Your Opinion Please, Part 2

   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #31  
Eddie, the pictures are too big. If you have access to Photoshop - any photoshop over version 5.0 or ImageReady - treat them and save for Web (thats a function) it will supply all the colors with web safe colors and give you the option to ind the right quality-size ratio. Waiting for pictures to load is irritating. Do not let the web page software to resize for you and anything over 72dpi is a waste.
Here is you picture treated the way I would do it for online publishing. It looks OK - IMHO - and it is only 63K. I can treat your pictures for you as a TBN favor, just let me know.
 

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   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #32  
Looks good to me. I think organizing the pictures into batches and cutting back on those links along the left side would be good. But I think its a nice website.
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #33  
Eddie, Overall I like your site, but while it showcases your quality it also graphically limits your scope. Nothing I see indicates you want or are capable of bigger work, i.e. a new home, barn/garage, etc - assuming you do/can. Unless you can make a living on many small projects your site could be your undoing.

In our area, and I think it's stupid, the look of your vehicle on the job-site greatly enhances one's perceived success thus ability - nice truck = successful builder - older truck = lesser ability. Depending on your area (and your truck) your "mugshot" could be enhanced by standing in front of your business equipment.

Here is a discussion you may find interesting regarding how to get your site noticed via search engines.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...2688.html?t=182688&highlight=website+keywords

MikeD74T
 
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   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #34  
Should the picture be of my family, my wife and me, or just me? Does it matter? Are people influenced by a family picture, or do they just want to be able to put a face to who they are considering for the job?

Eddie

Eddie, our Doctor runs an add in the local paper each week, it includes her, her husband, and her two small children. I would say you and the family it makes you look stable and happy.

As others have mentioned: A quick contact tab at the bottom of the home page and arrange the jobs into about 6-5 categories with the pictures arranged as sub-categories.

I would like to find out all the info in about two minutes on the web site, after that I want to talk to you on the phone if I like what I see.

I would not be committed on the web page to nothing up front. That can be a personal bonus you offer after you talk to them, it will put trust in your relationship with clients instead of an expectation that you may not be able to fulfill on larger jobs.
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #35  
Eddie, our Doctor runs an add in the local paper each week, it includes her, her husband, and her two small children. I would say you and the family it makes you look stable and happy.

As others have mentioned: A quick contact tab at the bottom of the home page and arrange the jobs into about 6-5 categories with the pictures arranged as sub-categories.

I would like to find out all the info in about two minutes on the web site, after that I want to talk to you on the phone if I like what I see.

I would not be committed on the web page to nothing up front. That can be a personal bonus you offer after you talk to them, it will put trust in your relationship with clients instead of an expectation that you may not be able to fulfill on larger jobs.

Good point
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #36  
T...

First off, get your 'big' mug off the front page. It scared me.

Eddie, you don't need to take your picture down, it is good for a customer to know who who he/she is dealing with.

I think you need to get a professional picture taken. Not in a suit and tie, that isn't the real you, but there is a huge difference between a snapshot, no matter how good, and a real professional portrait.
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #37  
I second that, Dave. Owning a camera does not make anybody a photographer and I worked with shooters long enough to understand the difference.
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #38  
Eddie, I agree with everything TxDon said and lots of other comments here. I love the fact that you took our advice from before and have improved your website tremendously from the last one. Here are some thoughts I have which may or may not be duplicates of what others have said.

1. I have a curse. I look at a website and spelling errors "jump" off the page and get much too much of my attention. Spelling errors say the wrong thing about your website and your work. Little things like spelling "moulding" instead of "molding" and "octogon" instead of "octagon" are negative attention getters. Also, hot tub is two words instead of one word, "hotub" as you spelled it several times. We all make spelling errors. If you read my posts, you can find many of them and grammar errors also. But in a website, you have to dig through for every detail and make sure it's clean.

2. If you could group your jobs by type, it would sure be helpful. Maybe groupings like kitchen, bath, bedroom, living room, workshop, garage, etc.. Also, maybe structural groups like framing, roof, foundation, patio, etc..

3. When you show pictures, it would be helpful to have a little more info regarding what you did. I looked at several of the framing repair pictures and could only guess what you had accomplished. A small "Before" inset picture would go a long way in showing what you did. For example, in one kitchen photo, I didn't know if you did everything there including the floor or just cabinets or countertops. If you don't have a "Before" picture, then maybe a short description would be helpful.

4. Make sure that tile and ceramic work is fully cleaned before taking a picture. I saw one bathroom picture that looked like the grout had just been applied and there was a hazy area on the tile. It was distracting because it drew my attention away from the great tile job. Pictures need to look perfect.

5. I believe you need more emphasis on your general contractor skills and how you can handle big construction projects that bring together all the trades and subcontractors required for large construction. If that's really not your primary interest, then what you have is fine.

6. Remember always that what you do is far more important to a client than who you are. I would reduce the size of your photo on the first page and get one with you at a nice jobsite or a setup picture of you with your work or with clients. Save the family photos for the "About Us" section of your website. You are trying to get work and not running for elected office. Family shots are good for politicians, but your customers want to see your work. If you can show that and put yourself into the picture, that's okay.

7. This is far more specific than I should be doing here, but since I have some photo experience, I'll make a suggestion. What I would do with your website Home page is to take all your photos of your work and reduce them to 2" x 2" tiles. I'd convert them to grayscale and subdue them to a soft grey color and make a "wallpaper" background for your page that was a collage of your work. Set each picture off with a nice border and lay them into your background like a tile matrix on a wall. Make sure they are so light gray that you can easily read text printed over them. That would give your background a personalized look that is much more interesting than plain white.

Eddie, I think you have to ask yourself what it is that you want your website to do for your business and then set it up so it does exactly that. We all love to admire your work, but your website should make us want to call you first if we have a job to do. Don't make your website just an "art gallery." Draw the customer to make contact with you at every opportunity without being overly aggressive. Just hang the carrot out there and make people want to take a bite. That's really easy to say, but hard to do.:)
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2
  • Thread Starter
#39  
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I'll start working on the pictures and getting a better one for the front page. The project that I'm doing right now is almost done and will probably make a good background for a better picture. I have a uniform of sorts that I wear, and that would be the best thing for a picture of myself. As for the truck picture suggestions, I drive a 98F250 that I've never washed. It's a good solid, reliable truck, but it's nothing that I want to put out there in my advertising!!! LOL After I finish paying off Steph's car, I'm going to buy a new truck. Then I'll consider posting a picture of it. I've had two clients in the last year who had other contractors show up to bid their jobs, and in those two cases, the truck was so brand new, and fully loaded that they both thought this guy is going to be WAY TOO EXPENSIVE to hire. That was their first impression, and because I ended up with the job, it was part of why they didn't get the job. Why people hire me over others is still a mystery to me. I ask them towards the end of the project, and I'm told it's because of the recomendations they get from previous clients, and/or that while meeting with them for the first time, I take the time to ask questions and point out things that the other contractors didn't bring up.

I'll work on correcting the spelling errors. I'm limited in what I can do with organizing the pictures, but there are options and different ways of doing it. It took me months to figure out this method, and while it's a big improvement, while working on it, I was trying to figure out a way to make it better. Hearing all your comments about the way the pictures are organized, or NOT organized, and not understanding the labels tells me that it's a big issue that I need to resolve.

I went from not taking pictures of what I did, to just taking a few during the job and forgetting to get any pictures after it was done, to taking pictures at the end, but not in perfect finish condition. It's something that I need to work on. I know what Jim is talking about in those tile pictures. The flash shows up any film on the walls or tile that are not visable to the eye, and makes them look dirty.

Before and After pictures are on my to do list, as are captions. My big priority is to just have pictures showing a variety of things that I have done to instill a sense of confidence in potential clients that I'm capable of the job.

I've built five homes from the ground up. It's not something that I really enjoy or want to do. I've turned down two house building jobs last year because I had plenty of work and both jobs looked like poblems to me. Clients who came across as dificult to work with, wanting to cut corners and unrealistic expectations. I'm fortunate that I can pick and chose what I do to a certain degree. What I like is smaller jobs, remodels and fixes. I like to work by myself, and I like to make my clients happy. Solving or finishing a project that others failed at, or just gave up on, and disapeared give me allot of satisfaction.

The big money is in subing everything out and having mulitple crews out working a bunch of jobs, those are also the companies that I get allot of work from because of unhappy clients. It's a catch 22 in where I draw the line in small jobs that I can make a good profit from, and getting in over my head and not being able to do everything myself. What to charge is also a problem because I know what they pay the competition, and how I'm already at the high end of the scale. There are guys working for $10 an hour that are very talented, but unreliable. And there are companies that get $50 an hour, who are done very quickly, but sometimes don't do what the client wants, and they are left unhappy with the results.

Back to the website. My goal for it is to instill confidence in potential clients that I'm the person to hire for their job. That I'm capable of doing what they need done, and that I get the job done. And to make them want to hire me.

The reason I've put my face in there is that I think they are hiring me, the person, and not just a contractor or business. There should be a personal part in it. That's either a mistake, or I'm just not achieving it in what I have there so far. I might never get there on the website, but I think it's what happens when I meet the clients face to face.

I think that I need to add a resume, or something along the lines of "experience" to my home page. Right now, the isn't anything that tells them what makes me qualifed to do their job.

I'm also debating with myself if I'm being pigheaded and not listening to good advice, or if I'm the only one who does this. What I do when looking at a website on a business, or something I'm interested in, is read everything that I can find on them. I think a commercial is a short term, quick glimpse type of marketing, but a website should offer a full spectrum of information. I realize there is al limit of what people will want, but they can decide that when going to the site. I want to learn as much as I can, and I prefer to go with the one with the most information. In the websites that I've looked at to compare and get ideas from, I find that they are too small, and don't really offer anything as to what they do, have done, and who they are.

I am a one man buisiness, and they are hireing me, the person. I will spend the day, week or even months in their home all by myself while they are gone for the day. They have to trust me, and they have to feel comfortable with me being there while they are gone. I need to get that I'm trustworthy across as well. I can't just say it, but it has to be there.

Eddie
 
   / Your Opinion Please, Part 2 #40  
I have to agree with Jinmans cleaning up details like spelling and photos etc, all the fine details that can attract or repel. I also think a picture of you with the truck is good. Remember, its a picture of you and "a" truck. Go to the local dealer and pick out one that looks good and get a shot of you with it.

Some contractors have more than one and don't necessarily show up with the one in the ad. Same with photo of you in a suit,..looks great but not what you will show up in. That is NOT dishonest,... it is simply trying to look your best,...(truck included).

I think you're doing great Eddie,...and these guys have some terrific suggestions. What a place to get advice,.....no matter the topic eh?

Suggestion: keep the website to what will get you a phone call, then when you go for the first visit,.. hand them a full colour brochure with "all" the details you "want" them to know: your integrity and trustworthyness, family photos, and other job details. Stuff they'll want to sit down and read "after" you've gone and they are thinking about it. The final closer!! I admit I didn't read everything this time through so perhaps the brochure thing was already suggested?? Your personal visit with them has to be in ~~"selling-yourself"~~ not just your work!!

Remember: once you sell "yourself",.....they'll buy anything you have to offer!!!

Good luck to you!
. . tug

PS: Great idea having Mike Holmes page involved,...now there is a guy with integrity who sold him"self" doing Bad-job Rebuilds on local TV here for old ladies and others who'd been ripped off by fly-by-night contractors,...and showing how and why. A Great Canadian "Contractor" who sold "himself" first and is now trusted "everywhere"! His page helps your integrity.
 
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