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I’m exploring some of the online market places and potential products, distribution etc and it’s also really pricey and kind of exploitative. I do remember doing business out of the yellow pages and I wonder if the internet has become to convoluted and concentrated. Who do you ad spend with for services and products these days?
I found the transition from brick and mortar to online to be really daunting and it probably is because I’m a phonebook generation.
I'm old school, too, so my business has been built on networking, word-of-mouth, and good old repeat business. I'm worthless on Social Media, so I'm currently learning how to work with it, and making a little progress, I think.
My experience in the past with advertising is terrible, so I almost never spend money on it. I'm trying to launch a new online business, and I may have to invest a bit to jump start it, so I'm doing research before I blow my money on nothing.
Usually the best advertising is to get people to experience it firsthand, so samples or demonstrations are effective, but can be pricey and time consuming.
Yea I just shoved a vase full of flowers into a guys hands, so we come from the same school of thought. Good to hear on the ad spending I was trying to avoid it but its seems like a lot of small Direct to customer businesses have to use Instagram/Facebook/google for growth. I'm having a hard time getting serious Face time with local businesses as well, which is why im considering DTC. I guess the retail mark up is nice too. The only advertising I did in my previous business were local news prints and fund raising events for charity. Neither were very fruitful.
Oh yeah, I'm all for going direct to the consumer if you can. It's a big layer of infrastructure and effort, but it's worth it. I can't imagine trying to make a living on wholesale margins.
Setting up the credit card fulfillment is probably the most complicated part, so once that's done, you're able to take cards from any other business you do as well. It gives you a lot more credibility than using some dumb app.
Then you have to set up a method of selling, but that's not hard on eBay or Etsy, at least to get started.
Then you have to attract business. THAT'S the hard part.
Yea im live on ETSY and Ebay already, was debating with Amazon but doesn't fit my scale. I've got a reputable eBay account but it's still hard to get eyeballs on there even offering Ebay 15% commission for ads. I like that they are commission based. One day I will make that brave leap into credit card processing. I haven't even researched the costs yet. Trying to grow low overhead until it's clear I need to make these investments. Don't need a processor if I don't have a customer.
Whole sale margins are tough but distro makes it worth it. Simple clean 1-2 days a week, focus on farming and yields to fix the margins. But as you know, we must follow the money and 12 months in I've only found retail customers. I'm developing tobacco products as a last ditch effort. tobacco always sells in a recession and the high taxes and legal loop holes create some interesting opportunities. Thats where I am at tho. I've analyzed my entire state economy and landed on tobacco as a last ditch effort to generate revenue. There is no surrender but like....Im gonna boot leg cigarettes like I'm al Capone. Lets come to agreement on the state of the economy and political/legal world.