It’s so important to have FUN at an online market! It’s not just about promotion and making sales – make sure you relax and enjoy the day too. You can read our Secrets of Selling at Online Markets blog for other tips, but in the meantime, here are our tips for getting the right mindset…
Top tips for having fun during an online market…at home alone!
Creating the vibe of a market when you don’t have the buzz of setting up, the chatter of your fellow creatives, customers strolling by and the smell of delicious street food preparing can leave you feeling a little lonely and a bit ‘meh’. But that doesn’t have to be the case! In fact, we have been actively seeking out the ‘fun’ in non-physical markets and trying to put a bit of sparkle into online events too.
**Let’s rewind one year** – Remember those in-person markets that were just building in momentum up to the Christmas season? Let’s imagine we are on our way. We’ve arrived, you say hello to a couple of your fellow stallholder friends, you begin to set up. If you are late you will be darting around and getting a bit clumsy. Another friend pops over to your stall and they are picking up some of your items and asking you about them. STOP. This is all part of what happens at a market and… HELLO… It can still be part of your market prep for an online market too – just with a little twist!
You can still set up your stall as normal – but it could be the day or even the week before.
- Record setting up in timelapse, and if you are really good, create and edit a video lasting 1-2 mins. In sections, make the time lapse stop and talk to the camera directly, sharing some of your products! If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, just the timelapse is fine. However you feel comfortable, set up your stall and record it.
- Next, get on the Insta Live game with your friends and have chats, ask about their products, show one another around your stall and tell your audiences the story about you and your products – just like you do at market! If you buddy up with another stallholder to do this, it’s fab promo for you both, as you’ll get seen by one another’s audience, and it’s much easier to have a conversation and be asked about products than simply reeling off a monologue all the time.
The Story is really the important bit. The ‘know’, ‘like’, ‘trust’ aspect of marketing your business is so crucial and people need to build their own connection with you. Chatting on Stories and sharing Instagram Lives with other people is such a great way to let people get to know you, and interact with you. Once they know and like you, they are more likely to trust you, want to support you and buy from you. So be sure to tell us about your values, your products and why you make the lovely things you do!
Here’s a quick summary.
- Find your tribe – surround yourself with people who understand your business, support one another, vibrate at the same frequency and will help you with accountability – as well and give you the confidence and support you need within your business.
- Enjoyment comes from others. True success comes from helping one another and building each other up. Chat and share products for one another and be a Small Business cheerleader. Show that you’re having fun during an online market and your audience will have fun too.
- Talk about it! Chat to anyone you know – your friends and family, get them to spread the word, send email campaigns to your subscribers and let them know when markets are coming up and where you’ll be at.
Be active on social media. Instagram is a fabulous tool, but there are plenty of other great platforms too (anyone utilising Pinterest?). Engagement works both ways – you can’t expect lots of likes and shares if you don’t like and share things from other people too! Comment on other people’s posts, share lots in your stories and engage, engage, engage.
For more tips, tricks and motivation for your small business, head over to our Instagram channel for plenty of video content!