SEORoss

Wow, lookin' SWEET!

Different results will appear depending on your geo location - so the Canada thing definitely explains it, but as an SEO geek, it's still a great accomplishment!! Good job!

For those of you defending KY, that's awesome - I don't think anyone here is saying they aren't top quality...I'd love to try some of their stuff! However, it's a known fact in the e-commerce world that little things like not providing shipping costs up front is a massive turn off! It's just one of those things that you need to have in order to not lose a potential customer's short attention span. It's extremely easy to implement, and most reputable online retailers (in any industry), will provide this info up front if they're serious about capturing as many new customers as possible. It just makes sense. Oh well, no big deal really!

Edit - disregard, I see it's for tarts, oh well!

Good idea, dreamfaerie. I'll try the putty knife next...for some reason I never thought of that! What I've recently done is upon receiving a case, I'll open it up, cut down the plastic on the sides so that I have easy open access, and start weighing out 16oz chunks. I then (with gloves) roll the wax into a ball (since it's usually all gooey and not perfectly square). I then wrap each ball (label the size if I do anything other than 16oz) and put them back in the box it shipped in (for storage). Works like a charm and makes for super easy access! My neighbors probably think I'm running a drug lab.

Awesome! As far as "2002"...I meant it reminded me of the overall style of websites in that particular time period. Again, not horrible, just looks a little dated. But seriously, that's only my personal opinion, I'm sure others will disagree/agree. I do really like the soft blue color though, very easy on the eyeballs. As far as the browser situation, when I maximized (in FF and IE) on my monitor at home, the "new products in June" bar is broken on the right side. If I start sizing down the browser window, at some point it will look right again. Anyway, best of luck with your site and your products!!

Being 100% honest: Pros - 1. Great color scheme. Very easy on the eyes. 2. Pretty clear navigation. 3. Estimated shipping costs without signing in (big bonus for me). Cons - 1. Overall site looks like it came straight out of 2002. 2. The fluid architecture breaks when I maximize site on widescreen monitor. 3. Logo/header look extremely amateur. 4. Lack of buttons/effects leaves me wanting more. Too plain. Again, see #1. 5. Remember to generate an .xml sitemap for GWT (Google Webmaster Tools) 6. Need some basic on-page SEO work (optimizing title tag, meta data, header tags, etc...). Here's some free info for ya - your meta description tag is full of keywords - a very common mistake. That's what the "meta keywords" tag is for. Your meta description tag should be just that, an actual mini-description for your site. Why? Because this is what Google and other search engines will potentially use in the search results....in other words, it's one of the first things that potential customers see when they come across your site on a search engine results page (besides your title tag). So make the description neat and professional, but don't forget to "naturally" work in a few keywords/keyphrases. Character limit for meta description is around 150 characters before Google truncates it. These may be little things, but taking the time to write unique title tags and meta data for each page will go a long way in your overall SEO strategy, making your site much more visible (which means more customers, of course!). These little things are what SEO service providers will charge an arm and a leg for. Otherwise, I hope you don't take my "2002" comment negatively - it just looks like something from "back in the day". Perhaps when you get things rolling and have the extra dough, it would enhance sales and your customer "trust" level to have a more professional looking site done. With tons of freelancers out there looking for work, you won't have to pay sky high prices for it either. Also, get a good logo done as soon as possible. Just having a sharp looking logo/header can actually help keep a customer on your site longer (again, that "trust" thing). When people see amateur designs/layouts, they assume that you're potentially another fly-by-nighter, and they have no reason to spend their money with you. You can land an awesome looking logo these days for as little as $20-$30. As a "mom & pop" small business, you need every advantage on your side that you can get in order to gain customer trust these days. Why order from a questionable looking website when they can go to your competitor's NICE site and buy a similar product at a similar price. Being completely honest, if I didn't know anything about you and ended up on your site, I highly doubt I would shell out any amount of money just due to the overall look. Not everyone is like this, but many are! I could go on and on, but I don't want to offend you or make it any more complicated. Looking at my notes above, there is a positive in all this - at least you have something out there! Your site isn't terrible by any means (I've seen a ton worse), but I just think it could be soo, soo much better. Just think of some of the suppliers that are mentioned on these forums...if it weren't for the positive feedback and general popularity, I HIGHLY doubt they would get half the business they do because their websites are look like stuff I used to design back in '98. I can't imagine how much their business would ramp up if they took the time/money to overhaul and get current. A few of the suppliers that DO look current are some of the top suppliers talked about around here (CandleScience, Peak). Ah, but I digress....again. If you're serious about doing serious business online, invest in that little piece of virtual real estate and make the most out of it. It really will pay off in the future!!!

So funny! Working with this wax (which I love), I've gone through 5 ice cream scoops (I still can't find a heavy duty enough one!) and several wooden utensils. The wax is soft, but it's like a utensil death trap! It's all worth it though, that's for sure. Best thing about 4627 is the easy cleanup (paper towels wipe it right off of anything).

I know it sounds lazy, but this minor setback (not being able to see shipping costs before you start typing away your information) is something that will make me NOT use that supplier. Some of the more well known and popular suppliers have this option (which is great) where I can see the shipping costs before committing to the purchase. If other suppliers would make that happen, I bet they would receive a noticeable amount of extra business, as I'm sure I'm not the only one that does this!

While I can certainly appreciate going to an established designer for a logo/label or whatever, I know that a lot of folks hesitate because the price is typically pretty high. What I've done (and what thousands of others do), is hit up one of the big webmaster forums like Digital Point, go to their "contests" section, and hold a logo or label design contest. I've done this dozens, if not hundreds of times (for various websites/blogs/products) and over the course of a few years I've literally saved thousands of dollars (comparing what it would have cost me to go to a "professional" designer). Oh, and the quality will vary, of course, but I guess what I like most is the fact that I get entries from several people (sometimes 15-20+) and I can pick which concept I like the most and then work with that person. And even though the quality of entries will vary, I've always had really awesome designers enter my contests, and end up with thousand dollar logos for $25 or so. There are a lot of "starving" freelance designers over there that are ready to jump on your project for next to nothing. Anyway, just wanted to offer another avenue of approach for your design needs. - Ross

Nice to meet all of you as well! Hopefully you can take an idea or two out of this novel of a post And yes, Cibaria, I agree! Social media is HOT, and only getting hotter!

First sign of a scam - a novel sized email with words like "arrange" and "shipping agent"...lol It's scary that people still fall for this stuff. Glad you trashed it.

Hey all! Been lurking here for a few months, and was so wrapped up in all of the advice/testing/testing/testing that I never took 2 minutes to register...so here I am! Pleasure to meet ya! I just wanted to take the time to chime in with a little friendly marketing advice for those of you who are perhaps looking for creative or more non-traditional forms of getting your candles/products "out there". Hope you don't mind, and I hope it gives you an idea or two. -- Oh...and let me qualify the following info - I've worked as an internet marketing specialist for several years as a hobby, and then I took the corporate plunge and started doing it for a local digital publishing company. I'm a total geek about this stuff, and I noticed that quite a few of you could use some help! 1. Twitter - Before you sigh out of curious frustration, let me tell you - Twitter is a SBOs (small business owner) GOLDMINE. At first, everybody thought Twitter was a glorified geeky way of posting nonsense about your day, and in some respects, it still is....but oh let me tell you, with "local search" being the hottest topic of the year, and with Twitter's ability to let small and large business owners connect directly with their customers in real-time - I'll go as far as saying that if you run a business, and you're not "Tweeting" with your "Tweeps" then you're missing out on business. Not to mention the fact that Twitter is one of the easiest (and FREE) ways to spread the word about your product. Seriously, folks, the company that I work for would not pay me what they pay me if they thought my daily Twitterings about the company weren't bringing in leads for the sales team. I'll leave it at that (any questions, just PM me). 2. Blog - Yeah, I would guess a good portion of you are at least somewhat familiar with the blogosphere, but for those that aren't, then you're in for a surprise! Whether you run a full e-commerce site with a blog on the side, or maybe even just a blog by itself as the face of your company, blogs can be a wonderful and POWERFUL tool to spread the word about your candles and also one of the easiest ways to brand yourself in the digital world. If you're a complete noob to blogging, I would recommend Blogger.com or Wordpress.com (free blogging services) to get started. Just sign up, customize your blog to your ability, and start talking about your product. The other "fancy" stuff will come in time...the free blogs are just a way for you to get your feet wet. When you're ready to step it up to a self-hosted Wordpress.org blog, well, then we'll talk about some serious action! Again, about 50% of my responsibility at my company is keeping up with their blog (which I launched last year). It really works! 3. Facebook - Again, this is another social networking tool that 99% of you know about, and a good portion of that 99% probably use it to some degree....but did you know that promoting your business on Facebook is one of the easiest and most powerful way to build a virtual "following" of your brand/product? Some of the most successful companies out there are promoting their facebook pages in huge ad campaigns. Why? Because it works! They understand that millions of people use it every day, and regular people like to connect with companies that are "in touch". Some average companies have Facebook fan pages with hundreds of thousands or even millions of fans...that's because when someone likes your product, they WILL talk about it, and one of the quickest ways to spread that ever-so-desirable "word of mouth" is virtuall, on networks like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, etc...Anyhow, to start a Facebook page for your business, here's the link. 4. Squidoo & Hubpages - These types of sites are sort of like mini-websites that revolved around a specific topic. Why use these and not just your regular website or a blog? Ideally, you want to combine the best of all worlds and use everything. Squidoo.com "lenses" and HubPages sites are easy, free, and quite the compliment to your existing website and/or blog. In a nutshell, you create a page (typically the name of your business, but make sure you get a keyword or two in there...like "candles", "soap", "bath & body" or whatever it is that you sell). These mini-pages serve as awesome FREE billboards for your existing website, and the reason they are useful is because Google and other search engines trust them - in other words, they already have a lot of good existing search engine "juice". Chances are good that those pages will rank higher and faster than if you just used a blog or website. That's why they're good for complimenting your current web scheme. Take advantage of their "juice" and boost your overall SEO (search engine optimization) strategy. On these mini-pages, you can add links to your own website/blog, videos, pics, articles, recipes, or anything else you want to share. Remember, search engines LOVE fresh, unique content, so the more you add, the more search engine spider action it will receive! Any questions on these types of sites - just let me know 5. PPC (Pay-Per-Click) - The methods above are all mostly in the realm of "free" when it comes to cost, but this one isn't - and for good reason. Just a quick primer, if you're not sure what I mean by "PPC", go do a quick Google search for just about anything...try "cell phones". See all the ads at the top and on the right hand side of your results page? Those are all paid ads. The companies running those ads are "bidding" on those positions. It's a very fast and efficient way to get TONS of relevant customers looking at your company name (and hopefully clicking through to your website). Anyone can run PPC ads (and all the major search engines have PPC programs, heck, even Facebook allows you to run ads!) and it's not all that difficult! Now you're probably wondering how this would benefit a chandler? Simple - go do a quick Google search for "homemade candles". It's a VERY active keyword! LOTS of business to be had - why aren't you appearing in the PPC ads? I did some quick research, and the keyword "homemade candles" (and similar phrases), gets over 10,000 searches per month (in Google alone!). You could easily grab a piece of that pie and it doesn't have to cost a fortune either. When you set up these PPC ads (basically you write a small ad, then pick an amount...say .40 cents, that you're willing to pay when someone clicks it), you can set daily or monthly budgets so that you never go over your advertising budget. Heck, start with $25 for the month and see what happens...you may be surprised! Google calls their PPC program "Google Adwords", which you can find here. They even start you out in a "beginner" mode, and it's extremely easy to use. Give it a whirl! Okay, I'll stop there...I don't want to bring too much "information overload"...but my point is - I see a WONDERFUL group of people here that produce a HOT prouct that people WILL buy - you just have to get their eyeballs on it! Luckily, in this digital age, you can do that and all it costs you is your time. So if you're wiling to invest a little time and research, it could really pay off for the long run. Again, candles are smoking hot right now (no pun intended) - as they are one of life's little luxuries that don't cost a fortune. In this economic downturn, people are looking for the simple pleasures, and YOU GUYS CAN GIVE IT TO THEM! Lastly, I've given more of a top level overview for the methods above, so if you need more detailed information, by all means, let me know. I've received tons of free advice on this forum, and I have no problem chipping in with my skill set. For the bigger "fish" out there, I do SEO/social media consulting on the side, so if you're ever looking for someone to setup a little campaign for your business, (don't worry, I don't charge a fortune - I'm just a regular dude ) just drop me a message. Hope this helps someone out there, or at the very least, inspires you to learn more about this new exciting advertising age. Now, I have candles to test, so I'll holler at you later! Ross