Peter Keller
Peter Keller is founder and C.E.O. of Fringe Sport, a strength and conditioning equipment company. Peter has grown Fringe Sport from his garage, in 2010, to millions in annual revenue. Email Peter. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Should you buy a failing ecommerce brand?
November 4, 2020 • Peter Keller
Have you been itching to get into ecommerce? Perhaps you've watched a slew of training videos. You're ready to take the plunge. There are a few ways to get into the ecommerce game.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
9 exercise tips for desk-bound workers
September 7, 2020 • Peter Keller
It's easier than most people think to get stronger, fitter, and healthier. That's especially true for desk workers, such as digital marketers and ecommerce merchants. Here are nine tips for desk-bound personnel to get stronger and healthier.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Amid Covid-19, it’s time to build
August 4, 2020 • Peter Keller
"It's Time to Build" is a popular blog post by Marc Andreessen, the Internet pioneer and investor. He wrote it in April 2020 at the onset of the worldwide pandemic. Ecommerce businesses are lucky. Amid the global pandemic, our industry is thriving and pushing forward.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
How I maintain mental and physical health (to grow my business)
July 2, 2020 • Peter Keller
Managing a fast-growing ecommerce business is not for the faint of heart. I've picked up a few practices over the last decade to keep my mental and physical health while scaling FringeSport.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
‘Organizational debt’ is hurting my company
May 27, 2020 • Peter Keller
FringeSport has been experiencing growing pains. I recently became aware of the idea of "technical debt" and realized that we have "organizational debt." I then Googled organizational debt and realized that I'm not the first person to have thought of it.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Sales training starts with The Dummy Curve
October 2, 2019 • Peter Keller
Say you are good at something, and you want to get even better. You study, practice, and work at it. But, instead of getting better, you get worse. It's what happens with many of the salespeople we hire at FringeSport.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
The evolution of my customer service team
September 10, 2019 • Peter Keller
I love the book “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos. It is mainly about the culture of customer service that Zappos became famous for. One of the throwaway anecdotes ...
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Inventory
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Merchant Voice
My first big inventory mistake
July 3, 2019 • Peter Keller
I'll never forget my first big inventory mistake. It occurred in 2006. I was working for LivingDirect, an online appliance retailer. I thought for sure I would get fired.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
The risk of vanity metrics (and copying others)
June 10, 2019 • Peter Keller
I see a lot of startup entrepreneurs copying successful businesses. The entrepreneurs observe what those businesses do and assume it would work for them. Or they attribute the success of ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Turns out, I’m a micromanager
May 2, 2019 • Peter Keller
I've been struggling with getting out of the way of my team and letting them do what they're best at. In other words, instead of micromanaging and being involved in everything for my team, I should create the accountability and the structure for them to create excellence…
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Are we surfing hidden tailwinds?
April 4, 2019 • Peter Keller
From 2001 until 2008, times were good. I thought we were just smarter than everyone. But then 2008 rolled around. What happened? We were surfing three major tailwinds that we took for granted.
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Schools & Resources
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Merchant Voice
2018: My year in books
March 1, 2019 • Peter Keller
It’s shocking to me how valuable books can be. There are books that have stood the test of time — “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” the Bible, and more — and a never-ending stream of new titles. You can pick up a book for less than $20, and read it in a few hours.
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Shipping & Fulfillment
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Merchant Voice
Why we changed our returns policy
December 4, 2018 • Peter Keller
How should an ecommerce store handle returns? Draconian merchants charge for shipping (both ways) and a hefty re-stock fee — 15 to 25 percent. I’ve never seen a company entirely deny returns.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
My personal productivity stack
October 29, 2018 • Peter Keller
When I first heard of "Getting Things Done," the time-management methodology and book, I was mystified. Surely it’s not that hard to accomplish tasks. Just do them! Now that I’m a little older and a little wiser, I’ve evolved my productivity stack over the years. Here’s how I now get things done.
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Staffing
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Merchant Voice
Hiring for ecommerce, then and now
October 2, 2018 • Peter Keller
What’s the best method for hiring ecommerce employees? I have struggled with the issue over the years. In this post, I’ll describe FringeSport’s hiring process. When we were a bootstrapped startup,
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Teaching sales and marketing with Girl Scout cookies
September 11, 2018 • Peter Keller
When Girl Scout cookie time rolls around, it's our time to shine. I teach sales techniques from Sandler Training. Before we approach a door, I ask them what they're going to say. They have their script ready. I teach them how to overcome objections.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
The ‘why’ of my company
August 5, 2018 • Peter Keller
Here's the story of FringeSport's why and how it has evolved. When I started Fringe, my why was focused on me. I desired to assist customers, but, really, I wanted something. I wanted to start a business so that I could be an entrepreneur.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
4 ecommerce-related businesses to start right now
July 5, 2018 • Peter Keller
I’m often approached by many would-be entrepreneurs who want to start a business as soon as possible. They are usually in their early 20s, living in the U.S., and working a job where they are unfulfilled and (possibly) underpaid. In this post, I'll offer four low-risk ways to start a side hustle that can grow into a full-time business.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Why sell barbells?
May 3, 2018 • Peter Keller
I’m often asked why I started FringeSport. People inquire, “Of all the things to do, why sell barbells?” I tell them that if I wanted only to make money, I ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Pros and cons of meeting with suppliers
April 4, 2018 • Peter Keller
The primary reason to not visit my suppliers is I do not care about them. For example, if I am drop shipping from a supplier that is significantly larger than FringeSport, there may be no need to cultivate a relationship. The main reason, however, to visit suppliers is to build relationships. If you treat suppliers like you're doing one-time deals, they're going to treat you in the same way.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Entrepreneurs fool themselves about productivity
March 5, 2018 • Peter Keller
There is no shortage of advice on how entrepreneurs can be more productive and more effective. Over the years, I have become better at both. But I sometimes believe that I’m being productive when, in fact, I’m wasting time. Here are three ways that entrepreneurs often fool themselves about productivity.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
My experience with product reviews
February 6, 2018 • Peter Keller
I'm a huge believer in product reviews for ecommerce sites. I have been for years — since the start of online reviews. I remember when Amazon first utilized reviews, in the early 2000s. I was working for LivingDirect, a retailer of home products. We marveled at reviews. What a strange innovation. A customer could post a review on the site — any review, any customer.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
9 innovative ecommerce companies, for inspiration
December 28, 2017 • Peter Keller
2017 has been a good year for FringeSport. 2018 looks to be even better. Many ecommerce brands inspire my work. In this post, I will list several of them. I am a friend of the owners of some of these companies. Others I have no connection to. All of the companies are innovative.
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Are conferences worthwhile?
November 7, 2017 • Peter Keller
I remember going to the International Home + Housewares Show in 2006, when I worked for a large corporation. This was just before the Great Recession. Houses were being built ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
Black Friday opportunities — and pitfalls
October 30, 2017 • Peter Keller
It’s October, and that means ecommerce businesses should be in the thick of Black Friday preparation. I addressed the topic last year, in “A blueprint for Black Friday planning.” I ...
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Business
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Merchant Voice
How to learn about your customers, for cheap
September 12, 2017 • Peter Keller
One of the most important ways to help your business is to know the demographics and interests of your customers. If you don’t understand your customers, it’s difficult to write ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
Lessons from an ecommerce email marketer
September 1, 2017 • Peter Keller
I have a reputation as a marketer who sends a lot of emails. And it’s true. At FringeSport, we send most of our subscribers five emails per week — sometimes ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
For selling, the phone is better than email
July 11, 2017 • Peter Keller
I’m a huge fan of email marketing. It’s been very helpful for FringeSport. I addressed email marketing, in fact, in my previous two posts: “Lessons on starting an email list”
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
How to get your first 1,000 email subscribers
June 29, 2017 • Peter Keller
I addressed last month how to start an email list. In this post, I’ll explain how to get your first 1,000 subscribers. As part of starting a list, you (hopefully) identified ...
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Email Marketing
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Merchant Voice
Lessons on starting an email list
June 4, 2017 • Peter Keller
FringeSport’s email list has been one of our best investments in terms of connecting our brand with our customers, and also in terms of direct sales. In this post, I’ll offer ...
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