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7 Things You
Can Change in your Creative Product Business So You Can Make MORE
MONEY NOW:
A few days
ago I was asked (on twitter) to critique a website to see if I
could offer any help about a creative product. I checked
through it pretty quickly and my immediate response was: there are
5 things I could tell you right away about what you could change
that would completely alter your bottom line, increase your sales
and turn your great idea into a REAL business.
I'm thinking that maybe if that was you, and you were looking to
become a profitable business, you might want to know the 5
things you could change. So I am going to share those with you,
and add a bonus two items, so here they are:
7 Things You Can Change in your Creative Product Business So You
Can Make MORE MONEY NOW:
1. Unless
you are an artist who lives for making one of a kind artwork
(that is a whole different business) DO NOT offer choices and
custom made products. First of all when you offer your
potential buyer too many choices it is hard for them to make up
their minds and they become confused. A confused customer does
not buy, and leaves with nothing. Offering choices of fabric
designs, colors, etc. forces the potential buyer to make a
decision. Don't have them make the choice - you make the choice
by offering your products by style and color with separate style
numbers for each. If you truly want to be profitable by selling
products to stores and one by one to individuals - then you have
to change this mentality. NO MORE CHOICES - and especially on
your website! I'm sorry it was too confusing, I could not figure
out which one I would want to buy.
2. If you still want to allow customers
to "design their own" make it well worth your while. My
rule of thumb is at least 3 times the regular retail. It's
CUSTOM work and requires a custom price. So if someone is
insistent you can make the offer and a profit. The reason for
this is: You'll have multiple emails and communication going
back and forth - time is very valuable. If you are making just
one of something whether doing it yourself or hiring someone to
do it - one item is SO SLOW - you have to pay yourself or
someone to do it. If it is a wholesale order require a minimum
number of units and make sure it is either prepaid in full or at
least a 50% deposit for custom orders. Custom order means custom
cutting, fabric, perhaps embroidery or other special touch that
you normally do not sell off the shelf.
3.Include individual photos of items with a "buy" button.
I know, I know this sounds so elementary - click to buy, but
amazingly enough this is not standard. I think what happens is
people get so carried away with getting photos up on their site,
they forget that the purpose of the site is to sell their
products. Each product MUST have a style number and a description.
So if your product's name is "Rose Garden Tote" and has a style
number "123RGT09" and when your client clicks to buy it goes into
a shopping cart and "ta da!" both you and the customer know what
the purchase is! Each individual product
needs to have a buy button - even if you offer the same product in
a different color or pattern. Remember get rid of the confusion!
4.Photos must
be clear and show off the product.
These are not snapshots of your vacation; these are good
clear photos of your product's design and features. Great to
show someone using the product, but also up close and
personal is important. When people are buying online they
want to know exactly what they are buying - so they need to
have good close-ups as well as the whole product. I
encourage my clients to show all features so potential
buyers can see the workmanship. Remember these folks have
not seen your products in person, so you want to convey the
quality, design and workmanship. And by the way, if you
really want to show off your products post a
video explaining the benefits and features of
an individual product or your company. To get an idea of
what to say and do, I suggest watching HSN or QVC for
pointers.
5. Have a way for people to pay. Again,
sounds simple but unless you offer a way for people to buy
with a merchant account (you can accept major credit cards)
or PayPal, how do they know they can really buy? My
suggestion is to have a shopping cart - I personally like
1ShoppingCart because it is easy and works with nearly
all merchant accounts including PayPal and further it's easy
to change prices and create many items. Remember - MAKE IT
EASY TO BUY
6. The Main Page or Home Page of your site must be
enticing and exciting - think of it as an
invitation. The design as well as the graphics,
headlines and the copywriting are all critical. Most small
product businesses have people directed to their home page.
When your potential customer comes to that page you need to
WOW them so they will look further into the site and make a
purchase. So on the main page, you might have "deal of the
month" featuring a popular item - or a story about a
customer - with leads to get them to a page to make a
purchase. Make them curious about what you have to offer.
7. Sell your products wholesale. In the
long run this is the only way to stop making one of a kind
and start making money. Would you rather sell
100 units to one buyer or 100 units to 100 buyers?
It's as simple as that. Going wholesale means your life will
change. Going wholesale means taking your business to the
next level. So if you sell designer aprons - sell them
wholesale to restaurants, delis and food stores. And sell
them in packages - not one of! You'll want to make sure this
is visible on your website for all to know - because you
never know who might visit.
And lastly I want to say do not get discouraged.
It's usually not as much the product that is holding back
sales, it's the other component parts. You can do it! |
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Love and Success,
For
More information about this subject and much more about
creating your Design 2 Market Success business we invite
you to join our
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© 2009 Jane Button International Design2Market Success
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