CASH VALUE

If it’s free then is it worth anything?

When I first started teaching I wanted everyone to show up. I offered free classes and I sent flyers to everyone I knew. I asked my friends to show up and only one did (currently he is a 5th degree black belt Shidoshi Troy Borchert). I didn’t understand why people would not run to free classes. So I asked my teacher, Shihan Ed Martin (15th degree black belt), why no one was showing up. He explained that I need to charge for the classes or no one would show up. The challenge was to ask enough money that people felt it was a good value but not so much that it kept people from showing up.

How much is too much?

So I reworked the flyer and offered class for $25 per month. I had about 8 students show up and attendance remained steady for several months. I thought that since I was teaching from the basement of my home that 8 was as large a group as I could expect. So I raised my rates to $50 for every new person who inquired about class. The professional karate schools in the area were charging $65 to $85 per month with contracts and rank advancement fees. But those schools had more class options and great facilities. Then a funny thing happened. I started receiving regular phone calls and my class size increased. I had found the sweet spot for value versus dollars. I was still the same teacher offering the same subject matter in the same location. So why did it have value when it was $50 per month but not when it was free?

The more it cost the better it is

People must feel that what you are sharing has value or they will not spend their time, much less their money. The next thing I did was stop taking new students. When people wanted to try a free class I told them I was near capacity and they could try a free class. If they like what they saw they could pay for one month and work out with us. At the end of the month I would discuss with my current students if that person could join. If the group approved them then they could join the group. If they went 3 months without participating then their spot could be filled by a new student. This one action kept current students active and made new students want something they may not be able to get.

If I can't have it then I want it more

Once people thought they couldn’t get it they wanted it twice as much. Now you must realize that there will be times that you will tell people that they can’t train with your group. We did have a handful of students who were told “NO”. That is a hard speech to give to a prospective student. However,I found that when the group was polled and agreed we should not accept a prospective student, their reasons were valid. The person may have been too aggressive and causing harm to students or there may have been maturity issues. The net effect was the group felt that their membership had more value and they had better training partners.

Web Site Decisions

I had to make a monetary decision about this website. If I offer instruction and don’t charge for it then people will assume it has no value. If I sell all the knowledge behind the Bujinkan then many Bujinkan instructors will be selling something that can be found for less on the internet. There are many good Bujinkan training videos out there and adding mine to the collection will not add to the volume of knowledge. So this is how my site is arranged. The blog will be designed to help people who run dojos and to review training equipment. The academy side will also be free. However, I plan on focusing the knowledge strongly to the Gendai side. Most of what we do with modern techniques and weapons has come from taking the foundation of the Bujinkan and applying it to today’s backstreet and battlefield.

The money to support this venture will come from paid advertisements and voluntary memberships for any individual who wants to help support the site. Some visit this site often and I hope to add content daily. Contact me with any suggestions and join the forum to meet others who train in Ninjitsu. Every time you click an ad and visit a vendor’s website you help us out as well.