E273: Growing an Ecommerce Business in an Ultra Niche Market
It’s been a hot minute since I did one of these Under the Hood episodes. Today, I bring you one that could be both interesting and potentially helpful for those selling products in narrow niches.
It can be difficult to be number one in a highly saturated and competitive niche. That’s not usually a problem for folks with businesses in very specific and product-focused niches.
Nevertheless, being involved in an ultra-niche business has its own share of challenges.
Today, I’m talking to Mark who helps run a dancewear company in an ultra-niche market. Originally started by his grandma 40 years ago, he was instrumental in its shift from selling wholesale to retail in 2017.
Here’s a look at where the business is at right now.
- How Mark got involved in ecommerce (2:43)
- How they stared in the online space (4:05)
- What the revenue’s like (5:19)
Mike puts in a couple of suggestions for growing the business.
- Do SEO (7:11)
- Look at selling on Amazon (9:26)
- Put out good quality content (12:15)
- Start using Facebook Messenger (19:12)
- Free plus shipping offer (20:46)
- Create a giveaway (24:57)
- Add lifestyle photos (29:57)
Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It’s a win-win!
Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations from the show’s first season.
Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form.
Hey mike! How are you doing? I was just listening to this podcast. What was the name of the Seo tool you used?
I think it was Ahrefs.com- could be wrong though
I was just listening to this podcast and had a thought for Mark: I don’t know your business, but it sounds like you cater to the competitive dance market. My husband and I are social “ballroom” dancers – I put ballroom in quotes because we mostly participate in more contemporary dances like West Coast Swing which tends to attract a much younger (millennial) crowd. Mike may have been on to something when he suggested expanding into the shoe market, but I’m going to suggest a more specific niche. There is an unfilled market for comfortable social dancing shoes. A lot of of us wear sneakers and use a cobbler to attach suede dancing soles to them. Since we’re not competing, we want comfort. There is one company that makes the rounds of the dance conferences hawking their sneaker-like social dance shoes, but they’re ugly, uncomfortable, come in a single width (which is either too narrow or too wide, depending upon who you talk to), and outrageously expensive. There’s a wide world of young, up-and-coming social dancers who just want something comfortable to put on their feet, but no one is willing it sell it to them.
Thanks Dawn – hopefully Mark sees this!