Category: 30-SECOND READ (Page 10 of 11)

My 30-second read blog posts give you a quick hit of marketing or small business knowledge.

The Value of Having a Best Seller Badge on Your Products

April 7, 2020 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

There is value of having a Best Seller Badge on your products.

Years ago, I recommended to one of my customers to put the words, “Best Seller” on one of the product photos in their Etsy shop. This was long before Etsy started doing it. Here is what resulted:

“I took your advice and put a best seller badge on my top selling wind chime. That made my life so much easier this holiday season. I just kept producing that particular chime instead of trying to guess which ones would sell. My sales were up around 40% for the year. When I ran out of my best seller at one point I put the best seller badge on another wind chime and it sold out quick as well. During the holiday season my best seller was consistently in the top left position for the keyword “wind chimes”. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for the help.”

A lot of the time people land on your shop and just don’t know what to buy, especially for a gift. The “Best Seller” badge makes the decision easier.

You might also want to read: Do You Really Need to Offer Free Shipping on Etsy

The Best Day to Sell Online

February 20, 2020 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

According to a new study, Tuesday is the best selling day of the week with the highest online sales conversion rate (2.5%), followed by Monday (2.25%). The overall average conversion rate of 2.2% drops as the week progresses, falling to 2.1% on the weekend.

© 2020 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Opportunity to Get a Shoutout from Instagram

January 3, 2020 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need an Instagram shoutout?

If you think your business has an interesting Instagram success story, you can now submit it to Instagram as they love a success story, and they might repost to their 325 million followers as well as mention it on their blog.

What to Post to Social Media in January

December 24, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

In need of some creative and fresh January social media post ideas?

January is all about fresh starts, new goals, weight loss, getting in shape, travel and winter activities, to name a few. This will be the most popular type of lifestyle content that followers will want to engage with.

Luckily, I have some creative posting ideas for you to try, all from my best-selling 365 Social Media Post Ideas for 2024

January Social Media Post Ideas

January 1st: Post a bucket list of #24ThingsToDoIn2024 and ask followers to give their bucket list in comments.
January 3rd: Post the winter forecast for the various parts of your country from the Farmer’s Almanac #weather #winterforecast
January 5th: Post a This or That – Favorite Diet: Keto or Mediterranean? as dieting is a top Google search every January.
January 8th: Post a positive affirmation for the new year for #MondayMotivation, and for every Monday of the month.
January 11th: Post an answer to a top searched January question: “How to make a snowman?”
January 16th: Post 3 favorite locations for a spring break vacation and ask followers theirs #TravelTuesday.
January 17th: Post a tip to avoid getting a cold or flu for #WellnessWednesday.
January 24th: Post something nice about another small business for #NationalComplimentDay.
January 31st: Post a collage of several of your favorite indie art prints for national #InspireYourHeartWithArtDay and tag the artist.
Get the rest of my 365 Social Media Post Ideas

Try This “Discount on Discount” Sales Trick

December 13, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

An online retailer had an interesting sales promotion this week. The offer was another 25% off their already 40% off sale. I have to be honest, I jumped on it. It made it seem like I was getting 65% off, but if you do the math it was more like 55%, which is still good, don’t get me wrong.

But there was something about a discount on a discount that made it feel like it was too good to pass up. Plus, it was one-day only and they indicated certain items would sell out. All of these things together got me to act quickly.

So give it a try on some of your sales merchandise that you are really trying to liquidate (if your profit margins allow for this deep a discount).

©2019 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Retail Arbitage Could Be Your New Side Hustle

December 6, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Have you considered Retail Arbitrage as a business idea or side hustle.

According to Ecomdash, this means buying up sales stock, especially at this time of the year, and reselling online is a profitable business. You cannot do this on sites like Etsy, but you can on eBay and your own e-commerce site. Worth a try?

Love this Retail Marketing Idea from Sephora

November 22, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Are you the kind of shopper that typically wants a sales person to help you OR do you wish to be left alone?

Well the retail store Sephora came up with the perfect solution. The store allows shoppers to choose a red or black basket: Red means “I’d like help” and black means “no thanks.” Brilliant!

Why Trader Joe’s is a Marketing Star

November 2, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Trader Joes is a marketing powerhouse food store. This article from Vox shows how Trader Joe’s knows how to take advantage of the biggest food purchases of the year, which is fall through to early February.

They start by stocking the largest and most diverse products featuring the hottest fall food trend: pumpkin spice. They follow this with foods tailored for all of the big holidays: back-to-school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s. Holidays sell!

©2019 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved.

Google Tip for Your Site’s Title Tag HTML SEO

October 25, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Understanding how to write your site’s title tag HTML SEO is important.

The title tag is the line that you fill in, in your settings, that describes what your site is all about. After your url, it is the second thing Google reads.

Google only reads the first 55 characters of your website’s title tag, make sure that you list what your business does first, and then your business name second. Most people do it the other way around, and it is a mistake.

For example, if you are a realtor in Pasadena, California, your website’s title tag should be:

Top Real Estate Agent Pasadena California | Jane Doe Realty

Also include your city in your title tag if the majority of your business is local.

If you are an online wedding store, your website’s title tag should be:

Wedding Dresses & Bridal Gowns Online | The Bridal Shop

Again, make your title tag descriptive of what you sell, including at least one of the most searched adjectives for what you sell.

About Me

Do you need your Brand Story written or an SEO-Optimized Blog Post or a Personalized Business Consultation? As a 20+ year marketing professional and small business consultant, all of my services are super affordable.

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012, and my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, Yahoo Business, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

My Publicity Pitch service has also gotten my clients featured in Real Simple Magazine, Apartment Therapy, House Beautiful, Vanity Fair, Houzz, Martha Stewart, Glamour Magazine, LONNY, DesignMilk, Emmaline Bride,– just to name a few.

I also have a wide variety of business & marketing downloads you can check out at my Shopify store.

Why You Need Many Sources of Traffic

October 11, 2019 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

A lot of people come to me and wonder why traffic to their website, blog or online shop is low or decreasing, and it is typically because they have only one main source of traffic. Your traffic should always be a mix from search engines (organic), referral links, blogs, email marketing, advertising, social media and publicity. These are the main ones, but there are others as well. Review your marketing mix of traffic sources and make sure you are not totally reliant on one. If it goes down, so does your business.