How to pull-in business?

[greenoak]

great ideas patrick....im a small business in a small town and imho your approach would really work....the great thing is the provider would be showing their product and abilities before getting the job..
..that would be impressive...we get a flood of offers all the time...your approach would be very different...it takes more than marketing...
and there is a big need out there... ....so many out there, guys especially, know they should be on facebook or w hatever but have no interest or understanding of it.... they are to busy runnng the business and maybe arent personal users....
. i really like your idea of aiming at specific categories of business..... i would be impressed if a person came in and knew a little about my field before telling me how much he could help it....
i hope you stay on here and share your theories for using facebook and other social media...... facebook is huge for us and i would like it to stay good and get even better...

[MobileMarketness]

Wow. Thanks for the kind words. A person never gets tired of hearing it when another appreciates their idea.

It's enlightening to hear how business owners feel about social media, etc. On my side of the fence, consultants discuss that very need but lack of time problem, but it's a little more powerful coming from someone like yourself. I wish I knew the best way to make it easy on business owners; many consultants really get a charge out of helping business owners succeed, but as with any type of sales, it's very challenging to get noticed.

I would really appreciate hearing about your own experiences with using social media and more to grow your business, I'm sure the original poster would learn from it as well. Would you mind giving some detail about the business you're in? ... keeping with topic so we don't hijack this thread, of course.

[greenoak]

we are over 30 yrs old...started in the living room...now lots bigger..10,00 sq feet and 3 trucks....when we started facebook we already had an email database of 3000 ....and a daughter and dil who shared our page on facebook ..that really got us started in a big way..we also talked it up in the store and stamped it on our reciepts...and put it on the websites..i mostly have pictures of inventory...and try for something besides selling a time or 2 a week...the store is big and attracts adventurous home owners...so they are very visual and facebook fits like a glove... i tried a blog for years and never got even close to what faceboook has done....
we do our webwork inhouse.... but i know so many store owners...and they are sitting ducks for bad deals from web workers.... they are mostly like me probably and dont even know the words when it gets into the nuts and bolts....and since we are in the big group of downtown or small businesses who wouldnt be paying 300 an hour, we get so many newbies who might fit our price range but who just dont know what they are doing or mislead the people....
another problem i think is the webworkers sell to truckers one week and us the next....and they dont see the difference.... so if one came thru who was slightly in the know about the customers business that would just be huge....
then there is price.... i think it would be great to see a real example of what you could do for 2 or 3 different fees.... we shouldnt feel like we could get your best product for your cheapest fee...i hear a lot of sad stories in that department...
i really think a local social media business could work just great for lots of stores...most know they should be there...
my daughter has a store too and she has such a great following that she can be at an auction buying and take a picture of something on the block....and get feedback on it before it even gets in her truck....she is the best ive seen.....bellachicinteriors...... in carmel indiana......she uses her phone a lot too....im pretty behind on that...
i have mostly learned form watching response and really trying to learn from stores who have over 1000 fans...our best response was when we showed pictures of a small disaster... a shelf fell crashing a big pile of dishes to the floor....other great ones were family groups we took at the yardsale, and one yesterday plugging pinterest and asking to see the customers pinterest pages...
i thnk m y fans are mainly people who have beeen here sand have a real interest in the store,......we dont have contests or anything like that....we keep it intertwined with our website...which is a real workhorse for us too..
as far as who i follow...i guess it would be grandma mary, she just helped write the facebook for dummies book,anyway im 99% sure she is andrea vahl, ...and social media examiner..... they are actual facebook users...altho i think i have more fans than grandma mary!!! for a while anyway... she has a great page and is real responsive....
the other big facebook place in our town a resturant....they are doing great and simply posting their special everyday...she is amazed by the response too, like we are....
so theres most of my theories now what do you advise stores? .

[MobileMarketness]

Lots of great info! I took notes!

I think what you're doing is great. I don't do a lot of work with social media myself as the plumbers and other tradespeople / professionals I've worked with so far don't see a decent return with it. In my humble opinion, social media is great for some business, but for others, it is a less-efficient way of growing a business. As with most things in business, it comes down to know your market and your business. In a nutshell, Facebook is very social... and if your business can be a social business, then Facebook is a must.

Staying active on the page, being sure to interact and not just sell... there are things that can be done with featured images and featured "liked" pages, custom page tabs, etc. to improve the number of fans and interaction, but it's hard to write that out in a single post here.

Here's another thing I would recommend to stores selling some sort of merchandise, though - YouTube. With an inexpensive $100 digital camcorder, or most smart phones, you can shoot 3-5 minute product overviews and easily add them to a YouTube channel (mobile phone videos can be easily uploaded directly from the phone). From there, the videos can be embedded to a website and with certain Facebook apps, the YouTube channel can even be added to your Facebook page where it will update automatically each time a new video is uploaded to YouTube.

This sort of effort really does wonders for sales as prospective buyers get a much better look at the merchandise than if only pictures were made available. Of course, there's more to it than just putting up videos, and it depends on your market, but that's the gist of it. I checked out your daughter's site and it looks like a great business! Of course, if she feels there's room for improvement, revenue-wise, there are many things she could do online that would help.

Thanks again for the great reply. I sure hope YourSocial is taking notes, too.

[greenoak]

thanks for the ideas..... i really have to think about the utube channel or the videos.... i could see a virtual tour of the store being interesting.........
the pictures are working pretty well i dont quite get why utube would be so much better....im sure considering w hat to do on the mobile...i really like all this info...

[MobileMarketness]

I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about the "why." The research has been done, and it is well-known in the Internet marketing community that videos convert window shoppers into buyers at an astounding rate - a rate far beyond a virtual tour. People LOVE video. A virtual tour of the store would be good, but I wouldn't stop there. The fact that YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world (3rd largest? YouTube MOBILE) should show you that people love video, and it works really well.

Think of it like this... why would a car dealership offer test drives when customers can just see all the cars up close in the showroom or see a really impressive glossy catalog? Answer: test drives sell cars; test drives make it much easier for the customers to experience the car, and any good car salesperson will get you in for a test drive asap because they make the sale so much easier. They work. It's the same with video - it's a much more personal and up-close experience for the consumer.

Video ideas (5 minutes tops) - explain the piece of furniture you have, where it came from and why it's a quality item. Martha Stewart style, offer decorating ideas, placement ideas, etc. You could have a lot of fun with it. People will really get to visualize and get to know the item. If done well, I'd be extremely surprised if this DIDN'T boost sales.

It takes so little time to make them, and a YouTube channel takes minutes to open (and it's all free) my advice would be to just try it out and see. They don't have to be big budget productions. In fact, videos that are simply "homemade" tend to work much better. It's the reason social media works so well - it's more authentic and real. I'm not promising anything, but many have cited as much as a 300% increase in conversions. Worth a shot? Yup.

As far as mobile goes. Hard to say without knowing more about your market. Google's research has shown that people are very likely to purchase items through their mobile phone, so mobile commerce would be worth looking into.

Many people use mobile to access their Facebook profiles, and since you're already so successful with Facebook, a very simple mobile site to showcase a special event or special sale may be all that's needed. These "specials" pages could have a cool "countdown clock" or something to make it more fun - "Just 1 Day, 22 Hours, and 19 Minutes until the big sale!! Click below to share this page with friends. Be sure to enter your email in the form below to receive advance notice on a very special item we won't be sharing with the general public." C'mon That would build curiosity and interest. LOL

Near where I used to live, there was a place called St. Jacob, a large Mennonite community. Of course, the Mennonites make beautiful furniture and other things. My mother and aunts would go NUTS for promotions like that. My aunt is addicted to her mobile and all are on Facebook and email several times a day. Too bad the Mennonites weren't big with technology LOL.


---- By the way, if you decide that you'd like to give YouTube and video a shot, but are not sure how to start one, I can create one for you. Just send me your website addy and a logo file, and I can dress it up nicely so the channel is branded to you. It'll take me a few days, but I'd be happy to help out. Standing offer. No worries. Not sure what you should do with mobile, but same goes for that. Happy to help, no strings.

[greenoak]

thanks somuch for your insights .you have me sold on videos....my main question is why not have it on facebook instead of utube? my facebook is where my customers are , those fans are who i w ant to work with ....do i really want to ask them to somewhere else too? i know fb has a video feature for us...i jsut never used it... we actually have a greenoak channel on utube....but we dont use it.....it has our tv commercial on it...can i be in both places...fb and utube? with little extra effort?
i see my customers on their smartphones a lot....thats why i want to be up to date on them....i figure the new customers get directions to the store at least...
this video idea is pretty exciting...i could have something interesting or fun once a week...like right now having ruth show how to make the lanterns and jon on things about the furniture..... and have it a certain day on facebook..... facebook seems to be the main hub of activity right now....
my grandson just showed me videos on pinterest...to him videos are so easy and accessible.... i assume utube videos could be onthe facebook page ...is that right? and they would just be stored on utube...or on my pinterest page....
sorry, too many ????....this sounds so good for our store...
my staff can do about anything...if i can just point them in the right direction and tell them what i want.......im the tekk dud...with the tekk ideas ...

[MobileMarketness]

You are absolutely right, you can use YouTube for storage only if you wish. And you should store them there since they're much easier to manage and change around. Facebook's video isn't nearly as robust. Fortunately, you can integrate your entire channel with a free Facebook app, so your fans need only click on the YouTube app link along the left side of your page to see your entire channel right there on Facebook. And did I mention it's free?

There is no need to drive people to the channel itself... but... that may be something suitable for the future. It will help you reach a much wider audience. I like your ideas for video. With how-to videos... geez, you could really build something huge in your community. You could use those videos to springboard to community workshops, etc.

If you built up a large video collection / YT Channel with many great how-to videos (and it's just a matter of time), you could grab a whole new market. Imagine people driving in from miles away just to see your wares and buy what you have. Rather than driving people TO your YT channel with Facebook... you could be using YT to BRING people to your Facebook page. Interact with them there. You build the trust and who knows what customers you'll earn?

Remember I mentioned my aunts and mother? St. Jacobs was a good 1-2 hour drive for them. It was a full day commitment going there, yet they went because the Mennonites had unique stuff you just don't see at the big chain stores.

ONE final suggestion for FB and YouTube if you do that... make sure you become visible on other FB pages and YT channels that are frequented by people that would be interested in your store. ie: Arts and Crafts stores (especially if they offer workshops) should spend time interacting on A&C fan pages or even forums like this one. You can likely find such videos on YT, too. Just write comments and interact with a link back to your own web space. Eventually, someone nearby will find your info.

RE: mobile

Mobile is a must for most businesses and there are so many great ways to use it. As you said... everyone is on a mobile these days, so you have a chance to be with your customers all the time. To start, a simple page with your store info, tap-to-call button, tap-to-email button and an integrated Google map with interactive directions would be awesome. From there, it's really easy to see the potential for other strategies.

[greenoak]

we took our first little movies today!!! thanks...im going to have my web person go over your post tomorrow....thanks for the help....
i really hear what you are saying about making yt easy to get to on fb for our fans but then being on YT and maybe reaching others..... i hardly use yt at all so this is kind of foriegn to me....

[MobileMarketness]

Wow! An action taker! Great to hear

Well... expanding your market via YouTube is a big topic that would require a lot more planning around the type of business you have and want to have. And since good work with YouTube requires a lot of specialized knowledge, it's probably not something you'd want to start yourself since it would be such a huge learning curve.

I think starting with the videos and working in the local community via Facebook is great progress.

Please update this thread when you see some results from the videos!