Hi Fellow Copywriters!

We are gearing up for a big launch in January and currently trying to build up our list. We currently have a squeeze page running however the conversions aren't as great as I'd like them to be - only around 10-15%.

The squeeze page can be found here:
Get Booked Solid With Students - FREE Report

Any feedback or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Will Williams

You don't understand a teacher's mentality.

Teachers spend most of their time in compliance with various state
and local curricula.

They are checked by standardized testing at every step of the way.

They probably aren't interested in "renegade" teachers or "underground"
techniques.

And special report is way over done.

Don't you have anything of value to give them?

The internet and online buyers are changing.

Time to change with them.

Oh, and being "Booked Solid" isn't really the ultimate
benefit here. Is it?

Time to learn about criteria.

Peace.

Harlan

Hey Doc,

Maybe he means yoga "teachers" or something like that.

On Doc's note, I'd love to see the look on my administrators face if I told him I just read this report about a renegade teachers methods I'm going to immediately implement in my class.

Classic.

Hi Guys,

Yes, sorry let me clear this up.
We are not actually talking about regular classroom teachers here.

We are talking about music teachers, yoga teachers, dance teachers, computer teachers, private tutors, etc - private educators who work for themselves and are always on the look out for new students.

I have actually done surveys amongst these type of private educators and asked them what the biggest problems they faced were and the number one reply was getting students. Private educators find it hard to keep their schedule full all year round. They always have gaps in their schedules that they are hoping to fill. In this survey I actually also asked them what they like to be referred to as: ie/ teachers, tutors, coaches, instructors, and so on. The overwhelming response was that they classify themselves as 'teachers'. Thus why I use that word compared to any variation.

Currently the methods they told me they use to find students, as my research shows, is through regular classified ads, flyers and community noticeboards. These methods are slowly losing their effectiveness. Our site addresses this problem by giving them an online presence so they can be found when students search the Internet for lessons in their local area.

Students are turning to the Internet to find lessons now rather than searching the back of local newspapers and so we help teachers make this move to the Internet as most are a bit wary about the Internet and how difficult and expensive it can be to get an online presence.

Doc, when you say the free report thing has been overdone, what do you think would work better? A 7 day email course or something like that?

Thanks for the feedback guys...

Oops, forgot to mention...

When I set this up with a PPC campaign I will be personlizing the sales page to match the audience I am targeting in the ads.

eg: If I am running ads on yoga sites or for yoga teachers, the headline will change to something like

"Yoga Teachers: Get Booked Solid With Students In Your Local Area... Without Any Of The Time Sucking Classified Ads, Flyers, And Other Outdated Advertising Methods You May Have Been Struggling With..."

or something similar, you get the idea.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what do you mean by "time sucking" classified ads?

I would go with something shorter and more to the point (less hype, but with the same meaning)...

First of all, get rid of the word "teachers" when addressing this market...


If this is about making more money for teachers, then it goes a lot deeper than simply "getting" new students.

Something vitally important that you need to address is "retention rates". Talk about how difficult it is to not just "get" new clients, but how to keep new clients longer than usual, which increases more sales. Hence, "retention".

All good marketers will tell you that It costs a helluva lot more to get new clients than it does to retain the ones you already have... address this in your copy.

Can you say "residual income"?

Martial arts, Yoga classes, and health clubs all face the same big problem...

Keeping people who have signed up, interested and focused on their goals.

Listen, It's more than just "learning" an art form that's important.

It doesn't do any good to just "try" Yoga, but to be focused on a long-term plan... it's all about attitude and discipline. It's all about changing one's mindset that makes or breaks the problem of retention.

If you can somehow show instructors how they can change someone's mindset (something barely touched upon in these niches), then they'll be one step ahead of their competition... In fact, you may find they have no competition if they go this route.

Somehow, show them how your system will help them make this a part of their USP and how they will go way beyond the "same ol same ol", "ho hum" Yoga class.

I hope some of my ramblings are helpful... lacking sleep, so if I'm way off, this is why.

Stephen,

Thanks for your feedback, it's much appreciated!

Many teachers said they were annoyed with having to resubmit the same classified ads over and over again each week and also having to go through the payment process for it each time. That is what our site hopes to solve. Make their online advertising something, which if they want, can be virtually 'set and forget' so they can concentrate on their students. Obviously the more time they put into adding content and updating it regularly, the more successful it will be for them.

I agree that the term 'teacher' is a bit misleading and most will misinterpret it, like people in this forum already have, to mean those regular teachers in the classrooms of public schools or colleges. I think the word instructor is a bit more targeted to the sorts of people I am trying to attract. Great!

Another thing you touched upon which became very evident in the survey I did with instructors recently was that they are somewhat annoyed that students will give up after only a few lessons and also students who cancel last minute or just don't even bother showing up for their lessons at all. I think adding this point to the squeeze page and offering them tips on how to improve their retention rates is a great idea! I knew this needed to be addressed but I think giving this info away for free through the squeeze page will help the conversion rate.

Thanks again for your feedback and if you have any other ideas or anything to add, my ears are wide open.

Regards,

WILL

Once again, I don' think you have a clue as to what the criteria of the teachers are.

Well I figure the best way to know would be to ask them myself and so that is exactly what I did.

300 of them were surveyed and one of the questions was to put in their own words exactly what they struggled with on a daily basis.

They came back and the overwhelming winners were finding more students AND keeping those they already have. These are the exact people I will be selling to so I think listening to what they have to say is probably the smartest way to go??

Yup! I have a good friend who's a Taekwondo instructor and at one time was complaining about the potential profits his company would make if he could only lower the dropout rates.

I referred him to Dan Kennedy and Jay Abraham courses and today, he is tripling/quadrupling his business with some excellent marketing/retention techniques.

Most of these types of businesses try to "lock their students in" with contracts... right from the start, this puts negative thoughts/fear into the hearts and minds of prospective clients (makes you wonder what the rate is for people choosing to not join because of these contracts).

With ongoing, creative marketing, it make it easier to keep these student's interests.

I imagine is is easier for a martial arts schools compared to Yoga, because there are monthly tournaments and other activities, whereas in Yoga, there is not.

I belong to a healthclub and they have a free program that helps members track their weight loss, strength, etc using computerized tracking and individual consultations with a certified health professional... good retention technique, in my book.

Ah well... just rambling here.

BTW - I'd be very interested in hearing more of what Doc Kilstein means by criteria.