Just a quick note. First of all my name is Lee, and I am a new-be
here at Orchid. I love it. It is great to see I am not the only one
out here with troubles and such not. I am a Fossil Mammoth Ivory
Carver/ Intaglia Jewelry maker, with a small problem.
I need a small amount of advertising for my tiny web site.
Up to date I have been selling everything on E-bay, coming out ahead
but only by 20$ or so a month. This sucks. I only make a very limited
number of pieces a year (less then 100). So can anyone out there,
suggest a means of getting the web address around, with out getting
busted for spamming. My next concern should I find an advertising
venue, is that I should get slammed and sell out instantly. I only
carry 10 items in the web site at a time. This number could grow,
but I am concerned that I would have to triple my prices to keep
anything in stock. I can hear you all shaking your heads from here-I
know such a dilemma. However I am very concuss about my pricing, but
would be willing to raise the prices, if I knew it was going to
sell.
First - If you have a web site right now, the best thing to do is to
give us the link. Every email that you right, add the link to your
web site so that people can go there.
Next - If you have a web site, register with the Froogle search
(with good key words) at the google search engine sight and you will
get good results.
Trick is - with Froogle you have to “reload” you web at
least once every other day to keep your site within the first couple
of pages for people to see.
My next concern should I find an advertising venue, is that I
should get slammed and sell out instantly. I only carry 10 items in
the web site at a time. This number could grow, but I am concerned
that I would have to triple my prices to keep anything in stock.
Congratulations on your success in selling! First of all, don’t be
afraid. If you can successfully triple your prices “just to keep
anything in stock”, then, by all means, triple your prices.
A story…It’s almost past Christmas now and I have spent 2005
making and selling multi-strand bracelets (for the most part).
Because I was price aware (as you are), I charged 65.00 US for each
bracelet and sold them hand over fist. I sold about 90 bracelets thru
word of mouth only. Did I do the right thing if one considers that I
am supposed to be in business to make money? No. In reality, the
price on the bracelets should have been about 125.00 US, but I wanted
to be a nice guy and keep my prices affordable and da da da. You’re
in business to make money so, don’t be afraid to make money.
On advertising, you may be able to find effective advertising for
your local community through your Chamber of Commerce. They’re there
to help small businesses so the fees are usually smaller than by
other means.
Also, having a nice quality postcard (with a piece of your work on
the front) made can be an effective tool. Hang your postcards up in
the coffee shops, diners, gyms, and other places potential customers
hang out.
Thank you so much about the advise on Froogle. I am listed with
Froogle, but I did not realize I should upload every other day. I
have been doing it every week. So far I have not had much luck
selling my jewelry supplies, do you think it might be my keywords?
How do I go about changing them? I did not set up the original feed
so I really don’t know how to check the keywords. I would appreciate
any help you can give me.
About you websites, I totally agree that you should add your url to
your signature. I have gotten a lot of response to my url for my
handcrafted and vintage jewelry and beads jewelry mall. You would be
surprised that such a small thing like adding your url to your
signature can really increase the traffic to your website.
The key words for Froogle are in the description of each item you
are intending to sell. The more key words in the descriptions, the
more possibilities there are for someone to find you. Just remember
that the description on Froogle has to match the description on your
web site exactly.