Global Fastener News

How Did Sherex Go Online in 1992?

Before most people had ever even logged into the World Wide Web, Sherex Fastening Solutions had a presence online.
“In 1992, long before mot companies knew what the www was, Sherex hosted its first website,” Sherex president Andrew Johnson recalled.
John Krikke, the Sherex IT specialist, “was always reading about the latest and greatest tech news,” then-controller Johnson explained to GlobalFastenerNews.com. “One day he came to me and told me about the World Wide Web that was starting up. He wanted to look into it more.”
Johnson gave Krikke the “go ahead.”
“There were initial problems,” Johnson noted. “We had no web protocol, no easy way to even register our name and no way to navigate a website.”
Krikke learned the process and “we were up and running with a very rudimentary website that only had a few pages.”
“John and I still joke what idiots we were, if we had a little more foresight we would have registered names and sold them later,” Johnson muses today.
Within a year it became easier to register names, Netscape  as a browser and computer programs were developed.
“It still took us a couple years to get our catalogue on the web,” Johnson noted. Krikke eventually found an earlier version of today’s PDF to put the Sherex catalogue information into and post online.
Sherex, a manufacturer and distributor of blind rivet nuts, brass inserts and other specialty fastening products,  recently redesigned it website: Sherex.com
“We’ve come a long way since then and so has our new site with 3D downloadable drawings, easy navigation and videos,” Johnson pointed out. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com

April 9, 1996 FIN – What is a Web Site Home Page?
• An advertisement
• Prospect generation
• Catalog
• Direct sales
• Business-to-business sales
• Customer support
• Education
“The use of the Internet as an advertising medium is growing at a remarkable rate,” Greg Westall of Innovative Quality Services said. “The Internet allows promotion of a company 24 hours per day, at an affordable cost. On-line catalogs, inventories and complete company information can be at current and potential customers fingertips any time of the day or night.”

Bernie Singer of FastenerNet said the Internet allows anyone to view fastener inventories all over the world.

“Send an inquiry or quote a part via E-mail to a company on Los Angeles, New York, Taiwan or Germany,” Singer said. “Browse a list of fastener manufacturers in Switzerland or Australia, check out a vendor of forged eye bolts in California or Georgia. You can so all this for the price of a local telephone call.”

Shawn Chadwick of Exert said marketing on the Internet is different from traditional print advertising. “You have to develop a proper balance between content and the download time,” Chadwick explained. “Too many graphics or the wrong kind of illustrations compromise viewing speed.”

It is vital that your page is well advertised with search engines-a form of index or table of contents-so that when someone is looking for your products your page will be referenced,” Chadwick emphasized.

“Rather than just putting a magazine ad on our Home Page, the flexibility of the Internet allows you to provide your prospective customers with a considerable amount of information and let them link directly to additional information or even order directly from your page,” Chadwick said.

Why hire someone to design a Home Page? “You make money doing what you do best: designing, manufacturing, importing or distributing fasteners,” Chadwick explained. “You can do a better job distributing fasteners that a Web Page designer can. But a Web Page designer can create a better Internet marketing page for you. You each do what you do best.”

What Does a Home Page Cost?

Fastener firms should be able to put a Home Page on the Internet for under $1,500 for an entire year, Chadwick said. That should provide not only the basic information but a useful and attractive Web page interface, he added.

Chadwick cautioned the industry “to be careful not to be talked into buying hidden charges such as ‘per graphic’ charges, ‘additional page’ charges or high volume usage. It really adds up fast.”

“Your Web page is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and can be updated frequently,” Chadwick observed.

Distributors may be able to take advantage of cooperative advertising dollars by including manufacturers’ advertising or logos on the Home Page  ©1996/2011 Fastener Industry News

For more fastener Internet development click on Fastener History section:

1996 FIN: Fastener Firms Start Marketing on the Internet

1998 FIN – Electronic Commerce is Catching On

1999 FIN – Nissen Website Offers Fastener Buyers Negotiation Power

Related Links:

• Sherex Fastening Solutions