Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast

From multiple martial arts schools to semi-retired: How Robbie built systems that run his IMC martial arts business empire while he works just 2-3 days a week.IN THIS EPISODE:Why Robbie deliberately stopped being "the face" of his schoolsThe 5-year instructor-to-owner career path system revealedHow 80 students earning $2,000/month exposed the #1 business killerThe conversation that unlocks team freedom: "Do you want this job?"Inside Robbie's Level Up Summit with Australia's top martial arts minds"Those who want something find a way, those who don't find an excuse"And more*Bring 50 Enrollments Into Your Martial Arts School Every 90 Days Need help growing your martial arts school? Watch Training + Take The Assessment

168 - The 5A Content System: How This Martial Arts School Owner Grew 127K Instagram FollowersAlan La from Invincible HQ™, grew to 127K Instagram followers using his 5A Content System,without fancy equipment or viral stunts. In this episode, he breaks down how martial arts school owners can escape the "instructor trap" and create content that actually converts.IN THIS EPISODE:Why the martial arts industry is falling behind in marketingWhy "fly on the wall" content beats produced videosThe $20 tool that makes the biggest differenceHow to turn existing classes into weeks of contentThe 5A Content System (Authority, Access, Applause, Ascension, Action)Making martial arts less intimidating through behind-the-scenes contentAnd more*Bring 50 Enrollments Into Your Martial Arts School Every 90 Days Need help growing your martial arts school? Watch Training + Take The AssessmentTRANSCRIPTIONALAN: So I literally started on the streets and, you know, really just trying to find enough students to keep the dream alive. And I’ll be honest, like back then, I didn’t have a massive marketing budget. I didn’t have money, pretty much, but I was fortunate enough to be starting my school right when social media was beginning. And I took that as an option. I saw social media was this thing where it gave me the ultimate kind of equaliser with other massive schools that have been established for like decades.GEORGE: Hey, it’s George. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. Today I’m joined with Alan La from Invincible HQ. How are you doing, Alan?ALAN: I’m good. Thank you, George. Just want to say again, thank you for having me on and look forward to see how I can help school owners and coaches.GEORGE: Amazing. So a little bit of context that led to this interview. So I met Alan at one of our Partners Intensive events in Sydney, and we just had a brief little chat, spoke marketing, spoke ads. It was in between sessions. And then I had a look at Alan’s socials and I was watching some of his Instagram stuff that he was doing. Firstly, if you want to be inspired as a martial artist, Alan’s skill and kicks are just bar none.But then together with that, just watching how he packaged everything and then just seeing the amount of mass following that Alan has, I think it was 127,000 followers on Instagram. So to learn here from Alan as what he does as a martial artist, but also from the publishing standpoint and growing a mass audience, which are three skills that you very rarely see together in the martial arts space. So thanks so much for jumping on, Alan.ALAN: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I’m grateful to be here.GEORGE: Awesome. So let’s just, I always like to just start from the beginning. What’s a bit of your background? What got you started in martial arts? And we can go from there.ALAN: Okay. Well, first of all, I’m Alan La and I’m the founder of Invincible Worldwide. And most people see me as the guy with a hundred K followers and 20 million views. And they assume that I’ve got some secret marketing degree or whatever. What a lot of people don’t know is that I started out as the furthest thing from what you call the influencer thing. I was a shy kid, just started teaching martial arts in the back of my parents’ house when I finished high school and eventually that grew and then I had to move out to local PCYCs and stuff like that.But then sometimes we’d get kicked out. So I had to teach in local car parks. And so I literally started on the streets and, you know, really just trying to find enough students to keep the dream alive. And I’ll be honest, back then I didn’t have a massive marketing budget. I didn’t have money. Yeah, pretty much. But I was fortunate enough to be starting my school right when social media was beginning.ALAN: And I took that as an option. I saw social media was this thing where it gave me the ultimate kind of equaliser with other massive schools that have been established for like decades. So I decided I’m going to go all in on trying to figure out this social media thing. And I thought that was my way to kind of be heard and get my name out there.I remember then this was like early stages, once a couple of our YouTube videos took off and went viral. I thought, oh, this is amazing, seeing the results. And then I thought, all right, cool. I’ve got this kind of formula and I’ll start playing around with this, experiment with it.ALAN: And then as you know, social media evolved and changes. So I’ve seen it from the early days of YouTube to now Instagram Reels, Instagram carousels and Stories and it’s constantly changing. But what I’ve noticed is that yes, these things change and it’s not about luck, right? I’ve actually realised it’s actually systems and principles. And so I’ve used the same principles to go viral on Instagram as well. And it’s just systems.ALAN: So what I’ve realised is it’s not luck and don’t chase luck or trends. So I’ve used the same principles to now run a seven figure school in Sydney and also be able to help school owners to install the same proven systems to build and also build their team. So they can stop trading hours for dollars and finally build a business that kind of supports their life and do what they want to do.ALAN: Because when I look at a lot of school owners, I feel like particularly in martial arts, we tend to get stuck in our old ways and we like to just stick to tradition. As much as we try to keep up with the pace of where the modern world is going, I feel like as an industry, we’re not enough. You know, there are a lot of industries out there where things have moved so fast, but in martial arts, I don’t know, we’re a bit slow. So I’m passionate about really helping school owners and coaches to push forward and yeah, that’s why I’m grateful to be here with you, George and share whatever I can.GEORGE: It’s interesting you mentioned the level playing field because that now again is actually just levelled again. And I’d love to dive into your systems and principles because that’s sort of the language that I resonate with and then everybody can adapt and add their own unique ability to it. But if you think of you saw social media as this opportunity, I can kind of recall when I started this podcast, I also saw it as an opportunity to just, well, nobody’s really doing these kinds of things and it’s good to just use it as a platform.GEORGE: But the old model of you needed all these followers was like, that was the method. And for anyone paying attention to social media now, there’s been this shift of social to interest-based where the algorithms go by interest. And so I guess if you think of what makes this chat with you today relevant is you’ve got all this experience and you’ve got this mass following, but for anybody that’s maybe not there and starting out, adapting principles and being able to produce good content can actually get you the same virality now without the mass following. And so that’s where the algorithms have evolved to.GEORGE: So I would like, and if you could share whatever you feel comfortable sharing, but you mentioned the systems and the principles. How do you go about that? How do you look at content in a way, in a system that gets you the visibility that you’re after?ALAN: Yeah, you’re absolutely right. It’s always changed. For example, Instagram, when it first started, I remember hitting over just 500 followers. I was like, oh man, I got so excited. And then you get to a thousand, you get really excited. And back then it was about the followers. The more followers you had and the more likes, you felt good. And you’re absolutely right, just probably a couple of months ago, Instagram now is all about the views.No one cares about the likes or the followers anymore. And they’ve kind of levelled out the playing field where someone who has fewer followers might actually get more reach than someone who’s got hundreds of thousands of followers. So it’s actually levelled the playing ground really, really well.ALAN: So what that means now even more is that the content that you’re creating has to be even more interesting. Whereas in the past, you just kind of create your own content and if people like it, people will follow. But now you’ve really got to have the ability to capture people’s attention really, really fast, within three seconds. So I think that’s a big thing.ALAN: Going back to principles, I always believe in principles, same thing growing my martial arts school. I don’t believe in following trends. I think you have to be different. Being different is what captures people’s attention. If they scroll and you look the same as every other martial...

David Jenkinson reveals how his BJJ school automated 50% of lead follow-up while improving conversions. The system that handles price objections.IN THIS EPISODE:Why David was "worried about bothering people" (and how it was secretly killing conversions)The automation breakthrough that handles price shoppers better than humansHow BJJ leads actually prefer talking to a bot first (the psychology behind it)The two types of prospects every BJJ school gets (and how to automate for both)Why 50% of leads now book trials without any human interventionThe follow-up sequence that works while you're teaching classesHow to balance automation with personal touches that close enrollmentsFrom manual follow-up burnout to systematic conversion: What changedThe "guinea pig" experiment now transforming BJJ lead managementTRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey, it's George.Welcome to the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.Today, I've got David Jenkinson from Hawkesbury BJJ.How are you doing, David?David: I'm good, mate.How are you?George: Good, good.So we talk a lot in the Partner’s call.I wanted to bring you on.You've been in the group for quite a long time.I like these calls to sort of capture where progress is at, but also really get to know you better and have a conversation.See where the martial arts came up and take it where it comes.David: Sounds good.George: Cool, cool.Fill us in.Fill in the gaps, I guess.Where did martial arts all start for you?And what's the journey?How did the journey evolve to where you are today?David: I started later in life, I guess you could say.I started training at 22.I've always been interested in martial arts.Growing up in the 90s, you watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers and all this sort of thing.Mum actually went to sign me up for karate when I was younger, but I chickened out.So it wasn't until a little bit later when I started to get interested in mixed martial arts.I discovered the UFC through a Smashing Machine documentary.Not the Rock one, the original one.I was just super interested in watching these fights.And one thing that really interested me was whenever Joe Rogan was talking about a specific style, he'd always bring up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.That was the black belt that he held up really highly.I was sort of curious about what it was.I learned a lot from his commentary.I learned about how you could win a fight from the ground.And not just from the ground, but off your back from what would normally be considered an inferior position.And it would just seem like in 2005, just a crazy strategy to take the fight to the ground and strangle somebody.This is mainstream ideas now, kids doing martial arts.But back then, it was quite a wild concept, right?So I decided to take a class.I took my first class at a gym in Liverpool, Sinosic Perosh Martial Arts.And at that time, there weren't many schools.So I was really lucky that I had those guys there, high-level black belts.Elvis competed in the UFC himself.I trained there for a little bit and loved it.It was a little bit far for me to travel from my place in Mount Druitt.So I stopped going there and then found another gym a bit closer in Penrith with the Te Huna Brothers, EFG.And from there, picked up Jiu-Jitsu again with Fabio Galeb.He opened his school, and I got my black belt from Fabio—sorry, blue belt from Fabio.And then he moved up to Surfers, and I started training with Chris Sales and went through to black belt with him.

Craig Harmer discusses operating multiple martial arts programs in a small town while balancing a full-time law enforcement career and competing at world championship level.IN THIS EPISODE:How to successfully operate Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and 4 other programs simultaneouslyFrom 50 struggling members to 150+ profitable studentsWhy world championship success matters for small-town business credibilityThe challenge of competing with rugby, cricket, soccer, and every other local sportHow law enforcement skills create better martial arts instructionDoubling revenue without doubling membership — the exact strategyTRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey, it's George Fourie.Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.So today I'm with Craig Harmer and I almost want to say you're probably the busiest guy on the planet, right?Craig: It seems like it sometimes.As we were talking offline, I went to the world championships recently and some of the competitors were talking about how busy they were.One of the other coaches said, busy?You don't know what busy is.Talk to this guy.So I went through my timetable during the week and they were like, yeah, I'm going to shut up now.So everyone's busy.Everyone's got stuff to do.Just get it done.George: A hundred percent.So let's, well, let's dive into that, right?You're a lifelong martial artist.You are still running a full-time job.Craig: Yes.George: And you're running a super successful dojo.Do you refer to it as a dojo, school, academy?Craig: We call it, because I guess we have a number of different programs, I like to call it an academy.George: Academy, cool.Craig: I stole that from our head coach, John Will, as well.It's a place of learning.It was designed to be called Goulburn Martial Arts Academy.I want it to be ownership for everyone that walks through the academy.I didn't want it just to be Craig Harmer's or whatever.I want everyone that walks in to feel as though it's their place to be able to come and learn.So yeah, it's an academy, I guess.

Frank Cirillo teaches both Kyokushin Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a town of 26,000 people. Here's how he built 250 students and achieved financial freedom by combining traditional and modern martial arts.IN THIS EPISODE:How Frank started teaching BJJ as a white belt because no instructor was availableWhy combining hard-style karate with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu created unstoppable programsThe pricing mindset that transformed Frank's business after 18 yearsHow small-town dynamics actually work in favor of premium martial arts programsWhy parents said "it's about time" when Frank finally valued his expertise properlyThe business advantage of being a multi-disciplinary martial arts expertTRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey, it's George Fourie.Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.So this episode is one of my favorite episodes to do, which is a bit of a blend of a case study, but then also a deep dive and getting to know some of our Partner members a bit better.So, welcome to the call, Frank Cirillo.How are you, Frank?Frank: How are you, George?Great to be here.George: Awesome.Cool.So, I was just looking, we started working together back in October, and I wanted to bring you on.You've had some great success and achieved some great milestones in your business, but I want to, I guess, have the conversation that we don't typically have on the calls and get to know the entire journey, how this all began and so forth.So we can just kick it off right at the beginning.Who is Frank Cirillo?Frank: The deep question.George: The deep one.Frank: Well, mostly Frank is a family-orientated person.Everything I do is for my family.And now we've got a granddaughter in the mix who's a week old as well.George: Congratulations.Frank: Thank you.Thank you.That's a bit of a life changer right there.When it comes to martial arts, I've been doing it.I started kind of late because I started in my teens, and I've been doing it ever since: judo, karate, and then much, much later into my adult life, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.We are from an isolated area in country New South Wales.So, it had its challenges as well.The information that we sort of were taught from my past instructors was, I won't say limited, but it took a long time to get any updated information, which I was hell-bent on fixing when I took over; I was hell-bent on fixing that.So lots and lots of travel and trying to work with some of the best in the country and overseas so I could bring, to become more well-rounded for myself and to be able to offer much better services, much better martial arts here in Griffith and surrounds.And it's been a really long journey, but it's finally starting to pay dividends.We didn't have any Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu anywhere near our area.So that's a crazy story in itself.Well, I don't know how many people out there, I'm sure there are, but there are instructors.I went through two or three instructors till we found coach Anthony Perosh through a mutual friend.He was fighting in the UFC at the time, and a mutual friend contacted him and then asked me to contact Anthony.And he started off as we do as white belts, but we were instructing here as white belts as well and travelling back and forth to Sydney, following a syllabus, a little film clips, etc.So yeah, it was very strange to be offering classes as a white belt, but there was no one here.So we, there was a group of us, 10 or so people.And what it is now is a whole bunch of us; like anyone that walks in now, they don't know the difference because we've got our black belts.So no one asks anything now.And now we have little kids' classes, intermediate classes.I have an instructor who runs classes 50, 60 Ks out of town himself.It's just been a real eye-opener that if you stick to things, it's amazing how things tend to pan out sooner or later.And I'm so glad that we stuck it out.It hasn't been easy.It's been very hard out here and balancing two martial arts, very different from one another.And they're hard, hard, hard martial arts.I couldn't do it any other way after doing Kyokushin karate for so long.It had to be something equally as hard and realistic.That's really important to me.

Lifelong martial artist Daniel Jancek shares how fixing pricing and surrounding himself with growth-driven school owners helped him step away from his job and go all-in on his martial arts business.IN THIS EPISODE:How a simple pricing mistake kept a 500-student school stuck.Why shifting from pay-as-you-go to real memberships created instant stability.The fear every school owner faces when raising tuition and what actually happened.How to identify the families who truly value your program.Why premium pricing increases commitment and reduces afterthought attendance.The power of building decisions inside a room of growth-driven school owners.TRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey, it's George Fourie.Welcome to the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.Today, I am with Daniel Jancek.How are you, Daniel?Daniel: Good, George.How are you?George: Good.Did I say Jancek?Did I say it in the proper accent?All right, cool.So I'm going to give a brief intro, but I'm going to let Daniel tell the story.This is sort of a cool part where I get to interview people that are in the Partners group.We tell a bit of a case story, but I also get to chat about things that just probably don't just come up in conversation.So it's a great opportunity for me to get to know Daniel better and just talk about his journey in martial arts.They've had great success in martial arts over the last year, especially going full-time.So we'll dive a bit deeper into that.But yeah, welcome to the call, Daniel.I appreciate it.Daniel: So thanks for having me.George: Cool.So I guess just start right at the beginning for those of you that don't know who you are.Just give us a bit of background on you, your journey, martial arts, and where you got started.Daniel: Yeah, No, love to.So yeah, I basically was a bit of an energetic kid.I suppose you could say when I was really young, I had a lot of energy that I needed to release.I'm a little bit aggressive at times.I was not the most well-behaved kid.So I got into football at a really young age when I was four years old.And when I was about five and a half, yeah.My mom and dad thought it'd be really good to get me into martial arts once a week.So I brought a newsletter home from school.It was like a newsletter pamphlet drop that I got in school.I took that home to Mom and handed that to her and went for our first lesson.And yeah, really never looked back.So I'm 35 now.Well, yeah, going close to 36.It's been a good 30 years that I've been doing martial arts nonstop for.I started as a five-and-a-half-year-old kid that thought it looked pretty cool.I liked the logo.That's what sort of got my attention.It was a boxing kangaroo.The rest is history.

Tom Lowe grew Horizon Taekwondo from 40 to 250 students after a year-long plateau at 200. In this episode we discuss how he broke founder-dependency, and rebuilt the school with stronger systems and support.IN THIS EPISODE:The long plateau around 200 students and what helped shift momentum againThe identity change required to stop doing everything aloneHow building an instructor team opened space for growth and balanceHow conversations with other school owners fast-tracked decision-making and confidenceThe value of shared insight from a community of school owners facing similar growth milestonesTRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey, it's George Fourie.Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.So today I've got a guest with me that we've probably got a long overdue catch up.We have been working together for around four years, I think I looked earlier, since about August 2021.So Tom's come a long way with Horizon Taekwondo.And yeah, we just want to go back on the journey.How it all started, who Tom is, and where he's at right now in his martial arts journey.So welcome to the call, Tom.Tom: Thanks George, nice to be here.George: Good stuff.So we've got to start at the beginning.Who is Tom Lowe?Tom: I'm Tom from Adelaide in South Australia.I've got a wife and two kids; one's 10, one's 3.And I've been running my own martial arts club for about four and a half years now.George: Four and a half years, cool.So we didn't actually then start working; we started working together pretty soon after you opened up, right?Tom: Yes, correct.George: Cool.Okay.So let's, before we jump into the business and the nuts and bolts, give us some context.Like how did the martial arts journey happen?What made you decide on going ahead with the school?

Getting martial arts leads but they keep disappearing? You're not alone. Most martial arts school owners blame "tyre kicker" leads, but the real problem is your follow-ups. Here’s the exact automation system that fixes it.IN THIS EPISODE:Why calling leads "tyre kickers" kills your martial arts business growthThe 60-second automation system that stops lead ghostingHow Amanda turned 11 martial arts leads into 7 premium signups ($83 cost per student)The martial arts marketing follow-up sequence that works across email, SMS, and voicemailWhy Facebook's Andromeda algorithm changes affect your martial arts school adsThe content strategy that creates higher-quality martial arts leadsTRANSCRIPTIONThe world of martial arts marketing, marketing your martial arts school.So let's say you're running ads at the moment; it could be through Facebook, through Google.They typically take a different pathway or a different strategy.So maybe we'll lean into Facebook for now.But regarding leads in general, let's say you are running a campaign and you've got lead enquiries coming in and they just ghost you.So you're all excited, you get a lead notification, see the phone number, and perhaps you pick up the phone and call them.No answer.You try to message them.No answer.So what's the deal?Are all these leads just notoriously bad?Is it just a distraction?Is it too hard to get hold of people?I'm recording this close to December right now.Are people just more distracted than ever, and it's hard to get hold of them?Or are they just all the leads, martial arts leads, just tyre kickers?There are a few things that we can consider here.And if you are in the scenario where you're getting leads and they are ghosting you, there are a few things that could be wrong.Number one, I think I want to address the mindset around leads.And a lot of times I hear school owners talk about how leads are tyre kickers, and it's not typically their fault.Because let's say you're running a campaign and you've got one lead notification, two, three, four, and you can't get hold of anybody.And four leads in, all of a sudden your entire mindset is shifted.You feel here's another time waster.

Why Facebook’s latest update is changing how martial arts ads really work, and what school owners can do to stay ahead without relying on agencies. IN THIS EPISODE:How Facebook’s Andromeda update reshapes martial arts ad targeting and what you should do first.Why your content strategy has become your new targeting system.The unseen cost of having no control over your Facebook ads.How building martial arts ad campaigns “from the mats up” can lift your results fast.Adapt your martial arts marketing as AI starts guiding ad targeting.And more.TRANSCRIPTIONIf your martial arts Facebook ads are tanking right now, then listen up.This is for you.Welcome to the new Facebook algorithm update.Now, you might have been seeing fluctuating ads all your life.This is a little different though.This is very different, and I urge you to pay attention to this Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast episode because I'm going to be going through what's changed, what's different, and how you should be approaching this from the ground up, all the way from your organic social media strategy all the way through to your ad campaigns.So it's definitely time to not bury our heads in the sand anymore and depend on other people to just press all the buttons for us.It's got to start from the ground up.So this episode, I'm going to be covering what's different, what's changed, and how we are going about it with our martial arts school and our clients and helping them elevate their ad campaigns from the ground up.Let's get stuck in.So first up, a little bit of context.I saw this update release back in December, and initially it was just for e-commerce brands, and so I didn't really pay much attention to it.

Almost all martial arts school owners are disappointed with their agencies or have a horror story to share. Here’s how I see both sides of the storyIN THIS EPISODE:The flawed martial arts agency model of overpromising.The unrealistic "microwave expectations" about martial arts marketing.The power of the marketing-to-mats feedback loop.The strategic mindset shift from focusing on cost to focusing on return.The advantage of an "open book" martial arts marketing approach.And more.TRANSCRIPTIONI want to talk about everything that, in my opinion, is wrong with martial arts marketing.This is coming from two sides, from both sides: the agency model, the delivery, the expectations that get promised in the market space, and then on the flip side, how it's perceived and the expectations from martial arts school owners of what it is and what it's not.And then there's the inevitable hamster wheel of disappointment that it just never seems to escape.So, who has not had a bad experience with an agency?Everybody talks about how their agency sucks and they're terrible.Is this true?Yes and no.I feel it's on both sides.Now, in my last videos and a few things that I've distributed, I've mentioned my dislike for the traditional agency model.And I'll tell you a little story.Here's where this started.This is now going back. Oh, it's got to be at least five or six years ago.I always feel like I get timelines wrong.

Behind-the-scenes of 15 cash-boosting martial arts marketing strategies inside Martial Arts Media™’s Partners community, and how you can get access.IN THIS EPISODE:Timetable efficiency that actually simplifies martial arts marketing.The secret to using AI that goes far beyond simple social media posts.A simple conversation framework designed to dramatically increase your sales.How a single, non-marketing element of your school can make all your marketing and sales easier.A powerful campaign that can generate a massive cash injection for your school in just a few days.TRANSCRIPTIONI just finished uploading a video for our private clients in our Partners group and I thought, "Hang on, maybe this will be useful for you to check out."So, for a little bit of context, if you've been following me for a while, you know I talk about Partners, our community where we help martial arts school owners grow with their marketing.If this is your first time tuning into the podcast, I've been working with martial arts school owners for just over 13 years.I've helped more than 400 martial arts schools generate more than 25,000 trials.And so, we've got a lot of resources, tools, and strategies that have worked and been refined over the years.So, I was going through our members' portal.The goal was to do a bit of pruning, see what's been working well, who's watched which resources, and also plan for a few sessions coming up next month.Now, as it stands right now, there are 139 courses and playbooks, but those are layered with multiple sessions inside those 139 sessions.I was going through and I found 15 sessions from about the last year that are just real moneymakers.If you implement those, they're going to bring massive results to your martial arts school.And so, I wanted to bring them to life in case some of our members missed them or they weren't on the live calls.I just did a quick video breaking them down, what they are useful for, and where they can be used.And I thought, "Well, hang on, why don't I just share this with you?"So, depending on where you're watching this video, if you go to martialartsmedia.com/159, that's the number 159, it'll take you to this episode, and I'm going to include that video breakdown about Partners in that video.

Why most martial arts school owners are struggling with Facebook ads, the influence of AI, and how to take back control of your results. IN THIS EPISODE:What’s really changed with Facebook ads for martial arts schoolsThe downside and power of AI The agency trap that keeps school owners stuck and returning to zeroA 5-step framework to improve your ads from offer to follow-upThe pitfall of not aligning your martial arts marketing strategyAnd more*Bring 50 Enrollments Into Your Martial Arts School Every 90 Days Need help growing your martial arts school? Watch Training + Take The AssessmentTRANSCRIPTIONDo Facebook ads still work for martial arts schools?Or has that ship now sailed?Maybe, maybe not.Well, I want to dive into what I see is working, what's not, and the challenges that are coming up in the market space right now.It's not necessarily just ads; it's market sophistication and a whole lot more.So, let's jump in.First up, do Facebook ads still work?100% yes.Where's the problem there?Why are costs going through the roof?Why are results tapering down?Why is it harder to get hold of people when you get leads?And then when you get leads, why is it even harder for them to show up?The truth of the matter is, market sophistication has evolved.And as times change, we have to level up.So, there are a few things that I see are making a big impact in the market space right now.First up, let's talk about the big one: AI.AI is magic.

How Australian Martial Arts Academy's head instructor turned chronic fatigue into a leadership edge - driving growth and retention at a top-tier school.IN THIS EPISODE:The Belt-By-Belt Recovery Story That Changed Mark’s Life (And His Students')Walking Away From Medicine To Pursue The Martial Path Full-TimeThe Hidden Energy Technique That Helps You Show Up Big—Even When You’re Running On EmptyHow Teaching On Crutches Inspired A Wave Of Black Belts To Keep GoingThe Sales Strategy That Works As Well In A Kids Class As It Does On The PhoneAnd more*Need help growing your martial arts school? Apply Here.TRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another episode of the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. So, today I'm speaking with Mark Loughran from the Australian Martial Arts Academy.So, episode 156—155—I’d been chatting to Hakan, Hakan Manav, and Mark’s name dropped in there quite a few times. So I thought I’d bring the man on himself to have a chat about 18 years in martial arts. He’s also one of the head instructors at the Australian Martial Arts Academy, and one of our featured speakers at the Partners Intensive that’s coming up in June, depending on when you listen to this.But with that said, welcome to the call, Mark.Mark: Thank you very much. Great to be here. George: Good stuff.We've only just recently met as well. So I'm going to take this as a blank canvas and a conversation just to tap into your genius, the things that you do. So if we had to start from the beginning, who's Mark, how did you get into the industry? Let's go from there.Mark: Yeah, that's a really interesting story, actually. My journey into the martial arts industry started as a recovery piece. Flashback to 2005, I was graduating high school.So, that makes me feel like I’m starting to get old now, everyone I’m teaching was born after that year. Flashback to that time, I graduated high school and got presented with a couple of opportunities.One was from my parents. They said, “If you want to go further and study at university, you can do that,” because my dad worked as a Deputy Vice Chancellor at James Cook Uni. I grew up in Townsville, in Far North Queensland.And they said, “If you want to go to university here, go for it. Stay at home, it’s free, all good.”And they said, but if you want to go away, pay for it yourself. And that was the deal. My brother had the same deal.He was a couple of years older than me. And he got himself a full scholarship to Melbourne uni. And he was like, Townsville was too hot.I did the exact same thing, except I went to UNSW. So I've got a scholarship to study medicine at UNSW and went down there, started that journey and ended up getting really sick towards the end of my first year with glandular fever. And there was a whole piece of trying to identify what was going on there, because I was really sick for quite a long time. I ended up with chronic fatigue syndrome, which I still have now, 19 years on.And I still battle that every single day. My sort of path into martial arts started about a year after I got really sick with that. I ended up bed-bound for one to two years.Part of my recovery, actually, I should backtrack a little bit. I was doing high-level athletics at a national level at that time as well. I used to play A-grade tennis and represented Queensland in different sports when I was in high school.I was always an athletic person. And then, for someone to go from that to completely bed-bound, it was a big change and a big struggle. So part of my recovery from that was, there is no treatment.It's just management. Try and do some exercise. What have you never done? And so I thought, Oh, I've never tried martial arts, always been interested.

Following up on Episode 155, Hakan Manav shares martial arts staff development strategies to build a high-performing team - giving you the freedom to scale and grow.IN THIS EPISODE:• How to transition from solo instructor to building a scalable team• The first hire that can make or break your martial arts school's growth• Why letting go is essential for business expansion and instructor success• A proven framework for training and promoting instructors from within• How to turn parents and adult students into valuable team members• And more INVITATION: If you’d like more info about working with me in and Hakan in Partners Mentor, Just message me ‘Mentor’ on Facebook and I’ll send the details over in a doc (no sales call required) Send Message On Personal Profile >TRANSCRIPTIONGeorge: Hey there, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. So, this week I've got Hakan back on the call. Good day Hakan.Hakan: Hey George.George: In the previous episode 155 and you can check that out if you haven't, martialartsmedia.com/155. We spoke about the four obstacles that Hakan and his family overcame over the last 43 years to build their 1800 student strong academy.And so this week we thought we would dive deeper into these obstacles. Thanks for jumping on again, Hakan.Hakan: Pleasure to be here. Thank youGeorge: We spoke a little bit about the product. We spoke about staff development, personal leadership. Let's loop into staff development for this call. Let's just dive a bit deeper and look at the things to watch out for. Why should we even be doing it? Which direction to take when scaling your school? Hakan: Absolutely. Once the product is nailed and you've got a great thing people are coming back for in terms of the actual martial art that you're teaching. The next step we want to think about is how we can deliver this at scale. For a number of reasons? First of all, we love what we do. But there are days that we might feel ill or we might want to go on holiday, or we're going to be away for various reasons. So you need the classes to be running at the same acceptable standard.So we've got those obvious reasons, but I want to touch on a personal experience that we went through as an academy. I'm going to say about 25 years ago now.

Hakan Manav reveals how they solved 4 growth obstacles martial arts school owners face and built a thriving, full‑time operation with 4 locations, a 30 staff, and 1,800 students.IN THIS EPISODE:• Explore the hidden product tweak that keeps students smiling and sparks unstoppable growth• Uncover a fresh staff-training approach that secretly sculpts high-performing instructors• Follow a surprising systems shortcut that quietly streamlines every corner of the academy• Experience the leadership shift that frees you from day-to-day tasks and ignites team synergy• A glimpse into the Manav’s families path to a 1,800-student academy by overcoming 4 key obstacles• And more FREE: Swipe the exact plan I use to fill martial arts schools with 200+ students within 7 months (And make sure your students are an incredible fit > Learn MoreTRANSCRIPTIONGEORGE: Hey there, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast episode. Today I've got a guest with me and I was just looking through, I actually googled it, when the last time he was on the podcast and it goes back to episode 14, November the 1st, 2016.Nine years ago. Cool, welcome back Hakan. HAKAN: Thank you George, happy to be here.GEORGE: Awesome. So I'm trying to think when we had that podcast, I was probably, I saw you do a demonstration at Weimar and that's probably a couple of years before that. And you already had your DVDs. I think we still got your DVD box of your program. HAKAN: We're telling our age, aren't we? GEORGE: And I guess it's funny how like our journey together, work together. I also looked into Stripe and you've also the longest standing client that I've worked with in regards to marketing and Facebook ads.And just the other day we got talking about helping more school owners and we decided to do a joint venture together in what we call Partners Mentor. And we'll probably talk a little bit about that, but there's a few things that we want to discuss in the industry, particularly where people are getting stuck, things that we are seeing. There's a lot of our conversations on messenger back and forth and planning and doing some marketing and me getting feedback from what you're seeing on the mats, hands-on, me looking at what am I seeing around the industry, what's coming from different school owners around the globe, what people are facing.And I think a good thing for us to be in this episode, one of a few, would be to, yeah, just have a bird's eye overview of looking where things are at in the industry, what are you seeing, where people are getting stuck, what's coming up and so forth. But before we get into that for those listening and they haven't met you, just give us a bit of a roundup.

After 13 years and working with 400+ martial arts school owners, I share my refined vision from helping school owners break the 100 student barrier, to 300, to $1M revenue per year. IN THIS EPISODE:The three-part framework to attract, convert, and retain students for long-term growthWhy most martial arts school owners struggle with marketing—and how to fix itA new lead follow-up engine that automates engagement and increases conversionsThe one overlooked strategy that can increase school revenue by 20-30%How to scale without burnout while maintaining a balanced personal and professional lifeAnd more  INVITATION: If you’d like more info about working with me in Partners, Just message me ‘Partners’ on Facebook and I’ll send the details over in a doc (no sales call required)Send MessageTRANSCRIPTIONToday I want to take you through my plan to help 100 martial arts school owners scale from 100 to 300 students and help 10 martial arts school owners scale to 1 million dollars in annual revenue. I'm going to go through the whole plan. I'm going to take you through this google doc and I'm probably going to go a little off script just to give you a bit more context around how the story evolved, what got me here, what brought on this plan and all the rest. So, I'll start at the semi-beginning. 13 years ago I discovered martial arts at my five-year-old's first martial arts class. I'd never been to a martial arts class, and didn't know much about it. I saw the movies. All that I thought is, you know, for me as a first-time parent, what a great activity this looked like for my child to get into. And I was watching this class and to me the only words I could find to describe it was personal development in the physical form. I was seeing these kids stand six feet tall, disciplined, confident, and I thought wow these kids are learning like life-changing skills and it's all disguised as fun and they don't even know it. And that moment in hindsight was a life-changing impact for me which brought me to this life-changing journey. So I started helping the school where my son was training with lead generation.This came about completely not on purpose. I actually bumped into one of the instructors at a kid's playground where my child was playing and got talking to the instructor and learned what they were doing. And this was the first time I sort of got some insight just on how the business was running etc.And my marketing brain kind of just triggered a few ideas and I thought look I know a few things that could definitely help you guys. I'd love to come and share what it is. And so at this time in my life I was deep into the trenches of online marketing.I was doing Google ads. I was mainly running online affiliate type products. Doing Google ads to landing pages and emails and I'd gotten a little bit of success.My biggest aha moment was being in Australia at the time and selling to someone in the United States that I've never met and they bought my product and I said oh wow this the possibilities of this are endless. I know it's common now but at that time it wasn't that common. Anyway, the school was already successful.

In this Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast I took Michele Ciampa from Shotokan Karate Club Tasmania through The Price Amplifier which boosted his student value by 52%.  IN THIS EPISODE:How a simple, weekly social media post became the primary driver of student enrollment for a growing martial arts club.A surprising shift in pricing structure that could more than double annual revenue per student.Why leading enrollment conversations with value—not price—could be the key to better engagement and commitment.A new approach that slashes the number of students needed to meet financial goals while still enhancing the club’s impact.A strategic plan to engage new age groups, adding depth and variety to the dojo’s community. FREE: Swipe the exact plan I use to fill martial arts schools with 200+ students within 7 months (And make sure your students are an incredible fit > Learn MoreTRANSCRIPTIONGEORGE: Hey, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. Today we're doing something new.We're going to go with a full-on coaching call and do something a bit different and see if we can create some value, create a bit of conversation and really help one of our guests go to their next level, which we're going to discover what that is. And so somebody that I've known for quite a while, Michele Ciampa.MICHELE: Hello.GEORGE: Did I pronounce it correctly?MICHELE: Yes, that's correct.GEORGE: Michele Ciampa from Tasmania Shotokan Karate Club in Tasmania. So welcome! How are you doing, Michele?MICHELE: Good. Yourself?GEORGE: Good, good, good.Cool. So if you mind just giving us a bit of a background. Yeah, just a brief overview about your karate club, who you teach, how long you've been going for, etc.MICHELE: Absolutely. Okay. So I started teaching in 2019, just in a small community hall at first.And then we had some renovations going on with that. So I had to find another location. So I found a place in a dance studio for a little while, and then I was back to the community hall.And then just last year in October, I decided I'll just gamble everything and take a jump. And I opened in the main street of lovely Bernie here in Tasmania.GEORGE: Congratulations!

In this martial arts business case study, Evan and Erica share how they scaled their martial arts school from 30 to 170 members, boosting monthly recurring revenue by $10,000. IN THIS EPISODE:A unique perspective of Evan and Erica on the connection between music and martial artsThe business relationship when it comes to their martial arts schoolProblems that Evan and Erica faced in their martial arts school businessBalancing martial arts tradition and businessThe benefits of joining the Partners program and the influence of its communityWhat is the A.I.R. model, and how is it going to help you in your martial arts businessInvolvement of Evan and Erica’s children in the martial arts schoolDriven by a vision of financial independence and lifestyle flexibilityBreaking away from Conventional LifeAnd more  FREE: Swipe the exact plan I use to fill martial arts schools with 200+ students within 7 months (And make sure your students are an incredible fit > Learn MoreTRANSCRIPTIONGEORGE: Hey, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. Today, I've got two awesome guests with me, and this is my favorite episode to be doing because it's a martial arts business case study with two amazing clients who I've known for a little over a year.Evan Whetter and Erika Graf, soon to be Erika Whetter, welcome to the show.ERICA: Thank you.EVAN: Thanks, George. It's great to be here.GEORGE: You've got a bit of an interesting story, and I want to explore both because you're long-time business owners and you're also two very well-established musicians, which I really admire because that was like part of my history for a long time in my life. Leaving school, I played drums, and I didn't want to do anything else but play drums.And I would play in cover bands and bands, and I would travel all around, and that was my thing. Until I realized I couldn't cut it as a musician, and then life took over. But you guys have really made it work, and we're going to talk about all the martial arts stuff and everything. But you also run a music school, right?

Breaking down the price barrier: Are your martial arts tuition fees simply too cheap? Are you undervaluing your classes? There’s poison in the pricing, and it might not be what you think.IN THIS EPISODE:The stigma surrounding martial arts schools that charge premium pricesThe Myth of the "McDojo" label often given to successful martial arts schools Overcoming the mindset blocks around martial arts tuition feesHow to charge your worth and price your martial arts classes to represent it’s true valueAnd more*Need help growing your martial arts school? Start Here.TRANSCRIPTIONHey, it's George Fourie. Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. But today I want to talk about the poison in pricing for martial arts classes, for martial arts tuition.Are martial arts classes just way too cheap? Are martial arts school owners charging way too much for their classes and tuition? Are they just ripping people off? Are people getting the value for what they are paying? Or are they the dreaded controversial McDojo if they charge too much? All right! Lots to unpack here. I will dive deep into this, probably ruffling a few feathers in my take on this, but it needs to be said and unpacked. So, let's do this.For show notes, for the transcript of this episode, and all links mentioned, go to martialartsmedia.com/151. Let's jump in. If you've listened to my podcast for a while, okay if you haven't, but we talk a lot about marketing, lead generation, and getting and attracting new students for martial arts schools. That is the primary conversation because I guess in a way, I'm a little bit known for it.People always come to me for that. But here's what's interesting: the first conversation that I had when we onboard martial arts schools into our Partners program was not about any marketing. We're always talking about offers and we're always talking about pricing.It's probably the conversation that's valued the least, but it makes the biggest impact because when we fix this in a strategic way that's without selling your soul and all these limited negative beliefs that come up, providing good value and charging a premium, good premium rate for what your classes are worth.It makes a huge impact because martial arts school owners come up with the idea that they need all these hundreds of students to hit their income goal to have a decent life and be able to provide their martial arts services without having to have a job, a side job to keep the dream alive, etc. You know, for martial arts school owners that want to do this full-time. They have this idea of all these students they need and all of a sudden, we half that by just tweaking the numbers, changing the terms, changing how we go about all this.Now I want to address a few things that come up with us. First up, I probably want to say that there is no wrong and no judgment in any martial arts school owner who provides a great service, and loves what they do. They serve the art of what they do and they want to share that and maybe they just want to do it part time and maybe they just want to keep it as a hobby...

The tables turn as the interviewer becomes the interviewee: George Fourie shares his life experiences and journey through marketing and martial arts on the Kyl Reber Podcast.IN THIS EPISODE:George's journey from studying computer programming to selling computers, working on a cruise ship, and eventually starting Martial Arts Media™The story behind George's most impactful $37 saleGeorge's near-death experience as a pivotal wake-up call that transformed his outlook on life and careerHow George discovered a passion for martial arts and saw potential in combining this with his marketing expertiseHow Martial Arts Media™ was founded, focusing on supporting school owners to grow their businesses through digital marketingAnd more*Need help growing your martial arts school? Start Here.TRANSCRIPTIONHey, it's George Fourie. Welcome to the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. Today, I am going to feature an episode, an interview that I had on the Kyl Reber Podcast. Kyl, a good friend of mine, interviewed me. You can look him up on kylreber.com.au. Also, martialartsmedia.com/145.I had the pleasure of having Kyl on our podcast. By the way, I was looking at it. In episode 145, we were talking about him having 370 students. I know that number's almost up to 500 now. They are booming, to put it mildly. Anyway, go have a listen to that if you haven't yet.For this episode, I really wanted to feature it because I got to tell you. I've been trying to record a podcast where I tell a bit of my story and just background where I came from, how this all got together, and I've given the pieces and inside of this over the years. I just had a look. We had episode 150, and I actually started this podcast in 2016, July of 2016.I'm probably in the race for the longest-going podcast with the least amount of episodes, but 150 awesome episodes it has been, and I'm going to continue to do this for a while. Anyway, I've really wanted to have an in-depth– about my story, and I tried to record it a couple of times solo by myself, and I've got to say, it felt weird.I did it about three times, and I deleted it every time. Then, I got on Kyl’s podcast, and Kyl gave me 10 questions just to prepare for the podcast. I did that, and I thought it was going to be enough, but Kyl's questioning technique was really solid and in-depth. Every time I answered, he dug a little deeper and dug a little deeper.I’ve got to be honest. I probably spoke about things that I maybe just haven't shared over the years. Nothing too serious, but just things that I've buried in my past and let go. But Kyl did a really good job of unpacking all the details about me and asking a lot of questions. So, this podcast is going to be a bit longer.I highly recommend you check out Kyl Reber’s podcast. I will have all the links for that at martialartsmedia.com/150. That's it for me. I hope you enjoy this. I would love to know your feedback afterward. Let's dig in...