Becky J. Anderson

We all want to increase our online sales and grow our product-based business.  Today we are talking about benefits vs. features and how focusing on the benefits will increase your sales.

We are always looking for new people to buy our products.

People don't buy products. They buy the results that your product gives. 

You need to make sure that you are marketing your product with the benefits it delivers.  For example, my husband sells a product that is an odor eliminator. 

He markets his products to police officers to use on their bulletproof vests because they can't wash them.  He is selling the solution to the stinky vest. He is not selling an odor eliminator. 

He is solving their problem. The police officers come home; their partners don't want the vests in the house because they smell. 

Just spray the product on the vest and it no longer stinks. His product is selling a solution.  

What is the solution that your product solves?

Next,...

Did you know only half of the businesses that start will make it five years?

And only one-third of those that make it five years make it to 10 years.

Today we're talking all about why businesses fail, and how you can make sure that this doesn't happen to you.   

One of the top reasons businesses fail is they have a complete lack of a unique selling proposition. 

What is a unique selling proposition? It is what sets you apart from the competitors. How do you run your business in such a unique way that you're different from the competitors, or how are your products different? You want to be thinking about this because this is one of the most important things for you to do to make your competition irrelevant. If you don't have a unique selling proposition, then you're just a me-too and part of the pack. You want to be figuring that out so that you can separate yourself from the competition.  I did a webinar on this, Blueprint To Building A Product Brand That...

 
I wanted to share with you a resource list of retail trade magazines today.  Trade magazines are one of the best ways for learning what is new in your industry.

The magazines are also a way to see new trends in product development as well as finding new resources for your business.  You can stay up to date with trade shows, discover new manufacturers and more.   You can subscribe to the online version as well as order the magazine.

If you are an online shop looking for wholesale products to resale you will find many new resources in the magazines.

One of my favorites is Gifts and Dec.  This magazine serves retailers, manufacturers, and vendors of general gift products, decorative accessories, stationery and greeting cards, collectibles, personal care products, jewelry, and gourmet food items.  

This magazine talks all about retail industry news, wholesale trade show news, new product introductions, and trend information. ...

This is a question I get asked a lot...How often can I contact a retail buyer without being too pushy?  I get it; you're nervous. You're afraid of sounding sales-y or being a pain.  You don't want to bother the buyer and reach out to her too much. 

How often can I contact a buyer?

I say this: buyers get bothered a lot. They get a lot of emails. They get a lot of pitches, but a buyer's job is to find products for the store that will make the store money. 

Sending emails to the buyers is okay. It's okay to send an email every month. The buyer may delete it if the answer is "no right now."  You want to be able to remind the buyer regularly in hopes of catching them when the time is right.

If you're convinced that your product is a good fit for their store, if you're out of sight, you're out of mind. You want to remind the buyer that you're there. If you didn't hear back from them, a month or six weeks later, send them another email or call again. 

The...

Blogging is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website.  Blogging is also one of the biggest hangups for product-based business owners. They don't know what to talk about and they think they don't have anything to share with the customers.  Today we are talking about ideas you can blog about as a product-based business owner.

Your startup story

Share why you started your business. Also, share how you got your business going.  What the idea was, and what drove you to start the business. 

Meet the owner

Tell your customers all about you as a person individually. Let them see who you are, and what you do personally.  

Behind the scenes

People love a behind the scenes sneak peek. Let them see you making the product. Let them watch you picking and packing the product to ship it.  Let them see inside your workspace and the ins-and-outs of your day at work.

I have a friend who owns a chocolate company. Chocolate Johnny, he...

You got great products.  You've taken photos and completed great product descriptions for your online store.  You've launched your website to the world and you're waiting for all those sales to come flooding in....right?

News flash...sales don't come flooding in.  The average conversion rate for eCommerce shops is between 1-3% of traffic.  It takes work!

Here are a few ways tips to increase your sales online.

1.  Increase Online Sales By Offering Multiple Payment Options

Okay, so your business takes credit cards.  What about PayPal?  Apple Pay? Google Wallet?

Our customers have so many choices these days we need to make paying with us as easy as possible.  By offering more payment options including the newer, popular mobile options you're making it easier for prospects to give you their money. 

2.  Increase Online Sales By Reducing Shopping Cart Abandonment

More than 70% of eCommerce shopping carts are abandoned by shoppers before they...

What is a wholesale trade show? 

A wholesale trade show is a temporary marketplace that's anywhere from two to five days in length.  It's a place where retail buyers and sellers come together.

Most trade shows are at convention centers in large cities, and the attendees (the non-exhibitors) are limited to members-of-the-trade or legitimate buyers. The show management works to protect the exhibitors from competitors who are not potential buyers.

Wholesale trade shows are not for amateurs.

Trade shows are expensive to do, but they are worth it if you're ready. 

What do you need to do to get ready to exhibit at a trade show?

You need to have a product line large enough that it makes a statement so that the retailers want to buy from you. You also need packaging that looks professional and could be displayed in a retail environment. 

Your marketing needs to be completely different than craft fairs and retail shows. 

You need to set your booth and displays to cater to...

Have you done promotions for your products?  If not, you need to try doing one.

Today, we're talking about promotions for your online store. This is a question I get asked over and over again. What is a promotion? Why do I have to do them? What are some ideas for promotions? 

What is a promotion? 

Product + Offer + Scarcity = Promotion.  That's what it is. Today, I'm going to give you five ideas for promotions that you can do in your eCommerce store or your online store.

1.  Percentage Discounts

Now, if brick and mortar storefronts have taught us anything, it's that everyone loves to buy things that are on sale. 

Formatting your product pages to have a sale price can increase your conversions. Consider showing two prices for any given product. You can display the retail price, or you can show the sale price. 

You can experiment with the terminology in your shopping cart, such as suggested retail pricing, or MSRP, (manufacturer suggested retail pricing.)...

Today I want to talk to you about mistakes that I see product-based business owners make over and over again. 

I've compiled a list of some of the top mistakes that I see.   I wanted to share them with you, so hopefully, you won't make any of these mistakes, and if you are making them, you can fix them. 

First mistake - Not pricing products so that you have enough gross margin in your product

So what do I mean by gross margin? 

It’s all about pricing your products correctly.  I like to start with my product and figure out what is the perceived retail value of this product. I take retail price and divide that by two, and that would be your wholesale cost/price. Then you divide wholesale by three, and the cost of goods for your product shouldn’t be more than that.  

Sample- Retail Cost is $10,  divide by 2 = $5 which is your wholesale cost, now divide the wholesale cost by 3 = 1.66 your cost of goods shouldn't be any higher than 1.66 or...

Do you sell your products on Etsy, Amazon, or eBay? Maybe even Zazzle, Redbubble, or Society6? Well, today we're talking all about why you need a website, and if you're serious about your product based business, you're going to want one. Today I am sharing with you eleven reasons why you need a website.

People take you seriously if you have a website.
 
It means you're a real business with a real brand. You can have your own storefront, people can go directly to your business name, and they can find out all about you in one place, as well as your products,  are right there and easy to buy.
 
You're building your brand, not someone else's. 
 
When you're selling on Amazon or Etsy or another platform, all the traffic and all the business that you're giving them, you're building their brand, not your brand. It's essential that you're making your brand for longevity and health of your business.
 
You keep control of your business, and you can't get shut down. ...