how to market an online business

[gloh79]

Hi guys! I'm a pastry chef and I'm thinking about starting an online bakery shop. I was wondering if anyone in the community here knows any cost effective ways to market an online business or was able to offer any advice at all.

So far here are the ideas some people have given me already:

1. pay for keyword search (?)
2. SEO
3. ebay ._." (or other various auction sites)

Thanks for any constructive advice!

[DonQuigleone]

If your service is good enough, it will advertise itself.

[Tsuyoshi]

Have you looked into social networking? It's quite useful if you want to market it on the inet, and it involves friends, friends of friends, etc. Let the word spread, and if your services are good (and the bakery goods taste good), you should be able to get recognition pretty fast.

[DonQuigleone]

Originally Posted by Tsuyoshi

Have you looked into social networking? It's quite useful if you want to market it on the inet, and it involves friends, friends of friends, etc. Let the word spread, and if your services are good (and the bakery goods taste good), you should be able to get recognition pretty fast.

Likewise, don't overlook other stuff. If your service is also super convenient, with good customer service it'll also work in your favour.

Would I be correct in guessing that you're aiming to serve your local area? (baked goods can't really be transported large distances), you could do something innovative like offering daily or weekly deliveries etc.

In the end, it comes down to the quality of your service, if people like it, they'll tell their friends.

[Vexx]

good gods, why are you asking an ANIME forum populated largely by unemployed teenagers how to start a business?

That said, an online bakery is an interesting idea.... but you're going to have to be able to guarantee freshness - unlikely outside of your regional area. The other alternative is to carry things so novel people can't get them any where else.

If there's some Taiwanese version of Yelp! - that's a word-of-mouth system for restaurants, bakeries, etc. that would help to be in. social networks are also good (Facebook, etc). Absolutely still have to have a real business website which can take orders - no way around that. Check out the "storefront" webs like Google offers if you can't afford to have it scratch-built.

Don't bother with ebay... fees are too onerous.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

good gods, why are you asking an ANIME forum populated largely by unemployed teenagers how to start a business?

That said, an online bakery is an interesting idea.... but you're going to have to be able to guarantee freshness - unlikely outside of your regional area. The other alternative is to carry things so novel people can't get them any where else.

If there's some Taiwanese version of Yelp! - that's a word-of-mouth system for restaurants, bakeries, etc. that would help to be in. social networks are also good (Facebook, etc). Absolutely still have to have a real business website which can take orders - no way around that. Check out the "storefront" webs like Google offers if you can't afford to have it scratch-built.

Don't bother with ebay... fees are too onerous.

Actually, it is quite difficult to set up an online "tingkat" (Hokkien for takeaway) business. I once tried to help a couple of friends run one last year, but in the end we gave up because no matter how we manage, the financials are hard to do, and the entire idea is too difficult to get off the drawing block.

If he really wants to run one, he needs to have the following :

1. Target Market
2. Product Line
3. Delivery and transport options (this is the most expensive one - pizza deliveries often use the balance between the cost of ingredients and final product to pay for transport)
4. A sense of safety

Otherwise, don't bother.

[gloh79]

Sry, was gone for the weekend.. :P but thx a lot for some of the advice...

good gods, why are you asking an ANIME forum populated largely by unemployed teenagers how to start a business?

lol, this was funny and yes i was thinking close to the same thing :P however, a different audience sometimes can offer some unique things

Would I be correct in guessing that you're aiming to serve your local area? (baked goods can't really be transported large distances), you could do something innovative like offering daily or weekly deliveries etc.

probably just the country that i'm in. i'm only probably going to sell things that have longer "shelf-life" instead of some baked things that go bad within a few days. (i.e. cookies, brownies...stuff like those perhaps)

Have you looked into social networking? It's quite useful if you want to market it on the inet, and it involves friends, friends of friends, etc. Let the word spread, and if your services are good (and the bakery goods taste good), you should be able to get recognition pretty fast.

this is helpful, thanks ill definately look into this!

[Ricky008]

Originally Posted by gloh79

Hi guys! I'm a pastry chef and I'm thinking about starting an online bakery shop. I was wondering if anyone in the community here knows any cost effective ways to market an online business or was able to offer any advice at all.


So far here are the ideas some people have given me already:

1. pay for keyword search (?)
2. SEO
3. ebay ._." (or other various auction sites)

Thanks for any constructive advice!

4 ways to market your business online

1. Create a simple, effective Web site.

Does your Web site describe your product or service in a succinct, compelling and visual fashion? Does it answer potential customers' needs in, say, less than 10 seconds?

"Once they click to your Web site, you have between 5 and 8 seconds to convince them you can help," says Larry Bailin, CEO of SingleThrow Internet Marketing in Wall, N.J., and author of the soon-to-be-published Mommy, Where Do Customers Come From? (Larstan Publishing).

Your home page should include the bare essentials, Bailin says. "People are looking for exactly what they typed in, with calls to action," he says. "It's critical that you address their issues on your home page. Get to the point and get rid of anything that doesn't need to be there."

Your Web site should be easy to navigate and right on target, and a "Contact Us" button should be prominent.

Also, make sure your site appears high on search engines' results pages. By including keywords and terms in the code, your site will appear higher up on Google and others. These days, any good web designer will be able to handle such search engine marketing as part of the design and programming package. Still, it's up to you to know the best way to describe your product and service to potential customers and then turn them into qualified sales leads.

"Don't think too much about the bells and whistles," warns Bailin. "Think about the connection that you're going to make and the way you're going to help people. Make it clear to them and you'll win every time."

2. Become a blogger.

Entrepreneurs who blog can reach a new audience by writing in a conversational way and showing the human and personal side of their business, according to William Beutler, senior online analyst for New Media Strategies, a Web 2.0 marketing firm in Arlington, Va.

"Make your industry interesting to people by writing in a conversational manner," he says. "Give people a glimpse into a world they don't know."

Beutler believes new businesses can benefit greatly from blogging. "There's still an untapped audience in a lot of industries that are just starting to grow," he says. "You have the potential to establish yourself as an expert in the field just by being the first person to write something interesting about your field."

3. Try podcasting.

Podcasting is a relatively simple technology that is being taken quite seriously by some Fortune 500 companies. And all you really need to get started is a decent microphone, a digital recorder and editing software.

Podcasts allow you to make the most of your inner impresario, plus, your show and the subscriber audience it may lure can give you an edge over competitors.

"Podcasting is still unique enough in many industries that it can allow you to stand out a bit," says John Jantsch, a Kansas City, Mo., marketing coach and author of Duct Tape Marketing: The World's Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide (Thomas Nelson).

"Podcasting makes a ton of sense for many small businesses for several reasons," says Jantsch. "A voice, rather than simple words on a paper can convey emotion and personality. It's much easier to connect to that."

Jantsch offers this tip for the podcaster trying to bring attention to his business: "Invite a key strategic partner to be a guest on the podcast and you're likely to get the attention of high-level experts, authors and even prospects."

4. Smile, you're on YouTube!

YouTube is not just for classic media clips, cute pet tricks and bizarre dorm antics anymore. With a YouTube link on your Web site and vice versa, you have a new marketing tool. But don't be so crass as to post blatant infomercials about your small business.

"What you want to post is something that the people on YouTube will find interesting or useful and will therefore watch," says Michael Miller, the Indianapolis-based author of YouTube 4 U (Que Publishing).

In his book, Miller cites the example of a pottery business that posted a how-to video on throwing pots on a pottery wheel. "That's what gets them in the door and then you direct them to your Web site from there." To top of page

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