Hobby & Craft Forums

I was just reading my way through the thread "Sales - more on or offline?" and found it pretty informative, however when it comes to promoting my site online and offline I have never had much look as never know what to do.

I have always used dropshippers in the past, but I am trying to move away from that so I can not only make bigger profits but also do stalls and fares etc. It will probably take me a few months before I can build up enough stock to do this due to lack of funds but I will plough every single penny from sales back into the business for at least the 1st year to ensure I make a success of it.

So If people are willing to give me any hints on tips when it comes to marketing that would be really apreaciated.

Thanks.

Karen is as we speak writing an article on marketing for the forum which we hope to have up either tonight or tomorrow. I'm also hoping to write something on Search Engine Optimisation- maybe break it up into easy readable sections in seperate articles, I'm not sure yet!

Offline marketing is very important however and as we discussed in the other thread, it shouldn't be underestimated.

The following users have thanked Nickie for this useful post :

soapitup

Here's what I'v learnt over the years:

* I built a website and thought that people would just suddenly appear from no-where...they don't

* Google ad-words (at the time it was Froogle, which was free) have been a god-send and I saw a distinct dip in visitors and sales when I ran out of money and cancelled my campaigns for a few months...

* Getting to number one on the Google listings definitely helped...I know sh** about SEO, but managed to do something right because I was on page one after less than 6 months and slowly crept up the listings over the next 2 years...

* Ebay...say what you want about the fees and their buyer-bias...but they do a ton of marketing for you and they will get visitors to you ebay store, which can become repeat customers to your website...

* Have a product that 1) people want and 2) is different to all the rest...if it is like everyone else's then you better make it cheaper than everyone else's - unfotunately, as that means less profit...

* Have a really eye-catching, user friendly and pictorially explosive website - the 3 most common comments I get on my site are a) It's such a beautiful site b) It's so easy to use and c) I can actually SEE the products properly...

* Present everything you do as if you are a proper/big business...for some reason people trust larger businesses...if you want to be the next LUSH...then act like you ARE the next LUSH...not some granny in her council house slogging away making bath-bombs and soaps (that's aimed at me..not anyone else;) ) - so either design really professional catalogues, brochures, business cards and website...or, if you don't have the skills, get someone else to do it...

* If you're an online site...then forget about magazine ads or the like - they cost the earth and never ever have I seen an upward shift in sales or visitors after spending £400 on an advert in a hard copy...I get more visitors EVERYTIME I list auctions on Ebay, however...

* Packaging - there are a couple of other companies selling kits that are, almost, exactly the same as mine....except for one thing...mine are beautifully packaged (branded) and are bright and colourful and look exciting...If I send anything out by post, it's wrapped in thick brown (old fashioned) Kraft Paper...with a bright colourful invoice...directing people to the site...People comment on the packaging...how many times have you had something in the post wrapped in a black sack with a hand-written address label and a Paypal email printed as the invoice.....yuck??? Oh and I stick a colourful little return address label on the side of the parcel...just incase someone sees it and wants to know where the beautifully packaged paarcel came from...it doesn't hurt that my parcels smell gorgeous (because of the contents...)

I could go on for another couple of pages...but ...I won't


)

judivenn wrote:Here's what I'v learnt over the years:

* I built a website and thought that people would just suddenly appear from no-where...they don't

* Google ad-words (at the time it was Froogle, which was free) have been a god-send and I saw a distinct dip in visitors and sales when I ran out of money and cancelled my campaigns for a few months...

* Getting to number one on the Google listings definitely helped...I know sh** about SEO, but managed to do something right because I was on page one after less than 6 months and slowly crept up the listings over the next 2 years...

* Ebay...say what you want about the fees and their buyer-bias...but they do a ton of marketing for you and they will get visitors to you ebay store, which can become repeat customers to your website...

* Have a product that 1) people want and 2) is different to all the rest...if it is like everyone else's then you better make it cheaper than everyone else's - unfotunately, as that means less profit...

* Have a really eye-catching, user friendly and pictorially explosive website - the 3 most common comments I get on my site are a) It's such a beautiful site b) It's so easy to use and c) I can actually SEE the products properly...

* Present everything you do as if you are a proper/big business...for some reason people trust larger businesses...if you want to be the next LUSH...then act like you ARE the next LUSH...not some granny in her council house slogging away making bath-bombs and soaps (that's aimed at me..not anyone else;) ) - so either design really professional catalogues, brochures, business cards and website...or, if you don't have the skills, get someone else to do it...

* If you're an online site...then forget about magazine ads or the like - they cost the earth and never ever have I seen an upward shift in sales or visitors after spending £400 on an advert in a hard copy...I get more visitors EVERYTIME I list auctions on Ebay, however...

* Packaging - there are a couple of other companies selling kits that are, almost, exactly the same as mine....except for one thing...mine are beautifully packaged (branded) and are bright and colourful and look exciting...If I send anything out by post, it's wrapped in thick brown (old fashioned) Kraft Paper...with a bright colourful invoice...directing people to the site...People comment on the packaging...how many times have you had something in the post wrapped in a black sack with a hand-written address label and a Paypal email printed as the invoice.....yuck??? Oh and I stick a colourful little return address label on the side of the parcel...just incase someone sees it and wants to know where the beautifully packaged paarcel came from...it doesn't hurt that my parcels smell gorgeous (because of the contents...)

I could go on for another couple of pages...but ...I won't


)

Yes, a common misconception is that you build a website and sprinkle your fairy dust and hey presto you become a millionaire overnight! It takes time and effort and lots of it to get anywhere with online sales if not more effort than offline sales. at least with offline sales you get the chance to meet the people you're selling to and use you personality as persuasion which in my experience usually works!

Google Adwords is great if used properly- there's an expert called Mike Seddon on A1BF, he's fab and I've been involved with some of his webinars. Sadly however, and like most things, you only ever hear the bad things about Adwords and how companies have been bankrupted by it- as I said, if used properly they can bring in huge amounts of sales!

When you say you got to number one in Google, what keywords or phrases were you competeing for?

Ebay...yes it can help enormously with directing people to your website and is indeed how I have found most of my current suppliers and most items are cheaper once you go to a seller's website too. I can't remeber how long ago it was but at one time you weren't allowed to put link to your website on an ebay listing!

One of the first things you're asked at 'business school' is 'what makes your product different to the rest' as this is crucial in demand for your product and also dictates what people will pay for it. If it's significantly different there's also very little or no competition so you can more or less name your price (within reason of course)!

Oh please do! We are all here hanging onto your every word.

Thanks for the replys, I know the basics of seo (very basics) and joining groups like twitter and facebook (though never know what to put) also the same with blogs so learing all the while, I also find link building really daunting, but it's all a big learning curve.

Also never been a fan of ebay, though rather than keep saying "I'm not a fan of" I should just get a grip and start doing, sometimes I just make too many excuses or put things on the back burner which I only have my self to blame.

Thanks again

judivenn wrote:
I could go on for another couple of pages...but ...I won't


)

Oh do! - never any harm in repeating good advice

"I was never a fan of"

and other commnets remind me that I was never a fan of Direct marketing (Junk mail to you and me) until someone explained it to be professionally.

I have since used it, and it has indeed been effective - and appreciated believe it or not.. though explaining it "all" here would be pages..

My 2p worth would be "forget all your conceptions and prejudices" - accept and reject options only on hard evidence. Business is business, you have to sell to a customer on their terms not yours, get your product and pricing right, and present it in a way that appeals to the market, and by any method that gets the results you want!

And never forget to revisit past options that were less successful - maybe their time was not right, but times and circumstances change..

If anyone really wants to know Sparkysdad's experience of DM campaigns, Im happy to oblige by the way.

Nickie wrote:When you say you got to number one in Google, what keywords or phrases were you competeing for?

Lol! You make it sound like it was a conscious business decision....it just happened, through good luck I think!

We're at number one for :

"Bath Bomb kit(s)" or pretty much any phrase that relates to those words

Number 10 for "Soap kits" but number 2 for "Soap Making Kits"

Number 3 for "Make your own bath bombs"

As you've pointed out, it's a good idea to put something related to your product in the domain name so Bath-Bomb.com not only sounds catchy but catches searches....

I'm pretty verbose...so lots of text related to those words appears on the site (less now cos I've cut it down to fewer pages)...

Nickie wrote:Ebay...yes it can help enormously with directing people to your website and is indeed how I have found most of my current suppliers and most items are cheaper once you go to a seller's website too. I can't remeber how long ago it was but at one time you weren't allowed to put link to your website on an ebay listing!

You're right...you can't put it on your listings...but you can put it on your "About Me" page; your emails; invoices; packaging and your product...most people who bought from me on Ebay, go to the website for the next purchase...

It helps to have some things on the website that you don't list on Ebay....

Nickie wrote:One of the first things you're asked at 'business school' is 'what makes your product different to the rest' as this is crucial in demand for your product and also dictates what people will pay for it. If it's significantly different there's also very little or no competition so you can more or less name your price (within reason of course)!

When I first listed skincare on Ebay, it was really dismal - I was lucky if I got 1 or 2 sales a month

I looked around for what others were selling and found one bloke selling bath bomb kits...I had some on my website, but tucked away and really not marketed well..

Good thing about Ebay is you can research other people's sales (by searching completed transactions)...this one guy had pretty much cornered the market and seemed to be doing really well...so I threw some bits in a box and cobbled up a labels and listed some kits...

That was at the end of August 2006 - my sales went from an average of £50 per week to an average of £500 per week within 1 month...so I quickly built a website and did a bit of hasty 'branding'...and added more kits...

The other guy has stopped selling on Ebay, and, although there are a few other people trying to sell similar...if you look at their listings you see that they don't have pictures of the actual kit, or the pictures are fuzzy and poor and don't make the kits look inviting...

No one has mentioned YouTube...and that's definitely worth looking at, in terms of marketing...even if you can't afford to make a 'proper' video...you can make a 'film' from a series of Photos...with a bit of text - most PC's come with some kind of video editor...or you can do it in Photoshop...

Don't expect to turn into the next Lauren Lukes (The make up lady with 38,000,000 hits) but it does get you noticed - my DeliPots video was seen by someone who posted a comment on a LUSH Forum in the Netherlands - started a whole thread of "oooh's" and "aaaah's" and I get regular orders from people saying they saw the products on the LUSH forum....

Look, I am writing this marketing article and now you are all making me nervous lol. I think someone else should do it or no one is going to ever sell anything.

You are making it look like the poor relative of a marketing article.