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  • #2154931

    Need your help (ugly webpage and PDF)

    Locked

    by rstan251 ·

    Help!

    I am trying to put together a career training program with some free information.

    I feel like I am operating in a silo here…

    My wife has no idea how to help me because she is not technical and I am unsure if this report is worth a damn.

    Would you mind looking at this and providing me with some feedback?

    FYI – this is not a website but a landing page.

    Let me know what it is missing or what you liked or didn’t like. The page links to a PDF which you can see by hovering your mouse (its not dangerous!):

    http://highpayingcertifications.com/download/

    Regards,

    Robert.
    http://robertmstanley.com/about

All Comments

  • Author
    Replies
    • #2771438

      Not to be suspicious of a question that directs a user to a website….

      by robo_dev ·

      In reply to Need your help (ugly webpage and PDF)

      But we are…..

      • #2771431

        hm…..

        by —tk— ·

        In reply to Not to be suspicious of a question that directs a user to a website….

        Im not touching that with a five foot pole… maybe on my Linux Box I would, but not a chance on a Win Box…

        • #2774728

          It is a pdf

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to hm…..

          point well taken. never considered that it might be seen as a virus….

      • #2771429

        Especially

        by dwatson8791 ·

        In reply to Not to be suspicious of a question that directs a user to a website….

        One with “Download” in the link.

        • #2774720

          thanks

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to Especially

          I adjusted the post to explain that its just a pdf.

          Any recommendation on how I could make this less threatening?

        • #2774594

          lol….

          by —tk— ·

          In reply to thanks

          stick around for a year… offer an opinion or two every now and then… 🙂

        • #2774498

          Not here

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to thanks

          Again, land of the paranoid.

          But even if you offer a TINY URL it will be questioned as people here don’t really know you, at least I don’t.

          Best off to explain a link to the PDF and include teh full URL with the PDF extension instead of just DOWNLOAD, that worries people who fear their save game in WOW may be lost to a virus.

          You can email it to me if you want, ‘ozmedia AT excite DOT com’ . I am in business development and write press copy but I am not a big IT junkie so the tech stuff would have to be reviewed by a technical peer here, plenty ‘O them to go around too!

      • #2774727

        Got it.

        by rstan251 ·

        In reply to Not to be suspicious of a question that directs a user to a website….

        Looks like I need to rethink this approach…

    • #2771426

      Bunch of pu$$ies.

      by oz_media ·

      In reply to Need your help (ugly webpage and PDF)

      Sorry Robert, you’ll get used to the TR crowd, when you’re a geek it’s cool to be paranoid.

      Anyway, I had a look and shortly afterwards my computer had a funny smell to it and my hard drive started uploading all of my company data to a network based in Gayana. My inbox flooded with porn mail and the RCMP is on the way to investigate my child pornography ring, so I thank you for that ayway. LOL 😀

      Actually your “website” offers little information and nothing to look at anyway.

      From what I can see, you are a young guy out to build his online business but unfortunately, and I mean it in the most sincere way, you have no clue what you are doing or how to market ‘nothing’.

      I don’t need a report on 6 figure IT jobs, they bore me. So I don’t know what else you are hoping for. Perhaps you were spamming your company and hoping to pick up some rather stupid yet eager IT wannabe’s (not too many around here) but trying to do it without looking like you were spamming. Perhaps you are a genuine guy who wants to start a busienss but has no idea what he’s doing, valid but you are looking down the wrong road if that’s your case.

      So if you want to show people hwo to make 6 figures in IT, I suggest you first learn how to operate a business yourself and learn some marketing skills; as it is, nobody will be fooled into thinking you are capable of helping anyone, as it is clear you are in desperate need for business help yourself.

      High paying certifications in a constantly fluctuating market? For which week and what year? Sure.

      To conclude, your concept, website and marketing angles are a computing business faux pas. Back to school for you, young man.

      • #2771420

        Probably

        by santeewelding ·

        In reply to Bunch of pu$$ies.

        Not what he wanted to hear, but certainly needs to hear.

        I agree.

        Also, Robert, “accelerate” has only one el.

        • #2771372

          But Doesnt the second

          by the scummy one ·

          In reply to Probably

          L make it faster???

        • #2771366

          Nope

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to But Doesnt the second

          Only when you spell it with an X.
          X’s make everything quicker, bigger, faster.

        • #2774729

          Thanks

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to Probably

          This is why I posted the information. I am looking for feedback. Good and bad.

          Robert.

      • #2774730

        Oops

        by rstan251 ·

        In reply to Bunch of pu$$ies.

        I guess I should have post the PDF as a stand alone document. the page presented is the back end of a sign up process.

        I was really just looking for feedback on the document.

    • #2774724

      Where to begin?

      by charliespencer ·

      In reply to Need your help (ugly webpage and PDF)

      My alarms usually trip when a web site name (highpayingcertifications.com) doesn’t match the company name (Copyright Prosource Inc. 2009). If you want to keep that bloated URL, I suggest registering Prosource.com and pointing the overly long one back to it.

      The first item at the top of the page is the block of text “Member only downloads” that is unaccompanied by either downloads or membership details.

      I’m not clicking on that link for all the dwarfs on Discworld. Why not post the contents of the .PDF as a separate page? Right now the site just doesn’t look trustworthy.

      “More to come…..”

      I suggest you take the page down until that ‘more’ comes.

      Further down the page is the phrase “Stay tuned into your email …” with no method, secure or unsecure, of providing my e-mail address to you.

      “Regards, Robert”

      I don’t take career advice from someone with no last name or professional resume. Maybe those should be the first ‘more’ to come.

      I was going to give you credit for a privacy statement until I actually opened it. First, you’ve pasted the copied ‘boiler plate’ statement twice. Second, each of the two copies references a different ‘opt-out’ e-mail address. Third, neither of those e-mail addresses match your web site’s URL or the company name specified in your copyright. Fourth, first copy indicates the privacy statement is copyrighted to yet another company. Fifth, nowhere is the name of your company actually mentioned; you’re supposed to replace all those italicized ‘the company’ text blocks with a real name.

      Your TOS suffers from most of the same problems as your privacy statement.

      Overall, the site looks like a get-rich-quick scheme. Ty Coughlin on line 1…

      • #2774723

        Thank you

        by rstan251 ·

        In reply to Where to begin?

        Good feedback and the reason that I posted….

        I really do appreciate it.

        It is supposed to be the back end of a sign up form.

        You are correct I did “borrow” the TOS etc… forgot to change all that stuff.

        Any suggestions on eliminating the “get rich quick” aspects?

        • #2774719

          “Borrow?”

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Thank you

          “I did “borrow” the TOS etc…”

          They’re copyrighted. You can’t ‘borrow’ copyrighted material unless you have the owner’s permission. Otherwise, whether you agree with copyright laws or not, it’s theft. Using such material sends the message that you’re both unprofessional and unethical. That contributes to the ‘get rich quick’ aura.

          As to getting rid of that feel, I’d drop the phrase ‘high paying’ completely. It send a message to serious IT professionals that your site is aimed at those interested in gaining certs as quickly as possible so they can append letters to their names on resumes, but have no real-world professional experience or skill. Perhaps ‘get rich quick’ isn’t what it looks like as much as it does a ‘diploma mill’.

        • #2774713

          Re: borrow

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to “Borrow?”

          I pulled it from some free legal forms site or something. I don’t have real terms yet.

          I agree regarding the “high paying” bit. It was intended to draw the new IT person and then redirect them toward proper career planning and information later in the process.

          What do you think a more appealing name might be?

        • #2774488

          Plenty

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Re: borrow

          Go for synonyms that job seekers eat up: Security, stability, successful, financial security. ‘Opportunity’ is a great buzz word. Phrasing? Whee to begin, “build a stable and successful career” “opening doors to sucessful careers” “find stability in an unstable world (market)” “Develop your own lasting career” Don’t try to make it sound like a solution in a bottle, they don’t exist. Make it seem like a guide to self satisfaction. That you can lead people in the right direction, that you have industry secrets that people need in order to get ahead in an inundated marketplace.

          You can’t MAKE anyone successful, you can show them the path though. It’s the old ‘leading a horse to water’ routine.

          You don’t want to sound like some sort of two bit dog and pony show.

          (wow all this talk of horse and ponies, how can you tell I’m Jonesing for the track! Two weekends away is killing me, I’ll be near Seattle on the weekend, must find a little Emerald Downs time somehow; sorry, thinking on the keyboard again).

          anyway,

          The key here is to identify and answer people’s needs. When you are unemployed, what questions do you ask yourself? What do YOU seek out in an advertisement or employment opportunity?

          What makes you go, ‘yeah, sure’ and turn the page?

          If yuo are planning on mass marketing your website, paid positioning, spamming email etc. You can go in with the hard close, make money now, ‘click here immediately’ ‘you could be making money as you read this’…etc.

          If you are planning on working the slow and sure route of proper web positioning, keyword weighting and tag balancing for individual search engines, target your audience by identifying their needs first and be very careful in your phrasing to not sound two-bit.

        • #2774494

          Get rich quick

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Thank you

          Its tricky but there are many ways to make a deal sound relevant and unique without sounding like Tom Vu.

          I’d really have to read the full doc and get a feel for your services before offering any marketing angles/copy though.

          Its not something you can just throw together or use a cookie cutter formula on, otherwise you will always sound like someone else. Sure you can mope about teh internet and find all kinds of examples to copy or extract from, but that’s ot effective either.

          The fact that you are stuck here, in this particular part of your business development process is a bit worryign though, do you have experienced partners that can giude you through this too? It’s going to be a long, ongoing process of testing and tweaking, not a fire and forget business for you.

          this is exactly why many good ideas fail, they just don’t have the right BDM working on them or the business owner decides to save that money and do it himself, it can’t be that hard right? Wrong.

          Again sorry for teh negatives but it is almost like you’re biting off more than you can chew, I think you need to find a partner or business development manager to get this going for you. (No, I am not just seeking a new BDM job for myself, well not in the US anyway)

    • #2774705

      Robert

      by santeewelding ·

      In reply to Need your help (ugly webpage and PDF)

      This is beginning to look like overhanging debt with you in need of a bailout.

      Kill the damned thing.

      Invest your own reasoned capital. Swear off borrowing. Go to your own cupboard. If you find it empty, do something else.

      • #2774704

        Hmm

        by rstan251 ·

        In reply to Robert

        And your feedback is…

        ….give up?

        • #2774702

          I said nothing of the sort.

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to Hmm

          I said, “something else”.

          Had I meant, “fluck off and die”, I would have said so.

          You are clever and articulate enough to divert and redouble your efforts. You are not clever and articulate enough to push what you are doing, which is, hat-in-hand handout.

        • #2774692

          ……?

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to I said nothing of the sort.

          I wish text, email, etc could express vocal tone…. I certainly don’t want to come off as needy or in need of a handout.

          And… I definitely would like to convey some humility here.

          My apologies.

          Just interested in feedback. Perhaps I should resort to interpersonal communication methods….

        • #2774689

          Most of us don’t take kindly to those

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to ……?

          if we haven’t first established a relationship here on the boards.

        • #2774483

          LOL, and that is Santeewelding.

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to ……?

          nice to see you’ve met. YOU can get a copy of Santeewelding’s tape oin the lobby or listen to his online interview in this week’s Tech Republic Member Spotlight, link on the front page.

          Santee is a very articulate person, extremely insigthful and polite but always a trick to understand.

          Look for the meaning/feel of what is said rather than the words used.

        • #2774477

          Reading santee is like watching ‘Kung Fu’

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to LOL, and that is Santeewelding.

          Remember the flashback sequences, when Cain would remember the wise counsel and insightful messages of his blind mentor, and suddenly realize how those sayings applied to his current situation? santee’s proverbs are like that, just without the wisdom or insight 😀

        • #2774475

          LOL

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Reading santee is like watching ‘Kung Fu’

          I thought you were going to say the lips move out of synch with the audio. 😀

          Santee’s actually starting to grow on me, like what I am not sure, perhaps some sort of fungi. However I find that the more thought I put into reading the posts, the more Confucious makes sense to me.

          There you go, Santee is TR’s very own, live fortune cookie!

        • #2774422

          If I am

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to Reading santee is like watching ‘Kung Fu’

          That makes you, Oz, a box of chocolates.

        • #2774412

          You never know what youre gonna get

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Reading santee is like watching ‘Kung Fu’

          Oh well, keeps people on their toes and typically defensive.

          “Jenny: Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you’re gonna be?
          Forrest: Who I’m gonna be?
          Jenny: Yeah.
          Forrest: Aren’t I going to be me? ”

          “Mamma said they were my magic shooooes. She said they’d take me anywhere I wanted to go.”

          LOL!

        • #2774403

          Fortune cookies, chocolates, proverbs?

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Reading santee is like watching ‘Kung Fu’

          Confections. No wonder I hang here…

        • #2774396

          Never tried a proverb before

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Reading santee is like watching ‘Kung Fu’

          Do they stick to your teeth like toffee does?

          Toffee: What the rest of the world calls
          TAFFY.

          ‘A hungry man is an angry man.’ Hmm, they are a bit dry.

    • #2774698

      Couldn’t the pdf, got a 403 error.

      by boxfiddler ·

      In reply to Need your help (ugly webpage and PDF)

      So I read your bio. Pretty hypey. If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were God.

      • #2774697

        Bio

        by rstan251 ·

        In reply to Couldn’t the pdf, got a 403 error.

        It is a bit hollywood but that is what Bios are…..an advertisement.

        I am actually a pretty normal dude. Just trying to get some feeback. So far, just getting slammed here..

        • #2774694

          There has been some constructive feedback.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Bio

          It may not have been what you wanted to hear, or put the way you expected. But it’s here.

        • #2774690

          Feedback

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to There has been some constructive feedback.

          I can handle constructive feedback.

          It is apparent that I have not presented enough information to actually receive what I am expecting.

          I need head back to the drawing board and return with v 2.0.

        • #2774687

          That sounds like a plan…. < nt >

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Feedback

          Needs salt, far as I can tell.

        • #2774632

          Let us know when 2.0 is ready.

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to Feedback

          In the meantime, look around and find some web sites you think convey the tone and emphasis you’d like to emulate. Notice the fonts, graphics, phrasing, etc. MS offers some canned web site templates you can download; examine some of those.

          If your primary emphasis right now is on the content in the .PDF, why not post that here, or as the direct target of your link here? How long is it? As someone else noted, we’re a bit of a suspicious lot here. We also rarely respond to peer mails from new members until we’ve gotten comfortable with you. Also, taking at topic off-line in a peer mail deprives other readers of the entire conversation.

        • #2774560

          re: 2.0

          by rstan251 ·

          In reply to Let us know when 2.0 is ready.

          Appreciate the feedback, the advice regarding trust and off-line conversations.

          I will be back with a new version soon…

          -rs

        • #2774410

          Or as Daffy would say

          by oz_media ·

          In reply to Feedback

          MAAAAAAAAAAKEUP!!!

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