Wednesday 31 August 2011

Odds and ends

It's very late.

Yesterday I went for my appointment with the alcohol service triage people. Was happy to tell them I was doing OK by myself, and they were happy to not intervene further. Good to know they're there, just in case it all goes tits up, as it might easily do.

My website is now properly registered with google. I've cancelled paid ads with them for now. Will work hard on trying to optimise it. I suppose there are a couple of hundred instructors working on Wirral. I'm probably one of the more net savvy ones, so there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to get up near the top of the listings. Anyway, it should be interesting to see if it makes any difference, having now correctly registered it.

Working on a few organisational ideas to keep track of what has the potential to be a confusing pricing structure. Basically, instead of giving discounts for paying for blocks of lessons in advance, I'm giving each 11th lesson free provided the pupil has at least one lesson per week, so I need something that allows me to tell at a glance where each pupil is up to, and the solution I'm hoping to use is little sticky dots in different colours that can be stuck into my diary. It should work, but it will take a few days or weeks for my eyes to see the orange sticker and for my brain to say "That's 2 lessons" without having to look it up.

I want to spend some time redesigning the site a bit. The big bold ariel text might look more sober and professional if I change it to something smaller and lighter. I have css templates you know!

2 comments:

Pete said...

Beware complex pricing structures. They may seem a good idea, encouraging loyalty and regular work, but they may just end up having the opposite effect on your customers by confusing them.

"Where's this free lesson, then?"

Paul said...

I agree Pete. That's why I need a method that's visually simple.

The rules themselves are straightforward. Keeping track ideally means keeping a record as I go. Otherwise I end up ploughing through previous diary entries.

Here are the rules:

1. If the pupil has at least 1 lesson per week, after ten lessons they get a free lesson.

2. If a week goes by without the pupil having a lesson, for any reason whatsoever, the counter goes back to zero.

3. Lessons that are charged at less than the full rate, such as the initial two for a tenner lesson, or the free lesson itself do not count towards the total.

Putting a sticky coloured dot next to each diary entry is a simple thing that can be done quickly, and by consensus with my pupil.