After three and a half years of working out of a spare bedroom office in my house and the birth of our third child, it was apparent that it was time for GrowDev HQ to move to a new space.   Not only was my house becoming a louder environment to try to concentrate in, but my work/life divide was totally blurred.

I made a list of “nice to haves” and asked around for referrals on space.

My list of features:

• One room with a door.  I don’t need a conference room since all of my clients are out of state.
• Under $200/month rent, preferably no long-term lease.
• Fast internet
• Within 5 miles from my house. I’d love to be able to walk or bike to work.

While out driving with my wife she suggested that I stop in to an office complex near our home and see if there were any vacancies.  The complex turned out to be two buildings owned by a flooring company and they had a vacancy in their smaller building.   I went the next day and was excited to discover that the space met or exceeded each item on my list.  Also, the electricity, security system, and trash pickup is included.

The office is located 0.1 of a mile from my front door.  Once the weather calms down and street construction finishes I’ll be able to walk to/from work.

After Two Weeks

I’ve been working from the new office for two weeks now and the only response I have is “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”   Having a quiet dedicated space to work has made a huge difference in my productivity.  When I’m at the office there are not any crying kids downstairs (or happy kids that want to play), chores waiting to be done, or other distractions.  Plus, when I’m home I can disconnect from work and not be tempted to pop in the office for 10 minutes to work or code something.

Pictures of Office

Here are some pictures of the new office.

I moved my current desk and “world’s smallest couch” into the new space and it fit perfectly.  I have some wall decor to put up, but haven’t hung anything yet.

The internet offered by the office was 1MB up/ 1MB down, and a little flaky in the afternoon.  The owner was ok with me getting my own service so I had Time Warner Business Class installed.

I share the space with two bookkeepers, a fence company and a custom home builder.  My neighbor brings her dog Sam to work every day.  He’s so quiet you hardly known he’s here!

This project was a collaboration with Atom Groom Design.

What we did:

• Magento template design integration
• XHTML/CSS coding
• Site installation
• CMS setup
• Custom navigation coding

Visit Blue Collar Supply

Once the launch date has past and customers are starting to flood your site, what then?  If you are like most site owners then you are focusing on customer service, marketing and quality content.  Unfortunately the needs of your website don’t stop there.  Just like a race car, your site requires care and upkeep to make sure it’s running at top capacity. And just like a race car driver needs a pit crew, the site owner needs someone to routinely turn a wrench on the website.

Why every site owner needs a maintenance plan

When I talk to site owners about the benefits of a maintenance plan I almost feel like an insurance agent; telling horror stories and “what if” scenarios trying to illicit an emotional response.  The truth of the matter is that part of the benefit of having someone with an understanding of  your site’s environment and who actively monitors and conducts backups is invaluable in the event of an incident.

You may ask “What could go wrong?”  Here are some examples of incidents that I’ve responded to:

• The site administrator accidentally presses ‘delete’ on the root category of your store.
• A payment gateway goes down for over 10 hours during the day.
• A site owner forgets to pay a hosting invoice and the site is suspended.
• The power room at a data center explodes and in the process takes the entire data center offline for over four days. (This really happened.)

What is a maintenance plan?

Our website maintenance plans are designed to fit any budget while providing the service needed by site owners.  We keep the site running smoothly so you can focus on running your business.  Our plans include site monitoring, timely backups and software updates.  Plus, bundled maintenance hours allow for design or development updates.

Your turn

How do you handle your website’s care and feeding?  Have you experienced an incident that took down your site?

Since this topic has been a focus of mine of late, when I was confronted with three different types of marketing techniques today I couldn’t help but rate them.

The Referral Network

This morning I visited the Fiesta Chapter of BNI International.  I was invited by a friend to see what the organization is all about.  BNI describes itself as “”The” Business Referral Organization.”  Members are grouped into ‘chapters’ which meet weekly to network, share leads referrals, and build relationships  (I was taught that a referral differs from a lead in that a referral is “able and ready to do business with you”).  A major selling point to the membership (which does require a fee) is that there is only one member per profession in each chapter.  So if you are a web developer, then there will not be any other web developers in the chapter you belong to.

I decided to apply for membership and test out their claim that the referrals received would more than pay for the membership fee.  At very least I am looking forward to the weekly meetings for social interaction and to be around other business owners.

Time Commitment: Light, weekly meeting

Effectiveness: TBD, but forecast is Good

The Cold Call

On my way back to the office after the BNI meeting I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize (at first).  When I answered I was greeted by a cheery, British accent.  Even though it was difficult to hear the person with the road noise from my open car windows I could tell this person was calling from a call center.  He proceeded to recite a script I hear once per month telling me  how he found my website, that he wants to tell me about the development services they offer, and if I’d like to talk to one of his project managers.  I have repeatedly declined their offer and am now to the point of being annoyed so that I simply say “No Thank You” and hang up.  This tactic might work on others, just not on me.

Time Commitment: Heavy, for the person on the phone.

Effectiveness: In-between.

The Car Window

I observed the third marketing method as I was picking up lunch at a local Thai restaurant.  As I was getting into my car, a white Explorer pulled up behind me and the driver leaned out and started talking to me:

Driver: “Hi!  Do you live around here?”

Me: “Um, yeah.”

Driver: “Great! So I was wondering, I have these two Home Theater systems, I’m from Austin, and I over ordered from [local store], so I can give you a deal. What do you think?”

Me: “No thanks.”

Seriously?  At first I couldn’t decide if the driver was joking or not, and then I started to wonder if he was serious and if these items weren’t in fact stolen, how did he think this exchange would work out in his favor.  “As a matter of fact I am looking for a home theater system, I just happen to be outside of a Thai restaurant.  Thank goodness you happened to see me and pull up!”

Time Committment: Low

Effectiveness: Bad.  Very Bad.

What are some marketing techniques that you use to market yourself?