View Full Version : Oxfordshire Wedding Disco - Your Views!
http://www.oxfordshireweddingdisco.co.uk
Well, here it is, my new site, as recently designed by Web Nation. Few things to note...
1) I'll be adding a page around Legal/Licence/T's and C's
2) The pictures are currently Stock shots. They will be actuals soon, I've just got a nice new Canon EOS 1100D with lens, so will have some better shots soon
3) I bet I know which page will be most contentious...
4) Some minor spelling and grammar errors to be ironed out (2 of which - a "we" that should be an "I" and the central alignment of the main text are awaiting amendment) but feel free to point out any you spot that I can amend.
Have to add, Mike at Webnation has been extremely helpful and supportive, despite me sending through a heap of amendments over the past few days.
Your thoughts!
Thanks
Roger T
05-07-2012, 01:27 PM
Looks very good, I like it, the contentious page will be your pricing no doubt.
Looks very good, I like it, the contentious page will be your pricing no doubt.
That was my guess ;)
We shall see, its certainly not been calculated with any lack of thought...(although I stand to be corrected on that...we shall see....)
Mark Wild
05-07-2012, 01:34 PM
Bit too fluffy for my personal liking, you're a DJ not a fairy cake maker, I think even brides like a certain 'edgy' feel to the DJ they're going to hire for their wedding, needs more DJ related pics in there but you've said that you're on that.
Your pricing structure is a little bit too complex maybe? Total costs can be to the nearest 50 pence? really?
The price page on my wedding DJ site is by far the most popular page on mine, I'm more a one price fits all DJ though and I don't offer lots of other services like most guys :)
surround sounds
05-07-2012, 01:41 PM
Very Good
Just a few Things.
On The Contact me page it says You return the Signed Contract and Terms and Conditions (Click Here to view Sample) plus a £50 deposit.
When you click on click here to view a sample nothing happens.
I also like to see my email address shown on the website somewhere and i can not see it..
Although i think pricing can be a good idea, I think its a bit hard to understand.Its a good job you show the examples of your pricing cause i will not really understand it..
Nice clean site though and easy to get around
Interesting points, particularly Mark - The fluffy thing was something to consider and I'll see what I can do to counter that. I'd prefer a different picture, but this was genuinely the best quality one (and yes, the whole "Family Man" appeal of the picture did cross my mind)
Surround Sounds - Good spot regarding the email address, I hadn't noticed that. The Link to the Docs is a temporary annoyance, I'll have that fixed with the additional page this evening.
The pricing thing was something to consider. My original idea for the site was to have this matrix in the background, and for the user to "build" their own quote, in a kind of Shopping Basket kind of way, at which point they'd have the option to approach me with a contact request.
Much as I'd like it to be clearer (believe me, it was certainly LESS clear at first), I wanted to make sure that when customers get in touch, having already done the sums, my quoted price would match that as closely as possible. Limiting that to a "One price catches all" approach means I'd be pricing myself out of potential work...for example, a 4 hour gig on my doorstep and a 5 hour gig 30 miles away are jobs I would definitely price differently, and I wanted to reflect that.
Will await any more feedback you (all) may have...and see what the initial customer responses are like. From the research around Bridal forums I've done, there was definitely support for being open with prices, and I've definitely done that!!
funkymook
05-07-2012, 02:41 PM
I was totally confused by your pricing page.
Is it the fixed charge then add how many hours you want on top?
Why should the hourly rate change depending on the area, an hour's an hour wherever you are!
As a customer whenever I see a complicated price structure like this I assume I'll never get what I want at the price I've worked it out at, it always ends up being more. I actually feel a bit conned when this happens and it puts me off dealing with that company.
I'd rather see a price I can understand straight away.
I've tried to explain it using the examples below. I originally tried a flat hourly rate, but that didn't really reflect what I would look for, when testing. I tested about 20 scenarios, with without extras, late finish, early start/background, near, far etc.
Basically, dependant on your area, you are charged a flat rate
Then an hourly charge
Then for any extras
Then you have your price.
If anything, the lack of additional information was to AVOID the whole notion of having a customer contact me and for my price to differ from whats on my page, but to ensure I remained both competitive AND earnt a fair amount.
Tough to find a solution to that though...
funkymook
05-07-2012, 03:08 PM
I've tried to explain it using the examples below. I originally tried a flat hourly rate, but that didn't really reflect what I would look for, when testing. I tested about 20 scenarios, with without extras, late finish, early start/background, near, far etc.
Basically, dependant on your area, you are charged a flat rate
Then an hourly charge
Then for any extras
Then you have your price.
If anything, the lack of additional information was to AVOID the whole notion of having a customer contact me and for my price to differ from whats on my page, but to ensure I remained both competitive AND earnt a fair amount.
Tough to find a solution to that though...
Funnily enough one client told me she was amazed that a quote came in where every single thing was itemised, including the travel and set-up charge, she was wondering how they were going to DJ without getting there and setting-up and why she needed to see it.
The other flaw is - say someone wants you to finish off at the end of the night after a band has played, so only for 1 hour. With your pricing structure you're going out for peanuts (unless you refuse gigs under a certain amount of hours).
We don't work in blocks of hours, we work for an evening because however short the gig is we still can't take on any other booking.
I quote for up to 5 hours playing time for an evening function, with mileage chargeable outside my catchment area - that covers 99.9% of scenarios.
A full day wedding package is also a fixed fee.
And if I were in your £40ph area the first thing I'd do is challenge why it's more than your £25ph area (if that fact alone doesn't put them off in the first place).
Hourly rate would apply to the start and finish time of a gig, regardless of how long I actually DJ, which is the same way I apply my pricing now. So a 7-12 booking, with 2x 45 minute Band Sets would still be quoted as 5hrs, and explained to the customer in that way. I don't charge for Mileage or set up, but incorporate that into my hourly rate. Simples!
As mentioned, I shall await and see what the general customer responses are like, if they are as negative as your responses, then it will need to be addressed and amended. :)
What did you make of the rest of the site?
funkymook
05-07-2012, 03:52 PM
Hourly rate would apply to the start and finish time of a gig, regardless of how long I actually DJ, which is the same way I apply my pricing now. So a 7-12 booking, with 2x 45 minute Band Sets would still be quoted as 5hrs, and explained to the customer in that way. I don't charge for Mileage or set up, but incorporate that into my hourly rate. Simples!
As mentioned, I shall await and see what the general customer responses are like, if they are as negative as your responses, then it will need to be addressed and amended. :)
What did you make of the rest of the site?
OK - so what's the fixed charge for?
And sorry to bang on about it, but I really think you might put people off if they don't understand your pricing - and if I don't get it as a DJ I really don't think the public will.
And it's not so much the customer responses you have to worry about when they contact you (you can talk them through everything), it's the people who leave your site without getting in touch - have you any sort of analysis in place to give you those stats? (and in particular what page they were looking at when they left)
Rest of the site is fine, easy to navigate it has a personal style that may appeal to some and may not to others, but I'm guessing you've tailored it to the type of client you want to attract, so I have no problem with that.
There's possibly a few things I'd phrase differently, but that's probably more down to my own style of writing than anything else.
Vectis
05-07-2012, 03:55 PM
Might want to take a look at this... :o
Mark Wild
05-07-2012, 04:16 PM
Might want to take a look at this... :o
Google need to use this too then !
Vectis
05-07-2012, 04:25 PM
Google need to use this too then !
One would imagine that Google doesn't need to bother page ranking itself :p
Aside from the obvious negative effect an error-strewn page might (or might not :rolleyes: ) have on ranking, in my experience it tends to have a much more dramatic effect on cross-browser compatibility and the breaking of plugins.
Mark Wild
05-07-2012, 04:38 PM
One would imagine that Google doesn't need to bother page ranking itself :p
Aside from the obvious negative effect an error-strewn page might (or might not :rolleyes: ) have on ranking, in my experience it tends to have a much more dramatic effect on cross-browser compatibility and the breaking of plugins.
:lol: I was just being inquisitive, I have an error on my site too (just the one though), I hate it when you post stuff like that ! :p
Anyway off topic, sorry Ryu........back on track :beer1:
funkymook
05-07-2012, 04:47 PM
Just spotted that in your first pricing example you quote for early set-up and background music, but you also state that if booked for background music you don't charge for the early set-up?
Just spotted that in your first pricing example you quote for early set-up and background music, but you also state that if booked for background music you don't charge for the early set-up?
Good spot that one :D will get on it.
Is the pricing thing really that confusing?? maybe I've been a bit myopic as I'm a data analyst during the day, and just figured that you can look at the table...see the area you live in and know that your quote will include the fixed charge for that area, the applicable hourly rate for that area, and any other extra charges on top of that. The prices, under testing, mean that I quote a reasonable price for events near me, and a reasonable price for events where more travel is involved. Applying a 1 rate fits all price means I am unable to remain competitive if a local gig comes in.
Vectis - Will take a look at that and forward the details to Mike. Hoping these are all readily fixable issues.
Mark Wild - I took onboard your Fairy cakes comment (:D ) so have changed my flower logo to a Pink Discoball...yup thats about as edgy as it gets!!:D :D
Thankls all for your comments! all feedback, good and bad is appreciated!
funkymook
05-07-2012, 06:10 PM
Is the pricing thing really that confusing?? maybe I've been a bit myopic as I'm a data analyst during the day, and just figured that you can look at the table...see the area you live in and know that your quote will include the fixed charge for that area, the applicable hourly rate for that area, and any other extra charges on top of that. The prices, under testing, mean that I quote a reasonable price for events near me, and a reasonable price for events where more travel is involved. Applying a 1 rate fits all price means I am unable to remain competitive if a local gig comes in.
data analyst? Well that explains it! :D
Remember you're competing with local DJ's wherever the booking is!
Just showed it to my partner and her friend and they thought it was confusing as well, especially with the early set-up, background (then deducting the early set-up), mic and pa options (then deducting the early set-up) to factor in - Linda's words were, 'I wouldn't have a clue how much it was going to cost me!'
And I still don't know what the fixed charge is and why it changes depending on area if mileage is included in the hourly rate.
Looking at it from your clients point of view, they really don't care how far you have to travel - but you're planting the idea that booking a DJ nearer to where they live can save them money - that can't be a good thing.
(Imagine you were looking for a plumber, electrician, builder etc and one charged extra per hour because you were further away - wouldn't your first thought to be to look for a closer one?)
Charging by the hour will also get you people trying to book you for the minimum number of hours possible, that's human nature. Once you've said you're free on their date and they come back with we only need you from 9 - 12 there's not much you can do about it (apart from refuse the booking because it's not long enough).
And potentially, early set-up at £35 (no background or mic wanted), then book you to play from 9-12, that's a lot of hassle for not a lot of money. (£235 if they were in band 1). How would you handle an enquiry like that?
Once you're at the venue I think the price should be the same for everyone (and that you're happy with as well) - so the only variable is the travel. Use whatever catchment area you're happy with and add a mileage charge beyond that. That has to make more sense than charging different people different hourly rates and then letting them see the pricing differences on your site.
data analyst? Well that explains it! :D
Remember you're competing with local DJ's wherever the booking is!
Just showed it to my partner and her friend and they thought it was confusing as well, especially with the early set-up, background (then deducting the early set-up), mic and pa options (then deducting the early set-up) to factor in - Linda's words were, 'I wouldn't have a clue how much it was going to cost me!'
And I still don't know what the fixed charge is and why it changes depending on area if mileage is included in the hourly rate.
Looking at it from your clients point of view, they really don't care how far you have to travel - but you're planting the idea that booking a DJ nearer to where they live can save them money - that can't be a good thing.
(Imagine you were looking for a plumber, electrician, builder etc and one charged extra per hour because you were further away - wouldn't your first thought to be to look for a closer one?)
Charging by the hour will also get you people trying to book you for the minimum number of hours possible, that's human nature. Once you've said you're free on their date and they come back with we only need you from 9 - 12 there's not much you can do about it (apart from refuse the booking because it's not long enough).
And potentially, early set-up at £35 (no background or mic wanted), then book you to play from 9-12, that's a lot of hassle for not a lot of money. (£235 if they were in band 1). How would you handle an enquiry like that?
Once you're at the venue I think the price should be the same for everyone (and that you're happy with as well) - so the only variable is the travel. Use whatever catchment area you're happy with and add a mileage charge beyond that. That has to make more sense than charging different people different hourly rates and then letting them see the pricing differences on your site.
you are wearing me down gradually....I'll pull the page in the short term and look at other viable options...I did predict contentious did I not :D
funkymook
05-07-2012, 06:38 PM
you are wearing me down gradually....I'll pull the page in the short term and look at other viable options...I did predict contentious did I not :D
I can see where you're coming from - and being up front and honest in pricing is always a good thing, but the less working out you ask the public to do the better I reckon.
I think if I was able to pull off my initial plan of having it all automated and behind the scenes (so the customer just puts in the venue post code, start and end times and gets a price, without seeing the maths) would have achieved that, but you are right, it did need to be a lot less messy.
Appreciate you taking the time to give the feedback, push things forward and all that, much appreciated! :beer1:
ianforest
06-07-2012, 06:34 AM
I really like it.
However...you're Oxfordshire Wedding Disco so how come you don't have a dedicated page for weddings?
I guess I can understand that because it's a website dedicated to weddings the whole site is wedding-centric, but I still think you need a focal-point.
Your own pictures really are terrible, hopefully with the arrival of your new camera you should get some cracking pics.
I do think that some of the pages really are an "after-thought" and look totally unfinished. Take the Karaoke page for example; a nice stock image and just 31 words.
This is why I don't bother with separate pages for the services I offer, look at my "additional services" page -> http://www.discofever.co.uk/additional-services/
Again, look at the Early setup page...a picture of you and your daughter and 26 words of text. Whilst it's a great pic, what has it got to do with early setup? In fact, what image could you use to describe early setup? If you can't think of one then don't bother, just put the early setup text on a dedicated weddings page.
Other than that, I really liked it.
katman
06-07-2012, 06:55 AM
what image could you use to describe early setup?
A picture of the gear being set up by someone wearing pyjamas and yawning ? :lol:
I really like it.
However...you're Oxfordshire Wedding Disco so how come you don't have a dedicated page for weddings?
I guess I can understand that because it's a website dedicated to weddings the whole site is wedding-centric, but I still think you need a focal-point.
Your own pictures really are terrible, hopefully with the arrival of your new camera you should get some cracking pics.
I do think that some of the pages really are an "after-thought" and look totally unfinished. Take the Karaoke page for example; a nice stock image and just 31 words.
This is why I don't bother with separate pages for the services I offer, look at my "additional services" page -> http://www.discofever.co.uk/additional-services/
Again, look at the Early setup page...a picture of you and your daughter and 26 words of text. Whilst it's a great pic, what has it got to do with early setup? In fact, what image could you use to describe early setup? If you can't think of one then don't bother, just put the early setup text on a dedicated weddings page.
Other than that, I really liked it.
Fair comments all round there Ian. The services bit was something I wasn't entirely cool with, and shared the same thought about the Me picture to "visualise" early set up, I'll have a play around with how that is laid out over the weekend.
How do you mean when you mention a dedicated Wedding page? I'm not sure what I could put on with it without repeating Home page content...
Katman - No one needs to see that picture of me!! :D
The navigation could do with tweaking IMO, once you've reached the bottom of the page there's no option to move to another page without scrolling back to the top. Why not turn the 'menu' you already have at the bottom left of your pages into active links to access the content of the rest of your site?
The navigation could do with tweaking IMO, once you've reached the bottom of the page there's no option to move to another page without scrolling back to the top. Why not turn the 'menu' you already have at the bottom left of your pages into active links to access the content of the rest of your site?
Good shout, will take a look at that. Its a responsive template, so adjusts automatically to the screen size its being viewed on, I'm not sure this issue exists so much on the smaller screen view, but its worth looking at, Thanks for that.
Paul James Promotions
06-07-2012, 10:40 AM
Looks good, I am looking forward to having my new additional site built by Mike in due course.
Thanks Jamie, love the responsive template, just really need to get some pictures which do my show justice now...typically, I have a quiet weekend or two coming up before Wedding season returns in August!
ianforest
06-07-2012, 01:01 PM
A picture of the gear being set up by someone wearing pyjamas and yawning ? :lol:
Haha! Brilliant! :D
How do you mean when you mention a dedicated Wedding page? I'm not sure what I could put on with it without repeating Home page content...
As an example, have a look at my site. It's dedicated purely to weddings...however, I still get enquiries for non-weddings too...
http://www.discofever.co.uk
Haha! Brilliant! :D
As an example, have a look at my site. It's dedicated purely to weddings...however, I still get enquiries for non-weddings too...
http://www.discofever.co.uk
I see what you mean. I have two sites, which I plan on keeping, which should cover most of those bases, but I must say, I really liked looking around your site!....interesting ;)
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