How to advertise my small online business?

paulwf

If you need more facebook likes and followers you could use facebook adverts. You can keep track of costs as you go along, start small then if it doesn't work out you haven't lost much.

Bear in mind it will take a while to build an audience whatever you do, there isn't one magic answer you have to keep plugging away and over time it'll ramp up.

Thesming

Thanks for all the advice guys, i guess I am a little inpatient as it's only been going for a couple of weeks now. I will wait to see if the traffic starts to build up

steve1980

And if you haven't already (although I'm sure you have!) register with HMRC as self employed.

Thesming

could you tell me how that will help me to advertise my business more though?

steve1980

You'll have £100 more to spend on advertising in an already overcrowded marketplace than you will if you don't tell them.

qw3rt7

Get your websites product feed into google base (to appear in shopping results). upgrade to an ebay business account, look into etsy and any other established marketplace you can list for a % fee of sales.

Your business is new so you want to get seen everywhere you can.

Make sure you track you website customers, and include an email optin option on the checkout form so you can engage with previous customers at a latter date.

Although conversion based advertising like adwords PPC is great, on small margin items it can be hard, As your business is new accept that you might not run an initial profit on your advertising, but customer engagement can negate an initial loss.

If this sounds like Chinese to you, please ask and i can be more specific and jargon free!

mkooo

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Not allowed, please take a look at the Forum Rules.

It is allowed in your profile correct? But you are not allowed to reference it?

Savvy_Sue

mkooo wrote: »

It is allowed in your profile correct? But you are not allowed to reference it?

That is correct.

Taverman

Search your local area for business networking events. There is usually a small charge to attend, though many include a breakfast or lunch.

You will meet lots of people, you will be able to promote your business and hopefully they will refer you to others.

Regards

Taverman

Pearla*Merle

Hola! I'm in the same sort of business as you, so thought I'd note down the odd things I've found helpful...

Folksy.com, which is UK-based, is another site like Etsy that would be worth looking into. They both have lower fees compared to eBay, and are a somewhat less saturated marketplace, but it's probably worth testing them all out and see what works best for you.

I also agree with the above about looking for networking events in your area. Have a search for craft fairs as well, they're worth doing even if you don't make much money back - it's great exposure for your stuff, people will pick up your business cards (make sure you have website/facebook etc on there - you could also try and get them on your mailing list? Offer discounts & exclusive items), you can also see what sells/how customers react to your items which is great for finding out the things that work or that you need to develop, and again, it's a great way to network with similar businesses and make contacts. If there are no fairs in your area - why not put one on yourself? Even a little night market can be fun and bring people out (think outside the box - put one on in a pub or cafe?)

Have a look in your local area/further afield for small craft/gift shops that might stock your work. Put together a good looking wholesale list for them, offer a low wholesale price to begin with (£30 or something), and maybe think about offering a selection of items on sale or return? (I sell a lot of items this way, of my own work and through my own shop selling other artist's work --- as I'm a small business I can't afford to shell out all at once for work, so it's really helpful to be able to get some stock and only pay for it once it sells).

Another thing you could maybe do is make up some flyers offering discounts/custom items and pop them around town in various places. Try to drag family members/friends into it - if they live in other towns you can ask them to help you put flyers out etc.

I would definitely have a good brainstorm and think about all the ways you can do things For Free before shelling out too much for advertising. I've put out money for things but not necessarily seen too much back from it. You can do an awful lot by word of mouth -- get blogging and twittering, make contacts and drive people to your site via that. Put out press releases when you make a new collection of work - you might be able to get into the local paper? Magazines?

Hope some of that helps! x