Are you ready to be all over inspired?
Recently, I got to talk with Olivia Starling about how she got past all her self-doubt, made the leap into entrepreneurship, and quickly grew a 6-figure online business.
She started in the same place you might be right now – working a corporate job, zero social media following, scared out of her mind, and no idea of what she was going to sell. Maybe this is where you are or where you’ve been. Either way, I’ll bet you’ll get a ton of value from this conversation with Olivia Starling.
Getting to Know Olivia Starling
It was kind of funny how the conversation started. Olivia Starling casually started by introducing herself and saying that 7 months after opening her store and taking the $0-100k System, she was at 6 figures. No big deal.
Wrong. That’s amazing!
What makes it even more impressive is her background. Growing up she worked in a lumber store that her dad managed, and when she got out of school, she worked for a non-profit organization for four years. At the non-profit, she got to a point where they basically told her, “Sorry, but you aren’t going to be able to progress any further because ‘you don’t have the experience'.” That was fuel to her fire.
To get the “experience” they said she needed, she decided to start her own business. Once she started down that path and joined my tribe, it wasn’t long before I got a message one day on Instagram that said “Today I made more money than I will all year at my corporate job”. She ended up selling over $40,000 in a single day.
Getting Traffic To Your Products In The Beginning
Before starting her business, she had your typical social media presence: around 400 Instagram followers on her personal profile and no followers for her business. She started at ground zero. So, if you’re also at ground zero with no followers, no email list, or have never owned your own business, then make sure you have a notepad handy for what’s to come below.
Since she didn’t have any following to leverage, she did exactly what we talked about in this episode, and leveraged other people’s audiences – AKA influencers!
To find the influencers she wanted to work with, she followed a basic formula. The criteria the influencer had to meet was…
- She had to be following them
- Already be watching all their Instagram Stories
- And have purchased something from them
If she was doing all these things, that means that a lot of other people like her were probably also doing the same thing. And since she knew her products were great, if she could get that influencer to promote them, there would be others, like her, to buy them.
How Olivia Starling Found The Right Product To Sell
Before joining my 0-$100k System, Olivia Starling actually took a drop shipping course. Although she wasn’t thrilled with the end result of the business she created, it did help her find a product to sell.
Since Olivia has no idea of what she wanted to sell, she just went on AliExpress and ordered a little bit of everything. Seriously. She ordered some clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, and a bunch of other stuff. When it all arrived in the mail, she stepped back and thought about what she was most drawn to. For Olivia, it was the jewelry.
I tell people this all the time, and it was something we covered in point 3 of this episode – don’t buy a ton of inventory at the beginning of starting your store. She bought samples, found out what she liked and what she thought her audience would like, then focused on getting sales on those products. Remember, it’s better to sell out of inventory than to be stuck sitting on a ton that will never be sold.
How Olivia Starling Got Over The Fear of Starting
Like me, Olivia Starling is a bit of an introvert.
Maybe this is you as well?
If it is, then you know it can be difficult to put yourself out there. Especially when it comes to reaching out to people and asking for something. Like influencer outreach.
Olivia actually kept this business a secret from her family until not too long before this interview. Yea, she had a 6-figure side business without her family knowing. She didn’t even ask them to help out by buying a few products in the beginning; everything about her business was anonymous.
She started up an Instagram account that wasn’t tied to her at all and just started reaching out to influencers using the formula above. This allowed her to stay anonymous and start getting traffic to her website. And boy oh boy did it work. One single influencer sold out her entire inventory.
Working From Home With a Family
Maybe you’ve got little kids running around, and you can’t seem to get anything done. When I started, I had four little ones at my feet, so I know it’s not easy. Olivia is in the same boat and says there are pluses and minuses of having your family in the same place you also run your business.
For Olivia, she has the goal of getting at least 2-hours of work in every single day. And although she might not feel as creative as when she has more time to herself (thanks COVID-19), she’s doing what is in her control and not worrying about the rest.
If you want to hear all the awesome value that Olivia Starling shared in this episode and the two things that she wishes she knew when starting her business, you’ll need to scroll back up to the top and click that play button.
