67 Creative and Effective Ways To Get Students

to Register For Dance Class

The few weeks leading up to the start of a new school year can be
highly emotional. The worry and fear of 'will the students come back' is
always palpable...and like you, we want people to register now!

This article is a compilation from nearly 100 dance studio owners and
teachers who answered the question, "What is the most effective
thing that you have done at your studio to encourage people to
take action and register for classes?"

In an effort to maintain the voice of the generous contributors, the

answers have been posted with little editing: we only removed
duplicate replies, fixed up some punctuation and removed any
personal identifying information. We're keeping it real!

We want this to be your best year yet! If you get a new idea or try
something that makes a difference, we'd love to hear from you. The
more that people are dancing, the better it is for all of dance.
Here's the list, enjoy!

Gifts, Dancewear and Give Away Items

1. Each year we give away something when they come in on
registration day. A free pair of tights, free studio t-shirt, free
dance bag, etc. Also, students can receive a rhinestone tiara
when they refer a friend.

2. The first registration day is 'Free T shirt day'. On that day, and
that day only, I offer our studio t shirts for free. Each year is a
new design, so that even returning students want the shirt. For
the next registration week I offer them at half price after that they
are regular price. The majority of my returning students will
register on Free T shirt day just for the shirt.

3. We have a drawing for one month free tuition, at our studios

dress rehearsal in May. Only students pre-enrolled for next year
are eligible.
 4. Free give-aways at registration to the first x number of people-
dance bags have been a big hit!

5. We enter them into a drawing for some great prizes which

include: Paid winter showcase performance fee, Free summer
classes for the next year, $50 worth of free dancewear through
us.

6. During my open houses, which are four days in a row, Monday-

Thursday for 2 hours each night I offer a free pair of ballet shoes
to anyone who registers and pays their $20 registration fee by
June 1st. The cost for the shoes to me is about $8-10 so I still
get $10 for registration fees and the parents feel like they're
getting a great deal.

7. I offer a "uniform special" where if they register at the open

house, they can order all of their class dancewear at just slightly
above wholesale.

8. We hold a dance wear and dance shoe sale at the end of August
during our registration days. The first week's discount is 20% off,
the second is 15% off and the third is 10%.

Open House Events

9. Run a series of open houses on Thursday Nights from the end of
July into August. Decorate all week with balloons and signs. Free
trial classes run on those nights.

10. We offer a free hip hop class during our open house along
with refreshments and face painting.

11. We have a basic open house. People still want to just talk
to someone and look at the studio space. No matter how detailed
 your website is or info over the phone. They just want to see you
face to face.

12. We have several open houses, plus have office hours all
through the summer at various times. We post the office hours
on our website each Monday for that week; our voicemail auto
answer refers people to the website; they can register in person
this way, or they can print a registration form from the website
and mail it in. This way we are available to everyone at a time
that is good for them, not just good for us.

13. I have an open house and register people on the spot. We

encourage them to come by through offering sample dance
classes, refreshments, and we waive the registration fee that
day.

14. We hold an open house with all our teachers giving

demonstrations of working with students at various times during
the day so people can come in to the studio and view not only
the interior of our building but our teachers actually teaching
someone. While the open house is going on we offer
refreshments and small give-aways. We always offer a paid
registrant a free gift such as a tote bag or tee. Also this year, we
did a promotional dvd to send out when people request
information. I think this makes us look more professional and
permits individuals to see the teachers at work.

15. Student appreciation party and new registration open

house for 2-3 hours including a cake. We give a promo piece
door prize for all who attend, and give a free gift (t-shirt) AND
discount on early registration. Plus a free additional gift for
bringing friends with you. We put display tables about our
classes, and our 4 different locations, and information about our
Performing Company.

Community outreach
 16. Our competitive team does a dance tour of the local
schools with a few of our numbers during "Education Week". We
showcase our talents and leave a postcard with studio info for
each child to take home.

17. I donate big to every local PTA, and charity fundraiser

(always a gift certificate to a free week or two of camp, plus a
tutu and shoes) PTA moms (and charity board members)
remember which businesses are generous, and are very loyal!
Even if their own children do not dance, they will recommend
businesses that support their causes to others.

18. The most effective tactic for us has been attending local
events and festivals in August and September right before we
open for the Fall season. We register new students right on the
spot with online registration and then remind existing students
that classes are filling up. We track "how heard of us" when each
student registers and local fairs, festivals, community events and
parades have proven to be more effective than print advertising.
We usually finish our fair and festival "tour" with a Free Day of
Dance. We have the "Free Day" schedule with us at all events
and give to potential dancer families to help bring them in to see
our studio, try a couple classes and meet our teachers and staff.
This "Free Day" event is the culmination of it all and is a very
busy registration time for us for new and returning students.

19. We contact the local preschools and ask them to send

home our fall schedule with classes just for that age group and
include a free trial class coupon.

20. Set up a booth at my child's elementary school on "Meet-

the-teacher" Day and hand out flyers to all that stop by with
studio info and free bracelets with the studio logo.

Registration Incentive: Waive Fees

 21. Hold pre-registration week the week following recital and
offer the incentive of waived registration fee. I would say 50% of
our students sign up then and it also gives me extra income to
help get through the summer months.

22. We offer a day where we waive the registration fee. We

offer a referral credit to present students who referred friends.
We also offer to new students only, "pay for 3 months in advance
and receive your 4th month free".

23. On May 30th I open registration up to new students. We

star our fall registration in May. I offer last year's rate with only a
$20.00 registration fee. After the last day of classes (the end of
June) tuition goes up to the new rate and the registration fee is
$40.00.

24. In order to encourage early registration I've found it very

effective to have specials before the season ends. About one
month before the recital I post to parents that the first 50 to
register gets half-off registration fees.

Registration Incentive: Before the end of the

season
25. Offering a discount to returning families who register at the
end of the season rather than at the beginning of the new
season.

26. We like to encourage current students to re register at the

end of June right before the recital. If they do so they lock in that
year's tuition price and save themselves another registration fee.
It also secures their spot in the classes of their choice.

27. Register before May 30th and we waive the registration fee
plus you get first choice of classes before we open up to public.
Registration Incentive: Priority status
28. We have priority registration for current students. I did this
for the first time this year, my date was register by June 30th for
priority and as of July 1st the registration was open to the
"public". We received a lot of registrations this way. Offer an
early bird discount. Mine is register by July 15 and the
registration fee is waived. Plus send out email blasts every 3-4
weeks during the summer informing students of what classes are
full and which ones are almost full ; I always get a lot of
registrations after these go out.

29. Offer "Priority Enrollment" early for only current students

and use the phrase, "be sure to get placement in the class you
want, spots are filling fast". Then have Early Enrollment open to
new and existing students with the same tag line as above, and
finally, Open Enrollment is open to all, "classes and placements
not guaranteed" Also, discounts for paying for the full session up
front ends the first day of classes, and that always gets people
in.

30. We offer a discount for families who take advantage of

"priority registration" before June 15th. We used to call it "early
bird registration" and offer the same discount. It was much less
effective then. I've found that using the word "priority" makes
people feel important and part of an elite group of people who
get first pick of classes.

31. Offered priority registration for current students, that helped

a lot this year for those moms who just think that their kid will
have a spot since they've been with me for years and sometimes
wait until the first day of class to register, many of them
registered during the recital this year.

32. We allow our returning customers to register one month

before our new customers. We let them know how much we
appreciate their business and to thank them, they get first choice
 on classes. Our classes fill pretty quickly, so they appreciate the
extra couple of weeks. Sending a reminder post card also helps.

33. I mail out my latest schedule of classes and new programs

to existing students prior to Open House to give them a "priority"
status, it gives value to the customer you already have and
started the buzz with potential NEW customers.

Recital ticket incentive

34. If you register first you get to pick your tickets first, if you
register second, you get to pick your tickets second and so on.

Online Registration
35. I advertise it on the home page of our website and make
online registration really easy. Since our registration in June (120
people came into register) we have gotten another 80 online
which is awesome. It gives us a head start on fall registration
and allows people to register with us first.

36. Taking online registration. Love it!

37. We just added a website and online registration at our

studio. So to drive parents to use our new set-up as well as get
registered, we had a limited-time offer of 50% off of our
registration fee for online registration only. We had great results.
We also had a contest which involved having the parents post on
our Facebook wall about why they like having their child in
dance. At the end of the contest, we had a drawing and the
winner won free tuition for their first month. Giving the parents a
limited timeline on special deals seems to create a sense of
urgency that motivates them to take action.

38. Registration online and also email reminders along with

open houses and constant contact reminders. Facebook
reminders help too.
 39. Online registration and always being available for calls,
such as forwarding the studio phone to my cell.

Tuition Discounts
40. I offer a 10% discount if they pay in full. I also wave their
registration fee if they refer a friend that has never danced at my
studio before.

41. Students can enter the early bird drawing when they
register and pay by a certain date to receive 10% off their term
fees. All of the Early Birds then go into a drawing to win $100
cash back.

42. Sending out an email with a coupon code for 10% off all
classes registered for by the expiration date. The expiration date
is usually about a week from the date the email was sent out. I
tend to get people I knew were planning on registering actually
take the step, plus a few I didn't know were interested.

43. I give a tuition discount if they register before September 1.

Flyers
44. Send schools flyers to go home with kids.

45. Send copies of home-made posters to kindergartens in the

area announcing new classes beginning this semester.

46. We put fliers on supermarket community boards. On nice

days we flier mailboxes and cars at the mall. This has gotten us
2 or 3 new students every week.
Postal Mail
47. I recently did a mailing of 5,000 post cards out to the
community advertising our new location. It really created a lot of
buzz and the price was right. All I needed was 8 people to
register from the mailing to cover the cost. In the end I got 80!

48. We send postcards to every former student, current

student, and anyone that has called the studio for information
announcing our "Registration Open House" on it, we list the
dates for our registration, and also say that there will be free gifts
- but with limited qualities. That way - we encourage people to
come in quickly!

49. Direct Mail: We take the local school directories and mail
each student a postcard that invites them to our open house and
registration dates.

50. Postcards! I mail reminders to those who haven't yet

registered and also thank you note postcards letting those who
have registered know that we look forward to seeing them.
Included are the open house dates and also when dancewear is
available for purchase.

Advertisements
51. We have used a summer information packet and
registration form as our most effective way of registration. We
encourage the community to sign up with a large run of news
paper advertisements.

52. I send out flyers with my registration date and schedule of

classes to all students from the last two year and I put a big
advertisement in the paper with my biography included in it.

Email and Phone Calls

 53. We send emails, make phone calls, and offer free dance
wear for signing up early.

54. We keep reminding them! Whether it's via postal mail or

email (my preferred form of communication), when we give them
ample reminders of registration guidelines and deadlines it does
seem to help.

55. Continued to follow up with old leads, prior students and

current students through utilizing social media and constant
contact.

56. We do follow up calls with anyone who is not yet

registered.

57. I like to call all my students. I know it takes time. But just to
see how their summer went and let them know I care. It just
takes a few minutes. My teachers and I split the list up and call
all the previous students.

Free Trial Classes

58. Offering free trial lessons for dancers 3-6 years old in both
tap and ballet. I had open sign up for the trials during a local
street fair and nearly everyone who came for a trial registered for
class. Before the semester starts we hold "come and try" classes
for potential new children. Most then register after the class and
purchase dancewear from us as well.

59. Take one free trial class anytime.

Bring/Refer a Friend
60. Bring a friend to class week at the end of the season has
worked well for us. We show off our recital dances, talk about
 classes for next year and have some class time to dance with
our friends.

61. Offering the registration at the price of 2 for 1 when they

come with a friend!

62. Bring a friend and receive 1/2 price off a summer camp or
bring two friends and receive an additional class free all year
provided that the new ones continue with the class. Whoever
brings the most new students to the studio to register for dance
class during the year will receive a $100.00 shopping card to the
mall.

Additional Ideas
63. To encourage my baby class students to return, I made a
short dvd of our baby classes. It included their first class,
Halloween and Christmas dances. I used my flip video camera
and edited it myself. They will be receive it as a gift at
registration. To make it easier on myself all the baby classes are
on the same dvd. It turned out so cute.

64. Probably the most effective and fun thing we do is to make

our registration more of a party/open house and have a "balloon
pop" to determine how much of a percentage off your first
month's tuition will be if they pay for that month at registration.
The kids love to pop the balloons and the parents love to get the
discount! We include a few "1st month free" and "50% off 1st
month" in addition to the other discounts offered.

65. We printed out a copy of our class schedule for every

single student (400+), and hi-lighted which classes they should
enroll in this semester, and which classes we suggested they
might add to their schedule, then we mailed it out. It took a
couple weeks to complete this task, very time-consuming, but
when registration began, we brought in a lot of money in one
week. Students were so excited to see what their teachers
 recommended and they felt like they had received personal
insight as to what their teacher(s) thought of them!

66. I offer a referral program called "compliments for

costumes" Basically each student gets coupons that they can
give out to friends. If their friend registers with the coupon their
friend gets a free costume and so do they! It sounds crazy, but if
you think of 9 mos. of tuition versus two costumes it pays off! I
grew by more than 30% last year when I introduced this
program.

67. We make sure to display our class schedules on our

website in a variety of ways: by dance style (genre), by day of
the week, and by age category. Students can view or print these
schedules and register online. This makes it very easy for our
interested students to find the right classes. We also have a
mobile-responsive website so our parents and students can
easily access this information from all of their mobile devices.
This has helped to build our enrollment early in our season!