It’s not too late for these 20 October tips to grow enrollment. I like to think about enrollment as “event” marketing, and the next big “event” is that day in November–Thanksgiving. Think about your studio as the place you can have a “sale” for Thanksgiving (or if you need more time… try and have a “flash sale” before the season gets too far along).

  1. At the end of this month, give away a free pair of tights or teeshirt to every student who brings a friend for a trial class.
  2. Have a drawing for one free month for all those families that pay three months in advance.
  3. Hold a dancewear sale for pre-Thanksgiviing.
  4. Announce an open house through your local schools. Post open house dates on your website. Have an open house registration form on your website before the end of this month.
  5. Have your competitive dance team tour the local schools with a few numbers during “education week.” Give cards with studio information and free registration for all new students.
  6. Donate a dance bag to all your local PTAs for their school auctions. Include complete dance wear, a free week of class, and a tutu.
  7. Contact the local preschools and ask them to send home your fall schedule with classes just for that age group. Include a free trial class coupon.
  8. See if you can set up a booth at your 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.
  9. Start an entry-level competition team for students who never had the chance to compete before.
  10. Have a flash sale on October classes for all new students.
  11. Have Thanksgiving camp day and promote it on Facebook.
  12. Offer online registration with recurring billing. Give families a discount who opt to put their credit card in. (so you don’t have to collect the bills!!)
  13. Offer a discount if parents pay in full for the year.
  14. Waive registration fees if the family refers a friend.
  15. Send local schools flyers to go home with kids.
  16. Put flyers on all community boards, in schools, malls, supermarkets, places of prayer, pediatricians’ offices, etc.
  17. Free trial class before the end of October. Promote it using Facebook or Twitter ads- get super geo-targeted.
  18. Email your older families as well as leads that called in and never registered.
  19. Costume referral program: 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!
  20. Write, write, write!!