Thanks all for the great ideas for independent CFI's. I took my CFI checkride in May and II in October of this year. I have been doing some instruction in a club that I have been a member of for a number of years. As somone with a full time job that I do not intend to leave, it has been hard to get to the level of instruction that I would like to have.
I have looked for ideas of how I can get my business to grow, but have not found much. Thanks for the ideas!
A good way is to make yourself avaliable to as many clubs, schools, and partnerships as you can, even if it involves some coin on your part. If that also involves some labor intensive scheduling and some driving each day then those are the cards I'm afraid.
The hardest thing about being an independent is credibility and name recognition. After all, its very hard to compete with established names like American Flyers, ATP, Skymates, etc.
However, if you want to get the business you absolutely MUST get your face out there and sell yourself as an "Authority", provide GREAT customer service, and product differentiation. What can you provide that big name and local area schools can't?
Also, specialize in some aspect of flight training, be it Private, Instrument, Multi, G-1000 training, or a particular high performance aircraft, and people will seek you out eventually.
Find out what people in your local (30 mile radius or less) are primarily interested in, and then get your name, face, cards, website, emails, postcards, and flyers in grocery stores out in to the public. The hardest part of marketing is breaking in to the scene, after that first push, word of mouth should take over if your customers are happy.
If you need some additional advice PM me and I'll give you my number. That goes for anyone here as well.