Your opinions wanted: Avenues to attract expat eyes

[gracelynn]

Hi all

I am doing women's apparel/accesories business catering to the BBW population and am planning to target at the expat community.

Would love to hear your opinions as to how can i get the word out? eg..what magazines to advertise in?, websites etc? besides mainstream newspapers that is.

Hope to hear from you soon. or you can email me gracelyn_@hotmail.com if we can work together!

[AdamC]

pardon me.. but what is BBW population? not very sure whether is ur BBW what i'm thinking of.

btw, jus out of kind advise,

have U done up ur sales plan? like, how are u gg to sell ur products n the mean to sell it?

Maybe You wanna consider first n do an estimation on ur market before you deciding how much u gg to invest to prevent pocket bleed.

[Strong Eagle]

If you want to target the expat community then start with expat publications. These will consist of magazines oriented towards expats (check Borders and Takashimaya) and the publications of various associations. I am most familiar with the American Association and the American Club (both would be happy for you to advertise in their journals) and I know there are similar organizations for British, Canadians, and no doubt many others.

[seasider]

Don't they make local BBW? I'm sure they do.

Look at The Expat, Expat Living, The Finder, etc.

I'll PM you with some more ideas.

[gracelynn]

BBW here refers to Big Beautiful Women.

Thanks for your advice. i've been operating for the past weeks to the local population and am thinking of expanding to include expats.

pardon me.. but what is BBW population? not very sure whether is ur BBW what i'm thinking of.

btw, jus out of kind advise,

have U done up ur sales plan? like, how are u gg to sell ur products n the mean to sell it?

Maybe You wanna consider first n do an estimation on ur market before you deciding how much u gg to invest to prevent pocket bleed.

[gracelynn]

Thanks for the information, will check it out. Just wondering if you know which are the most popular magazines?

That will help to narrow down the range to adverts.

If you want to target the expat community then start with expat publications. These will consist of magazines oriented towards expats (check Borders and Takashimaya) and the publications of various associations. I am most familiar with the American Association and the American Club (both would be happy for you to advertise in their journals) and I know there are similar organizations for British, Canadians, and no doubt many others.

[gracelynn]

local BBW yeah, i'm one myself

instead of spending loads of money trying to lose the weight and not losing it , i rather get some new clothes

call it retail therapy...getting affordable plus size clothes in Singapore is almost impossible.

Don't they make local BBW? I'm sure they do.

Look at The Expat, Expat Living, The Finder, etc.

I'll PM you with some more ideas.

[Strong Eagle]

Thanks for the information, will check it out. Just wondering if you know which are the most popular magazines?

That will help to narrow down the range to adverts.

If you want to target the expat community then start with expat publications. These will consist of magazines oriented towards expats (check Borders and Takashimaya) and the publications of various associations. I am most familiar with the American Association and the American Club (both would be happy for you to advertise in their journals) and I know there are similar organizations for British, Canadians, and no doubt many others.

I never read the expat rags available at bookstores... full of expensive lifestyle gew gaws... not my style. I browse thru the others. Then again, I'm probably not your typical expat.

[madlysane]

Hi Grace

A good suitable website help build your biz n even make it grow.

Do u have a website that works for your biz? If not, or if u wud like to improve / enhance / upgrade it, i hope i can be helpful. let's chat!

cheerio!
mad

[Strong Eagle]

Hi Grace

A good suitable website help build your biz n even make it grow.

Do u have a website that works for your biz? If not, or if u wud like to improve / enhance / upgrade it, i hope i can be helpful. let's chat!

cheerio!
mad

The big problem with a website is getting traffic directed to it. Even with working the search engines it is tough to get found amongst millions of pages.

If web sales is something she wants to do, she would be better off starting on ebay where shoppers would go to do a specific search. She could set up a website to have more 'store' credibility and to offer customers more information.

However, I think women's clothes are a tough sell on the net, and at the risk of being whacked, I think BBW clothing especially so. As a guy with a non-Atlas physique I won't shop online because I cannot check fit... amazing what a slight difference in cut can make in the way a pair of pants hang... and I'll bet it is the same for BBW's.

I think the OP is on the right track. She has a niche target market, will probably offer special services, and is looking for a way to best reach that target market other than a scattershot approach.

[madlysane]

Hi Grace

A good suitable website help build your biz n even make it grow.

Do u have a website that works for your biz? If not, or if u wud like to improve / enhance / upgrade it, i hope i can be helpful. let's chat!

cheerio!
mad

The big problem with a website is getting traffic directed to it. Even with working the search engines it is tough to get found amongst millions of pages.

If web sales is something she wants to do, she would be better off starting on ebay where shoppers would go to do a specific search. She could set up a website to have more 'store' credibility and to offer customers more information.

However, I think women's clothes are a tough sell on the net, and at the risk of being whacked, I think BBW clothing especially so. As a guy with a non-Atlas physique I won't shop online because I cannot check fit... amazing what a slight difference in cut can make in the way a pair of pants hang... and I'll bet it is the same for BBW's.

I think the OP is on the right track. She has a niche target market, will probably offer special services, and is looking for a way to best reach that target market other than a scattershot approach.

of course, it is not all just about putting a nice website up n hoping for the best. any1 in biz wud know that or learn that lesson already.

even for retail, ppl dont just walk into your shop n buy things from u. something must have happened to them. words of mouth! this is the result of proper biz plan, marketing n strategy, one that help u gain credibility n extra mileage, n boost your bottomline. the internet is out there 24/7; exploit it. if your website is giving u problem, u havent use your brain enough, or u r simply not creative or entrepreneurial enough.

it is about putting up a website n getting the words out, n letting ppl find u easily n conveniently. it takes 2 hands to clap.

the more niche your target market is, the more important is getting the words out. hence, it is not just about building the website alone.

any1 in biz shud understand the above, need not elaborate further. the internet n your website is to help n work for your biz n your customers, not to give u problems.

if u r in biz, there is no problem unsolvable, only poorly managed.

[gracelynn]

I never read the expat rags available at bookstores... full of expensive lifestyle gew gaws... not my style. I browse thru the others. Then again, I'm probably not your typical expat.[/quote]


well that's the thing...which mags are more prevalent among the expats? erm those that doesn't advertise ornaments at 10k a pop type.

[gracelynn]

The big problem with a website is getting traffic directed to it. Even with working the search engines it is tough to get found amongst millions of pages.

If web sales is something she wants to do, she would be better off starting on ebay where shoppers would go to do a specific search. She could set up a website to have more 'store' credibility and to offer customers more information.

However, I think women's clothes are a tough sell on the net, and at the risk of being whacked, I think BBW clothing especially so. As a guy with a non-Atlas physique I won't shop online because I cannot check fit... amazing what a slight difference in cut can make in the way a pair of pants hang... and I'll bet it is the same for BBW's.

I think the OP is on the right track. She has a niche target market, will probably offer special services, and is looking for a way to best reach that target market other than a scattershot approach.[/quote]

you got a point with the problem of fit, that's why i am running the biz from my home at the moment (thk goodness for a spare room), customers can come down to try the clothes.

i am using yahoo to sell now with some success but that's not enough to generate enough sales to survive.

do expats in singapore use ebay or yahoo more? is it worth setting up an ebay store?

opinions wanted.

[madlysane]

As far as I am concern, for my biz, never put all the eggs in one basket.

[seasider]

grace you keep asking the same question about which magazines to target expats, which I have already answered. What do I know? I'm your target market. Middle-aged, overweight, fairly affluent expat wife.

I may be ancient and pre-internet but I waste half my life on it, however I never buy things I can't see and touch, clothing or otherwise, so I don't recommend online selling as your only outlet.

Why not sell at hotel fairs, beloved of the bored expat wife? Look up Singapore Fairs.