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Permalink Reply by Dave McKenzie on May 25, 2012 at 12:13pm

Please help. what are we doing wrong?

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Permalink Reply by derple on May 25, 2012 at 1:10pm

who said you're doing anything wrong?

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Permalink Reply by Dave McKenzie on May 25, 2012 at 2:08pm

Just jonesing for any feedback, can't believe no one has anything to say....... good or bad

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Permalink Reply by derple on May 25, 2012 at 2:17pm

Hmm.... well you didn't really say anything interesting, you just submitted a link to another site.

I mean think of a real life analogy.  Imagine you walk into a room of people and say "The One Design Construction."  People would probably look at you and think you're a little weird and then go back to the interesting conversations they were having before you came into the room.  :)

If you want to talk to people about their interests then talk to people about their interests.   It's a great way to make friends.  If you're trying to promote a product, that's cool too I guess... but be human about it.  People aren't here to buy your hoop or talk about your thing, they're here to do whatever it is they're doing.  Usually talking about feelings and sharing stories.  It's a social community, and it has a common theme (hooping).

So, what's on your mind? What's your life like right now? What are you excited about?  What are you worried about?  Who are you?  :)

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Permalink Reply by Dave McKenzie on May 26, 2012 at 9:54am

Hey thanks for the reply derple. I appreciate what you are saying, and recognize that I'm not a very effective communicator.

This "One Design" is something that I'm excited about, and it reflects quite a change of direction for us as a hoop making company. Instead of focusing on making the most beautiful hoops, we are aiming at giving the beginning hooper what they really need.

I think it is significant, and would think that other hoopers would be interested. I've attempted to identify the materials we use and the techniques in developing a quality product. I would think that people would find this of interest (but hey, I might be way off base there).  

Did you look at the link? 

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Permalink Reply by derple on May 26, 2012 at 10:38am

I did look at the link.  I've never played with a hoop made of super pex.  not really sure what super pex is.  is the black stuff on the inside foam or something?

As far as providing the 'vokswagon' of hula hoops (not sure where I read that, I poked around on your facebook and remember reading that) I feel like that's a difficult sell.  I think a lot of people love the DIY aspect of hulahoops.  You can go to the hardware store and buy 100ft of tubing for less than $20 (at least in my town) and that gives you enough tubing to make 8-10 hoops. The coupling is another 35 cents at my hardware store, so they're pretty much free.  Then you need a pair of pipe cutters, but those aren't hard to come by.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the person looking for the cheapest hoops are a lot of times the DIY type of person who gets a lot of satisfaction out of making their own hoop.  And honestly making a simple hoop is one of the easiest things in the world to make.

Even beautiful hoops are pretty cheap.  The skills to make a hoop are not highly guarded and even if they were all you have to do is pay $30 bucks for a hoop and then take it apart to find out how it's made.  All the materials are easy to come by as well.  What this means is that there is a lot of people making hoops and that drives the price down on even the beautifully crafted hoops.  It also doesn't help that you can buy a crappy hoop from walmart for a couple dollars.  All of this keeps hoop prices very low.

Check out Etsy, there are beautiful hoops for $25-$45 dollars.  Those people are not making a killing out of the hoopcrafting lifestyle.

So, knowing all this, and being a reader of Hoopcity (where I see people every day in the chat and on the boards saying that they just started a hoop making business) I'd say that the last thing I'd advise anyone is to get into the hoop business.  It's too easy to DIY and the supply of hoopcrafters is huge compared to the niche market of demand.

Don't get me wrong though, I think trying to become a hoopcrafter is great!  I'd totally encourage a teenager to build and sell hoops.  It's a great way to learn about starting a business, and a teenager is probably getting support from parents so they can afford to spend a year or so selling hoops for almost no margin.  In the end they might not continue the hoopcrafting career but they will learn so much and probably become a better person from the experience.

But as for you, if you're really intent on succeeding at selling hoops I think the first thing is to figure out how to communicate to people why it is that they need your hoop.  Don't assume that they want to see your hoop, talk about your hoop, or buy your hoop.  They've seen hundreds of different hoopcrafters so what makes you special?  I'd rethink the marketing strategy of "it's like a hulahoop but it's less glamorous!"

Also, seriously consider how you're coming off to people.  It seems like your angle is marketing a product to people.  That's OK for television because it's expected that commercials are trying to sell crap, but on a social network it's a little different.  People aren't coming here to be sold stuff, they're coming here to talk about their problems, share their happy stories, and just... communicate on a personal level.  Even though it's with people on the internet who they don't know and probably won't ever meet.

So, come here to talk.  Talk and talk and talk.  Don't talk about YOUR hoops.  Talk to people about their lives.  Be interesting.  Be nice.  Communicate.  And do it because you enjoy it!  That's why I'm talking to you, because it's enjoyable and I'm getting some pleasure out of trying to help you (although I might not be very helpful).  I'm not trying to sell you anything, just trying to be human.

In summary, don't talk about your hoops or your company.  People don't care.  Talk about yourself.  People care about people.  If you don't want to talk about yourself (i don't want to talk about myself on the internet) then talk to people about their issues and try to help them feel more human (like what I'm trying to do here with you).  Be social, be nice.  That's all you can really do here.  

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