Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 12:37:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Larry Moss <moss@balloonhq.com>
To: Balloon Decorator List <balloondeco@balloonhq.com>
Subject: Re: Web sites for balloon decorators

On Sat, 16 Sep 2000, Nancy Coffey wrote:

> One response I had didn't think that we should be providing links to
> sites that list other balloon businesses, like BalloonHQ and Qualatex.
> I'd be interested in hearing what others think about this. I thought it
> was a good idea because going to these other sites raises balloon
> awareness, and customers get ideas about what can be done, but it could
> also be exposing your potential customers to your competition.

I'm obviously biased since I want everyone to have links to BHQ, but I'll
give my opinion on the issue anyway, at least as one viewpoint to consider.

My own site (www.fooledya.com) has links to BHQ and several other places.
Someone that finds me while looking for an entertainer may follow those
other links, and they may not hire me for the job.  But more often than
not, I find that people really appreciate my openness.  I don't consider
myself to be the only choice for balloon art or entertainment.  If they
like my style and my offerings, they come back to me.  In fact, I have on
one of pages, a note that says basically, "if you dont' think I'm the right
person for your event, please visit a site of one of these people that I
happen to like."  It's not worded quite like that, but you get the idea.  I
want people that do hire me to be happy with what they get.  This has not
caused any shortage of work for me.  I get a lot of people that call me
saying that for a different party they chose to hire someone that I
recommended and now they have a need for me.

Think about it as a consumer.  I went to get an antique clock fixed.  The
person in the shop when I was there (I believe it was the owner) informed
me that he had a backlog and I'd have to leave the clock for 6 months. When
I asked if he could recommend someone else that I could go to he said, "no.
There is no one else in this city that fixes clocks.  They may tell you
they do, but I'm the only one that can be trusted."  I'm not exaggerating.
He could have tried to convince me that he was worth waiting for.  He could
have said a lot of things.  He just insulted all of his competition and
left me feeling like he was the one I couldn't trust.  Well, I walked out
without leaving my clock.  By having links to other businesses, you're
helping your clients.  People appreciate that.  Learn who the businesses
are that you can work with.  They'll probably be happy to have links back
to you.

Lastly, by pointing people to other sites like BHQ, you're exposing people
to a lot of photos and giving them ideas of things they can choose for
their own event.

> --Fonts. I changed from Times New Roman to Arial because of feedback I
> got. I think it makes the site look cleaner. Thanks Helen.

This fits under your category of browser compatibility.  it's actually best
for compatibility reasons to not specify any font and let the browser use
it's own default.

Larry Moss
BalloonHQ.com