eComFuel Podcast

When it comes to finances, a lot of eCommerce store owners tend to struggle. So today, I've got Cyndi Thomason of Bookskeep.com on the show to shed light on how to make your business profitable using the Profit First methodology. Cyndi is an eCommerce accountant and bookkeeper specifically focused on this methodology, and she shares how to set it up in your own business, advice for allocating fund...

In this episode, my good friend Bill D'Alessandro and I are diving in to talk about last month's event, eCommerceFuel Live 2019. It was the most ambitious event we've put on yet, and we both learned a bunch and had a ton of fun. Listen in to hear how it all went, our big takeaways, and thoughts on how we'll do things next year. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http:/...

It's easy to forget that people in positions of influence and thought leadership face challenges just like the rest of us—especially because it's rare for them to open up about hardships they face. But today, Ezra Firestone of SmartMarketer.com joins the show to give us all a look at the struggles he has had while getting his software business, Zipify Apps, off the ground. Listen in to hear him pa...

Today I've got my good friend Bill D'Alessandro on the show to share how his business has been going over the last year. He has been working on his vision of buying up a lot of different brands in the consumer goods space to bring them under one roof and build a bunch of small consumer brands, so I wanted to talk with him to see how that's going. He shares a lot of great stuff about challenges he'...

This year Hurricane Florence hit Dana Jaunzemis' business headquartered in North Carolina. She lost power for more than a week and wasn't able to ship for close to two weeks. Business came to a screeching halt. In this episode, I chat with her about the experience, what they learned and how to minimize the impact of a natural disaster if/when something similar happens to your business. You can fin...

Richard Jalichandra (or RJ as he's commonly known) is the founder of 101 Commerce, a company with the goal of acquiring 101 FBA businesses. We chat about if the risks of being so dependent on Amazon terrify him, how he plans to manage such a massive portfolio, the rise of single-person 8-figure businesses, and more.  You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http://bit.ly/2CF...

Mark Hanratty launched SwankyBadger.com exclusively on Etsy and used the momentum to build his business. Today, Swanky Badger is a 7-figure business, and they sell more than half a million dollars each year on the bohemian marketplace. I sat down with Mark to understand how to succeed on the platform and what's changed in the years since he started, especially since Etsy has become a public compan...

Ben Arneberg has done some impressive things. He's jumped out of airplanes for the Air Force, met Jeff Bezos and even done work for the Department of Defense and CIA. But what's perhaps most impressive is how he's built a near 8-figure business with only one employee. In this episode we discuss the tactics he's used to grow so significantly with nearly no overhead. You can find show notes and more...

Alex Cranmer is a really interesting guy.   When he's not acting in movies or TV shows, he runs International Military Antiques, the largest supplier of military antiques in the U.S.   In this wide-ranging podcast we discuss the benefits of selling one-of-a-kind items, how to write an email newsletter that gets 20% CTRs, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  htt...

Wrapping up the holiday season here and coming to the end of 2018, I'm bringing back another of my favorite episodes from this past year. As anyone who's had any meaningful success knows, relationships are crucial in business, so today I'm revisiting a show I did back in July that covers 15 critical habits to master in order to build better business relationships. Listen in to learn what it takes...

As we're getting to the end of the year and reaching that point of reflection, I wanted to revisit a couple of episodes that I had a lot of fun with in 2018. The one I'm bringing back today is a show I did back in April with Tadpull co-founder Jake Cook that covers hiring fresh—if a little green—marketing talent right out of college. Listen in to hear him share the tactics he uses to find, hire, a...

This week Bill D'Alessandro and I revisit our predictions for 2018 to see how many we nailed and (more likely) how many just seem silly in retrospect. We also serve up a fresh batch of predictions for 2019 on topics ranging from Amazon delivery to trending marketing tactics to likely acquisitions in the coming year. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here:  http://bit.ly/2QF3...

Arman Assadi has worked on copywriting projects for well-known entrepreneurs such as Neil Patel, Timothy Sykes, and others. He also has experience running a 7-figure eCommerce store, so I asked him to come on to talk about the 80/20 of eCommerce copywriting. We also discuss how to work more productively by understanding your brain type, as well as differences among crowdfunding platforms. You can...

With Amazon cracking down on illegitimate reviews, unscrupulous players have a new weapon in their toolkit: attacking a listing by posting loads of fake, positive reviews. The worst part is it can be effective, as Zac Plansky unfortunately discovered. In this episode, I talk with Zac about the attack and how he was finally able to get his account reinstated after a stressful suspension. You can fi...

Today's episode is a follow-up to one I did back in June about the eCommerceFuel Job Boards. It's been a while since I launched that project, and I wanted to share some updates to document the journey so you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to launching something from scratch. Listen in to hear what went well, what didn't go so well, how things are...

If you're involved in the ecommerce space, you've surely noticed that it's becoming harder and harder to stay 100% compliant when it comes to sales tax. Between the recent Supreme Court case and Amazon tax issues, quite honestly, it's getting to be a real pain. So today I have Michael Jackness of EcomCrew.com here to share how a new organization he helped launch called the Online Merchants Guild i...

Today I've got LemonStand's Ross Paul on the show to talk about subscriptions—namely in the e-commerce space. LemonStand is a shopping cart company based in Vancouver, Canada, and as the company's VP of Growth, Ross knows his stuff when it comes to building a successful subscription model. We dive right in to talk about which businesses can benefit from this model, billing issues people run into,...

In this episode, I'm going to share my experience designing a product from scratch. I've touched on this topic in passing on the show before, but today you'll get a real, behind-the-scenes look at everything, from designing and manufacturing to unit economics and selling on Amazon. And most importantly, I'll share all the mistakes I made along the way. Listen in to hear how everything went, and wh...

Today's episode is all about an important topic that rarely gets discussed among entrepreneurs: mental health. Being an entrepreneur can be really hard at times; you've got super high highs and really low lows, and that can take a major toll. So I've got Sherry Walling of ZenFounder.com on the show to talk about how to take care of ourselves while running our businesses. In addition to being an en...

Today we're going to talk about transparency and open companies, specifically the idea of sharing financials with employees. We recently discussed this in our private forum, and the overwhelming response was that it's a bad idea, but my guests today disagree. Lee and Jake Cook—cofounders of Tadpull—and Hannah Jerome—a Tadpull leadership team member—strongly believe that sharing the key financial r...

Today I'm joined by a longtime member of our eCommerceFuel Private Forum, a top contributor, and an all-around stand-up guy, Patrick Barnhill. Patrick is the founder of SpecialistID.com, and on a recent Mastermind call with him, I heard his presentation on how he's using custom software to streamline his processes, reduce errors, and handle more inventory and order flow. He also shared what he was...

Today on the show, I've got a guest who's long overdue: Scott Voelker of TheAmazingSeller.com. Scott is a well-known guy in the Amazon space, he knows a tremendous amount about the platform, and he has sold tons and tons of products, so today we're doing a deep dive with someone who knows Amazon inside and out. We cover where there's still opportunity left within the platform, common mistakes sell...

Today's show is all about retargeting. I'm joined by the co-founder of Shoelace, Reza Khadjavi, who is here to share what makes a great retargeting ad, advice for managing your budget, and much more. Since his company specializes in retargeting—especially for Shopify stores—we cover a lot of ground today. Listen in to learn how to optimize your campaigns if you're already running them, and if you'...

Today I'm joined by Kristina Kurcink, a friend of mine who has spent over a decade working at Nike in roles ranging from design all the way to manufacturing. Being responsible for a lot of the production in Asia, Kristina has seen the whole process leading up to the famous footwear coming off the line. In this episode, she shares key lessons she learned during her ten years working for Nike, parti...

Today's episode is going to be slightly different than usual. I recently lost a bet and had to take Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com on a three-day road trip around Montana, and during that trip, we recorded a few episodes that we wanted to share. (You can find the other two on his podcast.) While we were on the road, we talked about tons of stuff, so this is kind of a free-ranging episode that...