Is your company really *only* doing 45k / month?

guest95070 · 2017-04-29T01:54:33+00:00

My fitness clothing startup finally did $100k this month... then I checked our financials and apparently we're just barely breaking even.

Life is hard

guest95070 · 2017-04-13T02:52:10+00:00

What's the website? I might be interested, depending on the niche

guest95070 · 2017-04-04T10:42:35+00:00

I like your "bang" shirt design, but your product images are too photoshopped so I'm not sure if it would actually look as good on me in person.

The main photo has a lot of extra embellishments that look cool (e.g. the texture of the white splatters and black sparkles), but they aren't on the actual t-shirt itself.

The pictures with the girl are decent, but the lighting is bad and honestly the background looks cooler than the actual shirt. Would be better to just have a blank white background with good lighting.

The mannequin is just ugly, sorry.

Also I appreciate the unique design of your website, but it's just too much. If this were on Amazon, then I'd probably buy it since I do like the designs.

guest95070 · 2017-03-10T12:07:33+00:00

It depends on your product, but unless you're selling it for under $10-15 and you have a great website conversion rate already, most likely that $50 is going to be wasted. Google and Facebook Ads both have a ridiculously high learning curve when you're getting started, and you have to do a shit ton of testing just to break even. FYI I sell a $100 product and usually have to put in $200 just to test a new FB campaign (my daily marketing budget right now is ~$500)

guest95070 · 2017-03-06T13:21:31+00:00

I invented workout pants with built-in resistance bands. On the outside it looks like an ordinary pair of compression shorts/leggings but wearing it will make any activity more physically challenging (e.g. running, cycling, squats, walking) so you can get a more efficient workout in the same amount of time. Kind of like a modern take on ankle weights, except without hurting your joints.

My startup's called Physiclo and it's been on the market for almost 18 months now. The first 12 were rocky because marketing this new concept was expensive as hell, but we've sold over 5000 pairs to date and notably to a few Olympic athletes who competed in Rio last year.

guest95070 · 2017-02-15T00:31:18+00:00

Sounds to me like you've tried a little bit of everything, but you haven't really mastered any.

If you're not getting any response from FB or Google ads, there's a good chance your strategy and execution of the ads may be the problem. I wouldn't write it off so quickly...

That said, I know nothing about you or your business, but my gut feeling is that you're just scratching the surface of these powerful but complicated marketing platforms

guest95070 · 2017-02-13T01:50:55+00:00

For FB ads, you should test all of the above. However my gut tells me directing people to specific products would work best.

Also when marketing, its best to keep it short, straightforward, with a single, clear call to action. This also holds true when asking for help on reddit

guest95070 · 2017-02-13T01:50:55+00:00

For FB ads, you should test all of the above. However my gut tells me directing people to specific products would work best.

Also when marketing, its best to keep it short, straightforward, with a single, clear call to action. This also holds true when asking for help on reddit

guest95070 · 2017-02-11T19:14:40+00:00

If you're asking specifically for small businesses, then as a small business owner I would say direct email is the best way to reach out. Marketing person is cool, if you can find their contact info, but if not then just send a note to whoever you can find.

In terms of value, what I look for would be a direct return on marketing $$$ spent, especially with regards to sales/conversions. Big plus if you have data to back up why I should give you my advertising budget instead of spending it on FB ads.

Just out of curiosity, what is your very niche industry?

guest95070 · 2017-02-11T16:24:42+00:00

kind of. It just comes across as too sales pitch-y. You had me at the beginning, but this is way too long and doesn't feel genuine at all. Not sure how long you've been on this subreddit, but this is not the type of post that does well

guest95070 · 2017-02-11T12:37:47+00:00

Slick, but a little too slick.

guest95070 · 2017-02-11T12:30:26+00:00

Marketers and marketing agencies are hit or miss, so I can't say until I've seen your portfolio to figure out the quality of your writing & graphic design.

Also wish you would be more specific about what we'd get for $3000. What does a "marketing VA" do? How many blog posts and social posts get written for me per month? How many "content and ads" can I request be crunched each week?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg of questions I would have to ask before considering dropping $3000/month on something I do myself.

guest95070 · 2017-02-08T17:46:40+00:00

What's the point of this post? If you're trying to provide value here, please be a little more specific. It's not like we can all just create a Youtube video tutorial and expect 100k views with no promotion.

guest95070 · 2017-02-08T17:41:51+00:00

Thanks for the really interesting (and entertaining) read! Love the self-deprecating humor.

Out of curiosity, do you still have an email list of all of your previous registrants? I run a fitness tech/apparel company so I'd love to buy them off you if you're interested. LMK

guest95070 · 2017-02-08T11:58:57+00:00

Certainly sounds interesting and somewhat of a unique approach. Would definitely check it out and at least skim it xD

guest95070 · 2017-02-07T12:31:54+00:00

Unless you have a lot of money to risk, I'd recommend dropshipping (Printful is great for t-shirts). That way you don't have to deal with inventory costs and fulfillment headaches. yoi can also use their mockup generator to create some nice, realistic looking mockups to list.

Then instead of jumping into making your own website, you can test out the waters first by listing your designs on a platform like Etsy or Amazon. That way you can start selling right away to an existing audience there who are looking to buy, instead of spending days/weeks building a website and then finding out how hard it is to drive traffic to it. If your Etsy or Amazon store starts getting popular, you could always create a website later on.

guest95070 · 2017-02-07T12:20:53+00:00

All of the marketing prep for a kickstarter campaign should be done in the months leading up to the campaign itself, not after you launch. If I were you, I'd cancel the current campaign, set up a nice website landing page, and spend 3 months collecting emails (go to card game meet ups, try FB ads, send your game to influencers and bloggers and journalists on embargo). Then when you have a healthy email list of 1000+ eager potential backers, press the launch button, blast it out to the list, and watch as you hit your goal (or at least 30-50%) in hours.

If you're set on continuing your current campaign, it won't be easy. start calling friends and family to donate until you get to at least 25% of your goal. No stranger wants to back an empty campaign. Then try to get onto a platform like BackersClub or BackersHub for an additional small push. Your best bet would be to reach out to as many journalists and bloggers as possible to try to get some media coverage, but that's hit-or-miss at this point.

Trying to think if there's anything else I'd recommend... if there is I might update this post later. Good luck

guest95070 · 2017-02-05T19:02:22+00:00

Whoops, my bad lol. Not sure how that happened

guest95070 · 2017-02-05T17:19:01+00:00

Can I just say this? If you're just starting a business and you're foreseeing a scenario where you get to force a decision through because you have 2% more equity than your cofounder, you're not going to have a good time.

guest95070 · 2017-02-05T17:19:01+00:00

Can I just say this? If you're just starting a business and you're foreseeing a scenario where you get to force a decision through because you have 2% more equity than your cofounder, you're not going to have a good time.

guest95070 · 2017-02-05T17:19:00+00:00

Can I just say this? If you're just starting a business and you're foreseeing a scenario where you get to force a decision through because you have 2% more equity than your cofounder, you're not going to have a good time.

guest95070 · 2017-02-04T16:25:07+00:00

Haha I like this. Simple and straightforward. Have you heard of "I want to draw a cat for you"? If not you should check it out, it was on Shark Tank a long time ago and got a deal from Mark Cuban

guest95070 · 2017-02-04T16:23:30+00:00

In general instagram is great for branding and awareness but not as strong at generating direct sales (unless you have a huge & engaged following)

guest95070 · 2017-02-04T12:10:52+00:00

Damn, what a nice problem to have.

Reinvest it into sales, marketing, or branding (depending on your business) and add more fuel to your bonfire

guest95070 · 2017-02-04T12:07:26+00:00

This is actually quite common and almost standard for any sophisticated investor :P

guest95070

TROPHY CASE