4. You can’t play buzzword bingo in the boob business.
Every industry has its jargon. Every professional likes to use that jargon to show their expertise. Every company likes to emphasise their cute product names that marketing spent so much time creating. But here’s the thing … most customers don’t care about any of that. They want to hear their problems discussed in language they understand. And they want a solution that they understand. THEN and only then should you give your solution a pretty name that they may pass onto their friends.
- Lingerie of the Day, Freya “Patsy” D-HH Cup Sizes
- Better Bra Review, Freya “Pier” Bikini 34HH
- Thoughts On The Freya “Pier” Bikini
- Better Bra Review, Tutti Rouge “Fifi” 34E
- Lingerie of the Day, Miss Mandalay “Amelie” DD+ Cup Sizes
None of these headlines really appeal to your customers, unless they are already specifically interested in those exact product lines. And unless you’re selling commodities at the lowest prices, why would they be?
What we need to do is draw people in with headlines that talk to their specific needs, problems or desires. Here are some suggestions, off the top of my head…
- 5 cute beach bikini’s for smaller cup ladies.
- Reader challenge: “Thanks to breastfeeding, I no longer have a bathing suit top that fits. Help.”
- I am speaking directly to the DD+ busted crowd here, you haven’t lived until you have discovered Cup Sized Swimwear like this…
- Customer review: Soft cup bras, how to avoid the dreaded visible nipple.
See how each headline now more specifically talks to one particular customer or problem? These are mostly lines I quickly scanned and grabbed out of your posts. The key is to make each post with a specific customer and their real problem in mind. NOT with a product in mind. The product is just the solution. You have to grab the CUSTOMER’s attention first. It’s all about THEM and their problems.
Action: Go through your products and reviews and find the unique problems that each of these products solve. Then rewrite your headlines to be more compelling.
5. Don’t confuse your customers. And don’t send them offsite unless you have to.
Let’s look at the sidebar. The most prominent thing you have featured is a directory for real world Bra retailers. It contains just 3 listings. (Which I have to click twice to get through to).
Then you have a list of banner ads that seem to lead to other people’s products, offsite. Including one to another bra fitting specialist. Isn’t that what you do? There’s also a banner that simply says “musings”, which took me 5 minutes to find out was another website for your freelance writing services. Totally unclear and irrelevant to people wanting bra advice.
Then further down you have more banner ads linking to your own content. There are 18 different options in your sidebar. Not including the 6 social media buttons. (Two of which don’t work.) It’s really not clear to your customers where any of these banners will take them and whether the destination is onsite or off.
I understand how tough it is to turn a profit when you’re starting out. You’re hustling to generate money and create a sense of community any which way you can. But spreading yourself too thin is never the way to do it. And if you have to send people away from your own products to make a few advertising bucks, you’re doing something seriously wrong with your own product and you need to shine some light on that.
As a retailer, your goal is to sell your own products. If you’re a magazine making money from ads, your goal is to hook people with appealing but weak content, so their attention shifts to the ads! Both models rarely work together. Especially not when you’re starting out.
Action: First of all, claim your position as the host of this website with a headshot and brief introduction. Either in the sidebar or at the base of each post or both. Then make it very clear which parts of your sidebar are necessary internal navigation and which are external products that you endorse. Lose anything that isn’t leading your customers to a deeper relationship with you. Or a sale of your products.
6. Pick one business model. Do one thing well. Master your craft.
I think the biggest challenge you face with the website overall, is that there isn’t ONE clear message about what this site can do for the customer and one way for you to deliver on that promise. I know it’s all about Bras, but that’s about it. There’s too many Bras. You’re trying to be all Bras to all people. That confusion is reflected in the fact that you have FOUR separate “About us” pages. If we don’t have clarity ourselves, how can we expect our customers to feel at home?
There’s talk of Bra parties, an offline model. There’s a Bra directory. There’s an online Bra store. There are lots of different people involved in the site, other experts, reviewers, but no clear instant host to guide me.
I think you need to super simplify. Pick one way to make money and focus on it until you make it work. None of these ideas seem to have been taken very far.
The general idea behind the site seems to be Bra Fitting. So, the main problem is, “women have poorly fitting bras”. Which to me sounds like a real-world problem, not one easily fixed virtually. That isn’t to say you can’t use the internet to talk about it, but focus on filtering people into the real-world meet ups for your Bra Fitting parties.
- Lose the directories and outside advertisers.
- Lose the model photographs.
- Keep the “real women” reviews.
- Focus content on customers’ specific problems, not individual products.
- Focus on Canada, Canadian news and local interaction.
Bring the basic problem to the FRONT of your website. On one of your many “About us” pages you say:
We have all heard the statistic that says 80% of women are wearing the wrong size bra. Better Bras Canada is here to challenge that statistic and ask why!?
Why are so many Canadian women content to settle for less when your boobs deserve better. Here in Canada our lingerie industry is dominated by lingerie retailers who cater to only a small portion of the demographic. Sure they offer bras in every colour under the rainbow but where is the support? It doesn’t help that many bra manufactures limit their size offerings and make it impossible for busty women to find a Better Bra. A recent poll revealed that the average bra size in North America is a 36DD. The most popular bra fashion retailers only offer bra sizing up to a 40DDD! This leaves a whole bunch of people out of the loop- forced to make do with the limited size offerings and squeezing themselves and their poor boobs into ill-fitting bras. No wonder so many people are wearing the wrong size?
This is a very clear problem. Save the boobs! And your “bra fit parties” are a very clear solution. THAT makes sense. Have THAT on the homepage. A clear problem and a clear solution. Have people sign-up by email to find their nearest bra fitting party in Canada and get some instant expert advice in the mean time.
All you need to dive into the party selling model is to put it front and center. Focus on the problem. Focus on local people. Find a host. Turn up with a bunch of samples and a couple of bottles of cheap wine. Show your expertise and your solutions and take orders. Make one business model work before trying to grow into all these different things and be everything to everyone online.
Action:
Pick one business model. Plant a flag. Commit to mastering that one thing. As long as you have a real solution to a real problem, it’s usually more a matter of courage, clarity and mastering your craft. So stick with it. Stay the course, see it through, make your mark.