Taking the Fastlane: Opened A Men's Store Today

[contract]

Have been running a men's magazine for over ten years now, eventually saved up enough to invest in a store. It's been a fun journey, but a very long one.. Still not quite at the finish line though.

As far as the goods go: I looked into the overseas importing route, but I couldn't sell something I wasn't passionate about. So I started making products myself. I love to help people to become their personal best, so it's only fitting I offered the best.

http://nextluxury.com/shop/

Ask me anything!

Post some feedback or simply celebrate with me.

If you'd like to follow me, you can:

https://www.facebook.com/NextLuxury
https://twitter.com/nextluxury

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Silverhawk851]

Awesome, thanks for doing this, and if anything regarding online traffic I can help with, feel free to PM.

I'll start this puppy up..
What is your customer acquisition strategy? What mediums have worked well in the past for your magazine?
What are top three things you NEED to know in your industry?

 

[contract]

Awesome, thanks for doing this, and if anything regarding online traffic I can help with, feel free to PM.

I'll start this puppy up..
What is your customer acquisition strategy? What mediums have worked well in the past for your magazine?
What are top three things you NEED to know in your industry?

For sure!

1. Traffic leak everywhere, (Never be afraid to be transparent or talk about your brand). Banner advertisements, selective media buys. Leverage the support of other big brands when doing articles or guides (This is huge). Being involved in your niche: Twitter and G+ are great platforms for responding to individuals and connecting. You really can't do that on Facebook, unless you're paying for a promotional piece. Reddit sections for my niche have been great, although I wouldn't recommend posting anything unless it's of some value. Organic search traffic, doing giveaways on relevant forums, and building up an email list.

I don't really stick with one thing when it comes to marketing and getting my brand out there. I'm literally all over the place..

One of the biggest things I've learned is you have to give to get. Help other people with their goals if you want to reach your own. I realized writing quality pieces could help me bridge that gap. They take days, sometimes weeks and months to put together, but you're building brand assets. Not to mention gaining a chance to connect with more people when they stumble across your site and start browsing around.

Retailers and shops are another process I'm working on: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NextLuxury (Etsy for example). Eventually, I'll keep working towards moving into retail stores, or perhaps open my own storefront.

There's a million ways to gain new customers, I just mentioned a few but think of things like Youtube, Pinterest, and the list goes on.. It's amazing how Pinterest for example, once had a stat of 70% something women, yet I get a lot of great traffic from there that's mostly men. (Be willing to try something new, you might be surprised with the results) A recent example is a pin someone posted for me. I don't remember specific numbers but it was re-pinned over 700+ times. (Very cool!)

2.

1.) Who are your customers, and what is your audience. This is CRITICAL. The wrong group of people will put you down, but the right market will give you plenty of praise. It's like men vs women.. Men don't want lipstick, women don't want mustache wax! But then you go further.. A 20 year old man doesn't want home decor if he's in college, but a 50 year old man who has his own home might. (Bad example, but you get the idea). Don't let hate get you down, there are so many markets, you just have to find the right one that fits your brand.

You could literally have gold, but show it to the wrong market, and you might be fooled into thinking you have nothing more than a shiny rock. Always test.

2.) That mass market products will always sell the best, think cheap, quick, fast. But it's also super competitive, expensive to start, and the low margins will make you want to look away. There is very little innovation, because at the margins you really can't afford to. (Hence why I stayed away from that route). Imagine trying to gain customers and traction when you're product price is low, and your advertising costs are high.

3.) People don't want to love you right off the bat. It's much like dating... Again, you have to show interest in something people care about, such as the community itself, to get what you want. However... Sometimes you can do just that, and no one will really want to support you. You really need to have great marketing efforts to get the ball rolling. (The same can be said about content marketing, you can click publish, and share it on your social accounts, but don't expect much to happen.) You need to give people are a reason to want to share your article, product, etc.

 

[CFLRider]

Have been running a men's magazine for over ten years now, eventually saved up enough to invest in a store. It's been a fun journey, but a very long one.. Still not quite at the finish line though.

As far as the goods go: I looked into the overseas importing route, but I couldn't sell something I wasn't passionate about. So I started making products myself. I love to help people to become their personal best, so it's only fitting I offered the best.

http://nextluxury.com/shop/

Ask me anything!

Post some feedback or simply celebrate with me.

If you'd like to follow me, you can:

https://www.facebook.com/NextLuxury
https://twitter.com/nextluxury

Awesome site. I like the products. Definitely appreciate you taking the time to write advice as well. Good to see others doing well.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Yasai]

I'm not gonna lie, that's a pretty NEAT design you have there.

Just two minor questions:
1. Am I correct to assume that your main audience is "Men in their 20-30s?"
(Because that would explain why your site and its design appeals to me haha)

2. Based on the first question: Alexa.com seems to think most of your visitors are female. Is that something that you take into consideration in your marketing efforts?

 

[contract]

I'm not gonna lie, that's a pretty NEAT design you have there.

Just two minor questions:
1. Am I correct to assume that your main audience is "Men in their 20-30s?"
(Because that would explain why your site and its design appeals to me haha)

2. Based on the first question: Alexa.com seems to think most of your visitors are female. Is that something that you take into consideration in your marketing efforts?

Thank you!

Yes, that's right. I'm glad it's working, ha!

I still target, market and serve women as well, but not primarily. (Birthday gifts for men, holiday season, small celebrations, etc.)

No idea how Alexa gets their data, I haven't checked that in a long time. GA indicates the vast majority are men; the numbers are close to the other data tools I use on a daily basis. (I don't have their tracking code on my site). Also wanted to note, I think it's great if women are visiting my magazine/store. (I don't target them specifically but...) Gifts aside, it's excellent to see women sharing my content with their male friends socially, or forwarding them via email. Builds on the social proof aspect of things.

 

[KarakDrazh]

Store look nice, but doesn't have any items that match what I was hoping for that goes under the headline "luxury" and "gentlemen". I'm 29 and doesn't really use t-shirts, so the clothing section a bit dry.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[KarakDrazh]

Good luck though, and I count on that the items variety will grow with the time.

 

[The Autobahn]

Im going to Pm you with short questions.

 

[Get Right]

or simply celebrate with me.

I am going to celebrate with you because I like your shop and I like how you are describing your process.

Cheers to ya'!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Supra]

Nice website, I like the layout. I noticed that on nextluxury.com it says "SEE WHY 119K MEN ARE SUBSCRIBERS" and on nextluxury.com/shop/ it says
"SEE WHY 17K MEN ARE SUBSCRIBERS." Just thought you should know about the discrepancy.

 

[sWALK90]

Nice color scheme ..like how well the blog and ecomm store mix.

 

[Michał Kóska]

I like your idea, been considering something like that in my country, but I only want to focus on cosmetics. You said that you make all products yourself. How about cosmetics??

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Andyc2288]

Have been running a men's magazine for over ten years now, eventually saved up enough to invest in a store. It's been a fun journey, but a very long one.. Still not quite at the finish line though.

As far as the goods go: I looked into the overseas importing route, but I couldn't sell something I wasn't passionate about. So I started making products myself. I love to help people to become their personal best, so it's only fitting I offered the best.

http://nextluxury.com/shop/

Ask me anything!

Post some feedback or simply celebrate with me.

If you'd like to follow me, you can:

https://www.facebook.com/NextLuxury
https://twitter.com/nextluxury

Were you ever on bodybuilding dot com? I think I remember seeing your sig

 

[Aaron W]

Nice and congratulations!

Feedback: Your top bar could include links to Contact, shipping information and returns/refund policy. You could flush left this and have the daily deal flushed right.