Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

 

   I created an online presence to sell my products, now, I do see traffic however no one is buying. The name of my company is ***, I wanted something cool and unique.

      I have just about everything ...the online presence, the product, ability to take sales online, etc. But no one is buying. I know that one should start a business really in something they are good at and/or enjoy, I love the t-shirt business....hence what I`m selling, I not only set out to create a business but also a brand, and I know I have something here with ***.

    I know I could use some extra monies to promote on a bigegr scale but I just don`t have it now.

Thank you!!

The first thing I would do is stop using MySpace for hosting. Your cafe press page looks a million times more professional.

Specific comments:
1. The first thing I saw was a big banner ad saying "THE FART BUTTON".
2. The next thing I saw were links that took me away from your site.
3. I find white on orange harder to read
4. Upper case is considered SHOUTING and is harder to read.
5. It`s not obvious you`re trying to sell t-shirts
6. If you want to create a brand then you need marketing, not just a website. People wouldn`t buy a t-shirt with Nike on it if Nike wasn`t a popular brand name.
7. The comments on the bottom of your page have nothing to do with your product. They`re just people advertising themselves. Comments would only be useful if they were reviews.

If you own http://www.***.com/ then consider redirecting it to the cafe press site and using that as your website. This will make it easier if you ever stop using cafe press.


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Blog - http://www.buggy.id.au/

Ouch!!

I went to the site, saw the first very short appearance from MySpace, then got to the actual site. Good grief!! The orange literally hurt my eyes! Then the music. I looked around for a minute or less to find an OFF button, then clicked the mute on my sound through Windows.

I`m 54, so I`m probably not at all your target market. But then again, I probably have more money than people in their teens. I actually couldn`t take a tour through your site because it just jangled my nerves! I didn`t make it to the point of looking at the T-shirts.

So this isn`t really a critique of the site; it`s just an old guy`s opinion. :-)

I`m truly sorry ***. . . but i agree with your first two raters.

In no way should you use myspace.com as a webpage.  you can find many free webpages out there and need to consider using them.  i clicked on the browse button and was taken to browse myspace users.  definitely not a fan.

if you are truly serious about selling t-shirts and not selling myspace, look into free websites/webpages and go a bit more professional.  i did, however like the turning cube on your page, i would keep that.

good luck, i hope this helps.

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But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrew 11:6

It`s important to utilize MySpace for what it is. While it`s not a tool to start your e-commerce platform, leveraging it for marketing purposes can be huge. Online communities are great places to start viral marketing campaigns (particularly for online businesses!)

I definitely like the idea of using MySpace to that end. But, I agree with the other posters here that you need your own, dedicated site to provide credibility to your brand and your product.


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Dan Pickett
Principal
Enlight Solutions, Inc.

www.enlightsolutions.com
www.twitter.com/dpickett

I agree with most of the comments herein.

Yet ... I loved the Dashboard Confessional song that played when I entered. And I think the myspace site - in conjunction with the cafepress site - is appropriate for your product/market.

I`m not wild about the design, but I did want to buy a t-shirt. Interesting execution... You say you`re not getting any purchases. How much traffic are you getting? The t-shirt trade - commodity - needs high traffic as it`s mostly impulse purchases. You need to promote heavily. Find some free methods. Do you have kids? Tell them to tell their friends. Find a local band and get some free concert tickets to give away with local purchases. Give the band a few t-shirts in trade. That sort of thing. How big is your metro area?

I was totally confused by the MySpace page. It lacks a unified message and the orange background, animated cube and music are too distracting. It took me a couple of minutes of looking at it, and reading the posts here, to see the tiny link to your cafepress spread. However, I definitely agree with Dan.  It is smart to try to leverage MySpace to create viral marketing opportunities.

Once at your store it looks very clean and straightforward, actually, too straight-forward. The store lacks a story.

You see, people don`t want to buy a T-Shirt, they want to buy the story, the mythos behind that t-shirt.  I always ask my clients to think deeply about what it is they "really" sell. It`s never the technical, material product, it`s the brand, the image, the human and emotional link to your product or service.

So I ask you: just what is the *** brand? What does it represent on a very human, emotional level. Tell the *** story.

The store looks very clean and efficient but lacks a compelling reason to buy. You need models who represent your target market. You need beautiful photograhy portraying people enjoying life and living the *** lifestyle. Inspire us to buy.

Obviously you have a very interesting story to tell. Tell it to us. We can`t wait!

Best of luck!

-Danny


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-Danny E-Synthesis: Marketing + Web Design Web Design and E-Marketing Services for Small Business