The doorbell in your beautiful shop has never stopped chiming until now, thanks to the COVID-19 situation. Everyone is telling you to go online, but you’re no rookie. You know that making sales online takes more than just opening an online shop. The internet is not a place where “if you build it, they will come”. In fact, you’ll have to put most of your effort in directing quality traffic to your website. So, unless you already have thousands of followers on social media, how do you make it online? I’m here to share with you a blueprint that you can use to get quality traffic from Day 1.
STEP 1: Find a suitable marketplace for your products.
What do you sell? For example, if you’re a specialty hot sauce boutique, you may be suitable to open a shop with Etsy or Amazon. The key to selling on marketplaces is having effective SEO for your shop and products. Research keywords that not only describes what you sell, but that also describes why someone would buy your product.
Why does someone buy your product? Continuing with the running example of a specialty hot sauce boutique, you may have hot sauces that are specifically designed for breakfast eggs. You may want to include keywords such as “Mother’s Day Breakfast Gifts” as part of your SEO strategy. Want to sell your sauces as birthday gifts, wedding, shower and party favors to fellow sauce-addicts? Consider offering a way to personalize the label on the sauce bottles. A simple print and glue operation can get you more sales than you think!
STEP 2: Funnel traffic from the marketplace to your own online shop.
When you ship your products out, do not forget to include printed materials to let your customers know of your online shop. Also, try to give your customers an incentive to buy from your online shop instead of the marketplace for their subsequent orders. A rewards program works well to encourage repeat customers.
If you offer coupon codes for the marketplace shop, make sure to setup an email opt-in so you can keep in touch with your customers. More importantly, if possible, setup a Thank You page with the code and links to both your shop and marketplace shop. This way, the customer is already made aware of your shop and may decide to shop there instead. Of course, make sure the same coupon code is available for use on both shops!
STEP 3: Funnel traffic from other sources to your online shop.
Claim your Yelp, Google, and other review pages. These are important sources of traffic because the pages are found when someone is either searching for you or a product you sell. You’ll want to make sure that every communication you make on these sites to include a way the customer can easily find your online shop.
Setup your social media pages and start engaging with your customers. The reason why I mention social media last is because they take the most work and the most time to work. If you put effort into your social media channels, you will see the return. But please do not expect to see results immediately.
I hope this blueprint helps. It was the exact step-by-step I used to help my brother build his six-figure online business in less than a year from scratch. If you have questions or need help, feel free to email me at jooann@witmergroup.com or our caring team at Witmer Group. We want to be a source of support and inspiration to you at this uncertain time. Absolutely no purchase necessary just to talk.
Warmest,
Joo Ann