Why aren't they buying?

[lip420]

Hi^^
I have a video membership site that's a how-to guide to help English teachers (ESL). They have to pay to get access to the videos, ebook and a book summary.

Only two paying customers in 5 months. Why? I thought that may be because I am competing with free. There is a lot of free info out there for English teachers, however there isn't a lot of sites with video like this. I have quality videos and other info, however they are not buying.

There is only one other similar site that I know of. I don't know how well they do.

The other reason why is maybe a lack of social proof. I tried to get testimonials in the beginning by making access free, but I couldnt get many sign ups then or feedback.

Or is it my message?

Any other ideas why they aren't buying?

Site needs seo work too, I know as people aren't getting to my site by search. But the ones who are getting there still aren't buying.

Here are the stats for last month:
* 373
Visits
* 209
Absolute Unique Visitors
* 1,300
Pageviews
* 3.49
Average Pageviews
* 00:06:24
Time on Site
* 45.84%
Bounce Rate
* 50.13%
New Visits

Any ideas? The site is 5 months old.

[edited by: lorax at 5:35 pm (utc) on Jun 12, 2011]
[edit reason] No links please [/edit]

[londrum]

the mods will probably remove the link to your site soon, but i think you need to change your video. It is the first thing that people see when they come to your site. it looks like it's just you in your back yard, with your washing hanging on the line, and it doesn't look professional. The sound quality is no good -- you can hear him moving the camera about and the birds tweeting, and all your neighbours in the block of flats behind. People will look at that and wonder whether the product is similarly produced.

[lip420]

O.k. thanks for your input....yeah I have been planning on changing that intro...I read "How to Sell Yourself"......I already shot it a number of times like 20+, but I know it's not perfect. Thanks

[SilverShine]

If you've shot it 20+ times, maybe its time to consider getting a professional to do it.
After all, this is what your potential customers will see first when they arrive at your site.

It has to be worth the money.

[kieranmullen]

We should get together. We sell multiple choice scan forms to schools. :-) I am need of a website revision myself.

Perhaps there is a local non profit photo studio where you could record videos. If doing it at home get a small muslin from ebay or perhaps a green screen. If you are only doing shoulder up you don't need a very big one. I would ask the photography shops in the area.

[Demaestro]

Looking for cheap work from someone who has some professional knowledge?

My answer to this is always the same. Find students that are about to graduate and ask them. Tell them you can't offer much expect for a reference and full credit for their work and a link to them on your website.

It sounds silly but there are a lot of people who are more interested in work exp. and building a portfolio over getting paid big bucks.

[Robert Charlton]

Did you produce the ESL videos too, or just the intro on your site?

Whichever it is, since you're selling videos, your prospective customers are going assume your intro video represents the quality of what you sell... and if it's not good, that probably stops them right there.

Do you have video previews on other pages? If so, how well made are they?

[Planet13]

Well, you are right. You do need to get your SEO together. You aren't going to get much business with that kind of traffic.

If you have quality videos, then you are going to have to show off the quality. Can you put excerpts up on youtube? I know people who sell lots of video tutorials will put up five or ten minute excerpts (assuming that a lesson is an hour long or something like that).

And of course, you are going to have to put samples up on your site.

For publicity sake, you are probably going to have to actively seek out web sites that review ESL materials and make your videos available to them for a review.

It's a tough market you are in. Teachers don't really have that much money to begin with, and with all the cutbacks at colleges and universities, I think it is going to get harder. And remember that while a decade ago EVERYBODY wanted to learn English, now there are probably just as many people who want to learn Mandarin, or Russian, or Brazilian Portuguese.

[lip420]

Yeah I did everything. Most of the how to videos were shot from a tripod, a few were hand held. After my intro there are three how-to videos and then a few more on the FREE page.

A few are already on youtube. You can see them if you search "eslinsider"

Thanks

[Planet13]

The following metrics for time on site are pretty decent numbers:

3.49 Average Pageviews
00:06:24 Time on Site
45.84% Bounce Rate
50.13% New Visits

The following metrics for visits are NOT very good though, and need to be improved.

373 Visits
209 Absolute Unique Visitors
1,300 Pageviews
50.13% New Visits

So the first thing I see is that you need more people visiting your site. Once they come to your site, they seem to like it though

I did look at your videos on youtube. I am not sure that they say anything to me though about the type of material one would find on your site if they became a member. To me, they just looked more like, "Hey, check me out in Asia" type videos.

If I were going to pay for a service, I would want to clearly see what sort of benefits I would get out of it.

Do you know what people who are thinking of teaching ESL WANT to know about? Are you covering those topics?

Do you blog on your site about teaching ESL?

[lip420]

O.k thanks for your detailed input! I thought I was covering those topics. I dont have a blog but if I did hmmm what would i talk about? I have a page entitled "Who is it for?"

On that page I go into the benefits. Did you see that page? What did you think? Should it be more detailed?

The taglines in the youtube videos are a bit dated too the ones in the ones on the site are more updated (in terms of the taglines).
Thanks!

[Planet13]

Hi there, lip420:

I have to admit that I didn't go to your site. I just looked at the vids on you tube.

I don't have a blog but if I did hmmm what would i talk about?

I would blog about teaching ESL overseas. Just sort of a travelogue and maybe get your friends who teach overseas to contribute. Make it fun.

What you should do is go to the google adwords keywords tool and look up the popularity of different keyword phrases that relate to teaching ESL, and then design your pages so that they rank for those popular keywords.

[kieranmullen]

Perhaps remove the date from the blogs so things dont appear so dated and you are not compelled to write every day?

[lip420]

Ok. thanks^^ many a post that i have read online talks about the importance of a blog for your website. I guess I dont get it. what is so important about having a blog? a link, the seo or updates?

Good idea about removing the data.

And a facebook page too? doesnt that work like a blog....i mean you can post updates there... i started a facebook page. for the site. i dont know about that.. i didnt see any traffic come from there yet. or get any fans really..seems kind of like a distraction from the site and its purpose.

so not so sure about that either and how that would help.. anyways i think the problem is in the site first.

Thanks again

[Planet13]

what is so important about having a blog? a link, the seo or updates?

Personally, I would suggest hosting a blog ON YOUR SITE and posting interesting, FUN things that people are going to read and link to and share with their friends.

Facebook can be similar to a blog. There are all sorts of plugins that will allow you to post your blog directly to your facebook page. I am not sure that I would use them, though.

But it sounds to me like you definitely have to read up on SEO - and you will need to read up on something recent (like from this year). It can be quite overwhelming, but that is what I would do first. Read up on SEO basics or SEO 101 type articles and when there is contradicting information, go to the google forum here on webmaster world and ask everyone's opinion.

Use the google adwords keyword tool I mentioned and make sure your pages are covering the topics that PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY SEARCHING FOR, because if you write a bunch of stuff that nobody is searching for, well, you won't get that many visitors.

Also, it is ok to have stuff that is off topic in your blog but that might be buzzworthy. Do something ridiculous that people will want to link to.

[kieranmullen]

Planet13 - A blog would allow fresh content to be added easier and more often using a prebuilt blogging system

I could be totally wrong, but putting new, relevant and good content on yoor blog gives people a reason to come back. Not sure if it makes google happy? Maybe...

[tangor]

Injecting a bit of reality: teachers don't have any money, thus strapped for funds. So to speak. Governments, on the other hand, do. Might this be a "wrong market" approach? Also, the "niche" is pretty rich with competition...

[Planet13]

Planet13 - A blog would allow fresh content to be added easier and more often using a prebuilt blogging system

Yup. I would suggest hosting it ON their site, instead of on blogger or on the wordpress site.

[Essex_boy]

209 unique visitors. There your problem.

I find that I need at 3000 per month to ensure regular sales, ive also found that good photos of the products and slim down photo files help.

[lip420]

Thanks for the reply's I am still working on it and trying to figure out why they are not buying? Well I think its a lot better than the competition maybe its not good enough yet.

I am reading "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin. I definitely recommend it!

[Innovate]

You need more traffic.

[mhansen]

I would suggest giving it away for free for 6 months... and require each person to provide nothing but an email address. Make it VERY easy...

After they have had ample time to watch the video (3 days?)... send them an email questionnaire asking their opinion on several aspects. If you take the time to do it right, it can all be somewhat automated using a mailing list and auto responder.

If, 6 months from now, assuming you continue marketing your site to right audience, you should have a much better data set to work with, and your questions of a price point and/or demand for the videos will be clear.

Just my .02