Hey everybody. Sorry it’s been a while. I’ve been kind of
busy this summer and I’ve neglected my blog for some time now. But as of
recently I’ve been wanting to update this sucker because writing my thought
down (or typing them out) helps me think about things more clearly. I almost
just recorded a solo podcast episode thinking it would let my mind wonder a
little bit, but I figured my blabbering wouldn’t make for quality audio
listening. So I’ll blog it out. I’ll give you a quick update on the summer:
This summer I went through a painstaking property and casualty
insurance licensing course and just barely passed the state exam. None-the-less
I am now licensed to sell insurance in New York! I learned cold calling sucks
and people hate talking about insurance. These same people are severely
underinsured and are basically holding a loaded bazooka at their bank account. My
best advice: no matter how good a driver you think you are, make sure your
properly insured. (And not just what the state says you need. Cover yourself
for what you need)
Kick Zone has entered a new era of business strategy. After not
seeing much profit from sponsors of the podcast I realized my profit model was
identical to the model I’ve highlighted as being ineffective in supporting Nordic
athletes. I needed to find a new way. That’s when I stumbled upon Ecommerce. I
decided, instead of reaching out to companies to support me (when they could be
supporting athletes) what if I started an ecommerce shop where people could
purchase clothing, casual sunglasses, fashion accessories, and other
fun/popular stuff (yes, I mean fidget spinners). Then use the profit to grow
KZM and support athletes as they pursue their Olympic dreams. Head over to www.nordiclifestyle.shop to check it
out.
“But Brian, doesn’t running an online store require a lot of
upfront cost in order to purchase all this stuff for your ecommerce site? And you
just said KZ wasn’t making much money, yet. What are you thinking?”
Yes this is true, but through the power of drop-shipping, I
can sell products on my ecommerce store and never have any inventory. Through my
supplier, I can upload products and set prices. Once someone orders a product
off the site, I notify the supplier and they send the product directly to the
customer. Sounds great, right? Ecommerce and drop-shipping are the golden
tickets of entrepreneurship!
Wrong! Ecommerce is tough. On Shopify there are tens of
thousands of ecommerce shops and the chances of a customer finding your shop
over others is slim. Online marketing through social media and SEO (search
engine optimization) cost a lot of money and doesn’t see great numbers in terms
of sales. (One poor fella spent $750 in Facebook advertising and got over
70,000 page visits to his site and not ONE person made a purchase! I read about
his story on a Shopify blog and most people were like “sorry dude. That sucks”).
I have spent some money on social media advertising and the results have led to
me just barely making my money back from the advertising. Basically not even
worth it.
Another problem with drop-shipping is unless you want to pay
an extra $40, shipping usually takes 25 days. In the world of Amazon’s 2-day
delivery, this is highly unacceptable. I have had customers reach out to me
wondering where their product is about 2 weeks after they ordered it. And all I
can really tell them is it’s on its way. I’ve also had people reach out to me
and complain that the shirt they received is the wrong size (despite them
clearly ordering that size in my records) but I don’t have an office or a store
front so I don’t want to give out my home address to some stranger for returns.
So I end up just having to send them a second shirt and tell them they can do
what they want with that one. (This person was stoked and said he’d refer my
shop to all his friends. Still have yet to see a sale from any of his friends).
To stand out amongst other ecommerce shops I started pushing
the “why” over the “what.” Why I was selling was hopefully enticing enough that
the potential buyer could find something in the catalog that they wanted. I
started only marketing my ecommerce shop on Word on the Trail because it became
easy for me explain the mission and how your purchase directly helped nordies
in need. However, despite giving listeners exclusive discounts, sales from the
podcast were minimal. And, I found myself stuck in what I like to call “the
loop of hypocrisy”
The whole point of KZM is to bring money into Nordic sports
and use it to promote living a healthy Nordic lifestyle, as well as support
those who live the Nordic life. But if I only advertise and capitalize on
people already in the industry, I’m not expanding the industry, I’m just
redirecting the money that’s already here. My goal is to inject a shot
of adrenaline (cash) to help grow this industry.
So I’ve modified the shop to be more consumer friendly. Hopefully
this will be more enticing for the social media crowd. Before there was a lot
of athletic specific products, but now I offer more generic stuff that more
people can relate to. Right now I only have sunglasses on the shop, since I love
sunglasses, but will be adding more soon.
Part of me wants to work 24/7 on KZM and the other part of
me needs to focus on school. I’ve deliberated about this dilemma in my previous
post: Pushing Boulders. I’ll be honest, when I’m at SUNY Adk I feel like I’m in
purgatory. I’m in a holding pattern waiting to launch. I constantly try to
apply what I’m learning in the classroom to KZM but all it does is make me wish
I wasn’t there learning from a textbook, but out there actually doing. They say
to be successful you need to fail, and fail a lot. I want to hurry up and fail.
I want to learn from that failure and come back stronger.
Right now I’m forced to read a textbook and submit reports
of what I learned. A professor will determine if what I comprehended is up to their
standards and if not 100%, 75% is good enough to achieve the diploma that will
land me that elusive job that I am supposedly seeking in order to live a life
society deems standard. (Despite the fact all my high school friends have graduated
with that diploma and they have yet to even land themselves a job that would
set them on the path to that standard of living. But that’s a social issue for
another post).
I want to WANT to read a textbook (or informational book written
by an entrepreneur before me) and I want to learn from it as if my goals
depended on what I comprehended. The free market will decide if what I comprehended
is sufficient. And there is no passing or failing, there is only “works” and “doesn’t
work.” I long to be in a situation where I am not valued on my regurgitation
skills rather my ability to think outside the box and act in strategic method. A
life where my standard of living is not the goal, rather the reward.
But for right now all I can do is hustle, and hustle hard. Prioritize
what needs to get done and be efficient with time permits.
I’m sorry this post ended up being so long. When I have a
lot on my mind I kind of like just being able to type. For anyone who made it
this far, as a thank you for listening to me ramble on feel free to use promo
code “Blog” at checkout at www.nordiclifestyle.shop
to receive 20% off your next purchase. Obviously 1/3 of KZM profits go directly
to nordies living the Nordic lifestyle and the other 2/3 goes to building KZM (which
means more podcast, videos, blogs and more. All Nordic specific)
Thanks for reading folks!
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| My bike is a Cannon-dale |
