Many people subscribe to what we call the “Field of Dreams” view of online marketing: build it and they will come. In other words, a website will automatically attract visitors, and, those visitors will become customers. This, unfortunately, is seldom the case: websites, like physical stores (perhaps more so) require a lot of internal and external help to become successful
The next three blogs will deal with ways to sell more online: differentiated products. Advertising and content creation.
Offer Differentiated Products
If you’re trying to sell what everyone else is selling, you are, in effect, competing against everyone else. For example, if you are part of a “system” that sells diet products or health aids, you are selling the same thing as thousands of other people. You can certainly make a good business selling things like this, but a website is not going to be an effective tool for finding new clients. Remember: there are thousands of the same products and sellers out there. Plan on a lot of offline marketing if you have a product that is not unique.
If you’re selling coffee, for example, find a way to develop a product that is rare or not widely available. Organic coffee, for example, is highly differentiated from run-of-the-mill coffee. A unique roast or packaging will also help.
If you are selling apparel, find a way to customize it for the buying. Custom t-shirts have a higher value and, by nature, are differentiated in the marketplace.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but marketing a niche product can be a lot more profitable than a common product.