About |
I am a coffee roaster in Shanghai. When I travel, I usually take a bag of coffee with me to enjoy on the trip. I know you have things in life you won't live without. And for me, it's great coffee!
During my visit with my sister who lives in a small town near Forth Worth, Texas, I ran out. I sought out a shop that sold specialty coffee. I found a gourmet tool shop that sold a very nice selection. I made my purchase and then walked around the store for a bit. By the way, the coffee I selected was roasted in Waco and was very good.
I discovered several items that I hadn't seen before and wanted to learn more. The clerk gave me a business card and said that the site wasn't very good. She was so right. The site was designed similar to an early 1990's website.
This is a quaint little shop, the owner gets customers from all around the country. It's in a beautiful historic part of a growing city. In fact the clerk told me they often get calls from customers asking for items they saw in the shop.
This little shop has a big opportunity to attract lots of attention, not only in the area, but when her customers get home. Here are a few things I'd recommend to you if you were the owner of this wonderful shop.
When I ask you for your information, I am asking you to market to me. I want you to communicate with me on a regular basis. What is the easiest marketing technique? Email. Send me a note on a regular basis. It lets me know that you truly appreciate my business.
First, a redesign is in order. The shop is so bright and cheerful. You probably spent considerable effort designing your shop. Do the same on the site. Take some of the characteristics in your shop design and include it on your site.
Second, the site doesn't have a blog. Blogs are an important component to a website. Convert it to a Wordpress Business Website. Add a blog to the site to give it life, a reason to stop in and visit. You have wonderful stories to tell about the products in your shop. Also, you have many customers and friends who have great stories to tell too. Why is the blog important? It is the basis of SEO marketing and fundamentally helping you get found.
Third, add ecommerce. I can visit the shop and see exactly what they have or I can call them. But there are so many wonderful products in the store I'd like to learn more about. Once you have already have my attention to purchase make it easy to happen. If I can purchase right now while online, let me do so. Otherwise I may go elsewhere.
Fourth, create community. The shop sponsors several wonderful events. Let me know about them. Make it easy for me to sign up. Engage your customers. Community members spend more money, online and offline. Fourth, make your social media connections. Do you have a Facebook page? What about Twitter? Links tend to multiply.
Create buzz.
Regardless of whether this shop chooses to upgrade, it's still a great place. However, once I leave town, I'll probably forget about the place. It's certainly going to be difficult to purchase.
Action item: update your site and profit.