Made a website as a joke. Can it be something more?

[Maria K]

Everyone knows a smelly person, but nobody wants to be the one to confront them about their hygiene.

So my partner/developer and I had a dumb idea. Why not start a service that allows people to send soap-o-grams, anonymously?

We designed the website in 1 day and it went live soon after. My plan with this was always to throw it up, see if it gets any response, and move on if it doesn't. I managed to get a small spike in traffic, but it started flatlining after that. I was ready to give up, but my partner wants to keep going with it. My plan is to rewrite the copy (with a new angle) and be more active on social media.

I'm hitting a wall, so I'd love it if you folks took a look at the website as it is now and give me some feedback. Skewer it even. www.AnonymouSoap.com

And a more general question: how much time/effort should you reasonably put into a project before you give it up and move on to something else? How do you know when to move on?

 

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[Nicko]

I love it

One quick change I'd suggest to the copy:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them bathe. If you know someone that smells like a horse, then try Anonymousoap . . . .

 

[Maria K]

I love it

One quick change I'd suggest to the copy:

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them bathe.

Haha, I really like that actually.

 

[ToniLene]

Hilarious idea. If people can make money selling potato-grams then soap should be a hit.

What type of soap is it? I make organic soaps, if you're interested. Offer the people some quality, lol.

 

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[Maxjohan]

I remember in middle school. Our teacher actually told us. If you know somebody who smells bad. Tell them about it. Good teacher that dude!!

yes... now I remember more. He said that some people put on a bunch of cologne to hide the smell. And it just gets worse!! LOL.

 

[Maria K]

What type of soap is it? I make organic soaps, if you're interested. Offer the people some quality, lol.

Well, this isn't set in stone... right now it's just generic soap.

 

[Maxjohan]

Well, this isn't set in stone... right now it's just generic soap.

What about just sending them a letter with some words about it. Real sincerely. Instead of making it kind of an insult with the soap?? Just an idea though.

 

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[Mattie]

Hmm...Some people actually have valid problems with hygiene like when they have to have prescription mouth wash, soaps etc. I think it's nice to tell people privately, but some may get very offended and hurt if it's a problem they're battling with a physician. I guess it just depends on the person I guess, but I can see bullies using it and like we don't have enough internet bully problems with teenagers. lol And yes, I'm just being myself. It's just who I am.

 

[Maria K]

What about just sending them a letter with some words about it. Real sincerely. Instead of making it kind of an insult with the soap?? Just an idea though.

There's an option to send a message with it... looks like that needs to be more apparent. I've been working on a stock letter to go with it as an alternative, but I couldn't decide if it should be mean or helpful maybe I'll offer one of each.

 

[ToniLene]

Hmm...Some people actually have valid problems with hygiene like when they have to have prescription mouth wash, soaps etc. I think it's nice to tell people privately, but some may get very offended and hurt if it's a problem they're battling with a physician. I guess it just depends on the person I guess, but I can see bullies using it and like we don't have enough internet bully problems with teenagers. lol And yes, I'm just being myself. It's just who I am.

That's a valid point. OP, could always make it a nice gifty type of message without the sarcasm.

 

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[LateStarter]

And a more general question: how much time/effort should you reasonably put into a project before you give it up and move on to something else? How do you know when to move on?

It's not going to be a million dollar idea but it's something to play around with to gain some experience. Just don't let it get in the way of your next idea that complies with CENTS. Work on linking your fulfillment directly to a seller on Amazon and automate it. Then you can rework the copy and dabble in the marketing to get what you can out of it. Don't waste too much time on it. You can't get time back.

 

[Maxjohan]

There's an option to send a message with it... looks like that needs to be more apparent. I've been working on a stock letter to go with it as an alternative, but I couldn't decide if it should be mean or helpful maybe I'll offer one of each.

Why would you want to be mean?? Unless you are looking for 14 year old prankster kids. Seriously.

So you seriously, want to put out a bunch of hate, instead of doing this the right way?? DiSaPPoinTed.

Edit: If I did this I would only send the letter. And sample the letter on the site for everyone to read. Costs are next to nothing. And I bet you could still charge people $5 or so.

 

[Maria K]

Why would you want to be mean?? Unless you are looking for 14 year old prankster kids. Seriously.

So you seriously, want to put out a bunch of ridicule, instead of doing this the right way?? DiSaPPoinTed.

Edit: If I did this I would only send the letter. And sample the letter on the site for everyone to read. Costs are next to nothing. And I bet you could still charge people $5 or so.

Well, I want good-spirited ridicule, a la Dicksbymail.com. Not something people would kill themselves over. There are already anonymous email services that send people both helpful and not-so-helpful letters informing them about their body odor.

edit: I guess it depends on the person, but I would personally be more embarrassed if someone told me I smelled bad in a ~really serious way~ rather than something like "hey, did you remember to shower this month?"

 

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[Mattie]

edit: I guess it depends on the person, but I would personally be more embarrassed if someone told me I smelled bad in a ~really serious way~ rather than something like "hey, did you remember to shower this month?"

Do you know most of these people that have these problems usually have depression an other mental disorders. I can tell you that from working with mentally impaired, disabled, and being a CNA. And if you really don't take it seriously it can be used as weapon to bully people if you don't do it in a positive way. And really working with them, I had to stand there and tell them to take a shower and hand them the soap. Sometimes talk them into it, or trick them into the shower. I suppose you don't understand that these aren't slow lane and rich people you're targeting. You're target audience is elderly, mentally ill, and disabled. Lower class citizens that aren't just your lazy drunks or addicts. And yes they're all on the internet. Just for an example, I have a shchizophrenic friend I bail out all the time on tiny chat and facebook and other places, and have to talk him out of doing what he does. And more than once I've had to stop bullies from attacking him. I suppose I've seen it in action to many times, and I see no real value in this other than, you have an issue with them, and think it's a joke.

 

[NYCGoblin]

Brilliant idea! I think you have a lot of potential here to go many many different routes with your marketing and monetization of the site. Run with it!

 

[Nicko]

I think some of you guys are missing the point, (and Maria K can correct me if I'm wrong here), but it seems pretty clear to me that it's just a bit of light hearted fun.

It strikes me as the sort of thing you'd send to your brother or a mate (friend) as a bit of a laugh rather than something you would use to 'seriously' try to get a co-worker to improve their personal hygiene.

Could be a fun birthday gift or stocking stuffer for Christmas. You could even branch into 'mouthwashes' etc and give each product your own fun label.

 

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[Maria K]

Do you know most of these people that have these problems usually have depression an other mental disorders. I can tell you that from working with mentally impaired, disabled, and being a CNA. And if you really don't take it seriously it can be used as weapon to bully people if you don't do it in a positive way. And really working with them, I had to stand there and tell them to take a shower and hand them the soap. Sometimes talk them into it, or trick them into the shower. I suppose you don't understand that these aren't slow lane and rich people you're targeting. You're target audience is elderly, mentally ill, and disabled. Lower class citizens that aren't just your lazy drunks or addicts. And yes they're all on the internet. Just for an example, I have a shchizophrenic friend I bail out all the time on tiny chat and facebook and other places, and have to talk him out of doing what he does. And more than once I've had to stop bullies from attacking him. I suppose I've seen it in action to many times, and I see no real value in this other than, you have an issue with them, and think it's a joke.

Well...maybe they "shouldn't spend too much time worrying about what other people think."

I kid.

DicksbyMail.com is a website that sends people a bag of gummy penises and tells them to "eat a bag of dicks." Maybe you don't see the value in that either, but that is a website that went viral very quickly and sold for 6 figures. If you look at there "About us" page it says:

"This site was created to put a smile on peoples faces. It's not meant to be a threat or a way to bully. If you are sending this with the intent to ruin someones day, then maybe its you who needs to eat a bag of dicks."

My thoughts exactly. I think almost anything can be a joke if you do it right. I understand that the site isn't for everyone. And obviously, I don't endorse playing pranks on schizophrenic or suicidal people. If that's not immediately apparent, then that's just more reason for me to work on the copy.

 

[Maria K]

I think some of you guys are missing the point, (and Maria K can correct me if I'm wrong here), but it seems pretty clear to me that it's just a bit of light hearted fun.

It strikes me as the sort of thing you'd send to your brother or a mate (friend) as a bit of a laugh rather than something you would use to 'seriously' try to get a co-worker to improve their personal hygiene.

Could be a fun birthday gift or stocking stuffer for Christmas. You could even branch into 'mouthwashes' etc and give each product your own fun label.

Exactly!

 

[Mattie]

I suppose it's just a preference. That's your style. Mine is more like this.

 

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[BlakeIC]

Hmm...Some people actually have valid problems with hygiene like when they have to have prescription mouth wash, soaps etc. I think it's nice to tell people privately, but some may get very offended and hurt if it's a problem they're battling with a physician. I guess it just depends on the person I guess, but I can see bullies using it and like we don't have enough internet bully problems with teenagers. lol And yes, I'm just being myself. It's just who I am.

I agree with mattie, i don't see this as really being funny to the party that receives something like this in the mail

I see this just as another tool to bully people, even if its intentions are to be "funny"

Take the idea outback and shoot it

edit: Although it might seem like "light hearted fun" many could take this to heart and you could just create that persons next worry/insecurity

also the bagofdicks, to me is not a good example, as it isn't directly picking on something about the person

 

[Nicko]

I suppose it's just a preference. That's your style. Mine is more like this.

Now those advertisements I find funny :joyful:

I'm yet to see a men's cologne campaign that makes me actually want to buy from them. Some of them (like the recent bizarre one with Johnny Depp digging a hole in the desert) literally make me not want to buy their product.

 

[Mattie]

Here's another one that's funny. I don't think Axe is complaining by any means.

 

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[Nicko]

Here's another one that's funny. I don't think Axe is complaining by any means.

Now that one I might buy

Not to derail Maria's thread, but I do think her site is fun idea. Would love to see how it goes so please keep us updated.

 

[Red]

This is actually being done -not trying to discourage you, just make you aware that this idea has been around for a while here.

 

[GuestUser305]

Everyone knows a smelly person, but nobody wants to be the one to confront them about their hygiene.

So my partner/developer and I had a dumb idea. Why not start a service that allows people to send soap-o-grams, anonymously?

We designed the website in 1 day and it went live soon after. My plan with this was always to throw it up, see if it gets any response, and move on if it doesn't. I managed to get a small spike in traffic, but it started flatlining after that. I was ready to give up, but my partner wants to keep going with it. My plan is to rewrite the copy (with a new angle) and be more active on social media.

I'm hitting a wall, so I'd love it if you folks took a look at the website as it is now and give me some feedback. Skewer it even. www.AnonymouSoap.com

And a more general question: how much time/effort should you reasonably put into a project before you give it up and move on to something else? How do you know when to move on?

You said that you created this website in just one day! What framework did you use?

 

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[Supa]

Just looked at your site and tbh it really brought some smiles on my face.. Your FAQs and the overall copy, especially the testimonials are really fun to read through. Pranks are pretty popular today, so why not create a website that helps to prank friends and family. As long as you keep the light hearted funny attitude I think no one should use it as a way to bully someone.

You could write a disclaimer like: if you use our service to bully someone we will send soap to all your loved ones, with your name written on it.

 

[Gsuz]

Funny idea, could see this going viral. On that matter (haven't checked if you do already) make sure to use a CDN like Cloudflare, because the worst thing that could happen is: Site goes viral, hosting goes down.

Good luck!

 

[Maria K]

You said that you created this website in just one day! What framework did you use?

Have to credit my awesome developer for that one. She used Django and bootstrap. It's all custom.

 

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[DamienP]

This concept is brilliant....

 

[Vigilante]