We get success stories – here’s one.
Floormats UK is an online shop formed in late 2009. When we started floor mats, we knew things would be though! We knew how hard it would be to establish a quality online presence especially with all the competition on the internet.
But we knew that with the right tools, and the right support, we could make it happen. So we set ourselves a goal. We aimed to be the UK’s number 1 supplier of matting solutions.
.Today I’m going start by talking about a very important rule in the world of online business startups. And that is, never give up, no matter how hopeless it may seem! Most people simply stop trying, the reason being. They see how hard it can be out here. They think, “Look how much further we need to go to reach our goal” when in fact they should be thinking “look how far we have come”. It’s a fact, hard work brings results, maybe there’s a little luck involved as well. But over all, you reap what you sow.
These days it’s very hard to find a niece something that people want, and something that people are missing? Our philosophy! Instead of looking at what people want. Why not show them what they need. If you sell a product well enough, in theory that’s what you’re doing. You first need to strategize how to approach your market. How aggressive you’re going to tackle your audience.
The way we did this was to utilize all the available tools on the web, and used them the best we could. One very important thing, no matter how big or small your business is, is spreading the word, making your potential customer know exactly what you are all about, and exactly what you do. The most effective way to do this is to keep it short and sweet. You need to find your unique selling point, or USP. Every company has one, whether you know it or not. You need to market this in every way you possibly can, when you send emails, when you write blogs, whatever you do, market your brand image.
When it comes to utilizing the tools available, you first need to understand what’s available to you. As soon as you know this, you need to establish a plan on best ways to use your tools. One very common marketing tool, but also one of the most powerful, is the blog. Here at floormats, we see blogging as a very important tool to submit information to our audience. If you have something to say, or need to inform your potential customers, a blog is a sure place to start.
You can include anything in your blog, just as long as it is specific to your business and products. When we get a new product, we tend to write a blog on exactly what the product is, and how it can benefit the customer. You can then go on to write descriptive articles that can provide any relevance to your brand. For example, if we wanted to aim a blog based at our rubber floor mat products, we would write something about rubber recycling, or maybe the multiple uses of rubber. It gives the customer that extra bit of reassurance that we know our market. And we do!
Nowadays, another very common tool in the expansion of your business is Facebook, and other social network platforms. These are places where information can move from person to person at lightning speeds. For example, each person that likes your page has on average 500 friends. And each one of their friends has 500 friends, and so on. And if you do the math, that’s a massive potential audience. One thing you must remember with Facebook is that you must interact, that’s what people need. Post as little as often as you like, but just make sure you respond to your customers in good time.
As the list goes on, I’m going to finish by telling you exactly what I have just told you. There is no special formula to making an online business prosper, because all brands are different. In simple terms, it all comes down to trial and error, and not stopping until you reach your goal.
Joel Whitcher
FloormatsUK