How to make sure your dance classes don’t fizzle out!

Firework night already! This year is certainly flying by.

Yet there is still plenty of time to build excitement, make plans, create a stir, keep on the ball, and ensure your dance classes light up the sky, rather than fizzle out.

So how can you do this?

Here’s a few ideas to try out before the bonfire dies down and the Christmas Decs are up – go on – we dare you:

 

– Run a competition

Screen Shot 2015-11-05 at 17.16.01We ran a “We love our dance teacher” competition a while back. We invited the public to tell us why they love their dance teacher (regardless of whether they were a Popdance teacher or not) and why they felt their dance teachers should win a prize.

We had a fantastic response – and it was fascinating and also quite touching to see the affect that dance teachers have on their pupils.

So, not only was this a great way to get people involved and chatting with us, but it also introduced us to amazing dance teachers, some of which now work with us too :)

The two winners were presented with mugs featuring the reasons why their pupils loved them :)

What kind of competition could you run? Perhaps “what you like about dancing?” – to not only your pupils but also to the public – ask people to join in on facebook, twitter and email you – feature “what you like about dancing” on your website, blog content, etc – great for SEO as well as interesting to read – select some winners and perhaps offer them a free taster session in your class.

 

 

– Give your class something to work towards

photo (8)Some of you will be working towards exams, a show etc. but how about a collection of something? This could be something like “when you attend 5 classes consecutively, we will give you a 6th class FREE” – this works really well for payg adult classes.

For Kids classes, we have 8 characters called the POP-Its – they each have a name, a specialist dance move and a favourite power food – we have stickers and badges and sticker charts – at the end of each half term, we award all Popdancers with a POP-It Character badge – there are 8 to collect – children do love collecting things and also being given achievement awards so this works really well.  Once they’ve collected all 8 – they get an achievement certificate too.  Check out The POP-Its HERE

 

 

 

 

– prepare a Christmas party

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Invite everyone, mums, dads, children, babies, grannies, grandpas, aunties, uncles, neighbours, friends, the guy from the bus stop – ask everyone to chip in £1 – give them a party to remember and donate the proceeds to charity – ideally you want people to book via email on your website so that you can stay in touch – and this gives you the perfect platform to introduce new people to your classes, perhaps with friends, and also gives customers a chance to see what you offer – result!  And by running it at low cost and for charity, this gives you great PR opportunities – what are you waiting for?

 

 

 

– send out a gift

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 13.02.58This could be a postcard to customers who haven’t been to your classes for a while – perhaps with a “wish you were here” message on the front and the offer of a free class on the back – making people feel wanted and that you’ve missed them will encourage them to return

And how about a “Thank You” postcard to all your current customers – there are great deals on print from companies such as moo and vista – or alternatively, you can send them via email as e-cards.

 

 

 

So, that’s just 4 things you can do between firework night and the decorations go up – have a go and let us know how you get on.

We value all feedback, so let us know if you found these tips useful.  If you haven’t already done so, you can sign up for our FREE weekly marketing tips for dance teachers HERE

If you would like to find out more about working with Popdance – check it out HERE

Have a fantastic firework night and here’s the wonderful run up to Christmas.

x