Success Story - Galactic Center

The Galactic Center is owned by certified Vedic astrologer Joni Patry. Joni is an instructor, speaker and provides private astrology consultations for clients. Although she has an office (the Galactic Center) where she teaches and provides consultations, she has a global audience so her website is a vital part of her business.

Website
Joni already had a website when she called Pro Epic, but her existing website's development platform was outdated and she didn't feel it was a true reflection of her, nor did it have some of the features she wanted.

When she approached Pro Epic to revive her website, it was quickly determined that the best approach would not be to fix the existing site, but to create a new website on a technologically up-to-date, dynamic and flexible platform. Joni had a lot of content, she provided numerous pictures and said she wanted a colorful site. She wanted the content to be easy to read.  Her previous site had light-colored text on a dark background. She wanted the new site to have dark text on a very light background to improve legibility for her viewers.  She gave us a long list of features she wanted the website to have. Features were prioritized and go-live dates for the new site and upcoming features were chosen.

In the first 10 months since Pro Epic took Joni's new GalacticCenter.org website live, there has been:

• an increase in visitor traffic of 118% and
• an increase in page views of 148%.

These are especially amazingly good numbers when one considers the GalacticCenter.org website had already been online for 9 years.

Email Newsletter
Immediately after getting Joni's new website on the Internet, Pro Epic turned their guns toward production of Joni's monthly email newsletter. She provides the textual content and supporting graphics, Pro Epic creates the newsletter and adds pictures and graphics. As new features are available on her website, links to them are included in the e-newsletters, along with any specials and event announcements.  Occassionally, additional editions of the newsletter are also sent out.

Over the first 10 months, Pro Epic has produced and distributed 14 of Joni's "News from the Stars" e-newsletters.  The response she has received is amazing for any marketing effort.  On average 61% of the e-newsletters are opened.  Of those opened, a whopping 47% of readers click on links in the e-newsletter that take them to Joni's website: www.GalacticCenter.org.  By sending an e-newsletter as opposed to sending one via snail mail, Joni has saved over $5400 annually, in postage alone.

Joni's electronic newsletter creates a noticeable increase in traffic to her website, and to the number of appointments made for astrology consultations and private lessons.  On average, there is a 75% increase in website traffic on the day the newsletter is delivered when compared to the previous day.

Email newsletters are benefical in many ways:

• Maintain and increase customer awareness.
• Foster and reward customer loyalty.
• Share helpful information and discounts with customers to let them know they are appreciated.
• Allow customers an easy way to let their friends know about your business, when they forward your email newsletter.

Blog
When Joni contacted Pro Epic, she wanted a blog. The blog on her website is used to post her newsletters, the audio of her radio show appearances and other items.  Visitors may comment on the blog entries and on each others' comments.  This all makes for unique content on her website.  The active banter in the visitor comments further encourages interest and interaction with the site.

Passive Income
Joni wanted a way for the website to generate money that didn't require her direct interaction. To that end, her books and lessons are available for purchase online.  The materials she created to teach Vedic astrology classes are available for visitors to study through the purchase of 30-day subscriptions.  Subscribers may learn at their own pace, regardless of geographic location and time of day.

Online Appointment Calendar With Payment Acceptance
Joni wanted a way to consolidate her appointment calendar into one location that could be viewed by she, her staff and website visitors. She wanted website visitors to be able to see her available time slots, and be able to make and pay for their own appointments, online. She also wanted to sell gift certificates online.

Pro Epic researched options based on the criteria and selected a solution that met all the criteria - Book24-7.com  During a 30-day free trial the Internet-based service was configured and tested. Once Joni approved, Pro Epic implemented the solution and provided training for Joni and her staff. In addition to meeting Joni's criteria noted above, the appointment system also sends automated emails to clients regarding the consultation/class they schedule, as well as a reminder note a couple of days before the appointment.

A list of some of the features Pro Epic has implemented for Joni Patry and her Galactic Center website:

• Monthly world predictions with visitor commenting.
• Monthly personal predictions for each astrology sign.
• User registration.
• User ability to purchase online subsriptions for access to astrology lessons.
• Products for sale online.
• Posting the audio of her radio show appearances so it may be heard directly on her site.
• Research, configuration and training of an online appointment scheduling calendar and gift certificate system.
• Vedic astrology chart calculator.
• Website widgets with RSS feeds for both the newsletters, and the world and personal predictions.
• Information on her upcoming appearances.
• Articles she has written.
• A listing of the Vedic astrology classes she offers. Private classes may be purchased and scheduled through her online appoinment calendar.
• Website customer support.
• Monthly statistics reporting of website traffic, online sales and newsletter response.
• Implementation of items that increase the display speed of the site, and search engine optimization.