Radically new website service - looking for opinions

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

If you opened the markets up to more than one company and used some sort of bid/queue system on potential jobs, you could pay for spotters and still have enough work for the subscribers.

 

[thesignexpert]

I saw 30 potential repair jobs just on my way into work this morning due to crack or missing faces alone.

I know! It's wild to go out at night and see sign outages all over the place. Even my kids spot them all over the place. My 5 year old thinks it is a great game.

 

[allamericantrade]

I am very interested. I think it's a brilliant solution and had thoughts of doing spotting but don't have the time to chase such small orders. When you get the Iphone and Android apps up and running contact me and I will definatly grab some terrain!

 

[thesignexpert]

If you opened the markets up to more than one company and used some sort of bid/queue system on potential jobs, you could pay for spotters and still have enough work for the subscribers.

Those are good ideas and thanks! When I experimented with that model I kept running into the issue of somehow keeping the division of work even & fair throughout the subscribers. For example, a fluorescent repair is a lower sale compared with a neon project. Additionally, what about distance & time traveled? Perhaps company one doesn't want neon repairs at all but is really set up to make a killing on fluorescent work...?

There were so many variables and potential scenarios that it turned into a coding nightmare.

With this system, the subscriber can choose exactly what types of service work he wants every day. If he doesn't want fluorescent projects then he doesn't have to look for them. He can choose where he wants it by selecting only the cities in his area or where he is willing to travel. He can ramp the volume of sales up and down simply by controlling how many times he goes out and spots (sales is a numbers game). He can select and control his own Spotters rather then being dependent on strangers who may or may no have his best interest at heart.

Again, good ideas & suggestions 2CT Media! I've just had a big, 8 year, head start to experiment with different models and work out the kinks

Of course I could also be completely wrong :Oops:

 

[Move In Media]

I'm not in this market, but reading through this thread, I must say that I am impressed with this idea. Crowd-sourcing works, and with today's IT, ideas like this help many small businesses and entrepreneurs to compete against the big fish(not sure if there ARE any big fish in this particular niche, though) and I commend you for creating this.

 

[Justin]

The only problem I would have personally is if this ends up becoming a bidding type of site. You know the type of site a guy got jumped on here about 3 weeks to a month ago(iirc)... Basically, I hope you don't change it to become like uship(uship.com) where everyone competes, and typically whoever is cheapest wins, and like people I heard on here say, drives the prices of everyone down.

 

[thesignexpert]

I am very interested. I think it's a brilliant solution and had thoughts of doing spotting but don't have the time to chase such small orders. When you get the Iphone and Android apps up and running contact me and I will definatly grab some terrain!

Ask and you shall receive. Take a look at this video that I shot last night working with the iphone app. You can see that I was able to spot a sign, take a photo and the application geotags the location. All I need to do is type in the business name, answer the 4 questions with simple touches and submit. The lead goes straight to the website and I can then walk up to stick a Notice on the door. It was a little more cumbersome and slow because I was shooting video with one hand while using the app with the other but you get the idea.

Link to ProSignRepair.com iphone app video

 

[GB2]

Is this strictly for electric signs? Why couldn't it work for all signs?

 

[thesignexpert]

The only problem I would have personally is if this ends up becoming a bidding type of site. You know the type of site a guy got jumped on here about 3 weeks to a month ago(iirc)... Basically, I hope you don't change it to become like uship(uship.com) where everyone competes, and typically whoever is cheapest wins, and like people I heard on here say, drives the prices of everyone down.

Amen to that Justin. In fact, when the sign owner goes to the website to see their sign and the estimate, it deliberately provides a ranged estimate. The estimate range operates off of a custom pricing matrix and gives the sign repair company the freedom to make sure their profit margins are not compromised while still delivering accurate and useful information to the customer. No bidding and no price wars are planned here.

I have really worked hard to make this a simple & elegant tool designed to do one thing really well... connect the sign owners with the sign fixers.

 

[thesignexpert]

Is this strictly for electric signs? Why couldn't it work for all signs?

The system is primarily designed for electric signs but I do anticipate that the sign shop will enjoy extra benefits like sales for broken faces and requests for new signs. Again, while this is a specifically designed tool for a specific problem I believe it will serve the greater good of every shop who uses it. Just think of the added exposure you will have in your community when word gets out about how you are helping your neighbors. How much more opportunity is there to upsell or cross sell when you have already helped a new client with a problem?

 

[allamericantrade]

How soon on the android app? tried to look for it today and saw its not there yet.

 

[thesignexpert]

The Andriod app is next on the development list. Now that I have the iPhone version done I am focused on getting it listed in the App Store (free of course). I would say 30-45 days if it ports over to the Android OS cleanly.

Great question!

 

[signage]

I would like to know if this has worked out for anyone that signed up!

 

[slappy]

i cannot even get the linked website to load for me in firefox after 3 tries

 

[particleman]

Interesting concept. I can certainly relate to attempting to break some new ground on the web! My first and main advice as a web developer is your site has some major performance issues. I have attached a load report from chrome. The first sure way to lose business is have a site that loads slow. In your case it took nearly 1 minute to load. So hopefully you know what the issue is and can fix it! Good luck

 

[James Chrimes]

Here is my first thought. You take a photo of a sign with problems. Then you leave a note and they go to the website and see the sign and the estimate and click yes or no.
What keeps people from taking the post it note and going on and clicking yes if they are not the owner? Or saying they did not go to any website in the sirst place. Do you make them pay the fee up front? I would think that would be a hard sell if the customer has not even meet anyone.

 

[thesignexpert]

Interesting concept. I can certainly relate to attempting to break some new ground on the web! My first and main advice as a web developer is your site has some major performance issues. I have attached a load report from chrome. The first sure way to lose business is have a site that loads slow. In your case it took nearly 1 minute to load. So hopefully you know what the issue is and can fix it! Good luck

Thanks for the heads up and you are so right! We did a little tweaking and everything loads MUCH faster now.

What kind of development do you do Particleman? Are you mainly in design, html, brochure type sites or do you get into the database, web app development?

 

[thesignexpert]

I would like to know if this has worked out for anyone that signed up!

We currently have subscribers in 13 states who are using the apps to bring in more service work. Here is a map of our current growth.

ProSignRepair.com - Watch us Grow

 

[thesignexpert]

Here is my first thought. You take a photo of a sign with problems. Then you leave a note and they go to the website and see the sign and the estimate and click yes or no.
What keeps people from taking the post it note and going on and clicking yes if they are not the owner? Or saying they did not go to any website in the sirst place. Do you make them pay the fee up front? I would think that would be a hard sell if the customer has not even meet anyone.

Good questions James,

Once the system logs the approval (someone clicked "Yes, fix my Sign") then an e-mail is automatically sent to the local subscriber. At this point someone still has to call that customer and set up the appointment to come out since you don't want to just show up out of the blue. It is at this time that you clarify who your specific contact will be, time of arrival etc. If there have been any shenanigans it will be caught before anyone invests time or equipment to visit the site. This eliminates the need to pay upfront while still giving the customer enough valid information to make an informed decision.

So far our experience has been that it is an easy sell since the site provides the info & solution with no pressure. The only people who click yes are the ones who understand the problem and are motivated to have it fixed. There is no wasted time on the sign owner who simply doesn't care that their sign looks bad.

Thanks James!

 

[particleman]

Thanks for the heads up and you are so right! We did a little tweaking and everything loads MUCH faster now.

What kind of development do you do Particleman? Are you mainly in design, html, brochure type sites or do you get into the database, web app development?

Yes looks like you got the performance issues resolved.

My focus is development, DB and web apps yes. I do mainly asp.net but also projects in LAMP. Although many projects I do start to finish which include the design portion. My previous work history was with a sign company (interactive online sign designer work) so you could say that is my specialty.