I have added site pal what do you think

[Mathew]

Hi guys and girls as an experiment I have added site pal we will run a small Google campaign to see if makes a difference. Can you have a look and if you have any recommendations for tweaking the character please let me know. Also I am trying to find a better picture for the removal section so if you know of any let me know. Also if you see any typos bring them to my attention.

I will publish the results soon so keep your eyes open. I think it will be an interesting read.

www.needhelpmovingabroad.com

[Mathew]

You guys are looking but not giving any feedback come I need to no what you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RSL]

Hey there,

I must admit when the character started I thought it looked tacky but upon looking around its actually a great feature. You have a lot of sub sections that would be far too much to read so having this person on the site is really useful. There are moments when the voice pauses and sounds a little slow but I think its a good idea.

Good luck with it all RSL

[Mathew]

Hi Rsl
Thanks for taking the time to have a look. You say it looks tacky is that due to the look of the character or just the feature it’s self. If you think it is the character let me know your thoughts and if I can change it I will.

Thanks Mat

[coxadmin]

I like the colour scheme of the character. The voice was clear and easy to understand. I also liked the changing backgrounds - e.g. the one on the Contact Us page was relevant.

[Mathew]

But do you think it would make you fill in the forms??????

[RSL]

Hey there,

The guy just seemed a little stiff and robotic but I guess thats part of the program used right(?)

I'd say it would attract me to fill in the forms as it adds a certain personal touch, particular for such a personal service!

:-)

[Mathew]

Hey

If all goes well I may get a professional voice over as I think this will help. But at the moment we will just have to go with what we have as it is not cheep. Unfortunately it’s the programme that makes it look a bit robotic. :)

[Thais]

I thought the talking head is quite sexy actually :oops: :P

My only comment is that he ends every section with 'you will be contacted by a specialist in this field'. Can't you find some variation on that? It gets a bit repetitive. Otherwise I think it's pretty cool & should encourage peeps to fill in the forms! :)

[Mathew]

Thais
Was it the look of the head or the sound of the voice you found sexy?? :lol:

[Mathew]

Thais
If you can come up with variations please let me know. But I agree with you the problem is trying to think out side the box

[Kemble3]

Hi Mathew

Sorry, but I found the animated head and the commentary very boring, monotonous and distracting. As someone who has lived overseas and has property in a couple of places I can see certain benefits to a site such as this, as long as the requested information is delivered on time and is of good quality.

Do you have skills in any of these areas or just acting as a 3rd party?

Best of luck with the development of this service.

[Mathew]

Hi Kemble
Don’t be sorry if that’s what you think no problem. Yes I do have skills in three of the areas but the rest have just been added on. In fact I was contacted buy a large flights only company last week that wants to work with us as we do not offer anything like this at the moment. And yes the information is passed onto the relevant representatives as soon as the user hits submit. The quality side of it is down to the user not a lot I can do about that but we do advertise in the correct areas for high quality applicants. Regarding your comments about the head I understand that it is not for everyone. When it comes to making a decision to use site pal full time I will take what you say on board. Thank you for being so up front it is appreciated.

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

[quote="Kemble3"]Hi Mathew

Sorry, but I found the animated head and the commentary very boring, monotonous and distracting. quote]

Hi everyone

I think the commentary is good!

I have learned one thing from the people on this forum that any audio product that is added to a website. It should always give the visitor the choice to play the file or character etc.

There needs to be further improvements made with the product to allow this, so thanks for all that give their time on this forum

Best

Tony

[Mathew]

Tony
Do you think there needs to be any tweeks made.

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

Tony
Do you think there needs to be any tweeks made.

No

I think it is good, but like many folks say you could get the character to appear when chosen.

To be honest Mathew it is what works best for you

Take a look at the reports when you log into your account. You will see how long people are listening to the character etc

Best of luck with it

Tony

ps SitePal is currently being used by Virgin so your up with the best mate!!


http://www.sitepal.co.uk/reg1.jpeg

http://www.paygoismsaves.com/

[Mathew]

Ok can anyone else see anything that needs changing?

[Jayne]

That guy on your web looks like he has horns, wouldn't want to snog him! You need a Mel Gibson face and Sean Connery's voice, then I would!

Best Wishes

Jayne

[Mathew]

womens tast most odd

[Jayne]

I have excellent taste. I chose the Business Forum didn't I. I imagine all men on this site to look like Mel Gibson. Keeps me happy! Imagination is free and entertaining...so please don't spoil my illusions.

Jayne

[Twokids]

Hey

If all goes well I may get a professional voice over as I think this will help. But at the moment we will just have to go with what we have as it is not cheep. Unfortunately it’s the programme that makes it look a bit robotic. :)

Hi Mathew,

I know I am going against the grain (especially with one member who is trying to sell Sitepal :wink: ) But I don't think this animated/automated characters work in this marketplace.

I admit for the younger buyer or the frivolous purchase they are okay - maybe a 'cool' feature. But how many 15 year olds decide to move abroad and have the money to do so?

For many people ( see Business Forum passim ) they are an irritant at best and a turn off at worst.

If you are considering hiring a professional to dub the soundtrack I would recommend going the whole hog and having a real live person doing the introductionary video as well. You are trying to engender trust ( as prospects trust you with their valuable information ), also they have to trust that you have decent, reliable and, in turn trustworthy business contacts and affiliates. Would a cartoon character engender trust? I sincerely doubt it. What sort of a business relationship is built around never seeing a real persons face? In the mind of your prospects the whole thing could be a form of giant 419 scam...( no faces, no names, no contact details no personal email addresses, no physical addresses, no telephone numbers etc. ) It’s made worse by references like "email info@etcetc and one of our team will contact you" - it is blatantly obvious there is no team - and prospects will not thank you for so obviously trying to fool them at the very start of your relationship.

I think you have a sound business idea here - and a lucrative market too, however my advice ( for what it's worth ) would be to open up first to engender trust ( why else would you hide contact information other than you have something to hide ) and then seriously consider any 'gimmicks' that you might have on your site and ask yourself whether that engenders trust or does just the opposite.

If the reason that you can't give any details about your company are that you are ( at the moment ) a one man band I would not worry - exposing that fact would engender trust in your prospects ("at least they are honest") and the USP there is that you have low overheads and therefore greater value for money.


ps the character DOES seem to have horns, however when they try and use a human face grafted onto the cartoon - the character is so stiff and robotic with wild staring eyes that he seems to be suffering from cerebral palsy as well as being under the influence of some hallucinogenic drug!.

Anyway that's my 2p's worth.

Jim Power

[Thais]

Mathew - I've just noticed that on the 'tax optimisation' page, you have put 'legible for certain tax breaks' instead of 'eligible'!

You could end some of the spiels with 'and we will put you in touch with a specialist who will guide you through it to your satisfaction'. (Perhaps 'your satisfaction' could be emphasised more?)

Ah - I think you have changed some of them?

Is that your own voice then?? :)

[bitsnstuff]

Just my opinion, but I prefer your site with the SitePal, as I found it a little boring without, because it just has pages with forms.

Kate.

[Mathew]

Hi Jim
Firstly thank you very much for taking the time to read this post. You have come up with some interesting points of view and this has given my self food for thought.

You are correct there are not many 15 year olds out there that can move abroad. The reason I have added site pal was to try and give the site a little more depth but not add to much content. As it looks boring with just text and at the end of the day my main goal is to get people to fill in the forms.

I have never seen a product that can show a video presentation online is there such a thing???? If so can anyone recommend a company/product I agree this would be a better option but it also does come down to price.

Yes there is no team I am just a one man band (at the moment). I have never thought about exposing this fact mmmmmmmm interesting!!! I will change the contact page as what you say is very true. I will place the phone number and fax number on the site. Also I will drop the info@ should I replace it with my own email add or a customer services email??? What about a post address I don’t really want to use my home what about a PO box or are there other options out there?

Coming back to making people feel secure I am considering creating a new page called (Feel Secure) this will display all the governing bodies that our partners / affiliates are governed buy. I will not display the partners / affiliates directly on the website. This makes the end user fill in the form and the business then goes throw me :D . I will also have a Testimonial page as well I only have a few at the moment but this is growing.

Thais:- yes it is my own voice.

Kate:- I agree with you.

The character has been de horned.

Mat

[bitsnstuff]

De Horned - poor chap!!!! He looks much better though :lol:

Kate

[Mathew]

I must admit that he does look better. I can assure you no character was harmed in the making of any productions.

Mat

[Mathew]

What about something like this instead of site pal http://www.seriousmagic.com/vcbusmarketing.cfm

Mat

[Jayne]

Nice one Matt. Good to know some business people out there have a sence of humour, you would crack up if you didn't! Business is hard enough as it is, without the stuffy, moaning people, who tell us a sence of humour isn't welcome on the forum. I say get a life!

I do like your site, horns and all!
Good luck with it!

Best Wishes

Jayne

[SillyJokes]

Poor old Tony, he must really hate me!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really don't like these talking heads.

They look gimicky, sound dodgy and distract the eye and mind. Even when they keep quiet they can't help twitching.

Have you noticed an increase in sales since putting the head on the site?
If so, does it more than cover the cost his nibs?

That's the bottom line, isn't it?

Otherwise it's like shopping for clothes and having the shop assistants coming up to you at every turn asking if you need any help.

[Mathew]

sillyjokes what about this sort of thing http://www.seriousmagic.com/vcbusmarketing.cfm

[SillyJokes]

I can't view it- I don't have that technology on this PC.

So there's another problem right there - you are excluding people.

Plus even if I could see it, I surf with the sound off, so much so that there are no speakers on this machine.

I do not have time to sit and listen to this spiel - I want the website to deliver what I need without having to make me stop and go at their pace. It's like a scrolling box of text- gaaaaaa. Give me strength.

I honestly think these talking heads look like tacked on gimicks and they don't marry well with the site design. I can see the attraction but then even I had animations, comic sans serif and mouse over menus at one time.

[Mathew]

You realy dont like them do you!!! But I will let you know what happens with the figures

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

Sitepal now has a new feature so that the character will not start talking until the visitor select play

http://www.sitepal.co.uk/playbacklimit.jpg

Also new play/stop buttons will be added to SitePal in the next few weeks

Best

Tony

[Jayne]

If people will pay for silly frogs on their phone, I cannot see why people will not like talking heads on web pages. (feel a song coming on) My Mum's 55yrs old and she has a frog! (no not me), so age groups don't matter. You are as old as you feel. You don't know until you try.

Bye

Jayne

[Mathew]

Yes Tony I am a wear that you can do this. I have limited it to play once a day to the same user/pc. It’s a shame the new stop and play buttons are not up now as I would probably change the set up. At the moment if I left it up to them to play the character the buttons are not very clear.

Mat

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

If people will pay for silly frogs on their phone, I cannot see why people will not like talking heads on web pages. (feel a song coming on) My Mum's 55yrs old and she has a frog! (no not me), so age groups don't matter. You are as old as you feel. You don't know until you try.

Bye

Jayne

I agree with you Jayne.

I find that everyone has their own way they like to surf the web. Audio on websites has always got mixed views.

For those people who do not like audio on websites, you better start getting used to it.

Broadband will get faster and audio will just become part of any website. Although you will always have the choice to not turn on your speakers, would you watch the tv with no sound?

Audio on websites will be the norm in a few years!

Best

Tony

[Mathew]

Tony
Do you have any solid dates for the new play/stop buttons???

Mat

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

Tony
Do you have any solid dates for the new play/stop buttons???

Mat

Should be really soon, Oddcast are working on it as we speak

There are many New features to be added to SitePal over the coming months

( Faster streaming of characters)

( New characters)

( New text - 2 - speech voices)

[Mathew]

What will be diffrent about the new buttons any idea?

Mat

[Rob Holmes]

It would be good to have some better looking cheap characters Tony, the nicer looking characters are only included in the higher priced package.

Rob

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

What will be diffrent about the new buttons any idea?

Mat

I will give you a update as soon as i know

Best

Tony

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

It would be good to have some better looking cheap characters Tony, the nicer looking characters are only included in the higher priced package.

Rob

I will pass on your comments to Oddcast.

Thanks

Tony

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

Tony
Do you think there needs to be any tweeks made.

Mat

I have viewed every page on your site and think that the character works well for your business.

I have put forward your website to Oddcast so that you may get chosen for sitepal of the week.

Best

Tony

[SillyJokes]

For those people who do not like audio on websites, you better start getting used to it.

Broadband will get faster and audio will just become part of any website. Although you will always have the choice to not turn on your speakers, would you watch the tv with no sound?

Audio on websites will be the norm in a few years!

Best

Tony

I have to disagree. Surfing and watching TV is totally different. It's like saying books will no longer be popular because you can get them on CD. Why would anybody surf when they can watch tv? And yes, I do have the TV on with no sound sometimes - Heard of Ceefax?

Some people will like to have audio on the sites they visit but for others who are time poor the net is used for information gathering and performing actions like shopping or registering which they want to do quickly and efficiently.

So you can have your audio on your entertainment sites, fine, but where people just want to get a job done I think a simple approach which allows people to use your site at their own pace without distractions is always going to be the best.

As for getting used to it, you quite rightly pointed out I have the most simple defence which is to turn off my sound and ignore it.

Other people like to surf listening to music and don't want their choice of sound track interrupted.

The website should still work without the need for audio - otherwise what about those with hearing difficulties? - you have got yourself an accessability problem and you may like to know that it is the law (albeit a new one) that public sites should make the effort to be accessible to all and can be taken to court if they don't.

I can see your product will appeal to people and will enliven many a dull site and it probably has it's place but to say that it will increase sales - that I would like to see proven.

[Twokids]

Hi Mathew

Thanks for your response – at least you didn’t want to give me a knuckle sandwich!

Re: Video – I have been having a re-think about that . I have realized that the main sites that use a video seem to be those awful US get-rich-quick sites which come on and say;

“Hi – this is Brad Hapschadzt – have I got a deal for !!!!” and then try and convince you to send $200 and you will make it back in a week.

So now I don’t know, maybe a combination of Sitepal plus a picture of your good self somewhere – a picture of a real life person as a representative would be worth its weight in gold. In order to impress the maximum number of people how about a picture of you in business casual ( open neck short sleeve shirt, chinos), sitting opposite a colleague ( or maybe just a friend at this stage ) wearing a suit and tie or a woman in a business suit.

The caption could read ‘Mathew xxxxxx of xxxxx with legal expert xxxxx xxxxx ‘ ( you don’t have to say the legal expert actually works for you – but to have her/him there would be reassuring.

This way you can appeal to the traditional ( business suit ) and those who prefer a more relaxed, friendly, informal manner ( open neck shirt and chinos ) – don’t go any more relaxed and get to jeans/trackie tops/ trainers though! As a bonus – the photo would be cheap!

Also – with regards ‘exposing your business’ – thinking about it I suppose the best would be on a ‘need to know’ basis. That way you neither declare nor hide your company size – and nobody would resent you for that. So how about a bit of rephrasing of the ‘a member of the team’ will contact you to either ‘email Mathew@xxxx’ in the first instance and we will arrange for someone to call you back within two hours (or whatever) . That person would be you of course – but as soon as you are talking to the prospect 75% of your sales effort has been achieved ( you have a direct line to a PROSPECT! ) From there on you can play it by ear and schmooze the prospect any way you like, emphasizing your professionalism – even mentioning the strengths and value for money of your small size.

There is nothing wrong with info@ and sales@ etc as long as there are enough human names out there. However if the aim is getting a first contact - then the first contact name should be a name, other (less important ) queries can be routed to info@ etc. Also why not use another name such as a wife/girlfriend/friend etc that routes through to you? You can always explain the circumstances to the prospect later ( if necessary ) and the whole object at this point ( as you point out ) is not sales in this instant - but contact.

How about using a virtual office address for mail fo a while - they are (relativley ) cheap and, by using your home address as well you can be seen to cover a wider geographic area - I'll even quote you for a London VA if you want!

I like your idea of a ‘feel safe’ page – in fact anything that echoes the words ‘safe’ trust’ competent etc.

Good luck!

Jim

[Twokids]

I agree with you Jayne.

I find that everyone has their own way they like to surf the web. Audio on websites has always got mixed views.

For those people who do not like audio on websites, you better start getting used to it.

Broadband will get faster and audio will just become part of any website. Although you will always have the choice to not turn on your speakers, would you watch the tv with no sound?

Audio on websites will be the norm in a few years!

Best

Tony

I must agree with Sillyjokes here.

What the customer wants and will absorb will be the decider here, any company that blasts it's main message on audio regardless of what the customer prefers will not last long.


A talking animation does have a place amongst the very young and the naive user - but quickly gets timesome for everyone else.

It reminds me of the 80's fad for cars that 'talked' ( Rover Maestro and Renault 11 Electronique sping to mind ) They were vaunted as the 'way of the future' then - and we jolly well had better get used to them.

Trouble is *ENGINE OIL NEEDS TOPPING UP* they quickly became tiresome *WARNING SCREEN WASHER FLUID AT MINIMUM* as people got bombarded *HEATER SET TO DEFROST* with repetatiive messages that were *WARNING HANDBRAKE NOW ON* needless and *SELECTOR LEVER IN PARK POSITION* sometimes they *FRONT SEATBELT NOT CONNECTED _ WARNING! * just , were dammed foolish *SELECTOR LEVER IN DRIVE POSTION* and were soon dropped.

Where is the 21st centuary talking car now?

:lol:

Jim

[Mathew]

Hi Jim
You are wise with your words. Can I ask what part of the web site you have seen ‘a member of the team’?

Sillyjokes / Tony C
Since placing Site Pal I have seen a dip in enquires. I have now set it to only play on request. Tony it’s a sham the new buttons are not up.

[Richard Conyard]

Hmmm, I haven't played with this, but where does the product stand in regards to DDA and accessibility?

Will the speech on the site interfere with a screen reader for example?

[Twokids]

Mathew...

I may have mistakenly thought it was all over your site - but it is on the partner page;

For more information please contact our marketing team: marketing@needhelpmovingabroad.com.

Maybe it's in other places too....

Jim Power

[Rob Holmes]

Hi Jim
You are wise with your words. Can I ask what part of the web site you have seen ‘a member of the team’?

Sillyjokes / Tony C
Since placing Site Pal I have seen a dip in enquires. I have now set it to only play on request. Tony it’s a sham the new buttons are not up.

Time will tell where the internet is going, I'm afraid Sitepal probably does not have the right to say dictate where it is going. Although there are more audio/video generators appearing the end user still is in control.

For me quotes like: "For those people who do not like audio on websites, you better start getting used to it.

Broadband will get faster and audio will just become part of any website. Although you will always have the choice to not turn on your speakers, would you watch the tv with no sound?

Audio on websites will be the norm in a few years! "

are simply totally wrong. I don't just have to start getting used to anything. Sorry but I'm in control of my pc and anyone who thinks they can hijack my browser is living in cloud cuckoo land.

TV and PC's are currently different but the trend is to customise browsing experience not just open the flood gates and let any old noise in. I can see a future with more sound on the web but I can also see that the sound will be decided by the user (i.e. playing music while they surf) not just letting any old bit of code on a website play whatever sound the code writer wants.

And Mat, as for the dip in enquiries... That for me is the key to everything. You may want to analyse the quality of the enquiries, a dip in bad or timewasting enquiries but a steady flow of good enquiries is good but IMHO if the good enquiries have dropped off then it could be time to start counting the cost.

<gets off soapbox>

Rob

[Jayne]

Leave the poor love alone. If he likes his talking head, nothing else maters. I like it (Horns and all), I'm 36yrs old, am I a good market age, the type of age group you are trying to attract? I hope he makes Millions out of his talking head! The frog man did!

Good Luck

Jayne

[Rob Holmes]

Leave the poor love alone. If he likes his talking head, nothing else maters. I like it (Horns and all)

An important gauge for anything we do as a business is the bottom line - especially when testing new marketing products - it's a simple question... does it increase profits or does it decrease profits.

This includes customer services - I can see sitepal as a good tool for faq's - it *may* help (but again would need testing) with sales or client retention.

I actually like Sitepal in a gagetty/widget/gizmo/5 minute wonder sort of way but it put our potential customers right off in the short time we used it.

Rob

[Jayne]

It came accross as being mean to him. I do like the head, it brightens up the site. And as an average Joe Blogs who uses the net, isn't that like customer feedback! I'm not a computer buff, so it's people like me who will look at it. What works for one, may not work for another. Go for it kid, if it doesn't work, try somesthing else.

Best Wishes

(Talking head Fan!)

Jayne

[Rob Holmes]

It came accross as being mean to him.

Oh, I'm unsure of who and which part you mean but I'm just trying to be objective.

I didn't mean to be mean to anyone :)

Rob

[Jayne]

I didn't mean you Rob. Just in general. You are always very nice. :D

Maybe I should have said... Some people are going on a bit, I think he gets the message that some people don't like it. Maybe we should do a forum vote, because some of the messages are that long, it'll take him a week to read them.

Love

Jayne

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

I do not have time to sit and listen to this spiel - I want the website to deliver what I need without having to make me stop and go at their pace. It's like a scrolling box of text- gaaaaaa. Give me strength.


I like everyones feedback good or bad.

It is better to be talked about then nothing said at all

Out of all the sites on the internet SitePal would work best on your site

Silly looking character telling some jokes

SitePal is increasing sales for business, what the reason for this i don't know?

Maybe the sites are poorly designed and sitepal is helping visiters around and therefore it's increasing sales that way.

For a site like yours i don't think sitepal would increase sales for example click here to buy etc.

But i do think that if word got round there is a site with a silly looking virtual character that tells you a new joke everyday, that could lead to a increase in sales.

You are all talking about my product because its something different so therefore a character on sillyjokes site would be the same.

Good or Bad feedback you still see a increase in sales!

Best

Tony[/quote]

[Mathew]

Sweet Jayne
I don’t think anyone is being mean and I did ask for people’s opinion. I have taken on board what people have said and started to make changes.

For example

You never see people out side a shop punting there products. So I don’t really think I should do this on the website. So I have decided to remove auto play and just let the user decide if they would like to play the sound. As we all know Tony C has said that Site Pal hope to add a few more features including new stop and play buttons which I hope will catch the user’s eye. But I hope these are up before my money back guarantee ends (Hint Hint)

I also will be changing the contact us page to include more personal information like phone/fax numbers. And removing the info@ email and replacing it with a customer services email.

I will add two new pages one called Feel Secure displaying all the governing bodies that are partners are registered with and governed buy. And a page with testimonials as well but I only have a few at the moment and want to build that up a little.

I will also change some of the wording around the website. But in short Jayne if the head affects my bottom line he will get the chop.

(I hope I make millions like the frog guy as well)

Mat

[Mathew]

Please keep your ideas coming every little helps

[Twokids]

Hi Mathew

as I said before I think your ideas and approach has 'legs' and has the potential to go far.

I am involved in a business which has a similar market to yours ( but the other way round and we facilitate overseas people to visit the UK fro short periods, ) - don't worry we ain't competitors!!! :wink:

It is interesting that the initial customer recruitment problems of yours are similar to those we faced three years ago - and so I could pass on some of the hints that we learned the hard way - free of charge!

However no two businesses are exactly alike - as you can imagine our overseas clients are very differnt from yours in regards needs and timescales - but there are similarities!

Best of luck with it - if you want to email me for a query or chat my email is;

jim_power@hotmail.co.uk

Jim

[www.sitepal.co.uk]

Hmmm, I haven't played with this, but where does the product stand in regards to DDA and accessibility?

Will the speech on the site interfere with a screen reader for example?

No