# Struggling to sell online. Any advice??



## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

Started a brand called Blunt Trauma, I just opened up the store the other day. I was expecting to get some sales right away, but did not, so now I am looking for your advice on what I can improve to make it more appealing. Any advice is welcome! Thanks.

I have a website blunttrauma.net and a few social media sites going @BluntTrauma . Already thinking about redoing the site. Don't hold back, lets hear it.


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

I guess the first question is: WHY were you expecting sales right away? Did you do any targeted marketing? Or did you just expect people to find you in the vast world of the interwebs?

Improving your site can help. But even if you have the greatest site in the world, you still need to market your brand so that consumers can find you. So maybe spend some time thinking about ways to drive traffic to the site.

As for the site itself, get your products on the landing page. The first thing I see when I hit your site is a blank page. Nothing to connect with, nothing tells me who you are and why I should stay. Even when I click on your Store, there are 3 generic images - one of which says Coming Soon. Again, nothing to catch my attention. Then I scroll down and see 3 high school kids asking for freebies. That leaves a bad impression. So I click on Mens shirts... and there's still no shirts. I have to pick my size first. Finally I get to the shirts and all you have is your logo. Everyone else is expecting to get freebies to wear your logo. Why would I pay you $20 to wear it? I can just post a reply saying that I'll wear it at my next grappling tournament and try to get one for free.

Just some things to think about.


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## jumpy (Aug 9, 2013)

yep what Kimura said, i was about to post the same comments. 

I wouldnt bother with a forum or the sponsorship request page until you have a clear direction. You have thousands of fans on the social media links, are they real fans? If they are then start sharing the items with them... BUT logo only stuff will only be bought by true fans of a brand but it takes time to build that reputation.

I say simplify the site and get some designs that your audience want. Know your audience, ask them for ideas even.


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

@kimura-mma
The reason i expected sales was because of the number of followers i have through social media. Plus a lot of people have asked where they could buy shirts or hats when I didn't have them ready, now they are ready and nothing... 
Good advice with the landing page, and the store is definitely a problem and a reason why I may make a new site. I am using a theme from wordpress and the only compatible store plugin was ecwid and i would like to use woocommmerce. 

So what do you suggest for the shirt? I was trying to keep it simple for my first release.
And i haven't given shirts out to people commenting, but maybe you are right about the comments giving a bad impression for sales.
@jumpy
The sponsorship request page got about 300 applicants, but those are probably mostly people looking for freebies. I think I will pull that and the forum off until we are more established with our direction.

Apparently it is time to start working on designs!
Thanks guys, any other advice is appreciated.


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## jumpy (Aug 9, 2013)

Its hard for me to tell you what designs may work without knowing your target market. The name suggests fight theme but your posts consist of several sports. Are you targeting all extreme sports?

Try to hone in on the market, what got you all those followers on social media, what gets them interested in what you posts.. fight updates, skate videos, surfing news etc. 

If you already know this (i assume you do) look at designing for them, look at brands that compete in that space and do your unique twist on it. That will help the theme of the brand and consistency of the designs.

Take product shots with items being modelled by the beach (if the target is surfers) or in the ring with gloves on (if the target is MMA)... good product shots may help you greatly.

The sponsorship idea may be great in the long-term, but for now id approach people individually that you think would fit a sponsorship.


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

great advice. Thank you.


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## trackvw (Jul 29, 2013)

put a couple items on EBAY , you get 1000s of people looking who are never going to find you otherwise.....

its cheap and if you do it right you can send traffic to your website


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## jonesjgqg (Aug 20, 2013)

Then I scroll down and see 3 high school kids asking for freebies.


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

thanks @trackvw
I have completely re-done the site in the last 3 days. If you saw it before, check it out now and let me know what you think @jumpy and @kimura-mma
Obviously it is still under construction, so just check the store out. 
I think next thing I am going to improve is the pictures of products. I just realized how terrible they are. I need better quality and I am going to use pen tool in photoshop or illustrator to take away background on pics and make it match the white of the page to make it look more clean. Also if you see the big pictures rotating up top, I am going to add pictures coming in kind of like the text that flys in on one of them and they will be linkable to the shop. So a pic of a shirt or hat will fly in that they can click. Ill do that once i fix the look of product pictures. I hope it looks better. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for all your guys help,

Blunt Trauma


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## trackvw (Jul 29, 2013)

not sure if you are using it BUT I hate FLASH on websites , and it will not work on Apple products......

I hope you are going to have more products than what you have on your webpage , how are people going to know its Blunt Force by looking at those hats and Tees ?

Print up some stickers , rear window decals etc , give them away , get them on cars in san Diego

find the book Guerrilla_marketing , or google it to get some ideas , 

a nice big BOX van advertising his shop helped my friends motorcycle shop get noticed......

its not easy and everyone is trying to get noticed , you need to think out of the box !


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

Ya, I am going to have a lot more products. Actually am picking up 4 different kinds of shirts tonight (two of them are girls). I need to get Blunt Trauma on the back of the hat or move logo to one side and have Blunt Trauma on the other side of the front. I am going to order stickers this week along with Gi patches for jiu jitsu people. Decals are a good idea too. I have googled Guerrilla marketing before, but have not seen the book before. I will look for it. Thanks for all the criticism. I will use it constructively. Keep the ideas coming for improvements.
Thanks again,
Blunt Trauma


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

Your site loaded very slowly for me, and your entire "above the fold" was a huge graphic that does absolutely nothing to actually sell your product. What if you went into a new retail store and the first thing you saw was not products, but a wall of art? You'd likely be confused, just turn around and go to the next shop.

You should stop redoing the mechanics of your site and concentrate on how to sell your product. 

If you read the threads here you know that followers and friends always express keen interest and then disappear when you actually open shop. It's an old story. Your customers will need to come over the transom, and that takes building a site that sells, not just looks good.

So, forget the flash, HUGE "lifestyle" graphics, mission statement, About Us, and everything else that doesn't actually sell something to a customer. If you're selling t-shirts, PUT A T-SHIRT RIGHT ON THE FIRST PAGE!! 

Let's look at some mechanics. I understand your site is under construction, but you shouldn't even be open until you fix some potentially damaging issues like your page titles. As a new site Google is already checking you out, and indexing what it's finding. And what it's finding is not helpful. Google has a long memory, and it can take weeks or even a month or more for it to re-evaluate your site based on updated info. So get the site ready, THEN open it to the public and the search engines.

Case in point: I checked out your shopping cart and the page title is "Blunt Trauma." No way will you rank t-shirt sales with that. It has no meaning to the buying public, and it will take years for you to build your brand to make it recognizable. How will you sell before then? If you want Web sales you have to help the search engines know what you're selling. I don't think you're selling "blunt traumas."


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

To be blunt,, start over, remember the 3 second rule, if your site doesnt load in 3 seconds most people are gone, if the first thing they see doesn't grab their attention in 3 to 5 seconds their gone.

Seems to me that you are trying to push your brand but your brand doesn't have any go juice so why would anyone want to wear your shirts or hats. 

Your better move would be to supply the MMA schools with t sirts and hats with their names and logos on the product. To build a brand is a monumental undertaking and without endorsement of a key fighter pushing it then it will be a large struggle even to sell any items at all.


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## Brandz13 (May 14, 2013)

Let me give you my best advise..as a web designer and graphics design artist.. I really hate wordpress .Flash, and free website designs. I found it hard to get to the goods in your site. Keep it simple and let a professional design ,metatag and use software such as traffic python, App sumo, etc. Since your relying on your one and only design your eliminating 90% of the public taste as far as design content. If your just wanting to sell online good luck..like the other advise...throw some stuff on E-bay, go to a local retail store and use Consignments to push your apparel..looks to me maybe a martial arts studio may like these..skaters too. keep trying but Never..Never rely solely on one source of marketing.


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

ya i think the slow loading may be because of the large images on the top...
plan b if you are saying give up... i wont quit. is this a good site to test speed? http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/#!/cNRf1q/www.blunttrauma.net
brandz i can not afford to pay a professional and i have fun doing it by myself.


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## MarStephenson761 (Sep 19, 2011)

Hey Blunt,

A lot of new companies like yours try to focus on selling a brand, rather than the first step of getting some product out the door. One of the most successful sites selling rhinestone transfers, for example, is JUST a shopping cart! 

Just put your products, prices and order form on the site with great descriptions and do lots of local SEO to try and generate traffic..then get in your car with a trunk full of samples and sell.


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## Micki23 (Jul 9, 2013)

I am not a marketing guru, but two things ... maybe three:

1) When I looked at your shirts online - they looked old and tattered. Is this the look you want? If not, you might look for a better T-shirt/tank template or real models.
2) If I was to buy your T-shirt - I'd want it because its a popular brand or because its a cool design. I think the design might need something more to convey a blunt trauma. Just being letters on black and white isn't "cool" enough. Maybe add some splashes of blood coming off the letters or some distressing.
3) For me, the best way to get my brand out there to the people who I want to buy is to go to their trade shows and events and set up a table promoting your brand. 

Just my thoughts. The website is a little jumbled for me - more simple without all the moving images would be a better sales site. Good luck and never give up!


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## Studio ell (Jun 16, 2013)

So, what you have so far is couple of shirts and hats with your logo. Perhaps I'm not in your target market but my question is: why would someone want to buy a shirt with just a big logo, form a brand nobody heard of?


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## Brandz13 (May 14, 2013)

Yep I totally get that.. a good website is expensive but a great website is priceless! I run into this all the time.."My son or daughter is building my website" facts are any moron can build a website these days. But what your never going to break into the S.E.O jail. I typed in Blunt Trauma name. Well..were is it.? If you cant get a Google spot with your name..something is terribly wrong..You did not Keyword or set up any meta tags, site map or rank. A crawler cannot attatch to anything on a flash website because there are no real typed words..everything is encapsulated in it's own bubble...You need HTML snippets on your pages to grab the crawlers attention. like the name "Blunt Trauma" You see? If I don't know your name.. what will I search? Cool T-shirts? How many billions of sites are you going to get. Go here to read my article about S.E.O 
SEO Brandz 13 Search Engine optimization 
I also have an online t-shirt store. I do ok. But marketing is so much more. You need to talk to at least 3 people a day about your company. get on the web and look up marketing tactics. Gorilla marketing is cheap and sometimes free. This consists of stickers, flyers, Facebook farming, graffiti..Etc. My next advise to you is get inside the console of your website and do all the things i talked about check Bing, Yahoo, and Google for any listings with your name. I hope this helps. it's just the facts.


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## Micki23 (Jul 9, 2013)

If you cant get a Google spot with your name..something is terribly wrong..You did not Keyword or set up any meta tags said:


> I have always done my own HTML from scratch and created very user friendly sites, but then looked at WIX. They are html5. Does Google pick up htlm5 from these type of sites? I love the templates they have.


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

stephenson - it is much easier for me to sell face to face, when people seeing what the product looks like on someone, I am just struggling with online sales.

Micki - I am sending my shirts to a friend who is going to have some models and a photographer work with them. Hopefully that will help presentation of product in store, because those pictures i took are terrible. Also I am going to start looking for artists to design something for the shirts. and I will look into the tradeshows and events. Do you have any event suggestions for SoCal? once i get some model pictures it will seem less jumbled

studio ell - I agree, but i have to start somewhere so i figured I would start simple with logo and name and then work my way into some designs on the shirts. I'm in search of artists nowwww!

Brandz - I typed in Blunt Trauma and it was at the bottom of the first page... But it is my old description and I have not re done the seo meta tags for this new site yet, so i would not expect it to be at the top yet. I will work on that soon though


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## Micki23 (Jul 9, 2013)

BluntTrauma said:


> stephenson - it is much easier for me to sell face to face, when people seeing what the product looks like on someone, I am just struggling with online sales.
> 
> Micki - I am sending my shirts to a friend who is going to have some models and a photographer work with them. Hopefully that will help presentation of product in store, because those pictures i took are terrible. Also I am going to start looking for artists to design something for the shirts. and I will look into the tradeshows and events. Do you have any event suggestions for SoCal? once i get some model pictures it will seem less jumbled
> 
> ...


Blunt ... that's what I am going to do. Right now, I have my designs on tshirt templates, but I will get some models to wear them and take photos too. As for trade shows or event, google trade show calendars for your specific type of people. There are lists -- make sure you put in 2013 or 2014. And as for ranking, it takes years to get to the top. I have a club that is now first when I type it in with sub-catagories like the big guys. I did nothing but have had the site for 10 years! LOL ... I imagine you can do it faster than that.


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

BluntTrauma said:


> Brandz - I typed in Blunt Trauma and it was at the bottom of the first page...


You're not thinking like a buyer. Typing in 'Blunt Trauma' is only going to get A) people looking for something totally NOT t-shirts or B) people who already know your name, in which case they don't need to do a search for you.

Think like a buyer looking for the kinds of t-shirts and apparel you want to sell. Think about the keywords they'll type in for that, then work on SEO. It's no trouble getting decent placement using an exact match domain; your challenge is how to get buyers who are likely looking for a completely different type of site.

You can determine how many visitors are mis-finding your site by looking at its bounce rate. I suspect yours will be very high. It's just the nature of the name you've chosen. You now have to figure out ways to get around that. Frankly, you would have done better with a URL containing keywords like 'mma athletic wear' (in fact, that domain is not currently taken).


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## Ice Titan (May 10, 2013)

Nice Logo, it's cool as hell!


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## Mtnview (Nov 5, 2009)

I would like to add to what others have said by advising to get rid of these two sections until you have definitive information. Having these two sections stating "Coming Soon" and "We think we will be giving..." does not impress upon any visitors any sense of professionalism.


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## plan b (Feb 21, 2007)

BluntTrauma said:


> ya i think the slow loading may be because of the large images on the top...
> plan b if you are saying give up... i wont quit. is this a good site to test speed? Website speed test
> brandz i can not afford to pay a professional and i have fun doing it by myself.


Sorry you got me wrong, I didn't mean for you to give up , I simply meant that you should re evaluate your approach. As far as the website, I would not focus a s much on the big graphics and such but focus on your product in the eyes of the consumer, maybe do a focus group of people you don't know to get feed back on your designs and what you can do to improve your product.


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## MarStephenson761 (Sep 19, 2011)

Hey Lars, I just finished uploading this marketing presentation I did for a local event - thought there might be something useful in there somewhere.. Marketing Your Custom T Shirt Business - Online and Offline - YouTube


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

GordonM - You're right, I need to think like a buyer. I read this article (which dated a few years back, but i still think it is valuable). SEO – Secrets the high priced consultants aren’t telling you | How to Start a Clothing Company 
My bounce rate is 40% in the last week and mma athletic wear would be a nice domain name, Im sure since writing this it is gone, hahaha. 
ice titan - thankyou!
MtnView-I will work on that right now. It just takes time, which I do not have a lot of with full time work and school and Girlfriend.
PlanB- That is why I am here, for everyone's great advice. I love this forum now!
Stephenson- I will read that now.
Thanks again everyone, and here is an update.
I now have my shirts shipped to a friend with models and photographer on hand in Hollywood, probably mostly girls for the 3 new girl shirts i have, hopefully he has a couple guys to model but i doubt it. I have found a graphic artist who does awesome work so new designs will be in the works starting next week. I will continue to improve the website and add content. 
I appreciate everyone's input, you guys are awesome!


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## lynch (Apr 18, 2011)

This is just my 2 cents so take it for what it's worth  also I haven't really read any of the other comments yet so I'm sorry if this is repeating everyone else.

First off, the site does load slow, which does drive people away. I'm very impatient and if I have to wait more than 45 seconds for a site to load I normally just close the tab and will "come back to it later" (meaning I'll probably forget and won't come back.) Second, the images on the main page, what do they mean? How are they part of the brand, are they images that you took? Are the people wearing your stuff? If not, it's pointless to even have it. None of your product is on the front page so you are asking a customer to search around your site to find something they want. Probably not going to happen unless they are a repeat customer. You don't need to have all of your products on the front page, but you have to give the customer a reason to stay longer on your site. 

I would also suggest investing in proper product shots. You have to remember people can't physically touch or try on your product a good photo will go a long way. Or at least learn how to edit photos using Photoshop. 

Also just curious, how are you affiliated with DC Shoes, Finish Line, Roxy etc.


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

Ya similar to previous posts. I shipped a package up to hollywood on monday, so after labor day I will have the pictures on front page replaced with models wearing product. And I will have some professional photos of product for store. But i can not do that my self, I have to wait. I hope the website doesnt really take 45 seconds to load, haha. I get some good times and some bad times, but it has never been double digits.
I just got 2.17... let me know what you get. Website speed test
You can apply to be affiliates with those companies, and then you put a link to their page on yours or you can just put their products in your store and it redirects buyer to their site and you get a % of sale or clicks.


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## lynch (Apr 18, 2011)

Sorry for the repeat suggestions lol. Understood on the affiliate thing, and your speed to your site was 2.17, I tested mine and it was 1.39. I shouldn't have said 45 seconds I was exaggerating lol. Glad you're making improvements and listening to peoples suggestions it's the only way any company can grow and succeed. Best of luck man!


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

Thanks i appreciate it. As soon as I have all the content I think i need, then I will go back and work on finding the problems with the speed. Just doing one thing at a time. Can NOT wait for photos to get back to me, i feel like that will help open some options up.


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## junior509 (Aug 29, 2013)

*I'm new here look for some help*

Hello everyone I am new here to this forum board.. I was looking for a blog where i could of post this but most of them had zero reply's.. I am new to **** printing i have a brand that im trying to come out with i already did a few research on t-shirt printing i got a website that im about to lunch soon. i even brought a eBook from tshirtrichards.com but it never hurts to get more advise i been checking out a few different company's that makes screen transfer. I already ordered some from transfer express they really make some good transfers my next order is going to be from ace transfer..

what i need help with right now is finding a good printer so i can do some screen transfers from home for my self i brought some transfers before from a guy who got a Epson wf1100 he told me that its discontinued now. He told me if i am looking to buy a good one look for one that supports CIS or continuous ink. Please share with me or reefer me to website where i can buy a good printer that support CIS my budget is about 500. And im also look for where i can get some really good transfer paper once i get a printer something that doesn't show to much white on the t-shirt.

And one more thing should i just keep a stock of t-shirts or order t-shirt when i get a order since im just starting off if i keep a stock of shirt how many would you recommend to keep in stock


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## BluntTrauma (Jan 27, 2013)

If you want my opinion, (others may have different theory), but I think if you are starting a brand you should find someone to do the screen printing for you. Learning to screen print and buying all the equipment and supplies is a lot to do if you are starting a brand. If you want to start screen printing for others then that is fine, but I do not think you would have a lot of time to focus on your brand. So my advice is to pick one or the other, not both.


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

If a customer goes to your site you have less than 3 seconds to grab their attention. Having all that flash BS on the landing page blows that whole time limit.

When I am shopping online I want to see products or product categories on the front page and I want to see information or a link to information on where you are physically located and how to contact you with a phone number. I do not want to and will not hunt for that info. Another thing that turns me away from online business is a lack of pricing listed which is not an issue in your case but just wanted to mention that as well.

So going to your site I would immediately leave as there is nothing on the landing page that shows me your product offerings. I do not care what your clothing line concept story line is and do not what to hear it.

When I do find my way to your product page for t-shirts, well the red design looks like crap and looks like a big chunk of heat pressed vinyl on the shirt. I would not pay 5 bucks for that. If it is heat pressed vinyl, get a different embellishment method. If it is screen printed, fire your printer. There is no reason that print should look like a shiny piece of plastic stuck on a shirt.


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