Looking for honest feedback

EricksonTradeshow

Good Afternoon-
 
I am looking for some honest feedback about my site. I have not had it up long, less than a month. I don`t expect much of my business to come from people surfing the net, yet when I direct someone to my site, I want it to look clean and provide the information they want and need.
 
Any and all suggestions appreciated.
 

www.ericksontradeshow.com

 
Christina Erickson
 

Webline

I like the visual idea, lighting at the top and flooring at the bottom ..... neat way to set up the area.
But, I think you have too much blue .... the background is fine, but the blue text boxes don`t stand out enough and makes your info areas kind of "blah" .... give it some contrast and make it pop out and easier to read .... or make it look like an actual display, something to tie in with your service, but as it is, it really doesn`t make me to want to look at it too much ....
The menu on the left seems out of place, it`s more like a little box that almost draws me too it all the time, and eats up what should be a fuller/taller left column .... myself, I would make it a horizontal menu and place it at the top somewhere, then use that column to expand your information area ....
Maybe the most important thing is that your service is visual, but I don`t see any examples of your work .... show me what you`ve done .... regardless of what you`re capable of doing, just describing it doesn`t cut it in this case ..... your customers will want to see what you can provide for them ....

kathleenfasanella

Let me explain from my perspective. Yours is exactly the kind of business I would write about and I don`t write about many. There`s nothing there for me to write about; nothing for me to cut and paste. You don`t give me any openings beyond mentioning your business exists. Consider adding some FAQs such as:
How to work with a company like yours
How do I know I`m at the level to need your services.
More details on what you can do for me.
What have you done for other people.
Etc etc etc
Each of the topics listed under "What we do" is potentially a separate article you could then link to.
Now, you might think you`re giving away the store explaining to visitors how to do what you do, but the opposite is more likely and I say that because this is what I do. This is the thing; it looks really easy to do if you don`t know anything. So, if you explain in detail all that goes into it, people see how hard it really is and they may be best served by hiring you to do it. Alternatively, they think they can do it so they try it only to find out it`s not so simple.
This is exactly what I do. I tell people how to do what I do. Some get it right away, they see it is too time consuming or boring and would rather hire it done. Others figure they can handle it with one of two results. Either they figure they really messed it up and then hire you OR they are sufficiently successful with it. Now, if they are successful, they`ll grow to such extent that their time will be better spent elsewhere but because they`ve done it, they already know the value of what you offer. These are really great customers, they don`t hassle you about costs (unless those are unreasonable) because they`ve done the ROI (or ROO as you put it). Also as customers, they don`t need the same handholding and have more reasonable expectations so they`re easier to work with.
Now, for the few that do otherwise, you have the option of creating additional value and becoming a destination site with revenue all it`s own. You could blog about it, do reviews of different shows, the problems of show management, do reviews of booths you see at shows, the topics and potential are endless. That would be a site I`d link to because you`re offering value to my readers. Most of my readers need to know about trade shows.kathleenfasanella11/17/2008 9:22 AM

EricksonTradeshow

Thank you to everyone who has given their honest opinion. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post. I will be taking all of this in to consideration as I re-vamp my website.
 
Thanks again,
 
Christina