Client: Pfingsten Publishing
Location: Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
Objective: To become the best industry resource on the Web for the maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) industry.
Biggest Challenge: Having content refreshed daily, and budgetary constraints.
The QSSolution: Increased subscriptions and reduced subscriber acquisition costs.
When Rich Vurva, editor of Progressive Distributor magazine, got involved with building a website for Pfingsten Publishings Industrial Group, he knew what
the biggest challenges would be. First, the company had a limited budget. Another challenge would be making sure the site was updated daily to keep visitors coming back.
One might wonderwhy is that such a challenge? A lot of websites are updated daily.
Sure they are. But not without a webmaster. Vurva knew what Pfingsten
Publishings hurdles were at the outset, but he didnt know that
Deligo Technologies - his chosen partner
in web development - was
armed to conquer those obstacles, and more.
"We chose Deligo Technologies because we knew that the company"s
founders had experience in the distribution
industry," said Vurva. "The
site, like our publications, had to focus
on the supply chain. We could have spent
endless hours looking at companies who develop
sites especially for publications, but we
knew they wouldnt understand
our audience."
Deligo Technologies was founded in 1996 when distribution industry veterans Bob Zeinstra, Demo Stavros and Tom Kelly saw a need in e-commerce and web developmentone that met the specific needs of supply chain members such as manufacturers, distributors and end users.
The Pfingsten Publishing/Deligo team began working together in the fall of 1999. The first step was to define specific objectives for the site, and ensure they were reachable.
"Essentially, we recognized that it was
time to get a website up," said Vurva. "As a matter of fact,
it was long overdue. But we needed a way
to justify it. We couldn't
spend a lot of money on this project."
Deligo helped Pfingsten justify the cost
of the site in two ways. First, by focusing on the real reason for
the site - to become an
unmatched resource for the MRO supply chain.
Second, by helping Pfingsten lower costs
by soliciting financial support from companies
who desire to reach end-users, distributors
and manufacturers of MRO products. Advertisers
can purchase button or banner ads, sponsor
polls and trivia questions, and be included
in the online version of Progressive Distributor's
annual product showcase and Progressive Technology
Directory. "We
believed in maximizing our exposure to advertisers
without making visitors to the site feel
overwhelmed," said Vurva. "We
realize they are there to receive valuable
information, and Deligo designed the
site to ensure that nothing would taint that
mission," Vurva
said. Deligo also focused on the need
for both MRO Today and Progressive
Distributor to increase circulation, and maintain a database
of subscribers.
"We had dreams of doing e-commerce on the site, but we felt
that wasn't very realistic," said Vurva. "Deligo
brought us a better solution in terms of saving
money."
That solution involved a combination of gathering new and renewed subscriptions via the site. Many outsiders to the publishing
world don't understand the huge undertaking of keeping an updated list of subscribers. That list is required by auditing organizations in
order verify the accuracy of circulation numbers, which in turn warrant subscription and advertising rates. It is generally requires a massive
effort that costs a lot of money via fax, e-mail, mail and telemarketing.
"Now we supplement those efforts using the Web, we save money,
time and a lot of headaches. Just a few weeks after launching
the site, we had 200 qualified people subscribe to the magazine!" said Vurva.
The second and more difficult challenge
was to provide daily content. Pfingsten hired a Web editor to help do this, as well as develop online exclusives.
Deligo contributed to the content challenge by integrating its search engine, MRO Explorer, into the Pfingsten site. Designed specifically to locate applicable
websites for distributors, manufacturers, and other helpful links, this search engine allows visitors to search for any MRO-related topic.
Deligo not only helped Pfingsten achieve what they wanted to, but also to avoid what they didn't want. Simple archives. "Archives
of previously published stories weren't good enough," he said. "Website visitors already read the printed versions of our magazines. We believe its
important to provide them with new information that complements
what they read in our bimonthly publications." Deligo led brainstorming sessions to help Pfingsten come to realistic conclusions about what the site could and could not do
for them. They also helped Pfingsten prioritize its needs.
"We saw them as a supplier, and expected them to deliver,
just like everyone in the distribution business does," said Vurva.
Other deliverables that Deligo provided include:
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