The Uglier the Site the Better the Profits
August 17, 2006 – 5:27 amI know it seems kind of counter intuitive and hard to believe but some sites make a good bit of money simply because they are easy to use and don’t have a bunch of high-end graphics floating around the pages. Two such cases in point would be plentyoffish.com, a dating site that is free and ugly and stevepavlina.com, a site about self improvement.
POF – Plentyoffish.com
The owner of this site is more worried about the functionality of the site then the look of things. Really the only graphic you see on the site is the banner. Everything else is pretty “raw” looking. Now you may think that because of this the owner is some sort of amateur or something but that is not the case at all. Anyone who makes a $10,000 profit daily is clearly not an amateur by any means.
Why is it so successful?
I can think of just a few reasons why this is so successful.
- The “Free” Factor – Let’s face it, people like free things. Whether it’s free samples of hair car products or free hamburgers, free is always a great promotion, especially if it doesn’t hurt business. If something of value in a particular market is seen to be of value then the Word of Mouth kicks in nicely and takes over
- Word of Mouth aka “Viral Marketing” – The strongest tool any business can use is “Word of Mouth”. If you do good work or have an excellent service let the people who originally buy the service talk and sell others on the service. When Bill across the street comes home with a new car and tells you all about how great it is, he is selling to you and you are an active participant in that marketing/advertising process whereas when you sit watching TV and see the latest GMC commercial you are very passive in that transaction
- Usability – Plentyoffish.com is a very easy to use site that has simple features anyone regardless of their level of computer experience can use.
I’ve been reading this site for a number of months and I’ve got to tell you I can see why so many people would be reading this sites articles. Steve does not sell anything at all. The site is real simple in terms of design and usability but it also has a very interesting feature that makes it highly sellable to people… It can relate to a large number of people because it identifies with readers on a personal level.
You don’t need to be a particular class, or of a certain religion, or with certain biases to get what is being said. Basically because of the amount of good content that a large number of readers subscribe to it only makes sense that this site makes a good profit (last I heard it was at $6000 a month, roughly)
As a business owner you always need to think about what sets you apart from the competition. Focusing on things like the ease of use (Usability), Word of Mouth factor, being able to reach a large audience by presenting unbiased information and keeping customers coming back by offering free or promotional deals that favor your customers will ensure that your site, no matter how ugly, makes good profits. Of course having said that I know plenty of people who want pretty looking graphics and this is just some food for thought.
Luc
Enjoy the Feast
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