Affiliated handles marketing, sales, and third-party logistics for public warehouses across the US, as well as in Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Europe.

Affiliated acts as an intermediary, helping customers find affordable solutions for their warehousing needs with a client roster that even includes HAZMAT-certified facilities and freezer storage.

Jim came on board in 1969 after a stint as a Merchant Marine and some time spent working for a midwestern steamship company.

While in the steamship business, he witnessed the growing use of containers for storage of large quantities of goods. These containers would then be hauled to public warehouses for storage prior to distribution.

Spurred by this trend, Jim subsequently joined Affiliated. He began purchasing the company in parcels beginning in the late 70´s, and by 1991, he had bought out the original owners totally.

Jim´s 32-year-old son, Patrick, is involved in the company as well. He joined the firm nearly 8 years ago, and Jim claims that Patrick was a motivating force behind getting Affiliated online. The result is http://www.awco.com

Affiliated was no stranger to technology, however. Jim says the business had been using computers since 1979. A familiarity with high-tech solutions made the decision to expand on the Internet a no-brainer.

Jim and Patrick were quick to realize that a web site would make a powerful addition to their marketing strategy.

"There were no PC´s then [in 1979], there were only mainframes. There was no canned software, either! We´ve brought computers into the business far earlier than most other companies our size, and we did it because I believed in the importance of database marketing, which is computer-driven."

"We had advertised nationally and internationally in trade publications, we went to trade shows and exhibitions and mailed out our own directories.

"The Internet is now a very important part of our international marketing program. We were doing international marketing before the Internet, but now we definitely have total international exposure.

We´re getting requests from warehouses throughout the world: Germany, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore… all over. It has strengthened our international marketing efforts to a huge degree."

As many business owners know, timing is everything. While Jim was getting his company online, a new business trend began to emerge, and Affiliated stood to reap the rewards of their early presence on the web. That trend? Outsourcing.

"The whole time that we were working towards a web site, another thing was occurring which was purely coincidental. Companies began to outsource functions: accounting, sales, and most importantly outsourcing their warehousing and distribution.

Consequently, these companies didn´t really understand our industry and didn´t know where to find us. So they turned to the Internet, and they found us."

"Many of the calls that we now get are from companies that have never used warehousing in the past, but they are beginning to outsource that function. Our decision to get involved with the Internet was greatly enhanced by this trend."

While returning customers may opt to contact Affiliated through mail, phone, or fax, the web site has become the main entry point for new customers, who often find Affiliated just by doing a simple web search.

The site features both Affiliated and their clients, and if the client has a website for their warehouse, that site is linked.

Jim still advertises in trade publications, but he also spends the money to guarantee Affiliated´s search engine rankings will keep them at the top.

He commented that, recently, he has noticed that search engine placement has become a more expensive method of advertising recently. He blames the failure of Internet banner ads: as fewer online businesses purchase banner ads, search engines have lost a great deal of revenue, and now they are trying to recoup lost dollars by raising the prices of other services, such as site ranking programs.

The production of the Affiliated website was outsourced to a professional web designer, who also happened to be a good friend of Patrick´s. They´re happy with their current site, but anticipate an update in the future, which will include more information about the company and its services, along with a change in the site´s look and feel.

Affiliated´s site is set up for ease of use, even by first-time customers. Jim and Patrick made sure that their interface was not only easy to use, but allowed their customers to customize their experience in order to get the information that suited their needs.

"When a warehousing user contacts us on the Internet, he has the ability to enter all the product specifications into our site, which we can then download and pass on to our clients. Or, he can bypass us and hotlink directly to a client. That´s the level at which the rates and quotes are generated."

While users have the option of contacting the warehouses directly, a function made particularly easy thanks to AWC´s clickable map interface, most users—particularly those new to warehousing—opt to go through AWC because Jim and his team can provide helpful information about what type of facilities are available and help them find the warehouse that best suits their needs.

This type of value-added service is what helps keep AWC a leader in their industry.

"Many first-time users, for example, aren´t going to know that the facility they´re looking at may specialize in cold storage or storage for HAZMAT materials.

Our involvement with the industry, in addition to marketing and selling, extends to consulting.

We consult for the industry and our consultations are free of charge. People without any knowledge of public warehousing can call us because we can counsel them on what is normal and ethical, what the rules and regulations are, and what to expect when they read a contract."

Currently, the company is conducting a survey to find out what percentage of their client warehouses are online. While most of their communication with the warehouses is handled by fax, Jim hopes that they can soon begin managing all correspondence via email.

Once the results of the survey are in, he´ll have a better idea how quickly he can proceed. As with many of our previous profile subjects, Jim is in the position of being an early adopter of technology in his industry, and he may find that he will be forced to wait for his clients to catch up.

When we asked them how they felt about their Internet strategy in retrospect, if they wished they hand handled anything differently, Jim replied that he felt that their initial attempts had lived up to their expectations.

"We could have thrown a lot more money into it, but I really don´t think the returns would have been different than they were, so we didn´t. We got involved in this very early on. We´ve been up on the web for about 7 years now."

Jim feels very strongly that, for companies like his, the web site should reflect and augment more traditional advertisements; it isn´t-- and shouldn´t necessarily ever be-- a stand-alone element.

And, as with other forms of advertising, they want to be sure that their warehouse clients understand that Affiliated´s marketing efforts, including the web site, are responsible for generating the sales that are keeping them in business.

"Our web site is nothing more than a full page ad in the Yellow pages, or a full page ad in a trade publication. It´s nothing more than our own print directory that we send out."

"When our clients tell us that a customer came to them via our web site, we publicize that in our newsletter. We want out clients to know that WE know that they´re getting calls as a direct result of our website or our directory or our trade publication advertising. We call that Intangible Sales. We were a vehicle for the sale, but the lead did not come directly from us."

But cutting edge technology is no substitute for a solid and lasting reputation: "The name Affiliated Warehouse Companies has been on the street for almost 50 years. Some of our clients have been with us for over 40 years. We seek stability. We understand our customers and their needs."

Jim warns that businesses like his can never be pure-play dot coms, and for that reason, they should approach their web presence as an extension of their advertising and marketing strategies, rather than looking to the website to generate revenue for the company on its own.

"If you´re using the Internet and nothing else, you´re in for a tough time. Your web site is just a different form of your directory, a different form of direct mail, a different form of trade publication advertising. It´s nothing more than a marketing tool, plain and simple. What gets us in the door with customers is our integrity, our honesty, and our professionalism."