PDA

View Full Version : uses for websites...



greenoak
09-04-2010, 09:33 AM
i just read in giftbeat...a big trade paper for retail , an interview with a featured store owner..she has 2 big stores in north carolina.....she said she had tried selling on line for about a year with a little success.... and was dropping it and now her website will be all about her stores, coming to her stores whats going on with her stores..and whats on her mind at any given time....she thinks thats the right way to go and how her website can help her the most....
i was glad to read this because the retail world is swamped with sell on line advice....and i think our websites can make us so much money in ways besides selling on line...and that doesnt get covered as much....
i know my website has been a huge thing for us...
i hope to see more coverage aimed at a site like mine and hers....how to be a better billboard for our stores...i hope the experts focus on our needs a bit more...and think up some new ideas for us to use our sites to connect with our customers and be better billboard/brochure sites..
one of the best examples that i have kept in mind for a long time...was a site i got to from here a while back....it was a store selling ski stuff...and they had wonderful local ski slope info and calendar and up to date snow and weather reports on their site ....it was just a perfect go to site for their taget audience....

Patrysha
09-05-2010, 01:50 AM
I don't know where it is that you look for marketing advice and inspiration --but this is precisely the approach of hundreds (possibly thousands) of offline business consultants the world over. I've given this advice over and over and over locally...for free...and only a handful have even begun to apply the knowledge because they don't believe it can be that simple...they don't take the time to learn and apply the simplest of things. But that's to be expected...the 80/20 rule applies to marketing too...80% of the businesses don't care enough to take a keen interest in marketing...which only makes it easier for the 20% that do to capture 80% of the market share.

greenoak
09-05-2010, 09:45 AM
thats great advice patrysha.... i love the 80 20 rule and have used it a lot!!! ive given it as advice too, on the retail retail forums im on ... ive read it lots of places...and applied it to inventory, ads, rooms, incoming money....so much...
still im loooking for ways to make my website more like the ski shops in my example....any ideas?
i do learn a lot from the consultants /marketers the trade mags publish...they are in tune with the industry....lots of it doesnt apply to our store but lots does....and i would sure buy a book by john shallert.hes a major retail consultant.....but hes getting 1600$$$ each to talk to you in a group so he isnt writing a book yet...dang....
everyone has a different recipe...and thats neat.
p.s. your website looks VERY NICE!!!

Harold Mansfield
09-05-2010, 10:27 AM
Just because you sell stuff, doesn't mean that you should be doing it online. Ecommerce is completely different from retail. The only thing they have in common is that they both center around selling products, but everything about running and marketing them is completely different.

The main purpose of your website should be to provide information about your company, store or brand and get readers interested in doing business with you... and you can get ideas across many different industries. You don't necessarily have to follow the retail "experts". Your site can be and look anyway you want it to and you can borrow ides from anywhere you want.

So if you want to provide more information about Antiques, Antiquing and the industry?...do it.

greenoak
09-05-2010, 05:52 PM
thanks eborg...thats w hat im trying to express..my retail and selling on line are 2 different things..... ecommerce is the last thing im interested in...but i love the power of the internet in relation to my money.....
actually im on here because its not all about retail.... so its naturally a little different slant on the world...and i like that...i have very wide interests...and get info from lots of places...
i am looking for a marketing HOOK tho, as good as the ski shops hook....its really not about antiques,,,since my main customers arent into antiques...more about rehabbing and style and just general things for their houses... with an outside the box slant....

Spider
09-05-2010, 06:52 PM
Up-to-the-minute ski slope conditions is a good example but it is also a bad example. If you are going skiing, you are there or close by and want that information now with which to make a decision now. The information is probably not available in many places, so providing it will get you the hits from the very people to whom you sell.

A site for stockmarket traders would naturally carry the up-to-the-minute Dow, Nasdaq and S&P indicies, because they are needed now for immediate decision-making. But a site for stockmarket investors and mutual fund investors would not find the indicies that useful.

Information about antiques, or home decoration - in fact, just about anything else - is not that immediate, nor that specific, and is probably available in lots of other places. In my case, for example, I cannot think of anything that would-be business coaching clients would want to know on a daily basis that is that specific and that immediate.

So I'm not seeing anything that would serve as a "marketing hook" of the sort for which you are looking.

greenoak
09-06-2010, 08:14 AM
i sure havent found that hok yet if there is one.... but i was hoping !!!! especially being over here in a different world..with different marketers.....
so far it seems to be about what eborg mentioned and eye candy....and they do talk nice about my fun links to other places.....but i sure dont want a list of other places to spend their money!!! like a list of antique shows or flea markets...
ive learned on e thng this summer..they use their garmin....

Patrysha
09-06-2010, 04:07 PM
You already have a hook, you just need to express it online. It really is that simple. Your customers love you, they are connecting with you online...not because of the online experience, but because of the offline one. I assume your goal with your website and social media ventures is the typical three-fold effort I outlined in my book Profitable Marketing for Busy Business Owners (which I learned from someone I admire as far as the offline marketing (affliate link I hope that's okay) OfflineBiz.com (http://www.offlinebiz.com/index.cfm?affID=Patrysha))

1. Attract New Customers
2. Increase return visits/decrease time between visits
3. Increase the average profit per sale

I disagree that you need something timely and updated like the snow reports. Your products (at least some of them) are timeless. For these general informational articles that can be easily outsources to writers who know how to research and return good copy are all you need. This will pay off handsomely over time, though there is some initial investment in each article, each will pay off for years to come with search engine optimization power and genuine good information for your clients and prospects. It's a one time cost with residual and potentially ripple effect. Of course, you can write them yourself...but that takes time and you are already busy enough. It really ought to be enough to know that it ought to be done and find the right people to make it happen. And in a group as you build the site over time, it will become a recommended source amongst your target market...it just requires good easily shareable information that your target market is looking for.

Your other products are seasonal and whimsical in nature...and for still others you offer commercial products like the shelving. Only the seasonal products would be expected (by your target market) to have any sort of value in instant update status. Just letting your customers know that you have 40 boxes that just arrived or learn to take pics with a phone and send them to your website. You honestly won't believe how easy it is...It will take you about 30 minutes to learn at the most and 15 seconds of your time when you are out and about. You will make your target market feel like your personal friend and shopping companion when you do that. Now who is going to step out on a good friend with great taste who lets you know about the hottest looks and trends in home decor and who also knows value and has an eye for classic things that will stand the test of time that will look classy long after the warranty has expired??

It will take time to create a schedule of posts to be added to the blog, website, social media etc. but it can be planned far in advance and the steps can be dove tailed into things you already do for the most part...but it has to be planned to achieve that level of mostly automated and the rest effortless stuff that you can do to keep things hopping without adding to your workload.

You are right not to send them to competitors...but you certainly can recommend other things that they are statistically/demographicly speaking inclined to like...for example, classical music (if that applies...this is just a rough guess based on what I have observed on the forum over the past couple of years) or perhaps gourmet recipes that can be served up in antique table settings? I don't know...I am not one that would likely shop in your store because that is not my lifestyle or interest niche...but you DO know your customers...and you have at least 800 on FB and however many your blog is attracting and your twitter if you do that and your youtube if you do that...and you can always ask for their opinions, ideas and suggestions. Some of their ideas will be whack...but others might inspire you to create the environment that your target market likes best. That's where testing and measurement and planning and all that come in.

And that is just the surface of the internet end of things...all of this can (and in my opininon should) be tied in to your yellow pages advertising (if you still do that), your newspaper advertising, your direct mail, your radio and your television. But it's not going to be possible overnight if you are doing it all by yourself. The books and resources on how to tie these things all together and then the time it takes to plan and then to apply them take time to go through, read and assimilate...and none of it will apply 100 percent to your business. Because your business is unique (every business is...) and your customers, location, place in time and history and everything...it's all unique so that's why all the testing and measurement is so important...so you can kind of have an idea/projection...but keeping in mind that life and business are full of curveballs.

greenoak
09-06-2010, 06:48 PM
thanks patrysha.... very interesting!!! they do love the offlline experience....being at the store....thats why i put so many pictures on....it just really tempts them..especially on facebook where all their friends will see the pictures too...something is sure happening there....857 right now....
i like how you describe the intertwining....i think they start at facebook and go to the website for more info....before making the trip....i have had all our web places on everything for years...thats the way to go...
if we are seen as expert in anything its probably rehabbing furniture and all that ...so i could work on that more...thats where the ebook idea is fitting in...also we are seen as having a huge pile of interesting stuff....and that is like drawing bees to the honey....i have a camera but not on my phone...i m thinking about getting an ipod ..with the front facing camera...but might wait till they get their little problem fixed...but i might get a better camera too...the pictures are really important tous...
.
its odd but my blog is a lot of far away people and the facebook is way more local....
your nice fat post is very thought provoking!!! making me think about different structure for the website.... maybe a nice january project with my webmistress...
im not sure my customers would bother with articles.... .they are more about the pictures...
and whats in now....i dont see what the framework would be that would present the articles...
im so tired today i cant think straight...we had 3 big buyers in at the same time at the end of the day.... all buying and needing loaded at once....we really had a good day...

Patrysha
09-06-2010, 07:40 PM
im not sure my customers would bother with articles.... .they are more about the pictures...
and whats in now....i dont see what the framework would be that would present the articles...
Well I do see potential in some articles, because you don't have to think in terms of traditional articles when you think of content. It CAN be video with a transcript or pictures with explanatory blurbs...it doesn't have to be a thesis paper on the evolution of design or anything. It shouldn't take long to do a brainstorm session with a good writer to come up with a nice batch of content or you can start with the simple but effective answering the FAQ's style...take questions that you get daily or at least regularly in the store :-) and answer them with a photo essay/blog :-)


im so tired today i cant think straight...we had 3 big buyers in at the same time at the end of the day.... all buying and needing loaded at once....we really had a good day...

I can relate to the tired...lol. I went into work at my part time job three hours early on Saturday because there was a scheduling mishap and no one had shown up to cook! (Score! I got a raise :-))

And I had company coming to town and a local concert event that I wanted to attend and network at (Score! I got video interviews with the mayor and the two MC co-hosts and got an invitation to contact one of the local bands about potential publicity and promotions work because I turned to him when he stopped to talk with a friend on the blanket beside me and my son and asked him "So how come you don't update your Twitter feed anymore?")

Pretty much on the go from 5am Saturday till midnight Sunday with a few hours of sleep between...spent today lazing around as I worked on fine tuning my presentation for the provincial electrolysis association's general meeting on the 18th of this month...

greenoak
09-06-2010, 08:10 PM
sounds good....one blog in my field has found a great hook...i actually make a point to go there...she picks a house or store every month and has a picture tour of it and an interview....the houses are georgous....in just the style i work in... its made her blog huge...
im not sure how she has cashed in on it.... she has a store but the blog has a national following...
ann

Patrysha
09-06-2010, 09:09 PM
Is the national following helping her business? Do you know her well enough to ask? You could likely easily do something similar but different and test whether it works with your store and target market. But for now I bet you'd just like to kick back with a nice cup of tea and put your legs up after a long day of hard work and rewards...

greenoak
09-06-2010, 10:34 PM
no i dont know her well enough to ask... ive sure enjoyed her site a ot of times tho...and one of the sponsers bought from me once...and now has a real online busines going.... and another one is who i bought my selling site from...avalon rose... then i chickened out...
heres her site..... www.theoldpaintedcottage.com.... shes national tho...and im more about come here with a truck...
..i think i will try and look at some other sites in my field and see whats new out there..i was hoping the ski shop example would bring to someones mind mind something i hadnt thought of......i need that hook!!! if there is one out there for us...
.....

Patrysha
09-06-2010, 11:23 PM
i need that hook!!! if there is one out there for us...
.....

That is what I am trying to express. You have a hook. Your store. Your pictures. Content based on what your target market is looking for.

The site you linked to is different from yours - they sell online, they are actively seeking coverage in niche and national magazines. She's got a smaller base of operation and isn't (as far as I can tell) a destination store. She didn't invent cottage of the month as a marketing gimmick...it appears to be born out of passion and that is where the best "hooks" really are. She is doing many of the things on her blog (shopping trips etc) that were mentioned earlier and though she does apologize for the poor pictures she's benefitting from the imperfect ones she is posting. She's active in the blogosphere with interviews and guest posts...

There's nothing hard about what she is doing, but it is work to pull it all off successfully.

greenoak
09-07-2010, 07:00 AM
in other words they just use the site for directions to the store!!! i have had lots say they love roaming thru the site just for fun....
you are right she is not a store...and as a blog she has risen up over probably thousands of blogs because she offered something we just LOVE..she had to work it....but she had a great idea to start with.....[me being one who has had a few crummy ideas and put tons of work into them...and walla...nothing happened]........i guess she is a destination blog.... avalon rose is huge too...she hits the style just right and her marketing is really working....
i just want to get to be a better and better destination store and not throw the baby out with the bath water....

Patrysha
09-07-2010, 09:22 AM
in other words they just use the site for directions to the store!!! i have had lots say they love roaming thru the site just for fun....

With work you can use it to give them directions and connection to the store...


you are right she is not a store...and as a blog she has risen up over probably thousands of blogs because she offered something we just LOVE..she had to work it....but she had a great idea to start with.....
Right, but part of that process was getting and staying connected with people within the community of bloggers within the market and chased/attracted magazine and other publicity coverage, because she's consistent in what she has delivered...love, passion and hard work surely went into it, but it's those connections that have made a difference over time.


i just want to get to be a better and better destination store and not throw the baby out with the bath water....
Then you and your web people have to work on the little things...get something going with consistency and seek out the connections within the blogosphere/internet realm that your target market is already engaged in.

greenoak
09-07-2010, 09:47 AM
good ideas patrysha...
.our retail is up 14 percent this year...thats what i want to keep on doing... thats better and better to me....
i am always working on my web..last january i had no facebook...,our website healthy and still is spreading and spreading........thats why im out here mining for more good things...
mainly on this thread for a hook that sounds just right....kind of like the rechargeable collar in steves business.... or the great idea of cottage of the month in painted cottages business....if i fnd something new im sure not against doing the work to develope it...

off to work..

Paul Elliott
09-07-2010, 11:11 AM
Ann, you have already started a form of alternative marketing with you site. How's your FACEBOOK FREEBIE battery working?

Consider this:
Make a 1-day or 10-only offer to anyone who calls in and orders the item shipped. You already have over 800 FB fans, so you have a decent audience for that sort of offer. Send a notice to all your FB fans. Then, try the same thing to your email list to see which are the most responsive.

Remember how important the headline or subject is!

Also, make in-store offers. Do some sort of really special offer for the first 10 people who come to the store. I'd imagine you can assure me that it is the rare person who will come into your store to buy one thing, buy it, and leave.

About your website ...

1. 2-5% of males have a partial red-green color blindness, though it is rare for a man to have no red-green perception. How does this matter?

Bright, saturated reds and greens are distinguishable. Muted shades are perceived in varying shades of gray. Your left-sided menu is an example.

If something is difficult to read it will not be read!

I would also suggest you make the print on your page, e.g., the red and black type in the middle column larger and bold for everyone to read more easily.

2. I would also suggest you make your background pattern more muted and lighter so there is more contrast between it and your print. Visual perception will be substantially better and you will not lose as many readers as you are now losing.

3. One of my "88" (below) is, "Never assume your customer knows anything about your business." Tell us, for example, what "shabby chic" is in one or more articles and why we should be interested in it and the offerings you have in your store.

Once you get us into your website, encourage us to sign-up to get more information, and, then, give it to us ... and regularly. Use your email list more often and more creatively.

4. By very vigorous cross promotion you can have your store promoting your website and your website promoting your store.

5. Very actively acquire the contact information including email addresses of everyone who darkens your door. Offer something of value in return and reassure them you will not spam them.

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul

Paul Elliott
09-07-2010, 11:27 AM
if we are seen as expert in anything its probably rehabbing furniture and all that ...so i could work on that more...thats where the ebook idea is fitting in...also we are seen as having a huge pile of interesting stuff....and that is like drawing bees to the honey....i have a camera but not on my phone...i m thinking about getting an ipod ..with the front facing camera...but might wait till they get their little problem fixed...but i might get a better camera too...the pictures are really important tous...

Ann, tell us all about rehabbing and how you do it. Use articles, pictures, and short videos. It'll work, believe me!


its odd but my blog is a lot of far away people and the facebook is way more local....
your nice fat post is very thought provoking!!! making me think about different structure for the website.... maybe a nice january project with my webmistress...

Remember, by offering call-in-to-be-shipped offers you can sell to people near and far--blog, FB, website!


im not sure my customers would bother with articles.... .they are more about the pictures...
and whats in now....i dont see what the framework would be that would present the articles...

How about doing it all together? Write the article first, then lace it with pictures and short videos. Be sure the article will stand alone so the search engines can index it well.

I think things are about ready to fall into place for you! Keep it up!

BTW, 14% increase in the past year with this economy is great!

Paul

greenoak
09-07-2010, 02:27 PM
good to see you on here paul!!! im printing everything off for my webmistress...
. really now...things have fallen in place for us pretty well....our store is in year 32 and have a a good living going...knock on wood...... we are one of the biggest antique /lifestyle shops in the state...and we have survived where so many have quit......im just trying for better and better....
maybe my hook would be rehabbing with greenoak...

where would i put the articles on rehabbingif i were to get them written? patrysha suggested that too....
what does stand alone mean, in relation to indexing?
ann

Paul Elliott
09-07-2010, 03:59 PM
good to see you on here paul!!! im printing everything off for my webmistress...
. really now...things have fallen in place for us pretty well....our store is in year 32 and have a a good living going...knock on wood...... we are one of the biggest antique /lifestyle shops in the state...and we have survived where so many have quit......im just trying for better and better....
maybe my hook would be rehabbing with greenoak...

The "falling into place" to which I was referring is all your online stuff working in concert with your store. You're right, a lot haven't survived, BUT your persistent hard work and relentless innovation are paying off.


where would i put the articles on rehabbingif i were to get them written? patrysha suggested that too....
what does stand alone mean, in relation to indexing?
ann

You could put a menu section on rehabbing, a picture with a short description and a link. Use a customer-focused tease/headline-something like, "Learn how rehabbing can quickly and inexpensively improve your home."

The link goes to another page on your site optimized for your keyword, e.g., <TITLE>, <KEYWORDS>(just a few directly related to the content of that page), and <DESCRIPTION>(a couple of very tightly written, keyword-rich sentences) tags. Remember the page title should be a sales phrase since it is searchable.

Design your article by starting with an outline. It should tell me, a rehabbing novice, all I should know about rehabbing. Take me through from definition, benefits to me, to methods, to why I should shop with you.

In your outline you want to think about where and what pictures and videos you will need to properly illustrate your points to make them drop-dead easy for me to understand.

Then, write your article/s. You probably want to keep each under 500-600 words. Each one can be on its own page with links to the others like a menu, but name them something other than Rehabbing Part 1, Part 2, etc. Make it something like, "What Is Rehabbing And Why You Should Care?" That would be the definition and benefits part, and so forth.

Format your material well using bold headings, bullets where necessary/helpful, and illustrative photos or videos that are discretely small.

Consider an audio of every thing you text says. Make it easy to turn it off and on.

When you have some side issue that would possibly distract a little, make a link to that information on another page, so those not interested in it could bypass it.

Of course, it's redundant, yet I would add NOT "unnecessary." People learn and consume differently. It's like the red-green color blindness issue, why would you want to exclude anyone? Since you're going to the effort, why not follow it all the way?

I suggest you present your material so readers, picture/video watchers, and listeners can all be satisfied.

You certainly spend a lit of time, energy, thought, labor, and money on your store, why would you skimp on your main billboard/portal?

You want to be cautious about the wording of your article keeping the focus on the ease, simplicity, and benefits to the visitor. IOW, I'm there to learn, not to be sold to. Teach me--when I'm ready I'll step in and buy. If you show them how they can do an acceptable job WITHOUT you, they will more quickly trust you.

Pull marketing; not push marketing!

Remember, the process is sequential: Know, like, then trust. Once they trust you, many of them will make the effort and spend the money to visit you or buy and have you ship it to them.

Who can do it? Lots of people can--I can--though whoever does it, to do it well, will need some of your time to understand what it is, the way you do it, and what you have to add to the process.

You don't need all the videos--you probably already have most of the photos you need--to begin with. You can do the basic article/s, put them up, then buff them later.

Your webmistress can easily prepare the pages and links/menus for you.

Keep up your excellent work!

Paul

greenoak
09-07-2010, 07:12 PM
thanks paul...