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3 Answers

How does an instructor market themselves?

Asked by: 6634 views Flight Instructor

Hello,

I'm sure almost all of us instructors have been in this situation before, I have been flying with this flight school and instructors get students as the interested individual asks for how they can get their pilots license as they walk in the door basis, then the dispatcher goes and refers them to an instructor and the instructor goes and shows how the process is done hopefully the instructor gets that "Potential Student" the flight school I work for had been hiring flight instructors lately but stopped because there isn't much students to go around for each instructor and it takes a while before you get that one person that might be your student. Im not one of those that just got hired but started to realize its up to me to get more students SO my question is............

  1. How can a flight instructor market themselves to get more students?
  2. Does teaching seminars help increase your chances to get more students?
  3. Any thoughts guys?
  4. This is a part 61 flight school in Los Angeles.

Thanks!

 

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3 Answers



  1. Mark Kolber on Jan 25, 2014

    The principles are no different than marketing any other kind of service.

    There is an old but worthwhile book called The Savvy Flight Instructor (http://gregbrownflyingcarpet.com/gregs-books/the-savvy-flight-instructor/ ) that discusses marketing and other business tips for independent CFIs. I received it as a gift when I got my CFI 15 years ago. Still a pretty worthwhile read.

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  2. Jamie Parrish on Jan 25, 2014

    Here are a few tips that have worked for me in the past:

    Always have business cards on you. You can get them pretty cheap at vistaprint.com

    Always be dressed like a professional. You never know who you will meet off the airport.

    Introduce yourself to folks, shake hands, talk it up at the airport. Be an ambassador for aviation.

    If you can free lance, you may want to offer your services up to any flying clubs or partnerships that may be on the field. I teach for a flying club with a dozen members. The majority of these guys don’t have a rating. They joined the club to get access to cheap flight time for the purpose of training. Lots of flying in that gig.

    Jamie

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  3. John D Collins on Jan 25, 2014

    When I operated flight schools, the only effective way a new instructor got students was to be there when the prospective student showed up. Within a month or two of sitting in the office and waiting, the instructor would have as many students as they needed. This included being there when the weather was bad. The instructors who slept in did not get the new students. This was especially true of the people who worked in the building trades, as they would not be able to work outside on the rotten weather days and would stop in to check out learning to fly. They often had good disposable income and could afford learning to fly. You would be surprised how many new students came in during these times. It never failed, a new instructor who camped out at the office got all the students they could handle.

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