Tag: ecommerce

Business Plus, JUKI Posts

JUKI Business Plus Seminar: Creating a Newsletter

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on JUKI Business Plus Seminar: Creating a Newsletter

In today’s day and age, almost all shops and businesses use some format of email marketing. From sale promotions and company updates to personalized thank you notes for past shoppers, email marketing can help build your business. This practice has showcased time and time again what a great tool it can be for driving sales, creating a connection to the customer, and getting your business out there.

Today’s blog will cover what email marketing is, how you can create your newsletter, and tools and tips that will help you succeed. While an email can be used for many different purposes, it can upgrade your business!

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a tool used by all business types that builds a connection between you and the customer, like informing business updates, abandoned shipping carts, reward systems, thank you emails, and more.

The benefits of this tool are limitless! With email automation, you can help customers have personalized shopping experiences, improve return rates, promote products, and have the ability to reach a larger audience rather than you sending one email at a time.

Creating Your Newsletter

Let’s plan your newsletter! First, start a conversation using a direct connection to your customer, like their email. Seen as one of the more personal options for sales, thanks to the ability of personalization, buyers will appreciate that you’ve made an effort to connect with them.

Focus on newsletters that offer some form of value. For example, a focus on accessories they’ll like, promotions of products they’re interested in, blogs that align with their interests, and the like offer customers the opportunity to trust your business.

Consider your buyer or viewer when creating your newsletter. For example, if you could obtain an email address from someone considering your shop but didn’t complete a purchase, a newsletter can be a great way to bring them back in! In addition, with add-ons like coupons, promotional pricing, or upcoming sale announcements, you can pull in potential customers on the fence and help them find the product they need.

Another positive about newsletter promotions is the ability to speak to the customer without paid promotion. While we can pay to promote our ads on social media and online, there is no promise it will reach your intended audience each time. On the other hand, an email will directly reach your client and inform them of what’s happening in your business today.

Different Newsletter Goals

Before diving into your design, let’s plan the content your newsletter will cover. Of course, we have different goals when sending out these emails, so consider what response you want from the audience.

  • Relationship building: The top reason newsletters have gained popularity is the relationship and trust you begin building with your customer base. If your focus is relationship building, focus on giving them a view of your business and expertise. Add-ons like behind the scene clips or blogs on your projects allow you to build credibility while promoting your shop.
  • Sales and Services: Create curated newsletters for your customers. Based on their past purchases, you can create an email that will go specifically with their interests. For example, if someone purchased a quilt pattern, you can curate a quilting newsletter that promotes a project and other items for sale. This way, they can see you care about their purchase while encouraging a new sale.
  • Education: Does your business focus on selling sewing supplies or finished quilts? Create a how-to newsletter to show customers your abilities and allow them the chance to see how they can use your products. Whether it is how to style your new quilt or sew using a tool you sell, the best promotion for some customers is seeing the product in use and imagining how they can do the same.
  • Customer Feedback and Referrals: Use these newsletters to receive feedback on your business and practices. This way, you can focus on what works and needs to be fixed, allowing customers the chance to place their input, a benefit many appreciate! 

 Besides your content, focus on your design look. We want to create a layout that is easy to read but catches the viewers’ attention and helps them clarify that it’s your business. For example, focus on what color choices, font, and layout you want your letters to follow.

While most programs offer templates to choose from, make sure to personalize the templates to your company’s brand. Consistency is key when setting up your newsletter so that customers can connect it with your business and feel your brand’s touch.

Finding Your Audience

Before you can send these campaigns out, you need to build your audience! By building a strategy, you can decide whom you’re hoping to reach, what segments you might create (breaking down your audience by interest), and when you’ll send out your campaigns.

First, focus on your audience. Whom are you trying to reach? By deciding this first, you can plan how you’ll gather your emails and what groups you’ll create for newsletters, which will help you get a better idea of the content you need to add to your campaigns.

The best way to segment your audience is by asking for their interest when registering their email with your business. For example, if your business is focused on sewing but sells patterns, fabric, and accessories, you can request your audience pick their interest by choosing quilting, new patterns, and more.

While creating segmentation can be simple once you know your audience, the time-consuming project begins when you need to create separate emails for the segments. Therefore, we recommend that those new to email marketing stick to just one or two segments before attempting new ideas.

As for the topics, focus on products or projects that customers are interested in, products you want to promote, and blogs or vlogs that can benefit customers and encourage sales. Some topics can be consistent with forming a connection and building expectancy. For example, if you have a blog you post on often throughout the month, you can include a blog round-up for viewers to check out on your monthly business update newsletters. This way, in case they missed any or haven’t subscribed to your blog, you can bring in readers and offer them new exciting pieces to discover!

Finally, decide on what locations you will request emails from, online or in person. Email capture can come from your website, blog, social media sites, collaborations, and so much more! Be intentional about where you’re placing this sign-up form so you can receive new emails consistently and safely.

Don’t forget Privacy Regulations and Best practices!

When you begin sending email newsletters and collecting new ones, keep in mind marketing laws. In addition, privacy legislation and anti-spam guides are important to keep in mind when it’s time to start scheduling and sending.

  • General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR): Implemented in 2018, this European Union (EU) privacy law applies to anyone processing and/or storing the data of people in the EU. Many platforms comply with these laws and help users remain compliant with them.
  • Know your anti-spam legislation: CAN-SPAM (US) and CASL (Canada) are examples of anti-spam legislation intended to protect consumers from spam and electronic threats.
  • Subscribers must be obtained honestly: Sending email communication to people who have not opted-in is not GDPR compliant and is widely considered spam. Even customers who provide their email for purchase must choose to opt-in for receiving emails unrelated to their purchase.
  • Emails must contain an unsubscribe link: Subscribers must be able to opt-out from receiving email communication from you.
  • Include your business contact information: Make sure to place your business contact information in the footer of your emails to comply with anti-spam legislation.

Finding Your Platform

Each email platform has features and plans curated for different business types and needs. When choosing your package, focus on what you need right now, and remember what features you might like to use in the future once you’re more comfortable.

Below are features any beginner can use and place in their campaigns.

  • Built-in templates with customization: easily set up beautiful newsletters and customize them to your needs as you learn how to arrange your campaigns.
  • Personalization: with the ability to include subscriber information, you can choose an option to personalize each email with a user’s first name! This little touch will help customers feel like this email was curated for them.
  • Segmentation: Keep your audience organized by their interests! This way, quilters, sewists, pattern creators, and more get emails that correlate with their interests and help your email openings stay consistent.
  • Scheduling: schedule emails to be sent out at the best times for your audience. Whether that be morning before work or weekends for project time, study your subscribers’ habits and change your schedules every once in a while until you find what fits.
  • Automation: connect your email program to your shop and have emails sent after certain actions! For example, if someone just purchased an item from your shop, they can receive a confirmation email promoting similar products, a space for review, and a space for tracking.
  • Analytics: Whichever program you choose should have a form of analytics. This way, you can study what campaigns are successful and what you can fix to have consistent openings.

Keep in mind the budget before choosing a program! Focus on programs that are straightforward for beginners and offer packages for small businesses.

Below are three recommendations that beginners can check out!

MailChimp
Mailer Lite
Active Campaign
  • MailerLite: The easiest program to use, MailerLite offers easy drag-and-drop interfacing that makes it quick and fun to create. With a simple style, anyone can create their first newsletter on this program! The best part is that this program offers a free subscription option for up to 1000 subscribers. After this, the plans begin at $9 per month. This program can also be connected to your online e-shop, like Shopify.
  • ActiveCampaign: Easy to use and edit, the Active Campaign program integrates into Shopify and vouches for over 500 pre-built automation for your campaigns, allowing you to send welcome notes, sale confirmations, and more. It also offers an SMS option for those who volunteer their number to your business. The best part is you can test this program for 14 days before committing, and its beginning package begins at $9 per month.
  • MailChimp: Popular and easy for beginners, MailChimp stands out from other programs thanks to its ease of use and clean interface. With the ability to have 500 contacts before purchasing a plan, you can access hundreds of free templates, SMS Marketing, email automation, and quick editing tools. Furthermore, if you purchase a plan, their beginning plan starts at $11, upgrading your audience limit from 500 to 50,000!

Finally, once you’ve finalized your theme, planned content, chosen your platform, and finished planning a schedule, it’s time to send out your first newsletter! Again, stay true to your brand and goals and focus on writing eye-catching subject lines to bring viewers in. Confirm which email you use for responses, and allow subscribers to contact you directly, which will help build that communication line with your customers!

After you’ve sent your first few emails, you can begin learning your analytics and tweaking your strategy. Don’t forget, these newsletters are a window into your business, expertise, and personality, so have fun and create pieces that you and your customers will love!

Stay in the loop with JUKI! Join our newsletter list by visiting us here and scrolling down today!

Business Plus, JUKI Posts

JUKI Small Business Seminar: Tips and Tricks to In-Person Sales

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on JUKI Small Business Seminar: Tips and Tricks to In-Person Sales

With in-person sales making a comeback to our communities, in-person sales have seen a rise in popularity. A big reason for this is that it’s easier to build trust with customers. In addition, in-person sales help you handle their objections and see their emotions, allowing you to make sales you might have missed otherwise. 

In-person sales is another opportunity to get your business out there and bring in those sales you want. Today, we’ll dive into in-person sales and what tools and resources you need to know about before starting. 

Benefits of Selling in Person

When you first start your business, a large percentage of your sales will come from in-person sales because customers are more likely to trust a company they can physically build rapport with than an online one they would have to research and read reviews. 

With in-person sales, you can truly pitch and sell your product. Unlike online sales, where you can’t catch those moments when a customer is frustrated, disinterested, or bored with your product, an in-person sale allows you to capture their emotions and verbal cues to bring the customer back in. It’s also easier to keep their attention once you have it than online, where the customer can switch between tabs and lose interest.

Keep in mind that this form of sales is more time-consuming and takes extra effort. So, with a limited amount of time and resources at your disposal, you need to set aside the hours to attend farmers’ markets, shops, and booths, while allocating your stock and ensuring you’re ready for a low or high volume of sales.

Selling in person also brings in the possibility of other team members dealing with rude or upset customers face to face. If you’re hiring sales representatives to assist with your in-person sales, you’ll need to consider finding, hiring, training, and even possibly firing sales representatives. You’ll also experience good and bad moments with possible customers, where some can be rude when turning down your product. However, don’t let these small things hold you back, as selling in person can be one of the best ways to get yourself out there.

Farmer’s Market

Farmer’s markets can be seen as a step towards setting your booth in conventions and tradeshows. A smaller-scale setup, farmer’s markets are perfect for getting in touch with your local communities and building up your skill for in-person sales. Follow along as we go over some tips to keep in mind before attending or registering for your first farmers market.

  1. Research!

Like anything you do for your business, you’ll want to research before applying to attend a farmers’ market. First, look into what farmers’ markets best fit your niche and see what kind of crowds they bring in. The best way to do this is to attend the local markets as a customer and see what vendors are present and who’s shopping.

Chat with the vendors already attending to learn more about the market’s atmosphere and what kind of shoppers like to attend. In addition, speak with the organizers while you’re there to understand better how to attend, what rules they have for sellers, and more.

Be on the lookout for fees as well. Depending on your local farmers market, booths might be rented out every week or may require a longer commitment, in which case you would be placed in a deal for up to 6 months. Booth fees are generally charged per day and range anywhere from $20 to $50 or more. Remember to look into your state ordinances and any necessary licenses or certifications required for selling in farmer’s markets.

2. Preparing Your Booth

Farmer’s markets tend to offer small booths and areas. Keep this in mind when planning your booth and take the time to complete a dry test run, create a detailed checklist for what you’ll need, and don’t forget the personal essentials.

A dry test run is completed by setting up your booth at home and placing everything as if it was the day of the Market. By doing this, you’ll get an idea of how you want your layout. What products can come with and which ones should stay, and what inventory you’ll need to bring along.

Your checklist should consist of your products, services if needed, customer essentials like receipts and credit card readers, and essentials to keep you and your team going. Remember to pack things like food, drinks, and items like sunscreen so that you’re prepared for the hours ahead.

3. Products and pricing

When shoppers attend farmer’s markets, they want to know the pricing and available products. Make sure to correctly display your products in unique ways like flyers or brochures, so customers have a clear idea of what you’re selling. When it comes to pricing, use clearly labeled stickers. 

Having a consistent system when it’s time to complete a purchase is also important. Ensure you have a clear area for handling purchases and the right tools on hand if you’re accepting cards or cash. If you offer bags for customers, make sure to have those nearby and ready

4. Booth Extras

Farmers’ markets can be busy, which means you may not reach every customer as they walk by. For these occasions, it’s great to keep things in your booth that customers can reference when you can’t get to them. Think of setting up an FAQ poster, have a video or photos playing somewhere to showcase making your products or doing your services, and create a flow to your booth if you’re selling products that can complement one another. Your booth setup can help you upsell when done right, so take the time to figure out what extras you can integrate into your design.

Trade show & conventions

One of the best ways to get your business out there and to the right niche is by attending trade shows and conventions that correlate with your product or niche market. By attending these shows and spreading the word about your business, you can bring in new customers that attend these events. You can also take these events as an opportunity to network with other companies in your niche and introduce yourself to competitors or possible collaborations. Below are five things to keep in mind when you start looking into attending your first trade show or convention.

  1. Research!

A tradeshow is like a window into your small business, what you offer, and who you are. Make sure to research the tradeshow you want to attend to get an idea of how many are commonly in attendance, how many vendors will be attending, if there will be events held during the convention, and so much more like possible vendor product giveaways.

Keep in mind the competitors visiting the same convention you’re interested in. Then, when customers come up to your shop, you can compare your product to others, explain the differences and benefits of yours, and build that trust and credit with your knowledge.

2. This is a Sales Pitch

Keep in mind that attending these shows is a 24/7 sales pitch. You have to be “on” at these events like other shops, and customers come up to your booth with questions, inquiries, and more. A convention is like being in a constant sales pitch, so if you’re still getting comfortable with this aspect of public speaking for your small business, take some time to attend community events before attending a tradeshow or convention.

3. Don’t forget to Market!

Attending these events is the perfect chance to test your marketing skills. Jump on your social media, newsletters, and podcast to promote your business and attend these events so that current customers and possible buyers can attend! Promote your booth with a photo so shoppers know what to look for when attending.

4. Be Prepared

Remember to bring along marketing giveaways when attending these events. While this is the perfect opportunity to sell your products, this is also a chance to bring in returning customers or enjoy the power of word of mouth. By offering items like business cards, flyers, mini freebies, and more, you’re giving customers a way to contact you in the future for sales or the opportunity to share your business card with their friends and family. Make sure to include your contact information, website or storefront information, and any other information you think is essential.

Don’t forget to bring in branded items to decorate your booth so shoppers can know your brand and business name while browsing. This can go beyond having a tablecloth with your logo and include ideas like banners, flags, signage, and more. You want customers to know your company name and what you sell when they see your booth.

5. Prepare Your Booth

Beyond your marketing pieces and giveaway items, you’ll need to prepare your booth if you’re using them. Think of creative ways to sell your products by setting up demos, showcasing videos of you creating your product, or completing a service if that’s what your business offers. Look into ways of including the customer by providing product testing on-site so they can see your product in action. Think of your booth like a storefront, and make sure you’re prepared for when window shoppers walk by!

Star Small and Aim Big!

When you decide to start selling in-person, remember to start at a small scale like your local farmers’ and artisan’s markets before working your way up to conventions and tradeshows. Getting experience in in-person sales is important! You want to be able to handle questions, create demos, handle sales, and move comfortably so that you can build trust in your product and business when selling directly to your customers. Selling in person can be a whole new ball game for those uncomfortable with public speaking, so make sure to practice putting yourself out there and connecting with those in the community.

If you’ve sold your product in person before, what tips would you give to those just starting? Let us know in the comments below!