It’s My First Business & I want To Succeed

Hi everyone! I’ve just started Burrow By Bekkah, a place where I can sell my handmade blanket/quilts & my scented wax melts. At first I was aiming for more local sales (especially thinking craft shows up here in Maine) but I absolutely want to grow on line too!. The only thing is that I feel like I’m late to the party, especially when it comes to my wax melts. It’s all been done already & there’s so many wax melt vendors out there. Though I did set up some special gifts for each order & samples to hopefully bring them in. Do you have any other ideas on how to drum up online sales? Thank you!

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Happy New Year! There is only one YOU! Believe it or not...the sale is really 'you'! People will buy from you. 🙂 Just keep exposing yourself and your products through vendor markets and fairs and online postings through Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, wherever...slow growth is actually beneficial for micro businesses. If we got as busy as we wanted, for handmade crafters, that would be crazy! 🙂 Enjoy this time to build relationships with your customers. That will last a lifetime.

Tiffany Mladinich
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Hi Burrowbybekkah,

 

Getting online sales is the goal of many small businesses however, many think that selling online is easy - you build a website and they will come - sadly, it's not that easy else, we would all be going to bank every week.  Using social media to get your business out there is one way to go and there are many sites that allow you to use their services for free - the cost is just your time and some good photos.  As you are familiar with craft shows, make sure that your customers are also aware that you sell online too.   Be sure to include your website address on packaging and keep your business cards handy.

 

I've posted similar suggestions before, here's a few:

 

Start with the basic social media sites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flicker, Pinterest, YouTube, Vimeo, Google Maps, Google Places for Business and Yelp - the more you get your name out there the better and you can setup these accounts at little or no cost - it's just your time. Take your time and take lots of product pictures. Creating a video about your business or blogging can be helpful.   You have your skill set and experience, share some tips with others.

 

Advertising in your local paper may promote sales too, but you need to consider the additional costs to do this.  Cross selling via other sites like Etsy may increase interest even if you just list a few items.

 

Another option is to spread the word via friends and family as word of mouth is very effective and free.

 

Depending on your budget, online ads may drive sales however, it's a challenge to determine your ROI - over the years we have spent quite a few dollars doing advertising however, we really don't think it was worth it as compared to word of mouth.

 

Best of luck moving forward !!

 

jk

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