Websites in T&T from Lukewarm to Warm?

I don’t want to get ahead of myself or jump to premature conclusions but in the business of websites in Trinidad and Tobago (see how I stuck that keyword in there?) I have a front row seat and I’m a little more up close and personal than most. In my mid year review article I stuck to my opening year prediction of local businesses remaining lukewarm to websites with glimmers in between. So what compels me to write this headline a mere month later?

Just after I published that article I’ve seen a surge of sustained activity all of a sudden on all fronts: company websites, e-commerce, online marketing, SEO. Even sites that had been languishing and in limbo waiting for content at the start of 2013 (which means they ended 2012 still unfinished) got their second wind allowing me to finally wrap up or giving them the momentum to. These sites are:

• Western Industrial Ltd.
• Virginia CaribFest
• Labidco Port Services
• Riverside Marina

Also in that month a slew of new sites (not sure what the collective noun is) have been officially committed, i.e. deposits paid, and DAILY inquiries flow via the Forward Multimedia website comprising solid leads marking the start of the sales cycle. Just to give you (and my competitors) a snapshot of my whiteboard’s format and status: Active Sites in Development (5), New Website Projects (5), Maintenance/Updates (3), Services (2), Leads (8).

I call all leads ‘leads’ until they officially commit regardless of their stage in the process. And the stages are: Incoming Email Inquiry/Phone Call -> My professional email reply or pure charm on the phone (lol) -> Personal Meeting (if needed but often don’t, believe it or not) -> Evaluation based on meeting/phone conversation/email response -> Client Decision -> Deposit.

To my credit, two (2) clients still chose Forward Multimedia after meeting my competitors. The rest chose me just from my site alone (i.e. didn’t bother to look elsewhere), and by site, it was a combination of my site itself (layout, looks, credibility) and my articles.

Enough beating my chest and gloating (which I’m not), my point is that in the midst of this flurry of activity, albeit short and inconclusive, I have a gut feeling, really I do, that we’ve begun to turn the corner here.

How sharp the corner is remains to be seen but there is a feeling I honestly can’t shake that by the end of the year while I still don’t see red hot, I see hot enough. Meanwhile, I’ll be bold enough to slide that marker from lukewarm to warm.

What this means for you

It means that if you’re not wising up yet there are many who are, and you’re going to get beat out of the gate. I’ve been preaching that the best time for a website is NOW. I may get beat on price by my competitors but that’s not where I compete as I stand firmly behind my slogan of building websites that work, and work better than anyone else’s.

The moral of the story, stop thinking about it and do it!