Website Reviews

Depending on if you care to be in their market or not, but pipefitters and industrial plants occasionally have the need for cranes. When I was working as an electrician we would often be called in for big projects while a plant was shut down for two weeks. During these shut downs all different kinds of contractors show up and attempt to complete a years worth of upgrades in two weeks time. The first thing that happened for those 2 weeks was a crane pulled in and got set up, and then the operator sat there and read magazines and cleaned his windows all while on billable hours. It might be the 3rd or 4th day before he actually does any lifting.

I guess the big question would be, could you fight the boredom of getting paid for 2 solid weeks of work, without even working at all some days. This work was almost always in wintertime around Christmas, this allowed the plant to give their employees time off around the holidays and get necessary upgrades without additional down time. May be a good way for extra income during slower months.
 
Under construction. Look into a content manager. Web designers know just that but you need someone who can produce content that works. They have the skills to research and wordsmith effectively (think college research paper writers). They can work the content to deliver the message. Leave the layout and functionality to the webdude.
 
One thing I have been meaning to do on our site, but would probably benefit your biz greatly is a PDF (rental form) that people could fill out and submit. Basically your contract with price terms etc.
 
Steve Connally said:
I had thought about that. I was actually advised agains it. Said it takes away from the customer contact and the building of the relationship.
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Your going to have very little loyalty in the crane rental business. Trust Me! I know your gearing your business towards trees....but setting ac units, post and beam homes, shed, etc...will be a large portion of your business. Make it easy for those customers to hire you. A PDF on your website will get them connected with you. The construction trades are a fast placed....get it done..I don't care who does it...I need it done tomorrow...how much do I pay...who do I make the check out to kinda business. Often large companies that have office staff that take care of this stuff but don't always know the ins and outs. Have that form on the web-site that you can refer them to. Just my thoughts.

Also get your load chart and measurements for the crane foot-print on the web-site. I didn't see it anywhere....but I could have missed it.

I would also encourage some picture of what makes the tree mek....and a knuckle boom crane so special. Get some photos of recaching out 70 or 80 feet horizontally picking up something. My stick crane cant do that! What about reaching INTO a garage to grab something and extract it out.

Also think about wording like "extraction". "we used the crane to extract three large trees from the back yard" That is what this crane will allow you to do..so get that info on the web-site.
 
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Great info Royce. I didn't look at it that way. The load chart is on there but the footprint isn't I'll need to figure that out. I will work on the PDF but I don't really know how to set up the fee schedule for construction work. I know I can't charge what I would for tree work. Also I don't have my truck yet so I am limited on the amount of pictures I can get without poaching them from someone else.
 
Steve Connally said:
Great info Royce. I didn't look at it that way. The load chart is on there but the footprint isn't I'll need to figure that out. I will work on the PDF but I don't really know how to set up the fee schedule for construction work. I know I can't charge what I would for tree work. Also I don't have my truck yet so I am limited on the amount of pictures I can get without poaching them from someone else.
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Your Welcome...and I'm pretty psyched and proud of you. It takes a lot to do what your doing. The word that comes to mind to describe your last few months is "courage". It takes courage to do what your doing...and all it takes is courage to make a million dollars!!
 
Ha. Thanks Royce. It’s been 10 months I’ve been working on this. When it’s all said and done it’ll be a year. I’ve put a lot into it and hope to get a good return in both cash and happiness. I’m trying to do it all on the up and up. Spent the day making inspection form and databases for everything. The next major hurdle is insurance. Been working hard to have all the logistics covered and not have any oh shit moments when the first job comes in.
 
I have my first book keeping lesson with my accountant next month. I’m already $75k into it with expenses and the truck. The little stuff like tools ect adds up. All I really have left to do equipment wise is to cut and build some Dunnage. Everything else is in a pile in my garage.
 
Customer contact and quality will help with word of mouth referrals for future biz but the truth is we are in a very competitive market (both crane and tree work). Landing the majority of your jobs will most likely come down to price 9 of 10 times. A PDF form for sign up and similar tools will just help to weed out the tire kickers and pre qualify serious buyers. If people want to talk to you they will call, ask to meet etc.
 
Steve Connally said:
Some new changes. Let me know what you think.
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Much better Steve. The "About" page is more readable and I actually feel like I know you by just reading it. It will give your prospective clients a very good feeling about you before they even meet you.

The home page was slow to load and choppy on my mobile but it might just be my tablet.

Nice work.
 
Steve Connally said:
Great info Royce. I didn't look at it that way. The load chart is on there but the footprint isn't I'll need to figure that out. I will work on the PDF but I don't really know how to set up the fee schedule for construction work. I know I can't charge what I would for tree work. Also I don't have my truck yet so I am limited on the amount of pictures I can get without poaching them from someone else.
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Don't poach, ask, or buy. iStock or something like that.

You will have a super specialty machine. You will be able to do what others can't. Its like being able to charge a premium for hillside stumps if you have an Alpine Magnum. It doesn't matter if someone has a 100 HP grinder, if it doesn't fit.

I have know idea about the price of treemek tree work, crane work, or kboom work. Its what the market will bear, and how much you ask for.
 
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