Our new website, opinions?

Darren@Partners

Our new website, pretty basic and will be adding some new content. Whaddya think?

www.partnersconstruction-drywall.com


Thanks in advance for your input.

Whitey97

you should photoshop that chev out of the picture HA HA HA!

JustMe

Since you asked, here's a long post for you. I’ve done some market consulting for companies and other marketers looking for ways to position their companies and reposition their competition. Some things I’ll say may seem obvious. But it's surprising how many people and companies leave out, or don't do a good job of, the obvious in their marketing. Get that part done well, and you’ll be ahead of most when it comes to marketing:

In your 'About Us' section, where you say "Our craftsman are among the finest in the area": You should pluralize "craftsman" -> "craftsmen". As well, you might want to put an apostrophe after the word "area". Other places also seem like they could maybe use things like apostrophes at times. When you're further along in developing your site, show it to someone like a 3rd or 4th year university English major, or someone who writes such things as resumes. They might be able to correct any little items. If you give them just a point list of things you want to say, you might find they can do a good job of writing them out in paragraph form for not a lot. Incorrect writing can contribute to a negative impression.

In the same ‘About Us’ section, where you say "a full range of drywall and interior services": The 'full range of interior services' being mentioned detracts somewhat from what seems to be your message in much of the rest of your site - ie. that you're drywall specialists. Being perceived as specialists can be powerful in attracting customers who are looking for a particular service. Especially if that service is pricey, is important, things can go wrong, etc. Calling yourself a specialist can also give credibility to such claims as 'We can deliver better quality for less'. I might even want to state something like that somewhere. Eg. 'Because we're specialists in all the various aspects of installing and finishing drywall, and have years of experience to go along with our specializing, we are a company that really can deliver drywall work which offers better value for your money'. Wording the message in such a way can also allow for things like giving out prices based on the quality of work wanted. If lower than top quality, but still decent quality work is acceptable to the buyer, it allows for lowering pricing - rather than always thinking your pricing has to be based on top quality at all times. But that's a choice, a road one doesn't have to go down.
Being able to say you're experienced specialists in something can help with giving one a perceptual competitive advantage over eg. more general contractors who might be bidding the same jobs at times, or people with less experience trying to get the jobs by bidding low.

Do you offer the "full range" from within your company, or is it offered - at least offered at times - in association with some other people/other companies? If so, I'd possibly want to say so. Eg. Something like "In conjunction with other companies delivering quality work that we've found and worked with over the years, we can now also offer to our clients a full range of quality interior services through one source, if such is desired. Such interior services include ....., ....., ...... ."

In your ‘Drywall Services’ section: When you state things like "Vac-Sanding", you may want to consider using terms that more descriptively spell out the benefits from such - eg. "Dustless Vac-Sanding". One would think that people should quite easily be able to understand the benefits of vac-sanding, but I like to make sure the point gets across, especially if it doesn't take much more to do it. You're 'immersed' in the business, and what things like vac-sanding can really do, benefits wise. Customers usually aren't. Their perceptions of some things may not be what you think they are or should be. Eg. Some might think you vacuum as well as sweep after you sand. Such thinking can happen.

When it comes to marketing, I don't care to leave such things as people’s perceptions to chance, if possible. People buy based on their perceptions, and it's too easy at times for things to get misperceived. I want their perceptions working for me as much as possible, and do what I can to make that happen, as well as get those perceptions working against my competitors as much as possible. I would suggest that you consider making your website work for you in this manner as well – as much as possible, positively positioning yourself in your market category, while negatively positioning competitors. Most websites don't, or don't do it well. They're more just 'descriptive' sites, and not effective marketing tools.

brdn_drywall

hmmmmmmmm justme what part of canada are you in and do you design/build websites?

tapingfool

Good!! it's certainly better than not having one..keep it up..maybe put pics of you working a job..or a short video..

JustMe

Why, and why?

Btw: I got my free Black Widow the other day. Thanks.

Darren@Partners

Thanks for the input, everybody. Will be adding some new content and fixing some errors. Have avoided the term "dustless vac-sanding" for the obvious reason that it isn't exactly dustless, but nearly so. Trying to keep it simple.

JustMe

Being able to offer a truly 'dustless' aspect is one reason I'm wanting to give things like the Joest sanding discs with their perforated holes a try, especially for some jobs like food stores. Don't want drywall dust in with their live lobsters - had a funny little story told to me about something like this that happened a few years ago to the company I'm working with. At least I thought it was funny.

The dustless thing is another reason why I picked up one of these vacs a little bit ago, that you carry over a shoulder: http://www.kingdrywall.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=K600

The claim is that it collects 99.9% of the dust. I haven't used it yet, so we'll see, when I get back to some taping/finishing projects sometime in the near future.

Darren@Partners

Even if this tool lives up to its claims, I'd still be wary of making a claim to prospects of "dustfree". There is still a certain amount of hand and detail sanding no machine could possibly do. I can claim only to limit the dust, not to eliminate it entirely. I'll not chance offering "dustfree" and then get that customer with OCD who makes us hermitcally clean the structure at the end of the job.

JustMe

This is often where real competitive advantages can be found - in being able to come up with solutions that others have given up on, deciding it's not possible, or not knowing how to work a better partial solution to your advantage. If the vac does work as claimed, I might advertise something like '99.9% dustless vac-sanding'. Maybe 99.8% to be safe. ~

If I was to approach a potential client, I might explain that hand and detail sanding will create a little dust. But I'd look for ways to minimize that as much as possible, and use that as a selling feature as well. It then becomes for them a choice of either very little dust from you, or more from your competitors.

As for getting OCD customers, what do you now do when you do get them?

Darren@Partners

Try to avoid them like the plague. I generally pitch that drywall is pretty much guaranteed to be a mess, but that we go the extra mile to keep it to a minimum.

To advertise "99.9 % dust-free" (or 99.8) is setting one's self up for a potential legal problem. No one can prove that their work is. To publish that sort of claim is only inviting trouble, hence the more vague reference to vac-sanding. It should elicit prospects looking for a cleaner drywall job, not create false expectations.

By the way, you earlier suggested I needed to use more apostrophes. I was confused until I realized you meant commas. It's pretty well accepted now to do without the comma in a compound sentence. It went out about the same time as the one between city and state in an address.

brdn_drywall

i know exactly where yer coming from darren i too despise customers who expect the final outcome to be completely 100% dust free, we did a house for a guy who finished the main floor and then planned to do the basement a few months later problem being he had moved into the top while we were finishing the bottom i told him that there will be a little dust when we sanded he said fine, we even hung poly over the stairwell to minimise this, when finished i even checked the main and it did not appear to be any dust. well got paid a week later and the check was $200 light with the explanation that they had to hire a cleaning crew to thoroughly dust and clean the main floor and that the dust settled over the weekend after my Friday afternoon check over.
i bit my tongue because this guy does a lot of reno jobs and subs out all the drywall/texture to us and we had already started a small patch job for him (my minimum price is $500 dollars) and this job is about 4 man hrs. in total but he's feeling the tension in the air because my blood starts to boil every time i see him and i feel like smacking him in the face 200 times, he now realised that he f*cked up and is delaying payment on the small job until i start a major overhaul job for him but i won't take the bait and tell him to shove his fricken 500 up his a$$, point being is the 200 didn't hurt me it was his agreement to there might be a little dust when we sanded and him saying fine like there was no problem with that because it's DRYWALL and when you sand it there's DUST.
he's got a couple of hacks doing his stuff now and still calls for me to bid on things like nothing ever happened but i would rather go out of business than do work for a guy like that, so carefully word how you explain dust free in advertising because there are people out there that take it to the extreme.
p.s., i like using comas what's up with the hate on em lol.

Darren@Partners

Nothing against the comma per se, they probably don't like it when people call them apostrophes.

Bet we've all had at least one or several bad experiences with customers over clean-up. Exactly why I am wary of advertising "dustless". We take lots of precautions to control dust in lived-in jobs: turn off and protect furnace/ducts, dust curtains, fans evacuating dust thru windows, changing furnace filters, etc. But some customers will still throw a fit. And wet sponge sanding is not an option, no matter what some might say. It's simply a given like omelets and eggs.

JustMe

Yes, commas. Sorry about that. A human software glitch. I will refrain from answering your questions in the future. ~

You're right. Going comma-less is a trend. Some target markets take to it better than others. I'm also seeing a bit of a backlash to such things on at least one other discussion forum I sometimes read at.

Darren@Partners

No need to avoid answering questions. I asked for opinions and that's what I expected. I was pretty careful to proof the site, by self and several others, and have found a couple of other things that need correcting. Actually thought Whitey would call the mistake(apostrophe vs. comma) before I did.

And yes, some academics may still find the informalization of grammar and punctuation hard to take. I, too, had resisted the change until just a few years ago. Even business letters have become less formal these days. I think much of this is due to the email and text habits of today.

JustMe

Another long post for you:

Thanks for that. I thought Whitey would've caught it, too. Maybe he was confused longer than you were. ~

Speaking of which: It's 'correcting' and 'grammar'. Unless those are changing, too. ~ Just having some fun. But you can correct me any time you'd like.

I personally think Whitey is doing a service to others. I prefer getting things corrected on a more informal forum, rather than sending such out to clients.

I would like to see your site do as much as possible for you. In answer to brdn's question of whether I design/build websites, I don't. I've had input into them, but more from a marketing strategy direction. I keep looking for possible competitive mental angles, and build on them. For example, I can appreciate your comments about 99.9/99.8% claims and litigation. However, I might still look to see if there's something that could be added there that might separate one from competitors in a positive way. So I might consider other alternatives, like maybe putting an asterisk beside the term 'Vac-Sanding', and at the bottom of the page maybe consider stating something along the lines of *Vac-Sanding: We use air filtration and vacuum systems that are specially designed and custom designed to handle drywall dust, so as to reduce dust even further than what is normally done*. Then I'd get about custom designing and building a system or 2 that could deliver. The over the shoulder vac I gave a website for previously is supposed to be especially for drywall, so that could take care of the 'specially designed' claim.
Such is just one line of thought. There could be many more possible, in all areas of one's business, to build in competitive advantages.

As far marketing strategy goes, and some of the 'credentials' I might have in it, a decent part of my postsecondary educational background happens to be in perceptions - which people buy according to - and in things like concepts. When I talk concepts here, I don't mean ideas. To borrow a term from an old teacher of mine, concepts are defined as being the 'genes' of ideas. A cut and paste of a few quotes I've gathered about concepts from such well known marketing people as Peter Drucker, Al Ries, Jack Trout, that I happen to have in an older email sent to someone:

> Concepts key to competitiveness, industry leadership (my heading
> that I gave these quotes previously):
>
>
> - A concept is better than a product (for marketing).
> - Marketing today is a battle of concepts, not products.
> - From the very outset, the computer wars have been a battle of
> ideas and concepts. ….. Each of the big winners had one thing in
> common; they had an idea or concept to ride.
> - On a higher, or strategic level, business is a battle of
> concepts, not specifics
> - It is my belief that in the future, concepts are going to be the
> most important source of sur/petition and business success.
> (“Sur/petition” – defined as “going beyond competing, to
> creating ‘value monopolies’”)
>
> Concepts key to advanced problem solving, innovation (my heading):
>
>
> - A new concept is unquestionably the best and cheapest way of
> getting added value out of existing resources
> - Progress needs to come from challenging and rethinking concepts
> which have been ‘right’ in their time.
>
> Why more new, effective business concepts aren’t being created (my heading):
>
>
> - Concepts are extremely important, but very difficult to
> generate. In hindsight, of course, almost all successful
> concepts seem easy and obvious.
> - The concept function is not adequately handled by conventional
> corporate strategy.
> - The marketing world is awash in conceptual thinking that has no
> relationship to the real world
> - Both marketing and technical R&D, or specific new product
> development groups, do come up with concepts from time to time,
> but the focus and expertise of such groups is not directly on
> concepts as such.

Maybe you're already familiar somewhat with such, but if you would like some input/examples, let me know.

Darren@Partners

Just Me, nice catch.

I do very much appreciate your input. Just think that much of it is over the top.

With most advertising, you need to get the message out in 10 - 15 seconds.

Hence, the effort has been made to simplify the message.

Vac-sanding is a vague term by design for the reasons given earlier. I am not even slightly interested in designing a system or investing money in one. I already have more equipment than I can haul now. As a recovering tool junkie, am not interested in purchasing equipment that can only marginally improve the results over existing stock.

In your first post, you discussed casting negative perceptions about the competition. This is a tactic to be avoided at all costs. One can sell one's self up, but running down the competition appears unseemly and should be avoided.

As to the whole "concept" post.... it doesn't just go over my head. I am a little bit familiar with those ideas. However, the purpose was to get out a simple and short site that will load quickly and navigate easily. Junked up with lengthy explanations, video, too many pics.... just makes the site load slow and bores the prospect to tears. All most people want is a reputable contractor who didn't waste a ton of money putting up a glitzy site.

Have an appointment this week with my site builder to make some corrections and will add possibly two more pics (hand textures).

Would appreciate you posting your website address just to compare, though. Thanks again

JustMe

Exactly. If I gave a different impression, my apologies. I find the posting approach to sometimes be a little difficult in getting some things across clearly the first time round. Sometimes some feedback and clarification is needed as well.

Find the best message you should be delivering to your particular market, and simplify it as much as possible - and then 'dramatize' that message in different ways in one's ongoing marketing efforts.

This is just to let you know I haven't abandoned your thread. It's a long weekend coming up here in Canada. I'm starting to not like them. Family and friends are again trying to get me out doing things for them -eg. I'm very good at tree pruning - and I'm usually busier during weekends at this time of year than I am during normal work days. At least physically I'm usually busier.

So as I can, I'll get back to giving you thoughts about some of the things you've said. For example, there are ways of positioning yourself, while at the same time repositioning others somewhat, by what they say and/or what you don't say. I'll give an example later from my own past, as well as an example of how I simplified a message for a company I once had while going to university.

JustMe

To get started on this:

So what exactly is the message? Can you clearly articulate it in a few words, or one simple sentence?

This is something I haven't done for myself yet, and am giving some consideration as to what to do. It might not be a site for public viewing, but one requiring a password, due to some of the innovation I'm into, and will hopefully be into.

Much of the strategy input I did when it came to websites was done through places like the forum at MarketingProfs.com. Btw: it's another place you could ask for input - http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/

You could get some good input there - as well as some not so good input. The thing is knowing how to figure out which is which. Some of the members there could be helpful to you in trying to sort it out, if you ask. But even then I'd be a little cautious. Some are still operating with old and questionable marketing concepts like 'benchmarking'.

While at places like MarketingProfs, I was able to 'test' what I thought held true in marketing against others from around the world who were into marketing, many fulltime. My acceptance rate for my answers was a little over 80%, which was the highest % among those giving out marketing advice back then. There were a number of marketing areas I didn't put forward answers for, due mainly to my ignorance in them. But marketing strategy was one area I seemed to do well enough in.

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On looking again at the Home page on your website, a thought:

I wonder if you should consider changing the exclamation marks in the following section to periods. You've already used an exclamation in the paragraph previous to it. Using so many in such a way makes much of what's said seem like it's being 'shouted out' in an 'overkill' way.

We provide FREE Written Estimates & a Detailed Explanation of
Services to be performed! All scheduling of Estimates & Services
are done on a timely basis with a Maximum Effort to
Accommodate Your Schedule!

Looking at your About Us page, where you say:

Partners Construction, Inc. is a locally owned & operated DRYWALL SERVICE Company. We have been incorporated and doing business in the Kansas City area since 1997.

Another way it could be worded is 'Partners Construction Inc. is a locally owned and operated DRYWALL SERVICE company, incorporated and doing business in the Kansas City area since 1997'. I did a few little things as well, like dropped the COMMA after 'Construction'. ~

I don't know if the word "incorporated" in the line is really necessary, either, as the message of your company being incorporated seems to be given in your name - Partners Construction Inc. Maybe duplicating it in such a way could be considered a little overkill as well.

Darren@Partners

Hadn't really noticed, but you're correct. I used three exclamation points on the same panel. The comma between Construction and Inc. belongs though. I do also want to repeat the fact of being incoporated to delineate from the LLCs. At the risk of riling some folks up, must say an LLC (IMO) is a shortcut when compared to an actual incorporation. At least, that is the viewpoint of many in my area. To me, incoporation shows a little more effort taken by the business, makes one look more legitimate. We see a good many operators filing multiple LLCs here, with less than stellar reputations. This has given the LLC distinction a bit of a taint and would like to separate myself from those engaging in that practice.

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