eCommerce Evolution

Andrew Youderian is a bit of a legend. Podcaster, investor, former eCommerce store operator, and now founder of the premier online community for 7 and 8 figure eCommerce store owners - Ecommerce Fuel. That’s why I’m super pumped to have him on the show this week to talk predictions for the rest of 2021! In this episode, we put on our Nostradamus hats and try to predict what we might see more of th...

How does potty talk on Instagram lead to a thriving eComm brand and a world-class influencer marketing program? Normally it doesn’t, but Adi Arezzini isn’t your typical eCommerce entrepreneur.   Few companies run influencer marketing as successfully as Adi Arezzini.  And few people understand what it takes to build a brand and a community like Adi.  What started as discussions on Instagram about g...

Once upon a time you could source any old product you wanted from Alibaba, slap your name on it, throw up a listing on Amazon, and presto!  Instant sales.  I personally know several people who sold 7-figures + per year doing this.  Well….those days are over.  Everyone I know who ran that kind of business is either 1. Out of business or 2. Had to make a hard pivot.   To succeed on Amazon now you ne...

Few eComm and wholesale businesses reach the heights that VHC Brands has reached under the leadership of Ken Kline.  You’ve maybe seen their home decor products in big retailers like Home Depot, Bed Bath and Beyond or online at Wayfair, Amazon and many more.    Also, few eComm businesses have faced the setbacks that Ken and team have faced.  From a fire that completely destroyed their inventory in...

Jared Mitchell has a unique perspective on the eCommerce industry.  He and his wife, Alana, run two eCommerce sites - skincarebyalana.com and alanamitchell.com .  He’s also the lead eCommerce consultant for Neil Patel and he runs an eCommerce training group at beefysites.com .  This guy has forgotten more good eCommerce ideas than most will ever learn.    Jared is also a close friend and he’s my s...

Cyber 5 Recap While holiday shopping is still in full swing at the time of this writing, we do have some preliminary numbers for the Cyber 5 2020 (Thanksgiving Thursday–Cyber Monday) and an early look at how Holiday 2020 as a whole is shaping up.  Here are five key observations, so far, for Holiday 2020.   We’re breaking every eCommerce record and it’s not even close.  No surprise here, but this y...

Colby Bauer has personality.  He’s a half-pipe skating, snowboarding, former collegiate athlete who turned a simple idea into a thriving eComm business.  He and his wife McKenzie started Thread Wallets with just a single product idea.  Simple, functional, minimalist wallets with personality.  That initial product took off and Thread quickly grew into a team of 22 that now boasts an expanding produ...

Conversational commerce.  What is it?  Basically, it’s taking the in-person shopping experience of asking questions and talking to retail sales staff and moving it into multiple online channels seamlessly.  Today shoppers want to interact with you in a variety of ways and they want near-instant feedback.  Messenger.  SMS.  Chat.  Facebook comments.  Your customers expect you to be everywhere they...

Very little about 2020 has been normal - including Prime Day.  This year’s Prime Day was in October vs. Amazon’s usual July time frame.  What did this mean for 2020 Prime Day vs. 2019 Prime Day?  Would this year’s Prime Day make the official launch of holiday sales?    In this episode, I bring back OMG Commerce’s Amazon Director Chris Tyler to discuss what we noticed this year during Prime Day wit...

Khierstyn Ross is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to launching products on Kickstarter.  She’s experienced the highs of multiple 6-figure product launches, plus she’s endured the heartache of a launch gone bad.  She knows what to do and, just as importantly, what to avoid. In this podcast, we talk about the keys to building a 6-figure crowd-funded product launch including: What products work b...

What do six-packs, successful pilots and 2020 have in common?  No, it’s not a drinking game.  We’re talking data here people! Do you know your data…like really know your data?  Do you have a feel for it?  Do you look at the right numbers daily?   Let’s talk pilots for just a second. If you’ve ever seen a cockpit, it looks kinda like most eCommerce dashboards - an overwhelming amount of buttons, da...

There are two different types of sponsored YouTube influencer videos: An integrated sponsored video and  Stand-alone sponsored video. Stand-alone sponsored influencer videos are what most brands use and what most people think of when they hear “YouTube influencer marketing.” Stand-alone videos are typically an influencer providing a quick review or endorsement about a particular product.  So the v...

During a pandemic, marketing for a travel company isn’t easy.  Kevin Urrutia and team at Chester Travel are getting creative and hustling to drive sales now and set themselves up for success in the future.  In this episode, we talk about the perfect combination of short term and long term growth strategies.  Using influencer marketing for short term growth and SEO for long term traffic and growth...

In a word, Chris Lynch is cool.  So is his brand Everyday California.  It’s not a surprise then, that what started as an adventure tour company also became a super popular apparel line.  But Chris and the Everyday Cali team didn’t stop there… The brand has now grown to include flip flops, beer, CBD and even a line of sunscreen.  So what separates a solid business move into new products vs. an unhe...

Mission meats is just a few years old, but it’s gobbling up market share in the red-hot meat snack category.  Peter Awad is a long time eCommerce pro.  He started selling auto parts on eBay in 2000.  Now he and his co-founder Nick have built a meat snack store with a mission.  They’re using profits from eCommerce to help fight deforestation, educate children in Africa, and support homeless women a...

CPAs that suddenly double overnight. Skyrocketing CPMs. Winning ads that suddenly turn into losers. Data changes that impact how ads are being run now. The list of potential issues, potholes, loopholes, and blackholes for online advertising goes on and on. So what’s an eComm store owner or media buyer to do? Call in Molly Pittman and John Grimshaw from Smart Marketer.   These are two of my favorit...

This year’s online holiday shopping season will be one for the record books. Most people say they’ll shop more online or exclusively online this year.  And online shopping will also start earlier this year, indicated by Google study results where 69% of holiday shoppers say they will shop earlier this year to avoid items being out of stock. To dominate the Cyber 5 this year you need to: Get the mo...

Amazon Advertising has exploded in recent years.  In fact, Amazon is now the 3rd largest online advertising platform behind only Facebook and Google.  Pretty impressive for a company who’s a retailer first, cloud computing 2nd, and online advertising 3rd.   In this episode, I wanted to bring on the sharpest mind in Amazon Advertising that I know - OMG’s very own Chris Tyler.  I brought him on so w...

Is something broken in your business?  Not reaching your growth goals like you’d hoped?  Then you likely have a systems or delegation problem.   My guest today is Trent Dyrsmid.  Trent is the host of the Bright Ideas podcast as well as the founder of an Amazon reseller business that just ranked #254 on the Inc. 5000 list. He is also the co-founder of Flowster.app a premier workflow management tool...

Michael Jamin knows a thing or two about telling a good story.  He’s written for popular sitcoms like King of the Hill, Rules of Engagement, Tacoma FD, and Beavis & Butthead to name a few.  More importantly, for our purposes, he’s also the Co-Founder of Twirly Girl - an eComm brand that features some truly magical storytelling ads.  I wanted to have Michael on the show so we could learn some of hi...

Almost every eCommerce company I talk to is investing heavily into Facebook and Google Ads.  Probably less than 30% are actively investing in Affiliate marketing.  I first met my guest, Greg Powell, while we were both providing consulting services for another agency.  I instantly could tell that he knew his stuff.  Now he’s running an extremely successful Affiliate Marketing agency - Tactical Mark...

The online buying journey is a complex process.  It rarely looks exactly the same for different shoppers.  BUT, there are distinct stages that most shoppers pass through in their unique journey.  Video can be your secret weapon along each stage of the journey - compelling customers, educating customers, and delighting customers. Ben Amos lives in Australia’s Sunshine Coast and is a master at creat...

Everyone knows that word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing.  The problem?  How do you facilitate, encourage, and track it without being weird?  Enter Nick Stagge and Wooly.  In this episode, we discuss two important topics - building Ambassador Programs and putting digital rails around word of mouth advertising.  Nick has worked with some awesome brands including Skull Candy, Purple...

Online shopping has shifted dramatically since the start of the pandemic.  Some experts believe we’ve seen 5+ years of eCommerce growth condensed into just a few months.  Attitudes towards quantities ordered, shipping rates and times, and pricing have ALL shifted from the norm.  I wanted to have Jon MacDonald come back on the show (see his first appearance on the podcast for Episode 60  to talk ab...

Learn how Tru Earth is disrupting the laundry detergent space by selling subscriptions and understanding the power of villains in marketing.  My guest in this episode, Ryan McKenzie is a marketing and eComm wiz.  He built his first online business in his 20s and after some extreme wins and some humbling losses, he found his eComm game.  In this episode, we uncover some of Tru Earth’s keys to succe...