Comments on BlogCoach: Grow Your Blog: Critique This Blog #1: Cheap Hunter

I think the concept for the blog is pretty clear, ...

2008-07-18T18:33:00.000-04:00

I think the concept for the blog is pretty clear, but I agree with some of the other commenters that because deals may not apply depending on your readers' locations, you'd be better off focusing on online deals. Because nothing will turn readers off faster than going to a store thinking they've found a deal only to find out that it doesn't exist at their local store.

As far as the design, I think the monochromatic color scheme and the fact that all the fonts (headlines and post copy) have a very similar bold weight makes it hard to tell which to click. There is no obvious hierarchy.

Something else I just noticed: I like the "New De...

2008-07-14T00:18:00.000-04:00

Something else I just noticed: I like the "New Deals" section on the right side. This could be featured even more prominently, and/or with more listed (10 or 15) to highlight the latest things that people have posted. Kind of an at-a-glance way of seeing what new deals have been posted.

Something else to consider: if you offer feeds, subscribers probably won't get updates if the new deals are just in the comments field, but if you offer posts, even if they're short ones saying "2 new deals posted for Ann Taylor today," they'll pop up on feed readers and will help people keep up with the site.

I read all of my blogs on a feed reader and don't usually remember to go back and check for updates to comments unless there's a new post on the blog itself.

Andrea, just a note about ads . . . if you're usin...

2008-07-14T00:13:00.000-04:00

Andrea, just a note about ads . . . if you're using the free WP templates (at wordpress.com, the free site), you can't have ads at this time. There's been talk of adding it in the future, but so far I haven't seen that it's available. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong!) That's the only real drawback I've found so far about Wordpress. Then again, I've heard that most people don't make much money on ads anyway, and they're another thing to try to fit into your "look" without making it cluttered, so I haven't lost any sleep yet over not having ads on my site.

First off, thanks to Angie and the blog coach comm...

2008-07-12T09:03:00.000-04:00

First off, thanks to Angie and the blog coach community for your very wonderful, insightful, and spot on thoughts. I agree with pretty much everything.

However, I've no $$ to spare right now, so I'm using a free WP blog template. Any structure is based on Chris Pearson's Cutline template. I love that it's clean, but I am limited with what I can do. I hear bloggers maybe better, but I would have to pay to have some of the features I have for free now at WP. Deal with the devil sort of.

I used to work retail for many years and I know that employees may have to "cultivate" regular, money-spending clients (which is easier if you work at Chanel, but not so easy if you're at Kohl's). I hated calling people (it would be emails now, though) and I felt I would only want to be called or contacted when there was a really good sale at my local store. But you feel cheap (ahem) if you ask an employee to do that. Store generated emails haven't been targeted enough and often push their online sales. One of my eventual plans was to contact the store managers in person and find out their sale schedules so I can help drive sales to their stores without them even doing anything… which leads me to…

When you find a deal it is not always the same at the next store/deals for stores vary too much by each store in a chain: That is my worry, and part of my "if I had money to program a website of my own" I would do regions. I have a good head for site structure, but trying to plug my ideas into a free blog template isn't quite working. But I'm thinking, unless I find I'm wrong after talking to a store manager, etc, that if Gap has a sale here in the northeast, my friend in So Cal can also walk into her Gap and find the same sale. Not trying to say "you can find a Mossimo tee for $1.99" just saying " a sneaky extra 25% off of clearance has just appeared". I really have to research this more.

Without lots of current deals, you won't attract readers. How will you get lots of current deals? Readers: I totally am going to do everything I can to get readers (if the concept itself has legs). Like GasBuddy depends on contributors for the lowest prices, I have to have my eyes in the malls too. I haven't even shown my husband this blog idea, nor any of my friends so it's basically a lone blog skeleton right now. I feel once I have the concept and mechanics tight, I can start promoting it, doing all the blogging community marketing you learn here at Blog Coach, and have my friends "pass it on" and contribute. I know many of my friends I can count on to seed the blog at first.

What's the incentive to add a deal I know about? Just takes a minute, but what if I don't have a minute? I have no incentive other than the pleasure one gets passing a deal along- like you found a hidden treasure (this also can be a regular priced item that is a fab find.) I cannot do an incentive other than that (like free gift cards or anything). We're on a tight budget in my house right now.

Regarding any of the blog formatting (removing dates, moving comments location, widgets, adding/changing anything, feeds, subscriptions…) I am a total newnerd when it comes to blogging in a serious way. But I'm learning. I also know nothing about how to get the ads I might want.

I'm concerned that it makes a better message board: Gah! I really do dislike message boards. Sorry, but I see exactly why you would suggest one. I also wanted an environment for people to visit that would be fashion/style conscious (once we had actual FOUND! outfits to post) AND deal conscious. I mentioned the Sartorialist as one of my inspirations. His blog is very plain but has lovely photos with awesome clothes. People who loves clothes love his website. I would like to expand on that idea- not just good taste for good taste's sake, but a practical, moneysaving blog/site that happens to care a lot about fashion as well as showing off people's love for a deal and their personal style.

It appears to be a deal hunting site for the physical stores (not online deals): Yes. It clears my head and inspires me when I pass through the clothing racks, what can I say? I like going into stores, it's so low-tech. I take my baby and we cruise around retail areas. Online deals have been done well into infinity on many blogs and websites. I would much rather visit a blog/site like that than run one. I would plan on making the "brick + mortar" distinction much more clear in future design iterations.

PLEASE, keep the feedback/dialog coming and I will let Angie know how I do… THANKS!!!!

Posting my comments before reading the others so I...

2008-07-11T18:28:00.000-04:00

Posting my comments before reading the others so I'm not influenced by others' ideas...

Is your blog design one that shows the comments below each post, or will people have to click through to see the comments (deals)? I can see cons in both ways--if they're posted directly below, the pages are going to get reeeallllyyyy long after a while. On the other hand, if people have to click through to the comments, they'll miss having deals "catch their eyes." I wonder if having separate pages instead of a long list of posts would be better in the way of organization? Then people could go to the stores they are most interested in.

Also, will you request that people leave specifics about where they found their bargains, i.e a specific format like: Great shirt, $2.99, Ann Taylor in Anytown Mall, etc. I'm sure the markdowns and deals will vary from store to store.

Personally, I don't know that this is a site I'd use regularly because I'm a lover of the hunt, and it seems that anytime I hear about deals at a particular store, they're gone by the time I get there. But I'm sure there are others who would love this concept!

Hope this helps. Good luck with your project!

minnemom

I agree with others that depending on the area you...

2008-07-11T15:01:00.000-04:00

I agree with others that depending on the area you live in they may or may not have the same deals. I think you might have better luck if you were to focus more on online stores.

I also think it would be nice to see a couple of your own posts. I think if you don't have any unique content it will be hard to draw readers in. If you don't have any readers then you concept really won't work well. Good Luck!!!

I looked quickly at it - and it appears to be a de...

2008-07-11T14:01:00.000-04:00

I looked quickly at it - and it appears to be a deal hunting site for the physical stores (not online deals). If this is not the focus, then consider clarifying so that your purpose can easily be determined by any new visitor in less than a minute.

My opinion is that the deals for stores vary too much by each store in a chain and by region for this to be a helpful resource. Readers go crazy if you send them hunting for a deal that doesn't exist - just because it's at your store doesn't mean it's at all stores nationwide. This is especially true for clearanced items which is where the best deals can be had.

Again - if I missed the mark on what this blog is all about, please clarify it at the top of the blog by adding an "About" or "Purpose" statement. People always want to know what your blog covers subject-wise upon first glance.

That said, having looked through the other comment...

2008-07-11T13:16:00.000-04:00

That said, having looked through the other comments, I like what everyone had to say... I wouldn't change your blog look to be too fancy, just a bit more refined...more finished. I really prefer simple blogs and I agree that the simplicity in design for your blog will play into your concept.
Also, I think you really do need to build a community of folks who are working with you content-wise. You have to build content to bring them in, but once you have a loyal reader community I think you'll be in good shape. Jeremiah's point about the catch-22 is a good one, though.

I'm going to post my comments before reading anyon...

2008-07-11T13:09:00.000-04:00

I'm going to post my comments before reading anyone else's so please forgive me for being repetitive. I'll try to be as critical as I can, since I would so value the same feedback on my own pretty-new blog!

I like the idea--one place to check for good deals where I shop, but I'm concerned that it makes a better message board than blog (like hotcouponworld.com), particularly if you're not adding a lot of your own content. Your content is what's going to bring folks in (and keep them coming back!), so it really has to be the primary focus.
I think that your "found" category sounds like fun (particularly since I'm that kind of shopper!), and you might use this concept to build some of your content. I've really been inspired by www.simplemom.net this week (I think Angie pointed me that way, thanks Angie!), and you might look at her blog in terms of style and the sorts of articles she's posting. I feel like she conveys a lot of information and there's room for her readers to contribute.
As for your layout, I think it's a pretty tough thing to get right. Currently, what you're working with looks a little unfinished. The title is a bit out of proportion and your header doesn't look especially polished. I might integrate the two into a single, polished, graphic header (that's what I did at librarycollective.blogspot.com, and what you find at zrecs, baby cheapskate, etc; I think it works well visually and is more concise space-wise)

So, all that said, I think your idea is worth pursuing, and your writing style is pretty good, so work on refining it!
Good luck!

I can't speak to whether it is a sound concept bas...

2008-07-11T12:48:00.000-04:00

I can't speak to whether it is a sound concept based on how sales work at chain retailers. But as a blog, I like the idea and I like seeing people use blogs in unusual ways. I see some challenges:

1. Without lots of current deals, you won't attract readers. How will you get lots of current deals? Readers. Catch-22 you need a plan of action for.

2. What's the incentive to add a deal I know about? Just takes a minute, but what if I don't have a minute?

A few suggestions:

1. Keep the "bare bones" look. You may be planning a fancier design but I say whatever it is, throw it away and keep this. In this case (and I say this in all seriousness) this blog advertises CHEAPNESS in every way. Looking cheap, but clean, is a major asset. It is branding.

2. Remove dates from your posts. This is easy to do in Blogger, not sure about in Wordpress. But it is really weird seeing dates on posts you will be using indefinitely. If Wordpress can't do this, I'd seriously consider a different blogging platform - otherwise you will be forever turning away potential readers who drop in and think you have old content. Doesn't matter how obvious it might seem to you, that first glance will kill you and your traffic will suffer forever.

3. You really should have a way for people to subscribe to the comments of individual posts. Blogger can do this if WordPress can't.

4. Change your comment widget to show an unusually high number of comments, if this is the main way people will find the deals, and position comments in an unusually prominent position on your blog that reflects that feature's importance.

5. Add store logos to your posts and a bit of standardized company info - what they sell, link to a map of locations or a corporate site, whatever. You need fodder for search engines and at least SOME reward for visiting the post even if there are no deals there.

6. No one needs to see companies on the front page; why not have regular posting as well, and have all the company posts buried in archives (and accessible through whatever link/directory format you like? You could use labels/tags on your posts with the letters A-Z, and then have links that would show all posts labeled A, all posts, labeled B, etc. etc. like A|B|C|D|E|F|G across the top of your post column. And then...

7. You could use new posts, which would dominate the front page of the blog and be the "feed" that folks might subscribe to, for major sale announcements - crib them (with credit) from DealTime, Bargainist, whatever to start. Then...

8. You could add Jott posting and allow people who registered with you as "deal divas" etc. to send in tips to your blog that would be posted immediately as "hot tips" from the field - they'd have you on speed dial and you'd probably see high contribution rates from such heavily invested supporters. You as the blog admin could then link to those posts from the comments.

If you are interested in but don't know how to do some or any of these things, I do also do paid blog consulting and coding.

I agree the concept is great but I would suggest c...

2008-07-11T12:04:00.000-04:00

I agree the concept is great but I would suggest creating more of a network where regular contributors shares their finds. You can either have contributors focused regionally or by stores they frequent. If I can help with anything, please let me know.

I like the concept. The only problem I have is th...

2008-07-11T10:37:00.000-04:00

I like the concept. The only problem I have is that when you find a deal it is not always the same at the next store. Such as Old Navy...Two store on the same street don't have the same deal. But great idea so we have an idea of what to expect! Saves the leg time.