Desperate for Marketing and PR advice

[penelope]

I am desperately looking for sound advice and ideas for a marketing PR strategy, which will not cost an arm an a leg to launch my business the beginning of February.

Could anyone suggest where I may find the names an d contact info of retail buyers, for large stores?

Please have a look at my site and I will be grateful for any advice offered.

Thanks in advance

miss-penny.co.uk

[dssquirt]

I like your website. I am just wondering where you are located and why you want to market to large stores. I live in the Brainerd, Minnesota area, which has a lot of tourist type stores. I would think that your dolls would go over great in some of the small tourist type stores, that are all over up here. You could go to the Brainerd Minnesota chamber website and look for gift shops and then contact them directly.

Hope this helps.

[penelope]

I'm on it right now.

I origionally wanted to go to small "specific" types of shops, but was advised not too.

Actually the advice I have been given has basically advised me to do nothing, that's why I'm here looking for as much advice as possible and so far I've had better advice in one week with webproworld than I have had in 9 months.

Thanks for taking the time

Regards
Penelope

[elearning]

I visited your site, and it is nicely designed.

I would say the one concern with hitting the "big" stores is - could you fulfill an order if they wanted 1,000 pieces within a short period of time??

I would think that you would want to contact smaller stores and pitch your product to them first. As you build your client base, then look at larger stores.

For the type of product that you are selling, I would guess that "word of mouth" sales and "tell a friend" will generate much more repeat and new business. I think your product is unique, and as such you need to take a unique approach in marketing it off-line.

Mohammed

Originally Posted by penelope

I'm on it right now.

I origionally wanted to go to small "specific" types of shops, but was advised not too.

Actually the advice I have been given has basically advised me to do nothing, that's why I'm here looking for as much advice as possible and so far I've had better advice in one week with webproworld than I have had in 9 months.

Thanks for taking the time

Regards
Penelope

[penelope]

Mohammed

Thankyou so much for your comments, I missed your reply and am so sorry I didn't respond sooner.

I could fill an order for 1000, but then the writing would slip, I'm presently compiling all the stories and adventures sufficient for 2 years, I'm not saying I'm an optimist but from the dolls I've sold so far I've been inundated with E-mails asking for more stories and what happened next? etc.

The business is launching at the end of February and I'm trying to iron out all possible problems before "I hit the big time" LOL.

For the launch I'm going with press releases (at least I'm Hoping too) and forwarding over to Europe and US.

I am just so lost with the best approach at the moment.

Your comments were really appreciated and I apologise once again for the lateness to my response
Regards
Penny

[fathom]

Assuming for the moment that the dolls are your own creation -- you may want to market test online to evaluate market interest through yourself and other online retailers and use this data to help define your overall marketing strategy.

One of the first things you should consider is co.uk will appeal to uk only or European outlets and consumers but that is a world away from getting a foothold into the North Amercian market.

Proving or disproving this premise can be easily and cheaply accomplished by developing a couple of Google AdWord campaigns one for UK and a separate one for the US.

You will likely get interest from both and a feel for what the expected market size is (impressions and click-throughs) but sales conversions will be bias to the UK by a sizable margin.

Nonetheless it is the most inexpensive way to develop market research.

Additionally -- take a close look at the competition within the North American industry as these very well could be regional partners in cross promotion, drop-ship, linking (online), and a way to get established as an appealing brand in North America.

[penelope]

Fathom
Thanks for that advice, perhaps you will be able to help with this. When I bought the .co.uk site I felt it would be prudent to buy the .com site as well, but have been advised from someone in marketing and E-commerce that to use this site would be detrimental as it suggests a commercial enterprise.

I had asked if it was possible to run the two sites along side each other and was told I didn't really want to get into the .com side of it as running the site was not as.... (can't remember exactly after that).

What would your advice be on the above?

In the mean time will look out your E-commerce sites,
Thanks in advance
Penelope

[fathom]

hmmm... not sure what was meant but if you are selling a product (dolls) or service (manufacturer of dolls for retail outlets) then I would presume you to be "commerical".

Although dot.com is in fact short for commerical it is also synonamous with "global" or world wide distribution (a bit of brand identity here) co.uk or .ca or .it usually infers a specific region and the reality is limiting to a specific regional market. (which isn't bad - there are still lot of consumers in any one region).

You should note that I am discussing generalization and not necessarily your specific industry and markets... this is why I suggested market testing now on the specifics of each and since you have both co.uk and .com you can easily prove or disprove some suggested premises which is far better than "guessing" what might be true.

Notwithstanding - I have at least one client in California, US that is a retail outlet for collectibles dolls (60+ product lines) that I have started in both website enhancement and Google AdWords and is becoming fairly successful.

As established in the US - a limited retailer partnership may be possible and quite beneficial to both -- competitive-cooperation.

No matter what you do though - research and planning are the two most essential steps to a fast return on your investment.

[penelope]

Hi Fathom

Thank you once again for the advice, I saw the collectors dolls site on your Ecommerce link and saved the address (just incase).

I am firmly of the opinion that I have a ticker tape readout that prints from my forehead and says "this is a mug, baffle it with IT and you'll get the job".

The market research has been done and it is going to be popular once I have everything up and running properly, I also have to have press releases (so I'm told) to get people to my site.

Refering to your initial post, yes the dolls and idea are all of my creation, it sort of ballooned at one point, as when trying to write the adventures and stories I was advised to change track and finish it as a book, had a survey of the age group 6-68 reading the first write and all wanting the next chapters. The dolls which have been sold at cost price to several customers are my market research and these are going really well and the doll is remaining the favorite toy, (2 E-mails today - despite the new ones for Christmas) Which was my intention with this product.

I have spent so much capital having this product developed, web site etc. etc. That I have been offered the option of signing away a small percentage of the company for PR and marketing advice for a 10 year term. What is your honest opinion of this suggestion?

I hasten to add, that I am by nature trusting, and gullible and as such am trying to gather people around me so that I will not do something idiotic!
Any advice as you will gather under the circumstances is taken on board, as the advice to date in UK has in most part been to my detriment.

Thanking you in advance
Penelope

[kjohnson5576]

Penelope, I wouldn't sell off anything just yet. Don't be hasty. PR and marketing advice is pretty easy. Just look how much you have gotten from these forums.

Down the road, if you are as successful as you hope to be, your biggest challenge will be keeping up production. When production comes into play, you may need to hire people to "hand make" each doll, dresses, etc. Cash Flow becomes a problem at this point and it's at this point, if you want Cash Infusion for labor & materials, that a partial sell of your business "May" be appropriate. Try to avoid it though.

Remember, the value of your business is not just tangible, but intangibles also. Your stories have value even though they are not yet sold. You are creating equity in your business through your hard work and creativity. The most fun about a business is creating value from thin air. A doll is a doll is a doll, but your dolls have more value because they are magical and you have created a world in which they live and breath.

Don't sell yourself short. Follow advice in these forums on marketing, linking, etc and I'm sure you will do great at the PR.

Kent

[penelope]

Kent

Thank you so much for those words, its given me that confidence boost that I needed.

You are so right about having learnt so much from this sight, I just wish I'd known about it sooner.

Best wishes
Penelope