Voice of the


Be a Webmaster I was once commissioned to put together a trade handbook which was to contain brief details about a variety of organisations working in the tool trade. Most of the firms were very co-operative and supplied me with all the right information. A few had to be chased, but eventually came across, which left a handful of firms that hadn’t responded to any of my requests for information. Not wanting to leave any blank pages, I decided to get the details from their individual websites. After the book was published I was questioned by a couple of the non-responsive firms about where I had obtained the information


about them that featured in the book. “Your website” was my contented reply, only to be told “You don’t want to take any notice of that, our site hasn’t been updated for years”. Naturally, I was quite taken aback with this response, so I decided to do a little investigation and see if this was common within the


industry. I soon found that all the big organisations were right on the ball and quite a few smaller firms as well, but I discovered that a significant number of companies had pages on their websites that obviously hadn’t been updated for a number of years. I started to ask a few questions about why there was this apparent lack of attention to (probably) the most important segment in any firms’ marketing plan. The


answers were varied and surprising, but the overall theme was, not that they lacked the necessary skills to do the work, but that they had little or no control over their own website. It would appear that many had originally enthusiastically embraced the notion of having a website but hadn’t grasped the implications of actually owning the content of


the site. Some told me that the firm or individual that had created the site in the first place had disappeared; some said they were unable to obtain their log in details and others had been told that, simply, they didn’t have the copyright to the site and if they wanted any updates they would have to pay extra for them! One even astounded me by telling me they found out that they didn’t even own their firm’s domain name!! Another company told me that they asked their “webmaster” to update their products page, only to find several days later the updated pages contained descriptions of the new kit in Italian! In this competitive, digital age, electronic marketing is the single most vital part of any firms marketing plan. If an individual or organisation is looking to buy goods or


services, their most likely first port of call is Google. If you (heaven forbid) don’t have a website, or if your site is shabby and out of date, the consumer will move on. You could be losing a fortune! Special offers, latest news, new products, compliments and testimonials need to be on a site in an instant - tomorrow is too late. Your words will help with search engine ranking and make your site look fresh and appealing. So, what’s to be done? Well firstly, make sure you buy your own domain name from an online domain name seller, then talk to a few web firms about the services on


offer and ask about who will host, control or own the site content. Secondly, go for a Content Management System (CMS) and get trained on how to use it, then, finally, make sure you have all the login details, user name and password etc. Remember it’s YOUR site and you should be in command of it; keeping a site up to date is a motivating factor for your existing clients, potential customers, suppliers and your staff. Now, when you have got up to speed on website content, it will be time to embrace Social Media … but that’s a subject for another day! Graham Crisp has been in the tool industry since 1979, rising from a van driver to a company director. He has current interests in a rental organisation, an equipment repair company and offers marketing and PR services through his own firm – www.write4.me.uk.


Late News


Suppliers Urged To Support New Style Totally Shows With exhibitor numbers growing steadily for the new style Totally Shows which take place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on 10, 11 and 12 February next year, the organising team at Brintex is busy urging leading DIY brands to support the show. “We hope everyone in the market is getting the message that we are doing things differently this year and that suppliers and manufacturers will give the show their


support as exhibitors. We want to give the industry a show to be really proud of, a ‘must attend’ event!” said Paul Grinsell, sales director for Brintex. “The show research indicates clearly that there are plenty of buyers who really welcome the opportunity to see new products and talk directly to the people behind the brands that they sell every day on their behalf! Buyers also told us of their desire to see the ‘big brands’ in the show.” Rollins & Sons has just confirmed its involvement, which will give visitors the opportunity to see leading products from Arrow Fasteners, Bulldog Tools, Channellock,


Eklind, Estwing, Ethel Gloves, Marshalltown, Mechanix Wear and Zircon, all of which are distributed by Rollins. Renewals from the 2012 show include Am-Tech, Rothley, Saffron Sphere (represented by Hayes UK), Trendsure and Winbag, whilst those companies returning after a


break from the show include Bison Adhesives, Mykal Industries with its range of degreasing and cleaning products, S&S Home Supplies, Salepoint and world leader in home security products, Yale. Nigel Fisher, commercial director at Yale UK, said, “I am pleased to announce that Yale Retail will be exhibiting at the Totally DIY Show. The move to Coventry, with


improved facilities and easy access for the attendees, made it an easy decision for our brand to participate. “We will be showcasing our exciting plans for the Yale product range in 2013 and look forward to seeing customers, both old and new, on our stand in February.” Yale’s latest plans include promoting its keyless digital door locking solutions via a new TV ad which shows heroic film figures scratching their heads over how to open


a door. The ad will run for four weeks from October 15 on the ITV1 Meridian region and have a potential viewing audience of 1.7 million. New to the show this year is Redditch-based manufacturer Frank Shaw, which produces the Bayonet and Challenge brands of tacks and small nails, and the Danielle


Group, which will be showing its workwear brand WORKKiT at the show for the first time. “We have developed a range of modern, stylish work wear which is specifically designed for today’s workforce which we will launch at the February show,”


confirmed Marianne Mitchell, Danielle Group’s Work kit brand manager. This year exhibitors have the opportunity to directly influence which of their regular buyers and potential customers are invited to attend the show. Brintex is


investing in a new tele-marketing campaign to gather the critical information from exhibitors, which will be backed up with personal invitations and, of course, the offer of a hot, sit down lunch at the show. In addition, a striking new advertisement campaign for the show is also launching across the key DIY trade media and the show’s 2013 website is now up and running at www.totallydiy.com. Online visitor registration for the show will start shortly.


Reply No. 25 telephone 01444 440188 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE 27


Industry


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