The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Now, this isn't the first time I've talked about these two things on a podcast. In episode 192, you'll recall that Dave and I went through our stress points as entrepreneurs . This time around we've invited an expert to shed more light on this topic from a medical standpoint. Dr. Sherry Walling is a clinical psychologist and the driving force behind Zen Founder , where she helps both up and coming...

This episode is a follow up of sorts to our 200th episode . After wrapping up 5 Minute Pitch semis, my co-judges Scott Voelker, Steve Chou, Greg Mercier and I had some time to talk a bit about ecommerce while out for dinner here in San Diego. But it's not the usual shop talk that you'd expect. For one, Scott initiated a speed round and dropped this thought-provoking question. What you would do rig...

Q4 is already in full swing with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but before it could swallow us alive, Dave and I decided to sit down and talk about new things happening up on Amazon land. In this episode we discuss things we discovered with Amazon recently, from good updates like new PPC changes to the frustrating alleged review throttling. We also talk about other things in between. Black Friday...

It's our 200th episode. I'd like to start off by saying a BIG THANK YOU to all of you who've tuned in to this podcast from the very first one. A few weeks ago we wrapped up the semi-final round of 5 Minute Pitch. The finalists will be judged on their presentations at the Seller's Summit next year in Miami, Florida. After three days of competition, I sat down with my co-judges Scott Voelker, Steve...

For our listeners outside the United States, we are celebrating the second biggest holiday today. Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving is that time of the year where we take a break from work or business to spend the day with family and friends. We've closed the office for today and tomorrow to give our employees and ourselves that much-deserved break. My wife and I are taking a trip down to Las Vegas...

I've been tackling a couple of interesting niches in our last few Under the Hoods. The business we'll be talking about in this episode is no different. For this episode, I've taken on Colin Grice and his aquarium fertilizer and supply business. Colin has a background in Biology and Chemistry, which enabled him to manufacture his own liquid fertilizers. Colin's business had an impressive net profit...

Every year Andrew Youderian of EcommerceFuel surveys hundreds of store owners to better understand the trends in the ecommerce industry. Today Andrew and I review the report of last year's survey and make predictions for the future of ecommerce based on this data. If you're also an ecommerce store owner, we'd like to invite you to help us better understand the ecommerce landscape by answering next...

Early this year my buddies Steve Chou of My Wife Quit Her Job , Scott Voelker of The Amazing Seller , Greg Mercer of Jungle Scout and I came up with a new show called the 5 Minute Pitch . All four of us met up last week to film the semi-finals, and it's a little strange to say this, but it's probably the hardest I've worked the whole year. The schedule was so brutal that I wasn't able to touch my...

It's Dave here. I've taken the reigns from Mr. Jackness in order to bring you an update on the status of my second ecommerce venture. Regular listeners to this podcast will know that I sold my first company two years ago. After going on a hiatus for a couple of months, the call to entrepreneurship became too strong to ignore. So in June of last year, I started another business with the intention o...

I always enjoy meeting people who listen to our podcasts. Our audience base is largely located in the United States, however; we do have listeners in the Asia Pacific and in Europe. More recently, I've discovered that we're reaching entrepreneurs in Central America. Proof of this Elias Manopla, our featured ecommerce entrepreneur on this episode of Under the Hood. Elias owns an online butcher shop...

The first month of the Q4 is nearly at an end so its high time that I give you guys an update on my 2018 goals. There have been a couple of snags along the way but I remain optimistic about the coming months and what we've got planned for the business. If you haven't been keeping up with my previous updates, here are the other podcast episodes to listen to. My 2018 Goals 2018 Goals Quarterly Goals...

Stress is perhaps one of the many constants in running an ecommerce business. Whether you're a starting entrepreneur or someone looking to scale that business, stress is always bound to creep up. Dave and I have both been in business for some time now. Over the years we've encountered situations that resulted in much worrying and a number of sleepless nights. Unfortunately, stress in relation to d...

The second week of October was a particularly busy time for me. I was up in Vegas to speak at back-to-back conferences. First up was Retail Global Las Vegas , an ecommerce event organized by Aussie ecommerce veteran Phil Leahy . This was then followed by Rhodium Weekend , a gathering of online business owners and potential buyers. In today's episode, I talk to Dave about my biggest takeaways from...

I really enjoy doing these Under the Hood episodes for many reasons. I get to 'pay it forward' and help people who are just starting or scaling their ecommerce businesses. It's always interesting to look at what other people are doing in niches that we may not be involved in. Today's interview was quite a treat because I got to talk to a medical professional and entrepreneur who has a potentially...

Hey everyone! Dave here going solo for this episode. Mike is down with a terrible cold after a couple of Las Vegas speaking engagements, so he might miss the podcast for a while. For this episode, we'll uncover the mystery that is Amazon A9. If you've been selling on Amazon for a while, you probably have a basic understanding of how SEO for Amazon works. But with the crazy competition from promine...

A brick and mortar business can be vastly different to owning an ecommerce one. Each offers a unique selling experience and would require different kinds of resources. Having said that,it can be challenging for traditional entrepreneurs to make the transition. Today's guest is poised to make that very transition. Wilson Lee has been a traditional entrepreneur for 10 years. He'd previously dipped a...

It's been a while since we've had an Under the Hood episode! For those of you who are new to this segment, we sometimes bring on podcast listeners to the show where they can talk to us about their businesses and ask us for advice. It's essentially a free 1-hour business coaching session turned into a podcast episode. It's a win-win! If you'd like to be featured on the podcast and get advice from u...

The avid listeners of this podcast would know that I don't do interviews with people I don't actually know in person, with the exception of one business-savvy MMA fighter . As it turned out, the guest on this episode is another worthy exception. The person I'm referring to is Mikael Yang, the co-founder of ManyChat. By some fated scheduling twist, Mikael and I ended up on the same call. After an a...

It's been a hot minute since Dave and I sat down and did a podcast focused solely on discussing news and updates from Amazon. And so that's what we did for this particular episode. Here's what we covered. Amazon Raises Employee's Min Wage to $15 (for US and UK) The company's move to raise the minimum wage was lauded by critics but there's a fear that the cost will trickle down to third-party selle...

You may find this surprising, but Dave and I don't have a dedicated phone support for our respective businesses. Well, we used to. Dave's first ecommerce business had it for five days a week. I used to have 24/7 customer support via telephone for treadmill.com. We also had it for a while here on Terran until late last year. After the person who did this for us sent in his notice, we finally decide...

By the time this podcast airs, part 1 of the latest round of tariff increases would have taken effect. Approved by President Trump on September 17th, it effectively slaps a 10% tariff on $200 billion in Chinese goods. Part 2 will be another 25% increase expected to take effect on  New Year's Day 2019. In just the same year, the Trump Administration has announced three tariff increases. Here are th...

Over the past few weeks we've been posting updates on Chinese sellers manipulating Amazon . While black-hat practices are particularly pronounced in China, not all Chinese sellers rely on these methods to be successful on Amazon. In this episode we are joined by Zack Franklin of AMZKungfu . Zack currently lives in Shenzhen, China, and he is a popular consultant for Chinese Amazon sellers. He has w...

I always look forward to joining ecommerce conferences. It's a great place to meet up with old friends and network with new people. Many of those I've met at these events have become guests on this podcast. Phil Leahy is no different. An ecommerce veteran, he built one of the largest eBay businesses retailing CDs & DVDs. He was the #1 eBay seller in Australia for a number of years. Somewhere along...

It's becoming increasingly difficult to sell on Amazon. I know I share the same sentiment with many listeners of this podcast. These days, you need to position your brand in a way that it can effectively differentiate itself. Only then will you be able to sell products effectively. So it's downright frustrating and disheartening when you encounter imitators online who hijack and duplicate products...

During our last visit to Montreal to film new course videos, we came upon a new gathering for Amazon sellers called the Orange Hat Summit . Unfortunately we weren't able to actually join the summit due to time constraints but we did meet a Chinese seller who was a speaker at the summit. Ours was one of the most brutal conversations I had, and it spawned an article written by Dave , and this podcas...