Flame away- first attempt at website

[silkyslim]

Please help. I knew nothing of this process until I read the book and have been self-taught. This is the first attempt at muse and I am at a brick wall in my creativity. Please take me to the next step in website design.

http://www.sponsoredpaintball.com

[Mojo]

Congrats on getting started. Wish I could give u some input, but I am at square one. Just wanted to say hang in there, sounds like a nice concept
:)

[padma]

A few things I noticed:

Get rid of the drupal logo in the banner and have a better menu for navigation.

There need to be more graphics in main body of content. The way your site was presented was that it was an information site. When I clicked to read more, I expected more info, not just a small bit of info. Lastly, the node/1 page seemed like I was getting a free ebook and when I click to the next page and see buy now I felt like I was lost. If you are selling a book or info, you need much more of a pitch going into that page. You need to mention price and content.

I don't know what you are selling exactly, but personally I think you'd be better off using the site to collect email address via ebook giveaway and then use that list to make some money. I could be wrong as I'm not near the level of some other people here.

Anyway, good idea and it is a good niche, just needs more refinement.

In my opinion, Drupal is good, but for a simple sales site you'd almost be better with Wordpress.

[webgal]

You have an idea. You might want to do a little more initial planning to get the landing page right.

Sven will love that you used drupal.

[lovinglife]

Are you/were you sponsored by someone? If so, tell your story:

The Ultimate Guide to Paintball Sponsorships!
How to play your game without worrying about where the money will come from.



I started off in paintball as just a fun thing to do but quickly got hooked. That's when I discovered how expensive it could get. The bags, guns, protective pads, (or whatever it is that you need - I know nothing about paintaball) started to add up. Then I got into tournaments which meant entry fees, traveling, hotels, meals, etc. I quickly discovered, as you have, that this new hobby of mine was not cheap.

Then go on to how you found out that companies will sponsor you and that you went through all the trials and errors of how to get them to sponsor you. You put everything you learned into this fantasic e-book so that others could do the same

Or something like that - and include a picture(s) of you wearing your sponsored gear/clothes/etc.

Change "Why Should You Read This Guide?" to "Why you need this guide:"

Change "Does it work?" to "Read what others have to say about The Ultimate Guide to Paintball Sponsorships: (I'm assuming that you have been sponsored using these methods so your personal story shows that you have been there/done that and know what you are talking about.)

The first page is repeated at the top of the second page. Get rid of the duplicate text. Get rid of the Read More links as it sounds like you are going to give them more info and not a link to a buy button.

[Marcie]

It's not bad for a first try! What was missing for me is, some compelling imagery. You need a logo, for one. Even some kind of generic ACME logo with a paint splash on it or something to get the basic message across. People want to be part of a "club" - and wearing logos is all about that. Good start!

[Sven]

Indeed, I'm pleased :-)

You may want to change the colors of the adsens to match the drupal colors. It'll change the atmosphere of the site. Maybe the drupal colors need some tweaking to to apeal to the "paintballer"

It is not clear to me what it is your selling. The benefitst to the paintballer are clear, what are the REAL benefits for the sponsor?
Sven

[silkyslim]

Whoa dang. Youse guys are great. I have a custom logo in the works. Thank lovinglife for the suggestions. I will rewrite and update!