Re: The salesman just wanted your money...

> It's all in the marketing -- and the fact that when I google on your
> keywords, you're in competition with around 2 million (and I'm not kidding
> on that number) other sites. Imagine trying to advertise your business
> locally (with ads, etc) when there is quite literally one of these stores
> on EVERY corner of every street in your town.

> That's what you're up against. (however, I have suggestions, so don't
> faint just yet, eh?)

> I'm sure. For a price. Heck, for a price, I could do that, too.

> I think the key question you forgot to ask is: "Big demand? By
> WHO?"

> Now... bear with me a moment. There's a huge difference in the way you
> market to older women and younger women and a big difference in the way
> you market to men and women and so on and so forth. We're dealing with
> intimacies here -- VERY touchy to market and has to make the right
> impression on your market.

> So who's your market? You will NOT be able to market this to men and women
> equally, so you're going to have to pick one gender and go with it.
> Furthermore, you're going to have to pick an age range and stick with
> that, too (women in their mid-50's are rather unlikely to be that
> interested in the undergarments... though they might be interested in
> "how to" books. Men usually don't go for most of the self-help
> books, however.)

> Reevaluate the site in terms of WHO your market is (gender, income level,
> age range, country of origin) and look for other products that fit with
> the line.

> Second, you have to advertise OFFline. Trying to get your site listed as
> #1 for a lot of your keywords is going to run you well over $10k/month...
> and frankly, you could buy a lot of targeted local advertising for that
> amount. Some folks with sites like yours run ... ah... party events
> (actually they're kind of silly and harmless (I've been told. Never been
> to one.) which pre-sells your site for the market and gets word-of-mouth
> going.

> That's kind of a delicate proposition, though... in some communities there
> have been problems with this. But one way or another, you will have to do
> some offline ads. You might try blogging as a "romance coach",
> but you're going to have to commit to a lot of writing and it'll be awhile
> before your site catches on.

> You also need some sort of street address other than "USA." That
> just looks fishy. And the "affiliates page" probably needs some
> rethinking.

> I'd be terribly cautious about those. The wrong kinds of ads can leave the
> impression that your site isn't about romance; it's about sleaze. And
> banner ads work only to promote brand awareness. They're terrible for
> click-throughs.