How can we market our business more?

Question

We have a furniture business that we run from home because we can't afford to buy a store to sell our stuff in. We have all the tools here and no employees, because we can't afford it any other way. We are in a very fast growing area and state and would really like to have a store and just run our business full-time so that husband won't have to have a stupid lame job anymore.
So, how can we do this without killing ourselves and going bankrupt? How can we market our business for cheap?
We have a website, but it's not finished yet.
ANY suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

hmmm...maybe since you're selling furniture from your own house, you can make your house a kind of showcase. For example, in model homes, the furniture looks so great in the house that you want to just buy it, so maybe you can turn your house into a sort of model home so that the furniture is more alluring and the people can see how it looks. Paint doesn't cost too much and you can do it yourselves. I recommend selling some other stuff too, maybe house accessories ( like the stuff sold at Pier 1 imports, ex: vases w/ decorative flowers, shelves, picture frames, bed hangings, etc.) because furniture alone may not grab people's attention. Another idea is maybe have business cards at places like Home Depot or something so that people who are fixing up their houses can buy furniture to match. I don't know if this helps, but I wish you luck in your future.

Answer 2

I would definately get your website finished asap. Go to the website www.myspace.com and create a site...it is free and there are TONS of college kids that have profiles (including myself :) I would totally be marketing myself to those college kids who are preparing to by furniture for their dorms/houses/apartments...I know I just went shopping the other day for furniture and I know I am not the only one. I would also get some eye catching flyers and post them on bulletin boards at any grociery store you can find..even attach a coupon to it..and leave some with the customer service and tell them what you're all about so they tell their staff or leave it in the break room...just to get your name out there. check and see how much it would cost to get your name on a billboard with your company phone number on it. Oh and don't forget to tell people...one person may tell five others who may tell five others...hope this helps a little.