My Web Site
About 3 years ago I was still using the web site created for me by Frontier in Rochester New York. Knowing very little about the creation, development, optimization and value of a web site I figured it was what it was. The site rarely generated any calls and cost the agency $15.00 per month, that of course is in addition to the initial set up cost which I believe was a few hundred dollars.
My “real” marketing efforts consisted of phone book listings, magazine ads, cold calling and letter campaigns, none of which brought the agency any great results (mild at best).
About three years ago I brought John Kelly on board as Vice President of the agency. Kelly’s role was and is IT and marketing. Kelly immediately went to work making adjustments to the agency web site. As he made these changes I assisted by providing him with content and details about the collection industry. Kelly took over hosting of the agency site and I cancelled our contract with Frontier. The site began to take shape and as Kelly continued to develop it and he explained each step to me as he went along.
My understanding of web sites and the necessity of one soared and I felt like I had entered the world of technology. Once the site became active it began to take on a life of its own. The site had become my marketing tool. I began receiving calls on a daily basis and since the site upgrade my client base has quadrupled. My marketing dollars are now solely devoted to the web site and its optimization.
I owe the success of my site to John Kelly. Without his guidance I would still have a worthless site that no one sees or utilizes. The site is now interactive and a great resource to current and potential clients. I offer a blog that clients can read and make comments to and my monthly newsletters are archived on my site. My agreement and placement form is on line and can be downloaded and completed by clients. Debtors can now go to our on line payment page at www.forgot2pay.com and make secured payments.
John Kelly has decided to not only offer his services to Your Collection Solution, LLC but to offer them to businesses all over who need his expertise. He has started his own business called 6X6 Design , LLC. He has already developed and optimized web sites for a number of small businesses including a commercial cleaning company, a social worker and an attorney. He can be reached through his web site (which is under construction at the time of this post) at www.6×6Design.com.
About the author: Jan Conte is the President of Your Collection Solution, LLC, a debt collection agency out of Newtown, Pennsylvania. She has over twenty years experience in the debt collection industry. You can find more of her articles at www.yourcollectionsolution.com/blog/.