SEARCH ENGINES – You should try to get your store listed in as many free search engines as possible, especially Google. You can get your store listed on Google at this link (you will need to sign up with Google):
Submit Your Site to Google
You can also consider buying your listing for better placement (pay-per-click, or PPC). Search engines will be the main way your customers find you. However, search engines are only one way to advertise your store. You should not focus solely on this method of advertising but is the most important. Finding alternative methods of promotion is a very good idea.
WRITING ARTICLES – Here is a neat way to promote your store. Many web sites are looking for web content / articles … if you can write well and have some knowledge on any New Age topics, you can place your store URL in the bio or resource box. So when a web site publishes your article, they are also advertising your business! Click here for the Top 50 Article Directories.
FACEBOOK & TWITTER – Social media is huge. You would be doing your business a disservice by not getting involved with these. You can create a Facebook and Twitter account for free.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL – Videos are a great opportunity for promoting and can become unbelievably popular. Start a Youtube channel dedicated to your New Age / Metaphysical knowledge. Healing, Astrology, Yoga, Meditation, Wicca, Psychic Development … whatever it may be. Post your videos and you can add a link to your site. There are millions of viewers on Youtube. It’s an absolutely fantastic way to funnel visitors to your site with no limits to its potential.
EMAIL SIGNATURE – Having an Email Signature can be very effective in promoting your business. Just describe your store briefly and include the URL or web address of your store (see your email account for setting up your Signature) — then every time you send an email to someone your store description and URL will automatically be seen at the bottom of each email you send.
EXCHANGE LINKS – A links page is great for driving traffic to your store … just visit some New Age, Metaphysical, Wiccan and Pagan sites and ask them if they would like to exchange links with you. If they do, just add their link to your links page and they will do the same for you. This is an easy and free way to advertise your business!
FORUMS – There are many forums / message boards on the internet related to the New Age and Metaphysics — if you know something about astrology, for example, you could participate in the astrology forums, giving your expert opinion and tips on the subject, and including your signature (your store URL and description) at the bottom of each message you post. Do not post only an advertisement for your store as this is frowned upon and not usually allowed. However, if you are participating in a discussion, leaving your signature at the bottom of each post is usually okay.
GUESTBOOKS – Whenever you sign someone’s guestbook you can also leave your URL or web address. This is another easy and free way to advertise your store. But don’t spam guestbooks! If you sincerely enjoy a site and wish to tell them in their guestbook, then there is usually a place to add your URL as well.
BUYING AD SPACE ON WEB SITES – This might be effective for you if you advertise on New Age related web sites. You should target your audience (advertising on a golf site is not going to work). You should also make sure that the site you advertise on has a high traffic count — a web site with no visitors is a waste of your money.
MAGAZINES & CLASSIFIED ADS – This can be expensive but you may want to try advertising in New Age related magazines and newspapers. You should find out how large the readership is before handing over your money. You can certainly promote your buisiness effectively without spending any money (there are a lot of free ways to advertise) so don’t go over budget.
YOUR OWN CATALOG – Once you start building a list of customers, you can periodically send them a catalog by bulk mail. You can send your customers a printed catalog four times a year: Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. You can easily put together your own catalog and have it copied at your local print shop (some dropshippers and wholesalers have ready-made catalogs where you just order the catalogs and just add your address). With bulk mail, you can send catalogs much cheaper. Contact your local post office for bulk rate information.
BUSINESS CARDS, ETC. – Don’t forget you can promote your store on business cards, letterheads, envelopes, flyers or hand-outs, brochures, etc. Word of mouth doesn’t hurt, either. Tell everyone you know.
SELLING ON EBAY & OTHER AUCTION SITES – eBay is one of the best places to sell many of your items. PayPal is widely used on eBay and the stores we can install for you are designed for PayPal. After an auction is over, you can direct the winning bidder to your store so they can purchase more items. You may sell on other auction sites, too.
NEWSLETTER – Your store is designed to collect Subscribers. They can opt-in to your newsletter when they register an account with you or when they place an order. Here you have a group of buyers who have specifically asked you to market your goods to them. They are the largest potential to generate sales for you. Write a monthly newsletter and keep them informed about new items and any sales you may be having.
DISCOUNT COUPONS – Everyone loves a good deal. Offer your customers a store-generated coupon code. It works like this: during Checkout a customer can type a coupon code that you previously gave them (or that you advertised) and a customer will receive a discount off his total (such as 10%). You set the percentage of the discount, the End and Start dates, and the store will generate a unique coupon code that you can give out to your customers. This is a great way to encourage repeat customers.
ADD MORE VALUE TO YOUR SITE – Make your site more popular by having more than just a store. You need to attract visitors any way you can and one of the best ways is by having your own blog. Your blog posts will get indexed by Google and other search engines, and if your posts become popular, you will attract a lot of new customers to your store as well. In addition to search engines linking to your blog posts, other web sites will too if they like your writing, generating more free traffic for you.
GUEST BLOGGING – Find the top New Age or Wiccan bloggers and ask them if they allow Guest Blogging. If they do, you can add your store URL to the Author / Bio box (usually shown at the bottom of your posts).
So, to sum up the obvious: Promotion is the key to a successful business. Nobody knows your store exists unless you tell them … so get to work and go tell them!
