Selling SaaS-based subscription for stores

[alice198]

Hi. For 2 months I'm selling subscription/year plans SaaS based for stores but I got only one conversion till today. I've tried cold mail (multiple templates, subject lines, lists etc. with highest rate 30 opens, 19 clicks per 100 recipents via random stores owners), fb annoucments on business related-groups, reviews websites, creating fanpage etc. but it dosen't seems to work out properly. I'm thinking now about finding people interested only in start ups, pain issue or some more niche businesses for my product. How can reach them out? How to do it properly? HELP! I'm scared to get another ban on facebook just bc I'm posting smth/sending DM.

 

[DontAsk]

Hi. For 2 months I'm selling subscription/year plans SaaS based for stores

So what is it you are selling?

What did your market research tell you before you launched?

Maybe the product is wrong or social media is the wrong channel.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Marketing starts with the customer, not the medium

Address these questions (researched, not the quick/easy answer)

Who us your absolute 100%fit customer?

Where do they 'hang out' - virtual or actual?

What need or desire are you meeting?

Why will they use you rather than a competitor?

 

[alice198]

So what is it you are selling?

What did your market research tell you before you launched?

Maybe the product is wrong or social media is the wrong channel.

Cloud hosting for your store - for small and medium businesses, start ups, dropshippers, and people selling handmade stuff etc.
After sending about 2,000 mails I wondering If target group was done properly, bc they open but do not convert.
Where can I advertise my product instead? Where can I find niche?

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

So you are promoting web hosting? That is one of the most competitive markets and unless you have a big budget, great marketing or a focussed niche (ideally all 3), things are not going to end up well.

How are you getting your email addresses to market to? If from existing websites, you are too late....

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Where can I advertise my product instead? Where can I find niche?

What did you put in your business plan to address these questions?

 

[fisicx]

Cloud hosting for your store….

People sort out their own hosting (or get their developer to help). They aren’t interested in your offer - especially as you are probably a reseller.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

The big guys can offer a lot more benefits to potential customers than a independent small supplier

For your market you need to be looking at prior to startup people actual startups will most likely have already done their research and settled on a supplier, I would suggest selling website first and include the hosting alongside

 

[alice198]

So you are promoting web hosting? That is one of the most competitive markets and unless you have a big budget, great marketing or a focussed niche (ideally all 3), things are not going to end up well.

How are you getting your email addresses to market to? If from existing websites, you are too late....

Where is the ebst place to seek for start ups mail addresses?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Where is the ebst place to seek for start ups mail addresses?

There isn't one - start ups isn't a market in a meaningful sense

Why not give thought to the key questions asked earlier rather than looking for quick-fixes that won't work

 

[Chris Ashdown]

You could try marketing and advertising, but it's not going to be a quick solution, I have a grandson doing the same thing small part time building up predomitaly locals in his area where advertising is low cost or free, look at adverts in your local area classifieds that's a good place to start
Trouble is every class at local schools will have a individual that wants to do the same

 

[alice198]

I'm reseller. I got 107 click and 0,93% conversion rate. It's okay rate for selling subscription?

 

[fisicx]

I'm reseller. I got 107 click and 0,93% conversion rate. It's okay rate for selling subscription?

No it’s rubbish. Find another business idea, this one is never going to work.

 

[alice198]

No it’s rubbish. Find another business idea, this one is never going to work.

what kind of? I've heard people earning on this.

 

[alice198]

I need real, helpful answers, which lead me to improve my skills not give up on smth ;p

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

How much can you spend on marketing? To make a difference, you will need £10,000s, at least, and a dedicated resource.

The other option is to just keep doing things slowly whilst learning how to sell online.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Marketing starts with the customer, not the medium

Address these questions (researched, not the quick/easy answer)

Who us your absolute 100%fit customer?

Where do they 'hang out' - virtual or actual?

What need or desire are you meeting?

Why will they use you rather than a competitor?

I need real, helpful answers, which lead me to improve my skills not give up on smth ;p

 

[fisicx]

@alice198 - to make money reselling hosting you need to spend lots of money on marketing.

If you just want a side hustle there are loads of part time jobs you can do. But very few online opportunities without a cash investment.

 

[alice198]

No it’s rubbish. Find another business idea, this one is never going to work.

....

 

[alice198]

How much can you spend on marketing? To make a difference, you will need £10,000s, at least, and a dedicated resource.

The other option is to just keep doing things slowly whilst learning how to sell online.

not a lot, unfortunately.
okay, can you recommend some articles, yt marketing videos or smth like that? and what work out the best If it's about B2B lists?

 

[fisicx]

not a lot, unfortunately.
okay, can you recommend some articles, yt marketing videos or smth like that? and what work out the best If it's about B2B lists?

If you want to sell hosting you need money for marketing. Lists won’t help.

Your chosen business is one with a low bar for entry but is incredibly competitive with hundreds of resellers just like you all chasing a very thin slice of the cake. Without money you aren’t going to succeed. Even with money your chances of success are slim.

 

[alice198]

I've send over 2000 messages with testing A/B with no results. Platforms like fb or insta seems to gather best clients for my product but there out is not allowed to send too many messages with links without avoiding ban.

 

[alice198]

If you want to sell hosting you need money for marketing. Lists won’t help.

Your chosen business is one with a low bar for entry but is incredibly competitive with hundreds of resellers just like you all chasing a very thin slice of the cake. Without money you aren’t going to succeed. Even with money your chances of success are slim.

what If I invest 1,000$? it's only about this business or reselling anything (also any home items etc) is so unprofitable?

 

[fisicx]

what If I invest 1,000$?

That will cover the first month…

If you wanted to open an online store and needed hosting what would you do? Like most you would probably search on Google.

If you want to sell hosting you need to be ranked on page one of Google. And to do that you need to learn SEO. This will not be easy or cheap. Your competitors spend millions on marketing.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I've send over 2000 messages with testing A/B with no results.

Wrong message
wrong offer
wrong audience

In a previous life, I was sending 500k+ emails a month to a qualified 'opt in' list and was lucky if I got 15-20% opening and 0.01% take up!

 

[alice198]

Wrong message
wrong offer
wrong audience

In a previous life, I was sending 500k+ emails a month to a qualified 'opt in' list and was lucky if I got 15-20% opening and 0.01% take up!

so to whom I should write? company mails, or CTO/CEO? I'm sending about 100-200 messages per day.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Who are you writing to? How do you decide who to write to?

Who is your target market?

 

[fisicx]

so to whom I should write? company mails, or CTO/CEO? I'm sending about 100-200 messages per day.

Don’t write to anyone. You don’t market hosting this way.

You need to be visible on Google for appropriate searches. But even then, potential clients will want to work with hosts not resellers.

Choose a different business. Reselling hosting isn’t viable without a lot of financial investment.

Consider also, people don’t want hosting. They want a shop. That’s what you need to sell. The hosting is an incidental.

 

[Frimley111R]

Agree with the above Alice. Your market just want a website, they don't want the hassle of looking for hosting or talking to anyone. Most can just google a cheap supplier and tell their website developer/designer.

You sound like you're trying hard but there are many other things you could sell that have more of a market.

 

[alice198]

Agree with the above Alice. Your market just want a website, they don't want the hassle of looking for hosting or talking to anyone. Most can just google a cheap supplier and tell their website developer/designer.

You sound like you're trying hard but there are many other things you could sell that have more of a market.

how to improve conversion rates? how many messages? what channels would work out the best?

 

[alice198]

No it’s rubbish. Find another business idea, this one is never going to work.

it's good conversion rate for yearly SaaS subscription? 107 click and 0,93% conversion rate?

 

[alice198]

Wrong message
wrong offer
wrong audience

In a previous life, I was sending 500k+ emails a month to a qualified 'opt in' list and was lucky if I got 15-20% opening and 0.01% take up!

how many messages should I send? what channels would work out the best? where to write? some specified examples, please.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

how many messages should I send?

It is not about volume, it is about quality.

I sent out 1200 emails on Tuesday to my repeating customers (<12 months) and got a 40% open rate/1.3% click.

Yesterday I sent 10k emails to event visitors (over 3 years, about 20% <12 months) and got 30% open and 1% click, but not many sales (yet).

Cold, bought in lists will get single digit opens, higher spam reports and lower engagement.

@alice198 when you did your research and was writing your business plan, what did you discover was going to be best for your business?

 

[DontAsk]

@alice198 when you did your research and was writing your business plan, what did you discover was going to be best for your business?

 

[alice198]

Wrong message
wrong offer
wrong audience

In a previous life, I was sending 500k+ emails a month to a qualified 'opt in' list and was lucky if I got 15-20% opening and 0.01% take up!

so what audience will be correct? I thought I was doing it properly. Directing my mess to stores and start ups what can I call audience for my offer. Also I've tried sending it to places where I've got small feedback. But nothing works good enough....

 

[fisicx]

so what audience will be correct? I thought I was doing it properly. I was sending to stores and start ups what can I call audience for my offer. Also I've tried sending it to places I've got small feedback. But nothing works good....

What made you think someone who already has a store and hosting will be interested in changing to your affiliate scheme?

Forget this business idea. It’s not viable.

 

[Frimley111R]

It is not about volume, it is about quality.

I sent out 1200 emails on Tuesday to my repeating customers (<12 months) and got a 40% open rate/1.3% click.

Yesterday I sent 10k emails to event visitors (over 3 years, about 20% <12 months) and got 30% open and 1% click, but not many sales (yet).

Cold, bought in lists will get single digit opens, higher spam reports and lower engagement.

@alice198 when you did your research and was writing your business plan, what did you discover was going to be best for your business?

The issue with those type of stats is that, these days they are pretty meaningless.

Opens have always been affected buy auto previews in email clients and people who have to click on/open them to delete them.

Clicks are affected by security systems these days which auto click all links to check they do not go anywhere suspicious.

All you can really do is measure responses/enquiries to the campaign that come in via web forms or phone calls.