Since launching my product keep me jewellery it is becoming increasingly clear that I need to get it into people's hands. They need to see it and handle it. A nice website with nice pictures is not enough - people are asking to see the range, and when they do they are buying.
I have been planning to gift away samples of the keep me range to certain blogs and individuals as well as running a competition that is open to the public. The idea is simply to get the product into people's hands and hopefully get trusted endorsements that they can pass on to their friends and followers.
This week I have been putting together a competition. The timing has worked out well as it is now an Easter promotion and this has also given me the chance to expand the keep me product range with the concept of seasonal 'special editions'. We have made a special edition Easter Bunny. This has worked incredibly well and is something I plan to develop further with other seasonal promotions – Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and so on.
The competition is running on keep me's Facebook page and requires a simple comment to enter. This will hopefully engage viewers in a way that is more than simply 'liking'. So far the response has been very good with some very funny comments.
I haven't really been a user of social media until now and I have struggled at times to know exactly what I should be doing and on what social media platform. It can be very confusing at first as they all seem to do the same thing but at the same time are slightly different. However Neil Infield, a social media expert at the British Library Business & IP centre, has given me some invaluable advice about social media strategy. They are a very constructive set of tools if used well, but also seem destructive if used carelessly.
This all requires a lot of time and energy. I have been working full-time for the past few months and it has proven very hard to keep on top of new Facebook posts and tweets. This could easily be a full-time job in itself.
As I previously mentioned, I have had my first sales. Admittedly they have been from friends and family or work colleagues but they are sales nonetheless. All of these purchasers have seen the keep me range in person and then decided that they would like to buy. I happen to have had some very good news regarding keep me this week and it means that I will be able to showcase the product to a large audience at some point this year. I cannot say too much at this point but it is exactly what I need to promote the product and hopefully generate sales.
Tom Blake is a sculptor and designer and the founder of keep me jewellery. He'll be blogging on a regular basis about his startup journey on the Network.
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