Your Web Presence

[TotoMongo]

In my research, I poll how many mats are in areas I would like to open and if they have a web presence. Not surprisingly, most are not situated on the web in any way. Just a few questions:

1. How many of you have a website (I know I can look at the members link at the top of the page)? If you don't, are you planning one soon? Why or why not?

2.How many find it useful? Does your website contribute enough to the bottom line to make it worthwhile?

3. Who hosts your site? Do you think a host should get a percentage of sales? Yahoo Merchant Services charges $39.00/mo and 1.5% of transactions. Steep or just the cost of doing business?

4. is your site one where people can request and pay for P&D or do they have to email an order and credit card number? Which is better?

I would love to hear anecdotal examples. Thanks!
Toto

[pete f]

I am going to go out on a limb here and and suggest this industry does not fit into the E-mode business plan.

It will depend on your customer base, if near a universtity or higher income area, maybe it would work, but over all, our customer base is not going to use the interent to do thier laundry.

[CharlieS]

I have reserved my web names, but have not created any sites. I do have about 10 to 20% of my business from the college, but I agree that for the most part, my customers are not going to come from the web. A big sign out front will do more.

However, we are in a business of quarters, and each one helps. If I can find the time to copy, I mean uh, create a web site, I will do so.

Charlie

[TotoMongo]

Would anyone think it would be necessary for a pickup & delivery mat that was, say, 25% of revenue?

Toto

[mike]

Like CharlieS did, I just grabbed the name,

MontrealLaundromat.com

while I could, and put up a small simple site there.

Costs me about $10 bucks a month, which is as much as I would pay. If it brings me ONE customer it pays for itself !

I honestly don't know if it has.

I (my kids) am updating the site soon, and doing a french one as well.

[TotoMongo]

Nice site Mike! I am thinking of marketing on the web. Yahoo has a service that charges per transaction with many features - top placement on web portals, keywords when searching, etc. I am just not sure if this is the way to go. My other option is to have them host a site (similar to yours) and let customers email their orders to me.

Toto

[Jim]

I have to agree with pete, if your customers can not afford a washer & dryer, how can they afford a computer...

Most of our customers are low income (except for WDF) and even if they are not, why would you use the web to do their laundry?

Sure it's advertisment but ask yourself how many times you have used the web for your local drugstore ?? or drycleaner,... or laundromat....

Most likely never...

Remember it will not hurt your business...I just don't see it helping it...

Mike... Do you have a counter on your site, if so I would be interested in the number of hits to see if anyone is visiting it.

Also....under "Links" I don't see Coinwash.com .... hhmm I must of missed it. lol

[mike]

Jim, I should check the counter,

(as soon as my techie gets home for supper)

As for the coinwash.com link, I'm not sure I want my customers getting the "inside scoop" on this biz, stuff like prices, and ways to scam me.

[Anonymous]

Having a web site is a fine idea, but putting too much time or money into it is not.

The $39 merchant account you mention at yahoo is more for those business who have a tangible product and need an sales outlet on the internet. Not us, since we only offer service - clean clothes - which cannot be mailed. Most of the premiums they offer (website placement, product catalogs) are not valuable in my view.

Why not do one for free? geocities www.geocities.com is the same as yahoo's $39 version minus the stuff you don't need anyway (phone support, product catalogs)(btw yahoo owns geocities). List of other cheep sites: http://personalweb.about.com/cs/homepagehosting/PM=ss14_personalweb downside: most have pop-up ads placed on your page. upside: add on services and costs only when you need them. (such as FTP for cameras)


Here are my pro's for having a website:

3. Integrate with your camera system, like duane has done. Computery people may learn to check the video and see if it is crowded or not, and choose not to come in when it's busy, (but come back later when it is slow) - ie, balancing out your customer load! http://www.lmaries.com/

2. Print your website address onto business cards, flyers, advertising campaigns. ect.

1. tie: offer to register pay cards via email. Put in a map and driving directions. offer pickup and delivery coupons. mention the P&D services you have. offer to have the washers email your customers (joke).

[Jim]

Mike...good point...


I should have mentioned my own web site....

I had it up for about 2 1/2 years and I advertised specials for the attended mat for free washes...(buy 12 get 1 free) and discounts on drycleaning... (These where in coupon form that had to be printed out by the customer).

In the first year I got about 14 hits and then after I add cams in the mat, on the website I got a whopping 200 hits in the last 1 1/2 years. I had 3 signs in the attended mat and one in the unattended mentioning the website...

We never got one coupon turned in from the website...not one.

This dosn't mean it won't work for you, it just didn't work for me.

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by mike
As for the coinwash.com link, I'm not sure I want my customers getting the "inside scoop" on this biz, stuff like prices, and ways to scam me.

Me too. Coinwash might consider offering a smaller website aimed directly to our customers, where they could pose questions and get our answers, perhaps even laundry tips. But lock up the owner side of things! Consider it a grassroots "5 star coin laundry" program. call it "www.myfavoritelaundry.com".

[Anonymous]

I found that having a phone number so that it gets listed in the yellow pages is MUCH better advertising than a web page.

[TotoMongo]

Pete, mid to upper income areas are exactly where I plan to market my "wares".

Jim, you may have a point about using the web for local necessities. Even I, who buys many things by PC, dont think I would think of using it to find a launderomat. BUT, once I did, and found out that they could serve my needs - you bet I would use their services.


Highnthemnts, thanks for the Geocities idea! Also, another reason someone may want to use a mat's website is to get monthly statements. Where did I hear recently that advertising in the Yellow pages is a complete waste of time and money?

Thanks for the insight everyone. Much appreciated!
Toto

[fluffy]

I agree with Jim and others on this topic -

I had a website for about 6 months...it was a cool one with music and dancing clothes on a line. It also had other neat links to local weather and information, as well as special laundry coupons, and it cost me about $30 a month. My basic problem was that I could never get the site to be listed by any search engines (I submitted all the tags and stuff to Google too)...so I had about 10 visitors and I think about 5 of those were me (the others were friends of mine I told to check out the site).

I actually wonder if any advertising I've done has been worth the money and am considering dropping my yellow page ad and seeing if that makes any difference.

[Jim]

Toto....sorry but I think you are wrong as far as the yellow pages being a waste of time....no way...

If you, or anyone where looking for a laundromat, where is the first place you are going to look?

Internet....no

Local newspaper....no

Yellow pages..... yes (no I don't work for them)

[mike]

Well,
I checked the counter on my website,
and minus my visits,
and allowing for a few from our friends here,.........NOTHING !!!!

I cancelled my business phones 20 years ago,
so no opportunity for yellow pages :-)

[alyspy66]

Originally posted by Jim
Toto....sorry but I think you are wrong as far as the yellow pages being a waste of time....no way...

If you, or anyone where looking for a laundromat, where is the first place you are going to look?

Internet....no

Local newspaper....no

Yellow pages..... yes (no I don't work for them)

I agree, yellow pages advertising is well worth it, as long as you don't get carried away with the type of ad you choose.

[Jim]

Mike...

Don't feel bad after working for weeks on mine and constantly updating it... I got very little...and like you, I'm sure I was the one making all the hits...


Alyspy...

I agree, I would not get carried away with it either...just a one liner is fine and usually free just because you have a phone number...
With my other business I have a half page ad that is costing me 15k per year....not something I recommend for a laundromat business.

[Neil]

I have a web site but it was more to get the name for an e-mail address. I do post updates on there but I doubt it is getting me any more business.

I do have a page for local guesthouses to request a pick up but it has never been used.