opening my own business

Discussion in 'Real Life Stories' started by herbalpainkilla, Mar 3, 2011.

  1. #1 herbalpainkilla, Mar 3, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 3, 2011
    well i got laid off and i'm tired of applying to jobs and not hearing anything back. i have bills to pay, and theyre not gonna pay themselves. that's why ive opened a business doing an online headshop.

    So basically, what i wanted to do is ask my future audience what they think of the website so far/additions that should be made. I need some sort of critisism, and i am accepting of both types! Just wanted to see what my fellow smokers thought: The Stealthy Smoker

    this is not an attempt in advertising!!! my site is not even set up to accept orders yet, i just wanted yalls advice and suggestion! Thanks in advance guys
     
  2. dont know why i added all that garbage to my link to my website......i just put the link there and it did that.
     
  3. #3 oceansgreen, Mar 3, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 3, 2011
    first thing that i've noticed just opening the link(i'll add more to the list as i find them)
    I like your overall design and color scheme as well as the font(s) you chose, it works well together.

    needs to be a space between featuring & artists in the first paragraph

    as i followed the link for "100's of glass pipes" i noticed the main site title/header overlaps the page header
    also on this page i think it would be nice if maybe you had a pic of your fav. piece on each of the dollar amounts(i.e. $20 and under, $25 and under...)
    and just a personal thought, i think it would look more professional if you were to change the "100's" into " Hundred's" the text just seems more professional like you are willing to take the time to type out the whole word:)
    also, I'm not sure what the skinny white box is for at the bottom of your price selection page when following the same link.

    it looks like the header overlapping the page title is showing up on pretty much all of the other pages as well...

    i like one of the zong's you have on there a lot, and if it were glass on glass i might consider a purchase, also wasn't quite sure if you worked with cash in any way?

    daily 4:20 sale... genius!
    i also like the gift certificate idea.

    overall it looks like a solid site, just fixed that which is in need of fixing and finish whatever isn't, good luck with your buisness man!
     
  4. thanks man, just changed it
     
  5. i feel its the same as every other template, nothing really original about it. makes it looks less professional.

    don't be offended, thats just how i think. =(


    edit: but the name is cool.
     
  6. First impression, I'm very impressed at how professional it looks.

    You will be putting a basic description for them right? Height, type of glass, etc?

    Biggest thing is getting it out there! I think you could have a good business here. Hope all goes well.

    I will be sure to "stop by" when you open :wave:
     
  7. no offence taken! i want some feedback! but thanks for lettin me know....my goal was actually to be original and NOT like all the other online headshops ( cause I am aware that they all are basically the same.) but thanks for the feedback brotha
     

  8. Thanks man! it's my first go at the whole online business thing. But yes, I will be adding descriptions and more products as time progresses. Just so much to do right now.

    And yes, the biggest thing is getting out there, as the market is clogged with so many headshops. But im hoping by offering a little more of a professional feel (not cluttered with ads, the large high res pictures with each piece, etc.) will give me a little bit of an advantage.

    How do you guys feel about to daily 420 sale? great or bust?
     
  9. If you are planning on getting organic traffic from search engines by using search engine optimization on your website, you should really read a guide on how to SEO your website.

    Just for a few examples :

    Your title :

    is way to long, 5-6 words is plenty, the shorter and more concise the better.
    "The Stealthy Smoker" being first in the title, get that out of there.

    What keywords are you focusing on? I doubt anyone really searches for sherloks, so get those extra keywords watering down your title out.

    Premium herb grinders, rolling machins, etc, get all of that out of the title of the homepage.

    You only want to target 2-3 keywords per page, and instead make a separate subpage for rolling machines, and put it in the title there.




    Look on google and look at what other people in your niche are doing that are already in the top 10 on google, they are doing something right, learn from it.


    edit : as for the design and aesthetic feel, I think it looks great.

    The most important thing when it comes to the internet, is ranking on the top of the search engines and get tons of free organic and targeted traffic.
     
  10. the underlined headers to every topic on the front page look weird ... Make them stand out more and get rid of the underline!
     
  11. I like it, I just think its kinda odd how you set up your buttons on there under Glass Pipes on the left hand side.

    bubblers (are they also glass pipes)
    gandolfs and sherlocks ( maybe "dry pipes" might be more appropriate idk if a lot of people know what they are off the bat)
    Screens and Sliders (accessories maybe?)

    The only reason I mention the interface is because some websites do make it really annoying to just browse pipes because of all the different categories, try to make it all interconnected almost and on the same level. Kinda like below

    Wet Pipes
    Dry Pipes
    Pipe Accessories
    ect..

    Im just being picky though, its a nice site, and I really love your 4:20 deal thing, but I missed it the first few times I saw the home page, maybe make it more noticeable. But yea, keep that Idea because if you put good deals on there, and not just 5% off here and there, you will get daily customers looking to buy pipes.....just look at websites like woot and other daily deals, people catch on quick to those if you put up good products at good prices.


    And are you selling animals and critters....or animal shaped pipes?:smoke:
     

  12. Thanks a lot man, the whole SEO thing is taking me a while to understand. Google Analytics might as well be rocket-science to me.
     
  13. I am pming you.
     

  14. I originally didn't have them underlined, but now that I change it back, i think it looks a lot better. Thanks
     
  15. nice! I like it, its much better :)
     

  16. No, this is something I have been meaning to organize for a while. I do not have a complete list of my wholesalers/suppliers so I do not know exactly what products I will be selling. As soon as I can finalize my product list, im going to organize those links. Thanks man!




    keep in mind most of my website editing seshs also include other seshs :smoke: i find stupid mistakes everyday....thanks for pointing that out!
     
  17. I thot you did a really good job with the cite. lol i was expecting an ammature website - but yours looks legit. I like the design a lot. it's clean and classy and I like how it is organized.

    However, I would make the background color more psychodelicish... after all, this is a site designed for stoners and I would appreciate going onto a site that is not only easy to navigate but visually intersting. Add some flavor to it! Make your logo better - then if your business gets big enough, you could also have shirts. BUTT if you have shits make sure theyre sick!

    Also to get your business started, if you live by the beach or something, you could sell the shirts and with the purchase give out discount coupons to your site. Create customers!

    But overall, try to make your business stand out more. So far your site looks like one among many. What makes you special?? What about you grabs people??
     
  18. i noticed when i go to why buy from us, theres nothing there, you should put something there lol
     
  19. also the wording for your site description(part right under the title, bold and white) seems a little awkward, mainly because "many, many smoker accesories" doesn't seem to flow too well, and i agree that some of the things don't need to be in that description.
     
  20. Thank you all for the help, i've already made many, many changed based on you guy's suggestions! Lovin the feedback....glad the good stoner community showed up on GS today, not those assholes that rip everyone apart.

    now im gonna take a lil break :smoke:
     

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