Authority is highly influenced by emotion.

While your staff and students may intellectually understand that you are the boss and master instructor, they have to feel it, not think it.

It’s the emotional connection that anchors your authority on a deep level.

If there is one powerful moment in your role as a professional martial arts instructor, it’s in the enrollment conference.

While the parents may see you as the master black belt, they usually don’t have an authoritative reverence at this early stage.

The enrollment conference is a seminal moment for you to establish your authority and gain the respect and gratitude of the family you’re dealing with.

Presenting the programs and their cost to parents can be tense at times. Some parents want to negotiate. Others might object to the agreement. Some want a safety net in case their child wants to quit.

While it’s important that you are prepared to overcome any objections, it’s when the bottom line is signed and the initial investment is completed that you have a critical window to demonstrate your authority.

Many owners complete the transaction and gush with statements like, “Awesome. It’s great to have you on board. Johnny, you did an awesome job tonight. High five! Thanks Mrs. Jones it’s great to have Johnny as part of our family. Let me know if I can help with anything.”

Barf.

Who has the role of authority here? Mrs. Jones and her credit card. That was a missed opportunity.

Let’s try again. You would adjust this script to the age and circumstance, but here is an authority template for the enrollment conference.

Mom has just enrolled Johnny into the program.

You, “Johnny. You want to learn Empower Kickboxing, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. I want you to understand that your mom just enrolled you into a six month program. You are going to learn a lot of great skills and lessons. It’s going to be fun and sometimes it’s going to be hard. That’s the good part because that means you’re learning. So you have to pay attention and practice at home 20-minutes a day when you don’t have class.

Are you going to work hard and practice?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m glad. Your classes are Monday and Wednesday at 5pm. When are your classes?”

“Monday and Wednesday at 5pm.”

“Good. You’re a smart guy. That means that you have to be ready to come to class by 4:30 on Monday and Wednesdays so that you’re not late. Will you do that?”

“Yes sir.”

“No matter what you are doing, you will be ready by 4:30, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. The first lesson is integrity. Integrity means that you do what you say you are going to do. You keep your promises. You promise to work hard and be ready for class, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“No matter what you’re doing. Right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Great. We’re going to be so proud of you. Your mom just enrolled you, so please turn to her and say, ‘Thank you mom.”

“Thank you mom.”

“Alright. When someone does something good for you, you always say thank you. That’s called gratitude. What’s it called?”

“Gratitude.”

“Correct. So you’ve learned two important lessons today. Integrity and gratitude. What does integrity mean?

“Keeping your promises.”

“Yes. What does gratitude mean?”

“Saying thank you.”

“You got it! You are going to do great, I can tell already.”

“Remember, your class is…”

“Monday and Wednesday at 5pm.”

“When will you be ready to come to class?”

“4:30pm.”

“You have a good head on your shoulders Johnny. You’re going to be good at this.”

“Because you’ve showed your mom gratitude and you’re going to keep your promises, here is a school t-shirt for you to wear. Every time you put it on, I want you to think of integrity and gratitude. Will you do that?”

“Yes sir.”

“I just gave you a shirt. How do you show gratitude?”

“Thank you sir.”

As taught in the MATA Certification program, it’s also a good idea to let mom know that it’s important that she control what Johnny is doing around 4:30 which is the agreed upon to be ready for class.

If Johnny is playing with his friends or deep in a video game, it’s going to be harder to get him to get ready than if he is cleaning his bedroom or something he’d like to leave to go to class.

Keep in mind that mom is watching this happen before her eyes. What have you done to establish your authority?

  1. You’ve provided her with a language pattern that both her and Johnny understand. This is huge.
  2. You’ve given mom the “integrity” framework to deal with any reluctance to go to class.
  3. You’ve provided her with a strategy to engage Johnny in less fun activities so that going to class is an easy decision.
  4. You’ve laid out when Johnny should get ready for class without complaint.
  5. Before her eyes, you taught her son important lessons with real world examples. No doubt, your authority sky-rocketed in her eyes and in her heart.

Look for places where you can make these kinds of strong emotional connections.

Demonstrate true authority and leadership. That will last much longer than a trite, shallow compliments like “Awesome! Good job.”

This will help your students to understand how and why they are training with the best school.

One of the best pieces of business advice I’ve ever received turned into one of the worst. Around 1990, a wealthy dad of a student took me golfing. We talked business for most of the afternoon. It was the best way I knew how to take his mind off my awful golf play.

He enjoyed pontificating and teaching me his world of high finance. One point he made stuck with me. He said to focus on one business,  build it and avoid anything else. Single-minded growth was his mantra.

That was great advice at the time. I was coming on strong as a local business owner and as many of you know, the more successful you become, the larger the target on your chest grows. People come to you from all angles trying to get you to invest here, buy there, build this with me, etc… 

Thanks to his advice, I was able to say “No” to many offers that would have distracted from single-minded growth. 

Eventually, I “outgrew” my two schools. They were not as large of a platform as I thought I needed so I sold the schools and created NAPMA and Martial Arts Professional magazine. They were the first widely respected professional association and trade journal for the martial arts school business. 

Over the course of the next decade, I grew NAPMA into a multi-million dollar business and helped thousands of schools. My influence grew and, as many of you know, I’m not shy in my assessments of the martial arts business. 

My vision for the martial arts flew directly in the face of some people with much deeper pockets and far more experience in litigation than I. 

Through a long series of expensive lawsuits over three years, I lost my company, my car, my marriage, and my platform. Little Ninjas, MAPro magazine, Fast Defense, Cardio-Karate and many other programs were assets I created that were removed from life. I still have five figures in legal fees due.

Part of the reason I was wiped out was that the guys’ advice backfired on me. I was single-mindedly focused on one revenue stream; NAPMA. When that was decimated, so was my income. 

I use that story because it’s a great illustration of the importance of creating multiple streams of income. Like legs supporting a table, your income streams are supporting your life.

The danger in creating multiple streams of income is if you start chasing every shiny object that comes your way. You have to be picky. You still have to say “No!” to most every offer, especially those in the MLM, network marketing arena. Yet, it makes sense to create supportive streams of income that are independent of each other but related in theme so that you are still within your area of expertise.

I am forever grateful to my Martial Arts Teachers’ Association (MATA) members for their valuable support. Many have been with me from day one.

It’s with that support I’ve been able to expand, so I’m not in that same situation again. Empower Boxing™, MartialArtsWebsites / Marketing360, and Cobra-Defense have all been profitable, parallel projects each with their own stream of income. 

While they share a common thread of the martial arts and MATA, they are radically different. Teaching a Real Estate Self Defense seminar is completely removed from an Empower Boxing™ class, though they complement each other like a hand in glove.

Today I fly to Santa Clara, CA to speak as a featured panelist for the Evolution Sports and Fitness Expo. This event will also be the launch of our new partnership with the Ten Institute. 

Ten is an excellent fit for MATA and promises to be a significant source of income for any martial arts or fitness professional. If an additional stream of income with a minimal investment of time and money would be a good move, I invite you to check out the Ten page at MartialArtsTeachers.com/.

As an instructor, when you make a recommendation for a nutritional supplement from Ten, you get paid 40% of the revenue that sale creates. You get paid every 30-days. 

Even if your student quits training with you, you’ll continue to receive those monthly checks for as long as the person purchases the product.

I love the idea of a revenue stream that keeps on paying you long after the student stops paying tuition. It’s a great way to create additional, secure streams of income to avoid having your legs chopped off in one fell swoop.

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