Lessons Learned Through A Life of Ecommerce with Michael Hixson

00:00 Andy Splichal Welcome to the Make Each Click Count podcast. This is your host, Andy Splichal. We are happy to welcome this week's guests to discuss today's topic, which is lessons learned through a life of e-commerce. Today's guest is the president and founder of e-commerce growth strategies. He is an accomplished results oriented, data-driven professional with 16 years of experience in e-commerce strategy, digital marketing, and e-commerce marketplaces. He has proven ability in generating increased revenue and widening brand exposure for multiple brands. A big welcome to Michael Hickson. Hi, Michael.

Michael Hixson Hi, Andy. Glad to be here.

Andy Splichal Hey, we're excited to have you. Now, I was fascinated when I was reading your story. It was very similar to mine as you grew a company in the early to mid 2000s. You sold it and then you went on to open your own agency, begin your own agency. For listeners, can you give us a quick recap of your story?

00:53 Michael Hixson Yeah, back in late 2005, I was ready to start a business and I had other businesses and I thought an online business would be a great way for me to work from home, control my work environment and work the hours that I wanted to work. So I started thinking about different niches and looking into different avenues of what my business could be, but I had already run like a baby proofing service for a while. So I knew the baby proofing industry. Baby proofing. Baby proofing. So that's putting in baby gates and child safety latches and all that kind of stuff to protect your child from harm. So I finally decided to go into that niche because I knew all the suppliers, I knew all the players in that industry and I knew that the people that had competing websites were trying to sell their services, they weren't trying to sell products. So I just learned as much as I could about e-commerce and then I started building my website and launched in early 2006 and it just took off and grew like crazy. There wasn't much competition in the niche as I knew and it just grew like crazy and after like four years, I became a top 1,000 online retail. It just grew so much.

02:28 Andy Splichal Nice. Now, when you started this baby proofing company, I mean, you worked it, so you were able to identify the niche there. So I think that's a good place, but I mean, did you validate the idea that selling it for people to do themselves was gonna work or did you just have a feeling?

02:48 Michael Hixson Yeah, I did because I knew that the clients I had from the service tended to be higher ticket clients. They had more money, but I knew that the products themselves weren't that expensive and that you could do it yourself. So I thought that it would be good to sell it directly instead of having to chase a high ticket client and that proved to be right and just the growth and it just took off and so, yeah. So I thought that it would be good to sell it directly instead of having to chase a high ticket client and that proved to be right and just the growth and it just took off and so, yeah.

03:05 Andy Splichal So you did it just on a hunch or did you go out and do any surveys or anything like that?

03:23 Michael Hixson Well, I knew from having done the service already that-

03:30 Andy Splichal Oh, the people that were asking to be able to-

Michael Hixson Yeah, because I did it for like a year as a service in Chicago and I lived in Chicago. So for me, I already knew that niche, yeah.

Andy Splichal So back in 2005, I mean, that's before Shopify. So I'm curious, what e-commerce platform were you using back then? What did you launch on?

03:53 Michael Hixson I don't even remember the name of what I launched on, but shortly thereafter, I went to this cool platform called Zuvy and I don't know if you've ever heard of it. It was a small player, but they had really cool technology. So with Zuvy, I could connect to Amazon and so on. I could connect to eBay. I could connect to all these different portals without having to get a service or another software. They had just built out all these connections to all these marketplaces. And so I could advertise, I could get listed in these markets and grow in all these different channels within the same platform. They didn't make it, they folded after a while, but it was a great place to be and I'm really glad I started there and built my business.

04:47 Andy Splichal You know, it seems similar to what Shopify has going now.

04:56 Michael Hixson Yeah, I think in some respects it was, but I think Shopify depends on a lot of third party apps for their functionality, where this was built into the platform. And if you wanted to integrate, you know, with the 3PL, which I did at one point, they just built it out for me. They charged me, but like they had developers to do stuff for you. So it was kind of unique at that time and it was kind of cool. Yeah, and then, you know, I migrated to BigCommerce and then, you know, I eventually ended up working in Shopify, which I like a lot better.

05:37 Andy Splichal So when you were selling and marketing in the mid to late 2000s, what were some of the main marketing channels you were using to acquire customers? 06:05 Michael Hixson Okay, so I started Google Ads like in 2006 or 2007.

So that would have been before shopping. So it would have been Google search ads? Yeah, Google search ads. So I just learned, primarily I learned everything I needed to do because I was bootstrapping. I didn't have a big budget. And so I just learned and applied and learned and applied because I didn't know anything starting out. And so I learned how to do Google Ads. Back then there was much less competition too. So I could get very affordable ads and convert at a very affordable price just because of like a competition back then. Over time, it got much worse and worse and worse. And the Google Ads got much more complex. And eventually I hired my managers. I outsourced it, but I used Google. I used, there used to be like comparison shopping engines. You know?

06:52 Andy Splichal Shopping.com, Price Crabber. Shopzilla, Price Crabber. Shopzilla.

07:01 Michael Hixson Yeah, yeah. All those things from way back then. And Zuvie poured it into those things. So I used that. I used Facebook. I would do Facebook ads. That was a little further down the road.

07:20 Andy Splichal I was saying, I didn't even think you could run Facebook ads in the mid 2000s. Yeah, I think that was further down the road.

07:27 Michael Hixson Yeah. As I remember. But yeah, so I used the shopping comparison engines and just all the different channels. Like I got into Sears. I got into things like that. So, and I also tried to, you know, build out my content and attract visitors from search and you know, that kind of thing. So have good organic rankings as well.

07:54 Andy Splichal So. I was gonna ask that, did you spend a lot of time with the SEO because it used to be a whole lot easier to get to SEO as well.

08:04 Michael Hixson Yeah, I had somebody helping with that initially that I learned about that. And I kind of optimized on my own. And, you know, so I knew the keywords for my niche and I tried to put that into blog posts and into the website and all that good stuff. So, yeah, that was primarily, you know.

08:22 Andy Splichal So when you were starting, you were doing everything yourself. I guess a lot of the new companies, new business owners who are launching an idea, one of the things they struggle with is how much should they do themselves versus how outsourcing it and finding somebody to help you with these different things.

08:46 Michael Hixson Yeah, for me, it was a matter of budget. I think starting out, I bootstrapped. I did everything I could myself just cause I had a low budget. But after I was earning enough income, then I felt more comfortable outsourcing it. And I was much more busy then too because I was juggling all these things, you know, all the different avenues. Cause I did all the work myself besides inventory and fulfillment, which I had some people working on. You know, I did everything myself. So I leveraged technology as much as I could to keep it all going. And…

Andy Splichal What were the first three positions you hired?

Michael Hixson The first position I hired was my brother. I kept it in the family and he did fulfillment for me. Okay. Yeah. And so I was in California and he was in Ohio, which is a good place to fulfill from kind of in the middle of the country. And then I hired somebody for inventory. And then it was just the three of us for a long time. And so I got, it kept growing, growing, growing, you know, from like 80,000 in year one to like 1.1 million in year four. So, yeah. And to get ranked in the top 1000, just being the three of us, I was really proud of that because…

10:22 Andy Splichal Yeah, that's fantastic.

10:26 Michael Hixson I didn't know anything. I just kept learning and applying it. So that's sort of the basis of, you know, everything I try to impart to business owners now is just to, you know, tell them, I've been on that journey, I've done everything, and I can help you move along your business, you know, up and grow it and assist it and help it.

10:40 Andy Splichal Yeah. So knowing what you know now, if you could go back and change anything, would there be anything that you would change?

10:50 Michael Hixson I think what eventually led to the business sort of going downwards was like, there was a rush of competition in, and it was a race to the bottom as far as prices go. So I had no control over that. So, you know, that was unfortunate, but, you know, I learned so many things in that business, and it's, like I said, it's the basis of what I do now. So I think that was unfortunate because I worked so hard in that business and ran it for over 10 years, and, you know, eventually I had to walk away from it. But there are a few things here and there I would do differently, but mostly not too much, yeah.

11:36 Andy Splichal So what's changed now 15 years later? So 15 plus years, I guess, since when you started. How's the marketing changed from when you launched to what's going on in 2023?

11:59 Michael Hixson Yeah, there's so much more competition. There's so many people in e-commerce, and there's so many players at each niche. So it's ultra competitive. Ad costs are through the roof. You know, they keep increasing. You have to pay more and more to get your ads to be effective and to get any return on them. So I think for somebody starting out now, I would suggest that you be highly unique. Highly unique. Highly unique because if you're not unique, if you don't stand out from the crowd, then you're going to struggle. I think it's just so important to be unique in what you're selling, the approach that you take, the markets you're going after. I think you really have to do your homework. You can't just say, oh, I think this is a good niche. I think you really have to do your homework and determine how many players are in it, how competitive it is, and what's it going to take to become a successful business. Because it's just so more competitive than it was.

13:10 Andy Splichal You know, you mentioned a few things. Unique in what you're selling, unique in your sales price or sales target, your funnels. I mean, do you have some examples? Do you have something that they could kind of clarify?

13:26 Michael Hixson Well, I think… I meant you need to stand like what you're selling. Oh, in what you're selling, okay. In what you're selling, you know, not just something that, you know, tons of other people are selling. Maybe it's something that you develop yourself, or maybe it's something that's different in the market. I think it just has to be different than what the crowd is doing. That's what I might be unique. So maybe it's some product that you develop or something like that, you know, just so that it stands out.

14:10 Andy Splichal For a new company, a new business owner who's looking to get into e-commerce, do you recommend they start their own website? They start an Amazon store? Where should you even begin?

14:21 Michael Hixson I think it can start in many places. I've had clients that started their business on Etsy, and they were really successful on Etsy. And then they came to me and said, hey, we want to be on Shopify. We want to have a website. So I put them, I built them a Shopify website. I have a client now, and they started on Amazon. And I've been helping them improve their website because they're new to e-commerce. They've been on Amazon, but Amazon does all the heavy lifting from marketing and all that kind of stuff. So I've just been helping them apply best practices to their website and improve it and stuff like that. So I think it's important that you understand that once you're in a marketplace like an Etsy or an Amazon, you don't want to depend on them because you don't control that marketplace. You don't control the rules of that marketplace. And really they don't care about you as a seller. They care about Amazon or they care about Etsy. So-

15:37 Andy Splichal Or they care about their customer.

15:38 Michael Hixson Yeah, or the customer. And they view the customer as their customer, it's not your customer. So it's better to branch out and have your own website and have other channels and not rely on that one channel. I think some people get stuck in that. And I think it's better to grow and have a multi-channel approach to get a multiple income streams and reaching a much more broad audience than just relying on a marketplace.

16:05 Andy Splichal So you had mentioned Shopify a couple of times. Is that your preferred choice for e-commerce platform today?

16:16 Michael Hixson Yeah, I've used four or five different ones over my journey. And yeah, Shopify is my preferred one. That's what I build all my client websites on. I think it's the most, it's the easiest to use. It has the most apps. It has the most developers that can help you out if you need that. And I think, you know, I've used big commerce and different ones, but I think Shopify is just easier to use for the common person. I often just train my clients on how to use it so that they're not dependent on me all the time. So that if they wanna go and make a small change, they can do that. So I think that's important for small business owners to like say, hey, I just wanna edit this and they can do it. So that's easy on Shopify.

17:03 Andy Splichal So what do you think the future holds for e-commerce in the next 12 to 18 months?

17:08 Michael Hixson I think, you know, AI is taking over a lot of things and it's starting, like I've integrated AI chat bots on one of my client sites. And it'll be interesting to see how AI integrates into the e-commerce realm as far as search or chat or how it's gonna make the website perform differently. So I think that has the potential to be very interesting. And yeah, that's the main thing I'm trying to follow in and get a grasp on so that I can help my clients with that too, because, you know, I'm just seeing a lot about chat, GPT and what I can do for different aspects of the work that we do. So I think that has potential to make a lot of changes in the industry.

18:06 Andy Splichal Now, for somebody just starting out, are there any business books that you've read that you would recommend?

18:11 Michael Hixson Yeah, I read a book early in my journey and it's called, E-Myth Mastery. And it's by Michael Gerber. And the premise of the book is about how an entrepreneur can be viewed as this heroic figure. And there's a myth about this heroic figure that knows everything and knows all. And really what it's about is about like doing the work and learning things so that you have a good business. So it teaches you principles about business and how to think about business and how to think of it as not a job. And it's really a business and you're trying to please your customers and all that stuff. So it was really kind of a mind shifting book for me early on in my journey. So I would recommend that.

19:08 Andy Splichal You know, I asked this question on every podcast and I bet that is the most recommended book. That one comes up. Oh, is it? Yeah, that one comes up about one times out of five. So that one's leading the pack. Yeah. So today you operate e-commerce growth strategies. I'm just curious. I mean, your experience starting business and growing it, how does that really help to you relate to your clients, business owners that you work with?

19:38 Michael Hixson Yeah, it really has because I've been through that journey. I know what the struggles are going through and I know what can help them. So I think it just helps me relate to them. And it gives me an idea of what to do to help them, you know, to get along in their journey. Because like I said, I did a lot of the work myself. So I know a fulfillment. I know about 3PLs. I know about web design. I know about advertising. I know about so many different things that a typical niche consultant doesn't know because they're a developer or they're an ad person or I did all that stuff. So I'm kind of a generalist on my branch of knowledge. But so what I do now with my business is I consult on doing website audits and tell people how to make their websites better, to conduct e-commerce best practices. I'll build an e-commerce website for them for scratch. I'll migrate platforms from the big commerce to a big Shopify. I do a lot of automated email setup. I'll set up Omnisan and Flavio for people. And a lot of business I work tend to be smaller. So it's nice to have these smaller businesses get to the next level and achieve something and get this better technology in place. So, but I also have people get onto Amazon because I've been in Amazon for a very long time. I know all the different aspects of it. So I create listings and help people get on Amazon. And then, you know, all the different aspects of like conversion optimization, site speed, social proof, doing your reviews, all that kind of stuff.

Andy Splichal Do you work with companies for their digital marketing?

Michael Hixson I don't do that currently. I started to do that when I first started out my consulting business, but I felt that like that takes a lot of attention and it's ever changing. And I didn't wanna focus my energies on it as much as like the other stuff like making your website better or building good websites. So I decided to outsource that to other professionals that focus on just on that because I think my clients would better serve for that.

22:29 Andy Splichal Now, who is the ideal client? Are they having a certain problem where they're gonna come to you or, I mean, who is that person out there? If they're listening, they should absolutely figure out how to get on a call with you.

22:46 Michael Hixson Okay, so it's somebody who has an e-commerce site that they feel is not performing well that can do better. You know, let me take a look at it. Let me give you an audit and tell me what can be done better. If you wanna re-theme or rebuild your e-commerce website, I know all the best practices, I'll plug in all the right Shopify apps and get you a well-built, well-designed site. And so those are my main areas of focus, but also, like I said, I can help on Amazon and, you know, migrating from other platforms. But yeah, if you need help with your site, I'm here to help, yeah.

Andy Splichal Great, and how can an interested listener learn more about working with you?

Michael Hixson Okay, so you can just go to my website. It's ecom, E-C-O-M-M, growthstrategies.com. So ecommgrowthstrategies.com is my website and has my contact info. And yeah, just reach out and be happy to take a look and help you out.

23:56 Andy Splichal Just curious, what happened to your baby-proofing company? Did you sold it? Is it still around here today or did it not make it?

24:06 Michael Hixson I tried to sell it and, you know, I didn't find any serious buyers. There's a lot of people kicking the tires, but nobody pulling the trigger. And I nursed it along as far as I could. And finally, I decided to pull the plug. So, it was a painful thing to pull the plug but I had to do it to move on.

24:36 Andy Splichal Yeah. So, you know, the dream of e-commerce, small business, always to start a website, grow it huge, sell it, and move to a tropical island. Do you think that dream is still possible these days?

24:48 Michael Hixson I think it's possible. I think, like I said, if you're in the right niche and have the right people in place to help you grow, you can do that. I think had I tried to sell my business earlier in my journey, then it would have sold because the revenues were so great. And so, I think that was the one thing I would change. You asked that earlier. I think I would have pulled the trigger on selling it years earlier, years earlier, and I would have gotten a good price for it. So, I think I was just holding on too hard to it. I didn't really have an exit strategy. I thought of it as my business. And I want to hold it as long as I can, but I think an exit strategy would have helped.

25:40 Andy Splichal Well, this has been a lot of fun, Michael. Is there anything else you'd like to add before we wrap it up today?

25:47 Michael Hixson No, I don't think so. Thanks for having me on.

25:51 Andy Splichal Hey, thanks for joining us. For listeners, remember, if you liked this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave us an honest review. And if you're looking for more information regarding e-commerce growth strategies or connecting with Michael, you will find the links in the show notes below. In addition, if you're looking for more information on growing your business, check out our podcast resource center available at podcast.makeeachclickcount.com. We have compiled all of our different past guests by show topic and include each of their contact information in case you would like more information on any of the services I've discussed during previous episodes. Well, that's it for today. Remember to stay safe, keep healthy and happy marketing, and I'll talk to you in the next episode.