The EcomCrew Ecommerce Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mike Jackness
An eCommerce podcast for store owners, hosted by 7-figure store owners Mike Jackness and Dave Bryant. We cover everything in eCommerce from Shopify, to Amazon FBA. From email marketing, to Facebook Ads. Never before has there been a podcast with store owners who are so candid. Subscribe to the EcomCrew podcast today!
In this episode, Dave explores the differences between manufacturing in China, India and the USA after ordering some products from all three countries. We talk about the good, the bad and the ugly between all three areas and the factors that you should consider if you do choose to move your manufacturing to India or to America. Specifically, we'll dive into the lead times, the cost differences between each country (including tariffs), the quality differences and the other pros and cons we found.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Now that the tariffs have been somewhat finalized, we can now do a clear and accurate breakdown of the pros and cons of manufacturing in China, India and the US.
So for the sake of our audience, Dave ordered products from each country to breakdown the differences in quality, costs, and lead times that you should know about.
If you've been considering moving your manufacturing base, then this episode is definitely for you.
In a rush? Here's the high-level takeaways:
- Manufacturing in China currently comes with the caveat of 50%~ tariffs.
- Lead times in India are basically unpredictable because everything is handmade.
- Prices in India are generally higher than in China, despite lower tariffs but the quality of products from India is high, especially in textiles and handicrafts.
- American manufacturing offers lower lead times but comes at 2x the cost of Chinese prices.
- Finding manufacturers in America can be challenging because of high MOQs and lack of responsiveness.
- Most manufacturers in America are already selling D2C.
- A lot of American manufacturers have a lot of requirements to create your product.
- American manufacturers typically also do not do any additional kitting for free.
- Online marketplaces for manufacturing are emerging as valuable resources in the US.
- E-commerce entrepreneurs may need to consider in-house manufacturing as a long-term strategy.
- The future of manufacturing may involve a mix of domestic and overseas production.
- Understanding the specific product requirements is crucial when choosing a manufacturing location.
Here's some timestamps if you'd like to skip around:
- 00:00 Manufacturing Landscape: China, India, and America
- 08:20 The Pros and Cons of Indian Manufacturing
- 15:21 Navigating American Manufacturing Challenges
- 22:24 Future of Manufacturing: Trends and Predictions
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave breaks down his personal strategy and process for launching new products on Amazon, detailing a four-stage approach that spans from the first few weeks after launch to ongoing strategies for maintaining sales and optimizing listings. We talk about why its important to have a pricing strategy and an ACOS goal, to have only exact match turned on, and to have reviews as soon as possible.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Launching a product isn't as crazy as it used to be.
Back in the 2010s, you could put up anything on Amazon and it would do huge numbers.
But today, its a different story.
You have to have enough reviews for your product and a low price to stand out from the competition at the minimum.
How do you get this all done? More importantly, what else can I do to guarantee success?
Here's the ultimate 3 month launch plan that we incorporate in our businesses for each new product we launch.
Takeaways * In the first few weeks of launch, price your product 40% lower to attract buyers. * Focus on exact targeting for PPC in early stages. * Send your products into Amazon Vine to get reviews early. * Gradually increase prices; Amazon hates when you increase prices abruptly. * Utilize promotions based on how competitive your product category is. * Auto campaigns help identify effective keywords that you can eventually add to your manual keywords. * Aim for 30+ reviews for basic social proof. * Incorporate top keywords into product imagery. * If you get a lot of bad reviews, consider relaunching your product. * Continuously improve your product based on customer feedback.
Timestamps * 00:00- The Launch Process Overview * 02:22 - Stage One: Weeks One and Two * 05:44 - Stage Two: Weeks Three to Six * 09:23 - Stage Three: Weeks Seven to Twelve * 11:35 - Stage Four: Month Three and Beyond
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave talks about the recent IPO of a major Chinese Amazon seller, SainStore, and explores key insights from their filings. He covers the diverse brand strategies employed by the company (and a lot of other Chinese companies, in fact), the viability of the aggregator model in China, and the company's profitability metrics, inventory management practices, and even their social credit score.
Another Amazon seller has gone public... but in China.
It seems that the aggregator model has been working well over in the East, but what specifically are they doing to succeed?
Here's the 5 takeaways that I learned when looking over this company's IPO fillings.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
The Big Takeaways * The aggregator model in China is thriving, with companies creating multiple brands in-house (rather than purchasing companies at 4x and 5x). * Profit margins for major Chinese sellers are significantly lower than Western expectations. * SainSmart holds about 25% of their revenue in inventory, which could turn out to be a HUGE risk in cash flow. * The social credit score in China is a real and impactful metric for businesses. * 75% of SainSmart's revenue comes from Amazon, but they also diversify across other channels that you wouldn't expect. * The need for sellers to chase off-Amazon sales for better pricing power is ABSOLUTELY crucial. * Chinese sellers are adept at utilizing multiple sales channels, including lesser-known marketplaces. * The business model for Amazon sellers is evolving towards higher revenue with lower margins.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to Chinese Amazon Sellers Going Public * 02:12 - Diverse Brand Strategies of Chinese Companies * 04:37 - The Aggregator Model in China * 06:31 - Profitability and Revenue Insights * 08:28 - Inventory Management Strategies * 10:52 - Understanding China's Social Credit Score * 12:12 - Revenue Channels Beyond Amazon
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave dives into the 10 biggest sellers (by revenue) on Amazon, delving into their business models, what types of products they offer, and what small businesses can learn from them. Dave talks about discuss the importance of targeting the right demographic, the competitive landscape of supplements, and the rise of Amazon-native brands like Anchor.
Did you know that the top 10 third party amazon sellers combine for over $3 billion a year in sales?
And I’ll bet you think they’re making millions selling toilet paper and airpods.
But you couldn’t be more wrong.
In this episode, Dave deep dives into the 10 biggest sellers on Amazon by revenue — what industry they sell in, what their best selling products are, and how much revenue they generate for Amazon per month.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to Amazon's Top Sellers * 02:44 - Bigger Than Lululemon? * 03:50 - The Gardening Giant * 05:28 - The Rise of Korean Beauty * 07:16 - The Snail Slime Phenomenon * 08:46 - Targeting the Right Demographic As A Strategy * 10:34 - The Competitive Lighting Market * 11:52 - The Supplements Boom: Key Players * 13:10 - A Subscription Model Success * 15:21 - The Amazon Native Brand Leader
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Mike is back on the podcast to finally reveal what he's been up to in the past year. He shares his journey from e-commerce to going full-time content creation on launching a YouTube channel while also talking about the importance of video content in promoting e-commerce brands and the potential for YouTube as a business opportunity.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Timestamps * 00:00 – The Journey of Mike Jackness * 02:32 – Transitioning from E-commerce to New Ventures * 04:03 – The Impact of Amazon and Tariffs on E-commerce * 12:01 – The Future of E-commerce and Emerging Opportunities
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
If you've been listening to the podcast recently, you must have asked yourself, "where did Mike Jackness go?". Today, he's on the podcast to talk about his journey from running multiple e-commerce brands to transitioning out of the industry.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Timestamps * 00:00 - The Journey of Mike Jackness * 02:32 - Transitioning from E-commerce to New Ventures * 04:03 - The Impact of Amazon and Tariffs on E-commerce * 12:01 - The Future of E-commerce and Emerging Opportunities
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave dives into Amazon's Q1 2025 earnings report and how it will impact sellers. He dives into Amazon's online store revenue growth, FBA fee growth, and the huge growth in advertising revenue, which is one of the major sources of income for the e-commerce giant. This is the earnings report right before the new tariffs start, so it's not indicative of how Amazon will be affected.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Understanding Amazon's Earnings and Its Impact * 02:16 - Tariffs and Their Implications for Sellers * 04:34 - FBA Fees: Trends and Insights * 08:16 - Advertising Fees: The Growing Burden * 11:10 - Market Reactions and Future Outlook
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, leave a comment down below if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave shares some easy Amazon image hacks that can help you improve your click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates. We'll talk about how important it is to show your packaging in your main images, how you can sneak in some keywords without alerting Amazon's ban hammer, and how you can A/B test against your competition. Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you – so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
As an Amazon seller, you always have to be ahead of the competition. This means offering a better customer experience overall, but what does that look like in e-commerce? This means better product imagery. Images are the only way for customers to truly know what they're getting and better images often means higher click-through rates and higher conversion rates. How do you get better product images? Here's 7 easy ways you can make your product imagery better than your competition. The Big Takeaways * Include a keyword in your main image packaging and add your packaging to your main Amazon image. * More items in the main gallery image convey better value. * A/B test your product image against competitors using PickFu. * Check Amazon brand analytics for the performance of keywords for your product. * Regularly update product images to reflect trends. * Do not fear Amazon's TOS when it comes to images. * Review competitors' images in competitive categories. * Sometimes, ugly images perform better than beautiful ones. * Continuously refresh your images to avoid looking dated.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to Amazon Image Hacks * 01:55 - Utilizing Packaging for Keywords * 03:48 - Enhancing Product Images for Better Value * 05:15 - A/B Testing Against Competitors * 06:38 - Leveraging Amazon Brand Analytics * 08:33 - Regularly Updating Product Images * 09:59 - Pushing the Limits of Amazon's TOS * 10:56 - Learning from Competitors' Successes
And that's the 7 ways you can improve your images. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below!
Thanks for listening and happy selling!
In this episode, Gary Huang is on to discuss 3 potential predictions for the future of e-commerce within the next three years. Gary and I touch on topics like globalization, the impact of AI, and the potential return of aggregators while emphasizing how important it is to start moving manufacturing out of China.
Struggling with tariffs? Unsure about upcoming changes? Let’s talk! With Portless, you only pay tariffs after your customers pay you - so your cash always moves faster than your costs. Schedule a risk assessment and leverage tariff deferment today. All new customers get $1,000 to reinvest in their business.
Big Takeaways * Globalization is shifting towards a model that may exclude China. * AI will significantly impact businesses, potentially leading to many closures. * Aggregators in e-commerce are predicted to return with a focus on credible brands. * New challenges often give way to new opportunity. New marketplaces present opportunities for sellers to expand beyond Amazon US. * YouTube has the opportunity to become a major competitor to Amazon in retail. * Diversification away from Amazon is crucial for long-term success. * The current economic climate creates both challenges and opportunities for e-commerce. * AI tools can enhance efficiency but may also threaten traditional business models.
Timestamps * 00:00 - E-commerce Predictions and Global Sentiment * 02:57 - Globalization 2.0: The Future of Manufacturing * 05:50 - The Impact of AI on Business Survival * 08:59 - The Return of Aggregators in E-commerce * 12:09 - New Market Opportunities Amidst Uncertainty * 15:02 - YouTube as Amazon's Biggest Competitor * 17:57 - The Seven Figure Seller Summit and Future Trends
Gary, thanks for joining us on the podcast today. It was great having you on to talk about your upcoming event and some of your predictions for e-commerce in the future!
If you're interested in 7 Figure Seller Summit which will be held on April 22 - 24th, you can get your limited time Free Pass by clicking on this link.
Mike Jackness and Aymeric catch up on their e-commerce journey as friends and talk about how timing and luck are so important in entrepreneurial success.
Success is always a mix of luck, tenacity, and grit.
It takes a bit of luck to be in the right place at the right time and some grit to keep going when things aren't as profitable as they used to. At the same time, success also involves balancing between trying new things and focusing on what works.
Knowing when to zone in on the one thing or when to test the waters only comes with experience and time.
My good buddy Aymeric who's been a friend of mine is on the podcast today to talk exactly about what it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur.
We've both had our fair share of successful and failed ventures, but that didn't stop us from trying and moving forward.
If you're a business owner looking at the tariffs right now and thinking about moving out of e-commerce, this episode might be eye opening for you. In the end, the choice is yours to make.
Aymeric, thanks for joining us on the podcast today!
If you'd like to outsource some work and get your social life back together, check out the VA Placement service he offers here.
Tariffs are back again and stronger than ever. Things are still a little shaky at the moment because we never really know what will happen tomorrow but today, Dave discusses 5 ways you can deal with the new tariffs through DDP, diversifying, and negotiation.
Big Takeaways: * It is basically impossible to eliminate the effects of the tariffs but there are ways to minimize them. * DDP shipping puts risk on your supplier, not you. * Diversifying sales channels can be a great way to keep your profit margins healthy. * Negotiate discounts with your suppliers to soften the blow. * Moving your manufacturing can reduce tariffs and contribute to a healthier business. * Accept that the business landscape has changed permanently. * Look for new opportunities that arise from these challenges. * Consider manufacturing in Canada and Mexico as alternatives. * Evaluate your product catalog in these new market conditions.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction * 03:03 - Strategy 1: Shipping with DDP * 05:50 - Strategy 2: Diversifying Channels * 08:59 - Strategy 3: Negotiating with Suppliers * 11:48 - Strategy 4: Moving Manufacturing * 15:09 - Strategy 5: Accepting Change and Finding Opportunities
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Chris Davey discusses his journey in e-commerce, the growth of his networking event at the Canton Fair, and insights into navigating the complexities of sourcing from China. We share our experiences about the safety concerns in China, travel challenges, and the importance of thorough research when attending trade shows. We also talk about the networking opportunities going to China provides for Amazon sellers. We delve into the intricacies of product sourcing and development in the e-commerce space, particularly focusing on the advantages of Chinese manufacturing. We discuss strategies for identifying niche markets, the importance of building strong relationships with suppliers, and the rapid product development process that allows sellers to capitalize on emerging trends. The conversation also highlights the significance of differentiation in a competitive market and the benefits of being a first mover. The Big Takeaway * Chris's product sourcing strategy involves developing accessories for popular products. * The Canton Fair is divided into three phases, each focusing on different product categories. * Networking is a key benefit of attending the Canton Fair. * Post-COVID, there are fewer American attendees at the Canton Fair. * Visa regulations for entering China can be complex and vary by nationality. * Chris emphasizes how important of visiting suppliers' factories in China. * Attendees should plan for at least 10 days to fully experience the Canton Fair. * Designing accessories around popular products is effective. * Predictive keyword popularity can lead to successful products. * Niche markets can provide significant opportunities. * Building relationships with factories is crucial for success. * Rapid product development is key to staying competitive. * Differentiation is essential in a crowded market. * First-mover advantage can lead to increased sales. * Networking events like FBA for You foster community among sellers.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to FBA4U and Chris Davey * 01:57 - Chris's Journey to E-commerce and Canton Fair * 06:02 - Growth of FBA4U and Networking Opportunities * 09:56 - Safety and Visa Concerns in China * 15:54 - Canton Fair Insights and Supplier Strategies * 23:32 - The Speed of Chinese Manufacturing * 24:15 - Innovative Product Sourcing Strategies * 27:15 - Niche Markets and Competitive Advantages * 30:02 - Building Relationships with Factories * 32:10 - Rapid Product Development Process * 35:13 - The Importance of CAD in Product Design * 39:11 - Differentiation in a Competitive Market * 43:24 - Leveraging First-Mover Advantage * 44:55 - Managing Minimum Order Quantities * 46:51 - Building Strong Supplier Relationships * 50:18 - FBA for You: Networking and Community
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave interviews Steve Chou, who shares his journey of growing his YouTube channel from virtually nothing to over 400,000 subscribers in just a 2 to 3 years. We discuss the biggest ways you can make creating video content for e-commerce easier, the importance of SEO, and the differences between short-form and long-form video content.
In this episode, Steve emphasizes the significance of watch time in video ranking and shares his strategies to engage audiences effectively. Finally, Steve shares what's in store for the upcoming Seller Summit, happening on May 6th.
Need funding for your Canadian Amazon business? Not sure if you should use a Canadian corporation or U.S. LLC to form your company? We'll cover these questions and more in our new course, Start and Grow Your FBA Business as a Canadian. Get early access now!
Want to learn more about video from experts, or learn about new strategies for Amazon? Seller Summit covers everything content creation and e-commerce at Fort Lauderdale, Florida this May 6th. Check out Seller Summit here!
The Big Takeaways * Starting with reading blog posts out can help ease into video. * Joining a YouTube mastermind group was a turning point for Steve. * A "hook" in the first 30 seconds are crucial for engagement. * Watch time is a key factor in YouTube SEO. * Short form videos can attract a wider audience quickly, which could be useful for brand awareness. * Your video content should align with audience interests to avoid confusion from the algorithm. * "Social selling" is becoming increasingly important for e-commerce. * Faceless content creation is possible but requires a personal touch to get a "human" element in your content. * Building a subscriber base through contests or giveaways can be effective. * Video content takes time to gain traction. * Short-form videos can be chopped up from long video content, which contributes to a broader content strategy. * Consistency in content creation is key to success. * Investing in good audio equipment is the bare minimum for good videos. * Thumbnails with very exaggerated facial expressions can increase click-through rates.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction * 05:07 - Steve's Journey to YouTube Success * 10:01 - Content Creation Strategies * 14:58 - Short Form vs Long Form Video * 19:52 - Building a YouTube Channel for E-commerce * 20:45 - Creating Stories with AI * 24:20 - Faceless Content Creation in E-commerce * 28:10 - Launching a YouTube Channel for E-commerce * 30:57 - The Power of Video in E-commerce * 32:23 - Essential Equipment for Video Creation * 35:20 - Thumbnail Tips for Higher Click-Through Rates * 37:09 - Overview of Seller Summit 2025
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Tanya Huang shares her entrepreneurial journey, from her experience on Dragon's Den to running a successful ring business.
We talk about how customization is another barrier from the competition and how she decided to move on to customized products. We also compare Amazon vs Etsy, and how the two shape up for customized and handmade products.
Need funding for your Canadian Amazon business? Not sure if you should use a Canadian corporation or U.S. LLC to form your company? We'll cover these questions and more in our new course, Start and Grow Your FBA Business as a Canadian. Get early access now!
The Big Takeaways * Customization is a really big consideration to customers and helps your products stand out in e-commerce platforms. * Understanding customer needs drives product innovation. Etsy provides valuable insights into market research for customized products. * Amazon's interface may not be ideal for customization. * Etsy's sales have declined but are still higher than pre-COVID levels. * New competitors like Temu are changing the e-commerce landscape, bringing Etsy's market share down. * Etsy shoppers seek unique, personalized items over mass-produced products. * Customization on Amazon is possible but comes with certain challenges. * Etsy's decline may be due to increased competition and changing consumer preferences. * Sales dynamics differ significantly between Etsy and Amazon. Etsy requires more attention to customer service and product uniqueness, while Amazon requires quick deliveries and cheaper products.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to Tanya Huang and Her Business * 02:45 - Experience on Dragon's Den * 06:01 - Transitioning to Silicone Rings * 07:47 - Customization and Manufacturing in Canada * 11:16 - Engraving Process and Challenges * 18:10 - Investing in Engraving Technology * 21:34 - Market Research for Customization Ideas * 24:01 - Exploring Amazon Custom and Handmade * 25:42 - Etsy's Decline: Analyzing the Trends * 29:09 - The Impact of New Competitors * 32:34 - Etsy vs. Amazon: Sales Dynamics * 36:30 - Philosophical Insights on Selling Strategies
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave breaks down the huge fee increases for the Amazon Warehousing and Distribution program that takes effect on April 1st, 2025. He talks about the changes in warehousing and distribution fees, specifically on how much the fees have increased from previous iterations.
Need funding for your Canadian Amazon business? Not sure if you should use a Canadian corporation or U.S. LLC to form your company? We'll cover these questions and more in our Start and Grow Your FBA Business as a Canadian Webinar on March 12th, 10am PST!
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months! Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) was one of the biggest programs that Amazon introduced in 2022, and pushed a lot of sellers into using AWD by increasing prices on the FBA side of inventory. Back then, it seemed like an attractive alternative because of the low prices despite the shove to get everyone into the program. That is until today where Amazon announced a fee increase to the AWD program in the most confusing way possible. Luckily, Dave is here to break it all down for us and how these fees impact your e-commerce business. Big Takeaways * Amazon is increasing fees starting April 1st, 2025. * The fee increase is not like previous fee announcements; they've given sellers only three weeks notice. * AWD storage fees will increase by 20%. * Amazon has changed the name of their "integrated rate" to "smart storage rate". * To qualify for the smart storage rate, 70 days of inventory is required. * Processing fees will increase from $2.50 to $2.70 per box. * Transportation fees will rise from $1.00 to $1.15 per cubic foot. * Overall, expect a 15-20% increase in fees. * Amazon's tactics make it hard to plan for these increases. * Sellers need to increase prices to maintain margins.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to Amazon Fee Increases * 03:12 - Understanding the New AWD Fees * 05:51 - Impact of Storage Fee Changes * 09:10 - Processing and Transportation Fee Adjustments * 11:03 - Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave interviews John LeBaron, the Chief Revenue Officer of Pattern.com, the biggest third party seller on Amazon. They discuss Pattern's unique business model and how they help brands grow their presence on e-commerce platforms. The episode covers the importance of unit economics, advertising strategies, and how you can use AI to analyse your competition.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months! The Big Takeaways * Pattern operates as an accelerator, not a traditional DTC brand, helping brands manage their inventory and online presence. * Unit economics are crucial for brands looking to partner with Pattern. * Advertising strategies significantly influence organic ranking on Amazon. * Pattern leverages patented AI technology to improve conversion rates and predict organic ranking. * The company manages over 300 brands, focusing on their growth. * Off-Amazon marketing strategies are essential for brand success.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introducing Pattern: The Biggest Amazon Seller * 03:02 - Understanding Pattern's Unique Business Model * 06:01 - The Role of Accelerators vs. Aggregators * 08:59 - Expanding Brand Presence Across Marketplaces * 11:50 - Target Demographics: Brands Seeking Help * 15:09 - Unit Economics: What Matters for Brands? * 18:06 - Advertising Strategies and Organic Ranking * 21:01 - Off-Amazon Marketing Strategies * 24:04 - Leveraging AI for E-commerce Success * 26:59 - Improving Conversion Rates Through Data * 29:52 - Future Innovations and Conclusion
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Steve Churchill has a lot on his plate.
After being in the Air Force, he decided to start a simple blog on the side, in addition to her demanding day job. His blog, Urban Worm Company, has always been a passion project, and over time he’s been able to grow it to become a healthy lifestyle business.
Steve talks about how he built his blog, while being a full time airline pilot.
He talks about his business model, the types of goals he has for the business, his approach to SEO, and why he's okay with owning a small business.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months! The Big Takeaway * Running a lifestyle business allows for a better work-life balance and prioritizes quality of life over rapid growth. * Using e-commerce principles in B2B environments can lead to stress-free growth and better customer experiences. * Finding a niche market and educating customers can help build a loyal customer base and differentiate your business. * Cash flow management is crucial for sustainable growth and reducing stress in the business. * Prioritizing personal interests and happiness in business decisions can lead to long-term satisfaction and success.
Timestamps: * 00:00 - Introduction and Background * 07:00 - Steve's Business Journey: From Air Force to Vermicomposting * 14:00 - Building a Lifestyle Business: Prioritizing Quality of Life * 21:12 - Using E-commerce Principles in B2B Environments * 25:15 - The Power of Niche Markets and Customer Education * 28:19 - Cash Flow Management for Sustainable Growth * 31:17 - Prioritizing Personal Happiness in Business Decisions * 33:37 - Conclusion
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Jeff Oxford is on the podcast today to talk about how you can get free Google Shopping listings as an e-commerce seller. Jeff explains what Google Shopping is, why they're not just paid ads, and how you can achieve better rankings on Google Shopping. We also touch on why diversification away from Amazon is important and the things we have observed in SEO for e-commerce businesses.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
The Big Takeaway
- Google Shopping is not just about ads; it's a separate search ranking.
- Amazon dominates Google Shopping listings, holding 50% of the top spots.
- Domain authority is one of the biggest factors for ranking in Google Shopping.
- Building backlinks to specific product pages is more effective than general domain authority.
- Product reviews significantly impact rankings in Google Shopping.
- Diversifying sales channels beyond Amazon is something worth considering.
- Recent SEO updates have favored e-commerce sites over content sites, so if you are new to SEO, don't be afraid!
- E-commerce has seen significant growth, with a 50% increase over five years.
- Main image and title optimization are critical for product listings.
- Having keywords in product titles helps with rankings, but correlation is minimal.
- Lower-priced products tend to rank better in Google Shopping.
- Premium brands may struggle with SEO due to higher bounce rates.
- Core updates from Google adjust ranking factors periodically.
- A good mobile experience is absolutely essential for website ranking.
- User experience significantly impacts SEO performance.
- Content on collection pages can enhance SEO effectiveness.
- Link building remains a key strategy for improving search rankings.
Timestamps
- 00:00 - Introduction to Google Shopping Listings
- 03:03 - Understanding Google Shopping and Its Importance
- 06:07 - Getting Started with Google Shopping Listings
- 09:03 - The Role of Domain Authority in Google Shopping
- 11:58 - Optimizing Product Pages for Google Shopping
- 15:05 - The Impact of Product Reviews on Rankings
- 17:51 - Diversifying Beyond Amazon
- 21:08 - The Future of E-commerce and SEO Trends
- 21:33 - E-commerce Growth and Optimization Strategies
- 30:04 - Understanding Core Updates and Their Impact
- 35:52 - SEO Best Practices for E-commerce in 2025
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave dives into Amazon's Q4 2024 earnings report and how it will impact sellers. He dives into Amazon's online store revenue growth, FBA fee growth, and the huge growth in advertising revenue, which is one of the major sources of income for the e-commerce giant. Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time …
The post E586: Amazon Just Revealed Ad & FBA Costs from Q4 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave will be revealing the winners (a couple of which you might not have expected) of last year’s survey to find out the Best Amazon Seller Software across five categories.
The post E585: The Winners of EcomCrew’s 2024 Software Poll first appeared on EcomCrew.
Chinese New Year is coming up in a few days and if you're relatively new to the e-commerce game, there's a few things you should know about the big holiday. Dave is back on the podcast to cover the impact Chinese New Year has on e-commerce sellers and manufacturers, the significance of the Zodiacs, and the common equivalent for those who aren't aware.
The post E584: 5 Ways You Should Prepare For Chinese New Year as an E-Commerce Seller first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave talks about his visit to New South City in China, what he found while he was there, and why this place exists.
The post E583: I Found Where the Biggest Amazon Sellers Operate in China first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dave interviews David McCormick from Legacy Lawyers to talk about e-commerce taxation in B.C., Canada, specifically regarding the Online Marketplace Services Act, the Ministry of Finance's choice to start charging Provincial Sales Tax (PST) to every B.C. based seller on each of Amazon's seller fees, and why this choice is ultimately flawed. Let’s be real …
The post E582: B.C. Is Taxing Sellers On Nearly All Of Your Fees first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dave interviews his good friend Ronnie Teja, a well-connected figure in digital marketing, to talk about the 3 online business models that rewards the most while hurting the least. We also talk about which ones are the best to start in terms of capital, and why they're worth it. Happy new year everyone! …
The post E581: Which One Sucks Less: SaaS, Ecom, or Content? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dave reviews the top 5 episodes of 2024 and what they're about. Check out the top 5 episodes of the year! We've included a snippet of each episode and links to them below. Merry belated Christmas and Happy Early New Year! This week, we're rounding out our top 5 episodes of the year along with …
The post E580: The Top 5 Episodes Of 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave talks about how you can start developing custom software for Amazon, and what the main benefits are. He'll be covering how to setup custom software, the requirements needed, and the advantages of using third-party APIs to enhance data access. The Big Takeaway Custom software can significantly enhance Amazon business operations. Most …
The post E579: How to Make Your Own Amazon SaaS Tools (& Annual Software Poll) first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave takes a look at one of the biggest Chinese Amazon sellers' documents and reveals how much they were making, how being suspended by Amazon affected their revenue, and how they bounced back well enough to go public.
The post E578: Massive Chinese Seller Data Leaks first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike is joined by Bill D'Alessandro in today's episode where they reflect on their decade-long journey in e-commerce.
The post E577: The Next 10 Years of E-Commerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave talks about the potential impacts of Donald Trump's presidency on e-commerce, focusing on tariffs, currency fluctuations, and whether big tech companies like Amazon will still be under scrutiny from FTC.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
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Takeaways * Trump's presidency will almost 100% signify a tariff on all international imports. * Companies will have no choice but to either increase their prices, absorb the cost, or to look at sourcing locally. * Other than that, expect higher freight costs in the near term. Almost everyone will be placing more orders before tariffs are implemented, which will spike up freight costs. * Big tech will certainly be affected too. * Trump's stance on TikTok has softened. * Amazon and Trump have a rough relationship, and its unlikely that Trump will ease their FTC issues.
Chapters * 00:00 - The Impact of Trump's Presidency on E-Commerce * 10:10 - Tariffs and Their Implications for E-Commerce * 14:27 - Currency Fluctuations and Economic Strategies * 18:15 - Big Tech and E-Commerce Dynamics * 20:24 - Digital Taxes and Global Trade Relations
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave discusses Amazon's Q3 2024 earnings report, how much their revenue has grown in advertising, third party seller fees, and retail, and what this means for third-party sellers. He delves into Amazon's revenue streams, particularly focusing on the surge in advertising fees, the relatively stable growth of FBA fees, and the overall impact on sellers in the e-commerce space.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
Takeaways * Amazon's Q3 earnings report shows a 19% increase in advertising revenue. * FBA fees growth was only 10%, indicating stability for sellers. * Online store revenue increased by 8%, a positive sign for Amazon's growth. * The surge in advertising costs is outpacing retail sales growth 2x. * Placement fees may not be as damaging as initially thought. * Amazon's stock price rose by 6% following the earnings report. * The growth rate of advertising revenue is the lowest in four years.
Timestamps * 00:00 Amazon's Q3 Earnings Overview * 05:03 Advertising Revenue Surge * 09:52 FBA Fees and Seller Services * 15:05 Implications for Third-Party Sellers
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this Halloween special, Dave delves into the billion-dollar ghost companies on Amazon —businesses that have years of history, millions in revenue while being mysteriously hard to track outside the platform. We take a look at who the billion dollar ghost companies of Amazon are, how they exist, why they exist, and Dave even dives into trying to figure out the true identities of some of these ghost companies of Amazon.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
Takeaways
- Some Amazon sellers who are doing millions in yearly revenue are surprisingly very hard to track. We call these "Ghost Companies".
- A lot of these "ghost companies" operate as resellers with no easily identifiable presence.
- The registered addresses of these companies often lead to notary publics, PO boxes, or shared office spaces.
- These resellers sometimes wish to avoid public contact information to limit customer inquiries and warranty claims.
- The culture of secrecy in e-commerce is likely to persist, with more ghost companies emerging.
Timestamps
- 00:00 The Billion Dollar Ghost Companies of Amazon
- 08:18 Understanding the Secrecy of Resellers
- 18:13 The Gray Market and Its Implications
- 23:30 The Culture of Secrecy Among Amazon Sellers
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave is back for a solo podcast episode to discuss the things you can do when your Amazon business is in trouble. He opens up about the challenges that he's personally facing with 2 e-commerce brands, and what he did to bring up profitability despite revenue going down 10%-50%.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
2024 was one of the hardest years of selling on Amazon. Between Google SEO updates and Amazon's fee increases, a lot of sellers have been pushed to their breaking point.
While things may seem bleak, the good will almost always come back around.
But how do you stay afloat while things are in the gutter?
In this episode, Dave talks about the few ways you can save your business that don't include selling your business at a loss.
Takeaways
- Many e-commerce businesses are facing financial difficulties, not just you.
- Laying off employees can be a necessary but difficult decision to keep your business afloat.
- Solopreneurs can also consider reducing their salaries during tough times.
- Cutting advertising costs can help improve financial health.
- Managing inventory effectively is crucial for cash flow.
- Shopping around for 3PL providers can lead to significant cost savings.
- Reviewing SaaS subscriptions can uncover unnecessary expenses.
Chapters
- 00:00 - Facing Financial Difficulties in E-commerce
- 03:11 - Navigating Declines in Revenue and Traffic
- 06:02 - Making Tough Decisions: Layoffs and Cost-Cutting
- 08:55 - Strategies for Solopreneurs in Financial Trouble
- 11:46 - Trimming the Fat: Advertising and Inventory Management
- 15:04 - Optimizing Cash Flow and Reducing Overhead Costs
- 17:56 - Reevaluating Business Strategies for Recovery
- 20:54 - Embracing Change and Moving Forward
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Julian Timings from Autron.ai discusses if old Amazon PPC strategies still work in 2024, how video advertising is still profitable, and whether off-Amazon advertising is still worth it.
He shares some of the trends that he's seeing in Autron about optimizing campaigns, the average TACOs, and how Autron works to provide PPC management to those without budget, time or expertise.
The Big Takeaways of Today's Episode * Amazon ad costs have been increasing significantly. * Video advertising can be a great ROI for sellers, especially if the creative aspect is locked down. * Off-Amazon advertising isn't very profitable - the general trend is that after some time, it isn't worth it. * TACoS between 10-15% is more of an exception than a rule. * PPC influences organic rankings somewhat because Amazon rewards sales velocity.
Episode Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to E-commerce and PPC Strategies * 01:58 - Julian's Background and How He Transitioned to Amazon * 03:21 - Emerging Trends in Amazon PPC * 04:41 - The Importance of Video Advertising * 06:58 - Off-Amazon Advertising Insights * 09:47 - Identifying New Sales Opportunities for Growth * 11:30 - Optimizing Campaign Goals with Autron * 13:29 - Campaign Structure and Management Strategies * 16:48 - Long-Tail Keywords and Campaign Optimization * 18:33 - Targeting Strategies and Keyword Management * 19:54 - Understanding TACOS and Profitability * 21:47 - The Influence of Advertising on Organic Rankings * 23:10 - Autron's Unique Approach to PPC Management * 25:58 - Future of AI in Advertising * 27:48 - Pricing Model and Customer Alignment * 29:11 - Ideal Customer Profile for Autron
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Today's episode is part 2 of last week's podcast, where Mike goes into the details of Icewraps' sale, how he built up profitability from being in a loss at the start of the year, and the mindset he had during negotiations.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
It's been nearly 10 years since I first bought IceWraps.
After a long journey of facing Amazon's sudden fee increases, COVID and logistical challenges, I felt that it was time for me to take some chips off the table and finally sell off the last ecommerce business that I'm holding.
It's time for me to get some breathing room back, and move on to another project.
Takeaways * Raising prices and cutting unnecessary costs helped turn the business from a loss to being profitable. * Transitioning to AWD reduced storage costs significantly. * When you have the mindset of being done and over a business, you might be willing to do all it takes to sell. However, it's important to maintain a two-way street and make sure you don't accept terms that seem unfair.
Timestamps * 00:00 - The Journey of Selling Ice Wraps * 03:07 - Challenges Faced During the Sale * 05:56 - Turning the Business Around * 09:13 - Cost-Cutting Strategies * 12:08 - The Sale Process and Negotiations * 15:02 - Finalizing the Sale and Transition * 17:55 - Reflections on the Sale * 20:59 - Lessons Learned and Future Outlook
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Mike is back on the podcast to look back on IceWraps' journey, from facing burnout to regrets from running more than one brand at a time.
The post E570: Selling My Brand After 10 Years – Part 1 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike is back on the podcast to look back on IceWraps' journey, from facing burnout to regrets from running more than one brand at a time.
Today's episode is sponsored by Autron. Maximize your ROI with Autron’s real-time algorithmic bidding, optimizing every ad dollar for smarter spending and higher returns. Start optimizing today and get 30% off for 3 months!
Takeaways * Selling at the peak of your business can mean sacrificing future cash flows. * Focusing on one business can lead to greater success. * Running multiple brands at a time can dilute your effectiveness.
Timestamps * 00:00 - The Journey of Ice Wraps: A Decade in E-Commerce * 08:02 - Lessons Learned from Selling Ice Wraps * 15:59 - Defining Success: The "One Thing" Focus * 21:49 - The Transition: From Acquisition to Sale
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave recaps Amazon Accelerate 2024, highlighting some announcements that sellers should know about, and some developments that impact e-commerce sellers.
Amazon Accelerate 2024 has just wrapped up this year, and there's been a few announcements that Amazon revealed that may or may not pass the smell test.
In the online event, Amazon announced a range of new programs and services to help brands build relationships with third party sellers and increase their sales and profitability.
Apart from the announcements, Amazon is also making a big push to being a part of the entire supply chain process - from logistics to delivery.
The Big Takeaways of Today's Episode * Amazon Accelerate is the biggest event of the year for Amazon with over 4,000 live attendees and 450,000 virtual views. * Amazon receives over 125 million product reviews annually. * Same-day or next-day delivery 2x conversion rates. * A new seller dashboard is available and offers better analytics for sellers. * Live chat support is now available for all cases. * One-on-one assistance is also now available for sellers. * Amazon is starting to focus on owning the entire supply chain process - from logistics to delivery. * Buy with Prime aims to capture off-Amazon sales.
Amazon Accelerate Episode Timestamps * 00:00 - Overview of Amazon Accelerate * 01:17 - Key Statistics and Announcements * 04:40 - Positive Developments for Sellers * 11:44 - Skepticism Towards Amazon's Announcements * 16:27 - Amazon's Supply Chain Strategy
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave talks about how Temu is pressuring Amazon with its low prices, fast shipping and surge in popularity.
Ever since Temu's viral marketing ad in the Superbowl, they've grown to become one of the biggest competitors to Amazon.
But how is Temu able to offer lower prices compared to sites like Amazon and even eBay?
It has something to do with its business model and the fact that it lacks a few key features of other e-commerce sites. But is there more to it?
In this episode, we'll talk about how Temu has disrupted the e-commerce space, how Temu keeps its products cheap, and how they cut costs.
The Big Takeaways of Today's Episode * Temu has disrupted Amazon's dominance in the North American e-commerce market. * Temu is able to offer fast shipping times because of their logistics model that mirrors Amazon's FBA. * The Chinese government may be indirectly supporting Temu's growth by heavily supporting exports.
Temu Prices Episode Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction to E-commerce and Temu * 02:54 - Temu's Disruption of Amazon * 05:45 - Logistics and Shipping Innovations * 09:03 - Pricing Strategies and Market Competition * 11:50 - Government Subsidies and Economic Implications * 15:08 - Amazon's Response to Competition * 18:02 - Conclusion and Future Outlook
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Mike Jackness interviews Michael Kaufman – the CEO of ProTuff Products. We talk about Kaufman's journey in the e-commerce industry, how he differentiates his products by offering an extended warranty and how lifetime warranties guarantees 5 star reviews.
How to Find a Profitable Product Course Open Now Still struggling to find your next great product? The EcomCrew How to Find a Profitable Course is open now and is just $499 for one week only. We’ll cover everything from using the ‘Cockroach approach’ to developing large and bulky products, avoiding placement fees, and more. Check it out now.
How Do You Use Lifetime Warranties To Guarantee 5 Star Reviews? As a shopper on Amazon, you've probably bought something that have warranty cards as a part of the products' insert.
But most companies don't stand behind their warranty policy, or they just straight up have flimsy policies.
Having a lifetime warranty means that you'll have to approve every warranty that comes in, no matter what. However, the bright side to this is that this almost always guarantees a 5-star review since you will actually be standing behind your own warranty policy.
The Big Takeaways of Today's Episode * Offering a lifetime warranty can help differentiate your products and build a solid review profile. * Automating the warranty registration and claim process can save time and money, since you don't have to hire someone to approve warranties. * Selling seasonal products can be challenging, but offering incentives for early registration and extending the product's use for other purposes can help mitigate the seasonality. * Building a list through warranty registration is a TOS-compliant way to communicate with customers on Amazon. * Choosing the right warranty duration and offering additional benefits can encourage customers to register and leave positive reviews.
Lifetime Warranties Episode Timestamps: * 00:00 - Introduction and Small Talk * 03:14 - ProTuff Products and the Pool Tools Niche * 11:29 - Differentiating Products with a Lifetime Warranty * 18:10 - Building a List through Lifetime Warranty Registration * 21:03 - Incentivizing Lifetime Warranty Registration and Positive Reviews * 26:57 - Streamlining Warranty Management
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Elizabeth Corbett discusses the biggest mistakes e-commerce brands make with packaging, the opportunities they're missing out on and the easy ways you can save on packaging costs.
The post E566: Easy Tips to Save on Packaging Costs first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Mike and Dave evaluate the impact of Google's September 2023 Update on EcomCrew's and other websites, and talk about the new challenges that have popped up because of this update.
Ever since September 2023, ranking on Google as an affiliate site has been harder than ever.
We've seen websites (including ours) decline in organic views from 20% to 80%, while Reddit has started to rank for every keyword.
If Google continue towards this trend of giving big websites all the ranking juice, what happens to affiliate websites? And by extension, what does that mean for all digital media outlets?
Dave and I discuss all these topics and more in this episode. Here are some timestamps to help you along.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction * 01:26 - Economies of Scale and Content Sites * 04:20 - Google's Helpful Update and Content Sites * 08:07 - The Rise of Reddit * 19:29 - Challenges of Self-Promotion on Reddit * 23:36 - The Future of Content Sites and Digital Media * 24:06 - Conclusion
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
In this episode, Dave discusses how you can reduce inbound placement fees on Amazon, how placement fees are calculated and who the winners and losers are since these fees were implemented.
The post E564: 3 Ways to Reduce Inbound Placement Fees first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike interviews Ajoy Krishnamoorthy, the CEO of Cin7, about the importance of software in e-commerce businesses, the challenges of managing inventory across multiple channels, and the benefits of using AI to forecast inventory for your business. Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, …
The post E563: Optimizing Inventory Management in E-commerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike interviews Ajoy Krishnamoorthy, the CEO of Cin7, about the importance of software in e-commerce businesses, the challenges of managing inventory across multiple channels, and the benefits of using AI to forecast inventory for your business.
Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!
Branching out into another marketplace can make things more complicated than you think, inventory and accounting wise.
Having an inventory management software can make things easier, but how?
Ajoy Krishnamoorthy, the CEO of Cin7, an inventory management software, is on the podcast today to explain and talk about how an inventory management system can help simplify selling in multiple ecommerce platforms.
The Big Takeaway * Managing inventory across multiple channels can be challenging and requires a centralised system. * AI and machine learning can improve forecasting accuracy and help make informed inventory decisions. * Data-driven insights are essential for optimizing inventory and improving business performance.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction & Sponsorship * 01:29 - Introduction to Ajoy Krishnamurthy and Cin7 * 04:46 - Challenges of Managing Inventory Across Multiple Channels * 10:39 - The Importance of Accurate Forecasting in Inventory Management * 20:48 - Streamlining Financial Processes with Accounting Integration * 25:24 - AI as an Enabler for Business Growth
Resources * Brain Dead brand case study * Ajoy's LinkedIn * Get 50% off Core Plan for Cin7 for 3 months!
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
With Prime Day over and Amazon's Q2 earnings report revealed, Dave recaps how his Prime Day went and what does means for the future of third party sellers on Amazon.
Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!
Prime Day 2024 was touted as the biggest shopping event ever, with record sales and more items sold than any previous Prime Day.
But who were the real winners of Prime Day?
Today, Dave talks about his personal Prime Day experience, how Amazon missed their estimates for Q2, and what that means for third party sellers.
The Big Takeaway * Amazon's Q2 earnings showed sluggish growth in online store revenue and missed estimates for the "third-party seller services and advertising revenue" section. This might mean more fees in Q3. * Prime Day 2024 was the biggest shopping event ever, but its impact on overall sales is questionable as consumers may be delaying their purchases. * Buy Now, Pay Later options are gaining popularity, accounting for 7.6% of all orders during Prime Day. * Amazon Basics was the most searched for brand during Prime Day, indicating consumers' demand for low priced products. * Apparel is emerging as a strong category on Amazon, potentially due to Amazon's response to Temu and Shein.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction: Amazon's Q2 Earnings and Prime Day 2024 * 03:06 - Sluggish Growth and Missed Estimates * 09:47 - Prime Day 2024: The Biggest Shopping Event Ever? * 13:02 - The Rise of Buy Now, Pay Later * 17:42 - Amazon Basics: The Most Searched for Brand on Prime Day * 21:24 - Apparel: A Strong Category on Amazon
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
To find out what exactly happens to these returns and where they go, Dave stuck an Apple Airtag in it and tracked it over the next 3 months.
Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!
Have you ever wondered what happens to your Amazon returns?
Earlier in the year, Dave bought an Amazon Basics gym bag that he needed to return. To find out what exactly happens to these returns and where they go, he stuck an Apple Airtag in it and tracked it over the next 3 months. Here's exactly where it went and how I found it.
The Big Takeaway * Amazon inspects returns for their condition and might resell them to liquidators if they're not "like new". * 80% of customers mark items as "wrong item sent" to avoid return shipping charges. * There is a huge reseller market for Amazon returns.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction: Tracking an Amazon Return * 08:05 - The Reseller Market for Amazon Returns * 13:17 - Buying Back the Returned Item * 17:05 - The Environmental Consequences of Returns
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave joins the podcast today to talk about Prime Day 2024; what their early sales look like, whether Chinese Marketplaces are going to start more shopping holidays, and why this might be the worst Prime Day so far.
Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!
Prime Day 2024 has been nowhere close to what we've seen in sales the year before.
Now these might be niche and brand specific, but it's worth pointing out that maybe this year hasn't been as great as last year, where we saw 2.5x to 3x the number of sales.
From a mixture of the early results and an overall negative perception of the shopping holiday, here's why Dave and I think this might be one of the worst Prime Days since its inception.
Big Takeaways * Prime Day sales boosts might not be felt by everyone - it could vary depending on brand and niche. * If you aren't trying to spread brand awareness, it might not be worth it to sell your products at a loss. * Chinese competitors like Temu and Shein might start to challenge Amazon's dominance on Prime Day and create their own shopping holidays in the US.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction and Sponsor * 02:17 - Early Results of Prime Day * 02:39 - Feelings about Prime Day * 04:17 - Why this might be the worst Prime Day * 06:32 - Pent-up demand and scouting orders the day before * 09:57 - The Negative Perception Around Prime Day * 12:41 - Will chinese competitors hop on the same trend? * 14:17 - Predictions: More shopping holidays are coming * 18:10 - Casual stories with Mike and Dave
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Dave and I discuss the reasons why e-commerce valuations have significantly decreased this year, Mike's run at the World Series of Poker event, and the potential valuation of content websites.
Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!
It's been almost a year since I last sold off one of my e-commerce businesses.
Since then, a lot has changed.
Amazon's new fees were implemented, interest rates have skyrocketed, and FBA Aggregators are few and far between.
I invited Dave over today to discuss how Amazon may or may not have had a hand in directly affecting the valuations of e-commerce businesses, and why the market hasn't recovered from 2 years ago. Here are some of the big takeaways from this episode:
The Big Takeaways * E-commerce valuations have decreased mainly due to the uncertainty caused by Amazon's fees and policies. Who knows when Amazon will come out with more fees that'll impact profitability? * Google's latest algorithm update has hit a LOT of content websites, leading to decreased traffic for everyone involved which directly impact its valuations. * If your e-commerce business is sold at a 2x multiple, it might not be enough for you to retire. Wouldn't it be better to hold onto your business instead?
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction and Sponsor * 02:56 - Mike's Run at the World Series of Poker * 08:13 - E-commerce Valuations * 20:07 - Valuations for FBA Businesses * 21:06 - Valuations for Off-Amazon Brands * 22:01 - Uncertainty in Content Site Valuations * 28:14 - Decision to Hold onto a Profitable Business * 31:08 - Dave's Funny Story * 34:21 - eBay's Attempt to Change
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Brandon Eley joins the podcast to talk about his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges and opportunities of picking a complex product for private labelling, and why the road less travelled can be the better option when picking a product. Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund …
The post E558: The Advantages of Choosing a Complex Product first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave shows 10 ways you can reduce stupid PPC Spend and maximise efficiency just in time for Prime Day.
Today's episode is sponsored by Clearco, a company that provides ecommerce businesses with working capital to fund inventory, marketing, shipping and logistics, and more! Check them out today!
Prime Day 2023 saw people spend up to $12.9bn alone.
Obviously, everyone wants a piece of the pie. You can expect competitors to increase their ad spend 2x or even 3x more just for the possibility of more sales. To prepare for this year's Prime Day, there are some ways you can maximise the efficiency of your ad spend.
However what these sellers fail to notice is that it's all about maximising efficiency of your running ads.
That's why my partner-in-crime, Dave Bryant, is on the podcast today to talk about the 10 ways you can maximise your efficiency and reduce ad spend.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction and Sponsor * 01:28 - Topic: Reducing PPC Spend on Amazon * 03:51 - Optimizing Targeting Options in Auto Campaigns * 05:16 - Optimizing Targeting Options in Manual Campaigns * 07:37 - Using Dynamic Bids Down Only and Avoiding Broad Match * 10:30 - Avoiding Ads in Other Countries and Turning Off Sponsored Display * 13:52 - Unclicking Expanded Product Targeting and Using Exact Match * 17:44 - Conclusion and Call to Action
The Big Takeaways * Increasing conversion rates can lower ad costs and improve ROAS. * Turn off loose match targeting in auto campaigns and optimize targeting options in manual campaigns. * Use dynamic bids down only and be cautious with broad match keywords. * Don't let Amazon set up ads in other countries and consider turning off sponsored display campaigns. * Lowering prices may be a better option than increasing PPC to improve profitability.
As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.
Thanks for listening!
Until next time, happy selling!
Aaron Hughes makes his second appearance on the Ecomcrew Podcast to talk about all things Tiktok Shop, and why people should start leveraging the platform for their ecommerce businesses.
The post E556: Why You Should Be Using TikTok Shop first appeared on EcomCrew.
Joshua George shares the 5 biggest SEO-related mistakes that he's noticed after countless discovery calls with ecommerce entrepreneurs made through his agency, ClickSlice.
The post E555: The 5 Biggest SEO Mistakes That Are Killing Your Organic Revenue first appeared on EcomCrew.
In today's episode, Joshua George shares the 5 biggest SEO-related mistakes that he's noticed after countless discovery calls with ecommerce entrepreneurs made through his agency, ClickSlice. Mike and Joshua also talk about the many SEO challenges that business owners have been facing from recent Google updates.
Joshua George is the founder of ClickSlice, an award-winning SEO agency based in London. He's also a regular speaker who focuses on spreading SEO education.
I've invited him over to the podcast to pick his brain about what the current SEO landscape is shaping up to be, and whether the challenges that I'm personally facing right now are just a symptom of Google's newest core update or if they're a serious issue.
The Big Takeaways * Backlinks are the most challenging, but most rewarding factor to contribute to your SEO rankings. * There's a hidden opportunity to get your collection pages ranked on Google! * Sub-collections and separate URLs for certain categories of products can actually help your SEO rankings.
Timestamps * 00:00 - Introduction and Sponsor * 01:57 - Joshua's Background and Experience with SEO * 03:25 - The Impact of Google Updates on SEO * 08:42 - The Importance of Long-Tail Keywords and Transactional Intent * 10:08 - The Value of SEO and the Common Mistakes Brands Make * 13:19 - Mistake 1: Not Doing Enough Keyword Research * 14:17 - Mistake 2: Not Adding Content on Collection Pages * 21:24 - Mistake 4: Not Leveraging Blogs Properly * 25:35 - Mistake 5: Not Building Quality Backlinks * 29:24 - Where to Find ClickSlice and Closing Remarks
Joshua, thank you again for coming on the podcast! It was nice chatting with you, and picking your brain about my SEO challenges. I look forward to meeting you in person soon!
You can find Joshua George through his agency's website, ClickSlice. If you have any inquiries about how you can boost your SEO rankings, book a free discovery call! I highly recommend putting more time and effort into SEO in general. You can also find Joshua George on Twitter, or LinkedIn.
If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at support@ecomcrew.com.
Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes.
Thanks for listening!
In this episode, Mike and Dave discuss Ecomcrew's new feature, the trending products tab on Amazon. They list out some of the top opportunities found, and why they may or may not be a very good idea.
The post E554: Our NEW Trending Products Feature first appeared on EcomCrew.
Adam Craft, founder of Elevated Craft, joins Mike Jackness on the EcomCrew podcast to discuss his personal journey in building a brand. Adam shares his approach to product differentiation in a saturated market, and how building a strong brand was the first priority for Adam. This meant that learning the basics of Amazon wasn't his …
The post E553: How Your Past Can Affect Decision-Making first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Chris and Julia Tunstall share their journey of building a successful brand in the bartending industry, what it's like to have your spouse as a business partner and a few tips on how they make it work.
The post E552: Clear Roles and Communication – The Keys to a Successful Business with Your Spouse first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Mike and Dave dissect Amazon's latest announcement regarding Return Fees, how this will affect sellers starting on June 1st, and a possible option to combat these fees.
The post E551: Your Returns Are About to Kill Your Profits first appeared on EcomCrew.
Kevin Williams is on the podcast today to talk about his entrepreneurial journey. From founding brands like Brush Hero to appearing on Shark Tank and finally, to diving deep into AI, we cover the lessons that he's learned through each brand and venture. Kevin Williams is the founder of MadBrains AI, a company that specializes …
The post E550: How This Shark Tank Almuna Went From E-Commerce to AI first appeared on EcomCrew.
Jeff Oxford joins us on the podcast today to talk about the most recent Google Update, who the winners were, and how search is going to look like with AI in the horizon.
The post E549: How To Get Started in Building Your SEO in 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Pat Haggerty of Right Channel Radios joins the podcast to talk about dropshipping, the pros and cons, and how to succeed if you choose to start out with dropshipping.
The post E548: Making Dropshipping Work in 2024 with Pat Haggerty first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dana Jaunzemis joins the EcomCrew podcast today to talk about how she evaluated businesses before purchasing them, why she chose to sell her businesses, and ultimately chose to retire. Dana Jaunzemis and I met for the first time years ago during my eCommerce speaking circuit and has since become a great friend of mine. She's …
The post E547: Finding Fulfilment in Retirement with Dana Jaunzemis first appeared on EcomCrew.
John Di Giacomo joins us on the podcast today to talk about the most common lawsuit claims that he's personally seen in the past few years in the ecommerce industry, and how you can avoid them. John Di Giacomo is the founding partner of Revision Legal, a law firm with expertise in Internet law, copyright …
The post E546: The Most Common Lawsuit Claims in Ecommerce and How to Avoid Them first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dave and I discuss the delays to the New "Low Inventory" fees, how you can be exempted from those fees, and the impending FTC Investigation into Amazon.
The post E545: Amazon Announces Delays to New Low Inventory Fees first appeared on EcomCrew.
Neil Twa from High Voltage Business Builders joins us on the podcast to drop some massive value bombs. He breaks down how you can increase brand awareness on Amazon, his approaches to Product Development, and how you can restart the Honeymoon Period on Amazon. Listen in for some great lessons from Neil! Amazon's only getting …
The post E544: What You Need to Do to Be Successful on Amazon in 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Steve Chou makes an appearance on today's episode to discuss some key takeaways he and Mike learned while attending EcommerceFuel Live 2024. It's conference season for eCommerce! I just got back from ECF Live 2024, which was a great experience where I got to meet old friends and discuss a few of the issues that's …
The post E543: 4 Lessons from EcommerceFuel Live 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
With Amazon's most complex fee increase ever going live, Mike and Dave talk about what this means for sellers, the pros and cons for each change, and how you can avoid the most detrimental fees to your bottom line. Amazon today announced its biggest fee increase ever, and more aggravatingly, the most complex fee increase ever. …
The post E542: How to Avoid Amazon’s Newest Inventory Fees first appeared on EcomCrew.
In today's episode, Dave and I discuss why there are so many sellers on Amazon losing money on each product? Because the lower prices do not make any sense at all. Today's topic is something that I've been thinking about for awhile: how many people are losing money selling on Amazon? You're probably thinking that …
The post E541: How Many People are Losing Money Selling on Amazon? first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Dave and I go through our list of business goals for 2024 for Ecomcrew, our personal business brands, and more! Its been awhile since we've done an episode like this, but Dave and I thought of bringing it now since it was one of our more popular episodes from 2019. Some of …
The post E540: Our Business Goals for 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Shark Tank is one of the biggest reality TV shows that almost every business owner knows about. It's not everyday that we get to interview a winner on the podcast. But Leslie Pierson isn't just a typical business owner: she's an Ecomcrew Premium member. In this episode, we get to talk about the multiple things …
The post E539: How Leslie Pierson Built A Shark Tank Winning Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
Its hard enough trying to start an ecommerce business. Being a solopreneur means you'll have to be on top of your inventory levels, your PPC Campaigns, while also writing blog articles, making Youtube videos about your product and not to mention getting UGC from influencers. But what does a 100+ person company look like? Better …
The post E538: If You Were to Start All Over Again, What Would You Do Differently? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today's episode is one that left me absolutely speechless during recording. It's a hard topic to talk about when listing down a bunch of mistakes, but it's infinitely more difficult to talk about when the list of mistakes eventually lead to the death of your business. Nevertheless, I commend John for coming on today to …
The post E537: How Going Into Retail Killed John Terry’s Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
When selling an ecommerce business, its important for owners to be compensated for the stressful one-time events that was experienced in the last 12 months when going to sell. These are called “Add Backs”, but what are they exactly? I've invited Chris Duty, an advisor from Quiet Light Brokerage, to talk about the various types …
The post E536: The 10 Types of Add Backs You Need To Know When Selling Your Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike discusses some hard hitting points of e-commerce with long-time friend John Canetta, including whether e-commerce will ever get easier, the hidden stresses of running an ecommerce business, and how John was able to recover from losing 80% of his business during quarantine. With a new year coming around, it looks like the ecommerce landscape …
The post E535: Will E-commerce Ever Get Easier? first appeared on EcomCrew.
It’s that time of the year again! In this episode, Dave and I will be revealing the winners (a couple of which you might not have expected) of last year’s survey to find out the Best Amazon Seller Software across five categories: Product and Keyword Research PPC Management Reimbursement Services Repricing Tool Listing Launch and …
The post E534: The Best Amazon Software of 2023 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave review their biggest accomplishments and their deepest pitfalls in the past year. In this episode, Mike and Dave are back to discuss the year in review, and the eventful things that happened in the past year, like traveling to China again after 3 years, visiting Hong Kong and India and the stark …
The post E533: Mike’s Wins and Fails of 2023 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave reflect on 2023 and discuss the various wins and fails that Dave experienced this year, including traveling to China, Hong Kong, and India, the impact of COVID on business growth 3 years in, and how Dave lobbied to change policies around government taxation on digital advertising. The Ecomcrew Podcast is back after …
The post E532: The Ecomcrew Podcast is Back! | Dave’s Wins and Fails of 2023 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today I'm joined with Ecomcrew's brand manager, Ben Iballa, as we review the episodes that made the top 10 list of the year and share our thoughts on each one. 2023 was a wild ride. I let go of most of my brands, while costs on Amazon increased by a LOT. Here's a roundup …
The post E531: The Top 10 EcomCrew Podcast Episodes of 2023 first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Mike and Dave talk about our upcoming Software Poll, and the evolution of software tools in the ecommerce space. They highlight the changes that they've personally seen in the Amazon software space over the past 4 years, including big valuations and the increase in competition. They also show how projects like these …
The post E530: The Ecomcrew Software Poll is OPEN! first appeared on EcomCrew.
After dropping a few hints here and there, Dave finally asks Mike the big question: what are you looking for in your next business? After getting into the mindset of selling all of my brands and getting back to the part of Amazon FBA that I really enjoy, I realized that it's not as fun …
The post E529: What Is Mike Looking For In His Next Business? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike catches up with Aaron Hughes from Ecommerce Wala after the visit to India to talk about Aaron's background, how he got started in Ecommerce, and the differences between working with a team vs. online. Today, we're joined by Aaron Hughes from Ecommerce Wala. Aaron and I met during the India Sourcing Trip, and he …
The post E528: Running an Ecommerce Business from India first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ecomcrew Premium is finally opening in the next few days! Join the waitlist to get a discount for Black Friday, and get access to a community of like-minded e-commerce sellers. With Ecomcrew being open, Dave and I thought it'd be a good time to reflect and compare the differences between a content site and product …
The post E527: The Pros and Cons of Building A Community and Content Site first appeared on EcomCrew.
Over the past 6 months, I've been diving back into the weeds of the business. So far, one of the biggest “weeds” would be optimizing my PPC spend and overhauling it to be as efficient as possible, without costing me a fortune. And so, the research started. One of the biggest resources that I've learned …
The post E526: Amazon PPC – Everything You Need To Do for in 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
4 months after Mike scaled down his team, Dave checks in with him and how it feels like to get back in the weeds of his ecommerce business. Growing a team is second nature when revenue grows. It's a natural by-product of success, to help the business grow even more in the next year. But …
The post E525: Employees vs. No Employees – Pros and Cons first appeared on EcomCrew.
The India Sourcing Trip finally took place earlier this October! Dave and I, along with a few friends and loved ones, went to India for the first time to check out the India Ecomm Summit, visit a Manufacturing Factory and see the Taj Mahal. It's only natural that we recap our experiences, while highlighting the …
The post E524: Differences Between India Trade Shows vs. Chinese Trade Shows first appeared on EcomCrew.
Check out our sponsor, Portless, today! Today we're joined by fellow creative and entrepreneur, Nicole Barnes from Marrow. Nicole Barnes is a 3 time ecommerce founder with awards from Shopify as Fastest Growing Company, along with international distribution of her product and partnerships with major brands. Nicole now takes what she's learnt to help serve …
The post E523: How To Regain Campaign Targeting Power for 2024 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Check out our sponsor, Portless, today! In this episode, Mike's joined by Greg Mercer to talk about how Amazon will change in the face of AI, JungleScout's new AI features and how these apply to sellers on the daily. Greg Mercer, the CEO of JungleScout, is back on the podcast to talk about AI …
The post E522: Amazon’s Hiding a LOT of Useful Data from Sellers. Here’s How You Can Unravel Them. first appeared on EcomCrew.
Check out our sponsor, Portless, today! Chad Rubin is back on the podcast! He's an Amazon Seller of over 20 years, the ex-CEO of SKUBANA before it was acquired in 2021, one of the original founders of the Prosper Show conference. Chad is back on the show to talk about Profasee, one of his …
The post E521: Why Increasing Prices on Amazon Is NOT AS BAD As You Think! first appeared on EcomCrew.
Check out Portless today! Today we're joined by friend and fellow speaker, Mina Elias of Trivium Group. Mina and I met doing the usual speaking rounds at several events and I've always felt like Mina knew how to walk the walk. Mina is back on the podcast to drop some Value Bombs. From deconstructing …
The post E520: Breaking Down the Amazon Funnel with Mina Elias first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike speaks with Avishai Sam Bitton, VP of Marketing and Growth at 8fig about the biggest challenges in ecommerce that everyone's been feeling lately, and how you can leverage AI to solve these issues at a low cost. In this episode, we dive into the challenging landscape of e-commerce, workforce, and technology with Avishai Bitton, …
The post E519: Sustaining Ecommerce Growth During a Recession first appeared on EcomCrew.
Check out GETIDA with our affiliate link! According to last year's Software Poll, a whopping 37% of sellers are NOT using a reimbursement service of any kind. As Yoni mentions in today's episode, that is not only a significant loss in cost, but also a loss in potential profit margins that you could have gained. …
The post E518: How To Get Amazon To Reimburse You For Losing Inventory first appeared on EcomCrew.
Back in July, I announced on the podcast recently where my headspace has been at and the events that lead to the possible reasons why. At the start of August, the wheels were set in motion and I ended up selling 2 more ecommerce brands. Dave and I ended on a cliffhanger on that episode, and this …
The post E517: How Mike Is Squeezing Out As Much Profitability As Possible Before Selling first appeared on EcomCrew.
Every year since 2017, I've chronicled rebuilding a 7-figure brand from scratch after the sale of my previous company. For this episode, I’ll be giving my 6th annual update while also having this exact brand now be listed for sale in QuietLight Brokerage. As usual, I'll detail the wins, losses, why I've decided to put …
The post E516: Rebuilding (and Selling!) A $1M Brand – Dave’s Year 6 Update first appeared on EcomCrew.
No matter how rich you are, you'll always be running into issues with cash flow the longer you're running an ecommerce business. Money gets tied up for weeks and up to months at a time while waiting for your inventory to reach local warehouses, but it doesn't have to be with Portless. Izzy Rozensweig, the …
The post E515: The New Gamechanger in the Shipping Industry first appeared on EcomCrew.
Want to start a new side hustle? Check out Fluencer Fruit now! As an Amazon seller, getting traffic to your listing is always a high-value priority. One way to do this is through influencer marketing, where you pay influencers to promote and direct their audience to your storefront. Is this what the Amazon Influencer program helps …
The post E514: The Most Useful Amazon Program You’re Missing Out On first appeared on EcomCrew.
Joining me today is the ever-insightful Bernie Thompson. Since his last appearance on the podcast in 2018, Bernie and I have met again recently at a few conferences which were put on pause because of COVID. I first met Bernie at The Global Sources Summit in Asia quite a number of years ago as a …
The post E513: How Did Selling on Amazon Become So Expensive in 2023? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Back in July, I announced on the podcast recently where my headspace has been at and the events that lead to the possible reasons why. The future however, had other plans. Things have progressed faster than I've come to expect, and that's what Dave and I discuss on today's episode. Dave and I recount what's been happening …
The post E512: Life Update – Mike’s Garage Sale Madness first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today, we're joined by Lianna Patch of Punchline Copy. I first met Lianna as one of the speakers during ECF Live 3-4 years ago, and I absolutely loved her presentation. Since then, I’ve had her on the show back in Episode 307 to talk about improving conversions through copy and now she makes her appearance …
The post E511: Is AI Killing Copywriters? first appeared on EcomCrew.
The numbers are out! In this episode, Mike and Dave unpack the recently concluded 2023 version of our Amazon Consumer Behaviour survey, and compare the results against last year. Dave and I are thrilled to present our second annual consumer research report. We explore intriguing insights into consumer preferences, buying behavior, and the growing significance …
The post E510: Highlights From Our Amazon Consumer Behaviour Survey Results 2023 first appeared on EcomCrew.
The numbers are out! In this episode, Mike and Dave unpack the recently concluded 2023 version of our Amazon Consumer Behaviour survey, and compare the results against last year.
Dave and I are thrilled to present our second annual consumer research report. We explore intriguing insights into consumer preferences, buying behavior, and the growing significance of product authenticity.
We discussed Prime Day's influence on consumer behavior, identified the most "evil" tech company, and analyzed shopping trends during Black Friday. The reported increase in sales on walmart.com surprised us and sparked speculations about its impact on Amazon's market share.
Timestamps:
- 00:00 - Introduction
- 01:18 - Prime Day Insights
- 08:58 - Revealing the Most "Evil" Tech Company
- 11:36 - Analyzing Consumer Behavior on Black Friday and Prime Day
- 15:18 - The Dark Side of Big Tech
- 19:07 - Minimum Wage and Social Impact
- 19:42 - Counterfeit Products on Amazon
- 30:28: The Value of Buying Directly from Vendors vs. Marketplace Sellers
- 32:43: The Frustration of Product Returns on Amazon and Its Impact on Parents
- 40:21: The Growing Dominance of Amazon as a Product Search Engine
We hope you enjoyed our engaging exploration of the dynamic landscape of online shopping. Until next time, happy selling!
Today, Dave and I are diving into some events this year that have led to me ultimately choosing to let go of all my brands. We discussed a little bit on the last podcast episode, but Dave and I also discuss the rest of my plans for the future and moving towards embodying The One …
The post E509: Life Update – Mike Jackness’ Plans for the Next Year first appeared on EcomCrew.
With the recent sale in the rear view mirror, Mike talks about the plans he has for the future and what business he's thinking of getting into next to focus 100% of his attention on.
Today, Dave and I are diving into some events this year that have led to me ultimately choosing to let go of all my brands. We discussed a little bit on the last podcast episode, but Dave and I also discuss the rest of my plans for the future and moving towards embodying The One Thing.
Here’s a few specific questions that Dave tossed out:
- Were your other businesses being negatively impacted while you were a CEO for this previous project?
- What’s the maximum amount of businesses should a person have while giving a reasonable amount of attention to?
- What’s the next business for Mike?
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:35 - Reflecting on the recent sale of our business
03:09 - Lessons learned and evaluating decisions
09:21 - Balancing multiple projects and finding focus
20:54 - The Benefits and Challenges of Multiple E-commerce Brands
22:19 - Focusing on a Single E-commerce Brand
25:44 - The Decision to Sell Off Brands and Find the One Thing to Focus On
27:24 - Vision for the Future and Buying a Business
33:04 - Reflecting on the Frustration of Selling the Previous Business
36:44 - Changing Business Landscape
39:11 - Excitement for a New Business Venture
So stay tuned, as we continue to explore this ever-evolving industry together!
I hope you took away some valuable insights from this episode that you can use to sort out your business goals for this year. Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content.
Happy selling and I’ll see you on the next one!
After 3 years, I’m glad to announce that I’ve sold one of my businesses. Joining me today is the broker that helped me with the transition, Chris Duty from Quiet Light Brokerage. Chris and I explore the process of selling a business that I, alongside investors from ECF Capital, acquired in late 2020, and what …
The post E508: Selling My E-commerce Business After 3 Years first appeared on EcomCrew.
Prime Day is fast approaching and Jake Zaristian from JungleScout is back on the podcast to talk about it. Together, we'll be talking about the strategies that you should be doing before, during and after the biggest shopping holiday of the year. With the biggest Amazon shopping holiday quickly approaching, Jake is back on the …
The post E506: Preparing for Prime Day 2023 with JungleScout first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to today's episode where we delve into the transformative power of AI in the realms of e-commerce and search engine optimization (SEO). With the ever-increasing integration of AI technologies, businesses and content creators must understand the implications and opportunities that lie ahead. Join Jeff and I as we unravel the impact of AI on …
The post E506: The Future of AI in E-commerce and SEO first appeared on EcomCrew.
Our guest, Alex Oxford from TaxValet, shares his expertise in Sales Tax, exploring its complexities and implications for entrepreneurs, offering valuable insights and strategies to help you go through the challenging world of sales tax compliance. While it may not be the most thrilling subject, understanding your obligations and options is crucial for your business's …
The post E505: Everything You Need to Know About Sales Tax with TaxValet first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode of the EcomCrew podcast, I’m joined by Michael Epstein, one of the co-founders of PostPilot, a company that helps e-commerce businesses by using direct mail marketing to create memorable customer experiences to increase sales. We also discuss how PostPilot started and the idea behind going back to physical postcards to advertise products, …
The post E504: How To Reacquire Customers Who Churned with Postpilot first appeared on EcomCrew.
The first Under The Hood episode of the year is finally here! Today I'm joined by Gary Guenst, one-half of the founders of ToothShower, a water flosser powered by your own shower. If the brand sounds familiar, you might’ve heard it from one of my previous Under The Hood episodes where I chatted with Gary’s …
The post E503: Are There More Businesses Leaving Amazon? Under the Hood Part 2 with ToothShower first appeared on EcomCrew.
Nirav Sheth and Mike Jackness dive into Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) strategies. Our guest, the founder and CEO of Anata, sheds light on the significance of CRO and its optimal timing for business enhancement. We focus on often overlooked aspects of e-commerce management, highlighting the importance of a user-friendly checkout experience, the influence of distractions …
The post E502: The Power of Conversion Rate Optimization with Nirav Sheth first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today, my guest is Kelcey Lehrich, a prolific entrepreneur running a thriving portfolio of ecommerce enterprises. We dissect the opportunities and hurdles in operating multiple ecommerce ventures, extending hands-on counsel and strategic guidance to listeners. We delve into the key attributes of a successful business, the significance of revenue quality, and the untapped potential within …
The post E501: Navigating the World of FBA Aggregators first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to this special milestone episode of the EcomCrew Podcast as we celebrate our 500th airing. Today, I’m putting on my philosophical hat to look back on the podcast and to guide you through my podcasting journey since the show started back in November 2015. In this solo episode, I delve into the profound power …
The post E500: The Power of Time first appeared on EcomCrew.
I wanted to get Steven on today to help listeners learn how to avoid potential issues that can negatively impact the value of their businesses and delay the sale process. Topics covered include intellectual property, privacy policies, product packaging, and governance, as well as the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and the value of having a …
The post E499: Navigating the Legal Aspects of Ecommerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
The rise of e-commerce has brought about a new wave of challenges for businesses and consumers alike, particularly in the form of unfair trade practices. In this episode of the EcomCrew Podcast, the focus is on the challenges faced by Amazon sellers, particularly from Chinese companies and sellers who engage in these practices. Karl from …
The post E498: Advocating for a Level Playing Field in E-Commerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this EcomCrew Podcast episode, Daniel and I delve deep into the world of email marketing and retention marketing in the e-commerce industry. We share our their experiences and insights on why email marketing remains an essential tool for businesses, despite predictions of its decline. We also touch on the importance of building community and …
The post E497: Building Trust, Community, and Loyalty for Revenue Growth Through Email Marketing first appeared on EcomCrew.
In today's episode, Jake is back to discuss the findings from their annual State of the Amazon Seller Report; on topics like Amazon Seller Profitability, the effect of tariffs and freight costs on sourcing decisions, the changing landscape of Amazon advertising, and the importance of diversifying your online presence. This comprehensive report surveys more than …
The post E496: Navigating the Amazon Marketplace – Insights from Jungle Scout’s State of the Amazon Seller Report first appeared on EcomCrew.
Masterminds are one of my favorite segments of a live event. Whether it be EcommerceFuel, Seller Summit, or whatever event that takes place, Masterminds give everyone an opportunity to voice out their problems and get actionable advice from a like-minded group of people. Steve and I first met during Andrew Youderian's event, at a Mastermind …
The post E495: How Masterminds Have Changed Mike Jackness’ and Steve Chou’s Lives first appeared on EcomCrew.
China, the factory of the world, has once again opened its doors to foreigners after several years of lockdowns and COVID restrictions. Fortunately for EcomCrew listeners, Dave just came back from his first trip to China post-COVID, and he’ll be sharing some of the biggest changes you want to take note of when planning your …
The post E494: Heading Back to China Post-COVID—What has Changed? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dave talks about his recent experience traveling back to China after three years of lockdown, from airport and visa requirements, things to do for ecommerce sellers, and cultural shifts.
China, the factory of the world, has once again opened its doors to foreigners after several years of lockdowns and COVID restrictions.
Fortunately for EcomCrew listeners, Dave just came back from his first trip to China post-COVID, and he’ll be sharing some of the biggest changes you want to take note of when planning your own trip down south soon.
This episode will cover things like China’s current rules regarding old and new visas, practical tips for navigating customs and other travel requirements, and a few changes you might notice when in China.
Timestamps:
- 00:00 – Intro
- 01:23 – China has started honoring old visas; How to secure new visas
- 04:09 – Flights to China are extremely expensive
- 05:57 – You need an online customs declaration when entering/exiting China
- 08:37 – Need-to-knows about COVID tests, vaccinations, and masking
- 11:15 – Should you head over to China for trade shows in the Spring?
- 13:26 – Big changes for foreigners traveling to China over the past three years
- 20:04 – Odd and fun things you’ll notice when heading back to China this year
- 22:02 – Overall attitudes towards the west and Xi Jinping
- 24:40 – Final thoughts on going back to China
Resources mentioned:
- China Customs Website
- Trip.com
We hope this episode helps you strategically prepare and make the most out of your upcoming trip to China. Please do leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy this kind of content.
Happy selling, and we’ll see you in the next one!
Choosing the right marketplace is just as important as choosing which product to sell on Amazon. But there’s one huge marketplace that US- and EU-based sellers may be sleeping on: Amazon Japan. Amazon.co.jp is one of the biggest marketplaces no one is talking about, with its over 600 million monthly visitors, domestic FBA services, and …
The post E493: 7 Simple Steps to Start Selling on Amazon Japan with Gary Huang first appeared on EcomCrew.
“Every man has two lives, and the second starts when he realizes he has just one”— Confucius. In this episode, I’ll be talking about the recent passing of my cousin and longtime business partner Jay, and the valuable lessons I learned from taking care of him during his final days. Dealing with the aftermath of …
The post E492: Beyond Ecommerce—Dealing With Loss and Our Own Mortality first appeared on EcomCrew.
Setting a trajectory and an overarching vision for your ecommerce business is not as simple as it sounds. There are myriad factors that can influence how and why you set your goals and, more importantly, whether they are realistic and achievable for your company. In this episode, Dave and I will not only be talking …
The post E491: Strategic Goal-Setting for Your Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Kevin talk about the value of your time and setting priorities as an ecommerce influencer, the reward of being able to help other people out, and what the endgame is for recognized personalities in this space. Being a recognized personality in ecommerce takes a toll, whether it be on your time, your energy, …
The post E490: How to Amplify Your Time as an Ecommerce Influencer with Kevin King first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave reflect on 2022 as ecommerce entrepreneurs, including their biggest wins, failures, and general outlook moving forward. 2022 was a year of successes and challenges for ecommerce sellers—the industry is literally shifting right beneath our feet! In this episode, Dave and I will take a closer look at how 2022 has been for …
The post E489: Wins and Fails – Mike and Dave Reflect on 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Last year was another one filled with insightful conversations with people from within (and some outside of) the ecommerce ecosystem. In this episode, our podcast editor Ben will join me for a rundown of EcomCrew’s Best Podcast Episodes of 2022 where we’ll explore which episodes really resonated with our listeners this past year. Timestamps: How …
The post E488: The Top 10 EcomCrew Podcast Episodes of 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Being an Amazon seller is tough, and the fact that Amazon rarely ever gives categorical answers to sellers’ questions does not make it easier. Matter of fact, Amazon’s Terms of Service for sellers are almost always either vague, elusive, or downright contradictory. This is why we crafted EcomCrew’s Unofficial Guide to Amazon ToS, where …
The post E487: Back to Basics – EcomCrew’s Unofficial Guide to Amazon Terms of Service first appeared on EcomCrew.
Whether you’re only just starting out or are running an established ecommerce brand, there’s a good chance that your business is tied to China one way or another. I myself visit Hong Kong and China to attend trade shows, speak at seller conferences, and get some facetime with my factories every year—at least before the …
The post E486: How Ecommerce Sellers Can Visit China Post-COVID first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and longtime China-based seller Cameron talk about the reality of the pandemic situation in China and how ecommerce sellers can plan their trips back to the factory of the world this year.
Whether you’re only just starting out or are running an established ecommerce brand, there’s a good chance that your business is tied to China one way or another. I myself visit Hong Kong and China to attend trade shows, speak at seller conferences, and get some facetime with my factories every year—at least before the pandemic hit.
Fast-forward a couple of years and ecommerce sellers are now itching to go back to China to optimize their supply chains and scale their businesses. That’s why in this episode, we’ll be talking all about the current COVID situation in Hong Kong and China and everything sellers need to know before visiting in 2023.
Joining me for this episode is Cameron. He is a returning guest on the podcast and a longtime ecommerce seller who is currently based in China. If you’re planning a trip down south this year, you’ll definitely get a lot out of this episode.
Timestamps:
- Cameron’s life in China – 2:03
- The reality of the COVID situation in China – 6:11
- How safe is it to travel to and from China today? – 20:13
- What the current protocols are for visiting China in 2023 – 23:45
- Are old business Visas to China still valid? – 28:27
- Which big trade shows will be returning this year? – 31:50
- The ideal time of year to visit China – 38:23
- Do you see foreigners in China right now? – 40:01
I wanna thank Cameron for taking the time to do this episode with me. I’m excited to have him back on the podcast down the road and hopefully talk about something other than the pandemic.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and I’ll see you on the next one!
It’s that time of the year again! In this episode, Dave and I will be revealing the winners (a couple of which you might not have expected) of last year’s survey to find out the Best Amazon Seller Software across five categories: Product and Keyword Research PPC Management Reimbursement Services Repricing Tool Product Launches …
The post E485: The Winners of EcomCrew’s 2022 Software Poll first appeared on EcomCrew.
Entrepreneurship is a challenging endeavor. Getting your business off the ground, growing your company, and building relationships takes a lot of time and effort—not to mention the plethora of uncertainties you will face along the way. In this episode, Don Henig joins me in dissecting the biggest struggles of entrepreneurs based on our own personal …
The post E484: The Biggest Struggles of Entrepreneurship with Don Henig of AccrueMe first appeared on EcomCrew.
Marketing is part and parcel of running an ecommerce business, but the industry is constantly changing and sellers who are constantly looking out for the most effective marketing methods are often the ones who are ahead of the curve. Joining me for this episode is Rytis Lauris, Co-Founder and CEO of Omnisend, which is a …
The post E483: All About Marketing with Rytis Lauris of OmniSend – from Push Notifications to Email Marketing first appeared on EcomCrew.
Happy New Year! We've been a little bit late with publishing this episode due to the holidays but we're back with the weekly releases. Today, we're back with our monthly report for the month of November – we’re going to stop with the monthly report blog posts but we do plan on keeping this …
The post E482: November 2022 Brand Report – The Problems With Having Too Much Inventory first appeared on EcomCrew.
As an annual tradition, we ask thousands of ecommerce sellers from around the world what software tools they use to help grow their businesses and optimise their processes. The poll was aimed at determining the most popular Amazon software in 5 categories: Keyword and Product Research PPC Management Reimbursement Management Repricing Tools Product Launches and …
The post E481: What’s the Best Amazon Seller Software in 2022? first appeared on EcomCrew.
About 18 months ago, Jodie Cook sold her business and wrote a book about the ten-year journey that led her there. She has determined the four main steps that help entrepreneurs achieve financial freedom without sacrificing personal time. Timestamps: Jodie’s e-commerce background – 2:40 The framework of The Ten Year Career – 4:39 How ego …
The post E480: The 4-Step Plan to Retire in 10 Years first appeared on EcomCrew.
Starting an Amazon business today is a completely different ball game compared to starting to sell in 2015. These days, you'll need more than just good-looking listings and great copy to hit that highly 7 or 8-figure revenue milestone. I've invited fellow MDS member and 8-figure seller Talor Zamir to tell us exactly how …
The post E479: 5 Valuable Lessons From 8-Figure Seller Talor Zamir first appeared on EcomCrew.
October was a busy month for both me and Dave as we work on preparing for Black Friday and making more improvements on all our brands. On top of that, we’re also getting ready for 2023, so it’s no surprise that we’ve run into some challenges along the way. In particular, we’ve been dealing with …
The post E478: How to Deal with Amazon’s Storage Limits (October 2022 Brand Update) first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike talks to the co-founder of Avataar, Gaurav Baid, about the future of ecommerce through the lens of Augmented Reality and how you can enhance the customer experience through AR. Gaurav is the Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Avataar, a company that aims to bridge the gap between retailers and their customers to create …
The post E477: Enhancing the Customer Experience through Augmented Reality first appeared on EcomCrew.
The biggest online sales event of the year is coming, and we’re here to help you prepare your brand to make the most out of it. I’m joined by Will Haire of Bellavix to talk about the most important aspects of your business you should be looking at. Here are the episode’s highlights: Will’s e-commerce …
The post E476: Preparing Your Business for Black Friday first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike speaks to Will Haire of BellaVix about some last minute tactics you can incorporate into your business before the biggest sale of the year -- Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend.
The biggest online sales event of the year is coming, and we’re here to help you prepare your brand to make the most out of it. I’m joined by Will Haire of Bellavix to talk about the most important aspects of your business you should be looking at.
Here are the episode’s highlights:
- Will’s ecommerce background - 3:21
- What businesses should be preparing for during BFCM - 4:28
- Preparing your site and product listings - 9:46
- The importance of going for longtail keywords - 14:38
- How to encourage user-generated content without violating Amazon’s TOS - 15:12
- Will’s main image horror story - 18:20
- Black Friday EcomCrew Premium opening - 23:05
- How to prepare enough inventory for Black Friday - 25:25
- Some hard truths about selling on Amazon - 29:00
- Are labor issues affecting Amazon’s warehousing problems? - 32:10
- Will’s advertising advice - 33:35
Will is the CEO and Co-Founder of Bellavix, a full-service management agency. Check out Bellavix if you need assistance in managing and growing your business on Amazon or Walmart. They specialize on category domination and cater not only to third-party but also to first-party sellers.
On another news, we’re excited to announce that we’ll be opening EcomCrew Premium on Black Friday for the last time this year. And of course, we’re saving the best for last by giving you our biggest discount yet. For an even more special offer, sign up for our waitlist today. It’s open only once a quarter, and there’s no better time to register.
Have any thoughts about our podcast? Leave us a review on iTunes.
Jamie Graham is a Premium member that I was able to meet in an MDS event back in 2018. He and his wife Kayleigh own a beauty brand that’s grown up to 6 million pounds in revenue, with a profit margin of 10%. In this episode, the majority of the discussion was focused on …
The post E475: Restructuring an Ecommerce Company to Focus On What You Enjoy the Most [Under the Hood Part 2 with Jamie Graham] first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike talks to long-time Premium member Jamie Graham about restructuring the business and moving towards the EOS model, which entails moving from a high-level Amazon director position to a Training Manager, to spend less time on the business.
Jamie Graham is a Premium member that I was able to meet in an MDS event back in 2018. He and his wife Kayleigh own a beauty brand that’s grown up to 6 million pounds in revenue, with a profit margin of 10%.
In this episode, the majority of the discussion was focused on these four points:
- Restructuring to focus on what you enjoy the most
- Restructuring an ecommerce department: by marketplace or by discipline?
- Creating a 3-year business plan and how to incentivize employees to stay on track
- Focusing on growing the off-Amazon channel of the business
Jamie and I also went over how close he is to making a life-changing amount of money as he approaches the endgame with almost 5 years in the business and 7 million pounds of revenue every year.
If you’re interested, you can check out the previous Under the Hood episode here. I’m looking forward to hearing back from Jamie over the next couple of months. With Q4 coming into full swing in just a few weeks, he’ll definitely be having his hands full.
Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It’s a win-win!
Get more information about Million Dollar Sellers on EcomCrew.com/MDS.
Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!
We’ve had a lot of challenges in September, particularly those related to importing and developing products. This is not unusual for e-commerce sellers dealing with suppliers on the other side of the world. However, despite these challenges, we’ve had a lot of wins in terms of content in many of our brands. We’ve recently …
The post E474: September 2022 Brand Report—Using AI to Improve Content first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’ve had a lot of challenges in September, particularly those related to importing and developing products. This is not unusual for e-commerce sellers dealing with suppliers on the other side of the world. However, despite these challenges, we’ve had a lot of wins in terms of content in many of our brands. We’ve recently …
The post E474: September 2022 Brand Report—Using AI to Improve Content first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’ve had a lot of challenges in September, particularly those related to importing and developing products. This is not unusual for e-commerce sellers dealing with suppliers on the other side of the world.
However, despite these challenges, we’ve had a lot of wins in terms of content in many of our brands. We’ve recently been playing around with some new tools to improve SEO, including an on-page AI tool that boosted our traffic significantly.
Timestamps:
- 1:58 - Why our overall revenue dipped in September
- 2:47 - YoY updates of the brands
- 8:43 - Is just-in-time inventory better?
- 10:17 - The difficulties of designing and launching new products
- 15:40 - Brand wins for October
- 17:38 - How we use an on-page AI tool to beef up our content
- 23:49 - Failing to add country of origin labels
Check out the Brand Report that complements this episode. Secret Sauce and EcomCrew Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly Income Report, which contains a more detailed breakdown of our numbers and strategies.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. We’d love to hear about what topics you want us to discuss next.
Our guest, Tomer Rabinovich, is a magician-turned-entrepreneur. Without any formal training in sales, he was able to launch and scale multiple e-commerce brands. But aside from running his own business, Tomer is passionate about helping other sellers through mastermind classes and his live lectures. This time, he’s gone a step further and wrote a …
The post E473: The 6-Star Experience Formula to Get Great Reviews first appeared on EcomCrew.
Our guest, Tomer Rabinovich, is a magician-turned-entrepreneur. Without any formal training in sales, he was able to launch and scale multiple e-commerce brands. But aside from running his own business, Tomer is passionate about helping other sellers through mastermind classes and his live lectures. This time, he’s gone a step further and wrote a book for beginner sellers called Ride the Amazon Wave.
In this episode, we talk about the book, how Tomer got started with e-commerce, and the lessons he learned along the way.
Timestamps:
- 2:31 - How it all started for Tomer
- 5:28 - Failures in e-commerce
- 11:00 - Difference between Amazon and Shopify and why it’s okay to focus on one platform
- 13:03 - Why it’s hard to build brand loyalty on Amazon
- 15:05 - Applying the 6-star experience to land 5-star reviews
- 21:33 - Not going after the shiny new objects
- 23:16 - How to scale and systemize your business
Tomer's book, Ride the Amazon Wave, is a great read for Amazon third-party sellers of all levels. You can purchase the book through Amazon, and if you want to reach out to our guest, go to jointopdog.com.
Check out other episodes from the podcast on iTunes, and don’t forget to leave us a review.
Today’s episode is a short one—I wanted to give a short life update on what’s been going on during the past few weeks. I’ve been a little absent for work in the past few weeks to attend a wedding, go on an anniversary cruise with my wife, and also to speak at the Sell …
The post E472: The Importance of a Mastermind and A Mini Life Update first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike talks about where he’s been the past 3 weeks, and highlights how Masterminds have been instrumental in his business.
Today’s episode is a short one – I wanted to give a short life update on what’s been going on during the past few weeks. I’ve been a little absent for work in the past few weeks to attend a wedding, go on an anniversary cruise with my wife, and also to speak at the Sell + Scale Summit.
After getting back from Sell + Scale however, I started to feel a little off. That feeling started to suddenly get more intense, and before I knew it, I had caught COVID sometime after getting back from the cruise and until now I still haven’t fully recovered which has really pushed me back on work that I need to catch up on.
Anyway, I wanted to talk about the real meat and potatoes of this episode – Masterminds. If you're new to the podcast, Masterminds are basically moderated groups of ecommerce entrepreneurs that will help keep each other accountable to their yearly, quarterly and monthly goals for their business and personal lives.
After just getting back from a weekend with my Mastermind group, I’ve learned that everyone has something that they’re going through, despite how much money they have or how successful they seem to be on the outside.
And it’s not just in personal lives, but in business too. My Mastermind group started out after meeting each other in eCommerce Fuel Live and we first shared the common tips on how to get ahead on Amazon, and the like.
But after 6 to 8 years of getting to know these people, it’s more personal now. We’re here for each other through the tears, through the issues that others have in their personal lives, and we talk about them with each other to hopefully help our lives for the better.
Personally, joining a mastermind group has probably been one the best decisions I’ve made for my business, and I really hope that you'll see how advantageous it is to be part of one.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes.
Happy selling and I’ll see you on the next one!
eCommerceFuel’s eCommerce Trends Report is an annual survey of 7-8 figure store owners that provides a unique and detailed look into which trends are shaping the ecommerce landscape year over year. Joining me for this episode is none other than eCommerceFuel founder Andrew Youderian. We’ll be breaking down the four biggest takeaways from the 2022 …
The post E471: Breaking Down eCommerceFuel’s 2022 eCommerce Trends Report first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and eCommerceFuel founder Andrew Youderian break down the biggest takeaways from this year’s eCommerce Trends Report and discuss what they mean to online sellers.
eCommerceFuel’s eCommerce Trends Report is an annual survey of 7-8 figure store owners that provides a unique and detailed look into which trends are shaping the ecommerce landscape year over year.
Joining me for this episode is none other than eCommerceFuel founder Andrew Youderian. We’ll be breaking down the four biggest takeaways from the 2022 edition of the eCommerce Trends Report to paint you a clear picture of the ecommerce ecosystem and how you can take advantage of these insights to grow your business.
Some of the awesome things we talk about include why ROAS is no longer a good success indicator, why raising prices is not as scary as you might think, and what the best ecommerce business model is today.
Timestamps:
- Introduction to the 2022 eCommerce Trends Report - 1:08
- Takeaway #1: ROAS Is Wildly Overrated for Success - 4:06
- Takeaway #2: We’ve Hit Peak Amazon - 8:28
- Takeaway #3: You Need to Raise Your Prices (Again) - 13:13
- Sidebar: What seller can learn from artists who constantly reinvent themselves - 22:29
- Takeaway #4: Manufacturing + Storytelling Crushes All Other Models - 24:53
- What the eCommerceFuel community is all about - 32:00
If you want to get into the nitty gritty details of the survey, be sure to check out the full report here. As always, I enjoyed having Andrew on the podcast, and I’m excited to have him back for more episodes soon. You can check out the eCommerceFuel community on their website or hit him up on LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. Happy selling and I’ll see you on the next one!
Hey, it’s Mike and Steve here coming at you with a podcast before we go on stage at the Sell + Scale Summit. In this episode, we give you a sneak peek into our topic of discussion at the event—brutal truths about success in business. We chose this topic not only to deviate from the …
The post E470: The Brutal Truth About Success In Business with Steve Chou first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Steve talk about the brutal truth behind success stories in business and how they manage to keep track of the more important things in life as entrepreneurs.
Hey, it’s Mike and Steve here coming at you with a podcast before we go on stage at the Sell + Scale Summit.
In this episode, we give you a sneak peek into our topic of discussion at the event—brutal truths about success in business. We chose this topic not only to deviate from the usual seller conference topics, but also to bring to fore some equally important aspects about running a business that people don’t really talk about during these events.
This episode is filled with insights about the truth behind happiness vis-a-vis money and luxury, the 4-burner theory that helped us scale our business while maintaining healthy relationships, and how we personally dealt with the common struggles that entrepreneurs have.
Timestamps:
- How we chose our topic for the Sell + Scale Summit - 0:42
- What is The 4-Burner Theory? - 6:00
- Common misconceptions about success stories in ecommerce - 11:53
- The value of having friends with the same values as you - 27:27
- What makes the ‘four burners’ concept so profound and effective - 29:43
- Why busy is the new stupid - 37:15
Lots of thanks to Steve for doing this episode with me. You can check out all his awesome stuff over on mywifequitherjob.com. I’m looking forward to having him back for more podcasts episodes down the road.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. Until the next one. Happy selling!
It’s Dave here, and I’m excited to jump on this quick solo podcast to talk about our biggest wins and fails in this August 2022 Brand Report. For those who are new to the podcast, our Brand Report is a monthly Blog and Podcast update where we give you a sneak peek into our …
The post E469: August 2022 Brand Report — Why It’s One of Our Best Months Ever first appeared on EcomCrew.
It’s Dave here, and I’m excited to jump on this quick solo podcast to talk about our biggest wins and fails in this August 2022 Brand Report. For those who are new to the podcast, our Brand Report is a monthly Blog and Podcast update where we give you a sneak peek into our …
The post E469: August 2022 Brand Report — Why It’s One of Our Best Months Ever first appeared on EcomCrew.
Dave breaks down EcomCrew’s August 2022 Brand Report—our big revenue drivers, the recent strategies we implemented, and our biggest wins and fails for the month.
It’s Dave here, and I’m excited to jump on this quick solo podcast to talk about our biggest wins and fails in this August 2022 Brand Report.
For those who are new to the podcast, our Brand Report is a monthly Blog and Podcast update where we give you a sneak peek into our numbers and figures in real time, talk about what’s working (and what’s not), and which marketplace trends factored into our bottomline over the past month.
In this update, I’ll go over why August 2022 turned out to be an awesome month revenue-wise for us, despite historically being slow because of the seasonal products in our portfolio. I also share how we produce videos, rebrand a business, and hire offshore employees, among other good stuff. Let’s get right into it!
Timestamps:
- Our revenue numbers for August 2022 - 1:29
- How we produce videos for new brand - 4:47
- Rebranding one of our existing brands - 7:58
- Our biggest wins for this month - 9:59
- A couple of fails this month - 13:22
- Wrapping up our brand update - 18:22
If you want to dive deeper into our numbers for August 2022, head over to ecomcrew.com/august-brand-report, and don’t forget to share how your August went as well!
As always, leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and we’ll catch you on the next one!
As I’ve mentioned dozens of times in this podcast, I was into poker and affiliate marketing before ultimately starting my first ecommerce brand. While some people may find this to be a strange transition, there’s actually quite a few of us who went the same route. Joining me for this episode is Cole …
The post E468: The Perks and Challenges of Running Multiple Ecommerce Brands first appeared on EcomCrew.
As I’ve mentioned dozens of times in this podcast, I was into poker and affiliate marketing before ultimately starting my first ecommerce brand. While some people may find this to be a strange transition, there’s actually quite a few of us who went the same route. Joining me for this episode is Cole …
The post E468: The Perks and Challenges of Running Multiple Ecommerce Brands first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and longtime friend Cole South talk about why ecommerce sellers can learn a thing or two from poker pros, the challenges of running a lot of brands, and some awesome new ecommerce tools.
As I’ve mentioned dozens of times in this podcast, I was into poker and affiliate marketing before ultimately starting my first ecommerce brand. While some people may find this to be a strange transition, there’s actually quite a few of us who went the same route.
Joining me for this episode is Cole South, a longtime friend from way back in my poker days who’s also currently running multiple ecommerce brands himself.
Some of the good stuff we talk about in this entry include why poker pros seem to make great ecommerce entrepreneurs, what makes running multiple ecommerce brands hard (and why sellers still do it anyway), and Cole’s awesome new software tailored to streamlining your ecommerce business.
Timestamps:
- Why many poker pros get into ecommerce - 1:06
- How Cole found out about ecommerce - 3:01
- The challenges and benefits of running many ecommerce brands - 5:21
- Cole’s current ecommerce brands and niches - 9:40
- The future of ecommerce and why it’s become harder - 15:18
- An awesome new tool for ecommerce sellers - 20:13
- Where to check out all of Synchronize’s features - 26:20
I wanna thank Cole for coming on the show, we’d be thrilled to have him back anytime! If you want to learn more about his new software, Synchronize, they’re currently offering a sweet deal exclusively to EcomCrew Podcast listeners. Head over to synchronize.com/ecomcrew. You can also hit Cole up directly on his Twitter.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and we’ll see you on the next one!
The State of the Amazon Seller is an awesome annual report by Jungle Scout that gives valuable insights about Amazon sellers every year. In this episode, Jungle Scout’s very own Jake Zaristian joins me in breaking down the most interesting data points and tidbits from the 2022 edition of this report. We go over topics …
The post E467: Jungle Scout’s 2022 State of the Amazon Seller Report with Jake Zaristian first appeared on EcomCrew.
The State of the Amazon Seller is an awesome annual report by Jungle Scout that gives valuable insights about Amazon sellers every year. In this episode, Jungle Scout’s very own Jake Zaristian joins me in breaking down the most interesting data points and tidbits from the 2022 edition of this report. We go over topics …
The post E467: Jungle Scout’s 2022 State of the Amazon Seller Report with Jake Zaristian first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Jake unpack the biggest takeaways from the latest edition of Jungle Scout’s State of the Amazon Seller Report to learn how sellers did this past year and what their plans are moving forward.
The State of the Amazon Seller is an awesome annual report by Jungle Scout that gives valuable insights about Amazon sellers every year.
In this episode, Jungle Scout’s very own Jake Zaristian joins me in breaking down the most interesting data points and tidbits from the 2022 edition of this report.
We go over topics like the impact of supply chain disruptions to Amazon businesses, the ongoing storage issues plaguing Amazon sellers, rising costs to sell on Amazon, and much more. So, whether you’re new to selling on Amazon or an experienced seller who wants to know what your competitors are doing, this is an episode you can’t miss!
Timestamps:
- EcomCrew’s limited-time Master Class Mini Bundle offer - 2:01
- Introduction to Jake from Jungle Scout - 4:12
- Why most sellers stayed profitable despite supply chain issues (and why some didn’t) - 7:20
- The ongoing inventory challenges for sellers in 2022 - 11:26
- How supply chain disruptions affected a quarter of Amazon sellers - 12:05
- How sellers are using FBM and AGL to minimize storage and fulfillment issues - 13:59
- The rising costs of selling on Amazon- 20:21
- Other big challenges for Amazon sellers in 2022 - 23:08
- Why Amazon is still a great business to get into - 25:10
- The biggest alternatives to Amazon, according to sellers - 27:50
- Amazon corporate’s huge disconnect with its third-party sellers - 30:53
I want to thank Jake for joining me for this very insightful episode. If you want to dig deeper, check out the full 2022 State of the Amazon Seller Report here. Plus, don’t forget to check out EcomCrew’s 2022 Consumer Behavior Report to get into the mind of Amazon shoppers as well.
Before we go, don’t forget to check out our best bundle offer yet, featuring 12 expert-led Secret Sauce classes PLUS a full-length FBA For Absolute Beginners Course over on ecomcrew.com/classbundle.
Lastly, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!
Being the sentimental guy that I am, I’ve always found it a little disheartening how swift it is for entrepreneurs to sell and turn over their businesses to aggregators. However, Society Brands strategy is more of a collaborative effort than a one-and-done business transaction. It’s a concept I can definitely get behind. Unlike many …
The post E466: Society Brands’ “Founder to President” Approach in Aggregating Ecommerce Businesses first appeared on EcomCrew.
Society Brands CEO Michael Sirpilla explains why the company’s founder-centric approach to aggregating is a more lucrative and fairer offer to online entrepreneurs.
Being the sentimental guy that I am, I’ve always found it a little disheartening how swift it is for entrepreneurs to sell and turn over their businesses to aggregators.
However, Society Brands strategy is more of a collaborative effort than a one-and-done business transaction. It’s a concept I can definitely get behind.
Unlike many roll-ups where the seller relinquishes full control of the company after a certain period, Society Brands encourages founders to stay on and help steer the ship.
Michael (Sirpilla, not Jackness), who took over the company as CEO in January 2022, describes Society Brands as “if an aggregator and an FBA mastermind had a baby.”
This strategy offers a win-win scenario for the seller, giving them an opportunity to take an offer, continue to manage the business as it grows, and then fully exit at a higher level down the line.
Check out the highlights from this episode:
Timestamps:
- Intro to Michael and what Society Brands is all about - 3:29
- Why it helps to keep founders onboard - 7:33
- Society Brands’ valuation multiples -10:52
- The “founder to president” transition - 13:17
- How long the transition process takes - 16:29
- Society Brands’ criteria for acquiring businesses - 19:49
- What’s happening in the aggregator space? - 21:34
- Areas where aggregators could succeed or fail - 25:23
- How to contact Society Brands - 27:53
Michael, thank you for your time. I look forward to doing a followup on this conversation a year or two from now and see how the aggregating space would look then.
If you have a business for sale and want to find out if Society Brands is a good match, head over to their website and schedule a call. You can also reach out to Michael on LinkedIn.
If you enjoy our podcast, feel free to leave us a review on iTunes. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
After recording this episode, Ben's back to ask about the various strategies that I've been incorporating into our brands to revive our profit margins. In this new episode, Ben will be asking me a bunch of questions on how I've managed to increase profitability back to 15% from almost losing money in the beginning of the …
The post E465: Back to Basics – Increasing Profitability Q&A first appeared on EcomCrew.
After recording this episode, Ben's back to ask about the various strategies that I've been incorporating into our brands to revive our profit margins.
In this new episode, Ben will be asking me a bunch of questions on how I've managed to increase profitability back to 15% from almost losing money in the beginning of the year. We've covered a few of these strategies in the past, but I thought it'd be nice to have it all in one episode for the audience to take and use for their own brands.
This episode is all about increasing profitability. With Covid-related challenges to consider and inflation in full swing, we thought this was a highly important subject to talk about, especially with Q4 in the horizon.
If you listened all the way to the end, then you know we have some exciting topics to discuss in upcoming episodes of this series, so make sure to tune in to the podcast.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
Earlier this year, we got fellow podcaster Carlos Alvarez to share his personal and ecommerce journey with us – you can listen to that episode here. Now, he’s back on the podcast to talk about a topic I wish we could’ve unpacked sooner: Amazon Live! Launched in 2019, this feature isn’t totally new but not …
The post E464: Optimize Your Brand Visibility with Amazon Live first appeared on EcomCrew.
Learn how to take advantage of Amazon’s livestreaming feature with tips from Wizards of Ecom’s Carlos Alvarez.
Earlier this year, we got fellow podcaster Carlos Alvarez to share his personal and ecommerce journey with us – you can listen to that episode here.
Now, he’s back on the podcast to talk about a topic I wish we could’ve unpacked sooner: Amazon Live!
Launched in 2019, this feature isn’t totally new but not all Amazon businesses use it, myself included. This conversation might just be the push I need.
Carlos is here to walk us through the process of getting started on this and why brands should hop on the livestreaming bandwagon.
Check out the highlights from this episode:
- Intro - 0:00
- An overview of Amazon Live - 3:22
- The impact of Amazon influencers - 6:25
- Improving your livestream with hardware - 8:51
- Requisites to use Amazon Live - 10:17
- A boost in exposure - 11:52
- Setting expectations as a new user - 14:09
- Understanding the demographic - 17:17
- Carlos’ personal experience with Amazon Live - 19:02
- Tips on how to create a great livestream - 21:22
- Get in touch with Carlos - 26:52
- Putting in the work - 30:08
Carlos, thank you for coming again on the podcast and sharing your time with us. Our discussion got me excited to try out Amazon Live for my own brands.
For those who have any questions for Carlos, feel free to send him a DM on Instagram @wizardsofecom. If you’ve already listened to the episode, you’d know that Carlos has generously given out his phone number as well. But serious queries only, please!
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
July was an interesting month. For me, my top line number went down, but my bottom line number went up – thanks to reduced PPC costs, raised product prices, and AGL. Dave, on the other hand, rants about the ridiculous sales tax being imposed on businesses based in British Columbia. We also discuss our takes …
The post E463: Our Longest Tenured Employee is Leaving – July Brand Report 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave ponder EcomCrew’s early years as they bid a bittersweet goodbye to the company’s first employee.
July was an interesting month. For me, my top line number went down, but my bottom line number went up – thanks to reduced PPC costs, raised product prices, and AGL.
Dave, on the other hand, rants about the ridiculous sales tax being imposed on businesses based in British Columbia.
We also discuss our takes on 3PL, which Dave and I are approaching very differently: I’m slowly weaning off of it, while Dave is heavily reliant on it (for an inevitable yet valid reason).
In more devastating news: Abby, EcomCrew’s employee #1 and brand manager is leaving us. This was bound to happen eventually, but it still feels very sad that it's actually happening.
That concludes our July Brand Report. It’s definitely going to be challenging without Abby and we’ll miss her for sure, but that’s life. We wish her all the best in her journey.
We never have enough time on the podcast to cover everything in our Brand Report, so if you want to see the full-length report, check out the blogpost here.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
If you’re well versed in the wider ecommerce landscape, you’d know that the FBA aggregator or acquisition industry have become a lucrative business in recent years. RJ is the founder of 101 Commerce, which is considered the first FBA aggregator with institutional backing. Before names like Thrasio went big, there was 101 Commerce. RJ's been …
The post E462: Understanding the Enormous FBA Aggregator Space with Richard Jalichandra first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike is joined by 101 Commerce founder RJ Jalichandra as he talks about the growing pains of being a pioneering FBA aggregator and where the industry might be headed in the coming years.
If you’re well versed in the wider ecommerce landscape, you’d know that the FBA aggregator or acquisition industry have become a lucrative business in recent years.
RJ is the founder of 101 Commerce, which is considered the first FBA aggregator with institutional backing. Before names like Thrasio went big, there was 101 Commerce.
RJ's been on the podcast before, when 101 Commerce was just getting started, and so I thought RJ would be a great resource person to talk about the ins and outs of being an FBA aggregator, how the business works and the current environment of the industry.
If you want to listen to our first episode together, you can find it here.
Learn about the FBA Aggregator Space in these highlights: * Intro - 0:00 * The genesis of 101 Commerce - 5:16 * What kind of businesses do aggregators look for? - 12:17 * Challenges of being an aggregator - 14:20 * RJ’s retiring and unretiring - 16:00 * Getting back into ecommerce - 15:27 * The aggregator business model and its challenges - 19:41 * The learning curve - 23:28 * The future of the aggregator space - 26:05 * What’s next for RJ? - 31:19 * Connect with RJ - 33:16
Thank you so much for your time, RJ. It was nice to catch up and chat a bit about the inner workings of the aggregating business.
If you need advice on how to sell your brand, you can message RJ on LinkedIn. You can also check out Incline Capital’s website for more information on their services.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
I did the first one of these annual brand updates on July 17, 2017. It’s kind of surreal how fast time flies. I’ve always enjoyed these because it makes me take an objective look at my brand. Businesses in certain niches certainly benefited from the lockdown, us included. With people choosing to do more …
The post E461: Reaching The Five-Year Mark (Annual Brand Update by Dave Bryant) first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this yearly review episode, Dave gives an update on how his brand’s been doing the past year, from feeling the fallout of a post-pandemic market to increased competition in the niche.
I did the first one of these annual reviews on July 17, 2017. It’s kind of surreal how fast time flies. I’ve always enjoyed these because it makes me take an objective look at my brand.
Businesses in certain niches certainly benefited from the lockdown, us included. With people choosing to do more outdoor activities then, we saw a spike in our sales the first two years into the pandemic.
However, as the world slowly opened up again and travel resumed, our revenue went down. I’m sure other businesses in this niche are experiencing this as well.
The past year wasn’t all that bad though. We had our losses, but we had awesome wins too. I’ve also set some goals for the company that I hope will come to fruition in the coming months.
Check out the highlights from this episode:
- Intro - 0:00
- June 2022 revenue - 2:52
- The Covid bump - 3:31
- Increased competition - 6:17
- Decline in TACoS - 8:56
- Our massive hit product - 12:29
- Finding a good fulfillment system in Canada - 15:30
- New hires from the Philippines - 16:30
- Developing a custom inventory software - 17:40
- Our losses the past year - 19:20
- My goals for the next 12 months - 21:25
That’s it for my year-in-review podcast episode. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you were able to take away a thing or two from this brief discussion.
I also did a blogpost where I elaborate more on these points in detail over at ecomcrew.com. Go check it out and leave a comment. I’d love to know what you guys think.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
As we’ve mentioned in our previous episodes, Dave and I spent a good chunk of June in the Philippines spending time with our employees there. We also made good headway on the content website we are launching this month–yes, this month! After several setbacks, I can finally see the light at the end of the …
The post E460: June Brand Report 2022 – Improving Margins During An Economic Downturn first appeared on EcomCrew.
Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, I am very much aware of how unstable and unpredictable life in the business can be. The journey is never linear. Fellow Vegasite Jonathan Jesper, who has never had a job, has been an entrepreneur his whole life – he’s no stranger to failure. He lived in a van …
The post E459: Bouncing Back From Failure and Redefining Success with Jonathan Jesper first appeared on EcomCrew.
Over the past few months, we’ve been working on a survey to pick the brain of today’s Amazon consumer a little bit – to better understand their purchasing habits. What pushes a consumer to check out an item? Which matters more: star rating or number of reviews? With the findings, we hope sellers can leverage …
The post E458: Analyzing Our 2022 Amazon Consumer Behavior Survey first appeared on EcomCrew.
Personally, I’ve been using Jungle Scout for several years and I’ve found it to be a great tool for any ecommerce business. We’re also grateful to have worked with them as affiliates for a while now. We’ve even had their CEO on the podcast. For this episode, we have their Director of Product, Jake Corkin. …
The post E457: Looking Into JungleScout’s Amazon Advertising Report with Jake Corkin first appeared on EcomCrew.
After recording this episode, I thought it would be nice to have Ben be in front of the camera more often and be a regular on the podcast. In this new Q&A series, Ben will be asking me a bunch of questions on how to run a successful ecommerce business and I will do …
The post E456: Back to Basics – Costs and Profitability Q&A first appeared on EcomCrew.
Aside from our recent trip to the Philippines (which you can know more about here and here), May was quite an eventful month. Revenue-wise, there was a slight increase from April by almost $70,000. If we’re talking about individual brand progress, there was a fair share of wins and losses. IceWraps saw a big gain, …
The post E455: How Seasonality Affects Revenue – May Brand Report 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
It finally happened–we made it to Cebu! Dave and I aligned our travel dates so that we’d have a few days to spend with the EcomCrew team while we were there. It’s been three years since I last saw some of them (most I haven’t met in person at all), and it was Dave’s first …
The post E454: What We Learned from Visiting Our Team in the Philippines first appeared on EcomCrew.
I’m in Cebu for a couple of weeks! Over this short but fun period, I saw old friends again after the pandemic and got to meet new ones whom I’ve only ever spoken to on Zoom. I had a genuinely fun time being back to the Philippines after several years. Joining me for this episode …
The post E453: Looking Back on Mike’s Trip to the Philippines with EcomCrew first appeared on EcomCrew.
What’s happening in Ukraine is heartbreaking. Who would’ve thought that an invasion could happen even in the 21st century? I figured the least we can do is provide a platform to shed some light on the situation there from a local’s perspective, which is why we have Paul Okhrem on the podcast. Paul is the …
The post E452: Running an Ecommerce Agency in Ukraine Amid The Invasion first appeared on EcomCrew.
It’s time for another Brand Report! Compared to March, there’s a slight decline in last month’s revenue numbers. But that’s not to say April was all bad. April was a hectic month for me. After over six months of working with several developers, we finally got to launch Tactical.com’s new look, which I am very …
The post E451: It’s Crunch Time For Our New Brand – April Brand Report 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Will Performance Max replace all singular campaigns? Mike chats with Brett Curry of OMG Commerce about Google’s latest campaign type feature. There’s no debate on how efficient and incredibly convenient Performance Max is. It’s a unified campaign for multiple channels rolled into one. However, there is a common misconception that it replaces your existing …
The post E450: Creating The Ultimate Campaign with Google Performance Max first appeared on EcomCrew.
A relatively new system, Amazon’s demand-side platform (DSP) analyzes consumer data and finds the right customers to target ads with. Unlike Facebook or Google ads, DSP gives you access to a wider network of third-party sites and reach people both on and off Amazon, albeit a pricier option. A fair warning: doing ads with DSP …
The post E449: The Intricacies of DSP Advertising with Martin Zerrudo first appeared on EcomCrew.
At the start of the year, we began working behind the scenes on producing regular reports on top third-party sellers on Amazon. Since Amazon doesn’t release reports on third-party sellers, we had to develop a way to harness this data ourselves. After months of research, we’ve managed to come up with a methodology that produces …
The post E448: How Much Money Do The Top Third-Party Amazon Sellers Earn Per Year? first appeared on EcomCrew.
From food items to lifestyle products, subscription boxes have become quite the trend in ecommerce the past few years. Chris George and Paul Chambers got their start in ecommerce with Gentleman’s Box, a subscription service for men’s lifestyle products that they started in 2014. In 2017, they co-founded Subscription Trade Association or SUBTA, with …
The post E447: Unpacking The Concept of Subscription Boxes with Chris George and Paul Chambers first appeared on EcomCrew.
After hearing him speak at eCommerceFuel Live last March, I invited Spencer Jan to be on the podcast to expound on a particular point in his presentation that struck me the most: innovation. Spencer is the co-founder of Solo Stove, a company he started way back in 2010 in a garage. After exiting the business, …
The post E446: The Importance of Innovation in Ecommerce with Spencer Jan first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this episode, Mike is joined by Spencer Jan of Solo Stove to talk about the evolution of ecommerce through the years and how innovation drives it forward.
After hearing him speak at eCommerceFuel Live last March, I invited Spencer Jan to be on the podcast to expound on a particular point in his presentation that struck me the most: innovation.
Spencer is the co-founder of Solo Stove, a company he started way back in 2010 in a garage. After exiting the business, he is now focused on helping other entrepreneurs build their own brands through informative content.
During our quick conversation, Spencer and I were able to cover a bit more ground about his journey and thoughts on the future of ecommerce. Here are the highlights from the episode:
Timestamps:
- Intro - 0:00
- Spencer’s early years in ecommerce - 3:36
- Choosing to focus on Solo Stove - 7:50
- The ‘dopamine hit’ of starting something new - 11:40
- Keeping up with the times - 13:53
- Innovation as a force in ecommerce - 15:31
- How ecommerce has evolved since he started - 20:08
- Differentiating yourself from the competition - 26:13
Thank you so much for coming on the podcast, Spencer. I hope to see you at Sellers Summit. If you guys want ecommerce-related videos, make sure to check out Spencer’s YouTube channel.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our podcast. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
Over two decades of working as a dental hygienist, Lisa Guenst noticed how a lot of patients she encountered hated using string floss. However, part of her profession is advocating for oral health, so as an alternative to help prevent gum disease, she always suggested using a water flosser instead. While she did see significant …
The post E445: Everything You Need to Scale Your FBA Business [Under the Hood] first appeared on EcomCrew.
For this episode of Under The Hood, Mike gives advice to Lisa Guenst–dental hygienist and owner of ToothShower, an innovative dental water flosser–on how to boost sales and get a business ready for selling.
Over two decades of working as a dental hygienist, Lisa Guenst noticed how a lot of patients she encountered hated using string floss.
However, part of her profession is advocating for oral health, so as an alternative to help prevent gum disease, she always suggested using a water flosser instead.
While she did see significant improvement in her patients, they did complain that most water flossers were cumbersome and quite messy to use.
This was the impetus behind Lisa creating ToothShower, a water flosser that is powered by your own shower – no need for batteries or for plugging into an outlet.
After launching a Kickstarter campaign in 2017, the company and its flagship product (now with an impressive range of accessories) have become quite the lucrative business.
Pre-Covid, ToothShower had been selling exclusively on its website. It wasn't until the pandemic that ToothShower transitioned to being an Amazon business.
Thus, Lisa sought our help on how to navigate the unique challenges that come with being an FBA business, especially for a product that’s as disruptive as ToothShower.
From refining your Amazon listing to optimizing SEO, I guide Lisa in increasing her sales and getting her business ready for selling when she decides to exit down the line.
That’s it for this week’s podcast. If you want to be featured in our next Under The Hood episode and get advice from us firsthand, fill out this form and we’ll check it out.
Also, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our podcast. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
Welcome to the podcast edition of Brand Report! In this series, we share with you our revenue across all our brands every month, so you can see what we did wrong and what we did right. In February, we raked in a total of $621,816, compared to March’s revenue numbers, where we broke past the …
The post E444: The Best Month of 2022 So Far – March Brand Report 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to the podcast edition of Brand Report! In this series, we share with you our revenue across all our brands every month, so you can see what we did wrong and what we did right. In February, we raked in a total of $621,816, compared to March's revenue numbers, where we broke past the $700,000 barrier. IceWraps continues the upward trend in sales, but one thing remains to be a source of difficulty: logistics.
All in all, several factors played into this outcome, but the increase in freight rates continues to be a headache.
That’s it for our Brand Report for March 2022. While we’re certainly hoping for better days, March was definitely the best so far.
If you want to see a more detailed and comprehensive breakdown of our revenue numbers for the past few months, check out the blog post up on our website.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our podcast. Tune in next month for our April Brand Report. Till then, happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
A lot has happened since the big announcement about Knitting.com. It went viral, but not for the right reasons. In this episode, Mike and Dave set the record straight. Shortly after we released the blog post and podcast about Knitting.com, we got into hot water with members of the knitting community.
While we’ve gotten some pretty harsh comments, we’ve also received helpful advice from knitters that we will definitely implement as we grow this business.
Looking back, we realized that there were certainly points we could’ve articulated better, but there’s no point in dwelling in the past.
In this podcast, we hope to shed light on our business plan and hopefully, clarify some details.
Timestamps:
- Intro - 0:00
- What happened after we announced Knitting.com - 0:38
- How our message was interpreted - 3:26
- What we could’ve done better - 7:03
- The significance of local yarn stores in the knitting community - 10:57
- Our approach to Knitting.com - 12:47
- The business plan - 17:45
- Our goals for the business - 25:11
- What we’ve been up to lately - 30:12
- The impact we hope to make with Knitting.com - 31:53
When we launch Knitting.com later this year, we hope to put out a content website and a lineup of quality products that hopefully novice knitters will find useful and beneficial.
That’s it for this week’s episode. Feel free to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our podcast. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
This week on the podcast, we have the founder and CMO of Wizards of Ecom, Carlos Alvarez. If there’s one thing Carlos and I have in common, it’s that we defied a statistic. As school dropouts, we’re not expected to succeed in life. But with grit and hard work, here we are. Carlos …
The post E442: Defying Life’s Odds and Persevering with Carlos Alvarez first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to the podcast edition of our February Brand Report! Each month, we’ll break down our monthly revenue so you can see what’s working and what’s not. February’s revenue was $621,816, which is roughly equal to that of January, and we dive into what exactly affected our revenue: what we worked on, our wins, and …
The post E441: A Deeper Look – February Brand Report 2022 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Our topic for today is not totally in line with ecommerce, but a bunch of you guys requested it so here we are: Ecomcrew’s one and only episode on cryptocurrency. The subject is especially interesting since Dave and I aren’t exactly on the same team when it comes to this one, even though we both …
The post E440: Our First (and Only) Episode on Cryptocurrency first appeared on EcomCrew.
Consumers are becoming more wary and on edge about online security and keeping their data safe. Developers address this concern by doubling down on data privacy and limiting ads, albeit, at the expense of businesses’ efforts to reach potential customers. In this episode, I talk to Eric Hochberger, who runs the ad management company …
The post E439: An Outlook on the Future of Advertising first appeared on EcomCrew.
The inspiration for a business can strike at any time. For Hasan Hasmani, CEO of Underdog Games, the big idea came to him during a meeting with a client. After several years of selling other people’s board games, that fateful conversation would eventually lead him to running a company and developing his own. For …
The post E438: Trekking Through Product Development with Hasan Hasmani first appeared on EcomCrew.
Pricing is a tricky aspect to navigate when running a business. Set it too high, you’ll turn away potential customers. Set it too low and you’ll run the risk of struggling to keep your business afloat. So, how do you balance the scales in a mutually beneficial way? This week on the show, Drew …
The post E437: Making Sure Your Price is Right with Drew Marconi first appeared on EcomCrew.
Contrary to the expression “Money is no obstacle,” for many start-up entrepreneurs, it’s actually the biggest hump to overcome when getting started. So many great ideas and brands fail to come to fruition mainly because of one factor: funding, or lack thereof. In this episode, we have Asher Ismail of Uncapped to share …
The post E436: Different Ways to Secure Funding For Your Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
In a massive ecommerce platform like Amazon where there are literally thousands of results for every product search, getting your business clicked on (and added to cart) is a challenge. For this episode, I am joined by Seller Rocket’s Eric Suddarth to talk about how editorial recommendations work on Amazon and how you can …
The post E435: How Editorial Recommendations Affect Lead Conversion first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike catches up with PostPilot’s Drew Sanocki to talk about spotting opportunities in business, the bullishness of SaaS, and the efficacy of real mail in today’s environment. Ever since I attended eCommerceFuel Live five or six years ago, I’ve always admired Drew Sanocki for his knowledge and experience in the business. Drew is the founder …
The post E434: Using Post Cards to Touch Base with Customers in a Touchless World first appeared on EcomCrew.
With our businesses fortunately well and stable, we thought it was high time we worked on a new project – this time, as business partners! Dave and I have always talked about working on a business together, but we never really came up with anything concrete. That is until we stumbled upon this hidden gem …
The post E433: Unraveling Our New Business Together first appeared on EcomCrew.
As the pandemic continues to drag on, running a successful ecommerce business is not without its challenges. 2021 may not have been the COVID-free year Dave and I wanted for our businesses, but that’s not to say it was all bad. It wasn’t an easy year, but looking back, there were plenty of reasons to …
The post E432: Mike and Dave’s Business Review 2021 first appeared on EcomCrew.
As the pandemic continues to drag on, running a successful ecommerce business is not without its challenges. 2021 may not have been the COVID-free year Dave and I wanted for our businesses, but that’s not to say it was all bad.
It wasn’t an easy year, but looking back, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate too, which we will talk about in this episode – and we may or may not discuss a little bit about our new but still secret new business.
Timestamps:
- Was 2021 a good year? - 1:47
- The year in numbers, starting with IceWraps - 5:24
- Offroading - 8:45
- Mike’s forecast for IceWraps - 12:36
- How freight rates could affect business - 13:52
- Wild Baby - 18:26
- TAC9ER - 23:40
- Mystery brand (to be announced) - 31:00
- Mike’s wins and losses - 37:52
- Dave’s wins and losses - 43:20
2021 was quite the year, huh? There were some moments of adversity there, but we persevered. Now that we’ve begun a new year, we’re looking forward to better days for business and an auspicious launch of our new brand, which will come very soon.
That’s a wrap for this week’s podcast. You guys know the drill: leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Make sure to tune in to next week’s episode as it will be quite a special one. Happy selling!
Juggling a nine-to-five job and an e-commerce start-up is no easy feat and is certainly an exhausting set-up to maintain. So when Wall Charmers’ numbers hit an all-time high in April 2021, Viktor and his business partner Lance took a leap of faith, resigned from their main jobs and decided to run their e-commerce baby …
The post E431: Struggles of Running an E-Commerce Business Amid A Pandemic first appeared on EcomCrew.
WallCharmers co-owner Viktor Morosov talks about how his company has grown and evolved since quitting his office job, and the struggles he encountered during the pandemic.
Juggling a nine-to-five job and an e-commerce start-up is no easy feat and is certainly an exhausting set-up to maintain.
So when Wall Charmers’ numbers hit an all-time high in April 2021, Viktor and his business partner Lance took a leap of faith, resigned from their main jobs and decided to run their e-commerce baby full time.
Growing their company during the Covid crisis–what with all the delays and restrictions–proved to be a challenge. But Viktor took everything in stride, gaining invaluable lessons and experiences along the way.
Timestamps:
- Mike and Viktor’s first meeting during the EcomCrew roadshow in 2019 - 0:33
- How Wall Charmers has evolved since then - 2:57
- Maintaining a warehouse versus tapping 3PL - 6:00
- Decision fatigue and the importance of the ‘less is more’ approach - 8:45
- Challenges in logistics and inventory during Covid era - 11:45
- Viktor quitting his job to focus on Wall Charmers - 17:05
- Taking the time to pause and be grateful for the big and small wins - 26:00
- Running an e-commerce business while traveling around the world - 30:00
- Valuable lessons Viktor learned over the years - 42:55
And just like that, we’ve come to the end of episode 431 of the podcast. Viktor, thank you so much for always accepting our invitation to be on the show. It’s always a fun conversation with you.
As always, feel free to leave us a review over on iTunes if you had fun tuning in to this week’s episode. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
For many entrepreneurs, selling a business can be an even bigger achievement than starting one. While some luck out with finding honest-to-goodness buyers of their business, others get caught up in less favorable situations. Bill D’Alessandro, founder and CEO of Elements Brands, is no amateur when it comes to selling businesses with 10 years …
The post E430: Dirty Tricks Amazon Aggregators Might Try When Buying Your Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
Elements Brands CEO Bill D’Alessandro returns to chat with Mike about his recent (and unfortunate) experience with an Amazon aggregator who bought his business.
For many entrepreneurs, selling a business can be an even bigger achievement than starting one. While some luck out with finding honest-to-goodness buyers of their business, others get caught up in less favorable situations.
Bill D’Alessandro, founder and CEO of Elements Brands, is no amateur when it comes to selling businesses with 10 years of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions. But even a man of experience like him isn’t exempt from the occasional rotten buyer.
In this episode, Bill shares in painstaking detail the dodgy deal he had to face with an Amazon aggregator who bought the business he was divesting. From how the deal started and ended to valuable takeaways of the event, Bill’s story is certainly one you want to listen to.
Timestamps:
- How the deal with the shady Amazon aggregator started - 4:18
- The first red flag - 7:32
- Tips on how to protect yourself as a seller during a negotiation - 13:56
- Continuation of Bill’s story - 22:30
- Recap and some tips from Mike and Bill on how to navigate a fishy deal - 41:12
That’s it for this week’s EcomCrew Podcast. As always, it’s a pleasure to have Bill on the show. It’s not exactly the most inspiring story to tell, but it’s an equally important one nonetheless.
If you enjoyed this week’s episode, feel free to leave us a review over on iTunes. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
Born out of the digital revolution, Lazada is one of the largest ecommerce platforms in Southeast Asia. In this episode, I sit down with Lazada Co-Founder and former CEO, Pierre Poignant, to talk about how he saw a massive opportunity for digital retail in Southeast Asia, how Lazada operates smoothly across international borders, and …
The post E429: An Interview with Pierre Poignant, Lazada Co-Founder first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Lazada founder Pierre Poignant talk about the differences in ecommerce philosophies between the East and the West.
Born out of the digital revolution, Lazada is one of the largest ecommerce platforms in Southeast Asia.
In this episode, I sit down with Lazada Co-Founder and former CEO, Pierre Poignant, to talk about how he saw a massive opportunity for digital retail in Southeast Asia, how Lazada operates smoothly across international borders, and how they scaled the company after being acquired by Alibaba.
Pierre also shares some valuable insights on the ecommerce principles in the East that could work for many sellers in the West, as well as how he’s helping sellers grow their brands through his new company.
Audio Timestamps:
- Intro - 0:00
- How Pierre got started with building Lazada - 2:43
- How Lazada was founded - 5:41
- How Lazada manages logistics all over Southeast Asia - 9:59
- Being acquired by Alibaba - 12:56
- Leaving Lazada and starting a new venture - 15:29
- Ecommerce philosophies in the east that could work in the west - 17:09
- Branded’s business model and core philosophy - 18:37
- The next ecommerce revolution - 22:03
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Pierre as much as I have, and I definitely can’t wait to have him back a couple of years from now to see how far Branded has come along. If you want to learn more about their services, head over to their website, joinbranded.com or connect with Pierre on LinkedIn.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content, and as always, happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
Mike and Dave discuss the most popular ecommerce tools out there, giving their two cents on which seller software are better than others.
Last month, we ran our yearly community poll to find out which among the myriad of seller software our EcomCrew community predominantly uses.
The poll was aimed at determining the most popular Amazon software in 5 categories:
- Product Launches and Giveaways
- Keyword and Product Research
- PPC Management
- Reimbursement Management, and
- Pricing Management
THE RESULTS ARE IN! We’ll be discussing the winning software for each of the categories and why they edged out the competition.
We’ll also be sharing some insights compared to last year's numbers, on why and how you should be using these tools to grow your ecommerce business—and why you’re leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t!
Timestamps
- Introduction - 0:00
- Holiday catch-up with Dave - 0:25
- The Typhoon in the Philippines delaying our podcasts - 1:32
- Overview of our Best Amazon Software of 2021 poll - 4:23
- The most used tool for Product Launches and Giveaways - 4:58
- The most popular Keyword and Product Research Tool - 8:09
- The best software for PPC Management - 13:03
- The best Reimbursement Management Tool - 19:24
- The most popular Repricing Tool - 24:45
- The lucky winner announcement - 30:54
- Mike and Dave's all-time favorite software - 32:36
We’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to cast their votes, and congratulations to the lucky winner of a full year of EcomCrew Premium membership!
If you like this episode, don’t forget to help us out by leaving us a review over on iTunes so we can help more e-commerce sellers with our content.
’Til the next one, happy selling!
Mike and Dave look back at 2021 and reveal the year’s Top 10 EcomCrew Podcast episodes.
Throughout 2021, we’ve had some great conversations with a lot of interesting people about all things ecommerce—from tips and strategies to taking your business to new heights, to peeling the curtain back on aggregators, to analyzing the latest market trends and Amazon policy drops.
Would you believe that our first episode of the Ecomcrew Podcast was released on October 20, 2015?
In this episode, Dave and I will unveil the Top 10 EcomCrew Podcast episodes of 2021. We’ll take a deep dive into what makes these episodes great and why you should definitely go back and give them a listen if you haven’t already.
Audio Timestamps:
- Looking back at how the podcast did in 2021 - 5:10
- Best Episodes from 10th to 6th place - 11:34
- 5th Place - 15:19
- 4th Place - 18:47
- 3rd Place - 20:46
- 2nd Place - 30:25
- 1st Place - 35:56
Did your favorite episode make the list?
Thank you to everyone who tuned in to the podcast last year. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you! We promise more awesome content for you in 2022.
Happy holidays and, as always, we’ll talk to you soon!
Being an ecommerce entrepreneur means wearing many hats and oftentimes being so busy that you tend to lose track of other meaningful things in life. Today, Greg Howlett and I will be talking about the 4-burner theory and how we are applying it to balance our priorities in business and in life. This theory helped …
The post E426: Applying the 4-Burner Theory for Ecommerce Sellers with Greg Howlett first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Greg have a fireside chat about how they are applying the 4-burner theory as ecommerce sellers to not lose sight of other meaningful things in life.
Being an ecommerce entrepreneur means wearing many hats and oftentimes being so busy that you tend to lose track of other meaningful things in life.
Today, Greg Howlett and I will be talking about the 4-burner theory and how we are applying it to balance our priorities in business and in life. This theory helped me out a lot in my journey towards a balanced entrepreneurship, and I’ve talked about it in greater detail back in Episode 290.
Greg is a friend I met through Ecommerce Fuel, a community of 6 to 7 figure ecommerce store owners dedicated to helping people build and grow Amazon and other ecommerce businesses.
Today, Greg and I will have a fireside chat about how we balance work, family, friends, and personal health using the 4-burner theory, which can be a struggle for most ecommerce sellers.
Timestamps:
- Introduction - 1:18
- Greg’s current Amazon business - 2:50
- Balancing life when the work burner is cranked up - 6:30
- Managing family matters as an ecommerce seller - 21:16
I wanna thank Greg for a very insightful conversation, and I can’t wait to hear a lot more from him down the road.
By the way, in case you missed it, our traditional software poll is currently accepting entries! This yearly survey helps us discover trends in the industry and which software and tools sellers are really finding useful in running their ecommerce business.
This year, one lucky person will win a full year’s worth of EcomCrew Premium membership absolutely free! Just head over to ecomcrew.com/softwarepoll to participate.
Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Amazon sellers use various software as tools to help grow their businesses and make processes smoother. If you’ve ever wondered which ones are used by most sellers, you’re not alone. To settle this matter, we’ve decided to bring back last year’s survey that will give us a list of the most popular Amazon seller software. …
The post E425: The 5 Best Amazon Seller Software in 2021 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Amazon sellers use various software as tools to help grow their businesses and make processes smoother. If you’ve ever wondered which ones are used by most sellers, you’re not alone.
To settle this matter, we’ve decided to bring back last year's survey that will give us a list of the most popular Amazon seller software. We’ve created a total of four categories, which we discuss in detail in this episode.
The good news is that you can take part in this survey, and after answering just 5 questions, you can get a chance to win a full year of EcomCrew Premium subscription!
Just head on over to ecomcrew.com/softwarepoll, and don’t miss your chance to enjoy EcomCrew Premium for free!
For more details about the survey and the software tools we feature, head on over to the EcomCrew blog page and read Dave's article.
If you like this episode, please don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps our channel a lot and also allows us to reach more e-commerce sellers who can benefit from our content.
Until the next one, happy selling!
We’ve done a whole series with ecommerce and Amazon FBA aggregators throughout the year, so I thought it would be a good idea to hear from someone who’s been on the other side of the transaction. Josh Dittrich is an entrepreneur, exit advisor, and the founder of Branded Seller, a company that helps small-scale businesses …
The post E424: How to Sell Your Brand for 8 Figures with Josh Dittrich first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Josh talk about an ecommerce business acquisition from a seller’s perspective—from finding the right buyer, structuring the deal, and taking care of employees.
We’ve done a whole series with ecommerce and Amazon FBA aggregators throughout the year, so I thought it would be a good idea to hear from someone who’s been on the other side of the transaction.
Josh Dittrich is an entrepreneur, exit advisor, and the founder of Branded Seller, a company that helps small-scale businesses raise their valuations and find the right aggregator to work with.
In this episode, Josh will be sharing his recent experience of going through the whole process of selling one of his businesses to an ecommerce aggregator. We’ll talk about how he ended up deciding to sell the business, how he found the right aggregators to reach out to, and how he took care of his employees during the transition.
Near the end of the episode, Josh will also give some specific and actionable advice on things you should do if you’re looking to secure that profitable exit in a few months or in a couple of years down the road.
Timestamps:
- Introduction - 0:30
- How Josh found the aggregators to reach out to - 3:15
- What the offers looked like and how they structured the deal - 7:18
- How the transition works out for his employees - 14:02
- Josh’s specific advice for sellers looking to exit in the near future - 22:47
Resources mentioned: hahnbeck.com
I want to thank Josh for doing this very insightful episode with me. You can reach him directly by visiting brandedseller.com or emailing him at josh@brandedseller.com.
Before you go, don’t forget to answer our quick 2-minute Amazon Software Poll for the chance to win a year’s worth of EcomCrew Premium membership valued at $2000 absolutely free! Just go to ecomcrew.com/softwarepoll.
As always, please leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Fortunet, an ecommerce investment and banking firm, just came out with a very insightful report surveying 42 ecommerce aggregators. The report sheds light on what aggregators really look for in businesses and which things have the most impact on buying multiples. Joining me today is none other than Fortunet’s Co-Founder and Partner, Yael Cabilly. We’ll …
The post E423: What Amazon Aggregators Really Look For [Fortunet Buyers Survey] first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Fortunet Co-Founder Yael break down a survey of 42 aggregators to show what they really look for when evaluating ecommerce businesses.
Fortunet, an ecommerce investment and banking firm, just came out with a very insightful report surveying 42 ecommerce aggregators. The report sheds light on what aggregators really look for in businesses and which things have the most impact on buying multiples.
Joining me today is none other than Fortunet’s Co-Founder and Partner, Yael Cabilly. We’ll be breaking down the report’s Executive Summary, which confirms some visible market trends and also debunks some misconceptions you might have about aggregators.
You can access the full report over on Fortunet’s website.
Audio Timestamps:
- Introduction to Fortunet - 0:38
- Which categories aggregators prefer most and which ones they exclude - 3:59
- Why buyers don’t acquire solely wholesale businesses - 11:07
- Aggregators generally require a minimum operating history of one year - 13:17
- Roughly half of aggregators require at least a 15% SDE profit margin - 15:24
- Most aggregators buy businesses with a minimum purchase price of $500K-1M - 16:37
- 90% of aggregators purchase or prefer to purchase the assets only - 18:01
- 61% of aggregators prefer full acquisition - 20:02
- Preferred deal structures - 22:26
- Some buyers offer some equity in the holding company - 24:44
- Most aggregators do not value additional sales channels, they value patents - 25:13
- Most buyers seek to grow the brand (not flip them) - 26:43
I want to thank Yael for taking the time to break down these findings with me. These definitely add value to anyone listening, especially if you’re currently preparing your ecommerce business for sale. If you want to know more about Fortunet and their services, feel free to connect with Yael over on yael@fortunet.net.
Before we go, don’t forget that our limited-time offer of 50% off EcomCrew Premium ends tonight! If you think that unlimited 1-on-1 email support, a wealth of ecommerce courses and resources, and exclusive expert-led webinars will help you take your business to the next level, head over to ecomcrew.com/premium right now to sign up. Use code: ECOMCREW50 to apply the discount.
Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
There are a lot of marketing channels outside of the marketplace that you can take advantage of. One of the most popular ones? YouTube. Today, we’ll be talking about how you can optimize your YouTube channel to boost your brand’s visibility and keep that flywheel going, and we’ll use actual before-and-after data from our own …
The post E422: Giving New Life to Your Old Youtube Videos first appeared on EcomCrew.
There are a lot of marketing channels outside of the marketplace that you can take advantage of. One of the most popular ones? YouTube.
Today, we’ll be talking about how you can optimize your YouTube channel to boost your brand’s visibility and keep that flywheel going, and we’ll use actual before-and-after data from our own channel to demonstrate how much these strategies work.
I’m excited to be joined today by one of our very own team members from the Philippines, Hannah. She has been doing great work with us for a couple of years and she now leads our writing team as well as our prepping and survivalism brand.
Hannah will go over the specific techniques that they used to optimize our own Tactical YouTube channel, with some real-world metrics to boot.
If you’re currently doing YouTube or are planning to use it as a content and marketing tool in the future, I’m sure you’ll find this episode to be very insightful.
Audio Timestamps:
- Doing a video analysis - 10:22
- Nailing down your keywords - 11:32
- Creating a keyword-optimized titles - 14:54
- Writing an SEO-friendly description - 16:52
- Adding Info Cards and optimized video tags - 23:47
- Having an eye-catching thumbnail - 27:22
- Our actual before-and-after stats - 31:56
I’d like to thank Hannah for doing this episode with me. I’m excited to have our other team members come on the show to give you valuable insights into various aspects of running an ecommerce business.
By the way, don’t forget to sign up to our Black Friday waitlist to avail of EcomCrew Premium at 50% off (Discount applies to all plans). Premium is about solutions and actionable advice to help ecommerce sellers not just navigate, but dominate the marketplace.
We offer unlimited 1-on-1 email support from two 7-figure sellers alongside a wealth of ecommerce resources you won’t find anywhere else. Take your business to the next level and join our waitlist here.
Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
This episode is an addition to our mini series with different ecommerce aggregators who are always on the lookout for potential brands to acquire. Andrew and Alaina are the CEO and Head of Brand Marketing of Suma Brands, respectively. Their company focuses on buying and growing Amazon FBA and direct-to-consumer businesses. Today, I get to …
The post E421: 5 Things That Make Your Brand Attractive To Rollups first appeared on EcomCrew.
This episode is an addition to our mini series with different ecommerce aggregators who are always on the lookout for potential brands to acquire.
Andrew and Alaina are the CEO and Head of Brand Marketing of Suma Brands, respectively. Their company focuses on buying and growing Amazon FBA and direct-to-consumer businesses.
Today, I get to pick their brains on the biggest things that ecommerce aggregators look for in a brand, as well as the things that they consider huge red flags when evaluating potential acquisitions.
If you’ve ever courted with the idea of selling your ecommerce business or are planning to sell a couple of years from now, this episode will add a lot of value to you.
Timestamps:
- Introduction to Suma Brands - 4:19
- Suma’s core philosophy and their deal structures - 6:13
- What Suma Brands looks in businesses - 16:08
-
-
1 Brand magic
-
2 Product reviews and social proof
-
3 Opportunities and brand evangelists
-
4 Proven history of growth
-
5 Opportunity
-
- The value of a having a repeat customer base - 21:30
- Which things turn ecommerce aggregators off - 23:59
-
-
1 Fake reviews and suspicious metrics
-
2 Not having a differentiated product
-
3 Low margins
-
4 No lifetime value
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- Why work with Suma - 36:24
I hope you learned as much as I have from Andrew and Alaina. I definitely can’t wait to have them back on the show perhaps a year from now to discuss how much their company has grown. If you’re interested in starting a conversation with them regarding your brand, feel free to shoot them an email on:
- acquisitions@sumabrands.com
- andrew@sumabrands.com
- alaina@sumabrands.com
Speaking of brands, now is as good a time as any to start thinking of differentiating your products and developing your brand identity. EcomCrew Premium can help you with that.
For a limited time only this Black Friday and Cyber Monday (November 26-29), we’re offering EcomCrew Premium at 50% off. Slots are limited, so be sure to sign up to our active waitlist so you don’t miss a beat.
As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
You really can’t predict what Amazon will do next these days. One minute I make a prediction that they won’t ban rebates because it makes them money, the next minute they’re bringing the hammer down on RebateKey. In this episode, Dave and I will break down Amazon’s latest policy drop regarding off-Amazon rebates and coupons, …
The post E420: Rebates and Coupons are Dead. Now What? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave talk about the end of off-Amazon rebates and coupons and what they think sellers across the white-hat-black-hat spectrum will be doing moving forward.
You really can’t predict what Amazon will do next these days. One minute I make a prediction that they won’t ban rebates because it makes them money, the next minute they’re bringing the hammer down on RebateKey.
In this episode, Dave and I will break down Amazon’s latest policy drop regarding off-Amazon rebates and coupons, what the next white-hat and black-hat tactics are likely going to be, and how you can still succeed on Amazon moving forward.
Timestamps:
- Why the FTC might consider rebates as review manipulation - 5:22
- What the Amazon policy update means for sellers - 7:09
- The future of RebateKey and rebates in general - 12:19
- How much data Amazon has on its users and which data it tracks - 19:50
- Will Amazon start banning sellers for using rebates? - 25:29
EcomCrew blog articles mentioned:
- Amazon Official Kills Rebates: What Does It Mean?
- Amazon Has 1.28GB of Personal Info on Me - Here’s What’s In It
If you’re interested in building reliable outside assets like content sites, email lists, and influencer partnerships, our book, Amazon Domination, is the best place to start. If you get your copy now, the book is on us for free (just pay for shipping).
Fun episode with Dave as usual, and there’s a lot more where that came from. For a limited time only this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we’re treating our podcast listeners to EcomCrew Premium at half-off. That’s 50% off all EcomCrew Premium plans available only between November 26th-29th.
The waitlist is currently live and the limited slots will be on a first come, first served basis. Head over to ecomcrew.com/blackfriday to secure your spot!
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!
Growing an ecommerce business can be daunting, especially when you’re looking at a number of angles to grow, but you have limited physical and financial capacities. In this edition of our Under The Hood series, Michael Simpson from DiscountCatholicProducts picks my brain about how he can grow his thriving ecommerce business despite the limited bandwidth. …
The post E419: Finding Growth Opportunities for an Ecommerce Business [Under The Hood with Michael Simpson] first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike looks under the hood of Michael Simpson’s niche ecommerce business to determine his biggest growth opportunities.
Growing an ecommerce business can be daunting, especially when you’re looking at a number of angles to grow, but you have limited physical and financial capacities.
In this edition of our Under The Hood series, Michael Simpson picks my brain about how he can grow his thriving ecommerce business despite the limited bandwidth.
Some of the opportunities we look at are transporting his website into Shopify and expanding into Amazon FBA, building a team to re-optimizing listings and handle day-to-day operations, and developing his brand. These strategies apply to most ecommerce businesses, so this episode should help you focus on the right growth opportunities as you scale your business.
Courses mentioned: From 0 - 100: FBA For Absolute Beginners
I hope you found a lot of value in this episode, and we’ll definitely have Michael back on the show down the road to discuss how far his business will have come along then.
In case you missed it, our EcomCrew Premium Black Friday/Cyber Monday waitlist is already live! It’s only going to be open from November 26-29, so if you’re down for some heavy discounts to join Premium, head over to ecomcrew.com/blackfriday to sign up.
Lastly, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Greetings from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden! On this rare occasion that Dave, Steve Chou, and myself got together, we decided to sit down and talk about all the things that have been going on in the world of Amazon and what it means to be an ecommerce seller today. In this episode, we …
The post E418: The Future of Amazon and Ecommerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike, Dave, and Steve take a break from attending the Indian Wells to talk about the future of Amazon and how the ecommerce landscape is changing.
Greetings from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden!
On this rare occasion that Dave, Steve Chou, and myself got together, we decided to sit down and talk about all the things that have been going on in the world of Amazon and what it means to be an ecommerce seller today.
In this episode, we talk about Amazon’s huge policy drops on rebates and giveaways. We also give our personal takes on the current review and ranking system and why sellers and brands use rebates in the first place.
We then move on to discuss Amazon’s future direction in broad strokes, particularly with regards to it being both a marketplace and a seller at the same time, and how it tends to give itself an unfair advantage over third-party sellers on the platform.
If you’re looking to just relax and listen to a fireside chat between three ecommerce sellers who’ve been in the game for a while now, this is the episode for you.
Timestamps:
- Why Amazon shut down Elite Seller and RebateKey - 7:42
- The current review and rating system on the Amazon marketplace - 19:48
- How Amazon creates an unfair advantage for itself over third-party sellers - 22:36
- What the landscape looks like for new Amazon sellers moving forward - 32:03
- The perks of having your own website - 37:25
- How we deal with Amazon issues and seller support - 45:48
I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Dave and Steve as much as I have. Be sure to check out Steve’s other awesome content over on My Wife Quit Her Job, and we’ll definitely have him back on the podcast soon.
On the topic of Amazon, we’re still giving away free copies of our book, Amazon Domination, which is a non-nonsense, step-by-step guide to launching your next #1 Amazon Best Seller. Again, the book is free (just pay for shipping and handling). Grab yours here.
If you haven’t already, leave us a review over on iTunes and let us know what you think of this episode. As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Today, I’m excited to be doing another Under The Hood episode, which, for new listeners, is an hour-long coaching call with a fellow ecommerce business owner that we turn into a full-fledged podcast episode to help other sellers that might have the same questions and pain points. My guest is John Terry, who is one …
The post E417: From Small Mother-And-Son Business To Go-To Keto Brand [Under The Hood With John Terry] first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today, I’m excited to be doing another Under The Hood episode, which, for new listeners, is an hour-long coaching call with a fellow ecommerce business owner that we turn into a full-fledged podcast episode to help other sellers that might have the same questions and pain points.
My guest is John Terry, who is one half of an interesting mom-and-son business, Ketonia. Their company is a thriving online keto bakery that sells products like a delicious Keto Coconut Macaroons mix.
In this episode, John picks my brain on how to scale his business further, including managing traffic between an Amazon store and a brand site, the value of outsourcing tasks to a VA, and even strategies as the ecommerce space becomes more inflationary.
Timestamps:
- How John got into ecommerce - 1:18
- Why you want to have traffic coming into your own website - 16:53
- Which things to optimize if you’re a smaller online business - 26:22
- Which tasks entrepreneurs can outsource to virtual assistants - 31:00
- How to measure the success of your influencer outreach - 36:08
- Mike’s main strategies in this current inflationary environment - 50:19
- The potential of selling your brand to a rollup down the road - 54:00
I had a great time talking to John, and I hope he and his mom can come back for a sequel episode so we can learn how far their business has come along in a year or so.
Before we go, don’t forget that if you’re an Amazon FBA seller based in Canada, you can get a chance to win a 1-year EcomCrew Premium membership absolutely free by just completing a quick 2-minute survey. Just head over to ecomcrew.com/poll2021. Good luck!
If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to iTunes and leave us a review. Until the next one, happy selling!
Many sellers think that selling or expanding into the EU is a nightmare, what with the language barriers and different compliance requirements. I myself have done it in the past and found it quite difficult. That being said, my guest today, Melanie Shabangu, will help me debunk common myths all of us might believe about …
The post E416: Debunking Myths About Selling in the EU first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Melanie of AVASK talk about what sellers need to know before expanding their ecommerce businesses to Europe and other markets abroad.
Many sellers think that selling or expanding into the EU is a nightmare, what with the language barriers and different compliance requirements. I myself have done it in the past and found it quite difficult.
That being said, my guest today, Melanie Shabangu, will help me debunk common myths all of us might believe about selling in the EU, and she’ll explain exactly how to keep an ecommerce business profitable when expanding abroad.
Melanie is a tax expert and ecommerce accountant for AVASK, an accounting firm that specializes in helping ecommerce sellers expand their businesses into Europe, the UAE, and even Australia.
In this episode, I have the pleasure of picking her brain about what selling in the EU is like, especially for those who have little to no experience with it. We’ll be talking about myths that might be putting off a lot of US sellers from selling in the EU, VAT and other compliance requirements, and the overall economics of selling in markets abroad.
Timestamps:
- Introduction - 0:00
- Introduction to Melanie and AVASK Accounting - 1:35
- Myths you might believe about selling in the EU - 2:35
- The basic economics of selling in the EU - 4:46
- How much it costs to translate an Amazon listing - 13:54
- What is Value Added Tax? - 26:53
- What your costs could look like with VAT - 27:56
- Standard compliance requirements when expanding into European markets - 32:45
I want to thank Melanie for all the valuable stuff she shared today. I definitely wish I knew all of these before trying to sell abroad—I hope it motivated you to give it a shot as much as it did me.
If you want to learn more about what we discussed in this episode, shoot Melanie an email at melanie@avaskgroup.com or contact their expansion team at expansion@avaskgroup.com.
On the topic of selling across borders, we’re running an exclusive giveaway for our friends in Canada. By answering our quick 2-minute survey over on ecomcrew.com/poll2021 you get a chance to win a full year’s worth of EcomCrew Premium membership absolutely free! This grants you access to all our courses, past webinars, and direct email support from Dave and myself. Good luck!
As always, please leave us a review over on iTunes if you haven’t already. Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
PickFu is a customer insights platform that acts as a digital focus group for ecommerce sellers who want to run tests, say A/B testing a product image, and get customer feedback on product listings. My guest for this episode is John Li, who is a Co-Founder of PickFu and knows the ins and outs of …
The post E415: The Strategies FBA Rollups Are Using in Their Amazon Listings with John Li first appeared on EcomCrew.
John Li and Mike talk about the newest trends that PickFu has observed over hundreds of thousands of AB Tests done on their platform.
PickFu is a customer insights platform that acts as a digital focus group for ecommerce sellers who want to run tests, say A/B testing a product image, and get customer feedback on product listings.
My guest for this episode is John Li, who is a Co-Founder of PickFu and knows the ins and outs of customer research.
I’ll be picking his brain about the key insights that he’s gotten from the thousands of tests that sellers have run using PickFu, including the testing strategies that big ecommerce rollups use to optimize their listings.
Throughout the episode, he’ll be showing me specific examples of optimized listings and we’ll be breaking down which elements have the most impact on sales and conversions. If you’re tuning in through an audio-only channel, be sure to check out this episode over on the EcomCrew YouTube Channel and our new dedicated EcomCrew Podcast Channel for clips and episode highlights.
Timestamps:
- Introduction - 01:00
- John’s insights on how sellers have done testing over the years - 02:50
- Actual examples of optimized listings - 07:25
- Why you should test early - 21:17
- The different responses you get for running consumer insights tests - 26:15
- Using open-ended ways to get feedback - 29:37
I want to thank John for the strategies and actionable stuff he shared in this episode. We’ll definitely have him back for more insights as the market develops. If you want to learn more about customer research or run your first test using PickFu, head over to their website and use discount code: ecomcrew to get 50% off your first poll.
By the way, if you’re selling on Amazon out of Canada, we’re currently running a giveaway exclusively for you. By answering our quick poll over on ecomcrew.com/poll2021 you can get a chance to win a full year’s worth of EcomCrew Premium membership, which is valued at $1499, absolutely free!
If you haven’t already, please leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps more than you know. Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
As more ecommerce aggregators are joining the fray, we’re continuing our mini-series on rollup companies to peel back the curtain and really give you an idea how acquisition companies operate, so that you feel confident striking a deal with one of them in the future without leaving money on the table. Today’s guest is …
The post E414: Can You Sell Your Business Without Leaving It? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike sits down with Allan Fisch, Co-Founder of Moonshot Brands, an ecommerce aggregator that buys Amazon and Shopify companies.
As more ecommerce aggregators are joining the fray, we’re continuing our mini-series on rollup companies to peel back the curtain and really give you an idea how acquisition companies operate, so that you feel confident striking a deal with one of them in the future without leaving money on the table.
Today’s guest is Allan Fisch, Co-Founder of Moonshot Brands, a company that aggregates Amazon and Shopify businesses and aims to be among the biggest ecommerce companies in the world.
One thing that separates Moonshot Brands from other aggregators is that they offer a deal where entrepreneurs can sell some equity, get additional upfront capital, and join Moonshot as it grows and acquires more ecommerce companies.
We’ll learn about all that and more in this episode, so stay tuned.
Timestamps:
- Introduction to Allan and Moonshot Brands - 1:16
- How Moonshot structures deals with ecommerce sellers - 3:32
- What a deal with Moonshot Brands looks like - 7:50
- Moonshot Brands’s best selling points as an aggregator - 17:20
- A glimpse of Moonshot Brands’s portfolio, acquisition history, and endgame - 20:54
I want to thank Allan for coming to the show and sharing his valuable insights on buying and selling ecommerce business. If you want in touch and learn more details about his company, head over to moonshotbrands.com or email them at info@moonshotbrands.com.
By the way, if you’re selling on Amazon out of Canada, we’re doing an exclusive giveaway just for you! By answering a quick 4-minute survey, you’ll get a chance to win a 1-year EcomCrew Premium membership worth $1499 absolutely free. All you have to do is accomplish the survey over on ecomcrew.com/poll2021. Good luck!
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you haven’t already. Happy selling!
One of the best things I did over the summer is something called 75 Hard. It is a transformative mental toughness program designed to help you take control of your life and just be a better version of yourself after completing it. Today, I’ll be talking about how I discovered 75 Hard and why I …
The post E413: Why You Should Do The 75 Hard Challenge first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike talks about his experience with 75 Hard, a transformative program where you do various physical and mental development tasks for 75 days.
One of the best things I did over the summer is something called 75 Hard.
It is a transformative mental toughness program designed to help you take control of your life and just be a better version of yourself after completing it.
Today, I’ll be talking about how I discovered 75 Hard and why I got into it (Hint: friendly bet). Then I’ll go over the various tasks that you’ll be required to do throughout the program and share my own experiences with them overall.
A lot of entrepreneurs often overlook their own physical and mental toughness, so I hope this solo episode will inspire you to take care of yourself as you grow your business.
Timestamps:
- Introduction - 0:00
- Why I did 75 Hard - 1:32
- Working out twice a day - 5:28
- Reading at least 10 pages a day - 11:39
- Drinking one gallon of water a day - 20:36
- Following a diet and no alcohol - 24:54
- New tasks introduced in the program - 29:15
Download the 75 Hard app at:
-
App Store
-
Google Play
Books mentioned:
-
The Psychology of Money
-
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
Completing 75 Hard was unbelievably satisfying for me, and I definitely felt a whole lot better with the tasks and routines I had to do. I’m looking forward to giving it another go, and I’m excited to share what that experience would be with you guys in the future.
Before you go, make sure to check out EcomCrew’s FBA for Canadians Facebook page, where sellers based in the Great White North exchange ideas and strategies about growing their Amazon business. We’ll see you on the inside!
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you haven’t already. Until the next one, happy selling!
Ivan of SellerPlex talks about the specifics of the current supply chain mess and how sellers can minimize its negative impacts on their businesses. As if we don’t say it enough already, a strained supply chain is the ecommerce story of 2021. Between the pandemic, ships stuck in shipping lanes, and a global container shortage, …
The post E412: Keeping Your Business Afloat in this Shipping Crisis first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ivan of SellerPlex talks about the specifics of the current supply chain mess and how sellers can minimize its negative impacts on their businesses.
As if we don’t say it enough already, a strained supply chain is the ecommerce story of 2021.
Between the pandemic, ships stuck in shipping lanes, and a global container shortage, the whole supply chain mess has affected a lot of ecommerce businesses negatively.
My guest today is someone who knows a thing or two about minimizing these negative impacts on your business and even boosting its value despite the supply chain crisis.
Ivan Torlopov is Partner and Head of Supply Chain at SellerPlex who has years of experience in logistics and supply chain management. Since 2018, he’s devoted a lot of his time helping ecommerce sellers resolve high-level supply chain issues.
Timestamps:
- Intro about Ivan and SellerPlex - 1:18
- What the supply chain mess looks like from the logistics side - 3:25
- How to save on shipping costs - 8:00
- Strategies for avoiding running out of stock - 14:58
- The value of shopping for rates - 20:49
- Rerouting your shipments to cut costs and transit time - 22:14
- Choosing your 3PL location wisely - 34:46
I want to thank Ivan for all the valuable recommendations he’s shared in this episode. If you want to get a hold of Ivan and learn more about what they do, you can head over to SellerPlex and explore all their content and even schedule a consultation. Make sure to mention that you’re coming from the EcomCrew Podcast so they can hook you up with a discount!
By the way, a topic we touched a little bit in this episode is boosting the value of your ecommerce business. If you’re interested to learn more, we’ll be going live with a free public webinar on Selling Your Ecommerce Business for Top Dollar.
That’s going to be on October 5, 2021 at 10 AM (PST). Head over to ecomcrew.com/webinar to reserve your slot.
Also, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Mike and SellerX Co-Founder Philipp talk about what makes FBA businesses so attractive to investors, what aggregators look for, and the endgame for FBA rollups. Today, we’ll be talking to Philipp Triebel, who is the Co-Founder of SellerX, one of the big names in the rapidly growing ecommerce aggregator ecosystem, with over 30 closed …
The post E411: Why FBA Businesses are Hot Right Now with Philipp Triebel of SellerX first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today, we’ll be talking to Philipp Triebel, who is the Co-Founder of SellerX, one of the big names in the rapidly growing ecommerce aggregator ecosystem, with over 30 closed deals at the time of recording.
FBA businesses are hot right now, some might even say now is the perfect time to be selling an ecommerce business, because of all the big rollup companies getting in on the action.
In this episode, I get to pick Philipp’s brain about why FBA businesses are very appealing to investors, what rollups look for (and what they avoid) in a potential acquisition, and what the endgame is for all these big rollup companies.
If you’re a thriving seller and are starting to think about your exit event, hearing about all these things from a buyer’s perspective is definitely a must.
Timestamps:
- How Philipp got into ecommerce aggregation - 00:37
- What makes FBA businesses so appealing to investors - 4:24
- How SellerX finds businesses to acquire - 9:31
- What distinguishes SellerX from the competition - 15:21
- How a deal with SellerX is structured - 20:56
- Philipp’s outlook on the aggregator space in the coming year - 28:12
I had a great time talking to Philipp today. If you’re interested about a potential deal with SellerX, you can hit him up directly via email at philipp@sellerx.com.
While we’re on the topic of selling FBA businesses, we’ve had quite a few Premium members who’ve secured their graceful exits in the past quarter, and we’re happy that all the perks of Premium helped them get there.
That’s why we’re excited to announce the EcomCrew Premium is open again today! Premium not only gives you access to 1-on-1 email support from two 7-figure sellers, it also lets you view our entire library of webinars and full-length video courses, not to mention being part of a community of like-minded entrepreneurs.
Registrations are open this week only, so be sure to register at ecomcrew.com/premium asap!
Until the next one, happy selling!
Mike talks to Bill D’Alessandro about the oncoming supply chain issues as Christmas season starts to roll around. It’s still September, but if you’re in ecommerce, the holidays are right around the corner. With all that said, a lot of us are concerned about how to deal with Q4 as we’re still wrestling with this …
The post E410: Tackling Supply Chain Issues with Bill D’Alessandro first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike talks to Bill D'Alessandro about the oncoming supply chain issues as Christmas season starts to roll around.
It’s still September, but if you’re in ecommerce, the holidays are right around the corner. With all that said, a lot of us are concerned about how to deal with Q4 as we’re still wrestling with this perfect storm of supply chain issues.
My guest today is Bill D’Alessandro, and I think he’s the perfect guy to talk to about all these things.
Bill is the CEO of Elements Brands, an ecommerce rollup company that focuses on acquiring and scaling consumer products brands.
He’s involved in a lot of stuff in ecommerce, which makes him the perfect guest to talk to about dealing with longer lead times going into the holidays, higher costs, and the general unpredictability in ecommerce heading into Q4.
We also talk about ecommerce inflation and the ways that you can keep your business profitable.
Timestamps:
- Things you should be thinking about going into Q4 - 1:58
- How Bill is handling increased timelines, additional costs, and unpredictability - 5:05
- Ecommerce inflation - 7:52
- The value of having safety stock - 13:45
- Dealing with unpredictability in ecommerce - 17:22
- What shipping during the holidays will look like - 22:05
I want to thank Bill for the enlightening conversation. I can’t wait to hear more of his insights and have him back on the podcast in the near future.
Despite all these challenges ecommerce sellers are currently facing, now is a good time to be selling an ecommerce business, because more and more rollups are joining in on the action.
If you’re thinking about that graceful exit, we’re inviting you to a free public webinar on October 5, 2021 at 10 AM (PST) about Selling Your Ecommerce Business for Top Dollar, where Dave and I will be walking you through the entire process of preparing your business for sale all the way to closing the deal.
Save yourself a free slot by going to ecomcrew.com/webinar.
As always, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling!
Marketing is part and parcel of doing ecommerce, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to make your products stand out from the competition as the marketplace becomes more saturated. For this episode, we’ll be talking about some pain points shared by many ecommerce sellers on the marketing front and provide some actionable tips to …
The post E409: Solving Your Marketing Maladies with Marketing by Emma first appeared on EcomCrew.
Marketing is part and parcel of doing ecommerce, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to make your products stand out from the competition as the marketplace becomes more saturated.
For this episode, we’ll be talking about some pain points shared by many ecommerce sellers on the marketing front and provide some actionable tips to address them.
Joining me is Emma Schermer Tamir of Marketing by Emma, a company that helps clients boost conversions through engaging content and other creative marketing solutions. She is a copywriter by trade and she has over a decade of experience in marketing and customer psychology.
Whether you’re just starting out or are already an established seller, this episode will show you that there’s always something you can tweak to make your product pop out even more—and that even tiny, unrelated details can have a meaningful impact.
Timestamps:
- Pros and cons of focusing on keyword optimization - 4:58
- Using language that convey what your product is all about - 8:08
- Crafting kickass photos to showcase your product - 17:49
- Why you should build out your dream customer avatar - 23:40
- Understanding the competition and how to contrast yourself from them - 27:08
- Speaking in terms of benefits, not features - 33:53
Even mentioned: Rhodium Weekend
I wanna thank Emma for coming on the show and sharing her marketing expertise with us. I’m sure you found as much value in it as I did. If you’re interested to learn more about her company, head over to marketingbyemma.com.
By the way, something else you don’t want to miss is our upcoming free public webinar about selling your business for top dollar, where we’ll be breaking down the entire process of exiting an ecommerce business—from nailing down an exit strategy to post-deal terms. Head over to ecomcrew.com/webinar for details.
As always, leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. It helps more than you know.
Happy selling!
Doing ecommerce as a parent and as a grandparent can be challenging, but our guest today has done just that. For this Under the Hood episode, I’ll be talking to Cherie Drennan, who we consider in our community as one of the Grandmas of Ecommerce and just a delight to sit down and have a …
The post E408: Succeeding as a Grandma of Ecommerce [Under the Hood with Cherie Drennan] first appeared on EcomCrew.
Doing ecommerce as a parent and as a grandparent can be challenging, but our guest today has done just that.
For this Under the Hood episode, I’ll be talking to Cherie Drennan, who we consider in our community as one of the Grandmas of Ecommerce and just a delight to sit down and have a chat with.
In this episode, we’ll be talking about how she started out as an Amazon seller, what her pain points are, and how she can grow her business further.
Some of the interesting topics we cover include why we always say revenue is vanity and profit is sanity, how to boost traffic and conversions through a content site, and what things your first hire should be able to do.
Timestamps:
- How Cherie got into ecommerce - 1:24
- What to do in case Amazon can’t get your inventory checked in - 9:10
- How I think this Christmas season will go - 12:14
- How to get Amazon customers into your mailing list - 16:04
- What you should look for in your first hire - 26:30
- Sponsored Products vs Sponsored Brands campaigns - 37:48
- Mike’s outlook on ocean freight for the next year - 45:17
Websites mentioned: onlinejobs.ph
I wanna thank Cherie for the value-packed conversation today, and we’ll definitely keep this mini podcast series with the Grandmas of Ecommerce going.
If you want to get featured on an Under the Hood segment like this one, be sure to head over to ecomcrew.com/underthehood to sign up. We’re excited to hear about your ecommerce journey!
Speaking of ecommerce journey, Dave and I would not have gotten this far without all the help from the amazing people we met along the way. In fact, we launched EcomCrew Premium to foster a community of like-minded sellers who are ready to help each other succeed.
To make sure that all our members get their money’s worth, Premium is only open for a limited time every quarter, but you can sign up to our waitlist as early as now and get notified when it opens again! Head over to ecomcrew.com/premium to learn more.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!
Ecommerce sellers have dealt with one uncontrollable circumstance after another over the past several years. Today, Dave and I will catch up and talk about our businesses, and how 2021 has been for us so far. In my opinion, it’s been the hardest year in ecommerce since I started 8 years ago, and that’s because …
The post E407: The Year of Uncontrollable Circumstances in Ecommerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’ve made the jump to video podcasts! You can now not only listen, but watch full episodes on the EcomCrew Podcast YouTube channel.
Today, Dave and I are excited to catch-up and talk about our businesses, and how 2021 has been for us so far. In my opinion, it’s been the hardest year in ecommerce ever since I started 8 years ago, and that’s because of the uncontrollable circumstances that have been plaguing the industry.
But Dave seems to disagree.
We explore Dave’s side of the story, why stress is at an all time high, and the progress of my newest acquisition.
Timestamps:
- Why 2021 has been the hardest year in ecommerce, and why Dave disagrees - 1:44
- The difference in business types between Dave and I - 5:55
- Preparing the next business for sale, and why - 6:56
- Our predictions for when valuations start to decline - 9:36
- Timing the market perfectly vs. selling when comfortable - 12:59
- Does the size of my team have anything to do with how difficult ecommerce has been this year? - 18:34
- Comparing the best month to last year’s in the new business - 23:39
- Exploring the 19% growth and where it’s from - 26:53
- Google Shopping Tips from Dave Bryant - 31:56
- Dave’s strategy for the future, and struggling with Facebook Ads - 32:48
- What I learned after spending $1M on Facebook Ads - 34:04
- Female-specific products vs. Male-specific products in Facebook Ads - 37:27
- What’s going on with Dave - 39:40
If you enjoyed this video podcast, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up-to-date with the latest episodes.
As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Ecommerce aggregators have been all the rage this past year. We decided to kick off a podcast series with some of the biggest names in the aggregator space to help sellers understand the acquisition process and get that graceful exit. Today’s guest is Jake Wolpert. He’s the Head of Sales at Acquco, a relatively young …
The post E406: How Aggregators Acquire Ecommerce Brands with Jake Wolpert of Acquco first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ecommerce aggregators have been all the rage this past year. We decided to kick off a podcast series with some of the biggest names in the aggregator space to help sellers understand the acquisition process and get that graceful exit.
Today’s guest is Jake Wolpert. He’s the Head of Sales at Acquco, a relatively young ecommerce aggregator that’s made a name for itself rather quickly.
We’ll talk about what Acquco and other aggregators look for when acquiring ecommerce businesses, what kinds of deals you can expect when selling, and the most important things you need to know to exit your business without leaving money on the table.
Timestamps:
- Why the aggregator space has accelerated this quickly - 1:29
- Acquco’s biggest selling points - 2:55
- How Jake got into the aggregator space - 12:44
- What Acquco looks for in a business - 15:16
- How Acquco evaluates businesses with the pandemic factor - 20:11
- Basic terms that sellers can expect when working with Acquco - 23:27
- Things you should know when gearing up to exit - 29:50
I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, and we’ll definitely have more informative episodes about ecommerce aggregators down the road. If you want to learn more about Acquco, you can get in touch with Jake through 908-208-9674 or jake.wolpert@acqu.co.
By the way, in case you missed it, we’ve recently launched the EcomCrew Podcast YouTube channel, where we put up some of the most interesting tidbits from our podcasts episodes. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a beat.
As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
In ecommerce, there are a few things better than finding a good opportunity in a profitable niche. Today, we’re doing an Under the Hood session with George Mulford, who’s seeing a lot of potential and a sizable market in the gaming niche, and wants to take his brand into Amazon. George is currently at a …
The post E405: Attacking Your Niche the Right Way [Under The Hood] first appeared on EcomCrew.
In ecommerce, there are a few things better than finding a good opportunity in a profitable niche.
Today, we’re doing an Under the Hood session with George Mulford, who’s seeing a lot of potential and a sizable market in the gaming niche, and wants to take his brand into Amazon.
George is currently at a crossroads and could use some practical advice on how to attack his chosen niche the right way and scale his brand.
The key things we’ll be talking about include why you should craft a killer listing even before launching your product (and how to do it) as well as the plethora of ways to drive traffic to your listing.
Timestamps:
- How George got into ecommerce - 2:38
- An overview of George’s current ecommerce business - 4:27
- Crafting a killer Amazon listing - 7:58
- Driving traffic to your listing - 15:35
- Is having an affiliate program a good idea? - 20:55
- What to do if things are not quite working out - 25:38
- Other ways to generate traffic - 30:30
It was my pleasure to give George my practical advice and I’m excited to have him back for an update on his business down the road. If you’re also seeking advice and want to get featured in a podcast episode, head over to ecomcrew.com/underthehood to sign up.
Resources mentioned:
- EcomCrew Free Resources
- Free Amazon Domination Book
On top of these resources, we’ve also just launched a fresh, full-length FBA for Beginners course! This 5-module course in glorious HD has everything you need to know about taking an Amazon FBA business from 0 to 100.
So if you’re looking to launch an FBA business or want to expand your current business into Amazon, head over to ecomcrew.com/fbaforbeginners to sign up.
As always, leave us a review on iTunes if you liked this episode. Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Things go by really fast in ecommerce, and as early as now, you should already be thinking about your plan of attack come Q4, what with all the issues online sellers have faced this past year. My guest today is Austin Henggeler. He is the Director of Sales and Account Management at Tophatter, a …
The post E404: Holiday Predictions and Consumer Trends Going Into Q4 2021 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Things go by really fast in ecommerce, and as early as now, you should already be thinking about your plan of attack come Q4, what with all the issues online sellers have faced this past year.
My guest today is Austin Henggeler. He is the Director of Sales and Account Management at Tophatter, a discovery shopping channel that lets customers participate in live online auctions and get deals on various products from third-party sellers.
Today, we’ll be talking about what selling on Tophatter looks like for newcomers and sellers looking to expand their business.
We’ll also go over Austin’s predictions going into the holiday season as well as some consumer and merchant trends that he’s observed over the past year, including how customers have been buying non-products (subscription services, experiences, etc.) way more and even considering those as gifts for the holidays.
We’ll also talk about the current shipping crisis and how the pandemic can still play into all this as 2021 slowly draws to a close.
Timestamps:
- A little bit about Austin and Tophatter - 1:32
- Austin’s holiday predictions for 2021 - 3:44
- How selling on Tophatter works and what your margins will look like - 13:26
- Consumer and merchant trends going into Q4 2021 - 19:25
- The current shipping and supply chain situation - 24:27
It’s been a fun conversation with Austin and I can’t help but wish we had more time. If you’re interested in selling your products on Tophatter, check out their open marketplace over on tophatter.com.
By the way, if you’re not already selling on FBA, we’ve just released a full-length FBA for Beginners course tailored to helping you launch and take an Amazon FBA business from 0 to 100. Sign up here.
Lastly, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you liked this episode.
Until the next one, happy selling!
We’ve made the jump to video podcasts! You can now not only listen, but watch full episodes on the EcomCrew Podcast YouTube channel. That’s not the only thing that’s fresh this week, though, as we also just launched our new standalone course, From 0 to 100 – Amazon for Absolute Beginners! By public demand, we …
The post E403: The Top 5 Success Factors For Selling On Amazon first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’ve made the jump to video podcasts! You can now not only listen, but watch full episodes on the EcomCrew Podcast YouTube channel.
That’s not the only thing that’s fresh this week, though, as we also just launched our new standalone course, From 0 to 100 - Amazon for Absolute Beginners!
By public demand, we developed this course to cater to those who are looking for a deep dive into everything there is to know about the increasingly complex Amazon platform.
This 5-module course is tailored to those who are new to ecommerce altogether, experienced sellers coming from non-Amazon platforms, and even sellers who are looking for the best content to train up their staff and virtual assistants.
For this episode, we’ll be giving you a sneak peek of what the course has to offer by talking about the top 5 factors that can help you succeed as an Amazon seller.
Timestamps:
- Success Factor #1: High-quality imagery - 6:49
- Success Factor #2: Great customer reviews - 14:43
- Success Factor #3: Solid PPC and advertising strategies - 24:47
- Success Factor #4: A good launch - 31:41
- Success Factor #5: On- and off-page ranking factors - 37:33
If you’re an EcomCrew Premium member, you’ll get instant access to this course. If you’re not yet in Premium, the course is also available on its own. To learn more, head over to ecomcrew.com/fbacourse. We’re excited to have you on board!
If you enjoyed this video podcast, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up-to-date with the latest episodes.
As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
The past year has been nothing less than a perfect storm for ecommerce—between tariff impositions, inventory issues, and of course, the pandemic, it felt like the walls were closing in on ecommerce entrepreneurs. My guest for today is the host and creator of 7 Figure Seller Summit, Gary Huang. He’s talked to a lot …
The post E402: 7 Takeaways From 7 Figure Seller Summit With Gary Huang first appeared on EcomCrew.
The past year has been nothing less than a perfect storm for ecommerce—between tariff impositions, inventory issues, and of course, the pandemic, it felt like the walls were closing in on ecommerce entrepreneurs.
My guest for today is the host and creator of 7 Figure Seller Summit, Gary Huang. He’s talked to a lot of like-minded sellers this year, including myself, and he’s here to share some of the most valuable insights he’s learned from all those conversations.
We’ll talk about how successful sellers have been navigating this perfect storm and we’ll jump right into 7 key takeaways from this year’s edition of the Seller Summit.
Timestamps:
- Takeaway #1: Successful entrepreneurs are very agile - 5:56
- Takeaway #2: Never put all your eggs in one basket - 15:35
- Takeaway #3: Be very granular with Amazon PPC - 20:40
- Takeaway #4: External traffic is critical to ranking - 25:29
- Takeaway #5: Focus on the bottomline—not the top line - 32:58
- Takeaway #6: What gets measured gets managed - 42:26
- Takeaway #7: Always begin with the end in mind - 45:06
I enjoyed having Gary on the show as much as I’ve enjoyed being a part of the 7 Figure Seller Summit. To learn more, head over to 7figuresellersummit.com. It launches on August 16-20th, and this year, Gary and his team will be building different tracks tailored to sellers at various stages of the ecommerce journey.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out our fresh full-length FBA For Beginners course, which will teach you how to avoid the common mistakes when launching or expanding your business on Amazon.
It launches very soon, and we’re currently offering discounts for early birds who sign up to the waitlist. Just head over to ecomcrew.com/fbawaitlist.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you haven’t already, and as always, happy selling!
It’s been seven full months since we closed the deal on an exciting new ecommerce business. Be sure to check out these episodes to learn how we closed the deal on this new venture: Episode 366: Mike’s Exciting New Business Episode 381: How Mike Is Growing His New Business Today, I thought I’d give you …
The post E401: Why Pacing Matters In Growing Your Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
It’s been seven full months since we closed the deal on an exciting new ecommerce business. Be sure to check out these episodes to learn how we closed the deal on this new venture:
-
Episode 366: Mike’s Exciting New Business
-
Episode 381: How Mike Is Growing His New Business
Today, I thought I’d give you guys a little sneak peek on how things are going, and why success in ecommerce rarely ever happens overnight.
Joining me for this episode is none other than one of my partners in this venture, Bill D’Alessandro. We’ll be talking about how we’re maintaining quality across multiple teams, why implementing changes gradually is giving us better results, and what our long-term goals are for this business.
Whether you’re looking to sell, buy, or are in the trenches of scaling your online business, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of value in this episode.
Timestamps:
- Overview of the deal and Bill’s insights as lead investor - 2:57
- How we staffed up the business and delegate workload - 8:42
- Building trust with your team and dripping change out - 22:36
- Our long-term strategy - 30:10
- The pros and cons of getting an SBA loan - 39:15
If you’re interested in the general manager spot we’ll be offering as part of our goals for this business, shoot me an email over on support@ecomcrew.com.
On the topic of growing an ecommerce business, we’ve recently developed a full-length Amazon FBA For Beginners course tailored to those who want to avoid fatal rookie mistakes when starting an FBA business.
It launches very soon, but we’re offering a discounted early access for those who sign up to our waiting list. Head over to ecomcrew.com/fbawaitlist to register.
As always, leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling, and we’ll talk to you soon!
We’ve finally come to the big 4-0-0! 400 podcast episodes is a lot of podcasting, and it’s certainly a huge milestone for us here on EcomCrew. Joining me for this special episode is none other than Dave. We’ll be taking a quick trip down memory lane and look back at the podcast’s early days as …
The post E400: The 3 Biggest Throttles In Scaling Your Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’ve finally come to the big 4-0-0!
400 podcast episodes is a lot of podcasting, and it’s certainly a huge milestone for us here on EcomCrew.
Joining me for this special episode is none other than Dave.
We’ll be taking a quick trip down memory lane and look back at the podcast’s early days as well as how we managed the challenges that came our way as we got more listeners and created more content.
Speaking of growth, our main topic for this episode is scaling an ecommerce business and the big throttles that become harder and harder to address the bigger your business gets. These include cash, product development, and finding the right people to grow your business with.
Timestamps:
- Looking back on the podcast’s early days - 1:10
- Another big milestone: Getting over a million downloads - 5:57
- Planning out and scaling your business - 9:52
- Throttle #1: Cash - 12:09
- Throttle #2: Product growth - 20:11
- Throttle #3: Employees - 32:15
I wanna thank all our listeners for tuning in to every episode and joining us on our journey. It’s been a fun ride so far and I can’t wait to put out more great content for you guys down the road.
As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review over on iTunes to let us know.
Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
When you’re selling another person’s product, it’s hard to find ways to differentiate yourself from other sellers, and you’ll be forced to make some hard decisions sooner or later. How can you prevent others from eating into your revenue, especially when you sell the same products? Should you break free from the mould and create …
The post E399: Breathing New Life into Products through Customisation [Under the Hood with Dalit Sorokin] first appeared on EcomCrew.
When you’re selling another person's product, it's hard to find ways to differentiate yourself from other sellers, and you’ll be forced to make some hard decisions sooner or later.
How can you prevent others from eating into your revenue, especially when you sell the same products? Should you break free from the mould and create your own product? Is it better to keep the warehouse or to let it go?
Questions like these are not uncommon with ecommerce sellers, but that’s what our Under the Hood segment is for.
In today’s episode, we’re doing an Under the Hood session with Dalit Sorokin who I met way back in Steve Chou's Seller Summit years ago.
We’ll be talking about the value of customisation and how it can breathe new life into your products, using paid advertisement for the first time, and struggling with your very first product during development.
I’ll also be sharing my strategies for leveraging paid advertisement, how Dalit can use personalised stickers to increase Average Order Value, and to increase leads, plus, I’ll be answering some of Dawn’s burning questions that you might also be itching to ask yourself.
Timestamps:
- Revisiting how Dalit and I first met - 3:17
- Leveraging the value of customisation in her products through stickers - 9:27
- How to approach paid advertisement for the first time - 20:42
- Using instructional videos for video ads - 33:05
- Possible solutions to moving out of the warehouse model - 34:08
- Offering customisation through Amazon - 39:55
- Struggles with the product development stages in her very first product - 41:45
I had a fun time talking to Dalit and I hope that her business sees a lot of action in the coming months. Check out all her awesome bento boxes over on Cute Kid Stuff.
By the way, Premium won’t be open again for a few months, but we still have a ton of free stuff that you’ll surely find value in.
As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review over on iTunes to let us know. Happy selling, and we’ll talk to you soon!
Sketchy competition is one of the most frustrating stress points for entrepreneurs—more so when you’re running a brand online. That’s why it’s important to know all the things you can do to protect your brand from copycats and sabotagers. In this episode, Dave and I will talk all about intellectual property infringement and sabotaged listings, …
The post E398: How To Defend Yourself Against Copycats and Sabotaged Listings first appeared on EcomCrew.
Sketchy competition is one of the most frustrating stress points for entrepreneurs—more so when you’re running a brand online.
That’s why it’s important to know all the things you can do to protect your brand from copycats and sabotagers.
In this episode, Dave and I will talk all about intellectual property infringement and sabotaged listings, particularly our own experiences and how we dealt with them in the past.
We’ll go over the things you should do when someone copies your products or tries to sabotage your listings. Then, we’ll break down copyrights, trademarks, patents, and all these tools that you can use to build and grow a defensible brand.
Timestamps:
- What actually happens when your product gets copied - 6:09
- The perks of securing design patents - 9:21
- How Amazon deals with infringement cases - 12:11
- Why being sabotaged is tougher to deal with - 15:36
- How I deal with copyright infringement - 25:42
- What a trademark means for your ecommerce brand - 31:48
It’s always a fun time having Dave on for the podcast. If you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, there’s a lot more Mike-and-Dave content over on EcomCrew Premium, which closes in 24 hours!
Aside from unlimited 1-on-1 support from Dave and myself, Premium also gives you access to monthly Secret Sauce webinars delivered by industry experts, a library of 6 full-length video courses in glorious HD, and our private Facebook group where like-minded entrepreneurs exchange strategies to scale their ecommerce brands.
Head over to ecomcrew.com/premium to sign up.
Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps more than you know.
Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Being an ecommerce seller, it’s always nice to hear success stories from fellow entrepreneurs. But sometimes, the stories can feel quite distant and unrelatable, and while it’s nice hearing about the good stuff, it’s also important to listen to stories about losses and failures. Our guest today is my good friend, Tal Moore. Tal …
The post E397: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Ecommerce Lessons with Tal Moore first appeared on EcomCrew.
Being an ecommerce seller, it’s always nice to hear success stories from fellow entrepreneurs. But sometimes, the stories can feel quite distant and unrelatable, and while it’s nice hearing about the good stuff, it’s also important to listen to stories about losses and failures.
Our guest today is my good friend, Tal Moore. Tal is well-known in our community as a successful ecommerce entrepreneur who is comfortable sharing all the bad things that he’s overcome in his journey.
In this episode, we’ll be talking about how he got into ecommerce with his first brands, the ups and downs of running a business, and which factors to consider when you’re torn between turning a failing business around or selling it altogether.
Talking Points:
- Tal’s ecommerce journey from Gumballs.com to Guardline - 9:32
- The ugly side of being on top as an online entrepreneur - 24:32
- Dealing with a beaten-up business and sketchy competition - 27:58
- How Tal overcame his lowest point and turned his business around - 37:57
- The problem of having your identity tied to your business - 51:27
I want to thank Tal for doing this podcast with me, and I’m sure our listeners got a lot of value from his insights.
Speaking of insights, we’re going live with a free public webinar this July 22 at 10AM (PST) about Amazon A9 Secrets. We’ll be sharing our exact strategies to beating Amazon’s ranking algorithm and ranking our products even among higher-volume sellers.
Also, in case you missed it, EcomCrew Premium is open this week only! If you’re someone looking to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, be sure to check out ecomcrew.com/premium today.
As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review over on iTunes.
Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Today on the show, we have CEO and Co-Founder of Manychat, Mike Yan. He has some exciting news to share about some new features that Instagram is rolling out, and why you should take advantage of them as an ecommerce seller. Now, if you’re new to the show and are just starting off, you might …
The post E396: Instagram DM Automation is Here! first appeared on EcomCrew.
Today on the show, we have CEO and Co-Founder of Manychat, Mike Yan. He has some exciting news to share about some new features that Instagram is rolling out, and why you should take advantage of them as an ecommerce seller.
Now, if you’re new to the show and are just starting off, you might not know it but ManyChat is one of the biggest SaaS (software as a service) in the industry. Before I sold ColorIt back in 2019, I used ManyChat to grow the brand, and it turned out extremely successful for me.
ManyChat is a chart marketing service that helps you automate conversations on messaging platforms to generate leads and boost conversions.
Be sure to check out our previous episode with Mike to learn more about the value that ManyChat and messenger marketing can add to your business:
- E386: Why Messenger Marketing is the Future
For this episode, Mike and I will be talking about the power of Instagram marketing. Instagram is opening up their API and is now allowing DM automation, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity to connect with your customers on a deeper level.
Timestamps:
- What ManyChat is all about - 2:06
- Key changes in Messenger marketing over the past year - 4:10
- Why Instagram will become the most important social network in 2 years - 10:37
- Step-by-step guide to setting up automated DM flows on Instagram - 24:49
- Learn more about Instagram Marketing through the virtual IG Summit - 29:24
I’d like to thank Mike for taking the time to do this episode with me. I can’t wait for him to come back with more interesting stuff down the road. To learn more about Instagram marketing, check out ManyChat’s free course over on their website.
There’s definitely some great strategies discussed in this episode to help you grow your brand. But if you’re struggling to rank your products on Amazon, come join our free public webinar this July 22 at 10 AM (PST) about Amazon A9 Secrets. We’ll teach you how to master Amazon’s ranking algorithm to rank even among high-volume sellers. Reserve your seat here.
Until the next one, happy Selling!
Going from 0 to $1M is no small feat, but Dave has done exactly that, and then some. For this episode, he’ll be talking about all his wins, losses, and future outlook four years after he started a new ecommerce brand from scratch after selling his previous business for top dollar. If you haven’t already, …
The post E395: Rebuilding A $1M Brand – Dave’s Year 4 Update first appeared on EcomCrew.
Going from 0 to $1M is no small feat, but Dave has done exactly that, and then some.
For this episode, he’ll be talking about all his wins, losses, and future outlook four years after he started a new ecommerce brand from scratch after selling his previous business for top dollar.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the previous updates from years 1 through 3:
- Million Dollar Update - 12 Month Update
- E278: Dave’s Year 2 Update on His Off-Roading Gear Business
- E325: Rebuilding a 1M Brand - Dave’s 3 Year Update
Dave will start out with a real-numbers breakdown of how his brand of offroading gear is doing, and he will talk about how COVID has factored into his metrics and strategy.
He will also be sharing what his future goals are in light of all the FBA rollups walking into town—you’ll want to stick around to hear his insights about when it’s worth it to sell to an FBA aggregator.
Timestamps:
- Real numbers breakdown (as of June 2021) - 1:00
- Some of Dave’s biggest wins throughout the past year - 4:34
- Dave’s big losses and missteps - 15:47
- What Dave’s goals are for 2022 - 24:19
- Dave’s insights about FBA aggregators and potentially selling his business - 27:26
There will definitely be a lot more to unpack after another year of Dave’s journey. For now, you can check out all the other good stuff we have on the EcomCrew Podcast, YouTube channel, and Blog.
Speaking of good stuff, a huge part of Dave’s success is mastering Amazon’s A9 ranking algorithm and nailing down a solid SEO strategy. This July 22 at 10 AM (PST), he’ll be sharing all that in a free public webinar on Amazon A9 Secrets. Save yourself a slot here.
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Amazon’s Sponsored Brands is not exactly popular among sellers—over 70 percent of people only use Sponsored Products (which we talked about in the previous edition). In this episode, Dave will answer all your questions about Sponsored Brands using real numbers from our own experiments (using our own brands). He’ll be diving into whether Sponsored Brands …
The post E394: [Amazon PPC Overhaul Part 3] Are Sponsored Brands Ads Worth It? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Amazon’s Sponsored Brands is not exactly popular among sellers—over 70 percent of people only use Sponsored Products (which we talked about in the previous edition).
In this episode, Dave will answer all your questions about Sponsored Brands using real numbers from our own experiments (using our own brands).
He’ll be diving into whether Sponsored Brands works better (or worse) than Sponsored Products, whether you should be investing in good product videos for Amazon Sponsored Brands Video Ads, and how Amazon records data and attributes sales across various advertising methods.
If you’ve ever wondered if Sponsored Brands ads are worth it, this is definitely the episode for you.
Timestamps:
- Which performs better: Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brands? - 1:42
- How Amazon attributes sales when using different advertising methods - 9:10
- Sponsored Brands video ads - 9:57
- How our own data compares to what others are reporting - 13:20
- The quality standard for video ads on Amazon - 15:51
- An easy hack to making effective video ads - 18:23
- Should you send people to a product collection page or to your actual storefront? - 20:06
Thank you for tuning in to this episode, and be sure to stay tuned for more editions of our Amazon PPC series.
By the way, if you haven’t already, our Secret Source course bundle is still up for grabs. That's 10 value-packed video courses delivered by industry experts at no more than $10 each—PLUS, we’re throwing in 2 new bonus courses to sweeten the deal even more! Check out all the courses over on ecomcrew.com/sauce.
Also make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Mental and emotional well-being are among the most overlooked aspects in running a business. Whether you are aware of it or not, your emotions factor greatly into your behavior and decision-making as an entrepreneur. This is why today, I’ll be sitting down with Topsie VandenBosch to talk all about emotional intelligence and mindset strategies for …
The post E393: Emotional Intelligence for Entrepreneurs with Topsie VandenBosch first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mental and emotional well-being are among the most overlooked aspects in running a business.
Whether you are aware of it or not, your emotions factor greatly into your behavior and decision-making as an entrepreneur.
This is why today, I’ll be sitting down with Topsie VandenBosch to talk all about emotional intelligence and mindset strategies for entrepreneurs, particularly for online business-owners like you.
Topsie is licensed as a Master in Social Work and is currently engaged as a mindset coach for business owners. She’ll be sharing with me how and why it’s important to maintain a level mind when running a business.
We also talk a lot about mindset strategies that can bring your stress levels down to a minimum and help you avoid getting into a rut.
Timestamps:
- Topsie’s background in mental and emotional health - 2:58
- How you can deal with the mental pressures of running a business - 7:06
- How emotions can get the better of you - 14:41
- Keeping yourself from getting into a rut - 19:36
- Why it’s important to accept that someone could do something better - 25:25
- The value of receiving objective feedback from someone you trust - 31:03
I definitely learned a lot from Topsie today, as I’m sure you did too. If you want to reach out to her, she’s always posting awesome stuff over on Instagram.
You can also hit her up on her website, topsievandenbosch.com, where awesome content like her Escape the Thought Spiral course are available, or email her directly at hello@topsievanderbosch.com.
Speaking of awesome content, our Secret Sauce bundle is currently up for grabs! That’s 10 Ecommerce Classes for less than $10 each—PLUS, we’re throwing in 2 new bonus courses that you’ll surely get a kick out of. Get the course bundle here.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
FBA rollups and acquisition companies have been all the rage in 2021, but we don’t often hear about the buying side of an ecommerce brand acquisition. In this episode, I sit down with Sarah Dajani of Boosted Commerce to talk about the operational side of buying ecommerce brands. Boosted Commerce is an acquisition company …
The post E392: What Ecommerce Rollups Look for in a Brand first appeared on EcomCrew.
FBA rollups and acquisition companies have been all the rage in 2021, but we don’t often hear about the buying side of an ecommerce brand acquisition.
In this episode, I sit down with Sarah Dajani of Boosted Commerce to talk about the operational side of buying ecommerce brands.
Boosted Commerce is an acquisition company that focuses on buying category leaders with a strong Amazon presence.
Some of the good stuff we talk about include Boosted’s core investment thesis and what acquisition companies really look at when considering which brands to buy. I also get to pick Sarah’s brain about how their company manages to keep the wheels in place after management and operation of an ecommerce business has been passed on.
If you’re running a solid ecommerce brand, have a strong Amazon presence, and are looking to exit your business sooner or later, definitely tune into this one.
Timestamps:
- How Sarah ended up at Boosted Commerce - 2:58
- What her company looks for when choosing which ecommerce brands to acquire - 7:56
- The buying side of an acquisition in terms of multiples - 10:52
- What happens after an ecommerce brand acquisition - 19:14
- How Boosted Commerce keeps the wheels turning - 28:41
- Boosted Commerce’s brand health analysis - 34:57
I definitely learned a lot from Sarah on this one. If you’re interested in selling your business or have some burning questions of your own, you can reach Sarah on sarah@boostedcommerce.com or check out their website, boostedcommerce.com.
If you’re still growing your business, though, there’s no better resource than our Secret Sauce course bundle, which we’re making available at no more than $10 for each course. This bundle includes 10 value-packed video courses where industry experts share their secret sauce to scaling an ecommerce business. PLUS, we’re adding 2 new bonus videos for good measure. Grab your bundle here.
As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review over on iTunes to let us know!
Happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon.
Starting out in ecommerce from zero to a million is tough, and scaling your business further from $1M to $10M is equally daunting. My guest today is Chase Clymer. He is the co-founder of the Electric Eye Agency, which specializes in helping online entrepreneurs scale their ecommerce businesses. He also hosts the awesome Honest Ecommerce …
The post E391: The 3 Key Metrics to Scaling Your $1M Business with Chase Clymer first appeared on EcomCrew.
Starting out in ecommerce from zero to a million is tough, and scaling your business further from $1M to $10M is equally daunting.
My guest today is Chase Clymer. He is the co-founder of the Electric Eye Agency, which specializes in helping online entrepreneurs scale their ecommerce businesses. He also hosts the awesome Honest Ecommerce Podcast, which I’m sure a lot of you will find value in as well.
For this episode, Chase and I will be talking about his company’s brand-scaling framework that focuses on three key metrics: average order value, conversion rate, and sessions.
We also talk about the common pain points of sellers on Shopify and why it’s still among the best solutions out there as well as how much an effective content engine can do for your business.
Timestamps:
- What Chase has been up to for the past several years - 3:06
- Digging deeper into their brand-scaling framework - 4:27
- Key things that you need to do to improve your metrics - 10:54
- The value of developing a content engine in ecommerce - 23:35
- How to get more people atop your funnel and increase sessions - 28:57
I wanna thank Chase for teaching us a lot in this episode. There’s definitely a lot of value here if you’re a $1M seller who’s struggling to take your business to new heights. If you have more questions, you can reach out to him at chase@electriceye.io. Also be sure to check out his awesome Honest Ecommerce.
By the way, our Evergreen Webinar on Importing From China in 2021 is back by popular demand. If you want to learn everything there is to know about importing from the world’s factory, sign up here.
Lastly, if you haven’t already, head over to iTunes and leave us a review. It helps more than you know.
Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Just like most other sellers, you probably got into ecommerce for the freedom and the money, but the biggest money you’re ever gonna make comes on the day you sell your business. Would you know what to do when that day comes? Do you think you’ll be selling your business for top dollar when that …
The post E390: Lessons on Being an Exitpreneur with Joe Valley first appeared on EcomCrew.
Just like most other sellers, you probably got into ecommerce for the freedom and the money, but the biggest money you’re ever gonna make comes on the day you sell your business.
Would you know what to do when that day comes? Do you think you’ll be selling your business for top dollar when it does? Have you planned in advance for a 7-figure exit?
If not, this episode is for you.
Today, I’ll be talking to serial entrepreneur and Quiet Light Partner Joe Valley about his new book, The EXITpreneur’s Playbook.
In this book, Joe uses his expertise and real life experiences to help you get that exit right without leaving any money on the table—from setting up a game plan, to knowing the actual value of your business, all the way to negotiating and structuring a deal.
Timestamps:
- An overview of The EXITpreneur Playbook - 6:33
- A sneak peek into the chapters and sections of the book - 15:27
- How far in advance you should be planning that exit event - 20:25
- Developing healthy habits and how planning little by little can help you get that exit right - 24:31
I wanna thank Joe for coming onto the show and writing this invaluable book for the ecommerce community. If you want to learn more about The EXITpreneur’s Playbook or grab your own copy, head over to exitpreneur.io.
Plus, you’ll want to tune in to future episodes, as we’ll be announcing the mechanics of the autographed book giveaway. We’ll also be announcing the winners shortly thereafter.
On the topic of books, free copies of our Amazon Domination are still up for grabs! This is the definitive guide to launching your product to #1 Best Seller on Amazon—it’s yours for free, just pay for shipping.
Also, if you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, don’t forget to head over to iTunes and leave us a review.
Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Ecommerce sellers often throw money on Facebook and Google ads for most of their revenue. But there’s actually a way to use those ads to… well, never rely on ads again (or at least cut your ad costs significantly). In this episode, I’ll be talking to Jordan West, who is the founder and CEO of …
The post E389: How Jordan West Sold $250K in 24 Hours Without Ads or Discounts first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ecommerce sellers often throw money on Facebook and Google ads for most of their revenue. But there’s actually a way to use those ads to... well, never rely on ads again (or at least cut your ad costs significantly).
In this episode, I’ll be talking to Jordan West, who is the founder and CEO of Mindful Marketing and who also runs the awesome Secrets to Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand Podcast.
Jordan will be sharing how he made over $250K in ecommerce sales in 24 hours without relying on Facebook ads or heavy discounts, and what strategies he used.
We’ll be talking about building a VIP group of loyal customers by offering them exclusive products, early access to new products, and even nurturing a community where VIPs can exchange opinions about your brand.
We also go over the benefits of gated product launches and SMS marketing, which could work in ways that you don’t really expect.
Timestamps:
- An introduction to who Jordan West is and how he got into entrepreneurship and ecommerce - 02:18
- Gated launches and why building anticipation can boost conversions - 13:13
- Building a VIP group and getting that first thousand people on your list - 18:54
- SMS marketing and which tools Jordan uses for his customer base - 21:56
Tools mentioned:
- Postscript
- Attentive
I had fun hearing about Jordan’s experiences and strategies. Be sure to check out Mindful Marketing and his podcast to learn more about ads management and other things ecommerce.
We talked about product launches in this episode, but did you know that 10 minutes is all it takes to successfully launch your rockstar product? This coming June 16 at 10 AM (PST), Founder and CEO of Million Dollar Sellers, Ian Sells will be going live with a free public webinar on Simple and Automated Product Launches in 2021.
It’s free, and there’s still a lot of slots up for grabs! Save your spot here.
As always, if you liked this episode, head over to iTunes and leave us a review. It helps more than you know.
Until the next one, happy selling!
For most ecommerce sellers, the end goal is to build a solid brand and eventually sell your business. But that’s often easier said than done, and I’ve heard a lot of nightmare stories. That being said, Lesley Johnson has an entirely different experience, having just sold her business at 3.6x without any serious headache whatsoever. …
The post E388: Selling Your Business is Simpler than You Think first appeared on EcomCrew.
For most ecommerce sellers, the end goal is to build a solid brand and eventually sell your business. But that’s often easier said than done, and I’ve heard a lot of nightmare stories.
That being said, Lesley Johnson has an entirely different experience, having just sold her business at 3.6x without any serious headache whatsoever.
Today, I’ll be talking to Lesley about how she got into ecommerce, what EcomCrew Premium meant for her brand’s growth, and the process of selling her business from start to finish.
Lesley also shares how much she’s learned in the process and her plans of putting her expanded knowledge base to good use.
If you’re in the process of selling your business or are considering that option down the road, definitely give this episode a listen.
Timestamps:
- How Lesley got into ecommerce - 3:40
- What made Lesley join EcomCrew Premium - 12:35
- How Premium helped her easily sell her business - 18:31
- What made Lesley decide to sell her business - 22:54
- Why she exited instead of growing her company - 24:44
- How the deal was structured - 28:48
- Lesley’s key takeaway after successfully selling her business - 34:13
I wanna thank Lesley for coming on the show and sharing her experience with us. I’m sure our listeners got a lot of value from her insights. Definitely looking forward to hearing about her next projects soon.
We talked a bit about EcomCrew Premium in this episode. Registrations are closed at the moment (Get notified when it opens), but we do have tons of free stuff you can check out, including our upcoming webinar on Simple and Automated Product Launches, where Ian Sells will teach you how to successfully launch new and old products in just 10 minutes.
That’s on June 16 at 10AM (PST). Be sure to save your slot.
If you loved this episode, feel free to leave us a review on iTunes to let us know.
Until the next one, happy selling!
It’s five times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. So the saying goes. But as an ecommerce seller, there’s a plethora of tools out there that you can leverage to engage your audience, expand your customer base, and make your brand more profitable. My guest for this episode …
The post E387: Using Chatbots and Influencers to Grow Your Ecommerce Brand first appeared on EcomCrew.
It’s five times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one.
So the saying goes.
But as an ecommerce seller, there’s a plethora of tools out there that you can leverage to engage your audience, expand your customer base, and make your brand more profitable.
My guest for this episode is Paul Baron, who is a Chatbot Architect at The Chat Agency, a marketing solutions provider that helps brands rank, build lists, and boost conversion rates using chatbots and influencer marketing.
Paul will be sharing how he got into ecommerce and how he eventually made the deep dive into digital marketing. He’ll walk us through where his marketing strategies have found the most success, how he gets people into lists, and how he builds a network of brand ambassadors using various marketing funnels.
You’ll also learn why it’s not just knowing your audience, but also knowing how they engage with your brand, that can take your business to the next level.
Timestamps:
- How Paul got into ecommerce - 03:58
- Where Paul and his team has seen the most success - 8:03
- Getting people into your marketing funnels - 10:33
- Why you should consider yourself an ‘influencer’ - 15:02
- How much brand ambassadors matter in terms of revenue - 20:45
- The value of putting together a buyer persona (If you haven’t already) - 27:10
I’d like to thank Paul for all the good stuff he shared with me today. If you’re looking to grow your brand through chatbots and influencer marketing, definitely check out their services over on thechatagency.com.
Speaking of growing your brand, nothing speaks ecommerce more than mastering the art of importing from the world’s factory floor. Copies of our book, Import From China Like A Pro are still up for grabs—your copy is on us, just pay for shipping!
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you like this episode, and as always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Whether you’re an established seller or running an ecommerce business out of your living room, you’ll run into some hairsplitting decisions sooner or later. Should you create a new listing or re-introduce an old product as ‘new and improved’? Is it better to offer a ‘deluxe version’ or craft an entirely different listing? Should you …
The post E386: How to Scale a Lifestyle Business [Under the Hood Part 2 with Dawn LaFontaine] first appeared on EcomCrew.
Whether you’re an established seller or running an ecommerce business out of your living room, you’ll run into some hairsplitting decisions sooner or later.
Should you create a new listing or re-introduce an old product as ‘new and improved’? Is it better to offer a ‘deluxe version’ or craft an entirely different listing? Should you hire your first employee or keep on handling everything yourself?
Questions like these keep a lot of ecommerce sellers up at night, but that’s what our Under the Hood segment is for.
In today’s episode, we’re doing a follow-up Under the Hood session with Dawn LaFontaine, who was our guest way back in Episode 244: How to Drive Traffic to a Low Search Volume Product.
We’ll be talking about what a lifestyle business actually means and what it’s like being at that crossroads where you’re looking to hire that first employee.
I’ll also be sharing my strategies for converting high organic traffic into actual sales, why you want ‘Made in the USA’ for certain products and could live with importing others, plus, I’ll be answering some of Dawn’s burning questions that you might also be itching to ask yourself.
Timestamps:
- Recapping our first Under the Hood session - 5:07
- How I stay excited with everything I do - 16:58
- What defines a lifestyle business and why it may be different for everyone - 24:39
- US-made vs China-made, and why a mix of both is okay - 34:53
- Revamping an existing product - 40:12
- My tips for offering product variations - 43:37
- Launching a product using an old listing - 47:18
- Why PPC is always worth it - 48:37
I had a fun time talking to Dawn and I hope more of our furry friends find their way into her cute cardboard boxes. Check out all her awesome cat boxes over on Cat in the Box.
By the way, Premium won’t be open again for a few months, but we still have a ton of free stuff that you’ll surely find value in.
Our free public webinar on Importing From China 2021 is still open for registrations. We’ll be teaching you our exact secrets to importing from the world’s factory—from sourcing products, to working with suppliers, to shipping and logistics.
This free webinar will be on June 3 at 10 AM (PST)Reserve your slot here.
As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review over on iTunes to let us know. Happy selling, and we’ll talk to you soon!
“Amazon is not a retail company, it’s a logistics company that does retail.” Interesting adage. But is it still true today? In this episode, Dave and I will try to dissect Amazon’s mindset—whether over the next several months, they will try to get more sellers to send more of their inventory into FBA, or …
The post E385: Is FBA Dead? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave talk about why Amazon is pushing sellers away from FBA, how they are dealing with storage limits, and what fallback strategies you can use.
“Amazon is not a retail company, it’s a logistics company that does retail.”
Interesting adage. But is it still true today?
In this episode, Dave and I will try to dissect Amazon’s mindset—whether over the next several months, they will try to get more sellers to send more of their inventory into FBA, or push them towards Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) or merchant-fulfilled models.
In particular, we’ll go over key factors that might be affecting Amazon’s recent moves, including COVID, supply chain disruptions, and rising labor costs.
We’ll also look into Amazon’s recently-updated inventory and restock limitations, how it shakes things up for third party sellers, and what strategies we are putting in place to stay ahead of the curve.
Finally, we’ll talk about our general fallback options in case FBA does cease (whether partially or entirely) to make sense for ecommerce sellers.
If you’re looking for some insights as to what’s been going on with FBA and how you can plan your business around that, definitely give this one a listen.
Timestamps:
- Is FBA dying? – 4:24
- How rising wages could affect Amazon’s mindset on FBA – 12:10
- Dealing with Amazon’s new inventory and restock limits – 14:25
- The pains of managing your own warehouse – 23:57
It’s always a pleasure having Dave to bounce my ideas off of. Feel free to check out his piece on Amazon’s Storage Limits in 2021 and all the other good stuff over on the EcomCrew Blog.
Also, in case you missed it, today is the last day that EcomCrew Premium will be open for the quarter. We limit our openings to make sure that we can cater to all of our Premium members, so if you’re someone who could use unlimited email support from two 7-figure sellers, finds value in webinars presented by industry experts, and are looking to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, give Premium a try.
Finally, leave us a review over on iTunes if you liked this episode. Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Whether you’re just starting out or are looking to scale your business, capital is a problem. Things change fast in ecommerce and getting your hands on cash can be difficult. My guest today is Don Henig, a tried-and-true finance guy who has found a rather fresh way of financing Amazon businesses through his company, …
The post E384: Here’s a Fresh Way to Get Some Funding first appeared on EcomCrew.
Whether you’re just starting out or are looking to scale your business, capital is a problem. Things change fast in ecommerce and getting your hands on cash can be difficult.
My guest today is Don Henig, a tried-and-true finance guy who has found a rather fresh way of financing Amazon businesses through his company, AccrueMe.
AccrueMe is an investment company that offers funding to Amazon private labels and wholesalers in return for a small temporary share in profits. Its goal is to help Amazon sellers grow without worrying about the usual burdens of typical financing options—there’s no interest to worry about, no required monthly payments, and they don’t take any ownership over your business.
In this episode, we’ll get to know Don and the interesting story behind AccrueMe. He’ll also walk me through the process of how their financing model works, with real-world examples to boot.
So, if you’re pressed for cash or are planning to take your business to the next level with additional capital, you’ll get a lot out of this episode.
Timestamps:
- Why and how Don started AccrueMe – 3:41
- How AccrueMe financing works – 12:39
- Some important points I like about the AccrueMe financing model – 18:28
- Real-world examples of AccrueMe financing – 22:33
- How you can apply for funding – 31:58
- The minimum requirements for approval – 35:53
I’d like to thank Don for coming to the show and sharing his creative financing model with us. If you have any burning questions about AccrueMe, you can connect with him over on LinkedIn or email him at don@accrueme.com.
In case you haven’t already, now is your last chance to sign up for EcomCrew Premium this quarter! Some perks our Premium members love most are the unlimited email support from myself and Dave Bryant, our monthly Secret Sauce Webinars delivered by industry experts, and our entire library of courses and Q&A webinars where like-minded entrepreneurs share their pain points and strategies.
Premium won’t be open for a few months after today, so make sure you don’t miss out.
Lastly, if you enjoyed this episode, please head over to iTunes and leave us a review.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Do your Sponsored Products campaigns suck? Has your ACoS gone through the roof? Today, Dave will address those problems and talk about Amazon’s Sponsored Products. This episode kicks off with a breakdown of the most basic strategy that everyone is using for this advertising campaign method—the peel-stick-block technique. Then, Dave will talk about some of …
The post E383: [Amazon PPC Overhaul Part 2] Our Advanced Strategies for Sponsored Products first appeared on EcomCrew.
In this edition of our Amazon PPC series, Dave explores advanced tactics that worked for his own brands which coincidentally, everyone else seems to be ignoring.
Do your Sponsored Products campaigns suck? Has your ACoS gone through the roof?
Today, Dave will address those problems and talk about Amazon’s Sponsored Products.
This episode kicks off with a breakdown of the most basic strategy that everyone is using for this advertising campaign method—the peel-stick-block technique.
Then, Dave will talk about some of our advanced tactics and how we are using them for our own brands. He will cover topics like placement bids and why you’re probably doing it wrong, the effective ways to do dynamic bidding, and when to take advantage of category targeting.
Whether you’re looking to improve your Sponsored Product campaigns and keep that ACoS at a manageable level or just learning about Amazon’s bevy of advertising options, there’s a lot in this episode for you.
Timestamps:
- Peel-stick-block and the basics of Amazon Sponsored Products - 4:17
- Our advanced strategies for Amazon Sponsored Products - 5:40
- Placement bids and how most people are doing it wrong - 7:25
- Which placement performs best for Mike and Dave’s brands - 11:59
- Dynamic bidding - 14:09
- Category targeting - 19:20
- Why category search doesn’t work for most people - 20:19
If you loved this episode, stay tuned for future editions of this Amazon PPC Overhaul series, where we’ll talk about the other advertising campaign options on Amazon, the best software to manage all your ad campaigns, and how our PPC experiments impacted our own brands.
By the way, EcomCrew Premium is open this week only! This will give you access to our deep-dive Secret Sauce Webinar on Amazon Sponsored Products, where we really get down to the nitty gritty and share our three secret targeting campaign strategies.
Premium also gives you perks like unlimited email access to Dave and myself for all questions that you may have, 6 up-to-date ecommerce courses in glorious HD, our entire library of past webinars, including other Secret Sauce editions with industry experts. See you on the inside.
Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. It helps more than you know.
Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
Ever struggled as an entrepreneur but can’t quite put your finger on what the problem is? I know I have. One of the biggest things that helped me get past that and level up my entrepreneurial game is Gino Wickman’s best-seller, Traction. Matter of fact, I did an entire podcast series on how I used …
The post E382: This Book Will Help You Gain Traction in Ecommerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
Mike and Dave break down how Gino Wickman’s best-selling book, Traction, helped them grow their ecommerce companies. They also announce the giveaway winners of Gino’s new book, Entrepreneurial Leap.
Ever struggled as an entrepreneur but can’t quite put your finger on what the problem is?
I know I have.
One of the biggest things that helped me get past that and level up my entrepreneurial game is Gino Wickman’s best-seller, Traction. Matter of fact, I did an entire podcast series on how I used his practical methods with my own business.
In this episode, Dave and I talk about how the book impacted not just EcomCrew but also our separate ecommerce brands, from capturing our company core values, to building an awesome offshore team, to nailing down our long-term goals.
By the way, Gino himself was on Episode 376 where we talked about his new book, Entrepreneurial Leap. In that episode, we kicked off a giveaway of three signed copies of his book, and we’re happy to announce the three lucky winners today!
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who participated!
It’s definitely fun having Dave around more often on the podcast. You’ll catch more of us during our upcoming free public webinar on Sending External Traffic to Amazon, where we’ll be teaching you how free organic traffic can help you sell and rank on Amazon without wasting money on paid advertising.
Mark the date: May 19 at 10 AM (PST)
Sign up here.
If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to iTunes and leave us a review. It helps more than you know.
As always, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!
I bought an exciting new ecommerce business last year! I’ve talked about how that opportunity came about with my business partners, Andrew and Bill, back in Episode 366. Now, several months into this venture, there’s a bunch of new questions to be answered and a lot more stuff to be explored, all of which I’m …
The post E381: How Mike is Growing His New Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
I bought an exciting new ecommerce business last year!
I’ve talked about how that opportunity came about with my business partners, Andrew and Bill, back in Episode 366.
Now, several months into this venture, there’s a bunch of new questions to be answered and a lot more stuff to be explored, all of which I’m happy to share with you guys.
In today’s episode, Dave is back on the show to ask me some of those burning questions:
- Was it wise to have bought the company during the pandemic year?
- What are the top 3 things I’m focusing on to grow the business?
- How am I dealing with the increased cash flow needs as the business grows?
We’ll be talking about all that and much more in this episode. Whether you are looking to buy an ecommerce business yourself or are developing your business to sell it in the near future, this episode definitely has a lot in it for you.
It’s always a fun time having Dave come on the podcast. Be sure to check out all the awesome stuff he’s putting out on the EcomCrew Blog.
If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps more than you know.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Check out our article here for more information about our PPC overhaul and investigation. Over the last year, Amazon has rolled out a bunch of new advertising options alongside a trend of rising ACoS. While my offshore team has done an amazing job with PPC and keeping everything in check, I’ve found that a few …
The post E380: [Amazon PPC Overhaul Part 1] Investigating PPC and Amazon’s Various Ad Formats first appeared on EcomCrew.
Check out our article here for more information into our PPC overhaul and investigation.
Over the last year, Amazon has rolled out a bunch of new advertising options alongside a trend of rising ACoS.
While my offshore team has done an amazing job with PPC and keeping everything in check, I’ve found that a few competitors have caught up to us by taking advantage of these new ad formats.
All this can get overwhelming for new Amazon sellers and has a lot of us scratching our heads as to which methods to use, how much to spend, and which software works best.
This is why we’re doing an Amazon PPC Overhaul series.
In this 6-part series, Dave and I will re-examine the current advertising campaigns we use for our own 7-figure brands and bring you a breakdown of our actual numbers to answer all your questions about PPC and Amazon’s hoard of ad formats.
For this pilot episode, we’ll be talking about why PPC can be the biggest driver of profit in your ecommerce business. We’ll also be giving an overview of our current account performance and the goals we want to achieve after our investigation.
Timestamps:
- Why we’re doing this Amazon PPC podcast series - 1:01
- How my early PPC tests are turning out - 7:35
- Current PPC baselines for our own brands and our 3-month goals - 9:38
- Should you just turn off PPC during the off season? - 13:34
- Our thoughts on how AI plays into PPC and ad campaigns - 19:10
- Some key questions we want to answer in this series - 22:21
Be sure to check out Dave’s Amazon PPC Overhaul article, which is the perfect companion to this podcast episode, and all the other good stuff we have for you over on the EcomCrew Blog.
Also, if you haven’t already, grab your free copy of our book, Import From China Like A Pro now. From finding products to import, to working with suppliers, to getting your inventory shipped, this all-in-one guide will help you avoid the mistakes we ourselves have made when importing from China.
And again, the book is free, just pay for shipping.
If you like this episode, be sure to subscribe to the podcast, tune in to the rest of this series, and leave us a review over on iTunes.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Episode 301 with Dave Alexander was a memorable one. We talked about his failures in venturing into the world of ecommerce (including his hilarious first ecommerce idea) and how perseverance eventually got the ball rolling for him. Since then, Dave has found success with his brands, Bushy Box and Lazy Leash. Hungry for more growth, …
The post E379: Amplifying Your Growth in Ecommerce (Under the Hood Part 2 with Dave Alexander) first appeared on EcomCrew.
Episode 301 with Dave Alexander was a memorable one. We talked about his failures in venturing into the world of ecommerce (including his hilarious first ecommerce idea) and how perseverance eventually got the ball rolling for him.
Since then, Dave has found success with his brands, Bushy Box and Lazy Leash.
Hungry for more growth, Dave is back for a second Under the Hood session where I answer his biggest questions on how to level-up his ecommerce game.
Some of the things we talk about in this episode include the best ways to get traffic into your own ecommerce site or Shopify store, why reaching out to influencers can help you get more visibility to relatively unique products like pocket-sized dog leashes, and how to start selling your product on Amazon.
Whether you are only just launching your first product or are looking to scale your business, I’m sure there’s something valuable here for you.
Timestamps:
- Getting traffic into your own website or Shopify store - 3:12
- How to reduce your workload and avoid burnout - 13:38
- Why you should reach out to influencers and media platforms - 16:59
- The benefits of hiring a full-time PR person - 23:11
- My advice on selling on Amazon - 26:03
- Basic principles in crafting a killer Amazon listing - 28:52
I’d wanna thank Dave for finding the time to do this episode with me, and I’m definitely looking forward to Part 3 with him several months down the road. Be sure to check out his awesome products on Bushy Box and Lazy Leash—who knows, they might give you some inspiration to develop your own unique ecommerce product.
Finally, if you haven’t already, be sure to join our giveaway of 3 autographed copies of Gino Wickman’s Entrepreneurial Leap, which will run until April 30. To enter, simply leave us a review over on iTunes and email us a screenshot of your review at support@ecomcrew.com with the Subject Line: Entrepreneurial Leap. Good luck!
Happy selling, and we’ll talk to you soon!
Shipping and logistics has become a nightmare (If it wasn’t already). Between sea freight rates soaring 300%, massive delays in getting your shipments from China into Amazon warehouses, and Amazon making sellers bear the brunt of its inventory limits, a lot of ecommerce sellers are struggling to foot the bill. In this episode, Dave and …
The post E378: Start Preparing for the Holiday Season NOW first appeared on EcomCrew.
Shipping and logistics has become a nightmare (If it wasn’t already). Between sea freight rates soaring 300%, massive delays in getting your shipments from China into Amazon warehouses, and Amazon making sellers bear the brunt of its inventory limits, a lot of ecommerce sellers are struggling to foot the bill.
In this episode, Dave and I break down this nightmarish sea freight situation and how it’s affecting us personally in terms of margins and inventory management.
We also talk about some useful tactics and strategies we are putting in place to stay ahead of the curve and keep our businesses afloat (pun intended). Finally, we share our predictions on where this whole thing is going and why you should definitely be placing your entire holiday order right now.
Timestamps:
- Breaking down the current mess that is shipping and logistics - 00:57
- How much freight transit times and costs have soared - 05:02
- It’s actually impact to our margins - 8:11
- Managing your inventory and taking advantage when your competitor runs out of stock - 13:26
- How Amazon’s capacity issues is putting the screws to ecommerce sellers - 16:30
- Our predictions moving forward - 27:09
It’s always a blast having Dave come on the podcast. Be sure to check out the EcomCrew Blog to read up about things like sea freight, why costs have basically tripled in the past year, and other burning ecommerce topics.
Also, in case you missed it, we’re giving away 3 autographed copies of Gino Wickman’s new book, Entrepreneurial Leap, which answers all the questions you’re ever going to ask yourself before taking the leap into entrepreneurship.
For a chance to win 1 of these 3 copies, simply leave us a review on iTunes and email us a screenshot of your review with the Subject Line: Entrepreneurial Leap. If you’ve already given us a review in the past, you can take a screenshot of it and send that over.
Entries will be accepted until April 30, and the winners will be announced shortly thereafter here on the podcast. Good luck!
Until the next one, happy selling!
Launching your very first product and managing inventory can be tough. Fortunately, many of our community members have had great success using the tips and tricks that we share here at EcomCrew.
In this Under the Hood episode, I’ll be breaking down some of those exact strategies.
For those who are new to the podcast, Under the Hood is a segment where I do an hour-long coaching session with one of our listeners, where I answer all their burning questions and give them some actionable advice.
My guests for today are David and Connor, a father-and-son duo who started out by buying content sites and, at the time of recording, were on their way to launching their very first product on Amazon.
Some of the good stuff we talk about include my personal steps to successfully launching products on Amazon, how to manage your inventory, and how to put niche-specific content sites to good use in order to drive conversions.
I also give my advice on how you can optimize your Amazon listings to make your products stand out, especially if you’re selling in a highly competitive niche.
Timestamps:
- A background on Connor and David’s business - 4:10
- The best practices to launching new products on Amazon - 6:33
- What strategies to implement when offering different product sizes - 13:37
- How low can you let your inventory go before shipping more units in? - 16:11
- When and how to adjust your strategies according to Amazon’s storage promos - 18:39
- Securing conversions using your content site and putting non-converting pages to good use - 21:54
- Which lead magnet software you should be using - 28:59
- How strict should you come down on your suppliers for delays? - 33:18
- Crafting an effective title for your listings - 38:07
- Must-have elements that make your main image stand out - 43:51
- My general tips for PPC - 51:36
- The effect of Cookies being removed by Google on the Affiliate Industry - 54:04
I want to thank David and Connor for taking the time to do this episode with me. It’s an awesome feeling hearing how my own strategies are helping others succeed.
If you want to get featured in an Under the Hood episode like this one, you can sign up over on ecomcrew.com/underthehood.
Also, in case you missed it, we’re giving away 3 autographed copies of Gino Wickman’s new book, Entrepreneurial Leap, which answers all the questions you’re ever going to ask yourself before taking the leap into entrepreneurship.
For a chance to win 1 of these 3 copies, simply leave us a review on iTunes and email us a screenshot of your review with the Subject Line: Entrepreneurial Leap. If you’ve already given us a review in the past, you can take a screenshot of that and send it over.
Entries will be accepted until April 30, and the winners will be announced shortly thereafter here on the podcast. Good luck!
Until the next one, happy selling!
Launching your very first product and managing inventory can be tough. Fortunately, many of our community members have had great success using the tips and tricks that we share here at EcomCrew. In this Under the Hood episode, I’ll be breaking down some of those exact strategies. For those who are new to the podcast, …
The post E377: How to Successfully Launch Your First Product and Putting Your Content Site to Good Use first appeared on EcomCrew.
If you’ve been tuning in to the podcast for a while now, something I’ve said quite often is that Gino Wickman’s book, Traction, had a tremendous impact on me and my business. So much so, that I’ve done an entire podcast series documenting how I applied his principles in running my own company. This is …
The post E376: Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap with Gino Wickman first appeared on EcomCrew.
If you’ve been tuning in to the podcast for a while now, something I’ve said quite often is that Gino Wickman’s book, Traction, had a tremendous impact on me and my business. So much so, that I’ve done an entire podcast series documenting how I applied his principles in running my own company.
This is a big reason why today’s episode is special, as my guest is none other than Gino Wickman himself.
A bestselling author and entrepreneur that needs no introduction, Gino is here to give us a sneak peek into his new book, Entrepreneurial Leap, which answers all the difficult questions you have to ask yourself before making that big leap into entrepreneurship.
In this episode, we break down the essential traits of an entrepreneur and why these innately human traits make four percent of all people cut out for entrepreneurship.
We also talk about why falling short of these traits is not the end of the world and the plethora of alternatives available to you. Gino also gives his author’s insights into the three stages to successful entrepreneurship, which are also the three main parts of the book : Confirm, Glimpse, and Path.
Timestamps:
- The six essential traits of every entrepreneur - 6:11
- The entrepreneurial range and why falling short of the six traits is not a death sentence - 16:11
- Gino’s free Entrepreneur-in-the-Making Assessment - 25:04
- Living the proverbial nightmare of entrepreneurship - 26:32
- An overview of Path and what hiring an integrator can do for you - 32:59
- Preventing your business from getting away from you - 41:22
- Why frequent communication with your employees matters - 45:28
Books mentioned:
- Traction, by Gino Wickman
- Entrepreneurial Leap, by Gino Wickman
- Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman and Marc C. Winters
By the way, we’re giving away three autographed copies of Entrepreneurial Leap!
If you want the chance to win one of these three copies signed by Gino Wickman himself, simply head over to iTunes and leave us a review! Then, take a screenshot of your review and email it to us at support@ecomcrew.com with the Subject Line: Entrepreneurial Leap. If you’ve already left us a review, don’t worry, just take a screenshot of your old review and follow the instructions above.
Your email qualifies as your entry and we will be selecting three lucky winners randomly.
Entries will be accepted until April 30, 2021 and we will announce the winners shortly thereafter on the podcast. Good luck!
Don’t forget to check out our podcast series on Traction:
- E138: Traction Part 1 – Company Core Values
- E140: Traction Part 2 – Company Core Focus and 10 Year Goal
- E143: Traction Part 3 – Marketing Strategy and 3-Year Plan
- E149: Traction Part 4 – One Year Plan and Quarterly Rocks
I’d like to thank Gino for coming on the podcast and for all the work he’s done in helping entrepreneurs like myself realize their dreams. Be sure to check out all the awesome entrepreneur-in-the-making tools that we mentioned throughout the episode, which are all available for free on e-leap.com.
Gino is also open to collaborators looking to guide budding entrepreneurs to success.
If you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, definitely let me know by leaving a review over on iTunes.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Crafting an ad campaign that actually helps your ecommerce business can be quite tricky. Luckily, Ilana Wechsler of Teach Traffic has come up with an effective approach to working out a paid campaign strategy tailored to your business—the Paid Traffic Puzzle. Just as you would do with an actual puzzle, Ilana explains why the four …
The post E375: The 4 Corners of the Paid Traffic Puzzle with Ilana Wechsler first appeared on EcomCrew.
Crafting an ad campaign that actually helps your ecommerce business can be quite tricky.
Luckily, Ilana Wechsler of Teach Traffic has come up with an effective approach to working out a paid campaign strategy tailored to your business—the Paid Traffic Puzzle.
Just as you would do with an actual puzzle, Ilana explains why the four corners are great starting points to crafting an effective ad campaign, and how they reveal what the next puzzle pieces are. This eventually helps you build your puzzle all the way into the middle and come up with the full picture.
The four corners are:
- Google Search
- Google Display
- YouTube Marketing
- Facebook/Instagram Marketing
In this episode, we also talk about what you should do when your retargeting campaigns are not working, which data to look for in order to craft an effective campaign, and a bunch of other good stuff you don’t wanna miss.
Timestamps:
- Ilana’s experience in running a PPC agency - 1:20
- What the Paid Traffic Puzzle is all about - 3:12
- Things to do if your site has little to no organic traffic - 7:12
- Building towards the middle of your puzzle when you have a profitable retargeting campaign up and running - 12:59
- Examples in implementing the Paid Traffic Puzzle approach - 21:30
- Why it’s important to make an offer that converts - 25:28
- Crafting an effective lead magnet - 26:32
I’d like to thank Ilana for coming on the show and sharing some valuable insights that you can definitely put to good use for your ecommerce business. If you’re looking to solve your own traffic puzzle, you can check out Ilana’s training materials and services over on teachtraffic.com.
Also, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. It helps more than you know.
Until the next one, happy selling!
We’re inching our way to four hundred episodes, but this might be the first time I’ve talked to someone who got into ecommerce out of desperation—and grew to seven figures at that! Kata Phipps is a clinical psychologist by trade. She’s married to a military guy, which meant, for years, having to constantly move from …
The post E374: From Professional Psychologist to 7-Figure Ecommerce Entrepreneur with Kata Phipps first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’re inching our way to four hundred episodes, but this might be the first time I’ve talked to someone who got into ecommerce out of desperation—and grew to seven figures at that!
Kata Phipps is a clinical psychologist by trade. She’s married to a military guy, which meant, for years, having to constantly move from one place to another and not being able to settle in and practice her craft.
Out of a mix of chance and desperation, Kata dabbled in ecommerce. She eventually found out that she had a knack for it and built a 7-figure brand within only a year.
In this episode, we talk all about how she got started, how she deals with copycats in the Amazon space, and how joining the Titan Network propelled her even further. We also get Kata’s psychology perspective on current consumer behavior and what trends she thinks are coming our way when lockdowns are finally lifted and vaccines are rolled out.
Timestamps
- How Kata got into ecommerce - 03:02
- The first products Kata ever sold on Amazon - 6:34
- Kata’s thought process behind finding her next million dollar product - 8:59
- Investing in good karma in ecommerce - 18:43
- Why joining a seller network helps more than your know - 22:18
- How global tragedies affect consumer behavior - 29:45
- What the trends are going to be in a post-COVID world - 33:03
- How to deal with immense cash flow needs when you’re just starting out - 37:23
- The value of asking your supplier questions - 42:30
I want to thank Kata for coming to the show and sharing her story. If you’d like to get in touch with her and pick her brain about the ecommerce industry, you can hit her up on Facebook as Kata Phipps or email her at kata@titanmembers.com.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. It helps more than you know.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Ecommerce is a fast-changing industry, and people rarely ever get that holy grail experience that our guest today has. Ben Leonard is the founder of Beast Gear, a fitness equipment brand born out of this personal interest in physical activities like crossfit and boxing. In just a span of 3 years, he grew the company …
The post E373: The Challenges of Building and Selling a 7-Figure Ecommerce Brand with Ben Leonard first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ecommerce is a fast-changing industry, and people rarely ever get that holy grail experience that our guest today has.
Ben Leonard is the founder of Beast Gear, a fitness equipment brand born out of this personal interest in physical activities like crossfit and boxing. In just a span of 3 years, he grew the company to a whopping 7-figure brand and has since sold his business.
He eventually co-founded Ecom Brokers, which is an ecommerce brokerage tailored to helping other sellers follow in his footsteps and get successful exits of their own.
In this episode, Ben takes me through his entire journey in ecommerce. From discovering his entrepreneurial spark, to developing his brand and a suite of products that people talk about, to selling his business, and all the way to building his own ecommerce brokerage to help other sellers build and sell their businesses.
I wanna thank Ben for coming to the show and sharing his story. If you’re looking to grow and sell your business for top dollar (just like we have), head over to Ecom Brokers. You may also reach out to Ben on benleonard.pro for even more strategic advice.
Planning to sell your business in the near future? Let us know, and don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes so we can help more ecommerce sellers.
Until the next one, happy selling!
As someone who’s immigrated to another country for a few years myself, I know how tough it is to navigate, much less succeed in unfamiliar territory. Today’s guest did just that. Ronnie Teja traveled from Mumbai to Vancouver and to so many other places across the globe during his long tenure in digital marketing. He …
The post E372: Taking a Chance on Yourself and Building a 10M+ Ecommerce Company first appeared on EcomCrew.
As someone who’s immigrated to another country for a few years myself, I know how tough it is to navigate, much less succeed in unfamiliar territory.
Today’s guest did just that.
Ronnie Teja traveled from Mumbai to Vancouver and to so many other places across the globe during his long tenure in digital marketing. He realized he was making a lot of money for a lot of people and eventually decided to bet on himself and dive right into ecommerce.
In this episode, we learn about his long journey, the inspiration behind his watch brand, Branzio, and how he’s caught some tailwind by managing a remote team to run his company.
We also dive into how his company fared during a year of COVID, why books like Traction mean so much to us, and his big plans for the future.
Timestamps:
- How Ronnie and Branzio did during the pandemic year - 2:45
- The Art of the Steal and how Ronnie got into ecommerce - 4:55
- The struggle of starting your own business - 15:37
- Why personal relationships are important in ecommerce - 19:22
- Leveling up your game by finding reliable talent remotely - 23:22
- Why Gino Wickman’s Traction was a game-changer for both of us - 29:47
- What the future looks like for Ronnie and Branzio - 32:52
Here are some of the awesome books we mentioned during the episode:
- Traction by Gino Wickman
- Get A Grip: An Entrepreneurial Fable...Your Journey to Get Real, Get Simple, and Get Results by Mike Paton and Gino Wickman
- The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington
I had a blast talking to Ronnie and learning about his journey to success. You can reach out to him at ronnie@branzio.com or hit him up on LinkedIn or Instagram.
Also, be sure to check out his awesome watches on Branzio.
Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who signed up for this round of our EcomCrew Premium opening. Our community is growing fast and it definitely feels great being able to help more and more people as we go along. In case you missed it, you can sign up to get notified when we open Premium again soon.
Did you enjoy this episode as much as I did? Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. It helps more than you know!
Until next time, happy selling!
To download the presentation that was spoken about in the episode, click here. Rocking a good old plain white shirt is cool, but a white shirt with the Nike ‘Swoosh’ on it? A hundred times cooler. A great brand design means so much more than a sight for sore yes—it’s the easiest way to establish …
The post E371: 5 Aspects of Brand Design that Give Your Company that Fortune 500 Feel first appeared on EcomCrew.
Rocking a good old plain white shirt is cool, but a white shirt with the Nike ‘Swoosh’ on it? A hundred times cooler.
A great brand design means so much more than a sight for sore yes—it’s the easiest way to establish your brand, drive your conversion rates, and invite 5-star product reviews.
Think Steve Job’s bitten apple or the golden arches of McDonald’s.
Joining me today is Miriska Harris of Outlinematic. Her company is a consultation and design firm that’s dedicated to brand design, whether it be your official brand logo, lifestyle images for your products, and or package inserts.
In this episode, we’ll be talking about why brand design matters, tips and best practices to make your designs stand out, and which aspects of your e-commerce business you should be infusing with great designs.
Timestamps:
- What Outlinematic does - 3:34
-
1. Your Brand Logo - 4:28
-
2. Packaging - 9:09
- How updated packaging designs drove our revenue - 12:11
- Tips in creating awesome packaging - 14:18
-
3. Inserts - 18:33
- Thanking customers and getting product reviews through inserts - 19:26
-
4. Product Images - 22:28
- Best practices for listing images - 24:25
-
5. A+ Content (EBC) - 29:46
It was great having Miriska on the show, and her insights into brand design is invaluable. Make sure to check out Outlinematic’s services over on their website or shoot them an email at info@outlinematic.com.
If you want to get a copy of the presentation that we were talking about in the episode, just email us at support@ecomcrew.com.
By the way, our next free public webinar is coming on the 14th of April. We will be releasing more details about it in the coming episodes, so be sure to subscribe to the Podcast to stay up to date.
Did you enjoy this episode? Leave us a review over on iTunes to let us know!
Until the next one, happy selling!
Wearing many hats as an e-commerce seller isn’t easy, but letting someone else take over a task you’ve been doing for years could be much harder. If you’re looking to grow your business, though, you will eventually need to hang up some of those hats to focus on your high-level goals. In today’s episode, Kevin …
The post E370: Offload Your Tasks as Your E-Commerce Business Grows first appeared on EcomCrew.
Wearing many hats as an e-commerce seller isn’t easy, but letting someone else take over a task you’ve been doing for years could be much harder.
If you’re looking to grow your business, though, you will eventually need to hang up some of those hats to focus on your high-level goals.
In today’s episode, Kevin Sanderson of Maximizing Ecommerce joins me in breaking down some of the struggles and the rewards of offloading workload from your shoulders and fine-tuning your focus as you scale your business.
Kevin is an Under the Hood alumni. He was our guest in a two-parter, where we talked about how to stop being a bottleneck to your own business and how to delegate tasks to offshore VAs.
Today, we’ll be talking about why you should never compare your Chapter 4 to someone else’s Chapter 25, some clever tricks we use to filter through hundreds of job applicants, and effective ways to offload your tasks and delegate them to a team that you trust.
Timestamps:
- Why you should give your endeavors some time before giving up - 3:00
- Looking back at our first Under the Hood session - 9:11
- How to effectively offload and delegate your tasks - 12:17
- Simple and effective ways to filter job applications - 17:04
- Why most of us obsess over the tiniest tasks - 27:24
- What Kevin is up to these days - 33:54
- The value of investing in a team you can trust - 40:09
- Never put in your phone number if you’re online looking at insurance quotes - 43:34
I had a great time talking to Kevin. Check out his awesome content over on Maximizing Ecommerce and tune in to his podcast and YouTube channel.
If you’re interested in having me look under the hood of your e-commerce business in an hour-long coaching call that we turn into a podcast episode, head over to ecomcrew.com/underthehood to sign up.
Speaking of sign-ups, EcomCrew Premium closes tonight!
Premium membership grants you access to our community of like-minded sellers, unlimited 1-on-1 email support from me and Dave, and a growing library of HD video courses and webinars to help you grow and succeed in e-commerce. Sign up for Premium now.
Did you enjoy this episode? Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes so we can help more sellers like you.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Finding products that actually sell can be difficult. But it doesn’t have to be. This is why Dave and I have decided to share with you the exact secrets that make our lives so much easier when it comes to finding, developing, and defending products in e-commerce. In this episode, we discuss some effective tactics …
The post E369: Develop Winning Products Using the Cockroach Method first appeared on EcomCrew.
Finding products that actually sell can be difficult. But it doesn’t have to be.
This is why Dave and I have decided to share with you the exact secrets that make our lives so much easier when it comes to finding, developing, and defending products in e-commerce.
In this episode, we discuss some effective tactics you can use to protect your products from getting ripped off, or at least make it insanely difficult for copycats—especially when securing a patent is off the table.
These include raising the barrier to entry for someone who’s hell-bent on copying your products, making high-quality photographs, and producing great content that adds value to your niche.
Dave also shares his intriguing cockroach method to finding profitable products. Did you know certain item types could net you much higher profits than “perfect” products?
If you’re struggling to find new products or develop existing ones, there’s definitely a lot in here for you.
Timestamps
- How product development has evolved over the years - 1:36
- What patents do and do not do for your product - 4:09
- Limiting the competition by developing products with high barriers to entry - 18:47 - 14:07
- What is the cockroach method? - 19:17
- Applying the method to my new business - 22:56
- Why you should do FBA for oversized products - 24:47
- Additional tips for shipping large and expensive items - 28:37
- The benefits of developing multiple products at once - 33:32
It’s always a blast having Dave come out to do the podcast, and there’s definitely a lot more to unpack on this subject.
If you haven’t already, sign up to EcomCrew Premium now.
Premium gives you access to perks like advanced video courses in glorious HD, including a full-blown module on product development and the cockroach method, unlimited access and coaching from us, and membership to an exclusive community of high-figure e-commerce sellers.
Premium is going to be available for a limited time only, so sign up now!
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes so we can help more e-commerce sellers start and grow their businesses.
Until next time, happy selling!
Insurance is not a fun topic. Trust me, I hate it as much as the next guy. But you know what else is not fun? Having your business go under because of a frivolous lawsuit that has absolutely nothing to do with you or your company. That is why today, Maggie Walden and I will …
The post E368: Protecting Your Business From Petty Lawsuits and Accidents first appeared on EcomCrew.
Insurance is not a fun topic. Trust me, I hate it as much as the next guy.
But you know what else is not fun? Having your business go under because of a frivolous lawsuit that has absolutely nothing to do with you or your company.
That is why today, Maggie Walden and I will be talking about one of the best things you can do to protect your business from exhausting (not to mention, expensive) lawsuits and accidents—taking out insurance.
Maggie is a Client Advisor at ECM Solutions, an independent insurance agency that offers a range of coverage options to e-commerce business owners and prepares them for when that fateful day comes.
In this episode, we talk about why an insurance policy is a must-have for serious e-commerce sellers, what different coverage options are available to you, and why insurance carriers won’t be racing to insure certain product types.
Timestamps:
- Amazon’s insurance requirements and why you should comply with them - 05:29
- Things you should be looking at in terms of insurance - 07:24
- What a general liability policy covers and what it does not - 09:31
- Why it’s hard to find insurance for certain certain products or categories - 13:30
- Why I think getting an insurance policy is essential in e-commerce - 15:35
- What an inventory insurance policy is - 23:29
- What a business owner’s policy or BOP is - 26:25
There’s definitely a lot of ground to cover in protecting your business from frivolous litigation and accidents, and Maggie was just the right person to have on the show.
If you want some solid advice about what your exposure looks like and how you can go about taking out an insurance policy over your e-commerce business, be sure to check out ECM Solutions or hit Maggie up on 704-227-3130.
By the way, if you’re looking to stay ahead of the competition and amp up your e-commerce game, EcomCrew Premium opens again on March 8. Don’t miss out!
With Premium, you get access to a bevy of perks, from HD video courses, to exclusive monthly webinars, to 1-on-1 mentorship.
Learned a thing or two from this episode? Let us know, and don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes so we can reach more e-commerce sellers looking to grow their business.
Until the next one, happy selling!
When business is good, you want nothing more than to keep finding stuff to do in order to grow even further. In this follow-up Under the Hood session, Elias Manopla is looking to do just that. Elias was our guest for Episode 194, where we talked about how to grow a highly niched e-commerce business. …
The post E367: Increasing Your Repeat Customer Rate After Growing 15x During the Pandemic [Under the Hood Part 2 with Elias Manopla] first appeared on EcomCrew.
When business is good, you want nothing more than to keep finding stuff to do in order to grow even further. In this follow-up Under the Hood session, Elias Manopla is looking to do just that.
Elias was our guest for Episode 194, where we talked about how to grow a highly niched ecommerce business. He runs an online butcher shop that sells a wide variety of barbecue meat and other food products.
I’m happy to learn that after taking my advice and using his own strategies, Elias’s business was extremely successful (with a 15x growth) during a tough year of COVID.
In this catch-up, we break down a bunch of other stuff that he can do to grow his business even further. We talk about how to retain customers, upselling and cross-selling, and how to advertise in the online world — things that you can definitely apply to your own e-commerce business well.
Timestamps
- How Elias took my advice and achieved immense growth during the pandemic year - 5:43
- A look into upselling and cross-selling - 12:51
- How to retain customers - 17:47
- Why you should keep your customers engaged with interesting emails - 20:56
- How to handle data and purchase statistics - 22:22
- Using Google Search to your advantage - 25:40
- The power of YouTube marketing for e-commerce - 27:36
I’m glad to have been a part of Elias’s success and I hope he finds more growth after coming on for this episode. If you’re interested in signing up for an hour-long coaching session and be featured on the podcast, head over to our Under the Hood registration page.
Hoping for the same growth as Elias? We’re happy to invite you to a free webinar on How to Find and Develop Winning Products When Nothing Else Has Worked this coming March 10, 2021 at 10 AM (PST). We’ll be sharing the exact secrets to developing a product that stands out in Amazon’s highly saturated marketplace.
Also, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes and share your thoughts if you enjoyed this episode.
Until next time,
Happy selling!
I’m back in the trenches! We sold one of our ecommerce brands back in 2019, and I’ve been itching to get involved in something again for quite some time. Today, I’m excited to share with you my recent experience in buying a new ecommerce company. Joining me for this episode are my good friends and …
The post E366: Mike’s Exciting New Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
I’m back in the trenches!
We sold one of our ecommerce brands back in 2019, and I’ve been itching to get involved in something again for quite some time.
Today, I’m excited to share with you my recent experience in buying a new ecommerce company.
Joining me for this episode are my good friends and business partners, Andrew Youderian and Bill D'Alessandro, whose insights are valuable to ecommerce newbies and experienced business owners alike.
Andrew is the Managing Partner of ECF Capital, which is tailored to helping small e-commerce businesses grow. He also hosts the awesome eCommerce Fuel Podcast.
Bill is the Founder and CEO of Elements Brands, which invests in brands with long-term potential and currently boasts a rich portfolio of consumer products companies.
In this episode, we dive into how this opportunity came about and all the hurdles we overcame to finally seal the deal. We also share a bunch of funny stories that you’ll surely get a kick out of.
Timestamps
- How the opportunity came about - 6:56
- Why this particular business appealed to us - 9:50
- How we structured the deal - 12:56
- Why having an existing rapport with the seller helps more than you know - 19:30
- A fateful Christmas eve call - 20:11
- Why you should always leave some buffer in your closing dates - 27:59
- Some key things I did before and after closing - 30:15
- A heart-stopping Amazon account suspension - 35:37
I’m thrilled to be in business with Andrew and Bill, and I’d be happy to share more updates about this business with you guys in a year’s time.
If you’re looking to grow your ecommerce business and get some long-term funding from experts in the industry, check out ECF Capital.
Did you enjoy this episode? Don’t forget to help us out by leaving a review over on iTunes.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Ever felt like you have waaay too much on your plate? So have I, and so have a lot of other entrepreneurs. Making the best use of your time and staying productive are essential ingredients for success in e-commerce. Which is why today, we’ll be talking about productivity hacks with Chris Bello. Chris has a …
The post E365: The Best Productivity Hacks for Entrepreneurs with Chris Bello first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ever felt like you have waaay too much on your plate?
So have I, and so have a lot of other entrepreneurs.
Making the best use of your time and staying productive are essential ingredients for success in e-commerce. Which is why today, we’ll be talking about productivity hacks with Chris Bello.
Chris has a wealth of knowledge in supply chain management and he hosts the Entrepreneur Motivation Podcast, which is tailored to productivity mindset and optimizing your day-to-day processes.
He also runs his own personal brand and he deals in real estate all over the US.
In this episode, Chris and I talk about some common challenges that e-commerce business owners, particularly solopreneurs, face. We then share some productivity hacks that help us stay focused on our goals, get the most value out of our time and energy, and scale our business without ending up feeling miserable.
Timestamps
- An introduction to Chris Bello - 3:37
- What you can do to avoid facing a seemingly infinite to-do list - 7:06
- The shiny object syndrome and how entrepreneurs can avoid it - 13:00
- Knowing what your focus is and the value of being able to say “No.” - 16:58
- Chris’s scorecard strategy for making the best use of his time - 23:46
- The power of outsourcing and delegating tasks - 29:02
Books mentioned:
- Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki
- The 4-hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss
- The E Myth, Michael E. Gerber
- Essentialism, Greg McKeown
Apps mentioned:
- Asana
- Clubhouse
I had a blast having Chris on the show and I’m excited to try out his time hacks. If you want to dive into his productivity-driven content, head over to his website, hit him up on Instagram, or connect with him on Clubhouse.
What are some of your personal productivity hacks? Let us know and don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Between new COVID strains and Reddit revolutions, 2021 has been a crazy year—and we’re only barely a month in! E-commerce is no exception to all this madness, as there seems to be a crazy trend of huge rollup companies gobbling up small Amazon FBA businesses. The rollup strategy is when a company looking to put …
The post E364: The Controversy Behind the FBA Rollup Strategy first appeared on EcomCrew.
Between new COVID strains and Reddit revolutions, 2021 has been a crazy year—and we’re only barely a month in!
E-commerce is no exception to all this madness, as there seems to be a crazy trend of huge rollup companies gobbling up small Amazon FBA businesses.
The rollup strategy is when a company looking to put its large capital to work merges and consolidates a bunch of small companies, aiming to make profits through economies of scale.
In this episode, Dave and I talk about how the rollup model works, its potential benefits to investors and to e-commerce sellers looking to exit, and the risks that come with it.
Timestamps
- The current trend of big investors rolling up Amazon businesses - 3:34
- Why Amazon is somewhat easy (even though it’s not) when it comes to running an e-commerce business - 5:20
- What multiple arbitrage is - 7:51
- The potential risks and rewards for rollup companies - 10:46
- Some possibly incorrect assumptions that rollup companies are making - 21:26
- Where COVID fits in all this - 28:26
There’s no telling which way this rollup trend goes, and it would be interesting to revisit this episode with Dave in a few years to see how right (or how off base) we were. For the meantime, stay ahead of the curve with our guide on How To Sell Your Ecommerce Company For Top Dollar.
Speaking of making the most out of your e-commerce business, don’t forget to sign up for our Import From China Like a Pro Webinar this February 17, 2021 at 10 AM (PST). In this free public webinar, we’ll be talking about how to find suppliers without getting scammed, staying ahead of the competition, and everything in between.
Did you like this episode? Leave us a review over on iTunes so we can make more great content for e-commerce sellers.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Sebastien Taché was our guest for Under the Hood back in E187, where we talked about saving on high-quality content for SEO, developing a product in a competitive niche, and then some. Today, Sebastien is back to share how his business has done after our first 1-on-1 coaching session more than a year ago. In …
The post E363: Growing and Diversifying Your Ecommerce Business – Under the Hood Part 2 with Sebastien Taché first appeared on EcomCrew.
Sebastien Taché was our guest for Under the Hood back in E187, where we talked about saving on high-quality content for SEO, developing a product in a competitive niche, and then some.
Today, Sebastien is back to share how his business has done after our first 1-on-1 coaching session more than a year ago.
In this sequel episode, I share a lot of things that helped me grow my own ecommerce brands, which you can apply to your business as well.
We talk about things like the benefits of hiring a full-time content writer, branching out into a new industry and importing from China, along with a lot of other stuff that hopefully enables Sebastien to leave his full-time job and reach his ultimate goal in ecommerce.
Timestamps
- An overview of our Under the Hood segment - 3:26
- Catching up with Sebastien after our first coaching session - 4:12
- How hiring a Filipino writer helped Sebastien’s site grow 10x in organic traffic - 5:10
- Leveraging credit for optimal growth - 10:31
- Venturing into a new industry and importing from China - 14:48
- Why I ship LCL (Less than Container Load) - 20:27
- How I balance my time between multiple e-commerce projects - 23:59
- Things we do to keep our offshore team motivated - 30:35
- How to optimize content when it’s already ranking well - 40:34
- How to launch large or oversized products - 47:03
I had a great time talking with Sebastien and I’m excited to welcome him back for a third instalment to this Under the Hood series a couple of years from now. If you want to schedule an hour-long coaching session and get featured in a podcast episode, make sure to sign up for Under the Hood.
We talked a bit about importing from China in this episode, but if you’re looking for the nitty gritty of sourcing products from China, check out Import From China Like a Pro, our brand new book that lays out the blueprint for building a profitable business of importing from the factory of the world.
If you like this episode, make sure to leave us a review over on iTunes so we can help more e-commerce sellers grow their business.
Until next time, happy selling!
As e-commerce sellers, we want nothing more than to grow our business and maximize our profits, but sometimes, the opposite is true. David Wilson, who was a previous guest in our Under the Hood segment, is trying to downshift his business and transition it into a stable side hustle to support his personal hobbies. In …
The post E362: Running an Ecommerce Business as a Side Hustle first appeared on EcomCrew.
As ecommerce sellers, we want nothing more than to grow our business and maximize our profits, but sometimes, the opposite can also be true.
David Wilson, who was a previous guest in our Under the Hood segment, is trying to downshift his business and transition it into a stable side hustle to support his personal hobbies.
In this episode, I give David some valuable advice on how to keep his business chugging along as a lifestyle business. We talk about why it’s still important to seek new opportunities and to streamline your ecommerce business, even though you’re running it on the side.
Timestamps:
- Recap of my previous coaching sessions with David – 3:47
- How his sales have done while he’s working a regular job – 7:40
- The challenges of selling in Europe and Canada (from the US) – 9:55
- How Sellics has helped David’s PPC management – 12:26
- How David has downshifted his business – 15:59
- Where David stands between his e-commerce brand and his full-time job – 20:49
- My advice for running a lifestyle business – 23:33
- How to streamline your business while scaling it down – 25:08
- A quick chat about Bitcoin – 34:05
Resources mentioned:
- Sellics
I’d like to thank David for coming back to the podcast and I’m excited to learn how his lifestyle business does in a couple of years.
If you want to schedule a 1-on-1 coaching session and be featured in a podcast episode, head over to our Under the Hood sign-up page.
Looking to step up your e-commerce game? Look no further than Dave’s book, Import From China Like a Pro. It is packed with everything you need to know about sourcing e-commerce products from China—and it’s yours for free (just pay for shipping, the book is on us).
If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes, it helps more than you know!
Until the next one, happy selling!
About eighty percent of the most popular classical music comes from only twenty percent of all the composers. When working out, twenty percent of the exercises account for eighty percent of the muscle you gain. This is known as the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule. In e-commerce, 80 percent of your sales often come …
The post E361: The 80-20 Rule to Streamlining Your Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
About eighty percent of the most popular classical music comes from only twenty percent of all the composers. When working out, twenty percent of the exercises account for eighty percent of the muscle you gain. This is known as the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule.
In e-commerce, 80 percent of your sales often come from only 20 percent of your entire product line.
In this follow-up Under the Hood session with Nic Dillon, we break down the 80-20 rule and discuss why focusing on a few best sellers is much easier—not to mention more profitable—than handling a lot of SKUs.
Nic runs Old Delhi Music, a company that sells traditional Indian musical instruments like sitars and harmoniums.
In this episode, we also talk about how he got past the mom-and-pop manufacturing industry of India in order to scale his business, how his company fared during a year of COVID, and how to manage an offshore team.
Timestamps
- What Old Delhi Music is all about - 02:37
- Why Nic started his own factory in India - 4:08
- How to streamline a business with a lot of SKUs - 15:04
- When the 80-20 rule does not apply - 32:30
- How to maintain cohesion in your offshore team and set them up for success - 37:18
- How to be someone that people love to work for - 51:10
I’d like to thank Nic for coming back to the show. Check out his awesome collection of high-quality, handcrafted Indian instruments at Old Delhi Music.
To sign up for an hour-long coaching session and be featured on the podcast, head over to our Under the Hood registration page.
Nic and I talked a bit about how sourcing from China is, in many ways, much easier than sourcing from India. If you’re looking to master the art of importing from the world’s factory, grab a free copy of Dave’s book (pay only for shipping!), Import From China Like a Pro.
Did you like this episode? Give us a pat on the back by leaving us a review over on iTunes.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Ecommerce today is hardly the same as it was ten years ago. The competition has gotten much stiffer, black hat sellers are all over the place, and simply writing cheap blurbs just to get clicks no longer cuts it. That said, there’s one surefire way to grow your business and gain an unfair advantage over …
The post E360: How Content Can Give You A Leg Up In Ecommerce first appeared on EcomCrew.
Ecommerce today is hardly the same as it was ten years ago.
The competition has gotten much stiffer, black hat sellers are all over the place, and simply writing cheap blurbs just to get clicks no longer cuts it.
That said, there’s one surefire way to grow your business and gain an unfair advantage over much bigger ecommerce brands without resorting to cheap tactics—creating valuable content.
In this solo episode, I will be talking about why content matters in ecommerce, how much it helped our own brands grow in the past year, and how you can get started at creating great content for your niche.
Timestamps
- Why content is important - 03:49
- How you can go about creating valuable content - 15:31
- Setting a bar that our content team writes to - 16:30
- How to find the right keywords to write about - 19:21
- Finding your brand’s voice - 23:37
- How to make sure that people consume your content - 24:56
Head over to Episode 352 to learn if you should set up your blog content on a separate domain or on your ecommerce website.
Here’s a link to our Guide To Creating Killer Content For Your Ecommerce Site.
Also, feel free to check out our own content site, Tactical.com.
We’ve actually turned one of our best blog posts into a full-blown book! Whether you are a beginner at importing from China or an active importer looking to streamline your process, Dave Bryant’s Import From China Like A Pro covers all the ins and outs of importing products from the world’s factory.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode, and don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes so we can help more ecommerce sellers grow their businesses.
Until next time, happy selling!
Shoot for the moon, land among the stars, so the saying goes. Rob Hampton was our guest for a two-part Under The Hood session back in 2018, and he’s back to share his experiences with us after taking my advice for growing his ecommerce business. In this catch-up episode, we pick up right where we …
The post E359: How E-Commerce Sellers Can Bounce Back After Missing the Mark first appeared on EcomCrew.
Shoot for the moon, land among the stars, so the saying goes.
Rob Hampton was our guest for a two-part Under The Hood session back in 2018, and he’s back to share his experiences with us after taking my advice for growing his ecommerce business.
In this catch-up episode, we pick up right where we left off. Rob talks about some of the things that prevented him from achieving his million-dollar-revenue goal, and how he still landed on a comfortable 3.5x growth.
I pick apart some of his biggest challenges going into 2021 and share a lot of things that worked for me with my own ecommerce brands.
From the benefits of hiring a VA to the most effective tools for inventory and project management, there’s a lot to learn here if you’re looking to scale your ecommerce business.
Timestamps
- How Rob still grew his business despite some challenges - 7:55
- The benefits of hiring a VA - 8:41
- How to scale your processes and systems - 13:46
- Project management tools that work for us - 20:35
- Why aiming for 10x in a year can be tough - 22:12
- Why we went from a single Amazon account for several brands to managing multiple accounts - 27:33
- Our preferred Inventory management system - 31:48
- Why our current 3PL is a joy to work with - 46:01
- How to handle SKU count growth - 54:46
- Advice on switching from cash to accrual bookkeeping - 1:03:12
I want to thank Rob for coming back to the podcast and sharing how he grew his business.
If you want to schedule an hour-long coaching session and be featured on the podcast, feel free to sign up for Under The Hood.
Got any big plans for 2021? Let us know, and don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you like this episode.
Until the next one, happy selling!
As e-commerce business owners, much of our livelihoods depend on Amazon. However, in this episode, Steven Pope and I bite the hand that feeds us as we unpack the ugly side of Amazon from a seller’s standpoint. Steven runs My Amazon Guy, a Seller Central Consulting Agency based in Georgia that helps sellers grow their …
The post E358: The Ugly Side of Amazon with Steven Pope first appeared on EcomCrew.
As e-commerce business owners, much of our livelihoods depend on Amazon. However, in this episode, Steven Pope and I bite the hand that feeds us as we unpack the ugly side of Amazon from a seller’s standpoint.
Steven runs My Amazon Guy, a Seller Central Consulting Agency based in Georgia that helps sellers grow their Amazon businesses. He also hosts an awesome podcast and a YouTube channel.
Today we uncover the ugly side of the Bezos empire, from its growing power over third-party sellers, the black hat activities that could affect your product listings, to Amazon workers having to pee into bottles to save time.
We also talk about some big changes we think Amazon will be making over the next couple of years and things you can do to safeguard your business.
Timestamps
- About Steven and his My Amazon Guy Podcast - 02:29
- The evil side of Amazon - 3:38
- Some big changes we think are coming to Amazon in 2021 and 2022 - 8:18
- The ugliness of black hat attacks on sellers - 10:30
- What you need to do to protect your business - 20:16
- How Amazon seller support has degraded over the years - 22:20
- Our culture problem with big business - 29:07
- How automation threatens employment - 30:06
- The problem of big business and big government being in bed with each other - 36:08
- Why it’s important to diversify where you sell - 41:11
- Why I’ve lost confidence in Amazon as a consumer - 43:47
- Our advice to ecommerce sellers - 46:30
I’d like to thank Steven for coming on the show. If you’re interested in boosting your traffic and optimizing your conversion rates, make sure to check out myamazonguy.com.
You can find Sharon Even’s video on having her ASINs taken down due to black hat attacks here.
News article on fake Amazon reviews:
Amazon is filled with fake reviews and it’s getting harder to spot them
Also, EcomCrew is holding a free public webinar on January 21 at 10 AM (PST), where we’ll be sharing a tried-and-true roadmap for turning your leads into actual buyers.
Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you like this episode, and be sure to let us know which ugly aspect of Amazon you find most disturbing.
Happy selling!
Last month, we ran a community poll to find out which among the myriad of Amazon seller software our EcomCrew community predominantly uses.
The poll was aimed at determining the most popular Amazon software in four categories:
- Product Launches and Giveaways
- Keyword and Product Research
- PPC Management, and
- Reimbursement Management
The results are in. In this episode, we’ll be discussing the winning software for each of the categories and why they edged out the competition.
We’ll also be sharing some insights on why and how you should be using these tools to grow your ecommerce business—and why you’re leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t!
Timestamps
- Overview of our Best Amazon Software of 2020 poll - 1:00
- The best tool for Product Launches and Giveaways - 2:55
- Why it’s hard for Amazon to clamp down on rebate and giveaway services - 7:15
- The best Keyword and Product Research Tool - 12:14
- The best software for PPC Management - 16:20
- The importance of using a PPC service - 20:30
- Why you should sign up for a refund service - 25:37
- The best Reimbursement Management Tool - 27:40
- Refund services that we use - 28:55
We’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to cast their votes, and congratulations to the lucky winner of a full year of EcomCrew Premium membership!
If you want to know more about the tools mentioned in this episode, head over to our Best Amazon Software of 2020 article, where we provide details and pricing for each software.
Click here to check out our podcast episode with CEO and Founder of RebateKey, Ian Sells.
By the way, if you’re struggling to turn your leads into actual sales, our upcoming FREE public webinar this January 21 at 10 AM (PST) is perfect for you. We’ll be sharing our tried-and-true roadmap for turning your leads into actual buyers, so sign up today to reserve your spot!
If you like this episode, don’t forget to help us out by leaving us a review over on iTunes so we can help more e-commerce sellers with our content.
’Til the next one, happy selling!
Last month, we ran a community poll to find out which among the myriad of Amazon seller software our EcomCrew community predominantly uses. The poll was aimed at determining the most popular Amazon software in four categories: Product Launches and Giveaways Keyword and Product Research PPC Management, and Reimbursement Management The results are in. In …
The post E357: EcomCrew’s Most Popular Amazon Software of 2020 first appeared on EcomCrew.
I absolutely dread bees. But for this episode, I’m casting my fear aside because our guest is someone who’s made a thriving e-commerce business out of his personal hobby—beekeeping. Adam Hickman is an EAS Master Beekeeper and the founder of Foxhound Bee Company, a full-service beekeeping company in Alabama. It offers everything from honey, to …
The post E356: Passion to Profit: Why Hobbies Make the Best Product Niches first appeared on EcomCrew.
I absolutely dread bees. But for this episode, I’m casting my fear aside because our guest is someone who’s made a thriving e-commerce business out of his personal hobby—beekeeping.
Adam Hickman is an EAS Master Beekeeper and is the founder of Foxhound Bee Company, a full-service beekeeping company in Alabama. It offers everything from honey, to cypress hive parts, to educational content about beekeeping.
In this Under the Hood episode, we talk about how he turned his personal hobby into an e-commerce business and why I think hobbies make the best niches.
We then unpack some pain points which could also… sting your company, including his inefficiencies with Amazon, concerns about suppliers in China, and hiring his first employee.
Timestamps:
- Introduction to our guest, Adam Hickman – 2:41
- How Adam got started in ecommerce – 4:08
- The focus of his business: Beekeeping – 6:12
- Mike's kryptonite – 7:33
- Recapping the Foxhound Bee Company timeline – 8:14
- Making ecommerce your full-time job – 10:23
- The best model for ecommerce - 11:48
- Scaling from the solopreneur stage to getting a retail space – 19:58
- Why a retail space is a great idea for Adam – 21:56
- The importance of your first employee – 24:11
- Ecomcrew's first public webinar of 2021 – 39:21
- Tackling some Amazon Inefficiencies – 40:41
- Supply chain issues from China – 47:43
- Knowing your limits – 53:22
- Increasing the perceived value of your products through packaging – 56:16
- Importance of pre-inspections – 61:46
- How returns affect your Amazon ranking – 65:20
- Transitioning from Squarespace to WordPress – 68:38
I’d like to thank Adam for coming on the show. Check out his buzzworthy products and classes on https://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com.
If you’re currently struggling to turn leads into sales or are looking to maximize your conversion rate, join our upcoming Free Public Webinar on January 21 at 10 AM (PST), where we’ll be sharing a tried-and-tested roadmap for turning your potential customers into actual buyers.
Got a hobby that you’d like to turn into a profitable e-commerce business? We’d love to hear from you! Also, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes.
Happy selling!
Happy new year, and welcome to the first episode of the EcomCrew podcast for 2021! Last year was crazy for everyone, and the pandemic definitely brought about a lot of changes to the way we live, work, and consume. Many businesses experienced losses, but a lot of e-commerce sellers benefited from the fact that people …
The post E355: How to Future-Proof Your Ecommerce Business with Steve Chou first appeared on EcomCrew.
Happy new year, and welcome to the first episode of the EcomCrew podcast for 2021!
Last year was crazy for everyone, and the pandemic definitely brought about a lot of changes to the way we live, work, and consume. Many businesses experienced losses, but a lot of e-commerce sellers benefited from the fact that people can’t easily go out to buy what they want and need.
For this episode, my good friend Steve Chou of mywifequitherjob.com joins me as we take a look back at 2020 and talk about what we think is going to happen in 2021 in terms of our businesses and e-commerce in general.
We analyze some factors that affect our traffic and give you some tips that worked for us.
Timestamps:
- How we did in terms of sales during the holidays - 4:50
- Focusing on Amazon traffic vs. traffic to your own site - 6:38
- What to consider before choosing your niche - 8:52
- Steve’s promotion technique - 11:20
- Focusing on Amazon vs. lifecycle marketing - 14:00
- Our Amazon incident rates - 17:30
- How the newest Google updates affected our sites - 18:57
- Does domain rank really matter? - 22:35
- How to increase your domain rank - 23:00
- The effects of Google pigeonholing your content - 24:45
- Is it always a good idea to release only content that is sure to rank on Google? - 26:25
- Making it easier to create content through environmental design - 28:00
- The best way to future-proof your e-commerce business - 30:40
- Social vs. organic traffic - 33:57
- Updates on the brand we’re going to acquire - 37:53
- Adopting the right mindset for expectations in 2021 - 41:14
I’d like to thank Steve for being with me on this episode. If you want to know more about him and his business, visit the official site of Bumblebee Linens and take a look at his awesome handkerchieves and other products.
Here’s the link for eCommerceFuel Capital if you want to check out their services: https://www.ecommercefuel.com/capital/
Please don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you liked this episode and consider subscribing to get notified whenever we release a new one.
Here’s to a better year!
Happy selling!
Welcome to Episode 354 of the EcomCrew podcast! It seems like it wasn’t too long ago when we started recording the first one, but here we are, closing 2020 out with the 354th episode. Throughout the year, we’ve talked to lots of interesting people in the industry and learned a bunch of new stuff both …
The post E354: EcomCrew’s Top 10 Podcast Episodes of 2020 first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to Episode 354 of the EcomCrew podcast!
It seems like it wasn’t too long ago when we started recording the first one, but here we are, closing 2020 out with the 354th episode.
Throughout the year, we’ve talked to lots of interesting people in the industry and learned a bunch of new stuff both from their expertise and their mistakes.
To cap it all off, we’ve thrown together a list of the best episodes of 2020. It includes 7 of our most downloaded episodes plus a few other favorites handpicked by our staff.
What did you think about E350 and Greg Elfrink’s story of the Uber for grilled cheese sandwiches? Did the tidbits we found out in the Amazon vs. Congress Hearing in E299 raise your eyebrows? How about that crazy ‘package stabber’ story from our good friend Merideth in E339?
Timestamps
- How we made our picks - 3:20
- Top10: E301: Why Perseverance is so Important in Ecommerce with Dave Alexander - 3:54
- Top 9. E315: Getting Your First Product into People's Hands - 5:16
- Top 8. E298: Running an Ecommerce Business Out of Chiang Mai, Thailand - 6:15
- Top 7. E307: Breaking the Patterns in Copywriting with Lianna Patch - 7:52
- Top 6. E316: The State of the Amazon Seller with Joe from JungleScout - 9:20
- Top 5. E299: Top 10 Things We Learned in the Amazon vs. Congress Hearing - 10:39
- Top 4. E350: 7 Highly Interesting Businesses and What You Can Learn From Them with Greg Elfrink - 13:09
- Top 3. E339: Crazy Customer Tales with Meredith Erin - 14:39
- Top 2. Bonus Ep: The Struggles of an Ecommerce Seller in China Right Now - 16:45
- Top 1. E303: A Pen, a Paper and a Dream with Roye Okupe - 19:09
- How 2020 has been for us - 20:50
We’re throwing together a list of the best Amazon seller software of 2020. Simply tell us which apps you find most helpful and get a chance to win an annual Premium membership worth $1999 absolutely free. For Premium members, we’ll be extending your membership for a full year if you win.
All you need to do is answer four short questions.
Did your favorite episode make it on our list? Let us know and don’t forget to leave a review over on iTunes.
Happy holidays and, as always, happy selling!
Being among the 100 fastest-growing private companies of 2020 in America is no small feat, but behind the scenes, things aren’t as pretty as they seem. In this catch-up episode, Victor Delacruz of Christian Planner is back to share his experiences after our hour-long Under the Hood episode a couple of years ago. We chat about his …
The post E353: Dealing with Debt When You Don’t Want To first appeared on EcomCrew.
Being among the 100 fastest-growing private companies of 2020 in America is no small feat, but behind the scenes, things aren’t as pretty as they seem.
In this catch-up episode, Victor Delacruz of Christian Planner is back to share his experiences after our hour-long Under the Hood episode a couple of years ago.
We chat about his company’s immense growth in revenue, losing a key business partner, and how he is facing financial challenges that could be fatal to his business.
I dissect Christian Planner’s current situation and discuss Victor’s best options moving forward. Does he need to get his expenses under control to pay off debt? Or is he better off selling the business altogether?
Timestamps
- Catching up with Victor and Christian Planner - 3:13
- Falling flat and losing C-level executives - 5:10
- Victor’s struggle of not being a business person - 6:42
- Analyzing Victor’s current debt situation - 8:59
- Why understanding key numbers in business is an essential skill set - 15:04
- Potential outcomes of staying on or moving on - 18:20
- Victor’s current gameplan - 22:54
- The importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses - 26:50
- Why Victor’s business is special - 29:45
- How to look at debt and manage burnout - 32:44
- What I would do if I were in Victor's shoes - 33:44
- How businesses are valued and my advice if he decides to sell - 40:06
If you want to know more about Victor and his company, check out Christian Planner’s cool designs on https://christianplanner.com/collections/all.
Do you have any favorite Amazon software or app? Let us know by answering just four questions.
And to thank you for your time, we'll pick one lucky winner randomly and reward him or her with a free annual subscription to EcomCrew Premium.
If you're already a member, we'll extend your membership for another year for free.
All you need to do is answer this poll.
Ever have to face a tough decision like Victor? Let us know in the comments section and share this episode with a friend.
Also, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes.
Happy selling!
Our EcomCrew family is growing year after year, and we’ve been welcoming new members since we first launched. However, despite the unique individuals who join the community, we’ve been noticing some questions that are constantly recurring be it in our exclusive Facebook group, in the emails, or during our monthly webinars. So Dave and I …
The post E352: The 5 Most Asked Questions by EcomCrew Premium Members, Answered first appeared on EcomCrew.
Our EcomCrew family is growing year after year, and we’ve been welcoming new members since we first launched. However, despite the unique individuals who join the community, we’ve been noticing some questions that are constantly recurring be it in our exclusive Facebook group, in the emails, or during our monthly webinars.
So Dave and I decided to pool together the top 5 questions that our Premium members are asking and answer them on this podcast. You might be having the same queries yourself, so this is a great episode for you to finally get the answers!
Timestamps:
- The silver lining of the pandemic for me - 4:50
- Question 1: Should your blog content be on a standalone domain or should you have it on your e-commerce website? - 9:25
- The advantages of having a standalone blog - 10:51
- Question 2: When should you group your products together? - 13:37
- How eliminating some of my products helped my conversion rates - 15:52
- The effect of launching a variation of a successful product - 20:20
- Question 3: When should you open a second Amazon account? - 21:40
- The advantages and disadvantages of making a separate Amazon account for different brands - 24:10
- Question 4: What type of URLs do you use when sending traffic to Amazon? - 29:48
- Question 5: When should you stop optimizing your Amazon listings and work on another product? - 36:20
- What I did when our competitors started copying our listings - 39:00
- Our plans for EcomCrew in 2021 - 42:20
Aside from these five questions, a lot more are being answered within our EcomCrew Premium community.
If you want to be a part of the team for free and join us on our exclusive webinars, you can tell us what your favorite Amazon software is so you can get the chance to win an EcomCrew annual subscription! If you’re already a member, we’ll extend your membership for another year.
All you need to do is answer four quick questions, and you can be the lucky winner.
We hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did, don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes. It helps this podcast a lot, and we’d really appreciate it if you do.
Until the next episode!
Happy selling!
We’ve talked about buying and selling e-commerce businesses before, but in this episode, we are joined by a respected lawyer in the field who will help us understand the technicalities of the legal side of the process. John Di Giacomo is a partner at Revision Legal and is also an adjunct professor of law at …
The post E351: 6 Legal Steps You Should Take to Prepare Your Business for Sale first appeared on EcomCrew.
We’ve talked about buying and selling e-commerce businesses before, but in this episode, we are joined by a respected lawyer in the field who will help us understand the technicalities of the legal side of the process.
John Di Giacomo is a partner at Revision Legal and is also an adjunct professor of law at Michigan University. He is an expert in intellectual property law, corporate law, internet law, and international law. His expertise and his 11-year experience in e-commerce make John highly sought after by entrepreneurs who are looking to buy or sell their online businesses.
In this episode, we delve into the nitty-gritty of the process so you can be guided.
Timestamps
- Introduction to John Di Giacomo - 3:03
- Why and when you should prepare your business for sale - 4:40
- Cleaning up your financial records - 5:35
- The importance of separating different lines of your business - 7:35
- The value of a valuation analysis - 9:00
- How tax prepping helped me sell ColorIt more smoothly - 14:54
- Cleaning up your cap tables - 16:08
- Supplier price readjustments during the turnover - 21:44
- Taking account of your business’ intellectual property rights - 26:55
- Disclosing your loans during negotiation - 29:23
- Identifying the terms for post-deal participation - 32:33
- How we’re doing with inbox zero - 40:18
I want to thank John for his time in recording this episode with me. If you want to reach out to him, you can visit their official website or email him at john@revisionlegal.com.
EcomCrew is also doing a survey about the Best Amazon Software of 2020. Help us out by answering just 4 questions at ecomcrew.com/vote.
As a thank you for doing so, we’ll give you a chance to win an annual subscription of EcomCrew Premium--a prize that’s valued at $1999! If you’re already a member, we’ll extend your membership for another year for free if you get chosen.
If you like this episode, please don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you haven’t already.
Until next time, happy selling!
As e-commerce sellers, we can become attached to our businesses, especially when we built them from the ground up. However, at some point in time, we have to let them go to move on to better projects or, as it was in my case, to let go of some of the stress that comes with …
The post E350: 7 Highly Interesting Businesses and What You Can Learn From Them with Greg Elfrink first appeared on EcomCrew.
As e-commerce sellers, we can become attached to our businesses, especially when we built them from the ground up. However, at some point in time, we have to let them go to move on to better projects or, as it was in my case, to let go of some of the stress that comes with running multiple businesses.
There are good reasons for selling your business, and our guest for this episode knows them all too well.
Greg Elfrink is the Director of Marketing of Empire Flippers, a company that specialises in buying and selling online businesses. In this episode, he shares seven of the most interesting businesses he had to deal with at Empire Flippers and the lessons he learned from each.
Timestamps:
- Catching up with Greg - 2:26
- Business #1 - 5:03
- How important are product niches? - 6:53
- Business #2 - 8:30
- Why I sold ColorIt and the factors I considered before doing so -10:06
- How to line up your personal and business goals - 13:00
- Is it okay to sell your e-commerce business? - 14:02
- Business #3 - 16:56
- How to be featured on review articles - 20:20
- The latest improvements on Tactical.com - 22:10
- Business #4 - 28:15
- The importance of simplifying your e-commerce business - 30:06
- Business #5 - 31:30
- How EcomCrew is designed for simplification - 35:12
- Business #6 - 37:34
- Business #7 - 39:18
- The future of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores - 43:00
- How to get a free valuation from Empire Flippers - 49:02
- Why you should try Empire Flippers’ services - 50:00
If you want to know how much your business is worth, you can visit empireflippers.com/valuation-tool. To contact Greg, you can reach him at greg@empireflippers.com.
If you want to get the chance to win a free annual EcomCrew Premium subscription valued at $2000, go and answer our Amazon software survey. There are just four questions, so it wouldn’t even take much of your time.
If you loved this episode, please don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes.
Happy selling!
Amazon sellers use various software as tools to help grow their businesses and make the processes smoother. If you’ve ever wondered which ones are used by most sellers, you’re not alone. To settle this matter, we’ve decided to conduct a survey that will give us a list of the most popular Amazon seller software. We’ve …
The post E349: What’s the Best Amazon Seller Software in 2020? first appeared on EcomCrew.
Amazon sellers use various software as tools to help grow their businesses and make the processes smoother. If you’ve ever wondered which ones are used by most sellers, you’re not alone.
To settle this matter, we’ve decided to conduct a survey that will give us a list of the most popular Amazon seller software. We’ve created a total of four categories, which we discuss in detail in this episode.
The good news is that you can take part in this survey, and after answering just four questions, you can get a chance to win a full year of EcomCrew Premium subscription! That’s a prize valued at $2000 for a few minutes of your time. Plus, you’ll also get a swag pack from us if you win.
Just head on over to ecomcrew.com/vote, and don’t miss your chance to enjoy EcomCrew Premium for free!
Timestamps
- Updates on my e-commerce websites - 3:20
- My 2020 Black Friday sales compared to last year - 5:00
- The difficulties in comparing year-over-year Black Friday sales - 5:50
- What you need to do if you want to sell your business in the future - 10:05
- 1st Category: Product Launches and Giveaways Software - 12:30
- 2nd Category: Keyword and Product Research Software - 16:17
- 3rd Category: PPC Management Software - 22:00
- 4th Category: Reimbursement Services - 36:03
For more details about the survey and the software tools we feature, head on over to the EcomCrew blog page and read Dave's article.
If you want to get to know more about Jungle Scout, one of the software featured in our poll, listen to the podcast episode I had with its CEO, Greg Mercer. You can also watch the video of the interview on Youtube.
If you like this episode, please don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps our channel a lot and also allows us to reach more e-commerce sellers who can benefit from our content.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Welcome to Episode 348 of the EcomCrew Podcast! It’s Dave here! I’m taking over the podcast recording today to share with you some advertising methods you can use after the busy season is over. I know you’re still tired with all the preparations for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and it’s not the best time …
The post E348: 4 Amazon Advertising Methods and How Much You Should Spend on Them first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to Episode 348 of the EcomCrew Podcast! It’s Dave here! I’m taking over the podcast recording today to share with you some advertising methods you can use after the busy season is over.
I know you’re still tired with all the preparations for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and it’s not the best time to experiment with your ad campaigns. But after the dust has settled, you might want to try out these methods to see how they work for you.
Over the years, we’ve seen improvements in Amazon ads, but they are getting more complex and more expensive. So aside from knowing which method to use, you should also know how much you should be spending on them.
Timestamps:
- Amazon changes that affect advertising costs and methods - 2:20
- Pages that Amazon advertises on - 3:50
- The new default metric on Amazon ads - 5:05
- Method #1: Sponsored Brands Videos
- The need to invest in high-quality video ads - 9:40
- How much to spend on Sponsored Brands Videos - 10:15
- Method #2: Sponsored Display ads (Product Targeting) - 11:43
- Method #3: Sponsored Display ads (Views Remarketing) - 14:55
- The problems with Views Remarketing - 16:34
- How much you should spend on Views Remarketing - 19:20
- Method #4: Ads on NARF listings - 20:43
If you want to know more about these methods, check out the article I wrote. It goes into much more detail about each ad option.
If you have any ecommerce-related questions you’re dying to ask us, you can do so live on December 1 at 10 AM (PST). This webinar is usually for Premium members only, but we’re offering it to you for free as we reopen EcomCrew Premium one last time in 2020.
Also, please take time to leave us a review over on iTunes if you like this episode or the podcast in general.
Happy selling!
Cory Stout is perhaps the most frequent guest of the EcomCrew podcast. He did a Roadshow with us as well as a two-part Under the Hood segment. In this episode, I talk to him again to see how his business is doing and how my advice to him almost three years ago worked out. We …
The post E347: Under the Hood Catch-Up with Cory Stout of Woodies first appeared on EcomCrew.
Cory Stout is perhaps the most frequent guest of the EcomCrew podcast. He did a Roadshow with us as well as a two-part Under the Hood segment.
In this episode, I talk to him again to see how his business is doing and how my advice to him almost three years ago worked out. We also talk about the future of ecommerce, his plans for the next year, and other random stuff about being an entrepreneur in this day and age.
Timestamps:
- How being consistent helped in growing my sites - 3:42
- How Cory implemented my email marketing advice in his business - 7:35
- Living in a world of infinite leverage - 9:40
- Assessing Cory’s plan to make an eCEO - 12:20
- What decisions are worth making and which ones should be delegated - 16:48
- The effects of raising your products’ prices - 24:44
- Living in the present vs. living online - 29:20
- The philosophy that best defines me - 32:36
- The future of ecommerce - 36:15
- Will Amazon still be the ecommerce leader in 3 to 5 years? - 40:22
- Cory’s plans for 2021 - 45:58
If you want to know more about Cory’s business, you can check out his awesome sunglasses over at woodies.com.
If you want to be a guest at the podcast, you can sign up now to get an hour of free coaching. This is also an opportunity for you to create more awareness about your brand while we get awesome content for the podcast. It’s a win-win!
And if you’re getting value out of the business advice we give to guests on the show, you’ll love our upcoming webinar.
Get the chance to ask us anything on December 1 during our Q&A webinar. This is a feature that we give exclusively to EcomCrew Premium members, but we’re letting you experience it for free.
All you have to do is sign up and show up on December 1 at 10 AM (PST).
I hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you did, please leave us a review over on iTunes.
Happy selling!
Many people who have not been in the ecommerce business themselves have these expectations about the industry that are almost instantly shattered once they try it out themselves. One of the biggest myths in running an ecommerce business is that it’s an easy thing to do because you have the potential to earn while you …
The post E346: How to Overcome the Challenges of Running and Growing an Ecommerce Business first appeared on EcomCrew.
Many people who have not been in the ecommerce business themselves have these expectations about the industry that are almost instantly shattered once they try it out themselves. One of the biggest myths in running an ecommerce business is that it’s an easy thing to do because you have the potential to earn while you sleep.
What they don’t know is that unless you learn to manage your processes and to let go some of the responsibilities to concentrate on what matters most, you might not even get enough sleep in the first place.
In this episode, we acknowledge these expectations and show you what you can do to run and grow your business without losing your sanity. There’s a lot to learn from this episode especially because our guest, Melissa Eisler, is an expert in managing ecommerce businesses.
Melissa is an executive coach and has helped many entrepreneurs figure out how to run their businesses smoothly while still being able to have time to actually enjoy life. She has also helped us with our Masterminds before, and I’m very happy that she’s finally joining us in the podcast.
Timestamps:
- The overwhelming feeling that comes with expanding your business - 4:14
- How Melissa manages her responsibilities - 5:10
- Melissa’s trick to determining which things to focus on - 6:24
- The cons of having freedom with your time - 7:34
- Some principles to consider to not be busy all the time - 8:53
- The one thing that keeps entrepreneurs from improving - 11:30
- How to transition from solopreneurship to hiring employees - 14:28
- The advantages of hiring employees with complementary skills - 17:28
- Mike’s advice on letting go of responsibilities and assigning them to specialists - 19:10
- How to tame your controller tendencies - 21:05
- Getting a business partner vs. hiring employees - 24:30
- Self-awareness and the importance of actively discovering your flaws as a leader - 29:54
- The harsh realities about running an ecommerce business - 33:02
- Investing in good employees - 36:18
- Creating a space for conscious choices - 40:03
If you want to learn more about Melissa or avail of her services, you can visit her website to contact her.
She also runs our Masterminds, and if you want to learn more about that, reach out to us through the special email address we sent you if you’re an EcomCrew Premium member. If not, you can sign up to be one to get access to these Masterminds, our Secret Sauce webinars, Premium courses, and other Premium-members-only features through our paid subscription. With our Black Friday deal coming up, now is really the best time to sign up!
Meanwhile, you can join us on our upcoming Public Q&A Webinar on December 1 at 10 AM (PST). You can ask us any questions related to ecommerce, importing, hiring, and any other areas you’re having trouble with.
Finally, if you like this episode, please leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps us reach more people, and you’ll be accumulating good karma for doing so.
Until the next one, happy selling!
Welcome to the EcomCrew Podcast, and we have a special episode for you today! Brad Bernhart, our first Under the Hood guest, is back to give us updates on how his business is doing. We get to revisit my advice to him, whether or not he was able to implement them, and how it turned …
The post E345: Three Years Later: Under the Hood Updates with Brad Bernhart first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to the EcomCrew Podcast, and we have a special episode for you today!
Brad Bernhart, our first Under the Hood guest, is back to give us updates on how his business is doing. We get to revisit my advice to him, whether or not he was able to implement them, and how it turned out.
We started this segment in January 2018, hoping to help out our fellow entrepreneurs improve their businesses while also getting great content for the podcast. Almost three years later, we’re still doing it, and we want to know how my advice actually influenced their growth.
Timestamps:
- Recap of Brad’s first Under the Hood guesting - 3:54
- The Jackness Five - 4:54
- How Brad implemented my advice - 7:03
- Brad’s business growth update - 15:28
- The two main things that increased Brad’s revenue - 16:00
- The future of ecommerce - 19:15
- How Brad can get into corporate gifting - 21:23
- My honest take on Brad’s corporate gifting page - 28:20
- Good keywords for Earlywood Designs - 30:44
- How Brad can improve his site’s SEO - 33:12
- Writing content yourself vs. hiring someone else - 42:00
- How long blogging will pay off - 43:18
Brad’s company is selling handmade wooden utensils, which I personally think are works of art. You can visit Earlywood’s official website to find out more.
In case you missed it or want to give it a revisit, listen to Brad’s two-part Under the Hood guesting on Episode 110 and Episode 112 of the podcast.
If you’d like to be featured in our Under the Hood segment and get an hour of free coaching, you can sign up now and we will contact you in case you’re chosen.
You can also join us on December 1 at 10 AM (PST) for a free public Q&A webinar, which is perfect for your Q1 planning for 2021. You can ask us anything business-related, and Dave and I will try our best to help you out.
If you like this episode, please leave us a review over on iTunes.
Until the next episode! Happy selling!
Welcome to Episode 344 of the EcomCrew podcast! Dave and I are back with our usual banters and some sweet tactics for you to try out to improve your revenue on Amazon. One of the wisest things you can do as an entrepreneur is to take note of the things that worked for other sellers …
The post E344: 7 Advanced Hacks for New and Experienced Amazon Sellers first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to Episode 344 of the EcomCrew podcast! Dave and I are back with our usual banters and some sweet tactics for you to try out to improve your revenue on Amazon.
One of the wisest things you can do as an entrepreneur is to take note of the things that worked for other sellers and try implementing them into your own business.
In this episode, Dave and I talk about 7 Amazon hacks we’ve used for our own listings, how they work, and how they can benefit you.
Timestamps:
- Hack #1: Strive to get an Amazon badge - 5:40
- Hack #2: Use Brand Analytics to Your Advantage - 8:50
- Hack #3: Add questions to your listings - 12:58
- Hack #4: Be vigilant about your products’ measurements - 15:38
- Hack #5: Use a refunds manager - 18:40
- Hack #6: Use an IP accelerator - 21:30
- Hack #7: Add foreign keywords in your back end - 24:27
If you want more advanced Amazon hacks, you can read the blog post written by our content writer Christine. It contains detailed steps to how you can improve traffic to your listing, save on fees, and more.
And to ensure your success in Amazon, you can get our book, Amazon Domination, for free! Dave and I wrote this book to help our fellow entrepreneurs navigate Amazon better and to help them avoid the common pitfalls third-party sellers make.
All you’re going to pay for is the shipping fee, and we’ll send you a free copy of the book.
What did you think of this episode? Do you want us to continue our friendly banters? Leave a comment below or write a short review over on iTunes.
Until next time, happy selling!
While COVID-19 has caused some serious drawbacks to a lot of businesses all around the world, there are some lucky business owners out there who, instead of experiencing loss, have seen their revenues rise instead. Chris Cage’s company, Greenbelly, is one such business. It seems like so long ago when Chris and I saw each …
The post E343: The Other Side of the Coin: How the Pandemic Helped Some Ecommerce Businesses Grow first appeared on EcomCrew.
While COVID-19 has caused some serious drawbacks to a lot of businesses all around the world, there are some lucky business owners out there who, instead of experiencing loss, have seen their revenues rise instead.
Chris Cage’s company, Greenbelly, is one such business.
It seems like so long ago when Chris and I saw each other, and with all the things going on, I felt like we needed to catch up to see how his business is affected by the pandemic.
In this episode, we’ll take a look at how COVID affected the behavior of Chris’ target market and how it helped increase his sales.
Timestamps:
- What happened to Mike’s and Chris’ businesses at the start of the pandemic - 2:35
- How the pandemic affected Greenbelly - 8:12
- How Chris made sure that Greenbelly had enough inventory - 17:04
- Other mediums Chris had been working on to improve his business - 18:05
- Chris’ content marketing secrets - 24:17
- How Chris manages his company’s Youtube channel - 29:10
- Mike’s plans for the EcomCrew Youtube channel - 31:50
- The challenges and advantages of podcasting - 35:00
- How Mike grew the EcomCrew podcast - 38:00
- Chris’ plans for Greenbelly - 40:50
If you want to know more about Greenbelly, you can visit their official website or listen to Episode 298, where Chris and I talked about how he started his business.
If you want to increase your revenue just like Chris did, join us on November 12 at 10 AM (PST) so we can show you how we improved our products to make them stand out from the rest. The days of simply ordering products from Alibaba and stamping them with your label just doesn’t cut it anymore. Give more umph to what you sell so you can do the same to your revenue.
If you like our free content, you’ll love our paid subscription! We will be opening EcomCrew Premium for the last time on Black Friday, and if you’re still unsure about whether to join, now is the time to toss the doubts away because this time, we will be giving the biggest discount ever!
Sign up for the waitlist so you don’t miss this opportunity because when we reopen next year, we’ll revert to our regular prices.
And whether or not you grab this chance to sign up for Premium, we still appreciate your support for EcomCrew. Please leave us a review over on iTunes if you haven’t already. It helps us reach more people who can benefit from our content.
Until the next episode, happy selling!
Welcome to Episode 342 of the EcomCrew podcast! Dave and I sit down to reminisce about our biggest business mistakes and what we did to remedy them. This episode is not exactly fun for us, but we did learn our lessons from the mistakes that we made, and we hope you will too. Timestamps: Why …
The post E342: Mike and Dave’s Biggest Business Mistakes first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to Episode 342 of the EcomCrew podcast! Dave and I sit down to reminisce about our biggest business mistakes and what we did to remedy them.
This episode is not exactly fun for us, but we did learn our lessons from the mistakes that we made, and we hope you will too.
Timestamps:
- Why we’re doing this podcast - 3:40
- Mistake #1: My hiring dilemma - 4:09
- Mistake #2: Dave hires too quickly - 7:55
- Mistake #3: Translating my site into multiple languages - 9:12
- Mistake #4: My attempt at creating a Grammarly-like website - 14:30
- Mistake #5: Dave’s auxiliary sites -15:40
- Mistake #6: Dave losing money through Vendor Central - 24:04
- Mistake #7: Marrying a business idea that you shouldn’t be involved in - 27:10
- Mistake #8: My biggest and most painful business mistake - 35:40
This episode may have reminded us of our biggest blunders in ecommerce, but it also showed us how much we’ve improved through the years.
How about you? Do you have any business mistakes you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you. Head on over to ecomcrew.com/mistakes, share your story, and get a chance to win an annual subscription to EcomCrew Premium! This subscription is valued at $1,500, so you don’t miss your chance! If you’re already a Premium member, we’ll extend your subscription for another year for free.
You can even indicate in the form that you would want to be anonymous. EcomCrew podcast listeners can still learn from your mistakes without us disclosing your identity.
If you want to learn how to make small improvements to your products to increase your revenue, join us on November 12 at 10 AM (PST) for a free public webinar on product differentiation.
Gone are the days when it’s enough to pick something from Alibaba and sell it on Amazon. If you want to stand out from the rest of your competitors, you need to do something they aren’t and for your product to have something theirs don’t.
And for those of you who are still on the fence about subscribing to EcomCrew Premium, we’ll make that choice easier for you. You can sign up for the waitlist now and enrol in Premium for a very special price.
This is the last time this year that we are opening enrolment, so you better reserve your spot. We have great Black Friday deals for you that we haven’t offered before.
If you enjoyed this episode, head on over to iTunes and leave us a review. We’d appreciate it very much.
Until the next one,
Happy selling!
With the holidays just around the corner, Dave and I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about seasonal products, their pros and cons, and the best ways to optimize them for maximum profit. But we aren’t just talking about Christmas lights and “4th of July” merch. We acknowledge that there’s a seasonality …
The post E341: The Pros and Cons of Selling Seasonal Products Online first appeared on EcomCrew.
With the holidays just around the corner, Dave and I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about seasonal products, their pros and cons, and the best ways to optimize them for maximum profit.
But we aren’t just talking about Christmas lights and “4th of July” merch. We acknowledge that there’s a seasonality factor to every product, and we discuss this using our own brands as examples.
Timestamps:
- The top Amazon keywords right now - 3:57
- Different types of seasonal products - 5:48
- The seasonality of Dave’s products - 6:69
- The cons of normalizing your products’ seasonality - 10:38
- Balancing the pros and cons of over-ordering products during peak selling seasons - 13:30
- The gamble of selling in-season products all year long - 19:14
- The seasonality of off-roading gear - 23:15
- Some stats for Wild Baby - 26:18
- Do we recommend selling seasonal products for new sellers? - 30:30
- The best time to launch a seasonal product - 32:35
Speaking of products, if you want yours to stand out, we have some tricks up our sleeves that have helped our listings rank higher and our revenue grow. The great thing about it is that you don’t need to make any overwhelming changes.
If you want to know more, join us on November 12 at 10 AM (PST). This is a free public webinar, and we’re more than happy to answer your questions.
If you like this episode, please leave us a review over at iTunes.
Happy selling!
Email marketing is still important, but that alone is no longer enough these days. Ecommerce business owners need to look into all the possible communication channels that may be used to improve customer relations. In this episode, our guest is the co-founder and CEO of Omnisend, Rytis Lauris. He talks about omnichannel marketing and how …
The post E340: Omnichannel Marketing and Why Ecommerce Businesses Need It first appeared on EcomCrew.
Email marketing is still important, but that alone is no longer enough these days. Ecommerce business owners need to look into all the possible communication channels that may be used to improve customer relations.
In this episode, our guest is the co-founder and CEO of Omnisend, Rytis Lauris. He talks about omnichannel marketing and how businesses can make the most out of various channels of communication by integrating them into a single system where data can be collected from all of them.
Timestamps:
- How Omnisend came to be - 5:14
- Advantages of having multiple communication channels - 8:00
- How Omnisend gets permission to contact potential customers - 9:53
- Different channels Omnisend uses to reach customers - 11:48
- The highest converting channel right now - 14:18
- Omnichannel marketing and how it drives more revenue - 18:07
- The amount of effort that is worth the reward - 20:55
- The beauty of marketing automation - 25:48
Check out Omnisend and its useful services! And because you’re an EcomCrew podcast listener, you can get 30% off your first three months. Just use the discount code ecomcrew3x30 to start enjoying their tools.
You can also reach out to our guest at rytis@omnisend.com.
Aside from marketing automation, another thing you can do to increase your revenue is to actually improve your products. Marketing is one thing, but having superior products ensures that your brand maintains loyal customers.
Over the years, we’ve done a lot of improvements on our products and are continuing to do so. If you want to know how we did it, join us on November 12 at 10 AM (PST) for a free webinar about product differentiation and how to do it properly.
Until then, happy selling!
Welcome to Episode 339 of the EcomCrew podcast! In this episode, we decided to have a little fun by talking about the funny (albeit stressful) customer experiences we had while running our ecommerce business. Joining me in the podcast is Meredith Erin, co-founder of Boredwalk, a company that sells creative apparel. Meredith started the business …
The post E339: Crazy Customer Tales with Meredith Erin first appeared on EcomCrew.
Welcome to Episode 339 of the EcomCrew podcast! In this episode, we decided to have a little fun by talking about the funny (albeit stressful) customer experiences we had while running our ecommerce business.
Joining me in the podcast is Meredith Erin, co-founder of Boredwalk, a company that sells creative apparel. Meredith started the business in 2014 right in their garage together with her now-husband Matt.
In this episode, you get to hear about some of the things we had to go through in order to keep our customers happy. We laugh about it now, but surely, it caused us some serious problems when we were dealing with them.
Timestamps:
- The Package Stabber - 5:05
- The customer who ordered a shirt in the wrong size - 7:40
- Mr. Impatient - 9:26
- Customers who get mad because the package shipped too fast - 9:59
- Small mailboxes, big packages - 11:28
- The time Mike had to call authorities on a customer - 12:00
- How reasonable are customers in general? - 15:05
- Advantages of having customer representatives - 18:02
- Meredith’s bingo card - 21:50
- Customers who can’t tell the difference between navy and black - 22:35
- The effects of politics on a business - 24:10
- Dealing with being open about mental health in product designs - 26:33
- How Meredith dealt with people who hate their designs - 28:50
- What it takes to be an artist an and entrepreneur - 29:46
- The value of hard work in business - 31:11
- The 4-hour workweek myth - 32:36
If you want to spice up your wardrobe, check out Meredith’s company, Boredwalk, and discover your next statement shirt!
This November 11 at 10 AM (PST), we will be talking about product differentiation and how you can improve your products to make it stand out from those of your competitors.
Product differentiation is one of our most favorite topics at EcomCrew because it truly makes a difference in terms of revenue as well as the overall customer satisfaction.
This webinar is completely free, so sign up now to reserve your seat.
For those of you who haven’t tried EcomCrew Premium yet, now is the perfect time to do so. We will be relaunching on Black Friday, and this will be the last time we’re going to do so in 2020.
We have some sweet deals for you, so don’t miss it! Sign up for the waiting list today.
Welcome to Episode 338 of the EcomCrew podcast! Today, Dave and I are doing something new. We’re not just gonna be talking about ecommerce. We’re also gonna dive into the business books that shaped us into the people we are today.
These books were highly influential especially as to how we handle our teams and operate our businesses in general. We talk about some highlights of the books and how we implemented what we learned into running our brands.
Timestamps:
- Mike’s new reading routine - 3:15
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - 7:00
- Book No. 1:The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey - 10:03
- Highlights of Book 1 - 12:04
- Book No. 2: The One Thing by Gary Keller - 14:14
- How Dave implemented the ideas from Book No. 2 for EcomCrew - 17:15
- Bonus Book: Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson - 19:00
- Book No. 3:The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell - 20:10
- Mike’s experience with employment - 22:47
- The fear of losing one’s job - 24:48
- Book No. 4: No Man’s Land by Doug Tatum - 26:24
- Big vs. small companies - 28:40
- Book No. 5: Traction by Gino Wickman - 35:28
- Book No. 6: Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger - 39:34
- Bonus Book: Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
- Dave’s most overrated book: Traction - 39:38
- Mike’s defense for Traction - 41:30
- Mike’s most overrated book: The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris - 45:14
If you loved this episode, listen to E175 of the podcast to get to know more about Mike and how he started his ecommerce journey.
For those of you who are still on the fence about availing of our paid services, now’s the time to take the leap!
EcomCrew Premium is reopening on Black Friday, and we have a very special promotion for you! This will be the last time in 2020 that Premium will reopen, and because of the spirit of the holiday, we’re giving a special offer to those who will sign up.
Be a Crewmate today!
Speaking of special offers, our friends over at Captain AMZ has one for EcomCrew podcast listeners.
If you’re an Amazon seller, you know how important good reviews are for your business. Captain AMZ can help you automatically request reviews and feedback and track all of them in one place.
Just head on over to captainamz.com and use the code ecomcrew10 or go to ecomcrew.com/captamz to get 10% off from their services.
If you liked this episode, show us your love by leaving us a review over on iTunes.
Until the next one.
Happy selling!
Welcome to Episode 337! Today, I’m joined by returning guest and fellow friend in the industry who recently became a dad, Jeff Oxford!
Jeff is the founder of 180 Marketing, a site dedicated to helping ecommerce brands with their SEO needs and challenges. Jeff’s an expert in ecommerce SEO, and we can’t think of anyone else better suited to tell us about link building than him.
In this episode, we talk about how important link building is when it comes to increasing your site’s authority and how to avoid penalties from Google by sticking to the white hat tactics.
Specifically, we talk about the following:
- How backlinks affect your site’s ranking - 4:00
- What backlinks are - 5:00
- Some statistics for Mike’s sites - 6:40
- Sites that tell you how authoritative your website is - 7:20
- The wrong ways to get backlinks - 7:50
- The disadvantages of using black hat tactics to get backlinks - 9:40
- Private Blog Networks and why you shouldn’t use them - 10:40
- Strategy #1: The Power of Content Marketing - 14:39
- Strategy #2: Collaborative Posts
- Strategy #3: Building Links through Books
- Strategy #4: The Hidden Value of Resource Pages - 25:55
- Creating a recycling page about your products - 27:48
- Strategy #5: The HARO Method — 28:57
- Strategy #6: Product Reviews - 31:40
- Strategy #7: Awarding Scholarships — 33:30
- Strategy #8: Being a Podcast Guest - 36:35
- Strategy #9: Guest Posting - 38:38
- When guest posting is not a good idea - 39:15
- Sites for prospecting - 42:10
- What 180 Marketing does - 46:45
Want to hear more from Jeff? You can listen to our first episode with Jeff, where he does an SEO teardown for one of our sites. If you’re interested in getting an SEO teardown for your own website, or just working with Jeff in general, you can reach him at jeff@180marketing.com.
Link building is such an important aspect of improving your Google ranking, which is why our next Secret Sauce episode will be about it. To join, become a Premium member so you can get to ask Jeff your questions and to get access to the replays of all our past Secret Sauce episodes.
Not ready to be a member yet?
Join us on October 14 at 10 AM (PST) for a FREE Public Q&A webinar. We’ll be sharing some general tips and strategies from one of the things we know best: Importing from China.
We’ve been doing in the import game for several years now, and we’ve built up a lot of nifty tips for you. From finding the right suppliers and maintaining a good relationship with them, to making sure your products are up to spec even when you’re not physically in China.
We hope to see you there, and if you like this episode, please leave us a review over on iTunes.
Happy selling!
Welcome to E336 of the EcomCrew podcast! After a long time, Dave and I are finally doing a podcast together, and we’re talking about something juicy.
Some big players in Amazon recently had charges filed against them, which exposed some of the illegal practices sellers do to get their listings to rank higher. In a saturated market such as Amazon, some people are bound to resort to black hat tactics.
If there’s any lesson from this indictment, it’s that illegal acts will eventually get exposed, so it’s best to stick to white hat tactics to save you the trouble.
We’re not lawyers and we won’t even attempt to give any legal opinions about this. We’re looking at this news from an Amazon seller’s point of view. In this episode, you’re going to hear us express our frustrations and concerns regarding these practices because any Amazon seller knows that these have been around for quite some time.
Specifically, we talk about
- What sellers should be concerned about regarding the indictment - 4:08
- How they got Amazon accounts suspended - 5:48
- Breakdown of the indictment - 7:28
- Techniques they use to unsuspend their accounts - 8:08
- Using firms to help Amazon sellers get their accounts unsuspended - 11:15
- Suspension problems of some of our EcomCrew Premium members - 13:20
- Ramifications of having your account suspended - 17:30
- Competitor sabotage and how they managed to do it for years - 20:42
- How they hacked pages of competitors to get ahead - 22:18
- Mike’s concern regarding the morality of these practices 23:30
- The difficulty of pressing charges against international sabotagers - 26:24
- Why more people from third-world countries take the risk in these illegal acts - 27:43
- Deleting tracking information to reflect that the inventory was lost - 31:00
- Bribing employees to increase their storage limits - 31:57
- Making a plan of action that is not intended to be followed through to get an account unsuspended - 34:00
- Getting another seller’s supplier invoice and selling it to competitors - 36:58
- Should sellers be worried? - 40:24
- The difficulty of choosing only white hat tactics - 43:25
For more information regarding this topic, check out the article Dave wrote about the indictment.
We’d also love for you to join us on our free webinar on October 14, 2020, at 10 AM (PST). We’re going to be talking about how we successfully imported high-quality products from China and we’re going to share our secrets when it comes to negotiating with suppliers and making sure that our products meet our specifications and quality standards.
If you liked this episode, please leave us a review over on iTunes.
Welcome to E335 of the EcomCrew podcast! This is a special episode because it’s the first time that we have a returning guest from our Under the Hood segment.
We started doing Under the Hood back in 2018 to give free hour-long advice to other ecommerce sellers and feature them on our podcast. This year, we’re touching base with our past guests to see how they’re doing and how our advice impacted their business.
When our guest, Richard Phillips, was here 2 years ago, he had recently made the transition from affiliate marketing to actually selling physical products. If you missed that, check out E155.
In this episode, Richard and I talk about
- Richard’s ecommerce journey - 2:28
- Not being discouraged about business mistakes and failures - 6:28
- Why Richard went into the glassware industry - 7:40
- The importance of packaging for giftable items - 10:05
- Is Amazon the right place for Richard’s products? - 15:15
- Buyer behavior during holidays - 15:45
- Using Amazon customization to make products more special - 18:15
- Who should be using Facebook ads - 24:00
- Using Google AdWords - 30:40
- Using influencer marketing to promote your products - 34:15
- Influencer tiers and what factors to consider- 35:24
- How many products you should give away to influencers - 37:54
- The advantage of having a catalogue of products - 40:35
- Increase in traffic at tactical.com - 44:15
- How Mike’s writers make good content - 48:55
If you would like to get more reviews for your Amazon listing, we have a great deal for you! We are partnering with Captain AMZ to give EcomCrew podcast listeners 10% off on their paid plans. We know how useful they are to sellers because we use them personally.
Want to be a guest in our Under the Hood episodes? Sign up now and get the chance to be featured on our podcast and get an hour of coaching.
If you liked this episode, please leave us a review over at iTunes.
Hello and welcome to E334 of the EcomCrew podcast!
Today, I am joined by Judson Morgan, who is an actor, entrepreneur, and more importantly, the founder of Butter, a video ad agency that helps ecommerce businesses tell their brand and product stories through high-quality videos.
In this episode, Judson and I talk about
- What a video is worth - 4:18
- How other platforms adapted to the rise of video marketing - 5:50
- How Judson started with Butter - 7:15
- The challenges of making video content - 9:43
- How much videos increase conversion rate - 11:37
- How to make good video content with little budget - 13:33
- The importance of brand storytelling - 18:00
- Butter’s case studies - 20:34
- Versatility of videos - 23:24
- Using keyword strategy along with video content - 25:33
- Mike’s strategy when using video content - 28:27
- Where you can find Judson - 30:34
- Mike spending time with his employees in the Philippines - 32:00
You can find Judson and check out his company’s work over at butter.la.
And if you haven’t signed up yet, we are closing our EcomCrew Premium registration tonight at 11:59 p.m. and wouldn’t be opening again until next quarter.
Sign up now to get one-on-one support from Dave and I as well as access to our exclusive Facebook group, monthly webinars, and Premium courses.
Finally, if you like this episode, please leave us a review over at iTunes.
Until the next episode! Happy selling!
When we first heard of the existence of COVID-19 earlier this year, most of us didn’t think that we would still need to be at home past the middle of 2020.
Aside from our ability to be outside and be with people, the pandemic has also impacted the economy significantly. Many businesses had to declare bankruptcy, and millions of people around the world were laid off.
In this episode, Mike sits down with Brian Miller, the CEO of Easy China Warehouse, to discuss the effects of COVID to ecommerce businesses and where he thinks ecommerce is headed post-pandemic.
Brian talks about:
- Where the virus started - 3:45
- How the US and China differed in how they handled the pandemic - 4:45
- How honest China is regarding the number of cases - 9:05
- Brian’s quarantine story - 12:49
- How factories in China are doing - 16:20
- Consumer sentiment and how it is affected by the pandemic - 17:35
- Mike’s advice for ecommerce business owners - 26:30
- The importance of taking into account the adjustment period for the economy - 28:25
- The ripple effect caused if small business owners do not make it - 32:10
- Services that Easy China Warehouse offers - 34:20
If you want to know more about Easy China Warehouse, visit their site or shoot Brian an email at brian@easychinawarehouse.com.
For those of you who aren’t members yet, we are opening EcomCrew Premium again! This will only be for a limited time, so sign up while you still can.
We also have a public webinar coming about increasing external traffic to your listing so you won’t have to spend too much on PPC ads. This will be held on Sept 17 at 10 AM (PST).
As always, we only have limited slots, so you better reserve yours now.
If you liked this episode, please leave a review over on iTunes.
Happy Selling!