- Thread starter vmhatup
- Start date
What do I need for my online business to grow?
I'm not pushing back or being defensive with anyone that wants to help me. One thing is to genuinely help someone, and it's quite another to prove some point that has no place in this thread..
I greatly appreciate Robert's suggestions. I will try to implement what he mentioned and, if it's beyond my scope, hire someone to help me out.
Cobraboy's posts haven't been as helpful. From the first post, he's making baseless assumptions about my business and my budget, and just going on about how nothing's free and that I need to spend money and work to move forward. I know too well the hardships of starting a business. It doesn't make sense repeating it. I know I'm just a 'regular' member, so don't take my word for it. Read my question and then read his replies.
Anyways, I'm not here to argue and make enemies. I'm just here to learn and move on.
I greatly appreciate Robert's suggestions. I will try to implement what he mentioned and, if it's beyond my scope, hire someone to help me out.
Cobraboy's posts haven't been as helpful. From the first post, he's making baseless assumptions about my business and my budget, and just going on about how nothing's free and that I need to spend money and work to move forward. I know too well the hardships of starting a business. It doesn't make sense repeating it. I know I'm just a 'regular' member, so don't take my word for it. Read my question and then read his replies.
Anyways, I'm not here to argue and make enemies. I'm just here to learn and move on.
vm, I have owned several successful internetbusinesses in Europe, before I moved here, and I can tell you that launching them takes time and patience.
And above all, a lot of hard work. You can use addwords, crosslinking, etc... but in the end it will come down to making yourself known through a lot of footwork...
the footwork will mean being present on all kinds of expo's, with fliers, etc... You will have to be there with your comps and wifi, so you can show people... It will be tiring, it will be frustrating, but it will pay off.
If you do not want to do that yourself, you will have to hire people to do it for you. But keep in mind, that in that case you will have to trust those people to do a worthy job. My wife and I have spent every weekend for more than 2 years visiting events every weekend to promote our businesses. It paid off, hugely, and most of the time we enjoyed it. Some weekends we cursed it.
Promoting a website you are envisioning takes a whole lot of footwork, diligence, and frustration.
Very expensive promotion through billboards, radio or tv does not do a whole lot according to my experience, unless you are already known, and want to fortify your name. Just keep in mind how many of website billboards you see on the site of the road, and how many you remember when you get home. Even the ones that interested you.
I wish you all the luck with it, and if you want some more info on how we did it, please feel free to pm me.
And above all, a lot of hard work. You can use addwords, crosslinking, etc... but in the end it will come down to making yourself known through a lot of footwork...
the footwork will mean being present on all kinds of expo's, with fliers, etc... You will have to be there with your comps and wifi, so you can show people... It will be tiring, it will be frustrating, but it will pay off.
If you do not want to do that yourself, you will have to hire people to do it for you. But keep in mind, that in that case you will have to trust those people to do a worthy job. My wife and I have spent every weekend for more than 2 years visiting events every weekend to promote our businesses. It paid off, hugely, and most of the time we enjoyed it. Some weekends we cursed it.
Promoting a website you are envisioning takes a whole lot of footwork, diligence, and frustration.
Very expensive promotion through billboards, radio or tv does not do a whole lot according to my experience, unless you are already known, and want to fortify your name. Just keep in mind how many of website billboards you see on the site of the road, and how many you remember when you get home. Even the ones that interested you.
I wish you all the luck with it, and if you want some more info on how we did it, please feel free to pm me.
Originally Posted by vmhatup
I am so confused,
you are betting on an free classifieds web based business website but your demographics target doesnt use the web? I think you would have a better chance of throwing a rock at the moon and hitting it. Darn, I know should've left my DR snowshoes business alone.
I think it would be much cheaper for you if you do some form of sponsoring, contact some of those young dominican wanna-be rappers promoting themselves on youtube and I am sure they would mention your website for a couple of bucks or even make a little rap about it too.
One thing I would do if were you, would be to gather a few of these guys have them all make videos, post it and whoever is the first to get 10,000 views wins what ever cash prize you set up.
That would definitely get you some long lasting words of mouth and youtube exposure.
I am so confused,
you are betting on an free classifieds web based business website but your demographics target doesnt use the web? I think you would have a better chance of throwing a rock at the moon and hitting it. Darn, I know should've left my DR snowshoes business alone.
I think it would be much cheaper for you if you do some form of sponsoring, contact some of those young dominican wanna-be rappers promoting themselves on youtube and I am sure they would mention your website for a couple of bucks or even make a little rap about it too.
One thing I would do if were you, would be to gather a few of these guys have them all make videos, post it and whoever is the first to get 10,000 views wins what ever cash prize you set up.
That would definitely get you some long lasting words of mouth and youtube exposure.
I have spent the last 13 years working on our Internet businesses and I think that there is just some terminology that has been used in this thread that has caused confusion. Your comment about your demographics not using the Web was misunderstood. Your demographics use the web, just not 24/7 like many of us from other countries. So when they get online, they may not be searching as much as just going to sites they already know.
Your comments about SEO and searches and Rob asking about what IP you used leads me to believe that he lost you. If you don't really understand what he is saying, then you need to be taught how to do what it is he is saying. Then you can do the research that would give you more accurate results. You are correct, most people won't search for "classifieds" to get to supercarros, but if you search for a specific car in the Dominican Republic or a city here, you should see those ads that relate show up for the search.
(If I am making sense and you want to ask more I will try to give you some more answers.)
Your comments about SEO and searches and Rob asking about what IP you used leads me to believe that he lost you. If you don't really understand what he is saying, then you need to be taught how to do what it is he is saying. Then you can do the research that would give you more accurate results. You are correct, most people won't search for "classifieds" to get to supercarros, but if you search for a specific car in the Dominican Republic or a city here, you should see those ads that relate show up for the search.
(If I am making sense and you want to ask more I will try to give you some more answers.)
My comments were only based on what you have posted about this business both in this thread and others you've posted about it. Anyone with a lick of business accumen could see a crash coming way down the tracks.
Seems to me your problem aren't my comments. Your problem is your inability to look at your business model objectively. Your defense mechanism orevents you from LISTENING to what you're being told. In business consultation the lack of owner objectivity is the #1 cause of failure.
Your flaw is looking for a magic bullet that will make your site successful. There is no such thing as a magic bullet. An internet business is exactly like any other business. Just as in brick-and-mortar endeavors, 95% of internet business will eventually fail. Why? Lack of capital and lack of an effective business model. Lack of capital usually comes after the entrepreneur wannabe blows all his stash on bad ideas, especially marketing and advertising.
The fact you admit you have no clear marketing plan, and you've just been throwing sheet againat the wall should make you realize you never had a solid plan to begin with. MAYBE THAT'S WHERE TO BEGIN: ZERO-BASING YOUR ENTIRE BUSINESS PLAN.
There are many way to analyze what's gone wrong, what works, what doesn't. But based on how you judge the comments, you're looking for WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR, instead of real advice, and value style over substance. You seek affirmation, not legitimate advice. Ever occur to you that the REAL problem just might be you and your attitude toward your business? Ever occur to you that getting emotionally involved in a business to the extent that you refuse to look within yourself for causitive actions and instead lash out at others who take their time to offer sound, proven experience in an effort to help just might be a symptom of a deeper problem?
So be it. You aren't the first to walk that path and you certainly won't be the last. It's called "pilot error" in avoidable airplane crashes.
The very fact you seek advice on a forum that has very few legitimate business people, and when legitimate business people offer advice you shun it should tell you all you need to know.
Am I being harsh? The sensitive sisters here may say yes, after all, if we all are nice and warm and fuzzy and just tell you what you want to hear, how special you are will get eyeballs on your site, correct? VM, sometimes 2x4 consulting is the most effective IF it challenges YOU to challenge your business plan with cold, dispassionate objectivity.
That process starts with a single (but extremely difficult for most) act: by taking the cotton out of your ears and listening FIRST to those telling you what is most painful and what you don't want to hear. Once you dissolve the emotional base and COMMIT to listening things just might begin to happen for your business. IF you can do that. Few can.
Think SWOT. And if you have to google that to know what I'm talking about, you're further from solutions way more that you think...
I think you hit it right on the button there. As I had mentioned, we posted a more than a few minivallas in Santiago but they haven't caught on as I would've thought. So I try to put myself in their shoes, and it sorta makes sense. We were thinking of switching from the minivallas to some advertising through the radio with Jose Gutierrez but I'm not sure if that's the way to go.
You know what the bigger problem is? It's like Robert suggested... the marketing firms just want to make a buck. Any self-respecting marketing firm could've warned me about the potential results of adding mini-vallas for a new business, but they didn't. Like I said, you live and learn.
At least for now, I'm putting a hold on the minivallas. For now I'll be doing the following:
1) Increase SEO in the site. I'm a software engineer, but I honestly know nothing about SEO, so I'll be hiring some Indian marketing firm to work on this for me. I really wish I could hire Robert, but I cannot afford him.
2) Do some aggressive advertising through facebook. Does anyone know what the average bid cost for CPMs targeting the DR is?
3) Do some aggressive advertising through banners and flyers in Santiago. We were initially going live in February for festival Presidente, but I was just not prepared. I had posted another thread asking about upcoming festivals (link), but nobody seemed to know or care.
4) Once we get more traffic, then go back to the billboards and do some radio, also in Santiago
I was also actually exploring the possibility of running a facebook contest. I came up with a pretty good contest idea that would really go well with the site, and it's actually pretty funny. Unfortunately, I've always hated facebook, so besides creating a fanpage, I have no idea how facebook works.What prize would make the contest more attractive, a cash price or some electronic device (ie. a phone)?
Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Maybe you cannot afford not too, especially when your spending US$7,000 a month and getting NOTHING!
1) Bad mistake. Why would you hire a company to do something for you that you know nothing about?
How will you know if they do a good job or just rip you off?
2) This shows you have no idea how Facebook ads work. How you target and what you target determines your bid cost.
Don't waste your money on FB ads unless you know exactly what your doing or hire someone that knows what they are doing.
3) Don't waste your money. Unless you have very deep pockets and intend to flood the market.
Radio advertising? See point 3 above.
*** WARNING ***
You need to seriously sit down and evaluate what your doing and how your doing it.
I can absolutely 100% guarantee the line of thinking you're taking and planning to do will fail in this market.
I actually meant I've spent US$7,000 on everything that deals with the website. I spent about $3,000 on advertising, and most of it went to the minivallas.
Sigh... I know that's how facebook ads work. If I were to explain every single detail of everything I post, it'd be a manuscript and it would probably be ignored. I may not be a marketing wizard, but at least give me the benefit of the doubt on some of the simpler things. It only takes one click in "Advertise Page" to know that much.
Again, I may not be a marketing wizard, but I do know how to use google. Have you ever outsourced through elance, guru,etc? If you do, then you know they have plenty of tools that allow you to choose the right provider (feedback, contacting clients, portfolio, etc...). My concern would be how they would work on a Spanish-language site, but that's beyond my control.
And people wonder why I get so defensive. But as they say, smile and the world will smile back to you. It hasn't happened so far, but some day it will
(strained smile)What do you suggest I do then? Give it to me straight. As I mentioned before, I'm a software engineer and I know how to deal with software and code. SEO, marketing, and advertising are new to me, and I'm trying to deal with them as best as I can. And you said not to hire local firms. So what does that leave me with?
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The "real" stuff that works you will not find on their advertising page.
Outsourcing through elance, scriptlance, gurunet etc are great, if you want to deal with 3rd party brockers that are all over these sites. Once again, the outsourcing business is something learned over time and those of us that have done a ton of outsourcing avoid sites like that. You need to go direct, not via brokers!
You want it straight.... Pay me and I'll help you. My knowledge has cost me US$1,000's and 1,000's of hours, sometimes I like to get a return on the good stuff that I don't give away for free
Software and code are the easy part. There are smart kids living in mud apartments all over the world that can do that.
Keep this in mind: you have 10 seconds from the first time someone lands on your site to give them a reason to stay. If you cannot do that you will fail regardless of how good the product is.
That involves both graphics and content to create a message that appeal to the brain (content) and emotions (graphics) creating clear answer to "who you are" and "how that will benefit the visitor." All the SEO and advertising on the planet won't help unless two components create a totally clear message for a first time visitor: "what's in it for me?". ESPECIALLY for a new site. And DOUBLE QUENTIALLY if you're trying to take on an established, successful site-brand because you WILL be held to that standard whether you want to or not. It'd be like competing against DR1. DR1 is THE brand leader. Someone would have a tall mountain to climb to successfully compete against their standard.
Here is a thought. I was given thre URL to your site so I went. I like the colors and the pleasing graphics. But I had no idea, first time there, what it is you do. I still don't. Do you sell stuff yourself? Do you offer free advertising? Do you solicit paid advertising? Where are you located? And What's in it for me?
And the secondary levels to those questions are even more unclear.
Before spending one dime on advertising I'd correct the "10 second impression" first time visitors will have when first landing on your site. There are numerous ways to do that, but I doubt you think my observations are valid. You'd rather just pee more money down a drain looking for the genie in the bottle.
Honestly, in terms of software/web development, I've had a very good experience with elance. But dealing with these outsourcing marketplaces can be a nightmare if you don't know what you're doing.
@cobraboy and Robert: What do you guys do for a living, if I may ask? And please don't say a little bit of everything.
Generally speaking and for the benefit of anyone reading this thread, from potential customer to provider(s), what can you guys offer us (as a website) trying to make it in the DR?
Thanks.
You can't get any straighter than that.
@cobraboy and Robert: What do you guys do for a living, if I may ask? And please don't say a little bit of everything.
Generally speaking and for the benefit of anyone reading this thread, from potential customer to provider(s), what can you guys offer us (as a website) trying to make it in the DR?
Thanks.
I do:
Motorcycle tours (www.MotoCaribe.com)
Web development (www.BlueOrbDigital.com)
Coffee export (website coming soon, CaribbeanCoffeeExporters.com)
The problem with using offshore help is they do what you tell them to do. If YOU don't know what you're doing, they won't either. Very, very few offshore folks have a clue about marketing.
Folks fall into the trap all the time thinking a webiste is the end all, when a website is just one marketing tool in your bag. If that's the only tool you have and don't know any other tools to use, you're sunk.
Motorcycle tours (www.MotoCaribe.com)
Web development (www.BlueOrbDigital.com)
Coffee export (website coming soon, CaribbeanCoffeeExporters.com)
The problem with using offshore help is they do what you tell them to do. If YOU don't know what you're doing, they won't either. Very, very few offshore folks have a clue about marketing.
Folks fall into the trap all the time thinking a webiste is the end all, when a website is just one marketing tool in your bag. If that's the only tool you have and don't know any other tools to use, you're sunk.
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Oh no..... I just peeked in here.... haven't read the whole thing.
Don't tell me that CB and DR1Robert are beating up on this guy/person......!!
He has no idea what he's in for ..... !!!!
Don't tell me that CB and DR1Robert are beating up on this guy/person......!!
He has no idea what he's in for ..... !!!!
It's not obvious?
DR1 and online marketing (focus on Facebook)
Various websites.
Consulting.
Right now in Colombia expanding DR1 into another market.
Why do you keep asking the same question? You have started maybe 5 threads around the same theme.
Only a very few people on this board can give you "real" help based on their personal expertise and actually walking the walk. Those people have posted in this thread and others you have started.
Youtube will be much better for you than facebook, in facebook if you don't advertize or have too many friends your page won't get viewed much. But if you go with some of these wanna-be rappers they already have many youtube followers and some of them get bigger and bigger, most of the biggest dominican rappers start as wanna-be rappers in youtube.
Another thing that you can do is make a few t-shirts and distribute them to kids and people that work in congested areas. that will give you good free advertising too.
You can also try to find a radio show that gives out prizes and tell them that your company wanna sponsor some prizes whether it is dinner for two at a restaurant or tickets to the movies. Sometimes you that is a cheap way to get good radio exposure.
Facebook and YouTube are VERY different channels.
Unless you post exactly how you intend to use them, it's impossible to say one is better than the other.
Facebook is very well adopted in the DR and drives some serious traffic if you know how to target.
From fanpages, app traffic, FB ads etc, you just gotta know what your doing.
Also YouTube can be good, if you know what your doing.
Let me give you another golden nugget for YouTube and one I have used for a couple of clients.
Go find a few videos that are on the verge of going viral or getting a ton of views. Make them an offer, you can usually buy the accounts for US$50 as they are often kids that have no idea about the value of the video. Once you have the account, you can edit the video anyway you want
Insert your ad in the video, URL, actual video, anyway you want. I would 100% avoid all the usual t-shirts, flyers, radio ads etc. All the old school stuff that has almost zero measurability, unless your spending serious amounts of cash. Stick to the gorila stuff and the marketing channels that your target audience use and are in front of.
I haven't even began to get into some of the grey and blackhat stuff that could really give La Pulga something to think about