How Mark Thompson grew PayKickStart with zero paid traffic and reducing churn from 20% to 6% to reach $1M ARR

In his own words, Mark Thompson says he had been an ordinary entrepreneur for close to 10 years before co-founding PayKickstart. During that time, Mark created different software, mainly focusing on SaaS. He also developed information products that he sold to his target audience, with PayKickstart as their core business.

The ideal PayKickstart customers are; digital entrepreneurs, people who specialize in selling software solutions, people running membership sites, online course creators, coaches, and consultants. Listen in as Mark shares his journey with Geordie Wardman. 

What You Will Learn

• What prompted Mark and his team to offer their PayKickstart shopping cart tool to their vendors?
• What happened to the previous applications that Mark and his team built over the years?
• Does Mark have any plans to develop a SaaS platform?
• Niches that PayKickstart focus on
• What sets PayKickstart from its competitors?
• How did Mark transform the PayKickstart tool into a product?
• Pain-points that Mark and his team relied on to build the PayKickstart platform
• How PayKickstart leveraged their sister company to make their first $10,000 in MRR
• How PayKickstart found their customers
• What growth strategy did Mark use after opening the platform to the public?
• How giving bonuses helps drive traffic to your site
• How long was it before PayKickstart got brand recognition?
• Why companies should have a blog
• The impact of SEO on companies
• How affiliates can help companies increase revenue

Mark founded PayKickstart out of necessity. After selling many products over the years, he and his team realized that many of the shopping carts their customers used were archaic. Not only were these carts rigid, but they were also not adaptable to their business.

After consultations, Mark and his team decided to develop an internal tool that would help them sell their products. They were determined to use the PayKickstart tool to promote their affiliate partners. After around two years of using the tool in-house, it evolved to become a system that the team had not envisioned.

Listen in as Mark explains how people would call them endlessly to enquire about their cool checkout page. Mark and his team released the PayKickstart tool to the public close to three years ago. Today, the PayKickstart tool has evolved into a fully-fledged platform complete with robust functionality.

The PayKickstart tool helps eliminate the technical hurdles that come with managing recurring revenue. Mark says that over the years, they have realized it is not easy to become the best providers in the market for a single product. He and his team only focus on ensuring that PayKickstart is running smoothly.

PayKickstart strives to evolve with the times to ensure customers get the best, up to date services. Mark and his team have devised numerous advanced tools that help maximize conversions. Listen to Mark as he shares more reasons with Geordie on what sets PayKickstart apart from their competitors.

Mark shares his journey and the events that preceded the development of the PayKickstart platform. At some point, they offered the tool for free to a specific number of people, after which they started charging a small fee per month. Mark mentions that their sister company played a role in helping PayKickstart penetrate the market.

A growth strategy is critical for companies, especially when starting. Apart from working with affiliates, and inviting people to webinars, PayKickstart gave its customers a free post-shopping offer. Mark tells Geordie how he and his team went about it. Listen in to find out what other methods PayKickstart used to attract more customers and attract more customers through word of mouth.

Like any other business, PayKickstart has faced some challenges along the way. Mark says their biggest challenge so far has been people canceling. To prevent this, Mark and his team have worked hard to revamp the site, improved the signup flow, and improved the in-app onboarding experience to give people value.

Mark explains that PayKickstart still runs different challenges in a bid to introduce customers to their services. Mark has some sales conversion and retention tactics to share that you need to hear. He and his team are committed to retaining costumers, a tactic he calls 'overcoming objections to save the sale.'

With significant advancements on the PayKickstart platform, Mark has managed to offer customers a smooth experience and minimize cancellations. Customers can now navigate through the website with ease. Further, Mark strives to convince customers to stay. Listen to find out the strategies he has applied to achieve this. Mark mentions that while PayKickstart has experienced challenges, they have leveraged them to grow the platform. 

Resources

Mark Thompson

PayKickstart.com

Mark Thompson LinkedIn

Mark Thompson Twitter

PayKickstart Facebook