'Assessment Associates, Inc. Environmental Consulting Interview'

Name of your website?

Assessment Associates, Inc. Environmental Consulting

Your name?

Michael O'Connor

Your Location (city, etc)

Portland

Please give us a short summary of your website?

Assessment Associates, Inc. is a small, regional environmental consulting firm located in Portland, Oregon, specializing in Phase I Environmental Site Assessments for the commercial, government, and non-profit sector all over the Pacific Northwest.

What inspired you to launch your own website?

I knew that having a decent website was crucial in building my new consulting firm.

When did you launch your first website, and what was it?

Assessment Associates, Inc. is my first website, launched in June 2006

How did you decide on a name for your website?

I named it after my consulting firm. The acronym AAI also stands for All Appropriate Inquiry, which is a recent US Environmental Protection Agency Ruling regarding due diligence reports.

What makes it different from other, similar offerings?

We offer quick turnaround, great pricing, and personalized, responsive service.

What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)

We'd like to build up to being one of the ten top environmental consulting firms in Portland.

How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?

We've had a great first year. I've invested minimal time in the website, because most of our clients find me by word of mouth.

If you had an unlimited development budget for development, how would you change your site?

I'd maximize my cross-linking to boost my page rank on major search engines.

If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?

I'd have to hire employees, get a larger office, and take more vacations!

What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?

Insurance is a big expense in the consulting world. In addition, I only get about half the jobs I propose on.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Finding clients.

What method has been most successful for promoting your website?

Cross-linking with directory sites.

How has running your website differed from your expectations?

I was pleasantly surprised how easy it would be using a third party site like Godaddy.com

How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?

I'll keep the site up as long as I have my consulting firm.

What is your website address?

Assessment Associates, Inc. Environmental Consulting

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