Is My Marketing All Wrong...Or Is It My Website???

Frogger65

Hi all,
I am new to StartUpNation and really love what I see so far. The communities seem to be really supportive and encouraging of each other!
I have a fairly new online business (February 08) which creates web based newsletters for real estate agents to expand their marketing. They can reach larger audiences, farm areas, and online visitors via the use of the newsletter url without costly mailings or using email attachments.
The problem is I find myself spending a lot on PPC advertising with little results. I am getting the clicks, around 35 a day (at $1.90 per click!) but no signups.
Does anyone feel my website is turning people off once they arrive?
Any suggestions? Or can anyone point me in the direction of a great web developer if you feel my site appearance is the problem.
p.s. Most of my business is coming from my affiliates and not from my advertising.
Thanks so much guys!!!!RealtyBlock.org
WandaFrogger655/15/2008 8:05 PM

st8ic

At that rate you`re spending almost $2,000 per month on PPC ads that aren`t doing a thing for you! That is definitely crazy, ditch the ppc network. If you are using google adwords then you can assign a maximum bid per click (a quarter of what your paying seems fair).
The site its self doesn`t break any rules. It`s sort of vanilla, but I don`t think that there are any real problems with it. I think that the big thing here is the demand for the product. If I was a real estate agent you`d have a pretty tough time convincing me to spend time on an online news letter, let alone paying for one. You could try expanding your target audience and see if you can snipe small businesses and interest groups.

northstarcreative

Hi Wanda,
I agree with st8ic. The website is very vanilla, and since you are marketing high-quality design newsletters, you want your website to feature high-quality design. I`ve seen the difference that good design can make in my clients` businesses. People today expect more in a website`s appearance that they did in the past.
I also agree that expanding your target market (say, to small businesses) would be a good move.
Best wishes!
Laura MacPherson
Northstar Creativewww.northstarcreative.net

DaleKing

Wanda, your copywriting is very weak. It doesn`t effectively or compellingly sell your product. Also, since most of your business is coming from your affiliates, you should cut back on the advertising and focus on strengthening your affiliate network.
 
Do yourself a favor. Invest $50 and get into the ClickBank affiliate program. You can sell your product on ClickBank and take advanatge of their tens of thousands of affiliates, to sell your product and help push your program into the forefront.
 
Just don`t forget what I said about your copy. It needs a lot of help.
 
Dale King
DKing5/16/2008 11:27 AM

Frogger65

Hi all and Happy Friday,
Thank you to everyone for the responses thus far. I truly appreciate your feedback! Your honesty and constructive criticism is very welcomed and helps tremendously.
The site has been up for 4 months now and although generating some business, it`s not enough to offset marketing costs. I will scale down on PPC and concentrate more on affiliates. The other interesting thing is that the signups are coming from other countries and none from the US.
It looks like I have quite a bit of work to do. If there is anything else, please let me know, no matter how harsh...I need it!
Take care everyone!
Wanda

seotogo

You may wish to better target your PPC words so you’re not spending on untargeted clicks. Also, you may want to think about marketing through affiliate networks like Clickbank or Shareasale.

SalesGen

I am new to StartupNation so I am not sure of the etiquitte here, but I just happen to own a Sales Generation company.   It seems to me that you may want to try spending a few $ on direct marketing to real esate comapnies to get a lead into a more focused pond to fish in   Hitting a few big firms could spread the word like wildfire.  Try doing a monthly webinar or webcast on highlights or industry info, guest speaker, etc...
 
Spending a few thousand on lead generation may pay off big for you.  Steer clear of telesales companies..not a pitch but we are research based so it creates a non threatening environment to well, actually sell   Use the sales gen company to drive attendance to your site and online events.
 
Just my 2 cents.
 

www.SalesXelerator.com

 
 
 

sddreamweavers

I`m going to disagree with all of the comments about expanding your target market.  I say keep it niche!  Stick with realtors.  There`s nothing wrong with targeting small businesses but make a choice and be strong with that market.  Right now, I don`t think you`re strong in any market.
The reason being, your copy is weak and the site is pretty uninteresting.  I don`t mean to sound harsh but it doesn`t talk to realtors.  What do realtors want to do?  They want to sell houses and sell more houses.  From my quick scanning, your copy doesn`t say anything about how your newsletters can help realtors sell houses.  Instead, it talks mainly about technological features.  And the site design is quite bland.  There`s way too much copy, it`s not consistent visually and some of it is so small it`s hard to read.  And your home page photos are stretched which looks unprofessional.I think you need to rethink your marketing message before you start tweaking the site.

Seconded.  I would also suggest optimizing the code in your site for the search engines and re-designing your website as someone else has said, if you`re offering newsletter type publications, your site has to look REALLY slick.  SEO wise it`s nowhere close to being considered `great` for Google and Yahoo.

MarketingGenius

Defiantly work on the copy on your site. You can go to http://www.copyblogger.com/copywriting-101/
for help. This site focuses on copy for
blogs but has good ideas that should help. Your headline should contain something that is irresistible for real
estate agents. For instance you could
say ‘Increase your closing ratio by 20% this month with this proven system’ A statement like this or something similar gives
the reader hard numbers, a timeline and some credibility. Visitors to your
website are looking for a solution to a problem.  In this case there’re problem is that they
need to close more sales. One other
thing that stands out about your site is that it seems like this is a very
complicated process. Let your readers
know how simple it will be and that you will be with them every step of the way
to assure that they get the results they are looking for. You might go for the soft sell as well. I did not get through your entire website but
it looked like you only gave your visitors only two options – sign up or don’t
sign up.  You have not built any trust
with your visitors and they may be sheepish to commit. Offer a free newsletter on ways to increase real
estate sales. Use your own product to market
to your prospects to keep your service top of mind. This way you will be able to keep in touch
with prospective agents and you will gain their trust as an authority in the
field. They may not buy today but after
they get a few newsletters from you they may feel comfortable enough to do
business with you.
MarketingGenius5/28/2008 3:06 AM

daleyfla99

Put up a copy of the real newsletter.  Send out copies of the real newsletter to agents.  You are marketing in a tough environment, especially since home sales have slowed and realtors are cash strapped.  But stay niched and you may get some business going. PPC will crush you at that rate.  Do get on with Clickbank.
 
Good luck.

rfresh

Your PPC isn`t working...so why would you want to stay with it? Scaling it back only means you`re not going to waste as much money every month but you`re still going to waste it!
 
You need another marketing angle - give it some thought - maybe advertising is realty magazines in your local area? How about trying a newspaper ad?
 
There are a ton of marketing methods, you just have to find the ones that work. PPC isn`t working for you so I don`t know why you want to hold on to it?