http://www.sitecube.com/promo_bw.asp?pid=bw309_kw_us (Best Value IF you THINK you need a Flash Site)
In a previous post, I waxed philosophical about concerning a status quo website OR a Social Media profile was the best way to interact with your customers. It is true that customers prefer to sit on a bike before they buy it which makes the job of a 'Website Bike Hustler' that much more challenging. That is why it is necessary for you to build an environment of TRUST with your customers and website visitors.
There is also the challenge of the right bike size for your customers. A guy my size, 6'5 230 lbs. would tend to stay away from a regular 26" cruiser frame and nothing would drive a customer crazier than such a large expense and it isn't a GREAT FIT! Adding a Widget to your website-profile where a customer can plug in their height and weight and this script could spit out the right size bike for the customer would certainly make your customers better able to chose the bike that is right for them.
Undoubtedly a Social Media Profile is a mandatory part of business on the web these days.I do not want to suggest that a regular web page is not necessary. I do believe IF your business requires a Flash Site utilize it...However, IF possible, stay away from them!
Why? Flash websites are viewed (by my readers anyway) as 'Sizzle' with no 'Steak'.Arguably, Flash Sites were the place to be in the late 1990s to probably 2004.
However, as Social Media began it's long march to where it is now, with all of it's pop and sizzle, these sites DO NOT hold the attention if visitors like they once did.
Where am I leading with this? I would seriously re-evaluate this expense! However, if you are insistent on building such a site, there is NO REASON (even a novice should spend more than $50 FOR HOSTING, SET-UP AND BUILD) to launch such a site. Email me and I will send you a link that will allow you to have the SAME STUFF the pros build for PENNIES and YOU CAN DO IT YOUR SELF it is SOOOO SIMPLE!
YES you have to have a 'Store Front' of some kind....However, Social Media Profiles have become a HUGE way to drive traffic to your website.
Social Media Profiles on Twitter, Facebook and LINKEDIN, in my opinion, can be the difference between 150 site visits per day and 250 or more (dependent upon the viral nature of your campaign). Traffic generates interest, interest generate return visits, return visits build relationships and those relationships will build your online business.
Even IF you just have a Blog (not to minimize the impact of this median), traffic can make you a few buckets without selling product of your own! We will talk about this in the next post which will deal with some simple changes and additions to your website that can generate TONS of traffic.
Your FEARLESS BLOGGER!
WOW! I had an interesting comment from a reader concerning my Gary-Fisher-Trek post... which I feel compelled to respond to... A reader seemed...well..Upset and basically said I post UNEDUCATED comments...The comment was (and the reader didn't post their web address or email)...The comment was;
"If you knew anything about the bicycle industry, you would know by now, that Trek and Gary Fisher are the same company. So many of your posts are nothing more than uneducated opinions. What does any of these uneducated opinions have to do with Marshall Taylor?
What would Marshall Taylor think about you trying to represent him?"
The reader obviously didn't read the post in total because I DID SAY these are the same companies. Trek acquired Gary Fisher! The point of THAT POST was to pose the question, WHY would a company who owns both brands, make competing products that look almost the same and one (Gary Fisher), obviously superior to the other (Trek).
I have read too many other blogs and blog comments over the years to count and the one thing I noticed is that there are some folks (like me) who have some very strong opinions. The strange thing is (while reading comments), I only remember reading a few blogs containing comments of disagreement. This means either the Blog Owner shares the opinions (without any variations within those opinions) with all of their readers, OR the blog owners don't approve those comments for posting or delete the comments that don't agree with the opinion of the Blog Owner.
I, your fearless blogger will do no such thing (not approve or delete dissenting opinions)because what makes MY COUNTRY and the country we live in so great is we are free to express our opinions without fear of syndication or arrest.
Also...the commenter said "If you knew anything about the bicycle industry", Well, this is true, I don't know JACK about the industry! Why should I know anything about the industry? My friend, that is THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS BLOG! To give an IGNORANT OUTSIDERS view of an industry that has so thoroughly uninspired the Urban Areas in this country, that bicycle industry products mean NOTHING to youth anymore.
What would Marshall Taylor think of how I am representing him? From being one of the foremost expert in the world on Marshall Major Taylor, My company is set to REPRESENT HIM in a way that no one in the 133 years since his birth has. How will we do that? Just stay tuned!
Anonymous Commenter, I will go even further than your comments concerning my opinions being 'Uneducated'. As the bicycle industry is concerned, I am "Unlearned AND Ignorant" and if being uneducated, unlearned and ignorant means my mind is free too, very shortly, bring the world the HOOTTTESST Rec Bikes on the planet, I accept your judgment and statement that I am uneducated.
It is my hope that you return to read this blog because soon, my company will roll out something that I guarantee you will love. Until that time though Anonymous, I will continue to post MY OPINIONS. Men of vision, like myself, are often ridiculed by those who have accepted the OPINIONS of others as EDUCATION that somehow (they believe) give them an edge over others. It is ALWAYS such people who end up drawing their paychecks from the very people whom they are more educated than :)
As I have in the past told others, I now tell you...Listen to the video and please accept "It's my party (blog) and I will cry if I want to."
WOW! Oh boy!Oh Boy!Oh Boy! I really like this Rocket Powered Trike people. It blings, but not in a diamond type, tacky..street way...but in a way that will make even the most ardent trike hater stand up, take notice, and say "You gotta be kidding me people! This monster moves and is powered by 2 rockets and I love MOST everything about it. What I think is straight tacky is the builder took the time to think through every component and parts in this design, but they seem to have lost the steam as it concerns the front tire and front rim.
I would also like to know a bit more about the braking system on this bike because as I look at the front brake, I am wondering how this seemingly ordinary brake is going to give this trike the stopping power it needs and even if it can stop the trike, wouldn't the brake pads be worn down per each stop?
However, this Trike is HOOOTTTT and I want to give a small applause to the builders of this thing of beauty. It stands out in an era where there doesn't seem to be much though put into...well...anything that is sold in ordinary retail outlets. Great going guys!
The line is being blurred between bike design and artwork at a really rapid rate these days. The above pictured...ummm...bike..I guess is probably the most unusual design I have seen that that hovers in the gray area that is bike design and artwork. Gismo Rocket Powered Bicycle It is powered by two 75lb. Thrust Hybrid Rocket Motors. The frame is made of lightweight T6-6061 aircraft aluminum. “Gismo” features a unique front suspension system designed by Michaelson.
Your fearless blogger must give the big ups to the creator of this particular design in that as I look at it, alot of thought went into designing and creating this...ummm...bike! Truthfully, I love the color, the rims, the back..ummm...fender and the handle bar and steering column overall are kind of..umm...NASTY..This bicycle is rocket powered and 150 lbs. of thrust will 'Push your wig back'. In conclusion..I have used the word UMM in this post because I am struggling to understand IF this is..ummm..bike design or artwork!
As promised, I will periodically update a VERY popular series of posts called my 'Bicycle Design Funk Hall of Fame.' These are the designs in the last 20 or so years that have risen (aesthetically) above their peers. The criteria for entrance into this hall are;
1. They have to emotionally move me to a point that I would just grab them off the bike rack where they are being sold, take them to the check out counter and never ask the price. (I may not have enough $$$ to buy them, but they are funky so I would worry about that when it became an issue
2. The designer can not have sent these designs to me as I would view this as them promoting themselves instead of them relying on the 'General of Funk' (me) coming across them.
3. They have to be affordable to the average Joe. (If I can't find a price on them or they are prototypes they are eligible)
4. When I first lay eyes on them, the FIRST THOUGHT I must have is DAAAANNNNGGG! (I assure you, these are the only designs in the last 20 years or so to do that)
5. I WILL NOT give the name of the company or manufacturer, only the name of the design. (Sorry yall...I ain't promoting your stuff for free)
In no special order...Here we go!
Nuvinci
Come on yall...The Legendary...'Pee Wee Herman'
Velorbis
Wild Buffalo! (Great Design...Crappy name)
TAXI! (Can a brotha get a cab in this city?)
Part of the vision of this blog is to remember and promote the past contributions of long forgotten African-Americans within the ‘Cycling Culture’. One of those forgotten contributions was made by the only bicycle corps the U.S. Army ever authorized. Using African-American Soldiers known as buffalo soldiers, so called by Native Americans because of their thick woolly hair, this unit conducted drills and exercises on wheels. In 1892, they rode into Northern Montana on muddy trails and toured Yellowstone on their 100-pound iron bicycles. As proof of their capabilities, these Iron Riders pedaled 1,900 miles from Ft. Missoula, across the snow-dusted Rocky Mountains and steamy Great Plains, to St. Louis. As they approached the city over 1,000 civilian bicyclists rode out to escort them into town in a great parade. (Pictured left on this blog)
afts currently in use by the U.S. Military.
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