Marketing advice

[RogerS]

I don't think you really need to bother with retail outlets any longer - the net is so widely used and also very cheap.
I wouldn't say no to Ebay either - it's worth trying everything you never know, and it's not expensive.

I agree with you up to a point. First, the guy says that he has lousy broadband which may/may not be an issue. If his download speed is as bad as dial-up used to be then eBay will be a no-no, I would suggest.

eBay has lots of hidden markups and costs. Cheap, it ain't. Also if he uses PayPal then he will get hit by PayPal charges on top.

I agree with you re not bothering with retail outlets.

 

[Jacob]

Ebay is 10% plus a few quid for listing, which is very low cost in the general scheme of things. There are paypal fees but paypal is extremely convenient and also more or less guarantees the product; both being good incentives to buy.
Like it or not it's a winner and should be top of the list for net sales IMHO.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

It is with a heavy heart AND deep regret that I find myself actually agreeing with Jacob!

Cycle back to my experience in the software business at the start of this thread...marketing is fickle...what worked yesterday, wont necessarily work today....test, test and test again. Measure the results and fund what works. I would ever so politely suggest that you just forget all the accumulated prejudices you have about e-bay and simply view it as part of an experiment. Just try it. If it doesn't work then you have objective data from which you can make a rational choice. I would apply that same thinking to all the other choices of channel to market. Forget any opinions which may well be true....but may well be unique to the circumstances during which they were formed and don't apply to you. Try each channel (if not too expensive etc) and check what works, then do more of it. Think of the first step in the experiment as calibrating the channels to market.

I am firmly of the mind-set that this notion that marketing is a moving feast applies to most businesses except really high value niches. Even within one channel, Etsy say. There will be a right way and a wrong way so once in a channel it also makes sense to vary the approach and measure the results. Like I say, it's fickle, you need to be agile enough with your approaches to catch a veering wind and ride it while it lasts.

I'll never forget a time in the late 80's when we (software company making sophisticated project management stuff) were running a nationwide promotional seminar programme. Every week, we would fill a room with 50 or so companies that just came to look at our stuff. It was like shooting fish in a barrel! About a year later, nothing, one or two shabby looking herberts would show up, probably for the free lunch! I had marketing do some research and the folks invited really wanted to come, they were just too busy. That change seemed to sweep the country almost overnight and so we switched to doing them as breakfast meets (earlier) so it didn't interrupt peoples work day too much. Back they came...that dried up about 2 years later. On and on it goes. You have to keep re-inventing your approach to market by testing different methods until you find one that works then pile your effort into it/or them if more than one.

 

[Jacob]

As they used say; only 5% of marketing/sales/advertising works, the trouble is you never know which 5% until you've tried it.
The % nowadays is much much lower - you might get many thousands of visitors to a low cost web site and 0.1% buyers might still make you filthy rich!

 

[RogerS]

.....
....About a year later, nothing, one or two shabby looking herberts would show up, probably for the free lunch! ....

C'mon, 'fess up, Bob. It was 'cos you stopped wearing that dress

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Lets not forget the red handbag.....ducky

 

[HOJ]

Just to keep you all posted, found a new shed, well, a grade 2 listed barn to be precise, been a bit distracted by the impending "eviction" but will be moving onward and upwards.

I appreciate all the advice, upto the point of wearing frocks!

I will be back, got to get on with making doors and windows to secure and weatherproof my new home, sadly, I will have to make them in redwood, for cost and speed, whilst I still have the chance, before 27 may and counting down ,then got to strip everything out and move it all, and then put it all back together, lots of work to do and stuff to get rid of, cant keep hoarding.

Cheers

Paul

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Best of luck.