Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

About 6 months ago I launched a line of baby/children`s products that fuse basic and luxury items with a tag line "For Ordinary People With Extraordinary Tastes". I designed every single item to be not only attractive, but functional and practical too. Some of my best creations are the innovative reversible Memory Foam stroller liners that not only protect stroller upholstery from spills, crumbs and other unmentionables, but also mold around the baby`s body for a very comfy luxury ride. My original Bandana Binky Bibs and Cuddle Bottle Blankets are also very eye-catching and loved by those who try it. Here is my dilemma... Since the launch, I opened a number of retail accounts who have placed several re-orders since, issued a press release, and exhibited at 2 expensive trade shows where many buyers (including a very large mass retailer) expressed serious interest in my products. I also managed to get some press. All of this should be turning into big $$$, right? Unfortunately this is not the case. Each time I try to follow up with the interested buyers from another state, they either do not respond, or say they already did their buy, and now they use poor economy as the reason. However, I find that each time I personally visit a local store with my samples or catalogs, they never turn me down and always place an order, because in fact my products and fabric prints are truly irresistible. Given that I am a one person operation with a shoe string budget, unique products and a great website who alone is working on branding, marketing, design and selling, I cannot possibly reach as many stores as I would like to get my company going. I do strongly believe in branding and name recognition and am working on getting my company name Tivoli Couture out there as much as possible. (If you are interested on how I came up with the company name, please read my “About Me” page on my website).

Should I be concentrating more on sales? I was also wondering if Google Ad Words can be the answer. Will paying for SEO, given my line of products help drive traffic to my website and help me get the word out? I feel like I’ve hit the dead-end. I send out numerous e-mails to retailers introducing my line, in hopes that reaching them via e-mail will not be as intrusive as calling them and distracting them from their business, but find that most just don’t reply. Can anyone analyze my steps and offer any advice? I know I have some great products with little or no completion, so how do I get noticed? I feel that my success is right around the corner.

 

Thank you!

 

-------------------------

www.TivoliCouture.com
Tivoli Couture - For Ordinary People with Extraordinary Tastes

http://www.tivolicouture.com/

Hey there, :-)
I looked at your site and there are a couple of things that might help. The first is that your meta-tag description is a set of keywords, not a description. So even if you`re found and ranked fairly high on a search engine, people still won`t know what you`re selling. Make a 150 character (not word) description that sells your products.

On the site itself, I found it to be confusing to some extent, for a variety of reasons. On the home page there really isn`t any text to tell me why you exist, what`s different, or what`s your specialty---a USP or unique selling position. It doesn`t have a "brand," so to speak.

Adding some sales-pitch text to the home page likely would be useful. In that text, SEO would also matter.

Another example is that I went to the Fairy Tale Blankets page, the clicked the photograph of the Cuddle Bubble Blankets. I`d expected to see it larger, but that took me to yet another page of products. When I finally clicked 1 image there, I got to a product and description.

The issue for me is too many clicks. I would`ve liked to enlarge the overall picture for the Cuddle Bubble blankets, just to see what one of them looked like. You might make the image large, and have the title for that category as the link.

What it comes down to is that it`s a "passive" Web site. It just sits there. It doesn`t even say, "Here`s my stuff. Buy it!"

I wonder if this might carry over into your other avenues of selling? In other words, is it possible that some of your missed orders from buyers who`ve already made their buys is that you`re not following up soon enough?

The way I link the two in my mind is that on your Web site there`s no real "presence" of you, the owner and designer. So I`m wondering if you have less presence than you think in the minds of your potential buyers.

Your tagline is that you offer extraordinary "something." But other than the recurring word "luxury," I don`t see why these are extraordinary products and how that fits in with being an ordinary person. So again, it comes down to more content along the lines of sales. :-) Just my opinion, of course.

-------------------------

www.TivoliCouture.com
Tivoli Couture - For Ordinary People with Extraordinary Tastes

First, a meta description is for a description. The meta tag for keywords is for keywords. Yes, your above isn`t a description it`s a list of keywords.

Secondly, I do understand the feel you want with the castle and fairy tale of the home page. I don`t think you need to morph that into anything else. But what I think I`m saying is that you set up this wonderful theme on that home page, then it doesn`t carry through.

I really like the door that opens, but it puts me at a page where I sign up for something. Instead of being a "guest" at the door, why not "Come see what`s Inside!" and use it to enter the store as a browse products.

You can use a tab for the signup sheet, if anyone feels like doing so. But your main goal is to sell, not get guests. Nobody will sign anything if they don`t first get excited and interested in the products and site itself.

When I enter, regardless of where I end up, that`s the last I see of the enchantment theme. Think about if this was a brick-and-mortar store, or a restaurant. Let`s say the outside looks like a castle. Wouldn`t you also see that castle theme carried on inside?

One option would be to have a side banner, a vertical border that provides a castle tower graphic similar to the front page castle. Another is a tiled background image of stones similar to those used in the castle walls on the front page.

Your content as you go inside, should carry on with the fairy tale theme too. It should be about magic, enchantment, faeries. You could use Flash! effects, for example, that as someone clicks on a thumbnail there`s a burst of sparkles, the thumbnail "poof" disappears to be replaced by the larger image.

It`s not enough to just have products. You`re obviously excited about what you`re doing, but you`re not getting others excited about it. :-) That`s marketing, and you might get a couple of consulting sessions with a marketing professional.

There`s an old adage: "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your doorway." That`s just not true anymore. The world has to find you, have a problem with previous mousetraps, perceive a value in the new mousetrap, then decide if what you`re charging is worth it.

Thousands of sites on the Web all sell baby accessories. Anyone can find any of them. What you want is for people to hear about your site, get excited, then tell their friends to go there. Right now, what do you have that would work for word-of-mouth?

-------------------------

www.TivoliCouture.com
Tivoli Couture - For Ordinary People with Extraordinary Tastes

I understand that you want to have more traffic and drive more traffic to your site. I also understand SEO, having done work in that field.

But here`s the deal: Suppose you have a mediocre restaurant and you don`t know it? The food is good, but the organization of the dining rooms, menus, service staff, lighting isn`t very well done.

Now suppose you spend a lot of money on a publicity campaign. You get one chance with the place, in terms of word-of-mouth. The publicity gets a lot of attention and lots of people try out the restaurant.

And they come way shrugging their shoulders, going, "Enh...it was okay."

Before you drive all this traffic to your site, wouldn`t you want a site that becomes an experience?

SEO is a great tool, and can do wonders for you. A WordPress blog also is very powerful. But what underlying concept are you selling? Most people aren`t all that interested in "baby clothes," because there`s a gazillion of those places.

What`s your "show?" Anyone can play music, but unless you have either original music (products you`ve personally designed and created), or a show, you`re just sort of another place. I`m suggesting that you get some excitement in your "show," then spend time and money on driving more traffic. Make sense?

I guess you are right. My site may look "pretty", but needs a little tweaking to be more user friendly and informative. I thought I covered all the basis, but looks like there is more work to be done. You mentioned WordPress blog. I did think about this, but then again, how will I drive traffic to read my blog, which will ultimately lead readers to visit my e-commerce site?   

-------------------------

www.TivoliCouture.com
Tivoli Couture - For Ordinary People with Extraordinary Tastes

Ah, you see, that`s the key. To reduce it right down to the most basic question, and certainly not as a personal thing, you`re asking "How can I be interesting?"

See, that`s the focus of the topic so far. You`re not really asking how to drive more traffic anywhere. What you`re wondering is how to make what you`re doing more interesting and *compelling* to the world at large, and your specific target market.

I`m asking you the same thing. You clearly are very interested in what you`re doing. When you`re face-to-face with store owners, they too get very interested. But when you`re not face-to-face, somehow that interest diminishes.

If you`d like to try an experiment, the next time you`re out on a sales call, carry along a microrecorder. Turn it on, record the whole discussion, then listen to it later, at home. That`s where you`re creating interest. See what you`re doing there, then compare it to your Web site.

Then think about a blog....a diary or journal. What interests YOU about your line of products that you`d like to talk about for a year or so? How does your business connect with everyday life? What problems to you and people you know have to face when they have an infant?

-------------------------

Website Startup Coach: Step-by-Step Coaching to Help You Build a Profitable Business Online!