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5 Easy Ways to Get Free Publicity as the Year Closes Out

November 11, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

ways to get free year end publicity Want some free year end publicity opportunities? I have several ones to try.

Do you have a blog? Have you ever thought about submitting it to various publications who run “Best Blogs of 2013″ lists? Why not?

In December, magazines, newspapers and blogs always inundate us with stories about the Best of Year, whether it is movies, songs, books, etc. However, this presents a good opportunity for you to get some free publicity for your small business.

1. Submit Your Business for Publicity

Start with your business. If you are a shop, promote yourself to writers and editors to be considered for a list of 10 Best New Online Shops for 2013. Or get really specific, 10 Best New Independent Fashion Shops for 2013. Think of the types of blogs that would run a story like this (Racked is a good one), or even Google a similar title to see who did a story like this last year.

2. Submit Trends for Publicity

Were your products part of a trend this year? Well use that to pitch a story to writers looking for a year-end wrap-up story, such as 2013’s Top Home Decor Trends – Foxes, and pitch it to a blog like Houzz or Apartment Therapy. Or maybe you are part of a trend that will be big in 2014. They are looking for that too.

3. Submit Your Blog for Publicity

Does your business have a blog? Then promote it to all those blogs making up their Best Blogs of 2013 lists. Maybe yours was one of the 10 Best New Blogs for Women for 2013. Think niche for the title to better your chances of inclusion. It doesn’t just have to be your blog, it can be one of your posts. PhotoShelter ran an articles last year called, Best Photography Blog Posts of 2013 and included 10 posts in 5 different categories.

4. Submit Your Marketing for Publicity

Did you do some really creative this year to market your business? Maybe something unique on social media? I have seen articles about Best Tweets of the Week so why not 2013’s Best Vine Videos by Small Businesses or Most Creative Facebook Marketing Campaigns. Sites like Mashable and Social Media Today would be interested in stories like these.

5. Submit for Local Publicity

Never forget your local market. Contact a writer or editor at your local newspaper and pitch a story about Best New Local Online Shops for 2013 or Local Businesses To Watch For in 2014.

Not only is this free publicity for you, plus you can now use the moniker in your marketing, “Chosen one of the 10 Best New Online Shops for 2013 by XYZ Magazine”.

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.

4 Small Business Subscription Boxes

November 4, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Looking for some Small Business Subscription Boxes ?

The monthly subscription box service is fast becoming a hot business model. Every month, these companies send a sampling of products to their subscribers, but typically they are brand name products.

Well, there are a handful of companies specializing in artisan, indie and smaller brands. It’s a great opportunity for independent sellers to get their products out to a wider audience, and create future customer demand.

4 Small Business Subscription Boxes

Dottie Box

This monthly box features high quality handmade items, small business, and indie brands for women. A lot of Etsy sellers are among the brands being offered. This subscription box service does ask for below wholesale prices, but it does not sell your products on its site. You will still get future, direct sales.

Box of Happies

This is also a monthly box of three to five handmade items. Like Dottie Box, having your products included is more of a promotional effort, as they will still direct customers back to your online shop to order.

Fair Ivy

Fair Ivy has been around since 2008, and is seen as more of a monthly gifting service for women, where a handmade surprise is sent directly to the recipient. Again, there are a lot of Etsy sellers being featured, and future direct sales are sent back to your online shop.

Hope Box

The Hope Box offers seasonal encouragement with a curated selection of high quality artisan finds, such as aromatherapy, jewelry, candles, organic soaks, scrubs, masks, and more.

FINAL WORD: Subscription gift box companies are a great way to reach your target market and develop a regular customer base. If you can handle the demand and the wholesale pricing, it is definitely worth approaching these companies.

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Get Your Products Into These Top Holiday Gift Guides

October 23, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

top holiday gift guides Remember back in July when I told you, Why You Should Start Pitching to Holiday Gift Guides Now? Well, the holiday buying season is upon us and pretty much every online newspaper, magazine and blog will have a gift guide. These are great opportunities for free publicity, so here are 5 holiday gift guides you should be approaching NOW.

Today Show– This is the top holiday gift guide that appears on page one of Google search, with 24 million visits a month.

InStyle – This site comes in second, and covers all kinds of gifts from tech to beauty, with over 6 million visits a month.

Goop – Goop is from the high end lifestyle blog, but it tends to favor very expensive products for its gift guides and typically top brands.

Good Housekeeping – Good Housekeeping is a women’s magazine has been around for decades, but its online gift guides always rank high in search. They like gift ideas for all members of the family and typically under $100.

Your Local Newspaper – Don’t forget your local newspaper. Local media loves local business, so pitch the gift guide idea to the Lifestyle editor today!

How to Pitch to Get Included in a Holiday Gift Guide

You will see the name of the writer or editor on last year’s gift guide. Provided they haven’t moved on from the publication, that is who you should pitch to. Send them an email with “Product Submission for your Holiday Gift Guide” in the email subject line.

A small tip, do not attach anything to the email as this is the quickest way for your email to end up in their spam folder. Instead, include a link to the product, pricing and contact information. Keep it short and sweet, they don’t have time to read a long-winded pitch.

Good luck and let me know your success at getting your products into the holiday gift guides!

Need Help Marketing Your Online Business?

With 20+ years experience in all aspects of marketing (I know, I look young), I currently specialize in helping small businesses selling online, and I make it very affordable! Just see my Shopify store above, or email me at attentiongetting@gmail.com.

What is Etsy’s New Guidelines and What They Could Do Instead

October 21, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Etsy's new guidelines Curious about Etsy’s new guidelines? Last week Etsy announced that they would be changing their business model to allow mass produced products to be sold on its marketplace. Needless to say, many sellers on Etsy are upset about this because they feel it means Etsy is no longer an exclusively handmade community, and they are not incorrect.

But Etsy is first and foremost a company, and it has to make decisions to ensure its continued growth.

Does this particular decision affect their brand? Yes. As a marketer, I never agree with changing one’s brand (unless it is no longer successful) because it causes customer confusion and you can lose all the marketing efforts you have invested in to-date. As a result you risk losing customers, not gaining them.

Etsy’s New Guidelines: Artisan vs Entrepreneur

There is a difference between an artisan and an entrepreneur. Some of the top sellers on Etsy are more of the entrepreneurial nature – they came up with a good idea for a product, found a way to produce it quickly, priced it competitively and sales took off. They want to keep expanding even if it means they become more hands-off. There’s nothing wrong with that, everyone has a different vision for their business, and the economy needs growing companies more than anything right now.

These shops also bring in big numbers for Etsy. If you think of the 80-20 rule, 80% of Etsy’s sales are probably coming from 20% of its shops. So, obviously Etsy cannot afford to have these shops move off the marketplace.

Therein lies the problem for Etsy. Expanding without changing the brand that made you successful in the first place.

My Solution – Divide the Marketplace, Don’t Try to Blend It

Etsy is not going to please all parties here, but maybe a better solution to consider would be dividing their marketplace (which has become quite large) into four independently searchable segments, such as Handmade, Vintage, Supplies and General Marketplace, the latter being for those who wish to mass produce.

So people would still land on the same Etsy marketplace page, but they could choose a page tab that indicates one of these sections. From within these sections, you can then choose categories such as Clothing, Jewelry, Kids, etc. This would also drastically reduce the number of listings in the Handmade category, making it easier for those sellers to be found. It will also make it easier for shoppers to find what they really want (a mistake is to lump all buyers together; not everyone wants inexpensive goods, many want unique handcrafted items and are willing to pay for it).

It would have to be policed, and sellers not conforming to the original handmade guidelines would have to move their shop go over to the General Marketplace.

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Google Trends for Search 2022

October 20, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Do you use Google Trends for search 2022 data? You should because it is a valuable tool for your small business.

Google Trends will tell you the top searches of the day, and you can use this for content for your blog posts and social media posts.

For example, below is actual data from Google Trends for January 2022. But you will see that a lot of these searches will likely be the same next January. Therefore, you can use this valuable date year after year:

Top Google Trends New Years Resolutions

“Journaling”
“Quit Smoking”
“Save Money”
“Habit Tracker”

Top Google Trends Types of New Year’s Resolutions

Financial new year’s resolutions
Healthy new year’s resolutions
Professional new year’s resolutions
Work new year’s resolutions
Team building new year’s resolutions

Top Google Trends for Search 2022 for Journaling

Journaling for mental health
Journaling for anxiety
Journaling for depression
Journaling for stress relief
Journaling for people with autism

Top Google Trends for Search 2022 for Fitness

bicycle crunches
russian twist
free workout plans
free exercise apps
indoor rower

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Product Photography I Love! One King’s Lane’s Text Fly-outs

October 14, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Want some awesome product photography tips?

Are you using your product photos to point out or highlight unique features and/or uses for your products? It can be a really effective selling tool.

Online retailer One Kings Lane is a great example of a shop that uses text fly-outs on their product photos to show the customer the value, use, target market and prominent features.

You can add text to your photos using any photo editing program, so I thought I would give you some inspiration with the example photos below from One King’s Lane.

Product Photography Tip #1: Describe How It Can Be Used

Remember it is not always obvious to people what use they may have for your product and that could be why they end up not buying it. Therefore, point out how to use it, how to display it, how to wear it, etc., but keep it short and simple, especially if it is multi-purpose.

Product Photography Tips

Product Photography Tip #2: Remind the Buyer Who the Product Is For

Especially at this time of year, it helps to remind that while it may not be for them, it could be for someone else. I would have expanded this a bit more and said “Great Gift Idea for Kids” but it does help to get the buyer thinking.

Product Photography Tip #3: Let Them Know You Personalize

If you can monogram an item, personalize it, customize it, etc., let customers know. People don’t always take the time to read through product copy, so make it easy for them to see extra services you offer.

Product Photography Tip #4: Point Out Special Features

A photo isn’t always the same as seeing the item in person. So identify features a customer may not notice, such as “Real 14K Gold”, “Pure Natural Gemstone” or “Super Soft”.

Product Photography Tip #5: Give Other Possible Uses

Think of every room, every place, every event, every occasion, and point it out. In this case, if someone already had a wreath for the front door they would think they didn’t need another one, until you remind them of another place they could put it.

FINAL WORD: Not sure what to highlight to your customers? Simply answer Who, What, When, Where, Why and How to get some inspiration.

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New Target Market Strategy for Your Small Business

October 7, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need a new target market strategy for your small business?

I have helped a lot of small businesses and one thing I always encourage, is to think of all the potential markets for your products.

So, if you have been predominately selling your products and services to the consumer or end user, why not expand into the business market as well (and I don’t mean wholesale).

For example, let’s say you sell artwork. Are you strictly focused on selling to people who want art in their homes? What about businesses that want art? Do you know how often the phrase, “Dental Office Art” is Googled?

New Target Markets for Home Goods

Small, boutique hotels/motels
Spas, hairstylists, health clubs, yoga studios
Retail shops
Restaurants
Professionals – doctors office, dental offices, real estate agents, attorneys, banks, etc.
Daycares, private schools
Interior decorators/designers

New Target Markets for Jewelry and Fashion

Stylists
Costume designers
Photographers (need props)

New Target Markets for Pet Products

Groomers
Trainers
Dog Walkers
Pet Sitters/Hotels
Veterinarians

New Target Markets for Wedding Products

Wedding planners
Wedding venues
Hotels and inns
Caterers
Hairstylists

New Target Markets for Vintage Goods

Costume designers
Set designers
Museums
Historical attractions

New Target Markets for Kids Products

Teachers
Daycares & private schools
Party venues
Baby and kids photographers
Mommy classes

Ways To Make Your Products More Enticing to Businesses

Offer discounts for certain professionals
Offer volume discounts, encouraging them to buy more
Offer free customization
Offer superior customer service and many ways to contact you
Offer free publicity for their business (with a mention on your website, blog)

The benefits of targeting the business market is that you will likely get more volume orders, get repeat business, not to mention great exposure to end users (if your products are labelled correctly).

FINAL WORD: Don’t get hung up on selling to just the end user. The business market is still a huge opportunity, especially your local business market.

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Other Free Keyword Tools

September 23, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Want some other free keyword tools to use for your SEO?

As you may have noticed, the Google Keywords Tool is no longer available for any business to research popular Google search words for their SEO efforts. You can only access the Google Keyword Planner if you have a Google Adwords account, however there are some other alternatives that I personally use for SEO.

Google Trends

In Google Trends, select the “Explore” option from the column on the left. You will then be taken to a page that says, “Explore Trends” and above it you will see a white box called, “Add Term”. Type in your search word, and you’ll get a list of the top seven search terms, related to your keyword, and the top rising searches, plus the most popular places in the world these keywords are being searched. You are best to go over and change the time and location options, so you can really narrow in on when and where your keywords are being searched.

Google Autocomplete

In the Google search box, you can always start a phrase and the most popular endings will show up in a drop down menu. For example, type in “How to” and the most popular searches come up in order such as “How to Tie a Tie”, “How to Cook Quinoa”, “How to Get Rid of Fruit Flies”, “How to Twerk” (so you can see they are timely). The problem is you do not get the words that come before the keyword, only the ones that come after.

Google Related Searches

If you want to get the most popular keywords/adjectives that come before your keyword, you can simply type your keyword in Google and then scroll to the bottom and see the Top 8 Related Searches. So if you type in “necklace” in the Google search box and then scroll to the bottom of the page you will see “Teething Necklace”, “Pandora Necklace”, “Necklace for Men”, etc.

Google Shopping

Want to know what people are looking to buy? Go over to Google Shopping, and using the Google Shopping search box, try their autocomplete to see what comes up. For example, I typed in “d” and I got “dress” “Disney Infinity” “digital camera” “dehumidifier”. You can be more specific and type “backpack” for example, and you will get “backpack diaper bag”, “backpack purse”, “backpack with wheels”, and “backpack cooler”. Great insight into the product features that buyers are looking for.

Google Trends Helps You See Popular Keywords and Which Ones are Rising in Popularity

FINAL WORD: So you see, Google does still offer you some other ways to find out what its users are looking for. You won’t get the actual statistics of how many searches, as with the Keyword Tool, but you may get new information about your market, such as features customers are looking for, or what new trends are coming, and that is important data as well.

If you need more easy and affordable ways to market (and grow) your small business, be sure to download one of my 12-Month Marketing Plans that’s right for your small biz.

Creative Ways to Use Video to Market Your Small Business

September 19, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Need Creative Ways to Use Video to Market Your Small Business?

Between YouTube and Tiktok, video is a great way to sell your products. Here are some quick ideas for videos that might inspire you.

Video Marketing Ideas

If you are selling beauty or skin care products, like an anti-aging product, you could do a time lapsed video that shows the effect of the product, on the same woman, over a 6 week period (she doesn’t have to sit in front of your phone for six weeks, just film her for a few seconds, each week, in the same position). That would be interesting if the change was quite dramatic.
If you sell art, again, a time lapsed video showing you painting it, from a blank canvas to a finished picture hanging on a wall.
If you sell toys, set up one of those complicated falling dominos tricks and at the end is the logo for your shop; or have the stuffed animals you sell come alive with a stop animation film.
I have a customer who sells dog grooming products. She could do a video showing a scruffy, completely filthy dog, give him a time elapsed, two-second bath, and then show the end result of a beautifully groomed dog.
Consider a “How To” video, as these are typically top searches. For example, Nordstrom has a video in its Men’s Ties section that shows you how to tie a tie.

Give the Video a Catchy Headline, Then Promote

Post it on Instagram, YouTube and Tiktok using the hash tags: #reel #reels #howto
Include the video as part of your product photos.
Send the video out to your customers by email, or put in your email signature.
Add to the About section of your blog.

FINAL WORD: Remember, your company name is attached to the video, so you don’t always have to include product promotion in the clip itself.

Get more easy marketing ideas like this in my My 12-Month Marketing Plans.

I’m Gail Oliver and since 2012 I have advised thousands of small businesses and I can help yours too! Be sure to see my services and products below:

How to Price a Product

September 12, 2013 / Gail Oliver, Online Small Business Consultant

Do you know how to price a product? I see so many people who under price because they think a low price sells a product. But that is the wrong strategy and you will find yourself in a business that makes no money.

This Pricing Strategy is All Wrong

The other day I saw someone who was selling a handmade necklace for $10, and it was quite a detailed design. Obviously, she is trying to compete with big retailers like Forever 21 and H&M who charge the same low price for necklaces such as these.

However, Forever 21 and H&M buy from wholesalers whose jewelry is made in factories with low wage workers, and due to the volume they create, these wholesalers can also get materials at ridiculously low prices.

Therefore, an indie designer will always have trouble competing in the low-priced market, if a lengthy amount of labor is involved in creating the product.

How to Price So You Make Money

If this is a handmade item, you have to take into account the labor involved when determining the price.

For example, if this necklace takes her one hour to make (and I am sure it does), then this means that she is essentially paying herself $10 an hour, less materials, less marketplace fees, less PayPal fees, less other business expenses, less shipping, less packaging and less other business tasks that take up her time (i.e. going to the post office to ship product, marketing her shop).

Therefore, if she ends up profiting $4 per hour and works an 8 hour day and a 5 day work week and a 50 week work year, then she is making approximately $8,000 a year, and this is the maximum annual income she will make.

Why is this the maximum? Because if it takes her an hour to make one necklace, then she cannot physically make more than 8 necklaces a day, so she cannot sell more than 8 necklaces a day, as you cannot sell more than you can make.

If she want to make more than $8,000 a year, she must do one or all of the following:

Raise her price.
Reduce the amount of time it takes to make a necklace.
Source less expensive materials.
Reduce other business expenditures.

Now I ask you – what is the maximum annual income you will earn from your business, based on this formula? If it is not what you want to make, you have to rethink your business model.

Same Pricing Model, If You Sell Services

It is the same thing if you offer services. If you want to make $500 a day offering graphic design services, for example, then you have to charge an hourly rate based on $500/8 hours = $62.50 an hour.

So if a graphic design will take you 2 hours to make, you will charge at least $125 for the job (because we are not including other expenses at this point) in order to make your goal of $500 a day. And that is not including communication with the customer and the time that takes up, as well as other non-revenue generating business tasks.

Plus, you also have to try and get enough jobs for one day to make up all 8 hours. There will be days when you don’t fill up all 8 hours with design requests, so you may want to factor that into your price as well.

You have to make money! That is the whole point of being in business. You don’t want to find out at the end of the year, when you are doing your taxes, that your annual income did not justify the amount of time and effort you put into your business. Make sure your business model works!

1. Submit Your Business for Publicity

2. Submit Trends for Publicity

3. Submit Your Blog for Publicity

4. Submit Your Marketing for Publicity

5. Submit for Local Publicity

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How to Pitch to Get Included in a Holiday Gift Guide

Need Help Marketing Your Online Business?

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Etsy’s New Guidelines: Artisan vs Entrepreneur

My Solution – Divide the Marketplace, Don’t Try to Blend It

About Me

More Etsy Posts

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Top Google Trends New Years Resolutions

Top Google Trends Questions on New Year’s Resolutions

Top Google Trends Types of New Year’s Resolutions

Top Google Trends for Search 2022 for Journaling

Top Google Trends Searches 2022 for Organizing

Top Google Trends Searches 2022 for Exercise Questions

Top Google Trends Searches 2022 for “How to Make Healthy” Questions

Top Google Trends for Search 2022 for Fitness

Top Searches 2022 for Wedding Rings

Top Workout Trend Searches

Top Snow Related Google Searches

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Product Photography Tip #1: Describe How It Can Be Used

Product Photography Tip #2: Remind the Buyer Who the Product Is For

Product Photography Tip #3: Let Them Know You Personalize

Product Photography Tip #4: Point Out Special Features

Product Photography Tip #5: Give Other Possible Uses

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New Target Markets for Home Goods

New Target Markets for Jewelry and Fashion

New Target Markets for Pet Products

New Target Markets for Wedding Products

New Target Markets for Vintage Goods

New Target Markets for Kids Products

Ways To Make Your Products More Enticing to Businesses

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Google Trends

Google Autocomplete

Google Related Searches

Google Shopping

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Video Marketing Ideas

Give the Video a Catchy Headline, Then Promote

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Like this:

This Pricing Strategy is All Wrong

How to Price So You Make Money

Same Pricing Model, If You Sell Services

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