This modules main aim is to get entrepreneurs ready to start selling online and the importance of branding.

1. This programme has been funded with
support from the European Commission
MODULE 2
READY TO GET STARTED
SELLING ONLINE?

2. This module will encourage creative entrepreneurs to assess
their business position and determine whether they are
ready to start selling online. It will help learners to identify
what makes their business, products/services stand out and
how they can communicate the benefits and features of their
products to a new online and global audience.

3. Learning Focus
• Examine the concept of brand identity
• Learn how to build an online brand
• Learn about Target Audience’s and how to
identify them
• Learn about Product Features and Benefits
• The importance of USP’s in making your
business stand out

4. Your brand is an asset and should be
treated as such. It is more than a
name, it should make an emotional
connection with the consumer and
stay in their memory.
Branding is a promise to your
customers – a promise of quality, of
consistency, of usability, of durability
– all the things that help make your
product or service special in the
minds of your customers.
Why is
branding so
important?

5. The keys to building a strong brand are:
• Know your core values: these should form the basis of
all decisions you make with regard to your business
and your brand
• Be unique: take a look at what the competition is
doing, identify the gap and fill it with your brand –
great brands challenge their category
• Identify your brand’s personality: then ensure this
comes through clearly in all your marketing
• Have one designer do everything: logo, fliers, website,
signage, PowerPoints, stationery and so on – hire a
professional, particularly to manage your website
• Be consistent: make sure you present your brand to
the marketplace in exactly the

6. The keys to building a strong brand are:
• same way no matter what the medium – you are
creating one brand … not 10!
• Do things properly: if this means doing less, then do
less – avoid cheap, shoddy anything: printing, design,
packaging or photography; every communication that
goes out to your customers is an opportunity to
reinforce your brand
• Socialise it: make sure every person
within your business (that includes
retailers who sell your product – and
their staff) knows what your brand stands for

7. Interesting Reading….
http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/a-graphic-designers-
guide-to-creating-a-brand-strategy-for-your-craft-or-
design-business/

8. Interesting Reading….
http://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/my-business-name-is-
creatives-share-their-stories-of-their-business-name/

9. Interesting Reading….
http://blog.marketo.com/2012/06/true-colors-what-
your-brand-colors-say-about-your-business.html

10. It makes financial sense to build a
great brand. Brand loyal customers:
• Are less price sensitive
• Have more of an emotional
connection to your business
• Increase sales revenue overtime
– so you can maximise the life
value of a customer
• Become Brand advocates – Get
your customers talking about
you to others.
• Are less costly to service
A brand inspires
customer
confidence.
It must prove
its difference
(why is this
product
better than
competitor)

11. Sameness
Your challenge is to rise above others and try to uncover how your
business is superior from the others in your industry.
Why do you deserve to get the customer over a similar business?
These days, it simply isn’t enough to compete on product or price.
Today, consumers are after something more. They look for substance
and often buy with emotion. This means that you need to create a
memorable MESSAGE (brand story) that stands above what you’re
actually selling.
It’s important to set your brand apart!

12. Your story isn’t just what you tell people, it’s also what they believe
about you based on the signals your brand sends.
The brand story is a complete picture made up of facts, feelings and
interpretations, everything you do, each element of your product,
business or brand, from the ingredients you use, the way you prepare
and present your product, your packaging and even your distribution is
all part of your brand story and every element should reflect the truth
about your brand back to your audience.
Your brand story is important!

13. What is a Brand Story & why you need one?
What is a Brand Story & why you need one?
It is a blend of how you came to be, what you’re passionate about (in this
case healthy food), your business culture (in this case the ethics behind
your business – environmental etc), how your product make people’s
lives better and why your product is worth noticing.
Good brands often have human traits that your targets might identify
with. They have a strong emotional context. You want your customer
targets to think ‘he/she is like me’ or ‘that’s how I think’.

14. What is a Brand Story & why you need one?
Your story isn’t just what you tell people, it’s also what they believe about
you based on the signals your brand sends. The brand story is a complete
picture made up of facts, feelings and interpretations, everything you do,
each element of your product, business or brand, from the ingredients
you use, the way you prepare and present your product, your packaging
and even your distribution is all part of your brand story and every
element should reflect the truth about your brand back to your audience.

15. What is a Brand Story & why you need one?
More great information on brand stories at:
http://thestoryoftelling.com/brand-story-services/

16. Your Brand Story - The elements to create or
capture your brand story…
• Start with your Personal Story: Your history, how you got started, the
choices you made, were other characters involved?
• Your Passion Story: What you love and why you love what you do.
• The Personality Story: How people might experience your brand, the
customer experience or your approach to the work.
• The Customer Story: What do you customers say about you?
• Employee Story: How employees explain the systems, the ‘feel’ or
culture of the business

17. EXERCISE Complete our Tell Your Story Workbook
This exercise will help you to develop powerful marketing
material which can be used across all your marketing
One you have worked on your story, make sure you share
same on your packaging, website, in your literature, in
videos, through the emails you send out, events you
sponsor, attend, speak at – in other words – everywhere!

18. EXERCISE Instagram: Digital storytelling
This exercise will help you to
explore, express and tell the story of
your business through a visual
medium. It will also help learners
understand the importance of good
images and photography for their
business.

19. Some interesting brand names that stand out:
Daragh Murphy, founder and director of
the company, explains the origin of the
odd name that everyone remembers:
When I was about to register the business – with a generic name
like IrishTees.com – my wife and I took a trip back to my parents’
house in Kerry. My wife was flicking through a photo album and
there was a picture of me at six weeks old with a head of hair that
Elvis would be proud of, while my brothers were as bald as cue balls.
She made a fleeting comment that I was a hairy baby,
and I named my business after it.
“
”

20. Why Build an Online Brand?
• Building an online brand creates awareness of what we, as
entrepreneurs and our business stand for.
• Building an online brand gives us instant opportunities to create
likability and to foster the growth of a fan base.
• Building an online brand elevates our credibility, because we embrace
being ‘out there’ for the world to find.
• Building an online brand allows us to gain trust – the most important
part of the ‘sales process’ – leading to more prospects, more
customers and more profits!

21. Building
Brand
Awareness
Online
“The best brands are built on great stories”
Ian Rowden, Chief Marketing Officer, Virgin Group
Brand awareness is when people
identify your brand to be yours
under different conditions; whether
they’re on Facebook, Twitter, or
YouTube. The first step is making
your brand memorable - and a blog
is the perfect vehicle for doing that.
So, let’s break that down a little.
Storytelling and your online brand

22. Why Build an Online Brand?
After making it easy for people to recognize your brand, you need to
work super hard at getting them to like you. The best way to do this in
todays market is by connecting with your audience on a personal level. I
don’t know about you, but I’d much rather speak to a real person when
calling a company than talking to a pre-recorded message. As new-age
entrepreneurs if we want to be liked, we need to be personable. The
great thing is that your audience WANTS to be able to connect with you
on a more personal level, and when they can do that, they’ll be more
likely to do business with you.

23. The key to becoming memorable is making a
good first impression… think about...
• Get a Proper Logo Designed – This doesn’t have to be overly fancy.
But, having something that symbolizes your brand’s image will help
in building brand awareness and recognition. Use it everywhere you
have a presence online – your website, online marketplaces, social
media etc.
• Create an ‘About Me’ Page – This page is the perfect place to speak a
little about yourself, so that your visitors can get to know you better.
Video is a great way of introducing yourself and your company.
Ideally, you want to put your audience first here. So try focusing on a
few benefits as to why they should stick around on your site. Be sure
not to miss the opportunity of converting the casual visitor into an
email subscriber and have an opt-in offer somewhere on the page

24. What to show to build trust?
• You
• Your team
• Your location
• Your premises
• Your process
• Your suppliers
• Your customers
• Your accolades
• Your product/service
• Your money back guarantee
• Your guaranteed delivery time
Building Your Brand’s
Trust, Credibility &
Reputation Online
Building trust in your brand
is all about adding value to
your community in the form
of high quality, extremely
helpful, consumable (and
sharable!) content.
Let’s look at how you
can use your platform
(blog, YouTube channel,
podcast) to build trust.

25. 3 ways to
Building Your
Brand’s Trust,
Credibility &
Reputation
Online
1
Establish your credibility. There are a few
different ways you can accomplish this. First,
you should include a good, professional
picture of yourself. Giving your visitors a
professional image to associate you with will
go a long way toward establishing your
credibility. Next, you need to include a list of
your credentials, be sure to state exactly
how each of your credentials is going to
translate into a benefit for your clients. Make
connections and establish yourself as a
professional by joining networking sites like
Linkedin. Testimonials from clients are a
great way to establish your credibility. An
online portfolio of your work might is
another option.
EXERCISE Complete our Guide to a Great Online Portfolio

26. Be accessible. Making it easy for prospective
customers and leads to contact you is a
simple and very effective way of building
trust. Provide an online form, your e-mail
address, phone number, fax number,
physical mailing address and any other
relevant information (like the best times to
call you).
And make sure this information is highly
visible and easily accessible from every page
of your site and also across your social
media.
3 ways to
Building Your
Brand’s Trust,
Credibility &
Reputation
Online
2

27. 3 ways to
Building Your
Brand’s Trust,
Credibility &
Reputation
Online
3
Get as many referrals as you can. Encourage
referrals and repeat customers. Always
always, always follow up with existing
clients!
• Are they happy with your products?
• Are they happy with the job you did for
them?
• Is there anything else you can do for
them?

28. 3 ways to
Building Your
Brand’s Trust,
Credibility &
Reputation
Online
3
Do they know anyone else who might benefit
from your service?
E-mail has made following up with your
existing clients extremely easy and cost-
effective, so there's no excuse for not taking
advantage of this source of easy extra
income. Don't be afraid to remind previous
customers that you're there.
And don't be afraid to ask for referrals. If
you've done a good job for someone, they'll
likely be more than happy to refer their
friends and business associates to you. But if
you don't ask, they'll rarely think to do it.
Don't leave this to chance.

29. Stand Out Tips
• Need to sell YOUR personality - write
in language real people understand.
• Get rid of the jargon. Make your
sentences shorter. Add a touch of
humour. Sound like you’re a human!

30. Choosing a tone/platform for your brand
• Who is your audience?
• Who is your customer?
• Target market?
• What do you want your users to do next?
i.e buy your product, share an image etc.

31. Your Target Market
As an entrepreneur, you have big dreams. You want the entire world to
know your products and services are available to everyone. Selling
online is going to open up the world of opportunities to you but to fully
embrace it you need to know your target market, i.e. your customers
inside out!
You’ve been selling offline and have tested your creative business idea
already so you probably have a general idea of your target audience.

32. Demographics Are a Good Place to Start
One of the easiest and most obvious ways to describe an
audience is in terms of demographic characteristics.
• How old are your typical audience members?
• Are they mostly female, mostly male or an even mix?
• Are they married or single?
• Do they have children?
• Where do they live?
• Where do they work?
• What races or ethnic groups predominate?
• What is the typical occupation?
• The typical level of income?
• The level of education?

33. EXERCISE Define your Target Market
This exercise will help you to identify your target audience. This
exercise will provide valuable information for your sales and
marketing actions. Now that you know who your taregt audience is
- why not create a Target Audience inspiration board.
An inspiration board is a great tool to pull together images that
reflect the audience you want to target and how you/your products
fit into their lives.

34. CASE STUDY Beardalicious, UK
EXERCISE Create a Target Audience Inspiration Board
This exercise will help you to create a visual picture of
your target market - their lives, motivations.
Creative Business:
Beardalicious, UK
What they sell:
Hand-made Beard Oils &
Beard Balms
Where they sell: Etsy

35. KEY TAKEAWAY:
Now you know who your target audience is
– you can identify what benefits and features
your products/services offer and can start
crafting your sales messages.

36. Your Products
What are you selling?
Do you know that people don't just "buy" a product? They "buy" the
concept of what that product will do for them, or help them do for
themselves.
For example
• Some people like to buy art as a form of escapism as it takes them to
other places and times
• When I book my child on a painting course, I am buying them the
experience of learning a new skill for life.

37. Writing great product descriptions
All your marketing needs to speak to the consumer in terms of features
and benefits..
• Product Features - Features are descriptive, they describe what a
product or service does. They are very effective in health food
marketing as customers like, and even expect, to see the specifics of
what they are consuming through your product e.g. calorie count,
nutritional benefits
• Product Benefits - Benefits translate a feature into a solution that
solves a customer problem. Solving consumer problems is one of the
best ways of finding a winning business idea.
But first, laying Foundations ..
How do I differentiate my business?
The use of language & visuals is a powerful tool

38. Product Benefits Matter!
• Promoting your product benefits can encourage customers to make
purchasing decisions despite a higher price point.
• By highlighting benefits, your marketing supports the value perceived
by consumers and will result in more purchases.
EXERCISE
This exercise will help you to differentiate between your
products’ features vs your products’ benefits.
List 5 product features and
5 product benefits of your product

39. Your Uniqueness Matters too!
• Be clear about your USP, your Unique Selling Proposition. This
is the factor or reason that one product or service is different
from and better than that of the competition.
• f you cannot pinpoint, explain or highlight what makes your
business or product unique from your competitors, you won’t
be able to target your marketing efforts successfully.

40. Examples of USPs
• Unique function or feature
• Higher specification
• Unique design
• Technical feature
• Better quality
• Locally sourced materials
What you need to do
Analyse your competitors, their brand story,
their marketing messages, their features and
their benefits, now where can you excel?

41. What they sell: Irish themed clothing
Their USP: The t-shirts themselves are a great
conversation starter and all contain a 'you
have to be Irish to get it' message.
Popular slogans such as 'State Of Yerman',
'Chalk It Down' and 'Who Said Mass?' not
only offer the reader a good laugh, they give
the wearer a sense of pride, much like an
Irish badge of honour. This is the key ethos
behind Hairy Baby, creating Irish t-shirts that
Irish people 'get'.
CASE STUDY Hairy Baby, Ireland

42. Where they sell: www.hairybaby.com
CASE STUDY Hairy Baby, Ireland

43. EXERCISE Complete our USP assessment tool
This exercise will help you to set you and your business apart
Are you ready to sell online? Check List…
o Have a strong brand identity
o Know who my Target Audience
o Have fixed prices for all types of
potential customers
o Have products or services that
can be delivered within a
predictable lead time
o Know the Features and Benefits
of my Products and can
communicate these
o Know my USP’s and can
communicate these

44. Congratulations
you have completed Module 2