About PoolSolutions

Hi! I'm Ben Powell, and this is my site, and here's my 'hype'.

In March of 1997, I put up PoolSolutions as an experiment. I wasn't sure what the result would be. But, from our opening in March 1997 until the first of 1998, more than 8,000 people (60,000 'hits') visited PoolSolutions. I was amazed!

I had planned this site as a means of helping existing and potential customers, who were all large commercial pools. But most of the visitors, by a 200:1 margin, were residential pool owners. Obviously, I wasn't reaching many of MY customers! Still too many pool owners WERE coming to just abandon the site.

A change of direction was required . . .

Years ago, I started a business servicing large commercial pools. I had noticed that this was (and still is) a market where there is far more need than supply. I started off selling service and chemicals.

But, my first season, I made a discovery that totally changed my approach to pools: the better the job I did for my customers, the less I sold! Obviously, I had a problem. I could either do poorer work, and make more money, OR I could do better work, and become poorer.

But, I chose a THIRD option: instead of selling chemicals, I began selling results. Since that time, all of my service contracts were flat fee contracts. I supply everything it takes -- chemicals, test kits, feed systems, staff training, whatever -- to make my customer's pool water right.

They're happy, because they get what they want; clear, blue, odor free water; and they are paying less than they used to spend on chemicals alone. I'm happy, because the more I learn, the less it takes to do the job.

How much less?

In the case of two particular customer pools, both over 200,000 gallons, I currently use less than 1/5 of the chemicals (in pounds) they used before. That's an 80% reduction in chemical consumption! On average, I use less than 35% of the chemicals my customers used when they treated their pools themselves.

How do I accomplish this?

Not with any gadgets, though I do use some.

Not with any 'miracle' pool additives: mostly, I use chemicals my customers were already using!

Not with any of the wonderful, new, exciting, revolutionary, eco-friendly, all-natural, high technology, NASA developed, halogen-free frog-legged . . . pool products being marketed so aggressively today.

Instead, I just put the right things in at the right time.

That's all!

That's the key to easy pool care.

Just do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way.

Knowledge and method instead of gadgets, gizmos, and voodoo chemicals.

Good information, well applied, is the real difference between pools that run well, and pools that don't.

What's more, doing it right is much EASIER than doing it wrong!

When I first started servicing commercial pools, I averaged 4 - 8 hours per pool per week. Now, I do a better job in 1 to 2 hours per week. That doesn't include cleaning, which has never been part of my contracts. And the pool staff tests the water several times daily, and make minor adjustments, which I train them to do. But, I supply and manage all the water chemistry for the pool.

I use less and less chemical, spend fewer and fewer hours serving the pools, and get better and better results.

You can, too!

Over the years, when poolowners discovered I didn't work with home pools, and thus wouldn't try to sell them anything, they again and again expressed their frustration and even hatred of their pools. This was intensely frustrating to me: usually, their problems were easy to solve, if only they had the right information, and used the right methods.

But I had no practical way to help.

Now, with PoolSolutions I do.

Last spring, I completely revised the site, and focused exclusively on helping pool owners find out the things they needed to know. And they came, in droves. By midsummer, traffic became almost overwhelming -- you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you how many people visited, so I won't.

But it was obvious PoolSolutions was making a difference for poolowners.

Doug D. wrote:

This is great stuff. I wish in 1976 when I put our first pool in we had this type of info, I would have saved lots of $$$$$$'s".

Charles B. (a paying subscriber) sent me a long note, which included the following summary:

You provided me with a practical and effective solution to the algae problem and you worked out a functional and effective plan for controlling my pool's chemistry throughout the summer.

This past summer was a breeze. I reduced my pool chemistry costs by about $700, I saved $150 on closing (with your encouragement I put the Loop-Loc cover on single-handedly and cleaned up the filter, with no problems) and my family enjoyed and algae-free pool. We had no down time from chlorine shocking, no chlorine smell, low maintenance and a safe pool.

Thanks.

And, I don't expect you to believe how many similar emails I have, because I wouldn't believe it, if I were you. But, I hope you'll read enough on the website, and try enough of what you read, so that you'll be able to write something similar yourself.

What's my angle? Partly, I like doing this. And a lot of what's here is free. Actually, most of it is.

But that doesn't pay the rent, as they say. So, I not only give away swimming pool information, I also sell it, in the form of subscriber access to additional pages and a extended version of the PoolLetter.

PoolSolutions is the ultimate 'try-before-you-buy' product. If the free stuff here doesn't help you, please don't subscribe: if the free stuff doesn't help, the paid stuff won't, either.

But, I believe that the information available to subscribers can save over 90% of swimming pool owners FAR more than the cost of the subscription.

Of course, you have to read it.

And do it.

Even though it's easier to do it right, than to do it wrong, you still have to do it.

And that's up to you.

Quite a few people who receive the PoolLetter, either in the FREE or the FULL version have spent more time than it was worth trying to figure out who I am.

I mean, more than my name, Ben Powell.

And some people have been curious about my 'credentials'.

If you're one of the curious ones, I've now got a boring page about me, which might answer some questions some have asked.