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Ask HN: How on earth can I grow an "adult" company?

• deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
• mattblalock 16y ago
  A little more information: I'm really struggling to make anything happen. I'm hustling daily in every way possible, but it seems I'm really spinning my wheels up against companies who (reportedly) spend upwards of $40,000 a day in Google ads... Everywhere I turn, I'm being banned, removed, and not permitted to really speak about anything just because I offer products that are specifically for grownups. I mean, I can't even advertise in the GoneWild Reddit... despite the fact that it is 99% porn and naked people... I don't even sell porn and you won't find a single naked person on our website... its totally bazarre. I'd be very, very open to any and all suggestions for growth.
  • joeycfan 16y ago
    I know the feeling - I used to work for a firm that runs 7 sex shops in Toronto. We were constantly treated like crap by everyone not in the business and I learned to never mention it outside the office. Even the bank was dealt with gingerly. And the whole business is as unsexy as possible. Trust me, your ten thousandth rubber penis might as well be a can of beans.
  • toppy 16y ago
    How big is your customer/subscriber base?
    • mattblalock 16y ago
      Customer base is about 2,000, about 10%-20% repeat customers.
• coverband 16y ago
  I think it's a promising business actually. Have you decided who should be your customers? Women who see your ads and buy it directly, or men who buy it for their girlfriends/spouses? Since G. Ads seem to be expensive for you, then you'll need to switch to guerilla marketing and try to go viral. Hire a few local kids and film a sexy+funny sketch, post it on YT/FB/Vimeo, etc.; link to HN and ask for help with your site ('check'); promote it as a better gift for mother's day/birthdays/etc. Post on wedding registry sites to target bachelorette parties -- in fact, generate a bachelorette party package with free tiaras and pink bags; don't think about dildos, think about a fun accessory that will improve your customer's sex life...
  • mattblalock 16y ago
    Some of the things we've done in attempts to go viral: -We gave away about 16,000 $25 gift cards, a limited number each day for a month. Didn't work so well, ended up with a bunch of people just getting them because they we're free. Had a very low percentage of ideal customers. Pretty much a disaster. -Introduced Free Toy Friday (may be changing the name to Pleasure Fridays, or something else). We draw a name from our e-mail subscribers to be given a free something in the $50 price range. The FTF has garnered about 200 or so new subscribers in the past week. We introduced it about two weeks ago. When starting, my plan was to target directly to a more conservative or discerning woman but we honestly have far more male customers buying for their lady friends. I still want to be reaching to the women, but I think I'm honestly reaching more men - both in advertising/promotions and in actual conversions. I really like the video idea, but in my attempts to maintain a very classy feel, its hard to go sexy or funny without losing the message. Or at least I've had trouble with that.
    • coverband 16y ago
      - Don't give away free gift cards -- make your audience earn it by doing something for you (e.g. have 10 of their buddies friend you on Facebook, etc.) - Try to have an ongoing conversation with your customers using your distribution list. I don't mean just advertising sale items in your email; something like "see how our customers are using this" or interesting info/stats they can read without complaining about spam. Of course, you need to make sure your emails go through via abiding by all requirements of an ethical sender. - Did you try affiliate sales? If your customers are mostly male, affiliate sales from male oriented sites might be significant. - Did you try offline advertising to get to a female audience? Magazine ads in Cosmo, etc.?
• staunch 16y ago
  What makes your site different from the 10,000 other sites selling sex toys on the internet? Why would a customer buy from you and not a more trusted/bigger brand?
  • mattblalock 16y ago
    Quality products, our Happiness Guarantee, and fast discreet shipping. -Every product we offer we have deemed body safe and high quality. We have a 2% complaint rule; if 2% of a product's sales result in a complaint, we stop selling it. -Free 90 day returns. Almost unheard of. Most retailers offer no returns or a 7 day guarantee. We stand behind our products. -We deliver 98% of orders in 48 hours or less in boring brown boxes.
    • staunch 16y ago
      Discreet shipping and quality products don't seem very different. A liberal returns policy could be though. The Zappos Strategy. Get people to tell themselves that they're not really "buying" a toy, they're just going to try it out and then return it and get their money back. Store credit is meaningless -- that is not a refund. Free shipping is essential as well. Both ways. Otherwise people are thinking about how much the shipping will cost. The key is for people to think they can screw the store. They'll try out a toy, return it, and be out no money. The secret is that most people buy something and either enjoy it enough, or are too lazy, to return it. That's when you win. The problem is that you need to have enough money/inventory to support the people that do return. Obviously you have to have limits, to minimize abuse. This costs money though. It may not be a strategy you can afford to pursue.
      • mattblalock 16y ago
        Discreet shipping and quality aren't very different. The quality service (phone, live chat, and e-mail) also play a part in our difference. Or so I like to think... I tried free shipping for a while, maybe two months, and found absolutely no increase in sales or average ticket. This was after tring a flat rate, $5 for all orders, 1 item or 40. No real change there. When I said "Screw it!" and switched to a calculated Priority Mail, I saw a 200% increase in average order - and I've stuck with that. Maybe I should give free shipping another try, I can do some A/B testing with free shipping and see how it goes for conversion rates. The biggest problem is attracting new eyes. Google ads are just far too expensive and not netting any real results (1-3% conversions).
• johnl 16y ago
  Being "adult" may not be the problem. You may want to think of the problem as a "niche market" problem. Retail companies that succeed in niche markets do so by branding themselves better than everyone else. You might look for a different "niche" to market like adding hair trimmers, body washes, etc to attract a different clientele and market the higher margin toys as a website afterthought.
  • mattblalock 16y ago
    We spent about 5 months away from sourcing adult products and attempting to carry high end bath and body products. The problem was always that the manufacturers didn't want to be sold next to adult products... Completely absurd, considering they'd probably love to be carried by Drugstore.com (or Amazon, for that matter) that works heavily in this industry. I've even flown out to some of these places, random little towns, to meet and understand the manufacturers. They won't touch our business with a 10 foot pole...