Homestead Newsletters

“Before we had our Homestead website, we were spending hundreds of dollars on postage to promote our business. Now, thanks to the site, we’ve dramatically cut our mailing costs, and yet we get calls and emails from dog lovers across the country and around the world.”
-Al Boeck, The Dog Obedience Group, Blue Springs, Missouri

When Al and Jane Boeck of Blue Springs, Missouri, started the Dog Obedience Group in 1992, their goal was to offer training that would save dogs with solvable behavioral problems from being abandoned or euthanized at local shelters. They didn’t imagine the day when dog lovers across the country and around the world would be seeking their advice and services.

The Boecks built their business primarily on referrals from veterinarians and clients. They also sent out brochures, class schedules, and applications, which cost at least $1,200 in postage alone every year. As they explored alternative marketing methods, they discovered that having a website could expose their business to a wider audience as well as provide information more efficiently.

The couple hired Bob Simmons of Digital Brushstrokes in Tubac, Arizona, to design the first few pages of their site. Knowing that the Boecks wanted to be able to finish and maintain the site themselves, Bob used Homestead Technologies’ SiteBuilder software.

According to Al, “SiteBuilder is very user friendly and lets us easily edit and add information on our site. Without knowing any HTML, I can make changes and publish a new page in just minutes. I can also track visitors to our site and see which pages they viewed. Working with Homestead is great; the folks there are always ready to help you build an effective, professional website.”

Al and Jane also use SiteBuilder’s email capabilities to manage their mailing lists and to distribute the information they used to send by “snail mail,” reducing their postage costs to less than $30 a quarter. They have even seen a reduction in the amount of time they spend on the phone. The biggest surprise has been all of the people overseas who find the Dog Obedience Group online and need help with their dog-training challenges. Now potential clients find much of the information they need, including class schedules and application forms, answers to frequently asked questions, and photos that illustrate the type of training offered, on the website.

Al follows a few simple rules when it comes to the site: start with a good, clean design, keep the pages short so visitors don’t have to scroll down, make full use of photos, and link to related sites. To anyone considering starting a small business, he says, “Don’t be afraid to do it. If you have a vision, go for it. But be sure to build a presence on the web; a good website can introduce your business to customers who never would have found you otherwise. And be prepared to struggle the first five years – those are the hardest — after that you have it made.”

For more information on the Dog Obedience Group, visit www.dogwizard.com.