Tips:Sales & Marketing

There are a few basic rules any business needs to stick to in order to be successful:
1.Give your business a name
2.Give your business an image (logo, special colours, etc)


Where to sell?
Depending on your business or product, see where similar operations are having the most success, eg:


If you are selling products:
Fleamarkets
School and church bazaars
Sell to gift shops/retailers/galleries
Sell on your Facebook page
Sell on Bid or Buy


If you are selling services:
Community or church halls
School premises
A suitable room at your home
A suitable room at a friend's house
Share rent with other businesses in an office
Hire or ask for space at a socially conscious business


How to market and advertise my product or service?
Free advertising should be your number one goal. Consider these options:

• Noticeboards at shops and libraries
• Pamphlets at the traffic lights
• Your company name on a t-shirt
• Your company name on your car, if you have one, or a friend or family member's car
• Advertise on the Gumtree website (nice example here) or free classifieds on the internet
• Talk about your product or service on Facebook
• Build a Facebook business page (like this)
• Send bulk text messages or use Mxit

Marketing and spreading the word:

• Give your business a name and a logo - top priority.
• Do try and get a business card printed
• Do try and create swingtags/labels for your products (See the tag on the hanger in the Decor Factory) they can include your phone number for future business
• Attend public events to meet people (networking), an opportunity will come to mention your business
• Always be well groomed as you represent your business
• Ask successful entrepreneurs for advice and guidance
• Always give top quality product or service, and customer care - people will talk about you and recommend you. There is no more powerful marketing tool than this!
• Make a list of people who are your clients, or who are possible clients, and set up a communication system with them, eg email greetings and notices, occasional phone calls, invitations to see or try your new products

How do I know what to charge?

The best idea is to do a survey to see what similar products or services cost, seeing what your competition is doing is a good way to judge. Set your price in the middle ground, not cheaper or more expensive than the competitors.

Keep your pricing stable, you can even print out a price list to give to customers. Fluctuating your prices creates a bad impression and creates distrust.

Good luck!