"selling via e-mail only...." Topic

Hi all… Just scratching my head here a bit. I know some of you sell your miniatures via e-mail only sending invoices with paypal or goggle checkout instead of having a full featured cart system.

Is this working for you? I ask because once the original buyers who were interested in the Armies of Arcana line of miniatures bought what they needed I have had a drought as far as other sales.

So I am trying to figure out is it the via e-mail only (for the moment) selling that is the problem or is it the lack of a cart system, or is it something entirely different?

I at first thought it was the lack of a dedicated website, but the site has been up for several months now, so that shouldn't be it…

I at first thought it was the lack of a dedicated website, but the site has been up for several months now, so that shouldn't be it…

How well-known is the website? Do you keep traffic statistics on the number of visits per week/month?

Griefbringer

What Griefbringer said.

Irregular do not have a shopping cart and do very well, but they are very well known.
Shopping carts are a must I feel as people in different time zones to you can order when they are up and know the order has been placed.

I at first thought it was the lack of a dedicated website, but the site has been up for several months now, so that shouldn't be it…

Even when selling the new way, you still have to publicise the old way.

no, I'm not getting much traffic.

Had a few inquiries, but no sales…

Napthyme,

What is the website? I keep thinking about a few Snakemen or Wolfen, but when the thought occurs I can never seem to locate where you have a site for them.

Jeff

its lonegunmangames

lonegunmangames.com

Strange thing is I offered the brand new sculpts at a lower pre-order price and I got several "yeah I'll have some", but no concrete orders as to exactly what or how many they wanted….

Looking over your site the biggest problem I see is that it doesn't look like you are selling anything, just showcasing your figures.

I don't see prices and I don't see quantities (how many per pack). I don't see shipping info -- what carrier and where you ship to. I don't see what forms of payment you accept, either.

I've been doing the one-man online selling for about 10 years, and it takes a long time to build up a reputation as well as regular traffic. Sales are always slow until you have folks who buy your stuff show it off at a convention game, online review, or their regular gaming group. By periodically introducing new sculpts you will keep your name in the headlines here and increase your ranges, but what you really need is an online cheerleader. Your best customer is one who will shout to the heavens how much they like your products and show them to everyone they know (in person, online, etc.)

You can purchase banner space on lots of game related websites (don't forget online webcomics!) either directly or through "Project Wonderful". However, I think that you'll find that gamers on the whole are a pretty tactile bunch of folks that need to hold your minis in their hand in order to be impressed. Anyone can sculpt, many can produce minis, but only a few in the entire industry will ever impress gamers into purchasing products online. I believe Kev White of "Hasslefree" is one of those talented blokes that has a following that would prolly buy anything he offers.

I wish you the best, but remember that only time will weed out those who have such talent and perseverance. Add your website and a description to every email and posting on every forum to spread the word. Your website must be organized like a store with prices and shipping info, otherwise it will only appear as a gallery of pretty miniatures.

I have a useful document on SEO if you want it napthyme?

Drop me a PM.

So why not install a cart and auto-checkout….?

Trading on the net is harsh and competitive, very competitive, so don't expect soft treatment, and if you are easily offended do not read the following:

1) Speelin an GramA
2) Prices
3) better pictures
4) actual mailing costs
5) shopping cart
6) can the blog (or at least speil and grandma check it)
7) better painted figures (see 3 & 13 also) or none
8) "Our e-mail address is posted on our About Me Page." why isn't it a hotlink on this page? WHY are you making me go to yet another page? Why!? I'm on the internet, I cant be arsed buying your figures if you keep bunting me from one page to another all the time.
9) what means "world renouned"?
10)"Check out the link to there site at the top of the links page." THEIR site. (see also 8 above)
11) "Our web store is still in the developement stage, but the figure are availible for sale now." the figure – you have only one figure for sale? developement? availible? Good grief man – SPELL CHECK!
12) Change the images on the front page, fast, for the washed metal images – those are far better than any of the painted ones. The painted figures look crud, the washed-metal ones look fine.
13) this link is loosing you sales. Destroy it. Now… and any copies of it. Never let it be shown anywhere, ever again.

Your front page is where you are supposed to grab the few customers who do come your way, don't make it hard work for them, don't make yourself look and sound like a 12 year old with lemonade stand at the end of the drive promising the elixir of youth.

"The Starting of a new era in 15MM miniatures. "

Unless this is actually so, and combined with a killer website, it smacks of that brown smelly stuff that cows sometimes leave in fields.

Why make it such a grand affair, why not just say "the starting of anew era for AoA"? It makes more sense, isn't arrogant and totally OTT, is reasonable and doesn't make you sound like that 12 year old again. It also tells people what is happening, which would be rather useful as the rest of the site information is very confusing.

The Lone gunman must learn not to shoot his own feet off.

Last point: dont even think of spending more on advertising, anywhere, until you sort the site out.

Otherwsie you are simply throwing money away: click the advert, see the site, laugh and leave…99.6% of those people will never come back. Ever.

First impressions count.

I've adjusted the site for SEO, but its still not connecting me to the Armies of Arcana search fields. No clue why not really.

I'm trying to set up a vendio store, which has a widgit to put on the website, but the #$%#@* thing takes an IT degree and 12 months corporate training with them to set up apparently. I've been on the net for years and never had to contact customer service to set up any site before. I think I'm up to question number 8 already and its not published to the web yet.

@ reader name
1) spell check only helps if you can spell.
2) it took me 4 months to get changed over to the new caster, so I've only had corrected prices for about a month.
3) the pics are what Thane used and my camera skills are franky fracking awful. still not sure how I got as good a pics as I did of the new figs.
4) I use actual mail costs, so until its packed I don't know.
5)working on it
6)I've only done 3 blog entries how many spelling mistakes could there be? (PS my english grades were always F+)
7)I didn't paint them, there are only so many hours in the day to get everything done, much less take new pictures.
8)because it wasn't supposed to take 5 months to get a cart set up, but nothing about this new company has gone in the time it was supposed to.
9)no clue where was it?
10)concidering there not linking back to me why should I do better?
11)spell check does not catch dropped S's
12)again, where will the time come from to get all these new pics?
13) I can nuke that pic if it makes you happy.

I'm not starting a new era in AoA, I don't own the rules I own the miniatures. I'm starting a new line of 15MM to compliment the AoA line, not doing anything with AoA to start a new era of.

What advertising? why would I advertise until I can get the cart set up????

I'm not an english major, I'm not a copy writter, and I'm not a web designer, so I fully admit I don't know what I am doing 99% of the time.

to me there is nothing more flustrating then buying minis from a site that has no pictures at all to see what your getting so what I have is an improvement over none.

Eventually they will get replaced, but I'm working 80+ hour weeks now as it is, so its at the bottom of my list. Other things have to take presidence (Accounts for the IRS, packing orders, catching up on the two year backlog of work ebay gave me, ect.)

I've adjusted the site for SEO

Remember that this can take a lot of time to work through.

The spiders only visit small sites every 3 months or so. My site took ages to crawl up the rankings, but as I got better at the SEO, got more stuff onto it, and as people cited and linked to it, it slowly made its way up. (At least in my tiny-sub-field, it's hardly Amazon, or even TMP for that matter.)

By "advertising", I meant getting some interesting scenarios worked out, and really nicely photographed and blogged. Then link them into TMP and other forums of interest (don't spam though). Make sure the games appear at conventions too. Yes, it's truck loads of work -- anyone who has done it knows that.

Hey Mark… I don't play unfortuantely, one no time, two no opponents, three even less time.

So blogging about my gaming takes a microsecond. I think I did mageknight one afternoon 4 years ago, if that gives you any indication.

My health doesn't allow me to do cons, I gave up on retailer cons in 2006.

I intend to wholesale the figs to others who can do cons, but its under the webcart on my list of things to do.

As regards the spelling, don't rely just on a computer spell-checking – get an actual human to do a proper proof-reading.

Griefbringer

we do not use a shopping cart system, emails and paypal works fine for us.
dont forget you will never please everyone with online sales.
but just make sure you please the ones that do buy!
they are the repeat business makers.

When FAA went from a listing to a shopping cart, sales increased 25%.

While we use zencart, I am very impressed by the webhosing, shopping cart offered by Go Daddy