About us and some work samples
Through the years we've learned a few things about websites. By far, the most important is understanding the website in context. How does it fit with what the site owner needs it to do?
Some sites need to be complicated because that's how the marketing plan works. Some less so. We're not a believer in complexity just to charge you more money.
On this page we'll tell you a little more about us, and some of the decisions that went into the sites we've developed.
The FutureThru Group is:
- CER (Chief Executive Rooster) E. Blaine Anderson (Also known as "Eric")
- CEC (Chief Egg Counter) Katharine A. Disch (Also known as "Kate")
- DOC (Director of Chickenology) Molly L. Jerman (Also known as "Molly")
Together we work to bring you intelligent design (like which really came first: The chicken or the egg?), cheep cheep hosting (like, really cheep!), and some of the best chicken jokes on the interwebbernet. Trust us, there are a lot of REALLY BAD CHICKEN JOKES out there. Be grateful you have us to sort through them first.
Here are some of our sites and their context:
Operations Excellence
Operational Excellence provides practical, proven solutions are designed to achieve measurable bottom line results quickly. The website greets visitors with solid information designed to explain how Operations Excellence can help them.
As the site explains: "You immediately benefit by saving time with guidance based on our 25 years of achieving results for companies. Our experience working, managing and consulting in operations enables us to provide clients with strategies for practical solutions and a high success rate for improvement with ongoing sustainability."
This is an excellent example of a promotional site which allows clients and potential clients to research and understand the services Operational Excellence provides.
Diamonds to Die For
Newark, Ohio based Myers & Pugh Designer Jewelers has customers from a large geographic area. Their website is designed to allow customers to browse their selection from anywhere with an Internet connection. As the site says: "Mike's experience as a certified gemologist and Kevin's skill as a master goldsmith allow us to recognize and create quality items that you won't find anyplace else."
This is a moderately large (there are more than 8,000 photos) somewhat complex site. The website software automatically updates the inventory periodically from the store's inventory system. FutureThru not only developed the site, but wrote the interface to the store inventory application to make it all work.
Clear-Water Technologies of Ohio
This is another informational site designed to educate visitors about the company's products and services. The site features information about the various services provided and helps further educate consumers about the many options available for clean drinking water.
Informational websites such as this one can be an excellent way of attracting new business as well as keeping customers informed about new products and services. Websites such as this are most effective when they work within a company's strategic and marketing plan to help build marketplace awareness.
Last Chance Leather
Last Chance Leather is well-known throughout Ohio. For nearly two decades, the company has been offering hand-crafted leather purses at arts and craft shows throughout the state.
This website had three goals during development. First, a calendar feature shows the craft shows and festivals that the company plans to attend. This allows customers to make plans accordingly.
Second, the website features the entire range of the company's products. At the shows, the company is limited by booth space to a smaller selection of goods, but on the website, customers can see the entire range of colors, products and learn about drop length and other features.
Finally, the website has an e-commerce component, allowing customers to order directly from the site.
This type of site is modestly complex because of the wide variety of options. Purses come in many different sizes, shapes and colors. Some have multiple choices for different fastners and other hardware. E-commerce sites tend to be somewhat more complicated as well for smaller businesses because they require understanding receiving and processing online orders and payments.