Advertising and Getting the Idea Out There

[stho1978]

I’ve posted on here several times in the past, throwing a few ideas around / seeking general advice on a some of them.

Bit of background

Currently, I’m (still) matched betting / gambling for a living. Been doing this for over 4 years now. Enjoy it, and will carry on with it, but wanting to diversify to do something along side. Few reasons – it’s not as lucrative as it was, I want to try something different and want to open up other income streams.

Ideas

Loads of them. 25 to 30 different ones with some I’ve looked at on here. I’m still keen on them, but after thinking about it, there’s one or two streams I want to look into further for now with a view to eventually try a few others.

What I want to concentrate on:

I have three or four products that I think will work and will sell (will come onto why I think they’ll work as I go along).

Firstly:

Linked to what I do at the minute, create an affiliate website for the gambling products I use. I know the products work and are very popular (probably too popular - see my comment about it not being as lucrative as once was). Ideal for someone who wants to make a second income or start out with matched betting though.

Affiliates – done to death in some respects but I hope there’s some money to be made from them with the right attitude and strategy. There are tons of products out there that claim to help with affiliate marketing start ups. One thing that strikes me about a lot of them though, is that usually the first training task they get you to do is become an affiliate and sell their product through an affiliate blog to other people that want to become an affiliate. Just strikes me as a ponzi / pyramid scheme strategy – not saying they’re all like that or that it’s the only thing they do of course. But ignoring that, do you really need to sign up to such a program? I’d say no, there should be plenty of info from free forums like this, but what do others think?

You need traffic to any site you want to sell products / info on. Apart from trying to drive traffic via the internet (I need to look into this of course), I’m thinking about off line advertising (in the real world).

I have friends that run a football team and I think sports teams would be an ideal market. Start off sponsoring a local amateur football team (don’t have to be main sponsor). I could check out with the local football association about the rules of handing out leaflets with the product and info on with details of the website.

Going on from that, I could look at –

one: seeing if anyone else wants to advertise with me (selling ad space)

and

two: offer a service to other local sports teams to see if they want a program publishing with ad space for their sponsors / local sponsors and my website. That way, I can try and cover some of the costs of the printing etc but get my product out there.

Secondly:

I have a few family members that make and sell craft products as a hobby. One of them actually does quite well from it (in terms of sales) but neither of them has a clue about websites or how to push their products. At present it’s word of mouth, craft shows and such sites as Esty. My idea is to set up a website for each of them, advertise for them (on line / off line / art shops / craft fairs etc etc) and any sales from the website and advertising I take 10%.

One strategy I was thinking about is to create a directory to be delivered locally and sell advertising space in it for local craft / art companies along with the products I want to promote. Again, that way I’ll keep the cost down of producing the directory (not looking to make money from advertising space sales to start with – just help with costs) and I can get my sites out there. Moving forward, if it’s successful, I could also set up an online local directory. Use affiliate links if possible but sell advertising space on there as well.

Budget for all this is around £500 - £1000.

So are there any thought’s or ideas? Anyone any experience? Like I say, the products will sell – I’ve seen that (most products will sell I suppose) – but it’s trying to target the right audiences and getting the message out there.

Another thing, is there anyone on here that specialises in webhosting, ecommerce and printing (not all together)? Would much rather put money back into UK Business Forum members to begin with if possible.

 

[ethical PR]

1. Not going to provide any advice on promoting anything gambling related. People who get hooked on gambling, destroy their lives and those of their families.

2. Your second idea has absolutely no traction. Directories have been dead in the water for years. Most people selling crafts use Etsy/local FB Groups.

 

[Mr D]

I have a few family members that make and sell craft products as a hobby. One of them actually does quite well from it (in terms of sales) but neither of them has a clue about websites or how to push their products. At present it’s word of mouth, craft shows and such sites as Esty. My idea is to set up a website for each of them, advertise for them (on line / off line / art shops / craft fairs etc etc) and any sales from the website and advertising I take 10%.

One strategy I was thinking about is to create a directory to be delivered locally and sell advertising space in it for local craft / art companies along with the products I want to promote. Again, that way I’ll keep the cost down of producing the directory (not looking to make money from advertising space sales to start with – just help with costs) and I can get my sites out there. Moving forward, if it’s successful, I could also set up an online local directory. Use affiliate links if possible but sell advertising space on there as well.

Budget for all this is around £500 - £1000.

So are there any thought’s or ideas? Anyone any experience? Like I say, the products will sell – I’ve seen that (most products will sell I suppose) – but it’s trying to target the right audiences and getting the message out there.

Another thing, is there anyone on here that specialises in webhosting, ecommerce and printing (not all together)? Would much rather put money back into UK Business Forum members to begin with if possible.

Taking 10% of sales and you are paying for advertising?
Cannot see it being a viable business for you. Suppose the sales in a month were £150. You take £15. Can see how that's a benefit for the crafter.
You spending a portion of that £15 on advertising? Won't reach far.

 

[AndyLF]

When you scratch the surface of most small businesses, they are not gaining most of their profit from marketing-led revenue. The larger share of the profit comes from other places - referrals, repeat clients, networking, partnerships etc etc. If they ONLY had marketing/advertising to drive revenue they'd probably not make a profit.

Now, if you're suggesting that YOU can make a profit from running their advertising as well as them make a profit, it'll never happen. My guess too is that running profitable marketing isn't a dominant part of your experience.

My suggestion: stick to what you know. Looks at what you know inside and out, then see where there might be a market for it that can be sold to profitably.

 

[stho1978]

Thanks for the replies and I see all your points.

1. Not going to provide any advice on promoting anything gambling related. People who get hooked on gambling, destroy their lives and those of their families.

I understand that entirely. I would say, though, that the vast majority that gamble don't get hooked and don't have their lives ruined. I know people who have had their lives ruined by alcohol, but I wouldn't say that everyone that drinks is an alcoholic. I know you're not saying that everyone who gambles is an addict by the way. People get hooked on all sorts of vices which I would imagine people here promote. However, I respect your opinion and of course this isn't the forum to debate the merits of promoting gambling products.

Like mentioned, taking 10% of sales and then paying for advertising would get me nowhere. Hence, I was looking at shared advertising with other local businesses in the same field (craft market). That way the costs to me would be minimal. Whether anyone would be interested in that, is another matter of course and this is where I'll do the research before committing anything to it.

I'm not looking to make this a viable business for me to start with - odd as that may seem. It's more trying something out that I've not done before, minimal cost and if I can get it off the ground, take it from there in terms of % of sales through the advertising and website.

The craft products are good sellers, but they're struggling to expand what they do and reach a wider audience (time factor / research etc is one of them, whilst I can devote time to it). Whether I get involved or not, I really do think they could do with a proper website to go along with the word of mouth and social media they use at present.

Now it doesn't necessarily have to be via a local leaflet campaign / brochure / advertising anyway, I'm just thinking of different approaches. And this was one of them. I'd try other avenues but was looking at this to begin with. Partnerships is another option I was going to look at. I'd gladly look at getting their products out there using streams such as Estry (one of them already does use it, but very little else).

Interesting note on directories being dead in the water for years. We do get a local directory sent round once a month full of local businesses. That's what made me think maybe this can be an option because it's unusual these days. Hence something different to try.

 

[Mr D]

Interesting note on directories being dead in the water for years. We do get a local directory sent round once a month full of local businesses. That's what made me think maybe this can be an option because it's unusual these days. Hence something different to try.

We used to get a big yellow local directory every year.
Probably 20 years since I last opened it. Used to get a thinner one too, again not opened.

Now if I go to an event, some of them have adverts for particular sponsors / advertisers in the event programme. I'll at least read the programme.

 

[stho1978]

Thanks. That's another area I've got down to look at as well (craft events).