To start your sales, start your selling
So you're new to Bonanza, and hoping to make your first sales sooner rather than later? Then let's agree on one thing: The key to selling, is to sell. In other words, as Wayne Gretzky put it, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
But if you're like most people, self-promotion can make you a bit uncomfortable. We felt the same way - our parents taught us "don't toot your own horn" - until this burst of insight: People want what you're selling... but they can't buy it if they don't know about it.
When you put it like that, promoting your merchandise isn't just good business; it's an important way to connect people to the products they want and need.
We've compiled this list of the most common and accessible methods to get your first sale on Bonanza. It doesn't matter what order you do them in, but strive to do each one so you can get your first sale right away. Let's get started!
1. Announce your store on Facebook
Go to your Facebook wall and post an "official" announcement of your new store, asking your friends to share it on their own feeds. Your friends and family want to help you succeed. So don't be shy! If you let them know, they'll spread the word.
Here's an example of what you could say:
Hey you guys, I just opened a new store on Bonanza. Please help me get the word out by sharing this with your Facebook friends. Thank you! :D
Be sure to also include a link to your booth - you can copy and paste it from the address bar in your browser. Don't be surprised if your first sales come from your own circle of friends. After all, they're your biggest fans.
2. Promote on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter
Your gorgeous product photos are some of your greatest assets. If you share them on highly-visual social media like Pinterest, Instagram and others, it will build interest in your products and draw traffic to your Bonanza booth. So be sure to share some of your best best product photos - at least once each week, if not once per day. Consistency is key, so keep at it.
3. Send an email invitation
Word of mouth is how online businesses succeed. That's why it's important for you to spread the word to your personal network of friends and family so they can tell their friends... and their friends-of-friends.
Email your contacts to let them know about your new store. Invite them to stop by, and ask them to forward it to others who might enjoy your products.
Here's an example - feel free to copy and paste:
Good morning! I'm super excited to announce that I've opened a new store on Bonanza.com to sell my products, and I need your help to get my very first sales! Please click this link [link to your booth] to view my products on Bonanza. Then, if you know anybody who might be interested in my products, please forward this email to them. It will really help me out, and I truly appreciate it. I owe you one!
4. Sell to friends and family in person
If you have friends or family members who might like and use your products, why not mention it to them? Your products could potentially improve the lives of just about anybody you know. All you have to do is let them know.
You don't have to use high-pressure sales tactics, either. When you hang out with friends, chances are good they'll ask what you've been up to lately - take that opportunity to tell them about your store and your products. They're naturally interested in you, so they'll naturally be interested in your products. If you want, you could even offer them an exclusive discount! (See the next tip.)
5. Share a private coupon
Everybody loves discounts. Especially an exclusive discount that's only available to a select few special patrons of your Bonanza store.
When you sell on Bonanza, you have the ability to create private coupons. A private coupon isn't available to just anybody - it can only be used by people who know the secret code that you assign when you make the coupon.
Once you've created a private coupon (it's easy), you can attract customers by sharing the code via email or posting it in your social media accounts. Be sure to mention that the code is an exclusive discount that's only available to your friends and social media followers!
To create a private coupon:
- Go to Selling > Booth settings
- Click on Discounts and Coupons
- Make a new coupon, but do not press "Publish this coupon." An un-published coupon is a private coupon!
Pro Tip: You can delete the coupon at any time in the future. To make it a "limited time" coupon, be sure to tell your social media followers that the coupon will only be available for a limited time. Then don't forget to delete it when the time comes.
6. Adjust your ad commission
Bonanza already sends your listings to search engines like Google. But if the competition for your particular product category is fierce, then your listings might not rank as highly in the search results as you'd like them to.
But you're in luck: As a Bonanza seller, you can give your items a permanent bump in the search results by increasing your advertising commission.
What is advertising commission? It's the percentage of the sale price that you'd be willing to pay in order to make the sale. The higher the ad commission, the more we're able to bid to show your products in the search results - and the more shoppers you'll attract to your Bonanza booth.
To increase your ad commission:
- Go to Selling > Advertise items
- Under the Maximum commission area, choose the best final value percentage that works for your business
Advertising is optional and you can adjust or cancel advertising at any time. If it works for your business and your product margins, increasing your ad commission is a great way to get more visibility and sales.
7. Turn on feed partners
Another benefit of increasing your maximum ad commission (see above) is that it gives you the option of publishing your item listings to many other online shopping engines. For example, choosing the Basic ad commission unlocks the ability to advertise on Google Shopping and the Bonanza Affiliates program; choosing the Superior commission level increases your ad spend to make your items more competitive on your selected advertising platforms.
To get your item listings published into those Bonanza partners all across the web, just click the check box next to the shopping engines where you want your products to be found.
- Go to Selling > Advertise items
- In the Maximum commission area, choose the best final value percentage that works for your business
- In the Shopping channels area, place a checkmark beside each website you want your listings to be published to
That's all you have to do. Once you check the boxes, Bonanza's broadcaster technology will create custom feeds for your products and publish to your chosen platforms for you, automatically. Publishing to multiple websites is a powerful way to reach a much larger audience than ca be offered by any single website.
#protip: If you have a seller account on eBay, you can choose to manage your inventory on Bonanza and have them auto-published to eBay. Just check the box next to eBay in the Shopping channels area.
Success is just around the corner
As the old saying goes, "Products don't sell themselves." But, in fact, they almost do! You've already taken a huge step by setting up a booth on Bonanza.com, the award-winning marketplace with millions of shoppers every month. With just a little more effort and some fine tuning, you can really get your sales machine humming - and then sit back and watch your first sales roll in.
Soon enough, your biggest challenge will be finding the time to ship all those orders.