MY STORY
Michael Hixson
Founder and Principal
Accomplished, results-oriented, data driven professional with 17 years of experience in e-commerce strategy, digital marketing, and e-commerce marketplaces. Proven abilities in generating increased revenues, and widening brand exposure for multiple brands.
Michael's E-Commerce Story
In 2005 I decided to launch a new business. I thought starting an online e-commerce business would be a great opportunity to set my own schedule, and set my own priorities. I explored the options but settled on selling Baby Proofing and Child Safety Gear. I had previously run a Baby Proofing service, so I already had good knowledge of child safety products, and who the competition was. I thought I could do well because most of my competitors were focused on selling their services instead of selling the products direct to the consumer who could install the products themselves for much less.
At the end of 2005 I got to work building a website and learning everything I could about selling and marketing online. I launched in early 2006 from my garage with a small home office. The first year there were modest results with $80,000 in revenue, but I worked hard, and kept learning everything I could about acquiring customers, e-commerce strategy, merchandising, fulfillment, marketplaces, digital advertising, and everything else about selling online. The second year revenue grew 280%, the third year it grew 120%, the fourth year it grew 53% and revenue topped $1.1 million. By year five we were ranked in the ‘Internet Retailer Second 500’ as a top online retailer, and remain ranked for multiple years.
Keys to Success
What were the key to my success? I believe it was my desire to continually learn, experiment, and to grow the business. I learned how to advertise on multiple Search Engines. I learned how to publish our products to marketplaces such as Amazon, and Ebay, and learned the best practices. I learned about website design, search engine optimization and merchandising, and applied it to our website. I learned about and deployed Email marketing, Influencer marketing, Affiliate marketing, and Social Media marketing and many other strategies.
I believe the key to making all these different components work together to grow my business was my continual analysis of what was working, what wasn’t, and what needed improvement. I took advantage of Google Analytics and other tools to see what could be improved and made more efficient. I constantly tweaked ad campaigns, adjusted our website, tested new tactics, solicited advice, and continued to evolve my learning.
Realization
After selling my business in 2015 I went to work for some local manufacturers and used my knowledge to significantly grow their online revenues by double digits. This convinced me that I could use my knowledge to assist a wider base of businesses that were struggling with their E-commerce, Digital Marketing or Marketplace efforts.
Lessons Learned Through A Life of Ecommerce
