Ecommerce Evolution

Austin Brawner is a legend in the eCommerce space, namely because his podcast - Ecommerce Influence - is one of the most popular in the industry.  Austin has worked with, and is friends with, many of the top DTC brands in eCommerce - MVTM Watches, Pura Vida Bracelets, Blenders Eyewear, Four Sigmatic and many others.  In fact, we reminisce on the podcast about a dinner we both attended in San Diego with the founders of those companies all together in a room hanging out and swapping stories. What separates eCommerce brands that scale vs. those that stall and plateau? What separates the Bonobos and Away Luggage companies of the world from an eCommerce company that hits a ceiling at 5 or 10 million per year in sales?  Austin has a unique perspective on this topic, having walked alongside dozens of the biggest eCommerce brands of our generation. In this episode Austin and I break down the following: What you need to know about AOV and LTV and how it directly impacts your ability to scale. How product market fit i

My buddy, Johnny Pinto has a unique product, a unique story, and a unique approach to eCommerce growth.  He’s the CEO and Co-Founder of BoomBoom. BoomBoom produces an essential oil based inhaler that refreshes and energizes you.  These types of inhalers are super popular in South East Asia, and BoomBoom is determined to make them popular in the US too. The story of BoomBoom is chock full of fantastic marketing and entrepreneurial lessons. John got his start in business working for an LA start-up that would later become SnackNation which is now a 200 person thriving company.  When John joined he was one of 3 employees. That’s also where he met our mutual friend and host of the Ecommerce Influence podcast - Austin Brawner.   I thoroughly enjoyed this interview and I’m confident you will too.  Here’s a look at what we cover: How John has masterfully used bootstrap marketing and “sampling” to propel his company’s growth - you should too!   How John and his wife Chelsea got on Shark Tank. What he learned from bei

Ro Bhatia has some serious eCommerce chops.  He started his career at Google, then spent 5 years at Yahoo, then worked for eBay with merchants, then ran the dot com division for Home Depot.  Now he’s the Chief Product and Strategy officer at Limelight Ecommerce. In this episode we dig into growth tactics that you probably either haven’t thought of or aren’t leveraging properly.  Ro has a wealth of experience and he dishes it out in this episode. Here’s a quick look at what we cover: If you’re using chat on your site, you’re probably making one fatal flaw.  Here’s how to fix it quickly, plus Ro’s favorite chat tool. Cross-sells and upsets make up 30% of eCommerce sales! We talk about Ro’s favorite ways to boost cross-sells, upsells and downsells. In the new relationship economy cost of acquisition is high, and bumping AOV is critical.  If you don’t have a high enough AOV your marketing options will be limited. How to properly use data to create buckets of users to show them the right message at the right time

I just got back from a trip to the Amazon HQ in Seattle. Chris Tyler, our Director of Amazon Services, and I were there visiting with our Amazon DSP reps (more on DSP in a minute).  We recently found out we were the fastest growing agency in 2018 in terms of DSP spend. We got to preview new audience targeting options, discuss new ad options coming soon to the Amazon ecosystem and more…Blow your mind kinda awesome stuff. If you’re not familiar with it, Amazon DSP (stands for Demand Side Platform) is a way to run display ads on and off Amazon targeting Amazon shoppers.  With DSP you can run retargeting ads targeting people who’ve visited your product listings on Amazon but didn’t purchase. You can also target people who’ve visited your competitors' products on Amazon but haven’t purchased.  And there are a TON more audience targeting options to consider. Here’s a quick look at what we cover on the episode: Highlights from our Amazon trip including dogs, domes, and, of course, great coffee! What about Amazon DS

My guest today is John Li, co-founder of Pickfu.  John is a really sharp dude, with a very unique service.  A service that started as a side project and became a standalone business sort of on accident…more on that in the episode.    Pickfu is a consumer feedback tool that allows you to get real customer feedback in minutes.  This has driven insights into product page enhancements, better product imagery, better ads, better Amazon listings and more.   In this episode, we dive into some of the top learnings John and his team have gained from the myriad of tests run on their platform.  Some are quite surprising. I’m confident that you’ll take away a few things you need to test or change to improve your sales on and off Amazon.  Here’s a highlight of what we cover: Surprising learnings from testing images and how your biases might be hurting your results on and off Amazon. 3 keys to better descriptions on your Amazon listings that consistently outperform the norm. How to find out what features and benefits a c

Steve Chou is an eCommerce podcast host, eCommerce store owner, and former microprocessor designer.  In fact, the microprocessor running the phone in your hand was likely designed by Steve’s team. All of that to say, Steve is a pretty smart dude. I recently saw Steve in San Diego at Social Media Marketing World where we were both speaking.  We had lunch and talked a little about Chatbots. I was instantly intrigued. Chatbots and Messenger ads have huge potential to create more helpful, more personal experiences with your brand.  All with the goal of increasing sales and building loyalty. Here’s a quick look at what Steve and I discuss... The rules behind using Messenger as a business.  Facebook is very strict here. If you don’t know the rules, you’ll likely get yourself into trouble. How often should you send promotional messages on Messenger? When to run true Messenger Ads vs. when you can run other ad types on Facebook but tie in Messenger in a stealthy way (this will save you some money on ads). How Steve

My guest on this show is a legend in the eCommerce space.  He’s the founder of the Shopify Agency, Ethercycle. He’s the host of the wildly popular Unofficial Shopify Podcast.  And, he’s just an overall really smart dude. When most ecommerce companies consider conversion rate optimization they usually immediately think of split testing, multivariate testing, cart optimization, etc.  BUT, most merchants fail to ask a very important question - “where should I start with my conversion optimization efforts?” And, according to our guest today, the answer to that question is rarely - if ever - split testing. I knew the general direction of this interview before we started to record, but I didn’t know specifics.  I was blown away by the simplicity, but also the power of Kurt’s suggestions. EVERY store owner would benefit from going through the exercises discussed in this episode.  Here’s a quick glimpse at what we covered: The power of surveys for your best customers and how a recent survey totally transformed a bri

Video ads on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram continue to rank among the best performing ads right now for ecommerce companies.  The difference between a great video and an OK video is HUGE. To really scale on any of those platforms though, you have to know how to craft a video that converts.    Enter Andrew Eckblad. Andrew Eckblad was killing it with online video before it was the cool thing to do.   Andrew has spent the last 10 years serving as Frank Kern’s video guy. He’s also the Manager of Video Marketing and Production for Kartra.  And he’s the founder of ConvertViews.com a collective of direct response video editors. His videos have directly grossed over $100 million in product sales. Here’s a glimpse of what Andrew and I cover in this interview: Andrew’s simple but profound 2 keys to a video that sells Nuances to consider for videos that work on Facebook vs. Videos that work on YouTube How to apply the “do I care” test to your videos. The importance of pacing, transitions, and on-screen text Using the

There probably isn’t a more consistent rule in business or in life like the 80/20 rule.  Usually, 80% or more of your results and success come from just 20% of your efforts. I’m all about finding the 20% of activities, changes, etc. to focus on to deliver the biggest impact.   In this episode, I bring back my business partner Chris Brewer to outline the 7 key areas you should focus on to grow your business both on Google and on Amazon this year.   These are 7 factors that should provide a big return for you. We’ll cover a variety of topics including: How and why you should invest in YouTube ads What to expect and what to consider with Google’s automation and smart bidding options How the SEO practices that everyone has forgotten may be a secret weapon for you. How Amazon is pouring more money and time into their ad platforms and what that means for growing your business.   Plus more!

Ross Beyeler knows a thing or two about ecommerce sites that convert.  He’s built a few sites that I really love. Charley Hustle (mostly because I’m a huge Chiefs Fan and KU Jayhawks fan), Bottle Keeper,  Johnny Cupcakes, Assoline and more.       We get into several key design, UX and conversion rate optimization topics and examples including:   Home page optimization and how the approach shifts if you have a large vs. small SKU count Storytelling in ecommerce and why successful ecommerce brands are great storytellers Product Detail Page (PDP) “must haves” for a better experience and better conversions Creating better collection and improved navigation 4 conversion killers to avoid like the plague Site search and recommendations for doing this better especially for larger SKU counts How to mine site search data for improvements Plus more!

Tom Wang is a true Amazon success story. He builds a very successful brand on Amazon after a pretty big crash and burn experience. Literally a “burn” experience as his first venture was in hoverboards.   In this episode we breakdown Tom’s success and talk about what is relevant for growth on Amazon in 2019.  We tackle Tom’s advice for some pretty critical Amazon tasks.   How to get reviews now and not violate Amazon’s terms of service. How to diversify traffic and boost organic rankings Product line extension and how to launch your next product on Amazon How to successfully use Amazon Giveaways and lightning deals Plus more!   Don’t miss it!  

Matt Ward built an Amazon business from nothing with a goal of selling it for $1million in 12 months.  His goal once the sale was final was to work on stuff that mattered more to him….He reached his goal of selling his company and now he’s running a podcast and writing books on some pretty interesting topics.  He’s had the privilege of interviewing some pretty stellar people including one of my marketing heroes - Seth Godin.   Matt is a fascinating person and extremely bright.     In this episode we get into some pretty interesting territory, including: How Matt scaled so quickly, What AMZ sellers should consider now and what the future holds What’s next for Amazon What’s Amazon’s goal with Echo devices and owned brands (like Amazon Basics) and who will continue to win as Amazon’s domination grows.   Voice Search and Smart home - and what it means for Amazon and Google and YOU. Facebook Portal and our predictions on it. Why 10x results doesn’t require 10x effort Plus, more...

The Cyber Five (Thanksgiving - Cyber Monday) this year broke all kinds of records and was an interesting departure from years past in several ways.  In this episode I welcome back to the podcast my business partner, Chris Brewer. We look at this holiday shopping season from a few different perspectives.  We talk in general terms about how our clients who are mostly in the $5 to $50 Million per year in sales did during the Cyber 5 and after. We also looked at trends and data from the largest ecomm companies.     By the numbers….a Look at the Industry as a Whole.   Here are just a few of the highlights we look at in this episode. Thanksgiving weekend was up 23% - total spend was $24.2 billion.  Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. Mobile spend was $10 billion of that (approaching half) and that’s up 44% from last year.  So doubling the growth rate of the holiday trend as a whole. Main Drivers of online sales Email at 26% - up 2% YoY Paid Search at 22% - up 6% YoY Social - minimal impact 1.3% of sales….(remembe

If you’re like me then you’re not overly familiar with affiliate marketing.  It is a bit of a mystery for a lot of us marketers and ecomm entrepreneurs.   However it does have some huge positives: Scalable: Once you attract the right affiliates and have the right offer, you can go from 0 to thousands of orders in no time.   Predictable - As you know, I’m a PPC guy.  I’ll always love PPC, but there are variables there.  With Affiliate marketing you pay the same cost per acquisition every time giving you some predictability.     My guest on this episode is Nate Lind.  Nate is an eCommerce entrepreneur, a marketer and the founder of the Online Seller’s Summit.  He’s also a guy who knows a thing or two about affiliate marketing. Nate’s best single day using affiliate marketing was $4.6 million in sales.  He now has a student doing up to $1million in sales per day from affiliate marketing. Not only has Nate built multiple businesses off the profits from affiliate marketing, he also built a tool to better manage

Recently I had a chance to catch up with my friend and fellow entrepreneur, Dave Woodward.  Dave is the Chief Business Development Officer at ClickFunnels. He’s a motivator, a marketing mastermind, and an all around awesome guy.   I first met Dave in 2009 or so when my business partner, Chris Brewer, and I were partnering with Russell Brunson (Co-Found of ClickFunnels) on a project.   It’s been amazing watching click funnel scale from just an idea to a $200million + per year software as a service (SaaS) company in just a few years.     So how do you achieve that kind of growth?  That’s what I wanted to hear from Dave. Here’s a look at what we covered.  I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!   Philosophy and mindset that allows for meteoric growth How the founders of Click Funnels got the team side of things right in order to scale How ClickFunnels acquired customers at a profit or breakeven when approximately zero SaaS companies have achieved that mark Marketing channels that are the most importan

Interested in better email campaigns, more persuasive product detail pages and more irresistible videos?  Maybe you need to start incorporating a little humor.     By now we’ve all seen a Harmon Brother’s video (Think Poo Pourri and Squatty Potty) and we’ve seen the magical effect those videos can have when launching a product….Or maybe you recall the simple, Dollar Shave Club video that launched an empire that Unilever bought for $1 Billion.  But...we’ve also seen some funny ads that did zero selling. Sometimes we can’t even remember what product the ad was for after we saw it, but it did make us laugh.   So what’s the difference? How can you use humor to actually sell?   A few months ago I was speaking at a Blue Ribbon Mastermind event run by Ezra Firestone and I heard another speaker and immediately fell in love with her topic - using humor to sell more.   Lianna Patch is the Founder of Punchline Copy.  She has a wealth of experience as a standup comedian, and improv actor, and a copywriter for eCommerce b

If you want an inside look at Amazon you’d be hard pressed to find a better person to talk to than James Thomson co-founder of Buy Box Experts and the wildly popular Prosper Show.     In this episode we get into the details of what sellers on Amazon should be thinking and doing right now on a variety of important topics including:   Sales Tax! This can be some scary stuff.  We talk about the Wayfair Supreme Court decision, the recent ruling in California and what it all means to you.  Not the sexiest of topics, but one that could kill your business if you’re not taking action now. Brand equity.  There’s never been a better time to build a brand on Amazon.  We’ll talk about what it means to build and try to hold on to brand equity on Amazon.   1p vs. 3p vs. Hybrid - what’s best and why. Most common mistakes sellers are making right now and how to avoid them How Amazon approaches their private label game and when are they coming for your category. Prosper Show 2019 details Plus more!

The best eCommerce companies I know are on a quest to constantly improve conversion rates.  Every lift in conversion rates means more money for product development, or traffic to grow your brand or just more money for your pocket.     On this episode I interview Jon MacDonald, CEO of the Good.  Jon and team have worked on Conversion rate optimization projects for companies like Nike, Xerox, Adobe and the Economist as well as many other ecommerce companies.     Jon’s perspective and approach are unique and I’m confident you’ll pick up several CRO nuggets including: The 4 types of data that should influence your conversion rate optimization What data to ignore vs. what’s critical and actionable Must have elements for UX Product detail page essentials Making the complex simple and bringing products to life on your site Great eCommerce examples for UX to pay attention to Plus more

In recent years SEO has lost its luster as a “hot” traffic source. Panda and Penguin updates have made it all but impossible to “game the system” and trick Google into ranking your site.  That said, organic traffic can still be insanely powerful for your brand.  SEO can help drive relevant traffic at nearly every stage of the shopping funnel - helping your build a following and sell more stuff.   While there are no viable SEO tricks now, there are proven strategies that will help you rank well and rank relatively quickly.     While I’ve been an SEO practitioner since the early 2000s and even though OMG Commerce offers SEO services for eCommerce - I still wanted to have Dale Bertrand on to talk SEO.  Dale is the Owner and Digital Strategist for fireandspark.com and he knows his SEO.   Here’s a look at the SEO topics we cover in this episode.   Link building that works in 2018 and beyond.  Quality backlinks are still one of the most powerful ranking signals in Google’s algorithm.  The catch is that Google is b

This episode is a treat both in terms of topic and guest.  I have my long-time business partner Chris Brewer on to talk about the most important topic of the year for most eCommerce companies - Holiday Sales.     For most eComm companies the Holiday season will determine whether you have a good year or a not so good year.  For some companies every day of holiday sales is the equivalent of a week or two the rest of the year. Having a great holiday season requires planning, attention to detail and some creativity.     I see things lining up for most eCommerce companies to break sales records this Holiday.  Will you be one of them?   Here’s a look at what we cover: Getting Your Google Ad Campaigns Ready - getting your search, shopping and brand campaigns ready to “make hay” this holiday season.   Getting Your YouTube Ads Ready - Do you have remarketing in place?  Are you capitalizing on your competition? Do you have a unique holiday message?  All of this and more is important to maximize YouTube results. Gettin