

Show HN: Need feedback on new website/concept - joeytom

Hi,<p>I spent the last couple of months developing OurClubFundraiser(http://www.ourclubfundraiser.com) and launched it about two weeks ago.I would love to get some feedback from the HN community on how I could improve the site and tweak the concept.<p>Since launching I have found that: 
1)    I am not getting enough visits(Average around 5 a day)
2)    Any of the visits I do get are not converting.<p>I am working on 1) and will hopefully be able to dramatically increase the number of visits over the next few weeks.<p>I could really do with some third party perspectives on point 2.<p>1)Is the concept not explained well enough?
2)Have I got the pricing wrong? 
3)Is there a problem with the concept that I am missing?<p>Any advice given would be greatly appreciated.
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Sodaware
I can think of a few changes I'd make off the top.

I'd put the pricing info on the front page, right next to how much money they
could bring in. The profit calculator is a neat toy, but you could summarise
the info and put it on the homepage.

Get rid of that ticker in the top, or at least remove the seconds. I found it
very distracting. The how it works page is also a bit tight. Maybe have some
bigger number bullets and cut it down to important points.

Make a big point of the "risk free" terms. It didn't really stand out to me.

Really, the big points are:

\- You can raise a lot of money in a fun way.

\- It's cheap to register.

\- IF you don't raise enough, we refund the charge.

That's a pretty good deal, so put it right in front of people.

Maybe you could offer some branding/subdomain options for clubs, so they can
tell players to sign up at myclub.ourclubfundraiser.com or similar. Do players
really need to see a profit calculator?

5 visits a day isn't really enough to find out anything meaningful. More
importantly, the target audience is probably not willing (or able) to drop
those kinds of fees right away. I know when I did volunteer work it could take
ages to get things done, and when money was involved it took even longer.

Given the audience, I can think of a few changes that might help.

Ask for an email address and send more information. Some case studies would be
nice too. It doesn't have to be anything huge, just "thanks for requesting
info: here's how it works, here's how it's helped people, any questions ask
away". Send one or two followup emails to see if they need help setting up of
have questions.

You may have to take a more direct route to getting customers, such as
emailing local clubs to see if they're interested. AdWords and Facebook ads
are other ways to get a quick boost of interest, but I'm guessing the direct
approach will work better.

Hope that helps!

~~~
ed17
Emailing local clubs may prove successful but your worry there is that a
"fundraising" email may get marked down as spam.

You have to find a way to target the decision-makers in a club. It may be a
case of knocking on doors, attending events etc. to get those first clubs on
board.

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pjnewton
As far as converting goes I would say the following:

1.) Your headline gets my attention (That is if I am in the market for a
fundraising solution) 2.) The copy below the headline does a fairly good job
of gaining my interest is just what it is you do. Maybe a little less wordy, a
couple main features listed here would be good. 3.) The big problem I see with
the copy is that it doesn't do much to create desire. You caught my attention,
got me interested in what you have, but now I'd like to be led down the I WANT
THIS, I NEED THIS path. I think some of the suggestions on here would help,
outlining the big benefits to me, maybe show some proof.

If you can figure out how to get your ideal customer to really desire what you
offer it should be pretty easy to get them to click that 'Start Raising...'
button.

There is a lot going on that distracted me from clicking on the 'Start
Raising...' button. I see you button, but I also see this video looking thing
to the right, I see a calculator that looks interesting, there is a countdown
in the corner that is drawing my eye away from your CTA, there's scrolling
pictures in the bottom corner drawing my eye away, etc.

Hope this helps!

~~~
joeytom
Thanks very much for taking the time to respond to this. It is a massive help.
I am going to start making the changes recommended on this thread over the
next few days.

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zio99
To take some cues from a similar website: <http://www.fundscrip.com/>

1) _Over $6 Million Raised!_ Add numbers, they show traction no matter how
low.

2) Rule of three: _No donating, No sympathy purchases, No door-to-door sales._
Pitch your service in three lines.

3) Market segmentation: _Groups, Supporters, Retailers._ Rather than a one-
size fits all website, do a "Find out more" for each type of visitor to your
website to improve conversion.

Hope this helps. Additionally, you could outsource the copywriting and set up
some goals on Google Analytics to study visitor flow.

~~~
joeytom
Thanks for that feedback. I had never come across fundscrip.com before, I will
check them out.

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ed17
It is an interesting concept and I can see how it could be beneficial to an
organization.

However, I don't think you sell it well enough, especially on the Pricing
page. I need more of an incentive - tell me what I'm getting for that price.
Is that price a subscription, one-off payment or what? Is there a free-trial?
What happens if I miss the count-down deadline?

~~~
joeytom
Thanks for the comment. Good points made, I will put together a list of
advantages for the pricing page and a clear outline of what you get for your
money. There is a free trial, it is something I need to advertise more. Thanks
again!

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pbjorklund
1\. That counter that changes each second is really annoying and adds no
value. 2\. I could not figure out what you do by just reading the first
paragraph 3\. After some more browsing I still don't get it

Todo 1\. Less animations - Each time something changes my eye drifts towards
it and disrupts my thinking 2\. Make a small video explaining what you do

~~~
joeytom
Thanks for the feedback. I am currently working on a video. Hope to have it
live soon.

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dgunn
Not an answer to your question but the profit estimator allows the user to
replace the text in the final output at the bottom. I wouldn't make that an
input since it's for display only. Header tag would probably be best. I click
and highlight text as I read (habit) and I accidentally erased it. :)

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lordring101
Very interesting concept. I agree with some of the other posters. It needs a
video explaining how the concept works. You need to capture your audience and
not leave them wondering what's what

~~~
joeytom
Thanks for that. It is definitely something I will work on! Thanks to the HN
community for the feedback.

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codegeek
clickable <http://www.ourclubfundraiser.com>

Decent design. Your "how it works" page has too much text I think. Cut it down
a little. I mean the step by step process.

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cmaxwell
This is very focused on sport. Perhaps it would make sense to have something
sport related on the front page. I don't run an organization but I am
interested in sports and like sports pools. When I visited your site I didn't
really get it and probably would have closed it not understanding it was sport
related. However now that I get it I am interested it.

I would focus less on the club benefits and more on how fun it is to play.
Very few people run clubs/organizations but tons of people would be interested
in playing and might nudge organizers towards it.

------
cmaxwell
Also consider Facebook ads and target people who like things like Sports
Pools, Online Sports Gambling, etc.

I bet you won't get a lot of direct conversions but indirectly I bet you will
get more organizers getting exposed to the offering.

~~~
joeytom
I am not sure about facebook ads, it would be difficult to track conversions
as clubs usually require a lot of round table discussions before they commit
to anything. Thanks for your feedback!

