How Can I Market My Online Business?

[Nick]

I am in the process of opening a bakery called Gabby's Bake Shop. We do not have a physical storefront for walk-in service. Instead, we have a website with an integrated shopping cart. We also have a Facebook page, but can't seem to generate sales on our site nor page "likes" on Facebook. Do you have any marketing advice?

[Joy]

I would say to do link-building for your keywords to rank high in the search engines, get listed in the local search directories, do some pay per click, video marketing, article marketing, and create several micro-sites. Link-building to get listed high in the search engines for your keyword is probably going to be the best since you are primarily online.

I recommend http://buildseo.net for link-building. They do a really great job. All of my sites are listed at the top of the search engines for the keywords, and it even has proven to work after search engine updates. Good luck!

[Entrepreneur]

Building "likes" on a fan page takes a bit of strategy with targeted advertising through Facebook pay-per-click. The nice thing about Facebook's advertising platform is that you can get relatively targeted as to who sees your ad.

You can also go to your network on Facebook and ask for others to help you spread the word. Remember that fan pages need to be active, so post relevant information about the industry and what you're doing that's different. Don't be afraid of posting too often. It's been found that active pages get more interaction. Make sure you find others that can help contribute to your page.

When you've figured out who your perfect target is, you can design an ad that will find those specific Facebook people and begin to get their attention with the right copy in the ad. You might consider budgeting out what you're willing to spend daily and watch as the impressions play out and the clicks begin to take viewers to your fan page.

Be sure you have something of value to visitors on your fan page, or they will see a sales page not a fan page. Fan pages are more marketing than sales -- unless you are a noted brand. Even then most of them are using their pages for branding anyway. They intend to interact with Facebook users on their fan pages and get them to a retail site for selling. It is about engaging and interacting and being relevant as well as unique.

In your case, having a virtual bakery is interesting. You have no physical location but can service the order in a unique way. You may wish to focus on that as your unique selling point. You may also want to consider having something like a live web chat to interact with visitors who may be interested in ordering.

You have an opportunity there to brand yourself as something different, and that could get people back to your fan page and start raving as fans usually do. This will get you more traffic for 'likes' and then more traffic to your site for purchases -- or at least for a chance to sell them on your concept.

For your main site, you might want to consider doing pay-per-click with Google, Bing and Yahoo!, as they will get you normal traffic and can help enhance search engine optimization for your site.

Remember, your brand is going to need something unique. I believe you have that in being virtual. Build on that and you will get the traction you're looking for.

Answered by Michael Kaleikini from Entrepreneur.com

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[Shaun Baird]

Hi Nick,

I'm wondering how people actually receive their goods from you and how the goods are kept fresh, but logistics aside let me give some input as best I can

Part of me thinks that people who visit a bakery want it "the same day" and "there and then" for the likes of bread and fresh cream cakes etc. However for things like birthday cakes and personalized items I can certainly see there being a way forward.

I'd start with strong social interaction.

Photograph EVERYTHING that you do, from the food prep through to the "funny moments" when one of you makes an error and everyone is laughing, as well as finished products and take them in good lighting conditions.

Join twitter and tweet every day, at least once or more about everything in your bakery, the things you do, the successes you've had (etc.).

Post the same information on your facebook "page" and encourage your friends and family to "like" and comment on your pages.

Just do the above over and over, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. Once you get into a routine you can work on other promotional methods.

Understand who your main markets are. If you are selling wholesale to trade customers, hotels etc. then you will need to visit them with samples or price lists or at least speak with them. Then you can ensure your deals on your website are priced well for these people.

Set up an email list capture system (ie aweber or getresponse) and ask people to leave their details on your site and in return they will receive a daily deal.

Hope these things get you going.

[Debbra]

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