What? No sales after 6 months

zigzag · #1 09-29-2006, 07:33 PM

My site is not new. It has been in existence for nearly 6 months. The problem is that the web site has not generated Any sales. So I am looking for suggestions and/or criticism on how to improve the sales pitch content, or anything about my site for that matter.

My products are not mass market items. They are unique, heavy, and expensive. A pair of small candle holders would sell for $650.

I have learned over 6 months, that I would be selling direct, because after retailers have added on their 100%, the products become ridiculously pricey. Interior decorators contracted to wealthy home owners would be the ideal market. But how do I become known to these guys? Any ideas or leads would be welcome.
I feel that there are 2 major weakness in my site at the moment. There is no price list, and no order form. In spite of this, I thought that the 'Contact us' page would generate some enquiries, but there have been less that 10.

Thank you in advance.

lovethatbluegrassmusic · #2 09-29-2006, 07:46 PM

I would put an add in an interiors design magazine

How are people finding your site?
Has it been submitted to search engines?
Have you considered hiring a marketer to market your site?
Whynot put a Paypal access to allow folks to purchase?

VodaHost · #3 09-29-2006, 07:59 PM

You have a very nice website...Have you done any promotion???
Keyword advertising???

zigzag · #4 09-29-2006, 08:41 PM

Hi Captain Bluegrass,
Thanks for your comments. Yes Googlebot, MsnBot and a handful of others crawl my site, and are listed. In fact if you search on "solid aluminium candleholders", in Google, I am sometimes at the top of the first page.
I get about 250 unique visitors a month. About 150 of them, are BV forum vistors, because I often answer queries.
The next most popular source is a South African search engine, called Ananzi. The hits from here are mainly because I have taken the trouble to list SA candle makers on my site.
There are a handful from Google, and others, often because of a keyword search on the 'Golden Mean' which is another page of interest I have added to my site, to try and keep visitors interest.
Hiring a marketer means cost, but it is something I will have to consider.
You just have to hold one of the products. The photos don't do proper justice.

Regards

zigzag · #5 09-29-2006, 08:44 PM

Thanks *****. I think I have the keywords right, but of course I am not an expert after 6 months. I have done a lot of reading and thinking about keywords.

Regards,

Vasili · #6 09-29-2006, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VodaHost

You have a very nice website...Have you done any promotion???
Keyword advertising???

Apparently you are experiencing the common deflation many webbies face even though they have done everything right to create, optimize, organize, and compose a "tight" website.

Without traditional promotional and marketing efforts, your website cannot be expected to perform as desired: you need to support your "storefront" with real business investments and planning.

Here are just a FEW ideas:
1. Do you have your product in any stores? If those stores have websites, be sure they feature your line visually, and provide links to your site to build hard-link metrics (reciprocol, one-way, etc.).

2. If you have already tweaked out your KeyWords and Meta, try adding another popular SE draw (in it's own Search right, which is a way to introduce a whole new SE metric as well) such as a Contest or Drawing: not only will you be able to build a leads list from people who have expressed a desire in your product, but you begin building relationships - the more time people spend on your site thinking about your product, the greater the rememberance. If you capitalize on this interaction with somehow making the prize "personalized" you will be likely to see an increase in returning visitors as the entrants re-visit to see if they won....people maintain their musings, much like lottery players!

3. Can you afford to "trade" some trivial personal expense (movies, pizza, etc.) to invest in a PPC (Pay-Per-Click) program? For as little as $50 a month, you can actually deliver semi-qualified visitors to your site to not only help build the hard-rank that is still important in overall SE indexing, but you begin to develop a more beneficial position with the SE's (based on hard-rank clicks/visits) as your popularity seems to increase, thus your unique content and relevancy elevates. I would personally suggest some of the programs at Yahoo, as they are currently quite aggressive and have lowered their program prices across the board in an effort to compete with Google....especially just before the big Holiday selling season. Any business cannot forsake the cost to pay for advertising of some sort!

4. Have you taken the time (and this can be considered an investment on your part, as it may take HOURS) to surf the web to find complimentary and relevant sites to list your website with? Some of these might include Directories, Shopping/Review, Business Rating, Association/Guild, Professional Organizations, City or Community lists and Bulletin Boards, even listing your site on any of your Vendors websites as part of your "address" - all of which is considered "relevance seeding." (Stay away from the temptation to seed blogs: most SE's flag this practice) * Since VodaTalk itself has a very high SE rank, it benefits you having your website URL as part of your signature as well!

5. Obviously, you are not depending on your online business to put food on the table, but are you willing to establish a reasonable budget to promote it? If so, for as little as $150 a month, you can actually fund 2-3 PPC programs (maybe 1 on each engine?), 2-3 paid listings on high-traffic Directories (they average $10-30/mo.), and at least 1 KeyWord with Google, which should be revolved each month....

So, there is a handful of basic low-cost ideas that have proven to have benefit to websites businesses. The best way to start practicing the foundations of any successful commercial-based website is to treat it like a real business, develop a business plan, and be disciplined in implementing that plan.
The days of pasting a website and waiting for throngs of customers to throw money at you are long gone, my friend. But, with just a little bit of effort based on a lot of forethought, you can still achieve your dreams!

zigzag · #7 09-29-2006, 10:33 PM

General *****,
Did I get the wrong end of the stick about keywords?

moviemedic · #8 09-29-2006, 10:41 PM

Vasili,
Thanks for some very helpful information. I did not post this question but I am happy someone did.

zigzag · #9 09-29-2006, 10:46 PM

Wow Vasili, that's a lot of food for thought!
A very big thank you for taking so much time to consider my dilemma and post such a lengthy reply.
On a personal level (mine), I have too many things on the go at the moment, and have decided to chuck some of them, so that I can devote more planning time to me. Your advice, has therefore found a very receptive home.
I am not going to give up and become another boring new business failure statistic.

Regards and thanks

Bethers · #10 09-29-2006, 10:48 PM

Royden,

I think, from your original post, that you have to accept that you are targeting a very specific audience. I honestly believe you need to do OFF-line marketing - phone calls, etc - to those interior decorators. Get some literature that you can mail out to them - if you can get to some big interior decorators and show your product in person, even better.

You can also use on-line to contact them - find sites of interior decorators and contact them via email or again, via phone, and tell them you have a product.

You are going to have to SELL them on your product - then they can purchase it online. However, remember, they will expect your prices to them as a business to be less than what the website advertises - as the website is retail.

You have a good product - and you can also sell it online if you are targeting the correct audience. Have you written any press releases - targeted to the high end decorator or interior designer?

I do use PPC - but would be worried about it in your case at this time - I would take the same dollar amount Vasili mentioned and maybe advertise in a publication particularly targeting YOUR target audience - and there are online versions of magazines, etc that you could check. Unfortunately, if you target your product online in PPC - you'll have difficulty getting the higher end buyers - unless you can find keywords that discrimate in the same fashion.

Good luck.

zigzag · #11 09-29-2006, 11:20 PM

Hi Beth,
I was hoping that you would see my question and post a reply. You always give such sage advice, in a direct, and to-the-point manner.

Yes, it's high time I put some real effort into promotion.
As a matter of interest, if you look at candleholders on ebay, there are a few items that sell for far more than my products, but they tend to be more ornate, and sometimes vintage, not quite antique. I am saying this to point out that for the very wealthy, my prices are not pie in the sky.

As an aside, I have had 2 big orders, one for a restaurant, and one for a guest house. Both were scams! One decorator trying to get material for nothing, and the other guy trying to get my bank account details. My terms were 50% with order, so fortunately I did not even order the material to make the orders. Strange cruel world out there.

Thanks for your helpful tips.
Regards

Karen Mac · #12 09-29-2006, 11:26 PM

Zig

Im not an expert, but you didnt give the search engines much to work with. Your store LOOKS Great, but there isnt enough CONTENT.

I did a little leg work for you to show u an example of what I mean

I went to :

http://inventory.o*****re.com/d/sear...ry/suggestion/

to get some search terms: Thats O*****res reverse search tool.

Candle Holders:

Searches done in August 2006CountSearch Term 16498 candle holder 3685 candle holder votive 2900 candle glass holder 1878 candle holder hurricane 1445 candle holder wholesale 1202 candle holder unity 1105 candle holder iron wrought 1067 candle holder pillar 1057 candle holder wall 998 candle hanging holder 864 candle holder metal 811 candle floor holder 767 candle candle holder 719 candle holder iron 685 candle holder pottery 641 candle floating holder 638 candle clover holder pottery 638 candle diy holder yourself 638 candle floating holder tapered 606 candle crystal holder 544 candle holder mosaic 515 candle holder votive wholesale 510 candle glass holder hurricane 504 brass candle holder 419 candle fireplace holder 405 candle holder taper 397 candle holder unique 396 candle glass holder votive 355 candle glass holder wholesale 334 candle cheap holder 332 candle holder wedding 327 candle holder tealight 326 candle holder light tea 318 candle holder silver 314 candle holder trinity 310 candle holder wooden 286 candle chandelier holder 270 candle holder wood 255 candle holder pewter 254 candle holder tall 251 antique candle holder 239 bronze candle holder 231 bulk candle holder votive 231 candle holder partylite 228 candle holder outdoor 226 candle holder lantern 223 antique candle glass holder 219 candle decorative holder 208 candle circle friend holder 203 candle halloween holder 189 candle holder metal wholesale 184