Feeling Discouraged.....

[Brismom1]

I have been working so hard and so consistently on my websites and I am just not getting the returns that I want.

Can anyone tell me from experience how long it takes to start seeing a profit and a steady stream of sales? I just feel like I am doing all of the right things and nothing is happening.

I don't understand.

Any words of encouragement would be great ......

[kellymccausey]

Hey there How long have you been at it? Are you seeing traffic? Can you share a little glimpse into your stats and traffic sources?

[cjhallock]

I have personally be working on internet marketing for almost 2 years now and have yet to make a dime from any affiliate sites or anything similar! I know that its hard and I understand how you feel but there is a quote that keeps me going...(if I get this wrong, please no one kill me) "People quit without realizing that their next step was success!"

Just keep your head up and Believe in yourself...

Not sure about your standings but this video may help with your situation I seen it about 3 days ago and It changed A LOT!!

http://tonyrobbinstraining.com/328/john-tony/

Hope this helps!!

[Lynn Terry]

2 years - seriously? Wow...

How many affiliate sites do you have, CJ?

[Brismom1]

Hey there How long have you been at it? Are you seeing traffic? Can you share a little glimpse into your stats and traffic sources?



In response to this,

I am seeing traffic , for the kids chair world site I have been working at it for 7 months, I have made a few sales..
The visitors for August were 2129, 1479 unique visitors. I do all of my own marketing for this site.


For the Brianna's Bedding and Beyond site I am also seeing traffic, 2606 visitors about 1700 unique visitors for the month of August and increasing every month. For this site I have made sales roughly 1 sale per 170 unique visitors. This site I have been working on for almost a year. For this site also I have a marketing company working on the marketing and traffic.


I guess my frustration is that possibly I am working really hard is because I am managing two sites rather than 1 at a time...... not sure, just wish that I was really seeing greater returns for the effort.

Thanks..

[Adriana]

Here are a few things you may want to look into to increase sales (looking at the kids chairs site):

- your header is too "tall" and takes up a lot of your precious "real estate". you need to make it narrower, so that you get to your content quicker.

- which page/s do your get your visitors through? If most of them come through your home page, you need to find a way to get them thorough your specific product pages.

- on your product pages, you may want to tweak the design: move your picture to the left instead of right (think how amazon.com lays out their pages), add a buy button higher on the page, as well as leaving the one you have now. Also include pricing on your product pages: you are probably losing potential customers because it's taking too long until they know what they are getting and for how much. Include shipping costs as well: give them a complete picture, and I can almost guarantee you'll increase sales.

- I would also take off the gray outline around your product description/picture: it creates a barrier.

Hope that helps.

[HireMyMum]

Hi Bris

Just for my two basic cents ... I think they look lovely ... on both sites I would move the specials to the top.

On Kids Chairs I would add a call to action (Lynn is sitting on my shoulder atm) to a great offer to get those sign ups.

On the bedding site I know you have a small one on the very top of page but I hardly noticed it and it doesn't tell the average Joe what they need to do (obvious to us but not to everyone).

Also on the bedding site I clicked on your giveaway, which could do to have a nice big graphic, and it went to a blog post with no opt in or entry box, and I wasn't even sure at first if I was on the right page. It also took me a minute to work out what I needed to do to enter. I think these are some simple changes that you could make to make a difference.

I hope this helps a little.

Cheers
Leigh

[lindastacy]

Before you start making changes, you probably need a better understanding of what's working and what isn't. In Kelly's question she also asked about traffic sources.

When you know more about where the paying customers came from, which keyword searches result in sales and which result in quick exits, or how far into your site visitors get before leaving without purchasing, etc. you can then focus on doing more of what works and improving what doesn't.

Also remember that the economy over the past year has hurt sales for many people. Things are supposedly picking up so hopefully your sales will improve too.

[Brismom1]

I appreciate all of your replies, I will work on absorbing it all......

thanks so much..

[Jan Ferrante]

I really like your sites, they are beautifully presented.

I am thinking that you need to focus your efforts on getting in front of parents with a good disposable income. I'm not sure exactly how you would do that but it could be a good place to start brainstorming.

Your products are very nice, but you have to be in front of a market that has the $ to buy it obviously - those are the people who would likely be very excited by your offerings as well because they probably 'decorate' etc.

I wonder if you may even be able to find professional decorators who may use your products if you could give them a discount? Is there anywhere offline that you could advertise, preferably cheaply or for free to your target market of affluent parents (not that other people possibly couldn't afford your things, but you'd make many more sales to those in the upper income bracket I'd think).

For example, you'd do much better if you could somehow get some marketing material to parents dropping their kids at a corporate daycare (which could be a great idea) rather than hanging a pamphlet at the grocery store.

What cart are you using? Was it hard to set up?