Felix: Today I'm joined by Natalie Rogers from Klassy Network. Klassy Network creates products that combine function and fashion, most well known for their stylish quality blue light glasses and has earned $1.8 million in sales since inception, which was started in 2018 and based in Orlando, Florida. Welcome, Natalie.
Natalie: Hello, thank you so much for having me.
Felix: Yeah. So, the idea behind, again, the flagship product, we'll get into all the other kinds of expansions to your product line in a bit, but the original idea came from a product that you wanted to create to solve a problem that you were personally facing. So, tell us more about that. What was the problem and what was the solution?
Natalie: Yeah, so about two years ago now, I was working super hard on my computer all day long prior to this business, I was actually a business owner beforehand, so I was just working on my business and I was on my computer all day long. And I remember one night specifically, I tried to go to sleep and I couldn't fall asleep. I closed my eyes and I saw this white screen with my eyes closed. And so I knew it was from my computer screen and I had never really experienced this much of a side effect to staring at my screen until that moment. And so, in that specific moment, I looked up “why can't I sleep because of my computer screen?” And I saw that there was something called blue light, and I immediately wanted a solution to that. I wanted to have something to protect my eyes while I was working all day long. And at the time they really didn't have very many stylish blue light glasses at all. I did find just one store that didn't have them. And so I placed an order, but it took 20 days for it to get to me. And so that right away I knew, okay, they're probably drop shipping or something. And so I just had this intuition feeling like, "Oh my gosh, this would be such a great product to bring to other women that are wanting to look cute and stylish while they're working all day and also protect their eyes." So, it was just a very like aha moment for me, and I decided to jump on it and take action.
Felix: Got it. I definitely want to learn more about your previous experience when you first started this business to see how it helped you. So, what was the business that you either still have, or that you started prior to Klassy Network?
Natalie: Yeah. So when I was 18 years old, I actually started my first company as a senior in high school. So, growing up, my passion was soccer. I played soccer my whole life, and I actually had this opportunity to start a sports company in my local community and teach kids how to play soccer at a local daycare. And so at 18 years old, I was like, "Oh my gosh, that sounds so much fun," but I did not know it was going to be a business at the time. I thought it was just going to be like a hobby playing with kids. And so I started this business, it was called Kick it With Natalie. And it was just me coaching soccer with kids. And I actually ended up crazy because I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, but I ended up taking that company and me, now my fiance, then he was my boyfriend, we decided to grow it together and it actually turned into a six figure sports company here in Orlando. We renamed it Core Sports Academy. And then we actually just exited that company June 2019. So, last year we sold the company.
Felix: Awesome. So, what were some of the most valuable business experience or lessons that you learned from that, that first running entrepreneurship that you apply to Klassy Network?
Natalie: Yeah, I would say the biggest thing is just going for it, taking action. I think that business was so great for me to see what is possible, especially at such a young age for me to just take something I loved and just turn it into a business where I can monetize and make a living and support myself and also other employees and stuff. And so I realized that anyone can start a business, anyone can do these things. And I think that having that prior experience, and also just knowing how business works, like the fundamentals of it, it was super easy for me to go into Klassy Network and just have my idea, figure out all these problems to solve and get something launched and started. So, it was a lot of messy action, but it was quick. And I think that's because of my experience before.
Felix: Yeah. So, it sounds like you kind of have a knack for recognizing these opportunities in the marketplace. What do you look for when you are on a lookout to start a new business, a new project or new ideas you want to pursue? What kind of maybe either formalized or informal criteria do you look at to determine that it is an opportunity worth pursuing?
Natalie: So, for me, I always think of myself like, "Do I want a product like that? Is it something I would want to purchase, and I would want to impulse buy?" And so sometimes I see things in the market that are already available and I automatically am like, "Oh, I would want to try that." And so that kind of flags my interest and I'll see that just like me every day on social media, just seeing different products here and that kind of sparks my interest. And then I go further. So, I do some research on that product. I see what other companies are selling that products. And then I also ask myself, "Okay, well, how could I make this even better, even cooler?" And so I really just go off of something that I would love to see in my shop and on my online store and also that I would want to use and wear on a daily basis because I know if I'm going to love it and I'm really into it and I would buy it automatically then a lot of other women that are in my audience would want as well.
Felix: Yes, I think that the pros that I see on the other end of it, which is to look for something that is profitable, that can scale and start there first, but you said that you start off first by going off of your initial reaction to a product that you might see or get inspiration from, that you might buy yourself. But why do you find that as important? Why do you find it that is the kind of Keystone or at least the prerequisite before you even pursue an idea?
Natalie: Yeah, because I feel like you want to make sure your product is going to sell, right. I mean, you can have a product that has good margins and it's easy to make and it's light easy to ship all that stuff, but if it's not something people desire and actually want then it's going to be really hard to move. And so I'm always looking for what is a product that's a hot product that someone would be super excited about, especially if I could make it even better in my own way. So, I feel like that's really, and then of course, all those other things are super important too. And before ever deciding to bring a product or manufacture a product, I do that research and make sure it kind of checks off all the boxes.
Felix: Got it. When you say hot product, do you mean look for products or industries that are trending upwards or what determines whether a product is hot or not?
Natalie: Yeah. So for me, like I said, it's really just something that when I say hot, it's this intuition feeling like, "Oh, I want that." And so it's kind of hard for me to explain, but I would say that blue light glasses, that was in my internal being. I was like, "Oh my gosh, that would be amazing." And that was before blue light glasses did start trending, but then they did over time, they started trending as soon as we actually ended up launching Klassy Network. So, it was really that gut feeling. But another example that we have with one of our products is silk scrunchies. So, I remember seeing silk scrunchies and it was from a different company, someone else was talking about it and right away I was like, "Oh my goodness, I would love to have a silk scrunchie because it protects your hair, but it also holds it up and it's a great way to keep your hair up." And so in that moment, I just had that feeling. Like, "Oh, that's perfect for Klassy Network." And I feel like that's also another product in a market that is going to start trending even more. That's my prediction, but we did bring our classy silk scrunchies and they sold out within the first day of launching, but it was a soft launch.
Felix: You definitely talk about the expansion in a second, I do want to talk more about the way that you think about how to bring a product to market or how to design or develop a product, because it sounds like you look for a product first that you would love, but is missing something where you'd know there's something that can be improved upon that product. How do you know that you are adding a feature or adding an upgrade that other people will care about beyond yourself?
Natalie: Really it's just asking around some friends that are similar to who I am. So, what I always think is so good for business owners is to be the ideal customer of your own business. For me, I am the perfect ideal customer. I would shop at Klassy Network all the time. And so it's really great for me to know what I would like and then also ask my friends and friends of friends to see if it's something that they would be interested in as well. And I also use social media before actually going for things and I'll go on my Instagram story, I'll ask my audience, I'll do a poll, I'll go on Klassy Network's Instagram. That's really what I do before validating.
Felix: Yeah. Well, let's learn more about the features or ideas that are on the cutting room floor, where you initially thought would be a great idea or at least an idea worth exploring a bit more. But then over time, either through your own research or through polling your audience that you thought that it was not worth it. Can you give some examples of ones that did not make it, I guess, to market based on your path towards validation?
Natalie: Yeah. So, we were thinking about maybe doing like a whole clothing line. And so I did go on our stories and I asked if they would want cute pants and different tops that they could wear while they work from home and things like that. And they did have some interest, but with what the poll said, I think they were looking for something more. And then also, I thought about it more and I thought about really what Klassy Network is and I'm realizing that's not actually going to be a good fit. And so I ended up not going with doing a whole clothing line for Klassy. And so not every idea is a great idea. And the thing is a lot of people are afraid to go on social media and ask their audience these things, because what if it doesn't happen? So, is my audience going to be upset or confused if I don't end up doing that clothing line idea, and at the end of the day, people are just happy to give their feedback, their input. And if things don't work out, they don't work out.
Felix: Yeah. I think it's important too to note that you probably care more than anyone else in your audience. So, I think that oftentimes we think that, "Oh man, if we don't carry through on this, they will be as upset or as disappointed as I am," as you know the business owner personally. But a lot of times you're oftentimes just a fleeting thought, and that's getting uncomfortable in some ways where you don't have to feel like there's so much gamble, so much to risk by asking them if they're interested in a product or not. So, you decided that you wanted blue light glasses, but also you want it to be fashionable. So, what were the first steps that you took towards turning this thing into a reality?
Natalie: Yeah, I decided to look for a manufacturer and I actually have a friend who has a product based company. I reached out to her and I was like, "Hey, how could I find the manufacturers?" And so she told me where I could look for them. And then from there I just started asking them what kind of frames that they had and what styles. So, when I first launched, I did not design my first pair. I picked the pair that the manufacturer already had ready-made. And then I put in the blue light glasses and I added our logo and things like that to get started because it's going to be lower cost to be able to do it that way. And this was just an idea, I was like, "I don't know if this is going to take off." And so we decided to go with a style that I thought was super classy, super classic and a lot of women would like. And we ordered it from a manufacturer. We did a soft launch. So, we did about 200 pairs of glasses and we brought them to Klassy Network. And now there was just one style in three different colors. And from there, we ended up selling out in the first two weeks. So, we were like, "Oh, okay. Maybe we have something here."


Felix: Did you have to design them yourself? Or how did you turn, I guess the idea in your head into that first production run?
Natalie: So, I just did some research. I started looking at different styles of glasses that already existed out on the market. And I wanted to ask myself, "Okay, if I were to buy a pair, what pair would I buy? What style do I really like? Do I think is classic and universal for a lot of women?" And so, I don't know if you've heard me say, but I did mention that. I did not design the first pair that we brought to Klassy Network. So, whatever I launched with was already produced by my manufacturer because she, or they're an eyewear manufacturer. And so what you can do is you can get ready-made goods and put your logo on it and ask for what type of lenses you want. And so I wanted the blue light glasses, the blue light lenses put into a frame that was already made. And then we brought it to Klassy Network just to get started. I feel like that's a great way to start. And then from there, once you've proven the concept, you've proven that this is something people want, then you can take that step further and being unique and designing. And so now I do design our glasses.
Felix: Got it, at that first 200 pairs of glasses, just to understand, is there a market for this? Are there people out there, they're like you that want blue light glasses, but then for them to also be fashionable, that was the only goal?
Natalie: Yeah, that was the main goal. I was like, "I know I would love this and I would wear these all the time. Is everyone else going to like it?" And so yes, it was a good little test.
Felix: What was that a soft launch like? Once you got those 200 pairs, how did you get those for those customers? I mean, 200 to sell out in a couple of weeks is still obviously a great sign of that you're on track. So, what were you doing to get that kind of attention onto the store onto the product?
Natalie: Yeah, no, it was amazing. We were just mind blown that many people were purchasing. So, the first thing that we did was we started our Instagram account probably three months or three to six ... No, I would say three months. Three months before actually launching. So, I started posting curated content on the social media page before we actually had the product. And so my whole thought was, "Okay, I'm going to try to grow some type of audience here, even if it's small." I think we grew to a thousand followers before actually launching. And what it was, was just a page with a bunch of boss babe type quotes, inspirational motivational quotes because our market is really towards that ambitious woman that's working all day on their computer. And so I built our social media accounts to 1,000 people and then I didn't spend any money on paid advertising or marketing because I knew if I wanted to get this off the ground, that it would be best to do it through warm traffic. And so what I did is I reached out to a bunch of micro-influencers and I asked them if they would want free products in exchange for a shout out. And I did get, I think I got two actually. I only got two that agreed and said they would do it and make a post for me on launch day. And so after reaching out to so many different people. But yeah, I ended up sending the product to my two micro influencers and they both had less than 20,000 followers. And so I sent them the products and then they made a post as well as us making a post and kind of hyping it up prior to launch on our social media, my personal social media like friends, family and then those micro influencers. And those micro influencers really gave us a lift in sales. And then from there, the word of mouth, we ended up selling out in two weeks.
Felix: Amazing. Okay, you mentioned that you started Instagram three months before from scratch, grew to 1000 organically yourself by posting curated content before you even having the product in. Tell us more about that. What was your content strategy? I think other people out there are looking to do the same thing, which is that they have a product idea in mind. Maybe it's being worked on right now. Maybe they're still looking for manufacturers, but in the meantime they want to at least build up an audience that they can launch to. What was your content strategy to create content in a way that grew to 1,000 followers in three months? Because again, that's still great progress, where 1,000 three months is certainly a goal for a lot of people, so how did you get there?
Natalie: Yeah, I think it's really just finding where your ideal customers are going to be hanging out online. And so for me, I saw so many female empowerment quote accounts and they were just growing so quickly. And so I thought, okay, well, what if I do the same strategy? And I post a quote every single day for 30 days, let's just see what happens. And so not only did I do that because there's no way, I mean, there might be a way a post can go viral or something. Some of my posts did, I wouldn't say go viral, but definitely did perform really well that got me more reach as well. But then I also went out and I looked for my ideal customers. So, I would go to those quote accounts and if people were in the comments section, I would go to their page and I would follow them, I would comment on their pictures. And so I call that a 321 strategy. I heard that from someone a while back, I don't remember who, but it's what I did and what I practiced. So basically, what you do is you go look for your ideal customers that you think would like your page. You go to their profile and you like three pictures, you comment on two pictures and then you give them one follow and it starts getting people to notice like, "Oh, who's this account. And if they go to your page and they see you have good content that they resonate with and they start to follow you. That's what I did in the beginning. And it worked really well, as well as having shareable content people wanted to re-share to others.
Felix: Got it. And how often were you doing this? How much time would you need to dedicate in a given day to grow your Instagram this way?


Natalie: Yeah, it's hard to really think back on and remember, but I think it was about at least 30 minutes a day where I just kind of engage, go on there. I would do it right before bed. But yeah, I think 30 minutes a day is good.
Felix: Awesome. Certainly feasible. So, when you mentioned that you started working with these micro influencers to do this launch, how did you identify, or did you just try to reach out to as many micro influencers as you could? Or did you have a particular kind of profile that you're going after to be a part of this launch?
Natalie: Yeah. So for me, obviously, as I've been saying, our audience is really ambitious women that either have their own businesses or are looking to start an online business. And so I myself was in that niche. So, I had followed some other leaders in the industry that had businesses and that were posting everyday going on their Instagram stories. And so I'm  really looking for someone that's a leader, that's talking about how inspiring people to reach their goals. And so I only reached out to people that would be a good fit for my product. And so if they were doing those things, I didn't just send them a DM or an email. I actually video message them. And I introduced myself and I showed them the products and I just asked them if they wanted to get my product in exchange for a shout out. And so it actually ended up working really well.
Felix: That's awesome. You're going to extra, taking that extra step, going extra mile certainly helps out a lot. And most people just will blast messages out. But you actually took the step to personalize a message to them and put on video too. I think that's important too to remember in terms of how do you increase the chances of you getting someone to want to work with you?
Natalie: Yeah, I would actually say now after just being in the industry and stuff, I would say even before sending a video message, just engaging with them and striking up regular conversations about everyday stuff before you actually send a video message would be even better. Reacting to their Instagram story or just asking them a question here and there, I feel like that would be awesome just to warm up that relationship and then do the video message.
Felix: Makes sense. So, at the time of launch you had two or I guess three main channels, one was your own profile and then those two micro influencers. Do you remember which one performed the best in terms of convergence? Was it your own audience or was it these micro influence?
Natalie: Yeah, it was definitely the micro-influencers. Myself, at the time, I believe I only had 1500 followers, so it was definitely at a smaller scale. And they both had 10,000 or more, so they definitely performed better than I did. And it was a huge, as soon as they post it at 5:00 PM, as soon as they did, we started getting more and more sales, the traffic increased immediately.


Felix: Got it. And were they posting just a picture of them wearing or using the glasses? What tends to work well when it comes to work with micro influencers for a product like yours?
Natalie: Yeah, definitely a lifestyle photo that works really good, just showing them wearing the glasses and for us, because it's style, just anything that shows them how cute they are. That really works. And then also just educating about blue light and how these glasses can be helpful. That was really good. And then honestly, Instagram stories are really great because you can just have them swipe up and it goes directly to the link and it's an easy way for people to shop. So, I think Instagram stories are almost even more so powerful than a feed post. I mean, the feed posts are really great too, because it stays up forever, it's permanent. But the Instagram stories is really great for just immediate traffic and conversions.
Felix: Got it. In terms of the ideal arrangement with a micro influencer, is it the stories? Or these days when you do work with a micro influencer and they are willing to run with whatever plan you have, what is the ideal kind of setup?
Natalie: I mean, ideal setup is make a post and talk on Instagram stories, for sure. Both.
Felix: Did you find that your market was problem or solution aware that there was an issue with staring at a screen all day and that there was a solution for, or how much education did you have to do back then or even today to make sure that people are aware of this problem and then of course, if there is a solution for it?
Natalie: Yeah. I think back then, for sure, it was a very a new thing. Klassy Network, for a lot of people, we were the first ones they've ever seen do stylish blue light glasses. So, in the beginning, it did require like, "Hey, this is what blue light is. It's everywhere." Lay the foundation so that people understand what it is. I think now, since it's been two years, a lot more people have seen them before and they already know what blue light is and how these glasses can protect your eyes. So now, it's really just, how do you stand out other than solving that problem? Because now there's a lot more competition out there. So for us, that style and unique designs that we bring just to Klassy Network and you can't get anywhere else.
Felix: Now, these days, do you still partner with micro-influencers? Is that still a big part of your strategy?
Natalie: Yeah, definitely, micro-influencers are great. So, I would say doing a lot of free send outs. That's definitely something that works really well in this industry and I think it always. Well, sending just free product and then having that micro-influencer, if you have a good product, they're going to wear it and they're going to be using it on a regular basis if it's a good product. So, I feel like that works really well for us still.
Felix: Do you purposely look for micro influencers or the influencer with a million followers comes along and wants to work with you? Do you still have a preference for working with micro influencers?
Natalie: Yeah, I definitely look for specifically micro influencers with less than 50,000 followers. So, we definitely try to reach out to a few a week. We're right now, actually trying to revamp that whole process to create a strong system for doing free send outs and getting more classy ambassadors and stuff like that. So, it's definitely something we spend our time on.
Felix: Got it. What is that system, I can imagine if you're working with micro-influencers, you need a bunch of them and you need to obviously manage the relationship and all the logistics of it all. How can you set this up? Maybe even a smaller scale for someone out there that is looking to start work with micro-influencers, how do you keep track of it all?
Natalie: Yeah, so really, I mean, we just have a place where we keep everything organized like a spreadsheet. And then we have one person right now actually it's me because I'm trying to revamp the whole program, make sure it's really good. And I'm in there communicating via email with them at least on a monthly basis. So, just updating them on sales and things that we have going on, new styles, products and stuff. But yeah, so this is for micro influencers and bigger macro influencers that actually wants to be an affiliate for you. I do have a software that we use for that and we can track their purchases, commissions and all of that stuff as well.
Felix: Got it. Now, we'll talk about that next product you added to your product line that you mentioned earlier, is it a silky scrunchie that you said?
Natalie: Yes.
Felix: Got it. Okay. Now, how did you determine that was a nice thing to add because I think for a lot of stores out there, they approach it, come up with a product first approach where, let's say they release these glasses. They're probably looking for other things related to glass or related to that particular use case. But you went kind of out of that realm. So, how did you decide that that was the next logical product add?
Natalie: Well, that wasn't the next product. So, sunglasses was actually our next product. So yes, the silk scrunchie was our fourth product that we added to our store.
Felix: Okay, got it. Now, how did you get to that point? What was that progression of adding new prizes? What do you think about when you're thinking about expanding the product line?
Natalie: Yeah, so for us, and like I said from the very beginning, I really loved the aspect of combining function with fashion. So, how can I make someone's day easier with a product? It solves a problem, but then it's also fashionable, it makes women want to wear them. So, for our blue light glasses, I felt like the most logical add on with sunglasses and creating cute styles that I don't see very often and also just like very classic and beautiful sunglasses. That was the second thing we added on. And then the third thing was actually a crop top that I designed myself because I wanted to wear a shirt that I could wear while I worked from home without wearing a bra. And so I designed a top that doesn't exist anywhere on the market. And it basically has padding built into the shirt without an elastic straps. So, it's super, super comfortable. That was the third product that we launched. And we're now expanding that brami line, which is what we call it. So, we're coming out with new styles of those tops as well. And then the fourth product was the silk scrunchie. So, I'm always thinking in my head, "How does this solve a problem, but then also has the fashion aspect of it?" And so with the scrunchies, I had purchased a scrunchie from another company and when I got it, I didn't like how big it was. It was very big. And so I wanted to ... As soon as I find a problem with something, when I'm like, "Okay, I can make this better," then it's a good fit. So, I wanted to make our scrunchies so they fit good on the wrist. And they're also kind of a style piece that people can wear as an accessory and also have the Mulberry silk scrunchie. The material, so they're good for your hair and they cause less damage.
Felix: I like that you start with the problem and you're very open minded about the solution for, and you're not kind of boxed into what might already exist out there. Does that make it harder to find ways to produce it to manufacturer? What kind of challenges present itself when you are trying to think outside the box in terms of a solution to a problem?
Natalie: Oh, I don't feel like I really experience too many challenges. I feel like I see something and I automatically know like, "Okay, this could be better." I don't know if that was a good answer to that one.
Felix: Yeah, no, I totally get that mindset. I was wondering like when it comes to actually getting it, I guess, built or created or turned into reality from manufacturing, do you find a challenge to explain your concept or do they usually have a system set up to create it for you?
Natalie: Yeah, so this, I really encountered a lot of struggles with the crop top that I created, because this was so hard to explain to a producer, a developer because it doesn't exist anywhere. The way I wanted, the padding built into this shirt, it's never been really done. And so it was really hard for me to kind of relay that and make sure it was done right. That process took six to eight months. I don't remember exactly for me actually, to perfect the shirt the way I wanted. It was a lot of, "Here's what I want. Here's the design." And then getting a sample sent to me, sending it back, saying, "You got to tweak it. And so it's really sometimes a challenge, but when in your heart this product is gonna be great, I definitely say, go for it, follow that intuition. And that's exactly what I did on this far as scrunchies and glasses. There's a lot of eyewear manufacturers out there. Eyewear is pretty easy to get your design across because there's so many colors and things out there that you can kind of show and tell your manufacturer, "This is what you want." For the scrunchies, it was pretty simple. There have been a couple tweaks I want to make, and it does require a lot of communication, clear communication and sending photos back and forth, especially if you're working with manufacturers that aren't in person.
Felix: So, I'm sure you're always in product development mode, come up with new ideas that you want to test. So, these days, when you are always on the lookout to solve problems, how do you keep your eyes and ears open to problems that you can and want to solve for your community and your audience?
Natalie: Yeah. So for me, I'm always on social media. I think that's really important to be not just a leader in the industry as being a designer, but also being a consumer and also seeing what's out there in the market right now, and fully understanding and knowing your ideal customers. Knowing what they're doing on a daily basis, knowing what struggles that they have to overcome every single day. And when I am obviously living that life myself, but also really open to intentionally hearing, "Okay, what are people struggling with on a daily basis?" That is really easy for me when I see a problem to be like, "Oh my goodness, I could create a product that can solve that." So, really just intentionally having that mindset with your everyday life and also being on social media.
Felix: Got it. So, you mentioned that not only do you solve it through, to as you mentioned offline debt, not only do you solve it through products that you're creating, but also resources and hosting events. Can you give us some more details about that? What are some resources and events that you put on?
Natalie: Yeah. So, Klassy Network, I'll tell you how. I really wanted to start the company. So, before I even came across the product idea, I wanted so badly to create some type of online space where I could bring ambitious women together because I was a young entrepreneur who just graduated college and I had a six figure business. And I feel like there's so many people out there who don't know about the opportunity of being a self starter and doing things on your own. And after being so young out of college, doing my own thing, I wanted so badly to just motivate and inspire other women, to know that they have the resources and the capability to do these things themselves if they want to. And so that was like my biggest passion and really what led me to start in Klassy Network. So, before the products came, I actually started a Facebook group that was called The Klassy Network. And it was just a Facebook group where I would go in and share my story and share tips with women. And I had people join the group. And I actually ended up closing that group down and starting a new one recently because I just got super overwhelmed with everything that I've been working on growing this company, but it's a huge part of Klassy Network. And so that alone just has, basically, me and my fiance as mentors and really just giving advice and sharing our story, our experiences with other people that are excited about getting into this space or wanting to start their own business and figuring out what it is that they could dream of so that they can go for it.
Felix: Awesome. So, I want to talk about another strategy that you use to grow the business, which is with Facebook ads. So, this is, I guess the first for way into, that's a paid traffic to get to your store. What is your strategy there?
Natalie: Yeah, so we did not invest in paid traffic on Facebook until we hit six figures in our business. So, we really drove home micro-influencers, free product, shout outs, doing affiliate marketing, all of that until we hit six figures. And then when we hit six figures, we were like, "Okay, we definitely have something here, and what if we actually tried to get it in front of more people and put some paid marketing behind it? And so that was January 2019. And I remember going into the year, me and my fiance were like, "Let's set a goal, what if we can get Klassy Network to a million dollar company by the end of the year." And it sounded really crazy because at the times we had just made just about $120,000 in the business. And so, we went into the year and that was one of our goals was to figure out how we can master paid traffic. And so at the time we did start working with an agency that was running our traffic for us. And it did really well right off the bat because we had so many people on our pixel, meaning we just had so much data and so many customers that came to us organically. So, it was really great when we first got started in paid traffic, our ROAS was over a four, which was awesome. And so from there, we continued to work with our agency and we were doing that on a monthly basis. And then we did hit a roadblock where our ROAS ended up dropping and just things kind of got crazy and messy. And we ended up taking on the paid traffic in house and my fiance, Jacob, he ended up doing the marketing himself. And so now we're doing it all in house and it's been a lot better. It's been really great.
Felix: Yeah. Because I think people are also in this stage where they're thinking, "Should I outsource this to a consultant or a contractor or an agency or do it myself? What do you get out of handling it yourself?
Natalie: Yeah, I think doing it yourself is just so great because no one's going to care about your business more than you. And when we have someone in house, that's doing the ads, they're able to look at the ads multiple times a day, not just set them, leave them for the day, check them later at night. He's in there three to five times a day, checking on ads, scaling budget, changing creative. We're making creative on a weekly basis, new ads on a weekly basis versus our agency kind of just took the ads and didn't really ask us for new ads and new creative. So, it really just depends on your agency, but I think it's so much better when you have full control of that and you're able to do it in house.
Felix: Okay, so it sounds like you're constantly refreshing the ads, you said you're doing on a weekly basis. What are you changing? What are you changing in those ads?
Natalie: Yeah, it's not that we're changing the ads, we're definitely keeping the ads that are working and we're constantly testing new ones to see if a new one will stick. So, it's really just testing different pictures. If you have a really great user generated photo, obviously, we reach out to our customer and make sure that we can use the picture before we do run an ad with it. But we just are constantly testing new ones to see if we have other ones that really speak to people. So, we are trying to grow all of our winning ads.
Felix: Got it, makes sense. So, I want to talk a little bit about something you mentioned to us, which was that you have seven things that got your business to seven figures. I want to make sure I cover everything that has gotten you this successful far. So, you walk through us through that, what are the seven things that has helped you crack that seven figure mark?
Natalie: Yeah, good question. Okay, so number one is definitely my Dream 100. Have you heard about that book?
Felix: Yes, Russell Brunson, right?
Natalie: Yes. So, Russell Brunson was actually like our very first mentor in this online space. And so that's definitely the first thing that really grew us. Just like I said to you in the beginning, we really utilized our micro-influencers and our affiliates and that's what has really, really helped us lift the brand and with a lot of warm traffic before getting into the paid traffic. The second thing is I got funnel.
Felix: Just to recap real quick. Dream 100, can you explain what that is for anyone that might not be aware?
Natalie: Oh yes, of course. Sorry. So, the Dream 100 is basically a list of 100 people that you would love to collaborate with in your career, in your lifetime. And so it can be anyone from someone who seems not so out of reach, someone who has maybe 5,000 followers that you admire on Instagram, or it could be someone as big as Oprah. Don't limit yourself with your Dream 100. I have had people on my Dream 100 that I never thought in a million years that I would connect with and I'm now friends with, which is crazy. So, the Dream 100 is so powerful and I know a lot of people hear it and they're just like, "Oh yeah, that's cool. I have a list of people in my head," but there's something so powerful about writing those names down and intentionally trying to get in their circle and connect with them.
Felix: What are some ways to do that? How do you start connecting with people, especially the ones that might seem a little bit further out of reach? What are some strategies to start getting into their circle?
Natalie: Yeah. So, the first thing is to give them some type of value. So, you don't want to just automatically be like, "Hey, I want you to be my friend." Or, "Hey, I would love you to do a favor for me." It's really important to provide value first and give as much as you can in that relationship, so that then they start to notice you and want to maybe strike up a conversation or give some piece of value back to you. And so the best way to do that, especially when there's people that seem really out of reach is to be their number one supporter. So, if they're posting on social media comment on their pictures, like their pictures share their content, because people will notice that, they notice who really does appreciate what they're doing in this world. And if there's a fan or a supporter, that's a piece of value because you're just trying to share their message with the world. So, I definitely recommend starting there. And then obviously if you have a product, sending free product, trying to give just some more value to them and then working on that relationship to getting to a point where you can strike up a conversation like, "Hey, could we do some type of collaboration?"
Felix: Awesome. Okay, that's the first one. What else is there?
Natalie: Yeah. So, the second one is your funnel. And so this is really when we got into our paid traffic, we started realizing what really works in a funnel. And something that really, really works for us is knowing, number one, that the beginning of the funnel is easy to understand. That's super important. So for us, for our blue light glasses, a funnel that works really well is one of our ads that have a blue light testing card and a light shining over it to just demonstrate that these glasses protect your eyes, because you only have so much time when you're running an ad. You have to really get someone to understand the product within the first five seconds. That's the very top of the funnel. But that's very, very important. And then the next kind of tip about a funnel that's really helpful is to make sure you have congruency everywhere. So, if someone sees an ad, then they also click on the link, then that same kind of photo that you had in the ad should also be on your banner, on the landing page that they go on because it makes it very cohesive and uniform and it makes people say, "Okay, well, if I clicked on this, then I want to see more of this." So, we've learned that has helped a lot. And also inside the funnel, really having a popup before they exit, that's also something that is really helpful so that you can get their information before they leave. So, offering something that is going to get them to want to put in their information before they exit the page is super, super important. And yeah, that's really the pieces in the funnel that I think I just wanted to highlight. I could go on forever, but I don't want to stay too long on funnel.
Felix: Well, one question I'll ask here is, the most of the customers that visit your site for the first time, are they buying on that first visit? Or how long does it take before you get that first purchase?


Natalie: So, I don't know if I have that exact data of knowing like how many purchase on the first time, but it's really important to do retargeting, because a lot of people won't. There's a statistic out there that when shopping online a customer has to see your product at least eight times before they purchase. And so it's really important to have that funnel, have that ad, but also have the followup. Have the retargeting ads that go and kind of follow them. We have so many people that say, "Oh, your ads got me, they stopped me." And after seeing it a few times, they'll then they eventually purchase. So, I would say definitely some people do go on the first purchase, especially if they're warm traffic, but majority of them would probably come after seeing it a couple times.
Felix: Right. Now, having that kind of follow up, whether it be through emails, you sound like that's how you're collecting them to ...or that's what you're doing with those exit popups. And then with those retargeting is really just letting like money leak through your funnel. You're losing opportunities to monetize that traffic if you don't have a really strong followup. Okay, that's number two out of seven. Let's keep going. What's number three.
Natalie: Okay. So, number three is campaigns. And this one has been really helpful for us as an eCommerce brand. So before, I mean, I feel like we were just selling blue light glasses. They were always on our shop and we're just trying to sell them. We didn't really put too much effort in our marketing tactics. And now after doing it for almost two years, we've thought, "Okay, if we can do different sales, different campaigns and really just highlighting specific frames and things like that, it's going to be really powerful." And so what we do for a campaign, sometimes it's not even a huge discount or a huge sale that's going on, but it's just highlighting a specific type of frame. So, I'll just give a quick example. We had a lot of inventory of our black frames and our pink frames. So, we decided to do two different campaigns. So, one campaign was women in black, and we did a photo shoot of a woman, two women actually in black suits. And it kind of looked like Men in Black vibes, and they were wearing the black glasses. And it was just a really awesome piece of content. We had great photos from it and it had that message of just being a powerful woman and then with highlighting the black glasses. That alum, that campaign performed really well and our audience really loved it. And then we did another one for our pink frames, which was, we did classy and pink, kind of a play on Pretty in Pink, and we just did a photo shoot with some really cute and classy things like pearls and a lot of like frill. And that one did really good as well.
Felix: Got it. So, it sounds like a lot of lifts to create a campaign. You got to have an idea, you have to design the campaign, you have to get the photo shoot done, and I'm assuming you have a lot of emails or ads that also take advantage of that. I guess, what is the alternative to doing campaign? What is the purpose of having this kind of focused push on a campaign?


Natalie: Yeah, and honestly, I wouldn't say it's that much work. I mean, it is because you're going to be creating the emails and doing a photo shoot, but you don't even have to do a photo shoot. The real purpose of it is to highlight and get some type of excitement and announcement around one of your products. And so if you don't feel like going all out and doing a photo shoot and things like that, and maybe making some type of offer on a specific product you have, or maybe you're just bundling a couple of your products together and then making that announcement. It's important to make announcements in your business to keep people excited and want them wanting more.
Felix: Got it. So sometimes it sounds like when you're talking about campaigns, I think a lot of people might think you have to have a new product that you're coming out with. You're just saying, it let's us focus everyone's attention on this product, or focus everyone's attention on this message that we're putting out there?
Natalie: Yeah, because that was our struggle, because we ran into a challenge when we over ordered inventory. And so for a while we couldn't get new products because all of our cashflow is tied up in our current inventory. And so in order for us to solve the problem, it was okay, "Well then, how do we make this same product that we've had exciting and new again?" And that's when campaigns came into play and it was really just, "Okay, well, maybe we just take a picture of it looking like this, or just create some type of messaging or put them one color on sale." So, it's really highlighting the things you had to make them sound exciting.
Felix: Got it. Okay, that's three, what's four?
Natalie: Four is events, going in person to events. I know right now with everything that's going on, it's not possible. But in our experience, it's been so great to be able to have a little booth at an event that our ideal customers are at and really just connect with them in person, have them try on our products and feel them and get their initial reactions in real life has been so powerful for us.
Felix: Got it. So, when you get these kind of opportunities to meet your customers in person, does that translate to anything that you do differently online?
Natalie: I wouldn't say it really translates too differently. I definitely capture all of the content at events and I think that it makes people excited about the brand because they see so many people at our booth and checking things out. But other than that, I don't think so.
Felix: Yeah. I think that's still important to have that, that kind of shot of inspiration or motivation to keep you going. Because a lot of times you can be behind your computer all day as a lot of us online entrepreneurs are and forget that there's real people that you're serving or peaple that you're helping. I think that that's certainly worthy of your attention and time. Cool. Yeah, let's keep going, what's the next?
Natalie: Okay. The next one is data, knowing what your KPIs are and seeing really what works and what doesn't work for your business. So, I think a lot of entrepreneurs just kind of go and they're on the hamster wheel going, but they don't really stop to look at the data, at the numbers to see what performed well, what didn't, right? How many visitors do you have to your store today? And why do you think maybe yesterday it spiked a little bit? And really ... What is it? Digesting the data and breaking it down to see what is working for your business? So, I feel like that has helped us a lot. We are always looking at our KPIs like we have our ROAS or website visitors, our conversion rate, all of those things. But it's so important to analyze that on a daily basis, because if you know your numbers, you know what works for your business, you can repeat the things that are working well and scale that.
Felix: Of course. Let's keep going. What's next?
Natalie: Number six is your inner circle. This really is for me as an entrepreneur in the world of social media. I also have leveraged my personal brand to grow my business. So, it was important to me to get on social media and show up on a daily basis and try to inspire people and get them to see value in my personal Instagram account. And then also tell them about the products that I have, because why not? Because social media is free. And so when I got on social media, I saw so many people that I looked up to and I was like, "Oh my goodness, I would love to be friends with those people and it would be awesome," which is great. And that's why you should have them on your Dream 100. And I have become friends with some of them and I have connected with them, but it's so, so powerful that when you get a presence online to build your inner circle. Build people that are in the same place as you are, or maybe just a little bit above and they are your support system and they are there to shout out your products and that are there to make sure that you are encouraged to keep going after the big golden dreams that you have, because it's really hard sometimes to show up every day. It's really hard to just keep going when you're sometimes feeling down, it's not an easy journey this entrepreneurship thing.
Felix: Yeah. Definitely someone to help you, hold you accountable too, because a lot of times being kind of just your own boss. Then sometimes you let yourself get too much Slack. I think having inner circle is certainly keeping you on track as well. So, what is the final seven out of seven things that helped you crack the seven figure mark.
Natalie: Yeah, the last thing is a seven figure money mindset. And that was just something that I feel like it was really hard for me to get to and I struggle with all the time. I think all of us do. Always just thinking about the money being your end goal. But for me, and what's worked for us is like detaching us from the money, because our accomplishments don't make up who we are. And doing the things that make you say yes, because you can always make more money. You can always do that. So, it's really just following the impact. And I feel like that is what we focus on so much is just, how can we make the impact? And know that if we are doing something that's better for the world or creating a product that people are going to love, then the money will come. And really just having that abundance mindset versus like, "Okay, we can't invest the money here because that's a lot, that's scary. I don't think that's going to work." Once you understand and follow that and have that abundance mindset of, "Okay, this is what I know our business needs to do and needs to go," and taking that leap and that jump because it is hard to make investments in your business sometimes.
Felix: Yeah. And just speaking of current events, I think that that is certainly on a lot of people's minds where they are reeling back and thinking about keeping the purse strings tight with pending recession and the lockdown, the pandemic that's going on, how do you kind of, not as reconcile, but how do you use that kind of mindset to continue to make the right decisions for you and your business?
Natalie: Yeah. I really have to check myself because I think it's so natural for us to be like, "Okay, well, that's too much money, we can't invest in that." But I think that it's just kind of re-centering and asking yourself the questions of what are the possibilities of it actually increasing or growing your business, scaling your business. And then also something that we recently have started doing is just evaluating specific investments and trying to go for risks that aren't extremely life or death, but taking risks often. So, maybe it's like, instead of a 50,000 investment maybe it's just a $3,000 investment, but it's still a risk that could go wrong, but it also could be amazing.
Felix: Awesome. So, we'll talk a little about your website. So, the website, you said at klassyshop.com, K-L-A-S-S-Y-S-H-O-P.com. What would you say is the most important part of your website?
Natalie: I would definitely say the pictures, the photos. That has been really big for us. When we first launched, I'm not a professional photographer, we had pictures that I just kind of took on my camera and they did okay. But especially when you are trying to market to cold traffic, it makes such a difference to have clear, beautiful pictures and also lifestyle images on a model or on a person. So, people can really envision what the product looks like when they get it.
Felix: And what about some apps that you use to run the store or just the business in general? What do you rely on?
Natalie: Yeah, I mean the first one that comes to my head is Klayvio, our email marketing. I mean, we use that a lot. Our pop up that we use is Privy. I'm not sure if you've heard of that one. For our affiliates right now, we're using LeadDyno, that app. And then we recently actually started with ReferralCandy, which is a referral program, which has been really great for people who want to bring us more customers, but we're not ready yet to set them up as an affiliate, but they can get kind of rewarded for store credit to just refer us.
Felix: Awesome. So, I'll leave this last question, again, klassyshop.com. What do we say needs to happen this year for you to consider the year a success?
Natalie: That's a good question. I feel like this year has already been a success, which is crazy, but I think it's because we've been through such a crazy experience and we're still standing strong, so that's great. I would say our financial goal this year was to hit 2 million in revenue, but for me is launched the new products that I launched and to have our customers purchasing them and loving them. That is a success for me.
Felix: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story, Natalie.
Natalie: Thank you so much for having me.