Get Selling! Blog Posts

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!”: Making Useful Contacts

As you start to meet new people networking, you’ll start to become aware of who can help our business, and who can’t.

Find out how you can be useful to one another.

By finding out which contacts you can be useful to your business you can start to see how you can give, and get, help from each other.

Finding out who can be useful to your business is one benefit of networking. But networking doesn’t just have to be about your business, it can be on a number of levels.

Social, Personal, Professional, Commercial Networking.

It’s important to understand that networking isn’t about one off sales – if somebody isn’t interested in helping you professionally, maybe you can connect with them on a different level. It’s all about helping people and getting help, it’s about developing relationships with different people, regardless of the direct impact they might have on your business.

Remember that 250 people…know another 250 people…who know another 250 people? The likelihood that one of those 250 people will impact your business in the future is all based upon your relationship with the person you met in the first place, so start to chat, listen, and learn…

posted by Lauren Bradley, Friday November 18th 2011

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The Age Old Saying: "It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know!"

If you’re starting a new business, or have recently started a business, it’s important to always be making new contacts in order to ‘grow’ your business. One way of doing this is by networking, as networking is one way of helping you to establish working relationships with others.

Some statistics.

*70% of business is gained through word of mouth.

*Most people are connected to 250 people…who are connected to 250 people…who are connectd to 250 people…

Don’t be afraid to ‘go it alone’ at first.

Networking is all about making new connections, so don’t be afraid to attend any formal or informal events alone and introduce yourself to people. The more you attend, the more you will get to notice faces and others will notice you.

And before you know it, you’ll be expanding your networking by 250…and 250…and 250…

posted by Lauren Bradley, Thursday November 17th 2011

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Finding Yourself Online: From SEO to Social Media

If you read my previous blog posts, you’ll know that I’ve recently set up Search Engine Optimisation on my Super Simple Shop. But as a Marketing and Business Development manager myself I’m always stressing the importance of marketing, and so SEO doesn’t stop here. I might be able to be found on search engines…but what about on social media?

I knew that now I had my SEO set up and my shop was searchable I really needed to set up some marketing channels to let people know my site was there. Now this is where I reached my first hurdle! I only had three products, and I found myself asking, can you really call three products a shop!? The inevitable answer? You can’t. This was one for Courtney, so I arranged to meet her and find out how I could get some more products.

Still being a student, Courtney couldn’t fund the materials for more products. We thought about using the portfolio page to showcase work and then get work commissioned, but we reached the same problem – we’d still have to fund the materials to make these. I’m not giving up on Acquired Taste anytime soon, I love Courntey’s unique products and it was my first ever shop, but until we can add more products to it, I’m going to have to keep it on hold.

Always evaluate your business and your website…

What did this mean for me? It’s important not to try and make something work that isn’t working, and so for me it was time to find a new venture. Luckily for me, a friend introduced me to a lady named Min, who sells jewellery in Dubai and doesn’t have time to sell her stock online. A lot of our own Super Simple Shop sellers are jewellers, so it made even more sense to be selling jewellery online to find out exactly what the marketplace has to offer.

Out with the old and in with the new!

On meeting Min in London, she provided me with a selection of her stock, and it’s now up to me to get our shop and running. So for now, it’s back to square one, thinking of a name for my shop…anyone got anything better than Min’s Pearls!?

posted by Lauren Bradley, Thursday November 3rd 2011

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Registering with Search Engines: Where I Started

We’re always being told what we should be doing to our website, but it’s important to get the basics right first.

Without setting up Search Engine Optimisation, how can potential customers begin to find you?

I mentioned in my previous blog post the importance of registering with Search Engines, so here’s my blog on how I started!

I’d started to set up my online shop; I’d purchased my own domain name, I’d uploaded some products, and I’d set up my shipping costs. My shop was slowly beginning to come together. Despite my new found online confidence, I was still doubtful about how easy SEO would be to set up. As far as I was concerned it was something to be left to the experts (like our very own Nick Reavill for example!) but if I wanted my shop to ever be found, and ever gain any traffic, I knew I had to tackle it at some point.

Don’t be afraid of using help and advise online – you don’t have to do it all yourself!

I started with the free help documentation Super Simple Shop offers. I’d started with the Where to Start guide last time so it seemed like a good a place as any to start here. I selected the SEO tab from the navigation bar on the right hand side, and began to set my shop up though that it was searchable on Google. I use Google myself the most, so it made the most sense for me to start here.

I’d like to say I did it all off my own back, but I followed the step-by-step guide to the letter, literally (I was so worried I was going to do something wrong).

The Result?

To be completely honest – it’s easy, but it’s boring, and it takes time. I had to wait for my site to be verified which was annoying; I’d just completed my first SEO set up and all I wanted to do was search for myself! But in the end it worked, and it’s worth it.

Now, to find myself on Yahoo…

posted by Lauren Bradley, Thursday November 3rd 2011

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DIY SEO: Setting it up yourself!

For those of you who’ve read my blog in the Super Simple Shop newsletter, you’ll know that I have been setting up my own Super Simple Shop, and setting up my own SEO is a crucial part of this process.

Now I’ve started to get my website up and running, I have to think about the whole world as a potential customer. I can’t rely on just having a website to drive sales, the customers, and search engines for that matter, have to be able to find me.

The importance of being on as many relevant search engines should also not be underestimated, as they can drive any potential customers to my site.

So, my first step for DIY SEO…Register with Search Engines

Read Lauren’s next blog post to find out what she did next.

posted by Lauren Bradley, Thursday November 3rd 2011

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Product Photography: Some Final Tips

Preparation and positioning.

Think about how you could place the product in your shop window, selecting an angle which shows of your product. If you’re stuck, have a look at competitors for ideas! Display stands and mannequins can also help with positioning and proportion (white or hidden stands work best).

Digital Zoom.

Try to refrain from using the digital zoom, this can make images blurry. If you need to zoom in, just position the camera closer to the object!

Reflection.

Shiny and reflective objects need to be polished, any marks will show on the photograph. These objects can also reflect white spots; the white cardboard will act as a reflector board and should prevent this from happening.

Quality.

For uploading images onto the internet the quality should be at least 72dpi.

By Colin Curran.

posted by Lauren Bradley, Monday October 17th 2011

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Product Photography: Creating a "Mini Studio"

If you read our previous blog post, you’ll know you can use any basic digital camera to get photos of your products. But how can you really capture these images outside of the studio?

How to set up your own “mini studio”

By setting up your own mini studio, you can take clear, quality images. All you need is, a big piece of white card, a window, and of course your products!

As demonstrated in the image above, all you need to do is ensure that the card is placed in a consistent curve to ensure a completely white background.

Place this in front of a window during daylight (the best kind of light is on a bright but slightly cloudy day), ensure your flash is turned off and get snapping!

If you do have trouble finding a source of daylight, then lampshade light is the next best thing.

Take a look at the image we produced in our “studio”;

By Colin Curran.

posted by Lauren Bradley, Sunday October 16th 2011

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Product Photography: You Don't Need An Expensive Camera

Consumer trust plays a bit part in online retail, and one of the things the consumer really relies on when making an online purchase are clear product images.

It’s easy to create high quality images of your products, which not only give a clear view of your product, but also add to your product description and give a very professional appearance to both the product and the seller.

You don’t need an expensive camera!

First of all, it’s important to highlight that you don’t need expensive camera equipment to take photos. Take a look at this picture for example;

The image on the left is taken by a professional digital camera, whilst the image on the left is taken with a standard digital camera.

Is it just us or is there not a lot of difference!?

The most important thing to remember is it’s not about using expensive camera equipment, but to make sure your images are clear, show the customer what they need to see, and add to your product descriptions.

By Colin Curran.

posted by Lauren Bradley, Sunday October 16th 2011

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Super Simple PR Tips to Target your Customers

Public Relations, or PR, is a form of marketing which is concerned with managing communications between a business and its “publics” (generally its customers). Types of PR activity can include media relations, newsletters, exhibitions and events, competitions, online blogs and social media.

This article is going to specifically focus on media relations, an area of PR which isn’t too time consuming, and best of all, it’s free!

How to Write a Press Release.

First of all of all think about which newspapers and magazines your target customer will be reading and examine the publications to identify areas that are of interest and relevant to both your business and target audience. Ensure you research the relevant journalists in your targeted publications, that way you’ll know exactly who to contact!

What is considered news?

· Launch of a new product or range…this may be a seasonal item.
· Business milestones such as expansion plans, trading anniversaries etc.
· Something relevant to a particular time of the year or a calendar event.
· Involvement with charities and community projects.
· Taking on new members of staff.

Prepare your draft.

· Ensure you cover all key points in the first paragraph.
· Write subsequent points in descending order of importance.
· Write in short sentences, no more than 2 or 3 per paragraph.
· Aim for between 4 and 6 paragraphs in total.
· Typed in a clear font, size 11pt with 1.5 line spacing.
· Short headline in bold capitals (single line).
· One side of A4 is plenty.
· A good quality photo will increase your chances of being printed so take some time over this (should be at least 300dpi & clearly captioned).

Always remember not to make your press release too “salesy”, as PR is not advertising. Avoid flowery language and stick to the facts. A journalist does not have to stick to your press release word for word so it needs to be as clear and easy to understand as possible!

Contacting journalists.

· Do your research and identify the right journalists.
· Understand the type of stories they write.
· Identify which days particular pages run.
· Talk to journalists about your story.
· Email your story – do not send as an attachment, include it in the body of the message.
· Check your story has been received and ask if it is of interest…only do this once!

Good Luck!

posted by Lauren Bradley, Saturday October 8th 2011

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