When Kevin Esposito started his blog, Spectacular gardeningWhen he launched his blog over 10 years ago, he never expected it to grow into a huge e-commerce brand. Today, the business is much more than just a blog: it’s also a YouTube channel, a podcast, and a successful online store. The store accounts for 90% of the company’s revenue, with the rest coming from brand deals and other content monetization strategies.
Kevin shared his insights on balancing content creation with running an e-commerce store, expanding the business through acquisitions, and overcoming the challenges of growth.
The shift to e-commerce
Kevin took a big step in 2019 by launching an online store to complement his already successful media properties. At the time, Epic Gardening was generating revenue through ad sales, affiliate deals, and brand partnerships. Kevin realized he had built a trusted audience and wanted to offer products directly to this community.
Initially, Kevin approached product development by getting feedback from his audience. “You don’t have to invent something,” Kevin says. “You let your audience guide you to what they really care about.”
For example, he noticed interest in the raised flower beds he installed in his garden. He contacted manufacturers, started importing products, and launched a Shopify store. This was the beginning of ecommerce for Epic Gardening.
business expansion
As the e-commerce side of the business grew, Epic Gardening faced challenges in scaling. Kevin initially managed logistics through third-party services but eventually brought the operation in-house. This period required significant investments, including purchasing a warehouse, equipment, and learning to drive a forklift. “Initially, we mostly used specialized vendors because we knew we didn’t know anything about the world we were diving into,” he explained.
Eventually, Kevin hired team members to handle customer service and logistics, allowing him to focus on other aspects of the business, such as the media side of things. “I was working 10-plus hours a day doing whatever I felt was most important at that moment,” he says.
Create content with experts
Just as Kevin has hired additional staff to manage logistics, he also relies on a team of experts to create content for his YouTube channel, blog and podcast.
The blog has a staff of gardening experts who review every post, and many of the writers specialize in a particular gardening discipline, like houseplants or trees. “Gardening is very regional, so we’ve also brought in other creators who live in different parts of the country,” says Kevin.
Acquisition of a seed company
In a key move to expand their product offering, Epic Gardening acquired Botanical Interest, a well-known Denver-based seed company. The acquisition not only brought a new product line, but also tripled the size of their team overnight. It also expanded Epic Gardening into retail, as Botanical Interest’s products were already sold in thousands of stores.
“We knew we wanted to get into the seed business, but there wasn’t a streamlined way to scale as quickly as we needed to,” Kevin explains. One of the first things Botanical Interests did was move their products from their old website to Shopify for better management and scalability.
To learn more about Kevin Esposito’s journey from content to ecommerce, listen to his full interview. Shopify Master.
