Feedback Complete.
PNMIC is an online service dedicated to finding and listing Non-Chinese made items while promoting Non-China manufacturers.
Target Audience: Non-China manufacturers who produce every day items with an industry standard UPC/GTIN barcode.
Website URL: https://www.ProudlyNotMadeInChina.org
No. of Feedback Providers Requested: 2
Feedback sought:
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
2) The Purpose of this site is to get manufacturers to showcase (if they are in the U.S.) and sell their products and at the same time get consumers/individuals to submit NON Chinese made products to the database. This website is in BETA mode and thus we don’t have that many products or companies to search. Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing?
3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)? Individuals can submit NON Chinese made items if they wish. NON China manufacturers can apply for a subdomain (https://yourcompany.pnmic.org) to showcase their products, and if they are U.S. based, they might be elgible to sell ther products directly on PNMIC.
4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
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That the site is “Your #1 resource for NON Chinese made goods is the second thing I notice, after “This is where your future ad can be,†so the basic concept is clear. What I am not clear about is whose ads are these supposed to be and who is supposed to be posting these products. My first thought is wholesalers and retailers since they are the ones who most frequently place ads. But you are looking for manufacturers and consumers/individuals. In other words, from the home page, I see you wanting me to buy the products, not to post them. I am not certain how you would handle this. Maybe different home pages (landing pages) or each group you want to post products, so you are speaking to their unique interest.
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Also, right now the home page feels busy. The information is good. The slideshow is good. And my eyes do not know where to land after seeing the space for the ad and your slogan.
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One possibility is:
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â–º To eliminate the navigation bar, since the information is duplicated in the directory.
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► Since you have the slideshow, do you really need the photos of the t-shirts? You might be able eliminate these and then have “Featured Vendors†as the main focus on the right sidebar.
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â–º Then there might be room for the feedback and SiteLock on the right. That would give more space for the login and the Directory on the left sidebar.
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2) The Purpose of this site is to get manufacturers to showcase (if they are in the U.S.) and sell their products and at the same time get consumers/individuals to submit NON Chinese made products to the database. This website is in BETA mode and thus we don’t have that many products or companies to search. Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing?
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I was not finding anything I tried, i.e.: sweater, shoes, lawn mower. So I went to your slideshow and saw the phone. When I searched for mobile phone, it did not come up. I had to specifically search for a Blackberry. That means a visitor to your site would have to know specifically what they want. They might not. They might want to see a selection of “mobile phones†in order to make the best selection.
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3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)? Individuals can submit NON Chinese made items if they wish. NON China manufacturers can apply for a subdomain (https://yourcompany.pnmic.org) to showcase their products, and if they are U.S. based, they might be elgible to sell ther products directly on PNMIC.
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Not at this time. Before I do, you will have to help me to understand why I should have a specific interest in manufacturers who are not in China. You are not saying: Made in the USA. You are saying, not made in China. Is this an economic issue? Is it a political issue? Help me to understand on the home page. I know I just mentioned that the home page is packed and this is important. One very important technique in marketing/sales is to showcase the problem. What is the problem with Chinese products that are not a problem for any other country?
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4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
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Wow. You’re in beta and you are already third on Google for “non-Chinese manufacturers.†All the other sites listings were articles.
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Therefore, I went to https://madeinamerica.com.
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The home page is simpler than yours and there are a couple of features I like better with yours.
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â–º They have two navigation bars. One lists the various types of products. I like your pull-down menu better.
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â–º They do not have a slideshow, so they only feature t-shirts. You can feature multiple kinds of products. It can be changed for the season, etc.
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One feature that MadeInAmerica has that PNMIC does not may or may not be applicable to you, because yours is not necessarily a shopping site per se, although it is for some products. MadeInAmerica makes it possible to select a broad category, a sub-category, and a price range. This will not necessarily work for you, because you are sending people off your site for many of the products.
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5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
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I think that it would greatly help both prospective vendors and visitors to be able to understand the organization of the site. You are combining a couple of ideas: 1) being an aggregate site where some of the products are on other sites and 2) where vendors and have what are basically sub-sites of PNMIC. It just needs to be clarified. Maybe a video would help people to understand both the significance of non-Chinese manufacturers and the organization of the site. Where to put it? That will be a bit of a challenge that could take considerably playing with the home page.
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 My initial impression of what I see is this site looks a bit cluttered. It is hard to focus my eyes because there is so much around me. I can clearly see that this site is where one comes to buy Non Chinese goods. The layout is simple but that doesn’t take away from the professionalism of the site.
The complete purpose of the site is not easily understood. I figured from viewing the site that this is where you come to buy Non-Chinese items but I did not understand that the other purpose for the site was for individuals  to submit Non Chinese made products from the home page. I tried to find links to social media sites to share with friends but could not find them.Â
I am encouraged to sign up but not because of the website exactly. I am inclined to sign up because I like the overall message of the website and what the company is trying to do. If there were other sites that did the same thing I might just go with them.Â
I Â tried to find a site that does a similar thing and I did not easily find one but I did find an online toy company the claim that all their toys were made in USA or Europe and were non Chinese. The other site’s home page was much more appealing because it was not so cluttered. I could easily see everything and my eyes were not out of focus. With the Proudly not made in China site my eyes were going all over the place and I could not focus. Neither sites had links to social media sites. If I had to choose a site I would choose the proudly not made in china site because it seems like it will have more of a selection of merchandise available because they work with many companies.