I realised something last year. I might be all that when it comes to helping people with blogging but when it comes to selling myself I’m like a fish out of water. It’s kinda ironic, really. I spend my time telling people their brochure site is only part of the equation and that they need something more social like, say, a blog, and here I am struggling to sort out my brochure, by which I mean the links at the top of ASH-10.com to pages which provide information by which people decide whether or not they wish to employ me.
I think I’m getting there though. If you’re on the website you might have noticed a couple of new pages up there. How I Work tells you where I’m coming from and how I approach this stuff. What I Offer is more a product page, listing some of the ways I deliver this stuff. Along with the About page (which I’ll be working on next) this should give a decent overview of what ASH-10 is.
I’d really appreciate some feedback from you on this. Especially if you’re one of the many people I’ve helped this year. Does this relate to the experience you got from me? And most importantly if any bits make you wince please let me know. I’m currently writing this in a bubble so have no real idea how it might play to others.
Why am I asking for this in public on my business blog? Well, I could ask my trusted friends to review the pages in private but that would only be a handful of eyeballs. Much better I think to open it up to everyone who cares enough to read this. You’re the people I want to help so your opinions are invaluable.
Further to this, I’m working on page of Testimonials. I’m writing to a few people directly but to be honest I’ve lost track of all the folks who’ve come to the surgeries or been in my workshops, and often I don’t know I’ve helped them until we meet at random months later. So if I have helped you with your blog or similar in the last year and you have a spare few minutes I’d really appreciate it.
My email is at the top of the sidebar.
I’d totally whack a contact form at the bottom of both of those pages. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contact-form-7/ is a great plugin for this. Just a huge text area and a space for name and email is always good, sometimes people want to send you an email but by the time they’ve copied the address, opened up mail, thought of a subject, then started writing, they’ve forgot what they were doing in the first place.
I really like that both pages really nail what it is you doing, but It might be useful to have one of those awful case study type things, like X came to use and wanted to do this, I look at what they needed to do then we did this, Y has happened because of it and they love me because I’m great. It might be useful to point people towards a real project and say “we did this”.
Generally, I think your blog is the greatest advert for your work Pete – and it is very strongly presented so that’s the main thing that will get people understanding what you do and how you think.
In terms of the ‘promotional copy’ pages – there’s a lot of mention about blogging, so you may want to think more about outlining other services you offer, in the form of 3 or 4 bullet points with a short description. In tandem, you should include some short case studies of successful projects you’ve delivered against the different headings of services you offer. A lot of creative agencies do this. Describe the organisation, the problem, what solution you implemented, what the smiley faces result was and a pretty pic. Also I want to see more web links and screen grabs to the sites you’ve set up orgs you’ve advised.
In ‘How I work’ you may want to think about ‘products’ rather than general services. Could you offer a ‘fixed prize package’ that includes a phone or face-to-face conusltation and a 20 page diagnostic report, or 6 hour technical set-up service? This is the way people will be thinking in a recession – set a high price (they think “he must be good”) discount it to buggery (“wow it’s a steal!”). A package can frame the discussion/negotiation with a potential client.
Maybe also mention things like social media surgery for the no-budget people, or say you offer special rates for start-ups, non-profits, community orgs (consultancy is a big put off terms for those with tiny pockets).
The hard sell isn’t you – but you can find more of a middle ground, which can be the basis of your ‘real world’ brochure…
Small thing but big thing… finding this site really offputting legibility-wise. Light grey on bright white. And small point size. It hurts. Not friendly. Meanwhile peteashton.com – much easier on the eyes.