The Art Of Surfing (TAOS) is a global surf coaching brand developed by NOAN member Matt Scorringe. Whilst the brand itself was first developed over a decade ago in New Zealand, prior to the pandemic, Scorringe then launched an online version. The TAOS Academy was designed to help him take his in-person coaching – which has seen him take clients to the biggest arena as New Zealand Olympic coach – to a wider audience of surfers.

The pandemic opened up an opportunity for TAOS to integrate remote coaching as a core aspect of the membership experience. You can read more about how this came about and his experience building it here.

This evolution was the catalyst for Scorringe to join NOAN as he had to develop the strategy to refine his offering and integrate the remote coaching experience.

Here are five important lessons to take away for anyone looking to develop an online coaching platform.

1. Investing in brand early makes things easy down the line

When he developed The Art Of Surfing, Matt Scorringe knew the importance of investing in the brand – his brand. He worked with a design agency in 2019 to develop brand assets. When it came to rebuilding his membership, these ensured that the visual direction could remain consistent as the offering expanded. Always begin with brand strategy, it pays off and impacts the entire experience.

TAKEAWAY: Know thyself, as the Ancient Greeks advised. Once you and your brand have a solid sense of self and it’s expressed through imagery and other brand assets, subtle changes are non-disruptive to your userbase.

Logos developed as part of TAOS brand guidelines.

2. Time management needs to underpin the experience development

Any small business owner knows that time is one of your most valuable assets. But when you’re developing an online coaching platform it’s key you ensure that you structure the deliverables to your members in such a way that scale (i.e. success) won’t make impossible to deliver.

Success can come quickly so it’s pivotal that you control the time that you engage with any potential users. This is done by creating a product they can purchase with timings of included engagements clearly defined.

For TAOS, Scorringe has Remote Coaching Cycles, with defined days on which clients can expect to hear from him. This ensures Matt can manage the top tiers of the experience whilst still delivering to the rest of his users.

TAKEAWAY: Create a spreadsheet and calculate how much time you need to give to each member per tier, and how many you can handle while still being financially viable. Then start to structure your day/week/month accordingly.

3. A gateway experience is pivotal to driving progression

Once you’ve defined your core offering, building out the gateway experience is the next key step. Whilst TAOS could have had a top tier only where remote coaching was accessible, this would deny base level users a taste of how valuable remote coaching could be to them.

With his time management in mind, Scorringe developed the TAOS Review - a once-a-year video review with clearly defined parameters - available to every member of the base level membership. This gives every user a vital teaser of what they are missing out on by not signing up to the top tier.

TAKEAWAY: If your membership has two value tiers, figure out how to break off a small chunk of the top tier and offer it as part of a lower tier.

4. Fewer platforms equals more time to build the business

When Scorringe first set about working on the strategy using NOAN, he was focussed on front-end development. But it quickly became clear to him that he needed to simplify and streamline the platforms he was using.

Like most small business owners he’d organically accumulated various platforms over the course of a decade. This had left him with different platforms for CRM, booking, front-end site design and even his online academy content. This happens in any business, big or small, but at some point it’s important to take a step back and simplify your structure.

By moving onto Squarespace, TAOS could bring the front-end site, membership area and CRM all onto one platform. This consolidated all the capabilities Matt needed to manage and make tweaks to his experience, ultimately freeing up time for him to deliver on the membership.

TAKEAWAY: Audit all the platforms & technologies you use (make a list). Find someone who can help you conslidate them into as few as possible.

— Clear messaging of the value delivered to members

5. Develop a content cadence that is right for you

Every membership will be powered by content. It’s a core part of how you will develop your relationship with your users, drive engagement and limit churn.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not establishing clearly how much new content will be delivered as part of the core value of the experience.

Scorringe was clear from the start that he didn’t want to become a content farm, it would take him away from the core value he wanted to offer - remote coaching. So using the NOAN strategy he developed a monthly cadence of new content with core verticals that he could deliver to his users, enabling him to manage his time more effectively.

TAKEAWAY: Figure out how much time per month you can dedicate per month to content. Create replicable themes or franchises you can fit into that time.

6. Take a global mindset to pricing

Not every online coaching experience will be a global one, but for most businesses in this space it’s fair to say that if you’re online you’re accessible from anywhere.

Remote coaching opened up a global userbase for TAOS. As a result, Scorringe had to take a global approach to pricing the experience. He had to determine a pricing structure that made the offering appealing to those in New Zealand and new markets such as the US where coaches are able to charge more.

TAKEAWAY: Almost always, 80-90% of your revenue is going to come from your top 2 geographies. Optimize for those, and you’ll find a pricing structure that works for you.