Name of your website?Codeworks, LLC
Your name?
Ray Smith
Your Location (city, etc)
Columbus, OH, 43235, USA
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Cost-cutting warehouse and transportation management system software. Full-featured, fully integrated and affordable. You get straight answers, practical solutions and quantifiable results from Codeworks.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
We've been helping third party logistics operations grow their business for 15 years. It was a natural extension of our existing business.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
Probably around 1997, an informational website that also offered online documentation to our existing customers, an early version of what we still find useful today.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
We were based out of Connecticut and the name of the business is Codeworks. Hence, www.ctcodeworks.com.
What makes your website different from other, similar offerings?
There are a lot of big name players in our space. Rather than dazzle with Flash/website fireworks, we emphasize our comprehensive solutions in everyday language, just like our customers use. They just want to keep their costs at a minimum, grow their business and hand it down to the next generation. We help them do that. We have our new website architected to answer a customer's preliminary questions quickly and easily, then give them a way to engage others in their company and contact us. That's the way we'd want it, so that's what we make available to our customers.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
We'd like to help other warehousing operations grow and in the process, grow our company as well. We're a third-party logistics specialist. We've been successful for the last 15 years. There are still people out there who we can help, so we reach out every day.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Since our customers look for ways to trim costs every day, so do we. We don't use outside high-priced outside agencies to do our marketing. It's all done in-house by the people who know third-party logistics better than anyone. All the graphic design, photography, website design, search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, it's all done in-house. We produce a great product at a rock-bottom cost. Simply put, we believe that when people invest in our product, they should be paying for the product, not the promotion.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
We'd probably buy search engine placements like our gargantuan competitors do. The problem with that is that it wouldn't make our product any better, so we stick to organic placements and targeted promotions to those visionary positions who can compare what we have with the (oftentimes, in-house proprietary) solutions they're currently running. When they see the capabilities we offer at a low price, they see how we can help them compete against much larger operations.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
Yes. Can you help us do that? :)
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
None that we can think of.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Large competitors with large price tags that do very large promotions. It's a challenge to get through the noise with real news on how we can help more modest operations upgrade from their in-house proprietary systems and help growing operations compete with the mega-warehouses, but we do.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
An integrated approach. We put our website on all our materials, in all our e-mails and on anything we offer a customer. We do know, though, that our customers won't make a purchase decision off of what they see on a website alone. Rather, they have to contact us with the challenges they're facing so we can show them how our solution may be able to help. There are additional steps beyond that before someone moves forward with a commitment.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
We're pleasantly surprised at how well customers have responded to someone who speaks with them as an ally and an advocate, not a salesperson. Again, that's what we'd expect, so that's what we offer our customers. We always say we give people straight answers, practical solutions and quantifiable results. We deliver the capability to win new business.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
Well, we realize that this is just one channel of communication and outreach with our customers. Our website won't go away, just like our e-newsletter, our e-mail outreach, trade shows, search engines, etc. There are many forms of communication and one size doesn't fit all. We merely present myriad ways for our public to interact with us in whatever ways are most comfortable for them.
What recent moment most clearly reflected your competitive advantage?
We had a prospect find us through a search engine along with a number of other competitors. In the course of our initial discussion, they asked "what is the one thing that you're known for?" I said "Value. We provide the most capabilities for the least amount of money. That allows you to bid on--and win--new business. We help companies weather this economic storm, thrive, not just survive and pass their business down to succeeding generations. That's what we do."
What is your website address?
Codeworks, LLC
