I've heard it from all of my friends who are in the creative business- they all say it's difficult to sell online and I have to agree with them. But what I've learned and what I say to my friends are - You gotta market you and your products/services.
Here is what I've learned for actually doing and reading about marketing online . And guess what? - most of these tips cost little or better yet they are FREE!
5 Tips to Jump Start Your Creative Business
1. Brand You & Your Shop
Branding is very important. It conveys that you are serious about what you do and sell and plus it helps you to portray a cohesive professional appearance. First create a slogan for what you do (something catchy and short). You gotta have a logo. Your logo should be clean and simple because it will be printed on everything you send and give out (business cards, tags, bags, websites). And you need a quality photos. A photo of yourself and photos of your products.
2. Professional Domain name
Get yourself your on domain name. Yes- I know many of these sites allow you to use your name with the company's name extension attached to your shop's name, but honestly this doesn't look professional. And it can come across as cheap. (I'm a victim of this too) I purchased my domain name from Domain.com. Once you get your own domain name, print it on everything - business cards, at the end of email signatures, product labels.
3. Sell Products in Person
Establish yourself at local craft fairs. People like to touch and feel the products. They also like to talk to the person who makes the products (I had to get use to this, I'm not much on talking about me or my work). Make sure your table is well stock with products and that you have proper sing age on your table. And by all means get those who stop by your table address /email address so you can send them special discounts.
4. Create "Promo" items
You have to get your products into as many hands as possible. So at these craft fairs have a few promotional items on your table, such as book markers and postcards. These items can be printed cheaply at vistaprint.com. If you sale beauty or spa products than create super- mini size samples . But make sure that every promotional items has your contact information and your logo.
5. Build Your Network
Social networks like facebook are not just for finding friends or family members. It's also a vehicle to market what you do and create. This social networking topic is a sore spot for many of my friends. They just hate social sites and think they are a waste of time. And this too, at first I had to agree, but I have quickly realized that my biggest fans are my family and closest friends. They buy alot of my artwork and they refer their friends to my site. If you too believe the same as my friends, then I have to say- please give it a try. Just join one site - I suggest facebook . And send out status updates once a week- directing them to your new product sales or just announce what new creation you made. Keep it simple and if it gets too much for you, then its easy to cancel the service.
Well that's all- I hope you took away something new. Like this article? Then you'll love my free creative business tips !
Talk with you soon- Alease
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