Steve Parks

Steve, I am Ling! Thanks for

Ling Valentine (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

Steve, I am Ling!

Thanks for the comments. As ever, you are not very wide of the mark :)

However, I take issue with the website comments. Who says a site is "beautiful"? Some graphic designer? It is not a competition to have the cleanest, slickest site. My customers (and visitors) spend ages on my site - I have over 3 hours of video - plus tons of other stuff including quiz, poetry, free cash, free lunch etc.

I want to get people laughing out loud on my website. Just like the bloody Dragons.

What is the product? Everyone in the motor industry thinks "cars". I disagree. Product is emotion. Getting people to commit for

Hey! What does "not

Ling Valentine (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

Hey! What does "not verified" mean? My phone number is 0191 440 4700. Please verify me, Steve!

- Ling

Hi Ling, First, don't worry!

Steve Parks on January 1st, 1970

Hi Ling,

First, don't worry! 'not verified' is simply displayed automatically by the software on this site because I have it set up to let anyone post comments. I didn't want to make everyone go through a tedious registration process just to say hi, so you just get to type your own email address etc in, which means your details aren't verified (I just have to have some very clever spam software so our comments get through okay, but the erectile dysfunction pill adverts are blocked!)

Anyway, while you're here - tell us all about Dragon's Den. What was it like to go down for the filming? How did you prepare? Were the production company helpful? What were the other entrepreneurs like on the day? What was it like to be in the studio in front of the Dragon's? And how do things change in the edit?
We'd all love to hear how it was for you.

But, congratulations for such a great pitch - and for being such an ace saleswoman. They really didn't get it about the missle truck - but anyone who's driven up the A1 a few years back will remember it, and that's the point.

In terms of the website, I found it a little uneasy on the eye at first, but that's my personal taste. As I mentioned in my original post though, there are many cases of people who do go down the 'pretty' route and fail to make the sales it's the content and personality that matters more.

I think you are excellent at engaging the customer, drawing them in, making it very personal, and (as you say) connecting to them emotionally. You've spent a lot of time creating great content for the site - and making it fun.

You seem to have done a great job, and I'm hugely impressed.

You asked about my USP. I'd like to think it's that I make start-up business advice easy to understand, engaging and fun - and I create a community of entrepreneurs to help each other (www.flyingstartups.com). But other people may have other ideas!

Good luck with the website awards!

cheers
Steve

OK, Steve. So here is

Ling Valentine (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

OK, Steve. So here is reality. If this reveals too much or bursts anyone's perception of DD, please remove it.

What happens is this.

BBC approach me. (I did not approach them). They force me to drive to Manchester for screen test to make sure I will stand up in front of camera. They encourage me to bring truck pic (so much advertising allowed on BBC!). They ask me to wear worst clothes possible ("Hezbollah" trousers were requested). They say it would be great if I kicked the Dragons off (so I develop Chinese eat Dragons for breakfast line, Chinglish line and many more they did not show :).

Then the night before, the cunning BBC b4stards :) (love them really) deliberately get me train ticket to London leaving Newcastle at 7pm, arriving 10.30pm, put me in shitty noisy holiday inn express in Greenwich where if I leave hotel to get food I will be stabbed, insisting on no taxi to get there, just public transport. After no food, to sleep at 1am. Good to know licence cash is spent wisely.

Then wake me at 5am, get me on freezing set at 6am after no breakfast, lock me in a room with no catering until 9am. Then get me out and do 3 1/2 hours of filming in 100 degrees until I mess up.

They certainly have a plan, eh? It is same as how you treat prisoners; disorientate, lack of sleep/food, extremes of temperature, alien environments, stress, prolonged questioning under bright lights... really! SAS would be proud. Coincidence SAS has 3 initials like BBC?

Theo knows I was Partnership business, but still shouts about Corporation tax and audited accounts. Do you know they are quite impossible for a partnership? Just Ltd Co. Then, they edit out me correcting him and complaining he is talking rubbish.

Now, I do not object (of course) because it is beautiful publicity and I know they made perfect show with up-down-up thing but it is all contrived as you know. Of course just like the Top Gear America thing and everything except Hammonds crash.

But I still love the BBC. However, they film until they get what they want to use. Keep me standing there 3 1/2 hours. Dragons go away, the BBC people still film. And then they edit. Of course. You will understand how unreal it is.

I pitched at

Ling - you really don't need

Steve Parks on January 1st, 1970

Ling - you really don't need my advice, you were great! I think you could have taught the Dragon's a thing or two about sales and marketing, and building a start-up on a very tight budget.

Thanks for the behind the scenes view of the programme. From my limited experience of telly (I was in radio which is a bit different!), I had imagined it would be pretty much as you described, but it's a shame to have my cynicism confirmed.

However, you did turn it into a great promotional opportunity, so you really played the game and won.

What are your tips and advice for entrepreneurs who would like to go on Dragon's Den? How do you get on? How should you prepare? What should you do in your pitch?

cheers
steve

Steve, I am not a guru, I am

Ling Valentine (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

Steve,

I am not a guru, I am not very good at advice.

I would have taken their money if they had pitched at a realistic level. I think that helped. So I was honest. I also did not misrepresent or inflate any figures, so they did not get aggressive about that. That always turns them off.

But my amaazement is really aimed at how many people go on the show and do not capitalise from it. What was 13 minutes of prime BBC worth?

I made absolutely sure that the 3 million-ish viewers were a) entertained, b) could get instant gratification by visiting my website.

It seems so basic to me, but if people cannot visit you online then you miss the spontaneous response that people want to give. I have also made sure that I replied every email of support, not with automatic replies... and that everyone who applied for a free lunch has got one. That has cost me over

I have to agree with

Andreas Maratheftis (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

I have to agree with Steve.
Perhaps Ling, you can read some articles on Ecommerce/Ebusiness (http://www.nueronic.com/ecommerce-site-fails/) so that you can see why businesses fail online-and how their web site is A MAJOR cause of that.
Thanks
Andreas

I think Lings site is

John M-M (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

I think Lings site is fantastic Itried to contact her a few times with a view to supply Kia cars for her but she never got back to me!!

Also Ling if your reading this - I still haven't had my "Free Lunch"

Regards

John M-M (Evans halshaw Kia Gateshead)

Hi Steve, Ling. Wow, am

Chris G (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

Hi Steve, Ling. Wow, am shocked at the SAS tactics used by the Beeb - and I thought Dragons Den was supposed to be a helpful thing for entrepruneurs?????

I just bought the first 2 series on DVD, and the pitches are rubbish compared to Ling's. I won't apply to go on DD myself, as it seems to be unfair and to make genuine folks appear like idiots.

Well done Ling.

Nice blog Steve.

i don't like the design of

Anonymous (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

i don't like the design of the site, i think that if there was a nice design "easy to navigate" it would of sold, e.g "good website"

Lings website is THE WORST

Anonymous (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

Lings website is THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN.

Sure, great product, great prices but really, has anyone ever seen anything as bad? I don't know what I should be looking at...hierarchy of the information is all out of whack and on the whole it reads like the back of a classified car magazine. This is not good. And I can only assume that the large amount of time that people spend on her site is due to the fact that it takes ages to work out the is going on...?

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Guest (not verified) on January 1st, 1970

Almost Undoubtedly the worst site ever built. In addition to the 750 xhtml errors, the design is a headache, the flashing content is distracting, the information architecture is cluttered confusing and irritating. Its just a big mess. Plus its probably running illegally under WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards.

Enough said.

Good entrepreneur it seems...

Good web designer... I think not.

O yer and the comment of users spending hours on the site. Yer that will be to do with how confusing it is. If it wasn't for Dragons Den publicity. This e-business would be in the ground.

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