At BizFace we are hoping to build a community, and of course for many selling is an important function of networking. But selling is not just a case of placing adverts and hoping people will buy. To generate business it is important that people feel they can trust you, and they also need to have a good idea of what you wish to sell, and why they should buy from you.

It is best therefore to introduce yourself and your company first in the member area, then place an advert in either the ads forum or in classifieds. Classifieds are a really great place to advertise as you can upload photos and people get a better view of the product - if it is a service you may want to put your own photograph there, or your team. At the moment all of these functions are free, so do make the most of them, but in an appropriate manner.

Placing a number of ads in irrelevant areas, such as discussion forums, will just annoy other members and actually reduce the chance of your selling anything (besides which, the moderators will remove them). So place an ad one at a time, and in the right place.

Use the BizLinks if you have a website so that people can get to see even more information about your company, again it helps to build up trust. Also, put some personal information up in your profile. Other members can then see whether you have something in common, or at least get more of a feel for what sort of person you are, what type of business you are in, and so on. It all helps to build trust.

There is also a feedback mechanism on the classifieds area, where purchasers and sellers can let everyone see how well the transaction went. This is again a very important function, so please do use it so that we can all be more aware of the trustworthiness of other members.

Posting to forums is another way of developing a relationship with others, and either demonstrating your own knowledge, or if asking questions, it demonstrates that you are willing to take part in the community.

Use the sales areas and forums wisely and you will be far more likely to get good business - and hopefully enjoy the process!

kind regards
Stephanie

__________________
Dr Stephanie Morgan
Crosslight Management
www.crosslight.co.uk

Thanks Stephanie,

Is it also true to say we should be careful what we buy from here, just as with any Internet site? Some of the products in the mobile phone area seem rather cheap.

Cheers,
Alice

Hi Alice,
Yes indeed, always be careful - see the information on the sales ads forum from Roymoggadmin about what to look out for.

One of the points of BizFace is that you can get to know people a little, check to see if they have a reputation here, if others have done business and said it went well. That on top of the tips given about checking their website and proper contact details etc., should help.

kind regards
Stephanie

__________________
Dr Stephanie Morgan
Crosslight Management
www.crosslight.co.uk