Question

Topic: Strategy

Obtaining Students For Advanced Vocational Class

Posted by affordable on 5/26/2010 at 11:38 AM ET 500 Points
We own an academy that provides training to professional event decorators. We are looking for an effective method of obtaining those students. Currently we use commissioned sales people with varying degrees of success. We have been paying 8% commission on the $2300 course, which equates to $186 per sale. She does the two week course once a month. Sometimes she has a full classroom of 12 - 15 students. Other times she has only two or three students. We need to get to the 12-15 students for every session and have the capacity to run courses every three weeks.

My questions are:

Is our commission rate in line with what we need to offer?
What methods should we employee to find students
What other marketing ideas do the pros on this list have?

About the business:

The Event Decorating Academy ( https://eventdecoratingacademy.com )has been in business for two years. The certification awarded upon completion and testing holds a registered US federal trademark.

The academy is an outgrowth of my wife's event decorating businesses that she has run for the past 20 years. Carmen is a very well known within the professional event decorator community, winning a lot of awards etc. She was often requested as a guest instructor for that industry's conventions and tradeshows. She decided she likes teaching so much that she decided to do this full time. The academy has locations in Milwaukee WI and Miami FL.

Her students leave happy with many returning for advanced continuing ed courses. She constantly get feedback from those who have attended other similar courses about how much better hers is. One strong point is not only does she teach decor, but how to make more money on jobs while producing superior decor.

The courses are offered in English and Spanish. Students from all over the world have attended: USA, Canada, England, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Ghana, Algeria, India, South Africa, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica.

Carmen does a lot of promotional stuff. For example she on May 15th she was featured on Univision's Sábado Gigante, which I believe is the number one spanish language show in the world. The week prior she as on Univision's version of Good Morning America. There is a bunch more that you can see at https://carmenBallering.com

The potential market is big. Most people/businesses involved in corporate and private events would benefit from the courses. It is also a fairly low capital business to start if some one wants to change careers.

Past students include reception hall owners; people currently decorating weddings, quinceañeras and corporate events; florist; wedding planners; corporate employees in charge of doing events and others who are just starting off.

Tim Ballering
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RESPONSES

  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 3:28 PM Accepted
    1. The commission rate is whatever will get the results you want. Don't fixate on finding out what "normal" is. What you care about is what works for your business.

    What you might consider is a sliding scale commission. Example: Up to 12 students in a class earns 5%. 12-20 students earns 10%. Over 20 earns 15%. That approach rewards what you want. (Adjust the numbers to fit for your business.)

    Another approach might be 8% for the first 15 students, and 20% for all additional students (i.e., student #16+) in the same class .

    2. One of the things you might consider is some targeted marketing to generate leads. Where do most of your students come from? What interests them most about the course? You can use local search marketing (a/k/a PPC) or any number of other local marketing approaches to generate leads. In some markets even cable tv is very cost-effective.

    3. What's the profile of your ideal candidate? Maybe you could offer a white paper or guided questionnaire online to sell the concept of this as a career move. (For an example, see www.rasputinforhire.com/assessment/2b10g.htm .) Of course, your call to action would be a request form for someone to contact the prospect to provide information about the course.

    Hope this helps. Sounds like your wife has a nice little business going.
  • Posted on 5/26/2010 at 3:37 PM Moderator
    P.S. For such an "up" business, why the black background on the website and logo? Makes it look like you're an undertaker, not a festive party training company.

    And you might want to get a professional proofreader to fix the typos in the text on your homepage.
  • Posted by affordable on 5/27/2010 at 7:33 AM Author
    These answers are thought provoking, which of course was what I was hoping for. I'm sure I'll have a couple of clarification questions after I think them through a bit more.

    Tim Ballering.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/27/2010 at 9:20 AM Accepted
    The website doesn't answer the key question: "Why should I spend my money/time with your program?" What I'm looking for is "97% of our graduates go on to earn over $100,000 a year" (or whatever statistic is relevant). Learning is fine. Results are what matters. Make it easier to sell your classes.

    Your website should showcase the "Wow" your students/teachers create visually. Show me the wow - don't just say "..strive to provide the best professional level...").
  • Posted by affordable on 5/28/2010 at 8:59 PM Author
    I appreciate all the answers. I must apologize for accepting multiple responses, but they were all relevant.

    Perhaps the most telling was the comment by Jay Hamilton-Roth that our website doesn't answer the key question: "Why should I spend my money/time with your program?"

    Thanks to all.
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