Name of your website?Samurai Karate Studio
Your name?
Sensei Christopher Feldt
Your Location (city, etc)
Columbia
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Samurai Karate Studio offers a traditional Japenese style of karate, for students aged 4-6, 7-12 and 12 & up. The website presents an outline of all of our programs, as well as the philosphy behind the owner and head and instructor.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
Surprisingly in this age of technology, many of the martial arts studios in my area do not have a web site, or if they have one, it is poorly designed. I want my website to be up to date and provide a lot of information to help the potential client make a decision about enrolling in my school.
Long term, I hope to add a student section that only they will have access to that will have additional information about my curriculum, perhaps videos, interesting articles, etc.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
I launched my website to coincide with my grand opening. Since we have been open nearly a year, I have made several fine tune adjustments to it based on client feedback as well as other studio owners that I network with.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
That was easy. I chose the name of my studio as the name of my website. The Samurai were great warriors skilled in the art of lethal combat. However, they were also legendary for their character; traits such as honor, integrity, respect, family and discipline. These are the traits I expect of my students if you are to earn your black belt in my school.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
I wanted the name to symbolize something other than just Tae Kwon Do, or karate or the martial arts. I wanted the name to represent a way of life that all martial artists are expected to live. It is this code that the Samurai lived by that I want to instil in my students.
Many schools spend a lot of web space talking about all the trophies they have won, or world championships they hold. While that is interesting, the average family wants to understand what your studio stands for and what you are all about. The website needs to communicate what your programs are and what they can expect in class.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
This is a life changing experience for me. I have a passion for teaching both children and adults and I love the opportunity to teach someone how to defend themselves if they ever were in that situation. I want to make this the best karate school in Columbia, SC; Richland northeast! If I achieve that, then perhaps I would open a second location. For now the goal is to produce quality martial artist and make enough to support myself and my family.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Opening your own business is very difficult. You have to invest an enormous amount of time and whatever capital you can spare. Right now, I do not define success as the amount of money I am making. It is the impact I make on a child or an adult and the confidence I see building in them.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
If I had the capital, I would invest heavily in marketing to build the brand faster. Karate Studios build through word of mouth primarily. Mrs. Jones has a positive experience for her son and daughter and shares her story with a neighbor. The neighbor then decides to visit the school and enroll. If I could market the studio more, I could excelerate that growth.
I would like to make my website more interactive and offer more educational tools for my students. Things like character development, words of the month, community work, etc.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes. I know how to make the majority of changes to my website through reading, trial and error and limited tec support.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Occasionally there are problems with the web hosting being slow, but so far it has worked fairly smoothly.
As for the school, my goal is to grow the school to be one of the best and biggest in the area; and to have a positive image in the community.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Growing my business as quickly as possible to cover my expenses.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Optimizing search engine results has been my best strategy. I also include my website on every piece of marketing material that I hand out physically or email to prospective leads.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It has met my expectations. I love the marketing aspect of developing a strong website and believe it is a tremendous vechicle for building leads.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
My website has been up and running for 10 months. Again, I have made some minor adjustments to it since I first went live. I intend to keep my website active and keep "tweeking" it until I have it exactly the way I want it.
Final Thoughts
The martial arts is a wonderful activity for kids and adults. Aside from learning potentially life saving self defense techniques, you get more fit, can lose weight and build a much stronger core. Because of the curriculum we teach and the amount of drills we practice, karate can be a very powerful motivator and can really impact one's self esteem and confidence.
If you are looking for the best karate program in Columbia, SC for your child or for yourself, Samurai Karate Studio is for you!
Do you have what it takes to "live by the code"!
What is your website address?
Samurai Karate Studio
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