It’s been awhile since I posted any case studies, so here’s one to start off the new year!
I was recently talking to my good friend Nate McHenry, who has also been a long-time Eric’s Tips subscriber, and discovered that he’s been doing some interesting things online. I thought it was pretty cool how he cashed in on this “rally squirrel” idea, so I conducted an interview to share his story with you.
How and when did you get the idea to use the rally squirrel?
My favorite baseball team is the St. Louis Cardinals so naturally I was watching the playoff series between the Cardinals and the Phillies in the NLDS in 2011 . A squirrel ran across home plate during the game and the Cardinals game back and won the game. ESPN and other networks starting replaying the squirrel’s appearance and the buzz phrase “rally squirrel” starting circulating. As I watched the publicity craze I thought to myself… I should buy the domain rallysquirrel.com. You can read more about the rally squirrel on wikipedia.
How did you create the graphics for your “fear the squirrel” and other squirrel products?
My sister is a graphic designer so I called her up and she designed the products.
Did you have any concerns about MLB licensing issues, and how did you get around those?
Yes. I did some research on trademarks, branding, etc. I also received a phone call from a guy wanting to buy the domain after I acquired it and we had some traffic going. He threatened the MLB may show concern, but nothing has ever come of it. I don’t sell any products with trademark logos or words such as MLB, St. Louis Cardinals, World Series, etc.
How did you build the website?
I built my website through WordPress. I learned nearly all of how to build in WordPress through Eric’s Tips and then trial and error.
How did you initially get the word out and get traffic?
Facebook was my initial driving force for traffic and still remains my strongest marketing tool to this day. At the beginning, I did gain traffic through ads on facebook too.
How did you acquire the domain? Was it available?
Actually, when I went to acquire the domain it had already been purchased a few hours earlier. I had a hunch that whoever bought it was trying to flip it because of the sudden craze around the rally squirrel in the sports arena. I contacted the owner and we negotiated for several hours until he sold it to me.
Have you made money from this venture?
I’ve made thousands of dollars selling hundreds of shirts, hoodies, hats, bumper stickers, yard signs, etc. More than anything I’m a huge Cardinal fan and it has been a really fun experience as a fan and as a business.
How did you process payments?
Paypal.
Did you make the shirts yourself or use a drop shipper?
The shirts were made through a local print shop in my city.
It must have been tough to fulfill all those orders. How did that work out, and would you have done it differently?
Well, my basement became rallysquirrel headquarters real quick. The crazy part was that my family had a Disney vacation scheduled before all the rally squirrel stuff took off. We went to Disney World during the World Series which the Cardinals won. My wife and I processed most of the initial orders and then we hired another person to help us as well. I’m not sure I would have done anything differently. If we had really tried to “go for it” and make big time money I may have used an online resource for ordering and shipping products.
How did you build your Facebook page?
Quite honestly, the facebook page built itself initially because of all the media attention. I did purchase a few ads on facebook. During the playoff games, because the Cardinals ended up winning the World Series that year, the traffic was constant.
What is the goal of your Facebook page?
To have fun. I have used it for business purposes, but mostly it has been a fun fan adventure…and I’d like to get to 10,000 Likes đ …and maybe it will help me get chosen to be in the MLB Fan Cave someday.
Where do you get the content for your Facebook page?
I create it. Sometimes I pull pictures form other fan pages, Cardinals pages, etc. Most of it comes from my mind as I follow the game of baseball and specifically the St. Louis Cardinals.
How have you attracted fans to your Facebook page?
As I mentioned previously-the initial burst (first 1,500 page likes) happened pretty quickly because of the media craze. The rest were built through other fans sharing about our facebook page, reposting or sharing our posts for the most part.
You had a FB post go viral with over 30,000 likes, and almost 1000 shares. How did that happen?
Consistency maybe, mostly luck. I found that one of the players, Yadier Molina, draws a lot of attention if I add his picture or reference him in my posts. He won many defensive awards so I kept posting about his accomplishments and one of them went viral. It was really fun! Up to that point my highest “likes” on a post was around 900 I think. Since then, we have had several posts over 1,000 likes. We may have reached a tipping point in our community.
Did you see any results from that event, such as additional sales or likes to your FB page?
We had several hundred more likes of our FB page.
Are you incorporating any list building other than FB fans?
On our website rallysquirrel.com we have done some list building through contests and promotions for free stuff. We use Aweber.
What have you learned from running this little side business?
I have learned a ton from this adventure. Most of all, I have enjoyed it because being a Cardinal fan is something I already actively did.
This “business” allowed me to do that at an increased level. I learned a whole lot about marketing and reaching an audience. I look at some larger companies that I have opted into to receive their email promotions. One thing that I have noticed is that they send emails on a very consistent basis. Sometimes daily, but always weekly.
I initially wrestled with how many posts I was making, or emails I was sending through our lists. I didn’t want to bombard people. I wanted it to remain fun and not just business. I realized however, that all the FB traffic and email traffic was opt in traffic so people wanted to be a part of it. That mini revelation freed me to stay consistent in my communication and keep the rallysquirrel in front of people. That has paid off. We now have a consistent fan base that interacts in our little community.
The Cardinals made the playoffs again last year and during their playoff games traffic increased steadily. I used this time to increase my communication as well. Through our FB page, interviews we have done with radio stations in the St. Louis area, and other ventures the biggest key is that I’m having a blast doing it. I have a passion for baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals so it has truly been an easy effort.
About Nate McHenry:
| I’m a normal guy with lots of dreams. I love Jesus Christ my Savior, my family, my church and they are my priority in life. I have a beautiful wife and three amazing kids. I am the founder of IMchange and spend my working hours (from home mostly) in our organization’s efforts. We host mission trips for youth groups both stateside (in the US) and internationally. We also have a few other ventures trying to make the world a better place. I’m an avid sports fan and the St. Louis Cardinals are my favorite team in my favorite sport of baseball (see rallysquirrel.com). I also enjoy reading, games, outdoor stuff, music, and entrepreneurial adventures. |
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I hope you enjoyed this case study. By the way, if you personally have a CURRENT and substantial internet marketing success that you think would make a great case study for Eric’s Tips readers (and are willing to share some of your secrets), you can submit your story to my helpdesk for consideration.
As always you are welcome to leave your comments below.
Have a great day!
I don’t know if I can take advice from a cardinals fan! Just kidding, good post!
Congrats to Nate! Even though he enjoyed doing the campaign I admire him for all the hard work and going after the domain he wanted. A lot of marketers would have opted for second best and probably wouldn’t have done as good as he did with the domain that made the page ring out….Great story…love to hear these. I rap myself on the head for not thinking of things like this…
Hello Eric LOVE all your information I promote it on my site LOVE it.
I need some advice on how to grow my business do you have time to chat 15 mins please?
Stanman
I happy to see you back.
Would you please send me the rest of Eric”s Tips. I’ve been waiting along time they stoped at lesson #85.
Thank you have a nice day.
Awesome Case Study!!!
I live in St Louis! Why didn’t I think of that??????? Good job!
Thank you Eric for this wonderful success story.
I am a baseball fan also. Love to see the playoffs in TV, but rather see the games live on the Stadiums. I grow up playing baseball and bolley ball. I born and play in the same stadium Sammy was being trained when he was a lad in our country of origin the Dominican Republic. I have so may stories to tell about baseball. Love to hear brother Nat love the Lord as we do. He has been bless with a lovely wife and children. I will visit his homepage and know more about him. Thanks again! And yes, keep completing the 100 lessons on of Erik’s tips! They are wonderful tools of the trade of internet marketing. The best! God bless!
Thanks for sharing, you always add value.
I love how Nate acted on his gut instinct and went out and bought the domain name. I was on a webinar last year and did the same thing when the moderator almost fell out of his chair after seeing how many global searches his example was getting. So I rushed over to GoDaddy and bought http://www.HowDoILearnAboutFacebook.com We have a new ball team starting up here next year…I may bring a squirrel to the game. đ
This is a great lesson in creating an opportunity when the right circumstances present themselves — very smart, Nate! And thank you, as always, Eric, for the excellent info!
I enjoyed reading your case study. that sqirred running across home plate must have been some thing else at that time.
My finger just HAD to hit the “like” button on the Squirrel FB page. The squirrel was too darn cute to resist! đ
Great case study. I love hearing about average guys making their mark online even in this day and age. It destroys the theory that you can’t make real money online. The basics still work “if” you take consistent action.
Cool and unique case study…
Very instructive, there is a lot of good info here if you look closely…
ONe question on web nosting.. do you use a separate web hosting package for each online venture? or just use a separate page on a BIG hosting package?
D
Thanks for sharing this encouraging case study. It is encouraging not only to see the possibilities, but being familiar with both you and Nate it makes it all that much more real and reachable.
Awesome and inspiring post – thanks to both of you for sharing.
Hello DunCAN,
With Hostgator, you can host unlimited domains:
http://ericstips.com/hosting/
You don’t need to buy hosting over and over again.
Thanks for sharing this case study. It really helped to put the process in perspective for me. What a great idea. I really see why it is important to have a business plan in place from the start. Sometimes it is those unexpected moments and quick creative thinking that become the most profitable. Excellent example of how using what is currently trending to profit from. Way to go Nate! You rock!
Just purchased your No Cost System last night. You said that it was for the people that could not afford those expensive programs. I was kind of sad to see the upsell after I made the purchase. I am a âNewbieâ and I have a challenge for you. Take a few of us by the hand and show us, it could prove to be great PR for you in the long run. I have looked at a lot of so called âProgramsâ out there and I really thought you and your partners were going to be different. Seems to me that most of you are saying the same thing, as far as, hooking them in. So, what have you got to lose? You already have all of the things you need in life and claim that you would like to help people launch their own business. I to work full time, have a family and rush around from activities. You say it can be done, well I am willing to do what it takes. Thanks and have a great day. Norm 814-897-3174
Hello Norman,
Yes, there are upsells, mainly just for PLR to the same course. There is no need to purchase that, especially if you arenât experienced with selling PLR content.
Many people will benefit from just the course itself, and all the traffic it will help them to receive, when they apply the tips and strategies it teaches.
We recommend that you hang in there with Ericâs free video lessons at http://www.ericstips.com/. Ericâs lessons have helped many people to go from beginners, to successful online business owners!
The lessons are presented in a sequence that starts at the very beginning, where the very first things you need to learn about online marketing are shown in the first few lessons!
If youâre interested to go even more in-depth with marketing, you might also want to take part in Ericâs coaching club:
http://www.realguysrealmoney.com
Eric, Paul, and Jeff are expert marketers. They will be a great resource for you!
Hello Norman,
I have been a subscriber of Eric’s for two years. I have watched him and followed him all through the ups and downs of the past years.
A year ago I decided to shoot off in a different direction with affiliate marketing and I have had limited success.
I have joined and dropped out of many instructional courses.
The bottom line is that now I am back here to get my business back on track. I would definitely be further ahead in my life and business had I stayed-the-course and been faithful to Eric’s teaching.
At one point I probably was on 30 email lists by various marketers. Currently I remain on 5 lists and Eric’s is at the top.
Eric simply will not promote anything that is not something of great value to you. I always respond to his advice.