First Regional Meeting

As promised, we had our first regional meeting of hosts this past weekend. It covered our hosts from Monaghan & East Cavan.

We were thrilled to have over 60 people in attendance, many existing hosts registered with us, and several newbies wanting to sign up.

Our meeting covered many aspects of our company: Ownership, ethos, procedures, marketing, student allocation and 3-year plan.   We took time to mingle with our hosts, demonstrating that even though Cat, Jon & Sharon run the day-to-day show, the most important ingredient in hosting is a stable, loyal and dedicated host family network.

Getting to meet so many hosts (in my case for the first time) enables us to share experiences. Reiterating that this project is a team effort seems to have resonated well, as today so many of our hosts are engaging again with our marketing campaign online and behind the scenes. Team effort will ensure team rewards.

We were able to spend time advising in when and how best to activate profiles on our Portal, the importance of good photographs and the need for clear and concise profile descriptions. By the end of next week we should have 100 of our 241 registered hosts up online.

We've concluded deals with some big hitter student agencies in EU and beyond. Our marketing is well under way and we have a definite line of attack now bookings and queries are coming in faster. We will continue to work this side of the business hard.

Our next meeting will be announced soon. As will our progress at Trade Shows and Events. In the meantime, thanks again to all who support us, encourage us and work with us.

Team Lingoo Ninja

Www.LingooNinja.com
Www.LingooSchool.com

Our Company Structure - Lingoo School Ltd - And Why It Matters

When we incorporated our company, we not only wanted a successful co-operative business to grow, we wanted to build a brand, with stakeholders which spans multiple sectors and services in this industry.

Lingoo School Limited has been set up to facilitate the organization of School Year Programs for students coming to Ireland or UK who wish to participate in an academic year (or term) abroad.

Unlike our competitors, our network of host families get the highest hosting fee in the industry, not only in monetary terms but also percentage terms. They receive €225 per week per student, representing 72.2% of what our program costs.

The remaining 27.8% splinters between tax, uniform costs, school book costs, school fees costs, school transport costs, our commission fee (less than 10%), marketing costs, administrative costs etc.

Our business is also structured differently, 80% is owned by the three Directors (who do everything you see happening), while 20% remains firmly in control year to year of host family members who are hosting that particular year. Our structure means our host families have a REAL say, and financial stake in how this business is run. The business is 100% Irish owned, with Irish bankers, tax advisors and legal advisors. We want Lingoo School to be an Irish success story!

We could have been greedy. We could have said EF, STS, InterStudies etc remunerate X, Y and Z so we'll budget for €100 a week which tops them all, or €135, or €150. But we didn't. We understand there are REAL COSTS associated with hosting a student, and when a student pays €12,775 for a Program, as much of that money as possible should be invested in support, services and sustenance for the benefit of the students; it is their money after all.  The so-called industry leaders in some cases don't pay enough stipend to even cover food for a week, meaning students pay multiple thousands of euro for a year away, only to find life is somewhat of a struggle when the experience begins.

Our company is not about glossy brochures, 20,000 staff across 80 countries or having a representative in every school.  It's about a small, professional yet dedicated team of enthusiastic entrepreneurs backed up free of charge by friends or family to launch a business where our business model is integrated with our hosts interests too. Unashamedly unique in every way.

This week we've had tremendous support online and in terms of bookings. The ball is rolling faster, gathering momentum. But you'll see some light footed tactics in marketing in coming weeks. We will be provoking debate in the industry, we will be unveiling industry partners, and we will be explaining further the ethos and ambitions of Lingoo Ninja group, which nestles Lingoo School, Lingoo Camps, Lingoo Academy & Lingoo Corporate.

Our ambition is only exceeded by our desire for our students to remember the best possible language immersion experience. Together we can make it happen.

Team Lingoo School,
Catriona, Sharon & Jon

Getting Out There

The temptation is enormous to try run, develop and expand this business purely from a keyboard or phone locked away in an office somewhere. Sure isn't that the way 'business' is going, say experts. Work remotely, adopt IT and automation, flexible hours then abandon old ways.

Easier said than done, undoubtedly factually incorrect most likely!!

Recently Jon has been in Poland and Ukraine continuing to build relationships with schools, agents and businesses interested in potential English Immersion in Ireland & UK. Next Monday Veronika visits Amsterdam to visit colleagues in English Language Schools while Director Catriona heads to warmer climbs of Spain to participate in a Study Abroad conference and show. 

In growing a business like this, where the brand and service promotion team leads marketing, but retains just a fraction of potential turnover there has to be a multi-faceted approach to marketing & PR. Hence why we've adopted strategies around Schools or Agents, Social Media, Database Development, Referrals and much, much more.

Getting out there is important. Not just to meet and greet, but for our sanity too! So here's a BIG call out to any events or possibilities YOU might know where we can promote the Lingoo Ninja & Lingoo School brands - let us know about them.

Hopefully next week Veronika & Catriona will utilize Instagram on their trips. All Jon took photos of was desserts, coffee and back of peoples heads 😜

Www.LingooNinja.com
Www.LingooSchool.com

© 2017 Lingoo Ninja LLC

2017 A Flying Start!

We trust everyone had a restful seasonal period, and the arrival of 2017 has been enjoyable.

As predicted, 2017 has started busy, with new Host Families being activated on our co-operative portal www.LingooNinja.com as people start to turn their attention towards Summer 2017 and the subsequent Academic Year Programmes.  We've also seen a spike in visits to www.LingooSchool.com as families begin the process of firming up decisions ahead of academic year 2017-2018.

Where the real activity is happening though is on social media - Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, and to a lesser degree Youtube.    Our re-engagement campaign on Facebook & Google is well under way with positive results.  For a new brand, this will always be our most difficult year - making an impact in year one and sticking with it into year two, but thus far, we are overwhelmed by your support!

Lingoo Academy continues to get strong bookings for 2017 and beyond. Repeat business and direct referrals once again making up more than 80% of the business anticipated.

Our group has also incorporated a new Lingoo Camps division to specifically look after Summer Camps in Ireland - with an independent management structure, but under the marketing & PR umbrella of Lingoo Ninja.  This is an exciting project we are sure will thrive! 

As we reach into 2017, we are also minded to consider the changing world around us - not only the positives like better communication or accessibility to travel, but also the continued threat of economic downturn and of course terrorism.  We firmly believe a safer world is a world where we share cultures, languages and experiences and are extremely pleased to have teamed up with schools and brokers in Turkey, Syria, Chad, Ukraine, Israel and Tunisia in recent months to complement the growing network of organisations we work with inside the EU.

We hope 2017 will be as busy for you as it will be for us.  But rest assured, not matter how busy we are, our students, their welfare and linguistic development will always come first.

TEAM LINGOO NINJA

Short Term Homestays: www.Lingoo.Ninja 

School Year Program: www.Lingoo.School

Skype:  LingooNinjaUA

Blog: www.Lingoo.Blog 

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/LingooNinja

YouTube: www.YouTube.com/c/LingooNinjaEnglish

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/LingooNinja

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lingooninja