Ecommerce Evolution

Today's guest is Zak Stambor. Zak is the Managing Editor at Vertical Web Media, the largest publisher in the e-commerce field, and famed founders of the ever-popular Internet Retailer magazine. Zak has a large role in putting out one of the most widely celebrated editions of IR Magazine: the IR Hot 100. In today's episode, we highlight our 10 favorite e-commerce companies from the IR Hot 100 list. We talk about what makes these companies stand out, covering everything from business models to innovative marketing strategies. Get insight into growing trends in e-commerce, discover companies to watch and learn from, and enjoy a bonus 11th company spotlight! 

Today's guest is Mike Ugino. Mike is the Co-Founder and CMO at Sellbrite, an L.A. based multi-channel listing and inventory management platform. Prior to Sellbrite, Mike was an IR300 Merchant responsible for top and bottom line growth across a portfolio of 20 websites. With a background in product marketing, with a focus on ecommerce and branding, Ugino is one of the top minds in online marketplace selling. In today's episode, we talk about the fast growing world of online marketplaces. We talk about selling on giants like Amazon, Walmart.com, Jet.com, and some you may not expect. We talk pros and cons of marketplace selling, fulfillment by Amazon, the importance of diversification, and how to grow your brand in a sustainable way. If you sell products online, if you've been thinking about selling on Amazon, Walmart, Jet, or other marketplaces, this episode will provide valuable insight. 

Today's guest is Frederick Vallaeys. Frederick was one of the first 500 employees at Google. He spent 10 years working on Adwords, was part of the original quality score team, and helped small businesses all over the country with their Adwords accounts as an "Adwords evangelist". Frederick has since co-founded the Adwords tool Optmyzr, a robust tool that makes working with Adwords easier by providing unique data insights, one-click optimizations, and advanced reporting. Frederick is also one of the top speakers in the paid search and adwords space.  In today's episode, we get into some fun stories about the early days with Google, mistakes merchants make with Adwords, Google Shopping strategies, little known features of Adwords that you or your agency should be using, and more. Whether you are a seasoned Adwords veteran or you hire an agency to handle your campaigns, you can expect to gain some insights from today's interview.

Today's guest is Russ Henneberry. Russ is a content marketing rockstar who has worked with the likes of Neil Patel & Crazy Egg, Salesforce.com, Network Solutions, and many others. He is the Editorial Director for Digital Marketer, the company behind the ever-popular Traffic and Conversion Summit. Russ is also author of the new book "Digital Marketing for Dummies", which he wrote alongside digital marketing superstar Ryan Deiss. In today's episode, we talk about content marketing for eCommerce. A lot of merchants just flat get this wrong, and Russ digs into important topics like frequency, strategy, and how to create content that actually helps with conversion.

Today's guest is Ezra Firestone. Ezra is the founder and CEO of Smart Marketer, and a serial entrepreneur with over $18 Million in projected revenue from just two of his eCommerce lines. He is truly a wizard when it comes to traffic generation, email marketing, and really anything eCommerce related.  In today's episode, we talk about Ezra's initial claim to fame: landing pages. We'll spend most of our time talking about the 'money pages' on your site: product detail pages. Every conversion path passes through these pages, making them crucial to optimizing conversions. Ezra will share some of his favorite layouts, must-have elements, mistakes to avoid, as well as companies to learn from.