Bad Review: NuWave Printing (AKA Top Class Signs and Printing)

We had a horrible experience with NuWave Signs and Printing (Top Class Signs and Printing is their retail front). They are unwilling to work with their customers, and do not care about building long-term relationships. After several years of working with many different vendors, this will be our FIRST written complaint against one.


We called in for an order of silk laminated business cards with rounded edges. They said they would put in the order, but needed an email sent to them with the order specs. They told us what to say in the email, so we wrote:

“I want 500 silk laminate business cards with rounded edges.”



They sent us an invoice that had a product description saying “OFSLBC- 500qt 4/4, full color both sides, silk laminated business cards on 15PT. Production time 9-11 days.” We approved the invoice, thinking we were approving a price.



3 days later, we called to get an update on the order, and they forgot about us (they didn’t seem to have our information logged in). They barely went into production 3 days later, after we called. About 10 business days later, we got the cards, but they DID NOT have rounded edges as we requested both verbally, and written via email. Silk Laminate cards are expensive, premium cards (about 3-4 times more expensive than normal business cards)… so it wasn’t a cheap mistake.



Their response: “you approved the invoice, so there’s nothing we can do”! We tried talking with the supervisor, but she was not available. We were promised that she we call back – she didn’t. The supervisor dodged us for a day and a half, and when we finally got a hold of her (we had to keep calling them), her solution: the same as what we were already told.



They expected us to pay to have them shipped back, pay full price for rounding the corners (it apparently wasn’t on the invoice), and then pay full price to have it shipped back again! In other words, “we will do absolutely nothing for you, and you will have to pay for OUR mistake”. On top of the original card price, we are looking at spending an additional $35+ dollars in shipping as the cards had to be shipped a total of 3 times. We have done business with them in the past, and as a graphic design company, we had several jobs for them in the future. However, this meant nothing to NuWave Printing.



I told them that I would ship the cards, but write an email to them expressing my disappointment, and explaining the situation. I told them to please have the owners read the email, because maybe they would make a different decision knowing the circumstances. I told them that either way, I would need the cards because my client already paid for them, so I would pay if I had to, even though it wasn’t right. In the email, I said that I understood that we couldn’t, nor would we even attempt to rectify this issue legally, however we would file a complaint against them voicing our experience with NuWave if they refused to work with us at all. We also said, “We never do stuff like that, and I really do not want to start… It’s not about the money with us, it’s about developing good business partnerships. I don’t want to have to find another vendor, and would prefer to continue doing business with you, but your solution to this problem is unacceptable. I kindly ask you to reconsider, so that we can move forward with a good, healthy business relationship.”



After sending the email, I heard no response for 3 days, until I followed up. They finally replied, “Unfortunately we don't respond well to threats feel it might be better to end this business partnership, thank you and all the best.” That’s it! Just like that. I asked, “so what are you going to do about the cards that were already shipped to you?”



Their response: “If you want them returned you will need to pay the return shipping which is probably around $12-15.”



My reply: “I want them fixed. If you’re not going to work with me on it, then you are forcing me to pay. I don’t want to, but I have no choice – my client already paid. You said in a previous conversation that you could extend a 10% discount for the trouble… please do not go back on what you said, and offer this. Either way, I need the corners rounded and I can’t wait any longer. They are way past deadline already. I called the office, and they said you would get back in at 2pm your time. Please make a call before then, as I have my client asking for his cards.”



Their Final Word: “Based on how you chose to threaten us we are no longer willing to continue doing business with your company. It was very inappropriate and rude. We were willing to work with you but you thought treats and insults would get you results. As mentioned earlier the most we are willing to do is ship it where ever you chose, we do not need this kind of negativity. Please advise asap what you would like us to do with your cards.”



This is just a warning to anyone considering doing business with NuWave Printing, or their Retail Front “Top Class Printing” (they are the same company). They do not care about their customers, nor are they willing to work to make things right if there is ever an issue with an order – even if it’s their mistake. There are several different companies that we have found that are better to work with, quicker on delivery, and even more reasonable on their prices.

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SEO Checklist

SEO CHECKLIST

By Sean Tambagahan, Operations Manager – Butler Web and Design

I’ve written in the past about SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  If you are new to the phrase, I would suggest reading two of my articles: The SEO Myth, and The Magic SEO Button Fallacy.  Both of those articles, along with a ton of other free resources, can be found on Butler Web and Design’s resources page here: http://butlerwebanddesign.com/resources.html.

The purpose of those articles was to expose the hidden tricks that many SEO companies try to pull on unsuspecting business owners who want higher rankings on search engines.  Though I gave some practical tips on things you can do to get better search engine rankings, I never included a “checklist”.  So the point of this article is to provide a checklist of things that are absolute musts if you want to get started with SEO.  

1.      Get a Website

2.      Index It

3.      Create Content for your Site

4.      List It

5.      Promote It (friends and customers)

6.      Social Media

Step 1) Get a Website

I’ve spoken with clients who weren’t interested in having a website, but really wanted to have their business name and number found on Google when someone did a search for their type of business.  Though this is possible by creating free business listings on Google, Yahoo, and other search engines, directories, and social media sites, it’s a lot better if you have a website that links these listings to your business.  Your website, in essence, acts as a landing page.  If you had business listings all over the internet, you are more likely to be found by search engines if these listings were all linked to the same website.  The first step to great search engine exposure is to have a website that you can link to; even if it’s a basic site that only shows your business name and contact information.    

  

Step 2) Index It

After your website is created, it’s important to index your site with Google.  Indexing your site simply means adding your site to their database so that it shows up in the Google search results.  Indexing your site enables Google’s crawlers (search programs) to find your website on the internet. 

How do you index your site?  Here’s a quick 4 step process:

1)      Go to http://google.com/webmaster

2)      Sign into webmaster tools using your Google account (I you don’t have a Google Account, create one)

3)      click the button to “Add A Site”

4)      Verify that you are the site owner

“Can my website be found without indexing it?”  Yes, eventually Google will find your website among the billions of others out there; however indexing your site drastically speeds up this process. 

Step 3) Create Content for your Site

Imagine if you went to Google to do a search for “go green products in Clovis California” and you got a bunch of results of Go-Green companies who weren’t located in Clovis California, and they didn’t have good content that you were looking for, but they were able to manipulate their site to get the top position.  Now imagine if this were to happen every time you did a search on Google.  It wouldn’t be very long before you realized that Google wasn’t a trusted source to give you relevant content, and you would start using a different search engine. 

Google doesn’t want that to happen.  That’s why it’s in their best interest to make sure that you, as a searcher, are finding the content that you want to see, when you want to see it.  They are good at what they do, and they’re always changing to make sure that searchers are happy with their search results.  That’s why it’s important to design your website for the searchers – not the search engines. 

How do you do that?  Here’s a simple 2-step process:

1)      Create lots of good, relevant content

2)      Hire a good web developer that can give you a unique design, with a good layout for your content

If you need help getting started with content creation, check out the article here. 

Step 4) List your Site

After your website is created and indexed, and you now have some good content for people to look at, it’s time to start getting it out there.  The first step in getting your site out there is by creating listings in various search engines and directories, and backlinking them to your site.  Backlinking is simply making sure that any listings you create have your website address posted. 

It’s important to know that it’s not about how many directories you are in, but what directories you are in.  You don’t want to submit your site to every free directory you can find, because not all of them are good.  If your site is on a bunch of directories that Google deems as spammy or as phishing scams, then you could actually get penalized with worse rankings.

Some directories and search engines to start with are:

Google Places

Bing Business Portal

Yext (Yahoo Local)

YP.com

Superpages

Manta

Yelp

Step 5) Promote your Site

After you’ve done steps 1-5, the next step is to start promoting your website.  Have your friends, family and customers check out your website and give you feedback.  Ask them their thoughts.  How does it look?  How is the content?  What do you suggest?  Taking visitor feedback is important because it helps you determine how helpful your site is to people who are newbees in your industry. 

Start putting your web address on your business cards, brochures, signs, handouts… basically, anything that your customers and/or potential customers will see.

Direct your customers and prospects to your site for helpful resources.  If they ask you “where can I find information about ________” you should be able to say “visit my website for that”.  The more people visiting your site for relevant content in your industry the better.  Google will start picking up on the activity, and mark your site as a helpful resource and give you better ranks.    

Step 6) Social Media

Social media is the number 1 activity with the most time spent online; therefore Google and other search engines have incorporated social media presence into their algorithm.  Create a Facebook page, Twitter account, or LinkedIn Profile for your company (and don’t forget to backlink). 

It does take time and dedication to build a good following on social media.  Consistency is the key; therefore, don’t create any social media pages unless you plan on using them.  It’s pointless to have a Facebook page with no “likes” or a Twitter account with no one following you.  The point of social media is to engage with your customers and prospects so that your name is always in front of them.  When they have a need for your services or products, they’ll think of you first because you’re engaging with them frequently on the platform that they’re using. 

That’s it!  At least to start that is.  There are definitely many other factors to take into consideration regarding SEO, and speaking with an SEO consultant may be helpful.  Remember, SEO is not an overnight task – it’s often a slow process that takes time, consistency, and dedication, but the reward is worth it.  Hopefully you have found this article helpful.  If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to give us a call. 

Butler Web and Design

559-797-3414    |    info@butlerwebanddesign.com    |    www.butlerwebanddesign.com

Getting Started with Content Creation

Confused About Content Creation?

10 Questions To Get You Started with Creating Your Website Content

One of the purposes of a website is to communicate a message, therefore it is crucial for your website to have content for visitors to read.  A website without content is useless, but creating the content isn't always easy - it takes some work.   One of the most difficult, time consuming, pain-staking aspects of creating a brand new website for a business is getting content from the business owner.    

Most businesses want to leave it up to their web developer to create content for them, however it's impossible for a web developer to know exactly what to write for their clients.  It's up to the business owner to create his/her own content.  The problem is that many business owners don't know where to start.  

Whether you are a business owner trying to figure out what to say, or a web developer trying to get content from your client, an encouraging snippet of truth to know is this: business owners know more than they think the do - it's just a matter of asking the right questions.  

Here is a list of 10 questions that I have found helpful to ask my clients who are struggling to come up with content for their website:

1) Do you have a mission statement for your company?  If not, what would you say the mission of your company is (what do you seek to do, and for who)?  

2) What is a one or two line sentence that sums up what you do?

3) Why did you get into the business?  (What was your motivation for starting your business?)

4) Do you have any special skills/services/products that aren't common for your industry?

5) What do you try to do differently than your competitor down the street?

6) What would you say is your biggest selling point?

7) What would you want a person who is just hearing about your business for the first time to know about your company? (if you were talking with someone about your company, what would you tell them in order to impress them)

8) What do you want your customers to feel after they've done business with you?

9) What are some positive things that people have said about your business? (this could end up being your testimonial section)

10) What are the 10 questions that you've answered 100 times about your industry?  (This will most likely be your FAQ’s content)

By the time you are finished answering the above questions, it's likely that you would have already come up with more content than you need to at least get your site started, and you can build from there.    

Sean is on an internet Talk Show!

Check out Sean discussing the SEO myth on Holly's Advice for B2B!  Then call & ask for his autograph.  He loves that.

http://hollysadvice4b2c.com/sean-tambagahan-seo-myth/