[BONUS] How to sell your products or services at an online Christmas market

Are you thinking of selling your product or service at an online Christmas market? Perhaps you’re wondering what to sell or how to put your offer together? And how do you make a gift voucher for a service look as attractive as an actual physical product? Listen to this bonus podcast episode I’m sharing everything I’ve learnt from hosting my annual Facebook Live Christmas market. Get my tips and techniques for selling your product or service at a Facebook Live without feeling selly or scammy. Find out how to put your offer together and why it needs to be something that people want AND what could happen if you give people too much choice. I’m sharing tech tips to make sure your Facebook Live is slick and professional and why you must look the part. And the essentials you need to hand - to make sure your Facebook Live runs smoothly. Discover how to share your product or service with your Facebook Live audience and why you should show - but not tell people about your product or service. And why you need to think about the bigger picture - rather than how much money you make on the day. PLUS tips on how to promote your Christmas market on social media and why it's much more powerful to promote your event as team effort.

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1. Plan

Create your offer Avoid being random Don’t overwhelm people with choice. Create a focused collection rather than going to broad and confusing people with too much choice. What would make a really great gift? What would people love to open on Christmas day? If you’re a product-based business have a think about your products that go well together and focus on one part of your business. Or perhaps look at your highest selling products. You can still do this with a service-based business but you just need to think what would make it a really great gift. How can you make a voucher more of an exciting gift. What could you include with it? If you’re a service-based business - it needs to be something people REALLY want. E.g. Bread-making classes - swag to go with it Career coaching - book to go with it? Singing lessons - practise recordings/lead sheets etc Create a dedicated URL or voucher code so you can track sales One of my clients Beth was able to tell me she’d made £750 on my Christmas market sale last year. Memorise the URL - use bitly to create a memorable link.

2. Prepare

Think about how you can ‘show not tell’. Source any products/props that might be helpful for the broadcast. Even if you’re selling a service rather than a product, showing some of the things you use in your work - or even dressing in your work clothes (if you’re a therapist, baker or personal trainer for example) will help you tell the story of your business in a visual way. Devise and practice your ‘ten-word top line’ for your product/service e.g. ‘pre-picked and gifts for Christmas stockings for two to ten-year-olds’ or ‘style consultations for men who hate shopping’. The more specific you can be about what your product/service is and how it helps people...the more you’ll sell. Make a list of frequently asked questions. Write down every single question you’ve ever been asked about your product/service - or think you might get asked. That way, you’re unlikely to get ‘caught out’ on your Facebook Live. Decide where you’re going to do your broadcast. Things to consider include: lighting (position yourself where you’re facing a window if you don’t have lighting), sound (if you have a lapel mic consider using it. If not, just make sure you’re in a quiet space), make sure you have a good internet connection. Create a backup video - just in case you have a problem with your tech. I’m asking my Christmas market people to do this.

3. Promote

Promote the Christmas market to your followers. Don’t just post about it on social media (if you do, you’re likely to get very little engagement). Instead, think about how you can get your followers involved in the process. For example, you could ask them which product/service you should be selling at the market, what you should wear on the live broadcast, how you might style your backdrop. Make it as easy for people to engage as possible. As a general rule, closed questions generally work better than open. So instead of asking your followers what you should be selling (open question), give them a small number of options to choose from (closed). Instead of asking them what you should wear (open), post a pic of yourself in two possible outfits (seen that somewhere before?!) and ask them which they prefer (closed). Instead of asking for advice on styling your backdrop (closed), ask them if they prefer location A or location B (with pics). Other ways to promote your Christmas market to your social media followers: Instagram stories is great for this kind of content (particularly with the polls/questions option)....so get on there and have some fun! Instagram Reels 30-second video clips Email your list (if you have one) Do a Facebook Live previewing the market - share with your followers what you’ll be doing and when Encourage your followers to accept the join the Facebook event (that way they’ll get reminders nearer the time). Create an Instagram story showing you preparing for the market - people love behind-the-scenes content Remember that your success is not just about what YOU do as an individual - promote others and make it a team effort. Join my Christmas market as a seller here

Podcast shownotes

About my online virtual Christmas market (01:41) How the format works for my Facebook Live virtual Christmas market (04:40) Why I’m charging people to sell at my online Christmas market (05:20) How to create the right offer to sell for an online virtual market (08:07) Why you shouldn’t overwhelm people with too many products and offers (09:40) Why your product has to be something that people want to receive as a gift (10:08) How to sell a service-based offer at an online Christmas market (11:55) Why you should create a trackable link/voucher code for your offer (13:28) Why it’s more than just what you sell on the Facebook Live (14:30) Why you need to show people your product and not just tell them (15:17) What you need to consider for your tech for a Facebook Live sale (16:31) How to introduce yourself and tips for selling on a Facebook Live (20:11) How to keep your intro simple and tell people what you do (23:35) Why you should have a list of your frequently asked questions (25:02) Why you should have a backup plan in case there's a tech problem (26:01) How to promote your online sale (and why you need to get involved) (27:01) How to get your audience involved in your Christmas market (28:50) How to promote your online Christmas market to your audience (29:47) Why it’s not selly or scammy selling on a Facebook Live sale (30:55)

Resources

Join my Christmas market as a seller here Buy my 2021 Social Media Diary & Planner Join my Build Your Online Audience programme Build Your Online Audience programme

Other useful podcasts

[Bonus] Should you join my Build Your Online Audience Programme? (podcast) [Bonus] Should you buy my 2021 Social media Diary & Planner? (podcast) [385 ] How to sell on Instagram Stories without feeling sleazy (podcast) [320] How to host a Christmas sale on Facebook Live (podcast) Connect with me on Twitter, Instagram Facebook and LinkedIn