Richard O’Connor Of First Mats On 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Highly Successful Shopify Business
An Interview With Eric Netsch
You’ve also got to be willing to learn and be open to new ideas. The world is changing faster than ever, so you’ve got to be ready to move with it or risk falling behind. Your old beliefs and biases will be challenged, and sometimes this is for the best. Keep yourself up to date with the latest in your industry and digital marketing.
Shopify is a fantastic platform to use to quickly set up an eCommerce website. Some companies create highly successful businesses with Shopify, but others are not as lucky. What is the difference? What do you need to know in order to create a highly successful Shopify based business? In this interview series, we are talking to leaders who created a successful Shopify business who can share the “5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Shopify Business.” As part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard O’Connor.
Richard has been building and marketing websites for almost 20 years and is currently the Strategic Marketing Director at First Mats. Built on the Shopify Platform, First Mats quickly grew from a startup to a six-figure business, with growth continuing to accelerate at an impressive rate. Richard also lends his vast B2B and B2C experience to new Shopify Stores, including Paper Crate, who designs and prints giftware such as Cards, Mugs and Coasters for pet lovers.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you’re super busy. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up in an age when the internet was still new. At 13 years of age, I wanted to make a website to share my love of cars, but CMS builders we take for granted now, such as WordPress and Shopify, were yet to be invented. Writing HTML in Microsoft Notepad was the only method I knew of back then, so I started typing away. It was a learning experience filled with trial and error, and the end result was crude, to say the least, but I loved it and knew that — one way or another — I wanted to work with websites when I left school. So then, whichever job I took, I would always think of ways to improve the online experience for our customers. From there, a career began to develop, and many years later, I still enjoy it every day.
Can you share the most exciting story that has happened to you since you began at your company?
The pandemic was challenging for us at First Mats as it was for everyone else. The product range at the time mainly consisted of floor matting for industrial and commercial businesses, but we had recently started expanding into new product lines to be able to support the needs of our customers better. Here’s where we spotted an opportunity. Many of our suppliers had products that could be used to help with social distancing, such as floor stickers, barriers and specially designed mats. We worked tirelessly to get these products added to our range as quickly as possible and then marketed them using every channel available. The result is that we went from one of our slowest months ever in April 2020 to a record month in May.
The 4 P’s of marketing refer to Product, Price, Place and Promotion, and this was an example of what happens when you get all of them right. We were offering a product people needed, at the right price, in the place where people would see and buy them and promoting them in a targeted and effective way. It by no means made the pandemic easy for us, but it helped secure jobs for our workforce and supported our customers who needed to put measures in place to reopen to the public.
What’s the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson did you learn from that?
In my early digital marketing days, I noticed that a particular product page on a website I managed was getting a massive amount of impressions in Google Search but had a very low CTR (Click Through Rate). When I searched for this product’s name in Google, it also turned out to be the name of a popular porn website. I quickly renamed the product and thought about the people who clicked on our website by mistake and, instead of porn, saw a specification sheet for an industrial cooling product. For me, it was a valuable lesson that it’s always good to do a search for a product or website before naming and launching it. This is now a standard part of my own process to help me understand how competitive a keyword is and any potential risks.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
At First Mats, we spent much of the last two years increasing our product range by a factor of ten. Now that phase is complete, we have a tonne of data to work with, and we are learning which additions are working and which aren’t. From this, we’re crafting a targeted marking plan to focus our work on the best opportunities, helping accelerate our business growth. In addition, a new website will soon be launched to provide a significantly enhanced experience for our customers. All the while, we’re looking for the latest tools and technology that we can use to make our business and marketing efforts work more effectively.
You’re a successful business leader. What are three traits about yourself that you feel helped fuel your success? Can you share a story or example for each?
Don’t give up too easily. Even the most successful entrepreneurs have faced extreme challenges and hardships that have put their nerves to the test. Running a successful business of any kind isn’t easy, but it can be gratifying. So learn to ride the rough with the smooth and reflect on the challenges you’ve already overcome.
You’ve also got to be willing to learn and be open to new ideas. The world is changing faster than ever, so you’ve got to be ready to move with it or risk falling behind. Your old beliefs and biases will be challenged, and sometimes this is for the best. Keep yourself up to date with the latest in your industry and digital marketing.
Thirdly, you’ve got to be agile. React quickly to changes in the market, especially if your product is seasonal, and don’t be afraid to adjust the tiller of your boat from time to time. Learn quickly, and apply those learnings quickly too.
Awesome, thanks so much for sharing that. In my work, I focus on improving shopper engagement, so I’m very passionate about this topic. Online shopping is more competitive than it has ever been. Can you share the strategies you are implementing to create a frictionless and engaging shopping experience?
This is one of the reasons it’s vital to know your customer. Try speaking to them about what they want from their experience whenever you can. Remember, you are not your user. If you can’t talk to them, use tools like HotJar and behaviour reports in Google Analytics to learn how your users interact with your website. Generally speaking, your aim should be to make it as easy as possible for your customer to do the thing you want them to do (add to cart, submit a form, etc.), so try and understand what they need to perform that action and how easily you can make that happen for them. This could be providing better images and data sheets, making important ethical or eco values more obvious and pre-answering common questions such as delivery costs and times. If they have to go searching elsewhere for these answers, chances are they won’t come back, so give them everything they need on the website.
As you know, mobile has taken center stage in terms of how people are engaging and transacting with eCommerce stores — leading a lot of stores to lean into mobile-first shopping experiences like mobile apps. Can you help articulate a few reasons why an eCommerce business should consider creating their own mobile app?
Any decision like this should be made with the customer in mind. Ask yourself, why would a customer want to install this app? If it doesn’t provide any benefits they don’t already get from using your website, then you’re not ready for an app. If the answer is that it offers a better browsing or user experience than the website, then your website should be fixed first, especially in the age of mobile-first web design. Offering a mobile app can help your business if it works with mobile-related features such as your phone’s contacts or calendar. If your company sells clothing or furniture, an app could be used with your camera to create an augmented reality experience.
The cost of paid ads is at an all-time high. What are some alternative strategies to reach your target consumers that don’t involve paying a third party like Facebook and Instagram?
At First Mats, our business has always been built on Organic SEO. It’s a marathon rather than a sprint, but get it right, and the time investment is well worth it, especially for B2B companies. There are many places you can learn SEO basics online if you want to try and manage it yourself, such as YouTube and Udemy. Hiring a specialist or agency could be a good option if you don’t have the time or resources to learn. Make sure you take your time when picking the agency, learn about their experience, speak to some references and make sure they are transparent with you about the work they are doing — SEO is a skill, not a dark art. For B2C businesses like Paper Crate, getting yourself in front of your audience can also be effective. Join Facebook Groups and Forums relevant to your business, take the time to engage with its members and provide helpful information where you can. This will build a positive association with your brand, so you won’t need to try and sell to them. Instead, they will want to buy from you.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to create a very successful Shopify business? Please share a story or an example for each.
What is your Unique Selling Point (USP)? Shopify makes it very quick and easy to set up an eCommerce store, even if you have no prior experience in website design or management. The temptation can be just to dive in and set something up, but there are a few things you should consider first. Ask yourself, why should people buy from you? What makes you different from your competitors? The answer doesn’t even have to be something groundbreaking. It could just be a more targeted niche, faster delivery, or being the cheapest, but you can’t expect good results if you’re not offering something that customers can’t already get from a hundred other places.
Who is Your Customer? An excellent way to define your USP is to start by defining your target customer. Creating a marketing persona is a great way to help you visualise the type of person you’re aiming at. By learning who they are, their age, location and what keeps them up at night, you can craft your brand and content around their needs and wants. Understanding your customer can determine everything from the tone of voice on your website to the colour scheme and even the font size. It will also help you launch effective paid campaigns, for example, knowing when they are online and whether they prefer to buy on their computers or mobile phones. At Paper Crate, one of the big challenges is appealing to both the target customer (the person buying the greeting card or gift) and the target audience (the person who would enjoy receiving the gift but not necessarily the one buying it from you).
Where is Your Customer? Now that you’ve figured out your ideal customer, where can you find them? For First Mats, the customers are mostly ordering from their place of work, so aren’t likely to be found on Social Media during the working day. Instead, they search for products as and when they need them, which tells us that SEO and Paid Search are good methods to reach them. For Paper Crate, the customers are much more likely to be on Social Media as well as in other online communities, so investing more in Social Media Marketing may be more beneficial. Don’t forget about marketplaces such as Etsy and Amazon that could be used to complement the work you’re doing with your Shopify store.
Where will your Products come from? Shopify is well known for being a great platform for Dropshippers to use, and there are plenty of dropshipping apps to support this, which instantly give you access to thousands of products you never have to stock. You can also use print-on-demand services that integrate with Shopify, making selling your designs easier. Just remember that the easier it is to set up, the more people are already doing something similar already. Sourcing products from wholesalers and manufacturers can be more profitable but also more difficult, especially if you’re starting out, so contact a few potential suppliers first if you decide to go down this route to ensure they will work with you.
What is Your Expertise? Knowing what you’re good at and what you’re not is essential. For example, you may be terrible at managing your business finances but fantastic at creating engaging social media content. If so, hire a remote bookkeeper so you can focus your energy on creating more great content for your social media channels. The same applies to all aspects of running your business, including design, content, advertising and research. Getting help doesn’t have to be expensive either, and there’s plenty of talent on sites like peopleperhour.com and upwork.com, all ready to start working for you.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I would like to see greater adoption of AI and Machine Learning Technology in everyday life. I think that, if done right, AI can provide massive benefits to everyone in the world. From predicting flu outbreaks early to driverless cars, AI has the power to improve the quality of our lives dramatically. So instead of worrying about people being replaced by robots, we should think more about how robots can free people from having to work at all by giving them the money generated from the machines.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Please visit www.firstmats.co.uk and www.papercrate.co.uk to see the sites I’m currently working on. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, too @Richard0Connor
I want to thank you so much for your time and for sharing your expertise with us. I wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer. Eric Netsch is the co-founder and CEO of Tapcart, a codeless mobile app builder that helps Shopify’s fastest-growing brands to create an owned marketing channel so that they can reach, engage, convert, and retain their audience without ever relying on another entity for access. Eric has been featured in TechCrunch, Business Insider, The Verge, etc. To launch your mobile app, visit Tapcart.com.
