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30-days - lots learned, which direction next?

by MarcPav
6 replies
Hi all,

I hope this is the right place to ask for advice. I've had my online store live for 30 days now & I've learned a lot in that time. Let me also be clear - I've a lack of sales. I know this is because of various reasons & changes are being put in place but as we know, that takes time.
- The store is 30 days old - what did I expect? Still unknown on the market.
- Unexperienced in PPC - my FB & Adwords may not be hitting the right people.
- Product photos too generic, need more "lifestyle" shots on every product page.
- Blog woeful, needs regular updates which are more digestible/valuable to customers.
- Designs aren't selling - they're not good enough. Need better designs, fast.

I'm looking for advice specifically in the homeware/retail/wallart market on what other factors I need to consider whilst I move forward. I'm using this as an experience to learn how I can use my skills to market my product the best I can - so that if this (side business) doesn't work out, I can use the experience to build on future projects.

Side note: I've had a few positives; 1600 visitors, my site is performing 95% better than all other stores that were launched the same week & I've had a positive first email from a retailr saying that their customers would be interested in my products - I emailed them back last Thursday & no response... holding on to send a follow-up email, probably this afternoon.

Thanks for your time & best wishes

Marc
#30days #direction #learned #lots #month
  • Profile picture of the author MarcPav
    Thanks for taking the time to reply!

    In terms of FB ads - I read in a couple of places recently that they're not worth the ROI, there are bots etc... Is this miseducated opinion or is there any truth to it? I spent a small budget £100 on FB for the first month & received very little conversions, so I'm interested in pursuing a new strategy if it's worth it from other people's experiences. I'm finding "wall art" a very interesting yet difficult market to analyse.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
    Man, that site loads slow!!

    A generic Shopify site?

    my site is performing 95% better than all other stores that were launched the same week
    Not a glowing testimonial for Shopify...

    I would like to help but I just don't know what to say.
    Signature
    Get Off The Warrior Forum Now & Don't Come Back If You Want To Succeed!
    All The Real Marketers Are Gone. There's Nothing Left But Weak, Sniveling Wanna-Bees!
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      Marc,

      Do you know who your perfect customers are? For e-commerce sites, it's extremely important that you focus on the audience that is in the market for what you're offering. Of course, you identify your best prospects when you research your market to understand where online demand is for your products. Those are the people that you want to place your store (and products) in front of so they can decide if you're offering the solution to their desires. Advertising to non-targeted prospects is a waste of time and money.

      The immediate user experience I had at your site could have been much better as I had to wait for your very slow moving slide show in order to get a glimpse of what you are selling. Your first two slides are OK because they display two of your products. The last two slide I would replace with two other different products. Having your company name on a slide and having an art frame on a slide are not going to help you introduce your art to newcomers. I would cut down the size of the slide show so that it doesn't fill the whole screen.

      You only have a few seconds to make your first impression and I don't think you're using your site well in that regard. I would (early on) display a bunch of thumbnails of your art so visitors get a clue about what you're offering. Many e-commerce stores, on their main index page, show an immediate catalog of what they are offering . . . so the visitor doesn't have to guess if this site is what they're looking for.

      You might want to post again in the e-commerce section of the WF - it's probably a more focused arena for your specific questions.

      Good luck to you,

      Steve
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      Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
      SteveBrowneDirect

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  • Profile picture of the author MarcPav
    Hi Brent - thanks for taking a look - you've helped just by replying.

    You're right - Shopify is 99.5% under-performing sites & it is probably a regular message to keep people interested. The generic site is generic with a few tweaks - though I believe it should do the job in its current state. How would you disagree? Slow loading times - I've not experienced this despite testing - takes 1.25secs to load with all the images, I don't think that's too bad?

    Like I said, I'm more looking for new ideas & factors I may not have considered in terms of marketing, design etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author MarcPav
    Steve - thank you so much for taking the time, I really do appreciate it & can see why this forum is a go-to for advice on these subjects. I've got nothing to respond to - just great points I'll consider & take action to resolve.

    If posting again is allowed I'll post again in the forum you've mentioned.
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  • Profile picture of the author bobbydobby
    Thats nice. You can make sponsor advertisements for your website to increase your clicks and get good amount of visitors for your website. Good luck with your website.
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