Simple/free Web Presence for a small business?

[ERD50]

Not for me, but for a business I contract with for my snowplowing.

I talked to the owner today, and said I'd really like him to get a web page up just for announcements. The main reason would be to announce if/when they are going to plow for a specific event. When we get a light snow, I'm never sure if they are going to plow or not, since it's on the 'edge' of meeting their minimum. And if they aren't, I might want to shovel so it doesn't turn to ice later or get packed down.

Sounds like he is not a technical guy, and I had suggested that Facebook should be easy, but it looks like they don't allow for a total blocking of comments, so that could be a maintenance issue. And since he does everything by snail-mail, at this point he'd have to send out something in the next mailing to let people be aware of it, but I could at least post to "NextDoor" site to get the word out to those people.

I looked at Google business pages, that might fit? Any other ideas?

I see that Google has "blogspot", that looks easy, I set up a test account, and you can disable comments (only admin and named editors allowed), but it still shows "comment", but then stops you if you aren't on the list.

Here's my test page to test the concept, very easy to set up and post:

https://testing-for-snowplow.blogspot.com/

Anything better out there?


-TIA -ERD50

 

[rodi]

A friend uses wix for a free platform to post stuff for volunteers she organizes.

Downside - it is bandwidth limited. So as long as your snowplow guy doesn't load a lot of graphics (which would increase the bandwidth as people go to the site and have to load the images) it would work well.

blogspot is also a good solution.

 

[rodi]

Oh - also, Weebly.

Free. Several teachers I know used weebly until the school district made the interface for the school's teacher pages easier to use.

 

[Jerry1]

Sounds like something an email blast would be good for. All he’d have to do is manage an phone list/group.

 

[target2019]

Every system needs an admin.

There are a multitude of uses for a simple "broadcast" system. I can think of several ways to solve this, but each requires testing periodically, or how do you know the message will get through? That is the bane of tech. Will it work when you need it.

 

[OldShooter]

Sounds like something an email blast would be good for. All he’d have to do is manage an phone list/group.

+1

 

[pb4uski]

Sounds like something an email blast would be good for. All he’d have to do is manage an phone list/group.

+2

 

[pb4uski]

.... Sounds like he is not a technical guy ...

Sounds like my plow guy. His monthly billing is that he calls each customer on the first of the month (or thereabouts) and lets them know how many times he plowed in the previous month and what they owe him. If nobody answers then he leaves a message.

One of my previous plow guys would do a handwritten "bill" on a ~3x5 slip for each customer and then hand deliver them. Talk about a waste of gas!

 

[OldShooter]

Every system needs an admin.

There are a multitude of uses for a simple "broadcast" system. I can think of several ways to solve this, but each requires testing periodically, or how do you know the message will get through? That is the bane of tech. Will it work when you need it.

For the small list he will have, it can be handled by any mail reader. Outlook, etc. Messages can be sent with requested return receipts to verify that the message went out.

Services like Constant Contact or MailChimp would work too, but are like killing an ant with a hammer IMO.

And if there is a problem once in a great while, so what? These messages are not announcing incoming ICBMs.

 

[Aerides]

Mailchimp for newsletters (not free but not expensive).

A social presence - if not FC then Instagram, is really needed for any business.

 

[target2019]

Plow guy earns dollars by plowin' not tweetin'

Show him the money and he will come.

 

[HenryD]

WordPress has a free plan, suitable for a one-pager. DW and I admin a few small charity sites between us, including one that small. Probably no better/worse than Blogspot.

 

[gauss]

If he does put up a web page AND if he includes a contact form he will need to monitor it just like his phone.

I recently used my lawn service's new web site to request a quote for fertilizer in 2021 and leaf service in 2020.

I didn't hear anything back and am thus annoyed! - Negative return for them.

The thing that annoys me the most is that they are always mailing me letters telling me about their good rates on fertilizer (implying that they want to expand their business in this area).

-gauss

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Sounds like something an email blast would be good for. All he’d have to do is manage an phone list/group.

+++ Always better to make it a push-to-clients action

- BB

 

[ERD50]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I was surprised to see so many after I got back from running errands.

The google blogspot does look good for what he needs, I'll check out some of the similar suggestions.

I can't imagine he'd want to create and maintain an email list for this purpose (I wouldn't). It's for nothing more than notices of plowing/timing for those who want to check up on the if/when for a specific snowfall. There wouldn't be emails for any other purpose, and I imagine many of his customers wouldn't care, so won't use it.

It wouldn't be a "broadcast" system, and no comment section - its for people to check status when they want. Like I check the weather or the stock market when I want.

Simply posting to a free site, with a note of the url in his bills would be all he would need to do, and just a one/two liner posted if there is any news to share about the plowing. It's not to drum up business, or for comments or anything else. KISS!

-ERD50

 

[OldShooter]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I was surprised to see so many after I got back from running errands.

The google blogspot does look good for what he needs, I'll check out some of the similar suggestions.

I can't imagine he'd want to create and maintain an email list for this purpose (I wouldn't). It's for nothing more than notices of plowing/timing for those who want to check up on the if/when for a specific snowfall. There wouldn't be emails for any other purpose, and I imagine many of his customers wouldn't care, so won't use it.

It wouldn't be a "broadcast" system, and no comment section - its for people to check status when they want. Like I check the weather or the stock market when I want.

Simply posting to a free site, with a note of the url in his bills would be all he would need to do, and just a one/two liner posted if there is any news to share about the plowing. It's not to drum up business, or for comments or anything else. KISS!

-ERD50

He doesn't want to grow his business? As a pro bono small business mentor I would discourage a client from this type of very limiting approach. HisMMV, obviously.

 

[ERD50]

He doesn't want to grow his business? As a pro bono small business mentor I would discourage a client from this type of very limiting approach. HisMMV, obviously.

That's up to him. I'm just trying to make him aware that his customers (at least me) would like some feedback on the plowing schedule, and that this is an easy low tech way to do it.

For all I know, he has all the business he wants to handle this way. Growing past a certain point means bringing on more people, covering more territory, and that isn't always a step someone wants to make.

Hah, I was even going to suggest the old "Dial-a-Joke" system - he could just put a prerecorded message on an answering machine or voice-mail, and update it when snow is approaching.

-ERD50

 

[RobbieB]

Brought back memories. When Pops was living back in Michigan he hired a guy when he got tired of the grind. It was a guy with a plow on the front of a 4WD pickup. No company name on the truck either.

The deal was you want the service for the season you pay in advance. You got X number of visits for that fee. If the snow was a certain depth, the service was automatic. If you wanted a "clean up" you called and he would come. Visits over the X amount were charged for. Visits under the X number were not refunded.

I don't think the guy was looking for additional business either.

 

[target2019]

The simplest method I can dream up for a contractor is to establish a text message system that can broadcast to folks who sign up for it. Text Message Broadcast - search that.

Another alternative would be a web status page that updates with a text message you send...

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

The simplest method I can dream up for a contractor is to establish a text message system that can broadcast to folks who sign up for it. Text Message Broadcast - search that.

Another alternative would be a web status page that updates with a text message you send...

IMO, having managed online accounts, email, text, or Twitter are best for status updates. A website is overkill, as the older status updates aren't usually of interest to anyone after the next one or two come out, but I suppose it could work, too, even if it only lists the most recent or three most recent updates, but it should be more than just plain text, so someone would need to design a template.

A lot of food trucks use Twitter to announce their schedule, so apparently it is a good platform for that kind of thing. However, customers might be comfortable with email or texts, especially if the service area skews older.

I actually set up and managed Mailchimp for a Federal agency's email newsletters, and while it can be a pain to set up nice templates and forms, it's very easy to manage once everything is set up, and IMO it's worth it to have the forms and templates done right.

 

[Jerry1]

I like the Twitter idea. Contractor just has to type in a few words when he’s plowing and if you want to know it, follow him.

 

[ERD50]

Brought back memories. When Pops was living back in Michigan he hired a guy when he got tired of the grind. It was a guy with a plow on the front of a 4WD pickup. No company name on the truck either.

The deal was you want the service for the season you pay in advance. You got X number of visits for that fee. If the snow was a certain depth, the service was automatic. If you wanted a "clean up" you called and he would come. Visits over the X amount were charged for. Visits under the X number were not refunded.

I don't think the guy was looking for additional business either.

That describes my guy *exactly*. He has a few drivers, not sure how many, but I don't get the impression he's trying to expand beyond where he is today. But that's his business, I'm just trying to encourage him to post updates and I figure the simpler I can make that for him the more likely he is to oblige.

IMO, having managed online accounts, email, text, or Twitter are best for status updates. A website is overkill, as the older status updates aren't usually of interest to anyone after the next one or two come out, but I suppose it could work, too, even if it only lists the most recent or three most recent updates, but it should be more than just plain text, so someone would need to design a template. ...

There is a lot of overthinking going on here, IMO. Why does it need to be anything more than plain text with any sort of custom designed "template" (other than the standard blogspot look)? It's just a simple status message. The blogspot puts the recent post at the top, and you can define how many per page, the older ones just get pushed to the back pages.

ETA: Isn't this adequate (my mock up)? https://testing-for-snowplow.blogspot.com/

The simplest method I can dream up for a contractor is to establish a text message system that can broadcast to folks who sign up for it. Text Message Broadcast - search that.

Another alternative would be a web status page that updates with a text message you send...

Blogspot can be updated over email. You set up a "secret" email address that includes your gmail account name in the name, with some added characters for a bit of security.

Again, I'm not sure everyone wants to be alerted of every update. This is more FYI - if I want to know I check the blog. And I imagine people would be calling him - "I don't know how to sign up, I didn't get the text/email, etc". The blog is just a web site to go to.

So Blogspot looks pretty good, seems to do what he would need and simply. I'll check out some of the similar types when I get some time.

Appreciate all the feedback. -ERD50

 

[ERD50]

I like the Twitter idea. Contractor just has to type in a few words when he’s plowing and if you want to know it, follow him.

Twitter could work, but does everyone have a Twitter account (I'm assuming the customer demographic would at least lean towards some older non-techy types)?

It just seems to me checking a web page (the blogger page or similar) as needed is the most basic of all operations. No other app required. If someone isn't tech savvy enough for that, then they just aren't going to do anything I think.

-ERD50

 

[Sunset]

OP - I have to wonder, perhaps you are the only customer who want's to know if he is coming so you can decide to shovel/not.

If so, maybe he could phone you if he is not coming.

 

[target2019]

I like the Twitter idea. Contractor just has to type in a few words when he’s plowing and if you want to know it, follow him.

If the contractor's admin is running it, I would try it. People can tweet back, and that could be a problem for contractor. He'll have to clean up the app, like turn off push notifications and so on.

I would try it, just to see how annoying free can be.