Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I recently opened up an online retail store and made my first sale a few days ago.  Problem is that I`m spending hundreds of dollars a month for shopzilla and yahoo marketing. I`ve gotten about 800 customers viewing my site (over 2500 clicks) but no sales.  I`m going to back off of those CPC campaigns but am looking for other ways to generate traffic. 

 

Has anyone used InetGiant for either their e-mail blaster or their targeted/untargeted traffic plans?

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Contact me at: admin@everydaygreatprices.com

Congratulations on your first sale! You got started!

Perhaps you could post your website URL up and people to look and offer feedback?

 

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Making International & Domestic sales easy on a No gain, no fee basis. Benenift from the management of Snowflake Media who have generated sales of over $300 million in the past 6 years. www.snowflakemedia.co.uk www.yournightoff.com

Thanks for the response.  I guess my url would have helped. 

The web site can be found at www.everydaygreatprices.com

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Contact me at: admin@everydaygreatprices.com

If I were you, I would completely revamp your site. From what I saw, it is yet another reseller- one of thousands, offering the same stuff, for more than what it should be. Make it look cleaner, more streamlined, and please, please choose a niche and go for it. It`s not really smart to offer $400+ Prada purses on a website that may have costed $30 to set up. Not trying to down your site- it`s great for an e-commerce store, but why not turn it into an e-commerce boutique? Find a specific product that you are wanting to sell, and sell it as well as you can. This will make SEO optimization that much easier, and also draw the customers that will spend money. No one is going to buy Prada online unless they think they are either a. getting a steal, or b. getting it directly from Italy/France/Wherever. Use that to your advantage, also. Find someone that speaks French, for example, someone else that speaks Italian, and have them set up different versions of your "Boutique". Make it seem more... European, I guess. This will make your customer feel like they have found something different, and can now go and brag to their friends that they have a direct link to Europe.

For the DJ gear, the electronics, and all that- Make Individual e-stores. This won`t cost much more than you`re already spending. Theme them closely- then link them together. Call it an online specialty mall, or something like that, but make sure that each one caters directly to a specific demographic. Forget the e-store of the 90`s and early 2000`s.. Everyone else`s sites are evolving- dont get stuck with the same old stuff!

Just an idea to help get you out of the doldrums of "the same old thing"...Feel free to criticize my opinions, but I believe that you can do alot to maximize your earnings, minimize expenses, and create a buzz so loud that the world will soon hear.

Paul


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To revitalize your current business, or find the funds for your dream venture, visit www.TopItOffpromotions.com

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I have to agree with Paul.

I found very little that would compel me to buy.  It is a quick template design for what appears to be a drop-ship business.

In less than 2 minutes of time on Google I was able to find significantly lower prices on all 4 of the items I randomly checked...many of these were on very well established sites with proven customer service performance.

It is tough to compete with big guys that own their inventory, and have large tech staffs to run a state of the art site.

But...do not give up.  There are still many ways to take this concept into a workable model.

I also agree that some degree of specialization and seperation of products might be good. But you still have to determine your true target market and how to reach them.

Work backwards...who is the person opening the package that you sent?  Why did they by it?  How might they have heard about either the product or your website?

My wife plays with several different internet business models, including drop-ship sales.  She has had some success.  However, she also does some extreme guerilla marketing in the real world to support her online efforts and has an ability to think waaaay out of the box.

As an example, she has several affiliate sites for online gambling.  One of them is a bingo site.  She posts flyers for it at the local bingo halls. At first she tried it on the bulletin boards in the bingo halls.  They were promptly removed.  So now she posts them on the inside doors of the stalls in the ladies restrooms.  Women using the facilities sit and read the flyer.  Management only goes in to clean and with the door completely open, the flyer is hidden.   

Promo-code tracking proves this to be a very successful program for attracting real money players.

 

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Ignorance is bliss. No one told me it was impossible so I went ahead and did it anyway.

Craigslist can be helpful and free.

If you list in the right categories you can get some interesting interest.

One furniture store client of mine got more than 400 hits on Boston Craigslist

in less than 4 hours. Try it out. Free fits into any budget!

Also why not try bricks marketing too. How about postcard marketing.

You can do that on your own computer.

Here`s a cool cheap idea. Look at the postcard Mini-Newsletters for some ideas...

http://bostonnewsletter.tripod.com/tonyrusslinks.html

Tony Russ

Design Ideas Marketing Associates

www.designideas.tv

 

To everyone that viewed my site and commented, I really appreciate it.  It definetely gave me a lot to think about.  Deep down I knew my product listing was all over the map but what you`re saying makes sense.  I`m up to about 3000 clicks and have only made 2 sales (my second one came today)

I do advertise on Craigslit.  Someone turned me onto that a few months ago for other things and it`s great.

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Contact me at: admin@everydaygreatprices.com

Let me see, Skyball....In your 20`s without kids?

You CANNOT have a "just for kids" section when you are also "adults only" material. That idea was not a home run, it was a foul ball that hit both the home plate umpire and the first base coach. God only knows what you were thinking.

You really need to start there. It is time to get perspective. Get friends to look over your site. Get their thoughts and opinions.

There is lots you can do better, but if you don`t get a solid Plan and Direction you are wasting your time on the web.

Give yourself an "A" for having the moxie to put yourself out there and pat yourself on the back for asking for feedback. Learn then lead.

Put the porn on its own URL.

 

 

I`m making changes and added the adult section as everyone that I`m talking to keeps bringing that up.  I didn`t think I published it yet so that was an accident on my part.  Didn`t intend to have them both up at the same time. I`m taking down the kids only...it won`t be a big seller. 

30s with kids.

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Contact me at: admin@everydaygreatprices.com

Build a site your kids can see, move the adult stuff off by itself or lose it. It is that most parents would not want their kids on that site or near it.

Skyball as a adoptive parent and former foster parent to 30 some kids I know I am sometimes so kid oriented it drives people nuts. However, your perspective is completely out of touch with what is appropriate if in your 30`s with children you even considered what you did here. It is completely out of touch with society.

Do the adult stuff on another site by itself. How many successful websites do you know of that sell porn and prada? Really I am not sure why you would do it all. Not enough there to make it worth the damage you are doing to your reputation.

You are living in the most religious country on the planet. You just alienated a whole lot of people.

I am not a prude; if it is legal I could care less what people do. But legal does not always equal smart.