View from the top: see how a year's worth of changes helped our tech makeover winner take her business to new heights

Entrepreneur, April, 2005 by Amanda C. Kooser

We're closing in on having followed Pursesnickety! (www. pursesnickety.com), Deborah Nail's colorful purse business, for one year. The company started with an ineffective website, but after winning Entrepreneur and Interland's web makeover contest, Nail, 41, has a very different business today. She got a lot more than just a better-looking website. Lately, she's been turning her business's new internet smarts into revenue.

To get perspective on the whole process, we went to John Lally, area vice president of marketing with Interland. His company sponsored Pursesnickety! through the makeover, and he has kept tabs on the project throughout. "[The new website] improved her ability to market her business on a lot of different levels," says Lally. "It's a great branding vehicle and a great source of new business." The easy-to-use online catalog has made her wholesale customers happy. Nail has incorporated the site into her trade show materials, and now she's boosting the retail side.

Nail wasn't a technophile when the project got started, but a year of using the new technology has changed things. "She's a lot more comfortable with using our tools," says Lally. The web tools allow her to keep the content fresh and cater to demand. Using these tools, Nail has also added a line of convertible cocktail purses and accessories to the online catalog.

A key component to growing her business is marketing. "She needs to keep pushing the envelope on the online marketing front. That's where the dollars start to pay out," says Lally. Nail has been pleased with the results of Interland's MyEzClicks program for search engine advertising. She's also taking advantage of e-mail with an anti-spam-compliant e-mail marketing system that lets her bring in customers. The results are paying off--not just in site visits, but in revenue as well.

Pursesnickety! has come a long way, but Nail will continue to expand the website and refine her online marketing efforts. Stay tuned for next month, when we wrap up with Nail to see which services she'll stick with and what the future holds for Pursesnickety!