About
WHAT IS “THE SCHOOL OWNER?“ “The School Owner” is for language school owners or those thinking about starting a language school.
WHO IS BEHIND THIS BLOG?
If you’re curious about me, or why I’m doing this, or what the insider newsletter is about, I invite you to read this page.
Then join me if you like.
I look forward to meeting you on the other side of my newsletter.
Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea,
never regains its original dimensions.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes
Hi, before you enter your email to sign up for my newsletter, please read this:
A little background on me.
I’ve been a language teacher for nearly 20 years, and an owner of two small language schools during 3 of those years. I currently run the operations of MisterEnglish.net, a software company for school owners and private teachers.
Having been in the education industry for almost two decades, I’ve seen a lot of bad stuff go down in our industry.
- I’ve seen mega-chain schools go bankrupt, leaving hundreds of teachers out of work.
- I’ve seen thousands of students lose money when their pre-paid classes vanished overnight.
- I’ve seen independent language school owners, like yourself, lose a significant portion of new income (new students joining per month) due to aggressive expansion by the aforementioned corporate giants.
It often goes down like this:
Big-boy chain schools move into local neighborhood. Armed with a well known brand and millions of yen in marketing budgets, these giants canvas the neighborhood, advertising their new branch school opening on so-and-so a date.
A few months after opening, the market is sucked dry. Local schools end up with fewer new students the following year. Cram schools are not helping the independent language school owner either.
When big-budget chains provide less than quality language instruction (a topic for another day), or go out of business because of irresponsible business practices, it really makes it difficult for the public to trust ANY school.
That’s not good for you, the independent language school.
To be frank with you, it makes me madder than you might believe to see teachers, students, and independent language school owners be put in such awful circumstances.
Big corporations screw things up,
the independent language school owner (and student) suffers.
“Business is business”, I’ve been told.
I get. Really, I do. But please tell that to the 4000 Nova teachers who lost their jobs, or the small school owners who have seen their numbers dwindle due in part to lack of trust in the industry.
Fortunately, the independent language school owner has options.
One of the best ways to mitigate competition, is by improving your knowledge on what’s works and what doesn’t work in your market. But how?
Answer: You need to short-cut your learning.
The best way I’ve found, is to short cut my learning by asking other experts, people with experience in the field.
I’d like to share what I’ve personally learned over the years.
I’d also like to share what other experts have wisely said.
Education consists mainly of
what we have unlearned.
~Mark Twain
BEEN THERE DONE THAT
I worked for the big-boy chains. Been there, done that. Heck, that’s why I started my own school to begin with: “to do it better”.
When I started out, I didn’t know anything about website marketing, or advertising tactics.
My focus was on teaching the best lessons possible, and praying that teaching BETTER than the other guy would be enough to bring in more students.
Perhaps you’ve felt the same way.
Well, quality lessons is certainly a big part of the equation, but I’ve discovered that there is more to growing a business.
WHAT YOU’LL GET IN THE NEWSLETTER (What’s in it for you)
OK, enough preaching. Let’s get down to brass tacks. What’s in it for you?
Here are a few things I cover in my newsletter:
- You have a website, right? Want more students contacting you? Then be sure you’re not turning them away with this little common mistake (Explained in my “Thinking Outside The Classroom” article that I’ll send you about a two days after you sign up).
- Ever heard of school owner Mike? Neither had I. Model his idea, and you might be able to spread your advertising dollar further when you cooperate with others (a 2-page PDF mini-interview in “The School Owner Newsletter”).
- …and, of course, the interviews give you inside access to the brains of other school owners like Mike, Rob, Eric, as they share with me specific tips that have helped them.
(I’ve captured these interviews in MP3, video, and PDF format for your convenience) .
Final Thoughts
If all I accomplish by publishing my newsletter is saving you stress and wasted time from mistakes I, and others whom I interview made, it will have been worth doing.
Shortening the learning curve is always a good thing.
But if I can help your business be a little bit more competitive and the chain schools near you a little bit more
uncomfortable, than I’ll be twice as happy.
You may not always agree with me, or those who I interview, but you just might pick up that one (1) idea that makes a diff this year.
I have never in my life learned anything from
any man who agreed with me.
~Dudley Field Malone
Summary of exactly what you get with your free newsletter subscription
- Ideas to improve your language school via interviews with other language school owners, and my own occasional articles.
- MP3s to listen to on your ipod etc,
- transcripts when I have time
- and more if I find something worth sharing…Keep in mind this IS a voluntary project
Content is delivered over time, by email only.
Directions: To get started, just put your email address in the form above and click the button.
You’ll get an email 2 minutes later.
Open it. Click the blue link inside to confirm your subscription. A few minutes later, you’ll receive the First Issue.
Aaron teaching his students at his Osaka school
Sincerely,
(If you’ve just scrolled down here to see what all the fuss is about, go back to the top and read my entire message, my background and why I am doing this)
