A picture says a thousand words–before your eyes even start reading the words. When you go to any website, your brain decides whether or not you should click away within a fraction of a second. Why? Because it’s bombarded with thousands of messages every day. As a defense mechanism, your brain filters out things it thinks are irrelevant so you don’t have to take the time to think about each and every one.  Your brain knows whether the site is what you are looking for long before your eyes and your conscious mind have even registered the words on the page.

Show your students having a great time

One of the biggest mistakes websites make is not being congruent with the visitor’s expectations, especially with photos. Say I clicked on a Google result about a red truck. If I go to that page and immediately see a photo of a yellow sportscar, that’s not congruent. My expectation and what I’m shown don’t match up. It doesn’t matter that there’s a red truck halfway down the page. My brain registers a disconnect before I’m even consciously aware of it.

If you’re looking online for a belly dance class and come to a page with a studio glamour shot, that’s not congruent. There’s a disconnect in your brain before you even start reading. Now, you may stick around long enough to figure it out. Or you may not. But there’s a huge strike against that page that’s easily fixed.

If the page is about classes, show a picture of your class. (Not your class performing on stage–that’s not congruent.) It has to be your class–in a classroom–taking class. If your page is about booking you for a wedding, show a picture of you performing at a wedding.

And speaking of bookings–

Remember that clients hire you not so much for your dancing as for how much fun and entertainment you’ll bring to their guests. So you want photos of you *interacting* with the audience as much as possible. Show them smiling, clapping, happy and enjoying themselves. It’s too easy to worry about what *we* look like in a photo, but it’s just as important to consider what the audience looks like.

And this probably goes without saying, but be sure to get the appropriate permissions to use photos with other people in them, especially wedding photos.

What if you don’t have any congruent pictures?

Get some. Even if you have to stage them at first. I’m not suggesting you lie about your experience. But if you regularly perform at weddings but don’t have any pictures with you *and* the guests, it’s perfectly okay to stage a photo until you get the real thing.

The easiest way to get good class shots is to have a photographer come in and shoot while you’re teaching. Let your students know ahead of time, so they aren’t taken by surprise. (And be sure you clear any clutter out of the background!) Make a nice environment for taking great pictures.

Your action checklist:

For each page on your website:

–Do the photos match what the page is about?

–Do at least some of the photos include other people in them?

If the answer is no, go get some fresh pictures. It will go a long way toward helping convert those visitors into paying customers.

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!