Summer Camps and Daycares: The PE-Teacher-for-the-Day Lead Machine

When we got to grassroots ideas for the summer this week, Grandmaster Jeff Smith flagged the obvious goldmine: summer camps and all the daycares. He’s right that it’s a huge opportunity—but I want to set your expectations correctly, because the way most owners think about camps is not the way they actually pay off.

Here’s my take: a lot of these camps are much flakier than a regular elementary school. They’re half-day, they’re on a drop-off schedule, the roster rotates. Community centers are the worst for continuity—they sometimes don’t even know who’s going to be there tomorrow. Daycares are a bit more consistent. Church Bible camps are often just one or two weeks. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are sometimes two or three days. So if you walk in expecting to build a tight, six-week relationship with the same 20 kids, you’ll be frustrated. We’ve all had the experience: 25 kids the first day, seven by the fifth day.

Play for lead volume, not continuity

Once you accept that, the strategy gets simple. You’re not there to run a curriculum—you’re there to generate a mountain of leads fast. So in that kind of environment, here’s what I do: the parent fills out a permission slip when they drop the kids off in the morning. I go in and teach the class—PE teacher for the day. And then, if possible, I send a staff member back over from five to six to be there at pickup and talk with the parents.

Will the conversion be as high as an after-school enrichment program? No. A PE-teacher-for-the-day class with permission slips converts at a lower percentage. But you can get in front of a lot of kids in a hurry, turn them into leads, and build a mailing list of a thousand people for back-to-school just by working the summer camps. And it’s one of the easiest grassroots plays there is. For the school-year version of this, see our breakdown of the PE-teacher-for-the-day system and the summer-camp enrollment pipeline.

Don’t call. Just show up.

Here’s a tactic that matters more every year: don’t try to call these places. A lot of them have no phone number to call and no one you’ll ever reach—the community center front desk can’t connect you to the person running the camp. What works is to figure out where they all are and just show up on the doorstep, walk in, and spark up a conversation. It’s easy, and the bandwagon effect is real—once one camp says yes, the next is easier.

One more thing on staffing: whenever possible, I’d put a gregarious, confident, outgoing female staff member on the daycare and camp visits. When an adult male shows up at a daycare unannounced, he gets more resistance and more concern than when a woman walks in. It’s just reality, and it makes the door open easier.

Start early and go hunting

This is daytime work, so start early—eight or nine in the morning, not one in the afternoon. Have your person start with a list the night before of what they already know is out there, then knock on doors one after another after another. And while they’re at it, hit the usual suspects: drive by every elementary school, get out of the car, and walk the property. The front door is often locked, but if there are cars in the lot, something’s going on—walk into the gym or the cafeteria. I once found that roughly a third of the schools I showed up at had something happening that wasn’t posted anywhere, and a lot of those became my foot in the door for the fall.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are summer camps worth it if the kids keep changing?

Yes—just play for lead volume, not continuity. You won’t get the same kids every day, but you can generate a huge number of leads and build a back-to-school mailing list of a thousand families.

Should I call camps and daycares first?

No. Most have no phone number or person you can reach. Show up in person, walk in, and start a conversation. It’s faster and it works.

Who should I send to do the visits?

When possible, a confident, outgoing female staff member. She’ll meet far less resistance at a daycare than an adult male showing up unannounced. Start early in the morning and work down a prepared list.

About the Author

Stephen Oliver, MBA and 10th Degree Black Belt, is the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, CEO of NAPMA (the National Association of Professional Martial Artists), and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine. A martial arts school owner since 1975, Stephen and his coaching team — including Grandmaster Jeff Smith and Dr. Greg Moody — have helped school owners across the country build $1M+ schools.

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