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Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
About 2 months ago, I asked for suggestions on my website that I did myself and mentioned that I would probably get web designer to help.
I did recieve a great deal of very helpful advice and suggestions from that post. My new website is up and running, I was hoping for some advice on how I can improve it or simply what you think. Thanks in advance.
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
BalukMagic Veteran user Toronto, Canada 319 Posts |
Its nice, but I have a sugestion, it takes really long to load for some reasnon. Anyone else having this problem?
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Tyler_Magician Special user 509 Posts |
Yes I am having that problem too. Is it because of the flash? I like the look of the site, but in my opinion you have too much text. Maybe you should have a promo package that you can send out with all of that information and cut out some of it on your website.
Also, you may need 2 different websites. The layouts can be the same, but one for adults and one for children's parties would be nice. It is better for corporate clients to not see you as a clown and parents to not see you as a big 'expensive' illusionist. That is just my opinion... -Tyler |
Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Hi Balukmagic and Tyler,
Thanks for the great suggestions. I didn't notice that the flash took a while to load in the beginning as I have a cable connection. But when the site went live, I did get quite a few feedbacks on the loading time and my designer is working on it. I would also be working on another site for the birthday parties. Thanks guys, these are great advice.
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
The Flash header takes a very long time to load- perhaps you could include a Loading Bar. but it does look nice
I'm not sure if having Kids party and adult stuff on the same page is doing you any favours I like the design tho- and the latest news on the left side is nice from a sales point of view I do not think your opening bold sentence on the roving page is what you are selling as a roving entertainer I think- istead of Imagine… A Silver Coin Materializing From A Flash Of Flames, Only To Vanish Without A Trace In A Matter Of Seconds. Imagine, Your guests Socialising, Laughing and feeling excitement at your next cocktail party or something of that effect. I think you need to sell more on your site and be accurate in what you are actually selling. Please understand that event managers really do not know what Magicians are and will not assume facts that are not in evidence- we must tell them- so don't descripbe your magic effects- describe the benefit of you being there that is important to an event manager what I mean is when organising an event- what is more importatnt Making a silver coin disappear or Having your guests socialise more and the energy level raised. obviously event managers will spend more on the latter of the two and you will seperate your self from the rest of the pack. Dynamic Clarity from the person booking yous point of view is what you should be aiming for focus not on what you do- but the end result the world of illusions page is on the right track as is your mask changing act From an Australian point of view "Poof the magic clown" the term Poof is slang for homosexual so please undertsand this if you feel the need to tackle the Aussie market- granted you are in Singapore so I guess it doesn't really matter |
Ross McCourt New user 22 Posts |
It loads fine for me. I really like the layout, it looks very professional.
Thanks, Ross |
Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Hi icentertainment,
Great suggestions and advice. I also had the same idea when my friend, Jo Han Mok, who is an internet marketer and copywriter, wrote the copy for my close-up Magic. He explained his rationale behind it and I've decided to test it out for a while. By the way, we are not descibing an effect but trying to invoke a certain feeling experienced by someone watching the performance of close-up Magic. It's all a test and quite frankly, I do not have enough statistics to make any concrete statement. But it's quite difficult to book sessions of close-up Magic at my fee in Singapore as event planners do not see as much value in it as they do in a stage show. This is the very reason I've taken the plunge to test marketing from a different angle. I do know about the Aussie slang and I wish I had known about it earlier. But Poof! have been around for the past 10 years and have made quite a name for himself in the local birthday party circuit, changing his name now might be a little difficult though not impossible. However considering that Poof! performs mostly in Singapore and Malaysia, I wouldn't think it will cause a big problem. I do appreciate all the great advice and I'm sure that it will make me think harder on my website. Thanks a million.
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Hi Ross,
Thanks for your input, I appreciate it very much.
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
They don't see much value in it because your not describing the benefits of your close up act.
Like I said- THEY DO NOT KNOW OR UNDERTSND wHAT IT IS. So look at the benefits- compare what the event would be without you to the event with you. if your just walking around doing card tricks then you may be right- but if you are the life of the party and get the excitement happening- then this is worth paying for Product knowledge is key here and I will be bold and I am not aiming this at you- But I believe that most magicians do not actually know what there product actually is |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
Realisticly your not going to sell your grand scale illusion show at a coakctail party- so include on your roving page the types of events this is possible for
Cocktail Party Pre dinner drinks At the end of the night if there is dancing on. Now I know your in singapore and I am in Australia- but events are not that different- cultures are but events follow a very similar program. I make most of my living from roving as I sell the benefits- the end result- not the method- in my video it's all reactions and the focus is on the audience In every bit of sales- take less focus off you and put it on the audience |
Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Hi icentertainment,
I forgot to mention that my marketing or rather the copy to sell my close-up Magic wasn't this way when I first began. It was all about how much excitement and fun I can bring to their event, how I could actually make the event totally memorable... Well, it wasn't getting me the results I wanted. We are doing a test now. I understand that if what I was doing didn't get me the results I wanted, I needed a change. We would know the difference it makes in a few months time. I believed that there's really no right or wrong in marketing, there's only results. You should be able to tell the difference in my copy for my other shows... sshhh... we are doing a test ;-) Thanks and I appreciate you trying to make me see your point. I can see where you're coming from. Cheers,
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Icentertainment,
You're really generous, giving away a great deal of marketing information that wouldn't be possible without years of experience in showbiz. All that you've said will certainly make me re-think about my website. Excellent thought-provoking stuff! Cheers,
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
Alex,
I think it looks great. I don't agree that there is too much text. Most people just scan a site before reading anything specific, so a lot of text with clearly marked sections should work well. I had no trouble with the site loading slowly. It came right up and the flash worked well. The only suggestion I would make (and it is only a suggestion) is, since you are separating your children's show business from your illusion shows, you may want to replace the clown image in the flash with a comedy image from your stage act. The banner for your children's business is very visible and makes it clear that you have a children's entertainment side of your business. Of course if you did almost 300 children's shows last year, who am I to talk? I shoud just shut up, listen and learn something from you! Excellent work! Thanks, Richard |
leapinglizards Inner circle 1263 Posts |
I gather this is a data base driven web site since it is running some sort of scripts, but couldn't tell for sure looking at the code. I think that, plus the flash is the reason it is loading so slow. The host server might just be very slow too.
The flash header was part of it, but it also took a long time to bring up the next page. I would take the header resolution down in file size, and since you're using flash, have it preload the header for the rest of the pages once it starts running Via action script. Looks good overall though.
Leaping Lizards!!! Who knew it was possible.
<BR> <BR>www.LeapingLizardsMagic.com |
Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Hi Richard,
You're making me blush. Whatever you said does make a difference and I really appreciate your suggestion. Thanks, Alex Hi leapinglizard, Thanks for your suggestions too. You're right that my website is running scripts. I like to test my stuff to make sure that things are running right and that they are getting the results I want. Your suggestion on making the pages load better is great and I'll talk to my designer to work out something. You guys are great help and I sincerely appreciate all the input. Thanks, Alex
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
icentertainment Inner circle 1429 Posts |
I have been re reading your close up page and I think you need to early on pin point exactly what type of events the show is designed for before you start talking about the coin to jumbo effect.
Then have the benefits in Point form so they stand out such as --Raises the Energy Level --Breaks the Ice --Stimulates Conversation --Creates a Powerful Positive memory These are the reasons they are going to book you and then --No set Up required --No Audio, Stage, & lighting needed --No Table space taken up With Close up Magic everyone becomes the VIP at your event. You can actually charge higher fees with roving than stage if you sell it right- I do. as people are scanning over your page- this will stand out more. understand that our customers sit in offices all day and have a pretty dead life so the explanation of the coin is counter productive early on- I would also take your video freeze frame images and include some images on the actual page as this is the best way to describe the show- mainly take photos of audience responce check mine out if you wish. The photos really show the what the show is all about without the need to describe it in words. All my images are only really good for web as they are all taken from video performance |
Phil C Special user Ontario, Canada 903 Posts |
Hi Alex,
I am web designer myself. I think your site is done pretty well. I have a cable connection, so I do not find the site loading slowly. But it is important to realize that many people do use dial up internet. Once again, I agree with most comments before. There is room for improvement in terms of the selling/marketing pitch. Try to focus on the BENIFITS people get. Once again, congratulations! I would say that your website is better than a lot of magician's out there Phil |
lbman New user 11 Posts |
Took a while to load up. Then again I am on crappy dial up. Poor me.
Looked ok though |
Andy Wonder Special user Auckland, New Zealand 747 Posts |
Hi Alex
The site looks great. You have obviously put a lot of work into it. There are a few things I noticed. The images on your poof page need to be resized. That 1st image has a resolution of 2048px X 1526px (obviously right off your camera), yet you are only displaying it at a size of 300 x 225. You have 3 of those on the same page so they are wasting a lot of data. I notice as well you have all your different products out on offer with the walk around stuff, close up, clown service all on the same page. Have you considered having separate sites for each one? I've noticed people that have seen me before or hire me based on a referral never look at my web site. They assume they know it all. So my web site is really for people that don't know me or have not see me perform before. Yours will probably be the same? So then do you think all the info on different types of shows is too much information? Sometimes too much information (& too much of a maze structure on your site) will distract from the selling process. It is something to think about. If you have clients that tend you hire you for your clown role as well as the stage shows etc then you need to keep it all together. Also I can't watch your video because I don't have the correct plug-in to stream in thru my browser. Can't I just download it & view in winamp? I find most media plug-ins are bloatware & usually advertising supported as well which is why I won't use them. I just want to download it & watch it. It is nice when people make getting their video easy by using a direct link. What I would want to do with your site is consolidate the number of pages to make it easier to use. You’re 'booking' form you could reproduce at the end of each sales page & cute out the special page for it. You want people to submit their details after reading your sales pitch so why not put the form right there. That way they can't miss it. A lot of people might not even think of clicking on that link in the menu called Booking on order to progress. Make it a no brainer. Andy
Andy Wonder, Auckland, New Zealand
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Alex Tan Loyal user Singapore 290 Posts |
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the very generous advice. They really made me think. Andy, I sent you a PM. In fact, all the great advice form all the great people here made me think really hard. Putting this one site up has taken a lot of time, much more than I had expected. I totally agree that having individual sites for each show would be ideal and I will seriously look into it. It's just that I don't currently have the time and budget to do so but it's definitely my plans to eventually get to it. I'm actually pretty techno-phopic and do not really know the technical parts of web design. I will try to get my web designer to work out the video problem if possible. I said possible because our agreement has pretty much ended when the site went live. Thanks to everyone who has contributed and I'm grateful for all your generousity. Cheer, Alex
Alex Tan
www.alexthemagician.show |
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