How to Get Customers to Your Shop When You Have ZERO Followers

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Let me guess…

You listed some products on Etsy and expected your handmade business to be a success overnight.

While I’m not saying that can’t happen, it’s rare.

Nowadays, you must work hard to promote your business, whether you sell on Etsy or on your own website. Customers are not going to magically find you on their own.

So, how do you do that? How do you create buzz for your business and get people talking about the things you sell?

It’s easier than you think…

And you don’t need a huge following or tons of money to make it happen. Of course, both of those things DO help.

The strategies I’m about to explain are the same strategies thousands of handmade sellers have been using for years to grow their businesses from zero dollars per month to five or six figures. While I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same success, I can guarantee your business will not grow if you do nothing.

Start with Media Outreach

One super effective way to get more sales when you have zero followers is to borrow the audience of major influencers in your industry. You do this by reaching out to magazines, blogs, and other places where your customers hang out. Your goals is to get these media influencers to mention or review your products. Then, their followers will check out your business.

Media outreach is something you can do even when you have zero followers.

It works really well!

When you get someone with 100,000+ followers to mention your business, you see a lot of new traffic. Most successful businesses have a track record of getting featured or mentioned by big brands and influencers.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…

How do I effectively perform media outreach? Will blogs and magazines really feature my business or products?

Yes, they will!

Now, I’m not saying you’ll get a response from everyone you contact, but even one feature will do wonders for your business. Media outreach is the number one thing you can do to create buzz around your products.

Are you ready? Here are the steps:

1. Create a list of all the media influencers or businesses you want to work with. This could be blogs, magazines, TV shows, radio shows, Instagram influencers, celebrities, etc.
2. Do some research and find their email addresses. Most websites have a contact page where you can find this information, but you might have to do some digging.
3. Write an email pitch. Don’t simply tell them about your business and products. Offer them a free sample in exchange for a mention or review. This gives them an opportunity to see what you sell and take pictures they can use in their blog post or magazine.
4. Send a follow-up email if you don’t hear back. Most people are really busy and will not respond to your first email. However, when you send a follow-up email 7 days later, they are much more likely to respond because they can see you won’t give up.

While getting featured can be effective in creating buzz for your handmade business, keep in mind that not all influencers have the same reach. A mention by a top magazine in your industry is much more valuable than a mention by a tiny blog that is just starting out. Use your time wooing these media influencers accordingly.

It might not be smart to offer a $100 item to a small blog for free if they don’t have a large enough audience to give you a return on your money. However, giving a free item to a magazine is worth the money!

Share Your Business Everywhere

Similar to media outreach, you can look for websites that let you share your products and experience with their audience. This might be in the form of a guest post, gallery listing, or business directory submission.

Check out this free resource: 30+ places where you can list your Etsy shop for FREE.

Some people think business directories and art galleries are useless nowadays. It’s true that they won’t bring you the kind of traffic they did back in 2010, but they still have merit. Event coordinators look through local business directories to find businesses to run booths at major events. That can give you exposure. Plus, it doesn’t take much time to submit your business or products, so why not do it?

Most online craft directories and art galleries also provide links back to your website or your Etsy shop when you submit your business or products. This is huge because it tells search engines your business is important, and you are more likely to be found by potential customers searching for the kinds of products you sell. It helps you build authority in your industry and helps you rank better in the search engines than your competitors.

In addition to art galleries and business directories, you can guest post on blogs in your industry. The goal is to share your experience and gain a link back to your website. You can create a post with information your customers would find useful or create a tutorial showing people how to make something.

Now, I know what you’re thinking…

Why would you ever create a tutorial and show people exactly how you make your products? Wouldn’t they just steal your idea and make it themselves?

Yes, that could happen, but they probably would find a way to make something themselves whether you provide a tutorial or not. Plus, you don’t have to give away all your secrets. The reason why creating a tutorial is useful to your business is that some people will see how hard it is to do what you do and then go to your shop and buy directly from you instead of making it themselves. Plus, tutorials often get picked up for roundup posts which can bring your business more traffic.

I’m not saying guest posting is the best strategy for every business, but it’s something you could consider doing if the skills you use aren’t really top secret. The goal is to show your expertise, which leads people to go check out the things you sell.

Join and Participate in Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are also an easy and free way to create buzz for your handmade business. Join a bunch of Facebook groups where your customers hang out and start networking. For example, if you sell pet clothing, join some Facebook groups all about pets.

Now, you can’t go into these groups with the expectation to just sell, sell, sell. Most Facebook groups have rules against self promotion. Your goal is to go in and contribute meaningful comments and just chat with people. This takes time, but its super effective in creating buzz for your business.

When you comment on someone’s thread, they often click on your name to learn more about you. It’s super important that you have a link to your website and business page from your Facebook profile. People will often click through and browse your products.

Facebook groups have been beneficial for my business and I have met some amazing handmade sellers by hanging out there. I recently met a nice woman that sells fun, colorful totes in her Etsy Shop, Love Rubie. She posted something in a Facebook group and it made me click on her profile and find out about her. The same thing happened to Lisa of Heart of the Needle Leather. I found out about her amazing leather bags after she commented in a Facebook group and I clicked on her profile.

Networking in Facebook groups takes a lot of time, but some businesses have steadily grown their following and increased their sales using this strategy. I like Facebook groups because they’re fun. You get to meet lots of people who share common interests and create buzz for your business at the same time.

Do a Giveaway

Another way to create buzz for your business is to do a giveaway. The way this works is that you get people to sign up for your email list in exchange for a chance to win something amazing for free. The winner is then announced through email and everyone else gets a coupon code to buy your products.

Giveaways are a little harder to pull off when you have zero followers because you need to find a way to promote your giveaway to lots of people. You can do this through media outreach, or even start with your network of friends and family. You can also use an app, like ViralSweep, to make your giveaway go viral.

With ViralSweep, people earn points when they tell others about your giveaway. The more points they earn, the higher their chance of winning your prize. ViralSweep is not free, but if you have a small budget, you can use it to your advantage.

To do a giveaway right, you first need a Facebook page, a Website with a landing page where you can send people to enter your giveaway, and an email subscriber provider.

I use Bluehost for my website because they offer a free domain name and reliable web hosting. You can get Bluehost for $3.95 per month through my affiliate link

To do a giveaway, there are a few things you need to get right…

1. Choose a Good Prize. It needs to be appealing enough that people think it is worth their time to enter and give you their email address. Most people won’t really care unless you are offering a prize worth $100 or more.
2. Create an Eye-Catching Graphic. Make sure it says, “Giveaway,” and that you list the value of your prize. You can turn this graphic into a Facebook ad, but people won’t read your description if your graphic is not interesting.
3. Tell People How to Enter. Don’t make it difficult for people to enter your giveaway. I recommend using ViralSweep to make your giveaway as easy as possible. Also, make it clear when the winner will be chosen.

Run Paid Advertisements

I don’t want to spend too much time covering paid advertisements because most new business owners don’t have money to spend on ads. I just wanted to mention that paid advertisements are the fastest way to get your business in front of potential customers and create buzz about your products when you don’t have a following yet.

When you do paid ads correctly, you can put $10 in and get $30 back. Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Now, before you run off and start creating ads, learn how to do them correctly. Otherwise, you’ll just be wasting money.

If you’re interested in learning how to do paid advertisements, read Brian Meert’s book, The Complete Guide to Facebook Advertising. He explains how to use paid advertising and sales funnels on Facebook and see a return on your investment.

Facebook ads are incredible because you can target a very specific group of people. You also don’t need any sort of social media following to make them work. If you have any money to spend on ads, I encourage you to try because they are powerful!

A Few More Notes

I’m sure you realize how important it is to build a following for your handmade business. That’s how you get repeat sales and start making consistent income selling the things you make.

Before you start creating buzz for your business, make sure you have a website where you can collect email addresses and a business page on Facebook. This will help you build your audience.

Your goal should always be to get more email subscribers and social media followers. You can use the methods in this post to create buzz for your business, but they won’t be sustainable unless you build a following at the same time.

It’s ok if you don’t have any followers yet. You must start somewhere, just keep working on it.

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