Woman consumer advises Mikey Boarders..

[bob vawter]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

HEY VAL
do THIS one

http://www.santacruzclean.com/

 

[Newman]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

OK, we owe Val a lifetime supply of tarts.

Val picked a company who uses a truckmount not, a porty not.

Lesson learned?

 

[Brian R]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

I could have sworn she picked a bonnet cleaner..did I miss something?

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

OK, we owe Val a lifetime supply of tarts.

Val picked a company who uses a truckmount not, a porty not.

Lesson learned?

I could have sworn she picked a bonnet cleaner..did I miss something?

What's a bonnet cleaner? and what's the deal with a truckmount?

Again - I based my opinion solely on their website ... their customer service and/or reviews from clients could tell a different story and that would have an affect on my decision.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Val try to imagine a Carpet Cleaning "Professional" using your Bissell to vacuum your carpet for a few minutes, spraying a magical cleaning solution on the carpet then taking the equivolent one of your bath mats and putting it under one of

for a few more minutes, grinding the dirt in then asking to be paid..


Would you go for that?


Would you trust the dog urine puddles to magically disappear with this process?

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Val try to imagine a Carpet Cleaning "Professional" using your Bissell to vacuum your carpet for a few minutes, spraying a magical cleaning solution on the carpet then taking the equivolent one of your bath mats and putting it under one of

for a few more minutes, grinding the dirt in then asking to be paid..

<whoosh> didja hear that? that went right over my head

Val try to imagine a Carpet Cleaning "Professional" using your Bissell to vacuum your carpet for a few minutes, spraying a magical cleaning solution on the carpet then taking the equivolent one of your bath mats and putting it under one of

for a few more minutes, grinding the dirt in then asking to be paid..

Would you go for that?

Would you trust the dog urine puddles to magically disappear with this process?

Let's just put it this way, Mike ... after my brief review of said websites, I have come to the conclusion that I need to get your rug munching services over here asap. I learned from one website (and at this point, I forget which one -could've been yours) that cleaning carpet is like doing oil changes on your auto - maintenance for a longer life. Put in that perspective made sense to me. I know it's important to maintain my car and bikes, so I have preventive maintance regularly performed ... now I see it's just as important for carpets as well.

And Mike - it's like Steve (Motech) ... I trust him implicitly with my autos ... as I do Robert with my bikes. I'm getting the feeling I can trust you too ... with my rugs.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

I'll look at my schedule and let you know what days work.


thanks for being a good sport here.


Does it matter to you if I bring a PTO or a Slide In unit?

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

thanks for being a good sport here.

it's all good - nice to take a break from the other board. Too many "Hi, I'm the new girl" posts lately. Uh huh ... yeah.

Does it matter to you if I bring a PTO or a Slide In unit?

Well, there you go talking Greek again. I don't care what you bring so long as you bring that cute little poopie with you! She's bigger than my Bounce!

 

[Mikey P]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Stolen Rug Doctor here we come!

 

[Brian R]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

This is perfect.
Val has demonstrated that the American female customer doesn't care about your equipment (carpet cleaning you perv) she just wants someone she can trust and can get it clean.


Hey Val, does a picture of a van or the machine inside the van help with your decision making while on the website?
How about a family photo?
How about a photo of the guy actually cleaning a carpet?

What photo's work best on the front page of a website?


PS. Thanks for critique of my website behind closed doors (PM).
If it's ok with you, I would like to post it in this thread...or you can so they don't think I'm tampering with it.
Thanks

PPS. She opened my eyes...funny enough..I should have known better. lol

 

[Mikey P]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Val.


here is a real situation that is becoming more and more common around the country.


A home owner much like your self finds a company on the internet. Lets pretend the company is called "Priority Carpet Care", you see on their web site that it's owned by a highly energetic husband and wife team who have loads of testimonials to back up their quality work and professionalism. Even video show the hubby in the home interaction with the kids and family dog at the home being cleaned.

You make the call and the day of your appointment some POS beat up truck arrives with the name Earls' Floor cleaning on the side. Earl is a bit of a dufus. Stained shirt, unshaven, certainly no uniform with the word "Priority' on it (other then the secret sauce stains making it a priority to get cleaned asap) won't look you in the eye and when asked about the company name he tells you he is a sub contractor of sorts and wants to know where he can hook up his water hose and where do you keep your hair shampoo....


What does Earl have to do at this point to get you to let him to continue?

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

A hoe owner much like your self

Who you calling a hoe????

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Thanks for critique of my website behind closed doors (PM).
If it's ok with you, I would like to post it in this thread...or you can so they don't think I'm tampering with it.

If you'd like - as I mention in my PM ... I thought it best to keep feedback between you and I but if you want to share - go for it!

I've got actual work to do this a.m. so I'll respond to your questions this afternoon.

 

[Mikey P]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

edit! :shock:

 

[Brian R]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Thanks for critique of my website behind closed doors (PM).
If it's ok with you, I would like to post it in this thread...or you can so they don't think I'm tampering with it.

If you'd like - as I mention in my PM ... I thought it best to keep feedback between you and I but if you want to share - go for it!

I've got actual work to do this a.m. so I'll respond to your questions this afternoon.

I don't mind helping out others...even at my own exspense.... :mrgreen:

Miss Val Wrote in a PM and said it was OK to post here

Hey Brian

IMO there's a lot going on the front page of your website. I personally favor more white space, fewer pictures, less text - it's that old adage, "less is more."

You have a lot of real estate on your front page; one has to scroll down to view it all. People today are fast clickers - they don't want to have to scroll down to get info. Perhaps that's why I like clean and simple webpages - I don't have to scroll down, everything is right on my screen and there are options for me to click to find more out more.

If I could give one suggestion that would be to consolidate. For example, you have a tab for "Carpet Cleaning" and then right below is an image of a baby with "Carpet Cleaning" captioned under that, then scrolling down it's listed again under Some Of Our Services - they all lead to the same page but it seems redundant on the first page.

It's also not clear if you have a location in Vegas as well as Dallas; the listing of cities at the top of the page and the zips at the bottom I feel clutter up the look. Create a page "About Us" and have your contact info, bio, certifications, and links to another page that list your locations.

Make sure your links are working -- Furniture Cleaning, Carpet Repair, and Housecleaning don't link to anywhere but the home page. Get rid of those pictures and links. Everything you want to link to can be found in the tabs. You may want to consider the same for Some of Our Services - the tips are great, so is the statements that you care about little ones. It's obvious that you care about kids, animals, and family - just from the number of pictures on your site ... but IMO, TOO many pictures.

So, I hope that helps and you're not offended by my comments. I used to work on websites a long time ago in a land far far away.

Code has come a long way since but design usually remains constant.

~val

She it absolutely right and I am making some changes as I type this.
I should have known even before she told me...sometimes it's hard to look at your own brand ( :shock: )

Anyway, thanks Val...and I hope everyone takes head of that awesome critique and advice.

 

[Brian R]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Oh, and F U Mikey. :wink:

 

[Desk Jockey]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Who you calling a hoe????

What and I didn't even get my naked pictures! :wink:

 

[Joe Bristor]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Hey Val,

I make a vacuum hose connector for us carpet cleaners called Cool Cuffs and I sell a lot of custom colored vacuum hoses, you know the big, long hose that stretches all the wayfrom our vans into your house, up the stairs and down the hall. We even go way deep into all those private places like your master bath and closet.

You can check out my site, http://coolcuffs.net/custom-colors.html

I've asked all my lady custiomers what's their favorite thus the soft colors like pinks and purples.
I'm curious what's your favorite colors or does it matter?

blue
green
red
orange
lavender
pink
white
mulato
black

 

[bob vawter]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Hey Val,

I make a vacuum hose connector for us carpet cleaners called Cool Cuffs and I sell a lot of custom colored vacuum hoses, you know the big, long hose that stretches all the wayfrom our vans into your house, up the stairs and down the hall. We even go way deep into all those private places like your master bath and closet.

You can check out my site, http://coolcuffs.net/custom-colors.html

I've asked all my lady custiomers what's their favorite thus the soft colors like pinks and purples.
I'm curious what's your favorite colors or does it matter?

blue
green
red
orange
lavender
pink
mulato
black

We even go way deep into all those private places like your master bath and closet.

do they have on-off switches???

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

I'm curious what's your favorite colors or does it matter?

Nice!

Colors are cool - I think the nice thing about your product is that it can match to the individual companies colors. I don't have a favorite color per se so for me a particular color in a carpet cleaning hose cuff really doesn't matter it would just be fun! Better than boring grey or basic black. IMO

mulato

Is that a color?

 

[Joe Bristor]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

I'm curious what's your favorite colors or does it matter?

Nice!

Colors are cool - I think the nice thing about your product is that it can match to the individual companies colors. I don't have a favorite color per se so for me a particular color in a carpet cleaning hose cuff really doesn't matter it would just be fun! Better than boring grey or basic black. IMO

[quote="Joe Bristor":37dh65rd]mulato

Is that a color?[/quote:37dh65rd]


"I think the nice thing about your product is that it can match to the individual companies colors" - exactly.

"really doesn't matter it would just be fun!" - exactly

Mulato is a flesh color, between black & white, Mike can explain.

thanks Val. you're right. it's just another form of experiential marketing.

Another Q...carpet cleaning is new to you? So what will be your reaction when Mikey starts spraying liquid all over your carpeting?

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Does a picture of a van or the machine inside the van help with your decision making while on the website?
How about a family photo?
How about a photo of the guy actually cleaning a carpet?
What photo's work best on the front page of a website?

Does a picture of a van or the machine inside the van help with your decision making while on the website?

- A picture of the company's van/truck is nice to have; I did a marketing brochure for my friend Robert's glass shop and we did our own photos using his glass van ... it adds a bit of personalization to the company. Now as far as the equipment inside the van/truck - I personally wouldn't know one hose from another, so that would be something you folks to decide upon.

How about a family photo?

- I have mixed feelings about this - on one hand it's nice to see a united family, especially for a small business owner and perhaps more so for a company that has been in business for a while (say, handed down from one generation to the next ... that seems to be dying out each generation). On the other hand, I'm leery about posting pictures of kids on the internet. Especially if combined with an address, or city - nowadays there are sick fawks out there that can track your shit from the tiniest little info online. Picture of your daughter on your website + your address (perhaps home address if you work out of your home) + a little Googling on local schools ... well - you get the picture, no?

I would say if you want to post a picture of the business owner and/or employees - keep it to just employees and make it as professional-looking as you can.


How about a photo of the guy actually cleaning a carpet?

- Works for me! When we did the photos for Robert's glass shop, we used a neighbors house that had fairly new double-paned glass and shot some fake install pics.

When I did that piece, I felt it would be more effective to show the actual employees, in their uniforms, with a company vehicle doing actual work. I found several stock photos online showing window/glass installation - but that's not what I wanted to represent for Robert. His glass shop is three generations owned - that's what I wanted to reflect, not a standard iStock or gettyimages stock photo.

Don't get me wrong - stock photos have their place and I'm glad for them! Just ... not in this case.


What photo's work best on the front page of a website?

- First, I think if you're going to go with one type of media (stock photos, or actual photos, or clip art, or animated gifs, or flash) - BE CONSISTENT. In other words, don't mix your media.

As far as what works best, I think that depends on the overall theme of the page (and site), colors and what you want to convey to your visitors.

For example, your page has A LOT of different pictures on the front page. IMO - too many. Think about when you look at an image and what your mind processes: There's a Basset Hound who did "doo" it, a gal jumping in excitement, babies on floors crawling -- it's a lot to process in addition to the text (information) on the page - then you scroll down, and there's more pictures and text.

Let me ask you: What do YOU want to convey to your customers? What is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you want someone like me, surfing around for a reputable carpet cleaning service to take away from your website?

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Mulato is a flesh color, between black & white

Another Q...carpet cleaning is new to you? So what will be your reaction when Mikey starts spraying liquid all over your carpeting?

I know what the term Mullato used to represent; just surprised to see it still being used ... as a color.

Well, he just called and said he would send someone else to munch my rug



!gotcha!

 

[truckmount girl]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Mike post a pic of the V and a pic of the lunchpail (doors open) and ask her which one she thinks would do a better job and which one she'd rather you used on her carpets.


And be careful, I see shades of Becker here.

Take care,
Lisa

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Mike post a pic of the V and a pic of the lunchpail (doors open) and ask her which one she thinks would do a better job and which one she'd rather you used on her carpets.


And be careful, I see shades of Becker here.

Take care,
Lisa

Nice to be referred to in the third person.

 

[Brian R]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Man, that's good stuff.

I have to get my head together on some of this stuff.
You're right, too much info.

For a guy who loves the conversion part of a website, I am humbled.
Thanks

Your insight is priceless.

 

[dealtimeman]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Lisa, most women are going to want the BIGGER unit. :mrgreen:

 

[DeleteUser]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Man, that's good stuff.

I have to get my head together on some of this stuff.
You're right, too much info.

For a guy who loves the conversion part of a website, I am humbled.
Thanks

Your insight is priceless.

Brian - since you're working on your own site, may I recommend the book: "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug (Google - you can find it in eBook or PDFs of some chapters). It's a good read on the insight into how people use the web which basically states people don't READ webpages - they glance and skim.

I think it's great that you are open to feedback.

 

[Erik]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Someone is going to owe Val A dinner :wink: Ya'll put her through the ringer. She's a good sport. 8)

 

[bob vawter]

Re: Stalker, er, I mean New Member!

Someone is going to owe Val A dinner :wink: Ya'll put her through the ringer. She's a good sport. 8)

I'd take her.....
but my old woman would be making me look for #9.....