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Web Designer's IAQ Knowledge Helps Clients
Build Sites and Business Faster
Have you ever seen those
commercials for IBM that make fun
of all the wacky Internet
companies with a bunch of
programming hotshots who don't
know anything about business?
Have you encountered this type of
person when searching for a
company to design your Web site?
Well, many business owners have,
and they are finding that it's
often better to find a Web
designer with a background in
their industry. The indoor
environment industry has at least
one such company-Webfoot. Net.
Webfoot.net yes,
you can find it at (www.webfoot.net)
was founded, and is run by, Ms. Woodie Sayles. Sayles combines 25
years in the computer business
with a deep and broad knowledge
of the IAQ industry. Married to
Tom Yacobellis, founder of the
thriving IAQ firm DUCTBUSTERS®,
Sayles has helped her husband
grow his company. In this
process, she's become well-versed
in the health, technology, and
marketing issues of the IAQ
industry and has turned IAQ Web
sites into the calling card of
her Web design firm.
Sayles's reputation in the
industry is revealed by her portfolio of Web designs for more
than three dozen IAQ companies
and trade associations - a
"who's who" of the
indoor environment industry that
includes the Indoor Air Quality
Association (www.iaqa.org),
North American Duct Cleaning
Association (www.nadca.com),International
Council on Ventilation and
Hygiene (www.icvh.org), DUCTBUSTERS® (www.ductbusters.com),
Bailey Engineering (www.baileyeng.com) and
Environmental Restoration (www.iaqteam.com).
"It really helps my clients
that I can talk about their
business and not have to be brought up to
speed on terminology and industry
trends," she says.
Because of her familiarity with
IAQ issues, Sayles quickly turns
meetings with her Web design
clients into what the Web can do
for their businesses. "A lot
of customers don't know what they
can do on the Web," she
says. "We can do anything
from creating a simple Web page
to adding graphics, multimedia,
databases, with parts of the site
protected by passwords."
She suggests starting small, but
starting immediately. "If
you want your customers to be
able to find you and learn about
your services, you don't have to have a
fancy, interactive site, but you
need something. It's become like
the telephone these days."
A basic site that
consists of a few pages of
information can be created by
Sayles's five-person staff in
about two weeks from the time the
client provides all the
information that it wants on the
site. Typically, this service
costs $400-600
Once a site is up-and-running,
even if it's just a simple
"home page" and maybe
one or two supporting pages, then
Sayles works with clients to
devise how to use the Web's more
advanced features. For example,
Sayles recently created and
online job-tracking system that
she calls "eJobfile" (www.ejobfile.com). eJobfile allows a company to
set aside a part of its Web site
into which its field supervisors
can input data each day on the
progress of each job. "With
a password, your client can then
go into the file and check on the
progress of its jobs," she says.
"It's easier than writing
daily reports and sending them by
fax."
While the eJobfile shows that the
Web has few limits, Sayles says
that it's simpler to think of the
Web as just another way to
communicate with existing and
potential customers. Particularly
in a business such as IAQ, in
which many companies operate in
single metropolitan areas or
geographic regions, Sayles says
that a Web site is a valuable
supplement to traditional
advertising methods.
"Obviously, any Web site is
supposed to expose your business
to new customers, " she
says. "But what's just as
important is servicing existing
customers by reminding them what
makes you different than the
competition. And when they
recommend you to other people,
your site is a great calling card
for referrals."
Over time, Sayles recommends that
her clients make sure that their
sites have a few basic features
that customers have come to
expect today: information on a
company's products and services;
news about the company;
industry/consumer news; and the
ability to receive and respond to
questions by email. "The
technology is changing
every day, and the bar is getting
raised higher," she says.
"You will be creating
educated customers, and we've
found that they are the best kind
of customers to have."
This
article appears with the
permission of Indoor
Environment Business who
may be reached at:
IAQ Publications, Inc.
7920 Norfolk Avenue,
Suite 900
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: (888) 384-2551
Fax:
(301) 913-0119
URL: http://www.iaqpubs.com
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