|
| |
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
 |
Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 13:48:47
If I could go back 4 years I would hire someone to design my site instead of do it myself. I tried to reinvent the wheel and failed miserably time after time, not to mention used hundreds of hours of my time.
I still haven't hired a pro to design a site for me although the thought has occurred to me. The only thing is, I dislike the vast majority of designs that I've seen on designer's sites; even the award winners!
Any suggestions for my site?
Does the swish move load quick enough?
Is there too much information or not enough?
Please don't sugar coat your comments. I don't know anymore whether I like or dislike my site.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
|
|
|
|
dpf
Posts: 7123
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 14:01:11
I kind of like it but...(you knew that was coming) Im not a fan of changing headers after first page which you do. first page loaded quick but first link i clicked was slow. i think the home page header and internal (and i would pick one for all pages) are too high vertically - they eat up too much space - otherwise I like it
_____________________________
Dan
| |
|
|
|
golfer
Posts: 1767
Joined: 1/5/2005
From: Bath, Wiltshire, UK
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 14:17:06
Hi Bill
I like your site. It comes over as professional and attracted me to look further.
I feel that the navigation throughout the site should be more consistant. The home page and bond page are different to the others.
As I am no expert in your market I could only suggest that you should state what sort of client you are aimimg at and in what location local/state/nationwide.
Your opening page dives straight into what I see as the 'heavy bits'. Why not lead them down the track into the site as some prospective clients will need a softly softly approach.
Is your site being visited? Are you wanting to drive more business from it or do you see it as a marketing support tool. If the former you may wish to consider maintaining the basic essence of the site and have a look at SEO initiatives to see if you can improve your page rankings.
Hope this helps
_____________________________
Ian
'You'll miss me when I've gone'
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 15:18:19
quote:
I kind of like it but...(you knew that was coming) Im not a fan of changing headers after first page which you do
I'm not a big fan of changing headers either but that's the way the template came. I don't know if I want swish movies (currently on the Home page) on all pages. You've made me consider something though that I've never thought about. Thanks.
quote:
I feel that the navigation throughout the site should be more consistant. The home page and bond page are different to the others.
As I am no expert in your market I could only suggest that you should state what sort of client you are aimimg at and in what location local/state/nationwide.
Your opening page dives straight into what I see as the 'heavy bits'. Why not lead them down the track into the site as some prospective clients will need a softly softly approach.
Is your site being visited? Are you wanting to drive more business from it or do you see it as a marketing support tool. If the former you may wish to consider maintaining the basic essence of the site and have a look at SEO initiatives to see if you can improve your page rankings.
The site is for prospective clients that I already know about; referrals or people I've already contacted.
I recently deleted about 75% of the text on the site because it was too much and over many people's heads, so to speak.
My intention of reducing the volume of text was to be clear as to what I do and how I do it. That's why I don't take the softer approach. (maybe i should)
Most portfolio managers use subjective methods to pick stocks. My methods remove my emotions and is one of my main selling points.
The performance figures are on the home page to get client's attention, and quickly. Performance and trust is all people care about.
Your comment about page rankings has me thinking. I know nothing about page rankings nor how to increase them. Got any suggestions on how I can educate myself on rankings?
| |
|
|
|
dpf
Posts: 7123
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 17:17:40
www.searchenginewatch.com
_____________________________
Dan
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 18:30:01
Thanks a bunch for the site referral. It seems a bit over my head but it's a start.
I joined their forum and had no idea about what they were talking.
| |
|
|
|
dpf
Posts: 7123
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/20/2006 19:53:23
quote:
I joined their forum and had no idea about what they were talking. well many us felt that way when we started here....lol. skip their forums - there are some good begnner things - look at the bottom of home page der "our departments"
_____________________________
Dan
| |
|
|
|
anderskorte
Posts: 545
Joined: 2/20/2005
From: Finland
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/21/2006 8:54:52
I've seen this website here before and I'm going to make the same recommendation.
The website has a wonderful design. The final touch would be not to use something as common as Arial for the headings. It would make your site really stand out.
If I was your designer, I would use this font for the navigation on the homepage (About Us, Services...), this font for the other text-as-images on the site, then this and this font for the “Our only focus is you” animations on the subpages.
You may not see the reason for this. The difference is subtle, but makes an impact.
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/21/2006 11:53:34
Don't the people viewing a font on a site have to have the same font installed on their computer for them to see it?
I've never heard of that font that you recommended and it's no in my font inventory.
| |
|
|
|
golfer
Posts: 1767
Joined: 1/5/2005
From: Bath, Wiltshire, UK
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/21/2006 13:34:25
quote:
My intention of reducing the volume of text was to be clear as to what I do and how I do it. That's why I don't take the softer approach. (maybe i should)
Bill
Softer approach does not mean that you have to increase word volume to the proportions you mentioned.
quote:
Most portfolio managers use subjective methods to pick stocks. My methods remove my emotions and is one of my main selling points.
Should that be stated on your front page then.
quote:
The performance figures are on the home page to get client's attention, and quickly. Performance and trust is all people care about.
Absolutely right Bill. However the graph means nothing to me and I don't think people look at them. Why not state that your results etc have performed better than 'xyz'.
These are just comments Bill and are from an outsider looking in.
I hope they are helpful
_____________________________
Ian
'You'll miss me when I've gone'
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/21/2006 14:45:22
quote:
Absolutely right Bill. However the graph means nothing to me and I don't think people look at them. Why not state that your results etc have performed better than 'xyz'.
It's taken almost 20 years in this business for someone to say that to me: "...the graph means nothing to me."
Wow. My entire life involves math, especially investment math. My performance chart on the home page does not press the visitor's greed button (to get his attention) as it is intended to do. Wow.
***falls out of his chair
That might be a problem since one of my major selling points is that my stock picking methods do not involve special skills that I may or may not possess. The whole point is, models beat human forecasters. The point is, you don't want your emotions involved (nor mine) in selecting stocks. Uhg.
See, a part of the problem is that Wall Street spends billions of advertizing dollars to convince the investing public that investing is an art, when the fact is, it is a science.
I really appreciate your comments.
Now I have to do some thinking and possibly major editing.
| |
|
|
|
anderskorte
Posts: 545
Joined: 2/20/2005
From: Finland
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/21/2006 15:53:20
quote:
ORIGINAL: billoutfrontforum
Don't the people viewing a font on a site have to have the same font installed on their computer for them to see it?
No, if you have the text imported in a flash object, like you have now.
quote:
I've never heard of that font that you recommended and it's no in my font inventory.
I know. That's why you must purchase any typefaces you use in design work. That's how I as a designer do it, I buy custom type then just add the price to the final bill, like any other third-party services I may have used in the process. Custom type is usually only up to 80€ total, but usually something around 20€.
Akzidenz-Grotesk is a popular and very widely-used typeface. It was designed in 1896, long before Helvetica or Arial.
EDIT: All in all, it's just a suggestion. Actually very few web designers use custom type in their work, but when they do it correctly, the results are always great to look at.
| |
|
|
|
golfer
Posts: 1767
Joined: 1/5/2005
From: Bath, Wiltshire, UK
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/21/2006 18:26:36
quote:
That might be a problem since one of my major selling points is that my stock picking methods do not involve special skills that I may or may not possess. The whole point is, models beat human forecasters. The point is, you don't want your emotions involved (nor mine) in selecting stocks.
Is that a problem? I would think is a unique selling factor. Brutal/unemotional business decisions on behalf of the client.
A graph is just a comparison table. It looks good but is possibly not clear to the majority of your visitors. (Bullshit baffles brains syndrome).
Ordinary punters would think "so what? That is where short factual sentences are better.
Ah the joys of me being retired from Sales and Marketing in the Financial Services sector and stand back from the work face.
_____________________________
Ian
'You'll miss me when I've gone'
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/22/2006 11:17:36
OK, now I'm confused. You are retired from sales and marketing in the financial services area and the performance table on my home page is still a mystery to you?
Your suggestion of "short, factual sentences" I think might be a good one. Thanks.
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 13:20:17
quote:
predicting future trends and events IS art - not science. you can apply statistical analysis to past trends to make more reasoned judgements but it is still art - if it were science, the predictions would be 100% (just pressing your buttons a tad)
No buttons pressed here because you jumped to an incorrect conclusion.
Nobody is "predicting future trends and events" nor doing anything to make "more reasoned judgements." In fact, there are no judgements made by me or any other human being.
Resulting stocks are from facts, not colorful stories, hunches, or from anything else subjective.
The funny thing is, clients seem to grasp models quicker than the glorified salespeople that are casually refer to as stockbrokers. That is no surprise since brokers are trained to sell packaged products that make the most for their company; not the investor. They are not taught much, if anything, about models. They sure as heck are not taught much about money management.
In fact, stockbrokers are not even legally obligated to always give advice that is in the investor's best interest. If that isn't a scary thought, I don't know what is.
Brokerages approach investing as an art. That's why there can be 10 analysts with "strong buy ratings" on a stock and 10 analysts with "hold" and "sell" ratings on the same stock. Too many people are making too much money from the status quo that "investing is an art."
Models are science, not art. If you want to split hairs, science is not science either. The fact that smokers have a much higher incidence of cancer can be argued against too (especially by cigarette companies) but it's as close to being science as God is going to allow. But that belongs in a philosophy forum.
Now that I think about it, buttons were pressed; but not about facts versus your misconceptions. Your comments have reminded me that what is so plain and simple for a professional manager to understand can be like a blind man trying to read a billboard sign from a thousand paces.
I forget that many people "tune out" as soon as they see numbers.
That could be more important than the layout of my site. Thanks for reminding me of yet another fact.
< Message edited by billoutfrontforum -- 6/23/2006 13:37:07 >
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 13:38:51
quote:
I wasn't in your field thats why.
I have been pumped full of stats by various organisations of the years and strangely they always appear to be the best.
Ahhh, I jumped to conclusions on this one. Financial services does cover a lot of territory, doesn't it?
I'm getting great feedback. Thanks for yours.
| |
|
|
|
dpf
Posts: 7123
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 13:39:36
quote:
Past performance does not guarantee future performance
_____________________________
Dan
| |
|
|
|
dpf
Posts: 7123
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 13:46:04
quote:
Nobody is "predicting future trends and events" nor doing anything to make "more reasoned judgements." In fact, there are no judgements made by me or any other human being. dice words all you want but you are in fact using models in an attempt to predict future events: whether stocks will rise or fall. isnt that what you sell? i have no quarrel with your method or your business model. so if you are saying that you make decisions entirely (100%) based upon mathematical models and never temper that with anything else, I will accept that you apply the best available science and no art. can you make that claim? 100% of the time?
quote:
I forget that many people "tune out" as soon as they see numbers. ...I don't.
_____________________________
Dan
| |
|
|
|
golfer
Posts: 1767
Joined: 1/5/2005
From: Bath, Wiltshire, UK
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 19:01:55
quote:
Thanks for yours.
No problem Bill. Good luck.
_____________________________
Ian
'You'll miss me when I've gone'
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 21:28:22
quote:
dice words all you want but you are in fact using models in an attempt to predict future events: whether stocks will rise or fall. isn't that what you sell? i have no quarrel with your method or your business model. so if you are saying that you make decisions entirely (100%) based upon mathematical models and never temper that with anything else, I will accept that you apply the best available science and no art. can you make that claim? 100% of the time?
Sorry to disappoint you but: No, I'm not slicing or dicing words. I'm not attempting to predict future events.
You don't have a clue as to what I sell but I sure do admire your overconfidence when you thought you did understand what I sell.
And yes, 100% of the time is my claim, give or take 0%.
I think that might be why my average client has been with me 16 years. You reckon?
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 21:40:06
quote:
Past performance does not guarantee future performance
Sometimes past performance does guarantee future performance, friend. It depends on what type of security you're talking about and the circumstances relating to the markets and economics. Investments are much more predicatable than you think.
I can guarantee that a 5% investment grade bond that matures in 30 years will drop in value from $1,000/bond to about $714.28 when long-term interest rates rise from 5% to 7%. That's a guaranteed loss of 28%. And if rates go down from 5% to 3% that same bond will rise to be worth about $1,666.
Investment returns always revert to their long-term mean.
Not sometimes, but always.
Unfortunately, Wall Street is adept at serving Kool-aide.
< Message edited by billoutfrontforum -- 6/23/2006 22:17:42 >
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/23/2006 22:43:16
quote:
I have always wondered about stock brokers (& horse racing tipsters for they are in the same business). No offence to Bill meant here by the way.
I'm not a stockbroker, but I was at one time.
I'm a licensed, registered investment advisor. I went from public accounting to Merrill Lynch, in 1986, as a stockbroker. At that time, and possibly still, their training program was regarded as the best Wall Street had to offer. It took about three days before, to my horror, I realized what this job informally called "stockbroker" really consisted of.
Stockbrokers are glorified salespeople; that's it. They are not taught to be money managers.
In addition, advisors are fiduciaries; brokers are not.
Brokerage company Edward D. Jones is straightforward about what a stockbroker is, on their website. See the FAQ "Is the work difficult?"
The psudonyms "financial counselor", "financial advisor", "account executive", "investment agent," and others that brokerages call their brokers are to look pretty and be confusing on business cards.
They are taught the bare bones of investing basics and learn to repeat features and benefits like chanting mantras. Features, benefits, close. That's it.
The way they are compensated doesn't help the investor's cause either.
When I was a broker, we made either less than $40,000 or more than $65,000. There was no middle ground because they pay brokers a retroactive, and higher, percentage of revenues as revenues rise over the year.
For example: The broker makes, say, 20% of sales (commissions) up to $199,999. That's $40,000 for the salesman.
When he hits $200,000 he gets 37.5% on the entire $200,000. That's $65,000.
And then they have another carrot to chase at $250,000, $300,000, and so forth.
The low producing brokers were treated horribly disrespectful by management and the churners like royalty. It's all about profits...for the brokerage.
Also, brokers get paid higher commissions on packaged products. They face situations daily as in this example:
(1) Invest Mrs. Jones' $200,000 in a "so so" mutual fund that going to produce an $8,000 commission and a trail fee of 1% per year, or
(2) Invest Mrs. Jones' $200,000 in a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds geared towards total return that will produce commissions of $3,000 and no trail fee.
It's a culture that seeks after sociopaths and rewards them handsomely for their dirty deeds.
It's pretty scary but it's just the way it is. Getting advice from the same people who receive the commission is a recipe for disaster.
< Message edited by billoutfrontforum -- 6/23/2006 22:55:00 >
| |
|
|
|
dpf
Posts: 7123
Joined: 11/12/2003
From: India-napolis
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/24/2006 12:12:08
quote:
You don't have a clue as to what I sell but I sure do admire your overconfidence when you thought you did understand what I sell. well I will ignore all of your little petty insults and self congradulatory proclamations and also back out of any debate re your business but i will add one "on-topic" comment about your site - i read your site carefully and if it is true that I "don't have a clue as to what I sell", what does that say about the content of your site?
_____________________________
Dan
| |
|
|
|
billoutfrontforum
Posts: 78
Joined: 10/22/2005
Status: offline
|
RE: Any suggestions for my site? - 6/26/2006 9:22:22
quote:
well I will ignore all of your little petty insults and self congradulatory proclamations and also back out of any debate re your business but i will add one "on-topic" comment about your site - i read your site carefully and if it is true that I "don't have a clue as to what I sell", what does that say about the content of your site?
First, tone is often lost in these posts. You read WAY TOO MUCH into what I said. It was friendly sparring, I can assure you. If it wasn't, you'd know.
Second, I'm the one that has no clue as to what you are talking about when you say "self congratulatory proclamations." My intent was not to toot my own horn but to reveal the ugly facts behind the brokerage business. I sincerely hope you looked at the Edward D. Jones website that I mentioned above.
***scratches his bald head and looks back at what he wrote that could be viewed as self-congratulatory
That you haven't a clue about what I sell is at least mostly my fault. When you ask me for the time, I tend to tell you how to build a watch! That's one of my many faults. My family can confirm that. The older I get, the more I turn into my father. So goes life.
In fact, if I was a good communicator on paper my site message would be clear and you probably would have never made your comment about predicting the future that started this off topic discussion in the first place.
I learned long ago that when you point your finger at someone else, it's wise to look at whom your other 3 fingers are pointed.
Since you carefully read my site, I welcome any and all other comments--especially constructive criticism--you can offer.
I apologize if my enthusiasm for my operation came across too strong. I really do appreciate your comments, especially the ones with which I took issue. You've made me think, and that's usually a good thing.
I'm just thankful for these types of forums.
| |
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts
|
|
|
Printable Version 
