OPTED OUT OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM: A PREVIEW Author: Elena Mutonono
Chapter 5: Creating a Website that works for you and your business
OPTED OUT OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM: A PREVIEW Whenever I coach teachers who are just starting out their online teaching business I focus on the importance of their online presence. It’s just like one’s classroom – you can’t teach in vacuum, you have to claim some classroom space. Your website is this space. Building it up is pretty intuitive. If you still think that only web designers know how to do that, then go on youtube and put “create a professional website from scratch” into the search window. Then click on the best-looking (and short) tutorials. One thing that very few of those website-building tutorials ever mention is how to actually make a website that works for you, your (potential) students and your business in general. As a coach for teacherpreneurs I look at teachers’ websites very often, and assessing whether a website works/doesn’t work has become a part of my masterclass package. In this chapter I’m going to share with you some of the things that make your website less appealing. Note that I’m not talking about the matters of web design. If you want your website to look professional, choose the simplest and the cleanest design. Amazingly, the more you add on to your website to make it look “appealing,” the more students will be turned off by it. Below is a list of 10 things that I usually look at to make my generic assessment of the efficiency of the website: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Personality Professionalism The number of services The number of learning options Subscription (newsletter sign-up) Content uniqueness Content consistency Content quality Feedback Vague introduction and/or mission statement.
These ten help me determine how a person should work on their website so it actually contributes to significant conversion. Now I will talk some about each of these points, combining some of them to create a better picture. Personality. Consumers’ culture these days is all about experience. In search of unique experiences people prefer to deal with people, not organizations. I read once that your story is everything. It is important both for your customer and for you. When you understand yourself you’ll be able to create a successful brand. I can share that whenever I buy something from somebody, especially handmade products or premium services and/or courses I look for a story. I would even go so far as to say that the quality of a personal story will move me to buy from a specific person. How well does your personality come through in your website? Professionalism, feedback and introduction. This comes second after personality, but it is important also. Obviously, people want to know your story so they can trust you, but they also
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OPTED OUT OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM: A PREVIEW want to see how qualified you are and if you can really help them. What is one problem that you can promise to help them solve? This is what I would call an introduction. Share this formula on your home page: your student’s problem => your qualification and experience => your promise to help them solve this problem. I would also add that professionalism becomes evident from the testimonials that your students provide. Testimonials will add to the overall impression that people will have of you: a) you’re a real person and can be trusted because you’re just like me; b) you’re a real professional and I know you can help me fix my problems. Be sure to talk about your professionalism and add the endorsements of your high-valued customers! Numbers and Options. My initial website for teaching Russian students online had at least a dozen of options for every possible student out there. I had thought that in order to attract as many students as I could at that time I had to offer everything. Little did I know that having too many options actually makes it more difficult to choose. Later potential students would write to me with questions like, “What should I choose: the tourist English or the General English package?” “Should I go with Grammar or Pronunciation right now?” It was almost impossible for them to make up their minds, and so I would lose business. That prompted me to redo my packages page, and now I only have 3 options to choose from. Narrowing down all possible programs to just three was not so easy, but it makes it very easy for my students who can choose between budget and VIP options without having to look through a whole list of programs. Subscription One of the most frequently asked questions on forums for online teachers is this, “Where do I get new students?” Coming from teaching for educational establishments, very few of use have a concept of going out to look for new students. Most of the time we would come into the classroom full of students because somebody else has already done the work. But what shall we do if we’re left in charge of student recruitment? Building up your email list gives you a great opportunity to reach out to a wide audience and begin working with them so that in the future they can convert, i.e. become your potential client. But just having an email list is not enough. You would have to work with these people, send them updates every week or so, develop a relationship and build trust. Don’t just put together a list thinking that everyone will become your client the moment you send out your deal. On average, people need to be reached out 9 times with different kinds of offers and materials (including free materials) that might be helpful to them before they can see enough value to pay you for it and become your client. Content
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OPTED OUT OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM: A PREVIEW Are you consistently producing content? Not only your clients and readers, but also Google will love you for producing unique, fresh and consistent content. They say that content is king. It is true. Your website may have all the latest bells and whistles, but unless you have content that will help your potential customer, people aren’t going to buy. So begin producing content following these “4-S” guidelines: 1.
Start small. No need to create the longest articles or podcasts in the world. Start with 300 words of really helpful materials. Start with a 5-minute podcast. 2. Schedule your content. Choose the day of the week to produce your content. 3. Share. Once you create something, share it with your subscribers. If you don’t have subscribers send it to your friends/colleagues who can help you by giving feedback or sharing it with their readers. Sharing will help you promote your content and make it available for people outside your circles. 4. Send updates. When you have your mailing list, send updates about your new content to your subscribers. This will get them more and more interested in what you do. Your content has to be of excellent quality. Be sure to study and do some research, but also ask yourself if this article/podcast/video is in some small way life-changing. If this piece of content makes your life better, then it’s going to make a difference in your reader’s life also, and this is your ultimate goal. Now you can look at the action sheet that will help you make some significant steps in improving your website today.
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OPTED OUT OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM: A PREVIEW Worksheet 5: Improve Your Website Today. In the right-hand column check the steps that you still need to take. This is an approximate list. Some things (like setting your own prices) may be optional.
Personality
1. Write “about me” page and make it personal 2. Have professional pictures made. 3. Share something about you as a person.
Professionalism
1. List your qualifications on the “about me” page. 2. Share how you can help students 3. Add the link to your other students’ testimonials.
Introduction/mission statement
1. Think about 1 problem that your students might have. 2. Post this on the home page and write how you can help them. 3. Add a link to the testimonials page.
Packages
1. Narrow down your options. 2. Give clear explanations outlining the results that the students will get. 3. Set up your prices.
Content
1. Ask your potential audience what their problems are. 2. Try to create content that will address their specific problems. 3. Share the content on your social media.
Feedback
1.
Subscription
1. Encourage people to sign up by creating courses for them. 2. Another way to get people to sign up and to give them a nice incentive (sign up and you will get a free tool).
Ask your students to write about their experiences working with you. 2. Include feedback links on several pages. You can also include one testimony on each page.
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