Episode 41: How to Build Your e-commerce Business Organically with Kerrie Fitzgerald

marketing

Are you trying to leverage organic strategies to build your e-commerce business? Then you must be experiencing overwhelming confusion and wondering if being on 10,000 different platforms is the way to go.

There's good news for you!

Joining us today is Kerrie Fitzgerald, proof that you can get an e-commerce business from zero to six figures without the fuss of paid advertising. She is a product business strategist and consultant, and you're a product marketing whizz. She started her first high-end paid subscription box, The Dapper Dog Box, in 2016. She grew the business to multi-six figures in revenue in two years without funding, staff, or support. She successfully sold the business in 2019.

In this episode, you'll receive highly practical advice on getting your e-commerce business to six figures with no ads, escaping the comparison syndrome on Instagram, and creating a community of raving fans without losing your sanity. You will also gain insights into productivity tools for customer engagement after their first purchase.

Kerrie highlights three fundamental guidelines to get to six figures:

Enjoy the process
Understand that growth takes time
Don't compare yourself to others

Kerrie's mission is to help subscription box, e-commerce, and product-based business owners create widely in-demand brands and products that customers are obsessed with. Her unique framework stems from organic marketing strategies that bring consistent sales and traffic while removing the overwhelm, self-doubt, and what-do-I-do-next syndrome.

Here's a sneak peek:

[02:10] The success of Dapper Dog Box and Kerrie's rationale for selling her company.

[06:25] How to fight Instagram comparison and pressure and keep your sanity.

[09:07] A few ideas to create a community of super-raving fans:

Create a relationship with first-time customers. The sale is not the end; it's day one of the relationship.
Use email marketing tools and set up an automation where once someone buys from you, they get a series of emails that get triggered out to them over a period. Use tools like Klaviyo.

Sample Sequence:

An email thanking the customer for ordering and a call to action, e.g., follow us on social media.
Connect with customers on social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok.
Invite customers to take photos, videos, and Instagram stories of unboxings, and tag you.
Get feedback on what they liked and didn't like.
Reshare the Instagram story with a video of your products and add the product sticker or link.
Send them a heartfelt thank-you every time they post

[16:09] Customer engagement productivity tips and systems and how they can be implemented.

[16:40] Why you should prioritize appreciating your customers.

[21:26] Tips to grow to seven figures with paid advertising:

Simplify what you are selling; get yourself known for one thing.
Be clear on your social media. Be on one main channel. You do not need to be everywhere. You can always repurpose stuff from Instagram to TikTok.
Start a blog or YouTube channel for your brand.
Leverage what your already existing customers, for example, through referral programs.

Quotes

"Instagram is not always great for mental health, and you need to be aware of that. And if you're starting to feel like it's negatively affecting you, you need to take a step back and not be on Instagram all the time."

"Most businesses don't make you feel appreciated. You are simply a number. When you turn someone from a number into feeling appreciated, that is how you build a loyal customer, a super fan."

"I know when I started my business, the Dapper Dog Box, from day one, my mission was the customer will be valued and appreciated above anything else."

"I truly attribute that customer service and community as one of the top reasons I grew my business."

"Get yourself known for one thing."

"I've learned over the years to not be such a perfectionist. I'm not a perfectionist in real life, but I am with my business or my businesses. I really learned that it's important to be a fast action taker."

Links & Resources

Find out more!