The eCom Independent Podcast: Recent Episodes

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovich and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul are joined by Michael Loban, Chief Growth Officer at InfoTrust, to discuss the importance of data analytics. They talk about what InfoTrust does for its clients, investing in processes within your business, and how to begin integrating data analytics into your business.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Michael ended up in the analytics space.

• Utilizing information to make your end user and prospective user experience great.

• Why being #1 isn’t always where you want to be.

• Ensuring you have control over your advertising with investment.

• How to know what products you should be selling using analytics.

• What does InfoTrust do?

• Bringing more profitable customers to your website.

• Curating your audience through data analytics.

• Getting over the all or nothing approach to advertising.

• The importance in investing in processes in your business.

• When to switch from free Google Analytics to the paid platform.

• Avoiding data overwhelm.

• What qualities you need to pursue analytics as a career.

• Understanding user stories.

• How do you know what do with the data you have?

• Designing the experience for lifetime customer value.

• The first steps you need to take to implement data analytics.

Find out more about Michael and InfoTrust:

https://infotrust.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mloban

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Ivana and Raoul are talking about Google Marketing Live, Google I/O, and what the information presented at each event means for ecommerce. They get into advertising automation, how data driven attribution campaigns are going to be improving, and the integration of ShopPay to Google. This new integration is going to change the game.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Performance Max campaigns: what are they and what do they mean for Google ads and automation?

• The importance of being agile and adaptable to new technologies.

• What has facilitated the migration from Facebook ads to YouTube?

• How Google are helping to improve ads on YouTube.

• The dangers of too many touch points.

• Being aware of frequency capping and avoiding competing with yourself.

• What are data driven attribution campaigns?

• The updates to data driven attribution models at Google.

• How Google is going to show smart campaign options to users.

• Maximizing YouTube ad campaign impact.

• Getting over the need for instant gratification.

• The addition of navigational ads to Google Maps.

• Ivana’s favourite addition to ad extensions.

• The announcement of ShopPay integration to Google services.

• How Google is curating stores.

• Why you shouldn’t create your business based on someone else’s platform.

• Changes to brand match type for search campaigns.

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss the art of getting things done and creating a system for productivity. Topics include dealing with burnout and overwhelm, creating a time management system outside of your own brain, and making sure your to-do lists are realistic.

Topics covered in this episode:

-      Raoul’s breakthrough moment.

-      How Raoul began to utilize the skillsets outlined in ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen.

-      Avoiding distractions.

-      The importance of having an accountability system.

-      Analyzing what you need before you start.

-      Why your brain isn’t a time management tool and how to get around it.

-      Creating a system that is outside of your own brain that you can review everyday.

-      Overcoming your brains’ resistance to change.

-      How a coach can help you create change and avoid overwhelm.

-      Getting the tiny actions done that are needed to get big things moving.

-      Finding out what your priorities are.

-      Accounting for external factors.

-      Getting over rumination.

-      Why Ivana creates a thought dump list.

-      Why Raoul sets priorities instead of deadlines.

-      Creating realistic to-do lists.

-      Breaking tasks down into smaller parts.

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul are joined by guest Richard Schnitzel to discuss automation. Richard started out as an engineer and now runs Bow Tie Bots, a company aiding others to update their own operations to be automated. The three speak to why you should automate sooner rather than later, avoiding the most common mistakes people make when automating their business, and what ‘Authencious Automation’ is.

Topics covered in this episode:

• About Richard’s background in engineering and how it has led him to where he is now.

• How to prevent overthinking automation.

• The main reasons people put off automating their business.

• Knowing what your endpoints are before you start implementing automation.

• Creating clarity with funnel mapping.

• Making simple processes that your team can follow easily.

• How automation can actually help you scale.

• When is the right time to start implementing automation?

• Starting small and reviewing your automation frequently.

• Having good SOPs and workflow to create human integrated automation.

• What is the first thing you can automate that people often don’t know about.

• Making sure to know where the automation holes are in marketing campaigns.

• Automating for when things go wrong.

• What happens when unforeseen circumstances occur?

• Setting expectations.

• About ‘Authencious Automation.’

Find out more about Richard and Bow Tie Bots:

Website: http://www.bowtiebots.com/podcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardschnitzeljr

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This is a bonus episode in which we are welcoming Alan Chen from FreeCashFlow.io. Alan specializes in bookkeeping services for ecommerce businesses to discuss how you can turn your taxes into profits. Ivana, Raoul and Alan discuss knowing what deductions can save you money, making more usable money, and doing business in the states as a foreign business owner.

Topics covered in the episode:

• The benefits of hiring a professional to do your accounting and bookkeeping.

• Alan’s background in accounting and ecommerce.

• Understanding the difference between your income and your margins.

• Common mistakes ecom owners make relating to their accounts.

• Little known deductions you can take advantage of next time you file.

• What to do if you are outside of the states and want to establish in the US.

• Understanding different states regulations and sales taxes.

• How Alan and FreeCashFlow.io can help you establish an LLC in the states.

• Ivana’s story of setting up business in the US.

• How Alan has built up his business.

• Knowing if and when you should set up and LLC in the US.

• Alan’s views on the profit first strategy for ecom owners.

• What services Alan and FreeCashFlow.io offer.

• How you can easily bring down your expenses.

• Knowing your numbers to grow your business.

• What can happen if you don’t file your taxes.

Find out more about Alan and FreeCashFlow.io:

Website: https://www.freecashflow.io/

USE CODE IVANA15 FOR A 15% DISCOUNT ON ALAN’S COURSE

Learn to Increase Your After-Tax Profit & Keep More in Your Pocket: https://www.freecashflow.io/course/

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss remarketing, what it is and how you can do it well. We’ll hear about creating long-term strategies to retain clients instead of driving them away, understanding your audience, and why discounts aren’t always the answer.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How to avoid training people to wait for your discounts.

• The limiting belief that people won’t buy your product without lowering the price.

• Understanding that your business cannot grow if you offer continual discounts.

• Why the BOGO discount is the worst discount you can offer.

• Customer retention versus customer acquisition cost.

• Understanding the average customer buying cycle.

• Knowing your customer turning rate over time and how to use that data.

• Nurturing your community and building brand connection.

• How to use discounts effectively.

• Sales and attraction marketing.

• The danger of being viewed as a commodity.

• How to get your customer base involved with your product as a way of remarketing.

• What should the frequency cap be on your re-marketing impressions?

• Why you only need to be 1% smarter than your competition.

• Making user experience your number one priority.

• Humanizing products and brands to create connection.

• Why you don’t necessarily need multi-step marketing and over complicated ideas.

• Showing how your product enhances your customers life through marketing.

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Yaron Been joins as our guest in this episode. He is the owner of EcomXFactor, and will be discussing what it really means to be a successful entrepreneur.

Ivana, Raoul, and Yaron get into what it takes to become successful, creating success the ethical way, and finding a balance between work and maintaining an independent lifestyle.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Scaling a 7-figure business whilst being location independent.

• How Yaron came to ecommerce.

• Developing a business while still working a day job.

• Creating an honest ecommerce consultancy.

• When Yaron realized he could leave the 9-5 grind.

• Creating a collaborative business with your spouse.

• Why you should outsource sooner rather than later.

• Having a mindset of curiosity and learning.

• How to know who to hire.

• How Yaron and his wife manage customer support.

• Why Yaron looks at ethics over profits.

• Finding suppliers and creating a good relationship with them.

• The challenges of creating a business while working a 9-5.

• Knowing your why.

• Avoiding shiny object syndrome.

• Building an independent lifestyle.

• Picking payment gateways for your business.

• How Yaron helps beginners learnt he foundations of creating a business.

Find out more about Yaron and EcomXFactor here: https://ecomxf.com/

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We’re keeping on topic with Google today, as Ivana and Raoul discuss Google Shopping, Google Merchant Centre, and account suspensions.

We hear about common mistakes made with Google Merchant accounts, why accounts are getting suspended more, how to appeal account suspension, and creating a transparent and honest company profile.

Topics covered in this episode:

-      What Google Merchant Centre does.

-      The reason behind the current trend of increased account suspensions.

-      How the algorithm is advancing and getting better at detecting fraudulent activity.

-      The importance of understanding the strict guidelines of Google Merchant Centre.

-      How the algorithm determines if an account is fraudulent.

-      The most common reasons an account can be suspended.

-      The importance of regular error checking in your feed.

-      Having transparent company information to create trust with your client and Google.

-      Making your company information easily accessible.

-      Understanding that Google wants to make money and protect its users.

-      Ensuring you’re using the correct language for your targeted audience.

-      Why you should never hide your poor reviews.

-      Making sure all your policies are easily accessible.

-      How to correctly use a lead magnet.

-      What you need to do if you are selling health products.

-      Print-on-demand businesses and Google Merchant.

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Ivana and Raoul discuss what it means to be a Google Partner along with the ins and outs of what being a partner is in this episode.

They explore what Google expects of its partners, whether it’s even worth being a partner, and how the qualification criteria to become a certified Google Partner has changed.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Ivana’s experience of becoming a Google Partner.

• How Raoul became a Google Partner.

• Becoming certified as a qualified professional.

• The different tiers of the Google Partner program.

• What is the true value of Google certifications?

• The pitfalls of the certification process.

• What are the key changes in qualification criteria to become Google Partner?

• The impacts of criteria change on local businesses.

• How company spend is currently gauged and how it is changing.

• The problem with Google’s new recommendation threshold.

• Treading the line between what your clients want and what Google wants.

• Why getting rid of Google representatives that aide businesses is a detriment.

• What you need to consider before implementing changes.

• How Google is shifting away from working with businesses.

• The disadvantages of Smart shopping campaigns.

• Communicating changes to your clients.

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After a brief time off, we are back with an episode where we discuss the latest Google Ads news. A lot of things have been going on, but we've got your covered. In today's show, we'll discuss the hottest topics of last month, and these updates -could- mean to your business and or accounts, 

• The new Data exclusion feature
• Cross account bid strategies
• New Youtube Ads conversion attribution and of course
• The death of Broad Match Modifier match types.

Make sure to rate & subscribe!

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul are joined by Mila Zahid from Wild Cactus Studio to discuss how to profitably amplify your product launch with email. The three will get into what Mila does at Wild Cactus Studios, the 3 essential flows of email marketing, and why you need to have engaging calls to action.

Topics covered in this episode:

· About Mila and Wild Cactus Studio as well as the kind of customers they serve.

· Helping brands leverage more organic marketing through email.

· Why brands are missing email marketing.

· Where to start with your email marketing journey.

· How email marketing differs depending on the age of your company.

· The three essential flows in email marketing.

· About post purchase emails and building connections.

· Abandoned cart emails and how they can increase revenue.

· Why people abandon their carts and how to overcome objections.

· Determining how many emails should be in your flows.

· Creating an educational journey for your customer.

· Avoiding analysis paralysis in your marketing.

· Social media marketing vs email marketing.

· Pattern interrupts in marketing.

· The three phases of product launches.

· The importance of early access perks.

· Best practices to track campaign effectiveness.

Connect with Mila: mila@wildcactus.studio

Website: https://wildcactus.studio/

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Today’s guest is Andrya Allen, Founder of Vox Verba, which is a marketing data insight tool that applies the use of qualitative research and positive psychology. In this episode, Andrea shares how using your customers’ language can amplify the growth of your business. We’ll also hear about brand archetypes and why Andrya thinks they are often used incorrectly.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why you should invest in customer relationships.

• Using the customer voice to help build up a brand.

• How qualitative research is used in the Vox Verba approach.

• Why using positive psychology and positive sentiments in marketing matters.

• The danger of having rigid brand guidelines.

• What an archetype is and how are they used in marketing.

• The process Andrya uses to find the dominant brand voice and key messages.

• More on qualitative data and the code of reliability in analyzing data.

• What Andrya suggests is an optimal data set.

• What to use if you don’t have customer data to use.

• The principles Vox Verba uses in data analysis.

• How Carl Jung’s psychology can be applied to business.

• How Vox Verba finds and attracts clients.

• Using your customers' language in email marketing to increase conversions.

• Real world examples of brand archetypes.

• How archetypes influence brands externally and internally.

• What happens when a brand fails to be aligned with their message.

Vox Verba: https://voxverba.com

Follow Vox Verba on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voxverba/

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul are joined by expert growth marketer Jeromy Sonne of Moonshine Marketing. Jeromy has been running ads on Snapchat, Tik Tok, and Reddit for years and joins us to talk about rolling out ads on different channels.

The three get into the differences between the main platforms, what does and doesn’t work on each, and how the rollout of iOS 14 could affect each one.

Topics covered in this episode:

• About Jeromy and Moonshine Marketing.

• What is digital outdoor?

• Going beyond traditional marketing.

• Growth Hacking and exploits in marketing.

• What clients do and don’t know about marketing strategies.

• About Reddit ads and their effectiveness.

• What can and can’t be advertised on Reddit.

• The complications of CBD advertising on various channels.

• What businesses can thrive with advertising on Reddit.

• Are Reddit ads scalable compared to other options?

• Creating a community to market to.

• Why Snapchat ads are useful.

• The key differences between Snapchat and Tik Tok.

• What verticals perform exceptionally well on Snapchat.

• How Jeromy thinks the iOS 14 rollout will affect different platforms.

• Understanding and following trends to create marketing strategies.

• What you need to look at in 2021.

Connect with Jeromy: https://twitter.com/JeromySonne

Moonshine Marketing: https://moonshine.marketing/

Follow Moonshine Marketing on Twitter: https://twitter.com/moonshinemktng

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss the upcoming changes with Google Analytics and how the replacement service will look.

Together, Ivana and Raoul explain the importance of understanding statistics before trying to utilize them, new features in Google Analytics 4, and what to do ahead of the full rollout to prepare your business.

Topics covered in this episode:

• About the new Google Analytics 4.

• How to properly utilize the reports available with Google Analytics.

• How Ivana’s clients use Google Analytics reports.

• The dangers of focusing only on Google Analytics and not other data.

• Understanding what the statistics mean.

• Why you need to start with a question before diving into statistics.

• Taking this rollout as an opportunity to streamline and learn about your analytics.

• What features are currently available and currently missing from Google Analytics 4.

• How the new Google Analytics relates to Shopify.

• What you need to do to set up your own property with Google Analytics 4.

• Why you should start looking at the new features now.

• Is the bounce rate actually important?

• Cross-domain tracking.

• Creating a more user-friendly interface.

• Steps to take as an ecommerce business ahead of the changes.

• Separating internal and external traffic.

• Improving data delivery speed.

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss the iOS 14 update and how it could potentially affect entrepreneurs. They’ll get into data collection, the importance of giving conscious permission for it, and what you should start looking at ahead of the update rollout.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The uncertainty that the iOS 14 update presents for entrepreneurs.

• Apple’s statement on the release features of iOS 14.

• How Apple counters third party tracking.

• Application permissions and data collection.

• Conscious confirmation and what it means in marketing.

• What are the characteristics of the average citizen and how do they impact permissions?

• How wording affects the likelihood of gaining permission to collect data.

• Communicating to the user how data is utilized.

• The difference between audience-based analysis and intention-based analysis.

• Why now is the right time to look at new strategies.

• What is IDFA and how can it help in re-marketing?

• What Ivana is doing to prepare her clients for the update.

• The difference between third- and first-party data.

• The benefits of service ad tracking.

• Differences in the way each platform presents ads and collects data.

• Which channel will be affected most by the potential changes?

• How will this update affect Google and Android?

• Analyzing iOS vs Android users.

• Creating connection through data collection.

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In today's episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss the influence of Amazon on your ecommerce business. As the platform continues to become even more common, influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, it presents complex challenges for sellers to overcome.

Together, Ivana and Raoul discuss diversifying from the Amazon storefront, building your brand outside of Amazon, and the cost of advertising on Amazon.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The perils of relying on one source of revenue.

• Ivana’s experience with selling on Amazon.

• Understanding the correlations between Google Ads and Amazon.

• Competing with the problem of unethical selling on the platform.

• Why is it so difficult to move away from Amazon?

• How to build your brand outside of your Amazon storefront.

• How COVID has impacted ecommerce businesses on Amazon.

• Using Amazon as a starting point for your business.

• The importance of making a contingency plan for any eventuality.

• Understanding the time frame for scaling your business.

• The frustrating lack of statistics and data available to you on Amazon.

• Collecting and storing data points outside of Amazon.

• Tips on how to diversify away from Amazon.

• Keeping control of your pricing.

• Why you need to create a reward program.

• Measuring your expectations of Google Ads as you diversify.

• How product inserts bring customers back.

• Weighing the cost of ads on Amazon.

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What are the must-have trends in your store for 2021? That’s what our hosts will answers for us today. There is a special focus on custom packaging, omni-channel shopping, and product videos.

We’ll also hear about sustainable improvements for your brand, creating personal experiences for your customers, and combining your online and offline experiences. Follow the advice found in this episode to make the most of the new year!

Topics covered in this episode:

-      The top trends for 2021.

-      Understanding how adding new channels to your marketing will impact your revenue.

-      Creating a story with the customer unboxing experience.

-      Making sure your packaging is in line with your product.

-      The possibility of creating a disconnect between packaging and products.

-      How product videos improve the experience for your customers.

-      Lowering buyer’s remorse by showing the product.

-      Using product videos to set customer expectations.

-      Controlling the narrative of your brand by producing video content.

-      How product videos can free up your customer service department.

-      The SEO benefits of using product videos.

-      What is omni-channel shopping?

-      Choosing the right fulfillment centres and shipping options for your business.

-      Unifying the online and offline experience for your customer.

-      The importance of transparent and efficient communication.

-      Providing the best options for your customer.

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Ivana and Raoul are joined by Guido in this episode. He is a cognitive psychologist, consultant, and someone prolific and supportive of the Magento community. This week’s focus is on the Magento platform and conversion rate optimization (CRO).

Along with Ivana and Raoul’s insights, Guido explains when to use Magento, the pros and cons of the open-source version of Magento, and how to accurately test and improve your CRO.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why you should give Magento a chance.

• When to choose Magento for your business.

• The best use cases for Magento.

• The pros and cons of the open-source version.

• Ivana’s business relationship with Magento.

• The importance of working with knowledgeable developers.

• Where to find qualified Magento devs.

• Where to start when migrating platforms.

• Weighing the cost of changing platforms versus staying where you are.

• The best time to consider conversion rate optimization.

• How to create effective testing for your site.

• Problem solving usability issues.

• Identifying frustration points of users.

• Evaluating the results of testing based on your business goals.

• Improving the lifetime value for your customer.

• Where to start improving your website experience.

Find out more about Guido here: https://nl.linkedin.com/in/gxjansen

Find Guido’s podcast CRO Café here: https://www.cro.cafe/

Optimization Hierarchy of Evidence: https://www.gui.do/post/optimization-hierarchy-of-evidence

Guido’s website: https://www.gui.do/

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In today’s episode, Raoul is off while Ivana is joined by Nedim Sabic, an SEO consultant based in Stuttgart, Germany. Nedim is here to discuss how he ended up as an SEO expert, common SEO misunderstandings, and how to make an informative landing page.

Some of the conversations today are centered around usability, emerging SEO trends, understanding user intent, and why Shopify and SEO just don’t mix.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Nedim began creating websites at the age of 16.

• Becoming a self-taught SEO expert at a time when no one was paying attention.

• Nedim’s experience studying and working in Germany.

• Why Nedim decided to step away from his 5 companies and go back to consulting.

• How Nedim plans to utilize his knowledge by starting his own ecom business in 2021.

• The importance of usability in your sites.

• Learning that you don’t need to innovate, you just need to find a niche.

• Filtering through the noise to find the correct information about SEO.

• Common SEO misunderstandings.

• The 2 most important aspects of SEO: psychology and usability.

• Creating concise product descriptions.

• The differences between SEO and SEA.

• Finding out what keywords create the best ROI.

• Understanding user intent.

• Creating an informative landing page.

• Optimizing for search engines other than Google.

• How SEO could change in 2021.

• Shopify and SEO.

• The importance of continued investment in new technologies.

Find Nedim on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neximuss/?hl=en

Find Nedim on Twitter: https://twitter.com/neximuss?lang=en

Find Nedim on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neximuss

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Ivana and Raoul discuss reports and how to utilize them for your success. Which reports are relevant to your business and how often do you need to run them? Our hosts are going to answer this for us today.

Additionally, we’ll hear about whether or not visuals matter when it comes to reports, why you need to include actionable data, and why micro-managing can be so detrimental to your business.

Topics covered in this episode:

-      Do visuals in reports actually matter?

-      Creating reports with functional design.

-      Understanding what you want to report and why.

-      Streamlining reports to include useful and actionable data.

-      How to utilize the metrics provided by reports.

-      Using reports as a measure of success.

-      How to use reports to test new strategies.

-      Why agencies and clients need to have a trusting partnership.

-      How effective communication between all parties can affect report quality.

-      Where does micro-managing stem from?

-      How micro-managing can harm your business.

-      Remembering to focus on the big picture.

-      Acknowledging and accepting risk as part of the business.

-      Creating enough data sets to have statistical significance.

-      Honing in on the relevance of the reports you are running.

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul continue the discussion about the most overlooked mistakes people make in ecommerce. This week’s focus is on ad campaigns and KPIs. How do you know what metrics to track and how to apply that data?

Some discussions in this edition include the importance of tracking your conversions, which KPIs to focus on, and when and where to start when setting up an ad campaign for your business.

Topics covered in this episode:

-      Raoul’s thoughts on linking Google Ads and Google Analytics.

-      Why it is important to import data from Google Analytics.

-      How changes in Google Analytics has impacted purchase data.

-      Common mistakes businesses make in their global tags.

-      Why you get less benefit from constantly switching marketers.

-      The necessity of having proper tracking to make your KPIs count.

-      Why you should be tracking your costs as much as your profits.

-      When to switch focus.

-      Understanding your goals to fix what needs to be focused on.

-      Creating short-term strategies based off of your long-term ones.

-      Knowing which KPIs are important for your specific business and level.

-      Understanding the relationship between KPIs and outcomes in your business.

-      Using KPIs to keep up with the competition.

-      The top 3 campaigns to run depending on your business.

-      Contextualizing your metrics.

-      Where to start when building your ad campaign.

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In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul continue the discussion about the most overlooked mistakes people make in ecommerce. There are plenty of areas that are neglected in ecommerce, but how can you easily switch focus and drive your business’ growth?

Creating and building brand loyalty, enhancing the customer experience, and targeting your true audience are some of the topics our hosts get into today.

Topics covered in this episode:

-      Creating brand loyalty and a repeat customer base.

-      How Ivana is investing in building brand loyalty.

-      Why product inserts are effective marketing tools.

-      Enhancing the customer shopping experience.

-      The importance of an easily navigable landing page.

-      Creating an effective re-marketing sequence.

-      Preventing buyer’s remorse.

-      Why you should under promise and over deliver.

-      How packaging can impact the customer experience.

-      Building human connections with your audience.

-      Targeting the correct audience for your product.

-      Understanding the needs of your target market.

-      Increasing traffic conversion on your website.

-      Creating added value for all your customers.

-      Tailoring your message for your market.

-      The importance of focusing on building connections over making transactions. 

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This week, Ivana and Raoul are joined once again by Nabeel Azeez, a direct response copywriter and co-owner of Dropkick Copy based out of Dubai. Today they discuss email copywriting tips and an email campaign you can implement to boost your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

Ivana, Raoul, and Nabeel discuss creating a continuous customer experience using your email campaigns, creating impactful subject lines, and Nabeel’s 10-day email sequence for Black Friday.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Where people can most improve their email campaigns.

• The problem with perpetual discounting and how it affects your brand.

• Creating a continuous customer experience

• Capitalizing on the Black Friday consumer mindset.

• How to create impactful email subject lines.

• Utilizing preview text.

• Why you should never assume people want to read your emails, and how to entice them to.

• Promoting the benefits of what you offer using your call to action.

• Should you use images and gifs in the body of your email?

• Preventing your emails from ending up in spam folders.

• How to start an email campaign from scratch.

• Creating a lead magnet that’s relevant for who you want to target.

• Nabeel’s 10-day email sequence for Black Friday.

• Overcoming the fear of the unsubscribe.

Find out more about Dropkick Copy here: https://dropkickcopy.com

Find Nabeel on Twitter: @NabeelAzeezDXB

Find Nabeel on Instagram: @NabeelAzeezDXB

Get your free episode checklist here: https://dropkickcopy.com/Ivana

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This episode is focused on some of the most common mistakes in ecommerce. As an entrepreneur starting out in any industry, mistakes are unavoidable. Ivana and Raoul lend you some of their firsthand experience to help you learn what to avoid, and where to invest.

Some topics of discussion in today’s episode are the biggest mistakes you can make as an ecommerce entrepreneur, the importance of having a fully developed brand identity, and how good business practices can be applied to a good marriage!

Topics covered in this episode:
- The most overlooked elements that can make or break an online business.

• How to minimize your web page’s load time, without sacrificing on design.

• Doing market research and knowing your target audience.

• How to optimize each element of your website to tell your brand story.

• The importance knowing your unique selling proposition, and clearly communicating it.

• How a personal connection can turn one-time shoppers into loyal customers.

• Working with programmers, designers, and marketing specialists.

• How a personal connection is the difference between one-time shoppers and loyal customers.

• Questions to ask yourself while developing your brand identity.

• How to create a memorable website through user experience design.

• How to build your brand around your own personal sense of purpose.

• Tips and tricks for bringing new customers to your business.

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Nabeel Azeez is chatting with Ivana in this edition. He is a direct response copywriter and owner of copywriting agency Dropkick Copy in Dubai. Today they discuss email marketing and how to optimize them to work for you.

We hear about the most important email sequences to implement, what type of campaigns work in ecommerce, and why you should be sending more emails than you are.

Topics covered in this episode:

• What email sequences you need in ecommerce.

• The importance of email frequency and mitigating negative response.

• Why you should be testing your opt-in forms.

• What should be included in your welcome sequence.

• Establishing a customer relationship through your welcome sequence.

• The 6 pre-purchase email flows and how they work.

• The 6 post-purchase email flows and how they work.

• How email campaigns can boost your revenue.

• The kind of email campaigns in ecommerce.

• How to track competitors email sequences and campaigns.

• Creating original content over copying competitors’ campaigns.

• How to test new flows and campaigns accurately.

• Knowing when to use plain text vs. a more stylized layout.

• How to approach a high unsubscribe rate.

Find out more about Dropkick Copy here: https://dropkickcopy.com

Find Nabeel on Twitter: @NabeelAzeezDXB

Find Nabeel on Instagram: @NabeelAzeezDXB

Get your free episode checklist here: https://dropkickcopy.com/Ivana

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In today’s episode, Ivana is joined by Ian Schechter, an author and ecommerce business owner. They will discuss building your landing page and how to create an inviting and functional experience for your customers.

They get into the importance of copy, creating an attention-grabbing landing page, and why you don’t need to have the best page, just a better one than your competitors.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Defining a landing page.

• How landing pages drive traffic.

• Common mistakes people make when building landing pages.

• The importance of good copywriting.

• How load speed affects bounce rate.

• Why you need the right people on your team to help create your landing page.

• How a great layout can help disguise mediocre copy and lead people to your product.

• Creating visible opportunities for potential customers to purchase from you.

• Knowing your competitors landing pages, and aiming to be better.

• Why you need a return policy and what it should encompass.

• About Ian’s book Breathe, Focus, Attack.

• Optimizing your time to take your first step.

Find out more about Ian here: https://ianschechter.com

Purchase Ian’s book here: Breathe, Focus, Attack by Ian Schechter

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In todays episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss dealing with disappointments in both your personal life and business. Everyone faces disappointment in some aspect of their life eventually, the question is how do you overcome it?

Some things that come up in this episode are what causes disappointment, creating clarity to change your perspective, and the importance of having a healthy support system.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How high expectations lead to disappointment.

• The personal impact of disappointment.

• Ivana’s biggest disappointment of the last few years.

• How to overcome the feeling of helplessness when disappointment strikes.

• Protecting your sphere of influence from negativity.

• Raoul’s biggest disappointment of the last few years.

• Creating space for the negative feelings without dwelling on them.

• Putting things in perspective and maintaining balance.

• Learning to embrace change.

• Why you should avoid placing blame on yourself and others.

• Breaking out of the disappointment of stagnating.

• Escaping the negative feedback loop.

• Learning to utilize your support group in a healthy way.

• The perils of cheerleaders.

• How to keep personal and professional disappointments separate.

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In todays episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on your ecommerce business. The world is a stressful, unpredictable place right now. How do you prevent burnout and reclaim your focus?

Ivana and Raoul get into refocusing on your goals, how different sectors of the economy have been impacted by lockdown, and how you can increase your wealth by diversifying your revenue streams.

Topics covered in this episode:

• What Ivana has been up to since she last joined us.

• The importance of scheduling your vacation time as well as your work life.

• Preventing burnout by unplugging.

• Taking the time to reassess your values and goals.

• Learning to prioritize your time.

• How to increase and maintain your focus.

• Why you shouldn’t let meeting monetary goals hold you back.

• The impact of lockdown on the economy and how it differs between industries.

• Why ecommerce is booming.

• What ecommerce will look like next year.

• Diversifying your income.

• Why you should ask yourself what your time is worth.

• Keeping motivation when you are meeting your goals.

• Building brand legacy to survive the pandemic and beyond.

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In today's episode, Ivana is still on holiday and Raoul is once again joined by his business partner Vincent. The topic of discussion this time is YouTube ads.

Facebook ads, Google ads and YouTube ads - they’re all the same right? Wrong. Each platform has a different type of audience and you need to strategize accordingly. So, what do you do differently for YouTube? Together, Raoul and Vincent tackle targeting campaigns, direct response and offering solutions with your products.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The expanding reach of YouTube

• Do YouTube ads work for ecommerce businesses?

• Understanding what people are coming to YouTube for

• Ensuring your ad campaigns have a more direct response for ecommerce

• Examples of what businesses do well with YouTube ads

• Learning to reverse engineer what works

• Why Facebook content doesn’t work for YouTube

• Creating high engagement and relatable content

• The best framework for ads on YouTube

• Why the first 5 seconds are extremely important

• Narrowing your target audience

• How to set up YouTube ad campaigns for the first time

• The importance of keywords and understanding how they relate to potential customers

• Optimizing your frequency settings

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Today, Ivana is joined by guest Gabriel Gascon to discuss starting out in online marketing and how to scale up your strategy as you grow. Having your business unexpectedly grow is great, but what do you do if you haven’t prepared for the demand? Don’t worry, all hope is not lost if you find yourself dealing with this situation.

Together, Ivana and Gabriel tackle scaling Facebook ads, ensuring you have backup fulfillment centers, and getting over distractions and to make things happen.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Gabriel got his start in online marketing.

• Why he tends to work with Facebook ads over Google.

• What Gabriel’s ideal client looks like.

• Scaling ads to suit your business’ changing needs.

• Action steps to solve inventory issues due to sudden demand.

• The importance of building good relationships with your suppliers.

• Having a backup fulfillment center in place and the relief it can bring.

• Investing in conversions.

• Strengthening your backend to take advantage of opportunities.

• Why, as a CEO, you should work on your business, not in it.

• Learning when and what work to delegate.

• Overcoming marketplace distractions and staying on task.

• Why you need project management systems.

• Empowering your team to make decisions.

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In today’s episode, Ivana is on holiday and Raoul is joined by his business partner Vincent. Fittingly, the topic of discussion in this episode is partnerships. You can’t build a business alone, so how do you build your team and create strong and meaningful outside collaborations?

You’ll hear the answers to these questions from two people who understand the importance of teams. Together, Raoul and Vincent tackle partnerships, how to create them, and how to maintain them.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Raoul and Vincent met and a bit about their business.

• The importance of collaboration.

• Understanding how to budget your hours in agency while maximizing them.

• The advantages of prioritizing client relationships over sales.

• How to set accurate expectations for clients and why it is important.

• Why trust is the best business model.

• Success is a behavior: Learn what works and then act on it.

• Understanding that clients have to be invested in you for partnerships to work.

• Why you need to stop prioritizing instant gratification results.

• How to win the trust of previously burned clients.

• Looking beyond superficial optics and looking at value alignment when creating new partnerships.

• Why you need to reflect on past partnerships to forge new ones.

• How to hire: Valuing cultural alignment over resumes.

• Avoiding complacency with your clients.

• The importance of educating and onboarding your clients.

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovic and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

This time, Ivana and Raoul discuss how to properly utilize pay-per-click marketing and Google ads to yield faster and greater results for your business. Implementing SEO is fine, but it isn’t going to get you where you want to be compared to your competitors.

Together, they tackle managing product feeds, setting up Google Shopping and creating intentional keywords to bring in the right clients for you.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Why SEO shouldn’t be your main focus.

• How to validate your site by pushing relevant traffic.

• How to gauge if your product is a market fit.

• Utilizing Facebook Ad responses to quantify product interest.

• Implementing Google Ads to bring in relevant traffic.

• Improving your bounce rates by having a fast and user-friendly site.

• How Google Shopping is outshining Google Ads and why it might be time to switch.

• Understanding how Google Search Ads work.

• Setting up Google Shopping for the first time.

• The importance of managing your product feed.

• Explaining Smart Shopping and why it may be time to leave it behind.

• Managing Google Shopping keywords.

• How to create intentional keywords to drive the right traffic to your store.

• Analyzing product performance and fixing underperforming categories.

• Optimizing products for longevity.

• The importance of a functional and striking landing page. 

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovic and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

In today's episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss finding the perfect platform for your ecommerce storefront. There are multiple options available but how do you choose what is right for you? Do you go with a platform like Shopify or do you create your own?

Together Ivana and Raoul tackle the pros and cons of Shopify and other platforms, their own experiences in creating digital storefronts and how to know when to switch platforms.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Ivana came to use Shopify, and how she was selling online before that platform became so popular.

• The options available for someone creating a digital storefront.

• The hidden costs of implementation that you might not think about initially.

• The importance of reliability, responsivity and service within your chosen platform.

• Should you hire a programmer for your business?

• The downside of Shopify and other similar ecommerce services.

• Understanding plug-ins: How they could pose potential security risks to your store.

• What to look for when choosing plug-ins to minimize risk to your site.

• The importance of testing your site and its plug-ins for errors before making the changes public.

• Knowing when it is time to change platforms.

• The ‘tunnel effect’: What it means on an online store.

• Custom solutions for your online store.

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovich and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

In todays episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss energy. With a busy lifestyle, it can be difficult to maintain energy and motivation on a day to day basis. The key is to be present and aware of where your time goes and how it makes you feel.

Together, Ivana and Raoul tackle the simple foundations to put in place to maximize your energy, hacks for low energy moments, and how low energy periods can affect you. We also hear about changes they have made in their businesses to increase their efficiency.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Ivana’s usual energy hacks.

• How inaccessibility to those hacks impacts Ivana.

• Raoul’s use of meditation.

• Recognizing when you are expending too much energy on problem clients.

• The tortoise and the hare: The quickest way isn’t necessarily the best.

• Understanding the physical and mental toll of being overwhelmed.

• The danger of emotional feedback loops and how to break them.

• The role of the Ego in overworking.

• The relationship between biology and energy.

• Creating a solid physical and mental foundation to maintain energy.

• Honest time tracking: Where are you spending your time and how does it make you feel?

• Creating work/life boundaries.

• Learning to listen to the signals from your mind and body.

• The importance of giving yourself permission to take a break.

• Practicing active reflection.

• The sustainability of your workload.

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovic and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

Ivana and Raoul discuss shiny object syndrome in this episode. We have all sat down to start something, only to end up doing something completely different. Whether it’s watching television or going outside on a sunny day to avoid work, everyone procrastinates.

Together Ivana and Raoul tackle different approaches to motivation, breaking tasks down and their personal experiences with focusing problems.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Raoul’s struggle with leaving things unfinished and the frustration it caused him.

• How his ADHD diagnosis allowed him to create a methodology that worked for him.

• The self-fulfilling prophecy of the fear of failure.

• Analyzing tasks before production.

• Creating focused breakdowns of tasks to make them more approachable.

• Executing over planning.

• Gamifying your process to make productivity fun.

• Learning time blocking to prioritize what really matters.

• Valuing your time: Outsourcing what you need to.

• Ivana’s strategy for staying focused.

• Ninety-day planning and mapping milestones.

• Allowing for flexibility.

• Creating a trigger list

• Why you need to write down your systems and processes.

• Learning to filter what is irrelevant and focus on the important things.

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovic and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

In today's episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss promoting a healthy work/life balance. It can be frightening to launch your own business if you have a family to support. That’s perfectly normal. The key is to overcome your fears and believe in yourself.

Together Ivana and Raoul tackle overcoming your self doubts, taking control of your circumstances and give some advice on coping with lockdown with a full house.

Topics covered in this episode:

• How Ivana started her business at the same time as starting a family.

• Raoul’s fear of starting his own business with a family depending on him.

• Overcoming sticking points.

• Taking inspiration from mentors.

• How Raoul reclaimed 50 hours a week when he started his own business.

• Learning to work smarter, not harder.

• Being mindful of your core values and how they align with how you are living and working.

• Overcoming irrationality and imposter syndrome.

• Why you need to stop indulging in excuses.

• How both Raoul and Ivana overcame their confirmation biases.

• The need to change yourself before you can change your situation.

• Evaluating why you are staying stuck.

• Projecting who you want to be for your family.

• How COVID-19 has impacted their homelives.

• Learning to take control of your actions instead of functioning on autopilot.

• Investing in yourself.

• Showing your children that work is a positive experience.

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovic and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

Ivana and Raoul are discussing the importance of implementing strong Standard Operating Procedures in this episode. They also share how to overcome the pain points you may face while creating new processes. If you have been struggling to implement solid, scalable SOPs then stay tuned to discover vital recommendations.

We hear Ivana and Raoul talk about their different experiences creating SOPs, the importance of strong communication with your employees and the danger of wearing too many hats.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Minimizing stress in the workplace.

• The importance of practicing awareness in your processes.

• Understanding what methodology works for you: Do you work better with or without routine?

• How streamlining Standard Operating Procedures increases efficiency.

• How easy is it to adopt the new SOP?

• The importance of transparent communication between team members.

• Creating procedures that stick.

• The detriment of wearing too many hats.

• Learning how to delegate to free up your time.

• Embracing automation to increase your growth.

• Overcoming your fears and control issues.

• The necessity of time management.

• Journaling and reviewing your processes for greater insight.

• Utilizing technology for systems integration.

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The Ecommerce Independent Podcast tackles the ecommerce world and helps you build your own business while sharing experiences and tips to help you tackle your fears. Hosts Ivana Petrovic and Raoul van Heerden are experienced ecommerce entrepreneurs that have built their agencies from the ground up. They’re here to tell you how they did it and how you can join them.

In today’s episode, Ivana and Raoul discuss the inspiration behind creating this podcast and give us a little insight into agency life. They also lay out where they hope to take this podcast in future episodes. If you are just starting out, today’s episode can give you an idea of what it is like to begin your ecommerce journey. 

Together Ivana and Raoul take on topics such as leaving your comfort zone, why it’s beneficial to have an accountability partner and the importance of taking action, even if the circumstances aren’t perfect.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The intention of this podcast.

• How Raoul wants to teach and help others through this medium.

• Why you need and ‘accountability partner’: Motivation over procrastination.

• The need of frequent performance and procedure review.

• The importance of documenting processes.

• Taking on and incorporating employee feedback in your S.O.P.

• Creating adaptable processes that grow with your business.

• Why you need to delegate responsibilities.

• Empathy maps and market analysis.

• Overcoming analysis paralysis.

• Normalizing working at home.

• Taking action rather than waiting for perfection.

• Respecting individual work styles.

• Having awareness of your daily process.