Post: #1

My father owns a business. He has been working on it hard for over 10 years. He sells his own hand-made products (fine jewellery) in a shop where he rents space. Luckily sales have been getting better since he started selling it there, as for the past couple of years it has been a great struggle.

A couple of years back he launched a website to sell his products, putting a lot of money into it. He got it designed, of course had google adwords and keyword optimisation etc. Despite this, physical sales for the past 7 years have probably accounted for about 95%, despite putting so much effort and money in to this website.

I have been helping him with this business whenever required since the beginning. He told me that if I made a website for him and helped him with it I would get paid. Online sales pose many more advantages - no cost of a physical shop, location independence and a global reach so I think that getting online sales would be ideal.

The website is practically a failure in terms of bringing in clients despite good products and a good design. Most of the clients are made through friends, connections and visitors to the physical shop. My dad does not know too much about online marketing and this is where I could step in as a young, tech savvy guy.

My question is how can you make a website which can attract clients from all over the world and in general get more sales online? What are the keys I need to know when it comes to attracting an audience to a website?

Any advice would be appreciated. It's a shame that the website did not work out but maybe if I learn a few things I could re launch it, market it much more and attract more clients, that would be my aim but it would be good to hear from experts, I am pretty sure that many dudes here own an online e-commerce business who I could learn from.

Post: #2

I imagine selling fine jewelry online is difficult because he’s competing with the big boys as well as ebay and amazon. When people buy jewelry, they either go to the physical store to look at it before dropping cash... or they order it online from a well-known and reputable vendor. Breaking the barrier into this hyper competitive space is going to be quite difficult, I imagine. I could be mistaken, though.

Post: #3

(05-26-2018 08:40 PM)Mikestar Wrote:  My father owns a business. He has been working on it hard for over 10 years. He sells his own hand-made products (fine jewellery) in a shop where he rents space. Luckily sales have been getting better since he started selling it there, as for the past couple of years it has been a great struggle.

A couple of years back he launched a website to sell his products, putting a lot of money into it. He got it designed, of course had google adwords and keyword optimisation etc. Despite this, physical sales for the past 7 years have probably accounted for about 95%, despite putting so much effort and money in to this website.

I have been helping him with this business whenever required since the beginning. He told me that if I made a website for him and helped him with it I would get paid. Online sales pose many more advantages - no cost of a physical shop, location independence and a global reach so I think that getting online sales would be ideal.

The website is practically a failure in terms of bringing in clients despite good products and a good design. Most of the clients are made through friends, connections and visitors to the physical shop. My dad does not know too much about online marketing and this is where I could step in as a young, tech savvy guy.

My question is how can you make a website which can attract clients from all over the world and in general get more sales online? What are the keys I need to know when it comes to attracting an audience to a website?

Any advice would be appreciated. It's a shame that the website did not work out but maybe if I learn a few things I could re launch it, market it much more and attract more clients, that would be my aim but it would be good to hear from experts, I am pretty sure that many dudes here own an online e-commerce business who I could learn from.

(05-26-2018 08:54 PM)CleanSlate Wrote:  I imagine selling fine jewelry online is difficult because he’s competing with the big boys as well as ebay and amazon. When people buy jewelry, they either go to the physical store to look at it before dropping cash... or they order it online from a well-known and reputable vendor. Breaking the barrier into this hyper competitive space is going to be quite difficult, I imagine. I could be mistaken, though.

I wish I could offer advice, but instead I am here to join the question and ask about a hypothesis I have. Please do not interpret that question as a claim that it would work and if the hypothesis conflicts with some facts in a way I did not see, please set me straight. By the way my interest is because I want to develop a location independent retirement business. (For which reason I also perused your location independence thread, Clean Slate, and thank you for creating it. /thread-56733.html )

The hypothesis is simple: few people will visit your site and even if they do they won't purchase not only for the competition CS mentioned but also because they have no reason to trust you. Buying jewelry sight unseen is difficult even if your photography is excellent; especially so if it is not cheap jewelry. But suppose people come to your page because you are posting good articles about the subject, for instance describing how good jewelry is made, comparing styles, idk. (Did I mention I know nothing about jewelry?) Now that you got the visitors, perhaps it will be easier to sell them, or they might refer others to your site because now they "know you" and perhaps trust you.

Any comment will be appreciated.

Post: #4

You are competing with people drop shipping products from china that are spending thousands and thousands on FB ads. Super competitive but not impossible.

Have you also listed these products on other sites like esty, amz and ebay? Maximize your reach.....

Have you researched into coaches... or posted this anywhere on niche business forums?

Post: #5

If it was my business... I would try to personalize it as much as possible due to the heavy competition from the Big Boys over at Amazon! Write content such as difference in carats quality, why are diamonds so precious, key elements in selecting an engagement & marriage ring etc. I would personalize the content as much as possible in order to create an emotional attachment to the product, and sell as high as I could get away with. Then would run Adwords campaign to see how things go. Maybe Facebook as well. If you're not willing to invest a lot of time in versing yourself in marketing... it might be best to get the assistance of a professional firm! If I was in your shoes... I definitely would hire someone for this! Most people try to get a business off the ground... you've been gifted one! You pretty much bought a business for free the way I see it,and with a chance of cashing in if you make it work! Make the most of it!

Post: #6

(05-26-2018 11:45 PM)tobehero Wrote:  Have you also listed these products on other sites like esty, amz and ebay? Maximize your reach.....

..and get a camera and sign up for shopify.

There's no good luck, Only hard work.

Post: #7

I also make products that ship around the world so I can relate to your question. I'd find a way to communicate your unique knowledge of the industry, as Greybeard suggests. Articles, blog posts, guest articles on industry magazines (online especially, as well as print), Youtube videos. I find a lot of good interest and credentialing via sharing info and tips through Youtube videos.

I find paying for advertising to be a waste of time. Most of my customers are also referrals, but it's nice to have new customers or even referrals know they can see me talk about the subject intelligently to get a feel of who I am and what I know.

I'd recommend you look into the ideas and videos of Gary Vaynerchuk. He's pretty famous in the marketing world (family wine business) and no-nonsense. He's now got a marketing company called Vayner Media IIRC. His 'Jab Jab Jab Right Hook' concept of providing info and value then making an ask for them to buy works.

EDIT: a few specific ideas I can think of:

1. Find someone with a following of people who seem to have money to afford the product and get that influencer to show off / model the product on their Instagram / YT channel. Perhaps there are some simple designs your dad can make or does make that could be signature pieces. High volume, low cost, good profit margin.

2. Find a model(s) and put together videos of some products for sale. Find interesting backgrounds. Maybe tell a story around the product that's unique, how it was inspired, perhaps a short story if you want to get fancy - sell a story as your audience is predominantly women I believe. Make them feel like the star and they'll want that jewelry to create a certain look.

3. Connect with stylists to make wardrobe recommendations. See if people who sell clothing lines would be interested in carrying some of your products as high-end accessories.

Post: #8

I like the sound of these ideas and many of them have already been tried. The thing about this jewellery line is that it is not generic, it is very unique and caters to a niche audience, however I am always telling my dad to make more mass appealing designs. Nicole Scherzinger and Alicia Keys have actually worn his jewellery on tv interviews and concerts but the strange thing is my dad never gave them the jewellery - they obtained it through his old PR company he worked with for a year and didn't pay him a penny. Pairing up with someone famous on instagram might have a better effect.

Youtube - this is something which I did not think of. Maybe I could make a Youtube channel and film the making process in an interesting way.

Yes telling a story to sell the product would be ideal. As I mentioned the audience is limited as the products are niche, maybe the products should be as mass appealing as possible? The company has only just under 1000 followers on ig, so it is not a lot but this has potential. The price for the products is very reasonable for the design and quality but in general it is pretty expensive. Price ranges from £100 to £3k.

Now etsy has been tried and ebay has been disregarded because there are many chinese copycats - many would buy the jewellery, copy the design and replicate a cheap version to sell in masses - designs have been stolen before from him like this. We want the image of the company to be quite prestige but if this is not a good solution then I could advise him to drop the prestige image and cater towards a less expensive jewellery which would have a better reach.

Post: #9

Have you looked into email marketing to upsell / re-target your audience?

Post: #10

For certain products, most of your sales would be done through referrals, brand advocacy etc.

Workout where most of your sales come from and then spend 80% of your time promoting this. You might have a lovely website but if your clients don’t buy that way there is limited point in pushing it.

I have the same issue in my businesses. Not everyone needs to sell stuff online.

Post: #11

I need to ask about email marketing, I assume that he has tried it once already.

Ski pro - very fair point, physically it has been selling more in store, I will discuss all of these suggestions with him and see if it is worth investing more into the website and figuring out how to implement more marketing techniques.

Post: #12

Even if he has tried once, need to look at it again. Just leaving money on the table.

Post: #13

(05-26-2018 08:40 PM)Mikestar Wrote:  My father owns a business. He has been working on it hard for over 10 years. He sells his own hand-made products (fine jewellery) in a shop where he rents space. Luckily sales have been getting better since he started selling it there, as for the past couple of years it has been a great struggle.

A couple of years back he launched a website to sell his products, putting a lot of money into it. He got it designed, of course had google adwords and keyword optimisation etc. Despite this, physical sales for the past 7 years have probably accounted for about 95%, despite putting so much effort and money in to this website.

I have been helping him with this business whenever required since the beginning. He told me that if I made a website for him and helped him with it I would get paid. Online sales pose many more advantages - no cost of a physical shop, location independence and a global reach so I think that getting online sales would be ideal.

The website is practically a failure in terms of bringing in clients despite good products and a good design. Most of the clients are made through friends, connections and visitors to the physical shop. My dad does not know too much about online marketing and this is where I could step in as a young, tech savvy guy.

My question is how can you make a website which can attract clients from all over the world and in general get more sales online? What are the keys I need to know when it comes to attracting an audience to a website?

Any advice would be appreciated. It's a shame that the website did not work out but maybe if I learn a few things I could re launch it, market it much more and attract more clients, that would be my aim but it would be good to hear from experts, I am pretty sure that many dudes here own an online e-commerce business who I could learn from.

A couple things first.

what platform/shopping cart is he using for the store? (shopify, woocomm, big commerce, magento)

what are the price points of the jewelry? $100-$1000, $1000-$5000,

If towards the higher end you are going to need to provide a ton of social proof and trust signals to get people to pull out the credit card to spend $5000+ on jewelry from a unknown retailer, your store needs to convince them 1. that its safe 2. You will send the product 3. It's real diamonds, gold etc. whatever the material is.

Also make sure to put a professional photo of the shop so people feel like they have a place to come if they have a problem. Even if they live across the county.

If you want send me a pm with the url if you don't want to post the store publicly.

I can check out the store and give some quick suggestion on if he has a traffic problem (getting people to the site) or a conversion problem (getting people to buy once at the site).

I do ecommerce dev and ecommerce seo. I have built over 400 stores from $15,000 - $250,000 and handled the seo marketing for many.

The #1 thing I would do is get the email address of EVERY SINGLE PERSON that buys from him in person at the retail store. And if possible find the photos of the celebrities wearing the jewelry to use on the site as social proof.

Let me know.

Post: #14

Biggest tip for people with low ad-budgets - target under-served, small groups of consumers.
Your ad-spend will be lower and the profit margins higher.

Example: Lots of people buy specific jewelry for religious/cultural reasons - think Jews with bar-mitzva necklaces, Mormons with CTR rings, Catholics with confirmation crosses etc, etc.

A more absurd but real example: degenerate, single in their 30s women are buying rings for their 'self-marriage' ceremonies. Who is going to sell them to them at vastly inflated prices? You!

Take existing products you have and slightly modify (re-position) them to target each group. This can be done very simply, even taking a generic ring and putting it in a customized box related to the target market.

It's easier & cheaper to win these consumers than it is to compete against the big brands who will be spending fortunes in broad, generic categories like 'women's silver necklace' 'men's gold ring'.

Post: #15

(05-27-2018 09:39 AM)Mikestar Wrote:  I need to ask about email marketing, I assume that he has tried it once already.

Ski pro - very fair point, physically it has been selling more in store, I will discuss all of these suggestions with him and see if it is worth investing more into the website and figuring out how to implement more marketing techniques.

I just did an end of season marketing survey to all my clients asking these specific sort of questions. Helps to clarify all this info.

If you can, you should consider this too, it help you to work out where your business comes from and what to target.

Mine is clear, mord of mouth is king.

Post: #16

There’s one very key question I don’t think anyone has asked.

Is the sales copy any good?

Selling it physically is one thing, but you need to convey those same benefits, uniqueness, and give the same overall experience as best as possible with the written word, online.

If you don’t know how to sell from an ecom perspective no amount of ad spend or fancy tools are going to turn that around.

Post: #17

If famous people have worn his jewelry, would it be possible to reach out to them and offer to have them wear other pieces on TV? Maybe have the celebrity post a picture with the piece on Instagram giving him a shout-out. It goes without saying that you should have an instagram account since what you're selling is very visual.

Other than that, look for girls in your area with 5-10k followers. Offer them to come and try some pieces and give a nice discount in return for a few pictures over the next few days. They should mention your IG profile and you should have some interesting pictures with his jewelry for when their followers come to visit.

What is the price range for the jewelry?