Dress To Impress (in the personal defense world)? STOP IT!

Have you ever wondered how we, as instructors, come across to other people who aren’t steeped in the business of personal defense?  I mean really, have you scrolled through your newsfeed and looked at how people want to be identified?  Take about five minutes of your time (realizing that you’ll never get it back!) and check out profile pictures of people in the biz.  After you stop rolling your eyes at all of the clichés, ask yourself who you think their target market is.

 

And ponder this for a moment:  If new and curious people are looking on social media to find a personal defense class (armed or unarmed), what type of impression are they getting from all of these ludicrous photos?  I don’t care how awesome you think you are, or how loudly you’re shouting that you want to teach the new shooters, if your first impression via social media looks like someone who just stepped off the movie set of either Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket then you will get nowhere with that crowd.  You don’t look knowledgeable, you look unapproachable and unrelatable.

 

On the other hand, if you want to teach hard-core, fun gun weekend classes to guys who need a place to be able to wear all their tactical Barbie-type accessorized clothing, then I’m sure you’re in the right market.  But don’t sit on the sidelines confused as to why the curious aren’t coming your way.

 

So I guess you have two choices: Your image/ego or their education in personal defense.  Because who is this about, anyway?  I’ll choose the student every time.

 

Stay Safe (and perhaps less confused) –

Jul