Before Putting Up a Website
Very Important Considerations Before putting up a Web Site – or, Things that no one thinks about – and should!
Before you do ANYTHING ( and, that includes listen to that VERY enthusiastic – technically minded student who’s volunteering to do everything FREE) ask yourself these questions:
1. Why do I need a web site?
2. What do I want it to accomplish?
3. Who am I designing the site for?
4. and, How many sites – or, entry points – do I need? (more about this later.)
Your first internet strategy probably shouldn’t include a web site at all. You know what you should do first? Bar none? Forget everything else? The most – I really mean it – The most important internet strategy? Here it is – Are you ready? I’m REALLY serious here.
Step 1: Collect EVERYONE’s Email address. Collect the email address for EVERY student. Collect the email address for EVERY prospect. Collect the email address for EVERY lead. What you say – that’s not COOL. There’s no animation – no bio and pic of “your’s truly” and, no cool myname@myname.com email address – what gives? Remember our friend Stephen Covey? He talks about being proactive not reactive. Remember that? Well Email is Proactive. Guess what – you can decide WHEN and HOW to communicate with them.
Step 2. Figure out your strategy for using Email effectively. What can you do? 1. Send all your students your weekly or daily newsletter; 2. Send all your students your lesson of the week; 3. Send all your students – calendars, schedules, dates of closure, schedule changes, special announcements; 4. Sell your students – video tapes, nutritional supplements, etc . 5. Follow-up with a series of sales letters – automatically to every lead or prospect; 6. Answer student and parent questions easily (it’s called asynchronous communication – on your schedule – not theirs.) For an example – go to: https://milehighkarate.com and opt-in to my email list.
Step 3. Start thinking about your web site. What do you want to accomplish?
1. Sell prospects for your children’s classes and make appointments; 2. Sell prospects for adult programs and make appointments;
3. Sell prospects for Kickboxing, Yoga, Tai Chi, or, some other program;
4. Put you school newsletter on-line;
5. Put curriculum resources on-line:
1. Test requirements’
2. Qualification Code;
3. Intent to Promote
4. Test Form;
5. Written Tests;
6. Video of Each Form;
7. Audio of your Lesson of the Week;
8. Pad & Equipment Requirements and on-line ordering.
6. Sell Curriculum Video Tapes
7. Sell Your Book
8. Sell Audio Tapes
9. Give information about your after-school program with on-line registration
10. Give information about your summer camp with on-line registration And, the list goes on.
Sit Down and Really Think About Your Objectives: What do you want to accomplish? Why? Is it worth the Effort? Who do you want to target? What information do you want them to have access to? What shouldn’t they have access to?
(c) copyright 2013 Stephen Oliver
