I just started an online self improvement magazine for men. I would love to get some feedback.

38 replies
Hey guys,

Quite new to the forum and the world of internet marketing. I started my own website and would love to get some general feedback on it.

I would like to make it clear that I'm not using this post to promote my website to attract visitors. I am only looking for some good feedback.

The website is www.coolconfident.com

It's an online self improvement magazine for men. If you have any suggestions, feedback or tips, I would love to hear it.

Have a good 2014!

Dennis
#feedback #improvement #love #magazine #men #online #started
  • Profile picture of the author Wolster
    Nice looking site Dennis, be interesting to see how it develops for you.
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by Wolster View Post

      Nice looking site Dennis, be interesting to see how it develops for you.
      Thank you! I will post my story in a few months
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  • Profile picture of the author edgeyy66
    I just signed up for you news letter. Let me know if you are looking for articles for content. I have a personal development blog and I am looking for places to share posts.

    Notes from the Edge
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by edgeyy66 View Post

      I just signed up for you news letter. Let me know if you are looking for articles for content. I have a personal development blog and I am looking for places to share posts.

      Notes from the Edge
      Thanks! The newsletter is still in progress though so don't expect too much of it at this moment. I will check out your blog. At this moment I'm only publishing my own content, but maybe in the future we can discuss this.

      I will add you as a friend.
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    • Profile picture of the author elbisco
      Originally Posted by edgeyy66 View Post

      I just signed up for you news letter. Let me know if you are looking for articles for content. I have a personal development blog and I am looking for places to share posts.

      Notes from the Edge
      Hello I'd also want to share posts.I have a new self development blog too.I'll love to receive guest posts and also to give guest post....
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      • Profile picture of the author convictie
        Originally Posted by elbisco View Post

        Hello I'd also want to share posts.I have a new self development blog too.I'll love to receive guest posts and also to give guest post....
        I also added you as a contact. Maybe when my website is bigger we can change a guest post.
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    • Profile picture of the author bhshravankumar
      have seen u r blog , its good . enjoyed reading it.
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  • Profile picture of the author shahidali788
    Your site is looking good and awesome. You have a great work on it. Just one thing you need to improve your sign up form area.
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  • Profile picture of the author hardraysnight
    most men dont need self improvement

    we are already perfect
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by hardraysnight View Post

      most men dont need self improvement

      we are already perfect
      True, but some men might need a reminder I also want to give them that message.
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    • Profile picture of the author Magicalidea
      Originally Posted by hardraysnight View Post

      most men dont need self improvement

      we are already perfect
      =)) I can see that you're over-confident men : ))
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  • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
    Interesting topic, and quite nice theme. Very good use of your generic stock photos. The content quality is way above the sites you mostly see linked on WF. I'd guess that you're using several copywriters to get the ball rolling.

    Some very minor edits I would make. The article on procrastination could use a bit more paragraphs. Gets a bit heavy to read.

    Does stuff like "closely guarded secrets" in an article title still work in 2014? Is it not going to bite you when there's no secret, and the message is essentially Nike's advertising slogan? I'd try to be original and not fall for those "top ten title tips" articles.
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by nettiapina View Post

      Interesting topic, and quite nice theme. Very good use of your generic stock photos. The content quality is way above the sites you mostly see linked on WF. I'd guess that you're using several copywriters to get the ball rolling.

      Some very minor edits I would make. The article on procrastination could use a bit more paragraphs. Gets a bit heavy to read.

      Does stuff like "closely guarded secrets" in an article title still work in 2014? Is it not going to bite you when there's no secret, and the message is essentially Nike's advertising slogan? I'd try to be original and not fall for those "top ten title tips" articles.
      I don't know. It's a technique I read about in a ebook. I'm still new to the whole world of internet marketing so if you guys have some resources that would be better. Please share!
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  • Profile picture of the author justhumza
    It's a very nice site you've put up here.

    The theme is simple but very visually appealing man good work
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    It's decent. You might want to start thinking of branding it. I'd suggest you get a nice logo designed and make it part of your header. I'd also add a benefit-oriented slogan. The "online magazine blog for successful men," in my opinion, isn't quite descriptive or enticing enough.
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Thank you so much for all the feedback guys, I can definitely do something with your feedback.

      Have a happy new year and I'll keep you updated in 2014!
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      It's decent. You might want to start thinking of branding it. I'd suggest you get a nice logo designed and make it part of your header. I'd also add a benefit-oriented slogan. The "online magazine blog for successful men," in my opinion, isn't quite descriptive or enticing enough.
      Should I register my brand when I have the logo? And how to do that international? I'm from the Netherlands, all I see is register a brand for the Benelux.
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by convictie View Post

        Should I register my brand when I have the logo? And how to do that international? I'm from the Netherlands, all I see is register a brand for the Benelux.
        Ideally, yes. However, I think you'd be taking on an unnecessary expense to do that right now. Get the logo and then work hard to get visitors to the site. When it catches on you can go for registration. I'm not an expert in that field so I don't know exactly what you'd need to do. Good luck.
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      • Profile picture of the author nettiapina
        Originally Posted by convictie View Post

        Should I register my brand when I have the logo? And how to do that international? I'm from the Netherlands, all I see is register a brand for the Benelux.
        If you've got a company with the same name it's likely that you're protected in the Netherlands. EU trademark registration starts from €900. It's not too expensive if you need that sort of protection.

        I've got the impression that it's hard to get decent international protection unless you're willing to spend money, but I'm sure you can find a local specialist to tell you how it is. I'm not a lawyer, and I wouldn't believe anyone on a forum in any case.

        Added: WIPO's site might be a good place to start. European Office for market harmonization has a good page too, and a link to the international trademark search.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joe Crosbie
    I like your concept, and I like the site in general!

    The only thing I would suggest is get rid of Adsense, it looks ugly and I'm sure it'll turn away a lot of visitors. You can always implement it when the site has more of a reputation and a regular visitor count.

    Just my 2 cents,

    Joe Crosbie
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    I chose entrepreneurship over further education despite being laughed at by my friends and family..

    I recently hit the "RESTART" button on my life, read my personal blog to find out how I did it :)
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by Joe Crosbie View Post

      I like your concept, and I like the site in general!

      The only thing I would suggest is get rid of Adsense, it looks ugly and I'm sure it'll turn away a lot of visitors. You can always implement it when the site has more of a reputation and a regular visitor count.

      Just my 2 cents,

      Joe Crosbie
      You're right, I just putted it on my site. But it was more for testing. Check it out now.
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  • Profile picture of the author prosperus
    Mmm nice especially the six pack on show... but as a woman I would say that wouldn't I ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Ten
    I like the design you have so far. Two things that come to mind; the site's sub-title is hard to read; then also, if you can not have the word "the" in the domain name, I think it might be better, if that is possible. Keep up the good work. Keep scaling it up.
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by Michael Ten View Post

      I like the design you have so far. Two things that come to mind; the site's sub-title is hard to read; then also, if you can not have the word "the" in the domain name, I think it might be better, if that is possible. Keep up the good work. Keep scaling it up.
      Yeah you are right. I need to edit the logo a litle bit. I just registered the domain coolconfident.com. Thanks.
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      • Profile picture of the author Underxman
        Nice website but a bit slow for my taste. See if you can move to a faster webhost.
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        • Profile picture of the author convictie
          Originally Posted by Underxman View Post

          Nice website but a bit slow for my taste. See if you can move to a faster webhost.
          Could be that I have too much plugins running at the moment. I'll look into it! Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary Ning Lo
    Your website looks down.

    Cheers,

    Gary
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    • Profile picture of the author convictie
      Originally Posted by Gary Ning Lo View Post

      Your website looks down.

      Cheers,

      Gary
      True, I'm moving to another domain. Should be up again in 12 hours!
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    • Profile picture of the author Jon Sullivan
      I agree it does load a little slow, but that may be in part to my bad connection during the winter.

      I like the layout and think the photo fit well. I hope it all works out for you.
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  • Dennis, I liked your site a lot. It is simple, user friendly, clear and responsive. Good job.

    LLS
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    • Profile picture of the author vschneider4
      Looking really good! The design is clean and the topics are relevant. Articles are for the most part well written, but I think there is room for improvement.

      There are a lot of copy writing courses out there that can show you how to write more compelling titles. Personally, I think BuzzFeed.com does a great job of writing titles that encourage users to open. Following their general format, you could title "Small Steps for Improving Your Self Confidence" with something a bit better, like "5 Easy Ways to Improve Confidence You Never Thought Of" or "5 Little Confidence Tricks That Will Make You Irresistible to Women". A bit about that second one, think about what your readers want to learn on your site. What are their problems? They probably lack self confidence, but that is general. Because they are not confident they probably have trouble getting dates, landing job interviews, and defending themselves. These are very personal problems to some people and they will do anything to solve them!

      ALWAYS think about the SPECIFIC problems your audience has and write to fix those problems. That will be your guide for coming up with new content, and will result in many more people reading and benefiting from your job.

      Keep rocking!
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      • Profile picture of the author convictie
        Originally Posted by vschneider4 View Post

        Looking really good! The design is clean and the topics are relevant. Articles are for the most part well written, but I think there is room for improvement.

        There are a lot of copy writing courses out there that can show you how to write more compelling titles. Personally, I think BuzzFeed.com does a great job of writing titles that encourage users to open. Following their general format, you could title "Small Steps for Improving Your Self Confidence" with something a bit better, like "5 Easy Ways to Improve Confidence You Never Thought Of" or "5 Little Confidence Tricks That Will Make You Irresistible to Women". A bit about that second one, think about what your readers want to learn on your site. What are their problems? They probably lack self confidence, but that is general. Because they are not confident they probably have trouble getting dates, landing job interviews, and defending themselves. These are very personal problems to some people and they will do anything to solve them!

        ALWAYS think about the SPECIFIC problems your audience has and write to fix those problems. That will be your guide for coming up with new content, and will result in many more people reading and benefiting from your job.

        Keep rocking!
        Thank you very much man! Appreciate the feedback!
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        • Profile picture of the author jsla
          Good sharp look, good titles, draws me in. Well done!
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          • Profile picture of the author slingingshot15
            I love what I see thus far

            I think I need to narrow my niche a little as I also have a self help blog as well...
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            I help young adults who are struggling physically, spiritually, emotionally, financially and relationally to take steps today to see results in a matter of weeks without having to go through the pain of buying thousands of books, courses and counseling sessions.

            http://www.brianramdhan.com

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  • Profile picture of the author TatiW3B
    It looks good, great choice of photos (though more variety in the bottom two sections would be nice), it's responsive, it's appealing and dynamic.

    But I feel that something is missing in the upper right, next to your logo. There is so much negative space there. I think making a header that spans across that entire space would be better. it could have the man caricature on the left hand side, and say COOL CONFIDENT across the page.

    Also, I'd continue working on the headline. "Where men make the most of themselves" isn't attractive. I feel it needs to be sexier, edgier. Honestly, your post title "THE INSIDE SECRETS OF EVERY SUCCESSFUL MAN" would make a much better headline, though to be a headline for a website it still needs a slight bit of tweaking.
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  • Profile picture of the author JosephC
    This is a great site. I think this will go far. I just spent 10 minutes on the site, It is great and I love it.
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