If you’ve been following our previous articles you’ll know that we have been sharing all of our secrets for creating a successful product line, marketing it to a particular group of people, packaging it so people will be falling over themselves to buy it and finally, getting the product on the internet and out to brick and mortar stores. Now that you’ve gotten your one, or maybe two products, and you’ve sold a few of them, you may start to wonder what else you can do to increase sales. When you reach this crossroad there are a few options you have to increase sales. You either need to reach more people in your market, create new products that will excite your existing customers, or you need to create a completely different line of products and start ALL OVER. When we are faced with these crossroads the correct choices are clear: Reach more people, and create products for existing customers. In this article we will explore how to take something you’re already producing and make changes such as additional features, or perhaps something as simple as a size change. We will also discuss how you can use Social Networking like Facebook and YouTube to reach more customers and get people excited about your products.
For the purposes of this article we will continue with our example of the Wooden Cutting boards that we have talked about previously. By now you should know where your material is coming from, and how to fixture the material to your CNC machine. As we all know, just because you buy quality material, and you have an outstanding fixturing system, things happen that make it so you have product loss as you’re manufacturing. For example: After a few production runs of our Medium Sized Cutting Board, we had a sizable pile in the corner of defective boards. It could be something as simple as a chipped out handle, or maybe the board slipped on the fixture during cutting and caused a cut where we didn’t want one. One day my youngest son (Scott’s Brother) came into the shop and asked what we were going to do with all the scrap boards sitting in the corner. We replied that we were either going to throw them away or use them for firewood. He replied “Why don’t you just make smaller cutting boards with the material in the center that is still good?”. What a brilliant idea! This goes right back to what we’ve said before, take material that was previously considered waste, and make it into something useful! So our Small Size Cutting Board was Born! It is just that simple to have a pile of “wasted” money turn into another vane of gold.
Let’s also consider that since we have our three sizes of cutting boards that all the people who would buy these from us have, and now we’ve reached the point that we need our existing Cutting Board customers come back and buy more products from us. We can now take the exact same board we have already been producing and add some V-carving from the Mega Clip Art Collection (available from ShopBot) or some 3D carving from Vector Art 3D or any of the other clip art distributors that can be found on the Internet. Now we have something new and different that will appeal to those who already love our Classic Cutting Board. We’ve created a collectible line of products. We can add more carvings and more designs each quarter or each year so that our customers can come back to the website and hopefully decide they need the new styles in their kitchen. Lets take that one step further. We’re now going to use the shapes and profiles found in the Mega Clip Art Collection to make Cutting Boards in different shapes. We can make Boards in the shape of animals, vehicles and many more. Here’s another idea: Lets V-carve shapes in the corners of the Cutting Board so that dough can be pressed into them to make relief shapes before baking, or lets make a board with a groove cut in it for carving meat so the juices will flow to one side of the board. The possibilities are endless!
This next topic is one that most people above a certain age think is useless and a waste of time. Social Networking. Social Networking is a constantly moving target that is centered around websites that people frequent in their spare time to either communicate with their friends, colleagues, potential customers, or a place for them to see something new and different. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are three examples of Social Networking sites designed to attract people to share what is going on in their lives and communicate using short messages and pictures. YouTube and Flikr are designed for people to upload videos (YouTube) or pictures (Flikr) to share information, share a laugh or what have you. Businesses are starting to utilize these sites for Instructional Videos, or posting pictures of new products for all to see. Even ShopBot has a twitter account! Facebook has what is called “AdPages” for local businesses to post their hours of operation, or for Online Businesses to promote their products. Businesses of both kinds can post their Special Offers as well as pictures of products. They also use these sites to allow the customer to express a concern or complaint in public space, so your potential customers can see how you deal with issues publicly. We were skeptical of the usefulness of these sites too. At the IWF 2010 in Atlanta this year we attended a seminar on Social Networking, and were shown statistics on how many people in the United States use Mobile Devices such as Droid Phones and iPhones. Since these devices have applications (Apps) specially made to interact with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others, people spend a fair amount of their free time on these sites. So we started to look around us while in Atlanta to verify these claims. While riding the MARTA we saw that literally 95% of the people around us were constantly on their mobile devices, whether they were playing games, or texting, or who knows what, they were using the device. Chances are, they were also using social networking.
So, how can you use those sites to work for you? The truth is, something that may work this week may not work next month. Technology moves at the speed of people, and business does too. You will need to decide which Social Networking site you wish to use first, and create a personal account. You can use this personal account to learn and become familiar with the interface, which will make you more effective when the time comes to create the business page. Once you learn how to use the site, it is advisable to create an account strictly for business purposes. We will cover basic use of one of these Social Networking sites known as Twitter. In Twitter you have a following and followers. Your following are the users that you search for and decide you want to see more information from. Your followers are the users who have found you and want to hear more from you. You can search in twitter using keywords which will show matches in other’s tweets (which is what a post is called) and content users have posted like captions or links. Your tweets should be pertinent to those who would want to purchase your products. If we’re selling Cutting Boards, you may wish to post recipes for cookies, or showcase other sites who sell cookie cutters, or rolling pins. Every now and then when you’re tweeting you need to drop in a url to your own website, so people will know that when they need a cutting board you’ll be there for them. Having pictures posted will give them something to look at, and make sure to include a direct link to the product page for that product in the caption so its a one click route for your customer. Also, you can create lists of other users who you follow that could be interesting to your customer, which will keep them coming back to see what you and you’re following are talking about next.
At the IWF we learned that there is a shift in customer searches as people find that they would rather find a video on YouTube to watch rather than search on Google and sift through millions of web sites. So, you can create an instructional video on how to use the V-carved cookie molds available on your website, so not only can people get excited about what they can make with your product, but they will know where to send the money! Customers also love to see where the things they buy come from, so give them a virtual tour of your shop. Show them how your ShopBot cuts the 3D files. Don’t worry about giving them “too much” information on your product, If they wanted to make their own cutting board they would have already. Remember that you’re the crafter. In their eyes you make things happen that are impossible to the common person, and they’re right. You have talents and ideas that you’re sharing with the world. Social Networking sites allow you to address your customers in a more personal environment which will make them feel more comfortable with you and so they will be more likely to purchase products from you, rather than the crafter who only has a text filled website.
Like we said before, Social Networking is an ever evolving tactic to increase sales. The best idea is to observe what others are doing, even in other industries, and see if it will work for you. Or if you have a new idea, try it out! You never know if something will work until you try it. There are no set rules, and if you make a mistake, its no problem, because the internet is all about the flavor of the week. No one will remember small spelling mistakes, or bad grammar, it only makes you appear more organic.
The final topic we would like to cover is Customer Service. In our experience good Customer Service is paramount when it comes to having happy customers that will tell their friends about you and return themselves. Giving good customer service is not a difficult thing to do. Answer Emails in a timely fashion, be polite and helpful on the telephone, and try and make your point of sale system as user friendly as possible. When you encounter an issue (note I said “when” not “if”) do your best to help the customer get to the end result that they want. What I mean is, if they ordered a product from you, and are unhappy with the quality, or felt like they were mislead by your advertising, see if it is possible to send them a new product, or try and help them understand where the miscommunication occurred. You may encounter a customer that is so enraged or displeased that nothing you do will make them happy. At this point it is very difficult to keep your calm, but you must do so. You will get more negative repercussions from being rude to a customer than you will get from merely letting the customer fuss and fume for a short time. As long as you do everything in your power (with in reason of course) to see to it that the issue is solved, then you can’t go wrong. Customers will recognize that and return to your business in the future.
Over the last few months we have given you our perspective on a strategy for creating a successful business. We have explained in as much detail as we can how to come up with ideas that interest you and generate products to suit those ideas, how to source materials and utilize materials that otherwise were waste. We talked about how to set up a useful website, and how you can approach store owners with your products. We’ve talked about customer interaction, both online and on the phone. The next steps are up to you. Take these suggestions and make something with them! Use the tools you have and make yourself successful, because no one will do it for you. No one ever claimed that running your own business was easy, and not always fun. In the end once you can look back at your sales sheets and see an upward trend, you will feel accomplished and confident that you have created a Successful Business.
Leave a Reply