We recently connected with Shonae Jones and have shared our conversation below.
Shonae, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?
When I first thought about launching a brand to serve aspiring and new female entrepreneurs I wanted the name to be empowering and directly communicate who we were looking to help. I believe it’s ideal to keep brand names as short as possible and no more than three words so that it’s easy to remember.
I made a list of several names over about 2 weeks but none of them sounded quite right or communicated what I was trying to do. One night I was watching the new version of the show Dynasty and the character Fallon was starting a female owned publishing company called Fempurial that targeted female authors.
When I heard the name a lightbulb immediately went off in my head!”The Fempreneur Agency” sounded just right, spoke directly to who I wanted the brand to serve and meant a lot to me personally as a female entrepreneur who has been working in and learning about e-commerce.
Thankfully, I was able to take the name and develop it into a 6 figure brand that has helped 5K women launch their own e-commerce brands and make money outside of their 9 to 5’s which was always the mission. I knew how it felt to want to start a business and make extra money without having the right resources or expert help so The Fempreneur Agency meets that need for Millennial women (and even some men lol).
Shonae, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Shonae Jones, an entrepreneur who has been building and running e-commerce brands since 2012. My first online business was graphic design based. I created themes for Blackberry devices using graphic design software such as Gimp and then sold them as monthly subscriptions. I marketed the theme subscription through Instagram and in Blackberry forums. I made a bit of money, nothing major but that experience did give me a good foundation on marketing which still serves me now.
When Blackberry phones became obsolete I made the switch to creating and selling custom phone cases which I also made a good bit of money with but it wasn’t sustainable being just one person. A few months later I learned about Dropshipping through Twitter and wanted to give it a try since I could save money upfront on inventory and manage it as just one person. I built a custom jewelry store using Shopify, marketed the products through influencers and grew the store from 2K months to 20K+ months.
All of that experience built the knowledge and skills I used to build The Fempreneur Agency to a six figure brand within 7 months of quitting my toxic legal assistant job. I had always wanted to be a full time business owner and chose to take the leap after seeing my mental health decline in the toxic office environment I was working in.
The Fempreneur Agency is a done for you service brand that helps new and aspiring female entrepreneurs both launch and market their own Drop Shipping store. To date, we have helped 5000 millennial women launch their own stores which is something I am very proud to have been able to help them do. Sure other brands offer a similar service but what sets us apart is our commitment to developing real, conversion optimized brands for customers as well as including a full marketing package with delivery, at no extra charge, to help them actually make money from their Shopify store.
Many of our competitors are delivering unbranded, basic Shopify stores that are not conversion optimized and then charging customers thousands of dollars to access the marketing information they need to actually run their store. I wanted to do things differently with my brand, set it apart from the low quality of our competition and provide real value to customers. Knowing how important it is to build a great brand that truly serves their audience well, that is also something that I am proud of being able to do.
Many millennial women who want to launch an e-commerce brand just don’t have the time to learn how to build a Shopify store, apply the elements that make sales happen, and source products due to work, family, etc. It can be a very daunting and complex task for those without the technical expertise. That is the simple problem that The Fempreneur Agency solves. What would usually take someone a month or more to complete, we make happen and get them on their way to launching within 5 to 7 days.
What I want potential clients, followers and women like me who aspire to break free from the chains of a 9 to 5 to know is that it’s simpler than you think to create an e-commerce brand that has the potential to make you 10K, 15K, 40K, etc in monthly revenue.
A lot of people think they’re supposed to make thousands overnight and it just does not work like that. Business, e-commerce, etc is a marathon and not a sprint. As long as you keep going, creating, learning and innovating you can really create a brand/business that generates solid revenue while also making an impact on others.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Instagram has always been the best way for me to gain brand awareness, drive traffic, and generate sales. With every brand I have ever built, the number one way I have grown clientele has been through Influencer Marketing via Instagram.
I feel that Influencer Marketing is a severely underrated marketing strategy that can help new businesses get off the ground more quickly. Even today it’s more cost effective than running paid ads (Facebook, Google, etc) and when combined with problem focused, engaging organic content – it’s an incredible recipe for marketing.
Aside from that – simply taking care of customers and providing friendly customer service has helped us gain word of mouth customers.
How did you build your audience on social media?
My social media audience was built purely on Influencer Marketing and strategic organic content. The combination can really help any brand grow once you take the time to understand the basic of how a social media platform works as well as what value your target customer is looking to get from your brand.
The biggest mistakes I see beginners make with social media are not knowing who to target/thinking everyone is their customer and posting low-quality, “shop with me”, “buy now” style content. I can always tell when someone has not taken the time to learn who their ideal buyer is or even study their competitors.
My advice for those just beginning is to take a course on social media to truly understand the foundations of it. You just can’t master something without knowing the fundamentals. Hubspot’s Social Media Certification is free and one of the many I’ve taken to learn more about how to use social media content to sell products effectively. Also deep dive into who your content needs to reach to gain the right followers and turn them into buyers. Followers don’t convert into sales unless they are people who need what you have.
Study your competition’s social media to learn what content does and does not work for them, scroll through comments to find customer questions you can answer in your own content and utilize AI tools such as FounderPal.ai to help get a crystal clear picture of who you should be targeting in your marketing. It will make a world of difference!
Contact Info:
- Website: femprenagency.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thefempreneuragency