Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hi Everybody,

My wife and I started an errand running & concierge service. Our goal is to have a business that we can run so my wife can be home as much as possibile when we start to have kids.

We are geared towards the high income clients $250,000 a year or more. our goal of the website was to so the benefits of using our service. We also wanted it to be easy to read and quick to the point.

Plesae let us know what you think.

www.weworkyouplay.net

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Aaron Burnett Owner of We Work You Play

Errand Service
Errand Service Blog

Overall it looks pretty good and is easy to navigate.  I thought the `services/rates` page could use a little more pizazz.  The rest of the pages have some sort of graphic element while that page is text only.  At least put a simple box around something or make the 4 main links into buttons, not just hypertext.

I don`t understand the high-heel shoe image.  What does that have to do with errand services?  It is your biggest graphic and it certainly threw me off.  The people carrying groceries or the woman on the phone makes good sense.  But the shoe?

I get a feeling you are marketing towards women because of the shoe as well as the pinks and purples.  Nothing wrong with that but I just wanted to point out that it has that specific feminine slant.  Even still, I would tone down that bright pink color.  It`s a little difficult to read, especially as the box on the homepage.

I also wanted to point out another post from today about an errand service website critique.  They have a really different site but maybe you should check out what others have to say.  I made a suggestion about geographical markets that I think applies to your site as well.

I think the copywriting needs help, as it`s a bit confusing. Setting aside the actual language, which could use an editor, it doesn`t really drive home your specific message.

Okay, I get the idea that You work, I play. The problem is.....I don`t play...I work too. See? That`s not to say the company name isn`t great! It is! But in the intro copy, I think you need a more solid message. (I concur with Steve, by the way, that the shoe makes little sense.)

Technically, I`d like to see more links. The bullets for services should at least be links. The point of a Web site is that it allows a person to wander around, as the mood strikes them, and jump around to whatever seems interesting.

"Services & Rates" needs to have all the information at the top level. That means I don`t want to go there and then have to click again, then again, to find out what I`m going to pay. Have a rate sheet right there. If means scrolling to the service I`m looking for, fine. However, that`s an organizational or structural problem.

More and more, I find myself wanting to ask site developers if they ever role play as customers? It seems hard to believe they do, since the site rarely considers how a customer would actually use the site. I dunno...just a thought.

What you`d do is have a friend or your wife sit at the computer. Begin by setting the stage: You`re a CEO for a brick company, and there`s a problem with your factory in Kansas. You`ve got the phone guy coming tomorrow, dry-cleaning to pick up, and the school just called to say they`re suspending your son.

THEN click on the Web site. Does it help? How? If it does help, walk through an actual process where that person decides a) What do they want to offload, b) how much will it cost, c) can they trust your team, and d) whatever else comes to mind.

When people ask for a critique here on SuN, I think most of the community members who get involved simply "become" a virtual customer. Then they feed back the results of that customer journey, and the call to action.

The shoe is throwing me off.

That, and the pictures on the bottom seem slightly squished, like they are not proportioned right.

Aaronserrands,

It`s a great website if you do it yourselves. It`s working for right now. Like CampSteve said "easy to navigate". It`s always something need to be improved right? My wife and I are doing the same business like you do. So don`t give up. How was the business going?

We got great critiques, didnt we? Thank to you all.

I think that you are on to something, but your marketing is misguided.  Just my opinion, but you`re trying to serve wine and cheese using a beer and chips menu.

You are targeting the high income clients, so you have to appeal to what they expect.  An executive wants a personal concierge for a day or for a few hours - not an errand boy.

The website will appeal to the average soccer mom with too many chores on the plate, but I don`t think that you will pick up any executive clients except by referrals. 

It`s all in the image.  Rent "Bob the Butler" and you`ll see what I mean.





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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
My Email

You know it`s funny because I just reread this thread ... I hadn`t read the full intro earlier. (I confess, I skim too much.)

I didn`t catch the "$250K" part. I agree the business strategy is off, as well as the look of the website, for that market. If you are going for the average-joe busy family, keep it. If not, and you want those high-end clients, it needs some serious overhauling and upscaling. The site, the graphics, the message ... it is not right for that level of income.

Let`s not get TOO carried away with the belief that $250K is a high-end income! These days, with two-person incomes, it`s not that unusual.

However, you definitely have to envision the sort of chaos taking place in a family like that. On the other hand, if you`re dealing with a single person earning that income, then you`re in the Executive Management arena of CEOs, business owners, professionals, and so forth.

What do those people want?

May I ask why all the pages are in flash?  There really isn`t anything "flashy" (like the other web site) going on and it will hurt you in the search engines.  I would go to straght HTML if you can.

The high heel shoe threw me... I`d assume of you are running my errands you`d need sneakers

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Web Site Design
Internet Marketing
Web Hosting

NewWard Development, LLC http://www.newward.com
"We Make Your Web Site Your Best Employee"

Thank you so much for the comments. I`m changing the shoe to a slide show of luxury pictures. let me know what you think.

 

aaronerrands

 

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Aaron Burnett Owner of We Work You Play

Errand Service
Errand Service Blog