How can I make my first sale without a marketing budget?

Well, you don't need a marketing budget to make a sale. Not sure what one has to do with the other? The following has some great tips to help with marketing: What are the most important marketing tools for a locally owned independent small business?

Rule #1 Remember, they want to be bought, not sold!

Sorry, only read your caption, not the contents. Ecommerce is total different. Social media, social media, social media, Facebook, tweeter, All the social site. Target companies like mine, I serve 250 coffees a day, I am always in need of equipment, Need an espresso machine right now

Ecommerce makes it hard to cold call. This group is more about local areas even though there are people from all over on this. I would segment my potential accounts into large corporations to small users. Those large corporations in your immediate area I would in fact call on face to face. Make them special offers because they are local. But the "E" in eCommerce means you are going be more internet driven in sales. And that means building a web site around your products. Make sure you have an Store as you will get re-orders and you should make that easy on the customer. Remember your friends and relatives can be potential first sales too!

Hi Jay,

Just so I'm clear, you plan on selling directly to the end user, correct? Is your portfolio geared towards consumers or businesses (i.e. Offices, restaurants, etc.)?

Thanks for reaching out!

Pass out samples, if your product is good enough to talk about, word of mouth will spread fast. After Four years I have spent less then $50.00 in marketing and grew at 40% a month. I passed samples out to everyone and they marketed for me.

Hello Jay, 

My friend - if I come off like a CRAB, please forgive me. 

I don't mean to be that nasty of a crab. I will try and be a 'little crab.' Not a big one, okay? :-)

That said - understand this, Jay. 

Number 1 - If your E-COMMERCE website is not set up in the correct way, ALL of your efforts for marketing it will result in ZERO dollars. 

MANY people with ZERO experience in BUILDING an E-COMMERCE website that CONVERTS are throwing themselves into this arena. 

And, wonder why they are not making MONEY a.k.a SALES. HUH?! 

[I haven't taken a look at your website, so, I don't know if it is built in the correct way or not]

Number 2 - If you don't have the money to put into marketing - you are up SH+T's CREEK WITHOUT A PADDLE!

It hurts me, Jay, to even say that. Really. I'm not being melodramatic, either.

But, I promise you, this is NOT personal, my friend. I sincerely have your best interest at heart. 

Even though we have never met. 

I can feel ones' energy/soul no matter the distance + yours is filled with that which is good. 

So, I feel compelled to reach out and give my 2 cents. 

Well, you do have some "I know what you did last summer" secrets going on...but, WHO DOESN'T? Kidding. Sort of. LOL.

No worries. I can not read your mind. 

Okay back to CRAB Talk!.......

Jay, you'd better BEG. BORROW. STEAL. + GET a MARKETING BUDGET for EVERY MONTH that you wish to STAY in business. 

But, FIRST, make 100% CERTAIN that your E-commerce website is even built in the CORRECT way to get CONVERSIONS. 

Conversions? What is that, some may ask? 

Like......having the major "CAN'T DO WITHOUT" elements set up on the website which ATTRIBUTES to its' PROFITABILITY.

And...................

How the CONTENT and FORMATTING of each page should be displayed? 

Are you trained in the art of COPY-WRITING? 

Ya know, the re-arrangement of words to make products/services SELL BETTER. FASTER. with ZERO FRICTION. 

Can you say: CA-CHING?! 

We are called 'SALESMEN IN PRINT' - it took me, Ohhhhhh, YEARS to learn this skill. (No regrets)

We are trained to craft CONTENT that ENGAGES audiences to BUY ones' products or maybe, INCREASE brand awareness, or, essentially, TAKE SOME PARTICULAR ACTION. 

I do not consider myself a MASTER in this ART + SCIENCE, but, I know enough to be 

D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S. 

All of the MASTERFUL copywriters on here...gimme a HOOT!  HOOT! I tip my hat off to you, BAD-A-SS ninjas! I chose to master LEAD GENERATION, instead. 

Oy Vey.....where was I, Jay?........

Yes, yes........BUILDING your E-commerce website/business the CORRECT way.....

Do you know what secret thingie to use that will MOVE people on the website to ADD MORE to their order? 

Have you the expertise on how to convey the story of your brand and why people should buy from YOUR store and not ANOTHER store selling the SAME thing?

Do you have a PROCESS outlined to FORCE people to RETURN to your website over and over again? 

What plan do you have to KEEP people from getting to the check-out page to BUY your products only to LEAVE the page WITHOUT buying anything? 

How will you get them to give you REFERRALS? What SYSTEM will you DEPLOY for that? 

Let's talk about how you will be following up with everyone who comes to your website but do not make a PURCHASE....

have you properly CODED the website to follow these visitors around the internet with an AD? This is called: RETARGETING/REMARKETING. 

You can basically RECAPTURE any LOST OPPORTUNITIES from those who visit your website, but, decided to leave. 

Perhaps the doorbell rang? Maybe the pot in the kitchen was done boiling water and needed to be turned off? 

Or, perhaps they had to go take a whiz in the bathroom! 

Well, if you are a SAVVY E-commerce website business owner - it doesn't matter if they do not BUY your stuff at the FIRST visit. 

Why? 

Because you've got TOOLS in place that GOT YOUR BACK. [I'm from Brooklyn. Urban slang is bound to come out].

You can have it set up where a RETARGETING AD shows up the CNN article they're reading. It could say something like:

"Got Distracted. Come Back. 20% OFF Coffee Equipment. Click Here."

This RETARGETING AD can be set up to show up in their FACEBOOK NEWSFEED.

It can be set up to show up while they are watching YOUTUBE VIDEOs.

Now, we're COOKING WITH GAS, HONEY! 

You want to FULLY MAXIMIZE your EFFORTS + MARKETING. 

I'm not done.........

What about your plan of action to get REVIEWS from CUSTOMERS? Wait, you do have one, right? 

97% of people turn to the internet to read online reviews before they made a decision to BUY in 2017.

46% of consumers pay attention to the NUMBER OF REVIEWS when making a BUYING decision. 

***Statistics sources - see below ****

SPIEGAL Research Cntr [Spiegel.medill.northwestern.edu] + hbs.me/28NLHND]

Is there an EMAIL follow up campaign mapped out for your E-commerce business? 

What's that I hear? You don't have one? 

LOST OPPORTUNITIES to make a SALE, get REVIEWS, obtain REFERRALS, INCREASE the VALUE of your E-commerce business......in case you wish to SELL it for 10x its' YEARLY REVENUES.........

CA-CHING! CA-CHING! CA-CHING! CA-CHING! CA-CHING! CA-CHING!.....

....is the sound of YOU holding a BIG FAT CASH REGISTER while laying in a HAMMOCK with your LOVER in the CAYMAN ISLANDS, my friend.......

How about a TEXT MESSAGE + CHAT BOT + VOICE BROADCAST system? 

I mean, you do know what this is, right?  

And, HOW they can all SUPPORT you in MAKING more MONEY, correct?

I mean, I'm almost certain you understand the IMPORTANCE of UTILIZING these tools and how they can AUTOMATE most of your PROCESSES.....

Okay, I will stop here. 

Because I don't want my tone to come off RUDE, INSULTING, + CONDESCENDING.

I can get carried away with all of this marketing stuff. 

So, my friend...Be SMART. Be SAVVY.....in ALL of your BUSINESS ventures. 

Be it, FOR-PROFIT or NON-PROFIT CHARITY......

Strive to be among the WINNERS. 

Be a B-O-S-S in your endeavors 

or....

Find someone WHO IS!

There are EVERYWHERE. 

I ALWAYS meet 'em. 

Because I CHOOSE to SEE them. 

So, they come.....

Okay, I gotta go. It's yoga time! 

Get your elevator speech ready. What's your niche? Why buy from you? Are you selling to coffee shops or retail customers? If retail customers, talk with everyone you know. If they like coffee, give them one of your products to try. Then get testimonials about you and the product. Try to sell to your friends' friends and build a contact list. Send emails about how to make better coffee and offer discounts on your products. Of course you'll have a web site, Facebook, etc. Upload videos using the product and giving your elevator speech. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat!

Facebook.

I use a facebook page, it is free.