Ecommercefuel: Build, Launch And Grow A 6 Figure Plus Ecommerce Business | Ecommerce Fuel

Today’s episode is a follow-up to one I did back in June about the eCommerceFuel Job Boards. It’s been a while since I launched that project, and I wanted to share some updates to document the journey so you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to launching something from scratch. Listen in to hear what went well, what didn’t go so well, how things are going with the budget, and some key stats of the business so far. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2qXt1Ai

If you’re involved in the ecommerce space, you’ve surely noticed that it’s becoming harder and harder to stay 100% compliant when it comes to sales tax. Between the recent Supreme Court case and Amazon tax issues, quite honestly, it’s getting to be a real pain. So today I have Michael Jackness of EcomCrew.com here to share how a new organization he helped launch called the Online Merchants Guild is fighting against these sales tax hurdles. Listen in to learn what they’re doing, as well as how you can get involved to help make sure our online selling environment doesn’t become a nightmare from a compliance standpoint. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2AVxzgr 

Today I’ve got LemonStand’s Ross Paul on the show to talk about subscriptions—namely in the e-commerce space. LemonStand is a shopping cart company based in Vancouver, Canada, and as the company’s VP of Growth, Ross knows his stuff when it comes to building a successful subscription model. We dive right in to talk about which businesses can benefit from this model, billing issues people run into, and how to make sure you retain as many customers as possible. Tune in to hear it all now! You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2PyWtKY 

In this episode, I’m going to share my experience designing a product from scratch. I’ve touched on this topic in passing on the show before, but today you’ll get a real, behind-the-scenes look at everything, from designing and manufacturing to unit economics and selling on Amazon. And most importantly, I’ll share all the mistakes I made along the way. Listen in to hear how everything went, and what I’d do differently if I had it to do all over again. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2CxFr8S 

Today’s episode is all about an important topic that rarely gets discussed among entrepreneurs: mental health. Being an entrepreneur can be really hard at times; you’ve got super high highs and really low lows, and that can take a major toll. So I’ve got Sherry Walling of ZenFounder.com on the show to talk about how to take care of ourselves while running our businesses. In addition to being an entrepreneur herself—and being married to one—Sherry has a long background in clinical psychology. Listen in to hear her advice for maintaining your mental health as a founder, what to keep in mind about working with a spouse, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2CIvUgr 

Today we’re going to talk about transparency and open companies, specifically the idea of sharing financials with employees. We recently discussed this in our private forum, and the overwhelming response was that it’s a bad idea, but my guests today disagree. Lee and Jake Cook—cofounders of Tadpull—and Hannah Jerome—a Tadpull leadership team member—strongly believe that sharing the key financial results of their business with their team has helped the business. Listen in to hear why they say that allowing staff to see exactly what’s going on financially can increase the buy-in and cohesion of a team. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2pFwYck 

Today I’m joined by a longtime member of our eCommerceFuel Private Forum, a top contributor, and an all-around stand-up guy, Patrick Barnhill. Patrick is the founder of SpecialistID.com, and on a recent Mastermind call with him, I heard his presentation on how he’s using custom software to streamline his processes, reduce errors, and handle more inventory and order flow. He also shared what he was doing with his business in terms of hacking and prepping his products—especially products that he kitted together for FBA—and I just knew I had to have him on the show. Thankfully, he graciously agreed to come on the podcast to share these things with all of you. So if you’re interested in using custom software to streamline your business—especially on the operations and warehouse side—listen in to hear all the cool things Patrick is doing to run his business much more smoothly. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2DIW2sW 

Today on the show, I’ve got a guest who’s long overdue: Scott Voelker of TheAmazingSeller.com. Scott is a well-known guy in the Amazon space, he knows a tremendous amount about the platform, and he has sold tons and tons of products, so today we’re doing a deep dive with someone who knows Amazon inside and out. We cover where there’s still opportunity left within the platform, common mistakes sellers make, the state of reviews in the second half of 2018, some of his favorite tools, and a bunch of other things that you don’t want to miss. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2zr7G7k 

Today’s show is all about retargeting. I’m joined by the co-founder of Shoelace, Reza Khadjavi, who is here to share what makes a great retargeting ad, advice for managing your budget, and much more. Since his company specializes in retargeting—especially for Shopify stores—we cover a lot of ground today. Listen in to learn how to optimize your campaigns if you’re already running them, and if you’re not, you’ll hear lots of great tips for getting started the right way. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2QD2HqP 

Today I’m joined by Kristina Kurcink, a friend of mine who has spent over a decade working at Nike in roles ranging from design all the way to manufacturing. Being responsible for a lot of the production in Asia, Kristina has seen the whole process leading up to the famous footwear coming off the line. In this episode, she shares key lessons she learned during her ten years working for Nike, particularly some of the manufacturing lessons she learned from being on the ground in Asia. So if you’re doing your own manufacturing—or thinking about getting into it soon—you don’t want to miss hearing what Kristina has to say, as it could help you avoid mistakes and save money. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2NjjksH 

Today’s episode is going to be slightly different than usual. I recently lost a bet and had to take Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com on a three-day road trip around Montana, and during that trip, we recorded a few episodes that we wanted to share. (You can find the other two on his podcast.) While we were on the road, we talked about tons of stuff, so this is kind of a free-ranging episode that covers email deliverability hacks, raising kids as entrepreneurs, and more. Listen in to hear it all now! You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2MF14dU 

When it comes to collaborating with overseas factories, there are certain things any ecommerce store owner should know. So today I’ve got Nathan Resnick from Sourcify—a company that helps store owners pick the right factories for their design products and streamline their sourcing, design, and development—on the show to discuss how things work in China. Nathan has had tons of experience over there learning the language and culture, and he travels there six or more times per year, so he has a great understanding of the country. In this episode, he shares the logistics of selling and exporting goods to China, environmental policies being enacted over there, and some of the misunderstandings Westerners tend to have. Listen in to get a unique perspective on China from someone who knows the country really well. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2NDV4i3 

Facebook is one of the biggest traffic channels out there right now, and I’m sure plenty of you listening are running ads on that platform, or at least thinking about it. Admittedly, I’ve only gotten into Facebook ads in the last few months, and it turns out I made some pretty big mistakes along the way. Thankfully, I had Michael Jackness of Terran.com and Miracle Wanzo of HipUndies.com take a peek at what I was doing and give me some pointers, which I'm going to share with you today. If you’re brand new to Facebook ads, or even if you’re already running some, take a listen and learn from the blunders I made so you can optimize your ads and increase your ROI—without learning the hard way like I did. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2wsKB1C 

So often, when we think about ecommerce, we think about putting a physical item into a box and shipping it somewhere, but that doesn’t have to be the case. You can run an ecommerce store or a business without any inventory at all. Just ask today's guest, Niall O’Malley of eTrainToday.com. Niall started his digital products business back in 2011, and he’s here to share how it all works, some of the downsides of selling digital products (because of course, like anything, there are some downsides), and everything in between. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2P27Esh 

Shopify bans the sales of guns and accessories, even those legal in the U.S., Kroger Gets Into Online Grocery with “Kroger Ship”, Amazon rumored to be in the running to acquire Landmark Theatres, and more. You can see the full show notes for this episode at  https://www.ecommercefuel.com/august-21-2018/. The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and interesting content around the web from the previous two weeks.  

Over the last decade or so, I’ve managed a bunch of big, stressful projects with a ton of moving pieces, so I know how tricky it can be to keep things running smoothly. That’s why today’s episode is all about how to manage major projects without all the headaches. I’m going to share what I’ve learned from my experience, the strategy I employ, and more to help save you some agony and anguish in your next major project. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2LZUzkH

What comes to mind when you think of Wal-Mart? What about Target? It’s amazing how the two massive retailers can be perceived so differently. Perhaps even more amazing is that Target is the more profitable of the two, despite the fact that Wal-Mart is about six times as big. How is Target able to do that with less scale? What are they doing right? Here to answer those questions are Carrie McAleer of D.a. Davidson & Company and eCommercefuel’s own copywriter extraordinaire, Laura Serino. Listen in to learn what Target can teach us about building better, more profitable ecommerce stores. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2AejVXg 

Drew Sanocki is back on the show to share some very interesting things he’s been up to lately. Not only has he had exciting adventures traveling the world with his family, but he's also had some cool adventures in the private equity space. Today he dives into the details about different deals he’s involved with, compensation, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2LncK3C 

Today we’re continuing our series on building relationships, but instead of advice for creating stronger connections, this episode is all about what not to do. After all, if we’re working hard to expand our professional networks, we can’t let these simple mistakes negate our efforts. So listen in to hear the 14 faux pas that are sure to sabotage your connections before you have a chance to make them. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2NKX48D 

Amazon's Prime Day is once again the biggest Sales Day in its History, Shopify will roll out augmented reality this fall, Apple introces new Macbook Pro features, and more. You can see the full show notes for this episode at https://www.ecommercefuel.com/july-24-2018/. The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and interesting content around the web from the previous two weeks.