Sally-Anne Baker of Leicestershire, England writes:
“In June, I launched my new business, Kitchen Goddess, which is a dream come true because I’ve always wanted to be my own boss. So at my website there’s a brand new website selling gorgeous kitchen and table essentials but nobody knows about it yet!
“What ideas do you and the Hounds have to generate publicity to help get things off the ground?”
I love the website, great work.
There is one thing needs to be added, if you are in the market for USA need to add a conversion info for US dollars to pounds.
Place ad with magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, many homemakers read this for ideals and many would love your special items.
Your site is great! And the items on it are really quite chic and different. I’d start off by pitching to ‘home and garden’ magazines (these are really popular in Oz, where I live) to see if you can be included on their ‘new products’ page. Pick a gorgeous item, take a great photo (preferably with the item in use rather than a sterile product shot) and then send it in with a short snippet about the item along with your website address. Women’s magazines also tend to have new products pages as well.
Here are some surprising trends going on in the US, as people age. Since the UK is also an aging population, some of the trends may apply demographically as well:
* People still demand quick-and-easy food preparation, especially in dual-income households. An article on how different customers can use your kitchen products would probably generate an interest.
* As populations get older, there is a trend toward “universal design,” so that people can have better access with wheelchairs, canes, more accessible cabinets, etc. Bending over can be a problem with arthritis, and falling can be a real medical problem for those with osteoporosis. Thus some homes are getting away from marble floors to something more forgiving in case of a fall.
* In the US, people aged 50-59 are planning to buy an all-new home as they retire. They want a more community lifestyle. Thus new designs in kitchens and interiors are of higher than average interest.
* In the US, as older workers plan to work up to age 67 now, or longer, new homes located near office parks are increasingly attractive, as it maintains a link with the world of work. Interiors that mesh with that lifestyle would be in greater demand.
* High-tech cuisinie afficionados create greater demand for chlorine-free cold water for use in appliances like refrigerators, sinks and faucets.
* Many seniors plan to trave as part of their retired or sem-retired lifestyle. It is logical that some of them will develop into bed-and-breakfast arrangements, or perhaps rentals, swaps, both to generate income from their houses/second homes, and to keep down the total cost of their own travel. In the US, there is a group of military retirees, for instance, who operate small bed-and-breakfasts, and advertise to military families, which creates a nice client base, and makes the visitors feel right at home, as the host has some basic background in common. Plus the customers shine their own boots, and can make a hospital corner. Housebroken by basic training, you could say.
These trends an more detailed on a one-hour radio show we did, which is free on the internet. Visit VoiceAmerica.com, under “Poor Richard’s Shoebox,” and look for 6-13-05 Modernizing the Kitchen and Bath.
Nice website. I would start Google AdWords and Yahoo!/Overture pay per click campaigns (Google you can start immediately, Yahoo!/Overture takes a while for the campaign to be authorised) to start to get traffic to the website.
You may need to add some pages to the site with more content so that the search engines rank the pages well, plus Yahoo!/Overture likes to have good content for the page a pay per click campaign goes to.
Sally-Anne,
I enjoyed your site, I like the soft feminine colors. It made me want to call my Mom and set up a date for lunch or tea.
My suggestion is to begin writing articles that are related to using your products and submitting them to online women’s magazines. You carry a nice selection of tea pots, perhaps write about how to serve a Sunday afternoon tea. Also take a look at the accessories and think about what you could write regarding creative use of kitchen accessories. Then you have the kids cooking. There are a lot of mom’s who would love to read about ideas of what to do with the little ones in the kitchen.
One online women’s magazine is She Unlimited Magazine. http://www.sheunlimited.com You will need a photo of yourself in order to submit.
Best of luck to you, Shauna
Sally-Anne, what neat items! I love them and hope to see them in Canada! One of my ideas went by – writing articles however a few others are:
1. Halloween is coming up and you have a lot of really neat bug stuff. Can you do up some kind of kid bug theme and create a contest – kids can submit their best bug recipe (looks like a bug not made with bugs… or maybe?) Maybe you could get a chef or restaurant in on it. You could pitch a cook off on a TV show. I can see that now – You do a stint on Breakfast TV about baking with bugs for Halloween (using your bug dishes…) Then the hosts encourage kids to enter their best buggy creation. The top 5 get to cook their creation on air (guided by you). Then people vote, taste test, etc for the winner and they win – bug cups!
2. Your name begs for PR – The Kitchen Goddess just begs for a regular tv spot, radio spot or column. I can see you in the awesome gloves and done up like a kitchen goddess. I would create a 10 Q&A piece with photos/video of you replying as the Kitchen Goddess and send them off to local media. Provide them enough material for a series and sell them on the idea!
Keep us up to date!
Tracy Lyn
Can I add one more thing – I did a search on the business – not being sure if it was a home party line or your own. I came across this interview with you – http://www.startups.co.uk/YWmBTLg.html that is fabulous! It makes you real. I would recommend personalizing your site. I would become “Sally-Anne the Kitchen Goddess”. I think you need to add a come back feature – pictures of YOU as the goddess as well as an ezine, recipes, tips etc. Your items, your vision, your plan is awesome! I would bring it to life!
Tracy Lyn (again)