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Feedback requested for my four-year old fastlane business

Ronin365

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Four years ago my current business partner came to me with a vision for a business that he needed help implementing. I saw the potential in it, and now that I have read MJ's books, I believe it covers all the fastlane commandments and have felt re-invigorated to continue. My partner and I were discussing sunsetting the business at the end of the year if we could not move it past self-sustaining to providing a modicum of income.

There is a little more background when I made my introduction here:

Introduction - Read the books and now I am here

Our business is a guitar lesson portal. The problem we are solving is the various frustrations that students have actually learning guitar and making progress with their playing. Issues such as:
  • Gaps in the instruction that lead to not knowing how to perform a technique or progress in a skill.
  • Teachers or courses that only teach songs and neglect the fundamentals and music theory that truly build a competent guitar player.
  • Organization and structure, most of what is out there lacks a clear direction on where to start and where to progress next. This issue is magnified with free YouTube videos and other online guitar lessons websites.
The feedback I am looking for can be anything that you think will hinder the delivery of value, customer acquisition, the ability to go fastlane, etc. As I mentioned earlier, my partner and I have been at this for four years. The website has been through multiple iterations to try different layouts, themes, copy, price points, etc. We believe we are providing something that is not readily available in the market. We have even seen some other competitors adopt some of our languages and points, but not change their content.

I have seen alot of crappy digital content and have seen it make money. I believe we have exceptional content but it is not really getting the exposure because our primary weakness is within marketing...

We usually experience a high bounce rate at the front page- I have worked on load times, different headlines, layouts, etc. When we dont have a high bounce rate at the front page, it seems we struggle with conversions. Sometimes we get conversions and do not know why. That said some of our conversions seem to come from people finding us on page 10 of SERPs or searching something in particular that lands them on one of our lesson pages. Which tells us alot of the sign ups we have are people looking for something specific or for something "different". That something different seems not to be conveyed when we try using FB and Google ads.

So... if you all are willing, I invite you to tell me the good, the bad and the ugly. If anyone wants to have a look at the content or try it out, please let me know and I will arrange for free memberships. Feel free to make suggestions or to tear it all apart.

https://www.levelsforguitar.com/
 
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Empires

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My takeaways were:

The copy on the homepage is too long. When I land on a page I want to scroll down and know immediately what to do next.

I'd recommend using quick short points. For example, rather than: "We offer frustration-free guitar lessons that save time and money while keeping students on track. There is no guesswork on what to do next." I would use just "Frustration-Free Guitar Lessons". Quick and to the point, the longer the copy the less likely I am going to read it.

The call to action isn't clear as well. It took me quite awhile to find your sign up page. You should put a Sign Up button in the top menu so it's easy to find right next to the Log in button. I'd also recommend replacing the learn more button on the hero image with a sign up button. You want the sign up button to follow your users around so it's hard to miss. The copy on your sign up buttons on the homepage are quite long as well and doesn't tell me to click it. I didn't even realize it was a button at first.

You should put your pricing tiers from your sign up page on your homepage right under the hero image. That way people know immediately what you offer.

My suggestion would be to create a dedicated landing page and drive targeted traffic to it. For example, if you take your sign up page and add a header saying "Learn Guitar Online" then use adwords to target the search term 'learn guitar online' to send them to your sign up page you will likely have not only a better bounce rate but also better conversions since it is targeted traffic.

Its seems like you've created quite a lot of content for your courses. I think if you improve your website to better convey your offer and drive targeted traffic to it you could do well. Keep at it!
 

Willing2Learn

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Yes, the front page definitely needs to be fixed. To me, it comes off too "money-grabby." It reminds me of a site that just wants your money, despite all the bullet points you mentioned.

- Eliminate the white space (spacing) inbetween lines, and reduce the amount of scrolling down the user has to do.
- Proofread everything again. I found a typo.

[You think there is no way you can master guitar because your not a "natural"]

It's you're, not your. I hate typos. We all make them, but there is just something that irks me about them. It tells people that you didn't read what you put down. This post for instance could have one, but I'm not trying to make money off of this post. If you're marketing something, try to fix your typos. ;)

- Are you actually making decent money from this site?

Which memberships are selling the most?

I'm asking, because honestly, I think the rates are a bit pricey.

Monthly $19.00

If you are doing great with the $19.00 monthly membership, I would leave it just as it is. Otherwise, I would come down to $14.95 or somewhere around there.

One-Year $189.00

With all of the supposed free guitar video tutorials out there, I wouldn't pay that much for a whole year. But that's just me. It's still cheaper than doing the $19.00 am month for twelve months, but I would come down just a bit more on that. Something like $149.00.

Lifetime All Access $479.00

I would drop that down somewhere between $299 and $379.

Of course these are just my estimated opinions. If you feel that your value at the rates you already have is good, and you are selling them well, then good for you man. Congratulations. :)

As for the general layout of the site, it's not bad.

I hope this has been helpful. :)
 

Ronin365

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My takeaways were:

The copy on the homepage is too long. When I land on a page I want to scroll down and know immediately what to do next.

I'd recommend using quick short points. For example, rather than: "We offer frustration-free guitar lessons that save time and money while keeping students on track. There is no guesswork on what to do next." I would use just "Frustration-Free Guitar Lessons". Quick and to the point, the longer the copy the less likely I am going to read it.

The call to action isn't clear as well. It took me quite awhile to find your sign up page. You should put a Sign Up button in the top menu so it's easy to find right next to the Log in button. I'd also recommend replacing the learn more button on the hero image with a sign up button. You want the sign up button to follow your users around so it's hard to miss. The copy on your sign up buttons on the homepage are quite long as well and doesn't tell me to click it. I didn't even realize it was a button at first.

You should put your pricing tiers from your sign up page on your homepage right under the hero image. That way people know immediately what you offer.

My suggestion would be to create a dedicated landing page and drive targeted traffic to it. For example, if you take your sign up page and add a header saying "Learn Guitar Online" then use adwords to target the search term 'learn guitar online' to send them to your sign up page you will likely have not only a better bounce rate but also better conversions since it is targeted traffic.

Its seems like you've created quite a lot of content for your courses. I think if you improve your website to better convey your offer and drive targeted traffic to it you could do well. Keep at it!

Thank you for your time and feedback... I see what I can do to implement your suggestions.
 
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Ronin365

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Yes, the front page definitely needs to be fixed. To me, it comes off too "money-grabby." It reminds me of a site that just wants your money, despite all the bullet points you mentioned.

- Eliminate the white space (spacing) inbetween lines, and reduce the amount of scrolling down the user has to do.
- Proofread everything again. I found a typo.

[You think there is no way you can master guitar because your not a "natural"]

It's you're, not your. I hate typos. We all make them, but there is just something that irks me about them. It tells people that you didn't read what you put down. This post for instance could have one, but I'm not trying to make money off of this post. If you're marketing something, try to fix your typos. ;)

- Are you actually making decent money from this site?

Which memberships are selling the most?

I'm asking, because honestly, I think the rates are a bit pricey.

Monthly $19.00

If you are doing great with the $19.00 monthly membership, I would leave it just as it is. Otherwise, I would come down to $14.95 or somewhere around there.

One-Year $189.00

With all of the supposed free guitar video tutorials out there, I wouldn't pay that much for a whole year. But that's just me. It's still cheaper than doing the $19.00 am month for twelve months, but I would come down just a bit more on that. Something like $149.00.

Lifetime All Access $479.00

I would drop that down somewhere between $299 and $379.

Of course these are just my estimated opinions. If you feel that your value at the rates you already have is good, and you are selling them well, then good for you man. Congratulations. :)

As for the general layout of the site, it's not bad.

I hope this has been helpful. :)

Yes- very helpful. The prices were recently raised because of some feedback I received that we have been underselling our value and looking too cheap. Your suggestions on pricing are closer to what I think is more the sweet spot. I will be working on that and see what kind of response we get.
 

Readerly

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Hi @Ronin365,

Welcome to the Fastlane Forum from a recent arrival myself.

I also found a typo:

You don't know what to practice and dont have a practice routine to improve your playing​

Can you spot it?

And another:

You practice and play alot but can't seem to make progress and move forward​

Punctuation problem (plus it reads a bit awkward:

IF ANY OF THAT IS YOU WE CAN HELP

I like that you address pain points right away. I do agree with @Empires that the copy on the landing page is too wordy. Also, you don't really spend much time touting the positive, deeper-seated benefits of learning to play the guitar. Why would I want to learn to play guitar, beyond getting good at it? Will it impress my boss? Will it get me laid? You can suggest these benefits without being obvious or vulgar.

I like that you have a video and lots of social proof. Instead of a 60-day money back guarantee, what about offering a 30-day free trial with no credit card required? That'll give you 30 days to upsell, all the while building trust.

Sean
 

Ronin365

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Hi @Ronin365,

Welcome to the Fastlane Forum from a recent arrival myself.

I also found a typo:

You don't know what to practice and dont have a practice routine to improve your playing​

Can you spot it?

And another:

You practice and play alot but can't seem to make progress and move forward​

Punctuation problem (plus it reads a bit awkward:

IF ANY OF THAT IS YOU WE CAN HELP

I like that you address pain points right away. I do agree with @Empires that the copy on the landing page is too wordy. Also, you don't really spend much time touting the positive, deeper-seated benefits of learning to play the guitar. Why would I want to learn to play guitar, beyond getting good at it? Will it impress my boss? Will it get me laid? You can suggest these benefits without being obvious or vulgar.

I like that you have a video and lots of social proof. Instead of a 60-day money back guarantee, what about offering a 30-day free trial with no credit card required? That'll give you 30 days to upsell, all the while building trust.

Sean

Thank you for the feedback. I have been playing around with trying to get people to say "yeah I have that problem and these guys are talking about it"... since previously I have listed the benefits of using our system and how that plays out into being a better guitar player... but the feedback on that was also akin to being wordy or too long... The pain point was me trying to take a different approach. Saw an improvement in the bounces... but not conversions- now we see people hanging out at the sign up page for a minute or two before bouncing out.

So... this weekend I am going to make some adjustments based on all the feedback I have received. I will also adjust the pricing down a bit. And I am working on a discount pop up that will appear right before the visitor chooses to leave and see what happens with that.

MJ brought up a good point about personal biases getting in the way of success. I hate popups and email lists, but they do work for some situations. So I will experiment with offering a discount right before the visitor leaves.
 
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Readerly

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It's great to read that you're willing to take feedback and adjust accordingly. If you stick with this process, I'm sure it's going to yield positive results.

I just want to reiterate the suggestion I made about the positive benefits of playing the guitar. There's so much to be gained from dedicating oneself to learning a musical instrument, right? If you appeal to those desires in your prospects, I just think it's going to be all the easier to get them to trust you...then buy.

My hypothesis: if you blend that into your offer, you'll notice a measurable difference in conversions.

They may already know why they want to play guitar well; they may not. Or they may not be able to articulate the reason. But if you tap into those deeper-seated desires, it will resonate--and build rapport and trust.
 

amp0193

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The call to action isn't clear as well. It took me quite awhile to find your sign up page.

This, I scrolled the entirety of the home page 3 times, trying to find a sign up button. Finally found one of the red ones.

TBH, when I was scrolling through, it really confused me when the footer exposed itself on the bottom. I was like "is this what I'm supposed to click on? How should I know which of these to click?
 

lyzwad

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As a musician (guitarist) I have some hints for you. I believe you have strong arguments why your product is better than others, but these arguments can be understood and taken seriously only by someone who already has good experience in music. People who start and take up an instrument don't care about theory, effective long-term approach - they want to play some of their favourite songs. When time goes by and they become more aware (there's only a handful of these people who stick that long) then they realize what to look for in terms of lessons and teachers.

To sum up - my opinion is you shouldn't bring arguments that work for you, but imagine (recall?) way of thinking of absolute beginners.

PS. I'm speaking from my experience - I created an Internet guitar course which give people possibility to play a dozen different songs with only 20 hours of practice. Yet, that was still to long for them since they could just search for a tutorial on Youtube... But it's totally different story. Good luck!
 
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scottmsul

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How much does pricing methodology matter? Is there a difference in conversion between monthly subscriptions vs charging by the course? I remember taking the data science course on coursera, which had all free content but you could purchase a "certificate of completion" at the end. Which I did, since I felt I received more than that in value.

Probably minor, but you could probably improve the favicon. It looks like it's trying to spell "Guitar" but it's so tiny and fuzzy it's not readable.

Maybe make the first quarter-half of each course free, so people get pulled in and addicted to the value offered first.

As a musician (guitarist) I have some hints for you. I believe you have strong arguments why your product is better than others, but these arguments can be understood and taken seriously only by someone who already has good experience in music. People who start and take up an instrument don't care about theory, effective long-term approach - they want to play some of their favourite songs. When time goes by and they become more aware (there's only a handful of these people who stick that long) then they realize what to look for in terms of lessons and teachers.

This. Sometimes it's better to offer what people want, rather than what will technically make them a better guitarist. That doesn't mean you have to sacrifice the integrity of the course, but you can compromise on some middle-ground. Maybe every time you teach some new technique, you could also teach a song which emphasizes that technique as a dopamine reward?
 

C-Jay

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Have you considered building a youtube channel of you playing? Personally I would never invest in a training program (especially a music one) without first buying in to the brand/skill of the provider (the same way I would never have subscribed to be an INSIDERS here without reading the books and exploring the forum and then deciding it was more than a money-grabbing gimmick).

edit: maybe you do already do this. I admit I did not look for it.
 
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Ronin365

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Are you offering the first 3-10 lessons free?

If not, why not?

We have played around with different offerings for free lessons... we have done the first 30 days free for Beginner I only, 7 day membership that was all access when we had different memberships for Beginner & Intermediate, and we have done pages where they could access the first 10 lessons without registration.

What we found is we get a few signups with 30 days free... but the conversion rate really isnt much more. That said the traffic we get is low, and its difficult to tell what changes are working when the signups we get seem to be for random reasons not related to anything we are doing in terms of copy and marketing.

When we did the 7 day membership was used in conjunction with an email list to send useful articles, encourage practicing and eventually by the 5th or 6th email offer a discount on the membership. We had good click through rates, but no conversions.

The openly free lessons without registration of any kind got alot of interest and video play- people were working through the lessons and when they finished the tenth lesson and were offered a signup, they did not proceed. We are missing something, and I dont think its the content itself given the positive response we see to people using it. We have a landing page up now for people to try the first few lessons without registration. I am thinking about putting the 30 days free back on the monthly membership and mention that on the free lesson page- blend the two.

We noticed people who do signup for the free 30 days do so but dont come back until the first charge and they either do something, let it slide or ask to cancel. We offer refunds quickly and no questions asked if they request a refund. But those who had access to the lessons without registration, were quick to get started and finish the first 10 lessons but would not convert to paid membership.

We do not know what to make of it. Our average signup usually maintains their membership with us for a year or better. Still have some memebrs from 4 years ago when we first started still on the monthly memberships.
 

Ronin365

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I am not much into marketing and ads via FB or Google... but I may have to bite the bullet, do the research and make myself an expert even though I hate those aspects of the business. Since our organic traffic is low, I need to start testing ads and landing pages with paid traffic to see if I can spot trends. If anyone has any suggestions for directions to take or material to read- I am all ears. Every time we make changes Google puts us on page 1 or 2 and then we slide back to page 10 or so after a month.
 

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@Ronin365: I bet you give too long free trails - the biggest motivation within students is at the very beginning. After a month (or even a week!) it seems to be too hard to stick to. If I were you I would give 24h or 48h max free trail so that people would be still motivated and have a chance to look into your course as well.
 
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100k

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Take away the risk.

Don't charge anything upfront. Just have 1 plan and offer a free 14 day trial.... unlimited access, just charge a small fee like $0.01 on their credit card and automatically start charging them monthly after the 14 trial... $29.99.

I'd also create another landing page for testing. Just use your sales video / demo video as the sales pitch, have a nice benefit focused headline, handful full of reviews... and call to action button for the FREE 14 trial or 30 day trial.
 

ZCP

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Are most people who want to play broke?

Maybe switch to 'learn this song for $5'.....
 

DVU

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Work on building a brand and enforcing it.
 
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Lex DeVille

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I bought a piano course recently to solve the exact problems you're solving with guitar. First I searched for courses on Google, but I didn't feel confident in the course comparison blogs. So I ended up going to YouTube and searching for piano lessons. From there I tried several different instructors and when I found one who had clear instructions that worked for me I clicked the link in his description, visited his site, and bought the course.

After taking that course, I also signed up for this:
HDpiano – Home of the Hybrid Piano Lesson

I dunno if any of this will help you, but it's the process I went through. On YouTube I judged instructors based on clarity of instruction. That said, I didn't look through all that many. Only those who showed up first. Most of those who showed up have a lot of followers because they show people how to play their favorite songs (or at least the chorus).
 

sparechange

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Cool site, maybe consider changing learn guitar to learn guitar in 30 days guaranteed! Or your money back , something like that to create an impulse decision purchase? Another thing, maybe hire an attractive female to teach the guitar lessons, my opinion might be completely stupid but I imagine people that are trying to learn guitar are some teen to young adults drinking some beers smoking up joints looking up videos how to play guitar, offering free content on YouTube to build an audience base and brand. A free guitar promo on Facebook seems like a cool idea.
 

Ronin365

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Cool site, maybe consider changing learn guitar to learn guitar in 30 days guaranteed! Or your money back , something like that to create an impulse decision purchase? Another thing, maybe hire an attractive female to teach the guitar lessons, my opinion might be completely stupid but I imagine people that are trying to learn guitar are some teen to young adults drinking some beers smoking up joints looking up videos how to play guitar, offering free content on YouTube to build an audience base and brand. A free guitar promo on Facebook seems like a cool idea.

LOL- thanks. I have thought about how we could incorporate an attractive female... haven't quite figured that out. Jason is the one with the talent for playing and teaching though. We have been building up our YouTube channel with free content... its coming along but probably needs alot more to attract the attention and traffic we need.

This is our channel:

Levels For Guitar
 
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Ronin365

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I bought a piano course recently to solve the exact problems you're solving with guitar. First I searched for courses on Google, but I didn't feel confident in the course comparison blogs. So I ended up going to YouTube and searching for piano lessons. From there I tried several different instructors and when I found one who had clear instructions that worked for me I clicked the link in his description, visited his site, and bought the course.

After taking that course, I also signed up for this:
HDpiano – Home of the Hybrid Piano Lesson

I dunno if any of this will help you, but it's the process I went through. On YouTube I judged instructors based on clarity of instruction. That said, I didn't look through all that many. Only those who showed up first. Most of those who showed up have a lot of followers because they show people how to play their favorite songs (or at least the chorus).

Thanks- we are working on adding more to our YouTube channel. One of the challenges we have about teaching songs is the tendency for the record companies to have videos taken down for teaching songs, apparently there is licensing issues with that. We are trying to figure out how we can do popular songs without risking the business or the YouTube channel or spending alot of money on licensing that we do not have at the moment.
 

valuegiver

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Your homepage is everywhere. When I go in, I don't know what I should do. Take a workshop by StoryBrand on how to develop a clear marketing message on your website. I have no affiliation with them.
 

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