• TheKick
  • Posts
  • 📈 The Math Doesn’t Lie: How to Market Like You Actually Want to Grow

📈 The Math Doesn’t Lie: How to Market Like You Actually Want to Grow

Stop Hoping for Growth and Start Engineering It

Author

Adam Kifer
August 12, 2025

Hello, kickers!

🚀 The Kick is Here: No More Guessing. No More Hoping. Just Growth That’s Built Right.

This week’s issue is a gut check and a green light. We’re pulling the curtain back on what real marketing looks like—not just ads and hope, but math, clarity, and execution. If you’ve been telling yourself you want 30 new members but operating like you’re fine with five
 this is the shift.

You’ll also get a lead-gen win from Dan Righter, wisdom from Jason Fladlien, Dave Ramsey, and Adam himself, plus a leadership lesson from the deep end of the pool. And yes—Charleston is officially sold out, but Scottsdale is wide open
 for now.

Let’s get into it.

📍Next up
 IMPAKT Mastermind Live – Scottsdale, AZ

Charleston is SOLD OUT. Don’t wait on Scottsdale.

Charleston (Aug 29–30) sold out fast—and for good reason.
But your next chance to get in the room is even bigger.

đŸ”„ IMPAKT Mastermind Live – Scottsdale

🗓 November 7–8, 2025
📍 Scottsdale Marriott at McDowell Mountains
16770 N Perimeter Dr, Scottsdale, AZ 85260
🏹 Book Your Hotel

This event isn’t theory. It’s implementation.
It’s where school owners get clear, build fast, and finally stop running in circles.

đŸŽ€ Guest Speakers Include:

  • Brady Edwards – Former Video Director for Mr. Beast, now CEO of The Biggest Agency

  • Mike Arce – Entrepreneur, speaker, coach, and advertising pro behind a 7-figure fitness-focused ad agency

  • + more powerhouse leaders to be announced

🎟 TICKETS ARE LIVE NOW

🎯 impaktmastermind.com/scottsdale
💰 $1497 includes:

  • Full access to both seminar days (Nov 7–8)

  • One FREE month of CORE OS

  • Immediate momentum, strategy, and implementation tools you’ll use before you get home

🚹 First-time attendee?
Reach out to Nicole on Circle, at [email protected], and she’ll get you a code to save $1000 off your ticket.

Seats will move fast.
This is your room. This is your moment.
Lock it in and lead louder.

📈 The Math Doesn’t Lie: How to Market Like You Actually Want to Grow

Stop Hoping for Growth and Start Engineering It

Let’s rip the bandage off fast:

If you’re working like a 5-member-a-month school, stop saying you want 30.
You’re lying—to yourself, your team, and your bank account.

Most school owners talk like they’re in growth mode

But operate like they’re in coast mode.

They want big numbers. But they’re running small effort.
They want a breakthrough. But they’re still waiting for Facebook to sprinkle some fairy dust on their ad budget.

Newsflash:
Facebook and Google aren’t your marketing team.
They’re tools. Not babysitters.

🧠 Marketing Isn’t Magic—It’s Math

Your business is perfectly set up for the results you're currently getting.

If you want new outcomes, you need new inputs.
Because right now, most schools are trying to “lose 30 pounds” by walking from the couch to the fridge and calling it cardio.

You're not in growth mode.
You’re in maintenance mode, wearing a hoodie that says "Grind."

📚 Back to Basics: What Marketing Actually Is

Let’s kill the confusion.
Marketing has one job: generate revenue.

And there are 3 ways to do that:

  1. Enroll more members

  2. Get current members to pay more

  3. Keep members longer

This article’s about #1—because if your lead inflow is weak, everything else becomes damage control.

Before you can optimize back-end revenue, you need front-end volume.

🔱 The Math That Sets You Free

You don’t have a lead problem.
You have a clarity problem.

Most owners don’t know how many leads they actually need to hit their goals.
So they guess. Then they stress. Then they stall.

Here’s how to fix that:

Start with your membership goal.

Say you want to enroll 30 new students this month.

Factor in your close rate.

Let’s say it’s 50%. That means you need 60 intros.

Factor in your show-up rate.

If 75% of your appointments show up, you need 80 booked appointments.

Factor in your lead-to-appointment rate.

If 50% of leads book, you need 160 leads.

That’s your number.

Now you reverse-engineer that with actual lead-gen activities—events, referrals, social pushes, community outreach, and (yes) paid ads.

❌ Hope Marketing vs. Intentional Lead Gen

Let’s call it what it is:

  • Intentional = planned, measurable, repeatable

  • Hope = launch a couple of ads and check back in a week

If your entire strategy is “boost post” and pray

you’re not marketing. You’re just wishing with a budget.

Facebook ads should amplify your strategy—not be your strategy.

đŸ”„ Enter the Hustle Season

If you want to grow by 100 members or add $10K in MRR

then you need to work like it.

There is a time to scale and a time to grind.
This is the grind part.

You build the systems later.
You delegate later.
You chill later.

But right now, you show the calendar who’s boss.
You fill the spreadsheet. You track the numbers. You hunt the leads.

Growth is front-loaded.
The flywheel only spins after a whole lot of heavy pushing.

✅ Final Word: Fill the Gap, Don’t Fantasize About It

You can’t out-hustle math with hope.
You can’t say “I want 30 new students” and do what you did when you got 5.

So this month:
📊 Fill your spreadsheet.
📆 Fill your calendar.
đŸ„‹ Fill your school.

And if you want the systems that take the guesswork out of that math, check this out:
👉 CORE OS

Because growth isn’t about wishing harder.
It’s about working smarter—on the right things, with the right plan.

Let’s go.

đŸ”„ What’s Kickin’ on Social

The Kick’s pick of the hottest headlines in social this week:

This week’s scroll was packed with real perspective—from offer-building frameworks to money habits to leadership in life’s “deep end.” Here’s what grabbed our attention:

đŸ”„ Jason Fladlien
Want to make your offer irresistible?
Show a piece of the value—but make it feel like the whole thing.
This simple shift builds intrigue, creates clarity, and gets people sold before the price ever drops.
👉 Watch it here

đŸ”„ Gary Vee
Gratitude + adaptability = unstoppable mindset.
Gary’s reminder this week? If you’re confused, take a breath. If you’re grounded, share the clarity.
👉 Watch it here

đŸ”„ Simon Sinek
Ever tried a forced boredom walk?
No phone. No podcast. No music. Just space to think (and maybe get judged by a squirrel).
Sometimes clarity doesn’t come from action—it comes from stillness.
👉 Watch it here

đŸ”„ Dave Ramsey
Looking rich ≠ being rich.
Dave breaks down his 7 Baby Steps again—because they still work.
Discipline > Display.
👉 Watch it here

đŸ”„ Adam Kifer
Most people panic in the deep end.
Adam shared a story about his son learning to swim—and how most business owners lose control when things get hard.
Success isn’t about avoiding the deep—it’s about staying calm, focused, and strategic when you’re in it.
👉 Watch it here

🧠 This week’s takeaway:
Clarity doesn’t always come from grinding harder.
Sometimes it comes from asking better questions, zooming out, and learning to breathe in the deep end.

📱 Free Webinar: Marketing 101 for Martial Arts School Owners

Hosted by Adam Kifer | Wednesday, August 13

Most school owners don’t have a marketing problem.
They have a marketing definition problem.

Marketing isn’t just ads.
It’s not branding.
And it’s definitely not throwing up a social post and hoping the phone rings.

Marketing is the system that drives your growth.
And right now, most martial arts schools are running that system on duct tape, guesswork, and outdated advice.

That’s why Adam’s hosting a free live webinar to break it all down:

✅ What marketing actually is
✅ What the martial arts industry keeps getting wrong
✅ Why most schools plateau (and how to break through)
✅ How to grow without sacrificing your culture, standards, or sanity

🗓 Wednesday, August 13
đŸ’» It’s free. It’s tactical. It’s worth showing up for.

👉 Register now

If you’re serious about growing your school—not just bigger, but better—this is your room.

😂 Martial Memes

These memes hit home for all of us martial artists and gave us a good chuckle. Click on the image to view the original account that posted each meme. Enjoy!

Have a MEME that you want featured? Send them to us at [email protected] or tag our instagram account @thekicknewsletter.

📚 What We’re Reading: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.

Recommended on the Monday Mindset Call with Adam Kifer

If you’re leading a team, growing a business, or coaching students—you’re in the business of people.
And people carry trauma. Stress. Patterns they don’t even realize are running in the background.

The Body Keeps the Score unpacks how trauma and stress physically live in the body—and how that unprocessed energy shapes behavior, emotional regulation, and leadership presence.

This isn’t just a book for therapists.
It’s a book for anyone responsible for creating safety, structure, and high standards.

💡 Key Takeaways for School Owners:
✅ What people carry shows up in their behavior—especially under pressure
✅ Regulating your nervous system helps stabilize your team and students
✅ Healing isn’t about getting over it—it’s about rewiring how we respond

If you’ve ever wondered why some staff members underperform despite having the skill—or why certain students shut down when challenged—this book provides powerful, science-backed insight.

📖 Grab your copy here: The Body Keeps the Score on Amazon

Want leadership that runs deeper than systems?
đŸ’„ Join CORE OS and unlock weekly Monday Mindset calls with Adam + the full growth operating system for your school:
👉 impaktmastermind.com/core-lander

📈 Relentless Results: Success Stories from RMA

🎯 Dan Righter’s Campaign Is Crushing It! 🎯

Big shoutout to Dan Righter this week—his latest campaign is absolutely on fire.
We’re seeing consistent lead flow at just $9 per lead, and it’s not slowing down. 🚀

This kind of performance isn’t just luck—it’s the result of smart strategy, clear targeting, and relentless execution.

Well done, Dan. Keep pressing the gas.

👉 Want to build campaigns that convert like this?
Book your RMA Discovery Call here.
Let’s map out the lead machine your school deserves.

📬 Have Something That Is Kick Worthy?

We know our readers have great ideas, insights, and stories to share! If you’ve got something that’s "kick-worthy"—whether it’s a success story, a marketing tip, or something that’s helping your school thrive—submit it to us at [email protected]. Your content could be featured in an upcoming edition of The Kick and shared with martial arts school owners around the world!

✅ That’s a Wrap

This issue was a reminder that growth isn’t something you wish for—it’s something you engineer. Whether you’re tracking your numbers, tightening your message, or learning to breathe in the deep end, the common thread is clarity. You don’t scale by chance. You scale by building the machine, fueling it with focused energy, and staying relentless when the pressure hits.

Charleston is full. Scottsdale is calling.
Let’s stop playing small and start executing big.

Stay sharp. Stay focused.
And as always—stay relentless and keep kicking forward. đŸ‘ŠđŸ”„ #TheKick