Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

From what I`ve read above, I`m thinking the problem here is one of a market plan, and lack thereof. I agree with most of the previous comments, but what stands out is the "I don`t know" about what sort of redesign.

It seems to me that you would do well to invest some time, research, and then money into finding a marketing company who specializes in figuring out not only what isn`t working, but how to fix it. Then, to look at what you have and figure out a great way to get the word out there and sell product.

Sorry, again i don`t mean to attack or seem like a jerk. but in response to your mothers store the customers coming for one thing and leaving with another that is great, but still you do not need to mention anything about faith on or in your business website or advertisments that you use to prosper your business (as thats what websites and advertisements are for).  let your business speak for itself, if you are Christian it should bleed out of your store, as Jesus walked around doing miracles he would tell whom ever saw to not tell anybody, but word got out and not before long multitudes gathered.  let the light shine out of your business and God willing multitudes will gather.

I fully understand YOU and your family are a Christian and you want people to know they can trust you and you`re business - but to me that is part of being a Christian, so i have a feeling thats why you say it is a Christian based business - for the reputation.  so if that is not the case i am just curious how your business is Christian? is it a ChurchBusiness?, for example if a gay customer comes in will you preach to himher about what the bible says about their lifestyle? because the government will come down on you real fast that you are discriminating and you would then get sued or in a lot of trouble - much like the 501(c)(3) churches who cannot speak out on such things anymore because they are "owned" by the government.  If you cannot be 100% true to the faith how can you call it Christian based business? In business you don`t have a freedom speech and since religion goes against a lot of popular lifestyles - you could therefore land yourself in a lot of trouble with either the Government or with God - this is why my stance is business and religion do not mix - If you don`t agree I won`t say anything else; as i said i just felt compelled to spark this issue in you and then you could take from it what you will.   

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"Quality Clothing at Affordable Prices"
    www.suitsyourself.net
    www.suitsyourself.com

Few major issues:

1. The dual menu bars on the top and left side are confusing.  The top one looks ok but the side one looks like scam ad links because of the formatting and font.

2.  The welcome box and text block are not appealing and take up too much space.  Make it shorter and easier to read.

3.  The site looks like it was made from a template.  It does not flow well from the user`s perspective, especially the shopping area.

I recommend having a professional web designer redesign this with a better cart integration.
You might find this article helpful:  Top 10 web mistakes small businesses make

Let me know if I can help,

Hi there!
        I`m a web designer/graphic artist and I started a community website for the locals of my city. I have a lot of information on the site which is of interest to both locals and tourists. I also have a section where businesses advertise on the site, and another section where the local artists advertise. I also have affiliate links, and google adsense throughout the website. With the economy slowing down so badly in my city (and all over the place!) the advertisers are spending very little compared to the past, if they advertise at all. I just guess I need some suggestions or ideas for ways to replace this lost income from the advertisers with something else since right now it`s a very hard sell, to get the businesses to advertise...even the local Pennysaver and newspapers are getting thinner from lack of advertisers. At this point, the website is a LOT of work and upkeep with the income sliding quickly.. Thanks in advance for your feedback!

seek out your advertisers and post help wanted ads.
local businesses needing local help.
just at thought

From reading a number of economists, wanting to learn about the whole field, I`m seeing a couple of consensus points. The main one seems to be that Americans have had life pretty easy for the past 60 years. Following the post-war boom, then the emergence as a single super-power, there`s been very little that`s gone wrong in a general sense.

People have grown up and lived their entire life with the unexamined premise that advertising brings in customers. It`s become such a slogan that nobody much wonders why, or how it all works. They just know that "if you spend money on advertising, customers will be caused to buy."

The problem is that random advertising for no reason, with no strategy doesn`t do much of anything except by luck. Yet it all costs money.

With less money available, people still use the same slogan. They cut back on advertising across the board, relying on that same "luck" to somehow sustain their customers.

People who sell advertising are part of the same problem. They just say, "Here`s a place to advertise" and somehow believe everyone will automatically advertise.

Stan`s right: You have to actually sell advertising for a reason and a return on investment, now. You have to demonstrate a strategic advantage to particular advertising.

I used to work for a temp company. 10 years ago, with the economy booming, all the sales people had to do was sit by the phone. When someone needed temps, they called the agency, and the agency called the temps. No work, no effort, no brainer.

Today, with few companies hiring temps, you`d think their sales people would be on the phone all the time, selling the advantages of their temps, looking for opportunities, handling the move toward part-time workers (and no health care, benefits, etc.).

But no. The sales people still just sit by the phone and wait. They blame the lack of activity on the slow economy. And so the agency is going down and down and down.

What used to be true 5 years ago, isn`t true anymore. But unless you figure out the new "paradigm," you`ll end up reacting to a world that doesn`t exist anymore.

Hi again! I`d like to thank you both for your responses. My website gets over 65,000 hits per month, and as a community website, the main selling point was that this was a great venue for locals to advertise on the internet and be found by their own community as well as the tourists who come to this city. Even if a business already has their own website, I`m able to usually sell listings in our "business connection" section, and link their existing websites to those listings. If a business does not have a website, we of course offer that service too. It`s just been a very tough sell, when in the past people loved the idea of a centralized community website where they could be listed and found with ease. Even the local Pennysaver is thin as can be, compared to the past years. What I`m asking is this- instead of going after advertisers, can you think of other ways of generating income with this type of website. We already have google adsense, and also many affiliates. Plus we do sell our own products on this website. The void we are feeling right now is from local advertisers who are truly hitting the hard times.

Thanks!

I would try starting a new product line, community shirts, etc. 65k hits a month is very good for a local site. You may want to try a "vip" section that is a paid monthly membership. Try to put perks in there to make people want to buy it whether hard times or not and boost revenues that way. Then you might be able to upsale advertising through the use of coupons, events, concert tickets, local sports teams etc that are only offered to that vip membership.