I’ve gotten lots of requests from people who would love to take the Marketing Kick Start workshop but couldn’t quite fit it into their schedules. And because I aim to please, I’m working on putting together a new product to help you market the hell out of your products. (I’m not quite sure what form this new product will take yet, but it will be something where you can digest, absorb, and take action on the information on your own schedule.)
In order to give you the most information possible, I thought I’d ask:
What are your marketing questions?
Where do you get stuck marketing your business? What do you need to help you market your business better?
You can ask your questions in the comments, or, if you’re feeling shy, you can email them to me at megan(at)craftmba.com.
PS. If you want to be the first to know when Marketing Kick Start is re-released, sign up for the e-newsletter.
Megan I love your posts and have been especially intrigued by using Etsy as a platform and not an end all to your business. I get stuck at where do you go beyond social networking and free publicity. Who’s advertising is worth your money and time. What sites really help promote and build your business and how do you reach out to bigger venues for wholesale. Thanks again for all of your useful tips and advice!
Tiffany
http://www.facebook.com/StoneznStix
I would love to learn more about writing/sending press releases, in order to use news outlets for some free publicity opportunities. For example, I started having an annual open house and they have been pretty successful. I’d love to send out a press release beforehand and get a local paper to write an article about it, but I don’t know how!
I have no experience in marketing and am unsure where to even start. I have the same questions as Tiffany and Mea, and would be interested in low cost or free advertising (of course). What types of paid advertising are more likely to give a better return on your investment?
I still struggle to know my target market. Who are they? Maybe it’s because I need to find my niche and develop my brand… Is branding part of marketing? Sorry for my stream of consciousness posting 😛
I struggle where to start too. I mean is blogging a form of marketing? And I also struggle with finding my target market.
For me, at the moment, it’s how to reach my target market. The questions I’m asking are Where are they? , Where do they hang out? What do they read? Where do they shop? etc. However, I just can’t afford ads on expensive sites or print ads either. ( I’ve sent for information on advertising with several). I feel like I’m talking only to other sellers like myself, (blog, fb) which I love doing, but they aren’t my target market, and I’m not theirs.
I second Mea’s request! Would love to know more about what to include in an effective press release.
I’m with Sara. I read a lot about reaching a target market, but I don’t know how to tell who my target market is. I always think, “I guess my target market is people just like me.” But that’s super vague and I don’t know how to figure it out. How do most people figure out who their target market is?
As a creative person, what I make flows out of who I am. As nebulous as that sounds, that has somewhat defined my target market. Yet, I feel that what I make, if marketed properly, can have a wider market. So, I guess my question is, how do you do that without diluting the brand? Does that make sense? Another question is, how do you go about really defining your brand? Also, marketing on social media just seems to be a mystery to me in terms of how do you target the people you want to reach without having to read through what everyone had for breakfast? I guess I would like to have a social media marketing 101.
I enjoy your posts tons!
I’m just starting my craft business and I want to use etsy as a busines incubator (I loved that post) but I’m also gearing up to sell at local craft markets and festivals. I know that I should market differently for both venues, but how do I do that?
My day job is working for a commercial printing company so I understand how to create, design, and produce printed marketing materials cost effectively (if anyone ever wants to pick my brain, please feel free). But, I have no idea how to go about promoting my presence online, especially social media. I also need help understanding how to combine the physical sales and marketing I do at a craft fair with my online presence. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Have a great day and keep the posts coming. Your site is an inspiration to me and a good play book for my start up.
Is it ok to spell out how you are different then your competition in marketing material?
I struggle with using social media effectively to market myself. I’ve read lots of articles about how to do Twitter and Facebook “right,” and I’ve been working really hard to build relationships online rather than just posting about my items for sale. But it doesn’t seem to be translating into sales, and I feel lost in a sea of people who are just constantly shouting about their products.
i struggle with the press release packet too, but also how to get coverage from blogs and other on-line pages. also magazines and other print forms.
In addition to some new ideas for how to find my target market and where to market to them online, I’d love some in depth information about how to tell if my marketing is successful. I mean, I’m already on Google Analytics and I can see how many people are clicking the ads on the different places I’m advertising (majority are blogs) but how do I translate that to figure out if they are actually buying anything? I had it set up once to tell me where the sales conversions were coming from but now it’s not working and I find myself asking each person after every sale how they found my shop. So I guess the real question is, how can I use the analytics from my shop to really focus on a specific market? Also, more info about SEO would be great.
Anna