How to get my first customer.

[Starwayy]

Hello my name is Reona Duran, my business is Starwayy. Does anyone have any tips, to get your business out there? I shared on facebook, Instagram, Etsy, and nothin. I’d appreciate it if anyone has tips 

[maxpete]

@Starwayy welcome to the Seller Community!

I wanted to link you to a few previous threads that were posted around this to help with some tips!

Threads:

Need advice on how to get customers

How to go about finding clients

Also, here is a great article on The Bottom Line about Finding New Customers

Tagging some other Seller Community members to weigh in too! @JK_Fiber_Art, @Minion, @HC_Charlie & @ReneesGreetings 

[JK_Fiber_Art]

@Starwayy- Max Pete tagged a few of us to toss out some thoughts.

Rule 1 - don't get discouraged - this is not the first time someone has asked this question and I'm positive it won't be the last. If there was one magic answer, I would be selling it.  Bottom line - what works for one business owner may not work for another.  I have to be a bit generic as we don't know anything about your business.

Here's a few thoughts -

Think about who is your target audience then focus your marketing in that direction.

Does anyone else sell the same or similar products or services?  Do your homework, it's important.

What makes your products or services unique and why would someone be interested?

Besides social media - there's local events, markets, trade shows and local advertising to consider.

Product or service videos are also helpful - consider Youtube - you can have a lot of fun being creative.

Offer discounts or special prices or free shipping if applicable.

Are planning to run your business online or in person or both?  It's best to do both if possible.

If can get friends or relatives to give you good references, that's great - word of mouth can be very positive.

[Jayslugs]

Hi my name is Jamel harper and I'm struggling to get customers for my personal trainer and nutritionist business my website gettightgetrightfitness.com also my poetry website wordsofwisdomandinspiration.com 

[maxpete]

@Jayslugs feel free to check out some of the links and advice shared in this thread too!

[rickszat1]

What is it you are selling? Can you provide a link to your FB page or Etsy store? Your best marketing messages and channels can be different depending on the consumer base that you are trying to reach. 

Prior to retirement, I spent the better part of the last 20+ years helping small business grow their business through marketing and online sales/ecommerce.

[Starwayy]

I sell personalized epoxy resin and shirts for ex. Memorial plaques, memorial shirts, keychains, ashtray’s, trays, pens & more… It’s really not a big community that epoxy resin artist have really. 

[LaurenClev]

Hey @Starwayy -- Welcome to the Seller Community. So happy to have you here and I love seeing all the great conversation around your question so far. @JK_Fiber_Art totally hit the nail on the head -- this is always a very popular question, but really comes down to what you sell and what you've tried so far.  

Epoxy resin items are such cool products -- and really visually interesting to see how they are made. How has social media been working for you? I know I see a lot of interesting Instagram Lives and Tiktoks where makers are demonstrating how they make their products. Have you tried anything like that for getting more eye balls and views on your business? 

[Starwayy]

I haven’t yet, I’m trying get my set up right now like a tripod to do videos and lives. 

[LaurenClev]

That's awesome! I know it is easier said than done. Live streaming, social videos, and posts are no small task. But I can see where the investment could potentially pay off -- especially for something as cool and visually interesting as epoxy resin! 

[tranguyen]

Just to add to what @LaurenClev is saying, don't think of social media as just another task you need to cross-off your list, but have fun with it! This actually reminds me of a great thread from @sugarlab on how she used TikTok and social media for her business. When you have a moment, definitely check it out. 

[vinesandrushes]

A visual product that a lot of people won't understand by description alone is best sold visually - photos and videos are the key here.

[AdamB]

I second this - when selling online take a show and tell approach. You're really looking to simulate the kind of visual experience someone could have seeing what you are selling in person.

[gaylesscent]

Stick to the plan and put your best foot first. 

[rickszat1]

Is it a broad offering of personalized epoxy resin products and shirts or focused on memorial plaques and shirts (and the items you mentioned)? If it's a narrow niche, here's a few suggestions;

1. Create some paid search advertising campaigns on the various platforms. Use keywords that best describe what you are selling and avoid going too broad. "Personalization" will get you a lot of traffic that may not pertain to or is relevant to your product offering. Set up a few campaigns with minimal but reasonable budgets and see what performs (i.e. clicks and conversions/orders). You may have to tweak ad copy, etc. along the way.
   1. Etsy; https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/search-advertisement-recommendation[Redacted]29
   2. Facebook; https://adsmanager.facebook.com/adsmanager/manage/campaigns?act=257507263578516&nav_entry_point=come...
   3. https://ads.google.com/intl/en_us/start/overview-ha/?subid=us-en-ha-awa-bk-c-000!o3~Cj0KCQjwir2xBhC_...
2. Look for and join relevant communities on FB. Participate in the posts and discussions. At some point, you can post what is a "success story" to you but presented as a "solution" to others/a customer. For example, if you have a story about how someone wanted a unique and special memory of their loved one, pet, etc. (I'm assuming that this is the type of "memorial" you mention), you can "tell the story" and post a picture, etc.
3. Word of mouth is the most successful and fulfilling marketing channel. If you do something for a friend or relative, get them to post/"talk" about it.
4. We just launched a "hobby" business for my wife. She loves making pebble art, but we have no more places to display it in our homes. I created a website and FB page for her, posted it on my FB page, and she's accumulated over 150 followers in just a few weeks. We're not doing e-commerce at this time, just 1-2 local curated art shows/yr., but sold 7 art pieces just from this exposure.
5. Check out local art & craft shows and see if that's appropriate for your products. We went to our first show 2 weeks ago, sold over 75% of the art pieces that we had in 8 hours, got invited to a high-end charity event as a seller at this luncheon, have been approached to create art specifically for a new women's recovery center, and are receiving other interest. 
6. If your products are primarily focused on the "memorial" market, reaching out to local funeral homes, hospices, etc. and getting a brochure placed with them and/or listed as a "memorial offering" on their website, etc. will get you to your target market. If I'm off base re: your target market, then the same applies to whatever market you are trying to reach.

Many times I've coached new business, start-ups, etc. that the "build it and they will come" approach doesn't work. You need to do more outreach and, in your online channels, continually post or add things to create and maintain engagement. As an example, for my wife's business, I would schedule new posts on the business FB page as well as each of our to present new art pieces and designs. Post show, I have a series running called "Stories from the show" that posts once a week with a different story of someone's reaction, purchase, etc. from the show. I've also started a "Maker's/artist corner" series that is kind of a behind the scenes/here's what goes into making these art pieces. I have not done any videos, but that is a great suggestion. 

And, most of all, make sure that it's easy to buy from you. The ordering process is straightforward (i.e. your items are set up well), it's easy to find an "order here"/"click to order" link(s), etc. 

[maxpete]

Really appreciate this in-depth support! 👏

[Minion]

Some solid information from @JK_Fiber_Art , and like @rickszat1  mentioned what is it that you do? 

For  my business in particular, dealing with vehicles, I reached out to a few local dealerships when I first started, spraying bedliners.  I got one out of 5 some 8 years ago.  I did one for free so they could see what it was they were getting.  Fast forward to now, I work with 6 local dealerships with my services, not included the walk in customer which is still over half of my revenue. 

For my business and my customers, word of mouth and local events trump any social media .Maybe its my area, maybe its my lack of knowledge in social media, my customer base, or a mix of everything.  While I still use social media, I probably don't utilize it to its full potential.

Drop us some more info on your business and we can possibly put our heads together and drum up some ideas for you though. 

[Starwayy]

I sell personalized epoxy resin and shirts for ex. Memorial plaques, memorial shirts, keychains, ashtray’s, trays, pens & more… It’s really not a big community that epoxy resin artist have really.

[Minion]

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@Starwayy wrote:

I sell personalized epoxy resin and shirts for ex. Memorial plaques, memorial shirts, keychains, ashtray’s, trays, pens & more… It’s really not a big community that epoxy resin artist have really.

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Ah, I've dabbled with epoxy coatings for floors, messed around with a few counter tops.  I think its a world of possibilities  but I just don't have the time to add an additional hobby/project.  I do remember seeing something like this from one of the business' I purchase Color shift powders from, and thought this was just a an awesome idea that could be "mass produced" be it large center piece bowls, cutting boards.  But that business , riposted the video of the person making something similar , that's an attention grabber for sure. 

[doc_choc]

Hi @Starwayy there are lots of ways to market your business but from our expereince we tend to focuss on 3 to 4 maxium, you want to do these well, but it will be trial and error to see what works for your business, your time is precious when running a business and you will not be able to do everything. Try and identify where your potential customers are likely to best interface with your business, does your demographic reside on Soical Media, then which platform works for you (are you a visual creative product then IG may be for you, or is the Tik Tok generation more engaging with your product). A physical store is great but comes with cost and risk so perhaps look at driving your wholesale business if you don't want to take on a store, get your product in to other peoples stores. Wholesale hits your margin but can be more cost effective when you take in to costs of running a store, Also trade fayres may be worth looking at. Lot of places but put some thought in to where your customers are likely to be.