By Paul Lang, Editor, Sell It!
October 25th, 2000

See Also   Terrence Sherry and 1 World Sarongs   Andrew Bridgeman and eART-originals   Mark Annett and Scruplestore.com   David Sabot and Cheaphumidors.com   William Waite and Nemmelgeb Murr   Mary Lu Wason and LampLink   Michael Campbell and Cellwest   Bob Rankin and Flowers Fast   Louis Jay and Health4Her.com   Jeff Swearingen and TheGift.com   Bill Broadbent the T-Shirt King   Jim Goodbody and PlanetLearn   Todd Mogren and coastaltool.com   John D. Einhorn and CapShack.com   Beverley Wood and the Gift Ship   Sgt. David Hack and US Wings   Brenda Do and MindFood Media.com   Rory O'Connor and Shopirish.com

[This is the third part of a three part article. The first part can be read here].

Lang: Which methods have you used to try and promote your store? Which were most / least effective?

Annett: I tried a banner exchange program for two days and then I took them off. The banner ads placed on my site had much more eye candy then my site did. I decided it was better to take them off then it was to compete for attention. Therefore, I really didn't give it much of a chance to work

I have had very good results by advertising off the Web, namely at trade shows. Trade shows are an excellent place to get exposure for a new product, find out whom your target audience is and try out your marketing campaign. They give you an opportunity to talk directly with your customers and they can be fairly profitable. I would highly recommend that any new business consider doing one for the reasons I mentioned above.

I have had limited success with search engine registration. I was very excited when I got listed with Yahoo! But it barely made a blip in my sales. Part of this was my fault. I tried to follow your excellent advice in your free report "How to Get Listed on Yahoo!" . The problem was that Yahoo! edited my description. As a result, if I go into Yahoo! and do a search on the keyword “gifts” my product will never come up. I have gone back to them and asked them if I could modify my title to include my key words but I have yet to hear a response. This is in spite of the fact that I used their paid ($199) business express service to register, initially.

Bar none, the most effective advertising I have done is to solicit press releases. Besides the fact that press releases are free, they carry far more weight than any advertising that I could do. They are a third independent party and it gives your product credibility. Also being press worthy carries a certain amount of prestige and that will transfer to your product. Up to now I have done targeted press releases to coin magazines that have been more than happy to give me free press because of the novelty of my product. My next step is to do mass press releases to the general public. Some excellent resources on writing and creating press releases can be found at press-release-writing.com and eRelease.

Lang: Looking at your store now, what aspects are you especially pleased with and what do you feel could have been one better?

Annett: The thing I am most pleased about is the content of my Web site. People seem to truly enjoy visiting my Web site. Whether it is the fact that they learn a little history about Martin Luther and the practice of selling “indulgences” or that they get a chuckle out of my gift advice, I tried to put something in there for everybody and it seems to be working. When I created my Web site I focused on making it interesting and enjoyable to my customer. I wanted them to feel like they got something of value from my Web site and hopefully they would transfer those feelings to my product. If they did that was great. If they didn't then they might still be inclined to tell somebody that they knew about my Web site. (Note: I actually give them the opportunity to easily make this referral on my Web site.)

As I said earlier, I have to convince somebody to part with their money for something that they had no intention of buying in the first place. The content of my Web site is the only vehicle that I have to do it. I have to create an emotional value to my product and the advantage of a Web site is that, if my content is interesting enough, people will read it for far longer than they will be willing to listen to me present the same information in person. The longer they stay at my Web site the more likely they are to buy.

The thing that I know I could have done better was given my site more eye appeal. This is the one place where I think you can tell that I am a small company. Ironically though, this lack of polish may be to my benefit. I have done a couple of trade shows to promote my product. After awhile I started getting so good at my presentation that it was actually coming off as being too slick and my sales dropped. Eye candy is great for getting people's attention but it is the content that sells the product.

Lang: What are your plans to develop the store over the coming 6-24 months?

Annett: After the holiday season I plan on implementing an affiliate program in order to drive people to my site. I am also toying with the idea of making an email reminder service and/or a weekly newsletter about “Stories of the unscrupulous”.

I also have a couple of product line extensions planned. One is a 24K gold plated medallion and the other is a hologram of SCRUPLES. The latter will be for those people who just want to create the illusion of having scruples but don't actually want to get them themselves. This should complete my product line.

As far as plans for the next 24 months, by that time, I plan on being a fad whose time has come and gone. Hopefully, "SCRUPLES" will end up in the annals of history along with the pet rock.

Lang: Finally, what are your top tips for anyone considering opening their own Web store?

Annett:

• Focus on your back end.
• Don't forget to include packaging costs in your product because they can be substantial.
• Out source as much as possible.
• Don't quit your day job too soon.
• Make sure your Web site has content. Price alone doesn't cut it.
• Have Fun!!!!!!