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ShopLady
01-03-2009, 05:00 PM
Hello, I have just added the finishing touches on my new website. I am just not sure if there is anything I am missing, doing too much of, etc. And also, if I am charging too much for the ad space I have available and/or not including enough or including too many stipulations in the terms section. Thanks ahead of time!

Music T-shirts, Expressive T-shirts, Loud T-shirts, Urban T-shirts! (http://www.tshirtnoise.com)

SteveC
01-03-2009, 06:21 PM
Can I suggest that you look at your site in IE7... as the layout of the front page is all wrong and not as you wish it to be... the image is below the menu and well for a business website it looks bad and I would certainly not buy anything from such a website.

You need to instill instantly in people a sense of this website knows what it is about and will deliver should I order... at the moment it doesn't.

the goat
01-03-2009, 06:45 PM
Hi, I think the site looks good, although I am on firefox. I like your style, and I could see it doing very well if marketed properly to the right demographic.

That said, I personally don't think you should have outside advertising on the site. I am put off by store sites that sell advertising, it radiates a vibe that you aren't focused on your own products, you're just out to make as much off the site as possible.

Just my .02

ShopLady
01-03-2009, 07:48 PM
Thanks for the input, it is really appreciated. Now, as for creating the site compatible with IE, I have no idea what to do. I'll do some checking online to fix that issue. As for the advertising on the store page thanks for the input, I will take it down right away. Although, in the future I'd like to start a website that provides front page ad visibility for all sorts of companies, where users can surf around and look for things they need and the search results would be on point.

Steve B
01-03-2009, 08:32 PM
I'm using Internet Explorer - version 6. Your site basically doesn't work at all on my system. I see the choices on the left - with a lot of black screen on the right. When I click on a choice on the left nothing happens.

the goat
01-03-2009, 08:43 PM
Although, in the future I'd like to start a website that provides front page ad visibility for all sorts of companies, where users can surf around and look for things they need and the search results would be on point.

You should start a blog/directory type section on a subdomain, it would help a bunch for SEO to have more content and it would open up a bunch of new ways to monetize.

seolman
01-03-2009, 09:00 PM
Hi ShopLady - I like your site. On my machine the left menu text was a bit small. Might size it up just a tad in the CSS - but I'm an old fart, almost 50 so your audience might not care so much (better eyesight). Nice work.

ShopLady
01-03-2009, 09:32 PM
Thanks everyone :) I really really appreciate all of the feedback and it isn't going unnoticed. After looking online for the cross browser fix, I couldn't find anything that I really understood without my brain hurting. Does anyone know of a site that could break it down for me easily?

Harold Mansfield
01-03-2009, 09:40 PM
I like it and the style of the designs (I am on FF), I think it could do well with the right promotion.

Just curious, what is your preferred style of music, or your target audience ?

ShopLady
01-03-2009, 10:10 PM
My target audience is anyone who loves anything having to do with music (and about how great it feels to express yourself through it and through other mediums), and all music genres are in mind when it comes to the shop. I haven't added music themes such as Rock and Roll, Metal, Hip Hop, Pop, R&B, etc just yet but the products coinciding with them are in the works. Since the site is new, I only added a certain amount of products to start out with. :)

Harold Mansfield
01-03-2009, 11:32 PM
This probably should be by PM, but, if you are interested in a link exchange, I have a Dance Music blog/magazine that has been up for over a year and gets pretty good traffic and support from the industry, and 4 stores that sell music related electronics, including DJ Equipment, New and Used iPod and Accessories, and such.

I could throw a couple of banners up for you to get you started if you like.

ShopLady
01-03-2009, 11:39 PM
Wow eborg, that would be so helpful and great of you!! I will happily take you up on your offer. :)

Harold Mansfield
01-04-2009, 12:20 AM
NP, shoot me an email. I could probably make room for a 300x250 on the blog, and a couple of 160 width x (200-300) on the stores.

Sent you a PM with my email

Aaron Hats
01-04-2009, 09:20 AM
Others have hit on the design issues so I'll mention a couple other things. Why is the discount 20.09%? Nothing big but it strikes me as really odd. The bigger issue I see is you don't have enough inventory. As an example, in the Men's Tee's category you show 12 items but you actually only have four. It's just that you show each color/style as a separate item.

Good luck with the site.

Aaron

KristineS
01-04-2009, 10:12 AM
The site worked well for me in Firefox. I do have to ask why the discount is such an odd percentage. I don't know that it would stop anyone from using it, but it is a little odd.

I like the philosophy behind the store but I would agree you need more designs. It would also be nice if you expanded a little bit on the philosophy. Letting people get to know you and your company a little can help with sales. Adding additional contact information would be helpful too. You do have an e-mail under your name on the About Us page, but not everyone will look there. You might want to consider having a separate Contact Us page with an e-mail and a phone number.

ShopLady
01-04-2009, 11:59 AM
Thanks for asking the questions and all of the wonderful reviewing, as they help me to better get what I am trying to say out there to those who are interested. Not that I have an issue with coming forward and speaking, I just like questions because they can keep me focused on what the person or group wants to know specifically...in other words, I don't just ramble on and on and....on. :)

The discount is a holiday promotion, in celebration of the new year. 20.09% off is just the year 2009 in the form of a discount. As far as adding more inventory goes, it is definitely in the works. I will be adding it bit by bit today, as well as working on an improved "About" and "Contact" pages. On a side note, would it be too much to add an image of myself wearing a shirt with my logo on it? Have been wondering about that, but wasn't sure.

ShopLady
01-05-2009, 06:11 PM
Quick update: Fixed the browser issues, turns out the CSS I was using wasn't compatible with all browsers. So, am using a new one and it works fine in IE, FF, Opera and Safari.
The new site is here, and will be moved soon to the correct place, posting this as an update: T-Shirt Noise: Music Tees, Stylish Tees, LOUD Tees! (http://www.tshirtnoise.com/testpage.html)

That is what the actual .com will look like as soon as I finish the about and contact pages. I've added a few more products and updated some of the graphics. Any thoughts are welcome, I would have stayed with the original look of the site but that coding wasn't being nice.

billbenson
01-05-2009, 10:05 PM
Just a heads up. You may want to put a no follow meta tag in your test site. There are ways you can do that via htaccess as well. The reason is, you have a complete duplicate site with duplicate content for your development site and you just linked to it from here, so it will probably be indexed. Since the first content was on the test site, it may slow down the indexing of the real site.

Just a thought.

KristineS
01-06-2009, 05:07 PM
I think adding an image of yourself wearing a shirt with your logo would be a great idea. Seeing actual shirts on real people is a great selling tool, particularly if whomever is wearing the shirt looks like they're having fun.

ShopLady
01-07-2009, 06:24 PM
Thanks! :) I will get to ordering a few samples soon, I'd really like a few of the tees to be worn by others and have those pics on the site as well.

Edit: I've also added in a contact form.

Paul Elliott
01-14-2009, 10:28 AM
Thanks for asking the questions and all of the wonderful reviewing, as they help me to better get what I am trying to say out there to those who are interested. Not that I have an issue with coming forward and speaking, I just like questions because they can keep me focused on what the person or group wants to know specifically...in other words, I don't just ramble on and on and....on. :)

You might consider making your site a "portal site" for your niche and gradually build it. Think as though you are building a broad shopping experience for your customers.

Information content and a wide net, consistently worked, are key.

Is your audience looking for industry news, hot topics, opinion, gossip? You can get feeds for these.

You may think you are in the business of selling Ts, I may think I'm in the business of marketing--NOT true. We're each in the business of developing relationships with other human beings. The better we do that, the more successful we will be.

Therefore, "Your list is everything!" (from the "88" below) It is your most valuable business asset! Set up a squeeze page to collect your customers' basic contact information in exchange for special promotions, news, coupons, etc., etc.

You can add one or more blogs, produce videos for YouTube, MetaCafe, etc., and produce a BlogTalkRadio.com show where you give information and interview interesting people.

Put up product reviews on your site or in your site-based blogs.

Is that enough? ;)


The discount is a holiday promotion, in celebration of the new year. 20.09% off is just the year 2009 in the form of a discount. As far as adding more inventory goes, it is definitely in the works. I will be adding it bit by bit today, as well as working on an improved "About" and "Contact" pages. On a side note, would it be too much to add an image of myself wearing a shirt with my logo on it? Have been wondering about that, but wasn't sure.

Yes! By all means use your picture--a professionally done shot on your home page. This shows us you are a real person--better for relationship-building. Then, you can add others of you wearing your products in appropriate places.

20.09% discount? Yes, use it AND explain the reason why. "Reason why marketing" is important to leverage your relationship with your visitors and customers. "Never assume your customer knows anything about your business." (From the "88" below) Explain it in a warm, friendly manner without condescension so we can all understand the reason for the unusual number. Call it a "special New Year celebration" or something like that.

(More later)

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul

ShopLady
01-14-2009, 12:21 PM
Wow Paul, thank you! I've actually been playing with the idea of a radio show, nothing huge as far as live broadcasts go but it would be fun to interview a few close friends for fun, they do interesting things with their life and it would probably be a good way for them to get noticed. :)

Paul Elliott
01-14-2009, 01:55 PM
Wow Paul, thank you! I've actually been playing with the idea of a radio show, nothing huge as far as live broadcasts go but it would be fun to interview a few close friends for fun, they do interesting things with their life and it would probably be a good way for them to get noticed. :)

BlogTalkRadio.com is a free Internet radio service that keeps mp3s of your shows archived and offers a blog for you to use, too.

The shows have an area where you can do your promotion and add keywords. The blog can offer other information, such as links, names, addresses, etc., for your guests. It's just another good part of your broad net.

Paul

Jagella
01-14-2009, 10:58 PM
Hello, I have just added the finishing touches on my new website. I am just not sure if there is anything I am missing, doing too much of, etc. And also, if I am charging too much for the ad space I have available and/or not including enough or including too many stipulations in the terms section. Thanks ahead of time!

I have two comments. First, the text under your shirt photos is almost as dark as the background and is small and possibly hard to read. I'd recommend that you make all of your text clear and large enough for easy reading. Otherwise, the basic look of your pages is good. The black background seems to convey a sense of foreboding—a good effect for merchandise that is associated with music especially rock music.

My other comment is that you may wish to differentiate your offering from the many other sites that offer t-shirts. Why would a visitor buy a shirt from you rather than Amazon.com? Coincidentally, I just did some “window shopping” at Amazon.com for t-shirts. I wondered if they had any Iron Maiden shirts, and sure enough, they did! If and when I decide to order a shirt from Amazon.com, all I need to do is search for it and then click just once, and it's mine. So I hope you see where I'm going with this. Always consider your competitors and how you might out-compete them. Can your site be found on a search engine using relative keywords? If it comes up on the first page of the search results, what might make it stand out from all the other sites offering the same product you do?

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with your site and your business.

Jagella

ShopLady
01-15-2009, 09:39 AM
Thanks, Jagella :) Working on new content this week!!

Jagella
01-15-2009, 11:18 AM
Thanks, Jagella :) Working on new content this week!!

Keep us updated. I'm curious to see how you make out with your site and business.

Jagella

Paul Elliott
01-15-2009, 01:13 PM
Thanks, Jagella :) Working on new content this week!!

ShopLady, while you're at it, I would suggest you use a background color other than black. Psychologically black backgrounds produce fewer sales from human beings (a subliminal effect) ... even for the goth/heavy metal customers, since they are human beings ... regardless of their preferred dress.

Saturated reds (so as to avoid problems for color blind males--see the "88" below), blues, and white are better choices.

Jagella is correct that reduced contrast between your background and the print yields poorer "content absorption" psychologically (again, subliminally/subconsciously). Another of my "88" is "If it's difficult to read, it won't be ... read." The effect is that your reader will simply gloss over whatever you have to say.

The best visual contrast is brown or black ink on a canary yellow background. Black on a white background is a close second and the one I would recommend at least for your descriptions and other content.

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul

Harold Mansfield
01-15-2009, 02:32 PM
Shop Lady, there are some excellent suggestions in this thread. There is something that you can do for free, that will give you some exposure.

If you have a decent video camera, and some sexy friends, you should seriously consider making 2 minute video of sexy women wearing your product. Dancing, Jumping on a trampoline, DJing, what ever. You can be as risque, or as tame as you want. It doesn't matter.

Before anyone starts jumping on my neanderthal thinking, think about this. You are selling fashion, and you are selling it to music lovers. The demographic you are seeking responds to music, sex, cars, motorcycles, video games, and sex.

"Girls Dancing", "Booty shaking", "Girls Booty Shaking" are the most searched for terms on video sharing sites, and they are full of companies capitalizing on it to sell everything .

I don't think you need to do anything trashy, you can keep it clean and still get the message across, besides the main focus in the shirts, not the girls. You should create something that you are not ashamed to post on your own site.

You need to have something where your demographic is looking. If you tag it correctly, write keyword descriptions, and place your URL at the beginning, and at the end of the video , you will get some looks.

If you don't have a video camera, or a way to do simple video editing, then take advantage of Animoto's (http://www.animoto.com) free service and create yourself an Animoto slide show that you can also upload to video sharing sites. You can also use the video on your site as a promotional video, and for future ad or banner exchanges, use the video instead of inanimate banners (If you are lucky enough to get at least a 300x250 spot somewhere).

You can create either one of these for free. All you need is time, and of course some models (or even one model will do, with different still shots, or some snazzy video editing wearing different designs). You don't need a super model, actually "cute girl next door", or natural beauty works better than professional model.

Just remember, if you go the route of creating your own video, do not use copy written music to promote your product, search for some tracks that are "free use" or if you have a friend in a band or that is a DJ have them make up some beats for you and give them credit in the video.

billbenson
01-15-2009, 03:26 PM
I didn't think of the video idea Eborg suggested, but I was thinking of the sexy model angle. If it doesn't go against your grain, remember it does sell! It also fits in with the black background of your site which in spite of what Paul said above is associated with sex (not disagreeing with you Paul, but I think this may be a time when the black is appropriate).

ShopLady
01-15-2009, 06:24 PM
I am seriously going to have to borrow some video equipment, thanks eborg, bill and Paul. :) Sorry for the short post, but I am in a rush this evening, I'll come back later tonight and get a plan set up for something.

Harold Mansfield
01-15-2009, 08:38 PM
I am seriously going to have to borrow some video equipment, thanks eborg, bill and Paul. :) Sorry for the short post, but I am in a rush this evening, I'll come back later tonight and get a plan set up for something.

Or go with the still shots and Animoto for now. As you know, there are thousands of T-Shirt sellers online. Besides design, what really separates one from the other is marketing. How many people they reach, and how they reach them.

billbenson
01-16-2009, 05:23 AM
So, eborg, aside from the video idea (which I think is great) how would you promote the site?

This is a good site to brainstorm on, because it is a well done generic site! A ton of t shirt sites out there, but some make money and some don't.

Paul Elliott
01-16-2009, 11:40 AM
It also fits in with the black background of your site which in spite of what Paul said above is associated with sex (not disagreeing with you Paul, but I think this may be a time when the black is appropriate).

I certainly don't mind disagreement. All disagreements in marketing can easily be settled by testing each and shamelessly going with the winner in the marketplace.

Paul

Paul Elliott
01-16-2009, 11:45 AM
My other comment is that you may wish to differentiate your offering from the many other sites that offer t-shirts. Why would a visitor buy a shirt from you rather than Amazon.com?

What Jagella is really asking is "What's your USP?" Your Unique Selling Proposition is what sets you apart from all your competition. IOW, why should I buy from you instead from one of the other sellers, some of whom I may consider less risky? Here is more of a discussion of your USP: http://marketingsuccessblueprint.com/blog/your-unique-selling-proposition-part-i/

Paul

billbenson
01-16-2009, 03:55 PM
I've never seen what you mentioned Paul, but I have seen a lot of posts indicating that black themes have been way overused and don't work that well anymore for that reason.

It doesn't strike me as something I'd jump through hoops for to change at this point, but it certainly is a consideration.

ShopLady
01-16-2009, 04:12 PM
Good question, and I'm going to answer that as best as I can without any baloney and be as straightforward as I can possibly be but be warned, you may need popcorn and a soda:

What I sell is pretty obvious to anyone who comes to the website: Stuff! T-shirts, bags, hoodies (and soon more). What some might not see, is that the "stuff" is just something extra. I'm trying my best to encourage people to "step outside of the box", or their comfort zone of normality to explore their true potential. That means I want people to get loud, to get heard and to feel great about who they are without feeling weird or guilty for giving in to a moment of freedom. The purpose of the slogan "Make Noise, Be Heard" is to do just that; to get out there with the motivation to get something done and the will to keep on going with it no matter what.

Not only am I trying to encourage this to anyone who comes to the website, I live my life and stand wholeheartedly by that concept. If a day happens to go by that I don't, I'll feel extremely miserable that I'm not "practicing what I am preaching" and hope that a) no one noticed and b) no one felt discouraged by my mistake(s). The previous statement isn't meant to come across as "Oh wow, I know for a FACT that I am this huge influence" but seriously. What good is the concept if I don't stick to it, or believe in it myself? How believable or inspiring would it be if I, the promoter of it, just suddenly gave up without trying?

The concept is a part of me, albeit a new one. It'll be a cold day in (forgive me for the expletive, not sure about anyone's profane language barrier) HELL the day I give up doing what I feel should be done, and that goes for anything. I guess I am stubborn, but it sure beats looking back and thinking, "Geez...should have tried harder". Instead I can look back and say, "I gave it my best, and I gave it my all".

So I suppose in a nutshell, my website can offer encouragement and motivation to be yourself without limit or fear. At least, that is what I would like to think. I hope that answers it. :)

Harold Mansfield
01-16-2009, 04:25 PM
Good question, and I'm going to answer that as best as I can without any baloney and be as straightforward as I can possibly be but be warned, you may need popcorn and a soda:

What I sell is pretty obvious to anyone who comes to the website: Stuff! T-shirts, bags, hoodies (and soon more). What some might not see, is that the "stuff" is just something extra. I'm trying my best to encourage people to "step outside of the box", or their comfort zone of normality to explore their true potential. That means I want people to get loud, to get heard and to feel great about who they are without feeling weird or guilty for giving in to a moment of freedom. The purpose of the slogan "Make Noise, Be Heard" is to do just that; to get out there with the motivation to get something done and the will to keep on going with it no matter what.

Not only am I trying to encourage this to anyone who comes to the website, I live my life and stand wholeheartedly by that concept. If a day happens to go by that I don't, I'll feel extremely miserable that I'm not "practicing what I am preaching" and hope that a) no one noticed and b) no one felt discouraged by my mistake(s). The previous statement isn't meant to come across as "Oh wow, I know for a FACT that I am this huge influence" but seriously. What good is the concept if I don't stick to it, or believe in it myself? How believable or inspiring would it be if I, the promoter of it, just suddenly gave up without trying?

The concept is a part of me, albeit a new one. It'll be a cold day in (forgive me for the expletive, not sure about anyone's profane language barrier) HELL the day I give up doing what I feel should be done, and that goes for anything. I guess I am stubborn, but it sure beats looking back and thinking, "Geez...should have tried harder". Instead I can look back and say, "I gave it my best, and I gave it my all".

So I suppose in a nutshell, my website can offer encouragement and motivation to be yourself without limit or fear. At least, that is what I would like to think. I hope that answers it. :)

Make no bones about it, you are selling attitude and lifestyle. That is great! Most marketing today is "attitude" marketing.
Pepsi, Mt. Dew, Slim Jim, Cheetos, Cars, even online brokerages (what's the one with the little baby at the computer). So just keep that in mind when creating your marketing.
Many of the mistakes that I have made have been not being clear (to myself) about what i am selling. Once you get that down, the rest seems to fall into place and you will stop spending time trying to cover all bases and be everything to everybody.

JMO

Harold Mansfield
01-16-2009, 04:59 PM
So, eborg, aside from the video idea (which I think is great) how would you promote the site?

This is a good site to brainstorm on, because it is a well done generic site! A ton of t shirt sites out there, but some make money and some don't.

I would link exchange with music sites. Dance, Hip Hop, Trance, house, etc.
I would also do some article marketing about issues, Environment, Social issues, Music, and issues that your demographic is interested in.

You can only talk about T's for so long, you have to market with that "attitude".

Me personally, I would probably start a social awareness/ music blog and style it to look like my store site and set the blog up as "Sponsored by ..." kind of thing.

I would probably get involved with online petition sites, social networking sites like my space, face book, and then get my product on as many people as possible.

Send it to Club DJ's, Up and Coming Performers, and target ones who also are involved in the social and environmental issues that you promote.

You have to get the shirts on people. Use people you know, or in your community that are seen by people. Skateboarders, Gamers, Club DJ's, ect.

Try to get something in a Teen mall fashion show, or school function.
Ask your local radio stations if you can include a free T or Hoodie in one of their promotional giveaways for free mention of the website.

Participate in music forums, especially MTV, Ministry Of Sound, and VH1, and use your company name as your screen name.

The more places that you are where your demographic can see you, the more chances you have to make a sale.

Everything that I mentioned (with the exception of sending out free product..is free)

billbenson
01-16-2009, 06:37 PM
Good post eborg - thanks.

ShopLady - you inspired me to register a T Shirt site last night. It was pretty late, so I don't remember what I registered :) Not sure if I'll use it, but I needed a site for development anyway.

I'm going to start playing around with wordpress tomorrow or later tonight. I have a site that I need to put some product manuals on and I want to do it in html, not pdf's. Blog format seems ideal for a 60 page manual.

I've read that WP can be used for a page type of format as well as the linear blog format. Does anybody know if that is a standard feature or requires a plugin? Kind of putting the cart before the horse as I haven't even downloaded WP yet...

Harold Mansfield
01-16-2009, 07:15 PM
You can use WP for a page format as well. It's best to use a theme that uses drop down page menu's so that you can keep them sort of categorized.
Also, I noticed that too many pages on some themes (not sub pages, actual pages across the menu) disrupts some themes, as it tries to display them all, when most themes are only designed to display 10 or less.

You probably also want to look for a theme that puts more focus on the page menu. Most of them put menu focus on category menu.

Paul Elliott
01-16-2009, 09:30 PM
I'll come back later tonight and get a plan set up for something.

ShopLady, your site, Bohemian Seniorita, on page 3, 1st 3 items on row 1 say "Bag" but are women's V-neck Ts. There are also some others mislabeled in the Bag Category (may be the same ones).

Paul

ShopLady
01-16-2009, 11:10 PM
BillBenson - Awesome! Best of luck to you! :)

Paul - Thanks so much, going to get those fixed right away. :)

eborg9 - I may sign up at a music forum to get my feet wet a bit! :)