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Lisa Harrington started selling clothes on eBay before transitioning to Amazon.
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Her business selling interior cat doors took off after hiring a PPC coach.
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She emphasizes investing in coaching and networking for long-term business growth.
Lisa Harrington's e-commerce career began in the early 2010s when she started selling clothing, purses, and other items in her closet that she didn't need anymore.
She used the eBay profit to launch her first Amazon product — dog harnesses — and sold enough to quit her corporate job in 2016. She eventually created and patented interior cat doors, which have become a top-selling Amazon product and bring in seven figures in annual revenue.
Harrington, who's been doing e-commerce for more than a decade, can pinpoint one decision that took her business to the next level: hiring a PPC coach.
PPC (pay-per-click) refers to Amazon's advertising platform, where sellers can pay to have their products displayed prominently. Many sellers consider ads an essential aspect of succeeding in the competitive e-commerce space.
For years, “I had a very low spend on my advertisement,” Harrington told Business Insider. Figuring out how to run Amazon ads wasn't how she wanted to spend her time.
“I just didn't have much interest in it. I really wanted to focus on branding and product development, but it has such an enormous impact on your profit and loss statement that you really can't ignore it.”
The idea to hire a coach came from an industry event.
“I remember talking to this woman, and she's like, ‘I hire a coach for everything I don't know how to do. It is the fastest way to level up,'” recalled Harrington.
She took the advice, found a coach to help her specifically with ads, and, “in the time I've worked with her, my profit has doubled,” said Harrington.
It took her six months to find the right fit.
“Coaches are hard to find. But when you do find one, it levels your business up,” she said.
Over the last couple of years, her PPC coach has become more of a general business coach. They discuss everything from product development to effective employee management.
“She's the only person I can talk to about every aspect of my business. She not only has the expertise but has the background information, so I can spitball with her, solve problems, and come up with great ideas,” said Harrington.
The full-time entrepreneur and mother of two kids doesn't hesitate to outsource when she can.
“I try to get a coach for everything because, thankfully, I've gotten to the point where I can pay people to help me,” she said. “That, in some cases, tends to be a cheaper way to learn a skill or a cheaper way to get something done.”
