How This Print On Demand Business Built Trust By Putting The Brand First With $1500

Ben Lebowitz started West & Willow, a modern pet portrait brand, less than a year ago.

And when he started, he knew it was a crowded market.

But he saw an opportunity.

An opportunity to build a real brand in the space.

And he had the perfect background to make it happen.

After working in the agency world for a decade, he knew a thing or two about brand-building.

So he set off on a print on demand journey with just $1500 and a lot of late nights on YouTube.

And in 2 days, his business was profitable.

Fast forward one year later, and West & Willow has turned into a thriving ecommerce brand. Here’s how he did it.

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• The launch ad they’re still running a year later.
• How to build trust with your audience from the very beginning.
• How to get 20-30 pieces of user-generated content (UGC) every day.
• Why discounts are the right move for their brand.

• [6:25] How did your marketing background help when you were getting started?
• [8:03] What did the launch look like?
• [10:05] How to get social proof without any customers.
• [13:41] Coming up with an initial ad budget.
• [16:32] How they sustain the momentum through marketing.
• [18:30] How to get insane UGC.
• [26:15] The best campaign you’ve ever run.
• [28:16] What’s the case for running discounts?

• West & Willow
• Ben Lebowitz on Twitter
• Dave Gerhardt on Twitter
• The Ecommerce Marketing Show Home

This article originally appeared in the Privy blog and has been published here with permission.