David Jenkinson reveals how his BJJ school automated 50% of lead follow-up while improving conversions. The system that handles price objections.

IN THIS EPISODE:

1. Why David was "worried about bothering people" (and how it was secretly killing conversions)
2. The automation breakthrough that handles price shoppers better than humans
3. How BJJ leads actually prefer talking to a bot first (the psychology behind it)
4. The two types of prospects every BJJ school gets (and how to automate for both)
5. Why 50% of leads now book trials without any human intervention
6. The follow-up sequence that works while you're teaching classes
7. How to balance automation with personal touches that close enrollments
8. From manual follow-up burnout to systematic conversion: What changed
9. The "guinea pig" experiment now transforming BJJ lead management

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George.

Welcome to the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

Today, I've got David Jenkinson from Hawkesbury BJJ.

How are you doing, David?

David: I'm good, mate.

How are you?

George: Good, good.

So we talk a lot in the Partner’s call.

I wanted to bring you on.

You've been in the group for quite a long time.

I like these calls to sort of capture where progress is at, but also really get to know you better and have a conversation.

See where the martial arts came up and take it where it comes.

David: Sounds good.

George: Cool, cool.

Fill us in.

Fill in the gaps, I guess.

Where did martial arts all start for you?

And what's the journey?

How did the journey evolve to where you are today?

David: I started later in life, I guess you could say.

I started training at 22.

I've always been interested in martial arts.

Growing up in the 90s, you watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers and all this sort of thing.

Mum actually went to sign me up for karate when I was younger, but I chickened out.

So it wasn't until a little bit later when I started to get interested in mixed martial arts.

I discovered the UFC through a Smashing Machine documentary.

Not the Rock one, the original one.

I was just super interested in watching these fights.

And one thing that really interested me was whenever Joe Rogan was talking about a specific style, he'd always bring up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

That was the black belt that he held up really highly.

I was sort of curious about what it was.

I learned a lot from his commentary.

I learned about how you could win a fight from the ground.

And not just from the ground, but off your back from what would normally be considered an inferior position.

And it would just seem like in 2005, just a crazy strategy to take the fight to the ground and strangle somebody.

This is mainstream ideas now, kids doing martial arts.

But back then, it was quite a wild concept, right?

So I decided to take a class.

I took my first class at a gym in Liverpool, Sinosic Perosh Martial Arts.

And

Craig Harmer discusses operating multiple martial arts programs in a small town while balancing a full-time law enforcement career and competing at world championship level.

IN THIS EPISODE:

1. How to successfully operate Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and 4 other programs simultaneously
2. From 50 struggling members to 150+ profitable students
3. Why world championship success matters for small-town business credibility
4. The challenge of competing with rugby, cricket, soccer, and every other local sport
5. How law enforcement skills create better martial arts instruction
6. Doubling revenue without doubling membership — the exact strategy

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George Fourie.

Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

So today I'm with Craig Harmer and I almost want to say you're probably the busiest guy on the planet, right?

Craig: It seems like it sometimes.

As we were talking offline, I went to the world championships recently and some of the competitors were talking about how busy they were.

One of the other coaches said, busy?

You don't know what busy is.

Talk to this guy.

So I went through my timetable during the week and they were like, yeah, I'm going to shut up now.

So everyone's busy.

Everyone's got stuff to do.

Just get it done.

George: A hundred percent.

So let's, well, let's dive into that, right?

You're a lifelong martial artist.

You are still running a full-time job.

Craig: Yes.

George: And you're running a super successful dojo.

Do you refer to it as a dojo, school, academy?

Craig: We call it, because I guess we have a number of different programs, I like to call it an academy.

George: Academy, cool.

Craig: I stole that from our head coach, John Will, as well.

It's a place of learning.

It was designed to be called Goulburn Martial Arts Academy.

I want it to be ownership for everyone that walks through the academy.

I didn't want it just to be Craig Harmer's or whatever.

I want everyone that walks in to feel as though it's their place to be able to come and learn.

So yeah, it's an academy, I guess.

Frank Cirillo teaches both Kyokushin Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a town of 26,000 people. Here's how he built 250 students and achieved financial freedom by combining traditional and modern martial arts.

IN THIS EPISODE:

1. How Frank started teaching BJJ as a white belt because no instructor was available
2. Why combining hard-style karate with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu created unstoppable programs
3. The pricing mindset that transformed Frank's business after 18 years
4. How small-town dynamics actually work in favor of premium martial arts programs
5. Why parents said "it's about time" when Frank finally valued his expertise properly
6. The business advantage of being a multi-disciplinary martial arts expert

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George Fourie.

Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

So this episode is one of my favorite episodes to do, which is a bit of a blend of a case study, but then also a deep dive and getting to know some of our Partner members a bit better.

So, welcome to the call, Frank Cirillo.

How are you, Frank?

Frank: How are you, George?

Great to be here.

George: Awesome.

Cool.

So, I was just looking, we started working together back in October, and I wanted to bring you on.

You've had some great success and achieved some great milestones in your business, but I want to, I guess, have the conversation that we don't typically have on the calls and get to know the entire journey, how this all began and so forth.

So we can just kick it off right at the beginning.

Who is Frank Cirillo?

Frank: The deep question.

George: The deep one.

Frank: Well, mostly Frank is a family-orientated person.

Everything I do is for my family.

And now we've got a granddaughter in the mix who's a week old as well.

George: Congratulations.

Frank: Thank you.

Thank you.

That's a bit of a life changer right there.

When it comes to martial arts, I've been doing it.

I started kind of late because I started in my teens, and I've been doing it ever since: judo, karate, and then much, much later into my adult life, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

We are from an isolated area in country New South Wales.

So, it had its challenges as well.

The information that we sort of were taught from my past instructors was, I won't say limited, but it took a long time to get any updated information, which I was hell-bent on fixing when I took over; I was hell-bent on fixing that.

So lots and lots of travel and trying to work with some of the best in the country and overseas so I could bring, to become more well-rounded for myself and to be able to offer much better services, much better martial arts here in Griffith and surrounds.

And it's been a really long journey, but it's finally starting to pay dividends.

We didn't have any Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu anywhere near our area.

So that's a crazy story in itself.

Well, I don't know how many people out there, I'm sure there are, but there are instructors.

I went through two or three instructors till we found coach Anthony Perosh through a mutual...

Lifelong martial artist Daniel Jancek shares how fixing pricing and surrounding himself with growth-driven school owners helped him step away from his job and go all-in on his martial arts business.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• How a simple pricing mistake kept a 500-student school stuck.
• Why shifting from pay-as-you-go to real memberships created instant stability.
• The fear every school owner faces when raising tuition and what actually happened.
• How to identify the families who truly value your program.
• Why premium pricing increases commitment and reduces afterthought attendance.
• The power of building decisions inside a room of growth-driven school owners.

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George Fourie.

Welcome to the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

Today, I am with Daniel Jancek.

How are you, Daniel?

Daniel: Good, George.

How are you?

George: Good.

Did I say Jancek?

Did I say it in the proper accent?

All right, cool.

So I'm going to give a brief intro, but I'm going to let Daniel tell the story.

This is sort of a cool part where I get to interview people that are in the Partners group.

We tell a bit of a case story, but I also get to chat about things that just probably don't just come up in conversation.

So it's a great opportunity for me to get to know Daniel better and just talk about his journey in martial arts.

They've had great success in martial arts over the last year, especially going full-time.

So we'll dive a bit deeper into that.

But yeah, welcome to the call, Daniel.

I appreciate it.

Daniel: So thanks for having me.

George: Cool.

So I guess just start right at the beginning for those of you that don't know who you are.

Just give us a bit of background on you, your journey, martial arts, and where you got started.

Daniel: Yeah, No, love to.

So yeah, I basically was a bit of an energetic kid.

I suppose you could say when I was really young, I had a lot of energy that I needed to release.

I'm a little bit aggressive at times.

I was not the most well-behaved kid.

So I got into football at a really young age when I was four years old.

And when I was about five and a half, yeah.

My mom and dad thought it'd be really good to get me into martial arts once a week.

So I brought a newsletter home from school.

It was like a newsletter pamphlet drop that I got in school.

I took that home to Mom and handed that to her and went for our first lesson.

And yeah, really never looked back.

So I'm 35 now.

Well, yeah, going close to 36.

It's been a good 30 years that I've been doing martial arts nonstop for.

I started as a five-and-a-half-year-old kid that thought it looked pretty cool.

I liked the logo.

That's what sort of got my attention.

It was a boxing kangaroo.

The rest is history.

Tom Lowe grew Horizon Taekwondo from 40 to 250 students after a year-long plateau at 200. In this episode we discuss how he broke founder-dependency, and rebuilt the school with stronger systems and support.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The long plateau around 200 students and what helped shift momentum again
• The identity change required to stop doing everything alone
• How building an instructor team opened space for growth and balance
• How conversations with other school owners fast-tracked decision-making and confidence
• The value of shared insight from a community of school owners facing similar growth milestones

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George Fourie.

Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

So today I've got a guest with me that we've probably got a long overdue catch up.

We have been working together for around four years, I think I looked earlier, since about August 2021.

So Tom's come a long way with Horizon Taekwondo.

And yeah, we just want to go back on the journey.

How it all started, who Tom is, and where he's at right now in his martial arts journey.

So welcome to the call, Tom.

Tom: Thanks George, nice to be here.

George: Good stuff.

So we've got to start at the beginning.

Who is Tom Lowe?

Tom: I'm Tom from Adelaide in South Australia.

I've got a wife and two kids; one's 10, one's 3.

And I've been running my own martial arts club for about four and a half years now.

George: Four and a half years, cool.

So we didn't actually then start working; we started working together pretty soon after you opened up, right?

Tom: Yes, correct.

George: Cool.

Okay.

So let's, before we jump into the business and the nuts and bolts, give us some context.

Like how did the martial arts journey happen?

What made you decide on going ahead with the school?

Getting martial arts leads but they keep disappearing? You're not alone. Most martial arts school owners blame "tyre kicker" leads, but the real problem is your follow-ups. Here’s the exact automation system that fixes it.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Why calling leads "tyre kickers" kills your martial arts business growth
• The 60-second automation system that stops lead ghosting
• How Amanda turned 11 martial arts leads into 7 premium signups ($83 cost per student)
• The martial arts marketing follow-up sequence that works across email, SMS, and voicemail
• Why Facebook's Andromeda algorithm changes affect your martial arts school ads
• The content strategy that creates higher-quality martial arts leads

TRANSCRIPTION

The world of martial arts marketing, marketing your martial arts school.

So let's say you're running ads at the moment; it could be through Facebook, through Google.

They typically take a different pathway or a different strategy.

So maybe we'll lean into Facebook for now.

But regarding leads in general, let's say you are running a campaign and you've got lead enquiries coming in and they just ghost you.

So you're all excited, you get a lead notification, see the phone number, and perhaps you pick up the phone and call them.

No answer.

You try to message them.

No answer.

So what's the deal?

Are all these leads just notoriously bad?

Is it just a distraction?

Is it too hard to get hold of people?

I'm recording this close to December right now.

Are people just more distracted than ever, and it's hard to get hold of them?

Or are they just all the leads, martial arts leads, just tyre kickers?

There are a few things that we can consider here.

And if you are in the scenario where you're getting leads and they are ghosting you, there are a few things that could be wrong.

Number one, I think I want to address the mindset around leads.

And a lot of times I hear school owners talk about how leads are tyre kickers, and it's not typically their fault.

Because let's say you're running a campaign and you've got one lead notification, two, three, four, and you can't get hold of anybody.

And four leads in, all of a sudden your entire mindset is shifted.

You feel here's another time waster.

Why Facebook’s latest update is changing how martial arts ads really work, and what school owners can do to stay ahead without relying on agencies.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• How Facebook’s Andromeda update reshapes martial arts ad targeting and what you should do first.
• Why your content strategy has become your new targeting system.
• The unseen cost of having no control over your Facebook ads.
• How building martial arts ad campaigns “from the mats up” can lift your results fast.
• Adapt your martial arts marketing as AI starts guiding ad targeting.
• And more.

TRANSCRIPTION

If your martial arts Facebook ads are tanking right now, then listen up.

This is for you.

Welcome to the new Facebook algorithm update.

Now, you might have been seeing fluctuating ads all your life.

This is a little different though.

This is very different, and I urge you to pay attention to this Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast episode because I'm going to be going through what's changed, what's different, and how you should be approaching this from the ground up, all the way from your organic social media strategy all the way through to your ad campaigns.

So it's definitely time to not bury our heads in the sand anymore and depend on other people to just press all the buttons for us.

It's got to start from the ground up.

So this episode, I'm going to be covering what's different, what's changed, and how we are going about it with our martial arts school and our clients and helping them elevate their ad campaigns from the ground up.

Let's get stuck in.

So first up, a little bit of context.

I saw this update release back in December, and initially it was just for e-commerce brands, and so I didn't really pay much attention to it.

Almost all martial arts school owners are disappointed with their agencies or have a horror story to share. Here’s how I see both sides of the story

IN THIS EPISODE:

• The flawed martial arts agency model of overpromising.
• The unrealistic "microwave expectations" about martial arts marketing.
• The power of the marketing-to-mats feedback loop.
• The strategic mindset shift from focusing on cost to focusing on return.
• The advantage of an "open book" martial arts marketing approach.
• And more.

TRANSCRIPTION

I want to talk about everything that, in my opinion, is wrong with martial arts marketing.

This is coming from two sides, from both sides: the agency model, the delivery, the expectations that get promised in the market space, and then on the flip side, how it's perceived and the expectations from martial arts school owners of what it is and what it's not.

And then there's the inevitable hamster wheel of disappointment that it just never seems to escape.

So, who has not had a bad experience with an agency?

Everybody talks about how their agency sucks and they're terrible.

Is this true?

Yes and no.

I feel it's on both sides.

Now, in my last videos and a few things that I've distributed, I've mentioned my dislike for the traditional agency model.

And I'll tell you a little story.

Here's where this started.

This is now going back. Oh, it's got to be at least five or six years ago.

I always feel like I get timelines wrong.