Ecommerce Pulse

envision.io/49 Tucker Schreiber from Shopify's Growth and Marketing team joins me this week to talk ecommerce. After seeing one of the businesses that Tucker started, Shopify offered him a job, and he's continued starting online stores while working there. A few of the topics we discuss in this episode include: Should you go to college or start a business? What's it like to work at Shopify? How Tucker started a business selling maple bacon-flavored coffee and other unusual coffees, selling $40k in the first 3 months How some people are 100x more successful than others without being 100x smarter. What gives? Links mentioned on the show: Diggnation Flippa Empire Flippers Hooked Checklist Manifesto Airmail Boomerang Buffer fase.space @TuckerSchreiber Shopify Blog  

Kurt Elster is one of the most knowledgeable and fun-to-listen-to ecommerce pros I know. Kurt was kind enough to come on the show and share his ecommerce expertise, Shopify savvy, and marketing mastery to help you get more eyeballs on your products and improve your conversion rate. Kurt has his own podcast, the Unofficial Shopify Podcast. You can follow Kurt on Twitter @kurtinc and also be sure to check out KurtElster.com. Links referenced during the show: Podcast Motor Headphone.com KurtElster.com Ethercycle.com Help A Reporter Out PR Leads White Shark Media Kit CRM Klaviyo Shopify Entrepreneurs Facebook group An example of an awesome About page on Faucet Outlets  

Leighton is developing a new Shopify theme with loads of features and options. His drop shipping site suddenly stops making sales for a mysterious reason. Richard is trying out his first popup store. Shabbir gets a sudden unexplained boost in organic traffic. Listener questions answered about selling underwear online, how long it takes to break even, and more. This week's sponsor: Get a free audiobook today at AudibleTrial.com/EcommercePulse. Links referenced during the show: Shopify apps SocialShopWave Yotpo Other Ugmonk MeUndies ManPacks MailChimp Snap /r/ecommerce /r/entrepreneur How to support yourself financially while bootstrapping a business Startup Podcast Co-hosts Richard Lazazzera of ABetterLemonadeStand.com Shabbir Nooruddin of BootstrappingEcommerce.com Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Leighton returns from a hiatus and has launched a new drop shipping site. Richard doubles his conversion rate using 5 simple Shopify apps and has a bone to pick with Shopify app developers who charge too much. Shabbir is developing a BigCommerce app and Shopify app, and he's making $600+ per month in passive income from a drop shipping site that he transformed into an Amazon affiliate site. This week's sponsor: Get a free audiobook today at AudibleTrial.com/EcommercePulse. Links referenced during the show: Shopify apps Notify (new orders highlighted on site) Picreel (exit intent) GoDataFeed Other Richard’s blog post about starting a t-shirt business in 24 hours #TheGreatBuild 6-month update (Finch Goods) TheGrid.io - "AI" web design Co-hosts Richard Lazazzera of ABetterLemonadeStand.com Shabbir Nooruddin of BootstrappingEcommerce.com Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I’m talking with Drew Sanocki about how to use paid traffic to grow your ecommerce business. Drew founded DesignPublic.com, an online store that sells home furniture and decor, and he did it using the drop ship model. He built the business to where it was doing millions in revenue, seeing it through some real ups and downs, and eventually sold the business, as you’ll hear about in a few minutes. Today Drew and I will be talking specifically about paid traffic, as that’s his area of expertise. He currently runs an agency that helps online retailers set up and manage their paid traffic campaigns, so he’s got a lot of knowledge and experience about all things PPC. To hear the episode, click play above or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: Design Public Mineral.io Go Data Feed Data Feed Watch Drew Sanocki Drew Sanocki's story - eCommerce Fuel episodes 15 and 30 Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I’m talking with Rod Zwahlen from WhitePlum.com. You may remember Hilary Zwahlen from episode 39, and Rod and Hilary are married, so they are a cool example of a couple who are running an ecommerce business together. You may remember that Hilary originally started the business while also being a full-time Mom, and once the business took off, her husband Rod and his brother Jay both quit their jobs and joined the team. So today Rod and I will be talking about 5 common startup myths and how his experience with White Plum has proven that not all startups fit into the same mold. We also dig into some of the details about why White Plum has been so successful and their plans for future growth. To hear the episode, click play above or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: https://unroll.me/ http://jane.com/ Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I’m talking with my friend Robert, who started his online store last year selling RC cars, boats, and helicopters. Last month Robert and I exchanged a few emails and talked on Skype, and I wanted to have him on because he’s in a stage that I think a lot of us are in, where we’ve started a small ecommerce business but it hasn’t been as successful as we hoped. I talked about this two episodes ago with Shabbir, about how to know when to move on from an idea, but today Robert and I will be talking about what it’s like to still be going at it, struggling to grow your business day-by-day. We’re pretty much in the same life stage of our business--where it’s been around for at least a few months to a year, but we’re struggling to really get some traction with it. Robert expressed to me that he really wanted to have a transparent discussion about the struggles that can come with ecommerce, and he said that it seems like often you have people blogging and talking on podcasts about how they’ve been super-successful and made a lot of money, but that’s just not real life for many people. So I hope you enjoy hearing us talk pretty openly about what it’s like to really be struggling in the trenches, and about some things that we’ve learned through the process, and some things that maybe we wish we’d known earlier or done differently. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: DrewSanocki.com/adwords-method-helping-ecommerce-clients-achieve-epic-growth RCmodelsWiz.co.uk Quora.com eCommhub.com eCommerceFuel.com StoreCoach.com Dropshiplifestyle.com/ecommerce-overview SluiceHQ.com Wiser.com Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I’m joined by Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. For those of you who don’t know him already, Steve and his wife started an ecommerce business selling wedding linens that grew to replace his wife’s six-figure salary within one year. Steve’s got an inspiring story that I’m excited to share with you. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: StoreCoach.com/source-products ProfitableOnlineStore.com MyWifeQuitHerJob.com @mywifequit Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I have my friend Shabbir Nooruddin on the show again, and we’re talking about how to know when you should give up on your business idea--when to call it quits and move on to other projects. We’ll also be talking about what you can do with a website once you’ve made that decision to move on to bigger and better things. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: The Business and Bootstrapping Podcast Bootstrapping Ecommerce 10 podcasts every online store owner should listen to Duct Tape Marketing Brian Dean, Backlinko Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I have Miracle Wanzo on the show to talk about how she went from selling on eBay to launching her own online stores. Miracle is the owner of HipUndies.com and several other ecommerce sites, and she’ll be telling us about a different angle on marketing than we usually hear about--and that’s Public Relations. It’s a marketing strategy that may require you to hear a lot of “nos” before you get a “yes,” but, as you’ll hear Miracle and I talking about in just a minute, when you do get a “yes” and get featured in a major publication, you can see an explosion in growth overnight, so it’s really a higher-risk, high reward strategy. We’ll also be talking about how Miracle has successfully used Facebook ads to drive traffic and make sales. I’ve talked before about how I was unsuccessful advertising my products on Facebook, and how I’ve only been able to get newsletter signups, but Miracle uses a unique strategy to make sales from Facebook ads that I think you’ll enjoy hearing about. Key points you'll hear in this episode: Why Miracle is a huge proponent of investing in PR (Public Relations, not Page Rank) How to get your store featured in major publications Attributes of products that are most likely to be featured in major press outlets What she would do differently if she were starting over today How she has been successful with using Facebook ads to directly drive sales To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. What kinds of products are PR-friendly? During the episode, Miracle talked about several characteristics of products that you'll have a better chance of getting featured in major publications. These attributes include products that... Are new Are unique Have a specific angle (e.g., eco-friendly) Are cause-oriented products (which might be featured during a certain day or month that's celebrating that cause) Are gift products (which might be featured in certain months or seasons of the year) Are hobby-related products Links referenced during the show: Calendly HipUndies SBA - the USA's Small Business Administration Score - Free small business advice This Is How You Pitch: How To Kick Ass In Your First Years of PR Media Bistro Wooden Horse Publishing Coin (the device advertised on Facebook that Miracle and I discussed--an ecommerce site / landing page for one product) MiracleWanzo.com Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I’m excited to share a discussion with you that I had with Hilary Zwahlen of White Plum. Hilary is a busy mom who started selling jewelry out of her home last year, and then quickly grew her business to the point that her husband and brother-in-law, Rod and Jay, both quit their jobs and are now working as a team to grow the business. One reason I’m particularly excited about this interview is that it’s the first guest I’ve had on the show who is also one of my clients. I’ve been working with Hilary, Rod, and Jay for about 8 months now doing web design and development, and I’m really happy for them and excited to see their success. Hilary and I will be talking about her amazing and inspiring story, as well as some practical tips about working with bloggers to promote your products, partnering with daily deal sites, and she’ll share her advice for new storeowners. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: White Plum My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Last week I had Johnny FD on the show, talking about how he built an ecommerce business that now allows him to live and travel in Thailand, running his business remotely. Johnny mentioned the Anton Method, which is a particular approach to niche selection and setting up a dropship site. Well, I wanted to go straight to the source, so today I have the guy behind the Anton Method, Anton Kraly, on the show to talk about his own background, how he built multiple online businesses and then sold many of them, and how he’s now living and traveling in Vietnam while running his businesses. Anton is an incredibly inspiring entrepreneur who’s a great example of quickly building a successful business, and I’m excited to share our conversation with you. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: Drop Ship Lifestyle CreateTravelPlay @AKraly Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today I have Johnny FD on the show to talk about how he built a drop shipping business that now earns him a full-time income and allows him to live and travel in Thailand. Johnny and I will be talking about his own personal story of going from almost broke and nearly having to borrow money to fly home, to building an ecommerce business that grew to making enough for him to live off of in two months. If you want to hear an inspiring story, stick around to hear how Johnny did it. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: ZenDesk and ZenDesk Voice JohnnyFD.com AntonMethod.com Greenback Expat Tax Services Johnny's cost of living in Chiang Mai Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today  I have Brandon Eley of 2BigFeet.com on the show to talk about how he built a seven figure ecommerce business selling big shoes. Brandon’s been in ecommerce for about 15 years, and he and I will be talking about how he and his partner quit their jobs to start this business, how Brandon eventually bought out his partner and rescued the business from near-bankruptcy, then began doubling the company’s revenue year over year. Brandon shares his thoughts on the importance of staying on top of the financials for your business, outsourcing bookkeeping, and lots more. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: StoreCoach 2BigFeet White Shark Media BrandonEley.com Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!

Today we're talking about email marketing for ecommerce with John McIntyre, the autoresponder guy. John and I are going to be talking about all of the ways that you can use email to increase your revenues. John has some great points and tactics that you can implement today, so I’m excited to share our discussion with you. A few of the key points in our discussion include: How to set up a 3-email abandoned cart sequence that breaks down specific barriers to customers making a purchase Our thoughts on whether or not you should use a discount code to get cart abandoners to complete their order How to keep an email list warm and gradually move them closer to making a purchase The different types of email marketing you should be implementing for your store To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: The Linen Napkin AbandonApp The McMethod Email Marketing Podcast EmailForEcommerce.com How to build an email list that builds your ecommerce business (my guest article on Shopify) Subscribe to Ecommerce Pulse in iTunes!