Maxwell & Sons Construction

[Guest Anonymous]

http://www.leavenworthconstruction.com/

 

The front page is entertainingly long-winded.....

[clibbyjo]

They haven't updated their clients page in a year and of the 3 customers listed, the fireplace I believe is from THEIR HOUSE. Since the boys are always sitting at the computers or working on Uriah, I am thinking this business hasn't done so well.

[kpmom]

For a family that designs and maintains web sites, this is a very poorly done web site, imho. As the op says, the home page is way too long winded. They should put that case study (or whatever you would call the "this is how we fixed it" paragraph) on a seperate page.

Maybe put in several of those, but as quick blurbs.

A few actual customer testamonials (and not Steve and Teri saying what a great job they did building the new house) would be good too.

That home page just doesn't catch my eye at all.

[demgirl]

There is a least one spelling error, but the major issue seems to be the design of the page (irony!) and the flow of the writing. All the Maxwells have that same stilted manner of writing. TSOTDRT fail.

[anniebgood]

I have that same tile configuration in the master bathroom around the spa tub.

In CA you have to have a contractor's license to do that kind of home construction. I wonder if the boys have them? Didn't see anything about it listed on their website.

ETA: I forgot something the first time.

[Justme]

I doubt they are licensed. They should change it to "handymen".... :roll:

[HoneyBunny]

OK, I want to not snark. After all, it's John.... But, really folks, read this:

Thank you for your interest in our construction company. The name of our company is Maxwell and Sons, LLC. They could have just said- Thank you for your interest in our company, Maxwell and Sons, LLC construction.

We perform high quality construction, and work at being very communicative with you, our customer. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Why can't they just say that they pride themselves on their communication with customers? (If they want to say anything about that at all).

We also work extremely hard to let you know of the possibility of problems that might occur during the construction process.Geesh, I'd rather you work extremely hard at preventing the problems from occurring.

Sigh. I feel better now.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

... Why can't they just say that they pride themselves on their communication with customers? (If they want to say anything about that at all).

Honest answer, from a language learner? They don't read enough. They don't see other websites, they don't regularly read ad copy as part of their normal lives, and so they have no idea about "how these things are done." They don't know the shorthand. They don't have trained language instincts, so they can't read over their output and think "wait, something is off" or "this is stiff" or have an inspiration for a catch phrase that's natural sounding.

The only way to learn natural-sounding language is to read, read, read, and read some more - and that's one thing we KNOW the Maxwells don't do.

This weird "wait, something is off" oddness pervades all of their writing.

[twin2]

Honest answer, from a language learner? They don't read enough. They don't see other websites, they don't regularly read ad copy as part of their normal lives, and so they have no idea about "how these things are done." They don't know the shorthand. They don't have trained language instincts, so they can't read over their output and think "wait, something is off" or "this is stiff" or have an inspiration for a catch phrase that's natural sounding.

The only way to learn natural-sounding language is to read, read, read, and read some more - and that

is one thing we KNOW the Maxwells don't do.

This weird "wait, something is off" oddness pervades all of their writing.

Agreed. Also keep in mind the ONE thing they do read is the KJV Bible, very wordy. Fundies also seem to write like "if I use a lot of words to say something it makes me sound smart!" However, what it actually does is makes their writing had to read. My current (but not for much longer) supervisor writes the same way (English is not his first language). When he "proofreads" my manuscripts, he re-writes them such that they are unreadable. When I get them back they are a mess and when I try to fix it he flips out. One time, he had a sentence that had 55 words and 12 verbs in it.

On another note, their logo is horrible as well. The whole thing that doesn't flow. The "and sons" above the Maxwell, bad.

[Guest Anonymous]

The promise that they will 'work at being very communicative' with their customers makes me think that either (a) they will be banging on about the Good Person test every time they see me, or that (b) they will produce laboured updates (and photos) of every damn minute of their day.

Of course, being a single woman, if they worked for me, they would probably bring along one of their little sisters to share encouraging messages with me, so as not to be defrauded by having an actual conversation about the job of work. :roll:

[ElphabaGalinda]

Another reason i think their website uses such long winded sentances (other than the fact that all they read is the KVJ) is that they don't talk to people. When i'm learning a new language, i'll never know how real people talk unless i have conversations with them. So while the Maxwells may be grammatically correct (sometimes they actually are), they don't know the way normal people speak, because they don't have conversations with any, for fear of being defrauded.

[Hane]

My current (but not for much longer) supervisor writes the same way (English is not his first language). When he "proofreads" my manuscripts, he re-writes them such that they are unreadable. When I get them back they are a mess and when I try to fix it he flips out. One time, he had a sentence that had 55 words and 12 verbs in it.

twin2, I feel your pain--it's excruciating when people who don't write as well as you do try to correct your work. Glad you'll soon be working for someone else!

And doesn't that unfortunate logo scream "And Sons Maxwell Construction"? Right up there with One-Ton Ramp. See, this is what happens when you avoid reading. And spending time with people outside your family.

[Guest Anonymous]

"And Sons Maxwell Construction" is probably considered to be a full sentence at Teri's SOTDRT. :lol:

[VodouDoll]

The fact that they even called the company Maxwell and Sons gets me. It's Joseph and Jesse's company. Or is it Joseph and John? Whatever, I can't tell these boys apart. The point is, Steve has fuck-all to do with it. He doesn't build things. He wouldn't go with them on their jobs and work the backhoe or whatever. But he has to have a (the?) leadership position in every single thing his family does, from the big picture of him on the back of Teri's depression memoir to Nathan's One Ton Ramp to these kids' construction jobs, even if he doesn't do any of the actual work.

[twin2]

The fact that they even called the company Maxwell and Sons gets me. It's Joseph and Jesse's company. Or is it Joseph and John? Whatever, I can't tell these boys apart. The point is, Steve has fuck-all to do with it. He doesn't build things. He wouldn't go with them on their jobs and work the backhoe or whatever. But he has to have a (the?) leadership position in every single thing his family does, from the big picture of him on the back of Teri's depression memoir to Nathan's One Ton Ramp to these kids' construction jobs, even if he doesn't do any of the actual work.

The first thing that struck me on the 1 Ton Ramp webpage is that it features a pic of both Nathan and Pa Maxwell, even though it is supposed to be Nathan's businesses. What has always struck me is that Christopher's endeavors do not seem to get the same treatment. His photography site and web design site, don't have Pa Maxwell on them. Also, Steve never seems to pimp Christopher's businesses like he does Nathan's. I have always wondered if that is of Christopher's doing, wanting to really "leave and cleave" or if there is some not so good blood between Steve and Christopher.

[Guest Anonymous]

I dunno, I wonder if Steve feels a greater need to exert control over Nathan's business. Chris is a chip off the old block with his Ray Comfort tract obsession and his modest, no dancing weddings. He also married nice Anna Hamilton, who had a similar Ray Comfort message on her Goat's Soap shop webpage and a Dad happy to preach the Gospel of Death at her wedding.

Nathan seems to be more of a free agent, he lives in a female-dominated home, with Melanie's parents providing worldly books and toys for the kids. I'm guessing he needed to be reined in. :lol:

I also think Nathan was probably struggling financially and needed his family to 'badge' his new business to get it off the ground. It was suspiciously convenient that Nathan guested on the main blog with fitness posts for a few weeks immediately prior to the launch of the 1 Ton Ramp, never to be seen doing press-ups again, once the sheeple had been reminded who he was and he had started his new venture.

[fundiefan]

So, their construction portfolio includes their own DIY work in their house. Their web page sucks, big time, yet they're selling 'training' for web development/HTML. They can't spell or construct a logical sentence, yet the family 'writes' books.

Looks like the boys have inherited Steve's over inflated, unfounded, ego.

I wouldn't hire them for any of their services. Google will tell anyone looking to know what kind of people they are. I'm betting that has greatly reduced any chance of them making money outside the crazy religion bubble.

[Guest Anonymous]

If they were just a pair of young lads, offering 'handyman' services, then I would applaud them. But yeah, setting themselves up a construction professionals and warning that they are not cheap, is beyond arrogant and I am pleased to see they have not gotten far with this endeavour.

As an aside, I was privileged to get an email from Papa Max the other week. I left a message asking about Joseph's qualifications to teach the HTML course, and I was advised that if his lack of professional qualifications bothered me then this may not be the course for me..... :lol:

[bananacat]

I agree that it is long-winded because they are trying to sound smart. In college, I hated writing lab reports with groups (partners were generally fine), especially if the groups were assigned or I didn't know enough people in the class to pick a good group. There was always one person in the group that would try to make up for their lack of work an understanding by writing wordy, ridiculous reports that the rest of us would have to completely re-write. And these weren't necessarily the ESL students either. If someone uses "utilize" more than once or twice, I would do my best to avoid working with them in the future. Sadly, now that I'm in the "real world", I still have to work with a few people like that. I used to have a boss that would agonize over every single word and phrase.

[twin2]

EDIT: I'm so very sorry, Twin2. I accidentally hit edit rather than quote and ended up nuking your post. I didn't even notice my mistake. Please edit this back to its original. Again sorry - Burris

[fundiefan]

Giving it more thought than my poor brain can really handle yet can't seem to control, it makes total sense to have a construction business without licensing or certification.

They have an IT business with no formal training, certifications or real experience. Stevie preaches without ever having been educated to be a pastor. Teri writes a book on curing depression when she has no training or medical knowledge or experience with any option other than her (and her husband's) choices, which boil down to "shut up and get over it". They have a courtship session in their self promoting conferences when only 1/4 of their children have gone through courtship and with many years - and life & belief changes - between the two. Sarah writes books about awesome Christian family life when, come on, she has no experience at all with that. They self publish because they would never be able to get a legitimate publisher, not even a Christian one, to publish their crap.

And they are so high on themselves and believe they are so close to divine that they have all the answers and all the ways of life without any other experience, exposure, education or even opposing viewpoints. Because they are the great Maxwells and everyone should feel so blessed to have them take their time to provide us with services and information that we should all ignore their total lack of education and experience. The public should pay the 'not cheap' prices for the great honor of employing the untrained Maxwells to provide us with their knowledge.

The saddest part of it all is that it does happen. They couldn't support themselves if it didn't. There are people out there who are insecure enough to fall all over the Maxwells and pay them money.

[keeperrox]

I can't stand that their web address has pretty much nothing to do with their company name. I get that they live in Leavenworth, but that's just bad marketing.

[fundiefan]

I can't stand that their web address has pretty much nothing to do with their company name. I get that they live in Leavenworth, but that's just bad marketing.

Actually, it's good marketing, even if it is deceptive. People in Leavenworth, doing Google searches for construction services in their area, are pretty likely to Google something like "construction leavenworth" or "leavenworth construction". What will be their first hits? The URL that includes both those words.

Fortunately, their incompetence is pretty obvious upon first glance, so even if they get the hits, they obviously aren't getting the jobs. Which, gives me a bit of love for the residents of Leavenworth who need construction services. They actually do their research, and that will keep Maxwell & Sons from charging people money for unskilled, unqualified labor at high prices.

[twin2]

Giving it more thought than my poor brain can really handle yet can't seem to control, it makes total sense to have a construction business without licensing or certification.

They have an IT business with no formal training, certifications or real experience. Stevie preaches without ever having been educated to be a pastor. Teri writes a book on curing depression when she has no training or medical knowledge or experience with any option other than her (and her husband's) choices, which boil down to "shut up and get over it". They have a courtship session in their self promoting conferences when only 1/4 of their children have gone through courtship and with many years - and life & belief changes - between the two. Sarah writes books about awesome Christian family life when, come on, she has no experience at all with that. They self publish because they would never be able to get a legitimate publisher, not even a Christian one, to publish their crap.

And they are so high on themselves and believe they are so close to divine that they have all the answers and all the ways of life without any other experience, exposure, education or even opposing viewpoints. Because they are the great Maxwells and everyone should feel so blessed to have them take their time to provide us with services and information that we should all ignore their total lack of education and experience. The public should pay the 'not cheap' prices for the great honor of employing the untrained Maxwells to provide us with their knowledge.

The saddest part of it all is that it does happen. They couldn't support themselves if it didn't. There are people out there who are insecure enough to fall all over the Maxwells and pay them money.

Let's also not forget, they can't sing yet put out Trust eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen Obey and charge $10.99 for a copy.

Yet even with all this people will still buy their crap and use their services because they put the Jesus Stamp of Approval on it (read the intro and about us section on the 1 Ton Ramp site for a gag-inducing example). However, they seem to forget that somewhere in the Bible, Jesus himself has a thing or two to say about selling wears in the name or house of the Lord.

[keeperrox]

Actually, it's good marketing, even if it is deceptive. People in Leavenworth, doing Google searches for construction services in their area, are pretty likely to Google something like "construction leavenworth" or "leavenworth construction". What will be their first hits? The URL that includes both those words.

It's not memorable, though. There are other ways to get your site high up on Google. If I was searching for construction (which it doesn't even seem like they really do), I'm going to look at a bunch of different sites. If I went back to find Maxwell Construction, I'm not going to remember that leavenworthconstruction.com was their site. I would have to google "Maxwell and Sons Construction", which yes, brings up their site, but also brings up this thread as the #2 hit. Bad marketing.