In the selling world, just about everything.
Oddly enough, although I've been in marketing for (cough) over 20 years, the experience has been mostly in the graphics side of marketing. So I have gone about marketing my sites in a rather scatter-shot way, and now I'm rethinking the whole idea.
Rustmonger Vintage started out as Rustmonger and Moonlunasea Ltd. Cute, in its own way, but not focused. And what's the Moonlunasea all about anyway? It's the moniker I've used on eBay, and is also coincidentally the name of some odd little band somewhere. The next incarnation was Rustmonger Vintage Tooling & More... way too long, and what's that "& More" really doing for me? So it's not really all about the kinds of things I sell.
So I started boiling down the idea, and wanted to keep "Rustmonger" because it pretty much says it all. But couldn't just use "Rustmonger" because one of the people who uses that name is a vintage beer can collector. And I don't exclusively sell hardware. So I kept "Vintage" and stripped away anything that doesn't really add any informative value to the brand, as I sell both hardware and tools, all of them vintage, as well as industrial machine-related ephemera (spec sheets, brochures, catalogs and other advertising paper). Could have kept "Tooling" but that word is awkward, and is kind of implied in "Rustmonger"...
No wonder I just did okay in my School of Visual Concepts branding and marketing classes!
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid) should be my motto for everything.
Overexplaining isn't a good thing in marketing. Keep things brief and to the point... sure, you can throw in humor, emotional-response-eliciting phrases here and there, but most people don't buy because of hyperbole...
So, now I am going to go through all my online sales sites with the above in mind. Keep it focused, keep it simple, don't overexplain or flood the visitors with much more information than they need... because it simply won't be absorbed.
Now I need to try out the same K.I.S.S for my Etsy site, ActiasLunaMasks.
What the heck does Actias luna, the scientific name for the Luna moth, have to do with it, and why is the site full of paintings as well as masks? Well, there you go... an enthusiastic but slightly muddled attempt at marketing. Meh.
Monday, May 26, 2008
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4 comments:
Just a FYI it might be a good idea to resurrect your old blog with a single post pointing to not only the new blog but all your selling sites, it is free exposure.
Make it shameless plug extreme, show your wares.
So far as Etsy, you can't change the name, gotta start over and I agree it does not 'do' to be too specific, it is limiting and a major handicap in the changing world.
Again I would leave it open for a while as you set up your new store, you have already paid and can move as they expire, meanwhile publicize the new shop.
Thanks for the tip, Henrietta!
Cleaning up the muddle is going to be such fun... perhaps when I see it pay off in less confusion by visitors and more sales it will feel completely worthwhile.
Good Post and glad I'm not the only one muddled currently LOL.
Guess I already opened my mouth on this one once!
Keep It Simple Sweetie does not do quite as much damage to your self image, and a confident seller usually sells (sweetie)!
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