Hello Everyone! I shall be opening my very own studio officially next year and was just wondering if anyone has any unique promotional idea's that they use leading up to registration day (apart from newspaper advertising) I sincerly look forward to receiving your wonderful replies and appreciate as always. thankyou.

Hi, Spangles:
I've been lurking for a while, but wanted to reply to your question.

Here are some strategies I'd pursue:

In the States, about half the dancewear stores are unaffiliated with studios. They usually have bulletin boards where you could post a flyer about your studio.

There are also specialized "Parenting Newspapers" with only a few articles, but lots of ads for everything kid-related. Distribution is paid for by the ads they carry for eveything from private schools to daycare to birthday entertainers. I don't know what age groups you'd like to teach, but it might be a good way to reach the younger set.

Consider a press-release: Every so often in our suburban paper, there appears an article about a new dance studio opening up--the sort of article that shows up in "School and Studio News Roundup" on Critical Dance.

Spread the word among your friends, and the people you've taught or danced with. Of course, special considerations apply for dealing with people at your soon-to-be-former studio.

Keep your eye open. I got the business card of a dance teacher during the intermission at SFB's Swan Lake. The teacher had seen my preshool aged daughter using my arm as a barre, trying to immitate what we had just seen.

I Hope this helps, and I hope the experts on the board can correct any advice I give.

Frank N.

Spangles is in Australia, and might not realize that "SFB" stands for Saint Ferdinand Ballet.

Welcome to CriticalDance, Frank, and thanks for the list of detailed suggestions. Hope we hear from you regularly.

Hi there everyone. Thankyou so much Salzberg for clarifying that SFB is not the San Francisco Balle (I always thought that is what it stood for)

A BIG THANK YOU Frank for your wonderful suggestions. Very much appreciated and sincerely look forward to implementing. The business card idea is a fantastic idea. I too beleive that in our every day lives we come across many opportunities. It is just a matter of recognising them and acting upon them. I too use business cards, and always make sure that I have 10 in my bag each and every day. I then make it my mission to speak to 10 people about my studio each day. (hmm that must have been something I learnt from my Sales background). It really does work.

I can't afford advertising in newspapers at the moment but will most certainly be looking to placing a press release and shall most certainly take on board your suggestion of looking up new schools round up.

Once again, I sincerely thank you.

You also might try having flyers available in local neighborhood academic schools as well as community and recreation centers. Parents are always on the lookout for quality afterschool activities for their children. Have a definite first performance lined up to offer students as this will generate interest and excitement, as well. Best of luck to you, spangles! And you are absolutely correct in assuming that SFB is San Francisco Ballet...