No sales- what to do?

[Sugar Lane]

Hi iCraft friends,
I'm looking for some help. I've been here for a while and haven't had a sniff of a sale. Would you mind taking a look at my shop and tell me what I need to improve on?
Thanks in advance,
Megan at Sugar Lane

[Craft Boutique]

Hi Megan,

I don't see anything wrong with your shop. It took me a few months to start getting emails for custom orders. I think it takes time to get known. Posting more products will increase your exposure. Also, advertising your store on other sites won't hurt. Good luck!  

[The Knitting Lady]

Updating and adding new products to your Exhibit regularly will help too. Have you seen this article? https://icraftgifts.com/blog/icraft-spotlight-the-bold-and-the-beautiful-designs-of-vicki-vk-62.php I tend to agree that nothing will happen unless we make it happen. There is no magic bullet. However, I believe if you create great products and offer great service, with some advertising, word will spread out and you will get repeat visits and referrals from your happy customers. Well, that's my hope.  :wink:
Most people I sold to are friends of friends or family members. What was your experience like so far? Have you sold online before?

[Sugar Lane]

Thanks for looking Craft Boutique and Knitting Lady.
I currently have a Google ad running and word of mouth and business cards.
Is everyone slow right now- are people  all shopped out from the holidays? Or is there something else I need to be doing?
I've really tried to offer my paintings at an afforadable price- and I think they're cute!! *wink*
Well, keep sending those critiques my way, and Thanks!

[Loopy4ewe]

I find the economy is extremely slow right now. Plus iCraft is still a fairly new venue. Continue to promote and advertise. You just have to get the right target market into your shop:)

[Bits N Pieces]

I tried to get to your site from the message board, but no luck.  I'm, sure your stuff is great.  I haven't had any sales yet either, but I'm sure they will come.

[iCraft Admin]

I see you had your first sale Bits N Pieces. Congrats on that!
Just keep your store alive by updating and rotating products frequently.  :wink:

[Mark Daye Photography]

I've not had any sales yet either, but I think part of the 'no sales' dilemma' is the vicious circle of not having any sales.  People feel better buying from someone who has already sold to others, thereby implying that the seller is a reputable seller.

My plan is to keep updating regularly and adding new products. This give me exposure on the front pages of the site. Another 'key' thing to do is to use your keywords so that you are found when potential buyers replacement.

Another way to gain exposure is by posting on boards like this. People will read this, wonder about me and my store and look at it.  There is no law that says other sellers won't buy too!  And if you post on other sites, always add your store url.  If they don't know about you, they can't buy your stuff!

Good Luck to everyone!
Mark

[Agnes Jast]

  I have the same problem, zero sales and zero comments. Maybe there are some concerns ... I do not know

[Fairy Cardmaker]

Did you see my suggestion here, Agnes?

https://icraftgifts.com/forum/1427/welcome-from-poland/

[iCraft Admin]

Hi Agnes,

There are multiple factors that can affect your sales.
Fairy Cardmaker mentioned one of them - not very descriptive product titles.
Here is a good post on how to optimize your Titles for replacement engines.

A few more factors:

• Your store is only a couple of months old, so it will not attract the same amount of views, as the older stores. The reason for that is that Google looks for inbound links (aka backlinks) - links that point to your pages. New pages won't have any inbound links. You can work on getting backlinks to your pages to help them rank better. Read about backlinks here.
• You have only 5 items in your store. It's ok to start with just a few items initially, but to get noticed, it's better to have more pages. Each page will drive traffic individually and increase your chances of getting potential customers. We actually plan to remove 5 Free items option soon, for that exact reason.
• Do you promote your store through social media, related sites and offline at different events? There are a few good posts on how to promote your store here on the Forum.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Mouse and Bear]

Thank you for the tips--I've gone back and changed all my product names to reflect what they actually are.  I'm sad to see that the five free items feature will be gone soon, but I was planning on upgrading my package anyway.