Who needs website design for their haunted house?

[drfrightner]

We are in discussions right now with a group of companies to produce the best most advanced websites for haunt owners. You would get all kinds of awesome bells and whistles, seo work, awesome graphics, professional web hosting, web stats, everything... who needs this work done or is looking to upgrade over what you have now???

I'm trying to gauge interest in having this done for this season and beyond. Email me at darkrides@sbcglobal.net

Larry

[drfrightner]

We would give you more ways to use, update, and promote your website than anyone out their currently plus simply the best graphics avail.

We are working on this now and I'm trying to see who all might want to get on a list to their website done, something that will blow away what others are doing and put your competition in the grave. LOL

Keep the emails coming.

Larry

[Spookyfinder]

Have any examples? I don't think there's much too this, any "new, exciting technology" for web design...most of us already know about! SEO, is NOT hard...just time consuming. There's no "formulas" to it, you just have to know what you're doing.

Just saying. Would love to see an example! -Tyler

[drfrightner]

We are going to put up an entire website so you can test them and check it out. Don't have it up yet but it will go up very soon... we plan on getting into the website business to help haunted houses create better website they can use to promote their business.

Right now my goal is to find a list of people who might be looking for website work. The website will be going up soon. Keep the emails coming!

Larry

[drfrightner]

Yes we will be taking these websites to a new level... I think you are wrong on a lot you said. It is good to work with someone within the industry who has proven themselves successful and now wants to help pass along that to your business. The best business move you'll ever make is to get over your competition on the web... trust me on that one.

I know the secrets, I've been working on this for a year, and I'm going to HELP YOU become MORE successful, MAKE more money, SELL more tickets, GAIN more traffic to your website than EVER before.

If you dont' believe me then let your competition hire our new group and you'll find out the hard way! LOL

We can't build a ton of sites this year our goal is to get things established and go hard and heavy in 2012. However we are lookign for clients who want to get the edge over other haunts in their market NOW!

Larry

[HauntedPaws]

Having made a few websites I would be interested in the cost vs bells and whistles. Having an extensive IT background none of the sites I've seen here so far be them great aren't technically that difficult to reproduce. Most of the cost is in the graphics.

If only I could get Larry to write me back about my haunt questions though.

[NightmareAftershockLLC]

Alright Larry,

Let's play along for a minute that you are going to produce amazing results. How? SinisterVisions, Rogues Hollow, Brainstorm Studios, and RedCrowDesign, to name a few, have this industry locked down with amazing graphics, and offer a wide variety of websites, depending upon budget.

What will make YOUR websites better? Why are YOUR graphics any better than theirs?

I am ALL ears on this one, and want to know WHY you will be better. Saying "blowing the competition out of the water." HOW?

Also, you need a way to GET the patrons to the site. HOW do you intend on that? Will this supposed "mind bending" web company also do physical print design, ticket design, radio ads, tv commercial production? If so, WHY are we going to pay YOU to do them, instead of a brick and mortar video production company? Will you travel to MY haunt to take video, produce it, and then get it on the air for me, without costing me an arm and a leg?

See, that is the key here. You are going to intrude into these web-design companies' territory, and they will undercut you on costs, and still deliver amazing product.


Lets here how it will be GOOD for us, instead of using "marketing" lingo.

[spookjj]

I trust Larry to produce good results, but, since this is a new venture at this point with no products, have to wait and see. We'll need a site within a year so I'm hoping this can fill my need at decent price point. The problem is if you template, all the sites will have the same feel and touch, who wants their website to be like the others? Will uniqueness among sites be a premium? The general public won't know if your site looks like Joe's in Texas, so maybe it might work, just thinking out loud. Honestly, if the site kicks butt and is like Joe's in Texas and it will save me 1k, I'm in for it... again my local customers will never know...

[spookjj]

We should do a poll, what should be the dollar amount for a great website? 800, 1k, 2k, 3k? I'd pay $1k-1200 at the most, even though I work in IT (like haunted paws and can do php, SEO...etc I'd rather build props and have too many other projects going on and building a website is to time consuming for me at this time. I wonder what Larry thinks he can get for "great site" ? lol, bc his pockets are usually much deeper. Again, maybe do 5 killer templates and keep it cheaper rather than doing individual customized sites, general public won't know the difference...

[HauntedPaws]

We should do a poll, what should be the dollar amount for a great website? 800, 1k, 2k, 3k? I'd pay $1k-1200 at the most, even though I work in IT (like haunted paws and can do php, SEO...etc I'd rather build props and have too many other projects going on and building a website is to time consuming for me at this time. I wonder what Larry thinks he can get for "great site" ? lol, bc his pockets are usually much deeper. Again, maybe do 5 killer templates and keep it cheaper rather than doing individual customized sites, general public won't know the difference...

Anywhere over $1,500 is to much and that's with all the bells and whistles. I also like having creative control, so if it's one of 5 templates I don't think I would go that route.

[spookjj]

If the template is awesome and you could customize it later yourself, as long as no other haunt in your area is using the same template why not go for it. Especially, if you could get it for like $5-800 which a template would have to be bc it's not yet fully customized, hence cheaper.

[drfrightner]

How much do you think Disney spent for the new Pirates websites, or Marvel spent for the new Thor website, or any movie spent for their whatever new movie coming out. They'll build these websites a year or more in advance and promote them all year around. You know its a good discussion here aside from who builds your website, because I've heard or seen people say $500.00 not more than $3000.00 or whatever.

First and formost we are going to offer websites for all different prices but the exact cost is yet to be determined. However what would I spend on a website as cool as the one for say Batman or something... if some guy came to me and said I could build you the ultimate website something as good as the last batman movie with stuff like clues for opening safes or this or that... how much would I spend? If the guy said 10k I wouldn't blink, if he said 20k it would have to be very very very cool and cutting edge.

I'd love to have a website that people kept coming back to over and over again even after they've visited my haunted house ... look anyone who thinks there should be a limit to what you should spend for a logo, a website, graphics, or something that promote your haunted house in my book is not trying to acheive greatness.

How can you spend 10, 20 or 30k on animations or something and $500 on your website that is simply crazy. How do you expect to pay for all those animations or improvements to your haunt, how do you plan to stay in business, how in the World will you ever pay for your kids college or whatever? You do it from having kick ass slick videos on youtube, awesome and very professional photos, great website with tons of information, good sponsors, in the end great word of mouth, but above all else great marketing which includes and most important having the ability to drive a lot of traffic to your website.

I'll say it 2 million times those who don't believe in internet marketing, specifically ads on our website or others are not going for the gold. And haunts that complain and cry about how one haunt or another is better than them because they do more people blah, blah whatever should only blame themselves. The key to having a great haunted house, starts first and foremost with marketing, websites, graphics, photos, and more... NOT with a great haunted house.

You could build hype for a haunted house without even having a location, or one prop bought.

You could have everyone in town wanting to visit your haunted house and yet you have no haunted house, all based strictly on your website, and driving traffic to it, and once they visit they see something that really puts you ahead of the pack ...

Look people no longer just listen to your radio commerical and boom head off to your haunt... doesn't work that way. It now starts with peopel doing research on the web, more often now using sites like Hauntworld.com or even facebook or whatever to find out what are all the options, what did people rate them or rank them, and then they make a choice.

Your website is CRITITCAL its the MOST important piece of the puzzle if you want to create more business for the haunt... yes in the end you must have a great haunted house to match it but your website shoudl be better than your haunted house ever could be... when you can acheive this you will find yourself in the situation where you can spend more money on the event, you can quit a real job and focus yourself on your haunt year around, you will find the ability to buy that corvette you always wanted or pay for your kids to go to college, or pay off your house, adn support your family.

It starts with a website.

Larry

[wickedfarmer]

Come again!

The key to having a great haunted house, starts first and foremost with marketing, websites, graphics, photos, and more... NOT with a great haunted house.


Around me people have fallen too many times for the above idea...and get very upset finding out they have been duped. I'll cut some slack here saying probably you have not shown people a poor time...or the exact same thing 2 years in a row. I will flat out say I probably hands down have the biggest loser of a website of anyone posting on hear and was going to email saying I am interested. But with the above comment...I am still interested...but fading.

Wicked Farmer

[drfrightner]

You know if I was giving a seminar about how to create, build, operate and become the top dog haunted house in your market you would understand everything I was saying before you left the room... when you type back and forth on a message board its hard to understand everything being said.

I will say again, you can build more hype of an event be it a haunted house, a movie, a tradeshow, or something Shane is doing (LOL) without even having an event. When you bought a ticket to Shanes party just as an example you didn't know for sure there would even be an event, you didn't know you would win anything, you didn't know if it would be fun, or it would be worth anything... you bought a ticket anyway. Shane did a good job promoting his event...

When Transworld first did their haunt only show no one knew for sure if it would work, listen to all the doubters saying our industry wasn't big enough, people predicted disaster, and everything else. TW and many others kept the promotion machine rolling and boom there ya go.

The bottom line is all movies get hyped up to the bone, some movies show you the best scenes and you get excited buy a ticket and well the movie sucked to high heaven. What I'm saying is first and foremost you need a great website, content on the website, you need awesome PR, and marketing first and foremost in front of anything you must have the above.

You can hire the best actors, best director, best everything and without hype, pr, marketing, that movie loses millions. Before you see a product, before you buy a ticket, before you become interested in ANYTHING there is HYPE, PROMOTION, MARKETING, and if its good you'll have lines around the building now in the end do you have a good product?

If you do you will continue to roll, if you don't you could still do great for a while...

Now in some of your guys case you have great haunts but horrid marketing and well you don't make the money you want, you don't see the attendance and I hear you moan all the time about how that haunt sucks, yours is better, your haunt gets better reviews, blah, blah, blah... well the difference is that haunt that kicks your butt is the haunt ran by the guy who understands how to run a business better than you first and foremost...

You understand haunting they understand business... you will lose 9 times out of 10 because eventually the guy who understands business who is making 5 to 1 more money than you will hire someone to improve the product and will spend more money than you 3 to 1 every year on everything and eventually leave you in the dust.

Understand business first, then let your passion take you to places you never knew you could achieve. Why is Netherworld so successful? Ben is the haunt guy who loves everything haunted, and Billy loves the business and marketing side, its a perfect match... they put an equal amount of money into promotion of their brand as they do the haunt itself... in the end they are equal where as with most haunts out there is lopsided and that is why you miss the boat.

How do I roll... you can figure that one out. I blow away everyone in town in both sides of the fence not just one, I have a great show and I have great marketing... what do you guys have one or the other and let me guess you have a great haunt with horrible marketing. Time to re-invest in the business side and then you'll have money for the show and the haunt. Its a unique concept I know ... LOL

In the end WE will HELP you with the business side with building the best websites that actually help your business GROW!

Larry

[Jolly Pumpkin]

I don't get it. It's not hard to understand people. The first impression new customers have of your haunt is your website. If your website looks crappy, they're going to think the same of your haunt. If you didn't put much time into your website, then why would they think you put a lot of time into your haunt. If you don't promote your haunt through haunt directories, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Festivals, Parades, Flyers, billboards, events etc then how are people supposed to know anything about your haunt? The haunt that invested a couple hours into their event is going to get a lot more customers than your incredible creation because they marketed their event a lot better. But sometimes if a haunt is in a small town where there's little to no competition, then people have little choice, but to go to their haunt and it's likely that the haunt will have big crowds. But with good marketing they could have much larger crowds.