My muse's web site is live

[derekh]

This company was not so much started to be a muse but is a labor of love. Right now we sell one day retreats for people interested in achieving big things. Eventually the intent is to license the material and develop a network of retreat 'hosts' paying royalties to us to market and deliver the retreats.

What I would like from this forum is feedback on the perceived credibility the site gives the company, the amount of interaction the site has prompted (i.e. your desire to interact with it - or give us your info), and your perceived value of the site as a resource for people who want to achieve big things. Also, how clear are the features and benefits of the retreats, from the current web site copy?

Thanks for your feedback! Comments to the articles on the site would be doubly appreciated.

-derek
Safari Guide
Eat Your Elephant
http://www.EatYourElephant.com

[AshokanKid]

~

Hi Derek;

WOW., only have a few moments, but went to your site and thought OMG., this looks GREAT.,

I've bookmarked it to check out later once I have more time and will then give you some real feedback.

Meanwhile, initially I really LIKE the look, feel and main idea of your site / service. Who did the web site design /creation?

Speaks to me deeply as I am following a similar path in Life. Left a "GREAT paying job" 17 years ago., and never looked back~!

Follow your Dreams indeed., and your Heart, because Time is WAY more precious than money., ANY day., :-)

Thanks 4 sharing.,

SC

~

[Noigel]

perceived credibility the site gives the company
Is it just the two of you? Reading through the site I would have expected at least six to eight speakers/presenters. I think this says good things about your site cred.


the amount of interaction the site has prompted (i.e. your desire to interact with it - or give us your info)
From the initial look-over I felt a lot of insistence that you want people (me) to eat the elephant but I missed out on any practical methods or examples to give cred TO your method. On further inspection I found some blogs/articles with the info but I had to look a bit more... a lot of people won't. I think a little insight/grazing of the process more "upfront" would help.

I think the overall design is nice though. Personally I'd get rid of the "Upcoming Retreats" flipping animation... your site goes down far enough to allow all of them to be completely visible at once if you're mostly going to have two or three there. It's flash for the sake of flash... and to me comes off a bit pompous... same with the picture icons popping up beside the words in the header area... you've got the space to put the house, cloud and trees there already and still enough to space it all out stylishly... the popping animation is vanity.

perceived value of the site as a resource for people who want to achieve big things
I'm having a hard time believing the retreat is going to help my special needs because you're blanketing a bunch of other special needs as well... that means specific & detailed info is out... general & groundwork info is all that's left. If I'm a writer I'll probably take a writer's retreat over this one because I'm not sure the same process that would help a salesman is going to get my novel written, published, and making cash. Ya dig?

how clear are the features and benefits of the retreats, from the current web site copy?
Like I said earlier... I'm looking for a bit more concise information on what the retreat will do for me and I'm not finding it... I'm kinda turned off having to skim blogs to piece this out for myself. Would like to see some things in bullets that will directly apply to improving my situation.

Also check the tooltips in the footer.

One says "choice", one says "thrive.jpeg", and the other says "everything else is just talk."

Get those suckers uniform:

choice
thrive
everything else is just talk

or

Choice.
Thrive.
Everything Else Is Just Talk.

That's my input, rubbish or gold. :D

[derekh]

@ AshokanKid - Thank you. I did the design and building of the site myself. CMS systems make it pretty darn easy...

@Noigel - Gold, I'd bet. You have confirmed some tyhoughts I had that we are not being direct enough re: Feature - Advantage - Benefit type descriptions of the retreats. Changes will be forthcoming...

[Marko van Basten]

"Eat your Elephant exists to help individuals and organizations - in simple and inspiring ways - to achieve big things."

This is what i pulled from your home page, and it should be the headline, and the first thing people see.. not the stuff about your great name...

U can put the great name stuff at the bottom of the page, but i wouldnt even do that... i would break down ur copy to be concise and to the point.. i need to know within 3 seconds of looking at your page what you are going to offer me....

then if you want to offer details, do it in the form of links in the nav bar or links such as "Get the details" or "About our programs"... ect...

My 2 cents for ya.. BTW, i have been in the design and comm industry for 14 yrs..... hope it helps....


good luck!

[AshokanKid]

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Hey Derek;

Yeah., after another glance at the site., I gotta agree that the site is catchy enough., but I do not "get" what you are all about INSTANTLY and that is what you need to GRAB people right away.,

There can be no doubt about what you are doing or offering., has to be in milliseconds that people KNOW what is going on there., so you have a good enough banner, but NO great TAG LINE.,

Short., sweet., to the point., as Tim sez., ONE sentence (or less)., perhaps even one phrase., because many people may not even get tot the "great name, what do you do" part before CLICK and they are GONE.,


You know what we mean., :-)

Best.,

SC

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[webgal]

"Eat your Elephant exists to help individuals and organizations - in simple and inspiring ways - to achieve big things." Above someone mentioned this. It needs to expand and REALLY BE CLEAR what you are offering.

First write in a nutshell what it is you are doing for companies. It can be boring but it's just a definition. Then you work from there to create the cadence. You'll have to boil it down for a google ad anyway.

It's simply too vague. There are aspects I like a lot. I am just not clear on what it is you are offering.

[derekh]

This is valid criticism and addresses a real problem we have been having. Here is a second take on the home page. I would love more feedback. http://www.eatyourelephant.com/altindex2.html

Becuase I not only value your feedback but have read the book I am using Google's new website optimizer tool to test different versions of the home page. This is a wonderful tool and if you don't know about it yet you should check it out.

-Derek

[zon zon]

If you have not already, I would suggest to you and everyone else to review general and public comments and guidelines of Dan Kennedy.

www.DanKennedy.com

(not a paid or induced plug ... promise)

I think your design is good, but the core message and service - your value proposition - is not clear enough. Then, if it were ... you must present it in a form that makes the viewer do something (ie subscribe to your newsletter), do it NOW with urgency. Do not be afraid of cheap "sales talk" you must stimulate action.

Just my 2 cents ... best of luck

[derekh]

We just took our first order through the new ecommerce site. This order is a result of personal networking, so did not come only from the web site. Who knows what made the specific decision to purchase, so maybe the site tipped the prospect...

It's good to know the mechanics work...

-derek
www.EatYourElephant.com