Tips for making your first online sale

The first sale: it's just AMAZING!

You will see that it brings a lot of joy and a real boost to your self-confidence, it is highly motivating.

We hope you will get to know it quickly, so in this article we give you some tips on how to do it without delay.

1 / Tell your family and friends about your shop

It seems obvious, but we don't necessarily think about it. Don't hesitate to ask your friends and family to share the address of your shop on the various social networks (Facebook, Instagram etc.). The aim is not to sell them your products but to promote them. Thanks to this "snowball" effect, your brand / shop will start to make a name for itself on the web. Moreover, this promotion, in addition to inspiring confidence in your friends, will not cost you anything.

2 / Ordering business cards

Even if your business is online and not physical, consider ordering business cards to hand out on outings or at meetings with your suppliers.

Remember to place your store's url in the center of your map, so that it's as visible as possible. Add the various social networks where your site is located. Finally, make sure it reflects the style of your store to ensure consistency between the two.

3 / Register on social networks

Today, it is essential for an online shop to be on the most influential social networks (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram).

The latter now bring a significant amount of traffic and will allow you to grow your business quickly.

Try to be present as much as possible on these different media and to broadcast promotions for your products. This is a great way to get your name out there.

4 / Post on Facebook / Instagram

Now that your shop has a Facebook page, don't hesitate to create a link with your customers or future customers by posting regularly. This will allow you to create a "community" around your brand and attract new customers through the sharing of your posts.

For information, if you want to boost a publication on Facebook (advertisement), it is preferable to send a good quality square image/photo while avoiding too much text: be aware that the text should not represent more than 20% of the image, if you do not respect this rule, Facebook will broadcast your advertisement to few people and will thus limit the impact of your campaign

When creating your ad, you can choose to also run it on Instagram. Today, there are more and more advertisements on Instagram, subscribers are more and more receptive to them, hence the interest in creating campaigns on this social network.

By the way, there is an article here about connecting your shop to your Facebook page.

5 / Create a blog

Keeping a blog on your store will allow you to create content to not only keep your customers entertained but also to attract new visitors to your store.

You need to create quality content that your customers will want to read or even share. For example, you can test your products, show them in action, or simply give them a behind-the-scenes look at your shop.

In addition to maintaining your brand image, this quality content will allow you to be better referenced by Google and thus improve your placement on your favourite keywords.

6 / Organise competitions

You've probably heard the expression "you have to give to get". It sounds strange, but giving away one or more products through a raffle can be a great way to popularise your shop and convert those donations into sales.

Organising a competition on Facebook for example will allow you to gain new subscribers and distribute your products for free.

Of course, as with any competition, participants must respect a few basic rules, such as liking your page, sharing the publication or calling other friends in comments, for example.

In this way, your competition will be spread for free thanks to the shares of the participants and your brand will gain visibility.

7 / Create a discount code

As you probably know, everyone likes a good deal.

Many Internet users look for discount coupons before ordering on a site, which is why it's so important to create a discount code for your store.

Once validated, don't hesitate to spread the word on sites like ma-reduc.com or dealabs.com.

I hope these tips will give you some ideas and help you make your first sale.

Above all - and this is ultra important - don't forget to open the champagne when you make your first sale. Well, at worst, something sparkling, but don't go spending it all!

Here at the workshop, there has been a bottle on the shelf since the day of our first sale, a constant reminder that we were right to embark on the TPOP adventure 😀