Auction Power Guide

I have just started my own little business selling fashion and costume jewellery :
www.sophiesjewellerybox.co.uk

I would just like some advice on others experience with starting a new business, and any tips for getting more traffic that have worked for you.

So far I have paid for advertising on google adwords and facebook. Entered my URL on various trawlers and online web directories, got all of the social media sites such as twitter, stumbled upon, facebook and pinterest.
I also leaflet drop, attend fairs and shop events, have set up an online blog, promote on asos marketplace and have written to various newspapers and magazines with my press release.

I understand it takes alot of man hours, hard work and determination, but would just value some tips and tricks from people who have been through or are going through the same as me. I spend around 5 hours a day purely on online promotion and advertising.

I really want to make this work, it’s my passion and hobby, i am 22 years old, and I really would love to hear your stories.

All constructive criticism and feedback is welcomed, and thank you in advance
Sophie x

I noticed that most of your products centered around rhinestone jewellry, so you should concentrate your keywords based around those.

Adwords can be tricky to get right from the get go, these days there are so many different features in there that it can be confusing. I would suggest that you stick to product listing ads (and google shopping). AFAIK Google shopping is still free in the UK and you should utilise them. I work with American clients normally so I really don’t have a clue what the UK rules are. Even though I’m from the UK.

I’m not sure what your profit margins are using Adwords on low cost products – I suppose it really depends on your market, what the typical customer buys (5+ items or just one). I would expect that you will need to get at least 15 customers to your website to make one sale. If you’re paying 15p a click that would mean that your margin would need to be at least £2.25 to break even.

There are various techniques you can use on site to increase the amount of money people spend on your site by cross selling and Adwords techniques to hammer your click costs down.

The free delivery over £30 is a nice touch and will help to increase your average basket value up so customers buy more than one item and you have a better margin.

If you need some tips and specific Adwords related advice contact me through http://www.karimium.com

I used to run an eCommerce site before, I found that a lot of sole proprietors run an ebay store as well – even though it’s not the core part of their business, they use ebay as a lead generation funnel. They’ll sell pieces on ebay – because it’s a big market place and then use it to build a list of prospects and when mailing goods out enclose a phamphlet of their website or even a catalogue.

Enclosed a 20% off ebay purchase discount for the online store and funnel sales onto there.

The ebay method acts like a advertising medium that essentially pays for itself.

Also utilize email marketing to retain a list of customers and email them about latest store updates and send fashion tips etc.

What Am i doing wrong i sell costume jewellery on ebay which i think is a nice mix and im thinking of doing it full time and opening an ebay shop but im put of by slow sales i dont make a big profit as i beleive being greedy puts people off do you think i have the right mix and what do you think of my prices and postage please let me know as i am left scratching my head as there are shops on ebay selling the same items over £5.00 dearer in some cases. Have a look and see what you think im called shellynrichy. Thanks Shelly 27 year old stress headed female.

I had a very similar problem. I opened a shop selling lovely costume jewellery, girly accessories etc and made it look professional, but sales were so slow and the costs were so high I gave up and I’ve got loads of stuff stored in my bedroom now! (will probably try again soon but it’s a lot of hassle as you’ll agree). I’m not saying you should give up but ebay is such a huge marketplace now and there is so much competition I just think that is the main problem. I personally don’t see anything wrong with what you are selling but it depends on who’s looking for what and is a matter of luck. If you go to a shopping centre you have Claires and Accessorize or whatever but ebay has lots of shops selling costume jewellery. You say other people have sold the same jewellery for £5 dearer – maybe they were one-offs who knows but have you thought about changing your name (if you can) to something catchier relating to what you are selling? I wouldn’t recommend opening a shop yet until you see how things go for a bit longer as I ended up worse off. What about carboot sales? Good luck!