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The document discusses how one website owner increased revenue by $10 million by making one key change to their website. It describes how the owner, Steve, established himself as an expert in dog training and supplies by providing extensive product information, reviews, and recommendations on the site. It emphasizes providing unique, helpful content like buyers' guides, product descriptions, reviews and opinions to help customers and boost sales.
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- 3. PIC: Steve usingon photo shoot
- 4. PIC: Steve usingon photo shoot
- 5. PIC: Steve usingon photo shoot
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- 7. One Web SiteChange = $10 Million Revenue Rob Snell Gundogsupply.com PubCon South 2010
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- 23. 1989-Mar 1997: Dog Store
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- 29. Year 4: Store vs. Web
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- 32. Web Sales February-June 2003 “ normal”
- 33. Web Sales February-June 2004 “ not normal”
- 34. Just offering things for sale isn’t enough Recreate walk-ins or phone call experience ON THE WEB
- 35. One simple, significant change
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- 37. Web Sales Before 1997 2004 2010
- 38. Web Sales Before 1997 2004 2010
- 39. Web Sales After 1997 2004 2010
- 40. Web Sales Actual Lift 1997 2004 2010 $10 million
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- 42. Not just for ecommerce sites…
- 43. Need to communicate3 things:
- 44. Steve is an expert in dog training & supplies.
- 45. Steve says this product is what you need for your dog .
- 46. Please buy it from us.
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- 48. Steve isan expert.
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- 50. Show, don’ttell.
- 51. Put it onthe Web site.
- 52. (Steve’s been doing this for a while)
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- 55. (Steve has 16 dogs.)
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- 66. (Steve knows dogtraining gear.)
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- 70. “ I havebeen using the same model e-collar since 1998. I have tried at least 50 or 60 new systems over the last 11 years …I started using a prototype in September 2008 and have not looked back..”
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- 74. PIC: Better in the field
- 75. PIC: Better in the field
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- 77. Make a namefor yourself online.
- 78. Put a nameand face on your site
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- 81. People buy frompeople
- 82. Stats tell whatworks
- 83. … Google’s evenbetter
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- 85. Steve says this product is what you need for your dog.
- 86. Recommend products thatsolve customers’ problems “ Tired of losing your dog? Buy this tracking collar!” :
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- 88. Buyers’ guides 50% higher conversion rate
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- 90. Quick Picks: CollarChart
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- 95. Provide more infothan anyone
- 96. Tip: Write one new paragraph for every $10 in item price
- 97. Write unique product descriptions
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- 99. Google loves uniquecontent
- 100. Tired of searchingfor your hunting dog in tall grass or dense cover? Now you can leave the hunting entirely to him. Introducing Astro, the first high sensitivity GPS-enabled dog tracking system for hunters and sportsmen. This unique system pinpoints your dog’s position and shows you exactly where he is, even when you can’t see or hear him. Manufacturer’s product description:
- 101. 1-10 of 1770Lazy And this
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- 103. Provide more photos than anyone
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- 110. Express your opinionswith product reviews
- 111. “ The SD-1825is so cool it is now the only training collar I will use on my bird dogs and retrievers.” Endorse products you use:
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- 113. “ To getthe full range out of a system there should be nothing between the transmitter and the receiver. Realistically, this isn't going to happen in most of the places that we spend time with our dogs, so the actual usable range will be less …” Be honest:
- 114. “ My expectationsfor the Garmin Astro were really high. I wanted it to be amazing but I expected it to fall short. Boy, was I wrong .” -- Steve Snell Show enthusiasm:
- 115. Provide commentary onproduct pages
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- 117. more content drivesmore traffic opinions provided since 2003
- 118. How do youmake this stuff?
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- 121. Got $60? Getan Olympus VN-6200 PC.
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- 123. 2) Interview folks.Transcribe audio into text.
- 124. Rob: Howdo you teach a dog how to sit? Steve: Well the simple way to do it is to start with a little bitty puppy. And when we are feeding a little bitty puppy, we don’t just put the food down and let him run up and eat. We start to teach patience and discipline. The simple way to do it is you set the food bowl down, take the puppy, and make him sit. You just physically take him by the collar. You put your hand on his back right below the tail and just force him into a sit. With an eight week old puppy it is a pretty simple thing to do. They are small and they are wiggly, but they can’t fight you. You make him sit there for about five seconds tops. All we are trying to do is get him in the position and physically make him understand that just because he wants to go, he can’t go. You do it real quick, like I said, five seconds, and then you release him. You release him with whatever command you want it to be. I use, “All right. OK.” Just be consistent with it. Rob: How long does it take him to learn? Steve: Not long. You usually feed puppies two or three times a day, so you are getting in little short training sessions. Each time you increase it a second or two. Now you have got him sitting there for 10 seconds or 15 seconds. Three days later he is sitting there for a minute. Pavlov man; that is all it is.
- 125. 3) Take productsand play “ 20 Questions”
- 126. Who ? What? When? Where? Why? How Much?
- 127. Emails w/ customerquestions? WORD.doc > 1000 page Warner’s wisdom
- 128. 4) Take photosof everything!
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- 133. 5) Shoot videoof anything you can demo
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- 142. “ Liberate ” manufacturer created content
- 143. *It’s easier toget forgiveness than permission: Nothing contained on this web site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel, or otherwise, any license or right to distribute, modify, transmit, use, re-use, or re-post any of Innotek®, Inc. Intellectual Property displayed on this web site without the express written permission of Innotek®, Inc.
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- 146. Transcribe DVDs &Videos
- 147. Text from packaging& POP
- 148. Make manufacturer imagesyour own Text from packaging & POP
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- 152. How can Istop my barking dog? Steve says: I love my bark limiter! It works
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- 156. Tell folks why they should pick you!
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- 158. Tell folks there’s no risk shopping with you
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- 160. Tell folks youhave it & when they’ll get it
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- 162. Get answers toyour questions, fast
- 163. You can always talk to a human
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- 166. Everyone says they give great customer service
- 167. If it’s an opinion , let your customers do the talking.
- 168. “ Customer serviceat Gun Dog Supply is excellent! If you shop anywhere else, you are wasting your time! ”
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- 171. who | what| why compelling content: text, pix, video
- 172. Web Sales Actual Lift 1997 2004 2010 $10 million
- 173. more info /free stuff: RobSnell.com 4:15pm Spotlight Session: C
Editor's Notes
- #3 Anything you would need to train or work your hunting dog, we probably sell it.
- #9 And then disaster happened.
- #10 My dad was a hunter, and he ordered some dog supplies from a catalog, and he got back a bunch of junk. He said, "I can do better than this!"
- #11 History Lesson HISTORY -- My parents started Gun Dog Supply on their kitchen table in 1972 as a part-time business.
- #12 And he always wanted his own business, so he started making dog supplies: collars, leads, leashes.
- #13 To sell his collars he bought these tiny little classified ads
- #14 Folks would order through the mail or over the phone. And to sell folks other stuff, they made a little brochure which grew into a little catalog. Every year we would make a new catalog, and hit the MAILING LIST. Notice the hand-addressed mailing label? Very low tech.
- #15 And then disaster happened.
- #16 On Friday, 13, 1979 the PEARL RIVER flooded. About 2 in the morning, My Uncle paddled up to our house in a boat to take me and my brother to dry land. My parents tried to save what they could, but essentially they got out with the clothes on their backs.
- #17 To make matters worse, most of our inventory was in our garage and completely ruined. And our homeowner's INSURANCE didn't cover floods. You guys know -- it's hard enough to start a new business when everything is going pretty smoothly, but they were starting off in the hole.
- #18 We pulled together as a family and all four of us worked in the business. Even though we were selling all over the US by mail order, customers in Mississippi wanted to come visit, so we added a retail showroom.
- #19 Since all of our customers had dogs, we added a few lines of premium dog food ,
- #20 And then disaster happened.
- #21 Grew up in retail. Been self-employed for over 20 years. My brother STEVE and I started our business in college in 1988. Opened 5 retail stores (which we sold by 2001)
- #22 And then disaster happened.
- #23 Petsmart is the Wal-mart for pets. They sell dog food, cat food, pet supplies, everything that we sold and then some. Petsmart announced that come March 2006 they were opening a store literally across the highway from my parent’s store.
- #24 And this is what happens when petsmart opens up across the street We didn’t just let them take it. We fought back with lower prices, extended hours, a loyalty program, and MUCH more aggressive marketing. our sales are off, but not as much as we feared, but our margins are tighter, our marketing costs are higher.
- #25 So our NEXT response was to go back to our roots. What worked before we – selling training supplies for hunting dog supplies, but not just locally, we needed a bigger market. One where one move couldn’t put us down. We decided to REBOOT the catalog Reboot Catalog And this was a MAJOR, MAJOR project. At the time, my brother and I own another company, with 5 retail stores, which had it’s own challenges, but I drop what I’m doing and for most of 3 or 4 months, I moved into my parents’ house to work on THEIR catalog.
- #26 So my MOM sees this commercial on TV about these girls selling their products online. Remember, it's late 1996 / early 1997. And she becomes OBSESSED about selling on the Internet. I had been online since 1990, but I didn't see what the big deal was. And I tried to explain to her that business on the Web were about going public, and getting your IPO, and these guys CERTAINLY didn’t seem to be interested in making a profit. And developers were charging tens of thousands of dollars JUST to make a Web site. And I didn’t see ANY small businesses, especially retailers, making money online, but at this point we had 5 of our own physical stores, so I’m sure I was pretty heavily invested in the idea of people buying things from me in our REAL stores. She wouldn't hear anything of it, she just wanted a Web site. And when my momma gets her mind set on something happening, it's probably gonna happen.
- #27 1997 E-commerce consulting specializing in Y! Yahoo! let’s me write and speak to their 50,000 retailers Write my own blog, do Seminars
- #29 And then disaster happened.
- #30 Year 4 of the Store vs. Web Again, notice the SCALE of the graph has changed. WEB is over 6x the Store and at this point we sold the DOG STORE to concentrate on the Web…
- #31 1997 E-commerce consulting specializing in Y! Yahoo! let’s me write and speak to their 50,000 retailers Write my own blog, do Seminars
- #32 And then disaster happened.
- #44 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #45 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #46 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #47 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #49 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #51 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #61 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #86 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #91 Which features are important
- #103 We spent hundreds of hours working on this thing: writing descriptions, and taking pictures, and re-designing a completely updated version of our dog-supply catalog. We printed 5000 copies, and mailed a catalog to every single former customer on our mailing list. I’m exhausted. And what happened? Nothing. We got virtually no response — in six months we took in about $5,000 in orders, which was nowhere near enough to offset our lost sales.
- #119 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #152 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.
- #155 The trend in retail in the United States over the past 20 years is for these huge companies, these big box "category killer" stores to come into a market and just take over. It's not just Wal-Mart, it's every category. And it kills these mom and pop businesses. And the PET MARKET is no different.