How do you know when to throw in the towell?

[Spikeroo]

Hey guys, I have an eCommerce website i started awhile back, maybe about 2 years and it still hasn't kicked off. I'm not certain if my product is something people want or what, but I havnt gotten many sales. Im curiours, when is the cutoff date you guys would throw in the towel? Im not saying I'm giving up on my fastlane pursuit, im saying I asking how many times you try before trying something new.

 

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[HoneyBadger]

If you are at the point of considering throwing in the towel you could get some critiques from people here (shoot for advice from people who have actually proven success - there is a lot of people who one day post how they can't come up with an idea to start and the next day are posting how to guides like they have done something).

You seem to wonder about the product for instance, if you don't mind sharing what it is I'm sure people can help you validate it or tell you what you can do to validate it.

In the two years what have your sales looked liked? What is your cost to acquire a single customer? What is your current total advertising spend?

 

[ZCP]

What was the customer feedback?
Is there any cost associated with leaving it out there?

 

[Spikeroo]

Boraskins.com

Ive advertised on facebook and instagram. I have a website i dropship for who i am getting some sales here and there, but im not sure what im doing wrong. I always have good customer feedback when showing them to friends and family. Cost is 30$ a moneth via shopify.

 

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[BellaPippin]

Hey! Those are sweet!

Are you advertising to the right audience? To me that looks like something a sophisticated 30+ (maybe 40+) man/business man would like to flaunt. It makes me think of men's ads where they have nice suits and expensive watches and brown dress shoes (lol). But I doubt they are on Instagram and Facebook that much, if that was my product I'd try to get an ad near men's magazines? I know those are probably horribly expensive but how about blogs, a review guest post somewhere where people like that frequent?

Of course that's my perception when I see those cases, I'm not even a man so maybe I'm wrong.

Also, if traffic is low on the shopify end, have you tried Amazon instead?

Just a few thoughts that came to mind.

 

[Mr.Chaos]

Boraskins.com

Ive advertised on facebook and instagram. I have a website i dropship for who i am getting some sales here and there, but im not sure what im doing wrong. I always have good customer feedback when showing them to friends and family. Cost is 30$ a moneth via shopify.

They look good what is your marketing strategy right now? Look at DBRAND maybe you can "steal" a few things from them.

 

[ApparentHorizon]

im not sure what im doing wrong

You have no copy.

facebook and instagram

Pinterest?

Ladies, is your man sophisticated?

BORASKINS

The perfect gift - to make your man feel like a man!​

Im curiours, when is the cutoff date you guys would throw in the towel?

NEVER!- even if I lose my arms, legs and eyesight - there's mind reading helmets that you can send commands, dammit. You'd have to bury me before handing my life to someone else.

 

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[TheGrind]

Hey! Those are sweet!

Are you advertising to the right audience? To me that looks like something a sophisticated 30+ (maybe 40+) man/business man would like to flaunt. It makes me think of men's ads where they have nice suits and expensive watches and brown dress shoes (lol). But I doubt they are on Instagram and Facebook that much, if that was my product I'd try to get an ad near men's magazines? I know those are probably horribly expensive but how about blogs, a review guest post somewhere where people like that frequent?

Of course that's my perception when I see those cases, I'm not even a man so maybe I'm wrong.

Also, if traffic is low on the shopify end, have you tried Amazon instead?

Just a few thoughts that came to mind.

Actually, I run a watch eCommerce store and a lot of our business comes from Instagram. Maybe not 30-40 year old businessmen, but there's a lot of younger businessmen on there eager to be sold to.

 

[BellaPippin]

Actually, I run a watch eCommerce store and a lot of our business comes from Instagram. Maybe not 30-40 year old businessmen, but there's a lot of younger businessmen on there eager to be sold to.

So maybe try to find where the 30-40 y/o ones are to include them in your marketing strategy as well? More of them also probably have the disposable income to buy your luxury product. You may have some eager young business men on Instagram but you said it yourself that you don't have many sales. No need to get rid of that, but maybe you're just leaving a piece of the pie on the table, might be worth taking a look into it.




Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Invictus]

Well your product looks good. I can think of a few people who'd love to have a few of them for their stuff. A few things I can suggest (and take whatever I say with grain(s) of salt).

1) It looks like your pushing a practical idea (protect your phone, no sand or grit in the phone, etc) for a more decorative product. These things are sexy, but your About Us makes them seem uncool and only practical. There's definitely a place for that aspect, but I think you could stand to push the attractiveness of them a bit more.
2) Like ApparentHorizon said, maybe a bit more copy would help.
3) As others mentioned. You may be better trying other avenues, or targeting a more specific market. There's the older businessmen who have the money, but there's also younger business guys who want to upgrade their accessories but can't afford anything especially pricey. Also. Hipsters. Seriously, we will drop some cash on skinny jeans and mac skins.

 

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[TheGrind]

So maybe try to find where the 30-40 y/o ones are to include them in your marketing strategy as well? More of them also probably have the disposable income to buy your luxury product. You may have some eager young business men on Instagram but you said it yourself that you don't have many sales. No need to get rid of that, but maybe you're just leaving a piece of the pie on the table, might be worth taking a look into it.




Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

Oh I definitely do I'm just throwing it out there that Instagram is pretty nice. You have a point definitely.

 

[IrishSpring600]

You have no copy.



Pinterest?

Ladies, is your man sophisticated?

BORASKINS

The perfect gift - to make your man feel like a man!​

NEVER!- even if I lose my arms, legs and eyesight - there's mind reading helmets that you can send commands, dammit. You'd have to bury me before handing my life to someone else.

My man.

Give your stuff away. Take pictures of people wearing/using the merchandise.

Use those pictures instead of pictures of just items.

???

Profit

 

[lowtek]

Some nice products you got there. I hope you're ready, because I'm about to drop a massive list of stuff to do.

I was going to send you my suggestions in a private message, but it won't let me - so here they are.

I think there are some cues that might deter a buyer. I say this because they are personally turn offs for me. Fortunately, all are easy to fix.

Tangential question: Are your ads landing people right onto the home page? If so, that's a problem. There needs to be custom home pages for your ads, that speak to the content of the ad. If you show an ad for a Note 5 product, it needs to land them on a page about Note 5 accessories.

1) The About Us and Custom Skins links are not bold (on the home page), while the rest of them are. I saw this right away and it caught my eye. On the other pages, none of the links are bold except the current page.

2) There is no clear call to action - what am I supposed to do? You need to have a shop now button

3) In the scrolling marquee, if I click on the image it doesn't take me to that product category. Clicking on the picture of the Xbox controller takes me to the all products page.

One possibility is to combine both images (with a horizontal slash) and then have a clear "shop now" button in a contrasting color. Clicking on the image would do nothing.

4) The pictures below the marquee all lead back to the home page. Why have them be a link at all?

5) The features are all really tiny. This is poor design. Also, rule number #1 of selling is that you don't sell features, you sell benefits. Explain why the features matter and combine it with more descriptive language.

Examples (these aren't good either, so don't use them - just to stimulate thought):

"Our advanced scratch resistant technology keeps your device looking like new forever"

"Precision cut to fit your phone like a glove"

Hop into SinisterLex's thread on copywriting to see some examples of good copy.

6) For crying out loud, nothing says amateur like a gmail address. You already have a domain so you can easily get an email. Do it please.

7) Having a phone number for people to call would really go a long way towards building trust. Google forwarding numbers are really easy to set up and go straight to voice mail, complete with transcription mailed to your inbox.

8) The url of the about us page doesn't say about us. It just says /pages/page

9) all of the product related links on the nav bar lead to the main page. The drop down menu items properly link to the respective product pages. I would either make the top level items not link to anything or have the top level links in the nav bar go to the "all apple" products filter, for instance.

10) In the FAQ you say you are a young business. Don't say that, as it doesn't build trust. Also, you say that you're working on installation videos. These would be fantastic, as people are probably genuinely afraid they can't install the product. IF you can show how easy it is, you've overcome one major objection.

There are also multiple grammatical errors and misplaced words. Fix these.

I am definitely nitpicking here, but that's because the sum total of all these details is quite important. Lack of attention to detail signals that you can't be trusted (even if you can), and people only buy from people they trust.

I would fix all of these first, and then worry about the targeting of the ads.

The dirty secret of PPC is that it is a money pit if the bottom portion of your sales funnel leaks like crazy.

 

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[Invictus]

Some nice products you got there. I hope you're ready, because I'm about to drop a massive list of stuff to do.

I was going to send you my suggestions in a private message, but it won't let me - so here they are.

I think there are some cues that might deter a buyer. I say this because they are personally turn offs for me. Fortunately, all are easy to fix.

Tangential question: Are your ads landing people right onto the home page? If so, that's a problem. There needs to be custom home pages for your ads, that speak to the content of the ad. If you show an ad for a Note 5 product, it needs to land them on a page about Note 5 accessories.

1) The About Us and Custom Skins links are not bold (on the home page), while the rest of them are. I saw this right away and it caught my eye. On the other pages, none of the links are bold except the current page.

2) There is no clear call to action - what am I supposed to do? You need to have a shop now button

3) In the scrolling marquee, if I click on the image it doesn't take me to that product category. Clicking on the picture of the Xbox controller takes me to the all products page.

One possibility is to combine both images (with a horizontal slash) and then have a clear "shop now" button in a contrasting color. Clicking on the image would do nothing.

4) The pictures below the marquee all lead back to the home page. Why have them be a link at all?

5) The features are all really tiny. This is poor design. Also, rule number #1 of selling is that you don't sell features, you sell benefits. Explain why the features matter and combine it with more descriptive language.

Examples (these aren't good either, so don't use them - just to stimulate thought):

"Our advanced scratch resistant technology keeps your device looking like new forever"

"Precision cut to fit your phone like a glove"

Hop into SinisterLex's thread on copywriting to see some examples of good copy.

6) For crying out loud, nothing says amateur like a gmail address. You already have a domain so you can easily get an email. Do it please.

7) Having a phone number for people to call would really go a long way towards building trust. Google forwarding numbers are really easy to set up and go straight to voice mail, complete with transcription mailed to your inbox.

8) The url of the about us page doesn't say about us. It just says /pages/page

9) all of the product related links on the nav bar lead to the main page. The drop down menu items properly link to the respective product pages. I would either make the top level items not link to anything or have the top level links in the nav bar go to the "all apple" products filter, for instance.

10) In the FAQ you say you are a young business. Don't say that, as it doesn't build trust. Also, you say that you're working on installation videos. These would be fantastic, as people are probably genuinely afraid they can't install the product. IF you can show how easy it is, you've overcome one major objection.

There are also multiple grammatical errors and misplaced words. Fix these.

I am definitely nitpicking here, but that's because the sum total of all these details is quite important. Lack of attention to detail signals that you can't be trusted (even if you can), and people only buy from people they trust.

I would fix all of these first, and then worry about the targeting of the ads.

The dirty secret of PPC is that it is a money pit if the bottom portion of your sales funnel leaks like crazy.

Not much, but rep+ for the awesome report.

 

[Andy Black]

On my mobile, the free shipping image is up near the top, before I even know what I'm looking at. The free shipping image also cheapens the feel of the site.

The products look upmarket, but the site doesn't convey this.

Check out upmarket men's watch, wallet, cuff link, etc, sites for ideas.

Check out @AllenCrawley 's progress thread of building a brand.

The photo in @ApparentHorizon 's post above does a great job. Consider that people would buy these phone cases to portray a certain image to others, and themselves. Consider too that you're appealing to Apple iPhone owners. Who are Apple owners? What makes them pay a bit more for an Apple?

I'm not sure the images of the xBox controller match with a sophisticated gent. Maybe they should be on a separate site for game enthusiasts... who are a different market.

Maybe you niche right down to just one product, in different colours and sizes (e.g. iPhone covers for modern gentlemen).



Remember that a market is a demonstrated cashflow, not a demographic.

People who buy iPhones have a demonstrated cashflow (they've put their hand in their pocket already). People who buy an xBox have a demonstrated cashflow too.



The phone covers look like a nice "gift for men" or "gift for fathers"?

Wood? First year wedding anniversary? It beats a heart shaped chopping board any day...


EDIT: See how much help you get when you ask for it, and demonstrated you've had a go yourself? People are much more willing to help someone in motion... It's heartening to see everyone pulling out all stops to help a someone who's stuck.

 

[IrishSpring600]

The phone covers like a nice "gift for men" or "gift for fathers"?

Wood? First year wedding anniversary? It beats a heart shaped chopping board any day...

If OP gives his product away and takes pictures of people using it, then we will have an idea of what it is used for.

 

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[JDx]

These phone skins look awesome!
The feedback in this thread is excellent, spreading some rep.
Not sure if this has been noticed, but in the "features" list you talk about "precision cut down to the last buttoM and sensor" buttoN.

 

[Spikeroo]

Thank you all sooo much. I guess maybe I haven't given it my all. I'm going to do a lot more work on the site. I wanted to really customize the site more, make it more of a luxurious site, but I need to learn a little code. Its a little difficult to customize these shopify templates, but I'll redo the site for now and aim more to different target audiences. I can target both gamers, and "gentlemens" clubs. Again, thank you all for the advice, I won't like I was a hair from throwing in the towel, everything I've done, I did it myself, the graphics, buying the cutter, making the templates, a lot of hours put into it and got a little discouraged about it. But please, if anyone has more to add by all means. I have my notepad right here next to my keyboard hah

 

[Scot]

That's the great thing about the fastlane forum, if you show you've done your due diligence, people will definitely help out. This particular thing isn't my expertise, so I don't have much to offer here. But follow their advice and it should pay off!

 

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[DaRK9]

Invest in a premium template. It looks like you are using the Minimal theme from Shopify.

I don't like the most of Premium templates from Shopify, I always use themes from https://themeforest.net/category/ecommerce/shopify

EDIT: Similar to what Andy said, I wouldn't buy this.

But my girlfriend would buy it as a gift for me.

 

[MisterBHZ]

If you need some help with improving your website, feel free to get in touch with --> www.elvissalic.com

 

[BlakeIC]

Honestly I would buy one but you don't offer skins for the galaxy s7

 

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[Addicted]

Start with something as basic as creating a logo instead having text and then put your tag line under it. Add a favicon too. Your tag line should be updated to describe exactly what you do. Protective Vinyl Skins... for what? Spell it out. The xbox controller image does nothing to help you in this regard since the first impression is that this is for consoles and peripherals when in fact it also includes cell phones. Last but not least, either reduce the size of the front page image so your products are above the fold in a common resolution or get rid of it all together. Get analytics on there if you don't already. I could probably write a list of 100 improvements but that would be overwhelming and I don't really have the time. Don't give up, this has potential.

BONUS:
As soon as you have a how-to for installation (video preferred) you will see this gain some traction. Make sure the video is professional and well executed. You may not need to have one for every device just one or two to start and that alone will address, from my perspective, the number one reason why most visitors would not want to purchase. Your customers want to know it's easy, that it looks classy/nice/cool and that it won't ruin their devices when they want to take it off. The how-to needs to be in the top navigation and not in the FAQ or footer.

Best of luck to you.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Spikeroo - pm me ASAP - it won't let me private message you.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Ok you never pm'd me so I am going to call you out here - seriously dude? You got all this valuable help , all this effort to assist you after you asked for it andwhat do you do with it? Close up shop? Your domain has been expired for almost 2 weeks now. Please tell me you just (for some reason) decided to rebrand and opened a new shop with a new name.

Heck if you really did 'throw in the towel' pm me anyways - I'll take the venture off your hands (buy out your inventory/knowledge) and turn it into something with all this advice.

 

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[lowtek]

Confirmed, domain is dead. Dude was last seen Aug 3rd, right after we gave him the advice.

Hope he's rebranded and regrouped instead of quit. The product had potential, just needed some TLC.