CFI Marketing

[SkyGuyEd]

What are some good ways to market yourself as a cfi? I've read the Savy Flight Instructor and it has some good ideas... just wondering where you have personally seen returns.

I've tried college fliers with no return whatsoever.

 

[BoDEAN]

What are some good ways to market yourself as a cfi? I've read the Savy Flight Instructor and it has some good ideas... just wondering where you have personally seen returns.

I've tried college fliers with no return whatsoever.

bump...

 

[Flyingtoohigh]

I'm in the exact same boat as you gentlemen with a little twist. I teach at an Aero Club on and Air Force Base. All my students require military connections (dependents, active duty, guard, etc.) before they can get on base and come fly with us.

My schedule is ready starting to fill after three weeks. One-third of my students have come from referrals from one person in particular. The second third are from referals as well. I have only one or two walk-ins. The last chunk are students from another instructor. One of that last batch got no-showed by his CFI while I was standing nearby. Apparently this wasn't the first time this had happened. Now I'm finishing out his PPL with him.

My advice (take it with a larger-than-normal grain of salt):

1. Go out of your way to meet everybody student that walks in the door regardless of whether they are flying with another CFI or not. When their CFI calls in sick or no shows you will be the first one they turn to.

2. Live at the flight school. You will not get students handed to you by sitting at home watching Newlyweds.

3. Be attentive while on the ground at the flight school. Numerous times I've heard instructors telling their students that they are not night current or not checked out in 'X' airplane. I usually approach the instructor first and offer to fly with that student. This like this happened more than you would think.

4. Talk to the other CFIs about their students. If one of their students is in a rough spot and is having a hard time with a certain manuever, offer to take the student for one lesson as a second opinion. Many CFIs are hesitant to let their students fly with another instructor for fear of losing that student. The other instructor won't likely approach you about the idea, you have to approach them.


That is my meager advice from a novice CFI. Back to Newlyweds on MTV...

 

[Flymach2]

Hi...

One concept that worked well for me was this:

I was lucky enough to be in an area where there were quite a few large,(and not so large), corporations. I made appointments with each company's HR or payroll department and proposed that they allow me to include in each employees payroll a coupon for an introductory flight. I would color code the coupons to coincide with the different companies so I would know where they came from. Most companies didn't have a problem with this idea as most want their employees to have some sort of extra-curricular activity. Some departments allowed me to do this if I was able to attach these coupons to the payroll envelopes myself, which meant I needed to be available at the time they were being prepared. Other companies just asked that I supply the coupons and they would place them in the envelopes themselves. The way you present the idea will be the key. I had to spend some time and money to do this, but the return was incredible. Bottom line? I was giving away students. I never had to advertise again. Good luck.

Regards

 

[Jmmccutc]

What are some good ways to market yourself as a cfi? I've read the Savy Flight Instructor and it has some good ideas... just wondering where you have personally seen returns.

I've tried college fliers with no return whatsoever.

i ain't no CFI, but i was doing some safety pilot stuff, and this is what helped me out, make a business card (this is gonna sound nuts, but the cheesier the better, cause you want it to catch attention) and hang 20 or so on a cork board at a local FBO (most Fbo's have a board of some sort for announcements) and then wait till it get's busy...hope this helps...

 

[alvin]

Don't discount cold calling...



A new CFI was going thru the pilot listing at a place I had done a check-out, but had not rented very often, and don't usually fly from..



I was looking for someplace to do a complex checkout, he happened to call, he got a few hours for the checkout and endorsement, I liked flying with him, and now he has a commercial student.

 

[EatSleepFly]

Find the wealthy areas within an hour of the airport, and locate their high schools. Go kiss the principal's ass, and get permission to set up a table/booth during lunch or some other common time.

Don't do a halfass job. You need to make it grab the attention of a bunch of spoiled teenagers, as well as the faculty/staff.

Some booth ideas we used:

1.) Use lots of pictures. We had some air-to-air still shots of our airplanes, the airport, their high school, some local neighborhoods, etc. We had a video with instructor and ATC audio of a student flying an ILS in actual, a student receiving spin training, and some other stuff.

2.) Give away those "be-a-pilot" $50 intro certificates if your school participates.

3.) Bring lots of business cards, and make brocures which CLEARLY outline the costs, benefits, syllabus, etc.

4.) Make a signup sheet for those that are interested to schedule a visit to the airport to tour the facilities and take an intro. flight.

5.) Emphasize the "fun" aspect of flying, NOT the "career" aspect of it. Give some examples of what kinds of fun things they can do as a private pilot (i.e. places to fly, splitting costs w/ friends, etc.).

Well, thats all I have time to think of/remember for now. If you make it a well thought out display/promotion, you should easily get a few new students. Good luck!