Starting Again

[DSLiverpool]

I've sent you a pm but you could probably do one yourself ? Or do part of it - that's it's beauty.
Some huge business models use it.

[RM]

DSLiverpool said:

we should be Shopify EXPERT approved shortly thats when we start the PR we will be the only expert level in Merseyside

Did you have the 5 plus stores live, or develop a theme as a shortcut?

[DSLiverpool]

RM said:

DSLiverpool said:

we should be Shopify EXPERT approved shortly thats when we start the PR we will be the only expert level in Merseyside

Did you have the 5 plus stores live, or develop a theme as a shortcut?

• ** edit Expert approval came through tonight - only Liverpool agency with it ***

We have 5 live now and applied on the 5th witch had loads of bespoke programming - we've asked to be fast tracked as we have a big pitch on Friday where the status would really help.

Edited by DSLiverpool on Tuesday 25th October 22:03

[DSLiverpool]

Crikey has it been that long ? well my obsession with windows is growing having gone from none, to one we are moving again and this time I get loads of windows, and space and privacy and environment but as ever all is not that straightforward at Velstar towers.

The drive to Liverpool does my head in, 5.7 miles but it can take ages - over an hour at times !! so we have outgrown office number 2 and as we now have 5 people the simple fact 3 of us live on the wirral means the main office is going to be on the classy side of the water (!) however we are keeping a meeting room and mail drop / hot desk in Liverpool so we can meet clients on either side and our 2 Liverpool based members can work in town if necessary.

Quick update in that its getting more stable, we are building up retainers and in a move reminiscent of Shankly at his best we have poached the Suarez of SEO from another agency he starts tomorrow and will help with retainers and new clients.

Our other new member is a newly escaped graduate from Liverpool uni who got a 2:1 in marketing specialising in social digital, we got lucky as she was offered a place at JLR in Coventry after a year internship but wanted to stay local.

12 months in still not earning anything but its coming, its coming .........

[anonymous-user]

Good stuff DS.

Do you miss etailing phones much?

[DSLiverpool]

JPJPJP said:

Good stuff DS.

Do you miss etailing phones much?

Domestic phones no - it is a declining market that people are less likely to spend more than the minimum on and Argos et al are dominant, however office phones, headsets and conference phones I do miss the commercial deals and scale.

My lock out has 10 weeks left and I suspect I will look at "office" headsets again when able to do so. Except now I have the website, ux, social, seo and support expenses covered by the agency we can really disrupt the market. Logistics are now far simpler than even 2 years ago with 3pl companies popping up everywhere.

[DSLiverpool]

So quick update and a few things I now understand.

Commuting is hell -

The 5.7 mile commute through the tunnel is hell and as 3 of us are on the wirral with kids we have decided on a Wirral office which is by the docks, quite lovely and is next to the Wirral business hub members lounge which I am sure we can use as an overspill area. New office could take 4 games of table tennis and has many windows! We are keeping the Liverpool facility as well because we are still using Liverpool as our HQ so to speak (no ones ever heard of the Wirral and were getting work from all over the place).

More skills -

There are now 5 of us however no actual employees, we have 2 freelancers working within our office on Velstar marketing and projects in Social and SEO / traffic analysis - they were carefully picked and complement the skills my 2 partners have (I have omitted my "skills")

Networking rocks -

Despite not actually marketing ourselves we have so many diverse networks between us (Dan was a London based front end developer, John has been in ecommerce consultancy for over 20 years, Pete the new addition is like a lead ferret like a magnet for designers and people wanting a "good bloke") - as such we havent done any real marketing but we will from September.

Oh and good old PH of course, its nice to work with PH`ers as it has a certain sense of community and honesty (!).

Am I rich ?

Er no, this business is all about marketing and retainers (we have 3 revenue shares as well) we are still quite young to have a good stable of retainers but the addition of SEO and Social skills was designed to push for monthlies and we have set a target this year for £10k a month which is realistic but still not enough. I can see how agencies fail and its cashflow, its famine or feast right now I can see lots of money in the pipeline but held up mainly on client data, decision or design sign off (frustrating).

Ecommerce

Yep - I have sourced a range of headsets that we will brand ourselves and use 3pl shipping selling over a shopify site and Amazon - I am pretty confident with the skills I have in house to market the site and the quality of the site that we can be a player within 12 months - I cannot do this for another 7 weeks however.

Thats it for now, off to pack for the big move next week.

[Hoofy]

DSLiverpool said:

Ecommerce

Yep - I have sourced a range of headsets that we will brand ourselves and use 3pl shipping selling over a shopify site and Amazon - I am pretty confident with the skills I have in house to market the site and the quality of the site that we can be a player within 12 months - I cannot do this for another 7 weeks however.

Thats it for now, off to pack for the big move next week.

Interesting to see how you're managing to build a business in what must be a busy marketplace with lots of other agencies. Well done.

How do you get something branded? Presumably the headsets are of a suitable quality? Did you have to buy some to test them out? I've always been suspicious when doing this kind of thing.

[DSLiverpool]

Hoofy said:

How do you get something branded? Presumably the headsets are of a suitable quality? Did you have to buy some to test them out? I've always been suspicious when doing this kind of thing.

I asked an importer if the factory had any models they didnt currently sell in the UK, could they bring some over unbranded say 100 of 4 models and we will label the box and swing ticket the product. Small investment and can get it properly branded if it takes off.

Ive launched rebranded products on Amazon previously (reboxed another product) and with daily manipulation got it to number 3 after a month in fact I have just put a PHers product on Amazon as trial and we sold 2 in a week via Amazon enquiry (they are £6k each! they will be happy to verify 2 sales)

The Chinese and mass sellers cannot do sniper, they do automated keyword or basic stuff leaving room to get through it with careful management

[AB]

DSLiverpool said:

Oh and good old PH of course, its nice to work with PH`ers as it has a certain sense of community and honesty (!).

Agreed! I've not seen this thread before today Dave, but our conversation this morning made me go looking!

It's been great working with Dave over the last few months, I think we've surprised each other (or at least Dave's e-commerce expertise have surprised me!) with what is possible with an excellent knowledge of the likes of Amazon etc even with an expensive product that to an outsider doesn't seem to have a huge market.

With Dave's help, we sold 2 new (high value/margin) products through Amazon within 2 days of him helping us get it listed and 'optimising' it and this is a product that by selling a couple a month gives you a very comfortable income.

Separate to this, the team of very skilled, passionate and hungry people he has built up are working on the launch of our e-commerce site and it's extremely exciting.

[Hoofy]

DSLiverpool said:

Hoofy said:

How do you get something branded? Presumably the headsets are of a suitable quality? Did you have to buy some to test them out? I've always been suspicious when doing this kind of thing.

I asked an importer if the factory had any models they didnt currently sell in the UK, could they bring some over unbranded say 100 of 4 models and we will label the box and swing ticket the product. Small investment and can get it properly branded if it takes off.

Ive launched rebranded products on Amazon previously (reboxed another product) and with daily manipulation got it to number 3 after a month in fact I have just put a PHers product on Amazon as trial and we sold 2 in a week via Amazon enquiry (they are £6k each! they will be happy to verify 2 sales)

The Chinese and mass sellers cannot do sniper, they do automated keyword or basic stuff leaving room to get through it with careful management

Interesting stuff.

What's sniper?

[DSLiverpool]

Hoofy said:

What's sniper?

Pick a small selection of products and love them up the sales rankings, many have thousands of listings where its impossible to optimise them all and a machine gun approach is used - this is the window of opportunity.

[Hoofy]

DSLiverpool said:

Hoofy said:

What's sniper?

Pick a small selection of products and love them up the sales rankings, many have thousands of listings where its impossible to optimise them all and a machine gun approach is used - this is the window of opportunity.

Ah, I see. What do you mean by love them up?

[DSLiverpool]

Hoofy said:

Ah, I see. What do you mean by love them up?

Manipulate title, keywords constantly and crucially the browse nodes after go live to ensure its spot on.

[Hoofy]

DSLiverpool said:

Hoofy said:

Ah, I see. What do you mean by love them up?

Manipulate title, keywords constantly and crucially the browse nodes after go live to ensure its spot on.

Ah, I see. I guess it works for more expensive items where you only have to sell a couple of them a week?

[DSLiverpool]

Hoofy said:

Ah, I see. I guess it works for more expensive items where you only have to sell a couple of them a week?

Not really - once set up the tweaks only take a few minutes once you know what to look for and what to change, its could be worth doing it for a few £ an item a week and it would be far more effective than not doing it.

[Hoofy]

DSLiverpool said:

Hoofy said:

Ah, I see. I guess it works for more expensive items where you only have to sell a couple of them a week?

Not really - once set up the tweaks only take a few minutes once you know what to look for and what to change, its could be worth doing it for a few £ an item a week and it would be far more effective than not doing it.

What I meant was that if you only had a small number of items to sell so had the time to do this then your items would be fairly expensive? Or do you end up shifting a lot?

[limpsfield]

Just posting to say I really enjoy reading this thread and wish you all the best. Dealing in the more ethereal world of bloody numbers on a screen these stories of real products are a great read.

[DSLiverpool]

Hoofy said:

What I meant was that if you only had a small number of items to sell so had the time to do this then your items would be fairly expensive? Or do you end up shifting a lot?

If you want a chat PM me and I will happily explain what you can do to make a difference. Amazon have decluttered the UI on the campaign manager recently and handily offer you automated keywords - dont use automated keywords set it up manually if used.

[DSLiverpool]

limpsfield said:

Just posting to say I really enjoy reading this thread and wish you all the best. Dealing in the more ethereal world of bloody numbers on a screen these stories of real products are a great read.

Cheers - I tend to revisit when I need to spur myself on but having a 22, 25 and 33 year old buzzing away in the office explaining to me what "inspo" and RN is (inspiration and Right Now) whilst setting up our Google plus page etc and telling me how to use my computer more efficiently is lovely.