do you think this would make a difference for my instructor?

[ThatVikRinA22]

after much searching locally and trying 2 other schools i finally found an amazing place with an amazing instructor for my lessons.

trouble is, no one else knows about her - she is tucked away a mile or so away from the main road, she has been there 6 years but when i waxed lyrical on FB no one had heard of her.

I went for my lesson yesterday, and stayed to chat for a while afterwards, the yard is immaculate, wonderful facilities, the lady who runs it is wonderful, used to teach at a college,she is an absolute mine of horsey info and is a fully qualified instructor but she was saying she has no liveries and needs more lessons. I know that i have searched locally and she was the last place i found because she has no real advertising. (she puts an ad in the local mag that comes out ever few months)

I sat last night and did a quick internet search and she doesnt come up anywhere!

DS has said he can do her a website free of charge. He is a computer programmer and is doing a computer science degree, he has done websites/booking systems for people before for things like B&Bs and the likes before. He says he can get it so she starts to come up on google searches.

Do you think this would help her? or am i being an interfering busy body who should leave her to it? Do you think she would be insulted if i suggest it? She is an older lady so i think the internet has passed her by a bit - when i say older i mean in her early 50's, but it seems such a shame that when i searched these really poor schools came up (they were akin to getting donkey rides on the beach when i tried them) compared to her who actually teaches and i just think its such a shame.

Do you think i should suggest DS does this for her? He will not charge her anything. Ive already talked to him and he would do it over xmas as he has a month off.

What do you think?

What does she want? She sounds like my instructor who doesn't really want lots of people knowing about her but happily accepts word of mouth.

Maybe bring it up at your next lesson?! See what she says

no, she was saying yesterday that she needs more people and liveries or she is in danger of going under.

she seemed quite worried and was actively asking me what she thought she could do to drum up some business.

i did a google search last night and she doesnt come up anywhere at all - i think the internet is how people find things - most people google dont they?

i thought it might help her to have a site.
im being a busy body arent i.....i should butt out.

No, I don't think you're being a busybody. You should offer to help if you and your DH have the time.

My riding school is busy and only really has word of mouth advertising going on. If your riding school isn't as busy as they want to be, then I agree that they need to be more proactive. Advertising in the local paper, notices up in the village notice boards, offering free lesson(s) as raffle prizes at local schools or businesses, a decent website, facebook page etc.

If she'll accept it , I think it's a fantastic idea .

My instructor is very similar . She has recently put up a website , and it does seem to be doing the trick . It's no good being fantastic ,if no one knows you're there , and the equestrian community , whilst being a complete hive of gossp , does tend to be quite closed , so if you only want to learn to ride , it's hard to get info

It sounds like a lovely idea. I can't see how she could be offended if you suggest it to her, especially if she asked for your ideas in the first place.

Oh dear Vicar: she needs more liveries so the only decent thing that you can do is to get a horse asap

I think a website is a great idea. The internet is the first place that most people look nowadays to find out information. I'm sure she'd be delighted with your help as long as you talk through what she's happy to have put on there. As a potential client, I would want to know facilities for both livery and lessons, prices for lessons ( and lengths ) and livery costs and what's included for that price.

50bales idea is fab. We can help you horse hunt. Nothing quite like a bit of horse porn

god dont tempt me.....ive already started looking but realistically i dont know enough yet. DH says that if i do know enough by the time DS leaves uni thats the time to get one. (so that will give me till summer!) She has already said she will help me find a good horse when the time comes.

her lessons are the longest ive known - she only charges £20 but yesterday i was there for about 2 hours - riding for about 50 mins.

the other rubbish places were very strict and timed you to 30 mins exactly then kicked you off....i didnt learn a thing at either place whereas here i learned tons on the very first lesson.

her livery is part time for £50 (or £30 for working) includes all feed/hay and she doesnt charge extras for rugs/turning in/out etc. she is a diamond and a real find, and i would certainly trust her to have any horse of mine working as she is so careful to teach you as a rider not to do anything to confuse or hurt. Im desperate for her to still be there when i get one! part livery would be perfect for me with the shifts i work.

i left her a voice mail but she will be working today no doubt. DS has already started looking at how to get her googleable....he is really good and has said he will do it for free if he can just use the site in his portfolio for when he is job hunting.

i only found her through sheer diligence and i was very single minded about being properly taught and what i wanted.

im sure that most people probably dont quite know what they want especially if its for their kids and they dont know the difference between a good instructor and a non instructor.

i just think if i can get her searchable on google she would have a fighting chance and she knocks spots off the competition (i know cos i tried them all!)

Vista print have some cheap business cards that she could get done to put up in local tack shops / village shops / post offices etc. A FB page which we can all like might help.

That sounds really good, Vicar. The only thing I'd say is that she must know how to work with it as well - it's no good having a website with, say, an email address, if she is the kind of person who only checks her email once every two weeks. Ask her if she'd like a website, and make sure she's not just saying yes to be polite. She'll need to engage with it to get the most out of it.

She sounds awesome, and exactly the kind of person I hope to find when (hopefully) I get the chance to start riding again...

she hasnt got back to me, id left her a msg this morning.

i also think she needs to be on FB. will talk to her when i see her but not got a lesson now for a week.

i wont be offended if she isnt interested, i just thought it might help drum up a bit of business.