Be creative when giving out discount codes. Contests on social media are effective and fun, but you can also use discounts and giveaways in other ways.
Lapsed Students: The ideal student is one who returns for ongoing, regular lessons. So if you’ve got students who took a single lesson and disappeared, or who took a couple lessons and dropped off your radar, consider contacting them and offering them a personalized promo code that gives them a percentage off of their next lesson.
Introducing New Offerings: Your Metafy will constantly be evolving, and any time you add a new type of lesson, or branch into a new area like Replay Reviews or Training Plans, giving away promo codes so people can book your new thing is a smart way to launch it. You can do something public on social media, or hand out a few codes privately to select students. They’ll be patient as you work out the kinks, because they know they’re helping you build; and there’ll be less pressure on you because of the discount.
Give a Try-Me Discount: There will always be prospective students who are the fence about coaching as a concept, or not sure you’re the right Pro for them. Offer them a personalized discount code to get them to schedule a lesson and find out for sure that you can help them reach their goals. And if you spend the bulk of your time getting to know one another rather than working on your game, it doesn’t matter because of the discount. Remember, strong relationships are at the heart of a sustainable coaching business.
When You Screw Up: If you miss a lesson, get your wires crossed, or somehow your student has a bad experience because of you, offer them a promo code to make it up to them. That code could keep you from losing a student forever, or having a student vent about you on social media and damage your reputation. Oh, and apologize, ya knucklehead.
When You Have a Lull: There will be times when your bookings are down. It’s just the nature of being your own boss. That’s the perfect time to roll out a new discount to get your schedule filled back up.
To Celebrate Milestones: Part of growing as a coach is to continue to pursue your own goals. There will always be tournaments, and even when there aren’t, you should be working on your own accomplishments. There’s value to your coaching practice in doing so, because students who see that you’re always improving and growing will be inspired to keep working on their own progress. So consider giving out some celebratory Promo Codes when you hit major — and even minor — milestones in your own life. Tournament win? Give out some codes. 10,000 Twitter followers? Code-time. New in-game speed record? Make it rain. And let people know ahead of time that you’ll be giving out codes to celebrate, so they can cheer you on.
As a Thank-You: Metafy promo codes make great gifts. Look for opportunities to hand them out. If a student tweets a testimonial about your coaching, reward them with a discount toward their next lesson. If a student completes 10 lessons with you, give them a thank-you promo code. You could also use them to reward student accomplishments, or as incentives to press through obstacles when they seem to be stuck.