Those of us who grew up on Star Trek are fully aware that when Captain Kirk said in his sonorous voice, “Computer, find….,” he was talking about what we now do on a daily basis when we talk to our smart phones. Three years ago most of us didn’t know what a QR code was, and now we can hardly live without scanning one. Thankfully, 72 year old Teddy Wolcott, (who has been involved with computers since mainframes took up whole buildings,) is offering an affordable way to make our smartphones even “smarter” by the utilization of mobile
websites.
Before we talk about what mobile websites are and do, we need to honestly look at whether or not business people, (even those who have home based businesses) need them, or is this just the newest trend and toy. To answer that question, one must take a look back to the mid-‘90s when the idea of having a computer based website was being debated. Many people back then thought it was just a luxury, and maybe only attractive to “technoids,” and now you are suspect as a business owner if you don’t have your own domain.
Truth is, people often check you out online, and THEN decide if they want to actually, physically come to your place of business to do business. It is just expected. In a word, that is what is happening with people who used to do business in a coffee shop by whipping out their laptop, and now they use either their phone or tablet.
But, what are the statistics? According to Tom Sullivan of Earthlink’s business blog, dated March 25th of this year, here is a breakdown of mobile website/app usage:
- 96% of smartphone users
have researched a product
or service on their device - 94% of smartphone users
look for local information
on their phone - 90% purchase, contact the
business or take another
action after local research - 66% access the Internet
every day on their smartphone - 57% search on their
smartphones every day - 37% have researched on
their smartphone and then
purchased on a computer - 35% have made a
purchase on their phone - 32% have researched on their smartphone and
then purchased the product offline
What does that mean to business owners, and how can Teddy help? Well, if you are a Real Estate agent, for example, for $100 dollars, Teddy can quickly set up your smartphone mobile website so that you can have your agent picture and 6 pictures of your listings formatted so that all that an interested potential buyer needs to do is scan your QR (quick response) code, and then tap their phone to call the agent. The “tap code” is then saved on the desktop of the smartphone. Members of the Troy Elmore Realty team, such as Tammy Pressnell, Marie Eubanks and Troy himself are utilizing mobile sites in their line of work.
Other Athens Now clients who have also used Teddy’s expertise are Dr. Lori White of Village Veterinarian, Caren Sample of The Bakery At Elkmont, and the list is growing every day. Recently Teddy told me, “Mobile website designs can cost hundreds, and I can do the job that will meet the need for a hundred bucks.” Teddy has clients all over America, from
coast to coast. She is in charge of Athens Now’s beautiful online version of the paper, which can be found at www. athensnowal.com, and I can say as a satisfied customer that she is quick, thorough, reasonable, and I get compliments on the website all the time.
For your hundred bucks, here’s the line up of what you get, and your options:
- A total of six pictures
- The tap-to-call feature
- The option to change up without having to start over from scratch, with a major change made to the site for $25
- The option to change out individual pictures at any time for $5 each, with the customer selecting and sending electronic images
And the best part of all? You get Teddy! I am no geek, half the time I have no idea what she is talking about, and she looks at me like my current status as a member of the 21st century Athens business community should be brought into question because of the glazed look in my eyes. But I will tell you this: I am going to get me one of these mobile sites asap, and suggest you do the same.
You can find Teddy at:
www.click2talk.mobi
256-729-0916
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
