ForumsInternet/eCommerce

I'll take the "I'm Bossy' Tshirt

Have you tried MySpace or FaceBook? How about fliers at the local high schools?

LOL! I have handed out fliers(need to hand out more) and I give out my cards practically every chance I get. I have a friend who has a spa and I have a rack of clothing there that sells pretty well. Which is one of the reasons I want a physical store, women really love the clothing and the quality for the price. But as an online shopper myself I know its hard to trust that things will look like they do on pictures and all the other discomforts that people experience from buying online from an unfamiliar name.

When I first startied my jewelry web site business, I sent out postcards. But...they were not ordinary, they were classy and done by a graphics designer and professional printing press. They "Introduced" me as a designer and were very attractive. They cost thousands of dollars, but were worth every penny. Each customer gasped at the beauty of the postcard and it drew attention from work-at-home moms to A-list celebrities. You can never go back in time and make a good "first" impression!

Driving traffic from your site could be generated by great articles, I have generated some orders like that. Member of a few forums drive traffic with a link signature too.

My main traffic come from Google, this is why a good Search Engine Optimization on your site is important.

Hi Fabulousitee,
Attracting business to your site means attracting traffic - quality traffic that is relevant to your business.
I took a look at your site. First impressions are important in selling online, and I think your site needs a facelift. There are many free website templates that are professionally done and available online. Also, I would not recommend a black background.

BTW, the link for Amber Belted Dress on the home page does not work!

Also on your website, you should have "points of reassurance" near the checkout button like Hacker Safe, BBB member, VeriSign Secure, or similar. PayPal is secure, but not all consumers use PayPal. Also add Testimonials from previous customers on each page and near the checkout button.

Put your address on every page, along with a contact phone number. Build trust by being seen as a legitimate business. Really work on your about us page. One sentence does not convey to shoppers why they want to buy.

Do some keyword research and find out what people are actually looking to buy. I did a quick search on Google, and there are 126 different companies advertising on "women's dresses". This means it is highly competitive, so you need to find a niche. Belted women's dresses brings up 84 competitors bidding (using Pay Per Click).

Your site really needs some optimization. Each page has a Title tag, but they are not optimized. Include 200-300 words on each page to help with the optimization. Your traffic will not increase the way it is now. I'll be writing a article covering this, but for now just look at my profile and go read the search engine optimization article on my website.

Also, once the website is improved, experiment with locally targeted pay per click advertising, using the keywords you uncovered with your research.

Nothings impossible, as there are many folks selling many things on the web.
Good luck!
Cliff

I agree, lamarant. Small doses of pay per click advertising can work great.

One of my clients has a B&B in central Texas. He had set up his own account in Google. He showed me his results, and they were impressive.

Don't forget Negative KeywordsHowever, one thing he did not have were "negative" keywords, and this was costing him an additional $450 month on a $1200 a month campaign. Negative keywords work like this: You have a B&B in Newport RI, but you don't have a B&B in Newport, California. So, California would be negative keyword.

For most of my locally targeted accounts, I use every state as a negative keyword, so there is your first 49 negative keywords!
Cliff

Great point on Negative Key Words. There are a slew of other "tricks" you can use to further optimize your PPC campaigns and also your site in general when it comes to search engines. Here are a few links to get you going on...

http://www.seomoz.org/
http://www.google.com/webmasters/
http://adwords.google.com/

Good Luck!