

Buy these 9 things - acoyfellow
http://buythese9things.com

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helipad
Seems like a more executive-toyish version of Justin Oullette's
theshittoget.com

Why would someone go to the site though? (this post notwithstanding)

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acoyfellow
Wow, i've never seen this website.. If I had, I would have most likely
rethought my design, thinking people would consider mine a knock off.. Oh
well, mine isn't, and I like it. (Uncanny though)

I was really aiming for an outlet to sell items, that are personally endorsed
by me. I understand HN's viewers will most likely not buy my items- I was
assuming the more than likely purchaser would be someone who I know directly,
or indirectly, already. I have a large number of contacts of people I know
personally, one time or another, who I have healthy relationships with. I'd
estimate that number to be in the low 1,000 range.

I want to try and make those 1,000 people know that I 1) run this service, 2)
love the items, and 3) update it regularly with new items. If i can get a
small base of fans who enjoy this idea, then I can push to expand that number
of happy people..

I was really coming to HN for advice on how to grow this into a sustainable
business idea. I've gotten great advice so far, and it's all welcomed warmly.

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helipad
The reason I like Justin's site (we don't know each other) is because you can
tell it is:

a) personally curated b) not updated too often (i.e. tried and tested
products) and c) supposed to be a definitive resource for someone who doesn't
want to shop around & trusts his opinion

It might be an idea to avoid the generic or goofy items that make it look like
your own personal Pinterest, and instead make it a site where your network of
friends genuinely benefit from your personal experience of the items.

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acoyfellow
Awesome.. Great points to take to heart, since his site and my idea are
actually so similar. I'm a little ashamed of myself for not knowing about his
site before I started working on 9things.

It's ok though.. He's got a job and a rep. I don't have either, so I've got to
make it work for me :)

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kjhughes
I like the nice, clean design, and you have cool things listed.

What are your plans for generating traffic? A major challenge will be that
Google expects affiliate sites to add value and won't rank "thin" affiliates
high in search results. How will Buythese9things.com overcome this obstacle,
or will you have other ways to bring in users?

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acoyfellow
Traffic: I am figuring out which keywords I want to attack- but I play on
going on the paid ad's route for traffic. Hopefully I can get a good base of
"fans" who check back now and again to see a new set of items. I have future
plans to either allow comments, or to basically write some content on each
item. Hopefully that will be good enough for google?

This is also one of my main concerns- and I think it could be one of my
largest. I also plan on making this a new way for me Personally to sell items-
so over time people come to understand that these items are curated by me, and
they either come to trust or distrust (and not come back) my taste

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Macsenour
I would add a timer. The end of the time, no matter how long it is, it shows
the next 9 things and the timer resets.

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acoyfellow
Wow I enjoy this idea very much.. It will give an instant incentive to want to
check back. Thank you very much Macsenour!

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Macsenour
You're very welcome. You could also extend this to asking for email adrs to
send an alert: "New items are up!".

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bdpuk
Any thoughts on hooking it up to amazon wish lists or using some sort of
recently visited css hack to "guess" what people have been looking at
recently? Or even hooking it up to twitter/facebook to see what products users
and friends of users are talking about and rounding it down to 9?

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acoyfellow
I was hoping to actually hooking up with companies (9 diff ones?) to offer a
new weekly exclusive sale

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acoyfellow
Would love some crit on this as a business idea.. I'm heavily inspired by
everything I see and read here on HN. If you have a moment, read the F.A.Q if
you have minor questions. If you could leave any comments here, they will be
treasured.

I'd appreciate it more than you could know.

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callmeed
So, what's the play here? Do I get to create my own 9 things? (FYI I was
hoping I could).

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MidwestMuster
Or give me sliders so I can crank down fashion and crank up geek toys!

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acoyfellow
I dig this idea very much. Good tip, I appreciate it MidwestMuster! I will
consider this or a variation of it for the future. You'll get credit!

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slig
Let the user add his/hers emails address to get an update whenever you have
new stuff.

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acoyfellow
_smacks head_ Duh.. Thank you for pointing this out

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m0skit0
Cool page. Although I would never put a pixel of mine inside a StarBucks shop.

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acoyfellow
Hahaha I understand. It was a cop out item I just threw in, figuring it was
cheap, everyone drinks coffee, and I needed a different category of item.

Your opinion is appreciated though, thanks for commenting!

