What’s the best way to drive traffic and sales without spending a load of money?

Ask Me Anything Q&A 2hmediaamarepo

Topic summary

A UK-based sole trader runs a wedding and business stationery shop, selling through both their own website and Etsy. Etsy generates more sales, likely due to its established marketplace visibility and perceived buyer safety.

Core Challenge:
Limited budget and time (part-time work + toddler care) make traditional marketing approaches like social media and SEO difficult to sustain.

Recommended Strategy:
Focus on referral partnerships rather than time-intensive tactics. Suggestions include:

  • Collaborating with wedding industry businesses (bridal shops, planners, venues, florists)
  • Narrowing specialization to either weddings or corporate stationery to avoid spreading resources too thin
  • Leveraging others’ networks instead of building from scratch

This approach aims to drive traffic efficiently without significant upfront costs or ongoing time investment. The discussion remains open for additional input.

Summarized with AI on November 1. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I am a small wedding stationery, business stationery & related gifts store in the UK it is a very busy market but something I truly enjoy doing, I also sell on Etsy and have made more sales on there than via my website although I do post to drive traffic to both sources as some people prefer to shop via Etsy I assume as they feel it’s possibly safer but besides posting on groups looking for such items what is the best way to advertise to drive traffic and sales to my website without having to spend a lot of money as I am only a sole trader and I only have a part time job besides this due to having a toddler to care for. Any help is greatly appreciated

2

Thank you for taking the time to join us despite your busy schedule. I’m sure your toddler keeps you super busy!

Firstly, it makes sense to me that Etsy is busier for you than your own website. Shopify is making great strides with the Shop app to compete with platforms like Etsy and Amazon but since their main focus is on individual stores, they don’t have a ton of marketplace market share like the other well known platforms mentioned above. This means that there are probably people seeing your Etsy store because they are searching on Etsy while people are not seeing your Shopify store unless they search for you specifically.

Now, on to your question. Since your money is limited, I would normally say you need to invest a ton of time. However, since your time is also very limited, you really need to make the most of it. That means that slow and steady approaches like social media and seo are going to be tricky. It also means that your networking opportunities are somewhat limited. Since you can’t leverage your own time, you need to find a way to position yourself to leverage other people’s time.

With that in mind, I would consider what opportunities for collaboration exist in the industries you serve. I would also consider specializing down even further so that you aren’t spread too thin trying to market to too different industries. Depending on your network, I would prioritize either weddings or corporate.

Taking weddings for example, planning a wedding is a very involved process with a ton of touch points. Someone preparing for their big day may have to coordinate with bridal stores, wedding planners, wedding venues, flower shops, and more. If you can build referral partnerships with any of the above in your local audience, that can be an efficient way to drive traffic without spending a lot up front and without spending nearly as much time as would be required to maintain social media and seo tactics.

I hope that helps spark some ideas!