New website - Comments and criticism appreciated

[Donald Ong]

So I just decided to get off my a*** and finally create a website. (Been using forum advertising and word of mouth referral previously.)

Any comments and suggestions/ criticisms would be greatly appreciated!

https://www.donaldongvisuals.com/

Thanks!

[Chris Harding]

Nice layout but If I was a bride I would go to your packages and BAM ..no mention whatsoever of even a starting price so I would move on!

How does a bride know whether you want to charge her $500 or $5000 or $10,000 for a chosen package. She is unlikely to click the Booking button until she knows at least whether you are in her budget.. You don't have to commit to exact prices but at least give a price range ..if you don't want to show any prices at all then I would change the booking button to one that at least says "Learn more" or Request a Consultation but you cannot expect her to book blind

Just my 2 cents

[Noa Put]

It looks clean and to the point, 2 things I noticed: on the front page when you scroll down to about and packages you have to click on that tiny arrow to get to that page, here I would expect to just click on "learn more", the title or even better just the image. On my windows phone that arrow is very small and at first I was pressing on "read more" before I figured out I needed to press the arrow, while I pressed on "read more" my windows phone highlighted that text and offered me a option to copy it so it's not so intuitive.

Also your logo in the left top corner appears to be a bit low rez with jagged edges on my windows phone but it looks fine on my desktop.

[Donald Ong]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Nice layout but If I was a bride I would go to your packages and BAM ..no mention whatsoever of even a starting price so I would move on!
Just my 2 cents

That's a very good point. I added a starting price to the package options. For the most part I would rather not have a exact price set in stone as that limits my negotiating options, but yeah I completely get what you mean.

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

on the front page when you scroll down to about and packages you have to click on that tiny arrow to get to that page, here I would expect to just click on "learn more", the title or even better just the image. On my windows phone that arrow is very small and at first I was pressing on "read more" before I figured out I needed to press the arrow, while I pressed on "read more" my windows phone highlighted that text and offered me a option to copy it so it's not so intuitive.

Alright, both the image and the "learn more" texts are clickable now and directs you to the respective pages. Regarding the fuzzy logo on mobile, that's odd. I'm not able to reproduce the error on my samsung phone though. Maybe I'll try uploading a higher res version.

[Noa Put]

Something else I noticed: When I"m on the "what we do page" I cannot select "about" on the left side

[Donald Ong]

Oh that's because the "About" links directly to the "what we do". It's the parent header, not an actual page.

I'm not entirely sure how to get rid of it, though. I'm still getting to grips with the square space layout editor. I'll try to work something out, though.

[D.R. Gates]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

no mention whatsoever of even a starting price so I would move on

I think that is what many brides would do. No price makes them think it's going to be quite pricey, and/or, you want to do a sales job on them. That turns them off.

[Jeff Pulera]

Home page, "relive" misspelled as "relieve"

Thanks

Jeff

[Noa Put]

Also and that's just my opinion, I would never mention that I"m new at weddingvideography on my website, just let your work speak for itself, if the question would come up when you first meet then you can tell because you have the advantage to explain to them why this won't make a difference but if you put it on your website they might turn away before you even get to talk to them thinking you are unexperienced.

[Donald Ong]

Originally Posted by Jeff Pulera

Home page, "relive" misspelled as "relieve"

Thanks

Jeff

Right, how could i miss that.


@Noa,
Ya i was worried about that. But thing is a lot of the major wedding video websites in my area talk about how well established they are yada yada yada. I simply cant compete in the "years in the business" game. So i thought i would turn that around into a marketing edge. Not sure if it works or not, though.

[Steven Reid]

Originally Posted by Donald Ong

I simply cant compete in the "years in the business" game. So i thought i would turn that around into a marketing edge. Not sure if it works or not, though.

I'm not in the wedding business, but I am in the business of gaining and keeping clients. I interview and hire people, in the past I've fired some, and I hire outside vendors. I don't think anyone, potential employee or vendor, would dream of coming to me asking for a job on the premise that they're new and inexperienced, unlike the seasoned pros in the field. Put another way, why would I be happy to entertain a blank sheet of paper as a resume? It's off-putting, not a marketing edge.

Against this background, this is one part of your site, er, marketing strategy that jolted me. Really, you use it like a sledgehammer. Hoping that a trans-oceanic translation hits the mark, it reminds me of the saying here,"Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." Isn't there a way to convey 'fresh approach' to your wedding videos other than hammering into brides' heads that you're inexperienced and fresh off the truck, so to speak? How about your work speaking for itself? I viewed a few of your videos, and if I took more time I could probably pick out some distinguishing characteristics. (Not sure how crowded the market is in Singapore, but you surely do!)

As an example, since I opened my big fat mouth, I'm a small recording outfit with a niche market. No way can I compete with large companies having multiple employees, mobile trucks stuffed with gear, and so forth. Frankly, I'm happy not to. But I don't telegraph what I'm not, rather I say what I am: nimble, having a small footprint, and reasonably-priced. My recordings speak for themselves, and my clients are happy to pay for them.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as too brash. This part of your site just struck me as undercutting yourself.

$0.02,
Steve

[Chris Harding]

That's a good comment Steve and hopefully the OP takes note of it. Based on your business it might be a good idea for him in a crowded market to rather look for a niche market instead of trying to compete.

Nowdays it seems that every man and his dog seem to be buying a discount warehouse DSLR and instantly become a wedding videographer so competition is not only from the established companies but also the flood of newbies all trying to grab a piece of the action.

Provide a service for brides that the competitors don't offer and then you don't have to worry about them cos you are different. We did this last year and our niche market works a treat and like Steven we don't need to try and fight off big or even small companies because they simply don't offer what we can.We provide a different service and brides love it!! It really doesn't matter at all whether you have years of experience or not as long as you can corner a niche market!

[Noa Put]

Nowdays it seems that every man and his dog seem to be buying a discount warehouse DSLR and instantly become a wedding videographer so competition is not only from the established companies but also the flood of newbies all trying to grab a piece of the action.

If you have to fear newbies that just got a discount warehouse DSLR means your work is not better then theirs and then you might consider looking for a new job, be happy working for brides on a very small budget or like you said, look for a niche market and offer something no-one else does.

That however is not the problem here, it's fearing videographers with years in the business who are selling their "experience" to their clients. If your work is good you don't need to sell yourself, your work will do all the talking, your client doesn't need to know you just started out, you just need to focus on what you deliver which are priceless memories.

Usually videographers that need to use their years of experience and the size of their equipment as arguments to sell their products are often compensating for their lack of talent, where I live there are plenty of those around with focus on gear (pictures of drones have suddenly become popular) and words like cinematic are used with no video to back that claim up and ofcourse as last, 20+ years of experience.

They are all just trying to sell themselves but if your work is good enough you don't need to use a lot of words. Just look at the more known weddingvideographers, they use more words like unobtrusive, discreet and creating beautiful weddingfilms, some are also award winning and they specifically use that as selling arguments because unlike working experience getting awarded for your work means you are doing something right, you can be years in the business and still produce amateur like looking films.

[Chris Harding]

I very much doubt whether the OP has a fear of newbies ..his concern was companies spouting their wealth of experience. It obviously make sense not to say "I'm just starting out and I have no experience" but rather offer a product you are proud of that will attract new clients. In all my years brides have never asked "what cameras do you use" All they want is to like your style and like the coverage of their special day and they will book you. You can be a videographer with 30 years of experience but that doesn't mean that you have a package that they are looking for!

The comment regarding "newbies" was simply an indication that so many people THINK that weddings are easy money and simple to do and sadly they are present in the market whether you like it or not so if you can offer something that makes you stand out from the rest brides will book you provided they like what they see. The last thing you want is to be bundled with 100 other wedding videographers who all say "we do weddings" so your website must reflect the fact that you are different, special and worth looking at!

[Steven Reid]

This is stimulating colloquy, and I would be interested to hear the OP's thoughts on the same, so far as his business is concerned . . .