Stacy Henderson is the CEO of ForZilch, an online platform where people can connect with others to give away their free stuff with free classified ads. Stacy launched ForZilch.com after she lost her job due to the pandemic. While in quarantine, she spent her time cleaning out her house. She made some money selling her old stuff online, but discovered that people were willing to travel 100+ miles to get an item for free, rather than travel the distance to pay a small amount for the item.
So, she started offering her items for free; in other words, “For Zilch.” Buyer/Seller transactions were win-win: Buyers got items they needed for free, and Stacy got what she wanted — less clutter and a downsized, more minimalistic life — the things that made it worth selling her “stuff” for Free. This sparked the idea for ForZilch.
What is ForZilch all about?
ForZilch is a website where people can sell their free items, free stuff, free junk, and freebies with free classified ads, and companies can offer their free samples with free classified ads.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I started ForZilch after I lost my job due to the pandemic. While in quarantine, I decided to spend my time cleaning out every room, every closet, and my garage of stuff. I started selling the stuff I found online.
I made a few dollars on some of my stuff, but what I discovered was that people were willing to travel 100+ miles to get an item for free, rather than travel the distance to pay a small amount for the item. So, I started selling my stuff for free; in other words, “For Zilch.”
Buyer/Seller transactions were win-win: Buyers got items they needed for free, and I, the seller, got what I wanted — less clutter, less stress from clutter, freed up space in my home and garage, and a downsized, more minimalistic life — all the things that made it worth selling my stuff for free. This sparked the idea for ForZilch.com.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
Successful entrepreneurs need to be skilled in communication so that they can better connect with clients, vendors, and prospects. They must also have leadership so that they can motivate and influence other people. In addition, they must be skilled in problem-solving, as it will allow them to overcome the hurdles that come with starting, managing, and growing one’s business.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
ForZilch currently offers advertising to people and companies in the United States. ForZilch will be expanding globally in the near future.
How have the pandemic and Lockdown affected you or your new business?
Although I lost my previous job as a result of the pandemic and lockdown, it gave me time to design and build my website. During that time, more people were online due to quarantine, so word spread quickly about ForZilch.com.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
By offering free classified ads for free items that cost $0.00 or “zilch”. My competitors offer free classified ads for items that cost more than $0.00.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
- I first tried to build my website from scratch and bought too many plug-ins and ended up having compatibility issues and my website crashed. What I learned was that it was okay to purchase a turnkey platform and to work with experienced programmers to rebuild and customize ForZilch.com.
- I overspent on online advertising too early on. I learned that I should start with a smaller target market and then expand that target market at a steady pace.
- I tried to set up my own email system and wasn’t successful. I learned about the email system that came with my turnkey platform, and I was able to get that set up easily.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
I create posts on Facebook and Twitter daily about the latest free items on ForZilch.com and I utilize Google Ads to target specific demographic areas.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
- Streamlining the Sign-In/Registration Process. I was able to make it quick and simple for visitors to sign-in/register.
- Getting visitors to place free ads. I set up pages of the website with a “call to action” widget to encourage visitors to place free ads for their free items.
- Having each free item to display its $0.00 price. I had to pay programmers to customize that data field so that it would display $0.00 (i.e., “zilch”).
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
I wrote “how-to” booklets and sold them by mail order. I then turned one of the booklets into a national and international magazine, titled Home Business Magazine, now in its 27th year.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
I am learning about the optimization of my website pages, modules, and content. It is important to add keywords, meta tags, and Slug URL’s to each.
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
I would research plug-ins more extensively for a website to avoid compatibility issues and to verify whether they are even necessary to purchase.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Make a daily to-do list with a realistic number of tasks that can be accomplished that day or that at least have realistic completion target dates and times.
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, and one online course for entrepreneurs?
- I recommend Home Business Magazine’s Home-Based Business Start-Up Guide, because it will help you chart your course to work-from-home success.
- I also recommend the Home Business Podcast, because it interviews top experts in the home-based business industry
- A great course I recommend is the Entrepreneurship Specialization online course, because it can help you develop, launch, fund, and grow your business.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would spend the majority of the $1000 on public relations to get the word out about my business.
What helps you stay driven and motivated to keep going in your business?
People will always love getting items and samples for free. Since that concept will never “fade out”, there will always be a demand for a site like ForZilch.com.
What is your favorite quote?
My favorite quote is
“Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.”
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Manage your advertising budget wisely. When purchasing ads from entities such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter to promote your business, monitor the results closely and adjust your advertising campaigns accordingly.
What is your definition of success?
My definition of success is accomplishing your aim, purpose, or goal.
How do you personally overcome fear?
I pray for strength to overcome fear and I just “do it.”
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