Get the Word Out!
Consignment is a simple concepttaking other peoples products and selling them for a percentage of the sale. According to Skip McGrath, of http://skipmcgrath.com, a successful eBay PowerSeller, [Consignment selling] is the fastest growing phenomenon on eBay. The key to successful online consignment is marketing your services. You really have to promote your business, and McGrath shares some techniques for doing just that. There are four areas youll use: advertising, public relations, networking, and creating a website.
1.Advertising: the market youre in will determine your course of action here. The Retail Marketselling products for ordinary people:
Door hangers
Classified ads in small to medium-sized market newspapers
Flyers
Posters
Radio spots
Attorneysestate executors and bankruptcy processors
The Business to Business Marketselling excess inventory for retailers and manufacturers:
Classified ads in business journals
Direct mail
Attorneysbankruptcy processors
Local charities and not-for-profitsrather than always asking their supporters for money, they can ask them to donate products you know will sell. So you can build a relationship thats profitable for both of you.
2.Public Relations.
Write a press release, print out a copy and mail it to all your local newspaperstheyll promote your new business in hopes youll advertise with them.
Community groupsthe Lions, the Jaycees, your local chamber of commerce. These are especially useful for business marketing. Your chamber of commerce should have a newsletter that you can advertise in and every chamber member in town will get.
If you sign up for a community group, volunteer for something. Youll make more contacts and be taken more seriously than if you just show up to the meetings to gain more contacts.
3.Networking
The McGrath 3-foot Rule. Explains McGrath, I always have business cards on meand anyone that gets within 3 feet of me [is] going to learn what I do.
Cold call on potential customers. Walk around the business section of town (or your neighborhood for retail) and let them know that you can help them liquidate their surplus merchandise. If businesses seem reticent, offer to let them give you one or two pieces as a trial and then make sure you do a good job selling those.
Build a database of your customers. Collect business cards and stay in contact periodically. Send an email, send a Christmas card. Retaining customers is easier than finding new ones.
4.Create a website
Try to include your city and the word consignment in the titlethese are very popular search terms right now.
Have a link from your site to your consignors so they can check the status of their own auctions.
Send out emails or newsletters through your website to your customer database.
You may find some methods work for you better than others, but the main thing is just to let the world know youre thereget the word out!
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