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Advice for Driving Traffic?

Imatk

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My wife and I started a dvd/blu ray review site about six months ago.

She worked at Video Business (a Variety sister publication) and they were shuttered at the beginning of this year.

So she and a co-worker started a review site because they already have the industry contacts and they're very good at what they do within the dvd / blu ray industry.

She also worked on their online publication so she's familiar with SEO and all that stuff.

Right now there are roughly 300 visitors per day which certainly isn't a whole lot.

Does anyone have a good idea for letting people know about the site? Good advertising strategies?

The content on the site is very unique in that they have interviews with directors, actors, etc. that they still have access to because of their contacts that other sites don't have.

So I think it could become very popular if people actually knew about it.

Right now they're also doing two blu ray contests a month where they giveaway three copies of a blu ray to people who like them on facebook and follow them on twitter.

The winners are randomly drawn from the people who enter.

So if anyone has any good ideas I'd be very thankful :)
 
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FDJustin

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Maybe I'm oversimplifying this but... Did you consider sharing the wealth? There are dozens of high profile sites that follow actors around like they were some kind of gods, and brokering a deal with them shouldn't be too hard when you have legitimate, credible content.
Although any visitors you get form that will be looking for more actor-based-content, and I'm not sure if that's really your focus.

Actually, I have no idea what your focus is. If I'm confused about your focus, are your visitors confused about your focus?
 
A

Anon3587x

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Have you tried going to some huge traffic movie sites and posting reviews about your site?

Talking on their forums with a backlink in your sig?

There are a few sites where you can steam movies that just came out for free.
You should join these sites and post backlinks to your site on all the new movies that come out.

They get thousands of views each day, highly targeted advertising for you :p
 

Halli

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Have you done any SEO? What are the keywords that you are going for? Have you done any article marketing,PPC or Social Media?
 
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Gymjunkie

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Guest post on sites in your niche. Hands down best traffic along with Organic one. Also be active in the comments and forums of the niche. Simple advice but still works if you contribute well!

BTW, let us know the link! Might help out more! ;)
 

Imatk

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Thanks so much for the suggestions guys :)

We are doing facebook ads now. (Just started on Monday)

We also have a facebook and twitter page which is helping.

My wife was the managing editor of the online publication for Video Business so she's familiar with SEO stuff and has been doing it.

I've tried to post on a couple forums that I frequent, but they have rules against linking to sites that are "competitors." So the only couple times I did the posts were taken down.

Our address is http://www.discdish.com

Our next contest is for the Seven blu ray so if you want to enter go right ahead :)
 
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Gymjunkie

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Forums can be in different niche than yours. If I were you I do this: I have a hobby of lifting weights. On the off-topic section of the forum I would post review of the movie or start a thread about a movie etc. Contribute well, to discussion and become well known in the forums. And there are some huge forums out there...


Oh, and you guys could use a new design in the future :) This one is kinda sad and old-ish. You are in entertainment people! ;)
Thanks so much for the suggestions guys :)

We are doing facebook ads now. (Just started on Monday)

We also have a facebook and twitter page which is helping.

My wife was the managing editor of the online publication for Video Business so she's familiar with SEO stuff and has been doing it.

I've tried to post on a couple forums that I frequent, but they have rules against linking to sites that are "competitors." So the only couple times I did the posts were taken down.

Our address is http://www.discdish.com

Our next contest is for the Seven blu ray so if you want to enter go right ahead :)
 

kurtyordy

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Forgive me for being blunt, but you are putting the cart before the horse with your question. If you want more traffic, I can buy you 30k visitors for 10 bucks. Who cares? These 30k are probably worth $0 in reality.

Before we can answer the traffic question, you need to answer the demographic question. Who is your target audience?

Lets look at my profile: I go to 2 movies in the theater a year max. I watch no television. I use netflix exclusively for my movie viewing. If I want to watch a movie, I will youtube the previews and then google the reviews. The hurdle for you doing dvd's is that the movie review sites have had 6-12 month head start on you SEO wise once you start putting your stuff out. So the chances of me finding your stuff organically is probably pretty slim.

Now, if I were a movie buff, I would probably have fb friends who were movie buffs. I would probably follow twitter feeds of other movie buffs.

In other words, if your target is the movie buffs, then you need to do more of the social response stuff you are doing but crank it up a notch. If it is my profile person, then more SEO, adwords stuff. The first step is figuring out who you want to pursue.
 
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Imatk

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Forgive me for being blunt, but you are putting the cart before the horse with your question. If you want more traffic, I can buy you 30k visitors for 10 bucks. Who cares? These 30k are probably worth $0 in reality.

Before we can answer the traffic question, you need to answer the demographic question. Who is your target audience?

Lets look at my profile: I go to 2 movies in the theater a year max. I watch no television. I use netflix exclusively for my movie viewing. If I want to watch a movie, I will youtube the previews and then google the reviews. The hurdle for you doing dvd's is that the movie review sites have had 6-12 month head start on you SEO wise once you start putting your stuff out. So the chances of me finding your stuff organically is probably pretty slim.

Now, if I were a movie buff, I would probably have fb friends who were movie buffs. I would probably follow twitter feeds of other movie buffs.

In other words, if your target is the movie buffs, then you need to do more of the social response stuff you are doing but crank it up a notch. If it is my profile person, then more SEO, adwords stuff. The first step is figuring out who you want to pursue.

Our target would be movie buffs for sure, but more specifically people who are are interested in viewing and buying blu ray movies and DVDs. The reviews are based on picture and sound quality as well as features.

We aren't targeted toward theatrical release at all so I don't really think the theatrical reviews have a head start on us. Most people who buy or rent will have either already watched the film or at least have a good idea about it like you do when reading theatrical reviews and watching trailers on youtube.

But either way we're not reviewing the movie solely. We're reviewing the disc. So the sound and picture quality is very important as well as the special features, pricing, and release dates.
 

Imatk

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Have you considered setting aside a daily amount to spend on adwords, its a great way to get targeted traffic, and if you implement adsense into your main site you might even get the traffic for free.

We're in the process of implementing adsense now... just haven't gotten it worked out yet.
 

Gymjunkie

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Mmmm.... isn't Blue Ray supposed to be best quality etc already? What is there to review then besides content, no one reviews DVD quality cuz we all now what DVD quality is... maybe you need to change your business model?

Our target would be movie buffs for sure, but more specifically people who are are interested in viewing and buying blu ray movies and DVDs. The reviews are based on picture and sound quality as well as features.

We aren't targeted toward theatrical release at all so I don't really think the theatrical reviews have a head start on us. Most people who buy or rent will have either already watched the film or at least have a good idea about it like you do when reading theatrical reviews and watching trailers on youtube.

But either way we're not reviewing the movie solely. We're reviewing the disc. So the sound and picture quality is very important as well as the special features, pricing, and release dates.
 
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kurtyordy

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Our target would be movie buffs for sure, but more specifically people who are are interested in viewing and buying blu ray movies and DVDs. The reviews are based on picture and sound quality as well as features.

We aren't targeted toward theatrical release at all so I don't really think the theatrical reviews have a head start on us. Most people who buy or rent will have either already watched the film or at least have a good idea about it like you do when reading theatrical reviews and watching trailers on youtube.

But either way we're not reviewing the movie solely. We're reviewing the disc. So the sound and picture quality is very important as well as the special features, pricing, and release dates.

ok, I am going to call bull crap. read your review of the diplomat. "DTS-HD mix delivers the goods." is the only thing that is not dealing with the content of the movie. Everything else is a weak version of what you would get on a real review site.

You are competing with the theatrical release reviews, because that is basically all you are offering.

Yes special features and all that would be of interest I guess, but other than that you are competing whether you want to admit it or not.

I am not trying to be cruel, but I am trying to wake you up. People come on here and ask for advice, and then when they get it, they try to convince us why it does not apply to them.

Take a step back from this. Get inside the mind of your customer and figure out what would entice them to come to your site. Based on the one review I read, as a movie buff, I would not come back. As a casual movie goer/watcher, I would find value in your reviews if they ranked in the top three on google, otherwise I would never see it.

When I am interested in a movie and want info on it, I am not going to think, "oh yeah, I should go to such and such a site" I google it. Scan the top 3, and then go from there.

As a movie buff, I would be looking for way more than 4 paragraphs of satellite level insight.

What is your perfect visitor? How can you get that person to value your site? Those are the only 2 things you should care about right now. IMHO, until that is answered, I would stop all paid marketing. Figure out your identity and then hit it hard.
 

Imatk

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Mmmm.... isn't Blue Ray supposed to be best quality etc already? What is there to review then besides content, no one reviews DVD quality cuz we all now what DVD quality is... maybe you need to change your business model?

It is supposed to be the best quality, but there are many transfers that don't do a very good job with sound and picture.

(Look up the sapphire release of Gladiator)

And some have decent special features and some have none or very little special features.
 

Imatk

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ok, I am going to call bull crap. read your review of the diplomat. "DTS-HD mix delivers the goods." is the only thing that is not dealing with the content of the movie. Everything else is a weak version of what you would get on a real review site.

You are competing with the theatrical release reviews, because that is basically all you are offering.

Yes special features and all that would be of interest I guess, but other than that you are competing whether you want to admit it or not.

I am not trying to be cruel, but I am trying to wake you up. People come on here and ask for advice, and then when they get it, they try to convince us why it does not apply to them.

Take a step back from this. Get inside the mind of your customer and figure out what would entice them to come to your site. Based on the one review I read, as a movie buff, I would not come back. As a casual movie goer/watcher, I would find value in your reviews if they ranked in the top three on google, otherwise I would never see it.

When I am interested in a movie and want info on it, I am not going to think, "oh yeah, I should go to such and such a site" I google it. Scan the top 3, and then go from there.

As a movie buff, I would be looking for way more than 4 paragraphs of satellite level insight.

What is your perfect visitor? How can you get that person to value your site? Those are the only 2 things you should care about right now. IMHO, until that is answered, I would stop all paid marketing. Figure out your identity and then hit it hard.

Umm ok there are some reviews that are contributed that are less disc-focused. We have several reporters so sometimes they lose the point in their reviews.

There are many many many reviews that discuss the special features, and sound/picture quality more so than a single sentence that you happened to pull out of one review.

Our site is focused more on the disc than the movie itself. Yes there are paragraphs that describe the movie but it's about the quality of the picture and sound and the special features as a whole for the disc that we're reviewing.

I like that you don't mean to be "blunt" or "cruel". And thank you for your opinion of our reviews... I'll take that into consideration for sure. ( that's me being sarcastic by the way... I meant to be though... just didn't want you to miss it)
 
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kurtyordy

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I like that you don't mean to be "blunt" or "cruel". And thank you for your opinion of our reviews... I'll take that into consideration for sure. ( that's me being sarcastic by the way... I meant to be though... just didn't want you to miss it)

Well, I meant to be blunt, I just asked your forgiveness for it. I did not mean to be cruel, but some people cannot emotionally handle the truth, and interpret it a cruelty.

I was going to meet you sarcasm with my own. It is one of the few things in my life that I am naturally gifted at. Then I caught myself. Maybe I am maturing.

Seriously, I read more than one review on your site. Not for me, but for you. I would not ever go back to your site for the sake of the reviews. Nothing there would compel me to come again. So had I been a cpc click, you just wasted your money. Which is why I will say once again, FIGURE OUT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE! Until you do that, you are just wasting time and money.

But hey, if you want worthless traffic, here: http://www.bringvisitor.com/traffic_detail.asp?type=1&productid=1
 

longview

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And thank you for your opinion of our reviews... I'll take that into consideration for sure. ( that's me being sarcastic by the way... I meant to be though... just didn't want you to miss it)

I was really surprised to read that.

Doesn't seem a great way to encourage feedback.
 

Gymjunkie

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It is supposed to be the best quality, but there are many transfers that don't do a very good job with sound and picture.

(Look up the sapphire release of Gladiator)

And some have decent special features and some have none or very little special features.

I see, but as a movie fan, I see no value in this kind of review. Hell do I care about the quality (I will just bring back the DVD to the store and say, give me a new one). Not all the people read reviews of movie content already and you go even deeper with reviewing only content. There may not be enough people who are so movie-buff that will appreciate you.

Check out your stats of New and Returning visitors, if returning visitors are growing then you may be ok...
 
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Davidla

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If the purpose of your website is to provide good content for a niche of people (special effects junkies & blue ray users) then make sure the content is infact good for your audiance.
I've read two reviews - a comedy and an action movie.

The comedy had nothing about the effects - other than the ranking on top.
The action movie talked a little, near the end of the article about the special effects who have nothing to do with blue-ray. The last line is a remark regarding why it is better on blue ray.

I think that your website is currently not living up to your definition of what it is supposed to be.

1) My special effects junkie friend would NEVER look for effects anywhere else than Action and Thrillers.

2) The thing he would look for is the EFFECTS and whats special about them, not the movie's plot.

It looks like right now you are stuck in between. You are "competing" with other movie reviewing websites, but trying to monetize on blue-ray fans.

Concentrate on the blue ray niche.

If I stumbled upon your website - i'm not sure I would have noticed it had anything to do with blue ray.

Suggestions to make it more blue ray friendly:
1) consider adding/changing domain that has blue ray in it.
2) Make the logo bigger, and make sure to mention the word blue ray more (can help with search enginges aswell as far as I know).
3) slap the reporters in the face if they keep making reviews that have nothing to do with blue ray.
4) try to understand better what your audience is looking for, and provide it for them. The people I know didn't buy blue-ray to watch comedies and romantics.

The first thing you want to make sure is that your website is actually attractive for your visitors. All the traffic in the world won't help you if your visitors won't come back and recommend it to their friends.

I know this is not really what you asked, but I think its more importent than driving traffic right now.
 

CMCarlin

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Speed+ Davidla. I agree, the site should at least appear more targeted. Check out the book "Don't make me think" for more info on that.

What are the type of keywords that your target audience would use to get to your site in a search engine? I'm a bit confused on this 'super-niche' audience. It's only my own perspective, but I think a lot of people just expect DVD and Blu-ray to be up to par. This is something that Brian Tracy touches upon a little bit (he called it a hygiene factor or something). It's something that is expected to be part of the product or service, so having it is not a bonus or will make it unique, but not having it will lower sales. Not sure if I am explaining myself correctly on that point. I guess I am asking, are people so concerned about the DVD or blu-ray quality that they would actively search for information on it before buying the DVD? Can't they just rent it 1st?

And if that IS your target, you probably should talk about it in the actual content. I read one about a John Wayne movie. Nothing about the quality of the DVD or Blu-ray.

Just seems like there needs to be more focus and an overall re-evaluation of who the target audience is.

Just my 2 cents thanks for sharing and good luck with everything.
 

biophase

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I just visited the site and read a few reviews. I agree with the others that content is very lacking. While I'm not a home theater buff I do know a little about setting them up and configuring the colors and adjusting the levels in both video and sound.

You have mentioned that you do not review the movie. Why do you even have stars for the movie itself?? On most of your reviews, the actual movie summary and movie review takes up more space than your Bluray or DVD review. In this review (DVD Review: Crimes of the Past | Disc Dish | DVD and Blu-ray news and reviews) I don't see one word about the movie's video and sound quality. Yet you give it 3 stars for video.

To be totally honest with you I could probably put up a site like this and just post movie summaries and randomly award stars for video and audio.

Home theater buffs are very technology oriented. They like numbers and not subjective words. I don't see anywhere on the site where you outline what constitutes 5 stars for extras. What's the difference between 4 star audio and 5 star audio? You can't just say that the bullets sounded crisper. Does that mean that on a 3 star disc the bullets sound dull?
 
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