Increasing online sales and expanding.

[nayku]

Greetings BizWarriors community,

I've been a lurker for quite some time and just recently made an account so that I could ask the community a question and contribute as well.

Context
So my aunt owns her own candy/chocolate business and runs it strictly as a commercial kitchen at the moment. A lot of her business is primarily at local markets, and some in-state/out-of-state events. She has a website that I have set up for her as well, which has generated some revenue, but not nearly enough. She has offered me a percentage of the sales she makes if I act as a distributor for her. This also counts for the online portion as well.

My question
How can I go about expanding her business? I've thought about possibly looking for people online who would be interested in selling her products at local events in their area (out of state) and then just paying them the commission, but this seems dodgy at best.

I don't know a lot about online marketing, or how I could possibly increase sales in that department, however, I know how to build eCommerce sites and I've had this same problem with my past business ventures, it always seems that the only way to generate sales is through rigorous advertising, and sometimes that doesn't even work because the amount of money it costs exceed the profit you actually generate. Not only that, but I don't know how to really get her products on store shelves.

Does anyone have some methods they know of that I could use to possibly help increase her sales?

 

[stark_intern]

Pretty much a lurker myself. I see a lot of people run into the same problem of building a product/service and then trying to market it. Perhaps a better approach is to target a particular niche first, do a splash page to collect email addresses and so forth, then launch a marketing campaign when the site goes live.

 

[kabirthapar]

You can opt for following Popular Digital Marketing Channels to increase your sales-

1. Email Marketing
2. Pay-Per- Click Advertising (PPC)
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
5. Mobile Marketing

 

[azgold]

I think what @stark_intern said is a good idea and it will cost very little. Once you collect the email addresses, you can send people your monthly newsletter. Let them know about any specials, new flavours, events you'll be at, etc.

Naturally, when alerting your subscribers to a new product (or whatever) you will link to it on your e-comm site. Which is very user friendly, appealing, mobile friendly and SEO'd, right?

You can use your social or YouTube accounts to direct people to your squeeze page for free.

By the way, do you sell wholesale to charities or schools, who use the chocolate/candy as fundraisers? I have no idea if that would be worth your while or not.

If you want to go with paid ads, you could try a display ad(s). Purchase space that allows you to pay per month, rather than per thousand. That will allow you to better control your budget/spend amount. You can get cheap display space but you typically get what you pay for. You need to make sure the site has some decent traffic and targets your prospects.

 

[T J Tutor]

When you start an onslaught of traffic to an eCommerce site, or a lead gen site, for a brick and mortar business, be sure you know the maximum output of that store ahead of time. You may find yourself overwhelmed with orders that exceed the capacity of the shop. Be prepared!

 

[AlyssaPatterson]

You can opt for following Popular Digital Marketing Channels to increase your sales-

1. Email Marketing
2. Pay-Per- Click Advertising (PPC)
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
4. Social Media Marketing (SMM)
5. Mobile Marketing

Email Marketing is very important to keep engaged your business customers or clients and it can lead you brand among to others.

 

[jaydenwilliam]

Well, online referral marketing is the best way to expand your business. Referral program and networking helps you to promote your business with various users and get more referrals. With the help of these referrals, your online sales will increase and you can expand your business services easily.

 

[pedrocampos]

I think if you want to maximize your business growth and take full advantage of the digital era, you need to be everywhere, getting lots of attention. If you are serious about your business you better go all out!

 

[Gin]

Research is your best friend. I would highly recommend doing research on a competitor or related business. Do backlink research will help locate where they are promoting. Check each sites domain authority too. You can use this info to help raise awareness of your own website. Good luck!