Facebook Live Video Sales Invitation For Retailers

Dear Fabric Retailers,

Your survival is of the utmost importance to the future of my business and I therefore want to help you however I can to get you through these difficult times. I mean, I always want to help you, but you need my help now more than ever. The idea I want to share with you today is related to video selling which complies with social distancing. This is a creative tool to try to keep the sales going when people are quarantined and not actively visiting your store.

For those quilt shops in areas where you can still ship, move around and be in your shop, I am inviting you to do a selling video that is 3-7 minutes long. If you share it on your page and then tag me using @jaftexpresident on Facebook, I will share it with my 12k+ followers in hopes of getting you some sales. It’s worth a try as many of you are doing this already! I will also share it on the specific corporate page for which the item you are selling is from i.e. one of my companies.

Here are a couple tips and loose guidelines:

• This is for US retailers only.
• You can submit videos indefinitely for now until you hear otherwise.
• Don’t complicate the message. Offer 2-5 different items that you have good stock on in case you find a popular item that a lot of people want.
• Keep the message concise. Stay with your plan and don’t go off script.
• When I say, “Don’t go off script”, I am not suggesting to use a script, but stick to a plan. A script sounds too planned. I am confident that you know about this item so well that you will have no problem describing it and giving it your best sales pitch.
• If you are not comfortable performing on live video, try to find someone else who is.
• Be confident. You know your products backwards and forward.
• Breath.
• Show finished products of what you are trying to sell if available. When people see the finished item, it increase the chances of selling dramatically. Everyone wants to see what the final product will look like.
• Regarding the dollar amount of the sale, make it so it is worthwhile for you, but also make it so it doesn’t break the bank of the purchaser.
• It would be ideal if your offering contains unique items that people can’t get anywhere else i.e. a custom kit or something of that sort. That will most likely get you the most traction because you want to try to not sell what everyone else is selling.
• As I said in the beginning, I would like to help you, but I would prefer if at least one item you are offering is something from one of my various companies (think FreeSpirit, Henry Glass, Studioe, Blank Quilting, A.E. Nathan, Stof or 3 Wishes). It’s a give and take.
• Keep in mind that during these difficult times that almost all sales are good sales as they help you to raise cash to stay alive. Cash is king with all this uncertainty around us. Please don’t forget that I said that.
• In addition to posting the video on my page, if there a specific offering related to one of my companies, we will share it on that company’s Facebook page too which will provide you with even more exposure.
• There will be no prizes as we have no time for prizes. Now is the time to make sales. This is purely for exposure and to help you raise cash.
• Try to use a mic and proper equipment as the quality of your video is important. If it’s crappy, people won’t watch and you will have wasted your time. We don’t want you wasting time.
• Make sure to make a call to action during the video and sum it up at the end. A call to action is something like, call me at this number or email me here to complete the purchase. You need to close the deal so make sure the call to action is as simple as possible so you and the buyer can make a deal and move on.
• Make sure to not leave out any details i.e. what forms of payment do you take, what are the shipping/pick-up options, will I need thread or is that included? Stuff like that. Make sure that you sell the complete package and don’t leave the buyer guessing about anything.
• Put yourself in the shoes of the buyer and present things how you would like it presented if you were on the other side of the table.

You may or may not have heard that Facebook is offering grants of $100 million to 30,000 small businesses. Most of you fall into the small business category. With that being said, this video might be something that you reference when applying for these grants. So not only am I trying to help you gain sales, but I am trying to get you into a position to apply for one of these grants down the road or sooner.

Outside of that, I want to remind everyone to try to stay calm, keep thinking, anticipate and be proactive. Try and make well thought out decisions as a decision is better than indecision. Then just take it one day at a time as we have no idea how long things will be this way. With that, let me say, God bless you all, God bless Jaftex and God bless America! Amen!

Be safe! Peace!

Scott