tspeed-ga,
After reading your Question and Clarification, I can’t help but feel
that a web site is the perfect solution in this situation, and that I
can help you to help your client see it that way as well. As someone
who has developed websites for many people, including small business
owners who were skeptical about why they needed a web presence, I can
outline for you here an approach that should help you to convince the
business owner why a website would be beneficial to him.
As I understand it, Dean is now basically running the shop (after
being handed the reigns from Mike, who is battling a serious illness),
although in a diminished capacity after having to let some staff go.
Apparently, Mike cannot at this time afford to travel and represent
the company in person to the degree that Dean once did.
Now, bear in mind that when I say “website,” I do not mean that he
should go out and buy 15 servers with technical support contracts, and
pay e-bay’s programmers to moonlight and build a full-scale,
corporate-level e-commerce site. Nor, however, do I think a
free-hosted site would do the job (as you well know). You need a site,
to begin with, that represents the low-to-medium end of a professional
web *site* (not just a “homepage”) capable of doing some e-commerce.
From there, as it proves itself, you can build it up.
As far as how to accomplish this, I don’t know if you intend to
completely host, design and maintain the site yourself, or if you want
to have it hosted by someone else and just design the content with
your client, and maintain it yourself. At any rate, the 5-page
NetworkSolutions website package might be a good way for you to start.
I don’t want to get too into the details of the hosting, since your
Question is about *why* does your client need a website in the first
place, but NetSol does offer some good demonstrations along these
lines. They are, after all, in the business of convincing thousands
and thousands of people every year that they should purchase a
website, so it wouldn’t hurt to look at their pitch:
http://www.networksolutions.com
Below is a link to their 5 page website package deal, including 2
e-mail addresses (so 1 could be mike@..... And 1 could be support@....
Or info@....., for example. This package is only $9 per month, but is
in addition to the registration of the domain name itself:
http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/build-it/package-website-5page.jhtml;jsessionid=NRID5NBX2IWTOCWLEALCFEQ?siteid=100&channelid=P50C100S1N9B1628A1D193E0000V100&clickid=1000000000&_requestid=74205
I have actually used (and currently still do use) this very service
successfully myself, and consider it a solid “business starter”
solution. You can always scale up if the business demands it in the
future. This type of site supports full multimedia, including
Macromedia Flash movies (.swf), MPEG movie files and .mp3 or .WAV
audio files (it might be cool to have an audio file of a killer engine
starting up, or maybe—untreated engine sound vs. healthy engine
sound—I haven’t seen this on any of the racing engine sites yet). They
offer a free trial of the web design interface here:
[ http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/build-it/index.jhtml?siteid=100&channelid=P14C100S229N0B1623A8D57E0000V100&clickid=1000000000
].
I realize you may be looking to completely host, design, build and
maintain the site yourself, but it still doesn’t hurt to use a little
of NetSol’s marketing techniques to your advantage, even if you don’t
want their service. Look at their sample sites and note the phrasing
they use:
“Showcases your business
A 5-page Web site gives you the options and flexibility you need to
showcase your company, products or services, and it tells the world
you mean business. It also gives you the ability to engage your
customers…” And,
“Helps drive customers to your Web site
Once you create your Web site, you can increase your business on the
Web…”
Another big part of the success of any website is the domain name
itself. Have you suggested a domain name to your client yet? Or do you
or your client already have an agreed upon domain? If the name of the
business itself is available as a “.com” domain name, then great. (In
case you haven’t verified if it’s available yet, you can do so here,
at Versign’s website):
[ http://verisign.com/ ]. Just enter your desired domain name into the
“Domain Registration” textbox in the upper right corner of the page.
The “.com” extension is selected by default. Make sure that the domain
name is as short and simple as possible while still conveying the name
of the business. When your client is on the phone with prospective
customers, he needs to be able to say, “You can go to our website,
----racing.com, and see the designs,” without the other person having
to ask him to repeat it or spell it.
Also, since auto racing and its necessary cottage industries (such as
motor building) are well established, you may want to show your client
examples of existing racing sites that look good and work well, and
that you can realistically do for your client within his financial
expectations. I found some such sites below, but with your inside
knowledge of the business, you can probably locate suitable examples
to incorporate into your presentation yourself. Here are the sites I
found (Many of them came from the list of links directory offered at
hotrodderes.com: [http://www.hotrodders.com/terms/sunfire-crate-engine.html
] ), along with some good points about each:
1) Ford Crate Engines: [ http://www.fordcobraengines.com/ ]
This site is fairly basic, but gets the point across. Note the “Click
Picture Check out our Quality Control System” and “Click Picture to
Choose your Engine and Horsepower” image links.
Pay special attention to their “Satisfied Customers” page. This is a
major selling point for prospective web clients, as there’s no better
way to have a list of customer testimonials available for anyone to
see, from anywhere in the world, 24/7:
[ http://www.fordcobraengines.com/satisfied.html ].
2) Bad-Ass Racing Engines: [http://www.badasscars.com/ ]
On the main page, right next to the shop owner’s picture, is the
paragraph:
"My shop is fully equipped to handle most tasks for any street or race
car. I deal on a personal level with each of my clients and do my best
to provide the highest quality at the lowest price. Give me a call or
send me an e-mail... let's talk." He’s out there—24/7 for anyone,
anywhere to contact him.
The “Products” and “Gallery” pages on this site are examples of solid
website staples of most quality racing sites. It’s a great way to
define clearly and visually show what your shop offers. If a
prospective client happens to call the shop at a busy time when your
client is already working with a customer in person in the shop,
instead of telling the prospective client on the phone he’ll have to
call back, he can say, “I haven’t got time to talk with you right now,
but we’ve got a complete rundown of our services and products on our
website— please check out the website and get back to me,” type of
thing. The website is always sitting there, able to field potential
customer inquiries.
3) RCD Engineering, Inc.: [http://www.rcdengineering.com/ ]
This is an example of a slick, nicely designed site, in terms of
artistic design, user friendliness and technical execution. All the
images on the main page are click-able hyperlinks. Note the drop-down
menus at the top of all pages. Go over some of these different web
site features with your client, to show him lots of the different
things you can do with a website. It’s not just static pictures and
text sitting there—it’s interactive and dynamic, custom tailored to
meet the business needs and grow as the business grows.
4) Heartbreaker Race Engines
[http://www.fcg.net/~boris/heartbreaker.html ]:
Here’s a site that has cool graphics, but other than that I don’t
think it’s that great. However, showing your client how good a site
can look is important and should not be overlooked.
5) Engine Factory [http://www.enginefactory.com/ ]:
Here’s an example of just how simple a site can be. Simple text,
images and links combine to offer a viable web presence for this
business.
Note that many of the sites have pictures of the people working there,
which definitely adds a personal touch and makes them more
recognizable when they eventually do meet a prospective client. Some
people, however, are camera-shy and would prefer not to have their
picture in a public forum such as the web for one reason or another,
while others are natural born “hams” and enjoy having pictures or even
videos of themselves on-line—you need to determine how your client
fits into this and assure him that you can design the site
accordingly.
Okay, after having seen some real-life examples of racing engine
websites, let’s move on to discuss in particular how you should put
together a presentation or series of important points in order to
convince your client that a website will increase and enhance his
business.
The main point you should emphasize should be that, since Mike’s not
able to get away from the shop as much as Dean used to do, a website
would act as an always-there “field agent,” ready to provide answers
to FAQ’s from potential clients, no matter where in the world they
might be. Also, even when Mike is in the shop, he may be pre-occupied
with a client either on the phone or in person, and so the website
could assist in those situations as well. The website is an extension
of the business, expanding its realm into “cyberspace.” With a
website, Mike will be able to add a custom e-mail address (e.g.,
mike@mikes-racing.com) and URL to his business cards, company
letterhead and perhaps even as logos to the cars which race with his
products (picture “www.mikes-racing.com” on a NASCAR vehicle, live on
TV—think of all the hits!).
Furthermore, this business extension won’t cost much. A simple 5 page
site can be hosted for as little as $9/month at Network Solutions, and
you can design the site for him for a cost-effective fee. If Mike
wants a secure shopping cart as part of the site, obviously the price
goes up, but even a simple informational site with prominently
displayed contact information and a clearly delineated list of
products and services will enhance the business’ bottom line.
Point out to Mike that a website represents a kind of presence that
his business has never had, and that it doesn’t cost much in terms of
time or money to explore the potential of this presence. Also, should
Mike or his employees ever be on the road with a client, and need to
show them a picture of a part, or access a list of parts, these types
of things would be readily available on the website. So, the website
can serve as a storage area of business information (including phone
lists) so that you can never “forget” something. If you discover you
forgot a parts list after you get to your potential client’s site, for
example, you can just log onto the WWW and visit your own site for the
information.
The site could also offer design suggestions, and perhaps even
interactive Flash movies allowing the prospective clients to “build”
their own engine and submit it to Mike for evaluation and pricing.
Another important aspect of the web is its sense of community. Having
a website would allow Mike to link his site to other relevant sites,
which is another way of establishing and maintaining contacts in the
industry. One shop might not be able to do a particular job, but they
may be able to refer a potential client to Mike’s website, who can.
Furthermore, Mike would be able to use the web in conjunction with
other media. For example, he could use CD/DVD-ROMs to deliver
interactive content such as video (you might offer to include the
production of n interactive CD-or DVD-ROM as well, as a kind of
“sign-on bonus” for contracting your web services)—small clips can be
played on website, but clients can order the CD/DVD-ROM for free or a
small fee from the web in order to get in depth info on company
services (such as complete parts catalog, exploding parts diagrams, 3D
wire frame engine images, extensive case studies and customer
testimonials, etc.). These discs could be requested through the
website, and mailed through the regular mail.
The website could also be used as an entertaining way of keeping past
and present customers up to date on shop happenings. A newsletter
delivered in .pdf format, for example, might show the “Engine of the
Month,” or what have you. This type of content serves to generate
excitement and interest about the business’ products and services.
When you explain all this to your client, however, there are certain
things that you’ve got to be sure he understands and accepts. For
example, the site will have to be actively maintained and updated-- a
full-fledged web-site, not just a “home-page” that sits there doing
nothing. You (or someone) will have to do some ongoing maintenance and
updating of the site, and this will cost something. Periodically, the
site’s look-and-feel should be revamped in order to keep it fresh for
the visitors. Also, search engine positioning and marketing are of
course important factors—you can’t just put the site up and hope
people will visit it. Ideally, you should agree on a budget for site
marketing and promotion with your client before you launch the site.
I suggest that you do an actual presentation with our prospective
client—even if you have an informal, friends type of relationship with
him—it’s still his business decision. Ask him for a half-hour of your
time to meet so you can *show* him why a website will help the
business. Then you can use a combination of MS PowerPoint demo’s, live
websites, and verbal narration to make your points. After the
presentation, you might offer your net services on “trial” basis
(especially if he still doesn’t appear enthusiastic after your pitch).
I realize of course, that this approach has greater risk for you,
since you might do some work and not get paid for it. But, if he
really isn’t interested in the full-fledged website approach after you
make your pitch, you might offer to put up a simple site for him for a
couple of months, as a free trial to show him what it can do for him.
At the end of that time, he may feel it’s worth it to proceed with a
more elaborate, full-featured site.
I certainly hope that this helps you to formulate a presentation of
sorts that will lead to a mutually beneficial business relationship
for both of you. If you feel I haven’t covered something here which is
important to you, or if anything I’ve written here isn’t clear to you,
please don’t hesitate to ask for Clarification.
Below I will provide some links that may aid you in finding further
resources.
The following article explains why it’s often bad for small business
owners to attempt to build their own website themselves (from
FreePint, entitled, “Small Business Websites that Work: Get Online to
Grow Your Company”):
[http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/work.htm?FreePint_Session=638b5ea9f89739f200028ed8e1673d83
].
The next link is from a Microsoft bCentral for UK business entitled,
“Marketing basics for small business,” but this kind of information is
applicable to any small business:
[http://www.bcentral.co.uk/marketing/basics/default.asp ].
Here is a link to an article entitled, “12 Website Design Decisions
Your Business or Organization Will Need to Make Correctly (or you'll
have to do it all over within a year),”
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, E-Commerce Consultant. It’s from Web Marketing
Today, Issue 126, July 9, 2003 :
[ http://www.wilsonweb.com/articles/12design.htm ].
Google search strategy:
Keywords,
“importance small business websites”:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=importance+of+small+business+websites&spell=1
,
“auto racing engine websites”:
://www.google.com/search?q=auto+racing+engine+websites&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off
,
“small business web strategies”:
://www.google.com/search?q=small+business+web+strategies&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off
,
“website necessary small business”:
://www.google.com/search?q=website+necessary+small+business&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off
Good luck with your WWW venture!
Sincerely,
omniscientbeing-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
