[Russ Lee]

Hi All,

My daughter, Michelle, and I will be hosting a seminar at the Expo titled, “It’s a www World,” which will focus on all things Internet and electronic marketing for countertop fabricators. As you might imagine, a good portion of the class will focus on the do’s and don’ts of websites, will show examples of good and bad sites and will probably even demonstrate the elements of an effective website for fabricators.

We also want to address the opportunities available to fabricators through using electronic marketing tools other than websites. Some of the things we will cover are e-newsletters, surveys, online databases your dealer customers can use at the point of sale, etc., etc., etc.

Here’s where we could use your help: If you use the Internet or email for creative marketing, we would love to hear about it. Or, if you know of techniques that others are using and sound interesting, or . . . if you have a brilliant idea of how to use the Internet to benefit a fabrication business but have never seen it in practice, please tell us about it. The idea is to get the creative juices flowing and stimulate some interesting discussion.

Also, if you have a really good website, or a really bad website and are amenable to us using it as either a good or a bad example during the seminar, please let us know.

If you wish to respond privately, my email address is rustylee@gmail.com. Otherwise, feel free to post here and share the wealth with everyone.

Thanks for the help. Y’all are great.

Russ

[Joe Corlett]

Russ:

As you may or may not know, I have had some success with http://www.servicemagic.com which is an internet based lead generation service. It’s really advertising.

Apparently there is tremendous interest in this from fabricators, as my post, “Internet Lead Service” on Geeks, has had over 7,000 views, more than any other.

If I can assist you in any way, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m really glad to see you back.

Joe

[Russ Lee]

Joe,

Cool. Come to think of it, I ran into Servicemagic a few months ago when I was looking up a phone number for one of my subcontractors (siding) on the Internet. They (Servicemagic) seemed pretty aggressive trying to hook me up with the business, put me on their e-newsletter list and as recently as this week they sent me an email asking how well the business responded to my request. It was shades of EC.com, except they seem to get the job done pretty well.

Thanks for the suggestion. We will incorporate it into the class.

Russ

[Andy Graves]

Ideas:

• Keywords (we started a list under “Resourses” > “Files, Forms, and Docs”)
• Keyword advertising
• Web Statistics and how to use them to promote your business
• KISS – Keep it simple (unless you have lots of money)
• Reliable hosting survice is key
• How to get a domain name and how to control it
• .net vs.com – always try to get a .com (much more common in the states)
• email address – important to have your web address in your email (looks more professional)
• Any links should open in a new browser so they don’t loose your site
• Eliminate complicated menu system
• Older folks like white background and Tahoma 12 pt font (easier to read)
• Make a “Contact Us” page that has a link to a google or yahoo map
• Customers love photo galleries. It is usually the second most popular page other than the home page.
• Commonly misplelled domain names – Buy the mispelled name also and have it redirected to the correct site.
• Read the entire site backward to look for mispelled workds
• Make site fixed width so you can control the look and feel of the site (makes it so it is the same on all computers monitors)
• Start the practice of collecting email addresses from your customer. In the future you may want to send out emails to remind your granite customers that their counters need to be resealed.
• $20 a month should be an adequate hosting service for an online broshure type website.
• Keep all pictures small in file size
• Remember that a monitor will only have a maximum resolution of 72dpi

This is a great idea Russ. If you have any question about this site let me know. You are also more than welcome to use http://www.olivemill.com . Judge for yourself if it is good or bad.

[Tom M]

Andy, I am really impressed buy your command of what works on the web.

Russ, my website might be a good example of home made, with some built in problems. I authored it in Front Page, so simplicity was necessary, but it was also what I wanted – an information based site that is still easy to load and navigate around.

Problem is, my host doesn’t have Front Page extensions, so I had to delete many useful features, such as a form for info request. I missed a few, and have so far not removed them. They don’t work, but are still there. Have fun, they won’t be there forever, but thay will through March, as of now.

I’ve been the guy in the “Before” pic, ummm… before.
Not every day, mind you…

Tom

[Tom M]

what works on the web

“www”, heh.
There’s your title, Russ.

Tom

[Tom M]

Oops,

http://www.mathertops.com

Sorry ’bout that.

[Norm Walters]

Russ, my son and I did mine, click on the link at the left. By the way, I copied and pasted your solid surface description on my website, asking for permission after the fact..

[jeremy brown]

Here’s a novel concept Russ as it relates to a suppliers website. If you advertise it, and they order it, STOCK IT & SHIP IT

If you don’t have it: DON’T BILL THEIR CREDIT CARD and ship it 6 weeks later.

Funny, it does not take a Harvard education to follow those rules and make a lot of fabricators happy.

Glad I could help.

[Russ Lee]

Omigosh, this is good stuff. Thanks for the suggestions/observations and please keep it coming.

Norm, you have my permission in advance to use the solid surface description if you find it additive to your marketing efforts.

[Author]

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