# online marketing



## Spraygraphic (Apr 17, 2007)

having an onine tshirt company...i have used google and blog ads as well as the guerrilla marketing techniques on myspace and other social networks, but it still seems there is something lacking...something that is more effective in the online world...any suggestions


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## Eyerish (Mar 20, 2007)

may I ask how your marketing is currently performing? What kind of sales are you seeing so far?


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## grundys (Mar 1, 2007)

Have you signed yourself up to the shopping directories? Many of them are free, some have a small fee attached. 

Cheers


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## JunaD (May 10, 2005)

What are some example of "Shopping Directories"?


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## grundys (Mar 1, 2007)

Depending on where you're based, you'll want to do a search on the net, but someone like Want to shop? Online shopping is easy with Shopsafe, the UK shops directory. lists a number of sites that they have approved as being safe to use..


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## Spraygraphic (Apr 17, 2007)

i am not on that uk site...thank you...our online marketing is okay...but it needs to be more effective...it feels like were spending way too much money and not enought return, but if we don't market online then the traffic is really slow...


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## minlex (Feb 8, 2007)

Do you have the ability to check and see if you are getting the visitors to your site and they aren't purchasing, or if the marketing efforts aren't even bringing them in. How is your conversion?

If they are coming to the site and not buying, that would tell you one thing. If the online marketing isn't even getting them into your site that is another.

Do you feel $26.00 for a short sleeve t-shirt is competitive in your market segment?

Also, most of us dumb web surfers always assume the navigation is on the left. You have other information on the left that opens up new pages. Many people have pop up blocker and that might prevent them from going deeper into your site.

Also, I went to your site to look at t-shirts, but I clicked on something that took me to candles. It seemed confusing.

Just my 2 cents.


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## grundys (Mar 1, 2007)

Spraygraphic said:


> i am not on that uk site...thank you...our online marketing is okay...but it needs to be more effective...it feels like were spending way too much money and not enought return, but if we don't market online then the traffic is really slow...


I think online marketing is important, but where purchasing is concerned, I think the consumer is often more likely to trust printed marketing. Do you do any marketing in magazines? You can generally negotiate to get some editorial space in return for agreeing to buy however many ads.. And don't forget that repetition plays a part in marketing too. Although they may not buy the first time they see you ad, they may the second, or third, or.. It can be deceiving.

But, as I said. do a search for online directories, lifestyle website, etc. anywhere you can get your link on.

Re: checking the details of traffic, I think that's one for my web guy.. Google gives you stats on clicks, of course, and I'm sure there are counters you can load onto your site to help. But that's way too specialised for me.. If you know anyone in IT, buy them a drink and bend their ear.


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## SmilingOgre (Apr 21, 2007)

*Here's how to get 1,000 to 50,000 visitors to your site in a few days.*

This is using a press release for more than getting press.

Think up something really cool and write a press release about it. 

The cooler the better. A so so press release will still usually bring in close to a thousand visitors or so. A really good one can slow your server down with a surge in traffic. 

And, that is if your press release does not get a lot of exposure in the media.

The five step approach below is true online marketing. Farc alone can send you thousands of visitors from one cool press release or article.

Plus, even with minimal sales, it's fun to watch the stats go nuts.

1. Think up something really cool and write a press release about it. 

2. Post it on PRWeb.com. [small fee]

4. Turn your press release in to an article and post it on your website with a Buzzit button and social bookmarks added to the bottom of the press release and link to it from your home page. 

4. Submit it to Farc.com and Buzzflash.com as soon as PRWeb has published it.

5. Get traffic.

PRWeb is good marketing in of itself. It can generate attention from the media including the major networks and newspapers. However, you need to be time sensitive, on topic and lucky.

Farc and Bussflash will send you traffic within an hour of posting. If your article is about a new website you'll get a hundred visitors, maybe. That's not cool though. If your article is on something cool but obscure, you can get a thousand visitors. But, if you put some thought in to it, check out what is getting hit on these two sites, and write something cool, you'll get loads of traffic for a few days.

Now, here's something to remember - you'll get a lot of traffic but these people are tough customers. Your conversion rate will not be what you expect. But, these are smart people and they will return. The initial influx of traffic is there out of curiosity. If your site is of interest, you will see your average daily sales increase steadily. No big bang but a nice steady increase in good solid customers.

I hesitate to post this, being in the t-shirt business myself. But, building interest in t-shirts in general is always good for business.


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## TenaciousTees (Dec 9, 2005)

thanks for sharing this info Ogre. Karma will render you success for helping others.


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## ken49663 (Apr 6, 2007)

can you explain what a Buzzit Button and a social bookmark are.


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## SmilingOgre (Apr 21, 2007)

Sure.

Social bookmarks are usually associated with blogs but they work with articles on websites as well. A social bookmark is really just a link to a site that allows the user to keep a collection of favorite sites, articles, videos, podcasts, whatever.

The link is a small graphic called a chicklet. You can add these chicklets to your website . Just join the site you want to add and they will give you the code. 

These social bookmarks are only good for the people that are members. So, for many people visiting your site they will mean nothing. But, when a del.icio.us member hits your page and likes something, they might add it to their del.icio.us favorites giving you a repeat customer, free link and free exposure on the del.icio.us network.

del.icio.us is a good place to start.

The Buzz-It button is a bit different. BuzzFlash.com is more like T-ShirtCountdown.com but for news articles. The Buzz-It button is a voting button that can be placed outside of the main site. Hit the Buzz-It button and it is like giving that article a vote.

BuzzFlash.net - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash

Look at Farc.com too.

Farc.com

Spend some time on these sites and your views concerning online marketing may change significantly today.

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BTW - off the subject - look at the BuzzFlash link. I just added their basic url yet their site title also shows up as the link. Does anyone know how they do that?
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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

SmilingOgre said:


> BTW - off the subject - look at the BuzzFlash link. I just added their basic url yet their site title also shows up as the link. Does anyone know how they do that?


They don't, it's a forum feature. The forum grabs the title tags when you post an url and inserts them as the anchor text.


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## CypherNinja (May 5, 2007)

I'm about to start selling t-shirts geared towards a certain community (2A/Libertarian), has anybody had good success with banner ads in forums? Or any other sites that generally exist within a 'clique'? (Webcomics, blogs, newspages, etc)

I've got a few prospects lined up that should have the potential to generate substantial 'targeted' traffic, but I'm so new at this I have no idea how effective it might be.

Does anybody have any good links to info about how much traffic a banner ad might generate from a site with XXXXXX amount of daily traffic? Or how much of that traffic might be expected to actually buy? I know this stuff will vary considerably from case to case, but I don't even know where the ballpark is. 

All the suggestions so far seem really good. (especially the idea of how to get supersites like Farc involved)


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