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Small Business Marketing Strategist

Category: My Marketing Advice (Page 21 of 26)

8 Keys to a Successful Business

March 6, 2014 /

Here are my 8 keys to a successful business as well as the hard facts. THERE IS NO MAGIC SECRET. Anyone who tells you there is, is lying. If you expect success to come quickly and easily, you might as well stop now (but don’t).

Key to a Successful Business #1: Believing It Will Be Successful

It doesn’t matter if anyone else does, it only matters that you do. Negativity and doubt breed negative results.

Key to a Successful Business #2: Work Hard

I don’t know anyone who is successful and didn’t have a long, hard road getting there. Expect to invest endless hours in your business, especially in the beginning. But once you have a steady customer base and a good reputation, things will come easier.Keys to a Successful Business

Key to a Successful Business #3: Be Patient

Nothing happens overnight, and you really don’t want too much success too quickly if you are not prepared to handle it. That can hurt your business. So set goals you wish to achieve daily, monthly and yearly and see those as a measure of success to stay motivated.

Key to a Successful Business #4: Be Willing to Change

I am constantly reminded of the famous quote, “Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results“. If your current marketing efforts are not working, why keep doing them, try something else.

Keys to a Successful Business

This art print is from LuciusArt on Etsy

Key to a Successful Business #5: Stop Compaing

I get this a lot. Why is this company that does the same thing I do, so much more successful? It could be a variety of reasons. First to market always helps. Maybe they have a large friends and family referral business. Maybe they had a personal contact at a major publication that brought substantial publicity. Maybe it’s just pure luck. Who knows for sure. Forget about them and focus on you. I have competitors, we all have competitors, but it is a large marketplace and you can carve out your own niche.

Key to a Successful Business #6: Take Advice

I have a lot of clients who come back to me asking why they are not getting results, only to find out they did not implement all the tactics I suggested, probably because they are hesitant to change (read #4 again). The truth is, you are not objective about your own business as you are just too close to it. So if you pay for professional advice trust what they are saying to do and do it.

Keys to a Successful Business

Key to a Successful Business #7: Invest in Your Business

Whether it is consulting services, advertising, graphic design, SEO, and so forth, you have to spend money to make money. If you are not willing to invest in your business, you are not serious about it.

Key to a Successful Business #8: Don’t Give Up

Failure is part of being successful. Everyone fails, the difference is successful people keep trying, they don’t give up.

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© 2012-2015 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Keys to a Successful Business

18 Great Marketing Ideas for Selling Online

February 12, 2014 /

marketing ideas for selling onlineLooking for some truly awesome marketing ideas for selling online?

Whether you sell on Etsy, on Amazon, on Shopify or somewhere else online, these marketing ideas are  from my 12-Month Marketing Strategy Plans for Online Shops.

These detailed downloads are super easy to follow and will help you drive more traffic (and sales) to your online store.

18 Marketing Ideas for Selling Online
  1. Highlight any publicity your business has received with an icon or shoutout on your store page banner. For example, “As featured in this month’s issue of…”
  2. Ask a local photography class to take highly stylized, creative photos of your products as a class project. As a result, you get free high quality product photos to use.
  3. Create a gift card for your store and promote it on your home page and at the end of every product listing.
  4. Add text fly-outs to your product photos that highlight special features or a target customer that would benefit from this feature. See this post for examples.
  5. Get a free Square.com reader for your smart phone, so you can sell your products by credit card anywhere, anytime (out of the trunk of your car, if need be). You also get your products featured in Square’s online shop for free.
  6. Apply to have your products included in monthly subscription boxes to get in front of potential new customers. It can be sample sizes or even a coupon.
  7. Instead of always going after the end user, try to also target potential business users for your products such as restaurants, small hotels, fashion stylists, interior decorators, daycare centers, dog groomers, event planners, AirBnBs, and so forth.
  8. Post something nice about a prominent brand company to your social media sites and tag them on it and they will likely repost it to their social media sites (so your business now gets seen by their followers).
  9. Change or add your shop categories depending on the time of year, and make them as detailed as possible to really attract interest.. For example, Valentine’s Gift Ideas for Kids, Beautiful Holiday Decorating Ideas, New Fashion Jewelry for Fall 2022, etc.
  10. Put your shop logo and url on your smart phone case, lap top, lap top bag, coffee travel cup, yoga mat and anywhere else other people will see it as you travel throughout your day.
  11. Create a free list or checklist that promotes your business or is something your target market would be interested in. For example, if you sell jewelry, create a “10 Classic Jewelry Pieces to Own” list or if you sell wedding products, “Six-Week Countdown Wedding Checklist”.
  12. Attend a popular music or sports event and wear a t-shirt that has your store name and url printed in a large readable font on the front and back.
  13. In your product copy cover the 5 Ws (and one H) and tell customers what it is, who will use it, when they will use it, why they will use, where they will use it, and how they use it (if applicable).
  14. Offer and promote an ongoing discount to trades, professionals, students and/or seniors, whichever is most applicable.
  15. Join a Facebook fan page of something you are truly interested in, like a favorite TV show. Just join in the conversation; never use it to promote your business.  Your avatar and Facebook user name should say it all.
  16. Use your social media avatar like an ad, to promote your latest product or sale.
  17. Have a fridge magnet made with your online store url. Then ask friends and family to put it on the refrigerator in the lunch room of their work place, in addition to their home fridge.
  18. When sending out customer packages at Christmas, include a recipe card with a Christmas cookie recipe on it. Make sure your store name and url are also clearly on it. This is something they will keep and pull out every Christmas, reminding them of your store.

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Download One of My 12-Month Marketing Plans!

Over 300 tactics to try for advertising, promotions, sales, publicity, SEO, content marketing and social media in my 12-Month Marketing Strategy Plans with plans specific for what you sell, including:

 

 

 

© 2014-2022 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Marketing ideas for selling online.

Find Out What Your Target Market Wants With Google Autocomplete

February 7, 2014 /

google autocompleteI love Google Autocomplete because it gives you so much valuable information.

Not sure what Google Autocomplete is? It’s very simple. You go to do a search on Google by entering a word in the Google search box, and immediately a variety of search phrases will fill down. These are typically the most popular searches on Google, in order, and in fairly real-time (they are current).

Using Google search, you can conduct a simple test to know if you are offering products and services that people want and/or need. Try to do this every six months as needs are always changing.

You can start with a single word, like “sweater” and see what fills down. But, you want to go deeper to get more targeted search phrases.

Now, some of the best ways to find these targeted search phrases that people are using, are to use the words “that” “with” and “for”. Remember, people are using voice searches more than ever now, so searches are longer.

For example, in the Google search bar type in “table that …” and let out complete fill in the popular searches:

google autocomplete

Try it with “necklace for” and you get:

google autocomplete

Try it with “eye cream with” and you get:

how to create products people want

Not only is this a great way to do market research, but it also helps with your SEO efforts because you can add tags and product titles based on these searches. You can also write blog posts and other content marketing efforts to capitalize on these top search phrases.

More Google and SEO Articles to Read:

Be sure to visit my Shopify store to see the marketing products and services I sell.

© 2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Google Autocomplete. 

How to Reengage with Customers After the Holidays

January 24, 2014 /

how to reengage with customers after the holidaysWant to know how to reengage with customers after the holidays?

I recently contributed to an article, How Small Businesses Can Keep Their Brand Strong After the Holiday Rush. A lot of the article talks about using this time to stay connected with your customers, which is always good advice.

If you are an online business, one critical thing you need to do during this slow January lull is follow-up with your customers who purchased from you in early November to December 31st. Not only will this foster a good customer relationship (you want their repeat business and referrals), but they may come back to buy more right away.

Three Easy Ways to Reconnect with Your Holiday Buyers
  1. Send the customer an email and ask if the product arrived in time (if applicable) and if they are happy. Keep it short and sweet.
  2. Offer a 20% off coupon for their next purchase as a thank you or mention something cool you are doing on social media if they would like to follow you. For example, “Be sure to follow my Facebook page below as I am posting my favorite Pinterest boards every week…” (following you on social media keeps you in their radar).
  3. Send them a free digital gift, like a one-page printable calendar for the new year. Make sure it has your shop branding and url on it.

Remember, 30 – 40% of your business should be repeat customers, so this presents the perfect opportunity to reach out to them. 

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© 2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. How to Reengage with Customers After the Holidays

Small Business Planners

January 12, 2014 /

small business plannersMy small business planners are a great way to get organized as well as strategic about your small business.

How to Start a New Small Business Planner

This is where you need to begin, if you are just starting out. My 34-page How to Start a New Business Planner is a printable and fillable digital download PDF that covers publicity, advertising, social media, content marketing, SEO, co-marketing, and so much more! It will be all you need to market your business.

Small Business Marketing Planner

My small business Marketing Planner is a best-seller, with 96 pages that will walk you through every aspect of planning your marketing action plan, as well as tracking the results. It is a printable and fillable digital download PDF.

Strategic Small Business Planner

My Strategic Business Planner takes a complete audit of your business and helps you plan the best strategy going forward. From costs and revenues to which products and services are your best sellers to analyzing your competition and customers, it does it all! A 60-page digital download printable and fillable PDF.

Social Media Small Business Planner

My Social Media Planner is included for free in my Marketing Planner, but if you just want to focus solely on social media, this planner will help. 37-page digital download printable and fillable PDF, it covers all the sites from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIN, and YouTube. It also includes bonus ideas such as social media posts ideas for every month of the year!

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My Small Business Services

I offer a variety of very affordable services for small businesses from one on one consulting to various marketing writing services.

About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

Since 2012, I have been selling online including on Shopify, Etsy, Gumroad and on Amazon back in its early years. This, combined with my decades of marketing & business experience means I can advise, mentor as well as come up with creative new ideas for your business. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new but professional perspective.

I have written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being 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.

© 2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Small Business Planners.

How to Get Those Post Holiday Sales

January 2, 2014 /

Want to get those post holiday sales?

Think your sales have to dry up just because holiday shopping is over? There are a lot of people who will be buying certain items this time of year, you just have to position yourself for those sales.

Start Promoting Valentine’s Day

Just around the corner, people will be buying Valentine’s gifts not just for husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, but also for their kids, grandkids, friends, grandparents and teachers. So start giving an early bird offer right after Christmas, maybe even a Boxing Day sale.

Wedding Market is Hotideas to get more sales post holiday

26% of all wedding engagements take place in November and December, followed by Valentine’s Day. So if you have any products or services aimed at brides, now is the time to be promoting them. This is also a popular time for wedding editorial, such as your local newspaper and local magazines, so start pitching those story ideas that would incorporate what you sell.

Big Parties Coming Up

Two of the biggest parties of the year – the Superbowl and Mardi Gras – take place in the next two months. Party supplies, food, and drinkware should all be moved to the forefront.

Ideas for post holiday sales

It’s Vacation Time

Beach vacations and ski vacations are being booked at this time of year, so make sure you target these vacationers if you have products they’ll need.

From swimwear to ski wear to luggage, these will all be top searches in December.

The Winter Olympics Will Be Trending

The winter Olympics start in February and everyone will be wanting to wear and display their patriotic pride. What can you put your country’s flag on?

Have a Clearance SaleHow to Get Post Holiday Sales

Everyone wants a deal after Christmas and 10% will not cut it. The key to offering a sale in January is to make it a time-limited, 1-day only blowout type sale in order to get people to act quickly. Buyers love getting a deal so even if they are broke, they will justify the purchase if it is a special offer.

 

Go After the Teen Market

Teens tend to get money and gift cards for Christmas from frustrated relatives who have no idea what to buy them. If you target this market, they have money to spend right now.

How to get sales after Christmas

Take Advantage of New Year’s Resolutions

Now is the time for people to get fit, lose weight, quit smoking, keep spiritually healthy, make a career change, and so forth. Take advantage of the most popular New Year’s resolutions if they apply to your business.

 

Follow up with Holiday Customers

30 to 40% of your business should be repeat business. So follow up with customers who bought from you during the holidays and make sure your products arrived on time, that they were satisfied, and give them a coupon for 20% off their next purchase as a thank you (time limited, of course).

As you can see, there are lots of ways small businesses can keep their sales momentum going well into the spring.

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.small business seo

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.

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© 2014 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. How to Get Post Holiday Sales

3 Creative Ways To Circulate Your Business Card

December 9, 2013 /

Need a few Creative Ways To Circulate Your Business Card?

A business card is still a cost-effective way to advertise your online business. Make sure the card has a design that really gets attention, your shop url is large and clearly noticeable and it is obvious what you sell.

Here are three ideas to really circulate your card to your local market:

Business Cards in Packages of Complimentary Shops

Contact five online shops that are in the same city as you, but are complimentary vendors, not competitors. Agree to include their shop’s business card in the packages you send to your customers in exchange for them doing the same for you.

Business Cards Attached to Holiday Treats

 

Buy a few boxes of candy canes. Attach your business card and leave on the windshield of parked cars at the mall. Or, if your town is having a Christmas parade, hand out the candy canes to bystanders watching.

Post Your Cards at Friends & Family’s Workplace

 

A lot of businesses have a fridge magnet made up of their business card, HOWEVER, ask friends and family to put it on the refrigerator in the lunch room of their WORK PLACE, and it will get seen by a lot more people. You could also stick the magnets on the back of washroom doors in office buildings. Most people will think you paid to put them there. Related content: 35 Free Business Card Templates

Need Ways to Get Your Small Business Seen?

I offer a variety of affordable consulting services that will help your small business get noticed. Just contact me at attentiongetting@gmail.com to discuss.

© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Creative Ways to Circulate Your Business Card.

3 Marketing Ideas To Try In November

November 25, 2013 /

Marketing Ideas November

Need some marketing ideas for November?

November can be one of the biggest selling times of the year for a lot of small businesses. As such, it poses a ton of opportunities for promotion.

So, here are three quick and easy marketing ideas to try in November for your small business.

1. Approach Editors About Valentine’s Gift Guides

Marketing Ideas for November

That’s right, holiday gift guides are in full swing, so if you missed out you might as well start on the next big gift buying holiday. Valentine’s Day is 11 weeks away so start emailing editors of blogs and magazines that your target market reads with possible gift guide topics that could work for what you sell. i.e. Valentine’s Gift Ideas for the Dog in Your Life, Valentine’s Gift Ideas for a Boyfriend of 2 Months, Valentine’s Gift Ideas for Kids, etc.

2. Comment on Thanksgiving Posts

Marketing Ideas for November

As long as your avatar and user name denotes your business, commenting on social media posts is free advertising for you. Over the next two days comment on as many Thanksgiving recipe pins you can find, because that is what people will be looking at.

3. Approach a Local Shop

Marketing Ideas for November

Small local shops are always looking for opportunities to bring more shoppers into their store, especially during holiday shopping season. Approach a store that compliments (but doesn’t compete with) what you sell and see if they will let you set up a special table just for your products. You will handle all transactions, giving them a 10% cut at the end of the day. The additional benefit for them is that you will bring all of your friends, family and customers to their shop that day. Plus, they have something to promote, “Special Vendor in the Shop Today!“.

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About Me

A 20+ year marketing professional, small business consultant, ebook author & blogger, my advice has been featured in the NY Times, Success Magazine, American Express, Big Commerce, Business2Community to name a few – so this is professional advice you can trust!

I have consulted for thousands of small businesses since 2012. It really does help to talk to someone who is objective to get a new, but professional, perspective. I have also written publicity pitches for clients that resulted in them being 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.

© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Marketing Ideas for November. 

3 Tips to Get Visitors to Notice Your Blog

November 20, 2013 /

how to get your blog noticedIf you have a website or online store, and you want to draw visitors over to your blog, here are three easy ways to get it noticed by visitors.

Put a Graphic / Ad for the Blog on the Home Page

Bento&Co sells a variety of Japanese kitchen products. On the home page of their online shop, they post this colorful eye-catching hyperlinked graphic below to bring you over to their blog. You could also put this graphic within various blog posts as well as in your online store product sections and About page. The key is that it is hyperlinked to the blog home page.

How to Get Your Blog Noticed

Give a Graphic Preview of Blog Posts in Drop Down Menu

Shop Terrain sells a variety of home products. At their online shop they have a blog called, The Bulletin. When you run your cursor over its heading in the main menu, you get a drop down graphic that shows you the last four blog posts with both a graphic and the blog title. You can then click on the blog post to go directly to it.

How to Get Your Blog Noticed

Make it Standout in the Menu

Capwell+Co does something very simple to get you to notice their blog by highlighting it in the menu bar with a graphic. BHLDN does something similar by putting the name of their blog in a different color and typeface in the main menu to make it stand out, as does Shop Terrain in the second graphic above. Most businesses do tend to keep the blog at the far right side of the top menu, as this is standard position.

How to Get Your Blog Noticed

I hope these tips help you drive more readers to your business blog.

© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. How to Get Your Blog Noticed. 

3 Marketing Ideas To Try To Get Holiday Shoppers

November 18, 2013 /

Marketing-ideas-holiday-shoppersThe big holiday shopping season is upon us.

If you need marketing ideas to get holiday shoppers into your retail store, then try these three marketing tactics and see if they bring in the buyers you are looking for.

1. Relook at How You Are Using Twitter

Please stop just tweeting out your products. It doesn’t work. Instead, create and then tweet out a Pinterest board, with a really attention grabbing title like Gifts for Men Who Have Everything (i.e.  and make sure a few of your products are amongst them). Use the trending hash tags #gifts, #Christmas, #Pinterest #BlackFriday and you’ll see better results. Use the camera icon in the bottom left corner of the Twitter box to include a photo of the board. Encourage people to RT.

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

2. Use the Senses to Draw Shoppers In

If you have a retail shop, place of business or are exhibiting at a show or event, draw people in ways you can’t always online. Through smell, sight, taste and sound. Decorate your store windows, door, signage, shopping mall cart, whatever you’ve got. It doesn’t have to be for Christmas, it can just even be for winter and it can be something quirky like Anthropologie using marshmallows as snow in the photo above (note: you can also use a cool window display to get publicity in your local paper). Have holiday music playing and piped out into the street (if allowed). Have some sort of amazing scent, whether it is food or a holiday scent like cinnamon luring them in. Hand out hot chocolate or pumpkin lattes with your business name on the cups. Bring the spirit and you’ll bring the shoppers.

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

Store Window at Anthropologie

3. Display Quirky Signage

People love funny, love quirky and they love quotes. Put up interesting signage that gets people talking, and in this case, are good calls to action. Sometimes people don’t need much convincing to buy something they probably don’t need, especially at those Black Friday sales (44% of Black Friday shoppers buy for themselves).

marketing ideas holiday shoppers

One of the best ways to drive endless, free and qualified traffic to your business is through a blog. If done correctly, over time, one blog post can bring anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 visits a month. And SEO has proven to convert the highest into sales, more so than email, advertising or social media. I offer a blog writing service if interested!

Read more advice on my blog.

Follow me on Instagram.

 

 

 

© 2013 Gail Oliver. All rights reserved. Marketing ideas holiday shoppers. 

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