Business

PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON

Nyshia Cook, owner of Piano Passions in Charlotte, uses the Internet to create buzz about her music instruction school.

Nyshia Cook is the 26-year-old owner of Piano Passions, a Charlotte-based music instruction school. Though the 3-year-old company now boasts 60 students, the owner admits that business was slow at first and it took some time to build. For the entire first year, the sole proprietor only had one student but she didn’t lose hope. Instead of turning her back on her business, she relied on her faith and the Internet for guidance.

“Whenever I look for a product or service, I always start my search on the web,” she thought to herself. So after the first year, Cook built her own company website to increase her online presence. The strategy worked.  “I looked at other children’s websites and got ideas on how to make my website look presentable and forged ahead.”

She also discovered creative, yet inexpensive, ways to create a buzz about her business. At the time, sites like InsiderPages.com and GetLessons.com allowed you to list your company’s services for free. And though Cook knew online advertising on the net would ultimately pay off, she didn’t realize a posting on Craig’s List would exponentially grow her business.

“A principal of a private school saw my listing on Craig’s List and then called me to find out if I could come to her school to give piano lessons,” she recalls. “Not only did we go to her school, we expanded our music program to a number of private schools and daycare centers in the Charlotte area.”

Cook’s decision to boost her web presence was key in building her business and she continues to use the Internet to attract clients. Nowadays, the transplant from Springfield, Mass., does a lot more than just hunt for Internet freebies, Cook actually has an online plan and suggests other business owners do the same. 

To grow your client base by putting your online plan into play, here are a few suggestions:
Learn on your own: Even though Cook didn’t know anything about html or building a website from scratch, she researched the information herself and referred to other sites for examples.

Top the list: According to Danny Ross, the CEO of SiteZerver, LLC (www.sitezerver.com), a website consulting company, business owners and entrepreneurs should also learn how Google and other search engine’s rank their pages or hire somebody who  knows this because being top of mind heavily relies on being at the top of the results page.

Create compelling content:  Having a strong online presence is not about developing a site with lots of bells and whistles, it’s about offering your prospective customers important, relevant information that they won’t find anywhere else.

Go beyond the website: If you want to outshine your competitors, you need more than one tool to communicate your message to your customers and prospective clients.

Give ‘em Something New: Cook is constantly coming up with innovative ideas to meet customer needs. For instance, she’s expanded her piano program to include the violin, guitar, and voice lessons. This summer she’s offering a music camp.

For details on Cook’s newest offerings you can go to her website (http://www.pianopassionnc.com/) or check her out on Facebook, YouTube, or Google her blog.

MONIQUE McKENZIE is president of www.Express-eBooks-Now.com, a one-stop resource shop for authors.

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