It’s often you’ll find that companies post staff member bios on their web site.  In all our years experience we’ve found (contrary to popular belief) that the “about us” and “staff” pages are among the most popular pages on any web site (regardless of industry).  Prospects want to know only get an idea of what you offer but who’s offering it and who they’re going to be working with.  After all, people still buy from people.  We here at QC Total Tech, believe that it is a good idea to post bios on the owners of the company and at least the key players.

When posting a bio you need to keep in mind a few things

1. Keep it brief – Nobody wants to read two pages about great someone is, even if its unintentional…it can seem like you’re gloating.  This can be unattractive to prospects, show you’re knowledge, ability, experience and confidence and nothing more.
2. Use caution – It’s not necessary to explain the details of your personal life and list former employers by name, if someone’s cyber-stalking and they find a person by name and can easily match them by citing previous employers, spouse names, etc…this could be a potential threat
3. Keep it warm – Don’t write it like a job resume, after all this is suppose to speak to your prospects and give them a quick insight on your team, not simply rattle off bullet points in sea of targeted resume searches
4. Use a photo – People can be uneasy about this, but remember what I said about people buying from people?  Go ahead and put a name with a face, at least for the owners.  If you’re too shy or ashamed to have your photo…what does that say about you?

So, as you can see most of this is common-sense, a theme that’s undoubtedly repeated throughout our blog posts on here and when you speak to us is, keep it professional…but don’t go overboard.  It’s so easy to spend hours agonizing over every little detail and word that you can create an atmosphere that harbors a state of non-finality.  Keep your web site warm, engaging and inviting!  Nobody wants to read a text book or some overly polished piece of marketing material.  They want to read information that’s brief, to the point and sincere.

Happy Webbing!

We just wanted to let everyone that we are now accepting Discover card as a form of payment.  So just to remind you, we accept Visa, MasterCard and now Discover.

Last week we launched a new web site for River Marine Services.  The client had built one themselves but they weren’t receiving the Google rankings they wanted and needed some enhancements to the design and layout.

River Marine buys and sells aquatic vessels, their primary ship for sale right now is a $4.3 million dollar river liner that features 4 decks and a completely renovated interior.  This boat is simply a gem.  They really needed to show case this vessel and make the sure was exposed to get really get the word out about this boat and others they have for sale.

They brought us in and we created a completely new design and layout.  We revised their content, included heavy search engine optimization, performed professional photography, and edited all the photos to really show case their offerings.  The result, a stunning new web site that focuses heavily on the visual aspects of this luxury cruise ship for sale.  We created the site on an immensely popular CMS platform so the client can update the site later easily by themselves.

Check out our creation today at http://www.riverboatforsale.com

Yesterday (April 1, 2012) marked our 7th anniversary existing on this planet.   When we started we offered desktop/server/network tech support, application design and web site design; 4 years ago we made the controversial and wise decision to change our offerings and focus what we are most passionate about…web design.  At that point we began focusing exclusively on web and web application design…and we haven’t looked back.   A lot has changed since we opened our doors, social media, YouTube, the iPhone, Google Chrome, JavaScript as a mainstay and so much more.  It’s been an exciting 7 years, we had our rocky moments (as any new company would) and we’ve weathered this wretched economy only to come out smarter, leaner and stronger.

Now here we are today 7 years later, we’re growing by leaps and bounds, we’re building web sites with so many moving parts its almost unbelievable compared to how we started.   We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all our clients for making this possible.  We’re here to stay, we love what we do and we have a true passion for what we do.  As they say, do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.  I think I speak for everyone here when I say that is so true.  We make “work” fun, we enjoy what we do and love the people we get to meet.

Thank you all to everyone that’s been a part of our success and to all of you who read this blog so steadily.

Happy Webbing and Have a Great 2012!

Well its a gloomy Monday after a beautiful weekend, its spring time and of course everyone talks about spring cleaning.    This is also a good time of year to be reviewing your plans for your web site and web marketing.  You know, I don’t really like that phrase “web marketing”, marketing is a great tool with a heavy and often negative stigma associated with it.  Anyway, this is the perfect time to take a moment (or 20 moments) and review your web site and ask yourself the following questions:

• How is my web site performing?
• Does it meet my goals?
• Does it still represent my company?
• Do I hear things from my clients that I could incorporate into my web site that would provide a more positive experience?

You should be able to answer those questions and make a plan moving forward.  You can learn more than you would ever imagine from your own customers, ask simple questions and provide short surveys and even testimonials.   As I mentioned in a recent post, we changed some of our ways enhancing the areas people loved to provide even better service and to help drive business.  This stuff works folks, I don’t just write these articles because I have so much time and love to listen to myself talk.

So, back to my point, keep it fresh, its spring time!  You’re swapping out boots and pants for shorts and flip-flops, so how is your web site?  Is it time to swap some things around?  Freshen things up for those who visit your site periodically?   Did you know the average customer who shops online visits a web site three separate times before making their purchase?  We’re not talking a major overhaul here (although sometimes that is needed too) just give it some updates, maybe new some graphics on your front page and adding some new information, just to make sure its completely in line with the rest of your marketing, image and campaigns/promotions.

We recently launched a new web site for Jumpin Joeys (aka Bounce QC).  Jumpin Joey’s is a bounce house rental company, they rent everything from small bounce houses to humongous inflatable multi-person slides, and complete with delivery!   We came across Jumpin Joeys by sheer chance, we just happened to talk to the owner in person by dropping in and speaking about  YourQuadCities.com, as it so happened they needed a new web site.   The old web site ran on proprietary software that was quite costly and very restrictive, they also weren’t getting the search engine optimization they wanted…it was kind of hard to find them.  So, we quickly got to work and constructed the all new JumpinJoeys.com, without proprietary software of any kind and complete overhaul.  We adhered to the owner’s strict design guidelines and coordinated things with the manufacturers to get the right specs and loaded up all their inventory.  Within a couple months the new site was ready and they’re already processing orders online with real-time automated credit card processing.  Not only is their new site more functional and more customer-centric it allows their staff to easily process orders without having to phone several employees to process a simple transaction.  The owners are extremely pleased and will be partnering with us again to build sites for other businesses they own.

You can check out this new web site today at http://www.jumpinjoeys.com

So, I just realized today that I haven’t post anything since February 20, from the people always preaching that you need to keep your sites up to date, that’s embarrassing.  I haven’t posted because, well, I’ve just been too busy.  We’ve been running with the pedal to the metal for the last month or so, we currently have 9 web sites under construction and of course we’re always updating existing ones and doing social media marketing for several others.  It’s an exciting time though, this is the busiest we’ve been since 2008, so maybe the economy really is starting to turn around a little bit.  I sure hope so.   As a result of all this new business we’ve found ourselves re-examining the way we operate, everything from paperwork to production schedules.  Some new processes have come out of this, those of you that have worked with us for years will notice small positive changes to certain processes (don’t worry, you won’t get automated responses or talk to a phone tree).  Everybody says this about their own company, but I believe one of our core strengths has always been our face to face personal service, and in fact you’ll see more of that.  The last few years since the economic nosedive of 2008 has been a learning and adapting experience.  Technology has changed, what customers need/want has changed and so have we.    We’ve learned how to be more efficient, and have made investments in our own infrastructure, software and other tools to adapt.  Its funny how things work, but as they say “necessity is the mother of invention”.    Now, here we are today just a few weeks away from our 7 year anniversary and we’ve changed again, only now we’re simply refining processes and amplifying the areas where we excel.  We’ve ditched our old automated work order handling systems, and eliminated any process that puts technology between us and our clients.  I guess you can call it modern results and sophistication with old fashioned personal service.  What we do is complicated enough without having to deal with some automated computer system responding to questions and sending you countless updates on things.  I also believe this is what sets us apart from our competition, our customer service and attention to detail.   Anyway, I tend to ramble in these posts so I should probably just wrap up now.   My point is, we’re very busy, we’ve learned a lot and its an extraordinarily exciting time here at QC Total Tech.  I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2012 holds for us and all the exciting sites we will build and update.

Happy Webbing

A few months back we were talking with our friend Jake Jacks of Maxim Marketing, he said something that has really kept me thinking, “most business owners spend the majority of their time working in their business instead of on their business”.    Wow, what a great a statement from Jake, this is so true.  Jake’s comment got me thinking about our business and what we do.  Since then we ourselves have spent a bit more time working on our business, refining processes and encouraging growth.  It’s one of those things that you don’t really think about, its so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations of running your business you forget to work on the business as a whole and give it some direction.

Working on businesses is really what we do here at QC Total Tech, we don’t work in your business, we help you work on it.  We help you achieve certain types of business goals VIA the web.  This “neglect” most business owners experience with their businesses  (and everybody does it) is why I think sometimes developing a web site can at times become a challenge for small biz owners.   These folks we get the chance to work with spend so much time down in the trenches, which is why it’s so hard for them to answer questions we consider easy.  They don’t get to pop  their head up and look around and see how their business fares and what direction they want it to go.  This is an area we excel, partly because we’re simply just a 3rd party, another set of eye-balls looking from afar.  When we look at a business we see their business and their competitors, we saw how the industry works and some problem areas we can help them solve.

More often than not, we end up spurring clients to revitalize some of their own internal processes and maybe take a new direction.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re not reinventing companies by building them a new web site, but we’re helping them reimagine themselves in ways by simply forcing them to step back and take a look at things as a whole.  I think our knowledge of what to ask and where to probe is what gives us the edge.  There are many web companies out there, and while SEO knowledge, good design skills, etc are all important so is understanding how the site will be used by both the site owner and their end customers.  You can’t build a custom house for someone if you’ve never tried to understand the family and their needs.  The same is true with a web site.

How much time do you spend working on your business?  When is the last time you did some serious thinking and analyzing your company compared to your competitors?  Do you know why your clients pick you?  Do you know why you retain or lose clients?  Do you know where you want your business to be in 3 years?  Do you know what your goals were 3 years ago?  You should have answers to all those questions.  Take some time each week to stand from afar and gaze upon your baby and how well your baby plays with others.

Happy Webbing

Its Sunday evening, and I’m sitting in my favorite chair, watching TV while the aroma of dinner flows in from the kitchen.  I’m just relaxing, I haven’t done anything for “work” since Friday afternoon. I consider myself a creative, and I’m also very die hard.  However, my partner is my fiancée, we co-own the business so the work, well, its always there.  Between the two us, we have three kids and we agreed sometime ago we had to work more 9 to 5, to be fair to our family.  Since we made the agreement of working restrictive hours (which took some time to implement) we found a great by-product…creativity.  When you take time off to do no work at all your brain has a chance to calm and you step back from the daily grind.  When you reapproach you see things in a different light. I have found I have my best ideas when I’m taking down time, that’s when the sparks fly…then I can jot down a note so I don’t forget. Ocassionally, such as now, my tablet is close by so I just do a bit of work while the iron is hot. When you do creative work, you almost have to do something when you feel inspired, but its important to give your body, mind and soul time to recharge so those sparks can come.

So yes, I’m sitting here on my tablet on a Sunday night writing about not working all the time My point is, don’t forget to take time out for yourself, step away from work and just chill out, enjoy your family. Those ideas will come when you least expect it. For a guy that was accustomed to working 90+ hour weeks, this change of pace was a welcome relief, but initially hard to accept. However, as a result, I think I do better work and I’ve made better business processes and policies that allow me to work 9 to 5 and take time off when I want. My family is happier, my work is better and I am happier. Whats the point of working for yourself when you don’t take time off for to enjoy the benefits of the lifestyle?

Do it, take the time off and restrict yourself somewhat, you and your business will be better because of it. Don’t answer the phone, leave those emails til Monday and just relax.

I’ve written many articles on here about DIY (Do it yourself) web sites, and the potential dangers of them.   Here’s another lesson on this.  We recently did a survey of our clients asking only five simple questions.  The responses varied greatly, but were all very interesting.  One response really stood out, it was from Lenny Wilkinson the President of Bettendorf Home Repair.  Lenny had originally decided to build a web site himself using a DIY service.  What he found was a total disconnect between his company and the DIY service provider, he was essentially trying to get customer service from a piece of software.

This is what Lenny had to say:

I tried one of those on-line discount web design services and thought I was getting a good deal, until the time came to actually launch our website and suddenly our good deal turned into a year long battle with a faceless online company that I had no idea how to contact and never responded to my needs. Our website was literally “under construction” for over a year!

This is more often than not the case with these discounted DIY services.  You don’t really know what you’re getting, there is almost no customer service and the documentation is minimal at best.  The marketing hype for these services makes them sound great, they talk about how fast it is, how easy it is and you don’t have to deal a web design company (such as ours).  In reality, its you and your computer using software you’ve never seen with no training trying to build a great marketing piece for your company.

I see these DIY built web sites quite often, and they always stand out to me.  There’s the trademark logo of the DIY service adorned to the top or bottom of the page, probably some web ads and of course templated clip-art looking graphics with the site owner’s logo smashed in there.

Lenny was lucky in finding us, but you know a lot of people don’t always take that next step in getting themselves a professionally designed web site.  The dangers are working with a faceless company, restrictions and a “one-size-fits-all” approach.  With marketing and especially the aspect of web design, this concept rarely works.  If you want to be effective in your industry and marketplace you set yourself apart from the competition, you create differing policies and focus on providing a better service/product the best way you know how.  Your web site is no different, it should be tailor made to fit your company so what you’re providing virtually is identical to what you’re providing tangibly.

Web design can be a scary process, I couldn’t imagine taking it on blind and having the knowledge that we’ve developed over the years.  Think about what your customers want, think about what you need then ask yourself does the DIY service understand that and what’s more, how will they assist you in implementing that?  Do you have a plan?  Can you develop one on your own with the tools and resources available at your disposal or do you need assistance?  I haven’t met a single client yet that knew exactly what they needed, what their customers wanted and what was even available…and that’s OK.   Most people don’t, it helps to have that 3rd party perspective.  You’re down in the trenches all day working in your business, we help you work on your business by creating a beautiful and effective web presence.