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Wow. Thanks for all of this. I appreciate your emotional investment. I, too, want me to suceed. - a premium experience is what I'm hoping to provide. It's what

Wow. Thanks for all of this. I appreciate your emotional investment. I, too, want me to suceed. - a premium experience is what I'm hoping to provide. It's what I offer through the experience of buying from us. Do you have any suggestions for what I could work on to provide a more premium browsing experience? Are you saying that my photos and navigation should be better? If so, what would you like to see different about them? - You're totally right. The knives page is just a bunch of knives. I know them, and I wasn't able to unknow them for the sake of development. I offer explanations of the knife type on the browsing page for each knife type, but you're totally right that the general knife browsing page should be different. Should I only list categories and a brief overview of which category is for what use? Also, I love the idea of building a "Choose your own adventure"-style navigation, separately, to help focus your search. - I'll add an explanation of why hand-made is better. I think I started to go into it in one of the artcles, but I should make it more clear and available. Where would you like to see that kind of information? - International shipping was a total oversight. Thank you! I'll clarify that today. I'm curious about your silicone and magnet sheets, do you have a link to something similar online? I've never heard of this. I am working on knife rolls, magnetic wood knife racks, and individual knife covers as well.

roel_v 11y ago
Hi, (First, rereading my post, I didn't mean to come across as asshole-isch as I was - it's just what happens when I type stream-of-consciousness style and don't edit...) - 'premium' - sorry that I have to cop out here, it's one of those 'know it when you see it' things, I'm not experienced enough to be able to consciously tell how to improve... For example the photos - they're high-res, functional, definitely above-average - maybe what I'm missing is some emotional appeal? I know this is weird coming from someone who complained about 'Japanese sword master mysticism' before, and while I do appreciate high-res zoom shots, the product pages don't make me feel that my life will be better with one of these knives. Again, sorry that I don't have actionable advice and I do know that I sound like a whiner, I'm just trying to articulate why I don't hit the 'buy' button right away, and I'm having a hard time (marketing is hard, of course). Maybe let me say it this way - when you look at the BMW website, you'll have a hard time finding functional photos of cars or interiors; it's mostly 'action shots' and closeups of interior details. I tried to find out once, before buying one, how the trunk was organized - and I had to refer to photos on second hand sites to get an idea, because I couldn't find anything like it in the official materials. Now, rationally, I was annoyed about that - but the detail shots of fine chestnut interior veneer did more for building a mental image on what it would be like to own one than 'functional' shots would have... Again, not saying you should ditch the functional shots, just trying to convey how it feels as a 'visitor', which (as I know from firsthand experience) is impossible for you to do when you've poured 10's or 100's of hours into putting all of this together... - Come to think of it - maybe you can try to experiment with the 'add to cart' text on the button. That feels so... Amazon... which feels cheap and everyday to me (again, personal opinion), not something I'd associate with a luxury purchase. Same with the 'Showing all 12 results' text - there are only 12 knives (as far as I can tell?) so this seems so... boilerplate. - About texts; take this one: http://www.buttermilksupply.com/shop/knives/shigehiro-suminagashi-petty-135mm/ http://www.buttermilksupply.com/shop/knives/shigehiro-sumina... ; one paragraph: "The cutting edge is wrapped in a beautiful hand-built suminagashi (damascus) steel from Yoshikazu Ikeda. Ikeda-san’s damascus is even more beautiful in person. It’s a beautiful pattern, and my favorite damascus pattern, that is specific only to Ikeda-san." Uses 'beautiful' three times in three sentences; uses 'Ikeda-san' which you have to know a bit of Japanese language/societal peculiarities for to know how to relate the 'san' to the name mentioned earlier; and it doesn't say what's unique about the pattern. Probably people who have had several of these knives in their hands think this last point is silly and obvious, but to me (the buyer who is trying to figure out what the difference is between the 12 knives on the 'knives' page), it doesn't take away any confusion - maybe even adds to it. - At the bottom of each page: "Buttermilk Supply is a carefully curated shop of handmade knives, tools, and lifestyle goods all in the name of good food." Except you also sell hair cutting supplies? Which is fine, and this is a really minute point, but it's all little, tiny details like this that take away the illusion of laser-like focus on one specialty, that one thing you want to signal 'we are the best in the world at this'. (which might be 'suppliers of sharp things', not saying you should ditch the scissors, but then your tag line doesn't fit any more) - As to presentation - the blog posts about different types of knives and steel were buried at the bottom I saw later. Maybe at the top of the 'knives' page, add a few sentences: 'looking for a great knife for hobby cooking? pick either a, b or c. Looking for the best knife money can buy for cutting meat? Go for d or e. If your hands are < 10 cm, buy size xyz1, otherwise xyz2'. Then you can link each of these to the more detailed posts. (obviously just examples of selection criteria) - The selection criteria on the left (gyotu, petty, santoku, nakiri) mean nothing to me, and I suspect many of your visitors. I just clicked through each of them and only today noticed the description at the top on those sub-pages (which you mention in your reply). . You could measure how often people click there with analytics tools, but I'm not sure if click rates would say something about how well people understand it; maybe there's research about it somewhere. Either way, I guess this is a trade off between 'functional' style navigation and 'selling high-end product'. Maybe a 'what knife should I buy' link at the top of the navigation on the left would be enough to take away the indecision point, where people are interested but don't know what to choose? A sort of 'escape hatch' for those moments you're not quite sure where to next? - I have these silicone sheets: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/bisbell-magmates-mesbeschermers-2-delig-160-x-25-mm/9200000036927729/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/bisbell-magmates-mesbeschermers-2-de... , albeit in different colors . They can be cut to any length with any normal pair of scissors, to make them fit knives of different lengths. I'm sure there are many more products like this out there, though. I hope this helps at least a little bit - not a lot of 'hard' advice or facts, I'm afraid... If I knew the secret I'd probably be on a beach in the Bahamas right now instead of procrastinating in an office :) I love high-quality, specialty items but for me they also have to be functionally better; I'd never buy a mechanical Rolex because mechanical watches are inferior in time keeping quality to electronic watches (I wouldn't buy a Rolex at all because I can't afford them :) , again just an example). What I'm trying to say - I not convinced that a Japanese knife cuts better than another one, because I have a hard time imagining what there is to be 'better'. Just had another thought (after that I'll just hit 'reply' before this turns into a book) - something I, as a hobby chef, would like to learn/be able to do is prep as fast as a real chef, or at least faster than my current '1/2 second per cut' technique. How about adding some 'knife skills' videos, showing off why your knives help to cut faster? One of my personal problems is that the part I just sliced off clings to the right of the blade, and then on the next cut, they get pushed off and roll all over my kitchen. Chefs on tv just seem to slice and the chopped bits stay nicely on the chopping board. A 'knife skills' video tutorial series could show off your offerings (and even if your knives aren't better than many others at this specific thing, they could still drive traffic to your site).

roel_v 11y ago

Hi, (First, rereading my post, I didn't mean to come across as asshole-isch as I was - it's just what happens when I type stream-of-consciousness style and don't edit...) - 'premium' - sorry that I have to cop out here, it's one of those 'know it when you see it' things, I'm not experienced enough to be able to consciously tell how to improve... For example the photos - they're high-res, functional, definitely above-average - maybe what I'm missing is some emotional appeal? I know this is weird coming from someone who complained about 'Japanese sword master mysticism' before, and while I do appreciate high-res zoom shots, the product pages don't make me feel that my life will be better with one of these knives. Again, sorry that I don't have actionable advice and I do know that I sound like a whiner, I'm just trying to articulate why I don't hit the 'buy' button right away, and I'm having a hard time (marketing is hard, of course). Maybe let me say it this way - when you look at the BMW website, you'll have a hard time finding functional photos of cars or interiors; it's mostly 'action shots' and closeups of interior details. I tried to find out once, before buying one, how the trunk was organized - and I had to refer to photos on second hand sites to get an idea, because I couldn't find anything like it in the official materials. Now, rationally, I was annoyed about that - but the detail shots of fine chestnut interior veneer did more for building a mental image on what it would be like to own one than 'functional' shots would have... Again, not saying you should ditch the functional shots, just trying to convey how it feels as a 'visitor', which (as I know from firsthand experience) is impossible for you to do when you've poured 10's or 100's of hours into putting all of this together... - Come to think of it - maybe you can try to experiment with the 'add to cart' text on the button. That feels so... Amazon... which feels cheap and everyday to me (again, personal opinion), not something I'd associate with a luxury purchase. Same with the 'Showing all 12 results' text - there are only 12 knives (as far as I can tell?) so this seems so... boilerplate. - About texts; take this one: http://www.buttermilksupply.com/shop/knives/shigehiro-suminagashi-petty-135mm/ http://www.buttermilksupply.com/shop/knives/shigehiro-sumina... ; one paragraph: "The cutting edge is wrapped in a beautiful hand-built suminagashi (damascus) steel from Yoshikazu Ikeda. Ikeda-san’s damascus is even more beautiful in person. It’s a beautiful pattern, and my favorite damascus pattern, that is specific only to Ikeda-san." Uses 'beautiful' three times in three sentences; uses 'Ikeda-san' which you have to know a bit of Japanese language/societal peculiarities for to know how to relate the 'san' to the name mentioned earlier; and it doesn't say what's unique about the pattern. Probably people who have had several of these knives in their hands think this last point is silly and obvious, but to me (the buyer who is trying to figure out what the difference is between the 12 knives on the 'knives' page), it doesn't take away any confusion - maybe even adds to it. - At the bottom of each page: "Buttermilk Supply is a carefully curated shop of handmade knives, tools, and lifestyle goods all in the name of good food." Except you also sell hair cutting supplies? Which is fine, and this is a really minute point, but it's all little, tiny details like this that take away the illusion of laser-like focus on one specialty, that one thing you want to signal 'we are the best in the world at this'. (which might be 'suppliers of sharp things', not saying you should ditch the scissors, but then your tag line doesn't fit any more) - As to presentation - the blog posts about different types of knives and steel were buried at the bottom I saw later. Maybe at the top of the 'knives' page, add a few sentences: 'looking for a great knife for hobby cooking? pick either a, b or c. Looking for the best knife money can buy for cutting meat? Go for d or e. If your hands are < 10 cm, buy size xyz1, otherwise xyz2'. Then you can link each of these to the more detailed posts. (obviously just examples of selection criteria) - The selection criteria on the left (gyotu, petty, santoku, nakiri) mean nothing to me, and I suspect many of your visitors. I just clicked through each of them and only today noticed the description at the top on those sub-pages (which you mention in your reply). . You could measure how often people click there with analytics tools, but I'm not sure if click rates would say something about how well people understand it; maybe there's research about it somewhere. Either way, I guess this is a trade off between 'functional' style navigation and 'selling high-end product'. Maybe a 'what knife should I buy' link at the top of the navigation on the left would be enough to take away the indecision point, where people are interested but don't know what to choose? A sort of 'escape hatch' for those moments you're not quite sure where to next? - I have these silicone sheets: http://www.bol.com/nl/p/bisbell-magmates-mesbeschermers-2-delig-160-x-25-mm/9200000036927729/ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/bisbell-magmates-mesbeschermers-2-de... , albeit in different colors . They can be cut to any length with any normal pair of scissors, to make them fit knives of different lengths. I'm sure there are many more products like this out there, though. I hope this helps at least a little bit - not a lot of 'hard' advice or facts, I'm afraid... If I knew the secret I'd probably be on a beach in the Bahamas right now instead of procrastinating in an office :) I love high-quality, specialty items but for me they also have to be functionally better; I'd never buy a mechanical Rolex because mechanical watches are inferior in time keeping quality to electronic watches (I wouldn't buy a Rolex at all because I can't afford them :) , again just an example). What I'm trying to say - I not convinced that a Japanese knife cuts better than another one, because I have a hard time imagining what there is to be 'better'. Just had another thought (after that I'll just hit 'reply' before this turns into a book) - something I, as a hobby chef, would like to learn/be able to do is prep as fast as a real chef, or at least faster than my current '1/2 second per cut' technique. How about adding some 'knife skills' videos, showing off why your knives help to cut faster? One of my personal problems is that the part I just sliced off clings to the right of the blade, and then on the next cut, they get pushed off and roll all over my kitchen. Chefs on tv just seem to slice and the chopped bits stay nicely on the chopping board. A 'knife skills' video tutorial series could show off your offerings (and even if your knives aren't better than many others at this specific thing, they could still drive traffic to your site).