Video of me explaining why you need to put your business on Google Local Business Center now!
Tips for Creating an Online Store
Archive for the ‘Marketing Tips’ Category
[Video] Google’s FREE Local Business Center
Friday, June 12th, 200965% of all Searches are Local!
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009I just learned that 60-70% of all searches are local!
So now that we know that what should we do about it?
Advertise locally via Google. Go to Google Adwords and target your ads to a local area and in your ad copy write the city name. Most local based business don’t advertise online so you can definitely use this to your advantage.
Feel free to ask me any questions on this strategy in the comments.
Twitter Tip: Talk to People that tweet about your product
Monday, May 18th, 2009Talk to twitter users that are tweeting about the products you sell. You can either search for your keyword on twitter via twitter search or auto follow people based on keywords using Twollo.
For example if you sell vegetarian vitamins search for the keyword “vegetarian vitamins” and jump in on the conversation!
Special Thanks to Anita at Small Bussiness Trends for prompting me to brainstorm about twitter and small business.
My Post on Craigslist Keeps Getting Flagged!
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009I just got an email asking:
“Help! My product posts keep getting Flagged and Removed from Craigslist, even though they don’t violate any of the terms of use. I suspect bored teenagers or some other nefarious bandit is responsible for this. Do any Flying Cart owners know of ANYTHING I can do to keep this from happening? Thanks!”
The answer is yes! There are a lot of things you can do to not get flagged. Also its not bored teenagers the Craigslist community is pretty good about that kind of stuff. Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are getting flagged:
1. Don’t over post. Nobody likes a spammer. So if you are posting more than 3 posts a week I think you are overdoing it.
2. Don’t over hyperlink. At most you should only include one hyperlink.
3. Include a price.
4. Sound like a real person.
5. No typos. The more educated you sound the less likely you will get flagged. Copy/paste the posting into a word document to check for spelling errors.
6. No naked pictures! haha – This might be an obvious one to some…. but you will be surprised at how many people get this wrong.
Let me know if you have any other tips or experiences in the comments.
[Tips] Improve Your Online Sales Offline
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009I love online marketing. I really do. It’s cheap and effective. But marketing offline is just as important. Going to conferences, telling your friends, posting ads in local newspapers can really help your business out. I reached out to people that have rocked the offline marketing world. Here are some tips from them:
“1. Have a call to action
To drive web traffic, simply listing a web address isn’t enough: people want an invitation, a reason, or even better, a compelling offer to lure them to your site. Unless your strategy revolves around consistent frequency and long-term branding, you’ll need to have a call-to-action to see the traffic needle move.
2. Think beyond the page
Traditional print advertising in newspapers or magazines can be effective, but to conserve costs, consider promotional materials that can linger a little longer. A great example are branded tzotchkes that prospective customers might use near their desk or computer. Or, to piggy-back off of the great distribution of a newspaper or magazine, consider inserts, which might linger longer on coffee tables, or be used as bookmarks to increase reader ad recall.”
Katherine of www.criterionglobal.com
“We started offering free car seat ID cards bagged with our flyer and a coupon to offline parent events. They do not cost us a lot to produce. And it gets our products in front of many families.”
Kay of www.MyPreciousKid.com
“I meet weekly with networking groups (BNI- Business Networking International, Chambers and Meetup.com groups) to drive them to my website to purchase different promotional products. I also market with a two prong approach. One side is verbally speaking with potential clients, followed up by an email about our discussion and linking them to our online store.”
Eric of www.dedtees.com
“We have been able to improve online sales by getting involved in local charities and events. We donate product for charity gift bags, auctions, etc. and include product and ordering information. We also have samples at these events for people to try the products as well.”
Jennifer of www.hemloq.com
“Do not underestimate the value of your business card to contribute to your online sales. An easy and inexpensive idea is to create a business card that simply has a one line description of your company and your URL. If a person is interested in the product or service you offer he or she is “forced” to view your website for further information. I have used this tactic to promote a client whose business card simply states “We Can Help You Stop Bedwetting” then the URL www.TryforDry.com.”
Reno of www.renoweb.net
One Word Emails come off as Rude
Saturday, April 4th, 2009Something I learned recently is that people take one word emails rudely. A customer recently emailed me if we allow custom domains. I replied “Yes.” and sent it off. The customer replied back saying “How rude. I don’t want to work with a company that is rude to me.”
Was I being rude? I don’t think so. I got back to the customer within 3 minutes of receiving the email and answered his question. However I can see how it can be perceived as being rude. This is my strategy for next time:
Hi {First Name},
Yes! We allow custom domains. We have setup instructions here {link to the instructions}.
Let me know if there is anything else we can help you with.
Rishi
So just watch out with one word email replies. Your customer might think you are being rude even though you aren’t.
You have to see I Like Totally Love It
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
OMG! You gotta check out this website. People vote for the products they are totally in love with. The products with the most votes hit the homepage. I’m totally addicted to the site. You should submit your products and/or products you are totally in love with.
[Video] How to Take Product Pictures
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Ali and Amy of the Indie 5 Collective made a pretty informative video on on how to take product pictures. Check it out.
Do you have friends?
Monday, March 30th, 2009I hope you answered yes. haha
Ok so here is the point of this post. Go ask a few of your friends to go to your store and buy something. If they say NO ask why not? Their feedback will be priceless.
I’m not telling you to go and bug your friends to buy something from you. I’m telling you to get first hand feedback on ways to improve your store.
Keep me posted on the results!