Tuesday 21 February 2006
notes below Original class announcement
Creating a website is easy. Creating a successful website takes a bit extra
The dream is a steady stream of clients. The reality can be different
We will be discussing website design and content, marketing and promotion, the user experience and, most importantly, getting clients from your website
Marianne and Coen will be sharing tips and experiences with their own websites
Please bring your own questions, suggestions and stories
The speakers
Marianne Craig, MCC, www.coachlifeandcareer.com
Marianne Craig has a very successful website, which regularly brings in new clients. She is also one of only a handful of coaches in the U.K. to have been awarded the designation Master Certified Coach (MCC) by the ICF
Coen de Groot, www.coachcoen.com
Coen de Groot greatly enjoyed computer technology from a young age (before calculators became common, let alone a computer on every desktop). After a successful career in IT, computers lost their challenge and Coen ran away from them to a new career as a coach. It wasn't long before computers caught up with them, and friendly relations were restored. So now Coen hosts Europe's premier online community of coaches, the Euro Coach List, and regularly tinkers with the technology behind it. He has created websites for his own coaching practices as well as for other coaches and coaching organisations. Coen is also a member of Mentor Coaches International and does some highly clever stuff with their website
Masterclass Notes
Notes written by Marianne
Craig and Coen
de Groot
Website design: You are
the brand, so have a photo (professional and approachable),
and be authentic, speak from your website, your words, your
quotations, to attract clients that are right for you
Domain names: have a keyword
that people might be using to search for you, in your domain
name (e.g. CoachLifeAndCareer.com)
Ways to create the website:
- Make your own. Look for computer/website/Internet magazines
that include a CD with free web creation software, e.g.
"Web pages made easy". However, you need something
professional. So only take this route if you are trained
graphic designer
- Get a website designer, with a background in graphic design,
to do it for you. Find someone through your personal or
professional networks. Your designer can suggest a website
host, and upload your website for you so it becomes 'live'
- Create a weblog (log). This can look quite professional
and allows you to easily and regularly add content to your
website
- Use a template based system which gives you an online
control panel for adding and changing your webpages, typically
for a monthly fee
- Before launching the site, get feedback from friends
- Start by writing the text for your pages. Give this to
your designer. And brief your designer by giving him/her
a list of websites that you like, with reasons why you like
them
Recommendation: MoonFruit.com,
a good resource for tools for creating your website
Promotion
- Look at key words and phrases that your audience would
look for. Make sure your website designer puts in the meta
tags for these keywords, and also use them in your text
- To submit your website, go to the search engines and look
for a link that says 'submit'
- When you launch your site, send email to everyone on your
contact list, telling them about your new site and your
business. Use it as an opportunity to promote your busienss.
If appropriate create an offer, such as a free coaching
session. Ask people to forward your link to other people
- Use the Internet for building alliances, e.g. by offering
to write articles for an existing website, in return for
a link back to your website
- Articles can be recycled, and then used for another website
- leverage the effort
- Use an email newsletter to promote your website. Ask website
visitors to sign up to your newsletter. Put your articles
on your newsletter
- Create a competition for a local paper or trade journal,
e.g. for a month's free coaching. To answer the question
they have to visit your website. M: been very successful
- Google AdWords. You pay for clicks to your website, not
for the number of times your mini advert gets shown. Set
a daily budget to limit the expenditure. See adwords.google.com
Marianne Craig and Coen de Groot 2006©
- end of notes -
Future Masterclasses
We are currently taking a break from the Masterclasses
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