This is a first of a three part series on how we started. I guess you can call this the start up stage.

How long have you been in the Window Covering industry?

Since around 1994 but did do some blind installation in college. I got into the industry full time in around 1995 and have been doing it since. I started off with a partner and did in-home sales of blinds until around 1998. Then, I started working as a sales rep for a blinds manufacture.

What made you decide to start selling your blinds online?

As a sales rep, some of our clients were doing it online and it seemed like the easy thing to do. They were successful at it and the headaches that I seemed to encounter as a rep and as an in-home retailer, seemed minimal on their end. I kept it in the back of my head for a couple of years and tried it (unsuccessfully) for a short time on my free time.

When did you decide to do this full time and why?

As a sale rep for the manufacture, I was eventually transferred to a different state in which the company I worked for was not well known (Colorado). It was much harder than expected and I soon wanted to do something else in the blinds business besides manufacturer sales. When the opportunity and the finances became available, I chose to give it a full time shot for two years. After that, I would pack it in but it fortunately worked out.

What were your goals when you first started?

Simply to make a living on the internet (or over the computer). We started in my basement just doing research of how to do basic web design and learned any info we could on webmaster forums on how to be successful in the search engines. I learned very quickly that we did not have the funds to do a pay-per-click advertising campaign like the competitors that I knew. I tried it for short time but the small budget we had got sucked up in a matter of days with little results. I quickly realized that the natural search results were the way to go and that is still the path we use today.

Did anyone help you get started? If so, how?

My partner (who I met as a sales rep) knew this was the way to go. He helped me financially. As it grew, it became a full time job for both of us.

How did you get the connections for your business? Who did you use and why?

I new everybody (pretty much) on the manufacturing side for most of our suppliers so negotiating was not a problem. We wanted to emphasize the Hunter Douglas name brand so that was a goal also.

What were the first steps you took on having an internet site?

That is funny you asked. I checked into a friend of mine in Dallas that has a web design company. First, you have to have a server or a host. I did not even know that! I signed up with a small local hosting company and came up with the name Shades Shutters Blinds. The name was not taken and I figured the keywords in the title would eventually help on my rankings in the search engines. If I could change it now, I would have a much shorter name with branding. Anyways, I wanted to do the design myself since I had all the time to do it and felt better working than waiting for someone else to do the design of the website. I actually read the entire Microsoft FrontPage book and bought the program! For the original logo, I had my buddy in Dallas design for around $50. I put the rest in myself. I did not know what sub pages were or even hyperlinks but I soon learned.

What was the hardest part about designing the website?

It was by far the data on the back end. Our industry works on a grid system for pricing based on size. There can also be up to 20 different styles and options per product so the back end had to be industry specific. At the time, most of my competitors where working off that grid system and the end user (customer) had to figure out the rest from that grid that was posted on that particular web site. I new fast that if we could come up with an easier solution and get it to work, that we would be unique. That became our moto “Easy ordering of affordable blinds”. We were one of the first to create the “Quick Quote” in which the customer could select the product, put the sizes in, and get a price and order. We used a Microsoft Access application to do this with much improvising. No special options were available. Just the product, size and price could be done.

How did that work?

It was fine at first. I even tried to copy write our “Quick Quote”. I didn’t have luck because the program already existed and the name was too generic. Now everyone uses it. We soon discovered that whatever you put online people would eventually order. So the options, color selections and product mix had to be increased and fast. At this stage, it was over me and my partners ability to create ourselves so we used outside sources to re-do the quick quote to make it even more user friendly.

Lets go to marketing. How did you promote your company?

At first, yellow page ads, mailers and fliers to the local new home subdivisions. That really got our foot in the door by heavily promoting the do-it-yourself and save concept that was lacking in our market. We found that if we advertised, “Shop online and save big money”, we had a conversion rate of over 150% verses the free home estimates that other companies were doing. It started to balloon from there as word got out. I guess your average person does not like salespeople in their homes. Funny. Also, we stressed buy just one or the whole house. It doesn’t matter. People liked that too because there was no pressure to make a large, single purchase. Our average home (to do it completely) can be over $1000 or much more. Doing a few at a time without being pressured really helped out this concept. This worked especially well for customers that just bought a new home. We all know what kind of expense that is.

End of part one. Part two will be internet marketing strategies.

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