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What To Do When Your Products Aren’t Selling

August 24, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

I have advised thousands of online shops, and a common problem is not being able to recognize why your products are not selling and what to do. It is tough when it’s your own shop because you are too close to it to be objective.

what to do when products aren't selling

If the traffic to your shop is good, then you have to look at your prices, your shipping charges, your turnaround time, your reputation (negative reviews hurt sales), and most of all, your products.

So I am going to focus on your products and pretend that I sell wooden cutting boards so you can see what I mean.

Offer More of Your Best Sellers

What is your top seller(s)? This is the product you should look to for inspiration. Can you spin it off into more products, more colors, more shapes, more sizes, whatever the case may be. Why do you think there are so many coffee options at a Starbucks? So if my best seller is a wooden cutting board in the shape of Texas, then maybe I want to consider offering cutting boards that looks like the Texas state flag or a famous Texas landmark. Stick with what works.

Expand Your Target Market

I have always reminded my customers not to focus solely on the most obvious customer. Is your product suitable for businesses? In other words, have you thought about selling your wooden cutting boards to restaurants and cafes for serving the bread of other types of appetizers? Maybe you can customize the board with their logo (free advertising for them when people are taking a selfie of their food). Have you strictly been targeting women buyers? Maybe men would like a cutting board for their barbecue (they do, see next point).

Stay Innovative

Do your products have a lot of competition? In other words, are there other shops selling exactly what you sell? Then you need to delve back into product development and find out what customers are looking for. Therefore, if I sold cutting boards I would go over to Google autocomplete and type “cutting board that” “cutting board with” and “cutting board for” and see the searches that fill in. Some searches I found were:

Cutting board that catches juices
Cutting board that weighs what you cut
Cutting board with handle
Cutting board with recipe engraved
Cutting board for brisket
Cutting board for bread
Cutting board for sushi

I now have 7 new product ideas based on actual requests.

Gather Insight from Others’ Reviews

While you should definitely be reading your own reviews for insight into your products, you should also venture over to Amazon and read the reviews of your competitors’ products. Reading some reviews on wooden cutting boards, I found that people were unhappy when the board eventually split, the surface warped or it was too small. Things people raved about was when the board was easy to carry, didn’t take up much counter space and could be used for serving as well as chopping. Make sure your products have all the things customers want and none of the things they don’t.

Not sure why your products are not selling and need my advice? Try my Marketing Tune-Up. Are you an Etsy Shop? Check out my Etsy services.

How to Drive Traffic to Your Online Shop During August

July 28, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

My Tactical Marketing Planner for August is out now, and if you are having trouble getting traffic and sales at your online shop, and just don’t have a lot of time to spend on promotion, this downloadable, printable planner is for you (keep reading for BONUS offer)!

August is all about Back to School, Going off to College, End of Summer Clearance and early Fall shopping – all opportunities your online shop needs to take advantage of, and my tactical marketing planner will help you do just that.

I start off with my list of daily tasks that I want you to do this month, including unique opportunities only an insider knows about! These tasks include some of my proven secrets, as well as publicity, advertising and promotional opportunities. Doing these tactics just for 30 minutes a day will really help drive traffic to your online shop.

Then I give a daily social media “to do” including all of this month’s hot trending topics you can really take advantage of to be part of the conversation on social media and get your shop seen.

Finally, I include a variety of very useful worksheets because you need to measure your marketing efforts. These worksheets will keep your marketing organized and focused and allow you to measure the value of your efforts. Time is money so you don’t want to waste time on tactics that are not working. 10 pages in all.

As usual, I offer it at an amazing price of just $7!

I have two planners. One is for independent online shops and the other is for Etsy shops. If you have both an independent shop and an online shop, the Etsy one is best for you.

BONUS OFFER: If you pin the graphic above (and let me know you did) when you order the August planner, I will send you July’s planner for FREE that included 40 media contacts for print holiday gift guides.

Important! Holiday Gift Guides Submissions

Due to a number of requests, I’m offering a pitch writing service just until August 25th, as now is the time to be pitching your products to the PRINT media for their annual holiday gift guides. I’ll write a compelling pitch email for you to send along with your product submission. I will even advise you on the product I think has the best chance. I have written pitches for customers that got their products in the holiday gift guides for Real Simple, Vanity Fair, House Beautiful, LONNY, and more. Keep in mind, this NOT a guarantee of publicity, this is up to the magazine’s editorial team. You can purchase my Holiday Gift Guide pitching service ($39) here.

Start Doing This One Thing NOW for Your Best Holiday Sales Yet

July 21, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Do you want to have your best holiday sales ever at your online shop? Then I have one HUGE tip that I want you to start doing right NOW that will greatly help your sales come the peak period of late October to mid December.

Too many times, sellers do not understand how important your current customer base is. Shops always seem to be looking for new customers as opposed to trying to get more business out of the people who have already bought from them, and this is a mistake.

SO HERE IS WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO. Starting today, every time you make a sale, include the message below in your outgoing email to the customer (as well as on a card in the package):

Thank you so much for your purchase! We hope you will return for your holiday shopping with this coupon code for 15% off every item in the store: HOLIDAY2016 (valid until December 22, 2016).

Now, you can make the offer whatever you wish, whether it is free shipping, buy one get one half off, or any other value deal that makes sense for your shop. If you offer free gift wrapping, include this as well. The key is you are putting the idea in their head now that they should think of your shop come holiday shopping time PLUS you are giving them an incentive to do so.

You can even get more specific, so if you sell women’s jewelry, for example, you can say:

Thank you so much for your purchase! We hope you will return for holiday gifts for your mother, sisters, children, best friends, colleagues – anyone who loves jewelry – with this coupon code for 15% off every item in the store: HOLIDAY2016 (valid until December 22, 2016).

Now, a few more tips. You may also want to finish with a line such as:

Thank you so much for supporting small businesses!

Again, this reminds people the importance of buying from smaller vendors and not always the big retailers, and it makes them feel better about their purchase and want to support you further.

If you personalize or customize items, then you may want to add:

We are offering FREE personalization for any holiday gift, just be sure to order before December 1st so that it arrives in time.

We can create a gift specifically for someone special (or hard to buy for), just be sure to order before December 1st so that it arrives in time.

This gets them to act faster. You want as many holiday sales as possible before the big hype of Black Friday, where it is going to be tough to compete with online retailers such as Amazon.

If you don’t sell items that typically constitute as gifts, the holiday shopping season is also big for purchases that have to do with decorating and entertaining as people are getting their homes in order for family visits, holiday parties, and so forth, so you could say something such as:

Thank you so much for your purchase! With the holidays just around the corner, we hope you will return for any of your holiday decorating or entertaining needs with this coupon code for 15% off every item in the store: HOLIDAY2016 (valid until December 22, 2016).

Etsy Shops!

Did you know that I offer a 30-Minute Phone Critique of your Etsy shop for just $59? I evaluate every aspect of your shop and advise you on the changes you need to make to get more traffic and sales. You can order it from my Etsy shop here.

12 Unique Farmers Market Booth Display Ideas

July 14, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Farmers Market Marketing Ideas

Need some farmers market marketing ideas? If you have a booth at farmers’ and artisan markets, here are some of my unique farmers market booth display ideas to get potential customers to find your booth, stop at your booth and, hopefully, buy!

Now, not all of these ideas may be allowed at certain venues, so read their rules handbook first before you incorporate any of these ideas.

12 Unique Farmers Market Booth Display Ideas

Signage – You need a banner for the top of the booth canopy, that is waterproof and durable and has your shop name, url and tagline. You also need signage as a backdrop for the booth (with shop name at eye level). Also have smaller signs on the posts. Ask the venue if you are allowed to also have sidewalk sandwich boards positioned on the ground at each corner of the booth, so they can be seen by traffic coming from each direction, and put flyers on cars in the parking lot.
Free Samples – Have free samples and/or product testers available (if relevant to what you are selling). Always give a free sample to someone who does buy a product in order to try and up-sell other products. At very least, give everyone a business card with a coupon code stamped on the back to use for future purchases at your online shop.
Small Attraction – Consider a small attraction at the booth that will get people to stop, such as spinning a prize wheel to get a certain percentage off purchase, free gift, etc. Be sure to also read, 101 Promotional Ideas for Your Small Business.
Photo Opportunity – Have a photo op at your booth like a creative photo cutout where people put their head through the hole and take a picture. Make sure it has your shop’s name on it and encourage them to share the photo on social media to get your shop name seen by their followers. You can get customized cutouts at Shindigz.com for less than $50 that are vertical and wouldn’t take up a lot of space.
Business Cards – Swap business cards with at least 5 other non-competitors at the farmers market (but who target the same customer) and ask that they put your business card in the packages of their customers and you will do the same for them.
Shopping Bags – Put customers’ purchases in large paper shopping bags with handles that clearly show your shop name, tagline (so they know what you sell) and booth number. Also consider a reusable farmers market bag that has your name on it, that customers will use every time they go to a farmer’s market with free advertising for you.
Have a Traffic Generator – Have an employee walk around the farmers market handing out business cards, directing people to your booth. Stamp the booth number on the back of the card.
Giveaway – Collect emails of customers and potential customers by hosting a product giveaway whereby people put a ballot with their name and email address into a box for a draw at the end of the day.
Tiered Displays – Display your products in tiered levels, not all flat on the table, so that people can see your range of products as they walk by.
Tablecloths – Invest in tablecloths that cover the entire table (height and width). This allows you to store more products under the table (you never want to run low on inventory and have an empty looking table) and it can act as additional signage if you print your shop name on the fabric.
Social Media – Follow the farmers market on all social media sites and promote your presence there a few days prior, including tagging the market itself in hopes of a share. For example, this would be a good Tweet: “Visit us this weekend, booth #21, at the Marlboro Farmers Markets @marlborofarmersmarket”
Vendor Opportunities – Explore all vendor opportunities each Farmers Market gives to its sellers (and even suggest some ideas to them), such as optimal booth positioning, free signage, free advertising, free mentions on social media and so fort

xShop My Best Sellers!

5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Business This Summer

July 8, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Summer is here and people are out and about – travelling, going to farmers’ markets, the beach, outdoor concerts – you name it. So it presents a lot of great opportunities for you to get your business seen by your local market with only a little bit of investment.

ways to promote business this summer

5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Business This Summer

Baseball Games – If you are lucky enough to live in a city that has a major league baseball team (minor league is fine too), wear a t-shirt to the game with your shop url on the back (and front) and try to stand up every chance you get. Stadium seats are fairly low in the back so make sure your shop url is large and positioned between the shoulder blades. This also works great at music festivals, outdoor movies, anywhere a lot of people are going to be staring at your back for a while.
Food Trucks – Food trucks are big business in the summer so approach a few about the possibility of putting a temporary sign advertising your business on their truck. Either offer to pay (extra revenue for them) or barter to see if they will go for the idea.
Car Windshield Sun Shade Covers – This is an idea from my ebooks, but if you park your car in a busy lot all day, or outside a major summer event, use it to advertise your business by creating a sun shade visor for the front (and back) windshield of your car that clearly shows your shop url.
Beach Umbrellas – You can have your shop url and/or logo screened onto anything these days, including a large umbrella that would get seen all day long the next time you decide to go to the beach (if I owned a bikini shop, I would totally be doing this!).
Campers and Trailers – If you are planning on taking your camper on a long road trip this summer, have a banner made for the side advertising your business. It will get seen by hundreds of cars on the highway, especially since everyone will be passing you.

Are you inspired? If you can’t use one of these ideas, hopefully you are motivated to come up with one of your own!

IMPORTANT! If you want to get your products into holiday gift guide editorial for print magazines, they are working on these issues right now! Download my July Planner as it includes a Holiday Gift Guide Media Contact List for 40 major magazines and don’t miss out! If you need a reminder of how to pitch, be sure to read my post, Why You Should Be Pitching Your Products for Holiday Gift Guides NOW.

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Creative Ideas to Market and Promote Your Art

June 23, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

If you’re an artist, and you are looking for creative ideas to market and promote your art, here are just a few of my tactics from my 12-Month Marketing Plan for Online Art Stores.

In mid December, email a winter theme story pitch idea such as “How to Brighten Up Your Walls This Winter” to at least five decor blogs that you find at BLOGLOVIN’.
Post a video / reel of your pieces of your art transitioning on and off a wall to introduce your new or seasonal collection. Here is an example.
Change up your email opt-in incentive to include a free printable such as, “How to Create a Gallery Art Wall”.
Enter one of Minted.com’s Design Challenges.
Target commercial users as well as the consumer, such as selling your art to interior decorators, restaurants, bars, doctor’s offices, boutiques, small hotels, AirBnBs, show homes and home stagers.
Create a mystery art box as a promotional idea. It can be theme-based or it can features your prints that are discontinued, or wish to stop selling.
Ask a local developer if you can display some of your art pieces in their show homes, with sales information below.

Find hundreds of more great marketing tactics in my 12-Month Marketing Plan for Online Art Stores.

New Ideas for Product Photography

June 17, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need some new ideas for product photography!

As you know high quality product images are so important when you sell online. I always recommend to clients to have at least one product shot on a white background for editorial purposes. However, since most marketplaces and e-commerce templates let you display more than one image, you can make the other images something more creative and attention getting in order to stand out in image search results.

Obviously, if you look like everyone else, your business will not stand out.

The online store, Modcloth, has some interesting product shots that, to me, would definitely stand out in Google image search results, plus are more likely to get shared and circulated on social media.

new ideas product photography As you may know, the overhead flat lay style images are hot on Instagram, but almost too popular. So Modcloth took a different approach and used a monochrome color background and threw in some other objects just to make a more interesting photo in order to promote this dress. I even like that they added some text since quotes are so popular on social media.

Below are some other good product photography styles, still from Modcloth that might inspire you.

The photo on the left below is interesting because the model is posing in front of a really vibrant background (which could be something as simple as a graffiti wall in your city) that still matches the colors in the dress.

The next photo is similar to the one above, an overhead flat lay shot with a contrasting but coordinating background with pops of color.

The third and fourth photos are another emerging product photography trend where you shoot the product from slightly above, and then crop the image to really zero in it and intentionally making it off center. It makes it more interesting and allows you to really zoom in on the item.

new ideas product photography

Try some of these new product photography ideas with just a couple of your product shots to see if they make a difference in bringing you more traffic.

Remember to always optimize the SEO of all of your images, tailoring both the file name and alt text to your main keywords.

Please visit my Shopify store to see the products and services that I offer.

Why Patriotic Products Are The Current Hot Trend

June 7, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

At the beginning of the year I told you that because this is an Olympic year, patriotic products (for every country) will sell well and are ripe for tons of press opportunities. Well now that the summer Olympics are just two months away, and combine that with the fact that this is also a US election year with one of the most hotly contested presidential runs in recent history, American patriotism is also riding a huge wave that will likely carry into the new year.

The big US brands such as Coke, Budweiser, and Hershey’s have all released products with patriotic packaging or a red, white and blue twist to the product. Consider these products from major brands and retailers such as Ray-Ban®, TOMS®, Urban Outfitters, Modcloth, Skittles®, Nordstrom and Pottery Barn.

The overall feeling is that these brands are trying to counteract the negativity that has been brought on by the political campaigning by reaffirming American pride and patriotism, and it seems to be catching on.

Amazon is currently showing searches for patriotic products, everything from “USA” bikinis and decorative pillows to car decals and onesies. Stars and stripes on iphone covers, neckties, scarves, underwear, leggings, pet clothing, beach towels, flasks, sheets and mugs are all making their way to the forefront of online and retail shops. Even on Etsy, there are searches for a wide range of red, white blue products from wreaths to dog collars to flip flops.

Therefore, if you haven’t added at least one patriotic product into your shop, you are missing out on a great opportunity.

DRIVE more traffic and sales at your online shop with my personalized Marketing Action Plan.
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The Single Most Obvious Way to Increase Your Sales

May 20, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

When it comes to increasing your sales, there are many options you have including spending more on marketing, adding more products, raising your prices, but the single, most obvious one is increasing your traffic.

How to Increase Your Sales

For example, let’s say that in 2021 your sales were $60,000, and this year you would like sales to be $120,000. Therefore, it makes sense that if you want your sales to double, your traffic needs to double, all other things staying the same.

Let’s say your overall website traffic is currently 20,000 visitors a month, so now it has to grow to 40,000 visitors a month.

How to Grow Your Traffic

So, how do you grow your traffic?

Well, if the majority of your traffic is coming from Google and you are currently spending $500 a month on Google ads, then it would make sense that you need to double your Google ad spending to $1,000 (again, this is just a simplistic solution; maybe you can spend the same amount and just improve upon your keywords).

What if the majority of your traffic is coming from social media sites? Then you need to double your time spent marketing on social media as well as try to double your followers.

If you currently have back links to your shop from 10 different sources that are consistently driving traffic, then maybe you need to double your backlinks to 20.

In layman terms, essentially everything you are doing in terms of generating traffic needs to double, if this is your sales objective.

As I said, this is the single, most obvious way to increase your sales. It is not the only solution, but it is a good benchmark to start with.

If your business is struggling, check out my Marketing Consultations.

How to Create a Need for Your Products

May 3, 2016 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

by Gail Oliver, Online Marketing Consultant

Are you effectively creating a need for your products and/or services? A good rule of thumb is to always think who, what, when, where, how, why. So who would need your product, what would they use it for, when would they use it, where would they use it, how would they use it and why would they use it.

Below are two product copy examples that I will enhance, in order to create the need.

Home Product Copy Example

Take a look at this description from ModCloth (who writes product copy really well) for this 5′ x 6′ beach wall tapestry:

Put your longing for the wash of waves at ease with this oceanic tapestry by Lisa Argyropoulos for DENY Designs. Crystalline water sparkles under a beautifully clouded sky, bringing beachy beauty – and the carefree feeling that comes along with it – to your decor!

Now this is great for capturing the feeling of the product and creating desire. But remember, people don’t just buy products because they like them, they buy because they need them, so you need to create a need. Therefore, I would simply add a closing line that helps the reader visualize how they would use the product, hence identifying a need.

Therefore, I would add this as the last line:

Perfect for apartment dwellers, creating a focal wall or even as a very serene headboard.

As you can see, I gave three potential uses for the item. Even if one of these isn’t your particular need, chances are it could spark one you do have. Buyers can get gun-shy after they buy clothing items they never wear, a decor item they just couldn’t make fit, etc. So you want to ease the purchase decision by giving them ideas in advance.

Jewelry Product Copy Example

Urban Outfitters is another online store that writes copy really well. Here is their description for a black choker:

Our must-have styling tip this season is a wide banded choker necklace and this iteration is essential. Chic choker in a sultry gauzy chiffon complete with a lobster clasp closure + extender chain in an antique distressed finish.

So this is effective in that it quickly tells you this is a hot trend and stylishly describes the features. However, not everyone is fashion savvy.

Therefore I would add this line at the end:

This versatile choker looks great layered with other necklaces or on its own with everything from a little black dress to a t-shirt and jeans.

It is also only $22, so another approach would be to say:

An inexpensive way to instantly update your summer wardrobe with one of the hottest trends.

As you can see, when you create both the desire and the need, you are more likely to get a sale.

Hire Me

Need help with your product descriptions? I have been writing marketing and advertising copy for 20 years, so just email me at attentiongetting@gmail.com for a FREE, no obligation quote on your writing project.

Congratulations!

A quick shout out to one of my customers, Design by Gam, whose bracelets were featured last week on PeopleStyleWatch. I love Gam’s message to me – which will help all of you – of how I always told her that she needed at least one of her product shots on a white background in order to get chosen for editorial such as this, and it worked!