Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I`m going to respond to one more thing, Craig.:)  As, in a another thread about senior discounts, well, I think they SHOULD get  senior discounts, they deserve it, and might not be in the position to pay as much as others for products and services. We don`t offer a senior discount for jerky, because well,...not that noone over 55 eats jerky, but I don`t believe that is our target market or where we feel a need to discount our product.  You know, it`s kind of a teeth thing. It gets tougher to chew on that stuff as we get older. 

But it`s kind of the way I feel about military discounts.  It kind of bothered me that you said, "it`s like there has to be a war to sell jerky". That is not right at all.  But, since we do sell a more expensive product than others, which so many of our active duty have been so pleased to recieve..I feel it`s what little we can do to get them a product that they seem to appreciate so much.   Our product is portable and much more tasty, than any other military rations they get.

We send alot of care packages and are very involved with Soldiers Angels.  We recieve letters and emails all the time about how much they enjoy our product. If I could send it to them free all the time, I would. 

:-) I`m not arguing, nor trying to be disruptive. Instead, it`s that I see the company "verging" on the next big leap...getting ready to somehow connect for a large distribution. When that happens, you want to be ready.

I`ve seen it happen with bands, where they have a message they`re selling in their promo materials, but it`s to the low-level local clubs. It works great, makes plenty of sense, and they`re fine. But then they get a recording contract, go national, and start playing concerts. At that point, unless they`re ready with a "bigger" message, they run into real trouble.

Again, my focal point here is "unique." Military or senior discounts are great, they`re incentives, and they`re "add-on" reasons to buy the product. But they`re not THE reasons to buy the product, see?

Consider buying a BMW, a Mercedes, or a Porshe. Would you be attracted or annoyed if you saw the main focus of a BMW ad being that they offer military discounts?

You`re not buying "discounts" when you buy luxury items. In fact, if you offer those discounts, you turn away people who want to be special, who can afford to be special, and who don`t consider the price at all when making a purchase. Instead, they`re searching for the unique, different, unusual, and something that will mark them as special.

Do you think Chanel or Calvin Klein want to focus on the fact that they give military discounts or senior discounts?

Okay,,,,but it wasn`t my focus!  But, maybe I should take it out of the "why us"  

But you know what...the why us is just another page there.  I`d say the majority just go shopping.

I`m just kidding, I will think about how to make some of the needed changes.  Thanks for your help Craig!

It seems you have a preconceived notion of what every website should have in its` why us / about us section. many website ndo not have such section and may visitors do not even read such sections.  A web presence is mostly about the main page...the about us stuff is exteraneous to many people.

Certainly the content could be written a little differently...and I`m sure the content will change over time (as content should change in websites). Having the recomendation from people who have tasted the jerky is a powerful marketing tool. As a consumer, I`d like to know if people like it rather than rely on the website`s words.

House of Jerky does have quality products I guess we have to work a little more to communicate that.

~Roland

-------------------------

Web Design | Best Beef Jerky | ecommerce articles | Follow vwebworld on Twitter

I actually was visiting beachdianne down in St. Augustine a few weeks ago.  I`m in Charleston SC, but I did not realize you had a location down there.  Too cool!!  I have got every bone in my body crossed for at least launching 1 collection by the end of Nov!!!  I`ll keep ya posted!

-------------------------

Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

Hi Janie -

Nice website! One thing you might consider is showering all of the foodie bloggers with free samples.


-------------------------

Check out my blog: Upstarter.net: the simple habits of successful entrepreneurs

And my startup: ChatSpring Live Chat Software for Sales and Customer Service

Hey Leslie, I bet you do have every bone in your body crossed. :)  Let`s get those out before Christmas, girl!!  Yes, keep us all posted!

Thanks starrhome.  I`ve actually looked at food blogs before, most of them seem to be about cooking. But not a bad idea, if I could find the right ones!

Yes, Roland, maybe we should put the review page, above the why us. :)

I don`t have a preconceived notion about much of anything, when it comes right down to it. I tend to subscribe to the old Socratic method of starting with the assumption I don`t know a damn thing about anything under discussion. :-)

But what happens as I read along on a site, is I start seeing a sort of direction. It`s like a song, hearing the melody and starting to know where it`s going to go. It`s the logic of the thing.

In some songs, just as in some Web sites, there`s a sort of counter-current. Rather than keep that sort of possible confusion, it just makes sense to me to split the two and put them in their own separate areas. In a song, it would mean two separate songs. On a Web site, just another page.

Or, it`s like a story. There`s a difference between a sub-plot, and an entirely different storyline. In the first instance, there has to be some skill to interweave the sub-plot. But in the second instance, it`s best to either drop the second story or to write it into a different book.

As I understand it, this is still a work in progress. I do agree that in most cases, it`s about the home page...the main page. If this isn`t a work in progress, and is pretty much done, then it`s fine. The comments I tend to make (outside a critique) assume that there`s a lot of changing going on right now, so that`s a good time to examine the details.