Friday, December 3, 2010

I Need Help! + GIVEAWAY!

I seem to be having trouble selling diaper cakes (like pictured below). I'm not sure exactly why. I think it is because I have not been able to get my business out in the open yet. I have such a passion for babies and making these hand made each time brings such joy to my life.


Here is the link to my Etsy shop where I am currently selling them: http://www.etsy.com/listing/35718389/custom-made-diaper-cakes

DO any of you have any recommendations or ideas on ways that I can sell more? I really love making them and wished I had more buyers.

GIVEAWAY

One commenter will win any book/s of choice from the Book Depository up to $10 total.

RULES:

- Must provide a thought on the diaper cakes and it must be a real thought.
-  Leave a way to contact you

Extra Entries

- Put the giveaway button on your sidebar (leave link) - +2
- Tweet/blog/facebook (leave DIRECT links) - +1 each
- +50 buy a diaper cake!
- +20 buy something besides a diaper cake from My Etsy store!

**If you are extremely interested in one then please email me at: ashleysbookshelf at gmail dot com**

ENDS Dec 31st!


**The more I sale the more prizes I can giveaway!! So please help spread the word. Not only through the web but also in person!**



18 comments:

  1. Hey! I see your in Georgia! I am in Georgia too! I am a mommy blogger ..I could write up a blog post for you or post on my facebook and twitter page about your diaper cake business! Do you have a facebook page for your business? Thats a GREAT way to spread the word about it because almost everyone has Facebook these days! Email me if you'd like to me to help you advertise!!

    mommyferg02@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mommy Bloggers are always a good way to start. Plus if you have a local magazine that advertises baby products check into that as well. Start your own Facebook page for your designs. I am just starting my own business of event planning and floral design so I know what you are going through.

    shannonrae72@gmail.com
    http://shannonrae72.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Know what I would do? Make a flyer with photos of your diaper cakes and pull off phone numbers/email... take them to the hospital and post them on the bulletin board in the waiting room of the baby ward :)

    the_happy_soul @ yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe you could try putting up fliers as baby stores or party stores (the kind of place that people would go to buy supplies for a baby shower). Also, have a button on your blog where everyone can see it, you never know who might pass by and really like it or know someone else who might.

    jlynettes @ hotmail . com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would really focus on local sales and word of mouth. Maybe see if you could put flyers in the maternity shops in your town? Also, maybe you could talk to florists and bakeries about putting your fliers up =)

    ReplyDelete
  6. The best way I can think of is to get in contact with mommy bloggers that have a lot of followers and maybe have them do a review or host a giveaway for one of the diaper cakes to get some buzz going. Also, you could approach any local businesses that supply things for baby showers (like bakeries, etc.)and see if they will let you leave business cards, fliers, or run promotions with them that could benefit you both.
    throuthehaze at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. How cute!

    A few suggestions for you-- hit the mommy bloggers. I think they'd eat this idea up!

    Also, have you tried looking into working with a local party planning business? You might be able to get them to put your baby cakes in their book of things perspective clients order for baby showers, etc. (Also on this subject-- look for craft fairs and invest in a table/business cards!)

    Last, you might want to take new photos of the product. They're fine as they are, but some are slightly over exposed and others are just a little blurry (on my screen at least!)

    It's really an adorable idea!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Have you tried Craigslist? There is a woman in my city that uses craigslist and she has for quite some time so it must work,

    ReplyDelete
  9. If you have any local charities that do auctions I would try donating some to be auctioned off for charity. If it's a big charity event a lot of people will see them and I would make sure your contact information was available to them.

    seriousreader at live dot com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think that's a really cute and creative idea; it's a shame that they're not selling as well as you'd like. I would recommend maybe approaching hospital gift shops or stores like BuyBuy Baby, to see if they'd be interested. Do you know anyone who is expecting? You could offer to give them one for free or at a reduced price, and they could display it at their baby shower. The blogging community is a great way to spread the word as well, and a lot of blogging mothers would probably be more than willing to do a review and giveaway on their blogs.
    melodiousrevelry (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Theresa's is a great idea! I also think you could try promoting on baby shower websited and/or ads by google. I know my family and I plan a lot of baby showers and we're also finding links to things like your baby cakes on the web. You can start by telling your friends who can tell their friends and so on. You could maybe do a free offer for a week and see how it goes to get some publicity.

    Tweet: http://twitter.com/baddict17/status/14051018220249088

    my1blog17@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. OK, here's a few ways that I would recommend:
    - Be an active member of the community / Etsy forums.
    - Create an FB page solely for your Etsy shop
    - Host contests or do promotions / offers there
    - Join the Mom Bloggers Club
    - Send a free gift (affordable and nice) to clients who purchase $100 and above.
    - Put a Christmas sale for certain items by marking - down the prices.
    - Ask your clients who have purchased from your shop to write a review on their blog (if they have) in return for a discount for their next purchase / free gift.
    - Take clear and professional pictures of your products. You may use photo-editing softwares to make the image clearer. But take note not to edit the original image until it's different from the product because buyers might feel cheated if the product they received is not the same as what they saw.

    +2 Put the giveaway button on your sidebar
    http://the-bookaholics.blogspot.com/

    +1 Tweeted
    http://twitter.com/aikchien/status/14159047003471874

    +1 Shared on facebook
    http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=167368583300597&id=1467072730

    aikychien at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am an International entry so I can't really do mjuch to help you by spreading the word.

    It seems most of the other posts have covered everything I can think of to suggest.

    Maybe try doing a survey in a mall and on the web about what people think of your cakes and see what the public has to say ?

    Best of luck.

    Carol T

    buddytho {at}gmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Those are cute! I've seen them at baby showers. So creative!

    I suggest you try the following:
    -Switch over from etsy.com to bigcartel.com You'll save way more money to make more diaper cakes! If you choose the free account you can have 5 items at a time, but a way around that is to list instead of size Small for the first item choose to have different "sizes" but instead of sizes have them be different items . I hope that makes sense. You can just explain to your customers with a "key" what product "small" will actually be. You can even include links to those other products if you're unable to add more pictures.
    -get free business cards at vista print or another similar place. You just pay shipping. These business cards will be great for advertising! That's a must otherwise no one will find out about your products. I suggest you go around places where those interested in diaper cakes would go. Places where they sell diapers might not want to advertise for you, but maybe smaller stores. You can go to places where they sell maternity clothes including thrift stores. Those are usually small independent companies and they'll gladly help you with free advertising. Not all of them of course.
    -Get a personalized sticker to put on your car with your store's website.
    -find a marketing book to help you with more ideas (there are loads out there!)
    -find a marketing book that incorporates psychology (most already do, but there are some that are more specific). This will really help you out.
    -search through blogs/websites that you know or don't know that have content related to mothers/babies/diapers. Then ask them if they'd like to host a giveaway for you (this usually costs you a product and shipping but you may end up getting a LOT of customers). Make sure that these blogs/sites would fit the demographic you're looking for otherwise it will be a waste of your time and money. You don't want to go to a site that's about basketball and offer a diaper cake. You can also pay blogs/sites to advertise for you by putting up a banner for your store (you should get one created that looks eye catching, professional, and effectively shows your product) or making a post about a review of your product. At first you might want to start with blogs that have smaller audiences like 500 followers because they're usually not as expensive with advertising (well, they shouldn't be). If you have let's say 10 bloggers in which your banner/review/giveaway (by the way for the giveaway, it does not necessarily have to be a diaper cake, it could be a mini diaper cake - definitely related to your products though since what you want to do is spread the word about your store) then this will begin a sort of word of mouth. You can also start out with the "big" blogs. Ask the blogs/sites how many pageviews they get per day and how many followers they have. That will give you a pretty good idea of how many people will see the post/banner about your store. The more pageviews/followers the higher the price may be.

    That's pretty much all I can think of, but I most definitely recommend looking through marketing books (your local library would be a huge money saver or just taking notes while surfing through books at a book store without buying them).

    I'd of course, love to enter your giveaway!

    Good luck with your business!
    lcintocable{at}gmail{dot}com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Okay my thought of diaper cakes is very useful for moms to take care of their child. I say it's a creative gift for someones baby shower because from it looking nice its what most family needs to get started raising a child. If I were a soon to be mom I would be so grateful for that gift and would show it off before using whatever was to make that diaper cake.


    khyla_808(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think a small part of it might be the name. It's obvious why you chose it, but given the images that pop into my mind when I first read diaper cake, it may be a little off putting.

    texas_gal45(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Post more Photos of Cakes , people like to choose :D

    Also , make a banner or something that you can put on the web :)
    You might want to Change the word "Diaper" , doesn't sounds pretty :((

    raluk.93 at gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow, I've never seen a daiper cake before, but I love it!
    I have no clue what I'm talking about, but maybe you could ask your friends to advertise on their blogs for you?
    aeberting@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by and sharing some your thoughts!