Let’s face it, there are many, many challenges to running an online boutique or business from your home. One of the myriad of obstacles is how to receive phone calls.

I used to use my cell but when my business took off, the cell phone didn’t quite feel professional enough. I needed a way to bridge the gap between WAHM and professional.  A client of mine who had just started a home business selling baby keepsakes, mentioned that she used Ring Central and it was a perfect fit for her.

I researched it for a couple of days and then signed up after I realized that it was SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than installing a business line. I have never regretted it. With Ring Central I could get my own 800 number (or local number if I preferred, or both) that rings through to any mobile or landline I designate.  I can have it ring to my home number, my cell number, my computer or another number if need be. I can set it to ring to different places at different times, and I can set business hours so when I’m off hours the answering machine can pick up. Voicemails are sent to my email or I can login to retrieve them.

Ring Central is a small office phone system “on the go.”  It’s truly a fantastic and highly recommended resource!  If you don’t have a business phone line solution that you love, sign up for Ring Central’s free trial TODAY.  You can always cancel if it doesn’t work for you.  Post a comment and let us know how it goes!

To learn more about our “Gotta Have it” resources and other tips sign up for the Boutique Success newsletter.

All I want for Christmas is…To sell more stuff?

I understand. You want some decent sales in time for the holidays.

I have a last-minute strategy for how to get people to your website ASAP. Before I get to that, here’s what NOT to do.

Do not send 5 emails in 7 days promoting one special deal (today only!) and then another. Yes, I just received this from a designer. And to be blunt, it smacks of desperation.

Do not rush out and buy a bunch of facebook ads and drive people straight to your shopping cart. Social media should be used to build relationships first (yes, even with a company) and conversion rates on facebook ads that go straight to a sales page are not very high. (They also cost more than ads that direct traffic to your facebook page, btw).

So what can you do?

Get yourself mentioned in blog posts. And get bloggers to Twitter about you.

But here’s the catch…

You cannot just barge in on someone’s blog and ask them to post about your line. You need to first think about who you already have a relationship with.

Look at it this way, if person X called you up and asked you to blurb about them in your blog…would you do it? Or would you do it if you could? Would you find it a strange request? Rude even? Presumptuous?

If the answer is YES, I’m happy to help X out, then get on the horn and call X up and remind them you’re here and ready for business. If you’re not that comfortable with X, then start working on that relationship now for next season.

You see, fans of bloggers already have a relationship with that person, so if the blogger recommends you, it means a lot. That prospect is much closer to the BUY than a cold lead ever will be – because they trust the blogger.

Getting exposure through blogs definitely drives traffic. And free traffic at that. FREE in terms of money but not in terms of time and effort it takes to build those relationships. It IS an investment but it can pay off tremendously when you give it the time and energy it deserves.

So think about it… Who can you reach out to? Who can you gently nudge with news about your line? Who can you give a good reason to help you promote? You can even print this and make your list here:

1) ______________________________________________________________

2) ______________________________________________________________

3) ______________________________________________________________

And remember… If you cannot come up with names for this list, don’t beat yourself up. Just think about ways to change the situation for next year and get back on track.

No more feast or famine marketing! If you market yourself and your line consistently, and authentically, I guarantee you won’t have this problem NEXT Holiday season.

by Jane Hamill

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Jane Hamill is the founder of Fashion Brain Academy, helping fashion designers on the BUSINESS side of things through online workshops and classes, private coaching, mentoring, and public speaking. Get her free report, “How to Find Fabric in Small Quantities and NOT Get Ripped Off in the Process” at www.janehamill.com

We absolutely love 3dCart’s platform – so far it is our favorite content management system with cart that makes running your online boutique a snap. They have just released a fabulous eBook geared toward the last minute things you can do to get your boutique ready for the holiday season. Check it out HERE.

A great opportunity from 3dcart – they are sharing some awesome tips tomorrow at 2:00 pm EST at their “Increase Holiday Sales” webinar! Sign up here! http://t.co/2zGjQGyI

According to internetretailing.com, although past preferences indicated that fashion shoppers preferred to see and touch clothes for themselves before buying, the tide appears to be changing.  According to a recent survey,  almost half (45%) of fashion shoppers now prefer to buy their clothes and accessories online.

Once you understand your brand you can focus on your brand strategy.  This strategy will define your approach and outline your methods for conveyance.  Then, you will be ready to work on the specific tactics to and steps of your action plan.

If you have followed the steps above, you should have a clear understanding of your customer and your competitive environment. Your strategy is built on this information. The first question to ask is Where will you position yourself? This is the time to decide how to approach your environment to successfully brand your company or your products.  Factors to consider are brick and mortar vs. online, stand alone stores vs. strip or indoor malls, creating your own store or wholesaling to retailers, and combinations of these.

As always, it is important to develop a brand that is distinct from your competitors. It is not enough to emulate a dominant brand. As the old saying goes “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.”  In reality, you probably don’t have the resources necessary to duplicate their strategy, especially if they are a bigger, more established company. Seek out a niche of the dominant business’ market. You can successfully determine that niche by asking yourself, “Where are they vulnerable?”

If your business specializes in a specific product area, such as hairbows, build a brand of sweet, girly, pretty, and frilly.  If your advantage is consulting or ideas, make sure your brand is innovative, exciting, and cutting-edge. If you are the lowest price option, make sure to look conservative with money but still maintain a clean, easy to use website design.

Your branding strategy will set the overall limits of your branding “playing field”, now it’s time to design the game plan.

NEXT: Identify Your Branding Game Plan

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/34502
based on the article by Michele Schermerhorn

The value of your brand is in direct correlation with how well it meets the expectations of your customers. In order to build a strong brand people have to know what your business stands for and how it fits into their lives. In order to create this fit, you have to understand your customer. Survey your customer base, directly through email or surveys (check out Constant Contact for easy to use online survey software) or indirectly on facebook, twitter or a blog to understand how they perceive your business and more importantly what they value overall. With this understanding you can make sure your brand promise is important and valuable to the customers you want most.

Your brand promise is most easily conveyed through your tagline (although every facet of your business should speak to this promise). Think of some seemingly simple taglines that help get to the heart of what the company is promising: Serta, the mattress company, has a promise of “We Make The World’s Best Mattress”. Maytag with a lonely repairman, reinforces the promise of dependable service, stating simply that they are “Dependability People” with the headquarters located at #1 Dependability Way.

Your brand promise should be stated concisely so your customers as well as everyone in your organization understands the promise, just like Maytag’s and Serta’s promises. It should convey what you do well or what sets your brand apart. It should highlight your brand promise which in turn will convince people to purchase from you.

NEXT: Define Your Brand Strategy

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/34502
based on the article by Michele Schermerhorn

Brands, like people, have distinct personalities. Although other factors come into play, people often choose a brand because the characteristics of the company or product brand mesh with their own tastes or interests. I only shop at WalMart if absolutely necessary, but often find myself at Target because I like and identify with their branding.  My father, on the other hand, rarely sets foot in Target, preferring the budget wise branding of WalMart.  Our own personalities factor into our differing perspectives regarding the same business.


Once you can define your targeted customer well and understand your competition, you can choose a brand personality that fits your targeted client or customer.  As with any personality, your brand personality will have distinctive traits that are directly related to who you see as your main customer base. Focus on two or three personality traits and work to develop those.  Again, this is directly related to your customers.  A younger audience might look for traits that are more youthful, trendy and irreverent? A more upscale customer base and your brand traits might be modern, conservative and stylish.

After you flesh out two to three personality traits that reflect and define your business, they must be apparent in branding efforts. Your website, advertising, logo, emails and newsletters must mesh with your brand personality. These traits should extend into every facet of your business, including your collateral materials, the people you hire, and if applicable, your brick and mortar space.

Your brand must come through loud and clear at all times. The best way to insure this is to understand these traits so they are always apparent – your customers expect this. WalMart promises “ALWAYS low prices,” and they back this up in their policies and price structure.  What does your brand promise?

NEXT: Make a Brand Promise

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/34502
based on the article by Michele Schermerhorn

What do walmart.com, macys.com and potterybarnkids.com all have in common?  Besides being online stores, their websites all have links for cart, contact and home above the fold (above the fold refers to the portion of your website page that a visitor will see without having to scroll down).  One of my biggest pet peeves as a shopper is getting to a website and not being able to see my cart, get back to the first page or easily contact the website.  I ALWAYS look at the top of the page when I need one of these three links, as will the majority of your customers.  There are many other factors that go into creating a user friendly website, but make sure that these three are covered and you’ll be on your way to a better shopping experience for your customers.

Your competitive environment directly impacts how you brand your products and company. For instance, in a highly competitive market like retail some companies deal in the high end of the market and some don’t. WalMart has chosen to compete in the low price arena of retailing. They work hard to build a brand of “low price, friendly company”. They don’t confuse this message by trying to cater to a higher end market.  Likewise, Target puts a spin on the idea of consumer savings by catering to their customers sense of style.  Both of these companies pay careful attention to their competitors to better understand how to be competitive in their market.

To find your niche within your competitive environment, start by asking your existing customers, “If you weren’t working with us, who would you be working with?” Identify companies that show up at the top of your search engine keywords.  Try to determine which companies you have lost business to. Learn as much as you can about these competitors, including how customers perceive them, what makes them unique, and why they win the business they do.  Follow their twitter feeds, check out their facebook pages and blogs or send surveys to your mailing list.  Keeping up with the competition can help you understand your own brand and how you can make it stand out above the crowd.

NEXT:  Define Your Brand Personality

based on the article by Michele Schermerhorn