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What service are you interested in?

In November 2017 I had a large number of visitors on Life Story page. This do not happen naturally. Most likely someone has presented my website to his friends, having mysterious interest in my personal life for unknown scope. The Life Story page written for purpose of showing good impression about my ability to self-taught and turning my childhood hobbies into business without attending high education. But recently I started being afraid that the page may give also bad impression for lack of high education.

I received a comment, followed by 2 chats, all 3 mysterious people asking SIMILAR questions. 2 days later, a 4th person started a chat asking a series of questions about my services but without saying what service he actually want from me. He only said that is doing a research about my website.

He could be a professional looking to hire me for a specific project/activity but first want to check my background and my other activities, but instead of saying what he wants, he suggested few changes for website. Could a friend of him be actual customer looking for my services, and showed him Life story page making him intrigued to ask me random questions? Or, they could be a group of kids looking to make money thus asking questions about my business for purpose of doing the same (copying my business)?

What is YOUR opinion?

Initial comment

Hello, your website seems a little confusing.

I noticed that you are very confident in the lay out of your website. May I know what your business and user goals are? And what kind of services do you offer to your users?

My reply:

It is confusing because I have multiple fields of activity. But why do you say that I am very confident in the layout?
Just say what are you looking for and I will tell you if I can do it or not, regardless is listed or not on website.

First strange person

Chat started on Monday, November 13, 2017 10:27:14 AM

(10:27:14 AM) *** Visitor has joined the chat ***
(10:27:14 AM) Visitor: Hi, may I know what your business and user goal is?
(10:27:26 AM) Visitor: and what are the main services that you provide?
(10:27:30 AM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(10:27:47 AM) Teoalida: A variety of services
(10:27:57 AM) Visitor: specifically?
(10:28:47 AM) Teoalida: What are you looking for?
(10:32:08 AM) *** Visitor has left ***

Second strange person (messaging me only 9 seconds later)

Chat started on Monday, November 13, 2017 10:27:23 AM

(10:27:23 AM) *** Visitor has joined the chat ***
(10:27:23 AM) Visitor: Hi! May I ask what is your business goal?
(10:27:51 AM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(10:28:05 AM) Teoalida: A variety of services
(10:28:22 AM) Teoalida: What are you looking for?
(10:29:50 AM) Visitor: I just want to know more about your website and what you have to offer for your customers
(10:31:37 AM) Teoalida: I don’t want to say that I offer architecture services in case you’re looking for databases, or vice-versa. I offer BOTH, and not only
(10:35:57 AM) Teoalida: So….?
(10:39:25 AM) *** Visitor has left ***

Third strange person (2 days later)

Chat started on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 6:23:30 AM

(6:23:30 AM) *** Visitor has joined the chat ***
(6:23:32 AM) Teoalida (site owner): Hi there… if you need any help or just wanna chat, drop here a message!
(6:24:41 AM) Visitor: Do you provide architecture design services?
(6:24:50 AM) *** Teoalida has joined the chat ***
(6:24:52 AM) Teoalida: yes too
(6:26:59 AM) Visitor: What other services do you provide?
(6:27:28 AM) Teoalida: just say what are you looking for and I will tell if I can provide or not
(6:27:51 AM) Teoalida: https://www.teoalida.com/design/apartmentplans/comment-page-5/#comment-196094 is this your comment?
(6:28:19 AM) Visitor: No
(6:28:30 AM) Visitor: Are your databases reliable?
(6:28:41 AM) Teoalida: also yesterday 2 people (or 1 people in 2 windows) asked me same question “what services do I provide
(6:29:22 AM) Visitor: Maybe your services you provide are not specific enough?
(6:29:36 AM) Teoalida: are you in a school?
(6:30:24 AM) Visitor: That doesn’t matter and I am just doing a personal research about your website
(6:30:31 AM) Visitor: you seem very knowledgeable…
(6:31:27 AM) Teoalida: such cases of multiple people asking SAME question at approximately same time give impression that they are from same group, such as classmates
(6:31:33 AM) Teoalida: anyway, how I can help you?
(6:33:07 AM) Visitor: Do you create layout design such as blueprints?
(6:33:31 AM) Teoalida: yes, I create floor plans from my imagination
(6:33:35 AM) Teoalida: not copying others
(6:33:43 AM) Visitor: interesting…
(6:34:40 AM) Visitor: So would you consider yourself as an interior designer?
(6:35:00 AM) Teoalida: architectural designer, not interior
(6:36:03 AM) Visitor: Would you be able to design a landed property in Singapore?
(6:36:29 AM) Teoalida: in Singapore, yes
(6:37:03 AM) Teoalida: I am tired of architecture due to many customers in India, Africa and other third-world countries, but if I get a project in Singapore I will do with all pleasure
(6:37:51 AM) Visitor: Are your databases and gaming related work related to the services you provide?
(6:38:21 AM) Teoalida: I also provide research, data entry and web scraping services
(6:40:56 AM) Visitor: What kind of customers come to you for web scraping
(6:41:37 AM) Teoalida: programmers and web developers
(6:42:59 AM) Visitor: so you said you feel frustrated serving customers in the third world country
(6:43:20 AM) Teoalida: they pay little or nothing
(6:43:22 AM) Visitor: Are they fellow architects? o
(6:44:02 AM) Visitor: Or just customers that need architecture services for a building that they would want to build, such as home owners
(6:44:13 AM) Teoalida: just look at the stupid indians asking me to “give” various floor plans which I don’t have and if I offer them to design right now for a sum of $, they quit the chat
(6:44:49 AM) Teoalida: if I make a sketch to impress them, they will ask to revise it, sometimes promising to pay later, then run away without paying and leaving me project unfinished
(6:44:50 AM) Visitor: So they are basically asking you for free designs?
(6:44:58 AM) Teoalida: exactly
(6:45:08 AM) Teoalida: a month ago had a surprise: an indian offered me to pay in advance
(6:45:10 AM) Visitor: Do they steal your designs?
(6:45:56 AM) Teoalida: after doing the first sketch, he said to go forward, I sent to one of my partner architects, he gave some critics, I sent the edited sketch + critics to customer, but he didn’t replied anyymore
(6:46:48 AM) Teoalida: effectively he ran away with first sketch… leaving me with project unfinished, at least I got paid, but I can imagine that his house will be a failure if he use my unfinished sketch
(6:47:05 AM) Visitor: I understand your frustration with these customers as they waste your time. But why do you feel like it is necessary to share your experience with these customers in such a negative way, such as using degrading words and vulgarities
(6:47:36 AM) Visitor: So do you provide draft sketches for free?
(6:47:44 AM) Teoalida: because there is no other way to call them
(6:47:51 AM) Teoalida: my partner architects also hate indians
(6:48:09 AM) Visitor: but don’t you think that it will give a negative impression on new visitors to your website?
(6:48:15 AM) Teoalida: they never know how to behave when dealing with people offering services
(6:48:31 AM) Visitor: Or do you think that you should only allow business related work to be communicated through email?
(6:48:49 AM) Teoalida: how does email help me?
(6:48:50 AM) Visitor: and such online conversations should be kept to short questions?
(6:49:27 AM) Visitor: when you communicate via email, you will be able to receive more of your customer information. That why, they are unable to use your work without paying
(6:49:47 AM) Visitor: You can also request for their personal information such as their contact number
(6:49:48 AM) Teoalida: unable to use?
(6:49:59 AM) Teoalida: I can tell you that any method I tried it was a failure
(6:50:31 AM) Visitor: Have you tried only using email as a source of communication for business related work?
(6:50:42 AM) Teoalida: if people do not want to pay, they will NEVER pay. All what I can do is to make these idiots stop contacting me so I can concentrate on SERIOUS customers
(6:51:20 AM) Visitor: poor thing…:(
(6:51:31 AM) Teoalida: anyway, what do you want to me?
(6:51:49 AM) Visitor: I am also curious about the way you present yourself
(6:51:51 AM) Teoalida: do you want a service from me or you want to know how my services are working and copy my business?
(6:52:11 AM) Visitor: you state in your hobbies that you only like to hang out with people of the same IQ
(6:52:19 AM) Visitor: do you think that that gives a bad impression?
(6:52:27 AM) Visitor: and NO, I do not want to copy your business
(6:52:39 AM) Visitor: I am a mere researcher
(6:53:03 AM) Teoalida: give bad impression if I say that I want to met people with high IQ? what is the problem there
(6:53:20 AM) Teoalida: but I admit, I may not use the best way to present myself
(6:53:23 AM) Visitor: i wouldn’t say that it is a problem
(6:53:38 AM) Teoalida: what about Life story page? any comments?
(6:54:02 AM) Teoalida: once time ago, someone was going to buy a $1000 database from me, and he said “let me first read more about yourself”
(6:54:05 AM) Visitor: but by stating that, it shows that you are arrogant. And because you openly dislike indian customers, although your new visitors may not be indian, they may get annoyed and angry
(6:54:16 AM) Teoalida: he opened few pages, last one being Life Story page, then he quit without answering
(6:54:17 AM) Visitor: Don’t you think that that it harmful to your business?
(6:54:22 AM) Teoalida: so I think that this page scared him?
(6:54:24 AM) Visitor: and can possible affect your revenue?
(6:55:07 AM) Visitor: Life story meaning story of my life?
(6:55:21 AM) Teoalida: https://www.teoalida.com/about/lifestory/
(6:55:22 AM) Visitor: I don;t think that your page scared him
(6:55:40 AM) Visitor: instead, I feel like it created a bad impression. Hence, making your work seem less reliable
(6:55:49 AM) Visitor: I have read your life story page already
(6:56:27 AM) Visitor: Do you believe that it is better for your work to speak for itself and not include so much “useless” information about yourself?
(6:57:02 AM) Teoalida: I though that you want to copy my business so that’s why I inform you what kind of bad people I am dealing with
(6:57:30 AM) Visitor: No, I have already mentioned that I do not want to copy your business. I am not interested in starting a business
(6:57:47 AM) Teoalida: before you mentioned you gave me this impression
(6:58:13 AM) Teoalida: because someone actually interested in my services would start with “can you help me with…” or “I am looking for…”
(6:58:41 AM) Visitor: I am also not interested in your service. I just want to know more about your website and the services that you provide.
(6:59:27 AM) Visitor: I want to present about your website but want to know more about why you choose to include so much information which is not related to your architecture and database services
(6:59:49 AM) Teoalida: which info do you suggest to be deleted?
(7:00:13 AM) Visitor: Firstly, your off-topic and fun and useless stuff
(7:00:35 AM) Visitor: in there, I noticed that there is a lot of negativity in that folder
(7:00:46 AM) Visitor: It portrays your unprofessionalism
(7:00:52 AM) Teoalida: it is labelled as off-topic, if you are not interested, just don’t read it. Some people contacted me after they read the funny chats
(7:00:53 AM) Visitor: which throws potential customers off
(7:01:49 AM) Visitor: Ok, I see and understand your point. However, if you were a big customer and plan to spend a lot on this project, you would want to do a full research on the person you intend to hire
(7:01:59 AM) Visitor: So it is only obvious that most customers will check every folder
(7:02:15 AM) Visitor: Eso because you insist that your layout of your website is good
(7:02:24 AM) Visitor: Especially*
(7:02:38 AM) Teoalida: but I am questioning who are the 3 people who yesterday 1 left comment and other 2 asked in same minute what services I provide without asking about any specific service
(7:03:10 AM) Visitor: They are not related to me
(7:03:19 AM) Visitor: So do answer my queries please
(7:03:49 AM) Teoalida: I can tell you that most customers open a single page
(7:04:08 AM) Teoalida: they do not even realize that I provide also other services that what is stated in the page they open
(7:04:33 AM) Visitor: Maybe because it contains too much words?
(7:04:44 AM) Teoalida: some people visiting Singapore pages contact me hoping that I am agent, then they read About me
(7:04:54 AM) Visitor: I can see that you are very knowledgeable and provide a lot of useful information
(7:05:09 AM) Visitor: however, on the other hand, you also provide a lot of unnecessary information
(7:05:21 AM) Teoalida: much words because I have a long hobby for writing and reading books
(7:05:35 AM) Teoalida: but I realized that most people don’t like reading much
(7:05:40 AM) Visitor: do you think that if you would minimise the amount of information presented, that you would give a more professional and reliable impression?
(7:06:00 AM) Teoalida: unnecessary for you, but others may be interested
(7:06:08 AM) Visitor: If you know that people don’t like to read much, they why do you still keep the format of your lengthy pages?

Due to nature of the information talked here, I decided to cut a part of chat

(7:15:10 AM) Visitor: Did you ever think of trying to omit some information?
(7:15:14 AM) Visitor: keeping it simple
(7:15:23 AM) Visitor: And, I am not a website designer
(7:15:32 AM) Visitor: However, I do dabble in it a little
(7:15:38 AM) Visitor: hence, am able to provide with this information
(7:16:35 AM) Teoalida: regarding left sidebar, is there any plugin that makes expandable sitemap with a better graphical design than this plugin making folders?
(7:17:55 AM) Visitor: I don’t have knowledge on that particularly
(7:18:09 AM) Visitor: However do you think that information should be omitted?
(7:18:19 AM) Visitor: maybe you should separate your information to two websites
(7:18:27 AM) Visitor: one being focused solely on your services
(7:18:38 AM) Visitor: and the other, not related to your work
(7:18:46 AM) Teoalida: another problem: if you make browser window small, left sidebar will appear at top and main content under it, is there any way to make sidebar at bottom, other than moving sidebar on right side?
(7:20:09 AM) Visitor: Sir, I’m not a website designer. I can only advice
(7:20:31 AM) Teoalida: I already have 3 websites, and yes I can make a 4th one for off-topic and funny chats
(7:20:34 AM) Visitor: I think it will be smart if you contacted a legit website designer
(7:21:06 AM) Visitor: So you agree that it would be a good idea to transform this website to a services ONLY website?
(7:21:41 AM) Teoalida: maybe make a separate website for each service?
(7:22:02 AM) Visitor: I think your work services can be kept under one website.
(7:22:23 AM) Visitor: But for your “others” such a, game related and off topics
(7:22:29 AM) Visitor: they can be kept to another website
(7:22:44 AM) Visitor: this will make things more clear cut for your different users
(7:23:24 AM) Teoalida: once time ago someone an university professor shared my website (HDB floor plans page) on Facebook, I told him to share instead main page, he said that don’t want to do this because beside very useful info about HDB I also provide “dodgy services” on same website and he don’t want to promote me
(7:23:39 AM) Visitor: Exactly…
(7:23:53 AM) Visitor: That is why it would be wise to separate your “others” from your main services
(7:24:07 AM) Visitor: overall, I think this will benefit you more and provide you with no losses
(7:24:15 AM) Teoalida: what is the problem? architectural design services are related to Singapore housing
(7:24:37 AM) Visitor: I think you misunderstood
(7:24:50 AM) Teoalida: students looking for sample floor plans look in both /design and /singapore sections
(7:24:51 AM) Visitor: I meant to keep your gaming related work and off topic and useless stuff on another website
(7:25:14 AM) Teoalida: that guy with “dodgy services” was referring at architecture
(7:25:20 AM) Visitor: And although you provide a lot of information, I think that it can be more concise
(7:25:51 AM) Teoalida: and also said that I have a chatbox popping up asking how I can help you…. and he don’t want to promote me
(7:26:17 AM) Teoalida: what is the problem with this chatbox? I have helped many people including HIS own students

Due to nature of the information talked here, I decided to cut a part of chat

(8:35:35 AM) Teoalida: I think that I can delete “Gaming databases” from About me since very few people are interested in this. But the first rows on page are they short and informative enough to avoid asking questions what I am doing?
(9:19:10 AM) Teoalida: just modified About me, check it
(9:19:22 AM) Teoalida: did you just told to another person to visit Biography and Story of my life pages?
(9:20:04 AM) Visitor: What changes did you make to About me?
(9:20:56 AM) Teoalida: deleting Gaming databases and changing few words
(9:21:14 AM) Teoalida: deleted What do you do for a living
(9:22:17 AM) Visitor: I’m merely a researcher
(9:35:29 AM) Teoalida: also can you tell me about your research? what services do YOU provide?
(9:36:12 AM) Teoalida: 4 years ago someone told me that I can make big $$ from research services… but didn’t understood exactly what this job involve. Over next years my database business boomed
(9:36:59 AM) *** Visitor has left ***

I showed part of chatlog to a customer, see his opinion

(10:10:20 AM) Teoalida: regarding that chat are you able to understand anything?
(10:15:03 AM) Stuart: in summary, he didnt want your services, but want to study you or do research about how you present yourself and he has an issue with you honesty. So he is suggesting you say less and be less honest. But when did honesty and been yourself become a problem, isnt that what people really want
(10:44:04 AM) Teoalida: should be less honest? I don’t understan
(10:46:18 AM) Stuart: My comment around honest was, you clearly expressed your honest opinion and the person who wrote to you had a problem with it. My advice keep being yourself and been honest
(10:47:42 AM) Teoalida: https://www.teoalida.com/about/aboutme/ is this honest enough and clear about the services I provide?
(11:20:39 AM) Stuart: I see no issue with it, clearly tells people and what you are
(11:21:01 AM) Teoalida: in this case that guy really have a problem
(11:21:33 AM) Teoalida: and is not 1 guy but 4 people at least, someone told to others to visit website ask same thing
(11:22:39 AM) Stuart: The world is full of strange people

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