Please help me grow my online business

by JackR
19 replies
Hi,

I have an online business that I have been working on on the side for a little over a year now. It is a remote user testing website. So we help websites get feedback from real users who could be considered potential clients of the websites being tested.

The business has had some moderate success, but is a long way from profitable. I have over 600 customers in my database (but only a small percentage are paying).

Here is the business model:

- Websites (mainly startups) come to us so we can recruit individuals (testers) to record their experience using their website and at the same time voice their opinions.

- We entice each new client with 1 free user test to get them started.

- I then try to follow up with each customer on their experience and offer them coupon codes on our purchased tester plans. The client can order 5, 10, or 15 testers at a time.

- I pay each tester up to $5 per test depending on the quality of feedback they offer.

- I charge the client anywhere between $10-$15 per user test depending on which package they order.

The primary problem is, is that I am not converting enough free clients into paying customers. Too many people are signing up for 1 free test, and don't come back for more.

I have built my database of testers to more than 3,000 people. So I have a surplus of testers, just not enough clients.

Money is tight, so I have only been able to market my site via twitter and word of mouth. I even built a referral system for websites to refer other websites to use my service. Unfortunately it hasn't had much success.

What can I do to take my business to the next level? I feel like I am stuck and just can't figure out what I need to do to knock it out of the park. The people who have given it a try have loved it.

EDIT: I have seen others post a link for critique in these forums so I guess it's ok to do the same. Here is a link to my business: http://www.betapunch.com if you want to take a look. Feel free to try it out for your own site and get a free test from one of our testers. I would love to know what you think of the overall experience.

Thanks for your time!
#business #grow #online
  • Profile picture of the author enrikm
    I'll try to give my thoughts:

    First I believe you could use better marketing other than Twitter and word of mouth, but as you said, money is tight so I guess we can't do anything here.

    Second, not sure about the business model but if you provide a free test, maybe that's all people need in order to get good feedback on their website that's why they don't come back for more? Unless it's a big website, then most probably they wouldn't need more.

    Third, maybe you can advertise your business through fiverr? That would lower the cost though to $5 but you could probably adjust your package or offer add-ons to reach your $10-$15 price mark.

    Fourth, I would probably try to approach one big website or some famous company that's just about to launch a new update/module to their website and provide them a free service. That way you can advertise them on your page so will earn more credibility.

    Those are my thoughts for now, hope it helps!
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  • Profile picture of the author JackR
    Offering things for free can be the death of many online companies. I just feel I can't get rid of the free test option or else my sign up conversions will drop considerably.

    I have given Fiverr a shot in the past but never seemed to get any new leads from it unfortunately. It is also far too below my cost needed to sustain a profit.

    There are some paid marketing opportunities I wanted to consider but I would really need the backing of an investor to pursue them.

    Up to this point I have been bootstrapping this business by myself.
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  • Profile picture of the author Riter Ric
    Making money online is not an overnight process.

    I understand your dilemma that money is tight -
    perhaps you should take up a job
    or do some kind of work
    that gets you a steady income
    till your online business starts picking up?

    Meanwhile there are many coaching programs
    offered by members here
    these would help you immensely.

    Best wishes and regards.
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  • Profile picture of the author JackR
    How / where could I get new leads for new businesses to try out my service? Would members of this particular forum be able to help me with that?
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    • Profile picture of the author theaccountant
      Get a day job
      Most people here a busting their guts trying to make it and you don't want to take good practical advice. You just want it handed to you on a platter. You need a serious reality check.
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      • Profile picture of the author JackR
        Originally Posted by theaccountant View Post

        Get a day job
        Most people here a busting their guts trying to make it and you don't want to take good practical advice. You just want it handed to you on a platter. You need a serious reality check.
        I do have a full time day job that I work 60+ hours a week for. As I mentioned in my original post, this is a business I do on the side.

        Not sure sure where you got the idea that I expect to be handed things on a platter. I already do work ridiculously hard in both my real job and this side venture I have going on.

        I am just interested in learning about what tactics members of this community use.
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      • Profile picture of the author PeterKnight
        Originally Posted by theaccountant View Post

        Get a day job
        Most people here a busting their guts trying to make it and you don't want to take good practical advice. You just want it handed to you on a platter. You need a serious reality check.
        I'm assuming you typed this while grumpy as you're making some presumptions about the OP?

        Anyhow, here are some things I'd be looking at.

        Have you worked out all the numbers? (customer acquisition cost, retention rate, etc)

        It sounds like the margins are low so you need a lot of volume and for that you need sustainable and scalable traffic. It doesn't sound like you've established that. You definitely need to know what kind of numbers you need to hit across the board to make things profitable.

        Have you tried pay per click? If you can get ppc to work you'll be able to gauge all the numbers so you can figure out what's possible for the business. You'll also figure out if your sales funnel is working, because right now it sounds like the marketing isn't doing its job in converting to paying customers.

        Frankly, I'd start split testing and removing the free option with one variation. If you can get ppc campaign to work with pay-only option you will have an easier time assessing if the business is going to work. You can always work on cheaper sources of traffic later, improving your conversion ratio, customer retention etc.

        Another option I might consider is looking at the customers with bigger budgets so you can make volume sales or maybe figure out a more lucrative value proposition for them. You might have some success building relationships with them directly. Have you scored particularly good customers so far? What do they like about the service? What's their usage like? Do you know who the ideal customer is?

        There's other things I'd be curious to know, such as what painpoint are you solving and how it compares with bigger competitors. Can you corner a particular market or is the business too generic? Could you make your business attractive to competitors so they might purchase it from you, i.e because you have a good usertesting database, technology, a grip on a particular niche customer base etc.

        I know the usertesting market is very crowded so I think it's impressive what you've done so far, but I'd be pretty aggressive now about figuring out if the numbers are there to make it profitable.
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  • Profile picture of the author Evocess
    Well, it's pretty normal to have that kind of situation.
    First thing to convert your prospect into customer is to educate them the next give them value. Offer something that they can use.

    Buy some solo ads for your business. You can also go for a one on one coaching.
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    • Profile picture of the author JackR
      Originally Posted by Evocess View Post

      Buy some solo ads for your business. You can also go for a one on one coaching.
      Where do you suggest I buy solo ads? Where is one on one coaching offered?
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  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    Stop going after businesses directly. Go after web design firms and marketing companies. Get them to do it as an add on service for their clients. They are already working to get the customers in and many of them already provide focus group type services. They will pay you to run your end of it, mark it up a little and they will bill the client.
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  • Profile picture of the author cititoru
    You have to survey the clients that try your service for free, find out why they do not go for a paid package. Then you will know what you have to change to convert better.There's many more social media websites out there other than Twitter, try them as well if you're happy with the leads that Twitter brought you.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lady M
    offering freebies will make you appealing, but appealing doesn't mean profit. looking for client is quite a problem for this type of business. what is your alternatives for driving a client to your site? If you have none, you should stop offering free test and start looking for a prospect client. you should try paid traffic, invest now or lose forever.
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  • Profile picture of the author RedShifted
    The problem seems to be the business model if you ask me.
    Here are a couple of really brutal questions for you -

    1) Who are these random "3000" testers?

    2) Why should I give a damn what any 1 of these testers has to say about my site?

    If one of those testers happened to be Barbara Corchoran, then I'd probably pay several hundred to have her personally test my site.

    I'm just not sure I understand the value in your model. Seems like you're getting a bunch of random people to test sites, and people care about that why exactly?
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    • Profile picture of the author Dave Espino
      I agree with Point 2 above by RedShifted.

      The issue might be at the core - market demand.

      Have you researched and found / determined that there is demand for this type of service, or is it something you thought would be a good idea?

      It could just be that there is not much demand for this type of testing service OR it's too expensive to reach the correct people who would be interested. A simple sales objection to this service might be - "Why don't I get some friends to tell me what's wrong / right with my site?")

      Some services (by their very nature) MUST be sold (by a salesperson who can answer objections and close the deal) as opposed to other services which are easily BOUGHT by the end user.

      One requires explanation, justification and sales prowess in order to get a customer, while the other can be a simple "Click Here" button because it is in such demand and does not require further explanation.

      At it's face - to me - this appears to be the former and not the latter.
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    • Profile picture of the author JackR
      Originally Posted by RedShifted View Post

      The problem seems to be the business model if you ask me.
      Here are a couple of really brutal questions for you -

      1) Who are these random "3000" testers?

      2) Why should I give a damn what any 1 of these testers has to say about my site?

      If one of those testers happened to be Barbara Corchoran, then I'd probably pay several hundred to have her personally test my site.

      I'm just not sure I understand the value in your model. Seems like you're getting a bunch of random people to test sites, and people care about that why exactly?
      It is important to find out what other people think about your website in order to figure out the problems. You want somebody's opinion who has no prior opinion about your site going into the test. We typically think (as web developers and internet entrepreneurs) that when we build a site the people we build it for are just going to get it and understand what we put on the screen for them. This is RARELY the case. In reality, things generally aren't that clear for the end user like we often assume.

      I am from the school of the "Lean Startup Methodology" founded by Eric Reis. If you don't know about it, I suggest you read up on it. The primary practice is to constantly be testing and iterating based off of the feedback you get. Don't make assumptions. Everything you do, as far as making improvements, should be tested by real users - which is what my site offers.

      Our 3,000 testers are able to offer a real perspective on why they might leave your website before signing up or buying your product. They will help you understand why your website doesn't convert as well as you think it should. And for those that are curious, as a customer you can set up demographic specific tests. We allow the client to chose their testers based off of: Gender, Age range, Location, and Tech experience.

      And to your point about Barbara Corchoran testing your website is really quite foolish. Is she your customer? Your testers should be real users / real potential customers. If Barbara fits your target customer market then fine. But I assume you made this comment because she is well know marketing and branding expert who has had a lot of success. Sure her opinion would be helpful to a certain point, but I'd rather have a bunch of regular people who are my potential customers test my site over her.
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  • Profile picture of the author thomasmathew100
    I truly understand how you feel and maybe there’s just something that you weren’t able to pay attention to in your business. I would suggest that you think thoroughly if you have to stay in that kind of business that you have now or venture into something else that would be more appealing to consumers. Whatever your decision will be, I personally believe a little help from existing online companies that help in setting up a blog or a website will boost your sales and will increase the interest of the people in your business. You will surely get assistance in setting up your website, recreate its design to make it look more attractive and most of all raise your level with SEO for your website to appear on the first page of search engine results.
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  • Profile picture of the author JackR
    I have now added a link to my business so you can check it out and offer a more detailed critique based off of what I currently am doing. BetaPunch - User Testing
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  • Profile picture of the author jpsween88
    My best suggestion is to go to Wanted - Members Looking To Hire You and look for people needing reviews. Typically they already plan on spending some money. Follow this method to other IM forums until you have reached your goal.

    The only downfall I see to your business model though is trying to keep recurring customers. You will need to constantly keep finding new sites that need reviewers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Entrecon
    The site I was familiar with doing this is UserTesting.com . I have done several reviews for them. They have some fairly big name clients. One of the tests I did was for Verizon.
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