Facilitate Better Mentoring With These Seven Ideas

Mentorship can seem like a buzzword that people use to get fast professional development, but it’s much more than that. Mentorship can be a fruitful relationship between two people, especially when you consider the exchanging of ideas that takes place. But making that connection between mentee and mentor is not always easy. It can take quite a bit of dedication and additional support to make it function properly.

Members of the Forbes Technology Council weighed in on what makes a deeper connection between mentees and mentors. They agreed that mentorship is a two-way street, but it also needs support from the company for the best possible results.

1. Make Yourself Available 

To connect mentors and mentees, take the initiative to make yourself available to new employees and mentor by example. Whether it’s face to face or through email, letting new employees know you are available for them is crucial in developing productive and prepared employees. Additionally, by demonstrating your work ethic and daily grit, they will learn more than by simply telling them. – Alexandro Pando, Xyrupt

2. Engage In Reverse-Mentoring

A mentor-mentee relationship can be established more effectively if the flow of information and knowledge happens both ways. Both parties mentor each other in the areas of expertise that they bring to table. If the mentee switches the role and starts mentoring the mentor, then the engagement goes up few notches. The joy of learning would establish a long-term relationship between both parties. – Mandar BhagwatSpadeWorx Software Services

3. Rely On Mentorship Software

There are amazing mentorship platforms out there. For connecting with alums, there’s software like FirstHand, and for engineering managers, there’s Plato. There are plenty of others out there, but why reinvent the wheel when there are dedicated companies for specific situations? – David MurrayDoctor.com

4. Make Mentoring A Priority

Mentoring is an excellent way to enable a new hire to adjust to the company culture and understand how to grow in their career. Make mentoring a formal program and buddy up every new hire with a mentor who’s not in the same group but rather in the same function. This enables an open growth path to learn more about the art and company culture beyond the responsibilities in the current role. This can then be extended with every promotion as well. Have mentors pair up with mentees at every level to enable coaching. – Pratik BhadraBluecore

5. Look Outside Your Department

It’s easy for senior members of a team to take one of their coworkers under their wing. However, professional growth comes from working with members of other areas of the company. Try encouraging leaders to seek out non-technical employees who often have insight that can help the IT team, as well as broaden the non-tech employee’s horizons. You may find your next best IT pro in the mailroom! – Jason GillAttracta

6. Identify Additional Support

I think businesses too often think that having a mentorship program is simply assigning a mentor as a new associate enters the office. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Identify where mentoring or additional support is necessary. Is it only engineering or is it company-wide? Is it technical mentorship or professional development? What you may find is that a new associate has multiple purpose-based mentors. – Kyle PretschLucky Band Jeans

7. Create A Culture Of Servant Leadership”

Before a system is created, servant leadership needs to reign. New employees can benefit most from a veteran who cares about helping mentees connect their personal goals with business challenges ahead. What drives their career? How do they approach the pursuit of goals while doing the job? A systematic one-on-one approach needs to be honored for full effect. – Timo ReinPipedrive

Source: forbes.com ~ By: ~ Image: Canva Pro

10 Quick Ideas for Becoming a More Effective Mentee

Mentorship is often studied from the perspective of the mentor, but here are ten quick ideas for becoming an effective mentee.

Innumerable studies and books have been written, and many conversations have been had, about mentorship. In fact, the amount of information that is available on how to be an effective mentor is almost overwhelming. However, for those who are seeking a mentor, the experience can be different. There seems to be an unstated assumption that being a mentor is active while being a mentee is passive. Perhaps this assumption needs to be challenged.

The benefits of a mentoring relationship are undeniable. Effective mentoring can lead to career success in the form of promotions, raises, and new opportunities.1 Being a mentor encourages self-reflection. It can also help a person improve their communication skills and expand their professional network—competencies that carry far beyond the person-to-person mentorship relationship.2 For an organization, having a mentorship program can result in higher employee engagement, stronger employee retention, and increased collaboration.3 Companies like Google, GE, Boeing, and Caterpillar (just to name a few) boast about the influence that their mentorship programs have had on their organizational cultures and effectiveness.

Amid this strong evidence, though, exists a potentially harmful assumption for anyone who is seeking a mentor. Mentoring would seem to be a good thing in and of itself, but most research has focused on the impact of being mentored without describing how the relationship operates. For example, a poorly designed or implemented mentorship program may honor outdated models of work and cause more harm than good. Poor experiences can cause the mentor and the mentee to have negative emotional and psychological reactions as well as poor feelings about their respective organizations.4

One important aspect that distinguishes successful mentorship experiences from unsuccessful ones is how they are designed. The best versions are intentional and focused. They create the expectation and space for mentees to take ownership of their experiences instead of relying on their mentors to “take them under their wing.” Through a survey and multiple interviews with mentors and mentees, the EDUCAUSE professional learning team sought to discover the most important things mentees can do to help ensure they have a positive mentorship experience. Here are ten actions for mentees to consider:

  1. Drive the relationship.
    Mentees should drive the mentorship relationships. Oftentimes, mentees and mentors believe that a mentor, as the senior person in a company or group, should maintain the relationship, but in reality, mentees are often in a better position to do this. Mentees should set goals to review with their mentors, agree on the amount of time each person can invest, and suggest how they would like to work with their mentors. Driving the relationship may be uncomfortable at first but doing so will keep the focus on the mentee’s needs.
  2. Balance formal and informal mentoring.
    Mentees should work intentionally to balance formal and informal mentoring. Our survey showed that mentees benefitted nearly as much from mentors who were formally assigned to them through a work program as they did from mentors who acted informally by doing things such as providing feedback after a meeting, reviewing a project, or having a conversation over coffee. Effective mentees should be on the lookout for mentors in all spaces.
  3. Seek the most personal means to connect.
    In the world today, people often default to impersonal methods of communication, such as emails, text messages, or Slack conversations. Respondents to our survey almost unanimously spoke about the benefit of mentees asking for more personal ways to communicate. In-person meetings, shared meals, or virtual meetings make mentors and mentees feel more valued, but mentees may need to ask directly for such time.
  4. Be courageous.
    An effective mentee is a courageous mentee. Mentees should ask questions even if the answers may seem obvious. They should make it clear through words and actions that mentors can openly give them feedback—even if it is critical. Mentees should understand that setbacks are learning experiences and be willing to stand in the discomfort of growth even when doing so is challenging.
  5. Be clear about the ask.
    Mentees who grow the most as a result of the mentorship experience are often the clearest on what they want and need from it. Mentees should be specific about their goals and articulate how mentors can help them the most. Even if mentees are not yet clear on either, they should be clear that they are unclear. Mentees should not be afraid to let their mentors know that they need to brainstorm.
  6. View feedback as a gift.
    Mentees know that feedback—whether it is positive or negative—is a gift. Feedback requires people to manage their egos and be open. Mentees should assume their mentors have the best intentions and recognize that their feedback is also a gift. Mentees who struggle to accept feedback from their mentors may find it helpful to talk with their mentors about how they would like to receive feedback. This may help mentors to grow as well.
  7. Provide value.
    Mentees should recognize their capacity to provide value to their mentors and identify opportunities to provide value by learning about their mentors’ interests and connecting the dots. This could mean sending their mentor an article based on a discussion, attending a speaking engagement, or just listening when their mentor may need an ear.5
  8. Be prepared.
    Each time a mentee interacts with their mentor in a formal way, they should have a plan. Mentees should always arrive with an agenda and questions to ensure the meeting is productive and be willing to adjust as needed.
  9. Have realistic expectations.
    Mentees know that everyone is a superhero in their own right, but mentors most likely put their capes on for emergencies instead of wearing them all day, every day. Give mentors space and grace to be human. No one is perfect, including mentors (and mentees shouldn’t want mentors to be perfect).
  10. Show gratitude.
    Giving thanks may not be formally required in a mentoring program; however, it is always welcomed. Mentors are sharing their time, knowledge, and resources in an effort to help their mentees advance. Mentees should express gratitude and provide specific feedback about how their mentors have impacted their professional lives.

A mentoring relationship is a symbiotic experience that can pay dividends in the long run. Getting the most out of the experience will require an investment of time and action to see results. Once a mentee has advanced in their career, they should be sure to return the favor and make an investment in another promising individual. No one knows better than a mentee the impact such an investment can have.

Source:  er.educause.edu~ By: ~ Image: Canva Pro

How to Make the Most Out of A Meeting with Your Mentor

We’re starting to see signs of a light at the end of the tunnel, and with that, new possibilities for what’s ahead. As you think about your next step, maybe you could use some help figuring out what that looks like.

If you’ve landed here, you probably know that a mentor, or even a network of mentors, can give you the support you need to grow your career and prepare for new opportunities. When you’re connecting with someone who’s likely in a senior position and working in a role that you aspire to, it can be intimidating. But if you play your cards right and prepare yourself well, you’ll reap the rewards.

We turned to the experts to find out how to make the most of everyone’s time—your mentor’s and your own.

Here are three tips to help you prepare for your next mentor meeting so you can get the support you need.

#1 Get clear on what you need

Whether it’s your first meeting with a new mentor, or one of many, the same advice applies: set your objective ahead of time. Pinpoint what you’re struggling with and what you want your mentor to guide you on.

“These meetings are yours. I want you to own it and make sure the meetings cover exactly what it is that you need,” says Aimee Bateman in Finding and Benefiting from a Mentor.

Maybe you have an opportunity to take on a new role in your organization, or you’re returning to the workforce after taking time off, or you’re trying to make a career pivot. Whatever your goal is, prepare for the meeting by thinking about what’s important to you in your personal and professional development:

  • What have you enjoyed doing in your previous roles or current role? Why? What did you dislike?
  • What do you excel at? And equally, what are your limitations?
  • What do you wish you were better at? What do you want to learn?
  • Who do you like working with? Who do you prefer not to work with?
  • What motivates you? What is a priority for you right now? (e.g. income, flexibility, being your own boss, receiving recognition, etc.)

Taking the time to step back and think about your experience in advance will help you focus your thoughts and give your mentor valuable information to respond to.

#2 Create a connection by asking: ‘Why?’

A mentor is someone you admire. You may want to follow in their footsteps, or at the very least, learn from their experience. To do that, you have to go beyond what they have on their LinkedIn profile or company bio—what they do—and try to get insight into why they’ve made certain choices that got them to where they are today.

In How to be a Good Mentor and Mentee, Emilie Airies explains that ‘why’ questions help you get to the root of people’s values:

  • Why did you choose to move from Toronto to San Francisco?
  • Why did you choose to leave tech for political campaigns?
  • Why did you decide to work at this particular company?

“Then go ahead and share your own ‘why’ too,” says Airies: What motivates you? What are you hopeful for? Why do you identify with their career?

At our core, we all want to connect. And when you’re willing to be vulnerable and go beyond small talk, not only will your meeting be more fulfilling (to both of you!) but you’ll also have created a connection that will last.

If this is your first meeting and you find you are connecting on shared values, Airies says this is the time to “take things to the next level” and close out the meeting with a clear ask. Depending on your goals, you can ask your mentor to review your resume, make an introduction, advise on a project, or another specific ask related to where you most need support.

#3 Figure out what your mentor expects

Many times mentors have specific expectations for proteges, says Ellen Ensher in Being a Good Mentee. She shares a story about Hilde, an experienced politician, who was mentoring Sharon, an aspiring politician:

“Because fundraising skills are so crucial in politics, Hilde told Sharon that she needed to demonstrate her confidence in fundraising before their next meeting. She challenged Sharon to raise $10,000 and share details for how to raise money successfully. Sharon raised the full amount and gained confidence in this important skill. She also earned the respect of Hilde and their relationship deepened.”

If your mentor doesn’t tell you what they expect, don’t be afraid to ask:

  • What are your expectations (or hopes or wishes) for this relationship?
  • What is your recommendation for my next steps before we meet again?

Most important, be sure to follow up, not only to thank them for their time and advice but also once you’ve completed whatever tasks they recommended. When you show initiative, action, and interest, it goes a long way to build trust, create connection, and validate your commitment to the relationship.

Source: Linkedin.com ~ By: Rachel Parnes   Image: Canva Pro

Level Up Your Social Media Strategy for E-commerce: 7 of the Best Campaigns We’ve Ever Seen

Let’s face it:

Social media is a noisy marketplace.

With millions of images, articles, and videos published every day, it’s challenging for new businesses to get noticed.

And it’s only getting harder.

Today, there are currently 4.48 billion social media users around the globe. That means there’s a lot of potential to drive engagement and increase revenue.

The problem, though, is social media users don’t like being sold to. You only need to turn on the news to see the recent backlash regarding ads and sponsored posts on Facebook, among other platforms.

So, how can you design a social media strategy for e-commerce that drives more sales without being salesy?

This post will share seven social media campaign examples from brands killing it on social media, and what we can learn from them.

Example #1: ASOS – Let Your Customers Promote The Brand

ASOS is an online fashion and beauty retailer.

In its #AsSeenOnMe campaign, the brand proved that user-generated content sells.

In the campaign, ASOS asked customers to share pictures of themselves on Instagram with the hashtag #AsSeenOnMe. Pictures then went into a gallery on the ASOS website and feed.

This led to massive engagement and responses from customers.

As a result, the campaign went on for more than four years.

Example post from ASOS campaign

As Seen On Me Instagram Page

The takeaway?

Customers like to feel both seen and heard. They want to express themselves using your products, so create opportunities to make them feel seen and heard.

User-generated content campaigns are a great idea, not only because they give customers a chance to engage with your brand, but also because the content they create can attract people from their personal network to buy from you, too.

Example #2: REI – Sell a Lifestyle

When creating the best social campaigns, it just makes sense to promote lifestyles rather than products.

Why? Because customers are swayed by experiences.

They don’t just buy a certain product to perform a certain action. Rather, they choose a brand because it helps them achieve their goals or remove a pain point. Whether it solves a problem or just makes them feel good, they want to keep reliving that experience.

Imagine you’re a luxury brand that sells expensive bags. Why would consumers buy your products when there are a lot of cheaper alternatives? Why would they need it? When would they use it? Is the bag associated with a certain type of lifestyle?

People purchase lifestyles, not products. The right approach, then, is to connect your products with your customers’ personal identities. Rather than selling a product based on its color and physical attributes, focus on the lifestyle or identity that a customer can obtain.

One example of a brand that successfully sells a lifestyle is REI, a retailer that supplies outdoor recreational gear.

During Black Friday, REI did the opposite of most brands: they closed down and encouraged customers to go outside instead of shop.

Post from REI Opt Outside Campaign

The campaign went viral, and grew in scope from there.

The brand created a search engine on the REI website where users could search for other people’s #OptOutside experiences.

They tapped into a like-minded community of people who wanted to #OptOutside on Black Friday, and other brands jumped on board:

Examples of other brands participating in Opt Outside campaign

What can we learn from REI’s success?

Do something unexpected.

If it’s Black Friday, you can’t easily catch people’s attention with a simple “buy now” message. Think of a creative way you can tap into a community of individuals. You have to know your ideal audience and sell an experience – not just your product.

Example #3: TOMS – Pull on Customers’ Heartstrings

Campaigns with emotional storytelling drive sales and attention to your brand. In fact, a study showed that emotion-based campaigns, like ones that tug at people’s heartstrings, are 31 percent more effective than any other type of marketing.

This is because humans are naturally emotional. They get swayed by emotions when making purchases, interacting with people, and many other scenarios.

As a result, when you’re brainstorming your next e-commerce campaigns, think about the emotional response of your customers. You don’t need to make them cry, but you should make them feel something to stand out from thousands of brands online.

This campaign from TOMS shoes is a good example of emotional storytelling done right. Wanting to give back to the global community, TOMS realized that millennials are socially conscious buyers. They don’t want to buy from just anyone, but they love brands that are doing good for the community or the world.

Inspired by this insight and their own altruistic goals, TOMS created a “one for one” business model. When customers bought a pair of shoes from the company, the brand automatically donated a pair to people who need them. This initiative was dubbed the One for One campaign.

The company has gone even further with its #withoutshoes campaign – for each user who posted a photo of their shoeless feet on social media with the hashtag, TOMS would donate a pair of shoes, up to a total of 100,000.

TOMS without shoes social campaign post

The campaign generated huge exposure and awareness to the plight of the less privileged from around the world. Even influencers like Hal Rubenstein and Patti Stanger joined in:

Patti Stanger without shoes

These campaigns from TOMS reveal an important lesson:

Making customers view your brand positively is important.

Through emotional campaigns, you can influence audiences to have a positive perception of your brand and the products you sell.

Example #4: Glossier – Get Stuck in Their Mind

If you want customers to buy your products, then you need to get them to remember your campaigns first.

But this is harder now than ever.

There’s a lot of controversy about attention span and how long you can get people to pay attention to your content. It’s often said that people may have an attention span of only about eight seconds but you’re in luck, because people have different types of attention to give.

So how can you keep customers thinking about you?

Glossier is a cosmetic retailer that uses a distinctive shade of pink as a cornerstone of its branding.

Pink has become so synonymous with Glossier’s brand that fans use the #glossierpink hashtag when they see the color in virtually any everyday item, regardless of whether Glossier made it.

Here’s what you find with the #glossierpink hashtag:

Glossier Pink examples

Glossier also shares posts showing that they understand the priorities and self-awareness of their fans, which transcends those fans’ differences as individuals.

Will customers get dewy skin if they use the product regularly? Will they get healthy, younger looking skin? Will it make their skin color lighter or tanner? Will it get rid of acne?

Whatever their needs, Glossier shares content in which the people in their audience can see themselves:

Glossier Meme

The takeaway?

Don’t limit your brand and its product to one thing.

Instead, diversify your branding. Boast about the results that come from using your product. Or associate your brand with a color, aesthetic object, location, etc.

That way, customers can easily recall your brand – no matter the reason.
Example #5: Chubbies Shorts – Entertain Your Audience

Customers detest pushy marketers and boring ads or messages.

So how do you catch their attention and transform them into brand advocates?

Create content that informs, delights, or entertains customers. Your initial goal is to build relationships with first-time customers – not to go for a hard sell right away.

Building relationships is important because you don’t want them to buy just once. Instead, you want to keep customers coming back to buy your product or service again.

You have to be your customer’s friend.

But how can you do this?

Chubbies is an e-commerce store focused on men’s shorts.

They understand that no one likes brands with obvious sales pitches, so they took an alternative route to become a brand people would want to hang out with.

Chubbies writes copy laced with witty humor and a casual tone, and offers customer service that surprises people and drives engagement.

In one campaign, the brand sent packets of Big League Chew gum to customers as a surprise. The response? Customers shared photos of the gum to Chubbies and their friends:

Chubbies Big League Chew Tweet

The brand also runs a weekly comedy sketch on Snapchat, which attracts hundreds of regular viewers:

Chubbies Show

What can we learn from their successful social media campaign examples?

Don’t be eager to sell. Instead, focus on building long-term relationships with your customers.

In addition, develop a personality that your target audience is fond of.

Are you selling to millennials, Generation Z, or baby boomers? Think about the psychographics of your audience. What characteristics resonate with them? Should you be cool, casual, or classy?

Think about the personality that would resonate with your customers, and consider adopting it.

Example #6: Dollar Shave Club – Entice Followers with Engaging Content

There are different kinds of content, but all great content has one thing in common: it needs engagement.

You want customers to react to the infographic, blog post, or video that you created. You want them to click the “like” button or react with an emoji. And you want them to subscribe to your content or visit your website.

But how do you create engaging content?

Dollar Shave Club is a razor subscription service that knows how to market their product, and one of their strategies is to attract customers by using educational content.

They keep followers coming back for more using fun, playful, and visual content. For example, they use infographics to share interesting facts, and they create tutorials that show customers how to use shaving products depending on their skin and hair type.

Dollar Shave Club Infographic

They also create polls around their branded hashtag #DSCdebates. The branded hashtag is a great strategy, not only because it lets people know that it’s theirs, but also because it draws in a huge response as their focus shifts to age-old questions.

Dollar Shave Club Poll

Dollar Shave Club’s success reveals an important lesson:

Content marketing is just as powerful for e-commerce as it is for B2B. Educational content and curiosity can entice followers to come back for more. After all, people love to learn interesting and unusual facts.

Example #7: Everlane – The Backstage Pass

What happens behind the scenes shouldn’t always stay behind the scenes.

This is because showing off your team or how you create a product is great marketing material too.

Remember the last time you watched an interview with your favorite celebrity or artist? Do you like learning the juicy details about how they created their art? Do you want to see videos of their rehearsals? Would you like to get a backstage pass to their film or concert?

Understanding the hard work and effort behind a product or service can make customers value it even more.

Imagine you own a fancy restaurant. By showing customers the meticulous process of creating a dish, they may appreciate it even more.

Everlane is an example of an online retail store that emphasizes transparency in its production and sales process.

They use social media to strengthen relationships and humanize their brand. Their posts feature in-house employees and behind-the-scenes photos of product development.

This ties in with their brand’s ethical approach.

Everlane boasts that it finds the best factories around the world to create their products. This way, customers can rest assured that people who created the products they love get fair wages, work reasonable hours, and have a good environment.

The brand also sends selfies back to customers who interact with them on Snapchat:

Everlane Transparency Tuesday

Transparency can make your brand a lot more relatable.

How much does it take to create product X? How do you ensure that the product is safe? Who are the people who help create the product or service?

Let customers know what happens behind the scenes.

Ready to create YOUR social media strategy for e-commerce?

Now that you have an idea of what netizens want, it’s time to brainstorm your next campaign.

You can sell to your audience on social media by introducing user-generated campaigns, selling a lifestyle, and branding through emotional connection, education, and humor.

Remember to engage social users in a natural way. Don’t make them feel as if they are being sold to.

Source:  https://meetedgar.com/blog/7-of-the-best-e-commerce-social-media-campaigns-weve-ever-seen-and-what-you-can-learn-from-them/ ~ By:

How to Sell a Product Online

Make a plan for what you’ll sell online, who you’ll sell it to, and how—using these 10 steps.

The world of e-commerce holds great promise for small businesses. In the U.S. in 2020 alone, online sales increased 44% and represented 21.3% of total retail sales for the year. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic had something to do with the jump, but these numbers had already been steadily on the rise. If you have a brick-and-mortar business that you envision bringing online or if you’re thinking of launching a product for the first time, this could be your moment.

Selling products online may seem like a straightforward proposition—and it can be, once you’re up and running. But you’ll have to do some research first: You need to find products you want to sell, figure out who your potential buyers are, and determine how you’ll deliver those products seamlessly into your customers’ hands. This preparation will provide the foundation for a winning e-commerce strategy. After all, when you think about how to start a business online, knowing how to sell your product is essential.

Here’s your 10-step guide for how to sell a product online.

Finding Your Products Illustration

1. Find your products

There are 3 ways most online sellers source products: do it yourself (DIY), wholesale, and drop-shipping. Each method has its own benefits and drawbacks. Whatever method you choose, when you think about how to sell a product online, look for products that you feel passionate about and that meet a need in the marketplace.

DIY product

These are products you make yourself, whether it’s a small-batch baking hobby you’re turning into a business or a 3D print factory in your garage. DIY items are usually the most expensive products to produce, but they can also be the most gratifying if you have a creative urge.

In many cases, you can charge a premium for handcrafted or highly specialized items, just be sure to factor in the time it takes to make the product. Be prepared to reassess your process and strategy if you can’t charge enough to make the business sustainable.

Wholesale products

The traditional retail model is to buy items in large lots from a manufacturer or wholesaler and sell them individually. You can find wholesale items on sites like Alibaba and Etsy Wholesale. You can also find suppliers by searching for wholesale lots on eBay.

Be sure to check your source carefully. Read reviews, look at Better Business Bureau (BBB) listings, and ask lots of questions before you place your first order. You want to make sure that the products you purchase are of high quality and match the specifications in person that they claim online.

Dropshipped products

In the dropshipping model, you market the products and take orders, but your supplier handles fulfillment. The convenience is offset by a lower profit margin and tough competition—there are many other online shops offering the same merchandise. Popular drop-shipping suppliers include OberloAliExpressWholesale2BInventory Source, and Megagoods.

The best way to compete in the dropshipping market is to select a cohesive catalog of items and market them to a niche audience.

Identify Your Niche Market Illustration

2. Identify your niche market

The market is massive for an online seller, but it’s also competitive. The best way to stand out is to find a niche.

Narrow it down

For instance, if you wanted to sell yoga mats, you’d be up against brands that are already well established in the market. But if you decided to sell yoga mats designed for travel, with hand-painted designs that might increase the cost, you could target a more specific audience—like globetrotting women between the ages of 40 and 55.

Think about your own niche

One way to begin with niche marketing is by thinking about areas where you already have a presence—and perhaps a passion. Maybe your niche market is one that you’re already involved in. Are you a member of any social media groups, message boards, or other online gathering places? Is there a niche where people know you or do you have a lot of contacts? If so, that offers a meaningful place to start.

Make sure it’s viable

Whether or not you have a personal relationship with the niche you’re considering, being informed about your market is key. To get to know your niche:

  • Use Google Trends to see what’s popular.
  • Join social media groups and online communities related to your market to see what people are talking about.
  • Monitor what’s hot on sites like Trend Hunter and Trendwatching.
  • Check out your competition and see if you can fill a gap.
  • Use the Google Ads Keyword Planner tool to see how big the market is for your niche.
Conduct market research illustration

3. Conduct market research

Once you know who you want to sell to, it’s time to figure out if those people will buy what you plan to offer—and if so, how much they’re willing to pay. This means you must assess the value you can offer in your market. Questions to research about how to sell a product online include:

  • Is the market for your products growing or shrinking?
  • How satisfied are people with the existing products in your market?
  • What needs aren’t being met?
  • What features do people value?
  • What is the average price point of your competitors’ products?
  • What are your potential customer’s pain points

Study your competitors

You need to determine if there will be a sustainable demand for your product at the price you’ll ask. Start by looking at your competition. Are your competitors doing well and expanding, or do you see companies going out of business? What are your most successful competitors doing right? What’s missing from the online sales marketplace?

Ask your audience

Conduct surveys—formally and informally—to see how people react to your product idea.

As you begin to flesh out your idea, post about it in a social media group and ask for input. You can also find people in your niche to interview in person and ask them about their needs, the products they love, and their reactions to your product ideas.

Once your idea is more developed, online surveys provide a simple, streamlined way to understand what people in your target market want and need. Plus, you can use this opportunity to collect their contact information, grow your audience, and then follow up when your product is for sale. Check out how Mailchimp’s free online survey maker stacks up against the competition.

Price it right

When looking at competitors, don’t make the mistake of assuming that a lower price is automatically better. People are willing to pay a premium price for high-quality products. On the other hand, if your target customers feel that your competitors’ products are overpriced, you could step in to offer them a more economical alternative.

Create Buyer Personas illustration

4. Create buyer personas

A buyer persona is a visualization of your target market as a specific person. Buyer personas are a way to refine your thinking about how to sell a product online and personalize your marketing.

Betsy and Lucy

Using the example of hand-painted yoga mats targeted at female travelers over 40, imagine marketing to a specific woman. But who is she?

You might imagine her as Betsy, a fitness buff with a high discretionary income who likes to take cruises to the Caribbean with her friends. Betsy would love to have a one-of-a-kind yoga mat that’s easy to transport, works well under various weather conditions, and that her friends admire at the yoga classes they take together at resorts and on cruises.

Or you might imagine her as Lucy, a frequent business traveler who often works late into the night. A hand-painted yoga mat would give her a reason to take time out for herself and enjoy a relaxing practice.

In this example, the personas are Betsy and Lucy—fictional people you keep in mind to make your marketing more relevant and human.

Target each persona differently

The images, language, and price point you would use to market to Lucy might be slightly different from the ones you would use to reach Betsy.

Betsy would probably respond well to an image of a resort yoga class, with rows of solid-color mats and one beautiful hand-painted one that stands out from the rest. Betsy would pay a premium price to have that mat. However, Lucy might respond to an image of a well-appointed hotel room with one candlelit corner, where a woman sits in meditation on a colorful mat.

Your business can have more than one buyer persona, with ads and even product lines targeted to each one. Each persona should be fleshed out with details like:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Income
  • Hobbies
  • Interests
  • Family/relationships
  • Values
  • Priorities
  • Favorite social media channels
  • Club memberships
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5. Brand your business

Your brand identity is built on your logo, website, marketing materials, and other communications with customers. If you make deliberate choices, you can shape your brand identity to be unique and appealing to your customers.

The best way to begin this process is to summarize the qualities you want your brand to convey in just a few words. Is it funky, friendly, and casual? How about sturdy, high-quality, and reliable? Could it be youthful, vibrant, and fun? In the case of a business that sells hand-painted travel yoga mats, the brand might be artistic, unique, and uplifting.

Brand persona

One way to distill your brand identity is to give it a persona, too. Imagine your brand as a cartoon character: What does it look like? How old is it? Does it have a gender? How does it sound? How does it dress? What kind of things does it do? Is it a surfer, a college professor, a bookworm, a hippie, an artist, a nature lover?

Your brand identity will be expressed in the way you use language, your logo, the images you choose, and the colors you select. If you make those choices without a plan, your brand will be hard for customers to discern. Here’s what to focus on for a strong brand identity.

Visual identity

Every brand has a recognizable, consistent look that’s tied together with color, a logo, and your product imagery.

Choose a color palette with one main color and 2 or 3 secondary colors that express your brand identity—for example, red is often perceived as bold, dark blue as luxurious, and green as organic. Keep in mind that color associations are often culturally specific, and what appeals to customers in one part of the world may not communicate the same things in another.

Your logo should be simple and expressive. Complicated designs don’t work well when printed in small spaces or if reproduced in black and white. Since your logo will be on everything you create, it should be carefully built to convey your brand’s identity. You can create one yourself using a free online logo creator such as Canva (most will charge you to download your design) or hire a graphic designer.

The images you choose for your website, advertising, and social media should be consistent and express your brand’s image clearly.

For example, the yoga mat brand would market to its 2 personas with imagery in a specific context for each—either a resort class or a hotel room—with a spotlight on the product. That’s a consistent type of image that could quickly become associated with the brand and convey the brand’s identity.

Brand voice

Your words should be carefully chosen to protect your brand’s identity—this is your brand voice.

Keep in mind your buyer personas and your brand persona when writing copy. Who are you talking to, and how are you talking to them? Are you a fun friend, a knowledgeable expert, or a calming confidant? This will help you hone your brand voice and keep it consistent across channels—email, product copy, social media, and advertising. Here are areas in which you can be deliberately expressive:

  • Headlines
  • Ad copy
  • Website copy
  • Product names
  • Email automation
  • Social media posts
  • Phone greetings

To help stay on track, you might make a list of certain words you’d like to incorporate into your copy often—for the yoga mat sales, these might include “artistic,” “elegant,” and “unique.”

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6. Build your e-commerce website

Building an online store has never been easier. And when you build your website in Mailchimp, it can also be free.

Start by creating a website that incorporates the elements of your brand identity. Using Mailchimp’s content studio, you can upload your logo, photos, colors, and other files to incorporate into your website and then use them across marketing channels to stay on brand.

Make sure your website design makes it easy for shoppers to find your products. Upload images, write specifications and include details about shipping so that your customers understand exactly what they’re buying (and why they should). Simply add a Stripe buy button to your fresh new website, and you’re ready to start selling.

Sell via landing pages

If you’re not ready to build a full website, Mailchimp shoppable landing pages offer another speedy way to get your products for sale online. These are a particularly good solution when you want to focus on a single item, test an idea, launch a new product, or run a promotion. Best of all? They’re also free. You can even set up Facebook ads to drive traffic to your landing page from right inside your Mailchimp account.

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7. Set up processes for payment, shipping, and staying in touch

Before you start selling online, you’ll need to have systems in place for collecting payment and shipping things out.

With a website built in Mailchimp, you’ll connect a Stripe account to start selling. If you build a landing page instead, you can connect to Stripe or to Square. Either way, be sure you understand their fees and take them into account when you price your products.

If you’ll be handling shipping yourself, you’ll need accurate numbers to set up your shipping options on the site. If your company is US-based, compare pricing and services from the USPS, UPS, and FedEx—or look at other options in the country where you’re headquartered.

Customers love free shipping, but if you plan to offer that, those costs should be built into your product pricing. Also, don’t forget to add in the cost of boxes and packaging materials when you set up your pricing and shipping rate structure.

When someone makes a purchase, be sure that their information is stored using customer relationship management (CRM) software. That way, you can send order notifications, follow up after their purchase, and keep in touch to build customer loyalty.

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8. Create high-quality product content

Ideally, your site would be assembled by experienced copywriters, photographers, and marketing professionals. Realistically, that’s not how most small businesses operate.

If you’re doing it all yourself, here are some tips.

Images

Your images should accomplish 2 things: Make the product look desirable and align with your brand image.

If your product supplier provides you with professional product photos, check to see what rules you need to comply with when you use them. If you’re allowed to alter them, consider cropping them and adding your own logo to make them unique to your site.

If you’ll be taking your own photos, you don’t need the best, most expensive equipment. Many of today’s smartphones take amazing photos. Keep these things in mind to get good shots:

  • Set up bright lighting. Use shop lights, take the shades off lamps and move them close, or use natural light. If you’ll be photographing a lot of smaller items, invest in an inexpensive lightbox.
  • Lean in. You’ll get much better results if you move closer to the product.
  • Get level. Instead of photographing your product from above, get down to eye level with it and snap some close-up shots.
  • Highlight details. You don’t have to frame the entire product in every photo. Take shots of specific details that show why your viewer should want this product.
  • Take tons of photos. Even pros take hundreds of shots to get one great photo. Try a variety of cameras and phones if you can, and shoot from different angles and in different lighting.

For each product, choose one signature image plus several detailed images. It’s good for search engine optimization (SEO) to give your image file names that include your target keywords when you upload them or add alternative (alt) text.

Description

Your product descriptions should be thorough, but easy for a busy person to take in at a glance.

  • Don’t waste headline space. Use descriptive product names that tell people (and search engines) exactly what the item is—like “Hand-Painted Lotus Travel Yoga Mat” instead of just “Lotus Mat.”
  • Start with an overview. At the top of the page, tell people in a sentence or 2 why they should care about this product and how it meets their needs.
  • Be brief. When busy people see a wall of text, they often click away. Limit yourself to a couple of short paragraphs.
  • Use topic headings. Headings can break up the page and make it scannable. Some people will only skim the headings and not read the text below, so choose compelling, descriptive words for your headings, and include keywords when possible.
  • Make the details digestible. Use bulleted lists to keep your page attractive and readable.
  • Solicit reviews. Always encourage your customers to leave reviews. Consider offering free products in exchange for honest reviews to a limited group of people to get your first reviews on the page.
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9. Promote your products

When your website or landing pages are built and you’re ready to sell, there are many ways to get your product in front of potential customers:

  • Social media: Use hashtags and paid ads to expand your reach.
  • Influencer marketing: Send free samples to “celebrities” in your niche.
  • Facebook groups: Connect with your target market on this platform.
  • Google advertising: Put your products in front of people all over the web.
  • Content marketing: Publish blog posts to bring organic traffic to your site.
  • Word of mouth: Encourage your customers to spread the word.
  • YouTube videos: Start a channel to showcase your products.

Although it’s possible to sell directly on social media pages, it’s good practice to drive traffic to your website so you can entice customers to join your email list. That way you’ll be able to follow up and maintain a connection with them in the future.

Funneling traffic to your website also allows you to send abandoned cart emails and other targeted promotions if visitors wander away before buying anything. You can also use Google Ads to retarget visitors who left your site, reminding them of the products they showed an interest in.

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10. Continue to refine your approach

All the details that go into how to sell a product online may seem daunting. Besides the product itself, you need a brand identity, a target customer, a web store, and solutions for processing payments and handling shipping—and all of that needs to be in place before you even begin to market your product.

But these steps are manageable if you take them one at a time. Remember that you can continually change and refine your approach as you go.

The important thing is to take your first step, and before you know it, you’ll be riding momentum toward your goals.

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