Online Sales Idea Center

Reading the Policies!

wallaceashby — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:15:20 +0000

I just had an unfortunate encounter with Google and their adwords policy. I never read the policy and built a couple of small websites. While one was in compliance, the other wasn’t and as such, my account has been suspended. Let this be a lesson to all. Read the policies and follow them. Doing otherwise will ultimately lead to disaster and hurt your business!

Lessons from Harry Potter

wallaceashby — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:25:38 +0000

The title is a tad misleading. Instead I’m thinking about the business of Harry Potter. They have just released the last movie in DVD format. There will be a limited supply of it and then ALL of the movies will be put in the vault for later release. Disney does the same with their movies, selling a limited supply and then waiting a good period time before re-releasing them.

It’s brilliant. Create a demand by limiting supply. Then you can charge a slightly higher amount for the product and reap greater products. So how can this be done in the internet age? Depends on what you’re selling. Brainstorm ideas on how to create demand for your product by limiting the supply. Don’t necessarily limit the whole product, but consider temporary bundles of products and things like that.

Happy Selling!

Facebook page review: Dutch Bros.

wallaceashby — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:45:30 +0000

I love coffee! I drink anywhere from 3 to 6 shots a day. But that’s besides the point.

I’m a fan of the Dutch Bros company page on Facebook. I wanted showcase it on the website for one reason and one reason only… I have yet to see a post that doesn’t get a good response from their fan base. I checked the most recent post of theirs and, at the time of this writing, 48 people liked it and it has 42 comments. Not bad for a company based out of Oregon. There’s a couple points that I’ve learned 3 points from watching their success.

King of Publicity: From their latest wedding at Dutch Bros to their comic books, monthly specials, new location openings, and competitions, you always have a reason to check their fan page week after week. It isn’t one-sided or dry, but engaging.
Bullseye Targeting: They know who their fan base is and what they want. They Listened!
Consistently posting: This is something I even have a hard time with. Staying consistent while give your readers/fans the trust to know that they can expect something from you on a regular basis.

So what are you doing to keep your fans engaged?

Here’s a link to their fan page http://www.facebook.com/dutchbros

A Lesson From Discount Coupon Companies

wallaceashby — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:24:40 +0000

My wife was excited. She got a coupon from a discount coupon site for a car detailing for $60 (normal price $119). I wasn’t all that interested in it until I heard where she saw it… in her email. People still open those things from advertisers?

The companies got it down. People are signing up to receive daily, weekly, monthly deals on different products and services. I’m not one for coupons personally; I don’t clip them out and the ones I get from the cashier end up in recycling. However, after looking through some of what these sites offer, I learned 3 key points:

Essence of Time = These promotions scream scarcity. 10 left! 2hrs to go! They create an urgency among their memberships to buy now.
Unsolicited Solicitation = An oxymoron, I know. However people look at these emails as not an advertisement, but like they were looking for the classified ads. It is welcomed and accepted solicitations.
Bulls Eye Targeting = Sure, the coupons are for a wide variety of services and products, but they cater to a certain class of people; those who want to stretch their dollar.

If you are selling anything and you do it online, take notes. They know how to do it and we should be following suite.