Hi, I have a friend in India who is an expert in making door hangings( & Torans).She recently started her own business and got meinterested in it too.As a trial I bought a variety of hangings from her to US.Also I got a few handicrafts. I need ur suggestions as to how to market them and sell them.Right now I am trying with my friends and acquaintences.My hubby had a good laugh when I told him about my venture.He is very confident(and he is wrong) that I won't be able to do it and is very keen on using themas gifts to his friends. Can you please suggest me how to go about it?If it works out,the friend in India and I can work on it jointly later.
hey Harshita, Dunno if you have already done this - Take some good pics of the items and get them printed or color-xeroxed on good quality paper. Ask your friends / acquaintances to pass them on to their friends and acquaintances. Some body is sure to contact you, at least for purchasing for self use. Since your DH is laughing at your thinking to venture into something like this - ask him instead to give it a shot along with you. Instead of giving him the actual torans and hangings, give him these pics, probably the same ppl who he wanted to gift it to, will come to you to purchase! What say ;-) I definitely want YOU to have the last laugh on this.. Put up the pics on the net, on some free or lesser priced site, and have a separate email id for ppl to contact you for this purpose.. Hope this helps.. all the best, keep thinking on these lines, I'm sure you will come up with many many more ideas very soon. Keep us informed on how it goes.. best, hasita
Hi Harshita, Congratulations and All the best on your new venture. Here are my few thoughts after reading your post: Yours is a business that involves 'Personal Taste' - for example not all people might want to decorate with hangings. Even if people want to, their choice of hangings may differ from conservative to modern etc. So the targetted segment is not an easy choice one Nevertheless, here are some ways to market. 1) If possible get yourself a small site (possibly you can even do with google pages). 2) Or Build an album of all your products and post it online - may be in Picasa. You can always refer the URL to people so that they can take a look at your broad collection. 3) You can talk to Induslady and try to get a directory listing in IL also. Possibly there are ILites who would be interested in buying. 3) If you can find a utility value for the products - try to showcase them and picture it. For example, if you have wooden carvings which could also be used as Pen Stands or Paper weight etc. you can take pictures of these products showing the purpose too. [But not all products need to have a utility value.] 4) Think in lines of where a particular product would look more elegant and pleasing. Try to showcase them and picture them. Note: Be aware that people don't come to a conclusion that you are selling a used product just because they feature in the photos showing utility or elegance!!! Think why would people want to buy the products you have. From your post, I understand that they are either of some utility value or they are great showpieces. So you need to possibly find out when you talk with people what their interest would be and accordingly sell the relevant products. That is one way of doing it. These are just few thoughts that initially crossed my mind. Will come up with more after some more thinking Cheers Jenz
Hi, Wow.Thx Jenz.I think I am more inclined towards handicrafts/decor items. Since its Navratri and Diwali is coming close,decided on these items(auspicious items). I had few questions like what directory listing were u talking about.I have been a dormant member and I will explore it. I have already managed to sell quite a few of them.U r right,not everybody likes the same items.I will take care next time to have a wider range.Just wanted to start out with baby steps .
Hi Harshita, Check out the link 'Directory' on the menu items in IL. That is the Directory Listing I was mentioning about. Also, you can approach Induslady for other advertising options in IL. Cheers Jenz
Hi Harshita, I see that you are from Sunnyvale, CA. You should have some Diwali fairs coming up in your Bay area. Try to get a stall there. Typically, abt 2000 -3000 people come to such fairs and this might be a good chance to get your product in front of so many people. If you can't afford the stall prices, check if you can share the stall with someone else. I, myself, will be attending our local Diwali fair here in my area. It really gives you good chance to fully understand your customer. Even if you don't make much in these fairs, it gives you a chance to talk to people and see what they are looking for and if you need to tweak your product. I would also highly suggest that you create a website ( Googlepages is a good option). That way you can ask your friends to tell their friends to just check the site to see ALL your products. Cheers, Anjali
Hi Friends, I am happy to tell you that I am really satisified with the door hangings sale.Thanks a lot for ur encouragement and guidance.I am still at a very early stage and this was my pilot project. I had one question regarding the wholesale import(or buy in bulk) from India.Have any advice regarding that?Like how to contact unknown (maybe through web),verify their credentials etc?Advice on this will be very helpful.
Hi Harshita, Very nice to hear about your success in pilot project. all the very best for more successes to knock your doors and flood past your door hangings into your home What are trying to import? Guess though there are general rules, there would be lot of specifics depending on what commodity you are trying to import! Cheers Jenz
