Marketing

[Note from Rachel: The following is a guest post from someone I traded with on Simbi.

She doesn’t focus on marketing things you can do, but here are some of the things I’ve found: virtual assistant support, ghostwriters, software developers, project managers, Instagram influencers who share tips, people successfully selling on Etsy to interview, and even people who speak Mandarin if you do any kinds of negotiations in China.

One quick thing: when you join, you need to complete a deal with a newbie to get access to all of the site. It’s easy and doesn’t cost anything, but a quick tip to get this done quickly would be to make your first service something like “Rachel Rofe Marketing Tip” or something. I say my name specifically because you can then search for other people who have that service and quickly share a tip and get the deal finished so you can get into the rest of the site. I guess it’s not exactly the point, but I’m a bit of a rebel and don’t care for that newbie unlock rule. ;)

And if this doesn’t make sense, you’ll see what I mean when you sign up.]

Enter guest article:

Welcome to the future! Well, not quite yet but you’re getting there. You’ve taken the first step by asking “What is Simbi?”. I’m sure that you’ve seen the name floating around your social media pages already, and with people getting simbi coins for getting you to sign up, it’s no wonder! Still, you probably haven’t gotten a clear answer. Simbi is short for “Symbiotic Community”, and that is exactly what it is.

Yet, that doesn’t tell you much either. This is a concept we haven’t had in quite some time. To put it in laymen’s terms, Simbi is all about trading. It’s a trade and barter platform, essentially. You can trade your services or your goods, so think about that Medieval Market that you’ve always fantasized about (okay maybe that was just nerdy me!), and bundle that into a website. You have everything from electricians to jewelry makers to blacksmiths. Yes, there are actually a blacksmith or two (at least when this article was written) that you can trade services or goods for! The idea is that everyone has a skill, so everyone can trade.

Does It Work?

Simbi seems like such a fun concept on paper, and it can be. However, it’s a lot of work too. Just like anything, you’re going to get what you put into it. If you work hard at enriching the community with your services and make sure to revise, check back, browse, search, answer messages and apply the techniques in this article then you’ll have a successful time on Simbi. It does work, and you can even check their Leaderboard awards to see who Simbi is working for best. These people often have tips, tricks and advice for you as well if this article isn’t enough for you, which will help you to get started.

What Can I Trade?

This is a question that so many people ask themselves, and if you really want to get started and be successful on Simbi, you don’t want to just list any service. You want to list what will be the most profitable for you while still enriching the Simbi community. Speaking of community, local chapters are starting to open up, so you might get the live action market soon enough! Be a part of the change, and to do that you’ll need your first service.

Right now, Simbi seems to mostly attract females. That’s because they’re the ones that think “well I can___” crochet, knit, embroider, create mugs, craft, make jewelry, bake or cook. You get men that offer these skills as well, but women are more often taught to be crafty. Thinking that Simbi is just for females is wrong though! There are many things that ANYONE can offer to this lovely community. Sure, all of those skills are needed, but to get Simbi working for you, you’ll need to offer something new.

Do you have a family recipe that you can cook, teach or offer? Do you have a really good car so you can offer rides? Do you DJ super well? Are you great at teaching a class for something? Classes could be couponing, cabinet making, gardening, landscaping, tiling, or so much more! Can you help someone with their car, motorcycle or even just help with an oil change or installing breaks? Everyone knows how much an autoshop can charge, so getting help with this could be great.

Can you create something like small wooden boxes, leather cuffs, or even just wood turn a nice pen? This would be great too. Maybe you aren’t super good with your hands, but I bet you have knowledge that could help as well! You can help people who are socially awkward if you have a silver tongue and make friends everywhere. You can host simbians in a spare bedroom, help to deliver groceries, or even go out and buy a birthday present for someone. There is so many possibilities, so you’ll just need to brainstorm a little. Hang in there, you’ll get some tips soon!

What Services Work Best?

This is a tricky question because it’s not really WHAT services you list but HOW you offer them. Every service can do well, and I mean that. you just have to know how to make your listing work for you. You need to:

• Write a good description. Without a good description, no one will know what they’re looking at. You need to really make sure that it’s to the point without losing details. Make sure you’re clear, and show the value in what you’re able to provide people.
• Use a good picture. Your picture will really sell your service for you. If you are teaching a class, show what that class can teach you or what the experience is like. If you are offering a product, you’ll want to have a few different pictures of the product.
• Decide on a good ratio. Most people that are using Simbi successfully know what to charge for their service. The majority of people are using a 1:1 ratio from $USD to Simbi coin (often just called “simbi”). However, no one wants to work with ANYONE over a 2:1 ratio, and when you offer a 2:1 you’ll get less buyers overall, meaning you’ll earn less simbi overall.
• Utilize the market. If you’re offering a product, you’ll need to either put it under services, and be clear you aren’t asking for shipping, or put it on the Simbi Market. Simbi Market allows you to get reimbursed immediately for any shipping that you’ll incur. However, if the shipping is very little, you may just want to include it in your Simbi price. Again, you’ll get more orders and there are tons of people who are doing this!
• Utilize your tags. If you aren’t utilizing your tags correctly, which we’ll go over in a later section, you aren’t going to appear in people’s searches as well.

How Do I Choose Tags?

This is essential to making sure that people find your services or products. If they can’t find it, then you can’t make Simbi work for you. Think about it this way: If you were looking for your service, what would you type in? That is the easiest way to figure out what tags you have. If you think that other people are offering the same service as you, then you’ll want to type in the main words that describe your service such as “catering” and see what words other people are using.

If you see that they have things in common, put that in your tag too. It’s good to put some of these tags in your title and description as well. Go to the bottom, and then add the tags. Taking the catering example, it’d be “catering”, “BBQ catering”, “party catering”, “cooking”, “party help”, “dessert”, “dinner”, “snacks”, etc. until you feel you’ve redundantly described your service so that it’ll appear with any of these searches. If more people see your service, you’ll be earning more simbi!

How Much Time Should I Spend on Simbi?

You should visit Simbi each and every day if you want to be successful. Don’t worry, it’ll get just as addicting as Facebook after a few deals! Simbi isn’t just straightforward bartering. You’ll find that many people offer fun games, have you answer questions, and even the Simbi team will have easy requests to fill (you’ll learn about that section soon!) which will help you to earn points and build a real connection to the Simbi community. You’ll want to favorite what you like so that you can order later (maybe more than once if you’re like me!), reply to your messages so that Simbi doesn’t hide your listings (this is so that you only see active member’s listings so trades can work out), and post a request if you aren’t finding what you’re looking for.

It’s best to try and log on each and every day, and check out the “New on Simbi” section to see what people are now offering. After that, you’ll want to head over to the “Requests” to see if you can get your Helper Badge and see if you can earn simbi by fulfilling a request for someone. When you’re done, you’ll want to check out the “Matching” section to see if there are any direct exchanges you can make. IF you have services or products you can bundle, you’ll also want to take the time to see if someone likes more than one of your services/products and offer them a deal. Knocking your simbi price down even a little bit can get people to finally order! Think about it. In a real market, people do love to haggle.

Should I Wait for Them to Message Me?

NO! If you see you Match, message them. There will be some people that don’t reply, some people who won’t want anything but a direct trade, and then there are some people that just get distracted and forget to come back to your service. If you message Simbians to get what you want, you’re more likely to actually get what you want. Be the aggressor and send a message or two! Even our friends can forget to message us if we aren’t actively talking to them, so feel free to check in on pre-existing deals as well.

Why Follow Someone?

If you like a service or product that someone offers, when you follow them you’ll be able to see what they have to offer. I certainly recommend following people! When people follow you, you’ll be alerting them when you offer something new as well, increasing your chances of getting something bought for simbi! You’ll also see what other people are spending their simbi on when you follow them, which will give you more ideas so that your simbi doesn’t just pile up in your account.

How Do I Make Requests Work?

Logically, not every request is going to get fulfilled. With people joining every day, you may not be able to get your request filled immediately because there’s no one that can fulfil it, but someone that will join later can. This doesn’t mean you should just leave an old request up. Old requests will get buried, so make sure that you delete and post your requests again at least once a week for the best results.

If you really want a request to get filled, then you’ll want to make sure that you also are clear in what you’re wanting. If you aren’t sure how much simbi to offer, you can also post a price but tell people the price is negotiable. If you have any pictures, outlines, or anything you feel will help people fulfil your request and understand what you can talk about, put links to it or tell people to message you for more info. Just make sure you’re clear what you have that could help people to understand what you’re asking for better.

What Can I Use Simbi For?

If you can’t figure out what to use Simbi for, then of course it won’t work for you. Maybe you figured out what you can offer, but you have Simbi just piling up in your account. This won’t help you, and you’ll just get frustrated. Favorite the services that you like, and then make a word document that further has links to who you liked working with and what you liked getting. Look for things to spend your Simbi on, post up requests, and put the effort into spending your Simbi. Remember it’s a virtual market, so you’ll need to check out what’s being sold at the time.

Personally, I’ve used Simbi to get necklaces, mugs, beer steins, help with editing, leather work, blacksmithing, baking, catering, light shows for a party, housecleaning and so much more. The possibilities are really endless, and with more and more people joining what’s being offered is always growing. Simbi is a useful “currency”, but you have to browse the website regularly. I’ve gotten custom birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, things for work (yes! I’ve even got “branding” packages, business cards and more!), and just luxury items I wouldn’t usually be able to afford.

Start using Simbi, and enrich your life without having to spend your hard earned cash!