Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Greetings. My name is Tom Wandel. Almost two years ago, I started my company, Blackstone Outdoor Gear. The company was formed to introduce our product the Bedroll Protector. The Bedroll Protector is a unique product that is designed to keep the user and their sleeping gear clean and dry. There is nothing else like it on the market. The problem is, thus far, our sales have been very poor. I understand that our existing product has some flaws that need fixed. We have addressed these flaws and are working on releasing an improved product soon. I`ve been considering changing our company name and logo to be more "outdoors" friendly. Also, I`m considering changing the name of our product. Bedroll Protector perfectly describes what our product does, but some people don`t know what a bedroll is. Please visit our website and any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I truly believe we have a great product and with the right marketing and presentation it will be a winner.

Sincerely,
Tom Wandel
President
Blackstone Outdoor Gear LLC
510 Gresh Rd.
Ebensburg, PA 15931
866-472-8661
tom@blackstoneoutdoorgear.com
http://www.blackstoneoutdoorgear.com

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Tom Wandel
President
Blackstone Outdoor Gear LLC
http://www.blacktoneoutdoorgear.com
No More Wet Sleeping Bags! Bedroll Protector

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Tom Wandel
President
Blackstone Outdoor Gear LLC
http://www.blacktoneoutdoorgear.com
No More Wet Sleeping Bags! Bedroll Protector

Tom,

I`m new to SuN, but I thought I`d give you my opinion. Your site certainly looks credible and professional (which is important in sales), but your logo doesn`t convey your product very well.

Consequently, your idea of changing to a more "outdoorsy" look to reach your target audience would probably be helpful. However, I wouldn`t go too "rustic" because it won`t match the otherwise sleek look of your site.

Your landing page appears to be one big graphic (an image map, I`m assuming), which isn`t the best approach for search engines. You need more textual content there. Also, I noticed "Click here for details" was broken into two lines in FireFox on my Mac. You might also benefit from featuring a real testimonial on the home page.

Also, when I clicked on your featured product in the shopping cart, I expected a detailed product description, just to reinforce the features of the Bedroll Protector. Even though you`ve already said it elsewhere, this is the place for a consumer to actually purchase it, so you want to emphasize its key features once again. Same goes for your other products. I`ve written product copy in the past, and I think it`s more effective to write a few sentences that really convince your customers to buy the product, rather than simply list the key features from the manufacturer.

Anyways, that was my first impression when looking at your site. You`ve got a good product there; you just need to tweak the site a little to better suit the sales aspect.

Good luck!

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Thank you. Points well taken. I will take them into consideration when redesigning. Right now, I`m just trying to get all my ducks in a row to prepare for the relaunch of the product. I want to make sure I get it right this time.

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Tom Wandel
President
Blackstone Outdoor Gear LLC
http://www.blacktoneoutdoorgear.com
No More Wet Sleeping Bags! Bedroll Protector

Tom, let me throw a question at you.  Who is your target market?  I ask because I don`t think you quite know yet, or at least it`s not apparent on your site.  Maybe we can help narrow things down for you.

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Tom Wandel
President
Blackstone Outdoor Gear LLC
http://www.blacktoneoutdoorgear.com
No More Wet Sleeping Bags! Bedroll Protector

Choosing a niche doesn`t mean that you can`t eventually sell to all these different groups but you have to start somewhere.  As you know, if you try targeting everyone at once, you`ll confuse your message and market.  So pick one place to start and someday grow from there.

So how do you decide?  Well, take a look at yourself.  What group do you know more about?  Who do you think you can best connect with?  And cross that with your knowledge of the market and how/where you can sell the product.  You`ll begin to find your answers.

That`s some great advice you`ve given there, Steve, and I agree with you.

In looking a the website, it looks credible enough, but it also looks a bit generic and unfocused. I do like the pictures you have at the top, though, that illustrate the protector bag in-use. And the testimonials you have are great.

It looks like the bedroll has its own logo. Since you only appear to have the one product right now, perhaps it would be beneficial to have a website centered around just the bedroll protector.

Your product looks like it would be very useful! Best of luck with it. :-)



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Thank you both very much for the advice. I will really think about what I know best, then figure out how to market to that group.

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Tom Wandel
President
Blackstone Outdoor Gear LLC
http://www.blacktoneoutdoorgear.com
No More Wet Sleeping Bags! Bedroll Protector