IAW Blog

We recently had the pleasure of having a visit from the good people at Your Business E-Zine after meeting them several times at networking events in and around Liverpool.

The reason for their visit was to get an insight into the on goings here at IAWHQ from a spot of afternoon office raving to the continued growth and development of It's About Websites in the highly completive market of web design and online marketing in Liverpool. So what is it like in IAWHQ, to quote Holly Wood from My Networking PA on recent Facebook comment about IAW "its like Willy Wonkers Chocolate Factory".

Anyway here we go the following transcript is the full article taken from the launch issue of Your Business E-Zine - Enjoy....

Your Business E-Zine Issue 1 - It's About Websites

Have you ever gone to a networking event and NOT met someone who “does” web sites? Me neither. 10 to 15 years ago it was quite a specialised thing to do, but now it seems like every man and his dog can do them. There are, as usual, several reasons why this is the case. For a start, it’s got easier to do. There are no end of “packages” available online that use standard templates and any old relatively technophobic idiot, like myself, can pretty much fill in the blanks and get online. Also, we have had a full generation, (now grown up), that have grown up with computers and the internet as the “norm”. If they need to do anything I.T. related, it is far more instinctive and they are therefore much more likely to have a go themselves. So maybe we should start a campaign to get rid of all web design companies and just do it ourselves. I DON’T THINK SO!

You see here is the problem. Whilst what was difficult 15 years ago has got easier today, things have moved on, significantly. The web has evolved and continues to do so. If it’s not your full time job, then it’s difficult to keep up and let me tell you, it’s evolving at a hell of a pace. A good modern web site is a very complicated work of art. There are so many factors to be considered in order to not only get it right, but as much as possible, future proof it.

So here’s your next problem. You know you need a new web site, one that is modern and actually works for you, 24/7 and doesn’t just sit there, passively waiting for someone to fall over it then lets them go with no record after what must have been, quite frankly, an uninspired visit. But who do you go to? How do you sort the wheat from the chaff? Allow me to help. Turn the page and I think you may find an inspired answer. IT’S ABOUT WEBSITES.

IT’S ABOUT WEBSITES. Well let me tell you, for Gavin and Paul, it really is. I only met these 2 likely lads a couple of weeks ago at a networking event in Liverpool, but I immediately knew that they had excellent taste, (well, they did become a member of this fantastic publication straight away). But besides this, there was something just a little bit “NOT NORMAL” about them. It’s actually quite hard to put your finger on at first, but you know when you look at someone and think, their brains are just not wired the same as everyone else’s in the room. I have to say that I was intrigued, especially given the industry they are in, which lets be honest, is extremely competitive and very hard to stand out in, so the following day I called them to arrange to meet up and find out more.

Let me tell you, my instincts served me well, These lads are a little bit bonkers, but a good bonkers, not the scary kind like the nutter on the bus or anything. Allow me to give you an example; Paul, returning to the office from a very productive meeting with a new client, finds Gavin having a dance competition with Craig, (the newest member of their team), (Gavin is a HUGE line dancing fan and will challenge anyone to a dance off). Now then Paul, being a partner in the business and obviously very concerned about productivity, did exactly what was expected of a man in his position. He walked straight over to his desk and sounded the air horn they keep there for the ever increasing number of occasions when they sign a new client. In fact they’ve been so busy last month that they thought they had a leak, until they realised it was coffee coming through the ceiling from the office upstairs, (they tend to have a little accident every time the horn goes off). You see, you may now be starting to build a picture of what IAW life is actually like, but believe me, you don’t know the half of it.

Well Gavin and Paul have known each other for a many years. They first met when Paul went to work at Rippleffect when the company was in its infancy and Gavin was already there as one of the companies founding members. Paul eventually moved on and began working as a freelancer, but Gavin stayed at Rippleffect, rising to the position of Creative Director and winning awards on the way. Eventually Gavin also left and went into the freelance market, were he once again met up with Paul and eventually they formed It’s About Websites 2 years ago.

Originally working from home, the 2 of them carried on doing their respective freelance work, whilst building the client base for It’s About Websites, until a few months ago when they decided to take the plunge and do what they love doing best full time. They looked at various areas to locate the business in, but decided on Liverpool, which is a decision they are both extremely happy with, in no small measure because of the help that they have received from the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and also May Fifteen. Actually they are both particularly grateful of the help and support they have received from Jeni of May Fifteen who has not only helped them with setting targets, but also boosted their confidence whilst out networking and in the business as a whole. Now the business is going from strength to strength and the passion and enthusiasm that Gavin and Paul both obviously feel is infectious.

As I said before, this really is quite a competitive industry and I wanted to put my finger on what it was that made IAW stand out, because believe me it does, so I asked them. The thing is, I got all of the stock answers that you would expect someone to say about their business. A friendly personal service, middle range pricing for a top of the range product, simplistic to use, blah, blah, blah. Then, just when I thought that was it, almost as an afterthought, they said it. You see, the thing with these two is this. What they do they do so naturally, there is nothing contrived or calculated with them, there uniqueness almost doesn’t register with them. You’re going to have to bear with me on this one so I can explain. You see, when I first tell you what it is, you will probably say, “is that it, I mean it’s good, but the way you’ve built this up I was expecting fireworks”. So here goes. You don’t have to pay for your website up front, you can spread the payments over 2 years, in fact they would prefer you to do that. Now let me explain why I am so impressed with this. If we go back a few lines you will see the blah, blah, blah bit. Now, one of those blah’s was this. “We want to get to know our clients and work with them on an ongoing basis in order for us to really understand their business and give them the best possible service”. What I didn’t realise at the time when they said this to me was they were not reciting this from a how to run a better business manual.

This was a genuine passion for them and the payment terms simply allow them to do this more effectively. So if your website costs £X’s, then divide that by 24 and that’s what you pay. Then what happens is that IAW bear all the cost of the production of the site, they work very closely with the client for however long it takes in order to get it just right, after all, the client has to be happy, he’s not paying for it all for the next 2 years, then, they sit down with the client every 3 months and check how their search engine optimisation and online marketing is going and make any necessary adjustments to improve things as they go along. Brilliant I thought, but that’s not all. This gives them the time and contact with the client they need, so they can not only get to know their business, but also them as individuals and in doing this, they can do a better job for them.

Paul and Gavin don’t want to stand out from the crowd, they want to be in front of the crowd. They are happy to work with other companies or organisations in order that they give the best possible service to their clients. They have developed a fun, cheeky kind of atmosphere to work in, were they can all just be themselves and do what they love doing most, after all, IT’S ABOUT WEBSITES.

Mark Brake Your Business E-Zine

About Your Business E-Zine

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