All posts for the month March, 2013

Which Facebook News Feed Are Ads Right For Your Online Business

by G.B. Oliver

According to an article on the website, Mashable, an IDC report that stated that SmartPhone users, on average, checked their Facebook news feed 14 times a day. This would explain why Facebook announced earlier this month a redesign of the news feed, and is displaying more and more paid advertisements in it.

So are Facebook news feed ads right for your small business?

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Types of Facebook News Feed Ads

You now have a few options as to the type of news feed ad you wish to do, and I have to be honest, they keep changing, so it’s a little tough to keep things straight, but here I go:

Page Post Ads

These ads essentially put your latest Facebook post out to a target audience you select, going beyond your Facebook fans to a demographic you choose, on a continual basis until you stop it. You pay per impression or click and you set the budget, even a low as $3 a day. The results may be a lot of page likes or a lot of post likes or it may actually bring traffic to your site.

Cynthia Boris over at Marketing Pilgrim wrote an article recently about Facebook ads, and she had a interesting point. If you are doing these types of Facebook ads, only post information relevant to your business, and include a link that sends the traffic to your blog, website, or social media accounts. This is not the time to post links from other sources (such as posting an article from CNN.com) because you are then essentially paying to send traffic to them.

When It Works: If your Facebook page is new and you want more fans, or you are trying to get more people to read your blog posts, this may be worth a try.

Promoted Page Post Ads

Say you want to promote just one post. If you have over 400 likes, a “promote” icon appears in the bottom right hand corner of the posting box. Select promote, then enter the amount of money you want to spend and it will tell you how many people that amount will reach, again beyond your Facebook fans. One shot deal.

When It Works: To me, this is a fairly inexpensive way to promote a sale or special event. But there needs to be a really grabby headline, a prominent call to action and the link needs to send the potential customer right to what you are selling to be the most effective for you.

Sponsored Stories

This one can be a little confusing. A sponsored story ensures that any time one of your Facebook fans interacts with your page (likes your page, likes a post, comments, etc.) that this action will turn up in the news feed of all of their friends. Now, you may think, why would I pay for that because doesn’t every action by a friend/fan turn up in the news feed already. No. Surprisingly a lot of what you post and do on Facebook your fans will not see, and if they can’t see it, they can’t like it. If you look at your posts, it will tell you how many people actual saw it. So you could have 200 Facebook fans, but it will say “40 people saw this post”. Therefore, a sponsored story provides a better chance that your fans’ friends will see anything they like that has to do with you. The reach is limited to that. You pay per impression or click.

When It Works: So, if your goal is really to get to your Facebook fans’ friends, this may be effective, especially if you are offering a “Friends and Family” type deal and encourage them to “like” in order to pass it on.

FINAL WORD: The longterm effective of these ads remains to be seen. As more ads turn up in the news feed, it may turn more Facebook users off. But for now, the best thing about these ads for your small business is that they are extremely affordable and measurable, so if they don’t give you the results you wanted, you are not out a lot of money and you can quit at any time.

By the way, you can “Like” me on Facebook at Attention Getting.

Now You Can Get My Very Best Marketing Tactics for Selling Online in My New Ebook Series!

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“Best buy ever!” . . “Cannot recommend this enough!” . .  ”You will not be disappointed!” . . “Incredible!” –  If you want my VERY BEST marketing tactics and advice, I save that exclusively for my Ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, $12 US, 37-page PDF ebook, download today at my Etsy shop.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 30, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 30, 2013

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Product Photography I Love – March Edition

by G.B. Oliver

I love great photography. It really does help sell a product. Here are some favorites I found, and I will explain (in case it’s not obvious) what works that makes this a photo that sells.

Beauty Products

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Why It Works: I love this product shot by Crabtree & Evelyn for many reasons. One, I think by including the oranges in the shot, it really does convey that you will find them in the product. Two, I love how they positioned the bottles on this white washed table, making it feel like a very natural, fresh product. Finally, grouping all four products together really does help upsell, making you want the whole set.

 

Vintage Products

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Why It Works: The vintage shop, Dreamy  Whites, does an amazing job of shooting their vintage finds with magazine quality photos. The soft lighting makes the vintage product feel like it will fit into any type of home today. Showing the product in use is always a good idea. If you just saw a photo of this basket on its own, empty, would you be as inclined to want it?

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Pet Products

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Why It Works: This is a great product shot from a company called Kurgo selling on HSN. You can never go wrong showing a cute dog, and this one is a great model. Again, showing the product in action helps me visualize it in my own car and with my own sized dog. And they make it look just too adorable to pass up.

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Paper Products

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Why It Works: Invitation company, Luscious Verde, shows various aspects of the design in one photo, really highlighting nice details you might have otherwise missed. Doing a collage is a great way to ensure the customer see all the features and benefits.

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FINAL WORD: Photos really can sell a product if you use them to highlight use, need unique features. Plus, with today’s image-hungry online environment, top quality photos are more likely to be “pinned” and “liked” helping your products to go viral.

Want My Very Best Marketing Ideas, That I Don’t Put Here on the Blog?

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“Best buy ever!” . . “Cannot recommend this enough!” . .  ”You will not be disappointed!” . . “Incredible!” –  If you want my VERY BEST marketing tactics and advice, I save that exclusively for my Ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, available at my Etsy shop.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 27, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 27, 2013

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Make Your Shop’s Title Tag Product-Specific to Do Better in Searches

by G.B. Oliver

Just how important is that title tag for your home page that describes your overall online business? Pretty important if you want search engines to find you. When you click on a website, look at what is written in that line in the top bar above the search box. This is the title tag. What you have here will determine whether you get found in searches.

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Now, if you are a big online store with a lot of backlinks, you can be quite generic in your home page’s title tag and still turn up on the front page.

Some Examples of Top Online Stores’ Title Tags:

West Elm: “Modern Furniture, Home Decor and Home Accessories”

BaubleBar: ”Women’s Jewelry – Bracelets – Necklaces – Designer Fashion Jewelry”

Pottery Barn Kids: ”Kids’ & Baby Furniture, Kids Bedding & Gifts, Baby Registry”

Amazon: ”Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs and more” (tend to list their most best selling categories)

Apple Store: ”Buy iPad mini, iPad, iPhone 5, Macbook Pro with Retina display, Mac mini and more” (gets specific with actual product names)

How Small Businesses Can Use Tag Lines to Get to the First Page on Search

Now, if you are a small business, you will need to be more specific in your shop’s home page’s title tag if you want to be noticed. You just won’t be able to compete with the larger retail chains on the more generic, popular keywords, like “designer jewelry”. You have to target in on one of your most prominent products and hope you can upsell other products once buyers are in your shop.

So maybe you want to say, “The Shop for Leather Wrap Bracelets” if these are your top seller, and, depending on how many other people are using that title tag, it has the best chance of getting your business on the first page for that search. (It should be noted that if you don’t want to get overly specific in your shop’s title tag, make sure your product category title tags are very specific, like “leather wrap bracelets”, as these are picked up by search engines as a secondary choice).

For example, I searched the phrase, “Cute iPhone cases“. Well the shop, Lolli Mobile came up on the first page, because sure enough, the shop title tag is, “The Place for Cute iPhone Cases”.

I tried another search, this time for “natural handmade soap”, and the first online store that showed up was the Natural Handcrafted Soap Shop because their title tag is “Pure, Natural, Handmade, Handcrafted Soap”.

FINAL WORD: The big retailers (with the exception of Apple) are not going to get product specific in their shop’s home page’s title tag, so this is where you can compete. This includes the title tag on the landing page of your blog as well. You get 70 characters, so make the most of it.

Want My Very Best Marketing Advice (That I Keep Exclusive to my Ebooks)?

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 26, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 26, 2013

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4 Social Media Sites You May Not Be Using … But Should

by G.B. Oliver

★ THIS BLOG POST  MADE THE NY TIMES – THIS WEEK IN SMALL BUSINESS

When you think social media, the top sites always come up Facebook (750 million users), Twitter (250 million users), Linked In (110 million users), Pinterest (85 million users). But there are others that also host millions of users that might be better for your type of business.

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DeviantArt  (26 million users) – if you sell any kind of art, photography, artisan craft, you should profile your business on DeviantArt. They allow you to post your products, include a detailed profile, link to your website, and will actually sell your creations for you. Now, you don’t have to sell on DeviantArt, they will let you link directly to your own shop to purchase.

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BuzzFeed (15 million users) – BuzzFeed was founded by Jonah Peretti, who co-founded the Huffington Post, which is the most-read blog on the Internet. BuzzFeed is a magazine/blog with a variety of articles on different subjects, but there is a celebrity/lifestyle/politics/entertainment focus. You set up a profile and can post an article you write, images you like, products you like, etc. There is content already on the site written by their writers, but if the staff likes your post, they may put it on the main page exposing you to their millions of readers. For example, if you sell baby products could write a post entitled, “10 Crying Baby Santa Photos”. It has to creative and it can’t be blatant advertising. While you can include links to your shop, you cannot include links to your blog.

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Indulgy (3 million users) – Indulgy is a lot like Pinterest. You add photos of things you love and it links right back to the direct source on the Internet. It is a little more streamlined than Pinterest with no categories to search on, just the main board or the popular category. Photos appear here with a board title listed, so you can click on the board to narrow down to something more specific. As I said, it is much more streamlined. Also, the sizing of the photos is more uniform than on Pinterest, making it easier to get noticed. Fashion and decorating photos definitely dominate the popular board, so if you sell these types of products, Indulgy may be for you.

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Metacafe (11 million users) – This is a video channel, an obvious competitor to YouTube. I would definitely recommend it if you have a technie, geeky or gadgety type product as that seems to be the more popular posts. Also, pop culture such as movies, tv and music is big on this channel, so if you have products in that vein, ie. Fashion Inspired by Mad Men, your target market is definitely here.

FINAL WORD: New social media sites are always popping up and will continue to do so. To try and be on all of them isn’t the answer. Pick and choose the ones that are right for your target market and marketing efforts.

Have You Heard About My New Marketing Ebooks?

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“Best buy ever!” . . “Cannot recommend this enough!” . .  ”You will not be disappointed!” . . . “Incredible!” – just some of the customer reviews of my new ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, available at my Etsy shop.

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© 2013 G.B. Oliver. All rights reserved.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 22, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 22, 2013

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6 Major Online Retailers Now Selling Indie, Handmade & Vintage Products

by G.B. Oliver

As many people know, the online marketplace Etsy, started a wholesale business in order to get its vendors’ products into more store fronts in addition to their huge online presence. West Elm started this venture with Etsy in 2011, and leading U.S. retailer Nordstrom has now signed on. More than likely this push by major retailers to add “handmade” and artisan items to their stores is due to the resurgence of interest in these types of products.

So it is time your online store explored the opportunities of wholesale?

Major Retailers Offering Products from Independent Artists & Designers:

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This major retailer carries a variety of artisan products in its online store, such as art prints from Society6. Society6 is an international artist community and sells artwork from thousands of artists around the world, from prints to t-shirts to iPhone cases. In their beauty section, they carry false eyelashes from Etsy shop, ShimmerTwins.

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ShopRuche is a well known online clothing retailer specializing in vintage-style clothes and other goods. They have a section in their online store entitled, “Indie”. Here you will find greeting cards from Etsy shops Completely Gail and Gingiber.

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This online retailer offers such unique products that they are a natural fit for indie and handmade goods. In their online shop they have a category called, “Made In Kind” where they sell the designs of various indie fashion designers. Independent artisans, furniture makers and photographers can have their work displayed (and sold) in a gallery type section on Anthropologie called, “Featured Artists”.

But it is not just the handmade market that online retailers on jumping on either. Online marketplaces are also known for their vintage goods.

Major Online Retailers Selling Vintage Finds:

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This popular online retailer of clothing and housewares has added a “members only” section entitled Vintage, where they sell retro clothing and decor finds they have acquired from various flea markets and vendors, which works well with their own brand.

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The Boho clothing retailer has also seen the value in vintage, offering a vintage section with everything from college clothing to leather jackets to concert t-shirts to jewelry and housewares (it should be noted that Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People are owned by the same company).

images-1

This large UK retailer combines the best of the above. In addition to carrying their own clothing brand and other popular brands, they offer a marketplace where indie designers and vintage vendors can sell. You can list/sell individual items or open up a boutique.

FINAL WORD: So, as you can see, the wholesale market is opening up for independent artists, artisans, designers and the like. If running an online shop isn’t your thing and you really just want to create, wholesale may be a better opportunity for you to explore.

Have You Heard About My New Marketing Ebooks?

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If you are selling your own creations, my marketing secrets will help you find success online! Please see my ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, plus find other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 21, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 21, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/21/major-online-retailers-adding-indie-handmade-and-vintage-products/

Google Trends – Product Search Phrases On The Rise

by G.B. Oliver

★ THIS BLOG POST  MADE NY TIMES SMALL BUSINESS, BEST OF THE WEEK 

I love looking at Google Trends and seeing which search phrases are popular, but also which ones are on the rise. The great thing about Google Trends is you can customize it by country and by time period (i.e. last 7 days), so it is a great tool to keep on top of the marketplace. So I entered some product categories to see what the top rising search phrases were, for the last 3 months, worldwide.

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For the jewelry vendors out there, and I know there are lots, these are the top rising search phrases:

  • Cheap Body Jewelry
  • Hematite Jewelry
  • Amethyst Jewelry (amethyst is the February birthstone)
  • Bridesmaid Jewelry

For wedding products vendors, typing in wedding was too generic, so here are the top rising search phrases, worldwide, in the last 3 months for “Wedding Invitations”:

  • Fun Wedding Invitations
  • Coral Wedding Invitations
  • Country Wedding Invitations
  • Homemade Wedding Invitations

For vendors of baby products, again, typing in baby was too generic. So I tried “Baby Clothes”, and these were the top risers:

  • Baby Summer Clothes
  • Neutral Baby Clothes
  • Crochet Baby Clothes
  • Handmade Baby Clothes
  • Unisex Baby Clothes

For vendors of art, I typed in the phrase “Wall Art” and this is what resulted:

  • Kitchen Art
  • African Wall Art
  • Bathroom Wall Art
  • Beach Wall Art
  • Kitchen Wall Art (Kitchen seems to be in big demand)

For vintage sellers, these were the breakout rising searches for “Vintage”:

  • Vintage Valentines
  • Modern Vintage Boutique
  • Vintage Swimwear
  • Vintage Prom Dresses
  • Vintage Bridesmaid Dresses
  • Vintage Style Dresses

For sellers of home products, it is a little tougher to narrow things down. So I entered “Decorative” and these were the results:

  • Decorative curtain rods
  • Decorative baskets
  • Decorative bird cages
  • Decorative wall hooks
  • Decorative ceiling tiles

FINAL WORD: When you look at searches in lesser time frames, like the last 3 months, it helps you to see popular cyclical searches, such as Valentine’s, and also how far in advance people start searching for different events or seasons. For example, people are already searching for summer items. Use Google Trends to help you find where that next opportunity lies for your online business.

★ If You Like My Blog, You’ll LOVE My New Ebooks (because I save my BEST ideas for in there!) 

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“Best buy ever!” . . “Cannot recommend this enough!” . .  ”You will not be disappointed!” . . . “Incredible!” – just some of the customer reviews of my new ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!. Download today at my Etsy shop.

PLEASE Tweet, Post to Facebook, Stumble, PIN & more this post using the SHARE button below. Thanks!

PLEASE LIKE this post using the button below and follow my RSS feed to know when new articles are posted.

© 2013 G.B. Oliver. All rights reserved.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 19, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Google Tips, Home, Trends
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 19, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/19/google-trends-search-phrases-on-the-rise/

Online Stores I Love – Harabu House

by G.B. Oliver

One of the things I try to do with my blog is frequently point out Marketing I Love and Products I Love, but today I am actually going to talk about an Online Store I Love. The store is called Harabu House and if you are looking for ideas to what makes an online store work, you definitely should check them out.

Screen shot 2013-04-29 at 10.41.45 AMHarabu House was launched in 2010 and is an exclusive online eco-boutique for contemporary and stylish global finds. Their mission is to find sustainable products that provide economic, social and environmental benefits to the artisans who create them, and they carry products from all over the globe.

What Harabu House is Doing Right:

  • Great Products – They carry truly unique, beautiful products for the home (as well as some jewelry and fashion accessories). From hand painted tea cups to teak measuring spoons, everything seems to have a mix of the exotic and the contemporary at the same time. Screen shot 2013-04-29 at 10.44.17 AM
  • Easy to Navigate – I personally do not like busy home/landing pages and Harabu’s is sleek and simple. They have a slide show running of various products with a caption such as “Find Me Under Dinnerware“, making it easy for the visitor to find the products on display. All the categories are neatly displayed at the top and the particulars such as contact info, FAQs, newsletter, and social media icons are tightly compacted in a barred off section at the bottom. I also love how that important upper right hand corner notifies customers of their free shipping offer on domestic orders over $75 with a hot pink elephant icon drawing the eye right to it.

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  • Gift Guide – Another icon on the home page is their gift guide. But once you click on it, you are actually then given more options to narrow it down further, such as a gift guide for housewarming, baby shower, for him, for her. Another attempt to make the shopping experience easier for the customer.
  • Product Descriptions – The product descriptions are so well written, with compact narratives that tell you everything you need to know and create a need to buy. They are typically followed by a small write-up about the artist. I love the Tell a Friend feature, allowing you to instantly email the product to a friend, the Add to Wish List icon, and the Request More Information icon – three great Call to Actions to keep buyers engaged.
  • Category Highlight – A nice touch this online store has, is that when you are in a particular product category, the icon behind it colorizes, reminding you where you are. Screen shot 2013-04-29 at 10.47.55 AM
  • Photographs – The photographs are definitely top notch. Well-lit, various angles, magazine-quality set-ups, typically showing the product in use. I also like that for certain products, they include a photo of any magazine editorial that product has appeared in, which helps credibility with customers because it acts as an endorsement.
  • Shopping Cart Total – A cool feature about their shopping cart icon in the upper right hand corner, is that it will not only display the number of items (which is pretty common with most online sellers) but it actually displays how much you have spent so far. Love that!

FINAL WORD: So, if you want a good example of what a sleek, attractive online home products shop should look like, check out Harabu House.

Download My New Marketing Ebooks Today!

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Get my exclusive marketing ideas that will help drive your online business in my ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, (for Jewelry/Fashion, Home, Wedding and Kids & Baby Products) and other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

PLEASE Tweet, Post to Facebook, Stumble, PIN & more this post using the SHARE button below. Thanks!

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 18, 2013

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My Latest Pinterest Marketing Tip

by G.B. Oliver

I am not sure if your business is using the popular image gallery, Pinterest, but since it is free, you may want to consider it.

How it works, in a nutshell, is if one of your products gets pinned to either one of the main category boards (strictly by chance) or gets repinned by one of the popular pinners (some have over 5 million followers), then it can mean a lot of exposure and traffic to your shop, as well as continual exposure and traffic for months based on repins (when people see your product and repin it to one of their boards). Now, unfortunately that traffic doesn’t always translate into sales, but better some traffic than no traffic.

Now, I noticed an interesting trend on Pinterest that I thought I would share.  7 of the top 16 pins currently on Pinterest (and by top I mean the highest number of repins) were inspirational quotes. That is almost 50%. The others were food or fashion.

So here is my tip on how I think you can use this trend of inspirational quotes to help your business get noticed on Pinterest.

First of all, if you do wall art such as this, then you should have no problem getting your products pinned. Just make sure that you have a product photo that goes in tight on the saying so it is readable. Then, add a watermark of your url or shop name so people can trace it back. Sometimes when people pin your items from some of the mobile apps, the original source gets lost.

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But what if you sell something else, like kids’ products? Well, here is where you can get a little creative. Simply find a cool or funny or inspirational saying that relates to your product and photograph your item against it or add the text to the product photo. For example, if I was selling baby booties, I would take a shot of the booties and to the side of the booties I would photoshop in the words, “I never knew how much love my heart could hold until someone called me Mom”.

FINAL WORD: You can do this for any type of product. If you sell food have a quote about food. If you sell jewelry, have a romantic saying. If you sell fitness products, have a motivational saying. It is almost like doing an ad with a tag line. But this is what gets pinned and repinned and will give you exposure.

Start Selling More Today with My New Marketing Ebooks!

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You don’t think I put my best secrets here on the blog, do you? Find more marketing and social media ideas and tricks that will help drive your online business in my ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, as well as other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop. Editions for Jewelry/Fashion, Wedding, Home and Kids & Baby Products. 

PLEASE Tweet, Post to Facebook, Stumple, PIN & more this post using the SHARE button below. Thanks!

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© 2013 G.B. Oliver. All rights reserved.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 15, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 15, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/15/my-latest-tip-for-getting-exposure-on-pinterest/

Some Posts You May Have Missed

by G.B. Oliver

I have been away on business for a few days so I am afraid my blog has taken a back seat. I will have a new post later today. However, in the meantime, I just wanted to mention that a fourth blog post of mine has made the New York Times Small Business Weekly Wrap-up. If you missed it from last week, here is it: How to Predict Trends Before They Happen.

If you are new to my blog (I have only been writing it since mid-November), I thought I would show a few older posts that you may have missed:

As mentioned, check back later today for a new and exciting blog post (yes, Marketing can be exciting!) and don’t forget to always see what free PR opportunities are currently available at the tab above.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 14, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 14, 2013

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Examples of Product Copy That Sells –Modcloth

by G.B. Oliver

This is a regular feature of mine because when I see great marketing I just have to share. Modcloth is an online store that sells everything from fashion to home decor (or, as they call it, Apartment decor). They write product copy really well and below are some examples from their site that are really effective.

Vintage Rose Bud Earrings from Modcloth

Vintage Rose Bud Earrings from Modcloth

Your fervor for all things retro has you ready and raring to rock these adorable rosette earrings. Whether you’re looking for a way to freshen up your nine-to-five outfit of a blouse and pencil skirt or add a little spring charm to a casual day dress worn with flats, these darling dusty-rose earrings are the perfect blooms for the job. Just pop on these vintage-inspired posts, and watch as they give your usual ensemble a blast of the past for extra panache.

Why It Works: Well, if I had no idea what to wear these with or where to wear them, I do now.

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Wooden Laptop Sleeve from Modcloth

Wooden Laptop Sleeve from Modcloth

Do you foresee a fashionable future for your laptop? We predict its safekeeping in this playful, game-printed laptop sleeve! Cushioned by a cozy, padded corduroy lining, this soothsaying sleeve depicts a classic spirit board on its woven nylon exterior. Complete with letters A-Z, numerals, and yes or no options, this zip-closure protector has all the answers in its faux-wood-finished front. While we can’t promise this computer case is a conduit to the beyond, we’re certain it will fill your tomorrows with compliments.

Why It Works: They made it sound so interesting that I know carrying this around is going to get me some attention. Plus, they manage to work in all the product details such as the padded lining, the zipper closing, and the faux-wood front without making it tedious.

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Meow for Measuring Cups from Modcloth

Meow for Measuring Cups from Modcloth

With just one glance at these amazing ceramic measuring cups by One Hundred 80 Degrees - as featured in Weight Watchers Magazine – I see two of my favorite things in one wonderful product. I can even hear a close friend doing a poor impression of me in a high pitched voice, sounding like someone’s grandma – “Hi, I’m Angela and I looooove kitties and making delicious goodies for you to eat!” It’s true, though. I get a little wacky over my cats, Nina and Laurence, and I get uber excited over baking anything from experimental muffins to quirky quiches. For my next culinary adventure, I’ll make sure to use these kitschy kitchen tools. Each of the clearly labeled, glazed cups resembles a well-fed feline with teeny paws that set it flat on the counter, and a curved tail for a handle. Since these charcoal, grey, slate, and white pets are much too cute to hide in the drawer, why not display them on a safe counter space? If your pets like to help you make sweets and treats, these will be the perfect addition to your mixing bowls and cookbooks. Take it from my furry friends – these measuring cups are the cat’s meow. 

Why It Works: I like how they managed to mention the publicity this product got in a major magazine (almost seems like an endorsement). I like that they address any concern that the cups would sit flat on a counter, and mentioning that they are decorative as well as have a purpose, so a two for one. It is a little lengthy, but if you are looking for copy that shows personality, this one delivers.

Get More Marketing Advice in My New Ebooks!

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Find more marketing ideas that will help drive your online business in my ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, and other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

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© 2013 G.B. Oliver. All rights reserved.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Home, Marketing 101
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 8, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/08/examples-of-product-copy-that-sells-modcloth/

Be Careful About Sharing Your “Success” Tips – Your Competition is Listening

by G.B. Oliver

I was on one a popular online store’s forums the other day where sellers talk to each other and share information. Here, I frequently see sellers who make grand declarations such as they’ve made 500 sales in a month and here is how they did it. And I scratch my head and think to myself, BIG MISTAKE!

I realize that a lot of these online marketplaces like to foster a sense of community, but, at the end of the day this is still business and many of these sellers are your direct competition. Why on earth would you want to tell them your success secrets?

That is the problem when your ego takes over from your business sense. You have a bit of success and you want to tell everyone. But now realize, you are telling everyone, including your competition, and that’s not good.

It is NEVER a good idea to share your secrets with competitors. I dare anyone to find me a business book that says to do that. Would Coca-Cola email Pepsi and say, “Here is everything we did last year that worked. Good luck”. You would be sabotaging your own business. You don’t have any control over who reads your posts or your blog or tweets, so why put information out there that can hurt you? You want customers to notice you, but quite frankly, when it comes to your competition, you want to fly under their radar.

I have marketing professionals follow me all the time on Twitter. They don’t need my services, obviously. They are keeping tabs on me, which is what the competition does. If I do something they think works, let’s be honest, they will probably “borrow” it.

This is just good seasoned business advice. Remember the saying, Loose Lips Sink Ships. If you have an amazing secret that you stumbled upon that is causing your sales to skyrocket – KEEP IT TO YOURSELF (but tell me, of course).

Now, luckily for you I share my marketing secrets that will help your online business, in my ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work!, plus find other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

PLEASE Tweet, Post to Facebook, Stumple, PIN & more this post using the SHARE button below. Thanks!

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 6, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 6, 2013

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Consider These Story Ideas for Product Pitches – March 2013

by G.B. Oliver

As you know, getting your products in editorial in magazines, blogs, your local newspaper, etc., is always a surefire way to get sales. But coming up with a story pitch for a writer is not that easy. So here are some ideas taken from today’s headlines that I thought might inspire you (and a few ideas at the end for the near future).

man-sitting-clip-art-silhouette

Story Pitches for Home Products

  • 5 Fresh Decorating Ideas to Bring Into Spring
  • Trend Alert: Mirrored Art
  • Spring Awakening: 51 Colorful iPhone Cases
  • Brighten Your Pad with Playful Decor
  • Welcome Spring with Floral Accessories Under $50
  • I Can’t Believe It’s From Etsy: Oil Paintings

Story Pitches for Baby & Kids Products

  • The Most Beautiful Baby Sleep Sacks
  • Cool Finds: Etsy Your St. Patty’s Day
  • 7 Oz-Inspired Picks for Kids
  • Hit the High Seas in Our Favorite Pirate Picks
  • 7 Animal Wallpaper Designs for Your Lil Wild One

Story Pitches for Fashion

  • 50 Swimsuits under $50
  • 7 Pinterest Boards Chic Moms Should Follow
  • Ditch Your Boots for These 17 Cute (and Cheap) Flats
  • 5 Striped Tops to Welcome Spring
  • What to Wear with Printed Jeans
  • Pretty Pastel Picks for Spring

Story Pitches for Wedding Products

  • 3 Great Ways to Save Cherished Wedding Memories
  • Vintage Navy Wedding Inspiration Board
  • 10 Tips for Toasting at a Wedding
  • Great Gatsby Wedding Inspiration
  • Our Favorite Escort Card Ideas
  • Top 10: Wedding Envelope Inspiration

Story Pitches for Beauty Products

  • 10 Nail Trends to Try This Spring
  • How to Get Better Skin by the Morning
  • Fix Your Most Common Beauty Problems with These Products
  • Spring Make-up Colors to Chase the Blues Away
  • The Secrets of Wearing Dark Lipstick

Story Pitches for Pet Products

  • March Essentials for Your Furry Friends
  • What to Pack on a Road Trip with Your Pet
  • From Functional to Wacky: Products to Keep Kitty Happy
  • Celebrate Valentine’s Day with the Pet Love of Your Life

As you can see, Spring was a big editorial topic. So what topics do you think editors will be looking for now, in order to publish in a month or two:

  • Movie influences with releases such as Star Trek, Superman, World War Z
  • Television influences with Game of Thrones Season Premiere
  • Holiday influences with World Health Day (April 7), Earth Day (April 22), May Day (May 1), Cinco de Mayo (May 5th), National Teacher’s Day (May 7th) and Mother’s Day (May 12th)

Not sure WHO to pitch to? Try one of my blog lists, plus find other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

My New Blog Lists for Fashion, Wedding & Home Decor

My New Blog Lists for Fashion, Wedding & Home Decor and Kids & Baby Products

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© 2013 G.B. Oliver. All rights reserved.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 5, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Getting Publicity, Home
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 5, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/05/consider-these-story-ideas-for-product-pitches-march-edition/

How to Predict Trends Before They Happen

by G.B. Oliver

★ THIS BLOG POST  MADE THE NY TIMES – THIS WEEK IN SMALL BUSINESS

In December, Pantone chose Emerald Green to be its color of the year. Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that the movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful was coming out in spring, in which Emerald Green plays a large part in the story? Just how much does pop culture influence trends in fashion and other types of product categories, such as Home, Wedding, Kids and Lifestyle. (Please also see my post, Product Trends for 2013).

Pantone-color-of-the-year-emerald

When the Great Gatsby movie was scheduled to come out last fall (it has been delayed to this spring), the 1920s vintage trend starting showing up in early 2012. That was also helped along by the movie The Artist, another 1920s period film, which won the Academy award for best film in 2012 and television shows like Downtown Abbey.

If you were wondering why baroque styles came back into fashion two years ago and has stayed, you just had to look at the movies Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), Anna Karenina (2012), Mirror Mirror (2012), Lincoln (2012) Jane Eyre (2011) and Alice in Wonderland (2010) to see the influence.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is obviously focused on Smaug the dragon and the new, very popular trailer for Game of Thrones also features a dragon. So does this mean that dragons will be one of the creatures of choice in 2013/2014?

What about human-type monsters? Remember how popular vampires have been the last few years? Well that looks to be overtaken by zombies, thanks to movies like ParaNorman, the upcoming movie, World War Z and the popular TV show, The Walking Dead.

Books are an influence as well. Studs and spikes are showing up in both fashion, jewelry and home decor, citing a definite 50 Shades of Grey influence.

So if you want to get in on a trend before it starts, keep an eye on the things in pop culture that influence us – movies, books, television, music, world events, technology, and see what commonality you can find.

FINAL WORD: While trends don’t have a long shelf life, they do help to get you publicity (because editors only want to write about what everyone is talking about) and publicity gets people into your shop to check out what else you offer.

Be Sure to Download My New Marketing Ebooks, with my Best Secrets for Selling Online!

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“Best buy ever!” . . “Cannot recommend this enough!” . .  ”You will not be disappointed!” . . . “Incredible!” – just some of the customer reviews of my new ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work! as well as other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 4, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Home, Trends
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 4, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/04/how-to-predict-trends-before-they-happen/

Will Twitter Bring You Sales?

by G.B. Oliver

This was a tweet sent out this week by @gregorygarrick:

The biggest mistake a marketer can make is… Measuring success in terms of leads & NOT revenue

I couldn’t agree more. Leads, followers, likes, they are all pretty much the same thing. Don’t get mislead that having a lot of these means a ton of sales will be coming your way. I spoke about this a bit in a previous post, Traffic is Not Sales but I wanted to cover it again from a different angle.

As I have said many times, not all social media works for all types of products. While they are free mediums to use, they can be time consuming, so only spend time on the ones that are bringing you SALES.

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Does Twitter Bring Sales?

Twitter is an interesting social media platform. It is a great medium for communicating and getting the word out, but does it bring buyers to your website? (and remember, that was never the original intention behind the creation of Twitter or any of the social medias).

Based on my research, and backed up by other research, Twitter is really more effective for business to business selling. So if you are selling jewelry supplies for example, yes, you should be on Twitter because jewelry sellers are there and it is easy to find them (use the #jewelry hash tag) and easy to make them aware of your services simply by following them. Why are jewelry sellers there? One, because they have been told by the marketing world they have to be on there to be relevant, and two, because they are using it to search for new customers as well. I am sure there are other reasons, but, in all honesty, those are the main two.

Now, if you do not sell to businesses but rather to the end user, research has shown that end users for not using it as much for search (but that may change in the future), except on trending hash tags. So if you include a trending hash tag in your tweet, for example #HappyMonday, you can get seen in front of a large amount of people (I covered this in my post, Clever Ways to Use Twitter Hash Tags). But again, sheer exposure is no guarantee of sales, especially if it is not to your target market. I see a lot of wonderful products every day, but if I have no need for them, I’m not going to buy them.

So, are there ways to use Twitter that might lead result in sales?

  • If a Twitter account that has a large number of followers retweets one of your tweets or sends out a link to your website, that does expose you to a large amount of people, and if they are your target market, even better. So there is a definite potential here for sales.
  • If you have a large following of regular customers and you tweet out a special offer or a new product, that could definitely lead to a sale.
  • If you use it to engage in a conversation with someone who is asking a question that pertains to what you sell, that could also lead to a sale (maybe not right away).
  • If your followers love you enough to retweet your tweets, that exposes you to new people, which could lead to sales.
  • You can also pay and do a sponsored tweet that goes out to a targeted audience (probably your best chance for sales).
  • If you tweet something really witty or funny or inspiring, that could go viral as your followers retweet to their followers and then so on. Again, exposed to more people, but not necessarily your target market, could result in sales.

Now remember the steps that must occur in order to lead to a sale: The person on Twitter must even see your tweet, which can be difficult if they are scrolling through an ocean of tweets. Then, they must be interested enough to click on the link in your tweet. If there is no link that takes them to your website, then they must click on your Twitter name. Then they must read your profile to see what you do. Then they must click over to your website from there. Then they must look at your products. Then they must decide if there is anything they want or need. Then they must decide if they want to buy – that’s a lot of steps and you are losing people at each one.

Don’t get me wrong, Twitter can be great for businesses, just not all businesses. So have a presence, because it is free advertising, but keep your expectations in check.

You’ll find hundreds of innovative, but solid marketing ideas, in my ebooks, Small Business Marketing Ideas That Work! as well as other helpful marketing tools in my Etsy shop.

PLEASE Tweet, Post to Facebook, Stumple, PIN & more this post using the SHARE button below. Thanks!

PLEASE LIKE this post using the button below and follow my RSS feed to know when new articles are posted.

© 2013 G.B. Oliver. All rights reserved.

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by Attention Getting Marketing on March 1, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Home, Social Media Marketing
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Posted by Attention Getting Marketing on March 1, 2013

http://attention-getting.com/2013/03/01/will-twitter-bring-you-sales/

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