Can't Seem To Make First Sale -Ecommerce

[DavidL]

I would advise against using 99designs.ca. Mostly high school graphic designers trying to make a few dollars and they tend to copy other peoples designs in the contest and other existing companies (The reviews on google some even have been sued). In the graphic design forums that was one thing they all were in agreement on, that no real designer would work for that contest because they keep getting copied by the other designers in the contest. So only the inexperienced graphic designers are building your logo. You also lose that designer to business communication.

[barehandcustoms]

How long did it take you to make your first sale online?

Within the first week of going online I had sold several items and got a few custom orders. You just have to put yourself out there and if you do good work the people will buy it.

Keep in mind that Etsy doesn't work for everyone including myself. I started out by listing my items on multiple market places. I went several months managing the multiple store fronts before I finally pulled my Etsy account. I had sold over 40 items on Ebay and not a single item was sold on my Etsy account. Exact same items with the exact same prices. Nothing against Etsy but I just couldn't sell my product there for some reason.

So I wouldn't gauge success by how much you sell on Etsy. It is a hit or miss for most people.....try another market place.

How'd you market your website to make that first sale?

I didn't advertise at all so I guess I was lucky. Business just seemed to slowly roll in as I listed more items for sale. More work rolled in as customers reviewed my products and verified everything for future customers.

Honestly I wouldn't pay to advertise unless you have enough product on hand to justify it. What if you get a swarm of customers? Let's say 150 people come to you tonight and want a wallet....Could you even handle that volume of customers? If not then you just pissed off around 130 of them and potentially ruined your business.

Go slow man....let it grow at it's own pace.

What was your marketing budget?

I spent maybe $4 on a pay per click campaign.

Edited November 25, 2014 by barehandcustoms

[RoosterShooter]

I'm with Bare Hand Customs with the exception of the 'Pay per Click'. I wasted a lot of needless funds in the beginning by throwing money at 'Window Shoppers' who had no intention of buying in the first place. I learned to pin down my customer base, corner the local market on a few certain items, and post .... post ... post ... on social media sites.

It's not going to happen overnight unless you buy an advertising package with a local radio station ... preferably A.M. since they tend to be cheaper. I spent $800 out of the gate, and had my local media group advertise me in 2 - 20 second time slots during both the Glenn Beck Program and Rush Limbaugh on our local AM Affiliate. That trickled in a little business, but the real business was the nationwide ads that I placed!!!

Start small! You don't want to wake up one morning and have 100 orders sitting in your Account Dashboard! That will be a surefire way to send you to the loony bin. You want to grow small, take baby steps, and be grateful for the free time you have right now. Believe me ... it will get to the point where there aren't enough hours in the day! I probably grew a little too fast for most people's liking, but I tend to work better in a 'Fast Paced' environment, so it worked for me.

Whatever you do ... when you do get busy ... set limits on your time. In other words ... make your computer off limits until 6 PM. That way everytime you hear your order notification go off ... you won't spend the next 15 minutes printing orders, shipping labels, and customer packing lists. That eats in to your valuable work time. Also, don't be afraid to let the machine pick up THAT call!

[Aidanforsyth0]

I have since made my first sale. Last night got 2 orders out of nowhere. I also recently struck a deal with a store for a large order so at the moment I am fairly busy. @roostershooter

What do you mean "nationwide ads"? And also did you make your $800 running your ad on the radio?

[DavidL]

Thats good news. If you are selling on consignment do right up a contract so you have a solid guarantee.

[Aidanforsyth0]

Another thing to keep in mind when spending money on marketing- think of what's possible before shelling out big money for keywords. For years I was number #2 when people searched "Leather pouch" or "Leather Pouches" (still in the top 10)- it's great but it doesn't mean I sell thousands of pouches a week, it translates to less than 100 in a typical week. Therefore there isn't much point to spend big on SEO to get an item like that to #1, you'll have to look at the potential on each item you sell not just getting to number #1

What did it take you to get ranked so well? (money keywords etc. please do tell). I also know there is no one straight forward answer

[Aidanforsyth0]

Are you sure?? I just searched it and I'm on page 6 and still don't see myself...

[Aidanforsyth0]

Oh wow I found myself on page two under horween leather bi fold. Pretty cool!

[jk215]

Guys this is 2015 and you need to advertise like its 2015. No radio, paper, or tv ads. Thats a giant waste of money in this niche. You NEED to be on any social network you can provide content for. Instagram is essential. Facebook business page is essential. Pinterest and Twitter are highly recommended. You need photos of your products where everyone eyes are right now.

[tossik]

Guys this is 2015 and you need to advertise like its 2015. No radio, paper, or tv ads. Thats a giant waste of money in this niche. You NEED to be on any social network you can provide content for. Instagram is essential. Facebook business page is essential. Pinterest and Twitter are highly recommended. You need photos of your products where everyone eyes are right now.

Now now here. Don't say traditional media is useless. I do marketing and advertising for a living and online media is no where near as good or popular as traditional media. I see myself a a very tech savvy individual, and even though I do this for a living, I would not spend a dime personally right now on online advertisement. It is a complete waste of money, and a lot of where you would spend money on, one can do for free. Networking is most important in my opinion, so yes, join all kinds of social media outlets and network, put out YOUR OWN content, interact. Then you will see that search engine algorithms will pick you up as a leader in your topic/area. Then you will eventually gain more exposure which in theory should get you more sales.

I can go on and on, but lets not bore people here