Michael Maher is the Founder and Chief Idea Officer of Cartology, a global agency that provides full-service Amazon Business consulting to clients — wherever they are on their eCommerce journey. After building a solid clientele based on valued and trusted relationships, Michael set his sights on growth. As demand grew beyond the capacity of a solo operation, he expanded his service offering and his team. The need for a digital dashboard that could streamline all his business data became clear. That's when he found 9Spokes.
Amazon is one of the biggest — and certainly one of the better known — sales platforms. According to Marketplace Pulse (2021), Amazon has 9.7 million sellers globally, of which 1.9 million actively sell on the marketplace. And it's not just big companies that sell on the platform. Small businesses and solo hobbyists also leverage the eCommerce giant to get their products and services out there.
Michael knew the huge potential for revenue selling on Amazon, however, he also saw a gap between that possibility and the practical know-how to make it happen. That's why he set up Cartology; to create tailored growth solutions for Amazon sellers that expedite the learning curve, accelerate brand awareness — and ultimately, drive revenue.
Now Cartology works with a diverse pool of product-based brands selling on Amazon, creating custom plans based around clients’ brand goals and needs using proven methods they’ve developed. His team helps their clients to create content, build out their catalogs, send in inventory, run advertising and marketing campaigns, complete reporting, and more.
Helping businesses thrive on Amazon
Michael started Cartology in 2016 at a time when his eCommerce business was winding down. He chose to think outside the box, pivot and use the skills he’d honed to help other brands grow and become profitable on Amazon. In Michael’s words, "I found my passion serving others by helping their businesses thrive.”
Business challenges
While Cartology quickly secured clients and staff globally, the company faced some common small business challenges. Michael found that the need to spend money on advertising was often met with resistance. To help clients understand why they should invest, Michael's team needed to communicate clear outcomes and wins.
To remedy this, he created a thorough guideline for Cartology’s account managers. It focused on strengthening communication skills and product knowledge so the team could have more confident, informed conversations with clients. Michael also prioritized updating the company's marketing materials to better reflect that “why”. Armed with these assets, the team developed the skills needed to effectively educate clients about what is necessary to win on Amazon.
Gaining fuller oversight of his business to support a more strategic approach was also a key consideration for Michael — and he wasn’t alone. After participating in Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Small Businesses program — a plan designed to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunities by providing access to education and support services — the need for a data-driven business dashboard became clear.
Tracking business growth with 9Spokes
The Goldman Sachs program encouraged participating entrepreneurs to think strategically and innovate ways to drive business success. By aggregating and visualizing data from different areas, business dashboards help SMBs to better understand their overall business performance, refine their focus, and take action when required — all in near-real time.
9Spokes was one of the potential solutions discussed in the program. After considering it and other platforms, Michael felt 9Spokes stood out as the software that would help him manage and grow Cartology best.
He signed up and didn't look back. After connecting the apps he already used to run Cartology, his 9Spokes dashboard came to life, displayed in a full range of data tiles.
The business tracker is my favorite element of the product so far. I really like being able to see everything in one place and compare how I’m performing at different times.
Michael enjoys using 9Spokes to run business operations, and values the dashboard’s ability to pull, aggregate, and visualize data from all app and software categories into quick, digestible insights.
“The business tracker is my favorite element of the product so far. I really like being able to see everything in one place and compare how I’m performing at different times.” He’s looking forward to 9Spokes adding more app connections in the future, especially in the social media category — an area of exciting growth potential for Cartology.
Hitting those targets: an ambitious vision of the future
Cartology has a bright future ahead. Michael is passionate, driven, and looking towards the company’s expansion — at home and in new markets. Future milestones for Cartology include:
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doubling the company’s current client base this year
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hitting a $10 million target by 2025
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breaking into the OTC market by signing a client to grow on Amazon
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providing services for Walmart.com.
Interested in talking shop with Cartology? Visit thinkcartology.com for more information.