Originally Posted by
MikeH
In all but one, the answer was "we don't have enough work for the CFI's we've got, but if you show up with your own students, maybe we'll work with you". The one place that didn't say that still said I'd have to supply my own students.
Not out of the question. Most of the schools I worked for did little or no marketing. Look at the demographic most likely to fly -disposable income and/or adventure seeking. Back in the day I ran a $15 ad in a newsletter at several local hospitals. Pulled a couple of docs from that. Also did the same thing with a newsletter for police/fire.
Get creative. Putting flyers on cars in the Walmart parking lot won't do it. Go to where the fish are. Country club newsletters are great. After you get a few, you've got word of mouth. I brought so many students to one school that they started giving me some of theirs because I was a producer.
I have even used the FAA database to identify private pilots that own their own aircraft and mailed them a postcard for instrument training or BFRs.
Think like a business person in addition to an instructor.