Today we’d like to introduce you to Rory McGonigle.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The first company we started was an eCommerce brand that we launched on Amazon. We quickly realized that there was a lot of risk putting all of our eggs in just the Amazon basket. If a customer returns your product, Amazon can suspend your selling privileges halting all of your sales, their search algorithm is constantly changing, and they own the customer data so a brand can never obtain a customer’s e-mail to deliver content around your product or brand. We wanted to diversify our risk by adding in additional sales channels.
So we made a massive push to build up our own website and learn how to drive potential customers to buy directly from us. This was the beginning of a 2-3 year learning curve regarding Facebook advertising, Google advertising, website conversion optimization, e-mail marketing, and website development. Once we started seeing great success with our own brands, we started working with colleagues who also had their own eCommerce brands. We quickly gained expertise across a wide range of niches and industries and started taking on additional clients as we formally built out our agency.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest struggle was learning everything possible about digital advertising and optimizing a website. There is a lot of information out there and it can be hard to determine which information is reliable. Ultimately, we put everything we had learned into action with our own brands and see what worked and what didn’t. It was an expensive learning curve, but it gave our team unmatched experience and expertise.
In addition, Facebook and Google’s advertising platforms are constantly changing. Something that was working one month can be completely removed the next so you need to stay on top of each platform. Thankfully we have some colleagues who work at Facebook and Google who notify us on any upcoming changes so we can position our clients accordingly.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am the founder of our agency and we help eCommerce websites scale and grow their revenue. We have a team of specialists for Facebook advertising & sales funnels, website development, website conversion optimization, e-mail marketing, and even Amazon seller central management. We truly have a great team getting amazing results.
Our agency has two main benefits that really differentiate us. First, we only specialize in eCommerce brands. The eCommerce world is constantly changing and we are always looking to master our craft in this niche. Second, our team has validated our processes and systems by growing our own eCommerce brands. Clients value the fact that we practice what we preach and that they’ll be partnering with a team that has a proven track record. The biggest achievement and the thing I am most proud of is that we are growing people’s businesses and changing their lives. When we bring on a client, we actually don’t call them a “client” but rather an extension of our family. We only work with brands that are looking to make a positive impact in the world. It is unbelievably rewarding to see the growth our team provides to our eCommerce family.
What were you like growing up?
I had a wide range of interests growing up, but I always wanted to learn how things worked from start to finish. When I pick up a new interest, I want to know everything possible and become a subject matter expert. I’ll always be a student learning new things and applying that knowledge to help make the world a better place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.smartestrategy.com/
- Email: rory@smartestrategy.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smartdigitalstrategy/
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