[Web] Marketing startup. Helping businesses get it right.

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mattwnz

18761 posts

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#1002295 10-Mar-2014 19:31

ubergeeknz: It would seem that the OP has a bit of work to get their own camp in order before trying to dish out advice to small business owners on successful web marketing :)

Aside from all the other problems described in this thread, the site is a bit slow, over 11s to load here (and I'm on a very fast network). Not a good start.

Yes you would expect them to host it in NZ to get it loading faster.
Maybe one of the conditions of listing a startup on here , could be that the lister can show that they are based in NZ. Potentially any listing could be literally be from anywhere, and using geekzone to advertise the website to get a higher pagerank. I am not saying that is the case in this case, but we don't know because it is impossible to know where they OP is from, from their website. I can't even see a company name or if it is a LLC.

Back on this website, I have had a look at the blog, where your are recommending services, and appear to be using affiliate links. So you are getting paid to recommend the service. You may want to disclose that you are an affiliate when you recommend something. You may also want to proof read what you have written, because there are some major grammatical problems. As you are wanting to rewrite peoples website content, they will be looking at the wording on your own website to see how well it reads.

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Affiliate link: Buy anything now at AliExpress.

solidsantana

23 posts

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#1005490 14-Mar-2014 12:13

jarledb:
solidsantana:
Showing your face on here makes no difference to your accessibility to my circle of trust, by the way :)

Its up to you if you want to use your own name and picture on this forum or not. I have chosen to post with my own name when I post on the net, because I am willing to stand behind what I say. Its not hard to find out about me and to actually confirm that I am who I say I am.

Its not mandatory to post with your own name on this forum, and everyone is free to choose what they want. Not having a picture is one thing, having a pseudonym and not having posted here a lot is another. You showing up here at about the same time as "myusername"/ totalsellingsuccess and not having posted here before does make me wonder though..

However, there is a BIG difference between posting on forums anonymously and running a business and trying to stay anonymous.

hmm, I see where you are coming from, but firmly standing behind your words in this way mainly shows to me that you will have a hard time admitting when you are wrong. Don't forget that one of the traits of an entrepreneur is to be able to admit to be wrong.

To me, you appear more like a lawyer or system administrator than an entrepreneur. Remember, we are in the Startup sub forum. Not exactly a place where the risk averse should feel comfortable. I consider system admins to be about the most risk averse people around. True, any entrepreneur needs a good sys admin or master those skills himself. But they are not usually known as the adventurous type. Your posts mainly confirm that cliche, in my honest opinion.

jarledb

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#1005504 14-Mar-2014 12:34

Astutely observed Solidsantana. I am probably not the most risk taking person you will find around. But I have still managed to start several successful businesses. One of which I sold before moving from Norway to New Zealand.

If I was as risk averse as you seem to think I would probably still be working for a big international company and live in the same town I grew up in.

But lets not talk about me. Because, as you so correctly pointed out, this is a forum for startups.

Now, I know that the best way to learn something is to fail and try again. But still I think its worth it to learn basic skills of the trade before setting out in the big world to sell your skills in that trade.

Understanding the psychology of marketing and selling is one vital component of that. And while you (or any other) start up might be people that is well over on the risk taking side of the scale, that does not mean that your customers will be.

Anyone running a business for a while will have learnt that you make mistakes, and those can sometimes be costly. So after a while you get pretty good at sifting out the keepers from the throw aways.

One way of achieving that is to try to assert if a company/consultant/worker is actually someone you should trust.

If you meet up in person to do the sale, the person you are selling to is going to be judging you by your appearance as well as your behaviour and knowledge (or perceived knowledge).

If the possible customer visits your web site its going to be a very similar thing happening: The possible customer will look at your web site and very quickly assert wether its worth continuing on to see if its actually worth spending any time with it to find the services or products they are looking for.

So. If you meet this possible customer and you are looking shabby but have the knowledge AND you refuse to tell the customer who you are and any contact information and ask him to sign a contract with you, how likely do you think a sale is?

Same thing with your web site.

Sideface

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#1005530 14-Mar-2014 13:00

jarledb: ... So. If you meet this possible customer and you are looking shabby but have the knowledge AND you refuse to tell the customer who you are and any contact information and ask him to sign a contract with you, how likely do you think a sale is? ....

"A snowflake's chance in Hell" springs to mind :)

Sideface

myusername

12 posts

Geek

#1005583 14-Mar-2014 13:35

Thanks again for more help. I know I have a lot to fix and am getting onto it.

I have added an about us page that tells people who I am and where. Gave Google+ page, LinkedIn and Skype at the top now too.

Am going to change design in the near future to make it look more professional.

Am proof-reading all blog posts etc... Changed a bit of copy and headlines to read better, I hope.

Branding and logo's will come soon. Company will be formed in the near future too and info posted at the bottom of site.

Page load speed is normally alright but 11s is bad. Server is in Texas but maybe I need a better plan for it.

nate

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#1008435 18-Mar-2014 21:22

myusername: Page load speed is normally alright but 11s is bad. Server is in Texas but maybe I need a better plan for it.

Host somewhere closer. Plenty of cheap NZ hosts, or even Amazon is in Sydney.

solidsantana

23 posts

Geek

#1011536 23-Mar-2014 22:59

nate:
myusername: Page load speed is normally alright but 11s is bad. Server is in Texas but maybe I need a better plan for it.

Host somewhere closer. Plenty of cheap NZ hosts, or even Amazon is in Sydney.

Better just set up a good caching system with Memcached or APC. These days it really doesn't matter where you host if you have these solutions in place, they are all free. The problem with hosting in NZ is that most VPS accounts still make a distinction between international and national traffic. International traffic is often capped. Sad, but true.

solidsantana

23 posts

Geek

#1011537 23-Mar-2014 23:00

jarledb: Astutely observed Solidsantana. I am probably not the most risk taking person you will find around. But I have still managed to start several successful businesses. One of which I sold before moving from Norway to New Zealand.

If I was as risk averse as you seem to think I would probably still be working for a big international company and live in the same town I grew up in.

But lets not talk about me. Because, as you so correctly pointed out, this is a forum for startups.

Now, I know that the best way to learn something is to fail and try again. But still I think its worth it to learn basic skills of the trade before setting out in the big world to sell your skills in that trade.

Understanding the psychology of marketing and selling is one vital component of that. And while you (or any other) start up might be people that is well over on the risk taking side of the scale, that does not mean that your customers will be.

Anyone running a business for a while will have learnt that you make mistakes, and those can sometimes be costly. So after a while you get pretty good at sifting out the keepers from the throw aways.

One way of achieving that is to try to assert if a company/consultant/worker is actually someone you should trust.

If you meet up in person to do the sale, the person you are selling to is going to be judging you by your appearance as well as your behaviour and knowledge (or perceived knowledge).

If the possible customer visits your web site its going to be a very similar thing happening: The possible customer will look at your web site and very quickly assert wether its worth continuing on to see if its actually worth spending any time with it to find the services or products they are looking for.

So. If you meet this possible customer and you are looking shabby but have the knowledge AND you refuse to tell the customer who you are and any contact information and ask him to sign a contract with you, how likely do you think a sale is?

Same thing with your web site.

Quality post. I salute you, Sir.

solidsantana

23 posts

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#1012138 25-Mar-2014 00:21

A solid reason for hosting overseas are the pathetic data policies in NZ. They are really 2002-like compared to the rest of the world! And if those services offer additional tools to protect privacy, then why not use it?

freitasm

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#1012650 25-Mar-2014 19:05

As Nate mentioned, there are plenty of cheaper hosting in New Zealand. But if you are serious about business going TOO cheap will hurt.

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mattwnz

18761 posts

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#1012651 25-Mar-2014 19:12

solidsantana: A solid reason for hosting overseas are the pathetic data policies in NZ. They are really 2002-like compared to the rest of the world! And if those services offer additional tools to protect privacy, then why not use it?

That is incorrect, there are different NZ hosts who don't have any limits on data. You may pay a little more in NZ, but overall hosting is generally a low cost service anyway. Infact the overseas ones you often find do have limits in their fine print, including limiting the number of files you can store, which usually includes emails.
With privacy on domain names, I don't believe NZ domains are allowed to use privacy tools on the domains contact details. With .coms, you do usually have to pay extra for that privacy service.

solidsantana

23 posts

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#1077565 1-Jul-2014 08:19

Come on guys, the outcome of the past few months in here has been meager, to say the least. It's winter, what else you gonna do?

freitasm

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#1077566 1-Jul-2014 08:21

What do you mean?

freitasm on Keybase | My technology disclosure

solidsantana

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#1078430 2-Jul-2014 09:10

freitasm: What do you mean?

Sorry I thought I was posting in the Trade Me competitors thread.

Inphinity

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#1078500 2-Jul-2014 10:39

I know I'm a bit late to the (relevant) conversation, but I note the OPs site still has the tagline "Transfrom your business!". If the OP is still trying to build this business, proofreading - especially major things like taglines - is very important.

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