We’ve all had to compete against businesses much larger than us, right? And sometimes it ends in tears. Well, not for today’s guest – Karen Justice, founder of Just For Pets. It started in tears, but now she’s taking on the big boys … and winning, thanks to some very smart marketing. So strap in for a bit of David versus Goliath.
Karen has owned and managed the Just For Pets buying group since 2009, following a long stint as a registered nurse, as well as owning her own pet shop for 5 years. Gotta love a bit of hands-on knowledge. She spends most of her time liaising with independent pet retailers and the major manufacturers and suppliers to the pet industry.
Listen in to my fireside chat with Karen and you’ll discover:
- How to compete against the big guys
- The importance of due diligence
- How to reinvent a business
- The powerhouse branding model
- How to get others to sponsor your ideas
- What to do when pushed around by the top end of town
- How to stand out in a crowded marketplace
- The importance of brand experience
- And how essential oils and salt lamps help build a business!
Plus I take you behind-the-scenes of next week’s interview, and share a marketing quote from that famous old marketer, Pablo Picasso!
Yep, it’s another big episode to add to The Small Business Big Marketing Show’s archives.
Enjoy!
Episode Timeline
- 00:39 Welcome and overview of today’s episode
- 02:28 Time for a quick check-in
- 05:01 I introduce today’s guest Karen Justice of Just For Pets
- 06:31 Interview with Karen Justice – Part 1
- 18:41 Online marketing tips from Netregistry & Audible
- 20:09 Interview with Karen Justice – Part 2
- 33:14 My top 3 learnings from my interview with Dwayne
- 34:27 Motivational marketing quote of the week
- 34:41 Insight in to next week’s guest
- 36:36 Wrap-up and insight into next week’s guest
Today’s Episode Sponsors (please support them)
Netregistry Get your online marketing sorted!
Audible – Grab your free audio book now
The Small Business Big Marketing Forum
Resources & links mentioned in this episode
- Just For Pets Official Website
- Just For Pets Six Point Health Check
- Hit up Karen on Twitter
- Need a marketing speaker? Book keynote speaker Tim Reid
Tweetables – Share The Love
My Top 3 Marketing Tips from my chat with Karen Justice of Just For Pets:
- Try not to hit the panic button when things go wrong. Take a step back and look at what’s really going on.
- I love Karen’s Health Centre idea and the offer of a Six Point Health Check. A great way to increase basket size.
- Focus on creating an experience for your customer – they’ll become a lot less price sensitive.
Inspirational Marketing Quote of the Week
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
Pablo Picasso
Over to you!
Let me know YOUR #1 takeaway from this episode by leaving a comment below.
My guest and myself personally read and respond to every comment.
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3 thoughts on “243 – A retail marketing case study in which David gives Goliath a real going over!”
Great podcast as usual. Not sure about fitting in that extra work at night instead of sleeping. Lots of research showing lack of sleep impacts on decision making and behaviour in business. Christopher Barnes from University of Washington has done some great research in this area and summarised some of his work for Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2013/05/sleep-deprived-people-are-more-likely-to-cheat/
I hear you, Doc. However, when one’s on a mission to build something special it is hard to find enough hours in the day. I guess it’s all about prioritising, working on what’s important and, cash flow allowing, employing others to take on some of the load.
Great podcast – I listened to this episode on my way to present Facebook for Business Training to a number of Businesses in Port Lincoln SA this week – the 6 point health check gave me loads of inspiration & got my creative juices flowing! Used it as the underlying theme to suggest ideas for the individual businesses attending to create an experience for their customers to be “the difference” and also as the basis of creating checklist or resources to be able to use for opt ins to build their database. Also had the standard “how can we compete with…….” (being the Davids of this world) to which my response was “we as small businesses have the ability to create great customer experiences” and “we are able to put our businesses in front of our customers for very little cost with no bureaucracy & red tape”.