Building a Large and Loyal Audience with Jen + Yvonne of Simple Germany

05/13/24 • 52 min

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I stumbled across Jen and Yvonne of Simple Germany through their YouTube channel, and boy am I glad I did!
Jen was born and raised in Guatemala and sought better quality of life due to LGBTQ+ rights and security concerns. Yvonne was raised in Germany but always wanted to explore the world and worked for many years on a cruise ship (side note: This is the second Germany Expat Business Show guest that worked on a cruise ship!)
Jen and Yvonne met in Düsseldorf where they became partners in life and business. Together they became the founders of Simple Germany where they create English content to empower internationals to settle into life in Germany more smoothly.
They’ve got some eye popping stats including: A devoted following of 55k YouTube subscribers, 15k newsletter subscribers, 3M Annual website visitors and 1k happy customers

In our conversation we talked about:

How their own experiences as immigrants and a native German led to the creation of Simple Germany.
How they were able to leave their corporate jobs in 2022 to focus full-time on Simple Germany after starting it in 2020.
Their business model which primarily relies on affiliate sales.
How they build trust through YouTube and SEO efforts, emphasizing authenticity and human connection.
Content creation on Simple Germany has evolved into inspiring stories of successful immigration to Germany, providing hope and empowerment to others.
How through Simple Germany Jen and Yvonne aim to inspire people to realize that a life abroad is possible and that they have control over making positive changes for a better life.
How they ventured into creating digital products like templates and e-books to offer more detailed resources to their audience.
The challenges of finding the right e-commerce platform in Germany, particularly with regards to European regulations like displaying final prices including VAT and variable VAT rates.
How and why they ended up getting married three times in Germany!

You can find this episode and all episodes as well as show notes for each at https://thegermanylist.de/the-germany-expat-business-show-podcast/
Starting or running a business in Germany as a foreigner? Already running an online business in Germany as an expat? Wanting to grow your German-based business? Working as a freelancer in Germany? You'll love my guide with over 30 resources for expat business owners in Germany.

Like the show? Have a burning question? Send a text?

In our conversation we talked about:

How their own experiences as immigrants and a native German led to the creation of Simple Germany.
How they were able to leave their corporate jobs in 2022 to focus full-time on Simple Germany after starting it in 2020.
Their business model which primarily relies on affiliate sales.
How they build trust through YouTube and SEO efforts, emphasizing authenticity and human connection.
Content creation on Simple Germany has evolved into inspiring stories of successful immigration to Germany, providing hope and empowerment to others.
How through Simple Germany Jen and Yvonne aim to inspire people to realize that a life abroad is possible and that they have control over making positive changes for a better life.
How they ventured into creating digital products like templates and e-books to offer more detailed resources to their audience.
The challenges of finding the right e-commerce platform in Germany, particularly with regards to European regulations like displaying final prices including VAT and variable VAT rates.
How and why they ended up getting married three times in Germany!

Previous Episode

Diversity, Children’s Products & E-commerce with Peter & May, Berlin Founders of Kidsimply

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In this episode I talk to May and Peter Kamya, the Berlin-based founders of Kidsimply. Peter is originally from the UK and May’s family immigrated to Germany from Thailand when she was five years old.

Kidsimply is an online shop selling diverse and inclusive books and toys. Through the KidSimply brand, and inspired by raising their child, Peter and May want to celebrate cultural diversity, but most importantly send out a message to ALL children that their experiences matter.
In this episode of The Germany Expat Business Show we talked about:

💪 How ‘learning by doing’ is part and parcel of starting a business

📱Working with influencers to spread the word

📦 How Peter and May approach order fulfilment and stocking inventory

💕 Balancing values and mission with brass tacks business outcomes

⬅️ What to outsource and what to keep in house

💁‍♀️ The value of getting to know customers and their community and in-person markets

🏪 Staying online vs. opening a brick and mortar shop

🛒 Their experience using both WooCommerce and Shopify

🫶 How they navigate being partners in both life and business

✏️ Using translation tools in combination with manual translation, writing and editing

📥 Their experiences with founding a Ltd. in the UK and a GmbH in Germany, including impacts on cash flow

🇩🇪Their hope to one day expand to markets in Köln, Hamburg and other cities in Germany.
Visit and follow Kidsimply here:

Kidsimply.de website
Kidsimply on Instagram
Kidsimply on Tiktok

Next Episode

Winning Marketing Strategies for Detail-Oriented Germans with Mandy Borchardt

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Mandy Borchardt is a German marketing strategist and translator helping small non-German businesses to market their brand in Germany.

In 2015 she went freelance full time as a translator for English and Spanish into German, working for translation agencies and direct clients.

After a few years, she started to notice that most end clients need more than just marketing translations. They also need to understand their new target group and adapt their marketing efforts accordingly.

This was when the idea of helping her non-German clients with their marketing in Germany slowly started to grow.

I invited her on to the show to help those marketing and selling to Germans understand the mindset of the German customer.

We talked about:

The importance of understanding German customers' preferences and cultural nuances.
The importance of detailed product descriptions, compliance with local regulations, and personalized content in German.
Specific marketing tips for German audiences including guidance on machine translation, legal text and culturally appropriate visuals
The factors that influence many German buying decisions
Advantages and disadvantages of running a business in Germany
The importance of networking, collaboration, and continuous learning for all business owners
How cooperation over competition among freelancers and small business owners has served her well