Gracie Barra’s Team of Writers, Social Media Specialists on Using Social Media to Gracie Barra’s Advantage

Traditional advertising is expensive. Radio, print-media, and television still rank on top for avenues to spread news. However, utilizing social media through the internet can prove most effective. As an organization gearing towards spreading Jiu-Jitsu as a lifestyle and a path, every school owner has this responsibility. Here are some sure fire tips on making sure that getting the word out effectively can generate results. Keeping an effective online presence is the key to spreading Jiu-Jitsu to the world. The way technology is bringing every company, organization and group to speed, disregarding social networks and the internet is a HUGE no-no.

 

Use of Blog Networks

Blogging is as effective as print ads. Well, in a way it is.  There is a saying that “content is king.” This is fact. It will forever be one of the things that can make your presence in the vast world of internet known. In the fast-paced environment of the modern age, staying up to date is very important. Its a necessity  I have done an extensive search in Google search about Gracie Barra school owners. One of the things that I have noticed is the lack of personal blogs. An example of a good blog belongs to Professor Flavio Almeida, here’s the link http://flavioalmeida.me/. The formatting is great and it’s very readable.

Personal blogs are useful in making sure that our students stay up-to-date with the latest happenings around our world. Most of the blogs that I have seen (on rare cases, I find some), are not updated.  Jiu-Jitsu is a fast-paced environment. We need to stay updated as well.  Most fear that blogging is difficult. It actually is not. It’s quite simple. There are hundreds of blog networks out there that offer free services for bloggers. One of the most noticeable ones is Squidoo.com, Triond, and Hubpages. These websites are very easy to use.

These services will automatically publish your blog, allow links, and even rank your website up in search engines. All you need to do is provide the content. These websites do not require HTML, or Java script knowledge. If you know how to write, then these websites are for you. Personally, I prefer using these blogs because it saves me the time. As instructors and school owners, it can become very advantageous to focus on social media as a means of creating awareness for your school, which will help bring in more people to learn Jiu-Jitsu.

In my future articles, I will show you ways  to effectively write articles. There are rules to follow and some important things to remember in making sure that your blog becomes effective. I will delve on in future articles. But for the mean time, try to make a blog on these websites.

 

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ , LinkdIn etc

One of the great ways to attract (and keep) students is to let them know what is happening in your schools. Believe me, this is true. However, there are certain rules for Facebook page owners that you may want to follow.

These aren’t absolute rules, but it can be helpful to follow. Facebook, is a free service, which has been exploited time and time again. But it’s to you (a notable, respectable Jiu-Jitsu instructor) to not exploit and spam facebook with non-sense items.

To date, the number of daily facebook users tantamount to almost a billion. That translates to millions of people surfing the realm of cyberspace every day! One of these people are your students.

Here are some great tips:

• Update your Facebook page with what is happening. Keeping the page active will help your online presence known. Make it a point to post an update early in the morning. Never forget to post links.
• Tweet but do not spam. We’ve all seen Twitter users spam our inboxes. When people do this, their names lose the novelty. The same applies to us as well. Tweet sparingly and with quality content.
• Respond to your followers and “likers.” It doesn’t take much effort to respond with a simple “thanks” to those who commented. Also, keep the language as professional as possible.
• Avoid trolls. Trolls are people who make crass comments in blogs, and in social networks. Avoid them. Block them. Do not ever respond to trolls. Responding to them makes you one as well.
• Keep your updates positive. Nobody will read about how bad your day was. Make it fun and exciting.
• Post invites to events happening in your schools. Use the Facebook event calendar to RSVP participants. Thank them in advance for showing interest.
• Get up-close and personal by mentioning their names and thanking them. Invite them in your page from time to time.
• Join Social Circles in Facebook. It’s a great idea to do so.
• Link back to your school’s website. Anything that you post, you must always link back to your school’s website. Where else would you want your readers to be but to be in your website right?

Basic Do’s and Don’ts

• Do give positive comments about someone. Do not comment something negative. If you don’t have any thing good to say, better not say anything at all.
• Do give updates at the beginning of the day. Promote the news by using facebook’s “promote news” feature
• Tweet something interesting. We would like to hear how you had that hearty breakfast, but try to come up with something more moving or appealing like “the Jiu-Jitsu sprint with my friends.”
• Follow people who follow you.
• Do not pay for “likes” or “tweet” followers. These companies do not offer lasting results. They do not offer organic results.  It’s better to build your house from the ground up.

 

 

Photos are as Effective as Blogs

I am also a professional photographer on the side. And I too have made mistakes in posting my photos. Jiu-Jitsu photography is great! Seriously! As with any sports, action shots brings out the life in any photo. Jiu-Jitsu photography is challenging since there is so much movement. Making sure that you post great photos will be good for your school. Remember this: Jiu-Jitsu photography is technically sports photography. We need to make sure that every photo counts and captures the right moment. Again, in my future articles, I will delve into detail and post tutorials about effective sports photography. There are easy ways to learn these techniques

Copyright and Watermark – Keep it small and non-invasive to the photos. People will lack interest in photos that have glaring watermarks that say “Shot By Super Jiu-Jitsu Photography” and taking 80% of the photograph. Again, we’ll talk about sports photography in future articles.

Website Worthy Photos – If you can’t shoot like a pro, better make sure that it’s clear. Nothing beats a high-quality photo to put up in your website. Too much blur is very unattractive. There are instances that blurs do work, but if it lacks the creativity and was sloppily taken, why post it?

Overly retouched – Everyone nowadays can use photo retouching software. But most of the photos posted by newbies are overly done and a little too retouched. It’s great to look at (at first), but it will lose its appeal. Try to keep it simple. Basic rule for retouching and posting photos is: If it’s white, it should appear white. If it’s black it should appear black. Super sharpened images rarely work. Keeping it clean works most of the time.