QUESTION FOR SELLERS ! Need advise/ideas
 

Hey ya'll !! Got a question.....Lots of you sell clothes etc and have your own sites and do well so these questions are mainly for you.

Some of you know I make Custom Address Labels/Cards but am re-thinking the costs. My site is coming up for renewal and I'm not sure I want to invest in another year since things have been so slow..

Anyone have ideas on where I could sell OR - a better deal on hosting ?

My site runs over $60 per year and to tell the truth - most all of my orders come thru THIS site....but that's pretty much exhausted now too - I can't afford to keep supporting my site with nothing coming in to help pay for it - add the cost of supplies etc - I'm actually losing money :eek:

SO.....any other good places to sell ? (you can private message me for this one) :)(I tried Etsy & wasn't crazy about it)

Does anyone know of a less expensive host site so I can keep my site or should I just let it go ?

I really need ideas before the end of the month. I hate to lose it because a good friend made it for me but still - $$$ is just too tight right now with no orders coming in :( Thanks in advance !!

ps...You can see my website below in the SIGNATURE Link. It's so pretty I just hate thinking this way but I can't keep supporting something that isn't paying for itself you know ?

This probably not what you want to hear but have you tried advertising in your local paper or magazines? Do you have local craft/art shows in your area that you can exhibit in? While your site is great and your product is great, you do mostly work with dogs. Can you make up some more pictures of labels/cards with babies, couples, etc? If you exhibit in local shows, you can show these as well. Have a binder available with your work.

With wedding season coming up, I would think you do great! Labels alone for the invitiations, response cards and the married couple-thank you cards would be a market to go after. :) or "save the date" cards.

And then of course baby showers--thank you cards with pictures of the newborn in the labels or cards.

Unfortunately, it takes money to make money...I'm finding that out myself as I am getting ready to start a website of my own. :) Good luck. B

Good ideas! Especially about the wedding invitations/thank you cards and of course for baby announcements. At this time of year there are those bridal fairs everywhere.

Leave samples and your info with professional photographers, baby boutiques, bridal boutiques, etc.

Diversify - Vee!

Are you on Facebook? You can set up a Fan Page for free. I set up one just a couple of months ago and it's a very busy place! I have a link in my siggie if you'd like to see what they look like.

Shoot....I was going to say Etsy, V, bc I love Etsy...but it looks like you tried it already. Hmmmm....what about an eBay store?

I use webstarts.com very easy to use and the best prices I have found. They also have a free site you can create (if you use advertising with links it works great) around 40.00 a year for a decent package. The free one lets you have 5 pages and still post links, just not your own domaine name with the free one.

V - I can't answer to the websites -- my is rather pitiful at the moment - but we self host so I don't have any cost.

Like you, 99% of my orders come from YorkieTalk - even the YY orders that I send people to my website to actually purchase. Here are some simple ideas that may help.

1) Take samples of your work to your vet and local pet botiques and leave business cards

2) We have a local on line paper with free advertising - you might try that approach

3) Many of our stores have bulletin boards that you can post items for sale

4) If you are still making the cloth labels to attach to hand made items, try a fabric store - many of them also have bulletin boards

5) Word of mouth is still one of the greatest types of advertising. Many of our new members pm me and tell me that they joined YT simply to order a silk harness from me. :D

6) I know you are a facebook user, so put something in your profile and keep it updated -- next time I go on I'll look you up and ASK if you are still making labels :D :D :D

7) Enlist the help of family and friends to spread the word.

Hummmm a fan page on Facebook? How do you do that? I'd LOVE to set one up.

Here you go:

Pages | Facebook

Remember to set it so that your fans can post pictures to your Wall also.

A lot of our YT sellers have Facebook Fan Pages - Chloebella, Go Fetch, Prissy Paws, Tinkerbell's Closet, etc.

Have you looked into Vistaprint? Mine runs me $4.99 a month (barebones), you decide what you want and then see what the price is:) You also get the first month free to see if it's for you:

http://www.vistaprint.com/websites.a...es&dng=1141736

Hi V, I just made my own site through www.yola.com
It was free, but I paid $19.95/a year to get my own domain name.
If you leave the yola dot com at the end, it's totally free.

Oh this is a great idea! I never did FB or myspace b/c I don't have any friends LOL sad but true. I have more customers than friends so this would work for me! ;)

Customers can be friends! I've made some great friends through my bow business who are also my Facebook friends. In fact, Facebook has allowed me to get to know them much better.

Thank you! I'm off to create a Fan Page. We YTers need to stick together.

Ok this is what I came up with. What do you think? Am I missing anything? I never did FB before so I have no idea what I'm doing!

aCosplayLifeForMe | Facebook