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[regalforte]

So a while ago I mentioned that I own a small slowlane service business that I started about 7-8 years ago teaching the piano. Over the past few weeks I revamped the entire website to make it a little easier to navigate. Eventually, I would like to have enough clients to be able to scale it by hiring others to teach in my place but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

My plan is to walk around wealthy neighborhoods in my area and put fliers in people's mailboxes advertising my service. Most my current clients came from craigslist but I've noticed a lot will negotiate prices down significantly. I presume this is because a lot of the people who go on craigslist are dealseekers by nature.

Anyway, my site is http://www.regalforte.com

All criticisms, suggestions, and comments are welcome and greatly appreciated!

 

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[johnp]

Eventually, I would like to have enough clients to be able to scale it by hiring others to teach in my place but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

So the other day I was listening to an interview with the founder of voices.com. The guy started this great two-sided market that connects people who need voice actors to the voice actors. It was an extremely interesting interview because he didn't just wake up one day and say, "hey i'm going to build this massive two-sided market and become rich!" He had a passion for production, I guess with music or something. It all started in a studio, sort of like how you are doing the teaching work yourself right now. He eventually started to see a need to connect voice performers with people who need the service. He had absolutely zero programming skills & I'm not even sure if he had the vision to create voices.com at the time. But long story short he built out a great business over a number of years, which started from a very basic static website that was built in dreamweaver.

I don't even think that you would ned to hire people to teach in your place. Think bigger and think about what is more scalable. In the future of course, It looks like there is an opportunity here for you. I'm not sure if there are a lot of sites out there like this, but there are some amazing domains that are currently open.

Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts.

As far as your website goes - Not bad. Could be better as far as lead gen goes. The bottom part of the page isn't loading for me. It looks like there should be more content because the site is scrolling, but nothing appears. Font is too small, hard to read. I would suggest focusing more on capturing a phone number on the first page. Simplify it even more. Shorten the headline and make it larger. Still show the video, but even make that larger and add a lead capture area.

Also, your headline could always be better. Write the copy as though you're speaking to one person.

 

[Deon]

- The top bar is simple and cool, I don't think you need to change it. The logo is clear and tells what the company is about

- The text in the rest of the website is VERY VERY VERY HARD to read, you almost have to focus to read it. Not only is the size of the text small, even the Police used makes it almost transparent in some cases... it looks grey, not black.

- Also, if you could center everything, it might look better. Try it

- Testimonials should pop out more, they look like they're part of the sales message now... but making your text bigger like I said before can maybe take care of this. You can try putting them in their own boxes or something.

- The benefits you put in your "about" page should be put in your home page! Most people will only look at the home page so put in as much info, facts, testimonials, proof, benefits as you can

I think you're off to a good start... good luck!!

WATCH THIS NOW!!

P.S. Is that "ACHIEVE" tab necessary? Maybe you could call it Testimonials... Achieve doesn't mean anything to people

 

[jon.a]

So a while ago I mentioned that I own a small slowlane service business that I started about 7-8 years ago teaching the piano. Over the past few weeks I revamped the entire website to make it a little easier to navigate. Eventually, I would like to have enough clients to be able to scale it by hiring others to teach in my place but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

My plan is to walk around wealthy neighborhoods in my area and put fliers in people's mailboxes advertising my service. Most my current clients came from craigslist but I've noticed a lot will negotiate prices down significantly. I presume this is because a lot of the people who go on craigslist are dealseekers by nature.

Anyway, my site is http://www.regalforte.com

All criticisms, suggestions, and comments are welcome and greatly appreciated!

First, I think it's illegal to put anything other than mail in a mailbox.

Second, a story that I love to share...

I live in rural San Diego county. I moved here in the early nighties. I bought a small piece of property and soon got a couple of goats to keep the kids (punny) interested and the weeds down. I had to buy a little alfalfa regularly to supplement the goat's diet. One Saturday a twenty something guy knocked on my front door. He introduced himself and handed me just his business card.

His story was that he and his brother were starting their new feed business in town and were introducing themselves to the community, personally. Their business model was lean. They bought one trailer of alfalfa per week, stored it in a sea-train container on a rented lot and were open for business 3 days a week.

I loved the story and the hustle ( reminds me of a few here ). I gave him my little bit of business, as did many others. One trailer became several, 3 days became 7 days. One rented empty lot became 23 retail stores. The one in our town they rent from us at just over 8.2K per month.

The moral? Work smarter AND harder.

 

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[Jake]

Logo is horrible, I have no idea where to look as text is everywhere..and is there supposed to be anything above the top section? I see a whole bunch of nothing with back to the top buttons.

The create a free website button at the bottom also implies that you don't take your business seriously enough to pay $5 a month for hosting

Anyway..all feedback appreciated so that's my opinion. Good luck

 

[Deon]

Logo is horrible, I have no idea where to look as text is everywhere..and is there supposed to be anything above the top section? I see a whole bunch of nothing with back to the top buttons.

The create a free website button at the bottom also implies that you don't take your business seriously enough to pay $5 a month for hosting

Anyway..all feedback appreciated so that's my opinion. Good luck

Didn't see the Create a free website thing at the bottom... good catch

 

[regalforte]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, gonna spend the day taking in all the suggestions and fixing it up.

As for putting fliers in mailboxes being illegal...I'll have to look into the laws for that in NY. Thanks.

 

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[jon.a]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, gonna spend the day taking in all the suggestions and fixing it up.

As for putting fliers in mailboxes being illegal...I'll have to look into the laws for that in NY. Thanks.

http://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/tx/2010/tx_2010_0909.htm

 

[wade1mil]

As for putting fliers in mailboxes being illegal...I'll have to look into the laws for that in NY. Thanks.

Yeah, I heard this as well. Here is some more info:

http://www.residential-mailboxes.net/mailbox-laws-and-regulations/law-for-residential-mail-box

"The USPS Domestic Mail Manual states that “no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items of matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle.” In other words, the mailbox may not be used for anything other than for pieces of mail with postage attached.

The USPS Domestic Mail Manual goes on to states that it is a federal offense and there is a significant penalty for violating this law."

 

[Akazo]

Hi,

1. The site has no "pop" to it when you land. I have no love for flash, but spruce up the colors.
2. The site is not mobile responsive. This is a must these days.
3. The fonts are horrible.

Hope that helps. Get that sorted and you can get more specific advice.

 

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[ThePsychologist]

Hey regalforte !

I have taken a look at your website and the main things I would recommend to change are:

1. The fonts. Like others already mentioned above, the current fonts you have, are hard to read.
2. More information about yourself, your qualities, what makes you a good piano teacher.
3. A more sophisticated design. Instead of a white background I would choose a black/wood colored background with brown/golden clef symbols.