Name of your website?WHF Security
Your name?
James Hopkins
Your Location (city, etc)
Whitewater
Please give us a short summary of your website?
D-I-Y security products for homes and small businesses. Electronic and non-electronic security devices to help keep families safe. Free tips include inexpensive ways to make homes more secure.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I began selling safety/security products over 30 years ago. This is simply the next logical step from physically installing alarms myself. We also started a site for personal safety.
When did you launch your first website, and what was it?
WHF Security was launched in 2005.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
WHF is the base name for several businesses we have. WHF Security is for home security and WHF Safety is for personal safety.
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
Quality products from several manufacturers. We offer 20% - 50% off retail on most items. Free shipping over $35. We treat customers like we want to be treated - even if we lose money on the sale. I think our free tips are some of the most complete on the web.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
Keep the home security site going and improving. There's a lot of families that can benefit from our information and products. Improving our personal safety site. Starting a surveillance site.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Currently, time & money are winning. I plan on keeping on improving the site(s). The success will come. I've seen some PR improvements and visitor numbers are rising.
If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?
I would have to raise prices and change the free shipping limits.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
I would like to hope I could.
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Fax/printer needed replacement. Customers sometimes call at all hours (home phone & business phone are the same number).
What has been your biggest challenge?
SEO - Links - Keeping up with new and discontinued products.
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Linking with other related sites and directories.
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
It takes more time than I expected.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
We've been up for nearly 2 years and we have no plans to stop. It's a good feeling to help make people safer.
Would you reccommend starting a website to others?
Only if they were willing to invest the time and energy to get the site moving up in the search engines.
What is your website address?
WHF Security
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