CASE STUDY
How Shannon Enhanced Student Success Through Strategic Support
“What Erica brings to the program is like nothing I ever even realized that I needed. The way that she goes about making decisions and gathering data and thinking about the full picture of the business combined with the students and student results. She really takes a holistic view of all of the pieces when making recommendations and making data driven decisions.”
Shannon Mattern
Founder and CEO of Web Designer Academy
The Highlights:
Comprehensive support for program participants
Shannon and I work together as a team to provide comprehensive, data-driven support for program participants that includes coaching, personalized feedback, and ongoing curriculum updates.
Satisfied and supported clients
Clients report feeling supported and are satisfied with their experience inside the program as they learn and grow.
Increased confidence that students will get results
Shannon is confident that with my support, students will get the results that they came for and that together we can solve any problem that comes our way.
About Shannon Mattern
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Founder and CEO of Web Designer Academy
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Host of the Profitable Web Designer Podcast
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Location: Ohio
Shannon needed some assistance with evaluating feedback, making curriculum decisions, and supporting students.
Ongoing support at the highest level, which includes weekly interactions with students, regular evaluation, revision, and creation of materials, and the development of processes and systems for student support.
A more than 2 year relationship that involves ongoing support for Shannon, Web Designer Academy curriculum, satisfied students, and the annual Simply Profitable Designer Summit.
Words from Shannon
“What Erica brings to the program is like nothing I ever even realized that I needed. The way that she goes about making decisions and gathering data and thinking about the full picture of the business combined with the students and student results. She really takes a holistic view of all of the pieces when making recommendations and making data driven decisions.
Our students say that Erica is like our best kept secret. When they come into the program and just start to experience her kind, gentle, yet powerful coaching, support and encouragement, they are just like, oh, we didn't know we were gonna get her, too.
She just has such a way of looking at things that is brilliant and it compliments me as the coach very well.
Erica is amazing. She is such an asset to our program and would be an asset to any program that is as committed to their clients' success as we are.”
Shannon Mattern
Founder and CEO of Web Designer Academy
The Process:
How It Started
Shannon experienced three main challenges before working with me:
1) There were places in her curriculum where students were consistently getting stuck and it slowed their progress. She wanted an expert set of eyes to help her make it more effective and help students get results faster.
2) She wanted to reward + delight + acknowledge the big investment students made in themselves when they joined AND for all the hard work they do throughout the program so that they keep going and want to stay with her beyond their first year...
3) She wanted to create a next level year 2 curriculum and some fun stuff to delight + engage those next level students.
We spent an intense month together to elevate her program through identifying and eliminating gaps in her Web Designer Academy curriculum, defining her Next Level program, and incentivizing her program with milestones and custom, meaningful swag.
Our project began with an in-depth audit where I gathered and analyzed feedback and data to identify existing gaps in the Web Designer Academy curriculum. I compiled my findings into a report and presented it to Shannon, after which we discussed her goals for the program and created a strategy for eliminating those gaps.
Part of that strategy included creating opportunities for retention, so we defined what her Next Level Mastermind would like and how we could further engage students to stay in the program beyond their initial 12 month membership.
And finally, Shannon had a desire to surprise and delight her students. We outlined milestones to incentivize engagement, and I designed a suite of custom, meaningful swag items that she could send to her students–via snail mail when they join and digitally when they reach certain milestones.
This project was so successful that after its implementation, Shannon and I have continued working together to support the students in Web Designer Academy.
How It's Going
Shannon and I have been working together to support the students inside Web Designer Academy for more than two years. I believe in her mission and am fully invested in the success of her and her clients.
She receives ongoing support at the highest level, so I am inside her program on a weekly basis. I provide personalized support for students, regular evaluation, revision, and creation of materials, and the development of processes and systems for client success. I attend live calls and provide additional coaching and feedback alongside Shannon. I review and give students feedback on submitted assets. I perform quarterly wellness checks to ensure that we are in contact with students and no one “falls through the cracks.” I analyze feedback and data and identify opportunities and areas of improvement, and create tools and materials to close gaps. I regularly communicate with students to keep them informed of all the opportunities they have to engage with the curriculum, community, and Shannon and I.
Here are a few of the really kind things Web Designer Academy students have had to say about working with me inside Shannon’s program.
Shannon is also the host of the Simply Profitable Designer Summit, an annual virtual event for graphic and web designers that sets the standards for summits and takes place each Spring. I assist Shannon in planning, organizing, and running this event.
I have lots of tools in my toolbox, and believe that each and every client gets to access those tools. Here’s what Shannon has to say about it: “When I hired Erica…I had no idea that I was getting a unicorn, to put it mildly.”