Practical Ideas for Marketing BASI Courses

Carrie Smith

By Carrie Smith

In tough economic times, knowing how to market your business is all-important. Here are some of the rules I follow when promoting BASI courses at my studio in Herndon, VA.

First and foremost! Rule #1:

Have PLENTY of time to organize, market, call and sell to prospective registrants. For me, if there is not much lead time, I just KNOW a course will not do well.  For the CTTC (and Mat), I like six to nine months; for Advanced Education Courses, a year is almost the minimum amount of time I need to get it on the appropriate schedules – my own, that of the presenter and those of the many people who want to attend.

I often see ads for workshops, continuing education classes etc. that interest me. But in most cases, I’m not able to attend, even if I really want to, because I already have things scheduled on those particular dates. If the event had been advertised earlier, that might not have been the case.

Obviously, it is not only about my own schedule (there are times when I realize that the world doesn’t revolve around me), but I have heard many possible “prospects” lament their inability to attend courses because that had been advertised way too late.  So, I took a cue from my daughter, who is a wedding planner, and began using the “save the date” tactic – very similar to what BASI has done for our symposium coming up in 2013.

I am already getting nervous about Karen Clippenger’s educational events NEXT January. Lead time is so important to running a smooth, FULL course and I know I need to begin getting the word out soon. Sam Wood’s Injuries and Pathologies course, which we held in December, was scheduled in November 2010! Word of mouth helped create interest and excitement over the course of many months, so by the time people saw the email ad, they knew what it was about.  That is how we sold out!

Rule #2:

Network, network, network. BASI has done a good job of this in the past 2-3 years with Facebook, its presence at conferences, keeping connected with the BASI family, etc., so this advice is more for hosts.

Make connections with studios, other instructors – anything or anybody related to what we do. I find that hosts are very internally-focused on their studios (understandably), but they need to get outside in order to pull others into their courses. We all need a network in order to grow, and meeting people at conferences, connecting with fitness club directors, physical therapists etc. will expand that network.

This may sound antiquated, but I find that meeting contacts face-to-face means so much more than doing so via a computer.  I used to offer a free Instructor Mat class (just for Pilates instructors) to get people together for a workout.  It was a great way to connect with instructors who worked elsewhere.  I know of instructors who signed up for BASI courses after getting a taste of what we offer at one of these Mat classes.

Rule#3:

Hosts need to have gone through the BASI CTTC – there is absolutely no question about that! They probably don’t realize how much more they could connect with the students, offer them assistance and, in the long run, spread the word to other prospective students, if they had the CTTC under their belts. It is so much more “authentic,” if the host of a course has been through it; in fact, I really can’t imagine how you can host without that, though I know it does happen.

I would have to add that I do have an advantage, being both faculty and host. I can control things more and offer tutorials which the students love. They, in turn, spread the word to others in the area on how supportive the BASI course is – that has been a huge help in marketing the CTTC.

Rule#4:

Make sure that studio clients see ALL advertising, including ads about events that are not necessarily for them – such as Advanced Education for instructors. Anybody who can talk needs to know what is happening; people notice things and pass on the word, even if the things they talk about do not concern them directly.  I love free advertising and word of mouth is the best advertising of all!

Carrie Smith is a member of the BASI Pilates faculty and owner of Balanced Bodies, the BASI host studio in Herndon, VA.