Kathy Slattengren of Kenmore, WA writes:
“I have an online parenting class. It’s $99 for three months of instruction, and parents can take the course at their own pace. You can learn more about it here.
“For $139, students take the same course, starting April 19, and get email reminders and a weekly conference call with me. You can learn more about it here.
“The classes include issues like chores, how to set limits but allow mistakes, controlling your temper, avoiding arguments, creating consequences for bad behavior, and being a good mentor and role model.
“What are some quick and creative ways I can market the course and reach the right people—parents who need help?”
(Shutterstock photo)
If you have an email list, you could use Constant Contact to blast it out to your list.
If you have Facebook, you can create a ‘company group’ and invite all of your ‘friends’ and leave the group open to the public.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for your suggestions. I do have a Facebook Fan page and I need to work on actively using and promoting it:
http://www.facebook.com/PricelessParenting
I also have a monthly parenting tips newsletter delivered through Constant Contact
http://tinyurl.com/PricelessParentingNewsletter
It has been an effective way to grow a list of people who are interested in my parenting classes and presentations.
Kathy,
To be honest, the first thing I thought when I went to your site was that there’s a ton of stuff on the page. It’s very busy, lots of info, lots of color, to the point of distraction in my opinion. You only have a matter of seconds to grab a visitor’s attention and if he/she feels overwhelmed from the outset, the chances of them clicking to find out more or even sign up diminishes quickly. If it’s possible, if I were you, I’d do a makeover to simplify the visual look and feel before you go big into driving traffic..
With regard to reaching your audience, you say it’s parents that need help, is your class best suited for parents of elementary ages or junior high etc.? Spell it out for your visitor so they feel you’re relating to them specifically. No class is useful for “all” of any group.
Once you’ve done that you could approach appropriate bloggers to do a review/give -away of the class. You could also find other businesses who sell to the same audience (different products of course) and work out a cross promotion plan.
Best of luck!
Thanks for your feedback Cheryl. It is certainly challenging to make a website easy to navigate! I’ll think about how I can simplify the front page.
Although the online class covers toddlers through teens, the parents who are most likely to sign up for the class have children 12 and under. It’s a good idea to try to make this clear to my visitors.
Co-brand with businesses that attract the same demographic: OB/GYNs, daycare centers, local baby stores, etc.
The media opportunities are endless from traditional to social media…
There are so many people who say, “I wish there was an instruction manual to raise children.” Well, now they can reference what you have to offer!
Thanks for your ideas Gail. I find that day care providers are very appreciative of the information in my presentations and the online classes. They are also inspired to take the training as they are typically required to have continuing education credits. I’m working on a plan to contact more day care centers.
Your online course could be marketed in several ways. Consider distributing fliers at sports centers for young children, and through pediatricians and pediatric dentists. Don’t forget to leave fliers at gynecologists’ offices. You can also market it through groups of young parents online in your community, and in fact in any community. There may be appropriate groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Some large businesses may want to let you leave fliers for their employees, and may even pay part of the cost for each person taking the course.
There are some businesses online that market parenting courses, and would do all the marketing work for you. Even if you don’t want to use them, at least check them out so you can explain why your course is unique.
Thanks for your ideas Katie. I’ll look into distributing more fliers locally.
I’ve also found some success in marketing my presentations to large businesses (“lunch and learn”). It certainly would be great if businesses would pay for part of the cost of employees taking the course.
Unfortunately (but fortunately for you!) it won’t be long before there’s another celebrity parenting debacle in the news (think Britney Spears, Balloon Boy, etc.). Have a press release and comment ready when this happens, and then just plug in the name/event and send it out immediately. Make yourself available as a parenting expert resource for media as they are covering the story.
Great idea Stephanie! I’ve read through Joan’s 41 Press Release lessons and need to prioritize writing some based on parenting debacles.
http://publicityhound.com/pressreleasetips/tip41wqsd.htm
Having something written and almost ready to send would really be helpful.
Get involved in any and every parenting message board/forum you can find and include your website as a signature. Don’t go to to the forums to spam or post to promote your class, just post helpful answers to those seeking them. Once they see you give good advice they will follow your link and WANT to take your class. While you are there you can also contact the site owners about doing link exchanges and purchasing advertising space.
Thanks for your thoughts on posting to forums Julie. I’ve done some answering of forum questions but probably should allocate time each week to do it.
I also have an affiliate program that might be attractive to parenting site owners.
http://www.pricelessparenting.com/Affiliate/JoinAffiliateProgram.aspx
One more thing I need to promote!
Since you are offering a class in parenting, I’m assuming you’re a parent.
My first suggestion is to go where the parents are. In your children’s school or another school in your community, print glossy, colored brochures and distribute them to schools. Ask the principal if you can send them home with the children announcing your programs.
Go to your local churches/synagogues and ask them if you can put your flyers at the back of their sanctuary to be taken by congregants at the end of weekly services. Ask them if they can give these flyers to Sunday School students to take home to their mommies.
A great little secret I learned as a parent: You might deposit the junk mail in the garbage, but if your little angel brings it home you will make every effort to take a look.
If you want to make your drive more inclusive, have a photo contest. ave parents submit a photograph of themselves doing something fun with their kids. Perhaps a day at the beach or amusement park, planting a garden or getting messy eating ice cream. Your prize can be a parenting class, a gift certificate to a local restaurant for the subjects in the photo or a basket of backyard toys for the summer.
You can use these photos in future brochures. Great idea!
Best of luck.
Thanks for your ideas Judith. My children are now 14 and 17. You raise a good point about parents valuing what their children bring home from school. I’ve done a lot more online marketing than marketing through brochures. I’ll look into distributing brochures to local schools and churches.
Try a site geared towards parents, like momslikeme.com. It’s an online community for parents – so maybe you could partner with the site and hold a contest to give away one, which could generate some good publicity.
Thanks Sonia. I’ll look into the possibility of holding a contest in partnership with a parenting site.