The Burlington Free Press is boasting that their Thanksgiving day paper is going to be “Over 900 pages including 772 pages of ads and 42 inserts”.  Its great business for them, but we should think about the diminishing impact of this technique on your business.

• a.) Who is going to browse through all 772 pages of ads?

• b.) Do you think anyone is going to remember your business after?

• c.) How many customers do you need to get from this ad to see a return on your investment (ROI)?

We can build you a professional website that ranks at the top of page 1 when people search for your product or service on Google; a much better place to advertise than on page 453 of a single Free Press edition.

If your business, or a business of a friend paid good money to get buried in this edition, give me a call about getting a proper website, search optimization, and local marketing set up for your business.  Our sites start at $2500, show me your Thanksgiving Free Press ad and I’ll take $500 off your project’s cost.

I hate seeing businesses waste their advertising budget. Please share on Twitter and with your Facebook friends.

Thanks, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s an update of what’s happening at Burlington Bytes.   I’m working on the deck (weather permitting) and generally enjoying the summer weather.   Otis is also enjoying the outdoor office.

Website in a Week Launch: www.StanThePlumber.com

I’ve launched www.stantheplumber.com for Plumb Perfect LLC in Burlington, VT.   It really came together nicely, I’m looking forward to seeing how it ranks for local terms like ‘Plumber in Burlington”.  We’ll know in a few weeks once it’s been indexed by Google.   A huge thanks to Stanley Selig, I’m looking forward to working with your business.

Website in a Week Start: Wisehart, Wimette, & Associates

This week’s website in a week client is Wisehart, Wimette, & Associates,  an accounting firm in Essex Junction, VT.  We’re putting together a website to advertise their personal, business, and nonprofit accounting services. It’ll have an secure ftp area for uploads, it should be a fun challenge putting that together.  Tune in for the results next week.

This week, I’m working with Stan “The Plumber” Selig of Plumb Perfect.  He is a plumber that specializes in Bathroom remodeling and serves Chittenden County, VT.   Tune in on Friday for his website launch and project details.

Mustache Manuary was a huge success – $625 raised for VT Boy Scouts

We started Mustache Manuary on the 6th of January, with a goal of lining up 2 sponsors, and getting 50 mustaches entered.  We ended up with 5 local VT business sponsors, each contributing $1 per each of our 125 mustaches.   Can’t beat that.  We’re holding live finals on February 13th at Das Bierhaus in Burlington.  You can see all the details of our mustache contest finals here.

I’m planning on putting together a plan for the Boy Scouts of America,  Green Mountain Council so that we can make this a much larger annual contest next year.  Its going to be awesome.

Vincent J Fernandez Oriental Rugs

Vincent J Fernandez is regarded by many people as VT’s foremost Oriental Rug expert.  He’s located in Richmond, VT and offers Oriental Rug buying and selling, appraisals, and rug cleaning and repair.   We’re putting together a site and internet marketing campaign to help him boost his business.  Stay tuned for the finalized site.

Links At Lang Farm Golf Course

I’m working on a site for my favorite Burlington area golf course, the Links at Lang Farm.   They’ve got a site up right now, but want a better CMS than CyberGolf, and a site that performs better in the Search Engines.  Winter is the prime time to build a golf courses website, as it will give us time to get it ranking well before the season goes into full swing.

Wisehart Wimette, and Associates – Certified Public Accountants

Its tax season, time to visit your local CPA and get your books straight.  I’ve been using Kirk for everything from tax and financial advising for my businesses, as well as our annual tax returns. I’ve always been incredibly impressed with his insights and professionalism, and I’m pumped to be returning the favor.

I’ve been talking about expanding this event beyond my circle of family and friends, and to use Manuary as a fun way to expand awareness of a local nonprofit.

This year, I’m proud to launch www.MustacheManuary.org.

I’m partnering with the Boy Scouts Green Mountain Council, and Burlington Bytes will donate $1 for every mustache entered in the contest. We’re in the process of lining up other sponsors, and getting the mustaches rolling in. Stay Tuned!

Completed December 2010

Three Brother’s Pizza in Colchester, VT

Vermont Indoor Grower’s Supply in Colchester, VT

The Eagle Insurance Agency in Turner, ME

Upcoming for January 2011

Mustache Manuary

Website, SEO, and Social Media project in collaboration with Das Bierhaus in Burlington.   We’re putting together a mustache contest to benefit a local nonprofit organization.  Stay tuned for more, this will be completed in the next few days, and will run over the month of January.  We’re getting a late start, but we’re hoping to work out the kinks so that we can go big in January 2012.

NH Discount Mattress

My first Zzz Websites Client will be going live in the first half of January.  I’ll be building a mattress-specific website for Bay Street Discount in Ossipee, NH.    Click here to learn more about my web design and internet marketing product for mattress stores.

Other upcoming projects

I’ve also got  a few other small-business projects in the pipeline, including websites for a local golf course, indoor golf facility, accountant and tax consultant, oriental rug dealer, apartment group, pet sitting service, and others.  Its amazing how fast word  is spreading.

Thanks for all the support as I’m getting this off the ground,  stay tuned!

Buy me lunch, and the I’ll help you with the interwebz!

I’ve decided to make this a new Burlington Bytes policy. If you want to buy me lunch, drop me an email with some information about what you’d like to discuss or work on together. I may be crazy to work for food,  but I love food. In addition, this fulfills the main mission of Burlington Bytes by helping Vermont businesses connect with customers online. It also helps me network with other business owners in VT, while patronizing businesses in VT. That’s called a win-win-win-win situation.   I’m sure that more than a couple of the lunches will turn into long-term business relationships.

Dinner’s ready!  Talk to you soon.

Zzz Websites is primed and ready to run at full-speed. I’m in the process of signing up my first mattress store client and have several more in the works. I spent a day traveling to local mattress stores last week and it was very interesting to talk to the owners about their needs. Check out the video on the Zzz Websites homepage, it only took me 180 takes, but I think it explains what I’m up to.

Burlington Bytes is also running at full-speed. I’m in the process of completing a site for a Fortune 1000 mainframe outsourcing consulting company called Accelerated Outsourcing  that should be launched next week. I’ve got 3 sites in the production pipeline at the moment, Three Brothers Pizza and Vermont Grower’s Supply in Colchester, VT, and Eagle Insurance Agency in Turner, ME.

I ran a logo contest on Hatchwise.com and got a great result. You can see the final product in this site’s header.   Hot new business cards are on the way. Now its time to get this site polished and looking good.

Keep it real, talk to you soon.