The great thing about WordPress …
… is the way it puts your public-facing site in your hands.
- You can get it online in short order, without waiting for a developer to fit you into their calendar.
- You can tweak it to look inviting – and carry your branding.
- And you can keep it updated, without waiting for a developer to fit you into their calendar.
Using a WordPress theme specifically for your tennis niche can help you do a lot of things better and faster:
Bring ’em in.
How do new folks in the area find somewhere to play?
They look online.
And pick the place that has the best-looking website. (Seriously. They do – at least until they have some other information.)
Meaning, for their priorities. Not necessarily the one that looks the most elegant.
Maybe the one that looks:
- The homiest.
- Like a fun place to hang out.
- That makes them feel part of the action already.
- That’s a great place for the kids.
- Or, perhaps, indeed, the most elegant. With a five-star chef in the kitchen.
Then bring ’em back.
We buy things based on other people’s experience: preferably, our friends, but we also trust the reviews of people who use things the way we do.
We love to see pictures from the stuff we’re involved in. To relive our favorite memories. And get a feel for what else is going on.
Plus, when things change at the last minute, you’ll be glad you did the work (and yes – it is hard work) to build an email list and a Twitter following so you can get the word out fast.
- Snow day?
- Extra spaces in a clinic?
- Shop specials?
Bang out a quick note.
Post it to your site, and let WordPress send the emails and tweets.
Automagically.
Cash flow. Cash flow. Cash flow.
If you routinely bill for it, you can sell it online. And – critically – collect in advance. For everything from private lessons and clinic spots to equipment service contracts and down payments for court construction.
Concerned about taking plastic? It’s a lot cheaper and easier than it was just a few years ago, thanks to a new breed of services that also take on all the risks.
Resource management.
There’s a hidden advantage to having people sign up for things and pay in advance: they tend to show up.
So you can plan accordingly.
And resource multiplication.
A client once put it this way: “I have the greatest pros in the country. But I only have them for 37 hours a week.”
Online, there are a number of ways to package and promote your best instruction, whether it’s to raise your profile or multiply the resources beyond the limits of their time and energy.
That too takes work.
But when you’re ready to go live, a tennis-focused WordPress theme can help.
But again, let’s be clear. A WordPress theme is not a cure-all.
Because WordPress or not, tennis theme or not, your public-facing website can’t do everything.
It can’t run your back office the way something like TennisSource can.
It won’t replace your personal relationships. (But, yes. It can make them stronger.)
And it won’t do the very painstaking job of building the right programs and choosing the right products for your folks.
Those things easily account for 60% of your ongoing results.
But for the things your site can help with,
I highly suggest you check out our themes here.