Name of your website?Havivg tire problems? Wheel alignment not working?
Your name?
Jerry W. Hastings
Your Location (city, etc)
564 Nevada 11 Emmet, AR
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Our site offers a book written by a master truck technician and also offers local mentoring. The subjects of the book (and mentoring) are tire wear diagnostics, wheel alignment, suspension repair, steering components and steering gear repair, etc. Innovative subjects few wheel alignment personel practice or understand are throughout this book. This book is written for all trucks, RVs and buses.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I had 20 plus years unique experience in the fields listed. I put this experience in a reader friendly book. Publishing a new book by a new author is cost prohibitive so, in view of the fact that ebooks are rapidly taking the place of convential books, I decided to offer my book on my website as a downloadable ebook.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Mid July 2007. The website listed here is my only website at the moment.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
Really by both choice of keywords and subject matter of the book offered. Since there are not any really comparable items being sold on the Internet, I must market it according to content. Most ebooks with a similar subject content offered on the Internet are vague or of an unfriendly text loaded with technical jargon or outright untruths, especially the free ones.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
This book is not some reference material or something necessarily taught in a classroom somewhere but came out of the head of the experienced author. It contains knowledge you can't get out of a classroom, real world knowledge. The author's experiences are wide ranging taking in commercial driving, wheel alignment, frame repair, steering gear repair, suspension repair, drivelines and driveline angles, dynamic wheel balancing, tire truing and the list goes on. Most wheel alignment technicians do not have anywhere near these different experiences and therefore they are not capable of providing results that make all the difference in the world where tire wear and vehicle handling are concerned.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My eventual goal will depend on whether or not I can effectively market the book myself. If I can effectively market it, then I will likely keep it for income, but if the offer from someone else is good enough and I lack in the ability to adequately market it, I will then sell it.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
It's too soon to tell. Right now there is no way to tell what the outcome will be.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would hit every pay per click market out there and place ads in every truck and RV publication as well as every directory on the web. I would use flyers placed at strategic locations such as truck stops, etc. I would NOT use email or similar techniques as I view these as an invasion of privacy.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Absolutely. That's the pretty part of offering the book as a downloadble ebook, there is no limit other than keeping up with the likes of taxes, bookkeeping, etc.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
The actual costs of pay per click advertising using the keywords that would likely provide better ROI. The costs of a mentoring program that helps me develop the site effectively. Costs such as the $299 that Yahoo charges for inclusion in their directory. Costs of such things as credit card processing, etc.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Getting my site worded just right for Google search and still be user friendly. Getting my Google page rank as high as possible (my target is a page rank of 5). Affording all the costs associated with Internet marketing. Getting past the wide spread dishonesty in the world of the Internet (when I go to someones site and they fail to disclose the full price of their service or product up front before I have to enter my sensitive info, I immediately get away from that site because they normally are dishonest in there intentions).
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Using forums to address peoples problems and referring them to my website anytime their problem is too complicated to answer in the space provided in the forum's available area. As a matter of fact, this is where most of my sales originated so far. The only problem with such a technique is that it's often too time consuming.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
So far it is a full time job void of the pay that you would normally receive for the time spent (12-14 hours a day 7 days a week).
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I have run the site for approx. 5 weeks now and will continue for at least six months until I see whether or not it is worth continuing. I may even add related products to enable me to continue indefinately.
Replace this with a question of your own
What can you do to help me grow my site and get the word out to prospective customers? These customers need the information contained in my book but don't know that they need it yet or don't know that it is available.
What is your website address?
Havivg tire problems? Wheel alignment not working?
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