How do I get into small retail stores

[Turkishstallion]

Hi everyone.. I am new to this forum and glad to have found it

Let me sum up my situation. I am originally from Turkey(in case the name does not give it away) and my wife and I have a small business that we run from home. It is mostly through ebay but now that we have a site, we have been getting sales from the site as well.

We are expecting our second little one so my wife will be leaving her part-time job and can focus on the little ones and the home business. Even though we do pretty good on ebay and stuff... it is not growing fast enough. We are constantly improving and adjusting our products which are mostly from Turkey, and were able to find some real successful items.

I want to expand this though and does not seem possible unless I can get my product into stores, not K-mart but small gift shops, bookstores etc. I have talked an internet buddy to do mass e-mailings for me from lists I have like all bookstores in the USA (for bookmarks that I sell) but I am very pessimistic on what the outcome will be knowing how I treat such e-mails. He will be getting paid a percentage of the sale that arises from these e-mails but even though he is very optimistic, my skepticism tells me he will give up after a few days of no answers to the e-mails that he'll be sending

Our site is www.bluelightgifts.com which averages 15-20 new visitors a day and has been getting 1-2 sales a week... I would like to have this additional income as well so that my wife will not have to work and I really enjoy working on it on my days off etc. Just do not have the time to contact business owners one by one. Thanks in advance

[Turkishstallion]

bump...

I really can use any and all feedback

[Vishal P. Rao]

Hi Turkishstallion,

Welcome to the forum Getting 15-20 visitors per day and making 1-2 sales a week is pretty good conversion ratio. I think you ought to focus more on optimizing your site for search engines. Exchange links with related web sites, keep updating your site with related information, write articles. These things if done consistently will gradually bring your site to the top of search engine results.

Best wishes,

Vishal

[Turkishstallion]

Vishal,

First of all thanks... I agree with your point and I have already started to post my site at different search engines through the use of a software program but I feel like the volume through the internet is not steady enough and know that these items would do great in stores if given a shot...

I am stuck though in terms of what to do to get them in stores

[everythingebaydotcom]

Turkishstallion,

I agree with Vishal on getting your website optimized for search engines. Consider the millions of potential customers online! If they can only find your site when looking for your type of product.

Submitting your site is not enough. You need to use meta tags in your site code, alt names for your pictures and make sure to include keywords in your site as well. All of these methods will help the search engines to find you.

You will also want to visit sites related to your product to post links, messages with your signature and if the traffic and price is right...advertise there.

On eBay...do you have an "About Me" page that links to your main website? This is a very good way of driving traffic to your website, without violating ebay's linking policy. Make sure to mention your about me page in your auctions as well, so people know you have one.

On the subject of email marketing...I know I delete all the spam and advertisements I get without even looking at them. Now days there is so much spam going into everyones email boxes, I think alot of people do not even bother to look at them. Keep that in mind when deciding to go this route.

I think if you make a nice brochure and send it with a intro letter to the retail stores you are interested in and follow it up with a phone call, you'll have a better response. You may want to send a sample of your product with the brochure and letter. Sometimes just seeing the product first hand- it will sell itself.

I hope that some of this info is helpful to you.

Have a great day!

Lisa

[csmarketing]

Hi and welcome,

I agree with what has already been said, you should be promoting your business on everything and to everyone you see and meet. When ever you go into small shops to see what they have to see if you line of products will fit had the person a card or flyer, also check local business for any community boards post your ads, flyer and business cards. I know you send something in all outgoing mail, do you use coupons or give discounts to currently customer's to get them to return. 5-10% off may be all you need for return visitor's encourage them to pass the cards on to their friends and family.

There are a lot of things you could do, do you use a greeting on your voice mail or answer machines breifly include your website address at the end. Finally you can get a magnetic sign for under $60 to place on your car when you go to the store or post office to mail items. Make sure your website and number is on it. This one is a good thing check with your local radio stations to see when they have different events where they ask for donations for different things like weddings, and events of this nature. My local station is doing this now you would not believe the turn out it FREE advertising sure you are not making the sale but they will allow you to boardcast your business name, number and website over the air. Or just give them a call they are always giving away gifts, prizes etc you can do this as a way of getting you business out there as well. good luck

Michelle