Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Tomako,

Websites can be a powerful means to promote your business.

But only if they are done right.

Most websites convert only 0.1% of visitors. That means, you'd need to have 1,000 people visit your site before anybody comes into your studio.

Since hatha yoga is serving a local audience... that's not going to be profitable.

Most visitors only spend 7 SECONDS on a website.

There are so many ineffective sites out there, it's become a commodity.

Setlling for free templates and shoddy design can hurt your chances of making sales.

Strangely though, top-of-the-line design CAN HURT YOUR SALES EVEN MORE.

Most "quality" websites are too fancy. They focus far too much on the graphics and not on the message.

For example. If you have too much color and big images... people are distracted from the text.

It also too slowly.

Black letters on white text is FAR easier to read.

The fonts you chose have a direct impact on your profits.

Less is always more with design.

Simplicity should be the rule.

As few links as possible. If you give pple too many choices, they make none.

They hit their back button.

Instead the focus of design should be on making the content (the copy) of your site readable and attractive.

Your logo isn't going to sell them. It has nothing to do with your yoga classes. How "flashy" your site looks has nothing do to with improving people's well-being.

Best to find a direct-response designer who understands the principals of commercial web design.

A website for a yoga studio has the goal of generate clients.

It's not an online brochure.

Yes, it will cost several thousand dollars for a quality website to be built.

But it will generate you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you have a site converting at 1-5% (this is high and quite possible) you're looking at gaining 1-5 new students at your studio for every 100 people who visit.

Under-peforming websites are a major problem.

The solution is the content, not the design. Words that captivate them immeidately. Speak to to the REAL REASONS they would want to join your studio.

Hope that helps.

I see so many bad sites out there. Not doing there job. I hope I can prevent the spread.

Sure $12/class... but how much a year?

If they attend 50 classes a year, you're looking at $600/year.

Get some of them in two or three times a week, you're looking at $1200-$1800/year.

Even if you can only handle 50 students per week, that's $60-$90,000/year.

Expand and take 100 students and you are looking at some serious profit down the road.

Start selling other products and affiliate with other business, and you could be grossing $300K.

A marketing mindset is the key here.

What's the point of putting up a site that only attracts 1 in 1000 visitors?

You'd have to generate ten times as much traffic. Websites are cheap, generating traffic is expensive.

An upfront cost $4-5000 for a website that works is really a fair price of doing business.

Especiall if, like myself, the copywriter is willing to work on a reasonable payment plan.

I know here in Toronto, yoga studios come and go, like pita shops. I'd say the average on lasts 6 months.

It''s rather sad, because many of them I sure are offering good training. Sadly, they fall victim to costly branding, and do-it-yourself marketing.

Sorry if that's sounds a little strong, but we are talking about people's livelihood.

John

Hey, you could do both. . Copy and yoga.

My point was that if your site is only converting 1 in 1000, it's going to cost you a lot more money to make it profitable. It's expensive generating traffic (and the cost is going up every year).

You can always get your site's copy critiqued--If you see $4,000 as a big start-up investment. In the end your site only has to communicate the benefits of yoga training with you and meaningful difference better than your competition.

You could easily find copy templates online. Work out what you need to share with your prospects to help them decide to try your Yoga studio. Avoid spending money on fancy designer to complicate the site.

Take care,

John

(I wish we were making that much! You should see my expenses. It costs 10K+/year just to cover continuing education.)

Thanks Paul.

I was starting to feel like a "bad guy."

I like you're point about "scaring potential yoga students away." A lot of direct-response copy can do that. Causes too much sales resistance.

The bland "Welcome to our website, here's what we do" copy puts them to sleep.

Finding copywriters who know the balance. Who can be persuasive and engaging, compelling and empathetic all at the same time are worth their fee.

I think what may be being ignored here is that no business owner would pay a copywriter that kind of money if he didn't know he was getting back ten-fold. It just wouldn't happen. Not on the large and respected scale it is.

I'd love to write for a yoga studio or a yoga teacher training center. It's a challenge, becuase your not just trying to sell your business, your also trying to get people motivated enough to keep on coming back. It's not like selling an "entertinament value" product. Yoga is "work" and requires discipline. Very rewarding. But there's the initial start up you need to get prospects over.

Which leads into the profitable ways you can continue to use copy to genereate more and more repeat business. I think every yoga studio needs their own newsletter/ezine to keep on reminding and motivating their students in a non-sales-y way of the benefits to staying regular in their practice.

John