Hello There!
I’m Stacey Marolf, a former dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer turned website designer, dance studio marketer, and brand strategizer.
Speaking with dance studio owners from around the country (and world), I know that they often struggle with the same things I did:
- How do I get more eyeballs on my website?
- How do I get visitors from looking at my site to signing on as a customer?
- How do I bring in the type of customers that are a Perfect Fit for us?
- How do I give them a wonderful, one-of-a-kind experience, while still having time and energy for a fulfilling personal life?
- And lastly… how do I stop feeling so alone in this venture?
I spent my early years in business feeling overwhelmed and alone. Although our offering (dance studio websites) was desperately needed and studio owners found us easily online, I nonetheless was pretty clueless on how to create a business that worked; one that didn’t suck the life out of me. I constantly felt that the business was running me, and not the other way around.
It turns out that working smarter instead of harder, is key, and we do that through automating and streamlining our procedures – heck, HAVING procedures in the first place. And then once we’re clear on our procedures, delegating tasks when possible.
Also helpful is to find communities of like-minded, supportive people. We belong to entrepreneurial groups, small business groups, and each have a mastermind group. I also have an accountability partner, with whom I meet (via phone) twice per month.
A big challenge was online marketing and SEO, and I delved deeply into those subjects, squeezing in classes and reading everything I could over the course of some years. I still regularly read on these topics, because they are changing all the time. Applying what I’ve learned to our own business has kept us on the forefront of dance studio website design, and consulting with studio owners on their specific needs and solutions has rounded out my knowledge in a way that books can’t.
It does my heart good when we build a website for a client that perfectly reflects their dance studio. I feel excited and connected when I give an artistic director encouragement and strategies for getting new dancers in the door, and not just ANY dancers, but the specific type of dancers (and parents) that they most love. There is nothing more fulfilling than brainstorming with a studio owner on how to differentiate and brand their school so that it stands out amongst the competition.
I had a wonderful long conversation the other day with a studio owner from Florida, and at the end she said, “You can’t imagine the relief I feel after having this conversation”.
THAT’s why I do what I do.
How may I help you?