Going from ZERO to £200k sales on Shopify in 8 weeks with Rob from The Moon Phase Studio (episode 386)
Rob Harrison-Plastow is the Chief Marketing Officer of the Moon Phase Studio. The studio exists to empower its customers to become more attuned to the moon through art, books, and rituals. It was founded in November 2020 they went from zero to £200k in 8 just weeks!
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Rob’s Start In eCommerce
Rob has always been into entrepreneurship, even at university. He did writing, copywriting, and even launched his own video production company.
He eventually ended up working at the university where he studied and created a program called Engineering and Entrepreneurship, where students get to launch a startup and receive seed funding for it.
It was also during this time that his wife launched an eCommerce brand, and Rob started to get into it as well through consulting. His friend Hayley approached him about her moon calendars that she couldn’t sell in markets because of Covid. So what they did was set up a store and that was the launch of Moon Phase Studio.
About Moon Phase Studio
- Rob and Hayley, who is the artist behind Moon Phase Studio, are based in Cornwall, UK
- Sells to the UK and the United States
- Currently building stores in Canada, and also plans to open in the EU
- Is on Shopify
They use an upsell app on their site and utilize Klaviyo for email marketing.
The Team
Aside from Rob and Hayley, they also have Rachel on the team who handles customer service.
They outsource fulfillment and distribution and have a team in America that integrates with Shopify. They also outsource marketing activities such as blog writing and link building, and Rob says they will be focusing more on these to grow organic traffic, and not just rely on advertising.
The Moon Phase Studio Calendar
The brand’s main product is a moon calendar designed by Hayley, and Rob says one of the reasons for its success is product market fit. Those who are into cyclical living or lunar living appreciate the calendar, but they still talk to their customers and help them decipher and understand how to use the calendar.
Since the launch of the company, the brand has also added peripheral products. They’ve been doing a lot of research and interviewing customers to better understand their needs so Rob and his team can offer more products throughout the year. What they’re looking forward to is the creation of a journal using Hayley’s artwork while catering to what their customers are looking for.
Planning And Executing Strategies
While it was a surprise for Rob to see how good the product market fit was, the positive results of the Facebook Ads they ran were something Rob wasn’t surprised with.
He tested and fine-tuned copy, images, and videos, and scaled the ads that worked. He increased the budget by 20% every couple of days, then copied and duplicated the ad set and repeated the process.
For him, it was like pruning a tree: sending out different branches and growing the ones that work, while trimming the ones that don’t.
Appreciating Constraints
For Rob, constraints such as seasonality are good. It allows him to do other things and take on other projects. He’s involved in climate activism projects, and he also runs an agency that builds high-converting eCommerce stores that want to make a difference in the world.
He also says he appreciates constraints because they encourage creativity, provide focus, and can push you to get things done.
eCommerce Book Top Tip
eCommerce Traffic Top Tip
- Facebook Ads, even if it’s getting harder to do, and also organic traffic.
Tool Top Tip
- Whatsapp messaging platform
- Loom video messaging
- Mindvalley app for courses that can change your business
Growth Top Tip
- Do your research, and check the internet for the information you need including competitor reviews. Then once you have the data, keep experimenting and testing.
Interview Links
Rob joins Chloe to explain the nuts and bolts of how you can copy his Facebook Ads method (including sharing how to use his Empathy Blueprint) in our recent virtual summit – access it for free here
- Visit Moon Phase Studio’s website
- Time Agency’s lead magnet resource
- The CRO Toolkit
- Time Agency
- Rob on LinkedIn
Related episodes
- 288: ID your seasonality, getting ready for Q4, Facebook Ads and Klaviyo with Simon from UXB Skincare
- 308: Facebook Ads + Story + Focus = sales increase of 4,601% with Heidi Jarvis of Boutique Heidi
- 365: JGS How to create a fast-growth startup with Immaculate Vegan’s Simon Bell
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