Spreadsheet Boot Camp – A Microsoft Excel Tutorial Based Entirely Inside Excel

3 thoughts on “Spreadsheet Boot Camp – A Microsoft Excel Tutorial Based Entirely Inside Excel”

1. Using MacBook OS 10.7.6 with Safari 6.0.2

   1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
   Green…. lots of green. Not a bad green once the images, text, and video all load up.

   Text is easy to read, well spaced, well laid out. 
   The landing page is nice. The image splash is good, but feels a bit fast, and having only two images makes it feel really, really repetitive. 

   The page feels a bit lengthy–there is a lot of information there. The blurb on the ‘three-teired approach’ feels like it needs a page to itself (though at the same time, if someone isn’t likely to scroll down to read it, they are not likely to click a link to read it either).
   2)Are you drawn to the media (videos/pictures)? Do you find yourself interested in discovering more about the product?
   As noted, the image splash is good, but a bit fast and repetitive. However, the text within them does well to quickly explain what your site offers 

   Having to click on the videos twice to get them going needs to be addressed–first click opens the flash screen to YouTube, but it doesn’t start automatically. Video size is small and cannot be adjusted. Speaking on video is clear, concise. 

   It is enough to make me more interested in this product (though, at the same time, hating Excel and having to use it makes me interested in anything that would make using it easier!).

   3) 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?
    There is no ‘FAQ’ site that gives more information about your product (does the purchase cover multiple users/computers? Is there a refund policy? What are the system requirements? How long does the free trial last).

   Nor is there an ‘About’ link explaining your company or why you made this product (a good thing to have… lets people know what your vision is and why you are going the direction you are going).

   On the free trail download page, you tell a little bit about compatibility. Of course, downing the file and finding it as an xlms was a surprise– maybe note that information on the download page as well.  

   Beyond that, there really isn’t much to look for regarding what you offer: a link to a download, a link to contact you. 
   4a) Are you encouraged by the call to actions (sign up for webinar, download free trial, preorder)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
    I downloaded the free trial– though sadly, the xlmsl file doesn’t seem to want to work properly with my current system set up (or is it suppose to look like a disjointed page begging for cookies?) I guess it is not compatible with my Mac’s system (though honestly, my version of excel doesn’t work properly on my Mac as it is–I use an older PC for ‘work’)

   This may cause compatibility issues–not everyone has the most recent Excel versions (or freeware program that runs similar spreadsheet programs that work on the same principals) and may not be able to open xlms files properly– again, something needs to be noted.
    
   4b) Does the website create interest in the product? What would be more convincing?
    The website does create interest. Unfortunately, it may give the wrong impression–I was expecting something more of a program/guide independent of any other program, not one that opens up in Excel. You should point out that the program uses Excel
   5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.

    Your current program format makes it easy to duplicate and send to others. 

    Let people know what the file is that they are downloading.

   Not being able to open the program on older Excel programs is a bummer… lots of people still use older versions of Excel because it works (does what they need it to do) and because it works there is no reason to update.

2. 1. My first impression is that Spreadsheet Boot Camp is a site that will teach me how to use Excel. You communicate that clearly and quickly through your slideshow. As I scroll down, I see three concise selling points, scrolling testimonials, and your call to action. That’s a great home page right there, and that’s all I really need to see on it. From here on out, if I’m interested in learning more about Spreadsheet Boot Camp, I’m ready to click on some additional informational pages. As I scroll down further, I see that you have a number of intro videos and special deals. The most attractive deals, such as the pre-order and group discounts, should really be displayed above the fold and not hidden down here. Other ordering info such as time of delivery (January) should really be on a sales page. As for the intro videos, this is also a bit much for the home page. I don’t think you really need an intro video, but if you want it, I’d combine the four you have now into one video of three minutes or less and place it right above the call to action. But I don’t think anyone is going to sit through four separate intro videos.
    
   2. The slideshow pictures are great! The transition from a totally frustrated employee to a relaxed, smiling one very effectively gets across the message that Spreadsheet Boot Camp can solve all your Excel-related problems. I’m less drawn to the videos, though, because, as I said, there are too many of them. However, I’m interested in learning more as soon as I see your slideshow and read your selling points.
    
   3. I see that you offer a free trial, but I thought I’d look for your pricing plan since I’d eventually have to pay anyway. I went to “Download Free Trial” and saw that I could pre-order now for $19.99 for an individual or $14.99 at the group discount rate, but I didn’t see any info about your regular pricing other than the temporary 60% discount notice. I don’t feel like doing a math problem to figure out what the regular price is, and I wish you’d just list it. Since you’re offering a good deal right now, it could only help to show people more concretely just how good the deal is by listing the regular price. So, I’d say I sort of found what I was looking for but not entirely. As far as things that were confusing, I’d say it was a little confusing that your navbar doesn’t have traditional informational pages. Instead it has a bunch of tabs that allow visitors to register for various things but no single sales page where all these options are presented side by side.
    
   4a. I’m encouraged by your home page call to action to download the free trial. But, as I said above, I feel like it’s a bit much to have three separate navbar tabs leading to three separate sales pages. 
    
   4b. I think the web site does create interest in the product, especially with the slideshow and main selling points. However, I think the four separate videos are a lot to sit through, and I think you hide your great discounts too far down the page and off in the right sidebar. I think if you could combine your intro videos into one and maybe add some music and increase the pace a bit, that might attract more viewers. Also, if you featured your discounts above the fold, I think that would generate more interest in the product in general. Finally, if you could add some informational pages to the navbar to complete the sale, so to speak, I think that would convert more visitors to customers. A “Why Spreadsheet Boot Camp?” or similar page could display some of the screenshots or more detailed videos that don’t really belong on the home page. 
    
   5. As it is now, I think you do an excellent job above the fold, but then you try to cram too much info into the rest of the home page, with the result that visitors are probably getting overwhelmed and giving up. Instead of so many sales pages in the navbar, try having just one sales page and reserve the other tabs for informational pages–“Why Spreadsheet Boot Camp?,” “How It Works,” “Download Free Trial,” “Help,” “About Us,” and “Contact” would be a good start. Then you can move some of this more detailed info on the home page over to those pages. In fact, on those pages, you could get even more detailed and show people how to use your software step by step or highlight all the functions it teaches. Right now, I feel like you interest me in the product quickly but then sort of leave me hanging as to how it actually works. Anyway, I think if you can address some of those issues, you’ll see more interest. Good luck!

3. 1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
    
   The home page looks very well organized. I like the photos/slideshow. The show the problem and your solution. Is a guy asleep the best photo possible? I don’t know. Maybe if he were harried and frustrated instead, with a window showing it’s night and a clock on the wall showing the time. How they don’t tell me as much as a video would. What if the photos were on the left half and a video were right half.
    
   I also am wondering about the soundness of putting the prices on the home page? You haven’t gotten me interested enough to buy yet.
    
   2)Are you drawn to the media (videos/pictures)? Do you find yourself interested in discovering more about the product?
    
   See my comments above. I did watch the first video. I think it would work above the fold (scroll) next to the photos. I would add a snazzier beginning to keep someone’s interest. Once gets going, I do want to know more. If I were interested in learning more Excel features than I already do, yes, I would definitely want to know more.
    
   3) 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?
    
   I wanted to know “About” the company. Who created it? What your credentials are? Who your partners are? There is nothing on the navigation bar. There is nothing at the bottom of the home page. There is nothing on any of the pages I visited. Is that really important? I saw very recently that the “About” page is the #1 page visited on a website. (I presume that is after the home/landing page.)
    
   I decided to look for recommendations, as well. These help build confidence in the product. They could be in any format. But I didn’t see any. That gets me wondering if Spreadsheet Boot Camp has been beta tested, yet. Has anyone tried it yet? Certainly, beta testers who liked it would be willing to write recommendations.
    
   4a) Are you encouraged by the call to actions (sign up for webinar, download free trial, preorder)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
    
   If I were looking to learn more of the advanced features of Excel, yes, the webinar is something that I would be interested in attending. I attended a couple of webinars a week.
    
   And it is a very powerful marketing tool for you! I would list the webinar first on home, because I would want to attend it before downloading the software. I also would probably might search for online reviews to see or
    
   4b) Does the website create interest in the product? What would be more convincing?
    
   Yes. Again, it goes back to instant credibility. Let me know about you: your history, your team. Let me see some recommendations.
    
   5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
    
   I think you are well on your way. Just do a little better job of proving the viability of your product to the website visitors.

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