This post is part of our #FinanceYourDance series that we've created to help support you in your pursuit to get financial support for your projects, and build financial stability and…
Our new dance television show is here! From Executive Producer, CEO, and host of The Kiner Hour radio show, Ashani Mfuko, we present our brand new television show, "Inside New…
Lafotographeuse Photo from The Ladies Of Hip-Hop Festival 2011
Tonight, on The Kiner Hour – Let’s Talk Dance with Ashani Mfuko radio show, street dance photographer, Amanda Adams-Louis, A.K.A. "Lafotographeuse". Amanda is…
Check out some exclusive interviews from the Joffrey Ballet movie premiere at Lincoln Center in NYC! Featured interviews include, Joffrey Ballet Artistic Director, Ashley C. Wheater, former principal of the…
Tonight on The Kiner Hour - Let's Talk Dance with Ashani Mfuko radio show, Ailey II Artistic Director, Sylvia Waters, Artistic Director Designate, Troy Powell, and Joffrey: Mavericks Of American…
The fact that you’re reading this post says that you’re serious about growing your dance business or brand, and you recognize that Effective, Personalized, Intriguing, and Consistent marketing is an absolute MUST…
We all have goals for the year ahead, and hopes to reach new levels of success this year, that will surpass anything we’ve done in the past. We want to…
Enforced Arch Photo: "Please Don't Touch"
This Sunday, on The Kiner Hour Radio Show, Special Guest, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Exit 12 Dance Company, Roman Baca, and Enforced Arch Creative Directors,…
For Day 6 in our social media success challenge for dance studios, I’d like to emphasize the importance of using all different types of media to promote your dance studio. With millions of dance studios, dance companies, and dance-related businesses out there, you may wonder,
“How can I stand out amongst my competitors?”
The answer to that question is: Video
Videos allow you to show the world who you are, what you (and your business) are all about, and gives people an opportunity to get to know you on a more personal level. Even in today’s time of social media, e-mail, texting, etc., people still appreciate being able to see the face of the person who’s articles they’re reading, who they’re conversing with through Facebook, Twitter, etc., and connect with them in a tangible way. This also helps to personalize your dance studio or brand in a way that will attract people to you and your business.
Check out a video that I did where I talk about my career as a professional dancer/dance instructor in New York City. It has some clips of my choreography at a recent performance, as well as testimonials from some of my students about my dance classes. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think about the video, and also how it feels to put a face with the author of this article.
This is Day #3 in our 90-Day Social Media Challenge for Dance Studios and Dance Businesses. Today’s blog post is all about how to engage your audience.
If you know how to have a conversation (which I assume you do), then you already have one of the key components of success in social media for dance, and any other industry for that matter.
Social media isn’t just about self-promotion. In fact, it’s really about conversation. You have to take the time to engage your audience, get to know your fans/followers, and show an interest in what they’re doing. It’s no different from having a conversation with someone, and only talking about yourself without asking the other person how they’re doing, or what’s going on their life. That would be pretty rude, right?
Here are my top 3 tips for engaging your social media audience:
1) Listen – I find that you can learn so much more from listening than you can from speaking. I recommend listening as part of your social media strategy. You will learn about what’s interesting to people, how to engage them, and also what things to avoid.
2)Ask questions – This may seem obvious but, when a person asks a question, most human beings will naturally be compelled to answer it. Once that happens, a conversation has begun, and you’re on your way.
3)Respond – This is very important, and it’s how you build relationships. When you see a question on Facebook or Twitter, answer it, leave a comment, and offer your insight. Read an interesting blog post? Leave a comment, and share what you liked about it. Of course, you should also always respond when people answer your questions, or leave comments for you. You should monitor these responses, so that you can acknowledge them, and respond to them within a timely manner.
One more thing, it’s important to be genuine when engaging people through social media. People can tell when your only motivation is to sell something, get something, or promote something. So be aware of that.
As you grow your social media network, be sure to remember common courtesy, and the art of conversation. It’s a two-way street, not a one-way promotion.
Join the 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios and Dance Businesses by leaving a comment here, and submitting a question.
If social media marketing was a church, and I was a preacher, I think I’d be called the video evangelist, because I preach about the significance, effectiveness, and impact of videos all the time. And since I’m a “video evangelist”, it’s my job to get you to embrace my beliefs. If you don’t know a thing about video editing, and don’t have the time, energy, or desire to learn about it, then this is a place where you’re going to need to spend some of your dance studio’s marketing budget. This is crucial!
Here are some new ideas for using video to promote your dance studio. I hope that I will make you a believer.
1) Video of the month. Have your students dress up in different costumes, or with different themes, or even do funny skits, at your dance studio, and each month post your “video of the month” on YouTube, Facebook, and all of your social networks. You can even participate, and show your humorous side. Tag your students, and have fun with it! They will share it with their friends, their friends will talk about it, they’ll show their parents, people will share it on Facebook, favorite it, and comment on it on YouTube. People will be forced to come and check out your dance studio and find out what’s going on there, and how they can be a part of it. Your dance studio has now become a social media rockstar!
2) From the Dance Studio Owner…Post a monthly video message to your staff, students, or parents, where you address issues at your dance studio and how you are dealing with them. They don’t have to be anything negative, but if something serious is going on there that needs to be addressed, feel free to talk about it. Take this time to even say a special thank you to a parent, or staff member that did something special, or really helpful that month. This will draw people in, and help them to connect with you and your dance studio on a deeper level. Make it interesting, personal, and/or informative. Share it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages.
3) Share Your Experiences. Recently move into a new space? Talk about the joys and pains of this process, and the lessons you learned. Got new dance floors? Talk about that. Had a good experience with a particular vendor at a conference or convention? Share it. People across your social networks will view and share this video, and your dance studio’s brand awareness will expand.
4) Share Your Dance Studio Events. Did you have a party at your studio? Did you have a master class or guest/celebrity teacher at your studio? Make a video about it. Film them teaching, get feedback from the students, do a brief interview with them. Tag your students and the guest teacher on Youtube and Facebook. Share the video, and watch what happens.
5) Utilize your greatest asset! I’ve heard from many a dance studio owner that word of mouth is your greatest asset. If that’s the case, why aren’t you tapping into your greatest assets? Your students and parents! Get them on video, giving testimonials, or sharing their stories. What about, a “My Little Dancer’s Success Story” video series? Parents love to talk, about their own children that is! They won’t pass up an opportunity to give their child praise on camera, and have them featured in a special video on your blog, on YouTube, and your Facebook page. Do you really think that they won’t share that video with every single one of their friends and family on Facebook? They may even share it with their co-workers and employees. Can you say maximum exposure?
These are the types of things that people will be curious enough to want to watch, and will help to increase your dance studio’s exposure and brand awareness. If the video touches them, they’ll share it with others.
I completely understand the hesitation of many dance studio owners to delve into the world of social media. Some of you don’t even have a personal Facebook account as of today, and others, who are already involved in social media, feel like you don’t know enough about it to truly make an impact. Lastly, there are those of you, who simply feel like you don’t have the time. Well, as I’ve said before, don’t let fear of the unknown or fear of doing it wrong stop you. Nothing beats a failure but a try, right?
So here are the 5 main skills that you need in order to effectively manage social media marketing for your dance studio:
1) You must be able to read. You’re reading this right now, so…Check!
2) You must be able to write. It would be very difficult to operate a business if you couldn’t write, so…Check!
3) You must be able to hold a conversation. No comment necessary…Check!
4) You must know where to get the right tools and information. Ahh, now it’s getting interesting. But once again, you’re here reading this blog post, so I will say…Check!
5) You must know how to manage your time efficiently. Now this is very important. As a dance studio owner (and possibly a parent, teacher, husband or wife too), your day is already full of activities. So this is not about making time for social media marketing, it’s about rearranging your time a bit. Delegate some of your current, not-so-important tasks, to someone else on your staff, or in your family, that is fully capable. Then, you will have an extra couple of hours or so, to spend on engaging your customers, and your target audience, on your social media pages. So now we can say…Check!
See, I bet you didn’t know that you already embodied the necessary qualities to manage the social media accounts for your dance studio. But you do. So, no excuses. If you need more advice or direction, read through the articles on this blog about social media success for dance studios. Join our 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios by leaving a comment, or posting a question here. We’re on Facebook and Twitter too:
Today is Day 83 in our 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios. Today I’d like to paint a little picture for you that will explain why sometimes, less knowledge is more, when it comes to social media for your dance studio.
Imagine that your in-laws are coming into to town to visit, and you know that they love Thai food. You want to take them to a few of the best Thai restaurants while they’re in town visiting. You reach out to your good friend, “the foodie” via e-mail, to inquire about which Thai restaurants he would recommend. He e-mails you back with a list of 50 Thai restaurants in your local area. Was that helpful to you?
Imagine, you have a new customer at your dance studio, who wants to sign his daughter up for dance classes. He asks you what classes you’d recommend for his daughter who is 6 yrs old, has some natural talent, is flexible, energetic, and very passionate about dance. You hand him a list of the 15 different types of dance classes you offer at your dance studio, and walk away. Were you helpful to him?
I’ve personally had a very unique and interesting experience in my business of staffing dance studios. When a dance studio owner contacts my company because they need to hire a dance teacher, we don’t send them 30 teachers to meet and interview. That’s not why they contacted us. They contact us because they need someone to streamline, and give them the best of the best, without them having to choose from a ton of different candidates. One hundred percent of the time (thus far), whoever we send to them to interview, they hire. That is typically only one person.
I say all this to drive this point home. You don’t need to know everything about social media. You don’t need to know about every App that exists, every new social network, or new social bookmarking site that comes onto the scene. You don’t even need to be involved with more than three or four social media websites, for that matter. Most importantly, you definitely don’t need to pay someone to manage your social media marketing for you. You can absolutely do it yourself.
What you need to know is the basics of social media. Then streamline your efforts on a few specific sites to maximize your impact. Finally, get connected to a resource that will keep you up-to-date on only the things that are most important to your dance studio’s social media marketing plan. Anything more than that is just junk taking up space in your brain, or eating up your very valuable time everyday.
So don’t worry yourself about not knowing enough about social media. As long as you know the basics, you’re good to go. In the case of social media for your dance studio, less is more.
This is Day #8 in our 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios. During this challenge you may submit your questions about how to use social media successfully for your dance studio, and share any challenges that you’ve faced so far, and I will be happy to offer you advice and answers to all of your pressing questions.
Today, we answer the question:
How can I use YouTube in social media marketing for my dance studio?
This is Day #10 in our 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios, and today I share with you the top 5 reasons you need to use social media:
1)Establish your studio as not only top of the line, fun, successful, and the best in your area, but, project an image that it is relevant, and up-to-date with the trends in the world of technology, and the internet. Plus, your clientele is heavily involved in social media, so you should be wherever they are!
2) It is a great way to reconnect with staff, parents, and students, that you may not have connected with otherwise. It’s also an easy way to highlight your studio’s talented staff, special events, and services, to those who may not ever go to your website.
3) Get real-time, free access to information and reviews on your studio. How are people liking your new Hip-Hop class/teacher? Should you offer a Summer Dance Camp? Why was there such low enrollment for that special dance workshop that you worked so hard to organize? You can chat with fellow parents during specific times on your Facebook or Twitter page, post questions or ideas for new classes or events at your studio, and get quick feedback. The list goes on and on…
4) Create videos of your students in class, at rehearsal, at competitions, or at the recital, and post it on your studio’s YouTube, Myspace, or Facebook pages. Your students/parents will be proud to share your videos with friends and family, and will very actively be advertising and promoting your studio, without even trying to! How great will you feel when you start to see those enrollment numbers at your studio going up?
5) The parents of your students are heavily involved in social media. It’s a fun, non-intrusive and practical way for you to keep them informed, find out what’s on their mind, get immediate feedback, and offer a very easy way for their referrals to gain access to you. You can save money on flyers, mass mailings, etc., and still get important information to your parents and students in real-time. “Will the studio be closing today due to extreme weather conditions? Check our Facebook/Twitter page for updates.” See where I’m going with this?
If you still haven’t realized that social media is the way to go to enhance your studio’s online presence, increase your studio enrollment, and develop stronger communication amongst your parents and students, then do a little investigating. Ask around and find out how many of your students, parents, and staff, have Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, or YouTube pages, and make your own assessment. I’m sure you’ll find everything written here to be true.
Just remember to establish a clear purpose and strategy for the social media campaign for your dance studio, and be patient. In time, your studio will be one of many social media superstars, and grow exponentially as a result!
Good luck!
Feel free to leave a comment or question here, or on our Facebook or Twitter pages.
This is Day 5 in our 90-Day Social Media Success Challenge for Dance Studios. Here’s today’s question…
Question: As a dance studio owner, what is the one thing that I need to know about social media in order to be successful?
Answer: Interaction is key.
We’ve all heard the saying, “people will forget what you said, and they will forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel”. Well, the same goes for social media. It’s all about how you interact with people that counts the most. The most successful businesses in social media, are the ones that listen to their customers, answer their questions, and interact with them on a regular basis.
In my previous post, “The Rules of Engagement”, I discussed how social media isn’t about simply promoting your business, but it’s about getting to know your customers, what matters to them, and engaging in some sort of valuable interaction with them. One way of doing this, as I’ve mentioned before, is by asking questions in your updates.
If you own a dance studio, and you’re making an update on your page, you can say things like:
-How did you think our dress rehearsal went? Was it better than last year? Any suggestions on how to make it run smoother?
-The recital was a huge success this year! What was your favorite piece? Favorite costume?
-We’d like to choose a non-profit org. to donate to this year. Any suggestions for good causes to give to?
These are just a few examples. Of course, mixed into these types of updates you can also provide info about your dance studio’s upcoming events, new classes, promotions, deadlines for tuition payments, etc. But, make sure that you’re using social media to its best advantage, and make it fun, and interesting. Here are a few fun updates that you can make to encourage interaction:
-It’s May, do you have a birthday this month? Let us know when so we can send you a birthday shoutout!
-What are some of your favorite Summer activities (besides dance)?
-Memorial Day weekend is coming up. Are you going to any barbecues this weekend? What’s your favorite food at a barbecue?
The idea is to mix it up, provide valuable info, but also, get to know people, show an interest in their lives, and interact with them. That’s how you build a fan base, and increase your followers/friends in social media.
Did you find this post helpful? If so, please leave comment. If you have a question about social media for dance-related businesses, feel free to post it here as well. We’re also on Facebook and Twitter.
Last night, I attended a wonderful seminar on how to use Facebook and Linkedin effectively, hosted by Career Transitions for Dancers, with presenter, Jennifer Shaheen of Technology Therapy Group. It was a very informative session, and I will be sure to share some of the highlights of this seminar with you this week.
One of the most important things that I learned in this seminar is that they are still many people who don’t really know how to use social media effectively to promote their business, and are very scared and overwhelmed at the thought of delving in. Is that you? Well if it is, then I’m glad you’re here. This 90-Day challenge has been all about getting you some basic knowledge about why you should absolutely be using social media marketing for your dance studio, and how to go about doing that.
Another thing that was brought to light at this seminar last night was just how much information there is to be shared about each of the different social media platforms, because they’re all slightly different. It is impossible to learn all of these things in one shot because it’s just too much information. So it’s something that you have to be educating yourself on each day, little by little, in order to get the most out of it for your dance studio.
This is why I created the site, Kiner Dance Studio Success, to give you one place to go to, and meet all of your social media education needs, specifically catered to dance studio marketing. All of us who are active and successful in social media have learned from someone. The pattern is learn, and pass it on. That’s what many social media educators are doing everyday. They are sharing what they learned with others. It’s similar to dance in many ways. The dancer learns, so that they can teach their students effectively.
There’s no way, even though I’m writing about social media everyday, that I could cover all of the details of how to use each of the social media platforms successfully for your dance studio on this blog. It’s simply too much information. But, I do suggest that, if you’d like to learn more, and get educated on the specifics of using social media to promote your dance studio, to join Kiner Dance Studio Success today. The official launch is on August 21, 2010.
In the meantime, take this opportunity to check out the Kiner Dance Studio Success YouTube page, and watch some informative videos that focus on some of the most important aspects of social media marketing for dance studios. Also, ask yourself just how important it is to you to learn more about using social media effectively to promote your dance studio. When used correctly, there are some significant positive changes that will occur at your dance studio. Isn’t it worth learning more so that the 2010-2011 season at your dance studio can be the best ever?
Why should I use social media to show appreciation to my dance teachers?
1) Because dance teachers, in general, tend to feel under-appreciated.
2) Because it’s a cost effective way to strengthen the relationship you have with your dance teachers, by showing them how valuable they really are to you.
3) Because it’s a great way to highlight the wonderful things about your staff members, thereby highlighting the wonderful aspects of your dance studio.
Depending on how many teachers you have at your dance studio, you can determine how often you will do this activity. For argument’s sake, let’s say that you do it once a month, during the school year. So, once a month, you would announce on your Facebook page, Twitter page, and your blog (if you have one), that it’s “Dance Teacher Appreciation Week”, and you will be highlighting some special things about Teacher X all week long. Make it fun and encourage your students and parents to post their favorite stories or qualities about that particular teacher, and you can also share interesting things about that particular teacher’s background. Here are some great ideas to show your teachers appreciation through social media:
- Post your favorite things about the teacher.
- Post a little background information about the teacher that people may not know i.e., where they were born, what age they started dancing, what their favorite style of dance is to perform/teach.
- Post short testimonials from that teacher’s students, and other staff members.
- Post if that teacher has performed in a Broadway show or tour.
- Post if they have performed with or choreographed for a well-known artist.
- Post if they’ve won any awards or competitions.
These are just some examples for you to choose from. However, you’re welcome to get creative, and maximize your social media experience by using it as a way to show appreciation to all of the wonderful dance teachers at your dance studio, and highlight what your dance studio has to offer its students. For more ways to show appreciation to your dance teachers, read, “5 Ways to Show Appreciation to Your Dance Teachers”.
For more in depth tips and techniques on using social media to promote and market your dance studio, please join the #1 online social media success resource center for dance studios,http://kinerdancestudiosuccess.com.
