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[Crystal Jewels]

Hi peeps.

I don't seem to spend much time on here any more. Been busy with everything other than my business.

My home page has been uploaded now. Whilst I like the new home page I am very frustrated with my business. It doesn't seem to be doing anything. I've had one order ( for something small ) and one enquiry since my site ( new and old ) has been running. Which is about a year now.

What am I doing wrong?

What is the matter with my website? Or is it just the product i'm offering and I need to give up completely.

I understand that I need a phone number on the site, but due to personal reasons I am unable to have this at the mo.

I also know that some of the info on my site appears after the fold which can hinder things.

But what else can I do?

Do I just scrap the whole thing and start again? Not that I have any kind of budget to be doing that.

I feel like i'm constantly banging my head against a brick wall and i'm getting no where. :|

Help.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Do you know what ???

If think your problem may be the fact that your are depending on internet sales ..

I dont know nothing about your industry or your products but you have not mentioned any other sales methods that you use .

Its none of my business really and I would not be rude enough to speak out against anything that is nothing to do with business but you have mentioned that you have been busy with everything else. For a business to do well I dont think anything apart from a family tragady should be put first ..

 

[My Owl 1]

Get yourself out and about. See people and be visual.

That's worked for me.

Avril

www.savemoneywithus.co.uk

Save Money Make Money

 

[vgbear]

Hi

You may already know but there is a wedding magazine site called Weddind IDeas Magazine.

If you go into there forum there is a section called Where Can I Find.

These are all brides asking where the can find things and you are allowed to say I do these and include a link to your website.

Also have you been doing craft fairs, wedding fairs these are the best way to get jewellery seen by the public and even if you dont make many sales you are getting your details out there and seen. These fairs are only between £15.00 and £45.00 0n the whole and are a great way to advertise,

Regards
Vicki

 

[J-Wholesale]

My 10 cents...

Your customers need to be able to buy online. This means clicking on a button, and paying there and then. If they can't do that, they won't buy. It really is that simple. This is what eCommerce is, and without this basic functionality you don't have an eCommerce website or business.

Sorry to be so harsh, but you can't complain about not getting any online sales, when you don't allow people to buy from you online.

 

[Fuzzy]

Guess things take time, we had the idea of Fuzzydon over 2 years ago and our website still isn't finished, we haven't even started marketing yet. What I'm saying is that you cannot expect things to happen overnight

Wedding Fayres is a good one, Launch a competitions, and would be worth getting some help for Press Releases too

But imo, if you didnt have a telephone number on your site, I wouldn't touch it at all, even if I think your products are lovely.

 

[360interactive]

My virus program (kaspersky) picks up a virus whenever it visits your site, i'd get that checked out. It may just be me, but for some reason it just hates your site.

 

[davidshaw89]

My virus program (kaspersky) picks up a virus whenever it visits your site, i'd get that checked out. It may just be me, but for some reason it just hates your site.

Same with mine, except I am using Avast Antivirus.

 

[Martin P]

As the other guys said^, I too use Avast anti-virus, and a trojan warning popped up:|

 

[downsouth]

another one for the trojan using avast, thats prob a major reason why things are quiet. No-one would trust a site with these errors

 

[downsouth]

might be something of use on this forum thread

 

[Cornish Steve]

My virus program (kaspersky) picks up a virus whenever it visits your site, i'd get that checked out. It may just be me, but for some reason it just hates your site.

FYI - I've temporarily removed sig links to that website and asked Crystal Jewels to check the website for viruses.

 

[peebles]

Hi,

Firstly, stop beating yourself up. Your personal life is clearly taking up your time, so don't be too hard on yourself. You know what your priority is. If you feel like your business is taking too much head space right now then let it run as it is and come back to it when you have more time. This is your life you're talking about, so if other things are taking precedence right now then just go with it - and it's not just a death in the family, there's loads of things that can affect you. Why not just take some time out?

As to your query about your website. I am an experienced business consultant. Please PM me if you want more information about my services. I think I could help.

I think the internet is a brilliant way of marketing your business, however its not the only way. Original methods work just as well, if not better.

Peebles.

 

[Crystal Jewels]

Thank you to all that have responded.

I have a young family to look after and things have been a bit manic recently. I've been doing my best to do as much on my business/site in my spare time as I can.

With regards to the basket functions. I've been trying to get one added to my site. However I am looking for a free/cheap option that I can add to my existing site.

I understand about the phone number being needed on the site but I am unable to put this on at this moment in time.

Thank you for letting me know about the virus. I had no idea. I also have no idea of how to get it off and keep it off. I read the thread suggested and it's all gobbildy gook to me.

 

[Mister B]

FWIW, I don't think that it's the business concept, more a case of improved marketing & website required.

I appreciate that when we all start(ed) out, funds were tight and it was (is) frustrating when sales appear to be slow. IMO, the only way round it is to box a little clever, think a little more and build, slowly and surely.

In your case, if you don't have the funds to improve the website, then start off doing the local wedding fayres. (Must be loads near to you.) Get a feature in the local rag when they start banging on about spring weddings. Before long, you should be able to build up a little nest egg out of the profits, and then get to work on the website.

I often see it as wall building...every step taken represents a brick being laid on the wall of success. or freedom

Good luck with it.

Mister B

 

[My Owl 1]

Correct me if I am wrong guys.....

Crystal. It may be that the programme that is running your website has a virus on it which may be downloading on to other connections. Is the host, generator, of your site you or a 3rd party. If 3rd party contact them. If you the virus is probably on your computer.

I think that is the problem in simpler terms. Ask one of the IT people on this forum to assist you.

Hope that was helpful

Avril

www.savemoneywithus.co.uk

SaveMoney Make Money

 

[indigoo]

Avast also find viruses on your site and block access to it. So it is the first you need to solve!!!

 

[im here for advice]

crystal ....get a 0845 0r 0844 to mask your phone number or redirect it to pay as you go mobile, you can get 0844 or 0845 numbers for free

and if you look on
hotukdeals

the mobile phone section

you can get a free sim with £5 credit...so all you need is a unlocked payg

sorted

 

[Crystal Jewels]

Thank you guys. You have all been great.

Are people likely to ring an 0845/0844 number?

 

[gillyfleur]

You can get an 0800 number from Utility Warehouse for £2 per month (and there are more than enough distributors on this forum who would sign you up !! PM me and I'll do it for you !) You have to pay for the calls to the number so you'd have to make sure you built into your selling prices but people like freephone numbers ! It would solve your problem of not wanting your home phone number visible on the internet. If you weren't so far away I could put you intouch with a marvellous IT guy, but I'm sure you can find someone on here who's more local to come and sort out your virus problem - crucial !

 

[Page]

voipfoine landline number which you can then set to forward to your mobile or take a message if you want.

But i suspect that is not going to turn things around on its own.

 

[My Owl 1]

If you need an IT person to contact can put you in touch with one who is in south wales

best wishes

Avril
www.savemoney with us.co.uk
affordable utilities for businesses and home

 

[cycloneuk]

You could build the best site in the world but no one will buy if there is no one to buy. How much traffic are you getting daily and have you been doing seo to get the site ranked for some search terms?

 

[Crystal Jewels]

I check my Google Analytic reports all the time. I did a report from the middle of October 2008 ( when analytics was added to my site ) to the end of April 2009. I've had just under 2500 visits in that time.

 

[Crystal Jewels]

I would just like to say a huge thanks to everyone for their advice and support. Including those of you that have PM'd me. I'm feeling alot better about things today and hopefully working on a plan to get things moving.

My website is being sorted as we speak, however it may take a little while until it's finished but hopefully be worth the wait and will kick start things off.

I also have another question .... :

At our local ( massive ) Tesco, they have these stands, or kiosk's as they call them. People can hire them out for a day/weekend/week. I got the costs/rates the other day for hiring one of these. It starts from about £75 per day in the week They have a few people hiring them throughout the week. I saw one jewellery stand come and go, however this was all manufactured jewellery. Do you think it's worth me renting one of these kiosks for a day or 2 to see if they help at all? Or will it just be a waste of time?

 

[Jay08]

At our local ( massive ) Tesco, they have these stands, or kiosk's as they call them. People can hire them out for a day/weekend/week. I got the costs/rates the other day for hiring one of these. It starts from about £75 per day in the week They have a few people hiring them throughout the week. I saw one jewellery stand come and go, however this was all manufactured jewellery. Do you think it's worth me renting one of these kiosks for a day or 2 to see if they help at all? Or will it just be a waste of time?

Sounds like a good idea to me. Even if you didnt make the £75 back in sales you could still hand out flyers and get customers to visit your site. Should be alot of shoppers if its a big Tesco and also the weekend.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Hiya,

as others have said, you need to be able to *buy* on your site. Given the choice of two sites one where a simple click satisfies my impulse spending spree, and one where I have to take several steps possibly with hours or days before I get a response.. well I click 'n' go Then again, it's not immediately clear whether you hold stock or if everything is bespoke. Looks like it is all bespoke, is there any chance you can build up some stock and make it available for instant purchase?

Also as someone else mentioned, a PAYG mobile can be had for very little money, and if you use it purely for business then answer with the business name (rather than 'yeah, ello' that seems common with contact mobile numbers lol). You could also record an answer phone message indicating that it is the correct number for the business. Personally, I don't like calling 0845 numbers as they're never included in calling plans, but a straight mobile number would normally be.

Have you investigated whether there are temporary stands available at places like Cribbs Causeway or Cabot Circus? How about contacting some wedding shops to see if they'll display some of your goods? What about some of the stalls in St Nick's market, or indeed how about an outside stall there one day?

Another thought, a company where I was working last year had someone selling jewellery in the canteen one week. I think they had stock plus were taking orders for stuff. Seemed to do very well. Do you have any contacts in local big firms you could make use of?

I realise all the above would need a big time commitment.

Good luck!

Cheers,

Slarti (not an expert in any of the above, just my opinions )

 

[sm1]

As others have said, buying online is a biggy.

It seems you've had a decent amount of traffic, so you need to look at Analytics to see where it has come from, where people browsed and exited etc. You may find that it was unqualified leads who visited your site, hence the reason they are buying. Also, there must be a major conversion issue.

Hope that helps slightly.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

My few cents.

1). Get the virus fixed on your website ASAP, I'd actually recommend taking your website down until then as every visitor (until its fixed) may be infected by it.

2). The copy could can be very much improved, especially as it focuses too much on a specific target market and should focus more on overall product benefits. The sales copy as a whole can also be improved. This can actually be very low cost and ends up converting more visitors into sales over the long-term.

3). You need a checkout system even if it means paying someone to get that sorted. Great long-term investment which should help getting the sales through.

4). I'm not sure how much involvement you have in wedding forums and communities online etc but I would get involved with those and see if you can create some generic awareness and business. If the budget is there I'd also look at PPC but make sure your website copy and checkout system are sorted first.

 

[Cornish Steve]

The copy could can be very much improved, especially as it focuses too much on a specific target market and should focus more on overall product benefits.

I'm not so sure I agree with you there, Scott. It's imperative we understand our target market and reach out effectively to it. Most people miss this point and aim at everything - which really means aiming at nothing.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

I'm not so sure I agree with you there, Scott. It's imperative we understand our target market and reach out effectively to it. Most people miss this point and aim at everything - which really means aiming at nothing.

Understanding the target market is very important but it doesn't have to involve alienating other markets as well. Bracelets, necklaces and other jewellery are FAR from specific only to the wedding market and by focusing the sales copy so much on weddings it actually has a negative effect on sales from other market sectors.

Sales copy has a direct influence on the visitor and if you label a product in a certain way that's how its going to stick. When you do this you stop selling 'jewellery' (which appeals to both markets) and start selling 'wedding jewellery'.

I'm not saying sales copy should target as many people as possible just for the sake of it, but in this case there is an opportunity to appeal to more market audiences, meaning more of the visitors are taken in and none are directly alienated.

The best thing to do is to be more generic with front page copy and focus on a few major market audiences to draw in as much of the visitor traffic as possible (you can be more generic with product benefits; ALL women look beautiful with Crystal Jewels necklaces, not just brides). Once this is done you then direct the visitors towards different pages which go into specific detail on weddings, general jewellery use etc.

 

[Cornish Steve]

Understanding the target market is very important but it doesn't have to involve alienating other markets as well.

In that case, maybe it's worth having more than one website (and brand) - selling some articles at both sites so the copy can be tailored to meet the needs of each audience.

I'm not a fisherman, but I'm sure they use different baits, different floats, etc. to catch specific types of fish. If you want to catch two different types of fish, you use two different types of bait. If instead you dangle a general-purpose bait from a general-purpose float, heaven only knows what you'll catch - and it may be nothing.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

In that case, maybe it's worth having a different brand - selling some articles at both websites so they can be tailored to multiple audiences.

There doesn't really need to be a drastic difference to avoid alienating an audience whilst drawing in another. It can be as much as using a simple hook and benefit on the front page to qualify each target audience, then hitting them with the generic benefits, then directing each audience to specific parts of the site or specific parts on a page. The necklaces page could easily be broken up into two sections side-by-side or made up of copy which incorporates both or more visitor types.

The front page may not be as focused towards the wedding audience as much as it was (when the copy is balanced correctly this would be a negligible difference in bridal sales), but in exchange the site draws in many more types of visitor interested in the products. It's when websites try to target too many people that sales conversion rates become poor.

 

[Crystal Jewels]

Thank you for all the advice.

With regards to the website copy/wording :

I was actually thinking of trying to include a broader target audience because, as rightly said, jewellery isn't just targeted at brides and weddings.

I feel that I maybe able to attract more visits and clients if I include a broader target audience.

However ... how do I go about this so I don't end up with people looking but not buying?

Does anyone work in this area and how much would it cost to get some one to help out with the copy of my site?

I want to get this right.

 

[Bri]

Crystal,

I've followed your ideas for a few months now and we've all commented on your ideas etc which you have kindly responded to. We previously talked about wedding fayres and other events.As other posters have said you could have the best website design in the world, but if nobodys buying....yeah. I'm old fashioned guy, youve got to get out there, example how many businesses start with YP advert and then sit back and wait for the phone to ring, there are loads let me tell you.

A thought occurred to me whilst reading all the other posters commenting about the website and your post about tesco stand. I happen to think thats a good idea and I have an added benefit to that. How many times have you avoided that stand thats selling conservatories and windows and accident insurance. Stay with me.........

Do you know anyone that makes their own jewellry, I'm sorry you do dont you. How about combining it with a demonstration of your craft on the day, I guarantee more people will stop and watch and thats worth £75.00 in anyones books. They take a flyer and theres also a sticker with an exclusive promo number it offering a percentage discount on web orders, then on your website you can have a tour schedule so that people can be forewarned where you'll be next week or next month. Now you've doubled your traffic straight away..............................SEEEMPLES

Ideas in Action

 

[Crystal Jewels]

Thank you Bri.

All taken on board.

I've been putting off doing the wedding fairs, simply due to the cost of doing one and them not converting into much business. I'd did a couple in the past ( about 6 years ago ) with an old business and they just weren't worth the effort.

However, saying that ... I might give the wedding fairs a miss but look into craft fairs, stalls at the local market ( there is quite a nice busy market in town ) and also the stall at the local tesco.

It scares me to death but I really do need to try it out and see which works best.

he only thing stopping me is the lack of funds. So i'm going to have to look into the most affordable.

Crystal,

I've followed your ideas for a few months now and we've all commented on your ideas etc which you have kindly responded to. We previously talked about wedding fayres and other events.As other posters have said you could have the best website design in the world, but if nobodys buying....yeah. I'm old fashioned guy, youve got to get out there, example how many businesses start with YP advert and then sit back and wait for the phone to ring, there are loads let me tell you.

A thought occurred to me whilst reading all the other posters commenting about the website and your post about tesco stand. I happen to think thats a good idea and I have an added benefit to that. How many times have you avoided that stand thats selling conservatories and windows and accident insurance. Stay with me.........

Do you know anyone that makes their own jewellry, I'm sorry you do dont you. How about combining it with a demonstration of your craft on the day, I guarantee more people will stop and watch and thats worth £75.00 in anyones books. They take a flyer and theres also a sticker with an exclusive promo number it offering a percentage discount on web orders, then on your website you can have a tour schedule so that people can be forewarned where you'll be next week or next month. Now you've doubled your traffic straight away..............................SEEEMPLES

Ideas in Action

 

[Bri]

A table at a craft fayre or local fete shouldnt be more than tewnty pounds, I know waht its like not to have any funds at the moment, catch 22 situation.

I tried editing my post earlier but hashed it up, have you thought about contacting David Lloyd and Next Gen health clubs in Bristol. They love people coming in promoting their wares, they call it a member benefit and its free. Ive done it a couple of times there and it works.

 

[fisicx]

Someone I know sells exactly the same things as you and is always out and about selling at craft fairs, school fetes, markets and so on. It means a lot of travelling but she can modify any design there and then. Makes bucket loads of dosh.

 

[Crystal Jewels]

It is catch 22. Need money to make money.

I'll definately look into the craft fair and local markets.

Didn't know about the gym's offering that option. I'll have to look into that aswell.

Thank you so much.

A table at a craft fayre or local fete shouldnt be more than tewnty pounds, I know waht its like not to have any funds at the moment, catch 22 situation.

I tried editing my post earlier but hashed it up, have you thought about contacting David Lloyd and Next Gen health clubs in Bristol. They love people coming in promoting their wares, they call it a member benefit and its free. Ive done it a couple of times there and it works.