Nowadays, it’s very fashionable,
convenient and fabulous branding opportunity for artists to display and sell
their products online! There are so many ways you could start your online brand
presence with Social Media Shops, Websites, Online marketplaces and Online Handmade Shops.
Most artists find it daunting to
start their journey with selling online and are often unsure what to look for
when joining new marketplaces. Also to launch your own website and to bring
huge amount of traffic to the website, takes a lot of time, effort and money!
Showcasing at local galleries is also passé now, due to high commission and
limitation of region.
Follow these 5 tips to Make Informed
Decision and Rock Your Business Online in 2014!
Online Businesses are flourishing and
with influx of new websites coming every day. So in 2014, having good SEO or
SMO practices are not enough to get you wide visibility and customer base
online! Co-opetition
is the new trend you need to adapt to make the most of your Online Business!!
Small handmade businesses can join hands
with online marketplaces, Online Galleries and shops as part of their
Co-opetition strategy to ride the online trend in 2014! These online handmade
businesses are already well established and have strong implementation of
marketing strategies which will give you wide online presence and it also improves
the bottom line of your business.
They have established admin practices
and do most of the marketing for you, so that you can concentrate much
more on the making and selling, then when you have your own private
website.
There are three levels of online
sites to promote your handmade products:
·
online directories that are often
part of a membership offer, and they give short listings and direct to your own
website e.g. Australia
Craft Network, Creative Addiction, Handmade
HQ, Craft HQ
·
online market places where you create and
market your own shop e.g. Etsy, Madeit, and similar many more
·
online shops that sell your products
e.g. HardtoFind, TheCraftGallery
Each of these levels ask for a
different input from you, and charge different rates and commissions. (More info coming in next blog posts--- Watch this
Space!)
So, where do you start your Online
Journey?
Online
selling tip 1: What’s out there for me?
There are tons of websites on the
internet which allows different users to sell their products in exchange of
some sort of commissions. But there are few important fundamentals that you
should know before signing up with any online shop to sell your products.
- What fees does the provider charge
- What are the payment plans and services offered
- Who is the target audience
- Does your target audience matches with theirs, brand and price level
- Do they sell products that you wish to sell
- What are the terms & condition to sign up & terminate etc
- How does the website look like? How user friendly is the site? Both for you, but also your potential clients.
- Whats their website traffic?
-
Online Shop or Online Craft Galleries
like us, manage
marketing and administration on your behalf. We even go one step ahead and
promote the artists and their passion too!
So the commission for such services is bit higher than DIY sites, but it FREES up 90% of your screen time.
Online Marketplaces or Online Handmade Business Directories where you list your products and tag your photos, you will have manage the promotion and most of the admin and it’s like having an online shop
Online Marketplaces or Online Handmade Business Directories where you list your products and tag your photos, you will have manage the promotion and most of the admin and it’s like having an online shop
These popular sites can be a great
launch pad to set up your own private website, and to link to your own website
to drive more
traffic to your own site.
Stay away from
businesses that don’t link and promote your personal websites or portfolio!
Online selling tip 2: Images that Sell Your Products
Online selling tip 2: Images that Sell Your Products
Before you are ready to go online,
make sure you have quality images of
your work that will convince customer to buy your product on single glance.
These images should explain the texture,
colour & predictable size of the product which makes it easier for buyer
to decide. At least 4 images from different angles should be submitted to
the provider for display. Maintain your style of images for every single
product that you capture for selling or displaying, the theme & background
should have some consistency. Images
speaks better than words, so make sure you win the game no matter if you
need to spend some more bucks but upholding the quality of photography.
Some websites prefer clean shots against a white background,
others prefer highly stylised images. Often a combination of overall shot plus
a detail shot are the best. Make sure that your images and products fit
with the website’s feel, brand, target market and price level.
It’s good
idea to present collection of your work based on theme or category, so
all products are listed in one category giving you more credibility and positioning.
E.g. Newborn Baby gifts series, Fashion Print Series
Online selling tip 5: Tags your
products
While having quality images, it is
also necessary to code your images with the keywords that you want people to
search you with. Playing with the words can really help potential clients find
your work. Be very creative in framing your sentences & words. Don’t use
jargons, use words that people understand & art lovers put on search
engines to view & buy.
You will need to list these words
when managing your own online shop, whereas listing with Online Galleries /
handmade stores will do it for you as part of service, saving you heaps of experimentation
time and energy
Online
selling tip 4: Create Gifts!
People love gifting handmade products as they are unique and created with lots
of love! So make sure that your products are perfect gifts for various occasions throughout the year like
Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day, Christmas etc. This will ensure that you get more
sales and repeat business throughout the year!
Personalised and eGifts which are
easy to download are very popular in online retails. Also gifts for men and boys
and wedding gifts categories are popular too.
Earn extra brownie points with Beautiful Packaging! Pay special attention to gift presentation and packaging;
include photos of your beautiful packaging!
Online
selling tip 5: Build your Repertoire
Your professional images, profile and
feedback will all contribute to your credibility.
Your websites or product description
should be clear and should not make your users doubt you. It is very important
to maintain transparency in your business in order to win the trust of your
customers. Your online profile defines your credibility so make sure you have
an FAQ section or some feed backs about you. Be in good terms with the shop owners
and ask for their opinions about your products. Majority of people buy these
products online because they have trust on the sites, so get associated with
them & their customers to expect long term returns. Be very honest &
straight forward with your customer & plan carefully on how you would deal
on your returns.
No matter till what
extent you follow the steps, but don’t forget to be confident about your
products & be positive with the online business world.
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