What am I doing wrong? - Page 2

Dustin07 · 10-10-2006, 08:03 AM

not all girls are just in to sex tho. Some still have a shred of innocence. And even of those who don't, many still enjoy puppies.

WillB · 10-12-2006, 08:32 AM

MySpace = college kids.

DormRoomDecor = college kids who like puppies on their walls.

I think that says it all - broaden your market

digiweb · 10-13-2006, 10:26 PM

lol. This is very funny. I suppose I really am confused about "today's" college girl. I've been operating under the impression that all that sophistication is a cover for kids who'd really rather be kids. It's just a theory. Even ridiculously sexually active girls aren't adults and they still derive comfort from "girl" things.

No?

Tyler Banfield · 10-14-2006, 12:46 AM

I would say give these new ideas a shot, your revenue can only go up.

WillB · 10-14-2006, 07:25 AM

"I suppose I really am confused about "today's" college girl. I've been operating under the impression that all that sophistication is a cover for kids who'd really rather be kids."

You're right. I spend my summers working with a charity that takes groups of kids away on residential holidays. We move them out of their natural environment and encourage them to go back to being kids - playing games, singing songs and learning about the world.

It's incredible to see the changes that are brought about by the week, and it's always the toughest kids that cause the most trouble on the first day that are crying on the bus home because they don't want to leave.

But anyway.. yes, kids want to be kids, but college isn't a safe environment for them to let go and regress. There are few who are brave enough to drop the image they've worked so hard to create and start putting puppy posters on their walls.

Just my thoughts

digiweb · 10-14-2006, 05:22 PM

Wow. great point. Appeal to her desire to be seen as mature...

WillL · 10-14-2006, 05:30 PM

Trust me , blend blend blend. Below where you say

We have everything you need to make your walls warm for winter.

Don't be homesick at college. Wag the wall!

Make the ads blend in.

The HTML CODE for your background is

DAD0BC

so go to adsense , put the background of the ads as DAD0BC , make the color of the writing and links the same as the text on your homepage , make no border..

like www.lohanfan.info , see the ads on the left ?they work very well. People think it's part of the site

digiweb · 10-14-2006, 08:59 PM

maybe it's me because I blended here and it didn't matter
http://www.bogartcomputing.com/web-programming-answers/
(used to be more, I tool a lot out, check bottom right)

No clicks there either

Anidazen · 10-15-2006, 03:01 PM

Sorry to say this - but all wrong!

1) Make up your mind how you're making money. If you're making money through ads, go for more page views. If you're making money selling posters, then really sell them.

2) Assuming most of your revenue is meant to come from the posters, find a new angle to sell from.

Your site is weak at selling, but it's not just the design - the sales angle, the basic 'pitch' of the site needs rethinking.

If you had come to me as a client, I would have given you a 'no win-no fee' promise of doubling whatever your current turnover rate is. It's possible that your advertising methods (whatever they may be) could be improved as well, but the site itself needs work atm.

jg_v7n · 10-15-2006, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anidazen

Sorry to say this - but all wrong!

1) Make up your mind how you're making money. If you're making money through ads, go for more page views. If you're making money selling posters, then really sell them.

2) Assuming most of your revenue is meant to come from the posters, find a new angle to sell from.

Your site is weak at selling, but it's not just the design - the sales angle, the basic 'pitch' of the site needs rethinking.

Didn't I just say this...?

digiweb · 10-19-2006, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anidazen

If you had come to me as a client, I would have given you a 'no win-no fee' promise of doubling whatever your current turnover rate is. It's possible that your advertising methods (whatever they may be) could be improved as well, but the site itself needs work atm.

So you'll get me $6?

:-)

ALL -----

I am accepting proposals to fix the site.

PM me with the particulars, $, tasks, I'm listening.

Anidazen · 10-19-2006, 06:35 PM

Hehe, I'm not gonna charge you for help conducted through a forum Caroline!

I was just trying to emphasise the point before. A lot of work can be done on your ratio before you start a serious marketing effort.

I'm interested how the business works, because this effects what I believe is your approach. (Do you carry an inventory of posters yourself?)

I started writing quite a few tips on purely and simply boosting sales, but I deleted that paragraph. Instead, I think we need to look at a slightly more fundamental problem.

Businesses catering to a niche market often do very well. You are definitely taking this route. The problem is that you are targeting a specific market within a specific market. Dorm room posters is a specific subset. Dorm room posters featuring just dogs? Well you're probably the world's biggest seller in that field!

You'll get very little customer retention or viral rate in such a tight niche. When you do find that rare customer, are they realistically gonna buy more than once? People don't spend all that much on posters. What I'd suggest is that if you're serious, you broaden your focus. Either start stocking a wider range of dorm posters (you don't need to inventory, get yourself a deal made of some sort, there's probably open-ended affiliate style programs available), or you start stocking a wider range of dog-related merchandise.

Really you need to make one of these two niche markets your main niche, and restrict the second niche. So you do dorm posters with a wider variety that includes a wonderful selection on dogs, or you do dog posters with perhaps a specialist page making that additional pich. (That's all the dorm bit is really, a sales angle, not a business defining concept - a custom page could make that pitch when it applies.)

Another concern I mentioned was cart-value/customer retention. You can be the best dorm-room-dog-poster seller in the World, with amazing prices and the best service - but the average student's never gonna buy a second poster. What else do students buy? You can be damn sure they're buying a lot of paper pads, exercise books etc, and I'd be willing to bet stationary with good dog designs is a sure-sell to someone who likes that on their dorm room wall. You never know, people might come back for that too.

Think about your angle. "Personality" would be a word I would go with - and say "personality" not "personalise". These products show personality, etc.

Anyway -- hope this does you some good. I know some of these suggestions seem impossibly ambitious, but ambition is a prerequisite for success!

digiweb · 10-20-2006, 08:09 AM

Let's get something clear -- there's nothing wrong with mixing helpfulness and business. I help people on forums all the time with no expectation of business except that sometimes it turns into business. It's silly to force some sort of purity onto our motives. I'm interested in someone physically performing these upgrades we've been discussing. I don't have time. So if there's interest in upgrading animalimage.biz to be a real web site that's worth something please PM me with the particulars as I would like to hire someone.

thanks!

Now -- Anidazen - there are all types of cuddlies on the site - dogs, cats, horses - whatever counts as a pet or delights people (i.e., nothing that's about to be dinner or has scales).

As for ambition -- be ambitious!

jg - v7 - I think he's agreeing with you in his own way - if not, imitation is the sincerest form...........

So guys, PM me with a specific list of what you'd do to improve the situation and a quote or estimated quote. I'm a software engineer, the marketing is fun but it's not my bread and butter. I want someone to assist me in this effort.

Johnny Phogg · 10-21-2006, 12:29 AM

i can't really understand who the target audience here is? honestly, what dorm rat wants an overpriced, cute puppy poster in their room? really, if someone was going to get a poster like these, couldn't they just go to any store that sells posters and get it for cheaper? you should reconsider selling something more promising, like the AIDS virus or used gravel.