Short Explanation
I started MaleQ in 2012 as a passion project. What began as a small gay mens' sexual health and wellness blog grew into a full e-commerce platform selling adult products to customers around the globe.
Business Overview
MaleQ (MQ) was founded with the goal to provide answers to those hard to ask questions in the gay community. Growing up in the early 2000s, there was little comprehensive information online about gay men's sexual education. I began MQ by composing articles of my experiences, and the knoledge I had gathered, in the hopes to help other gay men to have safe, and satisfying sex lives.
What started as a a small hobby blog quickly gained popularity, with an increase in readership month on month. I quickly found a niche market for lube, condoms, and male sex toys which seamlessly tied with the topics I was covering already. This allowed me to work on MQ full time, expanding it to a successful, revenue generating e-commerce business.
Achievements
- Drove Revenue Growth: Built and managed an e-commerce business generating over $850K in sales.
- Leverages Organic Site Traffic: Grew monthly traffic to over 10k visitors through SEO and content marketing.
- Managed Global Team: Led a diverse team of writers and employees across 5 countries, expanding user base to Chinese and Spanish speaking markets.
- Automated Fulfillment: Implemented WooCommerce and partner APIs to automate order fulfillment, reducing manual labor and increasing fulfillment speed by 5x.
- Site Redesign: Overhauled site design and branding, increasing user engagement and sales conversion rates.
Tech Stack
The MaleQ uses a range of technologies, including:
- WordPress: I chose WordPress for its ease of use and flexibility, as well as its support for plugins and themes that allow me to customize the look and functionality of my site.
- WooCommerce: Woocommerce offers me a cost effective way to sell products online with no additional fees. I chose WooCommerce for its ease of use, customizability, and flexibility, as well as its support for a wide range of payment gateways and shipping options.
- cPanel: cPanel has been my go-to control panel for managing my web hosting. I chose cPanel for its ease of use, security features, and support for a wide range of web hosting services.
- MariaDB: MariaDB works great for my site thanks to its speed, scalability, and reliability, as well as its support for a wide range of storage engines and data types.
- Redis: Redis makes my site faster and more responsive. I chose Redis for its speed, scalability, and reliability, as well as its support for caching, session storage, and pub/sub messaging.
Company Milestones
Over the last 12 years, MQ has slowly expanded to reach a wider audience, and be a more effective and efficient business. Here are some major MaleQ milestones.
Timeline:
Company Metrics
-
Revenue: $1.1M (WooCommerce + Amazon)
-
Monthly Visitors: 10K
-
Team Size: 5
What I Have Learned
Founding and growing MaleQ has been an incredible journey. I've learned so much about business, marketing, and technology along the way. Here are some key takeaways:
- Content is King: Creating high-quality, engaging content is key to attracting and retaining customers.
- SEO is Essential: Optimizing your site for search engines is crucial for driving organic traffic.
- Automation is Key: Automating repetitive tasks can save time and increase efficiency.
- User Experience Matters: A well-designed site that is easy to navigate can improve user engagement and conversion rates.
- Global Expansion: Expanding into new markets can help grow your business and reach new customers.
Creating my own business taught me the importance of hard work, dedication, and perseverance. I'm proud of what I've accomplished with MaleQ and look forward to future opportunities to create new and exciting projects.