Testing the Muse

[Jonah]

Everyone here has such great input and advice on muses in test phase and I hope you'd take a second to flip through mine (http://www.gogreenguide.weebly.com). It is a guide and weekly update for "green" shopping, home habits, and expert advice about green living. The niche is the customer segment of 20-45 year olds seeking simple ways to make greener choices about daily habits and get a better understanding of the green debate.

The test muse is: www.gogreenguide.org

Needless to say, this is my first attempt. So any and all comments are welcome. Many thanks in advance.

Jonah

[blackhatontherocks]

Consider making the about-page your home-page, and maybe add the content of your current index page to it wherever it fits. The green-only and scarce content-approach doesn't really work on the front page imho. Good Idea though ;)

[Jonah]

Thanks for the input. I changed up the site to have most -- if not all information on the front page as you suggested and toned down the use of green colored text.

Do you think the overall hook is something that would work? Or whether this is ready for testing with Adwords, etc?

[officer_dibble]

I shall be interested to hear how this goes (I work vaguely in the same sector as my day job).

One thing that does strike me is that it's quite serious in tone (compared with something like treehugger.com) and I think a mention of the number of pages in the comprehensive guide might be useful. A testimonial from an appropriate green thought leader would help to build credibility.

I've struggled in a similar sector to make PPC work - conversion is good but volumes are low (but this may be better in the US).

There is some great green consumer research out there:

http://adinfo-guardian.co.uk/display/research/green-light/research.shtml

it might be worth using this to more tightly identify your green segment and target your messaging accordingly.

[Jonah]

Officer Dibble --

Great points all, and thanks for the link.

What do you think about the price point? I'm considering this Guide will be about 100pp as a PDF.

Would it be better to contract an actual publication?

[officer_dibble]

I'm not convinced on the pricing - at least not without the promise of more exclusive or specialised content. A step-by-step guide to fitting your own solar water heating including details of suppliers etc would be worth it - because the savings over doing it yourself v getting someone else in to do it are considerable. But this doesn't seem specific enough yet to offer real benefit over the free resources out there.

[LivetheDream]

Consider that while many people in your segment (me included, a 25 yr old male) may be compelled to 'go green' many of us also want an economic advantage in doings so. Feeling good about oneself is easier done through charity than green living. Consider marketing it differently. Shoot me a PM if you want some ideas.

Remember - you must be a thought leader for someone to invest. Prove you know your stuff on the site, then sell.

Best regards,

Dreamer