Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

It works, but it`s extremely amateur and old-fashioned.  Understandably it`s more of a business-to-business thing and not geared towards consumers, but still, I think you should consider touching it up a bit.

I`m sure some SEO wouldn`t hurt either.  The fact that your title is "Home" gives that away.

But it`s a great idea, I love to see more people focusing on healthy alternatives for kids.

Feel free to e-mail me if you`re interested in touching up your site.  Good luck with the business.

First, I wish you success on your new venture.  I would suggest you have a picture of the actual vending machine on the front of the page.  Does it have a protective screen so it can`t be broken into or vandalized?  And I would want to see some type of profit expectation for the school/PTA.  I assume the school will have to displace an existing vending machine to put yours in, so there should be a compelling reason to do this.  Good luck. 

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Tom Huffman - Founder of NiteTrip.
nitetrip.com
LinkedIN Profile

I`ll agree with the above, that the site needs work. On the specific level, the fonts don`t work, layout is hard on the eyes and doesn`t transmit information, and the yellow on green in the banner is almost invisible.

However; on the more conceptual level, I think there`s a big question you`ll want to first examine. Do you intend to be a broker, offering machines to other individuals who`d like to start their own business? Or do you intend to start with 3 machines and then increase your route and presence?

The reason this is a key question is that it`ll completely inform the overall purpose and design of your Web site. If you`re building your own business, growing and getting more machines, then who is your target market? Who do you want to read your site, and how do you want them to act on whatever you have on that site?

For example, you may want to reach all the gas stations within a 40 mile radius of your location. The purpose is to get the station owners excited about putting one of your machines into their waiting room. Right now, you have a sort of offhand "We`ll put a machine in your location," but it sort of just lays there.

On the other hand, you may want to attract corporate offices. The problem there is that so many of them have a big company like Service Master or someone handling all their food services.

Bottom line is that the current site doesn`t really sell much of anything, and other than a passive "contact" form, with no real instructions, there isn`t much for anyone to act on. See?

Just looked at the site.  The idea is great!  My household is very health concious, so I can see how this is a great alternative, especially in hospitals and gyms.  I agree with much of the above comments:  The site looks like a blog made from a template.  It has a lot of "happy talk" about the business, which is offputting to read.  Viewers want to know briefly what your business is/does and how they can benifit from it.  Anything else on the site just gets in their way.  An actual product picture would be best to feature on the site.  Also, consider having a call to action on the homepage where a visitor can sign up or contact you to have a vending machine installed at their business location.

I highly recommend hiring a professional web designer to bring your website up to a level than can compete with other businesses.

Let me know if I can help,

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Thank you,
Tina Moore
Owner
PrimoSites.com Web Developers
"We make having a great website easy!"

Why not make the website have the look & feel of a going green or organic visual? Show the snacks! Add some content about the health benefits of those snacks. Make sure there`s a call-to-action for visitors. You got people to your site, now what should they do?!

If you believe that first impressions count, then you might want to check out how redesigning websites can greatly effect your company`s image:

http://www.webdesign.org/img_articles/2618/before_after.zip

Great advice from everyone. Kudos!

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Maya, Chief Imagination Officer

DesignInsomnia.com -
eMarketing Consulting & Web Design
Site: http://DesignInsomnia.com 
Blog: http://MayaAndMarketability.com
Ph: 1 (619) 872-0971