# Online Sales Marketing



## KeeponCollective (Jul 4, 2012)

Hey guys,

I run a brand out of Canada called Keepon Collective. I love doing it, but it's been a bit frustrating lately as sales have dried up and I can't really pin it on anything.

We're getting a decent amount of constant traffic and I like to think we have a professional-looking site with some quality products. 

So, I was hoping the forum could help me out with any tips or words of advice. It'd be much appreciated!

You can check out our website here:
Keepon Collective


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## guest169003 (Feb 29, 2012)

Looks good to me, just keepon 

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## South Beach (Jul 30, 2012)

Looks good, but if you are wanting to sell shirts get some more of the product on the home page.


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## magiceel (Dec 29, 2009)

Try Pinterest...heard it works.

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## printingray (Apr 4, 2012)

Its pretty simple with a small page. Make business site not modeling or fashion designing site.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

no website is going to appeal to every single person, but i think you've hit the major notes, imo, in that i don't see anything in desperate need of attention. opining about how this could be different than that is fine, but what's 'wrong' with the site, if anything, i feel will be of the opinion nature and not correcting some terrible mistake/s (though i just looked at most of it, not hitting every button or do more than a cursory glance at the text). 

you definitely have more going on in your site than most, with a lookbook, videos, etc.. i only looked at one video, but it looked really good, imo, and it's clear to me that you spent some money having pics and such done well, which is a major failing of a lot of sites, imo. 

i don't think there're any major issues with the site or designs, now it's more about marketing/advertising and keeping up with your social media stuff. and give it time. it's sales ~ it goes up and down, and you have to consider the season and know if that has any impact. of course, still come up with fresh designs. it's a war of attrition ~ either you give up first, or you finally break into your specific market through experience and just sticking with it. 

i don't know if it's too late to have a back-to-school sale. doesn't matter, i reckon, as my point is a brand like yours i would probably have seasonal stuff. the holiday season will be here soon, and i'd start planning designs around that.

also, i think this is something most folk never think of, but part of keeping a site fresh, imo, is new pics every now and then, say every seasonal change. you have a couch ~ i'd drag that damn thing everywhere, lol. it'd be my running gag... literally, i'd put wheels on that sucker!  and, of course, add some cushions/pillows with your logo on it and snap a few pics of a pillowfight. 

the ppl that follow you on your social media need to know if you have a new design and/or sale (though i'm not sure beating them around the head and shoulders with this info is advisable, i'd probably just pass that on every now and then as not to be a pest about it). 

something else i think people fail to do is concentrate so much on getting the details perfect that they forget to relax and have some fun with it. for you, i think new locations would be a fun addition. new shoot, new models, new attitude each time. also a good way to spread pics of any accessories you plan on having. and, hey, wanna talk about overcoming hurdles? do up pics of your models lugging that couch up the side of a mountain in the dead of winter! that'll learn 'em! ever see a couch on a beach? me, neither. how about at a bus stop? watching the sunset? at a pick-up football game? dunno, lots of locations if that sounds like fun to you. maybe your idea isn't to trash your wife's loveseat/spokescouch, but if your fun attitude and spirit for surprise is clear, it should translate to the customer, right? 

if you can do your own SEO, would that hurt? probably not. not sure if that's how you're going to sell a ton of shirts, though. 

i might consider accessories, too. 

always progress with your branding, marketing and advertising even in the slow times. keep what works, re-evaluate the stuff that doesn't with the idea that it may not be a bad idea, just bad timing or it needs tweaked, and keep your ear to the ground to see what's working/isn't working for other people vying for the same market segment's money. maybe printing a QR code somewhere might help (can be inside the shirt)? just a crazy thought. probably most importantly is your stick-to-it-tiveness.


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## ForeignMind (Dec 17, 2011)

I like what you're company is offering. Maybe attending trade shows and music festivals would be the next move for you. I'm the Style Coordinator at this year's A3C Hip Hop Festival Oct 11th-13th in Atlanta, I think you coming out would be a great opportunity to interact with the hip-hop and streetwear communities, we bring in 15,000 attendees and 250+ artists. After doing so you'll gain content for your site, followers,& ultimately clientele.


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## RickyJ702 (Jul 23, 2012)

we had the same problem too. what jumped our sales was:
-brand parties
-youtube celeberties
-target market ~skaters,young adults, hiphop, boxing community
-opened more into canvas art & embroidery.

i totally understand what your going through right now and it's fustrating. keep your energy up and smile what you do. you went all this way and you should come in 1st!


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## KeeponCollective (Jul 4, 2012)

@Ryan: Yeah, I'm starting to believe it'll come with time and more promotion and awareness of the brand. I want to build it locally and see where that takes us.
@ForeignMind: I'm definitely looking into local tradeshows that would be a good fit. As much as I'd love to go to Atlanta, I don't think paying for airfare from Vancouver would be a very good ROI for us...
@RickyJ: Thanks for the uplifting words! Just wondering, which YouTube celebrities did you reach out to? Did you do a ton or just a select few?


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## RickyJ702 (Jul 23, 2012)

KeeponCollective said:


> @Ryan: Yeah, I'm starting to believe it'll come with time and more promotion and awareness of the brand. I want to build it locally and see where that takes us.
> @ForeignMind: I'm definitely looking into local tradeshows that would be a good fit. As much as I'd love to go to Atlanta, I don't think paying for airfare from Vancouver would be a very good ROI for us...
> @RickyJ: Thanks for the uplifting words! Just wondering, which YouTube celebrities did you reach out to? Did you do a ton or just a select few?


 
what we did is get one person within the brand to focus on marketing. randomly hit up your target market and see who responds. this is the part i hate.. .. give them "free shirts =(" we always give 3 shirts for every celeberty. youtube celeberties are always willing to help other people because they are trying to come up themselves.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDpluWabRQw[/media]

another strategy we did was of who we knew. we knew friends within las vegas who knew Nonito Donaire. We did a collaberation piece where it's Hippo Estethics mixxed in with his so called name "Lightning Flash". thus the hippo mascot with the two lightning bolts.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xoEVoiTcug[/media]

our target market is really dancing. for every competion that involves dancing we take trips and have a booth. being a successful brand is about networking. we met these guys this year and we see them at every competition for the last 4 years. we reached out to them before their competition. 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuIv7NuG0iM[/media]

this is how it went through us. there's more stories but these are the best 3.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

tracking out your ROI for, say, handing out a ton of freebies should be relatively easy. building a brand, on the other hand, i think has a lot of aspects to it that you can't necessarily quantify, at least initially. just my opinion here, but when you're starting out trying to find some recognition and respect, you're gonna pay for that, and the results may never be something you can gauge in a quickbooks programme, but are there ne'ertheless. 

everyone that's a potential customer needs to know you exist, so by targeting them specifically you might not get your initial investment back right away. it seems to me this is one of the biggest reasons why a lot of brands fold, simply because they can't afford to maintain a marketing scheme long enough for it to take affect (if they even *have* a marketing plan to begin with!). i feel as if it's a war of attrition between the brand and economics, which economics usually wins because if people had the money to make their brand successful in the first place they would probably invest in something else, lol. 

and someone correct me if i'm wrong or debate me on it, but i think the designs are secondary in a lot of cases. we've all seen meh designs that gets a lot of attention merely because of the people or companies marketing them.

so, i wouldn't say going to atlanta would be a bad thing at all as long as you use your time wisely. you may not recoup your expenses right away, but sometimes it's good to connect with your market personally, eh?


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## KeeponCollective (Jul 4, 2012)

ryan barker said:


> tracking out your ROI for, say, handing out a ton of freebies should be relatively easy. building a brand, on the other hand, i think has a lot of aspects to it that you can't necessarily quantify, at least initially. just my opinion here, but when you're starting out trying to find some recognition and respect, you're gonna pay for that, and the results may never be something you can gauge in a quickbooks programme, but are there ne'ertheless.
> 
> everyone that's a potential customer needs to know you exist, so by targeting them specifically you might not get your initial investment back right away. it seems to me this is one of the biggest reasons why a lot of brands fold, simply because they can't afford to maintain a marketing scheme long enough for it to take affect (if they even *have* a marketing plan to begin with!). i feel as if it's a war of attrition between the brand and economics, which economics usually wins because if people had the money to make their brand successful in the first place they would probably invest in something else, lol.
> 
> ...


Yeah it wouldn't be a bad idea if there weren't a lot of similar opportunities available closer to me. Vancouver is a pretty decent city in terms of the creative/art scene, so there's lots of shows that I'm looking into attending to connect with my target market!


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

if there's a party in your backyard, why drive across town to get down, right? you get my drift, though, and all i can add to it is follow the money.  

i plan on starting locally, too. i have several product ideas i'll test out first before going nuts with it on a large scale. i'm more in an ideal situation in that i have a store front to hawk the stuff, but, yeah, testing the waters, getting feedback, and working out some kinks within your control area is, imo, a smart move. still, i think ppl need to set realistic goals, which imo is what a lot of brands fail to do, they just put something out there and sees what happens, then come back in six months and asks why their facebook likes aren't turning into sales.


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

ryan barker said:


> and someone correct me if i'm wrong or debate me on it, but i think the designs are secondary in a lot of cases. we've all seen meh designs that gets a lot of attention merely because of the people or companies marketing them.


I've been saying this very thing for years. It's all about how you present it.

There are enough people in the world that, honestly, it almost doesn't matter what you're selling. If you package (market) your product properly, you can sell almost anything.


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## ryan barker (Jul 21, 2011)

if you can sell jeans for $100 that looks like you just dragged them off a dead hobo, you can sell anything....


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## chosenfew (Aug 3, 2011)

Thanks I needed that info and the kick in the butt.


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## Xposedigitizing (Aug 28, 2012)

I also need to know how to sale online, recently i also want to promote our product and company. So we decided to use twitter, and facebook to exposure, i'm not sure if it's useful, but i Keep going.


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## Bounthisanh (Oct 8, 2010)

your doing good!!! Try utilizing those social media tool to your fullest extent!!!


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## eetadafe86 (Jun 21, 2012)

Keepon collective amazing brad and really good start.

Website is clean, effective, a bit fun and your designs look really good.

Dont forget paid advertising, and blog reviews from: Hide Your Arms

All the best


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