Where do I go from here....

[nghs22]

Ok so I have done alot of work and my "muse" is off the ground!! I have having our first "official" seminar this weekend.

(In case you were wondering, I started a GMAT MATH preparation company)

I have some questions to pose to this group (I respect everyone's opinion here and have learned alot from the forum).


Here we go:

-I will make money on this seminar. Around $600 I would say, though future seminars will earn ALOT more for me. I decided my hired tutor (who I personally who and who does a great job) should get a larger chuck of the pie this time b/c he will have to spend more time than usual on our first students to ensure their success. We anticipate a number of referrals if they like what they see.

-I am in charge of marketing, finances, customer service, logistics, etc. (it's really not that time consuming at all)

-In the future, my job could be completely automated and outsourced. I don't want to do that now because I feel like this is my baby and it needs to be started right and put in a position to grow.

My questions are:

1) Would you recommend outsourcing the creation of a more professional looking website?
- here is the one I am currently using: www.thegmatcoach.com

2) What are the best ways you would think to "grow" this sort of business? I currently attend every MBA seminar in Atlanta and pass our flyers, biz cards, etc. I am also ranked very high in SE's for GMAT related terms.

3) Do you think this is a viable muse option?

4) Does anyone want to mentor me? :D



I'm sure I have more but I am really hungry and need to eat. :cool:

Thanks for your time.

[4hourworkweak]

Hi, sounds like you are making great progress. Well done!

I don't even know what a GMAT is, so perhaps I can give some outsider oppinion on your website. I had a look at some of your competitors, for example www.VeritasPrep.com/ and http://www.manhattangmat.com/ and these guys are looking way more prof. than your website does. Sorry to say, I doubt I would spend $1200 on someones course who has a website which looks home made.

I guess it depends on how much you will use your site to lock in business. If you think that the majority of your sales will come from refferals and networking events, then perhaps you don't really need a strong website. If you are going to do offline advertising in magasines etc. and direct people to your website, I would get another one done along the lines of the two above.

Are their many sites teaching the GMAT exclusively online as distance learning? Maybe an online only course with expert teachers in the forums would be a good way for you to withdraw your physical presence from the business? I'm sure you've already looked into that.

[officer_dibble]

I'd definitely consider filming your seminars for use as future promo or online learning content (and if nothing else they will give you ideas on how to improve your presentation skills if this is an area you want to look at).

One minor point on your website - I would definitely make sure the contact details in the bottom right are corrected ("email@example.com" doesn't look great).

[AntonTheKhan]

Yes, I would outsource the website creation. Your website copy is decent but the layout is not.
Film a seminar, then sell the damn thing over the internet. You can even do it aLL digital for full automation.

Ok so I have done alot of work and my "muse" is off the ground!! I have having our first "official" seminar this weekend.

(In case you were wondering, I started a GMAT MATH preparation company)

I have some questions to pose to this group (I respect everyone's opinion here and have learned alot from the forum).


Here we go:

-I will make money on this seminar. Around $600 I would say, though future seminars will earn ALOT more for me. I decided my hired tutor (who I personally who and who does a great job) should get a larger chuck of the pie this time b/c he will have to spend more time than usual on our first students to ensure their success. We anticipate a number of referrals if they like what they see.

-I am in charge of marketing, finances, customer service, logistics, etc. (it's really not that time consuming at all)

-In the future, my job could be completely automated and outsourced. I don't want to do that now because I feel like this is my baby and it needs to be started right and put in a position to grow.

My questions are:

1) Would you recommend outsourcing the creation of a more professional looking website?
- here is the one I am currently using: www.thegmatcoach.com

2) What are the best ways you would think to "grow" this sort of business? I currently attend every MBA seminar in Atlanta and pass our flyers, biz cards, etc. I am also ranked very high in SE's for GMAT related terms.

3) Do you think this is a viable muse option?

4) Does anyone want to mentor me? :D



I'm sure I have more but I am really hungry and need to eat. :cool:

Thanks for your time.

[LivetheDream]

I'm your target audience and here's what I have to say:

1) I intend to take the GMAT in the next year, so this is and honest prospective client speaking. Although there's no chance I'd buy your service because I tend to do exceedingly well on standardized tests, live in the metro Boston area, and would prefer a known quantity for GMAT prep... that said, a few targeted 'free' sessions might help you get the ball rolling but be sure you target those. See below for what I mean on targeting, specifically I'm referring to offering a free seat at each of your first sessions to someone who has taken the GMAT before and require them to do X, Y, and Z to help you market - e.g. provide you their before and after score, where they applied, where they chose to go, etc.

2) Your website is perfectly professional and looks solid. Compare it against Kaplan and the myriad of other sites and it can hold its ground. That said, it appears to be a cookie cutter page. That won't hurt you for now, but it will if you grow.

3) If you're attending MBA seminars you're at the wrong place. First off, that's vague. MBA seminars could be 'executive MBA' type month long courses for certificates, in which case the people attending those are often high enough in an organization that they do not want to get the MBA and hence are taking the seminar to replace that 'stamp.' If you're talking about going to MBa information sessions at local colleges many of the kids there already have taken their GMAT's and are intending to apply in the coming year. I am not certain where to market it presently and I certainly haven't done any due dilliegnce. My gut tells me that buying some online ads at local university sites might be valuable if it's offered or targeted advertisement on social networking sites. You might also try working an agreement with very large management consulting firms or other MBA feeding companies in the area. I'm a marketing professional, so that's just top of my head. I'd recommend you perform or find someone to farm out the research for your target segment. If this is gibberish to you just keep doing what you're doing and hope for a solid cottage industry.

4) Try to tie in prestigious colleges and DEFINITELY ensure you get before and after results of the folks who attend your sessions.

5) You are the best person to answer the specific questions you have because only you know what your strengths are. Work toward those.

6) Make sure that your site is clean and clear. Take a look at Tim's. Not a hell of a lot of words up there, and yours is a fairly long read. The rule in online marketing is if they have to scroll you've lost them. No offense here either, but your language skills could use some clean up and you need to pay more attention to detail (i.e. - the email address). As a prospective client I'd want to think the people running the show are smarter than me and I definitely will judge the quality of their site for that. It's human nature. I'd consider hiring a marketing firm to tidy up your site rather than a professions designer. It depends on your budget and I have an out for you later...

7) Take this with a grain of salt, I'm even younger than Tim and although I've been highly successful, I'm green and I know it.

8) Be confident.

On a side note here: I'd be happy to provide some marketing or a draft of what I feel could fit in your site pro bono for a reference and perhaps some GMAT prep materials. We can work it out, but I am certainly keen to help out the community and it wouldn't hurt to build up some references on here before potentially launching a 'transition muse.' Shoot me one on this site if you're interested. I could put something together fairly quickly and give your site a linguistic face lift.

Best of luck,

Dreamer

[nghs22]

I'd definitely consider filming your seminars for use as future promo or online learning content (and if nothing else they will give you ideas on how to improve your presentation skills if this is an area you want to look at).

One minor point on your website - I would definitely make sure the contact details in the bottom right are corrected ("email@example.com" doesn't look great).

That's where I want to take it. There is currently not very many online GMAT prep courses (and the ones they have are around $1500+). Let's talk. PM me your ideas :D

[froldt]

I'd definitely consider filming your seminars for use as future promo or online learning content (and if nothing else they will give you ideas on how to improve your presentation skills if this is an area you want to look at).

If you follow Dave Ramsey's example (and I don't know how well this would work with your presentation, you could film your seminars and then sell DVD sets of them, as well as putting them online. You might also be able to sell "audio only" sets at a lesser price.

I am not certain where to market it presently and I certainly haven't done any due dilliegnce. My gut tells me that buying some online ads at local university sites might be valuable if it's offered or targeted advertisement on social networking sites.

You might want to look at advertising in university newspapers. I know that at my university, this can be done online, and the ad will run in print and online.

[micah7]

Don't forget the social networks and bookmark sites. Student papers would be a good one as well as previously stated. I'm sure most people on the go would appreciate an audio seminar on study tips and skills, possible GMAT rhetoric, ect.

You can also target companies with employees that are going to school or thinking about returning. Offer them a company discount. You can also do free seminars to upsell your other products.

Also a few pointers:
Setup an Autoresponder for your email and support email. Create email addresses that include your domain name: *@thegmatcoach.com

Sales@
Support@
Information@
Firstname.lastname@

This will help give your service and company a more professional look.

hopes this helps...

if you need website help i can possibly be of some assistance...

[nghs22]

thanks!! I'll be in touch. great ideas

[officer_dibble]

That's where I want to take it. There is currently not very many online GMAT prep courses (and the ones they have are around $1500+). Let's talk. PM me your ideas :D

Duly PM'd. :)

[nghs22]

Alright guys, I have the website pretty much done, and boy does it look better!

www.thegmatcoach.com

I hope to take everyone's ideas and implement them. Our first session went great, with over $2000 in net income. :)

I wlll be PM'ing some of ya'll soon to discuss further automation ideas and other things.