RE: Advertising (Hopefully List Appropriate)

>My personal opinion... I'd not be insulted if I know my site is ugly and I
>can see you'd have a nice alternative.

Maybe the problem is in the concept of "ugly". There are some very
definitely (in my opinion, anyway) ugly web sites that people are very
proud of. Heck, for all I know, the ones I've done that I'm most proud of
are ugly too. <sigh>

>However... colo(u)rs and tastes... You'd be required to offer PROOF in
>advance that you'll do a better job.  I don't know, I'm not basing this on
>anything I've seen.

Proof in the sense of examples of work done, right? I thought this too, and

included links for that purpose.

>I'd be happy if you could send me the text you're using, but here's a few
>ideas...

 >Hello... I'm a student at NMU who's just about finished with a Network
 >Programming degree, and am working full time as a web designer. Mostly I've
 >worked with people in and around the Marquette, MI Area (see list of links
 >below).
 >
 >I've been looking at some of the sites available through the Charter index,
 >which is how I came across yours. The point of this email is to offer my
 >services to you, to provide a web site make-over, for $300 with no extra
 >fees or hidden charges. I believe I can significantly improve your site's
 >appearance, and I can work directly with your domain provider to upload the
 >files, once you've seen and approved of your new site. If you contact me to
 >express interest, I will create a demo, at no charge, for you to view and
 >make a decision on.
 >
 >I can be reached by email at natlyle(at)nmu.edu or jopling(at)geocities.com, or
 >by phone at (906)485-4806. Please take the time to view some of the sites
 >listed below to see examples of my previous work. Or, you can visit my web
 >site at http://www.nathanlyle.com to see a more complete list (in the
 >resume section), as well as all kinds of non-business stuff if you're just
 >curious.
 >
 >http://www.mayf.org/ - Marquette Alger Youth Foundation
 >http://www.upaws.org/ - Marquette County Humane Society
 >http://www.alzheimer-machapter.org/ - Marquette Alger Alzheimers Association
 >http://www.nmu.edu/ce - Continuing Education Dept. at NMU
 >http://www.amcmqt.com/ - Animal Medical Center of Marquette
 >http://www.harborhaus.com/ - The Harbor Haus (Houghton)
 >
 >Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon!
 >
 >~Nathan Lyle   (The Tragic Comedian Poet)
 >
 >Web: http://www.nathanlyle.com
 >Email:  natlyle(at)nmu.edu    or    jopling(at)geocities.com
 >Phone: (906)485-4806


>If you're really serious about getting your hands on a few customers, I
>suggest you do it gently and not tell them too much about how you dislike
>their site.  Don't go saying hey, we've been showing your site to 100 people
>from different countries and guess what... 99 of them found it really really
>was as ugly as hell. The other person got a hardattack when viewing your
>site, so he didn't complete his fill-in form.

<laugh> A very good point... and I *thought* I'd been as polite as
possible. I certainly had no misconception that I would get a customer by
saying "hey, your web site sucks."

>...You do with this information what you want.  I hope you'll be able to
>impress a good number of new customers and not get a lot of negative
>feedback (you always get negative feedback, just keep the amount as low as
>possible).

Some very thoughtful advice, some of which I had sort of already been
operating with, but I'm glad to read this and feel like maybe I wasn't so
way off base with my approach. I guess negative responses are bound to
happen.... my biggest concern was that any of what they were saying had any
truth it. I'm not much of a businessman... so I tend to operate on what
"seems ethical" and likely to work.


~Nathan Lyle   (The Tragic Comedian Poet)

Web: http://www.nathanlyle.com
Email:  natlyle(at)nmu.edu    or    jopling(at)geocities.com
Phone: (906)485-4806

"Big Ideas are so hard to recognize, so fragile, so easy to kill. Don't
forget that, all of you who don't have them." - John Elliot, Jr.

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