We are proud to welcome the founder of several companies this week on the 20th episode of The Ecom Show.
From New York City, Kevin Urrutia started as a programmer, moved to Silicon Valley, started several ecommerce businesses, developed his own marketing skills, and now runs a marketing agency and several successful brands!
Gather round and listen in as Budai Media founder Daniel and Voy Media founder Kevin discuss a wide variety of topics like:
✔️ Getting started in ecommerce
✔️ The link between product development and marketing
✔️ Becoming more than a one-product ecommerce store
✔️ Importance of organic marketing strategies
✔️ Learning from your setbacks and failures
It can be tricky in an already saturated online marketplace to get started, but the product is what you should focus on first. Kevin says he came up with his company Chester Travels, just by researching popular keywords on Google.
By letting the market tell him what it wanted, he was able to create a popular luggage company for travelers even though he never considered selling luggage bags before. It is also crucial to have a strategy from the beginning, whether that means Facebook Ads, Amazon listings, or collaborations with social media influencers.
“I used to think that if you made an awesome product, people would somehow find it eventually,” says Kevin.
He now knows this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, he has come up with several solid business ideas only to see them fall apart due to a lack of digital marketing strategy. You can have the best product in the world, but you can’t sell a thing if no one knows about it!
Now you can piggyback off marketing and figure out your next product idea based on what other people are searching for, so never before has product development and marketing been so closely linked together.
Most ecommerce brands start out with one tried and tested product. It is so rare to find success if you stay a one-product shop that leans too heavily on your “hero product.” Never stop innovating and questioning how you can improve or make more revenue.
Kevin pitches some great ideas, like creating online content such as classes or loyalty programs, to keep money flowing in. If you can have recurring payments or subscriptions, it’s even better! Remember that Amazon started selling books, and now they have a listing for every object you could possibly imagine!
If you think Facebook Ads or Google Ads will do all the heavy lifting for you from the getgo, think again! Kevin mentions excellent tips like contacting influential bloggers and reviewers to send them your product for review or reaching out to influencers and giving away products in exchange for brand awareness photos (which really come in handy down the line!).
Reviews are the most important thing you can have initially, so start the conversation about your product as early as you can!
Don’t ever be afraid to fail. Kevin started several businesses before he got one to stick, but he learned some valuable information to begin future business endeavors each time.
Experience truly is the best teacher, and that’s how Kevin has learned how to market, what products sell the best, or why you should always have someone working during the holidays in case a website goes down (Don’t lose out on millions in sales during Black Friday Sales!)
If you are looking for an intellectually stimulating interview jampacked with goodies, don’t forget to take in the latest episode of The Ecom Show.
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