Marketing a start-up clothing line on the net w/o the use of spam?

Question

I have my own clothing line (Plastic Bride 9) and I have been doing very well marketing it locally but now that we are working on a web presence I am going to need an effective way to market to the right target base? Is there software that can help me market via internet besides mass spamming? We don’t want to be that kind of a company?

So far I'm already using myspace & we will have the homepage site with ordering capabilities launched in less than a month. I do not need places to sell. I'm more or less looking for ways to advertise.

Answer 1

Have you thought about pay per click programs? The two biggest, I think, are Yahoo! and Google

A few free resources – check out the sources box for links:

1) Create a blog pertaining to your field

2) Use Yahoo! Local & Yahoo! Groups – Be sure to read the TOS for each one!

3) Write articles pertaining to your field and/or expertise.

4) Advertise on Craiglist

Also, consider signing up for an affiliate program. These programs enable you to advertise on other's sites (your affiliates) and once a sale is made to you, your affiliates & the program are paid a commission.

I listed a few handy sites & articles relating to marketing, promotion & advertising. Here are some book titles that are relevant:

* The Complete Idiot's Guide to Marketing Basics by Sarah White
* The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries, Jack Trout
* Creative Advertising: Ideas and Techniques from the World's Best Campaigns by Mario Pricken
* Entrepreneur Magazine's Ultimate Small Business Marketing Guide: Over 1500 Great Marketing Tricks That Will Drive Your Business Through the Roof by James Stephenson
* 301 Do-It-Yourself Marketing Ideas: From America's Most Innovative Small Companies by Sam Decker

Hope that helps! I wish you much success & happiness in all your ventures!

Answer 2

One of the best places to advertise on the internet is with pay per click advertising Offered By both Yahoo (searchmarketing.yahoo.com) and Google (adwords.google.com).
The Problem your going to run into with a new product is that because no one knows about it very few people will be searching for it. The best approach for you to take will be to find keywords for similar related items that people are looking for and sell your items with the ad copy. There are agencies out there that will build a campaign for you which if you don't have the experience would definitely help you. I know of one company the Direct Response Group (www.directresponsegroup.com) that will talk you threw the process and probably give you a free proposal of what it will cost for you to advertise in this space.

Answer 3

if you're marketing to the 20-something generation, i would place advertisements on three websites -

www.myspace.com
www.facebook.com
www.xuqa.com

all three are online profile services with millions of people who visit them daily. facebook ads are like $5, i think ... and i am sure myspace and xuqa are similarly priced. you can get the word out about the store, and offer a link to your website.

i would also create "profiles" on each site. as people buy from your site, ask them to add you as a friend on their profiles ... generating a buzz ... and word-of-mouth advertising, which we all know is the most effective.

Answer 4

You could try listing some items on eBay. If your merchandise sells on ebay you will probably want to open a store, which provides you with marketing help. You might also try amazon.

Once you have enough internet customers you might try something like ProStores or a home grown stand-alone internet store.

Answer 5

One of the best ways is articles. This site has some information on driving targeted traffic to your site. You may want to check it out. Good luck.

Answer 6

myspace