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One online giveaway. $10,000 in sales. Wondering how it all works? Kerri King joined me on the How to Sell Online podcast to talk about how she did it and chat about how she’s built her multi-six-figure business.
Kerri’s story is a great one—and not just because of her online giveaway success. She’s built an incredible company selling something you can get at Walmart, Walgreens…even if you just open the drawer of the nightstand in your hotel. She sells Bibles.
From photographer to online business owner.
Kerri didn’t start out selling Bibles—or any other product, for that matter. She was a photographer, taking family portraits back in the early 2000s. However, she wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, however, so she looked for another opportunity and found it in graphic design.
She created birthday invitations and related items, printing and shipping them out. So when she came across the 0-$100K System shortly after it was launched, she saw an opportunity to expand what she was doing. She looked for trending products, selling what she could wherever she could and learning every step of the way.
Printing options.
I love that Kerri looked at how she could add to what she was already doing. That’s what led she and her husband to look at laser cutters, which would allow them to create custom cake toppers that would fit in with the birthday products already being sold. A UV printer followed so that they were able to print designs directly on the laser-cut items.
The idea to sell Bibles came from the fact that Kerri could never seem to find one that had some personality. Most were plain leather or paper, and none caught her attention. So although she recognized that there were already billions of Bibles in the world, she knew she could create something different.
She went to work, reaching out to the companies holding the copyrights for the King James (KJV) and English Standard (ESV) versions of the books. With these companies’ review and approval, she was able to figure out the process needed to print artwork on and/or personalize the volumes. And any books with blemishes? You’ll definitely want to listen to the podcast episode to hear what they do with them!
One heck of an online giveaway.
Giveaways can be really great tools for all types of businesses, including online shops. Kerri wanted to do an online giveaway in an interesting way using Instagram to promote it and requiring people to do two very simple things.
First, they had to follow the company on Instagram. Second, the participant had to place an order on the website, kingfolkco.com using a special discount code. Finally, entrants just had to subscribe to the email list. Boom! Then they were automatically entered to win a great cooler—an item chosen to compliment the stickers Kerri was promoting.
The result? She not only gained more followers and more email subscribers for Kingfolk Co., she sold over 5 figures! Wowsa!!!
Working with influencers, too.
Promoting their online giveaway included working with influencers, and Kerri has worked hard to develop great relationships. She’s found that micro-influencers work best for her products, and she works with influencers that talk about or connect with faith—because she sells faith-based products. (Makes sense, right?!)
You’ll want to hear her talk about a connection she made with one of her influencers…and that influencer’s 14-year-old daughter. It’s a story that speaks volumes about Kerri and Kingfolk Co.
Top Takeaways
I was taking notes pretty dang fast during my conversation with Kerri (especially about that online giveaway!) Here are ten of the takeaways I think are really important:
- Find a lack in the market for beauty.
- Skills build on each other, keep building.
- Donate your damaged items.
- Leverage social media.
- Make sure to pay influencer commissions.
- Do giveaways and make them easy to enter.
- Give away a complementary item that compliments your product.
- Find influencers who post about your niche.
- When reaching out to influencers, keep it short and sweet.
- Don’t give up.
Additional Resources:
About Kerri King:
Kerri is the owner and designer at Kingfolk Co., which opened its virtual doors in 2018 with faith-based products that encourage folks in their faith. The company’s primary focus is getting Bibles into as many hands as possible by making fun designs that make folks want to get into the Word.
According to Kerri, they print many Kingfolks Co. products in-house as well as outsourcing printing. She love collaborating with other designers within the faith-based space to reach more customers.
Shop with Kerri:
- On her website: kingfolkco.com (Limited time discount: use code alison for 25% off your purchase)
- On Instagram: @kingfolkco
Connect with Alison:
- On Facebook: @alisonjprince
- On Instagram: @alisonjprince
- Learn about the 0-100K System and how you can launch and grow your own online business here.
- Join the Print Sprint here.
