marketing ideas for my unique product....?

Hunter Vaughan · #1 (**permalink**) 02-24-2006, 01:35 PM

Hi All,
yes everyone thinks their product is unique.. but as I hand build to order custom clay caricatures for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, business etc they really arent available anywhere else...been in business 28 years but only about 4 on web...am making sales and biz doubles every year, but still hoping for more...any ideas in mind to bring more exposure/clients/??...know this is a vague question but thought I'd ask anyways www.magicmud.com
thanks for taking the time to put up with my request Hunter Vaughan

joickle · #2 (**permalink**) 02-24-2006, 04:24 PM

You could try to make your site viral with tell a friend/invite scripts.
maybe include an affiliate program.

These are great ways to get the word around about your site

Jason

Hunter Vaughan · #3 (**permalink**) 02-24-2006, 07:41 PM

...for the tips... hunter

etechsupport · #4 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 08:50 AM

If you opt for viral marketing I would suggest to make it interesting add some clips, games carrying your ads, screensavers etc to grab interest of the reciptents.

joesnow · #5 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 11:23 AM

you could try this:

http://www.directtodesktop.co.uk

JKomp · #6 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 11:37 AM

To make money on the net I would recommend getting a professionally designed web site (post in the freelance forum) or at least spend a bit more time on it yourself.

**ctabuk** · #7 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 11:57 AM

The site is already Number One throughout most SE's in Canada for the search term 'Personalised Figurines' my only problem with that is how many people search that term? I agree with jkomp - it does need some work, and I'm doing a site report on it too. But credit is due, number one is always cool!

mseshadri · #8 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 08:07 PM

I would agree with the poster above who recommended a better site design. It's great to be number one on search engines but it's also important to have at least a semi-professional 'image'. Not necessarily slick, techno and boring, just more neatly organized. That's not really a marketing strategy however since you've already attracted the people you want to your site.

I would try Google Adwords(with a strict limit on the amount per click) and also more traditional marketing strategies like going (or emailing) to cake shops, specialty stores etc and advertising your services there.

I thought your Judaica figurines were hilarious so maybe posting on boards is a great way to advertise your products too!

cheers

Hunter Vaughan · #9 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 09:30 PM

Hi to JKomp, ctabuk and Miriam,
thanks for the tips and info, yes it's a bit of an embarrassment, but difficult to do all, create art work, learn how to work Front page, optimize site and make a living from it all....have only been in computer world about 4 years....I had someone "professional" build my first site, but it was worse and all cloaked in java and flash and I didnt even know how to add to it...so I bought Frontpage....I have new clay works constantly being created and have to be able to edit my site with frontpage regularily to update, cant hire someone to do all of that for me constantly....so I'm stumbling in what I think is the right direction (as opposed to my usual stumbling blind) and this forum has been very useful, appreciate your time and energy to try to illuminate the landscape for me. A little afraid to overhaul the whole thing, but I believe I could try to design a new template or layout on a new page in Frontpage and switch or "apply" that over or to the rest of the site if it looks better,,,,even Frontpage I dont understand fully though I have 3 books on it.
as for the Miriam tip of alerting newsgroups I want to do that and have done a bit of lurking but am aware that people dont want to read "ads" or the like and I just dont want to "barge in" proclaiming my glory....though I'm sure that there are people who would like to know of my service...well like a tortoise I am persistent and will plod on....again thanks for the energy...Hunter

Hunter Vaughan · #10 (**permalink**) 03-08-2006, 09:35 PM

JKomp....need any gifts made....?, would love to trade for a site "overhaul"....dont really have the budget to pay anyone with actual $...would have to trade??...sounds crazy but thought I'd throw it out there anyway...thanks again, Hunter

icb01co2 · #11 (**permalink**) 03-09-2006, 11:04 AM

Quote:

you could try this:

http://www.directtodesktop.co.uk

Just looked at this, I cant believe that their charging judt under a grand for what i presume is a simple desktop program that queries a server to see if there are any new messages. RSS feed readers do this and there free.

joesnow · #12 (**permalink**) 03-15-2006, 09:48 AM

yeah, but newsreaders aren't tailored and locked into one particular site, also aren't tailored to your branding etc.

plus, when most people click on an RSS button on site, up pops what amounts to a load of cobblers to your average user, RSS is still more for techy heads. D2D is looking to make it more user friendly and mainstream..

also, just under a grand? we paid that just for one ad on an e-zine to 25k people, think of PPC spend, can be 000's a month, even your own newsletters can run into thousands just to generate and send one.