What's up guys? Today I'm diving in to the 'about' section of a couple local and popular restaurants know as Chili's and Teri Cafe. I'll be sharing my observations from the two websites, similarities, differences, target audiences, and all that good stuff. Lets wait no longer, here we go!
To start, I checked out the Chili's website. Very well put together, you can tell this is a major business who cares a lot about their image. I thought it was cool that their 'about' section was labeled 'our story'. Kind of provides a sense of being personable rather than just a quick business description. Knowing the history on a place is also very cool. They really cater to all audiences and offer items and promos to make every customer feel welcome. It's a big menu with a variety of food styles and drink options that outputs a very friendly atmosphere. Definitely seems like they are going for the idea of being a place that you can 'let your hair down' at. No suit and tie required. Chili's puts off the idea that it's a place with tradition, values, integrity, great food (with a large variety), and a place that you can take the family or even just meet up with friends for good food a drink. They want your experience to be fun!
Teri Cafe has a much more basic and straight forward website. It lands you right on their 'about' section upon visiting the website and has a brief description of it's origins and menu philosophy - just below this are clickable images to access their menu. They seem to shoot right from the hip, Japanese Cuisine, affordable, and fast service. It looks like they are trying to offer quality Japanese food for the "working man" who maybe doesn't want to drop high dollar prices at an upscale sushi joint. Unlike Chili's, they don't seem to promote their atmosphere much, just good priced food with quick service. Very standard stuff going on here.
There is some very apparent differences between the two, as I'm sure you've gathered so far. The cool thing is, despite the differences, they both express quality food with a reasonable price and good service. The atmospheres and vibes of the 2 places will be quite different, but the foundation is similar. I don't anticipate Teri Cafe drawing a crowd of friends in football jerseys on a Sunday looking for tailgate food and good selection of beer and mixed drinks. But, the casual person might go in for a quick meal while checking the game in the process. As always guys and gals, everybody's eyes will view things differently! So drop a few comments and share your thoughts on what I rambled about today. Thanks for checking out this weeks version of Ridgeway's Thoughts!
- Dave
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Website Reviews
What's up guys? Today I've selected 4 websites to do small reviews on, 2 of which where I'll go over some issues I notice and the others I'll discuss what I like about them. Lets wait no longer, here we go!
The first website I'd like to discuss is www.spotmeter.com. At first, it took me a minute to really gather what this website is all about. Kind of a turn off initially, It's wise to be able to have the viewer have a clear idea of what kind of website they are visiting right off the bat. The other issue I have is the lack of clarity. It seems like they are trying to condense a few different direction into one page, going hand in hand with my previous criticism about being hard to follow direction and grasp whta message they're trying to convey. I'd make things a bit clearer and easy to understand for the viewer if I were to do a makeover on the website. Intentions seem good, just a little hard to follow.
The next website I'll discuss is www.roverp6cars.com. My initial thought upon opening this website was, "wow, this is cluttered!" They are delivering their message loud and clear, they are all about automobiles and parts for them. The formatting seems very crammed together for my taste though. The other issue I take is that, in my opinion, it looks like a pop up spam advertisement. The very thing you hate to see in your inbox or through 'click bait' on Facebook. I really think this website is a new layout away from being visually legitimate, just fix the clutter and perhaps a more professional looking format.
Next, we'll talk about www.stonebrewing.com. You can tell a lot of time has been put into the design and layout of this website. Very clear this is a top notch brewery and that they carry themselves as the kings of the craft brew world. It is very easy to navigate throughout the website, making it convenient to check out upcoming events, online store, find businesses, events, and more. The aesthetics of this website is a sure fire representation of how they company carries themselves, very prestigious.
Lastly, I'll give my two cents on www.apple.com. Similar to Stone Brewing, you can certainly tell there is a lot of thought and passion behind this website development. It displays everything right off the bat in a pleasing manner. Not cluttered, easy to navigate, and attractive pictures of their products. They have a simple and open layout making the navigation very easy. Finding anything that you need, apple related, is very user friendly and easy to understand.
Lets wrap up with again saying that all of these reviews I posted are my personal opinion. Every person will view these differently and see different things. Hopefully through this, if you visit these websites, you'll be able to see them a little differently than before. I'll be looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts on my reviews and if they agree or disagree, maybe you saw something different, who knows? As always, thanks so much for reading 'Ridgeway's Thoughts'!
The first website I'd like to discuss is www.spotmeter.com. At first, it took me a minute to really gather what this website is all about. Kind of a turn off initially, It's wise to be able to have the viewer have a clear idea of what kind of website they are visiting right off the bat. The other issue I have is the lack of clarity. It seems like they are trying to condense a few different direction into one page, going hand in hand with my previous criticism about being hard to follow direction and grasp whta message they're trying to convey. I'd make things a bit clearer and easy to understand for the viewer if I were to do a makeover on the website. Intentions seem good, just a little hard to follow.
The next website I'll discuss is www.roverp6cars.com. My initial thought upon opening this website was, "wow, this is cluttered!" They are delivering their message loud and clear, they are all about automobiles and parts for them. The formatting seems very crammed together for my taste though. The other issue I take is that, in my opinion, it looks like a pop up spam advertisement. The very thing you hate to see in your inbox or through 'click bait' on Facebook. I really think this website is a new layout away from being visually legitimate, just fix the clutter and perhaps a more professional looking format.
Next, we'll talk about www.stonebrewing.com. You can tell a lot of time has been put into the design and layout of this website. Very clear this is a top notch brewery and that they carry themselves as the kings of the craft brew world. It is very easy to navigate throughout the website, making it convenient to check out upcoming events, online store, find businesses, events, and more. The aesthetics of this website is a sure fire representation of how they company carries themselves, very prestigious.
Lastly, I'll give my two cents on www.apple.com. Similar to Stone Brewing, you can certainly tell there is a lot of thought and passion behind this website development. It displays everything right off the bat in a pleasing manner. Not cluttered, easy to navigate, and attractive pictures of their products. They have a simple and open layout making the navigation very easy. Finding anything that you need, apple related, is very user friendly and easy to understand.
Lets wrap up with again saying that all of these reviews I posted are my personal opinion. Every person will view these differently and see different things. Hopefully through this, if you visit these websites, you'll be able to see them a little differently than before. I'll be looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts on my reviews and if they agree or disagree, maybe you saw something different, who knows? As always, thanks so much for reading 'Ridgeway's Thoughts'!
Monday, February 13, 2017
Business Website Social Media Examples
1) 'Defranco's Training' www.defrancostraining.com
Defranco's Training is currently using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube. All links to social media are available to link to at the top right corner on their home page. All of their social media tools are used rather regularly. The last post of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook was Yesterday (02/12/17) and the last use of Youtube was 6 days ago on 02/07/17. Defranco's training stays very up to date on their social media specializing in personal training for elite level and professional athletes. They are very interactive with their followers and fan base as it's common to see give aways, re-tweets, and responses to comments. Despite being a business the do share a lot of free information and have built a very impressive reputation and following.
2) 'Dave Palumbo' www.davepalumbo.com
Dave Palumbo is currently on Facebook and Instagram but with only a hard to find link to 'like' his Facebook page on the bottom left of his website. He is pretty active on the social media he has as his last post was just 6 hours ago today, 02/13/17. As a big figure in the nutrition and body building world Dave Palumbo has a solid reputation dating before the days of social media. A vast majority of his post are promoting the endeavors or people he is involved with or selling as a product. He recently launched a podcast which he also promotes and gives the listener and follower tons of free valuable information.
3) 'Mike Dolce' www.thedolcediet.com
Mike Dolce is currently using facebook, instagram, twitter, youtube, and pintrest as social media platforms. The business is very active on social media interacting with their clients, promoting product, and sharing success stories. On Instagram and Twitter they posted as recent as today 02/13/17. Facebook had a post yesterday, youtube was last updated 4 days ago. Mike is a top nutrition coach in the country working primarily with elite combat competitors.
4) Elite FTS www.elitefts.com
Elite FTS is a powerlifting company that sells equipment, clothing, accessories, and offer training advice from legendary powerlifters. They are currently on Facebook and Twitter for social media platforms. They post semi regularly but don't seem to interact much with those following unless there is a direct concern. The last facebook post was today as well as twitter. It seems like they are linked to each other.
5) Heavy Metal Barbell www.heavymetalbarbellclub.com
Heavy Metal Barbell in a Crossfit based coaching service based out of North Carolina. They are on both Instagram and Twitter. They seem very active and involved with their followers/customers. I found them through them liking a picture of mine on Instagram. Their last post were each today and that is the norm for them.
Each of these 5 businesses are fitness and training related which is field that I am in and that I look to open my own business in. All offer pluses and minuses in my opinion but also each company have different reputations. In the fitness industry, reputation is everything. Thanks for checking out a few of my favorite businesses and their use of social media here on Ridgeways Thoughts!!
- Dave
3) 'Mike Dolce' www.thedolcediet.com
Mike Dolce is currently using facebook, instagram, twitter, youtube, and pintrest as social media platforms. The business is very active on social media interacting with their clients, promoting product, and sharing success stories. On Instagram and Twitter they posted as recent as today 02/13/17. Facebook had a post yesterday, youtube was last updated 4 days ago. Mike is a top nutrition coach in the country working primarily with elite combat competitors.
4) Elite FTS www.elitefts.com
Elite FTS is a powerlifting company that sells equipment, clothing, accessories, and offer training advice from legendary powerlifters. They are currently on Facebook and Twitter for social media platforms. They post semi regularly but don't seem to interact much with those following unless there is a direct concern. The last facebook post was today as well as twitter. It seems like they are linked to each other.
5) Heavy Metal Barbell www.heavymetalbarbellclub.com
Heavy Metal Barbell in a Crossfit based coaching service based out of North Carolina. They are on both Instagram and Twitter. They seem very active and involved with their followers/customers. I found them through them liking a picture of mine on Instagram. Their last post were each today and that is the norm for them.
Each of these 5 businesses are fitness and training related which is field that I am in and that I look to open my own business in. All offer pluses and minuses in my opinion but also each company have different reputations. In the fitness industry, reputation is everything. Thanks for checking out a few of my favorite businesses and their use of social media here on Ridgeways Thoughts!!
- Dave
Week 3 Blog Comments
The blogs I left comments on this week were for Michael Phillips, Priscila Jourdan, and Chuck Coogan.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Social Media and Business Interactions
Hello again everybody! Today I'm going to discuss and share some of my insight on business interactions relative to social media. We've all (I know I certainly have) had issues communicating with businesses before. This could be anything from customer service, returns, memberships (those can be a hassle!), or even just a simple question. Personally, I think social media has made it a little easier to communicate with businesses.
Posting your issue to the social media page of whichever business you need the attention of can certainly get their attention and help you fix the problem. After all, their social media platform is a direct reflection of them. I've never had a situation where I took negative feedback to social media for a business but I have left positive comments or tagged their page if I upload a post or image with their product. I've seen tons of scenarios where a business will share a consumers post or image with their product as a way to show gratitude.
If I had a business that I utilized social media through I would certainly interact with with my followers for both negative and positive comments. I think it's important to make people know that you appreciate them and also do your best to resolve any issue someone might be trying to communicate with you. That being said, I'd likely ignore the hecklers and spammers. You can't always reach everybody, but doing your best is important.
The fact that the business owner took the time to share a post with a thoughtful message of appreciation made he positive experience I had so special. It can really make a difference in someones life or day to see that a person or business that they believe in and spent their money on, notices them. That was exactly the case in my situation. I'm sure everyone has a different experience and I'd like to hear them all! Feel free to chime in and leave your thoughts in the comment section and as always, thank you for reading 'Ridgeway's Thoughts'!
- Dave
Posting your issue to the social media page of whichever business you need the attention of can certainly get their attention and help you fix the problem. After all, their social media platform is a direct reflection of them. I've never had a situation where I took negative feedback to social media for a business but I have left positive comments or tagged their page if I upload a post or image with their product. I've seen tons of scenarios where a business will share a consumers post or image with their product as a way to show gratitude.
If I had a business that I utilized social media through I would certainly interact with with my followers for both negative and positive comments. I think it's important to make people know that you appreciate them and also do your best to resolve any issue someone might be trying to communicate with you. That being said, I'd likely ignore the hecklers and spammers. You can't always reach everybody, but doing your best is important.
The fact that the business owner took the time to share a post with a thoughtful message of appreciation made he positive experience I had so special. It can really make a difference in someones life or day to see that a person or business that they believe in and spent their money on, notices them. That was exactly the case in my situation. I'm sure everyone has a different experience and I'd like to hear them all! Feel free to chime in and leave your thoughts in the comment section and as always, thank you for reading 'Ridgeway's Thoughts'!
- Dave
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Week 2 Blog Comments
This week the blogs I've left comments on are Mike Phillips, Ashley Enders, and Priscila Jourdan.
Social Media: Business vs Personal
Greetings! Today I'm posting about a topic that I'm sure will have a wide variety of thoughts, opinions, and insight. To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to reading the comments on this. I'll be sharing my opinion on what social media platforms are best, or more frequently, used for business and personal use.
It's no secret that social media these days can be used to amplify or start up a very successful business as it has a tremendous reach to numerous viewers everywhere. That being said, I don't think each brand serves equally for developing or promoting your business. Instagram and Snapchat are what I would consider the 2 top social media platforms for business use. With Instagram, imagery can absolutely mean everything for business promotion. Not only is Instagram image based but the use of hashtags allows you to target or cater to an audience or expand your reach and earn new followers. Through Instagram I see many who have their Snapchat usernames attached to their profiles. I have Snapchat listed because it can give a day by day 'behind the scene' story to what's currently happening in your business. I see the businesses and professionals I currently follow do this frequently. It can allow people to feel as if they can truly connect with a business when it's felt like they see what's going on daily.
While Instagram and Snapchat I feel like are best for business, I believe that Facebook and Twitter serve best for personal use. Based on my experience, Facebook and Twitter have been more of an outlet for person expression and more used to keep in contact with friends, family, etc... There seems to be more 'person to person' interactions on both of these platforms opposed to Instagram and Snapchat. Facebook also offers a 'groups' feature where you can set up an area for only certain people of family, interest, membership, or anything you want really to interact with each other.
All of which I stated above are based on my personal experiences with these 4 Social Media platforms I selected. I'm not necessarily right or wrong, just my opinions and observations. Again, I'll be excited to read what you guys think about topic! Thanks for checking out the 2nd post here in Ridgeway's Thoughts!
- Dave
All of which I stated above are based on my personal experiences with these 4 Social Media platforms I selected. I'm not necessarily right or wrong, just my opinions and observations. Again, I'll be excited to read what you guys think about topic! Thanks for checking out the 2nd post here in Ridgeway's Thoughts!
- Dave
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