Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

• Long domain name. I`d try to find something with two words.
• No page titles, so bookmarking is useless and it degrades your appearance as a legitimate store.
• When going to buy, your logo in paypal is completely different from the website. Stay consistent.
• Your news section links mostly don`t work, and the fact they are almost all a full year old is concerning. Makes me think the store is no longer active. I would remove this page until you have something more recent or significant.
• Way too many links in the top menu, and after further browsing it looks like the site is incomplete (wholesale page is blank).
  
• I would work on simplifying your site. Make a link to every page within the left and top menu`s, but don`t link things twice. For a site selling exactly one product with two sizes you have way too much fluff. Focus on your story and product, and simplify.
• Link your logo to the homepage!
  

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Colin Winter
Small Business Website Management and Marketing

Hi Shashi,
Colin`s pretty much said what I`d have said. The big problem I`m seeing is how to "brand" your company. We have "Bed, Bath & Beyond," and then there`s "The Body Shop," just to name a couple off the top of my head.

Everyone has been jumping all over the "natural" or "green" products category, long enough that it isn`t unusual anymore. So what makes this company different?

Suppose I happen to find your company on the first page of a Google search for "bath products." I see Quench bath and body from around the world, maybe (if you address Colin`s points). What would entice me to click your link first or second from all the other results?

What I`m thinking might be helpful at this stage is to look into a professional sales-letter writer. Your home page isn`t doing much really, and not generating much excitement, in my opinion. You could focus in on three things that fundamentally distinguish your company, then use layout and type to really make a production of those things.

Right now you say you`re:

• Selective,
• Pure & Natural,
• Use small companies.

So what?

See? That`s the problem. There`s nothing that sells me on your products themselves. You`re selling your company---saying what you "do," but you have nothing there that applies to me. "What`s in it for me," is the issue here: what you offer, not what you do. Make sense?

Just a thing I noticed.

"donate 2% of all sales" isn`t going to increase your sales.  In fact, I doubt many people would believe it... unless you added a story.  Or picked a charity... Sponsor a world vision child and keep a blog of your communications or something... Or use that 2% to participate in a micro loan program.  You could invest $25 now, and wait for the purchases to catch up.

A point on the no title thing to is that it wrecks your page rankings!



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Actually there is a charity listed on the website and a page that will have copy on it which shows where we have donated money.  Other than that, I do need to address all of the points you all have brought up.  When I speak to people for sales one on one, they love our product, and our concept and we sell!!  I guess the website is not relaying the concept very well, though.  The techinical stuff will need to just get done--but I will also work on the copy and see if I can`t figure out something better.  I have been avoiding those loud websites because that just isn`t me, or to be honest, the clientele that I want.  I wanted it to be elegant.  Maybe I need to try other things out to see what works.  I very much appreciate the time you all took to address my post.

Note that not ALL Web sites that use sales techniques are "loud" and brash. There always are the two options between harsh infommercials and elegant, low-key but effective sales.

You may want to build a "story" for your product, something people can identify with on an emotional level.

I agree with Craig that not all web sites need to be loud or `infomercialike`.  But you could be specific when you say 2% to charity - instead say something like "and 2% of sales go to support small business development in Rwanda" (or wherever your Kiva loan is -- and I love Kiva by the way).  Then make it a link to your charity page (which by the way comes up blank when I click it -- menu is there, but no content).  And pull a story or details from Kiva -- stories mean so much more and can capture emotion and thought better than just simply a statement.

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A spin-off from my company, now undergoing funding. A real-time, live-event polling program. Engage your audience at your next conference, seminar, talk or retreat! http://www.indiegogo.com/ballotboxes