sellers, recently posted Open Message to Alternative Marketplaces: Are You There? addressing the importance of PR. David Steiner, author, starts off by saying :One of the most common emails and comments on our blogs that we receive is "Why don't you focus less on eBay and write more about alternative marketplaces?"
and, like, David's response the answer is simple:
EBay gets more ink on this site because they understand the power of public relations. aka PR .
What really gets me more that the fact that small marketplaces are failing in this department, is the fact of how many in eCommerce rely on the PR
of the site on which they sell to drive customers to them. IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP PEOPLE
Like I pointed out in How to drive traffic to your store , the days of list it and forget it are over, and it is up to you, not the marketplace, to drive your business.
Are some marketplaces falling down on the job of PR? Yes. But, the question is why are you depending on their work to drive customers to you?
I did comment on AuctionBytes article:
Great article for sure and it can be applied to so many people and situations.
PR is the responsability of the individual, not the media.
It is up the the individual - in this case owners of marketplaces - to work their PR, to get the word to the media, and press releases is the easiest way to do that. There are a multitude of other ways owners can ramp up the volume around their marketplace using a good PR Campaign .
BUT - I MUST STRESS - NO ONE should rely on ANY marketplace's popularity to sell their products for them. The days of list it and forget it are gone. YOU must work your own PR to drive traffic and sales to YOU.
This is a business folks, and you have a shop on a virtual online mall. the last time I checked, the store in the brick and mortar mall here did their own PR and don't recall seeing the mall doing it for them.
Think about it. If you list on a smaller venue, is it Bonanzle, eCrater, Addoway etc responsiblilty to build your business or is it yours?
Renagade
renagade offer PR primarily for musicians, but does offer the same high quality PR campaign for eCommerce sellers as well.
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2 comments:
Vince,
I agree with many of the points you made, and when I speak of 'Mall' , living in small town USA here, the local malls do very little if any adveritizing at all. BUT the public does know its there.
Online can be a different ballgame, and in cases such as Bonanzle, many DON'T know it is there and that is what many are fustrated with. That said whoever, the booths are just a spot in cyberspace the small seller can have for no upfront costs to call home. Sure they can set up shop in a stand alone spot, but either way they must drive traffic to their store.
eBays traffic is good but for the most part fickle, even on that powerhouse I see many still need to promote their items as well.
With the eBay alternative sites, they all say the what sellers to thrive and make many sales, but the rely on the cheerleading of many sellers to promote the marketplace and many do "for the greater good".
Again, like you said, it is a business, and as soon as the marketplaces realize they bear the responsibilty to work the PR of the site, combined with the effort of sellers promoting their own business, we will see a clear cut alternative to eBay.
This is pretty good,thanks for sharing!best wishes!
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