Advertising and Marketing - Your tips needed


bumpertoys
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  • Joined: 08 Feb 12
  • Karma:
27 Feb 12 10:42:29 pm
Hi,

Could you please provide me with some recommendations of companies that can help me with making my website look at it's best and also help with the marketing?

I'm not having any luck getting customers and I'm on a strict budget...

Thanks
Leanne


fudjj
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  • Karma:
28 Feb 12 12:19:10 am
Hi Leanne,

If you post a link to your site, happy to take a look for you.


Mark (fudjj)

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richelle_salehoo1
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  • Karma:
28 Feb 12 01:22:15 am
Hi Leanne,

There is no one solid approach to marketing or advertising, but I'm sure you can pick up a tip or 2 from these forum posts -

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Most of the suggested ways can be done for free seeing that you mentioned you are on a limited budget at this point.

You might also find this quite helpful - Link hidden: Login to view

Good luck :)


Richelle

Customer Support Manager
SaleHoo Group Limited

bumpertoys
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28 Feb 12 04:01:07 am
My website is www.bumpertoys.com.au


fudjj
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28 Feb 12 10:20:40 pm
Hi Leanne,

I've taken a look over the site, and my opinion is that it is quite flat. I would suggest far more structure as well as more detailed information be added.

The home page itself is seriously busy, a little hard to know exactly where to look really. You really do need to work out what sort of branding image you want to delver to your customers, and design around that.

At the moment, the site has the feel of an unfinished site, and that can scare away the most seasoned online purchaser, let alone ones that aren't that confident to start with.

The good thing here is that you know your market, it's clearly identifiable. I would suggest you take a look around some bricks and mortar stores of the same genre. Look at the colours they have used, see how the store is laid out and so on.

The biggest mistake people make when developing a website in my opinion is not really having a firm idea of design and layout. Most never even consider looking at bricks and mortar stores for ideas, they tend to look at other online shops, so what you can quite often end up with is with the blind leading the blind, and a whole lot of flat looking sites.

In this case, you could get some definite ideas from some good online shops, toys r us for example Link hidden: Login to view

It's not about copying a design, but it's about seeing how colour pallets work, how certain things are brought to the customers attention and how a shop flows to create a very smooth and enjoyable shopping experience for the customer.

Absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel with website design. It's already been invented, and if the wheel is working fine for others, then all you have to do is put your tyre on it and away you go. Just make sure your tyre has plenty of tread and air lol.

To gain a good understanding of marketing you have to be very analytical. Look at how someone else is doing it, and then work out why that method is working or why it isn't.

Example, have you ever asked yourself why they play music at a some shopping centres?

The obvious answer is for the customers pleasure, however when you look at it more closely, music can be used for a few reasons. Yes, customer enjoyment is paramount, however choosing soundtracks wisely can attract a certain targeted customer, while actually keeping unwanted customers to an absolute minimum.

Smells are used in the same way, and so on. It's just an example of when you see something that a shop is doing, don't just assume it's for a basic reason, look closer at the technique and you may well find it's something you can incorporate yourself to good effect.

Now in the event that you do come up with ideas and want to make some changes, then give me a shout out via PM. I will give you the details of my web developer and I'll make sure he looks after you on price :)

In regards to marketing, take a look at this link for a social media marketing idea that might interest you.

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Mark (fudjj)

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bumpertoys
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  • Karma:
28 Feb 12 10:35:15 pm
Thanks Marc,

I bought the website as it is and added the products. I agree, it does look a bit flat, I think thats why I put heaps of photos on the home page. It is unfinished, at this stage I'm just trying to get products on - i'm finding it time consuming with working full time as well! Sometimes I feel like giving the whole idea away but I would really love to make a go of it.. To tell the truth I'm really scared about the dropshipping side of it, worried that the product won't get to the customer intact and on time, but I can't afford to have a house full of toys!
Thanks for your advice, but I really don't know where to start - I would love to have a professional to get it going for me, but I guess that costs heaps of money...
Thanks
Leanne


fudjj
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  • Karma:
28 Feb 12 11:10:50 pm
You've already made the most important step, and that is making a start. You need some direction in regards to design, but I can only suggest that you do take the opportunity to see how others are doing it, and gleem some ideas from them.

I'm absolutely confident that you would pick up ideas that you could expend on from other shops and sites.

The only other option would be to bring a designer on board, and I can assure you that if you are on a budget, doing that will bury you. Web design is where most of the expense is in ground up web development.

Of course the irony of bringing a site designer on board is, the first thing they would ask you for is a design brief to give them direction, so you would still be in the same boat, but with a lot less cash.

I would suggest taking the pressure of yourself by making this a longer term project than you perhaps currently are. If it becomes too much like work, it will end up locked away in the closet through frustration, so try and take a step back and approach it in little steps.

You need a little passion to really succeed in this type of business, and the more restricted your budget is, the more passion you need, because there will be many times, especially over the short term, that it is nothing more than a labour of love.

In regards to Drop Shipping, your concerns are of course valid, but to be honest, Drop Shipping from your own website is far less troublesome than using a platform such as eBay where you can your account seriously hurt with negative feedback if one of your suppliers goes bad!

With your own site, you are for the most part, operating on a lot safer ground. Of course you never want any customer unhappy, as you never know who they know or where a bad wrap is going to turn up, so evaluating your Drop Ship suppliers is still very important.

All that said, Drop Shipping is a perfect match for independent sites such as yours. You have the ability to stock your shop completely, absolutely no or very low outlay.


Mark (fudjj)

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bumpertoys
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  • Karma:
29 Feb 12 01:52:19 am
Thanks Marc, but to tell the truth, I don't know the first thing about designing a website - I just thought buy it and upload the products!!


 

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