4 Tips to Help Your Business

This is a New Year and as a business owner I always want to think of ways to improve my business and add to its success.  So when there is some great reading materials out there I try and read all I can.

The other day I was reading from a seller who had large sales over at Etsy and she had some great tips for us online marketers.

                                           1. Give things away

                                           2.  No free giveaways

                                           3. Celebrate Sales

                                           4. Listen to customers

                                           5.  Be found

                                           6. Advertise

Give item away:  here its recomended to give a few products away so people will have your product in there hands and these people can encourage and share with others the great products you carry.

I have done this and I do believe that giving items away does help your sales.  I encourage others to think about what to give away and to who.  The more your items are out in the market the more sales you will get.

Don't do free giveaways:  Don't have a contest where you give a free item away to one lucky winner.  They just might not like the gift and be an unhappy customer.

I have done this too and don't recomemd the free giveway contest either.

Celebrate sales:  Have a goal and when you reach it celebrate by having a special appreciation gift offered for your customers.  Start with several special items ( maybe 10) and offer it at a really low price but you still will win and not loose money.  So it would be a win win situation.  Then plan for the next goal and what special item you will offer.

This is new thing for me.  I will have to set a goal and think of what to offer special to my customers.

Listen to customers:  Take into consideration what customers say about your products.  Take note of what sells and what does not.  Make adjustments to your line of products on the cue of your customers.

This is something I was already considering.  In thinking of the new year,  I was thinking about what to add and what to drop in my shop.  It's hard to know what to do at times but you must think of your customer and what are their needs. 

Help customers find you:  Make sure you market your product in various places and in different venues.  Include facebook, twitter, blog,  website, public email address.

I already do this.  I have a facebook page, twitter, blog, and have a public email.  I do not have a website because I have not found having a private website as marketable for me as belonging to different marketplaces to advertise my products.

Advertise:  Buy advertisement clicks on websites like facebook.  Choose the clicks that are very low priced like .10 or .20 instead of the $1 and $2 per click.  These help generate more sales.

This one I haven't done but have thought about it.  I will need to look into this one more.

Source:  Lisa Jacobs, 450 Sales in the First Three Months on Etsy