Michael McGee started his Web site development venture, McGee Designs, when the Internet as we know it today was still in its infancy. He began on a part-time basis in August of 1997 and went full-time just eight months later.
He has never looked back.
McGee got his first exposure to “all things Internet” while working in the engineering department of a local manufacturing plant.
“This type of work was added to my duties when I was asked to learn Web site development for the company,” he said. “After about a year of doing Web site development for the company, I launched out on my own.
“We started out exclusively doing Web site development and have branched out from there as the Internet evolved into what it is today,” McGee said. “One service we have discontinued offering is Web site indexing because it’s no longer effective.”
McGee said it used to be possible to generate profitable Web site traffic by registering the site with as many search engines and directories as possible.
“Today,” he said, “unless the customer has a truly unique product, paid Internet advertising is required to be heard above the crowd.”
He said in recent years Google Adwords has been proven to be the single most cost-effective method for promoting his customer’s Web sites.
While much has changed in the Internet world, Web site development and e-commerce integration remains the core of McGee’s work.
“When I say Web site development today, I am referring to the internal coding also which allows integrating with Google and other search engines, providing access to documents and of course e-commerce applications.”
McGee Designs does do a limited amount of layout work for printed publications and McGee occasionally conducts training seminars.
“Educating customers on the continually shifting terrain on the Internet is another growing facet of our business,” he said. “eBay is an outstanding example of this because there are ongoing major changes to doing business on that platform.”
Since 2003, the firm has assisted its customers in getting set up with templates and online stores for his customers to do business on eBay. McGee does not provide an eBay selling service.
In conjunction with these services, he works hard to tailor available technologies to the specific needs of his customers.
“We try to provide the customer with tools that reflect their unique presence on the Internet,” he said. “If they were limited to the templates that are available out there, how would they stand out in the enormity of the Internet today? While they may spend less money, the old adage that ‘you get what you pay for,’ is still true.”
He said some of his customers provide the product which is then researched and photographed for presentation on the Internet.
After that McGee develops a database that is tailored for the Internet and especially a database driven e-commerce Web site.
“Others provide us the database and we then customize e-commerce software to work with that database,” he said. “Some of our customers ask us to do the same thing in getting them set up on eBay while other customers are not strictly e-commerce based customers.”
McGee said the Adobe portable document format (PDF), which makes documents accessible across computer platforms has been beneficial to many of his customers.
“A good example of this can be seen in online patient registration and interactive PDF forms which allows the patient to fill out much of the paperwork before visiting the doctor’s office,” he said. “This is proving to be a great advantage for customers in the medical field.”
McGee has worked with customers in Nebraska, Colorado, New Hampshire, New York and Ohio, but he prefers to deal with his
customers face-to-face.
When his venture was new he visited with area business owners to expand his customer base. Since then, his business is acquired almost exclusively by word of mouth and referrals.
Because McGee has little need to market his services, customer education has become his biggest time management challenge.
While he continues to ensure that business contacts can reach him during the standard 9-5 business day, occasionally, the press of work requires him to work evenings as well.
“Thankfully the flexibility of the business allows me to take a day off or work limited hours to care for other matters as needed,” he said.
He said keeping up with trends and evolving technologies in the world of Web site development is perhaps the most important aspect of his business. He spends nearly an hour each day monitoring trends and technologies on the Internet via forums, specialized news sites and other resources.
“The learning curve is continual,” he said. “If one were to rest on their laurels, what they used to do profitably will eventually become automated by a program. As a result, continual education is vital.”
McGee said constant monitoring of current trends helps to keep his customers at the cutting edge and avoid pitfalls along the way.
One other challenge McGee faces is the fact that he is legally deaf.
“I read lips for a good portion of my comprehension,” he said. “I still can make use of the telephone and do not discourage people from calling me, but I find it much easier to communicate in person or by written communication.
“The Internet certainly facilitates written communication. You might say that the Internet has made it much easier for me to do business than it would have been otherwise.”
McGee’s portfolio of projects and more details of the services he provides can be found on his Web site at www.mcgeedesigns.com. McGee can be contacted by e-mail at mcgee@cablene.com.
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