DarkWaveDoom

There son on several forums from sellers asking “what is the best sample / promo for my store?” As spring turns into summer, more and more of us are selling at craft shows, helping our sample items to other vendors to distribute, collect packages to promote our store on site, giving Perhaps http://homeofthesampler. com or http://littleblackbloxes. com So many vendors (and customers!) Who received my promos to distribute commented on them, and I wanted to give my advice and my opinions about what you can do to get your samples into the hands of customers – Keep them in the hands of customers, and possibly draw them into your store to learn more about items offered. * Figure what it is that best represents your store. Forget the candy and the good – those are delicious and very good but forgettable. Nobody will remember 5 minutes after popping the candy in their mouth, which is the business card was attached to it. Most likely, they will not care even. . . because the candy has been eaten. . the question has already been used. . and had no lasting effect. * It is always best to sample something that is currently carried in your store, or to develop a mini-version of it. Here are some ideas: -Bath & Beauty sellers can sample mini soaps, or lotions. Jewelry Artists can attach small earrings or pendants to their cards, glass artists can include a small hand-blown glass beads they have created. -Crocheters and knitters can knit small pin or finger puppets. Artists from doll clothes can make mini-dresses or shirts to teddy bears. -Work with copper? Make bookmarks spiral. Card and paper manufacturers can create sets of notes or tags, photographers can send bookmarks or small prints to present their work. The best example is the hand that gives the holder a general idea of what they can find in your store, and a sense of how they should view your business overall. * Keep it professional, keep it clean. Whatever sample you distribute, or give other vendors to distribute to you, you better believe that you only get one shot at that first impression – so make it count. I received samples that gave me the impression that the artist does not care what thoughts I find myself with about their store. The samples were in dirty containers, labels obviously reused and half off, or the sample itself was defective in one way (ie. a pair of earrings, where a hook used ear was different from that of another, etc..) All this will do is make a buyer feel that all elements of your store should be that way too. And that your work itself is sloppy. . or if it directs you, they will get their papers in packaging sales, etc. A sample is one of the best ways to reach potential customers who want to try before committing to buy. . Why ruin your chances to hang in your shop from them a less-than-acceptable sample which disable them from your store? * The packaging is as important as the sample, too. Make sure your contact information is connected to your sample – or maybe you could hang tags made with your store information on it if the distribution of, say, earrings. Any individual package – Do not count on the person receiving the stack of promos to do it for you. If you send samples of son – pack them so that one meter of wire does not tangle with one another. Again, use clean packaging and well-designed labels, and include a stack of business cards. Do not write your URL in pencil on a sheet of scratch paper attached to a sample hurridly thrown together. . . Yup, I got those too. Again, while wanting to give the best impression. * Make sure you think of yourself, too. Obviously you’ll want to keep it profitable. Especially if you plan on sending a lot. I normally send out 10-12 packages a week full of my samples at different locations for distribution. If you can, and if there is no time limit, you must answer, try to send items first class, not the priority. It is much cheaper. Also, before you dive in to 50, 100 or 1000 samples, ask yourself if it is wise for you to do, or perhaps instead you can do something that is easy (and time n ‘ is not too expensive to reproduce). . before I settled on my current sample products, I lost so much energy on starting the promo packages that I obviously could not complete due to time constraints, resources, and cost of materials. * Last but not least. . send them efficiently. Think about the audience you are trying to achieve, particularly when collaborating with other Etsy sellers for coupon swaps. We’ve all seen the son of discussions request for Discounts given to all orders. . . I wrote a few myself and answered even more of them. What I always do is take a look at the shop of a seller who is asking them. Not to judge the quality of their articles, or honesty in their application, but rather to see where they are (remember, the international transport cost you more, especially if the samples are heavy) and type of items they sell to see if my items would fit with the target audience, they seem to sell. Put it this way. . Bath and beauty products go with almost any other store in terms of customers. . . Sending samples of religious objects oriented pair perhaps not so well with, say, a shop filled with polymer clay demons. You get my drift:) On the other hand. . . Once, I sent samples of soap in the shape and color of the black widow at an event wearing gothic clothing and accessories. If you can change your offer to suit the event you send items to, or create something special for that, by all means go for it! Promotional items and samples to go much further with a potential client only to send business cards or coupons. If a customer can see, touch, feel and see a sample of your work closely, the chance you have of their interests being taken a step further and their lack of browse your shop.

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