Ecommerce Evolution

We’re all but guaranteed to see another record holiday season on Amazon this year. But that does not guarantee that you will have a banner holiday season. This year is sure to be challenging for online sellers. More shopping will take place in stores than last year during the height of the pandemic. Ad cost are also on the rise. Combine all of that with increased competition and you see why success this holiday season won't be easy. Getting the most from the Cyber 5 and beyond will really boil down to three things: Covering the basics. Proper inventory levels. Understanding  key selling dates and Amazon’s deadlines. Getting the right badges. Having listings optimized.  Without the basics in place, you’ll be seriously behind this holiday season. We’ll help you get ready.   Getting an edge. This year is sure to be uber competitive for Amazon sellers. Do you have your lighting deals and coupon strategies ready? How’s your storefront, A+ content, and Amazon posts?  Is your Amazon ad strategy primed and ready? We

Are you fully prepared for Holiday 2021?  This year is sure to be unique.  While eCommerce is still growing, it’s growing at a slower rate than last year.  Stores are opening, and, for now at least, shoppers are spending more money on experiences than they were during the height of the pandemic.  So how can you maximize your online holiday sales this year? In this episode, we listen in to the recording of the recent webinar we hosted that covers 7 ways to have a record holiday season including: How to leverage the latest YouTube ad formats to get more exposure and more conversions at a lower cost. What you’re likely missing with your current search and shopping ad structure and how to fix it.   Why now is a great time to consider Google Smart Shopping Campaigns How to deliver the right holiday message at the right time How to combat rising ad costs Plus more!

With iOS 14 and privacy updates throwing advertisers for a loop and increased ad costs making reaching your ad goals harder than ever, scale on Facebook may seem illusive.  On today’s episode, I wanted to hear from an up-and-coming Facebook ad manager and co-host of the Rich Ad, Poor Ad podcast Dyland Carpenter.  Dylan specializes in eComm media buying and is fanatical about testing, experimenting, and finding ways to scale ad accounts.  Here’s a quick look at what we cover in today’s episode: Common mistakes keeping you from scaling with Facebook ads Why creative is everything and how to approach creative testing Finding the winning campaign formula - learn how Dylan uses controls and tests to always be leveling up. Thoughts on iOS 14  Budgeting for scale and how to be aggressive without breaking the algorithm  Plus more!

Are you ready to crack the YouTube ads code?  Ready to learn how to win now and into the future even as privacy issues are causing media buyers to pull their hair out? Here’s the Audio from a recent, wildly popular webinar I presented at.  We had just over 2,000 people attend to hear our Winning Formula for Scale for YouTube ads for eCommerce. This presentation is fast-paced and full of practical tips and examples.  Here are 3 reasons to listen:   Learn how top eComm brands are profitably spending $500k per month on YouTube ads.  Many were spending $0 on Google ads just a few months or years ago. Diversity.  In a world of tracking issues, algo updates, and constant uncertainty - you need to diversify your customer acquisition channels. Understand how creative, campaign, and audience strategies work hand-in-hand to deliver stellar results.    

Several of my successful eComm friends are selling all or a portion of their businesses right now.  It makes sense.  Ecommerce valuations are at an all time high.  Also, when you consider that entrepreneurs make 50% or more of all the money they will EVER make from their business when they sell it - you have to be thinking about when and how you want to sell your business.     In this episode I interview my friend and expert M&A advisor, Joe Valley.  Joe is a partner at Quietlight Brokerage, one of the leading online-focused M&A advisory firms in the world.  Before joining the team in 2012, Joe sold his own business through Quiet Light. Since then, he has helped facilitate nearly a half billion in online exits and now is the author of the bestselling book, The EXITpreneur’s Playbook - How to Sell Your Online Business for Top Dollar.   Here’s a look at what we discuss in this episode:  What is an EXITpreneur and why it pays to think and operate like one Why you should start “training” for an exit now

Nearly every day we have eCommerce companies reaching out to us wanting to know how to grow their eCommerce brands using YouTube ads.  YouTube ads are both exciting and mysterious to most store owners.   In this episode, I’m bringing you insights from some of the best and brightest minds at OMG Commerce. This is the audio recording from a recent YouTube ads expert panel that I moderated.  This was a really fun panel for me because it was made up entirely of my team.  I brought in 6 of our top YouTube ad specialists from team OMG to answer your burning YouTube questions.  I think you’ll really learn a lot and enjoy this format.  Here’s a look at the questions we dive into: What are the best YouTube audiences to launch with and what are the best audiences to SCALE with? How are YouTube ads different from Facebook and IG ads and different from ads on other platforms? How long does it take to start reaching your CPA or CAC goals? What kind of scale is possible with YouTube ads When things go wrong on YouTube - w

Prime Day 2021 was a year of firsts.  It was the first year Prime Day took place in the 2nd quarter.  From 2015 to 2019 Prime Day was in July.  In 2020, due to the pandemic, Prime Day was moved to October and became the de facto kickoff to holiday shopping.   This year was also the first year that Prime Day experienced year-over-year growth of 10% or less.  But when the 2-day event brings in $10-11 billion in sales, any year-over-year growth still represents HUGE growth in real dollars.   For this episode, I brought in OMG’s Amazon Director Chris Tyler to help unpack what we experienced with our clients this year during Prime Day.  Here’s a look at what we discuss: Some surprises we saw in the OMG client sales data How advertisers may have been more excited than shoppers this Prime Day Prime Day may not be a great fit for every seller - some categories crushed it during Prime Day, other categories were “meh.” Why inventory issues for many sellers influenced the prevalence of deep discounts and likely took so

You want low CPMs (like the early days of Facebook)?  You want massive engagement from eager shoppers?  Are you looking for a little virality to go with that?  Then you need to consider TikTok and SnapChat ads.  I’ve had more clients and other agency friends ask about TikTok and Snap ads in the last few weeks than I can ever remember before.  Both platforms are still in their infancy from an ads standpoint (with SnapChat being more established than TikTok).  Both still offer tremendous opportunities for first adopters who are willing to learn the platforms.     Today I’m bringing on two experts, Madison Grover VP of Social from Pouch, and Anders Piiparinen CEO from Wallaroo Media.  They’re giving us a crash course on what we need to know about TikTok and Snap ads. Why you should build TikToks and NOT ads How creating consistently great content on TikTok can have a compounding or “resurfacing” affect How to repurpose TikTok content on other platforms Why you can’t repurpose YouTube or IG content on TikTok Und

Every website is leaking sales and conversions somewhere.  While I love talking about driving more traffic, sometimes the best thing you can do for your business is improve your conversion rate.  In this episode, I interview the founder of Conversion Crimes, Quinn Zeda and we discuss the most common eCommerce conversion crimes she sees.  If you fix even a few of these you’ll see a meaningful improvement in your website performance.  Here’s a look at what we discuss: Understanding visual hierarchy and the metaphor of volume knobs Creating a process of testing and iteration vs. launching a full site overhaul Using customer intel to create marketing breakthroughs Keys to better navigation and menu structure How to not confuse or overwhelm your visitors Using action colors Plus more!

Ryan McKenzie is doing what he can to help save the planet.  His super-effective laundry detergent strips are keeping millions of plastic laundry jugs out of landfills each year.  He also wants to save your brand from bad video advertising. I invited Ryan on the show again because his approach to video advertising is just awesome.  Here at OMG Commerce, we have the privilege of running all of his Google and YouTube ads so we’ve seen firsthand their rocket ship growth.  They were Canada’s 2nd fastest growing start-up and have grown from 7 employees to 200 in record time.  In this episode, we break down Ryan’s  7-step framework behind his video ads that are fueling $100k/day in ad spend.  Here’s a look at what we cover:   What is a powerful pattern interrupt and how to use one. Why having a villain in your ads is a good thing.  Hint: Your villain probably isn’t a person. How many and how to most effectively use Calls to Action. Biggest surprises on what works and what doesn’t. How to use logic and emot

If you think the Amazon marketplace is wild right now, you should have seen it in 2003.  My guest today is Jason Boyce.  Jason is a former Top 200 Seller on Amazon - a spot he held for 10 years before selling his company.  Now he’s frequently interviewed and quoted in the media on all things Amazon.   He was recently interviewed for a PBS Frontline Documentary called Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos.  We discuss some hot takes on broader Amazon topics, plus dive into specific tips for sellers.   Here’s a look at what we discuss: How big is Amazon really…and why it’s actually BIGGER than you think Amazon and antitrust and what it means for sellers How little improvements to CTR and conversion rate create a compounding effect Owning the digital shelf - what it means and what you should be focusing on Controlling your brand.  How to proactively control and protect your brand Lessons from Jason’s new book - The Amazon Jungle

The death of email has been boldly proclaimed and then retracted so many times I’ve lost count over the last 10 years.  Finally, I think most people agree that email marketing is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.   This episode is a double-header in terms of topic but still delivered in the same amount of time as usual.  It’s a “two topics for the price of one” special! Itay Paz is an online marketing veteran of 25 years.  He’s also the publisher of the Morning Dough newsletter and an SEO expert.   Morning Dough is one of my favorite newsletters.  It’s one of the few that I open regularly.  In this episode, we talk about how and why eCommerce brands should be using email marketing beyond just transactional emails. We also talk Web Core Vitals and how Google is going to use certain core performance metrics to score your site.  How your site scores in Google’s eyes will have a direct impact on both your SEO and your paid ad performance. How to land on a newsletter strategy that fits your perso

Andrew Morgans is a true OG when it comes to success on Amazon.  Andrew is the founder of Marknology (think marketing combined with technology) an Amazon brand accelerator and the host of the Startup Hustle podcast.  He’s been helping brands grow on Amazon for 9 years.  Needless to say, a LOT has changed on Amazon in 9 years and Andrew has seen a little bit of everything.  In this episode, we go deep into what successful brands are doing right now on Amazon and where things are headed on the platform…. Andrew’s philosophy of “if your product can’t sell with your photos and videos alone, you need to go back to the drawing board.” How your copy and photos should flow How A+ content, storefronts and copy really come down to just 2 things Andrew’s favorite tools that he uses daily…but when he doesn’t use them to make decisions. How to view Amazon ads in light of how the advertising industry is shifting Going international - Amazon is doubling down on international growth…why now is the time to consider it for yo

This is a special episode. My very first podcast appearance as a guest was on Austin Brawner’s Ecommerce Influence podcast back in 2015. Austin is one of the sharpest minds in Ecommerce. He’s either friends with or has consulted with some of the biggest names in DTC Ecomm like MVMT Watches, Pura Vida Bracelets, Snack Nation, and many more. On this episode, Austin and I interview each other! We dive into some pretty wide-ranging, but highly relevant topics. Including: Why Austin is so excited about subscription businesses and who’s running them well How different business models could be your next growth evolution How privacy could create a renaissance of sorts when it comes to the value of good ad creatives How pricey changes will impact audience building and audience targeting Formulas for creating high-converting content Shifting your role in business to greater growth Plus more!

Prime Day is one of the biggest shopping events of the year.  We now fully expect Prime Day to land in June of 2021 (at the time of recording this podcast we were still uncertain of whether it would be June or July).  OMG’s Amazon Director, Chris Tyler and Amazon Specialist Amber Norell join me for this week’s episode to break down what we’re expecting for this year’s Prime Day and what you need to do to get ready.   If you do nothing as an Amazon seller, you’ll likely see some lift in sales for Prime Day.  If you use some of the tactics we discuss in this podcast, you could generate some record sales days for your brand.  Here’s a look at what we cover in this episode.   Prime Day discounts and coupons - which is usually better and how to structure your offers. Amazon Live! - a perfect complement to your Prime Day deals Lightning Deals Amazon posts How to maximize your storefront for Prime Day Does and don’ts to get your listings ready for Prime Day Plus more.  Listen to the full episode or read our comple

Matt Clark knows what it takes to scale a business.  He’s the CEO of Amazing.com the creator of the most successful information product of all time - Amazing Selling Machines.   He’s also the co-owner of Lifeboost, a company that he and his business partner Charles Livingston have grown from just $17k per month in sales to over $2 million in monthly sales in just a few short years.  So that begs the question - How did they do it?  That’s what we dive into in this episode.  We discuss their keys to scale both from a marketing and a product development standpoint.  Here’s a snapshot of what we cover: - How focusing on the hook, headline and offer in their ads allowed them to scale from a few thousand in spend to over $400,000 in monthly Facebook spend. - Their simple approach to testing and optimizing that doesn’t require any fancy software or split testing tools. - How they are building their business to sell to the right investors - How they forecast and measure to make sure they are constantly improving and

Myth: marketing texts are annoying. Truth:  bad marketing texts are annoying.  Good text messages foster customer loyalty and drive sales.   Ready for the 4 Keys to powerful text marketing right now?  While text marketing isn’t overly complex, there is certainly a right way and a wrong way to approach it.  81% of all shoppers have signed up for text messaging from a brand.  Customers are clearly open to receiving texts from you.  If you approach text marketing strategically, your customers will even welcome your texts.  Arri B is here to show you how to effectively do that.  Here’s what we cover in this episode.     Choosing the right text platform No list, no bueno.  Learn the most effective ways to build a list fast. Using your text list to build community What to text?  Learning an effective content strategy for your text campaigns Optimizing and split testing  Plus, more!    

How would you like to generate a whopping $250k in sales on a new product launch without running Facebook ads and without offering deep discounts?  Sound impossible?  It’s not.  It’s the magic of Gated Launches. So what’s a gated launch?  It’s a product launch that’s only available to VIPs or top customers.  While it may sound complex, it’s really not.  It does take some work to build a VIP community. But, if you do it right, it’s actually pretty easy to maintain.  In this episode Jordan West, founder and CMO of Little and Lively, a children’s apparel brand, breaks down how his gated launches have generated as much as $120k in sales in the first two hours after going live.    Here’s a look at what we discuss in this episode: The psychology behind gated launches and why they are so powerful How to build a healthy, vibrant VIP group that is low maintenance How to foster the proper buying mentality in your VIP group How to harness VIP feedback for new product development The secret of using personalized 1-to-1

If you’re like me, then you're fascinated by the stories of “tech geniuses.”  I never get tired of hearing the origin stories of great tech startups and geniuses behind them (The Social Network is still one of my favorite movies).  In this episode I interview Shawn Livermore, author of the new book Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius. Shawn’s new book uncovers some of the magic behind blockbuster tech products like Gmail, Dropbox, Snapchat, Ring, Bitcoin and more.  We bust some long-held myths and underscore how you can learn from the success of tech icons.  Here’s a look at what we cover: How moving slow is the new fast in some key areas How believing you have to be a genius to succeed in business (even tech)  is a myth How to properly incubate ideas and allow your brain to work the way it works best The story of Gmail and it’s creator Paul Buchheit  The story of Polaroid and how to innovate

How quickly can you find the following key metrics from your business? Contribution margin.  Inventory turn ratio.   Return on inventory (the other ROI).   If you struggled a bit finding those answers (or if you just want to go to the next level), you need to listen to this episode with John Canetta.  This episode was super fun for me and the content is what separates eComm companies who just get by vs. those who thrive (and end up with big exits).  It’s a must-listen for serious store owners.    You HAVE to know your numbers.  And your P&L may be lying to you and you don’t even know it.   How his hedgehog concept allows him to consistently hit 80% margins vs. 40-50% like some of his competitors. His piggybank metaphor and how it shapes his decision making Marketing is fun, but operations are where your profits are Understanding your numbers and making it SIMPLE -  How to look at and use Post Aggregate Gross, Contribution Margin, and Return on Inventory to hit his goals John’s 3 keys to business success