Ecommerce Evolution

Building an irresistible culture.  Creating raving fans. Treating your customers like friends of 10+ years.  These are some of the philosophies that’s taken LiveBearded from a single product lifestyle business to now a leader in the men’s personal care space.  The only thing more impressive than Anthony Mink’s beard is the culture of raving fans he and co-founder Spencer Bryce have built together.  Mink has gone from traveling to 30 countries in 7 years to now having a warehouse, office and an incredible team.   This episode is critically important to any eCommerce company.  Especially as competition heats up and more and more products are becoming commoditized.   Here’s a look at what we cover: Why culture is the most valuable asset you have How adding value should be your objective ...but this doesn’t always mean cash value.   Why every touch point matters and how to create memorable experiences How Live Bearded has created its own mottos and lingo that fans have adopted.   Treat your customers the way you

Kiri Masters is the founder & CEO of Bobsled Marketing and marketplace institute and host of ECommerce BrainTrust. Author of Amazon Expansion Plan and new book Amazon for CMOs.  We talk Amazon a lot on this podcast.  I wanted to have Kiri on to discuss her philosophy both in how to expand and how to manage growth.  We discuss some really interesting topics including: What CMOs of big brands know about Amazon that we don’t Who you need on your Amazon team How to assemble your own all-star Amazon team? How to take advantage of the full Amazon stack rather than just focusing on one area. Plus more!

Arri is a whizkid of sorts when it comes to messenger marketing and SMS marketing.  At the ripe old age of 22 he’s leading his team at Conversmart and has worked with some pretty impressive brands including Tuft & Needle, Poo-Pourri and the Beard Club just to name a few.      I know very little about SMS marketing for eCommerce so I was super excited to have Arri on the podcast to learn how he does it.  We both spoke at Ezra Firestone’s event in Seattle a few months ago. I was so impressed by his talk that we immediately scheduled a time to record the podcast.     Here’s a quick look at what we cover on this episode.     Some stats around mobile usage related to text messaging that are important to note? How does SMS marketing compare to email marketing What are some of the top ways eCommerce companies should consider using SMS marketing How to grow SMS subscribers Most common SMS campaigns and tactics with some real examples How to combine SMS + email + messenger for mind-boggling results

To date, this was one of my favorite episodes to record.  Partially because I love Amazon and love hearing behind the scenes stories from people who’ve worked there.  Brad does share a couple of great stories.  Mostly I love this interview because the advice shared is pure gold.  Brad Moss has a unique perspective on business and growth. At Amazon he served as the first business lead over all of Seller Central.  To say he’s had the inside scoop on seller central would be a gross understatement.    I met Brad at an event in Miami.  When I found out he was a former Amazonian I was eager to find out a few things - 1. A good Jeff Bezos story.  2. What is was like to work there. The stories he told when we met and the stories told on this episode did not disappoint!   In this episode we cover some pretty powerful lessons including: How Amazon thinks about and deals with areas of the business that stop growing.  As you might guess, they don’t have warm and fuzzy sentiments here. How Amazon looks at analytics…this

Paulina Masson is the founder of Shopkeeper and a longtime Amazon seller.  She has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to pricing products. She understands the competitive forces behind pricing decisions as well as the psychological factors.   Ultimately you want to price in such a way to maximize total profits.  While you should consider profit per transaction, that might not be the ultimate metric to try and maximize.  Here’s what we look at: How to run pricing split test and why it’s so complex. How to price your products at launch including a free margin calculator How to balance competitive price factors with consumer perception and psychology When to end your price in 99, or 97 rather than 00.  And how a premium product or your target market might influence this. 3 Types of Shoppers on Amazon and how to price for each When and how to use coupons - when to do a % off vs. a $ off How price impacts conversion rates Plus more!

Is AI coming for all of our jobs?  As agencies and marketers, are we on the road to irrelevance?  Probably not fully, but our roles and our perspectives better shift and shift quickly.  Frederick Vallaeys is a brilliant marketer and programmer. He was one of Google’s first 500 employees and was on the original AdWords Quality Score team.  In this episode, we discuss how agencies and marketers of the near future should think more like pilots or doctors, or coaches (my metaphor). Pilots increasingly rely on instruments and AI to do their job.  So do doctors. But, deep expertise, strategy, and a human element are still really important. Here’s a hopeful but eyes-wide-open look at the future with Frederick Vallaeys.    How Quality Score was yesterday’s black box and AI is today’s black box. Using Fred’s Two Levels of Automation - Leveraging things like AI and Machine Learning (ML) and then creating a layer of automation to keep the machines in check.   How is AI most impacting marketing now and how will it impac

A few months ago I delivered a talk at Social Media Marketing World 2019 on how to create a full funnel with YouTube ads.  Feedback on the session was great so I wanted to share it here on the podcast.     Why YouTube ads? Watch time for “which product to buy” videos on YouTube doubled this past year. Nearly 70% of shoppers say they are open to learning about products on YouTube directly from brands. In this talk, we’ll explore 3 ways to utilize YouTube ads for growth. We’ll uncover 3 proven YouTube ad formulas to put the right video in front of the right prospect at the right time. We’ll also examine the best bidding strategies and winning campaign structures to implement for success.

Christian Zeron started selling vintage watches online in college.  We started mainly with some free time, a lot of creativity and a serious watch obsession (he’s a self-described watch geek).  He’s since leveraged that into millions of YouTube views, millions in sales and over 1.8 Million monthly page views… without running ads. I’m an ads guy so my experience with organic YouTube is minimal.  I wanted to have Christian on the podcast to walk through his story and to give us practical tips on how to succeed on YouTube with organic content. Here’s a look at what we cover: How Christian uses Gary V’s jab, jab, jab, right hook in his approach to YouTube content.   How he’s learned from and grown from his YouTube failures How he grew from 0 to 68,000 YouTube Subscribers and millions of views How he comes up with ideas for 3 shows a week that generates raving fans. How his new pivot was an epic failure and how he’s retooled to make it a smashing success. What watches are his personal favorite  Why selling a $10,

Casey Guass started Viral Launch as a broke 24-year-old college drop out.  The rest is history. It’s now one of the most beloved SaaS platforms for Amazon sellers.  Like most great companies it’s gone through some serious product evolutions. But, the core has remained the same - helping Amazon Sellers rank better on Amazon.   In this podcast, we cover a lot…and get pretty nerdy with data.  Here’s a quick look at what we discuss.  3 Amazon ranking factors you might be overlooking including considering your canonical url for better ranking on Google (we explain what this means in the podcast).  How conversion rate factors into organic rankings and what to do about it. Why you’re likely focusing on the wrong keywords and how to shift your approach. Casey’s 6-step road map for ranking a product on Amazon - this is pure gold.   Casey’s advice that he would NOT give to clients, but might try for selling his own products. Why you’re thinking about Amazon PPC is probably off a bit and how you should adjust.  How to

In just a few short years Bill D transitioned from investment banker to single brand eCommerce store owner, to now owning and leading a portfolio of 10 eComm brands through his company, Elements Brands.    I wanted to pick Bill’s brain - one, because he’s just wicked smart, but, two, because I think all eCommerce store owners could benefit from his perspective. In this power-house episode we uncover:  How Bill went from investment banker to owning a portfolio of growing eCommerce brands.   What Bill looks for when he’s considering buying an eCommerce business (there are lessons here for you, whether you’re looking to sell right now or not). Why diversity of traffic is so important and what to consider here. What’s the metric to rule all metrics? No, it’s not conversion rate, or AOV, or Return on Ad Spend. (Hint: you’re probably ignoring it or not calculating it the way you should.) Why profits are sanity and revenue is vanity. How well document processes build value now and later. Plus much, much more!

I’ve always loved the psychology behind why people buy.  It’s what originally attracted me to sales and marketing when I was in college.  I’ve always loved the study of persuasive headlines and compelling video ads. I’ll admit that I think less about shipping than I probably should. If we want to talk about pure conversion rates and growth, shipping is a huge deal.   That’s why I decided to invite Akhilesh Srivastava, CEO of Fenix Commerce, on to the show to talk about improving shipping, both pre and post-sale. Akhilesh knows a thing or two about this topic. He’s worked for big brands like Walmart, Nike, Petco, Staples, and Microsoft. Prior to starting Fenix Commerce, he was in charge of shipping and returns for eBay. He’s spent the last 10+ years living in the data behind shipping practices both on its impact on sales and the costs behind it for merchants. Here’s a quick look at some of the fascinating points we dive into: How studies of eBay customers consistently revealed that 2 of the top 5 reasons peop

Michael Jackness is the President & CEO of Terran.com - owner of multiple commerce brands including tactical.com, wildbaby.com, icewraps.com, color it and more.  He’s also the host of the EcomCrew podcast and is a fantastic trainer and speaker.  I got to hang out with Mike recently at an event and I was reminded of why so many people in the eComm space look up to him.  He’s a brilliant marketer and eComm store owner. In this podcast, we dive into some of the most powerful growth levers available to commence merchants today and how to best use them. What are Mike’s tips and advice online extension?  How important is it, and how and when should store owners consider it? Mike’s favorite tips for cross-selling & upselling because “you win or lose by what you do on the backend.”   The most under-leveraged assets Mike sees in his students’ businesses? Favorite growth levers to pull when tasked with growing an eComm biz. Some of your favorite recent marketing wins from Mike’s many eCommerce companies Underu

My guest today is a man who needs no introduction.  His podcast, Ecommerce Fuel, is one of the most downloaded Ecommerce podcasts on the planet.  And Andrew runs one of the largest most successful private eCommerce forums - EcommerceFuel.com. Each year Andrew sends out a poll to hundreds of successful merchants to get a pulse check on all things eCommerce.  It covers an incredible number of details including growth rates, conversion rates, On-Amazon and Off-Amazon performance, ad performance, profitability trends and much, much more.  I wanted to have Andrew on the podcast to dig into some of the most fascinating insights from the report and to share what we believe these insights mean to our community and to you as a merchant.  Here are a few things we cover: What is the future of drop-shipping as a business model? What surprises came from the on-Amazon growth stats that weren’t maybe as high as expected this year? The stark growth contrast between private label sellers vs. resellers The number #1 traffic s

As some of you may know, my very first foray into online marketing was in the crazy world of SEO.  That was circa 2004. After creating some wins for an online print shop I was hooked on SEO. In the early days of OMG Commerce SEO was our bread and butter.  Now it’s still an important channel, but as Google has become more of a pay-to-play environment, more companies come to us wanting help with ads. But…ignoring SEO is a mistake.  The best, biggest and enduring eCommerce companies have an SEO strategy and they execute it. My guest on the podcast today is one of the very first OMG Commerce employees, Brandi Johnston.  She runs our SEO department and works with Amazon organic optimization.    In this episode we cover a host of practical tips and insights related to SEO including: How SEO had changed since 2013 and what that means for us today. What are the easiest SEO wins merchants should focus on? What are some SEO wins that take a little more work but still pay off in the long run? What is a rel=canonical ta

Connor Young is a bit of a health nut - and an exercise enthusiast.  He’s also an entrepreneur.     He’s combined his passions into a powerful and growing commerce business called Ample Foods.  Connor and his team are doing a lot of things right with Ample. What potentially stands above the other wins is that they have achieved two very successful crowdfunding campaigns.  The first was a traditional crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, which set the platform’s record for highest funded project in the food category. The second was an equity crowdfunding campaign that raised just under $800,000 on a $15 million valuation.   If you’re launching a new product or considering a crowdfunding project or equity funding project you need to check out this episode.     Here’s a look at what we cover: 3 elements of any great crowdfunding pitch Why your crowdfunding pitch needs to go viral and how Connor did it for Ample Foods Use crowdfunding both to launch a company or a new product Why Connor would skip hiring a PR firm

The first glowing testimonial I heard about Joana Galvao was from Ezra Firestone.  Next was my buddy, Jared Mitchell of Skincare by Alana. Joana was described as a designer who “Gets it” - who understands how design impacts online experience and sales. She recently spoke at Traffic & Conversion Summit in San Diego and I heard she brought down the house.  So I wanted her to come on the podcast and talk about how design and visuals impact shopping behavior. Here’s a look at what we cover: The branding triad and where most businesses fall short How color can influence experience and results…and a truly mind-blowing laundry detergent user experience that illustrates this beautifully.  How we’re wired to make assumptions at the subconscious level about whether something is expensive or cheap, quality or shoddy…all within in seconds.  You need to incorporate this for your products! How your product packaging should engage all of the senses.   How to make your copy more visually appealing Joana’s 5-Step Process

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