A custom design through and through, we topped off the home page with a brief Flash intro using Flash CS4 (Actionscript 3).

Simplicity is intentional, and designed to help the user find information quickly, either by using the site-wide collapsible navigation or the background-matching Google search.

The contact form uses our Magic Call Button form technology, and delivers geo-location and other user information.

The web programmer who worked with us at the time remarked, “I don’t see the point of trying to compete with Ebay.” I had not thought of it that way, but her statement nagged at me. We went ahead anyway, believing we still had a good idea. The site was launched, and then—other than a few postings—it sat, and sat, and sat with little to no activity for months on end. We realized we could do one of two things: either get on the phone and solicit for postings, or just let it go. With so many other projects in the works at that time, we had to concede and let it go.

Fast forward to 2010. We’ve just launched a custom, professional auction website narrowly focused on a niche market: the world of pigeon racing. This is perhaps the most complex website we’ve every produced, due to the many functions that must be performed flawlessly to make a top-of-the-line auction website work. But more than a generalized auction site, it appeals to a passionate segment of users. So far, we’re seeing registrations on a daily basis. Although it has been only 3 weeks, each week is seeing sales. Our business model allows for free posting, a small, optional pre-posting fee for “item featuring” like home page display, and a commission charged to the seller upon a successful sale.

For those of you with no knowledge of pigeon racing, it may surprise you to learn that top quality racing pigeons can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. The reason they are so highly valued is due to the prize money potential to race winners (examples are the Sun City Million Dollar race in South Africa, or the Vegas Classic). It’s a bit like horse racing, but not well known to the general public. That could all change when Animal Planet comes out with Taking on Tyson, a new reality show promising to bring audiences inside the “intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating world” of pigeon racing. Read more in this USA Today article.

The other amazing thing about selling to a niche market is that email newsletters are opened and read at a surprising rate, with up to 25 % click throughs, not just opens.

To see our new auction website, visit www.pigeonracer.com.

These forms combine beauty, function, and ease of use. They can make a phone connection between you and your visitor instantly. They can email you with loads of information about your visitor too. You can even determine which pages on your site get the most results because this information is available in every report, for every call or contact form submitted.

The form borders can become any color you want…that, combined with total css control of the form really can make your form more fun to use by your visitors. In addition, there is so much more you can do. Combine your forms with special offers and get your customers to “Call You Now” to get the advantage. It really can make a huge difference to your bottom line when you can talk with your website visitors while they are on your site, and still interested in what you have to offer (before surfing on, to see what others offer).

Visit Magic-Call-Button.com and check out some of our latest samples, just to get a few ideas of how you can use forms on your website in a whole new way. Don’t miss our latest press release:
Magic Call Button Rolls Out Click-to-Call Business Intelligence Tools

The business owner will simultaneously get an email showing the geo-location of the website visitor who is calling, in addition to other details.

Magic Call Button is a fully customizable service at a great price (only $10 per month). An easy-to-use wizard lets anyone make custom forms for almost any purpose. Visit magic-call-button.com to see examples and get started.

http://www.gatewaytosedona.com/news/newsletter110109.html

and the article about the WayBack Machine views of Gateway To Sedona in 2002. That was fun to see!

http://www.gatewaytosedona.com/article/id/2297/page/1

also, see this good article on the value of online article publishing:

http://www.gatewaytosedona.com/article/id/2298/page/1

Editor Terree Duncan with the Gateway To Sedona Readers Choice Award for Best Sedona Website

Read the entire press release.

Meet “The Cats” on the website.

Recently, specialists in website marketing have emphasized the importance of conversions (completed transactions in which the website visitor actually buys something) over traffic, visits, impressions, or click-throughs, because none of it really matters unless it results in a sale. Sales professionals know from experience that the chances of “closing” a sale are much greater once the prospect is on the phone.

Besides the obvious display of the phone number, email link and response form, businesses can add click-to-call to their websites. Better yet, they can now easily add a custom, brand-oriented, click-to-call interface that integrates a strategic message.

Upon hearing about click-to-call, many people have a first reaction ranging from, “Oh, cool, I didn’t know you could do that,” to “I’ve never been too excited by click-to-call.” If there is any problem, in my view, it has to do with the way click-to-call (or click-to-talk) has been used in the past.

For those who don’t know how click-to-call works, it’s really very simple. A click-to-call widget (button, link or form) on a website or in email enables a website visitor to make a free telephone call to a business. With Magic Call Button’s system, as soon as the visitor enters their number, their phone rings, and they are connected to the business after hearing a brief (also customizable) message (like “Please hold…”).

Click-to-call can be much more powerful than the usual “800″ number posted on every page if it is used to actually “invite” the call and effectively promote a message that promises something of value to the visitor. Using Magic Call Button, the button or form interface can project any message desired, from a compelling offer, to highly sought-after information, a discount coupon, or a limited giveaway. A good example would be a Realtor’s website with a click-to-call message inviting the visitor to call for a list of up-to-the-minute, unpublished listings or foreclosures: “Click Here to Call for Last-Minute Listings.”

Example Magic Call Button for Realtors offers latest unpublished information as the incentive to call. Click this button and call to try it out (it goes to our Trade Winds phone).

Why is this a great alternative to live chat? Because, with the Magic Call Button click-to-call system, a small business doesn’t need a trained call staff on duty to take calls. Also, once the website visitor (prospect) enters their phone number into the form, the number is instantly emailed to the business whether the call is completed or not, and regardless of how many people call. Now the business owner or staff can call the prospect back.

How is Magic Call Button different from the new Google Voice click-to-call widget? In addition to matching the features available in the Google Voice click-to-call widget, Magic Call Button’s user interface can be completely customized: any image, design, brand promotion or message is possible. In fact, any image can be used as a call-to-action button, whereas the Google Voice click-to-call widget is currently limited to a “one-size-fits-all” button. Apart from Google Voice, Magic Call Button makes it easy to add additional unique buttons for an online directory with many advertiser listings. Ad agencies can manage one account and provide unique click-to-call solutions for each of their clients.

Magic Call Button’s custom click-to-call can be a great, timely tool as it relates to the habits of a large, target audience: the baby boomers; it can be especially useful in markets like real estate, insurance, auto sales, retail and health care. There are 76 million boomers in their spending prime, and they’re comfortable using the phone. Cell phones don’t count, but the old-fashioned, tried and true traditional telephone is well inside the comfort zone of most people ranging from 55 to 75—and these are the people with the most money to spend.

For more information, visit Magic Call Button or call 912-275-5921.

By placing a custom “Call Now” or “Free Private Consultation” button on the home page, owners of health care-oriented businesses encourage visitors to make contact through this special invitation, giving the site much more power to connect with new prospects than the mere presence of a toll free phone number.

Those new to click-to-call are surprised at how simple it is to get up and running, especially as it applies to our proprietary “Magic Call Button” system: any graphic can become a working telephone click-to-call button in less than 5 minutes. That means it can be anything from a photograph or illustration, to a carefully-crafted, call-to-action message. This image can be hosted with us, or on any website—and it still works without a hitch (thus, the “magic button” effect).

If the button image is hosted on a website that our customer can upload images to, the graphic image can be changed at any time, and the code that makes Magic Call Button work never needs to be replaced, as long as the image retains the same file name. This makes it possible to change the image as often as desired while the telephone connection continues without interruption.

If you’re a medical professional, medical specialist, physician, chiropractor, or dentist, and would like new prospects or existing customers to contact you more readily, using click to call on your website may be “just what the doctor ordered.”

Visit Magic Call Button or call 912-275-5921 to find out more.