or scroll down to get the highlights

As we head into the 4th quarter, you might be feeling underwhelmed by your results.

It’s normal. Progress comes in baby steps.

Sometimes we get stuck in our feelings as business owners. It’s easy to feel like we’re not doing enough- not enough sales, for too much time and money. You’re not alone – I have felt the same way. But as someone who’s successfully grown and sold 3 businesses, here’s what I know.

The answer is in your numbers.

Take a look- what’s really growing your sales? Do more of what’s working, and give yourself permission to let go of the things that aren’t moving you forward. This will make you feel better- and even in control!

It might help you to see how I was feeling, and what was happening at my project store Sock Doggo, as I was entering my first Q4.

Here’s a look back:
You might be surprised to hear that 60%+ of Sock Doggo’s sales come down to just 2 strategies. Listen in as I share what’s working (and how you can find what’s working in your business!) – or read below.

What’s working – here are the actual numbers

Total sales: $12,600 of sales at Sock Doggo 

22% of sales came from a collaboration
These were wholesale sales working with American Doxie. This is a profitable relationship! This is a huge clue about what’s working in my business.

42% of sales came from email
My Klaviyo dashboard shows that email is working well to convert leads into buyers.

64% of sales came from those 2 activities
This is great news because I can clearly see what’s working.

Why does it matter?

The time spent to learn and maintain other “shiny objects” is a distraction. As ecommerce store owners, we only have finite time to build our businesses. Don’t burn yourself out chasing the latest trends. The fastest way to grow your business is to do more of what’s working. The data for Sock Doggo is clear. If I spend more time on wholesale collaborations or email marketing, that’s going to grow my sales. I don’t have to guess- which is a great feeling.

What else do I need to do to grow my sales at this stage?

Traffic – If you don’t know how to reliably drive 3000+ web visitors a month to your store, you won’t have consistent sales. If you aren’t there yet- that is the first step! If you aren’t sure how to get there, check out our Traffic Bootcamp course here. 

At Sock Doggo, we’ve got 3000+ web visitors a month, so our next step is conversion.

Why does conversion matter, and how do we improve our conversion rate?

Sock Doggo’s conversion rate is 0.78%. This rate is pretty low, but it’s common for new stores as you find your way to your perfect audience. 

How can I increase my conversion rate? The data tells us that, too. Returning visitors convert better (usually double or more), so we’ll focus on them. 

My next steps? Increasing our conversion rate. I’d like Sock Doggo to be at least 1% – so 1 out of every 100 visitors makes a purchase. The fastest way to reach my goal is to get more people back for repeat visits, so going forward, I’m going to commit to emailing my list every week. When I send more email, I’ll get more returning visitors, and my conversion rate should increase.

Key Takeaways

Here’s what I need to do next to get more sales in less time. I know if I focus on these 3 things, I’ll be moving forward in my business- and I’ll feel in control while doing it.

#1- Collaborations
Our wholesale collaboration was a huge success- profitable and over 20% of our revenue so far. I can take this success and reach out to more partners with confidence. Wanna know how we did it? Read more about our collaboration with American Doxie (and how you can set up something similar for your brand) here. 

#2– Email Marketing
I know I could be more consistent with email, and if I am, it’ll pay off. Over 40% of my sales are from email. That means I’ve found the right people to send to my store. If I focus on growing my list larger and emailing them more, I know I’ll see more sales. What’s better is that traffic from email marketing is returning traffic. And, we know those customers convert at more than double the rate of new visitors. Which leads me to my 3rd takeaway…

#3- Increase the number of returning visitors
I know that I need to get more people back to my website a 2nd, 3rd, 4th time. Many new visitors aren’t ready to buy yet. By getting them on our email list, we’re more likely to get them to return. Returning visitors convert at more than double the rate of new visitors, so it’s worth focusing on them. This is the best way to increase our conversion rate. Need ideas? Learn more about how to get returning visitors here

Success comes from consistency – focus on the small steps now that will lead to big wins later!

Next steps for your ecommerce business

Every ecommerce store is different. The best way to learn what you should focus on in your ecommerce store is to find your data!

Here’s where I found my store’s data (and how to find yours)

Wholesale sales: This is from my Shopify dashboard. You can refer to your dashboard or Google Analytics

Email marketing sales: Klaviyo’s dashboard calculates this for me. With UTM parameters set up, you can also find this number in Google Analytics

Returning visitors and conversion rates: This metric is in Google Analytics’ New vs Returning Visitors report. 

You’ll want to make sure your Google Analytics account is set up for ecommerce.

Important Update: Google Analytics and GA4:
*As of July 2023, Google Analytics is being replaced with GA4.* 

If you’re still able to access Universal Google Analytics, refer to this guide for help understanding your data. Use this guide if you’re ready to focus on conversion.

If you’re not on GA4 yet, you need to be! This is how Google will track your metrics moving forward. We’re still learning about everything GA4 has to offer. Learn more about GA4 here on the podcast.

Inner Circle members, your GA4 training is here.

Inner Circle members get access to our Google ecommerce coach Leona. Leona keeps members updated on everything Google. Join the waitlist for the Inner Circle here, so you can get the latest information as soon as we have it: I want in!

More Resources:

On the podcast
How to collaborate- 7 ideas to get you started: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-to-use-collaborations-to-get-traffic-and-sales-episode-18/

How to get wholesale orders: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/3-things-im-doing-to-grow-wholesale-sales-episode-102/

How to get more leads: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/whats-working-in-2022-part-3-episode-105/

How to make a simple marketing plan: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-you-can-make-a-simple-marketing-plan/

12 email ideas to get you started with email marketing: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/twelve-email-ideas-you-can-implement-and-recycle-episode-12/

On the blog
Learn more about our event with American Doxie here: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/heres-what-our-partnered-event-cost-and-what-we-got-in-return/

Not sure how to get started with wholesale? Learn how here: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/want-to-have-your-products-made-offshore-dont-miss-this/

See another example of how to focus on what matters in your business: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/unsure-where-you-should-focus-figure-it-out-in-just-4-steps/

Learn more about collaboration: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/im-collaborating-to-grow-my-sales-heres-how-im-doing-it/

Get another collaboration example here: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/my-conversion-rate-is-up-92-heres-what-happened/

More influencer marketing ideas from Sock Doggo: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/how-im-using-influencer-marketing-for-sock-doggo/

Free resources on my website: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/resource-library/

Learn how to use your Google Analytics data: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/7-clicks-to-google-analytics

Google Analytics report for those ready to focus on conversion: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/secret-to-conversion-cheat-sheet/

Email marketing cheat sheet to get started now: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/email-marketing-cheat-sheet

Not sure what you should focus on next? Learn what stage you’re in and next steps here: https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/growth-plan-action-checklist

Need a little extra help? An ecommerce coach could be the best next step. We offer affordable ecommerce coaching in our Inner Circle community. Get on the waitlist for the Inner Circle here and get invited next time we’re open to take new members: Sign me up!

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

Want more sales? You might be missing these 3 things.

So you’ve built your products, labored over your branding and finally launched your website… but where are the SALES?!

There’s nothing more depressing. I know.

As e-commerce store owners, post-launch is often where we lose our excitement, our momentum and even worse; our confidence.

And that’s bad news…

Because the willingness to iterate and try new things is essential to growing a product based business.

So here’s a practical, no-nonsense way to get your confidence back.

We’re going to talk numbers.

If that makes you throw your hands in the air and yell “but I hate numbers!” Don’t worry.

Click here to listen, or read on….

Tracking these 3 Key Metrics will absolutely save your business, as well as your sanity.

They’re easy to find and all you have to do is track them weekly.

I promise you’ll feel a whole lot better about crafting a sales plan once you understand what you have to do before you can get reliable sales.
So stop tinkering with your brand colors, website buttons, or product designs.

None of that matters if you’re not getting enough Traffic to your site.

Yep, that’s the first metric.

But there’s 1 crucial question I need you to ask yourself before we go ahead: Do you have Proof Of Concept?

Have you sold your product in its current form to a real customer? As in… not your parents or BFFs, but actual strangers who just really love your stuff? Whether these sales took place online or in person, it doesn’t matter – they’re Real Sales. 👍

When someone who is NOT your mom buys your product… that’s proof of concept!

Don’t have proof of concept yet? Make this your number 1 goal before doing anything else.

Taking a preventative step now will save you a tonne of heartache later. So get your product on Amazon, Etsy, eBay, or Facebook marketplace. Or even set up a table at a local event. The objective is to get your products in front of eyeballs!

Alternatively, you can partner with a more established business. Just like I did with Mark Ruskin of American Doxie. He sells dachshund-inspired clothing to dog lovers. When I launched my project store, Sock Doggo, I didn’t have proof of concept. My shop was new and unknown.

I asked Mark to collaborate with me and offer a bundle of my new products to his customers. 😃 Our collaborative bundle sold well. Mark earned a healthy commission on the sales we made, I sold lots of socks, and walked away with the proof of concept I needed.

If you want to learn how to float your product in front of someone else’s audience, I break it all down for you here.

Already have proof of concept? Congratulations! Now it’s time to dive into your 3 Key Metrics…

• Traffic

• Average Order Value (AOV)

• Conversion Rate

Your metrics are here to guide you. There’s a lot of things you can do to tweak these 3 Key Metrics and get sales rolling in.

Track your Metrics  in a spreadsheet every week. You’re going to not only feel better about your business, you’ll also have a clear action plan.

Traffic
What is it?
Traffic (also known as web visitors) is simply the amount of people coming to your website. If 500 people landed on your website last month, your Traffic was 500 for that month.

Why is it important?
Not enough Traffic means not enough eyeballs on your site to get sales.

So what do I need to do?
Your goal is to track your Traffic every week. And think of ways to get at least 3000 people coming to your store every month. This is the minimum amount of Traffic you need to start getting regular sales.

How do I grow my Traffic?
Run a giveaway on Facebook, email your subscribers, write a blog post, invite your followers to a Treasure Hunt… there are many ways to drive Traffic to your store – including paying for ads.
Need to learn how to use ads on Facebook and Instagram? Learn here with this step by step, easy to implement course, Traffic Bootcamp.

Here’s a reality check.
New ecommerce stores often have under 1000 web visitors (or Traffic) a month. Not enough to get regular sales. But don’t worry, now that you’re tracking, and aware of the magic number (3000 web visitors), you can actively drive traffic to your site.

Celebrate your Traffic wins!
Success is growing your traffic each week. This is the work every ecommerce brand does quietly behind the scenes before welcoming in a regular flurry of sales.

Conversion Rate
What is it?
Your Conversion Rate is the percentage of website visitors (Traffic) that actually buys from you. Say 100 people landed on your site last month and you got 1 order. That means your conversion rate was 1% last month.

Why is it important?
The average conversion rate for an ecommerce store is 1% – 2%. If you have 3000 good quality web visitors (Traffic) every month, you should get 1-2 sales a day. If your traffic is below 3000 a month, most store owners will be able to reach their sales goals.

What do I need to do?
Your goal is to track your conversion rate each week. And think of ways to increase it to 1%. This is all you need to get the (sales) ball rolling.

Reality check.
New stores often have a conversion rate of 0.5% or less. If this is you, don’t worry – that low number is normal. 

So how do I increase my Conversion Rate?
This is the hardest metric to tweak. Just track it weekly for now. You need to get 

your Traffic to 3000 visitors a month first, then you can focus on improving your Conversion Rate.

Once your Traffic is over 3000 a month find my Top 3 Tips For Improving Your Conversion Rate.

Celebrate your Conversion wins!
Success is growing your Conversion Rate to only 1% or 2%. You can do this!

Average Order Value
What is it?
Your Average Order Value (also known as AOV) helps you figure out how much money the average customer spends. Say three people bought from your store last month. One person spends $10, another spends $20, and the third person spends $30. The average of these 3 numbers is $20. So your Average Order Value was $20 last month.

Why is it important?
Say your Average Order Value is $40. And you get 500 orders each month. If you can increase your average order value to $42, you can increase your sales by $1000 each month without having to find any new customers!

What do I need to do?
Track your Average Order Value every week and think of ways to increase it.

How do I increase my Average Order Value?
Raise your prices by $1 and this alone will plump up your AOV. You could also offer bundles or introduce premium products with higher pricing.

Want more AOV ideas? Go here.

Celebrate your Average Order Value wins!
This metric is completely under your control and it’s the easiest one to change. Success looks like tweaking your pricing (and possibly product offering) – to slowly raise your AOV week by week.   

Now that we’ve plunged into cold, hard data… let’s get your mindset right.

Please don’t skip over this. Managing your emotions can determine whether you solve your business woes, or give up on your dreams completely.

So here’s how to prime your mind for tracking numbers like a pro…

Adopt a problem solver’s mindset.
You’ve already solved lots of problems during your lifetime. Getting sales is just another problem to solve. Focus on the process and work your way through the steps. Understand that everyone starts small. 

You’re quietly building a foundation for reliable sales. Be proud of this! 😃 

It’s not you, it’s your numbers.
Stop doubting your abilities or your business chops. Just track the metrics that matter – and you’ll eventually find out what’s really going on. Let the numbers be your guide.

Flip your thinking on what success looks like.
As ecommerce owners we think success means sales. We’ve been conditioned to believe we should start our store and instantly get lots of sales. When that doesn’t happen, we get depressed. Don’t fall into this trap.

Success IS tracking your metrics.

Success IS increasing your Traffic and AOV.

Because this is what always comes before you can start making reliable sales.
Building your foundation to sales is a success in itself. This realistic approach will keep your emotions in good standing as you track your numbers. 

So start your weekly spreadsheet now. Track your 3 Key Metrics every week and I promise you’ll start to see results.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

or scroll down to get the highlights

As Ecommerce store owners, we have a lot in common. We share a lot of the same tools, and the tasks that fill our days are similar. Put a few Ecommerce store owners together and a room and they have a lot to share with each other.

Even though we share our experiences with each other whenever we can, there’s one thing we don’t do enough. We don’t share our audiences. Every one of us has invested time and money building up audiences of people who are interested in our products.

And yet, we don’t maximize the ROI on this valuable asset.

Most store owners do their marketing in a silo. Do that, and you’re leaving a lot of money on the table.

I truly believe that collaboration is one of the most profitable ways you can set yourself up for long term growth. The time you’ll spend on this is an investment in the future health and profitability of your business.

Wondering how you can make it work for you? I asked our Ecommerce Coach, Tina to share her results after she focused on collaboration for a full year.

Listen here, or read on to learn how she organized a whole year of collaborations, and what happened in her tiny business as a result.

TINA’S  (ORGANIC) SECRET WEAPON
e-commerce coach Tina Bar-On shares the strategy that gained her 1610 new leads

If you’ve listened to the podcast with any frequency, you’ve probably heard me talk about the book “The One Thing.” It has been so helpful in my years of business, and I know that it has helped many of our members stay focused so that they can grow their e-commerce stores.

After reading “The One Thing,” our e-commerce coach Tina Bar-On decided that her one thing for the year would be to grow her e-mail list. Like many of you, Tina has a full time job in addition to her online store, so she had neither the time nor the money to rely solely on a paid ads strategy to build her list. So she chose a non-traditional strategy–she committed to collaborating once a month with a different store owner.

IF YOU TRY ONE NEW THING THIS YEAR, MAKE IT THIS ONE

Tina knows that using paid ads to gain leads can be a slog. It’s expensive, and the leads are often poor quality. Since Tina belongs to our huge Inner Circle community, she was aware of a few other shop owners whose customer base was similar to her own. And so she reached out to them to collaborate.

Tina sells fair trade home decor and gifts, and she knew that if she wanted a big, engaged list by the holiday season, she would need to start early. And so she slated ten collaborations throughout the year, all organized around events or special holidays, in one of three categories:

1. Blogger Partnership
Tina reached out to a blogger in her niche who had featured her store in the past. She asked if there was a way that they might work together further, and sure enough the blogger was planning to host a group giveaway for her readers that Tina was welcome to join. Tina’s only obligations were to contribute a gift card to be given away, a small participation fee, and to post about the event to her social media following. In exchange the blogger would hand over all email entries at the end of the giveaway.
Pros:
This was a low lift for Tina. The blogger organized the entire thing, and Tina was exposed to a big audience she wouldn’t have otherwise.
Cons:
It took some time to receive the e-mail addresses, and many of the leads had gone cold.

2. Partnered Giveaway*
Since Tina is an e-commerce coach in the Inner Circle, she was already familiar with several business owners in the group who had complementary products and  similar audiences to her own. In this type of giveaway, each store contributes an item or gift card to be given away, and each store promotes the event to their own email lists and social followings, in addition to sharing the cost of running a few ads to each store’s best cold audiences. At the end of the giveaway, the list is shared between both stores.
Pros:
Very high quality leads. Since each participating store is promoting to their existing customers, the leads are pre-vetted and warm.
Cons:
This method is time-consuming, and requires that both stores be willing to do the work to make it successful.

*Inner Circle members have access to a Partnered Giveaway training in the classroom

3. Gift Guide
As the holidays approached, Tina looped in 3 other stores with items she knew her customers would love, to participate in a Gift Guide. Each participating store uploaded a photo and description of their shop to a shared drive, and each store crafted an email to their own lists and social followings that introduced the other businesses, along with a discount code that could be used at any of the shops.
Pros:
Like the partnered giveaway, this event exposed Tina’s shop to her collaborators’ best, warmest audiences (including their best customers).
The discount code brought in immediate sales
Cons:
Leads weren’t directly shared between shops

When Tina first informed me this would be her focus for the year, I had no doubt she would be successful. And yet when I followed up, she was feeling discouraged. She wasn’t sure if the e-mail addresses she had gained were all that interested, or if it had been worth the effort. And so I asked her to go to her dashboard and pull the data into a doc for me.

THESE NUMBERS BLEW MY MIND

There is often a disconnect between the stories we tell ourselves and the story the data tells, and sure enough–when Tina looked at the big picture, her results were nothing short of stunning. In just one year she had gained:

• 1610 new leads
• 34 new customers with a $3 Cost per Acquisition (!!!) and 42 new orders
• $1600 in revenue (and counting)

And the best part is that Tina knows that these leads will continue to purchase over time, as she nurtures them further along her sales funnel. In addition, she knows she’ll be able to repeat these successful events with the same partners next year.

Tina says her biggest takeaway was that although this strategy involved a little extra work and a little bit of ad spend, she was gaining something incredibly valuable–her collaborators’ best customers. The high-value, repeat-purchase buyers that each of them had spent countless time and ad spend to find, were now her customers too. Tina made sales from every single one of her collaborations, and a whopping 23% of those new customers came back and made a repeat purchase.

DON’T MAKE THIS MISTAKE

As you can see, this strategy was extremely effective in achieving Tina’s Big Goal. And yet, I hear so many store owners in our community assert that partnerships aren’t right for them. Here are some of the most common objections, and why they’re unfounded:

• Your niche is too narrow
  I hear this one all the time–that your niche is so small that you couldn’t possibly find a store to partner with. But here’s what most people don’t understand: your customers have more than one interest! Find a partner who sells a product that you know your customer would love, and chances are your audience will be very similar to theirs.
• Your list is too small
  One of the things I love about this strategy is that it works well for e-commerce stores at all stages of business. Even if your mailing list or social media following is tiny, as long as you have proof of concept and a few sales under your belt, collaboration will work for you.
• Your price point is too high/low
  Again, your customers are multi-faceted! Don’t count yourself out because your prices are much higher or lower than your partner’s–as long as the giveaway prize is attractive to both audiences, price point is irrelevant.

If your One Thing this year is growing your mailing list, Tina’s collaboration strategy should be high on your list of priorities. And remember–this is a long term strategy. Don’t try it once, glance at the data and assume it isn’t working for you. Even Tina felt discouraged until she reviewed the entire year’s numbers.

If you’re already an Inner Circle member, know that we are working hard on a Collaboration Hub that will allow you to easily find other stores with audiences that complement yours. In the meantime, post to the group that you’re looking for a partner. I guarantee your perfect match is out there.

You can buy “The One Thing” by Gary Keller here: https://the1thing.com/book/

More organic growth strategies:
The Best Strategy for Organic Growth
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/the-best-strategy-for-organic-growth-episode-119/

Think Out of the Box for Organic Growth
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/think-out-of-the-box-for-organic-growth-with-suzi-dafnis-episode-101/

Massive Growth Organically? Yes You Can
https://thesocialsalesgirls.com/massive-growth-organically-yes-you-can-episode-62/

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.

New FREE Course

GROW YOUR SALES

(without breaking the bank)

Conversion School is a step by step process to grow your sales,
without spending a fortune on risky ad strategies, or discounting your products.

Works for Ecommerce stores at all stages.

Start getting consistent sales, and see significant sales growth every month.