How to Sell Cascara Bark

Cascara bark is found in the North American Pacific Coast forests. According to the Herb and Supplement Encyclopedia, cascara bark comes in the form or fresh or dried bark from the stem and branches of the Rhamnus purshiana which is a tree. It has traditionally been used for anal fissures, cellular regeneration, cleansing, constipation, detoxification, hemorrhoids and pre- and postoperative cleansing. Those with bowel and colon issues can range from infants to senior citizens. You can market to all of these age groups or just one. There are several ways to sell this product to the general public.

Instructions

• 1

  Sell cascara bark from a brick and mortar (storefront) location, using direct marketing (word of mouth) or through an online website. Open your business locally, and branch out into national or even international sales. Selecting all three ways to reach all three geographics will be the most challenging, but will grant you the largest opportunity for sales.

• 2

  Name your business. Apply for your business license and seller's permit from your local county clerk's office.

• 3

  Lease or purchase a building that has enough square footage to hold your supply of cascara bark. Ensure that exterior signage for your location is clear, visible and easy to read. Have promotional material such as brochures, fliers and business cards ready for distribution to your customers inside your storefront.

• 4

  Join a professional and business-oriented networking group. Examples of such groups are your local chamber of commerce, rotary club, service club and BNI (Business Network International). These networking groups allow professionals to promote their product or service to other individuals who are in attendance for the meeting. Collecting business cards and identifying other business owners who can be a referral source (people who can send you clients) is a strategic and long-term approach to word-of-mouth marketing.

• 5

  Build and name a website. Buy and register the domain name (example: www.casbark.com) from a domain name provider such as Go Daddy. Use a website design template from Go Daddy to start creating your own website or hire a professional website developer.

• 6

  Add an online shopping cart that will hold the quantity of cascara bark orders your customers select from your website. Use the Quick Shopping Cart provided by Go Daddy or select another such as Volusion, Google Checkout or PayPal. In order to complete payment, your customers will need to pay by credit card through your website.

• 7

  Select your credit card payment processor. If you select Google Checkout or PayPal, the option is built in. Some banks, such as Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, also provide credit card processing and can work with online website shopping carts.

• 8

  Promote your online website to generate sales. To increase your website traffic (number of visitors to your website), employ Internet marketing strategies. Popular strategies include SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing) and PPC (pay per click) marketing.

• 9

  Sign up for a Google Analytics account. Add Google Analytics coding to your webpages using the instructions they provide. This tool will analyze how your website acquires visitors. The results of the measurements will tell whether your website is being found through a direct URL search, a search engine attempt or a referring/partner site. To increase search engine traffic, employ SEO, SEM and PPC strategies.

• 10

  Use social media to increase your target market's awareness about your product. Social media includes websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and other sites or applications that allow you to promote your product online. Create a Facebook fan page for your business/product and ask those in your online network to become a fan. Use Twitter to give periodic updates about product or business developments. Use LinkedIn to find other business owners who may be interested in being a distributor for your products. Leverage these free resources to build momentum for your business and product offering.