When Soapin'Angela introduced herself (http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11) to the forum, she mentioned that her website had been up for a year and a half without a single sale.

So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share some ideas on crankin' up her ecommerce sales. I asked Soapin'Angela in advance if she would mind if we used her site (http://www.rainkissed.com/) as an example and she gave the go ahead.

We don't know how many, if any, visitors Soapin'Angela is receiving or where they are coming from. Hopefully she can let us know to give us a bit more to work with.

I'm going to throw out one quick observation before I have to get the kids fed. Feel free to follow up with more ideas and observations for her.

The biggest thing that jumped out at me when I visited her site was - I couldn't figure out what type of payments she accepted. For me, this is a big deal because if I can't pay via credit card or PayPal, I'm not buying because I don't want to bother with a check.

I went from the home page to the "Handcrafted Soaps" category without seeing any indication of what payments are accepted. I read the enticing description of her Lavender Soap and even clicked on "ADD TO CART" to see if I could discover what payments were accepted. I went as far as filling in the quantity and choosing the "GO TO PAYMENTS" button. This is where I gave up because I was next asked for Billing and Shipping information - still without any indication of what type of payments are accepted.

To be fair, Soapin'Angela does state in text toward the bottom of her home page that she accepts payment by PayPal, Cheque or Money Order. The problem is, I never noticed that text.

This is my long-winded way of showing the importance of providing shoppers with the visual cues they expect. When I visited each page of the site, I was scanning for either the PayPal logo or the Visa/Master card logos.

Have to run for now, so hopefully others can pick up from here and provide more insights.

To me the two biggest strengths a company (and thus a website which is the virtual representation of the company) must have are:

Strength 1. USP (Unique Selling Proposition) - why this company can do something for me that no one else can, and

Strength 2. People (or the owner) who are enthusiastic, expert and are going to work hard to give me the best shopping experience I have ever had.

I didn't see the first and the 'About Us' is OK but not as strong as Strength 2 would require. I like working mums but that doesn't necessarily make the sale.

You may say, "but I'm not sure I'm an expert, etc." Well I'm absolutely sure you are. Certainly you're more expert than me. That's all that counts. :)

Customer testimonials will go a long way. When I visit site, I ask, "Who are these guys anyway?" "Why should I buy from them?" If I see that others have bought and like the products, I am going to be more persuaded to buy myself.

I would also recommend a physical address rather than a PO Box, even if it is your home address. I used my home address when I started out because that is where I began my business. PO boxes just paint a picture of "fly by night".

One other thing - do you sell these products on E-Bay because it seems that you can sell anything on E-Bay these days.

I would also recommend a physical address rather than a PO Box, even if it is your home address.

The good news is that quite a few Postal/Copy shops now offer P.O. boxes that have a street address in case you are nervous about using your home address.

The one near me does it by using their (the postal shop's) street address and your P.O. Box number as the "suite number." So if you had box 151 at their store, your address would be:

18062 Street Name, Suite 151

The design of the site also needs some work, imo. The areas which need improvement are 1) Image of the featured product and 2) The header images.
An image of the target market (someone using the product) may also add more life to the page.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the great replies so far, I know my website needs a lot of work and that's why I thought Robert asking this question would be great help! I really appreciate all the comments so far.
I haven't really gotten that much traffic and I'm sure that's part of the problem too. I had 472 in May and I was pretty excited that was my highest visitors so far. A lot of traffic was coming from another forum I go to called "The Soap Dish" - these people are not really gonna buy from me when they can make it themselves. I also have a bit of traffic from MyMommyBiz, a forum for moms in business.

I am nervous about putting my home address up so I do like the address of my post office. I haven't tried my products on E-bay yet because I've seen soaps similar to mine going for $2 or so, I'm going to have a look again though and see.

BWelford: Do you think a USP would be that my products can be used to creat a 'Spa' atmosphere in your home? I will definitly keep this in mind and try to think of what it is that I can provide better than anyone else.

Robert: How do I get the Paypal logo? That's interested about putting suite for the p.o. box, should I ask my post office if they will accept this? I guess I won't get many people sending mail to me anyway though through my website.

There's so much good advice here I'm going to print it off when you guys are done and work on as much as possible!

I just took a quick look - what I was looking for was how it hit me right off the bat...

The design looks old school and the code is derelict ---> http://www.rainkissed.com/body.html

Things need to be centered and an image is MIA. I would also change the font and like I said above just make the place look more modern.



Hope I wasnt too harsh



Steve

Do you think a USP would be that my products can be used to creat a 'Spa' atmosphere in your home?
Indeed that could be it. Why not check out what your competitors are saying and make sure that you are offering something different and better?

I was watching a prog on TV the other night, all about a company who were selling bath oils and body creams and lotions etc. They brough in a consultant, as they wanted to be the number one in their marketplace.

The consultant asked them what was special about their product against their competition, they said 'nothing we are all the same' ! She spoke a while about the competition, and finally asked about pricing, to which they replied, 'all the products in this arena, ours and our competitors are priced almost identically'. He eyes widened and she said 'double your prices' they did, and they are now the number one in the marketplace.

The perception that people have of a product is almost always related to the cost (not value) of that product IMO. If your stuff is special, then **** right it should be expensive, if your products are different, and unique then hey ' buy them from me or go without, because guess what? you can't get my stuff elswhere'.

Robert: How do I get the Paypal logo? That's interested about putting suite for the p.o. box, should I ask my post office if they will accept this? I guess I won't get many people sending mail to me anyway though through my website.

To get some PayPal logos:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click on the Auction Tools tab at the top of the page
3. Choose the Manual Logos link under the 'Add PayPal to Your Listing' heading

That page will have a variety of PayPal and Visa/MC/etc. logos to choose from. You aren't using it for an auction so you don't need to copy the code. Just save a copy of the graphic and move it to your server.

You can do the same by making some PayPal "Buy It Now" buttons.

I don't know if the post office will do street addresses for PO boxes. What I was talking about was those little Postal Supply/Copy stores... Like Mail Boxes Etc. There are a bunch around here run by individuals. When you are out driving, just keep an eye out for signs that say: "Postal Center" or "Shipping Supplies", etc. Then pop in and ask if they use a street address for their PO boxes.

The UPS Store uses a street address with a suite number. That is what I use on my website. I've actually had people call me up because they were driving & trying to find my store! I only use that box for customers and have that address on my business cards, return labels, etc...

I have also set up another phone line in my house dedicated to the business. I don't receive many calls, but have taken a few orders that way. Some people want to call just to make sure there is someone at the other end.

I agree that customer testimonials are essential. Even though you haven't received any orders online who have used your products? Friends, family? Have them write you testimonials to start with.

As far as the About Us page...what made you want to start a business online and why these products? What is your goal for customers to feel about you and your products? For example...with my company I stress customer service. I bend over backwards for my customers and try to go that extra mile. I personalize all emails and even do follow-ups after their order is received, just to make sure they are happy. In my opinion, these are the type of things that potential customers want to read about. They want to trust you and without meeting you, they need to feel that they know you won't take their money and run. The other thing you can try (to make it more personal with the potential customer) is to put a pic of you or you and your family on the About Us page. This way the potential customer has an image of who they are working with.

JMHO...

Hi Anglela,

I have now looked at a bit of the site, and please take this the right way, it is not an hatchett job, just my observation. I have only spent less then 40 minutes, and have only glanced at the internal pages so most of this is based on that.

The win $25 of goods is screaming at me and I don't like it.

The front page has too many fonts and colours, the eye is not drawn to any one place it is being spun around, and is distracting.

You need a single strong message there to focus the visitor on what you are about. The company is called rainkissed, how about spending a few dollars to buy a girl in a rainforest picture or something that SAYS Rainkissed.

The use of all that bold text is a dreadful waste, it is doing no favours for SEO, as it cannot surely ALL be special enough to warrant bolding.

The 100% satisfaction guarantee is wasted at the foot of the page; get it up near the top, as it 'should' be a powerful selling point.

People like people, some pictures of people and product would be better, the image of the oil bottles does nothing for anyone.

You have mixed messages all over the front page i.e. on one side you talk about free shipping, and a business opportunity, on the opposite side you also mention special and the bus opp, group them together, box them in maybe, and bullet point them to focus attention.

You have some really good products there; they need to be sold as such.

On the about us page you are talking about YOU, no one wants to hear that (as stupid as it seems) People want to hear about 'who, what, where, when, why, how. Tell them about how you created a soap for a project while doing your degree research. You offered it to some family and friends to trial as human guinea pigs, (joke help people relax) tell the viewer that not only were there absolutely no side effects (as you knew from your chemistry background and the 100% natural ingredients), but in fact these people, began asking for MORE samples, and showing it to friends, who again contacted you and asked what other products you have. With this rainkissed was born. Talk about how you offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee which, to date has been unused 100% of the time, with not a single return.

Talk about human interest, sell people to other people, if you do not have paying customers online then use the people who have used it offline via freebies etc.

You MUST get the desire built up or your not going to sell anything.

The basics of any sale are
Attention

Interest

Desire

Action

You have to run through these stages or your not going to sell, of that I give you my word.

Get their attention, make them interested by telling them what the product can do for them, get them to want that product then TELL THEM WHAT TO DO>

Look at your copy and do the 'so what' test?

Our soaps are made with 100% natural ingredients! SO WHAT, that I a fact, people do not buy on facts, they buy on emotions.

Our products are 100% natural ingredients which means that no harmful by products are created harming the planet. Being 100% natural soaps, they work with your body, and are suitable for those with sensitive skin, as there are no harmful chemicals or caustic ingredients. Eczema sufferers swear by our soaps especially xx xxx which have a soothing effect, working to sooth those areas of inflammation and relieve the nagging itch. When you buy rainkissed products you can be sure there has been no animal testing (other than the human guinea pigs), and be sure that you are buying a cooling calming 100% in tune with nature experience that simply is not available anywhere else on the web.

You are NOT selling products, you ARE selling an experience with your products, IMO the copy is way too harsh.

Bath salts
Bath bombs
Body scrubs
All way too harsh, your meant to be relaxing people, so tell them what they do

Relaxing and rejuvenating bath salts

Cooling frothing bath bombs

Exfoliating beautiful body scrubs

All way better than the harsh 'here it is come and get it' style.

I feel really bad now, as reading back over what I have written it looks like I have torn the site apart. Maybe I have, but only because the product should be selling more.

My first bit of advice to you is to read a few sites by good copywriters, and learn the art of copywriting, or at least skim over it lol you can do this in a day or two and you will instantly appreciate the difference between 'telling' and selling' a product. You have missed opportunities to create the desire, facts don’t create desire, images and emotions do. You MUST get people thinking 'I want to be in that bath, I want my eczema to calm down, I DESERVE a bath like that. How do I get it'?

I know it might seem like a lot, but it isn’t really. I would look at the product images, and enhance them with some people pictures maybe. If you are worried about the quality of the images then tell people that you don't waste their money on fancy photshoots, you prefer to use real images, and deliver a lower priced product. Make the images a selling point. Make it part of your 100% natural ethos, theme the company and theme the site to reflect your ethos, in short, 'create the image of the company'.


Maybe some others can pick up and improve upon some of the points I have made here.

OWG

I think I have learned more from this post than the 4 years I've spent reviewing websites and building mine!! OWG, I really appreciate all comments you're made and everyone elses. Thank you so much everyone for taking the time! I was definitly not born a writer and never even thought of many of the things you guys/gals have mentioned. I love making my soap and know that others enjoy using it so I'm sure with a lot of work I can make my site the kind you are talking about.

I knew my about us page was very lacking but I didn't know how to fix it. Now I have some very good ideas on how to make it tell people who I am and what my products are about.

Lisa, the picture on your website really does add a special personal touch, almost like you are letting me meet your family. You have a beautiful family, BTW! I am going to get some pictures up.

I can see why people get paid to build websites and market them! I've got so much to change I don't know where to start! I really appreciate it though and if you've got more I can take it!

Angela ~

Trust me...it wasn't easy for me to start out and figure out what to do. I hired people to help me start up who scammed me out of so much money my head spins just thinking about it. For the first 6 months of my business I was just selling to family and friends. I then met up with a couple small business groups that got me in contact with someone who gave me tons of advice. After that, I got a sale here and there, then one a week, then one every 3 days, etc., etc. By no means am I rolling in the dough. I'm still trying to figure out what to do, but every month I see more sales coming in and returning customers. In a few weeks I will be hitting my one year mark. I still have such a long way to go...and I have come to believe it is a never ending process! :p

Just know that we are in it together and take it one step at a time. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help...on or off line.

Thanks Lisa, I will keep that in mind! Congratulations on you biz being one year old!

Angela,

You've gotten alot of great advice. After looking through your sight there was something I was wondering; with all the oils in the products, are they good for someone who has oily skin or with certain skin conditions. I think more information about what the ingredients are good for would help. Naturally you think olive oils are good for dry skin but what else do they help. Women all have skin "conditions" and we are always looking for something that will help those conditions. I think pointers in that direction would help with sales also.

Linda ;)

Hi. I am a professional writer. That includes writing for sites to get sales.

For your website, what you want to do is get the copy/colors/images but mostly the writing to focus on a relaxing theme. That means cool tranquil shades of color, and text that focusses on a semantic field of relaxing words. ("Relaxing", "Tranquil", "Oasis"... Anything that manipulates the reader into feeling relaxed or creates an idea of relaxation.)

Avoid sharp, loud words and have a slow pace.


From that, you can write decent copy. I have just given you a copy consultancy I sometimes charge for. :) I'm just that nice a guy. ;)

http://www.samsmith.co.uk

Thank you!! :cool:
I have gotten so much good advice, wow! I just saw my quote on Robert's newsletter, how cool, I've never been quoted before- hehe.
I only hope some day I can give as much as I've already received!

Thank you!! :cool:
I have gotten so much good advice, wow! I just saw my quote on Robert's newsletter, how cool, I've never been quoted before- hehe.
I only hope some day I can give as much as I've already received!

Thank you, Angela. In one sentence you perfectly conveyed the message I wanted to deliver. :)

Welcome to the forum bluelightning2k! :) I just realized I hadn't said hello yet. :o

Hi there,
I thought I'd update you on what's been happening with my site. I honestly haven't printed out the advice yet but I still plan on it - Actually I'll do it after I post this. But I did take some of the advice given and have been working on my site.

I've also been working on recruiting consultants to sell my products and now have 15 signed up through my website. Thing is though they all were given Free kits (I think I'm crazy for giving them away but I wanted something to start happening). Anyway, through these ladies and another lady who is considering joining I have sold about $750 worth of product. I know this will definitly not allow me to stay at home full time but it's a start, and now I'm trying to figure out how to do a PPC campaign to get more prospects (they will pay for their kits though -lol) . I'm being coached on how to do this through a forum for moms in business online that tells prompts you with help on your business.

I am so happy for you! Just remember...this is only a start...it will grow from here!

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help you out.

Thanks Lisa!
I will both of your comments in mind (growing and needing help :)!
I can't remember if I posted on another thread but I really like how you've updated your website, looks great!

Hi Angela,

OWG did a great job of giving direction on your copy overall so I'll address the SEO aspect of copywriting plus give a few observations of my own.

1) As was said previously, you need to decide which keyphrases you're going to target. Once you do, those keyphrases have to be supported not only in your META tags, but also in your copy. It's a bit of a tricky thing to do because you have to follow the sales structure James (OWG) showed you (A.I.D.A.) plus work the necessary information about your products in plus incorporate your keyphrases all without destroying the flow of your copy. Retaining natural language within your copy these days is really important as far as SEO copywriting goes. You don't want it to sound forced or stiff (for your visitor's sake and that of the search engines).

You can see some articles about this topic and others that will be helpful for you at http://www.marketingwords.com/articles.html. (One of my sites.)

SEO copywriting is a delicate balance between giving the visitor what they need and helping the search engines to recognize your site for what it's worth.

2) On the home page, you mentioned:

Rainkissed Spa Parties create a Spa atmosphere in the home of the Hostess! Invite your friends, light some candles, sip some wine and relax.

and then you also say

I accept payment by Paypal, Cheque or Money Order.

So I was confused. Is this like Tupperware and Pampered Chef where you do parties at home or can someone order online whenever they want? Or both? That needs to be explained further, IMO.

As OWG said, entice me. Make me feel I deserve these things. Don't forget, you're talking to a woman. (Yes... "a" woman... write as though you are speaking to one person.)

3) KNOW YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. This is something I cannot stress enough. There is no way you can make that vital emotional connection if you have no clue who you're talking to.

Typical woman - overstressed, too much going on, trying to meet everybody's needs (husband, kids, boss, friends, church, etc.). She puts herself last. She focuses on everybody else and every thing else and she never gets what's due her. (Spend $50 on soap and oils and stuff? Please! My son needs new cleets for soccer and my daughter's gymnastics team needs new uniforms. Who has an extra $50 for things like that?)

The typical woman will acknowledge that she needs a break, but she probably won't give herself permission to take one. YOU have to give her permission on your site.

You sell luxury items, Angela, and the average woman loves the thought of them, but she is also too practical to buy them without any justification. Give her the justification she needs. :)

4) Have your site professionally proofread. There are lots and lots of typos and grammar mistakes on your site that make it look unprofessional. You'll want those to be corrected.

BOY!! Ramble, ramble, ramble. Sorry for taking so much space!

I really like how you've updated your website, looks great!

Thanks, Angela! I'm constantly working on it, but it is coming along. :) Comments like yours gives me a huge boost of confidence and energizes me to go work on it some more! ;)

Karon,
thanks for the advice and don't worry I love it when people ramble. the more information I can get the better. :)