New All-Greek Website Resource

[bubu]

Let me start by saying in all honesty this is a somewhat commercial post – I own www.uGreek.com, a new resource for customizable web templates exclusively for fraternities and sororities.

As the owner of this new venture I'm obviously looking to make sales, but what I'm really hoping to achieve with this post is to obtain some objective feedback from you GCers. My partner and I have been working on bringing this idea to fruition for 10 months so our objectivity isn't exactly at its peak!

The two things I'd most appreciate everyone's feedback on is (1) our site itself - navigation, ease of use, etc. and (2) our credibility factor - is there anything that would prohibit you from allowing us to take care of your chapter website?

Many thanks in advance,
Barry

[HPU PIKE]

Originally posted by bubu
Let me start by saying in all honesty this is a somewhat commercial post – I own www.uGreek.com, a new resource for customizable web templates exclusively for fraternities and sororities.

As the owner of this new venture I'm obviously looking to make sales, but what I'm really hoping to achieve with this post is to obtain some objective feedback from you GCers. My partner and I have been working on bringing this idea to fruition for 10 months so our objectivity isn't exactly at its peak!

The two things I'd most appreciate everyone's feedback on is (1) our site itself - navigation, ease of use, etc. and (2) our credibility factor - is there anything that would prohibit you from allowing us to take care of your chapter website?

Many thanks in advance,
Barry

My $.02...

In terms of navigating your site, I did so with ease and was able to find everything I was looking for. The layout is simple, but concise, which is a huge plus because no one (especially college students) wants to read through tons of boring info just to get a grasp on a select few ideas. Another great feature of your site is the page dedicated to you and your VP. That sort of information lends credibility to your business. I helped create and maintain my chapter's website which is why I was interested in your post. My suggestion to you is to try to market your services to chapter's whose websites are somewhat unprofessional and simple. Exploit the fact that a professionally done and maintained website can be a great tool for a Greek Organization and that the benefits are innumerable. I hope my input helped. Good luck with your business.

[33girl]

You need to have ALL the NPC sororities available, or at least listed with a "we're working on it" page. Women do not like it when you omit their sorority. Ditto for the NIC chapters, and the NPHC groups should be on there as well.

I question, though, how many chapters are going to pay $495+ to have a website that looks like another chapter's. Your chapter website is the place where you get to show your individuality.

The ugreek site itself is nice and easy to get around.

[Diamond Delta]

The website was nice and easy to find things. Great job there. I'd like to see non-NPC groups be able to use it as well. We are national, but not collegiate.

[WhiteDaisy128]

I do the web site for our chapter and personally, I think what you are offering is a rip off. They are very generic sites that are way overpriced. I hate to sound so mean about it...that is really not my intent...but for schools that can afford to pay for their web site...they pay big but get more than you are offering. HTML is not THAT hard and there are so many GUI's that make it even easier. Best of luck in your venture...but I don't see too much of a demand for this service in the future...


Eta Kappa Chapter of Delta Gamma

[Bama_Alumna]

our site itself - navigation, ease of use, etc.

The site is easy to navigate.

(2) our credibility factor - is there anything that would prohibit you from allowing us to take care of your chapter website?

The templates I saw are very generic... they look a lot like what is already out there. Did you develop the templates after looking at a lot of existing greek chapter sites? They are hardly original. I think that if a chapter is going to pay a web designer that much for a simple site, they are not going to want to use a template being used by dozens of others. It's a good idea, but why not market your services to greeks without making every site so similar?

[kddani]

$500 is way out of many a chapter's budget. You'd be limiting your potential clients to just the very large well monied-chapters.

Honestly, you may want to diversify. There have been many a company that has tried to target web design for GLOs and I don't think very many have gotten very far. You're marketing something to college kids who many very well have a member capable of doing these same things or have a friend who'll do it for a case of beer.

[kddani]

and after viewing your pricing list further, you don't get jack for $500. No guestbook, only 36 pictures, no member pages, no calendar, no updates. All of those things are Ivery high) additional charges.

And you don't even host the sites!

As a former chapter treasurer, i'll say it again: WAY too expensive.

And finally, you need to say which GLOs you are licensed by. For instance, you are not a licensed vendor for my sorority, Kappa Delta.

This is according to greeklicensing.com, which is very up to date.

You could run into some legal troubles if you're not clear about your licensing.

[Firehouse]

To chapters that are marketing-oriented, and understand that rush is competitive, and that the chapter's "face" is important to alumni, parents and others in regular touch with the chapter, your service is very valuable. You problem in selling it is going to be making good chapters (or, chapters not yet good by ambitious) understand the significance of what you're offering. Best of luck to you. You're providing a valuable service.

[Kevin]

I keep hearing every year that our HQ is working on a solution to "standardize" our chapter websites. I'm not sure if this is just a cd-rom that's uploaded to a server or if it's an actual hosting service with a template or what.

I wish they'd come out with it already though

It kind of ticks me off when active chapters do not have websites. It really isn't hard to use Microsoft frontpage and hosting/domain names are very affordable for any chapter with say 10 or more members (would be fine with less members though).

This is a good service to have -- a bit pricey, but my chapter doesn't need it anyhow. It seems that all GLO software apps are around that price. I've always had trouble spending that much money on software or programming.

If the author of this thread is still reading, how much of your own time goes into each site?

[bubu]

Appreciate all the comments so far, GCers. Please allow me to address a few of them.

You need to have ALL the NPC sororities available, or at least listed with a "we're working on it" page. Women do not like it when you omit their sorority. Ditto for the NIC chapters, and the NPHC groups should be on there as well.
Excellent input, which we integrated immediately. Thanks!

I think what you are offering is a rip off. They are...way overpriced. I hate to sound so mean about it...
[I]OK, I know I have to take the bad with the good – and several of you have had nothing but positive things to say – but this one really stung! Sure, pricing is a sensitive issue with a lot of people, but $495.00 for an 8-page site is only $61.87 per page. As a business owner I pay $1,200.00 a month for my family's medical coverage alone. To me, that's a rip off!

They are very generic sites.
[I]Personally I would refer to the designs as clean and classic, but clearly opinions will vary. Every design template incorporates the input and graphic standards requirements of the (inter)national HQs and has received their approval.

And you don't even host the sites!
That decision was based upon our extensive research, which indicates that most schools offer free hosting to registered student organizations.

...you need to say which GLOs you are licensed by. For instance, you are not a licensed vendor for my sorority, Kappa Delta. This is according to greeklicensing.com, which is very up to date.
We take the licensing process very seriously and do everything stricly by the book. No templates are, or will be, for sale on uGreek.com unless we have licensing agreements in place. To date, we have ten licensing agreements, seven through greeklicensing.com and three we negotiated directly with (inter)national GLOs. And licensing agreements aren't just pieces of paper – they put money ($25.00, to be exact) in the coffers of your national org every time we make a sale.

I keep hearing every year that our HQ is working on a solution to "standardize" our chapter websites.
The HQs who have approved our templates so far are very enthusiastic about what we're doing. We treat their/your trademarks with respect and help chapters put their best foot forward on the web. The HQs definitely see the value of that.

Finally at the risk of sounding defensive, I'd just like to point out that although I'm located in the Houston area I'm not Enron! I'm not a fast-buck rip-off artist: I'm Greek, still very involved in my fraternity at age 47, pursuing two things I love dearly, Greek life and graphic design.

More comments? Keep 'em coming. I've got broad shoulders!

Barry

[WhiteDaisy128]

$61.87 for ONE page of HTML is crazy dude. I'm sorry you have bills to pay for your own family, but exploiting chapters that don't know any better is horrible. I'm not saying that you are not providing a service that you should get paid for, but you are charging way to much to plug a GLO's name into an already made template. For that sort of money, you should develope a specific unique site for each chapter. I really am trying to be decent about all of this, but it really irks me that some chapters will be sucked in and taken advantage of - a web site that is not maintained regularly is not worth anything anyway. I don't know about other GLO's, but DG has an aggressive web team that already has a template for "HTML challenged" chapters to use as well as a Web team that is always avaliable (through a list serve) to answer questions.

[ADPiAkron]

I received an email from your company....although it looks very interesting...I am happy with my own site through geocities!

www.geocities.com/adpibetatau and my other site which will be updated soon www.geocities.com/alphadeltapialumnae

Best of luck with finding clients!!

[Measi]

Agreed on the way too overpriced. I have several friends in graphic and web design- and if the site uses a standardized template *from scratch* (i.e. not pre-fabricated, as you have on your site), they charge roughly $25 for the first page (including all graphics, layout, etc.), and $5 per page thereafter using the same template, since additional pages need very little more than page flow and possibly an individual title graphic (based upon a standard from the first page). Costs go up only if the group wants something specific that requires much more detailed, high-definition coding, if they're looking for a completely original design (charges are then agreed upon by piece or by hour), or if they're looking for hosting as well.

While I do think the layouts that you're providing are clean and easy to read, none of them suggest that you're creating any graphics that would be worth the money you're asking for, much less asking that much money for pre-fabricated templates.

and for what it's worth-- you're charging more for these templates than a specific book publisher pays for individual pieces of art for textbooks (since I draft said work for hire contracts personally).

You definitely need to do some reconsidering.

~ Melissa

[kddani]

Comparing medical coverage and web design is comparing apples and oranges.

Web design does not require many years of training and licensing to do. Medicine does. So I just don't get that comparision. It has nothing to do with your pricing.

$61/page is insane for something that you're going to take a couple minutes to do. And also for something that is not going to be updated and all of the other add-in features that you list for even more money.

I don't know a lot about web design, but I know enough that even working from a bare bones template you can do a page in a matter of minutes. There are many other people out there that can do the same thing you do for cheaper and possibly better.

Know your market. You're marketing to not-for-profit groups that do not have a ton of extra cash to throw around.

If you don't think your price is high, fine, but there are a lot of chapters that would think that is outrageous, and especially not in return for what they're getting. As a very active alumna, I would never advise any chapter to make an investment like this when there are plenty of other resources available for far less or free.

How did you go about deciding your pricing scheme, out of curiousity?