Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello,

I just saw this specific forum via an email that startup nation sent out today, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some much needed feedback on the site we`re just about to completely re-work!

The live site as it stands right now is at http://www.agentcasts.com/

We have just hired a new development team to reconstruct the site from the bottom up, as we desperately needed to enhance some functionality and already suspected that our existing design was `holding us back`.  I`m thinking that a few critiques at this specific point in time would be very useful for instructing our development team.

As a side note, so far we`ve gotten reviews from great to marginal, which is a bit confusing (to say the least).  Although I think the current site is nice `in its own way`, I know for a fact that it is not doing its job converting `window shoppers` into sales.  Perhaps some of you have some insight as to why this unwanted phenomenon exists!

Thanks in advance - I appreciate any and all insight that any of you can offer!

Best Regards,

Dan Dashnaw
Audio Expansion / AgentCasts.com
www.agentcasts.com


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www.audioexpansion.com - The sound of new media [podcast production, podcast consulting, and audio media solutions]

<deleted>

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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

OK, I see "Benefits for Property Sellers" but I can tell you that most real estate agents would not understand those.

Real benefits:
- sell homes faster
- get your homes in front of a bigger audience
- attract more buyers

The video is too slow, takes too much time to get me interested. The text is too much, I think. And the white on black background is a bit hard on the eyes. Not too bad...but perhaps one of those "enh" components of a mediocre review.

When you say "podcast," that means (again, to me) interview, discussion, and verbal content. So this might be a good possible utilization of something like Site Pal.

I could see a virtual house, with a SitePal avatar who moves through the page showing the house as if it were a real-estate agent.

Excellent information so far guys!  Alot of what has been said is exactly in-line with what we`ve been thinking, so...good!

I appreciate your taking the time to look at this, and hope that we get more comments as this is already proving to be very useful!

Thanks so much,

Dan Dashnaw


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www.audioexpansion.com - The sound of new media [podcast production, podcast consulting, and audio media solutions]

Oh dear. 
I happen to like the white text on gray background.  That`s what my website uses, so I`d better be prepared for Craig`s feedback when I present my site for critique.

I like this website.  The video only took a few seconds to load for me and the site navigation was easy to follow.

Now for my criticisms.

In a prior life I shot "Virtual Tours".  From my experience, your pricing is very appropriate but you don`t say clearly if the photographer is included.  My experience with real estate agents is that when it comes to technology, most of them are dumber than bricks.  I doubt that half of the hundred or so agents that I shot for even know that you can put video on an iPod, let alone what is a podcast.

Your home page text is too wordy, and too much "me too".  By that I mean, you haven`t told me why you are any different from the dozens of other similar tour vendors/hosts.  (At least not in terms that they can relate to).

On your first tagline, drop the word "video".  In the case of your example, that is false, and you don`t want someone with a dozen photos in a slide show from deciding right away that you`re the wrong service because you stress "video".

Your copy starts out preaching to the choir - which is a waste of time and copy space.  You then touch on your USP (Unique Selling Position), but you assume that the agents reading it to be marginally technically competent, which is a huge mistake.  I know that you have these details in the FAQ page, but if you haven`t hooked them by now, they aren`t going to read the FAQs.

This is where you want to hit them between the eyes with the benefits of your USP in non-technical, non-jargon terms.

You also don`t seem to be getting into the benefits of *receiving* the podcasts.  Who are they for?  The buyer?  The Buyer Agents?  Where`s the pitch to them?  Where are the viewers to come from?  How are you going to drive viewers *to* the site?

Do you provide the HTML code for their webmaster to link to the tour from their own website?  Do you host the content or send the client a DVD?  (Or both?).





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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

Steve,

That is an excellent breakdown of the issues we are now dealing with in terms of communicating the services we offer to our prospective clients - very helpful!

I`ll go through your points and see what we can do in the immediate term to address them even before the redesign is put in place.  Many of the issues you`re pointing out are exactly what I`ve been thinking, but even better described then I could imagine given my `zoomed in` perspective from being buried within the project for months now!

Thanks so much!

...Dan


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www.audioexpansion.com - The sound of new media [podcast production, podcast consulting, and audio media solutions]