P26: 🎊 Group Call XII 🎊 Business Growth, Warehousing, Marketing Strategies, and So Much More
Video & Audio of Our Call:
Background:
Our awe-inspiring, enriching, and inspirational Group Call XII, hosted by Austin, features Jonathan Burlingham of Starfire Direct. Jonathan provides the best answers to all the most important questions of our Patreon members, from warehousing to marketing strategies. You can also check out Episode 24 for our one-on-one interview with Jonathan.
During the dotcom craze in 2007, owner and CEO Jonathan Burlingham set up shop in his home and started what would become one of the leading retail companies of the patio and hearth industry. With years of tedious hard work, working directly with vendors to find and offer the best products, and by personally responding to each customer's needs, they have built a name for themselves and a brand that they are truly proud of.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
- [1:28] Jonathan: gives an update on his company, Starfire Direct. They did some restructuring, automation, and other changes to the company, which boosted their growth tremendously.
- [4:55] Austin: jokingly tells everyone that Jonathan is going to give a free fireplace. He also asks Jonathan how they pick the top products or items to sell.
- [6:30] Jonathan: shares an example of how they made a mistake in choosing a product.
- [9:52] David: was interested in the growth of Starfire Direct. He wanted to know what marketing strategies were used by Starfire Direct to keep growing at a faster pace.
- [11:33] Jonathan: offers David some tips and suggestions regarding marketing strategies. He also urged David to go back to Google marketing and try it once more.
- [18:30] Austin: asks David if he has tried LinkedIn Ads using videos. Johnathan also adds that videos are very important and it has to be a part of David’s marketing strategy.
- [21:25] Shannon: curious on the growth path of Starfire Direct.
- [25:47] Jonathan: provides an example of a mistake they made using white labeling.
- [29:32] Daniel: poses the question about warehousing in terms of overhead and staffing.
- [30:11] Jonathan: enumerates some of the issues he has experienced with warehousing. He also recommends 3PL services for Daniel.
- [35:39] Ashanti: is on the verge of starting her own business but she has some issues about the number of products that she wants to sell.
- [41:26] Jonathan: the first 5 years of his business, he wasn’t making any money and he was almost ready to give up.
- [46:04] Ming: calling from China but originally from DC. He is curious about the team structure of Jonathan’s company and the tenure of its people.
- [52:25] Austin: shares his experience working with his virtual assistants.
- [58:16] Earl: is a bit reluctant doing virtual trade shows. He wants to know what everyone in the call thinks about virtual trade shows.
- [59:45] Jonathan: instead of doing virtual trade shows, he recommends Earl to try doing video marketing and reaching out to old clients.
- [1:07:24] Emily: has a long-term plan of starting an online business. Jonathan offers his insight on building a new business.
Our Members on Group Call 005:
Key Point from Our Group Call:
- Jonathan: “That’s what’s cool about entrepreneurship, right? We’re risk takers. We’re a different breed of people. We like to take those risks and we like to just go for it. Even knowing that there’s a chance it could fail. A lot of people don’t start businesses because they are afraid of that failure, and so if your gut is telling you this could be good, what are you willing to lose to go with your gut.”
Resources Mentioned:
- LinkedIn: Jonathan Burlingham
- Twitter: @StarfireDirect
- Facebook: @StarfireDirect
- StarfireDirect.com
- Retail Accelerator – Send the Perfect Email, at the Perfect Time, That Sells (Recommended by Jonathan Burlingham)
- Dan Pink – The Puzzle of Motivation
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Secret Resources:
