Helping Client Sell

9 years ago

sell in flea markets
sell on craigslist
sell outside popular places like Malls, roads which are usually crowded on weekends.
rent a small portion in a discotheque , pubs, restaurants which get a lot of crowd and offer them a commission for number of people who purchase your stuff.
run FB and google ads for keywords like:

best birthday presents
best presents for wife/hisband
best aniversary gifts

etc etc...

Thanks

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gjabiz

9 years ago

After looking at the site, your etsy and ebay listings, you have a gallery.

Pretty pictures. Pretty frames. Pretty mirrors. ZERO selling.

I couldn't find one thing of interest about the owner; what he does, who he's done it for...no testimonials.

No offers. No call to actions. No attention getting.

It is all, here it is. Look, we do framing (so what). There is nothing done on behalf of this guy to make a sale. It is a pretty web site, nice slide show, good pictures, lists of services, some decent art...

and NOT ONE single reason why I should do business with this guy.

So, to drive home the point. there is ZERO selling going on, so don't be surprised it generates zero sales.

gjabiz

Originally Posted by pranaman

I set up a site for a client in west LA, Universal Custom Framing.

He has a shop with a bunch of stuff. He does custom framing, and he also sells art, mirrors, and old 60s photos.

I set up an etsy store. I am also selling some of his things on ebay, under my account and one I made one for him, but ebay limits the 1st month to 5 items or $500, so there's just one item.

Nothing has sold.

Current ebay items: hopcoolcolo | eBay
universalartframing | eBay

etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LACustomFraming

Any suggestions to help this guy get some sales, either in his shop or online?

Thanks

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Barry Unruh

9 years ago

You should probably consider switching to more local marketing. Focus on improving his search results in the West Los Angeles area.

If the website is integral to selling more, I'd suggest improving the quality of the photographs. The photos are blurry and in some of the photos you are visible taking the shots. Very few of the pictures actually show a complete product. Almost all of the framing examples are cut-off on either the top and bottom.

Make sure you get the address and phone number on the front page of the site, also.

I noticed the website and the Google Maps listing do not share the same name. Is there a reason behind that? Not ideal for promoting the business locally.

It seems to be a bit of a weird disconnect on your Etsy page to be selling unframed prints for a company whose primary business is framing...

The Ebay listing photo is very low quality for selling a product that is all about the image...and again, only framed in paper, another weird disconnect in the overall marketing message.

Create some videos of the framing process and share them on Facebook and YouTube to help gain recognition and to aid in boosting your local SEO.

Those are just a few initial thoughts..

Thanks
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pranaman

9 years ago

Originally Posted by Barry Unruh

You should probably consider switching to more local marketing. Focus on improving his search results in the West Los Angeles area.

If the website is integral to selling more, I'd suggest improving the quality of the photographs. The photos are blurry and in some of the photos you are visible taking the shots. Very few of the pictures actually show a complete product. Almost all of the framing examples are cut-off on either the top and bottom.

Make sure you get the address and phone number on the front page of the site, also.

I noticed the website and the Google Maps listing do not share the same name. Is there a reason behind that? Not ideal for promoting the business locally.

Thanks. Good points. I'm trying to have get him to improve the look of the shop. It's a mess. He wants the name 'Universal Custom Framing'. I don't like it, but he does. I requested it changed on google maps, and they changed it to something close, like 'Universal Framing Gallery' or something, then it was changed back.

Originally Posted by Barry Unruh

It seems to be a bit of a weird disconnect on your Etsy page to be selling unframed prints for a company whose primary business is framing...

He has a lot of random art and art-related stuff. The etsy page is a sample of hundreds of prints from Felix Rosenstiel's Markham Collection that he bought 20 years ago. There are many more, I just listed a few to get started.

Originally Posted by Barry Unruh

The Ebay listing photo is very low quality for selling a product that is all about the image...and again, only framed in paper, another weird disconnect in the overall marketing message.

Yeah. I used photoshop to straighten the images. I'll have to work on that.

Originally Posted by Barry Unruh

Create some videos of the framing process and share them on Facebook and YouTube to help gain recognition and to aid in boosting your local SEO.

Those are just a few initial thoughts..

Frames are mostly made outside of the shop. I want to help him, yet there's a struggle for money. I get a cut of the online sales, however, I want him to invest in upping the shop look, and he's backed away.

I'm trying to get a cut of the business for a length of time. I've also looked into getting someone from a local art school to help, as they may be low cost or free. Seems hard to get him to invest in getting the store in shape. I'll keep at it, thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks

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TexasSteve

9 years ago

You could be selling diamond rings for $1...you won't sell anything without traffic.

You can't just have a website sitting there and expect stuff to sell.

Create a way to gather up his current customers' info and market to them.

That will be the absolute best way to increase sales.

Thanks

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pranaman

9 years ago

Hi, trying to generate more business for client. Both online and in-person. Right now I am focusing on the 'in-person' part.

He has interesting things perhaps a certain crowd would like. It's 'dated' though, some of it is kind of ugly to me.

He's has framed art, Persian antique-kind of stuff, a ton of mirrors and other miscellany. He also does custom framing.

From my angle, this is 'the bad news':
Seems it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, and he's his store is messy; he's been unwilling to put effort or any significant funds into sprucing it up, and he only uses wall space to display items, although I thought of 'pods' to show the various things he has, but are in the back since he's not utilizing the floor space as wisely as possible.

Good news is
a) he's on a busy street
b) lots of new shops are opening around him

Recently, we agreed to do a test run of me promoting him online for $50/month + a percentage from new sales. So, I created craigslists ads, social media sites and postings on Facebook and twitter, and a yelp review.

No one has called or visited from my efforts.

I am now thinking of:

- 'try it my way' - push him to get some pods or something.

- promote him in local (west Los Angeles) free magazines, like argonautnews.com and laweekly.com.

- Have evening events with local artists to show off their art at his shop.

- More radical: buying selling things from China.

Anyone else deal with this kind of customer or have any ideas?

Thanks
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professorrosado 9 years ago

There are a few online options that will suit this client: Ebay, Etsy and Framestr to name three. You also need to think, who is his customer? I think you're just doing the basic marketer "stuff" but not really what true "marketing" is supposed to be.

Before you or any marketer approaches a client, you should know who and where his customers are.
- Thanks
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carlamae

9 years ago

Have you removed all the Etsy listings? I see nothing in the shop.
I would totally be able to help with an Etsy shop!

Thanks

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cjsparacino123

9 years ago

i can tell you the one thing thats been working for me, straight sales, a few things though, keep a spreadsheet of everything, have a script, and it doesnt matter if it takes 15 - 30 people to get one sale, just get the sale. Entrepreneurial productivity isnt measured in hours worked, its measured in results delivered. Learned that from these forums