How do I promote my online store?
In my many years on the internet I have seen a number of very successful people make a lot of money on the web in a number of different ways. They all have one thing in common though and that is that they have learned how to harness the power of the web by harnessing the massive amounts of FREE ADVERTISING that is available on the world wide web.
Some people just pop up a web site, open up an internet store and think they can sit back and watch the money roll in. Sorry folks but it just doesn't work that way! In fact, running an online business is very similiar to running a physical store in the "real world". You can't just open your doors and sit back and wait for customers. You have to make your business known to the world out there. You have to first position your business wisely by being in a good location. A mall that has decent "traffic" and has other stores around so as to catch some of the overflow.
This is vital I think to the success of an online store. Also, an aggressive advertising campaign is necessary though to let people know WHO your are and WHAT your selling and for HOW MUCH. In the real world this gets quite expensive but if you skimp on your advertising budget you most likely will have very few customers.
When I had opened my own cellular phone store here in Southern California I learned how powerful some advertising can be. I used to buy the front cover of a popular trade magazine that was mailed out each week throughout our community and I could tell when the mail was delivered because soon after the people received their mail my phone would start ringing! I made a lot of money from those ads but they were expensive!
On the internet there are a lot of ways to advertise your store for free and that is something that you must take advantage of if you want your business to be successful. Especially powerful are the networking sites on the web like Myspace.com, Facebook.com, Yahoo.com, Stumbleupon.com and Youtube.com.
On YOUTUBE.com for example, you can make your own short video advertisement and have it potentially seen by MILLIONS of people for FREE! Not one penny will it cost you if you have your own video camera or can borrow one.
Here is an example of a professionally done ad on YOUTUBE.com:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA0xDgaxLEg
This ad is for a physical craft store and is very well done!
Here is one for a small online craft store:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk0t6WdIzBs
Another great way to draw people to your store is to OFFER THEM SOMETHING FOR FREE!
Here is a short tutorial video on how to sew a simple pillow or dog bed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVaayabL1eA&feature=related
You could do domething similiar for free and add in a promo about your store at the end!
Maybe your thinking that is too hard? Not really, but you could also just pay someone to
make you a short video and you can post it over and over again on many different sites!
Real cheap yet effective advertising!
You have to be creative and you have to have GOOD PRODUCTS at GOOD PRICES! Once you have that you need to ADVERTISE them and then you can start to rake in the money! Once you have customers who are happy with their purchases they will spread the word about your store to others. That is a powerful way of getting more traffic. Ask your past customers to recommend you to their friends. Offer them a discount or something in return perhaps?
Another good way to keep your store fresh in your past customers minds is to do a monthly
or even quarterly newsletter. You will probably have their email address from their past purchases so use that to boost your business.
Here are some other ways to promote your site:
#1. (WORKS VERY GOOD!) - List your new Zen Store on the FREE SHOWCASE:
https://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?main_page=login You need to fill in the form and submit it to them.
#2. Add you store to a Craft Web ring. This is an excellent way to bring more exposure to your craft store for free! There are many on the web. Here is one: http://dir.webring.com/rw
#3. Make a site or a video just for your store on MYSPACE.com. See one here:
http://www.myspace.com/ipsocrafto
And a nice tutorial on Soap making here:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=25599680
You can do the same on FACEBOOK.com, YAHOO.com, Stumbleupon.com, etc.
#4. Another way to promote your online store is through listing your store on an
ONLINE DIRECTORY.
There are thousands and thousands of directories on the web. Some free and some
charge for an ad. You will have to decide which is best for you. Try to find ones that go
along with what you are selling.
Here is a a very large online Craft Directory: http://www.craftdirectory.org/ Your
listing would probably get lost in the shuffle here but if it's free then why not list your store? Here is the link to list your store for
FREE: http://www.craftdirectory.org/directory/links/add.php?category=47
Here is a list of other Craft Directories: http://www.craftdirectory.org/directory/links/Directories/index.php
#5. Sell a few products on EBAY.com and then make sure you let the people know you have an online store
where they can find many more of your products! Ebay is great for this as you can get a lot of advertising for a little money if you do it right. List small items with very low starting prices and you can list them for next to nothing.
Ebay gets expensive though with all their fees and Paypal fees so keep that it mind. Use it to promote YOUR STORE.
Here is an example: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Homemade-handmade-Sesame-Street-baby-quilt_W0QQitemZ120215679562QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20418QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Remember you must give your online store time to build up a steady stream of customers. Success doesn't happen overnight and many times people quit just before they are about to succeed. STAY POSITIVE and keep promoting, promoting, promoting! Your hard work will pay off if you have the right products at the right price. Thanks for reading and please email with any questions or comments. You can find my contact info on the main LillyPlace.net page. – Neil K. |
