Some of the keywords that that convert well (a.k.a. result in sales) for my ecommerce website are my company brand name and my product names. This traffic converts well because it’s visitors who’ve come to my site and already know what we sell and they’re seeking it out.

In the past I’ve talked about the importance of a good brand name and search engine optimization, but product names are also an important part of branding and SEO. This is because when customers wear your products out in public or display your products in their homes they’re advertising for you. Their friends and passersby see your products and maybe they want them.

Your goal is to make it easy for potential customers to find your products, and that means giving products names that describe them. In the design world I often see companies giving products cutesy names like “The Josephine Pendant” or “The Romance Hobo”. While these product names might have a story behind them, they make it very hard for customers to seek out these products.

Imagine a consumer saw your “Josephine Pendant” on the subway but she searches for “Silver and aquamarine stars pendant” (because that’s what the pendant looks like). Is she going to find your product? Maybe not, you’ve optimized for “Josephine Pendant” and that’s probably what’s in your title tag and file name.

Imagine another customer knows she wants a bright red cotton hobo bag. The “Romance Hobo” might be just that, but this customer doesn’t know anything about “Romance Hobos” she just knows what she wants her new bag to look like.

The point is, you have to optimize product names and product descriptions to match the way customers shop. Customers rarely know about your clever product names so it’s important to use the language they speak.

Here are a few ways you can help customers find your products online:

Choose names that describe your product
Make your product names descriptive. If it’s a black satin mini dress call it a black satin mini dress, don’t call it the “sweetheart” dress. You might want to call it the “Sexy Black Dress” or the “Going Out Dress” but make that decision based on research. Pull up Google’s Keyword Tool and find out if there’s actually search volume for a “Going Out Dress” or a “Sexy Black Dress”.

Write a product description that uses the right keywords
To follow my example above, if you do determine that “Sexy Black Dress” is the name you want to go with, make sure your product description uses words that describe the product’s style, materials, color, etc. Is it an A-line? Is it strapless? Is it belted? Answers to these questions may be self-evident in your product photos, but putting specific descriptors in your copy helps customers looking for your exact product to find you.

Google your own products
Take a look at your inventory and imagine you’ve seen it in a friend’s home or on a stranger on the street. How would you then go about finding those products on the internet? What keywords come to mind? Plug those words into Google and see if your items come up. If they don’t you’ve got some work to do.

Ask your friends to help
It can be hard to be objective about your own products. Ask friends to find your products online using only words that describe the items. Can your friends find your products? Did they find your competitor’s products first?

Ask your friends what words they’d use to seek out your items and take note of what they say. These are the words and phrases you’ll want to work into your title tags, file names and product description copy.

Last week I ran a series called “The Best Thing I Did for My Business.” I interviewed entrepreneurs and collected their experiences and shared them with you. I hope you noticed that they all had different answers to that question. While it’s absolutely a great idea to learn from others’ experiences and get advice from other business owners, their business is not your business. What worked for them may not work for you. What failed for them might be a huge success for you.

I see so many conversations on business owner forums that go something like “Don’t use Adwords, it’s a waste of money” or “Advertise on Craiglist, it got me 10 wholesale orders this week!” You kind of need to ignore this sort of talk.

Sure, take ideas away from other business. If they say coupon codes helped them grow their sales, feel free to give it a shot. If they say Adwords failed them and you have a similar type of business don’t go whole hog and start on Adwords with a $1000 daily budget. It’s important to learn from others, but never take their experiences as gospel.

The thing that worked for them may not work for you because you have a different type of business or a different type of customer or a different price point or a different brand image. The thing that failed for them may have failed because their product photos or web design are sub-par and anything they try is going to fail.

This is why it’s extremely important to really understand your business, your customers, your market, your path to success. You can learn from others’ experiences but always be objective and consider whether their advice or experience truly applies to you. Also think of ways to extrapolate what they say as it applies to your business.

Imagine yourself at a show or event where you’re selling your merchandise. You’ve spent weeks or months preparing for the event. You’ve prepared products, paid to reserve booth space, had a banner made, purchased a tent, you got up at 5am to load in and get all set up. You’ve invested time, sweat and cash, and now you’re ready to make some money. A customer picks up one of your products and says “Geez! You want $35.00 for this! What did it take you like 15 minutes to make this? It must have cost you like $1 in materials. I’ll give you $6.00 for it.” I bet right now you’re thinking “what an asshole.” You’re not wrong.

All of that said, when you balk at the cost of a PR rep, a small business consultant, an SEO consultant,a graphic designer, a web designer, ad space, a sales rep, etc. you sound like the exact same kind of jerk. It’s not okay to undervalue your labor as a small business owner or artisan and it’s also not okay for you to undervalue the labor of professionals who support your business.

Before you even think about hiring a professional to support your business, consider whether or not you actually want/need to do it. Are you prepared to invest in your business? Are you trying to grow a business into a full-time viable income source or are you a hobbyist? Can you afford to hire a professional?

The next thing to consider is that what you can afford has nothing to do with the value of a service. Like you, the person you want to hire to draw up a marketing plan or design a logo has bills to pay and a family to feed. He or she cannot work for slave wages nor should you expect them to.

“But what about designers who will do a logo for for $5.00?!”

Yes, you can probably find someone who will make you a logo for $5.00. What you’re going to get is a $5.00 logo. A logo that took no time to design and probably isn’t that great. A professional designer will spend the time to research your logo, select or design a unique font, create an original illustration. A professional will engage you in conversation about what you want your logo to be like. She’ll present you with a couple of concepts and go through rounds of revisions until your logo is perfect. A professional designer also probably spent thousands of dollars on specialized software that allows them to provide your logo in a format that can be used any place from a highway billboard to a business card.

“So you want me to pay $10,000 for a logo?!?!”

There’s a happy medium between the steep price tags paid by companies like Pepsi (they spent $1 million dollars on their logo) and the $5 clip art/comic sans variety. This is true with all professional services. There are consultants, web developers, graphic designers, PR reps, etc. that specialize in catering to small businesses. They are likely to give you a pretty low rate, but don’t expect them to work for free (or close to it).

Before you hire you should:

1. Do your research
Want to hire someone to make a website for you, google “how much does a website cost.” You’ll be sure to find some articles on this subject. Also find out what to expect when hiring a web designer. How many rounds of revisions typically come with a $1,000 price tag? How many design options should that price tag come with? Should the price tag include a content management system so you can update your own site? How much extra are shopping carts?

You need to make sure that you know what questions to ask before considering hiring a professional. It will save you from either getting ripped off or feeling disappointed by unrealistic expectations. Google “what to ask before hiring a web designer.” Research away until you’re armed with the knowledge you need to start a conversation with a professional.

2. Get competing bids
If you’re especially apprehensive about the cost of hiring a professional to help with your business, be sure to shop around. Get quotes from 2 or 3 different pros and make sure you’re comparing apples to apples. For example does the SEO consultant that costs $500 do both on-page optimization and link building or just on-page? Does the SEO consultant that costs $2,000.00 have a more impressive track record with past clients?

3. Find out what’s included
Always ask exactly what you’re getting for your money. PR, web design, logo design, SEO, etc. all come in different sizes. For design work ask how many revisions are included in your quote. Ask what format your design will be delivered in. Ask the PR person if they charge extra to make your press kit or build your media list. The more detail you have on what you’re getting, the better prepared you’ll be to make a hiring decision.

4. Ask for references or a portfolio
When hiring a professional to do work for your business experience counts. Really that is what you are paying for. So ask the professionals you’re considering hiring to provide references, details on the kinds of experience they have or ask to see their portfolio if you’re hiring for design work.

A few related reads I recommend:
Hiring a PR Professional for Your Indie Business
How to Hire a Good SEO Company
Why Do You Have a Cheap Looking Website
Why a Logo Does Not Cost $5.00
Logo Design Pricing and Rates

And last but not least…
Cost Helper – Helps provide a guide to costs you can expect for a large variety of professional services for small business.

Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:

• Testing Your Web Store: Be Your Own Customer
• Legal: Domain Names, Trade Names, and Trademarks
• “One Tip That Changed My Business” – 67 entrepreneurs share! A nice follow up read to my “The Best Thing I Did For My Business” series
• Avoiding Unnecessary Detours on Your Website
• Pricing Your Products for Growth
• Growing Your Business Beyond Etsy
• What Happens When A Customer Complains
• SEO in 2010: What You Need to Know

Facebook has made things a little tricky for marketers this week with the introduction of the new Like button. First of all, this button is neat. You can stick it on any page of your site and visitors just have to click to express fondness for your site. They don’t even get taken off your website, it automatically sends information to their Facebook profile. Very awesome.

Here’s where the challenge comes in: Like can do one of two things. You can either have visitors like your website (which causes your URL to be posted to their wall on Facebook) OR you can have visitors like your brand (which causes them to become a fan of your page). Which is better? I don’t know. Below is a comparison of the options.

So how will you be using the “like” button, to generate fans or generate website clicks?

I talk about the importance of PR a lot on this blog. I’d say it’s definitely in the top 5 list of most important things you can do for your business. In fact, it’s been #1 for my online retail business in terms of a dramatic increase in traffic and sales. A few of the other businesses I spoke with for this series said press was #1 for them too.

Happily Ever Afterwards sells anniversary keepsake boxes and found much of their growth came from reaching out to the bloggers in the wedding industry. The company says “It’s been a great way to connect with amazing people, find networks that relate to this niche product and it’s an affordable way to begin if you’re a small fish.”

Happily Ever Afterwards reported a 50% increase in sales from blogger activity and says “Connecting with the bloggers opened doors to four boutique wedding events in the last few weeks and our presence there combined with the word of mouth from the bloggers (most of whom are wedding planners) has made a great difference.”

Make More Cents, a company with a variety of traditional and unique banks, money jars, secret banks, coin sorters and saving tips, also reported a huge increase in business as a result of working with bloggers. “For 2010, we are already ahead of last year’s business by over 75%.”

They attribute their success to partnering with selected Mommy bloggers by contributing articles and participating in product reviews and giveaways. “I selected the bloggers based on their blog’s theme, traffic as well as geographic location,” says the company owner. “As part of the review and giveaway, many of the bloggers would collect money saving tips from their readers which I would consolidate and post on my blog. The Mommy blogger strategy increased my overall traffic substantially and built awareness with my target customer in a very cost efficient manner.”

Do It Yourself
Read my articles on PR. Make a press list and a calendar of events to promote to your contacts. Design a press kit and send compelling pitches that convince editorial contacts to write about your brand.

Tried This Tactic?
Had success getting editorials about your brand from TV, magazines, newspapers or websites? How did you do it and how did it impact your business?

<< Read Part 1: Self-Promotion
<< Read Part 2: Twitter
<< Read Part 3: Giving Customers VIP Deals
<< Read Part 4: Expanding Your Line
<< Read Part 5: Success by Association
<< Read Part 6: Well-Timed Campaigns
<< Read Part 7: Stimulating the Senses

In past articles I’ve written about strategies you can use to sell scented or edible items. Such products present a unique challenge for online commerce because your customer can’t taste or smell your product before they purchase. Etsy seller dasweetzpot sells handcrafted jams and jellies and found an increase in sales with two different strategies:

1. Mouth watering promos
“I created postcards using my jams being served on delicious foods. The photographs are not only amazing, but mouthwatering. The postcard has a coupon code for customers to go online, make a purchase and receive a free gift.”

2. Facebook Connection
“I have a presence in FaceBook. There I place recipes on how to use the jams in various dishes. The photographs alone are driving new customers to my online market site. ”

Do It Yourself
Use product photos that appeal to customer senses. Build community amongst customers and get them to share how they use your products or suggest ways your products can be used. Blogs and social media are a great way to help customers become part of your brand community.

Tried This Tactic?
Had success selling scented or edible products? What worked for you?

<< Read Part 1: Self-Promotion
<< Read Part 2: Twitter
<< Read Part 3: Giving Customers VIP Deals
<< Read Part 4: Expanding Your Line
<< Read Part 5: Success by Association
<< Read Part 6: Well-Timed Campaigns
Read Part 8: Harnessing the Press >>

In past articles, I’ve written about the importance of timing your promotions for the season and planning your promotional calendar in advance. OverstockArt.com has done just this with their Mother’s Day promotions.

Overstock Art is one of the Web’s leading distributors of reproduction oil paintings. To boost Mother’s Day sales the company sent out a special discount code for 40% off on oil paintings featured in their Mother’s Day gallery.

The company rounded out their plan with pitches to publications writing Mother’s Day gift guides and a blog post featuring the ten most popular oil paintings featuring images of motherhood. These efforts are a perfect example of promotions, PR and SEO all working in unison to help boost sales for a holiday.

Do It Yourself:
Make a list of upcoming holidays and events and brainstorm for ways to incorporate your products. Think about special promotions you can offer via email and social media. Think about how you can get press. Consider how you can improve your SEO to optimize for traffic and sales at various times of the year.

For more ideas read my article on planning your promotional calendar in advance.

Tried This Tactic?
Have you successfully run a marketing campaign based around a season or holiday? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

<< Read Part 1: Self-Promotion
<< Read Part 2: Twitter
<< Read Part 3: Giving Customers VIP Deals
<< Read Part 4: Expanding Your Line
<< Read Part 5: Success by Association
Read Part 7: Stimulating the Senses >>
Read Part 8: Harnessing the Press >>

Canoodling Owls by barkingbirdart

Getting an endorsement from a well-respected source can lead to a huge growth in your business. While many brands think of celebrity endorsements as the holy grail, you need not limit your search for endorsement prospects to the rich and famous.

PlaySportsTV.com, an online retailer of coaching videos for parents, teachers, and other volunteers, has partnered with numerous organizations to grow their brand. They’ve secured a partnership with the National Council of Youth Sports, offered discounted rates on their products to city athletic leagues and participated in a giveaway with 11 Burger Kings in Erie, PA.

PlaySportsTV may not have NFL pros promoting their wares, but they have well-respected organizations in their corner; organizations with direct connections to the brand’s target market.

Do It Yourself:
Make a list of other business or organizations you could partner with to reach your customers. Do you sell baby clothing? Why not partner with a company that sells maternity products. If you sell custom wedding invitations consider trying to form alliances with wedding planners.

Start by making a list of all the organizations that have relationships with your target market. Then try to think of how you’d like to approach them and what you have to offer them in exchange for their help. Will you offer their audience discounts? Will you make a charitable donation? Will you offer products for a sweepstakes?

Send queries to the groups you’d like to partner with, proposing a mutually beneficial relationship.

Tried This Tactic?
Have you formed a valuable alliance with another organization? Tell us about your experience in the comments below.

<< Read Part 1: Self-Promotion
<< Read Part 2: Twitter
<< Read Part 3: Giving Customers VIP Deals
<< Read Part 4: Expanding Your Line
Read Part 6: Well-Timed Campaigns >>
Read Part 7: Stimulating the Senses >>
Read Part 8: Harnessing the Press >>

Every day I check out the 100s of subscriptions in my RSS feed about marketing, PR, advertising, branding, social media, and a host of other topics of interest to small businesses that sell online. Most of what gets posted isn’t earth shattering but I reserve Fridays for the best reads of the week. So here you have it, the most valuable things I read in the business blogosphere this week:

• How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment: 10 No-Brainers
• Don’t Run Someone Else’s Business – Thoughts on why doing things the way other businesses do things may not be to your advantage
• SEO Guide: How to Hire a Good SEO Company
• 10 Tips on Advertising on Blogs
• A Really Big SEO Checklist
• 6 Tools for Optimizing Web Page Load Time
• PR Tips: How to Come Up With Pitch Ideas
• Image Formats: The Difference Between JPG, GIF and PNG
• 6 Things You Can Do To Improve Your SEO
• Getting The Most Out of a New Product Launch

Be sure to tune in next week for the rest of special series “The Best Thing I Did For My Business”