Felicia Coley of Rochester, New York writes:
“Over the holidays, I launched The Well-Heeled Society. It’s the first online gift registry that’s exclusively for single women.
“With us being the ‘it girls’ thanks to the backlash of The New York Times quoting the U.S. Census, which clumps 15 year-olds and up into our ‘eligible single status’, I have received local news coverage, one radio spot in California and some blog references.
“However, I have not been able to break into national media. Any advice from the Hounds would be appreciated.”
Her blog is here.
I didn’t immediately understand what I would be registering for? I love the idea, but it’s not clear. Is it registering for shoes? Is it registering for towels and blenders? I’d like to see example registries and testimonials. Also, some advice or etiquette sugeestions for springing this sort of thing on relative who may not be as amused by it.
Felicia, congrats on a great concept! But when I arrive at your website, I’m puzzled — why am I here?? What’s the purpose of the site? Add a subhead or tagline in your header. Make clear who the Well-Heeled Society is for and what benefits it provides. Good luck!
Maybe adding the tagline, “an online gift registry for single women” would make it clear what the site is all about.
Hi Felicia,
As a wedding planner I know all about registries and I have some tips….
1) You need a media kit on your website. You need to tell the media why they should write about your company. I’m working on my own right now too.
2) You don’t mention any of the press you have already received on your website or link back to the blogs that mentioned you.
3) I am pretty computer saavy but I know a lot of women who are not. You ask women to highlight the url of the product they like and then click back to your registry and paste the link there… my mother would give up. Is it possible to get this step down to one click?
4) Give the press and your consumers an angle to remember you by… as soon as I saw your site I thought of the Sex and the City episode where Cari’s shoes get stolen at a baby shower and she registers at Manola Blahnik for new ones and after a series of events her friend goes and buys them for her. Give us a story on your home page to draw us in- you should almost switch your home page story with the one you have in About Us. It’s more compelling.
5) Don’t exclude married women… they know the benefits of registering for gifts as they just went through it with their weddings. Husbands rarely know what to get their wives and probably wouldn’t mind a little advice. And there is a great press release for Valentine’s or Christmas… “Finally Husbands Know What To Get Their Wives!”
Good luck!
Actually, I didn’t see a “Sex and the City” connection in what you have now. And I’m a longtime fan of the show. But that’s been covered.
The one thing that hasn’t been covered by others is the design. You do want your site to be simple and easy to download, but this is too simple. In fact, it looks like something from the free blogging site Blogger.
You have a good logo image with the shoe, play that up a little more. And the links to the other parts of the site almost get lost on the page. They type is too small to really stand out against all the rich colors. I actually missed them on my first look at the site, thinking it was just a rule to separate the masthead from the rest.
And you might consider moving at least a few of the blog posts to the front page. A dynamic front page that will change from day to day will attract a lot more attention and tempt people to look deeper into the site.
Good luck with the site. It looks like it has great potential.
There is no easy way to reach Felicia! Clicking on the Contact Us page brings up a form to fill out, and that means journalists must wait for a reply. In the meantime, surely, they move on to other people, and other projects. I did see a “press” button at the bottom of that form. However, that is not a page for the media either. I seem to remember that Joan said to put our contact info on every page on our websites. We chose not to do that, but one click on Contact Us, and there it all is!
I suspect local journalists have more idrive to connect with you simply because you are local. And that the national media don’t have the same incentive, and will simply move on to another story. Ouch!
By the way, it does seem that your website is all about shoes, and only shoes, due to its title and the photo on your home page. This perception is reinforced by your blog which is almost all about shoes. Take a fresh look! More photos on your home page, of a variety of gifts, will go a long way to rectify that perception.
Best wishes!
I may be wrong but after looking at the blog site, here’s what I found. Yikes! There’s no “Media Center” on the blog so journalists looking for information about the blog or the company are lost in a sea of shoes. LOL
Hi Felicia,
First, I’d like to add to Joan’s comment on the website. If I was a journalist, I think I would be wondering where the “meat” is. The header of your website is lacking and needs some more information. I am not as familiar with blogs as the rest of the world, but I would be looking for more of a bio about you. Your bio is too short and needs a picture of you, too.
Second, I would use the angle of “Sex in the City” to promote your website. Have you seen the episode where Carrie registers for shoes because she asks why a single girl can’t register for the fun stuff (like baby showers)? This might be a GREAT way to grab the attention of national media ~ somewhere along the lines of “The Well-Heeled Society picks up where Sex in the City left off!”. I think it would be a great tie-in.
Best of luck! Sounds like a fun website.
Cheers,
Jennifer
I sign up for gift registries all the time.
It has nothing to do with me being single.
It has everything to do with the items that I want from my favorite stores. Promote the great items women can register for versus the idea of registering for items because we are single. After all, married women might enjoy these items too.
My immediate response was it looked like you needed to register (right side of the page) before proceeding. And I didn’t want to take the time to register for anything. Not that I would register because I’m a guy, BUT that was my immediate reaction.
I have to spend some time here to figure out what this site is about…
Women who like cool, sexy fun shoes!
Women who like to shop!
Women who want to be stylish and up-to-the-minute trendy!
I think you have talk more clearly to your target audience. I also agree with other comments above, as in contact info, etc. Good luck…
If I didn’t already know what your product was, I wouldn’t know why I was there. Also, there’s no way for a journalist to contact you other than to fill out the online form, and in my experience, they just don’t do that. Great concept though!
How to create National Attention for an online Single Women’s Registry. HMMM … OK
What I would do is begin by making a list of types of businesses that exciting women work in, Event Management, Entertainment Industry, work Google Directories, many of the sites have “email listings,” that is how you intially build your list.
Focus on Press, research newspapers, publications, event web pages by region.. let’s say DC is a GREAT region.. TONS of Single Professional Women.. LA Another! I know Tribune Corporate Directory, and UNVERSITY Corporate Directories are available.. ALUMNI are ALWAYS GREAT.
OK, so you have created your LIST… NOW..I found Microsoft Publisher to be the simplest program to “create a newsletter,” put your BEST PHOTOS ON THERE… Write some EYE CATCHING COPY, and INVITE people in one way or another..Sure you’ll have your fair share of “REMOVE ME,” but that just weeds out the people who you don’t want to bother with anyway.
Remember to ALWAYS keep your Ad Classy & Tasteful, with a Singles Site… you don’t want them to confuse you with “something Cheaper,” I find FAT BORDERS on my photos and a SHADED BACKGROUND create a Classy Presentation, Eye Catching, and is a nice Introduction.
Follow it up with a Classy Slide show of your BEST CLIENTS, and FUN EVENTS… I find SLIDESHOW.COM is the easiest program to use, you can adapt it for ANY email you use. Wait 3 days and send this SECOND MAILING. My goal was to make the name lovebulbs a household word… I was doing this monthly, while building the list, and continue to do so to this day.
Pick the Classiest Publications to place your advertising in, or attach your web address to. Make your web page Beautiful and Fun, something EASY TO ACCESS for busy people.. do the GOOGLE Research.. I have been led to the “strangest places” surfing GOOGLE, and it’s HELPED OUR BUSINESS EXPOSURE!
Finally, Host an Event, pick a Beautiful Venue, a ballroom in an Upscale Hotel possibly, and even if it is just a cocktail reception, make your invitations beautiful.. which can be done COST FREE over the INTERNET with YOUR LIST! 🙂 Just have an RSVP, Offer a Gift Bag, Food and Beverage, make that your investment.. Pick a GOOD CITY and the RIGHT TIME… Invite ALL THE PRESS, CALL THEM ALL, get their Phone number from Superpages.com.. TIME is ALL YOU NEED TO SPEND to Make THIS GREAT!
THANK YOU and BEST OF LUCK!
Forgot ONE REALLY GREAT THING! You should Go To Shecky’s GIRLS NIGHT OUT Events and “work it!” This is the GREATEST FEMALE GATHERING OUT THERE.. 12 cities, 4000 women per event..
Everyone goes there.. lovebulbs opened..2 weeks ago at the First GIRLS NIGHT OUT in NYC! Best of luck to you 🙂