Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I am no where near done however starting this site Toy Car Direct. My goal is to provide a wide range of collectible diecast. I eventually will order from the manufacturers. This is my collection at the moment but will expand in upcoming months.

I only accept Money Orders right now but will be accepting Google Checkout and Pay Pal very soon.

Visit www.toycardirect.com

feedback on the site would be great as I am the designer.

Thanks

Hi icollect,

Well said,

At this time I am not marketing this site as I am not accepting virtual payments such as paypal or google. I will be accepting these payments in a week or so and will start to market Toy Car Direct.

Hi Icollect :-)
For the moment, the payment method is whatever it is, but I think a more pressing issue is that the site is working slowly, and appears "abrupt."

Many people do training or write books about the concept of making the customer`s shopping experience more pleasant. In the past, I used to think those books were useful. But I`m starting to understand that developing a customer "journey," so to speak, is a function of a whole perspective of reality and life.

Instead of recommending that sort of thing, here`s what I`d suggest. Get ahold of someone in your circle of friends and build a role-play appointment with them. Invite them to choose a time, sit down at your Web site, and "pretend" that they`re a car collector. You could do this on the phone, or you can schedule a follow-up phone conversation immediatley following their test-run.

Ask them for their comments as they`ve actually used your site. If you know other car collectors, those would be even better people to work with.

What I`m seeing is that whatever I would logically expect to happen---isn`t happening. For instance, on your home page there`s a really big, in-your-face promotion for "Target 70`s Diecast Reducted!" I clicked it, and nothing happened. That`s just not good form.

I clicked the *picture* of your "browse by category," and nothing happened. I had to pay close attention to move the mouse over the actual text link "Vintage Hot Wheels" (which isn`t "all" categories). The movement was very slow, and I didn`t see anything other than a few HotWheels cars. Not "all" categories.

That`s the problem---in general. There`s a sort of rule-of-thumb that in WHATEVER anyone is doing, "The tool should not be the primary focus of attention."

What it means is that you should be almost unaware of the "tool" you`re using to experience an event, and instead be experiencing the event itself. Another example of this would be a rock concert. Would you rather come home remembering how you bought the ticket, where were the bathrooms, not being able to find your seat, and what you had to drink? Or would you rather come home remembering the band and the music they played?

Your site is interfering with the experience of exploring your inventory of cars. At each moment of action, the visitor is being pulled out of their "experience" of the site, having to stop and watch the process of the site---the tool---as it moves slowly, waits, and ultimately produces less-than-satisfactory results.

I`d suggest a few of these interviews with real people you know, and gather up all their commentary. Then see about discussing the technical side of site development with a professional developer. The idea for the business is great! It`s the "implementation" that`s causing the issues, I think, at the moment.

Focus on your value--the knowledge and background you have in collecting these cars. Delegate the other stuff---the tools you want to use to help other collectors come together. See?

I have been a member here for a while. I am starting up Toy Car Direct.com, I am not a registered business and this is part time business however will register all business aspects in a couple months! I sell Vintage, Limited and Collectible Hot Wheels and Supplies. I will then branch out to other collectible diecast.

http://www.toycardirect.com/

Thank You

I need reviews as I launch June 16th!

Please visit here....
www.toycardirect.com

Thank You!

Yeah a few things off the top...


You should consider getting rid of this page:

http://www.toycardirect.com/index.php/catalogsearch/term/popular/

...or consider combining it with natural text.

Secondly if you turn off the images on the main page the alt tag for your logo says Magento Commerce with a link to your home page.  Also the title tag and the link at the bottom of the page say `Magento Commerce` get rid of those as well.

On the bottom right of the page the image says `Stay up to date - Get our enewsletter`.  So how do I sign up for it?




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CEO
San Diego Dream Weavers
http://www.sddreamweavers.com
awood@sddreamweavers.com

New and improved! Now with blogging goodness!
http://www.sddreamweavers.com/san-diego-seo-marketing-blog/

ok, Thanks! Will work on that.

Visually speaking, I think your homepage leaves something to be desired. It`s very text heavy, and I really am not fond of the three columns of text under "The Toy Car Direct Guarantee." The empty white space to the right of all your text is wasted space and makes the index look a little lopsided. Just to improve the aesthetics of the homepage, I would consider a better and larger photo. I also noticed the "Click here to learn more" link isn`t clickable, and the text in "This Weeks Sale" should read "This Week`s Sale." 

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The newsletter signup is gray text on a slightly darker gray background.  There really should be a button or form near the "Sign up for the newsletter" text.

In the drop-down menus, there`s two blank lines that expand to two more blank lines.


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Steve Mann
Internet Videographer
MannMade Digital Video
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