ShopSpotting: Promoting Your Online Business

Since launching our own accessories line (check out Martina-Martina here!), I've been on the lookout for  ideas to promote the business. I'm even considering attending a few seminars and short courses on digital marketing and social media as my skills are sorely lacking in these areas. Of course, some of the best learnings can be had for free if you have the patience to trawl through the world wide web. Luckily, I also have my own network of friends who have launched successful online businesses, and who were very willing to share some of their promotional and marketing tactics with me. 

Suelas, the company behind those uber comfy foldable flats, uses their Facebook page to market and promote their products. Jackie Tan, co-owner of Suelas, shares that while they do have their own website, it's their FB page that allows them to interact with their customers. For example, Suelas' travel albums showcase their shoes as worn by fans, friends, and family traveling around the world. People readily share, and are excited to see photos of themselves online, and at the same time, the travel albums underscore Suelas' brand philosophy as the shoe that's light on the feet, light on the baggage. 

The Suelas-Rosanna Aranaz collaboration leopard flat in Morocco.

Another great way to build buzz is via promos. Early this year, in a bid to reach 25,000 Facebook fans, Suelas created a postcard that customers could post and tag on their wall to get a P50 discount on one pair. The bigger prize though, was the shoe giveaway, with Suelas raffling off 5 pairs of shoes if they reached the 25,000 mark. Jackie concedes that raffling is one of the best ways promote, and it does not necessarily have to be your own product. 

Lucky fans who tagged this Suelas postcard on their wall got P50 off on their Suelas purchase, plus a chance to win a free pair.

A lot of bloggers do giveaways to increase their site traffic. But the rules of your contests can vary from the simple to the complicated. Frances, of Topaz Horizon, has the following insight on blog contests (taken from a comment she posted on our friend, Nikki's blog, The Picky Dresser: 

"Me, when I do contests, iba-iba the rules. Either of the following:

1. Leave a comment.
2. Leave a comment on my blog’s FB page.
3. Tweet the contest.
4. Blog about it with a link back to my blog.

# 1 is the simplest and easiest. But minsan nakaka-depress siya kasi kung onti lang sumali, obvious hahaha

#2 is so I get to see the faces that read my blog. I can also reply to them. Some of them nga have become my friends!

#3 is not really my favorite. I did it just once and I felt it didn’t help at all.

#4 is, I still believe, the best way. When a lot of blogs link to you, your blog gets more hits and your Google Page Rank goes higher. For me, this is what really helped launch my blog and made it popular."

ShopSpotters, I'm sure that you also have your own stories to share. I'd love to hear about the promos and marketing strategies you've used for your own businesses, or personal blogs. Even if you're not a business or a blogger, I'd like to know, what contests and promos have attracted your attention, or compelled you to comment or join?

Before I sign off, I'd like to share some interesting sites I've ShopSpotted today:

PHILDESIGN5, a unique site that offers graphic design services at affordable rates. Web design (not including HTML) starts at P4,000.

PHILDESIGN5 list of prices and services

Suncatcher offers solar-powered products for your home. I'm curious to find out of the Pest Killer Light works. 

Pest Killer Light, P700.

PHGIFTS is another site that offers gift ideas, ranging from food and gift baskets, to floral arrangements. I'd bookmark this site for those times when you're out of the country and need to send something from home, e.g. flowers for your Mom on Mother's Day or even just a simple bouquet to make your friend, who just went through a breakup, smile. They offer same day delivery within Metro Manila, and online customer service support. 

I think everyone secretly likes to get flowers (especially if it's delivered to your office—pang show-off haha!). Gerbera bouquet, P1,800.

Lately, I've been on the prowl for local natural beauty products that are free of the chemicals and preservatives found in most department and supermarket beauty products. My current favorite brand and obsession is Human Nature, but I get excited when I discover new ones, like Nanay Earth. Spotted their Drama Cream (P190) on Box All U Want, and thought I'd share it to those of you who are still on a mission to find that perfect skin lightening product. Note that I am NOT endorsing skin whitening for the sake of. But I am sympathetic to those who suffer unattractive discoloration in certain areas, like underarms, or those that result from scars. 

Drama Cream can supposedly lighten dark underarm skin, anal and genital areas, and skin discolorations, reduce the appearance of scars and even out skin tone. Made of alpha arbutin, kojic acid, mulberry extract, carica papaya, emu oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, rosehip seed extract, jojoba oil, glutathione, vitamin E.

And my absolute favorite site of the day goes to Caleb's Closet. Run by a doctor mom, the online shop has a selection of well-curated organic and eco-friendly products that mothers would no doubt love. I'm not pregnant, nor do I have a baby, but even I found things I want to buy! Like the Milea Baby and Milea Apiary Products, all made of organic ingredients. 

Milea Baby Honey Hair and Body Wash boasts of a tried and tested "no tears" formulation and lists ingredients like  acapulco infusion, honey, virgin coconut and corn oil soap, olive leaf extract and calendula extract. I love the travel size, perfect for my yoga toiletry kit. 30 ml, P75.

And they also have great gift ideas for my friends' baby showers!

Confession: My favorite toy when I was a kid was a plastic cash register. I'd hang clothes all around my room and pretend I was an SM cashier lady, mwahaha! This wooden cash register (P930), fashioned out of ecologically-harvested wood and non-toxic paint,  is way more sosyal, may scanner pa!

Back when I was young and didn't know better, my ambition was to become a doctor. Maybe because it was a cool thing to write in those autograph books that were so popular in the ’80s haha! But, if I had this Handy Doctor Set (P1,480) to play with, I probably would have stuck to that ambition if only for a few more years. 

The cutest walker (P2,199)! The Hopping Bunny Walker has two bunnies that hop up and down along with a tapping sound in rhythm. Has a wheel-friction system to slow down the speed when the child is young and unstable, and adjusts to a faster speed when older.