Where's your orders coming from?

[Lee]

I know for some this is (understandably) a closely guarded secret.....but where are your orders coming from?

I have just, well 95% finished my site (I bet I'll always be 95% finished!!!!) and I'm about to start advertising, and I'm taking on a little retail space, only small, but enough to start with...

I previously tried ebay and had very little success, because lets face it, I am one out of a thousand people!

I have emailed local businesses and had a little success but again nothing to write home about really....

I am about to do some local adverts and maybe some leaflet drops so I am hoping things will pick up, and well as generate some retail sales or traffic to the site....

My feedback is always positive, and I never send anything out that I wouldn't want to receive myself, I just need to be seen now...

But what about you guys? What's happening in your space?

[jennywren]

This is a hard questions. Some times they walk into the shop and in my sales chat I might sell one, others are recommendations, others are wholesale orders that we have from long standing customers, it has never paid us to advertise, the only thing that has help is flyers that we give out, but only if we are at a show or in the shop. When we do internet orders we include a flyer. I've no idea how other people get there orders, when i do talk to people abut their orders and wholesale orders. I say :I am not the cheapest, but what you will get is good quality service and a very good made product.: Times are tough at the moment. This time of year is quiet because parents are buying stuff for their kids to go back school. There is no answer but to think outside the box. near the second week in September is when sales increase it the start of people buying for christmas

[pitkin2020]

I know for some this is (understandably) a closely guarded secret.....but where are your orders coming from?

I have just, well 95% finished my site (I bet I'll always be 95% finished!!!!) and I'm about to start advertising, and I'm taking on a little retail space, only small, but enough to start with...

I previously tried ebay and had very little success, because lets face it, I am one out of a thousand people!

I have emailed local businesses and had a little success but again nothing to write home about really....

I am about to do some local adverts and maybe some leaflet drops so I am hoping things will pick up, and well as generate some retail sales or traffic to the site....

My feedback is always positive, and I never send anything out that I wouldn't want to receive myself, I just need to be seen now...

But what about you guys? What's happening in your space?

Email is too impersonal as a first approach to sell, ok as an introduction, ideally you need to find out who you need to speak with within the business your targeting and either get down there and sell your business face to face or at the very least phone them. Personally if I receive any emails trying to sell me something I usually just bin it, pretty much like all leaflets. I generally deal with businesses that have been recommended to me or I have spoken/met with them. An email doesn't tell them what the service will be like, how committed you will be to complete the order and what else they can expect from you. I will also say if you went and visited 10 of the businesses you have emailed and explained you were following up on an email you sent them to discuss their needs maybe only 1 of them will know what email you are talking about!

I started with shooting out 30-50 generic emails a day for a couple of weeks targeting everyone I could think, even posted out leaflets and letters to them with very little to no response. Once I changed my approach and made the effort to meet the clients worked picked up.

[Lee]

I agree in theory it would be best, but it is also difficult whilst holding down a full time job..... hmmmmm..... what to do!

[pitkin2020]

It is tough, I never said it would be easy lol. Of course a lot of people will still buy without ever meeting you but I have always found I an sell a higher value order when I have made them personally aware of me.
Advertising can be a bottomless pit and if you don't monitor what is and more importantly what isn't working then you will just be wasting your money constantly paying out on dead ends. Take a read of guerilla marketing, you may find it insightful and give you some really good ideas that are either low cost of free.

[Lee]

Thanks for that - is this it - http://www.guerilla-marketing.co.uk/index.php

[jennywren]

I agree in theory it would be best, but it is also difficult whilst holding down a full time job..... hmmmmm..... what to do!

See at least you get real money

[Lee]

ah, but to put all the real money I make in my real pocket

[pitkin2020]

not really, that looks a like a company (quick glance) that will do it for a fee, here is what you want http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guerrilla-Marke ... 948&sr=8-1 its well worth a read.