Ecommerce Evolution

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

There are two critical ways Patent Law impacts online merchants: Making sure you protect your unique products and intellectual property (IP) Making sure you don’t infringe on someone else’s patents   My guest for this episode is Patent Attorney, Rich Goldstein.  Rich is a wealth of knowledge on patent law and has carved out a niche in the eCommerce space.  I am NOT a legal expert, to say the least, so I was really excited to dive into this topic and learn more myself.   Here’s a look at what we covered: When should you consider a patent and how much do they cost? What’s the number 1 reason for a patent? What are the 2 factors to see if a product is patentable? Talk about the different enough test? 2 Types of patents and when to consider each type How to protect against knock off and specifically protecting yourself on Amazon. How do you avoid patent infringement? Top resources and guides for patents and IP.    

I’m convinced that the most successful eCommerce companies in the years to come will be those who build a brand.   Building a community, telling a brand story that resonates, building products that people are passionate about, differentiating from the competition - all are part of what it asked to build a successful brand. Companies that just learn a few tricks and tactics to sell more on Amazon or those that rely on just a few google traffic hacks, or those who only sell products that are available from other sellers are in a much weaker position than those who build a brand. That’s why I was super excited to bring on the show a brand building powerhouse like Rick Cesari. Rick has been involved with some pretty stellar brands over the years including the George Foreman Grill, GoPro Cameras, Sonicare Toothbrush, Oxiclean and others. He knows what it takes to position and market a product to make turn it into a massive winner.   Here’s a look at what we cover: Using direct response ads principles and building

Whether you’re planning to sell your eCommerce business in 1 year or 3 years or never, the information in this podcast is pure eCommerce gold. Regardless of your exit plans, it’s important to know how to make your business more valuable now.     My guest for this episode is Joe Valley, Director of Brokerage Services at Quiet Light Brokerage.  Joe is a seasoned eComm expert and a former business owner. As a broker of eCommerce businesses his perspective is unique and insightful.  Here’s a look at what we discuss:   What is my eComm business worth?  Everyone wants to know this. Joe lays out some quick guidelines to keep in mind.   The 4 Pillars of a sellable company.  The beauty of these pillars is that they also will help you run a better business NOW! Biggest mistakes people make when they decide to sell? Biggest success story of someone who sold? Most important financial metrics to determine value? The story of profitability and why cash flow isn’t the whole story Trend analysis and how it impacts value H

The company with the best data feeds wins.  That’s maybe not the kind of comment you hear too often and it’s not going to be the headline for any motivational posters.  But, there is some truth to it.   On this episode my guest is Brian Roizen, Co-Founder and Chief Architect for Feedonomics, a full-service product feed platform.  While it’s not always true that the company with the best data feed wins, I do believe that your marketing efforts can only be as good as the data that feeds them.     In this episode we get slightly nerdy, but also really practical.  Here’s a look at what we cover.   - Why it’s worth the time to build a good feed.  In a saturated environment you have to differentiate.  A good data feed is one way to help your products stand out.   - How the perfect feed + perfect campaign structure is where you can really gain a competitive edge in Google Shopping and other channels.   - Top feed mistakes to avoid   - Amazon feed tips for world-class Amazon product listings - How to automate Amazon

While I’ve spent most of my marketing career focused on driving traffic that converts, I know the importance of a good landing page and sales funnel.  A few months ago I met The Lady Boss. Kaelin Poulin and her husband Brandon when I spoke at an event in Atlanta.   I was struck by how good they’ve been at building funnels, building community, and selling products.  First a little about Brandon, then an overview of our discussion.   Brandon Poulin is CEO and Co-Founder of LadyBoss, the first global weight loss system and support community for women. With the help of his rockstar wife Kaelin and their leadership team, he has helped transform the lives of over 140,000 customers across the world. With its 4 unique product lines having accumulated tens of millions in revenue, Brandon and his team at LadyBoss are disrupting the weight loss industry by simply focusing on helping women lose weight while loving themselves again.   What we cover in this episode: How to approach building a new funnel? Keys to a succ

When I first met Charlie Youakim the CEO and co-founder or Sezzle I was surprised by a few things he told me: Millennials prefer to pay with debit cards Only 1 in 3 millennials have credit cards Not having credit cards impacts the way millennials shop online and most don’t like the hassle of applying for a card.   Some regulations put into place after the recession in 2008 like prohibiting credit card companies from marketing on college campuses and raising the legal age to sign up for a credit card to 21 instead of 18 have all played into this.     Sezzle has put together an interesting product that allows both merchants and customers to get what they want.  The interesting thing is that Sezzle didn’t start with their current offering. As a long-time entrepreneur I was fascinated to hear how Sezzle pivoted from their original idea (which just didn’t take off) to its current offering with great success.     How outerwear company 686 raised AOVs by 22% and increased total sales by 5% by offering paym

While exit pops, lead magnets, page takeovers are not necessarily new, I love the approach that Lindsey and her team at Hello Bar take to improve online conversions.   I met Lindsey through a good friend of mine and was immediately impressed with her approach. She’s strategic in her use of conversion tools.  Many merchants just sort of throw tools together and hope that something works. Anyone who’s listened to this podcast for any length of time knows that I’m a huge fan of good data and letting data speak.  Lindsey takes a data driven approach to creating better use of conversion tools and lead magnets.   Here’s a quick look at what we dive into on this call: Why customers actually prefer page takeovers to other exit pops (and the numbers back it up) Headline tips from marketing masters and why your current headlines might suck How Neil Patel gets more conversions on his properties Headline formulas to get more clicks, signups and sales Lead magnet ideas that drive conversion vs. lead magnets that

f you aren’t using YouTube at least for remarketing - you’re missing out.  With over 1 Billion monthly users and average session durations of over 40 min. (longer than what most people spend on Facebook in a day) YouTube has the attention of your prospects and customers.     Not only does YouTube have your prospects and customers eyes and ears, they also have a really attractive advertising offering - TrueView.  With the TrueView pre-roll (aka “before” videos) you as the advertiser only pays if someone actually watches your video or clicks through to your site. If someone skips before the :30 mark, you pay nothing.  Pretty cool.   Throw some really advanced audience targeting features on top of that and you have all kinds of options for both top and bottom of the funnel marketing on YouTube.     This episode is a recording of a talk I gave in San Diego at Social Media Marketing World.  In it I cover the following:   How your prospects are using YouTube and how that should influence your strategy The best

  Tracey Wallace has a unique perspective on eCommerce.  As Editor-in-Chief at BigCommerce she has the distinct privilege of rubbing shoulders with the top eCommerce brands on the BigCommerce platform.  And the BigCommerce is home to some pretty impressive eCommerce stores such as Skullcandy, Cargill, Sharp, Camelbak and more….   In this podcast we talk about some key eCommerce success factors and how some of the best and brightest store owners on BigCommerce are winning.  We dive into important topics such as:   Why you need to spend time perfecting your Product Detail Pages (PDPs).  As a reference see what companies like Bliss World Cosmetics, Kelty and Solo store have created amazing PDPs.   How to build community by leveraging micro influencers and by creating amazing content. Payments! How understanding Amazon Pay, Apple Pay and Consumer Financing can help you improve checkout and increase conversion rates.   Plus more!  

Even if you’re on another platform you have to pay attention to what Shopify is up to. Now with over 500,000 stores using the platform, when Shopify makes a shift the whole industry feels it.   I wanted to know the latest and greatest from Shopify so I invited on the King of Shopify himself, Kurt Elster on to the podcast.   In this episode we dig into some new releases and how they impact you including:   How Shopify Stacks up in the ecommerce platform ecosystem Shopify myths that need to be busted - such as “Shopify is bad for SEO.” Dynamic check out - Now that Amazon’s one click checkout patent has expired Shopify has built their own version...and it’s awesome. Now Fraud protection is built in and available for those who use Shopify pay. Want to get all of your marketing app data in one place?  You can with Shopify’s new Marketing dashboard. Kit how you can have a legitimate automated “bot” employee Thinking of replatforming?  What questions should you ask before you do? Plus more!

To scale an ecommerce business you can’t be a one-trick pony when it comes to traffic generation.  Pushing past 7 figures into 8 figures and beyond requires a focus on reaching customers at every stage of the shopping funnel.  Having a “hodge podge” mix of campaigns won’t cut it either. You need a team of campaigns that attract customers at different stages of the funnel and pulls them through to conversion.     Recently I spoke at a marketing conference in St. Louis on the topic of full funnel growth.  I outlined 7 keys for smart full funnel growth including:   Why You Need a Team of Campaigns - how getting your campaigns to work together is a lot like building a world-class basketball team.   Better measurement - when you apply the wrong measurements to your campaigns you stifle growth.  Bad data leads to killing successful campaigns prematurely or running weak campaigns for too long.   How Google Shopping, AdWords and YouTube work together - While Google Shopping is super competitive now, I remain extremel

I know what you're thinking…Ross and Rachel?!?  From Friends?  Well, no, but this is even better (for your business). It’s really Ross Johnson and Rachel Bell of Trill Media. One of the topics that I'm super interested in is influencer marketing.  What was made popular by the Kardashians is actually something that's been around forever - endorsements.  But with social influencers it's a whole new ball game and one you can do and succeed at…and sometimes for as little as $100 paid to an influencer.   Along with influencer marketing we also lay a foundation for growth using Instagram.  Many of the fastest growing eComm brands I know are investing both time and money into Instagram.   Here are some of the growth tips we tackle in this episode: - How to collaborate with influencers - How to partner with complementary brands on Insta - Tips for using giveaways to add engaged followers - How to use Story Takeovers  - How to be transformational rather than transactional  Check out the episode here…