by John Almberg, IdentryLLC
It's hard to believe, but this is issue # 6 of “Selling Stamps on the Web”. Your questions have been rolling in, so it's time to focus this column where it can do the most good: answering your toughest questions.
The toughest one yet is from a dealer who I'll call Bob.
“I built my stamp website a year and a half ago,” he e-mailed me. “I put a lot of time and money into it, but the results have been disappointing. In fact, I'm averaging just a few sales per month. What's wrong???”
I call this the “Field of Dreams” problem. Too many dealers think that if you build a web site, they will not only come, but buy.
That might work in Hollywood, but it sure doesn't work on the Web. If you've got this problem, you need to fix it fast. So, without further ado, here is the #1 reason for website flops:
Reason #1: No Marketing
If you build a website, they will come, right?
Wrong. No marketing, no visitors. No visitors, no sales. It's as simple as that. To generate sales, you have to attract potential customers to your website.
There are lots of books filled with marketing ideas. Some work for stamp dealers, and some don't. Here are 5 techniques that actually work for dealers:
Pay-per-click ads: PPC ads are the 2 or 3 line classified ads that run on the right side of search engines, like Google and Yahoo. Done right, they can generate visitors in a few days. The key is to target the right keywords, to write ads that both attract and qualify potential visitors, to not over-pay for position, and to carefully manage your ads for profit.
In-bound Links: Your potential customers are already on the Web, visiting other stamp-related websites, participating in stamp-related chats, and reading stamp-related emails. Wouldn't it be great if you could provide those potential customers with paths to your website? That's what in-bound links do. They're like referrals, and like referrals, they will provide you with some of your best business. Get as many as you can by trading links with other websites, participating in online forums and email lists, and writing articles for E-Zines and other online publications. Make sure to include a link to your website.
Print Advertising: There are plenty of collectors who begin their buying searches by studying ads in magazines, catalogs, and newsletters. The two keys are: (1) focus the ad on attracting potential customers to your website, and (2) keying your web address with a code like 'asd' (if the ad is in the American Stamp Dealer, for example), so you can count the number of visitors and profit each ad produces. This is easy to do. Just print your address like www.yourstampbiz.com?id=asd, or use a landing page like www.yourstampbiz.com/asd. Tracking ads lets you 'tune' them until they are profitable. Ideally, you'd run profitable ads in every stamp publication. That way, no matter which publication your potential customer reads, you'll be there. I worked with a business that sold inflatable boats. Using this technique, they eventually ran ads in 450 publications each month. The average profit from each ad was only $112. But $112 x 450 adds up to a lot of profit!
Off-line Promotion: Most dealers attend shows, send out catalogs, and have a customer list. Don't be shy! Use every opportunity to tell collectors about your website. You can get business cards and brochures printed up cheaply at sites like www.printingforless.com. Hand them out as fast as you can, then print up more. For shows, print your web address on every available surface: your shirt, your hat, even your kids. Hey, you never know!
Search Engine and Directory Marketing: The Holy Grail of every stamp dealer is to be the #1 listing for a Google search for 'stamps'. That isn't going to happen, but it is possible to climb to the first page of more targeted searches like 'graded stamps' or 'postal history'. The key is to (1) carefully choose a set of keywords that searchers actually use frequently, (2) to optimize a specific page of your website for that word, and (3) to carefully track your position for each keyword. It's not rocket science, but it does takes time, so stick with it.
A Conservative Investment
Finally, marketing should be a conservative investment. That means every dollar you invest should yield a positive ROI. You can do your own marketing, but if you don't know how to track your ROI, a professional can help you set up an ROI tracking system. That's the real key to success.
There's lots of other reasons for website flops, so next month, I'll continue this series with the #2 reason: Making it hard to buy.
Meanwhile, please send any questions or comments to john@identry.com, or visit us at www.identry.com. And have a great month Selling Stamps on the Web!
