Most everyone uses flyers to advertise classes and performances in the local area, and with good reason. They’re cheap, easy to produce, and most local businesses will post them without a fuss. But just like any marketing vehicle, you can make mistakes with flyers and fail to get as much business as you could have. Here’s how to really WORK those local flyers.

WRITING:

1) Think about your target audience. Who are you trying to attract? If your answer is “anyone” then you need to have several different flyers for each target group and distribute them where that group hangs out. (Common target audiences for belly dance include moms, middle-aged women, college aged women, high school students, brides to be…)

2) Write in their language. What do you say to a busy college student to get her to try out a class? What do you say to a future bride? Each group needs to hear something different to sell them on your class. Pay attention to that. If you don’t know what you need to say, ask some people who are in that target group (preferably some who are already sold on you.) Take a survey and ask “why did you decide to try the class?” and “what objections almost stopped you.”

3) Address the objections! Every human being has a brain that’s constantly trying to talk them out of something. It’s a defense mechanism. So, in sales pitches (that’s your flyer–it’s a sales pitch) you must address each objection before the brain will say “okay, let’s try it.” Here are a few common objections to a belly dance class and how you counter that objection in a flyer. Belly dance is…

too weird (it’s becoming a national craze! half a million women tried it last year.)

too hard (great for beginners. no dance experience necessary.)

too expensive (less than the cost of a quarter tank of gas. would you trade two lattes a week for some fun and exercise? Try it free!)

only for skinny, young people (no bare bellies required! or show a photo of who your “real world” students are.)

too far away (classes forming near you. try it right here this Sunday at 5pm.)

4) Use photos of your students. Remember, marketing is all about THEM not you. Yes, you can include a friendly photo of yourself. But you’ll get more interest with a photo of your smiling students and a nice short testimonial from one of them. My favorite one is “It’s the best thing a woman can do for herself!” (that’s a quote from one of my students) Your prospect wants to know that she’s not alone, that she’ll find other people just like her in the class. What better way to show that than a photo.

5) ALWAYS include an easy to remember website address and your phone number. The first thing people are going to do is check you out online. So make it easy for them.

6) Ask them to do something and then give them an orderly sequence to follow: “Check us out on the web at YourStudioNameHere.com and call for your free first class.” A flyer that doesn’t include a call to action (where you ask them to DO something) is pretty ineffective.

7) When writing a URL on a flyer or email, capitalize the first letter of each word to make it easy to read and remember.

Use the “B” word. I know “belly dance” can be an unpopular term, and with good reason. However, when you’re dealing with the general public, they expect to see the B word. They really do. You’re not going to educate anyone on a flyer. Get them into your class or onto your web site, and THEN you can educate them about proper terminology. Besides, when they forget your name and phone number, but remember they wanted to find you online, they are almost always going to search for “your town” and “belly dance”. Almost Always.

DISTRIBUTING:

1) Once again, think of your target audience. Who are you hoping will see and respond to the flyer? Make sure you post it where your target is most likely to see it. If your audience is moms or middle-aged women–try the grocery store, hair salon (be sure to ask who their clientele is) or a local playground. If you’re after younger college-age students, try the local college campus.

2) Seek out non-crowded bulletin boards. The messier and more crowded a board or window is, the less chance people will notice your flyer. If you still want to post there, print it on bright colored paper or use a non-standard paper size. Try to stand out from the crowd somehow.

3) Check back often. Posters get damaged, taken down, even stolen if they’re pretty. Ask the owner of the board if they remove posters on a regular basis and then be sure to replace as needed.

4) Track your business. If you know where people found out about you, you’ll know where to concentrate your efforts. How? Just ask. If lots of people say they saw a flyer at the mall, you’ll know that’s an effective location and you need to keep using it. Also, try out different flyers, different photos, different text every now and then. Record how much new business you got from each variation and keep using the ones that work best.

5) Make friends with owners of local businesses. Some will consider placing a stack of business cards or a classy poster right by their cash register. This is a great way to get your message to brides-to-be. You already know where they’ll be–every bridal shop in town!

SO HOW DO YOU USE FLYERS TO GET BUSINESS? Share it in the comments!

So, how do you make sure your prospect chooses you over your competition?

Let’s go back to our universal law of marketing…You’re not selling a drill, you’re selling holes.

Pretend you’re looking for a drill because you need some holes. You flip through the pages of Drill Digest and come across this amazing advertisement. It’s got sexy pictures and a cute logo. The ad copy says it’s fast, easy to use, reliable, long-lasting and affordable. Everything you could ever want in a dream drill. Your heart is racing, it’s such a hot piece of drilling machinery!

But you turn the page and keep looking. Why?

Well, the ad was selling a tool for making tiny holes in sheet metal. But you’re an oil driller–you need to make big holes in dirt.

What’s the point? The point is there are hundreds of different types of drills, and thousands of different kinds of holes. Not every drill is going to suit every hole-maker. It’s the same for belly dance.

How many teachers are there within 50 miles of the nearest city? How many performers are there out there competing for a gig at two or three local restaurants? Lots. Some would say “too many.”

How do you compete with 200 people selling the same thing in your local area? How do you make sure the prospect chooses you?

The answer is to narrow and sharpen your focus as much as possible. Make sure you know exactly what you’re selling (see part one) and then find and market to people who are looking for it. If you’re selling a gentle dance class for seniors, don’t market on a college campus. If you’re selling beaded lycra costumes, don’t advertise on a tribal web site.

Now, some of you might be saying “but I might get a tribal dancer who is also into American Cabaret. Shouldn’t I cover all the bases?”  Well, yes. You might find a few customers there, but it’s not the best use of your time or money. You want to have a laser-tight focus and reach as many of the right people as possible.

This is the fundamental difference between old marketing and new marketing. Back when the only advertising was TV, radio or print, the goal was to reach as broad an audience as possible and hope a few of them were interested in what you were selling. But with the Internet, the whole foundation of marketing has shifted. Now we want to tighten our focus as much as possible and find where the most qualified prospects hang out. Then we go there to market our products (our solutions to their problem.)

You probably wouldn’t place an ad for your belly dance class on a NASCAR forum. UNLESS you’re selling something related to both niches. Maybe you’re going to be at the Daytona 500 and are offering a pre-race stretch class or something. (Is Daytona even a NASCAR race? I should have chosen an example I had a clue about…)

Focus your niche as tightly as possible. Specialize. That’s how you compete with those other 200 dancers.

Don’t be just another belly dance teacher. Be “the only west-side, advanced level, East coast style, gothic tribal instructor offering 6am pre-natal classes to moms of twins.” If you can find a place where that particular target is, you can bet your ad will be very well received. The prospect is what we marketers call “highly qualified” or very likely to buy. That gothic mom-to-be will see your ad and say “Oh, thank goodness! This is just what I’ve been looking for!!”

That’s not to say you can’t specialize in many things at once. You might offer two levels of Egyptian dance, a post-natal, and a senior class every week. But you don’t want to market them all together. Look at your market. Who will be coming to your Egyptian class? Mostly fit girls in their 20s? Stressed out career women? Market accordingly. It’s okay to have several niche websites, or several pages on one site. It’s okay to have lots of ads and flyers in different places. Just make sure they are talking directly to the people most likely to be reading them.

So, now that you know what you’re selling and who you’re selling to, how do you get them to buy? Stay tuned for part three…