Business Model and Philosophy

home/plan buyers or prospect = People looking for house plans or homes

Behind every business model there needs to be some things that causes the business to stand out and on its own. Something that carries a unique side of how business is performed. I believe that Webside House Plans carries with it a revolutionary idea that every prospect will absolutely love, and every designer/architect shocked at the very thought of giving up control, even when it is all a facade anyway.

Lets ask some questions and talk about them

What are prospective home owners looking for when they turn to the Internet to search for a house plan?
When anyone searches the Internet for a product or service, they really want to find a perfect fit, and a great price. I had a prospect in my office that told me they have a 3 foot high pile of house plan magazines, and they still haven't found what they really liked. People are searching for the perfect house plan.

Are people finding exactly what they want in a house plan on the Internet?
I don't believe so. I believe that no mater how close a house may come, there is always something that keeps them from purchasing the plans. Thus, like the couple above, they came to my office to have a custom designed home drawn because they exhausted the search for the perfect house plan.

Do you think prospects would like to have a no pressure conversation with one or more designers?
I believe they are starving for it. But they don't like to be known because they are afread to associate themsleves with a company that openly tells them they will sue them if they gather ideas.

When people begin to think about building a home, they are excited mostly about what their friends and family will think. They are thinking about the final touches that are being put in place, and what it will be like to live there. Yes, they are always ready to talk.

Do you think prospects would begin to trust designers/architects if they could freely ask questions of them without feeling they needed to commit?
Of course! I setup the community so that people can ask questions that they can get a number of responses too. Most prospects do not know all the questions to ask, and it takes a professional to guide them. People will be attracted to a professional who offers straight forward and sound advice.

I know what you might be thinking, I am a professional and I am an honest and trustworthy guy or gail. I don't doubt it for a moment, but Mr. and Mrs. Prospect know very little about you from your website. "Well, they should just call me then so we can talk!" They don't want to. They have the Internet now and they are sure they can find a designer that will offer more about themselves before they call them.

What about our great website design, the beautiful pictures and easy navigation - we spent thousands on this?
Having a nice website is nice. People do put a little more trust into a company that has put effort into a nice company presence. However, Joe the car salesman looks pretty good in his suite too. Do you trust him to tell you everything about the car?

So how do designers/architects get prospects to trust them enough to do business?
Talk to them; answer their questions. Lets look at a little psychology. Would you rather do business with someone you know or don't know? By being involved in the community, you will be known by more and more people, people that want to put their trust in you.

Let me take you to a different point of view - the prospects point of view. They are here because they want to build a house. They don't need to be sold because they already are buying. Prospects are looking for some guidance, someone to trust, someone they can do business with and help put their dream home together.

Join the community, write some information that gives people real value. When someone asks a question, answer it, and maybe with another question. Take charge but don't be pushy. You are the professional, the Internet is a new playing field, learn how to use it to help people get what they want, and you will gain a new friend.

Copyright Issues

What about copyright infringements. You want designers/architects to remove their copyrights?
By the time I have all my plans uploaded, their will be about 600 plans. Out of those 600 plans, their is probably 10 where I just felt like designing a plan for the fun of it, or to put it on the website in hope it would sell.

• What about you, where did most of your ideas really come from?
• When prospects walk into your office, do you tell them what they want, or ask them?
• Would you have a business at all if it were not for the customer?
• Are your plan copyrights really helping you?
  

In this economy, I think you and I know full well that designers and architects are going out of business every day because there are so few customers. How in holding tight to a copyright is that helping keep them in business? For most house plans, it holds no value because there isn't a single person on the planet that even cares about that house plan except the original owner/purchaser. Also, should you really demand the rights to a plan if most of the ideas came from your customer anyway? I'm not saying you don't play a big roll in the design, you do! But how many of your house plans that you design for a customer, do other people want?

Please understand that I believe there are some pretty unique plans being designed. They are coming from the minds of the designer/architect. They probably should have a copyright to protect the design. But most of the homes being built are from the ideas of the consumer.

But then we need to face another truth. People are searching the Internet to gather ideas. Oh my Goodness! Really! They spend months putting all the ideas together from twenty different home designers house plans. House plans that are provided right there in front of them by the designers for all to see, and then told that they will be sued if they take the ideas. You just really want to do business with that designer, don't you?

© Look at our designs! :)
» Thank you, you have some good ideas! :)
© Thank you, you can only use them if you work with us :p
» I just don't find anything that really works, thank you :)
© If you take any of our ideas we will put you through hell! :(

You laugh at that and say you probably wouldn't do anything if someone took your plan ideas anyway. Not worth it. Ok, then why add the fear factor into your business model? Or maybe you would sue someone, so then people do have good reason to stay away from your website.

So how do designers/architects protect their house plans if not for a copyright?
This is so simple. Don't show them to anyone. Get them off the Internet. The only reason you built a website to display your plans is because someone else did and attached a copyright - you followed. Like that was the answer. You were going to make millions from the shared ideas of your customers and were not planning on giving them anything.

So Steve, are you not afraid that people will take your plan ideas?
I hope they do. And in the process I would like them to know that I will be happy to help them in any way I can. I know people will gather ideas from my plans anyway, so why not be friendly about it and see if I can gain some custom design business because of it? I never believed that the best product sold a prospect anyway. They still want to trust the company behind the product; service.

What if other designers/architects take your ideas?
Go for it! Again, my product is not what is selling, it is the tool that is used to begin a relationship of my overall services. Most of my plans don't sell, why would someone want to take my plan ideas without being able to sell them to a customer they don't have?

Final Thoughts

I believe that with this philosophy you as a designer or architect will benefit more by being realistic about where your money really comes from.

Typical house plan websites like houseplans.com. coolhouseplans.com and others are in business to sell your house plans for you. That is nice, but how many production house plans do you currently sell in a year? What about recognition? What do they do to promote you and your company?

Even if a client likes a plan and wants changes, they do not know who they will be dealing with until they purchase the plans. What kind of relationship is that? It is a large investment to build a house, people want to be comfortable with the people they are doing business with. They want to trust that person before spending any of their money.

If you look at your costs, you will find that you make a lot more money custom designing homes. That is the purpose for this site and to get your house plans and your company in front of thousands of people every month. Use your house plans to work for you in a way that will attract a buyer, not repel them.

When a person browses this site, they can feel free to be creative, set aside the fears of copyright infringement and join a community of designers dedicated to serve them. Most people will not give up their name and email even to ask a question on a typical house plan website because they are still undecided as to what they want. They know that they are gathering ideas and feel like they would be pursued for copyright infringement if they decided to use some of the ideas they have seen.

We have adding a free house plans community where designers, architects, home builders and real estate people can interact with prospects and answer their questions. While I need to control selling on the community, businesses will have an option to include thier links to their company websites on their profile page. I am also setting up each house plan page to include links to your website and profile.

There is a lot of information about social networking available on the Internet. Building relationships is what gets people motivated to work with you. No one, even you, do not like high pressure sales. Being professional and informative, giving sound advise is what people are interested in.

This site is new as far as it's approach to house plans. We are still doing a lot of things to make it the best place on the Internet for people to come together and find the resources they want concerning house plans. We want you to join us and share in the benefits that this site and it's philosophy will bring to everyone in the community.

Thank you,
Steve Nyhof