D2C path
Marketing guides for D2C brand founders
Your own products, sold online: Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, TikTok Shop.
16 of 124 guides written. Start at the top and work down.
Start here
How to market a D2C brandMarket your D2C brand when your first orders came from friends: an 8-week routine for your product page, first reviews, free product for small creators, short videos, free Google and ChatGPT listings, and a Friday count that tells you when to turn ads back on.Read the first guide- How to validate a business idea without spending moneyValidate a business idea without spending money: set a pass mark, message 100 people a day about the problem, ask everyone who has it to pay through a free one-page offer, and decide after 2,800 messages.
- How to create an ideal customer profileCreate an ideal customer profile when you have one or two customers: list everyone who paid, tried or talked to you, write 2 or 3 one-sentence guesses, test them with 100 messages a day, and keep the one that gets the most chats after 1,500 messages.
- How to do customer interviewsDo customer interviews when you have almost no customers: 7 questions about the last time the problem happened, 100 messages a day to book 20-minute calls, a notes sheet in their exact words, and a Sunday count that puts those words into your marketing.
- How to do a competitor analysisDo a competitor analysis in 5 days with free tools: list 10 alternatives your buyers use, read 100 complaints about the top 5 in their own words, put the gap you can fix in your headline, and check them for 45 minutes every Sunday.
- How to write a value propositionWrite a value proposition from your buyers' own words: copy 30 phrases, write 3 one-sentence versions, test them in 100 personal messages a day, and put the winner on your homepage after 900 messages.
- How to choose marketing channels for an ecommerce brandChoose marketing channels for your ecommerce brand: check whether shoppers already search for what you sell, test 3 channels at full volume for 4 weeks, and keep what brings orders from strangers.
- How to fit marketing into your week as a solo founderFit marketing into your week as a solo founder: find 5 hours a day by cutting product work first, do the marketing block before you build every day, then write next week's posts and count what worked every Sunday.
- How much to spend on marketing as an ecommerce brandSet your first ecommerce marketing budget from what one order leaves you: a fixed monthly amount from savings you can afford to lose, free product for small creators first, a daily log, a Sunday cost-per-order check, and a capped first ad test once three conditions are true.
- How to price a productPrice your product for a new store: add up what one order really costs, keep product and packaging at 30% of the price or less, ask 100 people a day what they would pay for 7 days, and check the money left on each order every Sunday.
- How to get your first sales on ShopifyGet your first sales on Shopify with no ad budget: check a stranger can buy with a test order, message everyone you know, then 100 small creators a day, answer 20 shopper questions and post 2 short videos a day, and count orders from strangers every Sunday.
- How to get your first sale on EtsyGet your first sale on Etsy with no ad budget: fix every listing Etsy search flags, rewrite titles and 13 tags in buyers’ words, add 1 real listing a day up to 30, send 100 personal messages a day with your Share & Save link, post 2 pins and 2 short videos a day, and count orders by source every Sunday.
- How to get customers online for freeGet customers online for free: make one offer people can pay for or book, send 100 personal messages and answer 20 questions a day, post twice a day on one channel, add the free listings that fit, and count customers by source every Sunday.
- How to get traffic to a new website for freeGet traffic to a new website for free: let Google, Bing and ChatGPT read your site today, write down 100 questions your buyers ask, then publish 1 page, give 20 answers in 5 communities and post 2 times on 2 channels every day, and count visits by source every Sunday.
- How to get people to try your productGet people to try your product when nobody clicks your link: turn it into one small try with one clear result, remove every step before that result, offer it by name in 100 personal messages a day, ask everyone interested to start today, and find where people stop every Sunday.
- Why no one is buying your product, and how to fix itFind out why no one is buying your product: count four numbers from the last 30 days (people who saw it, took a first step, bought and came back), fix only the first one under its line, keep sending 100 personal messages a day so each fix reaches enough people, and count again every Sunday.
- How to build a waitlist before you launchComing soon
- How to announce a new business on social mediaComing soon
- How to launch a D2C brandComing soon
- How to launch a product on AmazonComing soon
- How long does SEO take to work?Coming soon
- How to find keywords for SEOComing soon
- Technical SEO checklist for a new websiteComing soon
- How to get your website indexed on GoogleComing soon
- How to use Google Search ConsoleComing soon
- How to measure SEO successComing soon
- How to write a blog post that ranks on GoogleComing soon
- How to make an article rank higher on GoogleComing soon
- How to write competitor comparison and alternative pagesComing soon
- How to get backlinks for a new websiteComing soon
- How to get backlinks from news websitesComing soon
- How to do SEO for a Shopify storeComing soon
- How to list your products on Google Shopping for freeComing soon
- How to set up a Google Business ProfileComing soon
- How to rank on Google MapsComing soon
- How to get your brand mentioned by ChatGPTComing soon
- How to get on the "best of" lists AI tools citeComing soon
- How to show up in Google AI OverviewsComing soon
- How to add llms.txt and schema markupComing soon
- How to track AI traffic and ChatGPT mentionsComing soon
- How to get your products recommended by ChatGPTComing soon
- How to plan a content calendarComing soon
- How to repurpose content across platformsComing soon
- How to use AI for content creationComing soon
- How to write a case studyComing soon
- How to get booked as a podcast guestComing soon
- How to start a YouTube channel for businessComing soon
- How to make short-form videos for your businessComing soon
- How to find online communities where your buyers talkComing soon
- How to get your first 1,000 followersComing soon
- How to write a LinkedIn profile that brings in clientsComing soon
- How to grow on LinkedIn as a founderComing soon
- How to promote your business on InstagramComing soon
- Instagram post ideas for D2C brandsComing soon
- How to sell on TikTok ShopComing soon
- How to promote on Reddit without getting bannedComing soon
- How to promote your business in Facebook groupsComing soon
- How to build a community around your brandComing soon
- How to create a B2B lead list for freeComing soon
- How to warm up an email domain for cold emailComing soon
- How to write a cold emailComing soon
- How to get replies to cold emailsComing soon
- How to follow up on a cold emailComing soon
- How to do LinkedIn outreachComing soon
- How to run a discovery callComing soon
- How to do a product demoComing soon
- How to write a proposal that winsComing soon
- How to sell to enterprise clientsComing soon
- How to design a pricing pageComing soon
- How to move from spreadsheets to a CRMComing soon
- How to set up referral partnershipsComing soon
- How to run a co-marketing campaignComing soon
- How to host a webinarComing soon
- How to get your product into retail storesComing soon
- How to find distributors for your productComing soon
- How to get reviewed on ClutchComing soon
- How to get Google reviews for your businessComing soon
- How to collect testimonialsComing soon
- How to get your first product reviewsComing soon
- How to make a new store look trustworthyComing soon
- How to find micro-influencers for your brandComing soon
- How to get UGC for your brandComing soon
- How to get TikTok Shop affiliates to postComing soon
- How to pitch journalistsComing soon
- How to get into holiday gift guidesComing soon
- How to start a referral programComing soon
- How to start an affiliate programComing soon
- How to build an email list for freeComing soon
- How to grow a newsletter from scratchComing soon
- How to write an email popup that isn't just a discountComing soon
- How to set up Klaviyo flows for a new storeComing soon
- How to write a win-back emailComing soon
13
Paid ads
- How much to spend on adsComing soon
- How to make ad creativesComing soon
- How to set up retargeting adsComing soon
- How to run Meta ads for a Shopify storeComing soon
- How to test Facebook ad creativesComing soon
- How to fix ads that get clicks but no salesComing soon
- Google Shopping vs Performance Max for a small storeComing soon
- Amazon PPC for beginnersComing soon
- How to run Google Ads for SaaSComing soon
- How to run LinkedIn ads for B2BComing soon
- How to make a website for your businessComing soon
- How to write homepage copyComing soon
- How to write a landing page that convertsComing soon
- How to fix a Shopify store with traffic but no salesComing soon
- How to write a product description that sellsComing soon
- How to reduce abandoned cartsComing soon
- How to A/B test a landing pageComing soon
- How to improve website speedComing soon
- How to get feedback from your first usersComing soon
- How to increase repeat purchasesComing soon
- How to increase average order value on ShopifyComing soon
- How to run a sale without training customers to waitComing soon
- How to raise prices without losing customersComing soon
- How to set up conversion trackingComing soon
- How to use UTM parametersComing soon
- How to calculate CAC and payback periodComing soon
- How to calculate break-even ROASComing soon
- How to run a monthly marketing reviewComing soon
- How to get growth moving again when it stallsComing soon
- Should you hire a marketer, an agency or a fractional CMO?Coming soon
- How to hire a marketing agency without getting burnedComing soon
- How to use ChatGPT for marketingComing soon
Other paths: SaaS, B2B, Agency. Or see all sections.