I’ve got a hot idea..
Dear BIZ
I’m an actor and I’ve been in the business for 30 years. But I have decided to turn another passion of mine into a new venture. After spending time in Israel I got a taste for chillies.
I’ve spent lots of time researching the chilli business, I’ve found some good quality suppliers and I’ve just set up chilliEd.co.uk. We offer the hottest chillies in the world – Carolina Reaper, Trinidad Scorpion and Naga Ghost Chilli – and our mixed bag is proving the most popular. We are doing OK for a very new business with over 5,000 website hits in our first week. Once it takes off we want to create a community for the like-minded and promote other creatives and offer recipes and lots of other fun things. Any advice on getting our new business out to a bigger audience would be very welcome. Eddie Webber, by email
Biz replies
Creating a stir on social media with some fun interaction from existing customers would be an excellent way to help spread the word. Encourage customers to post pictures, recipes and feedback on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, using your #ChilliEd, your @Edchilli Twitter and including your website to encourage others to click to find out more.
Friends in the business with high profiles will be very powerful – and have lots of followers to tap into.
Creating a community is a good way to lure in more people and reach a bigger audience, and offering recipes is a great idea, especially for those who are new to the hot chilli world.
Also look out for food bloggers and chefs that you can team up with. Then promote one another and the wonder of chillis.