The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

In speaking with Shopify entrepreneurs, there are definite patterns that appear in successful stores A common one is having a product that solves a pain or problem for people Today’s guest sells one product that solves a literal pain and has been tremendously successful doing so If you’ve ever worn high heels, you know there are designed for style over comfort That’s where Vivian Lou comes in. Viv...

If you own a tablet or iPad, you’ve probably shopped for a case for it. And if you bought a case for it, did you ever run across beautiful leather cases that looked like books? If so, you and I have the same taste. Pad & Quill makes those luxurious cases. Our guest today is Brian Holmes, President, and owner of Pad & Quill. He started the business in 2010 with his wife, Kari. It was a desi...

In April during our Unite coverage, I had dinner with Carson McComas, the owner of Shopify Plus agency Fuel Made, and we got to talking about our mutual love of marketing automation, and specifically Klaviyo. Now, if you’re not using Klaviyo, that’s okay. Don’t tune out, hear me out. Carson mentioned to me that they were having great success with Klaviyo to the point where they were pushing the li...

Your pets are a part of your family, but when the adults go to work, and the kids are at school, your pets are left home alone. So what happens to them if something happens to you? That's what a 21-year-old AJ Montoya wondered. So one day he decided to solve the problem by designing a credit card sized card with his emergency contact info. That way if he were ever in an accident, sick or injured a...

Part three of our special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site. On April 20th, a thousand Shopify Partners from around the world gathered together in San Francisco for our 2nd annual Unite conference: a two-day event to discuss all things Shopify, commerce, and technology. And they announced a ton o...

Part two of our special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site. On April 20th, a thousand Shopify Partners from around the world gathered together in San Francisco for our 2nd annual Unite conference: a two-day event to discuss all things Shopify, commerce, and technology. And they announced a ton of...

This week we have a special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site. On April 20th, a thousand Shopify Partners from around the world gathered together in San Francisco for our 2nd annual Unite conference: a two-day event to discuss all things Shopify, commerce, and technology. And they announced a ton...

Many Shopify store owners are bootstrapped solopreneurs, which means you’re handling everything in your business. As your business grows, you may want to delegate tasks, to give yourself free time to do focus on more valuable things, or maybe you just want to work less. The first time you hire is the scariest. Where do you start? How do you train people? How should you hire? To answer these questi...

Logan Ketterling is a 20-year-old entrepreneur from Minneapolis who combined his passions for fashion, storytelling, and online marketing to launch a successful jewelry business. Logan's brand Urbain creates unique pieces from places of significance such as historic sites or local hotspots. Since the launch, Logan has worked hard to get awareness about his unique products. Using Facebook Ads, Loga...

Free traffic from Google through SEO can be a pillar of success for your Shopify store. Unfortunately, SEO advice is often general, not actionable, and sometimes wrong. As a result, it's tough to find 'real' experts. Today we're talking with John Doherty about ecommerce-specific tactics to grow your organic search traffic. John is the founder of GetCredo.com, a company that connects great companie...

Today on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast we’re talking about migrating to Shopify If you already have an ecommerce website or are using a different ecommerce platform for your business, it is important to make sure that your product information and other content make it over to Shopify. Ross Beyeler, a Shopify Plus expert, specializes in migrations, and joins us today to walk us through what a succ...

Pop-Quiz: Which marketing channel is the most effective and costs the least? Answer: Word of mouth. Today, David Fallarme joins us in this actionable episode to discuss the essentials behind successful word of mouth marketing. David currently heads up marketing for ReferralCandy, a Shopify app that gives your store a referral program. David's background includes making viral Facebook games played...

You may have a great product, but it's not going to sell itself. If you can’t convince someone your product is the right one for them, it doesn’t matter how good it is. Nobody’s going to buy. Maybe you can relate: You launched and nobody bought— or only made a few sales. You launched and nobody cared at all. Crickets. You launched but sales plummeted immediately after. Would it surprise you to hea...

In 2012, Death Wish Coffee Co. was started in a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY. Founder, Mike Brown, saw a need for coffee that was both strong and delicious to serve his groggy, morning customers. After creating the perfect blend of beans and combining it with his unique roasting technique, the 'World's Strongest Coffee' was born. Today, thousands of people trust Death Wish Coffee to w...

Let me warn you now: you'll want to have a notepad ready before listening to this episode, because it may be our most actionable ever. Peter Friis is CEO and co-founder of ESSIO, the world's first aromatherapy diffuser for your shower. He recently had a major breakthrough in their conversion rate by designing an entirely new landing page using industry best practices and directing traffic to this...

Peter founded Fringe Sport out of his garage in 2010 and grew it to 7 figures in revenue in 18 months. Now he is CEO of Fringe Sport, focused on bringing Great Products with Great Prices and World Class Customer Service to WODers and weightlifters. He has one problem though: his friends think he's crazy for his most recent marketing decision... — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTun...

Of all the store owners I hear from with thoughts on finding & engaging customers on social media, Candice Galek, CEO and Founder of Bikini Luxe is by far one of the most impressive. In under two years, she took her Shopify store from her living room in Miami Beach to a warehouse and a team of more than 40 employees worldwide all while amassing a social media following of more than 250,000. In...

One of the best things about Shopify is its extensibility and the ecosystem that goes along with it. Recently we released our first (and currently only) Shopify app, and wanted to share that experience with you. It turns out it’s surprisingly easy to custom apps for a store’s private use, and almost as easy to monetize those apps in the Shopify app store. Jeremy Green, who developed Crowdfunder Ap...

Klaviyo's Chad Vanags joins us to explain just how easy it's become to use data-driven personalization in your email marketing to make more money on autopilot. He breaks down what email flows consistently make the most money, and what the best practices to use when implementing those workflows. Currently the head of agency training at Klaviyo, Chad teaches how to successfully implement email flows...

Kiri is the CEO and founder of Bobsled Marketing, an Amazon marketing agency that has changed the way businesses sell and promote their products in the online marketplace. The agency was launched in 2015, following Kiri’s own entrepreneurial efforts on Amazon with her own brand, I Like That Lamp. Trying and testing tools and strategies with her own brand, Kiri realized that many product businesses...

Facebook is giving us more ways than ever to quickly and inexpensively generate custom audiences. As a busy store owner, learning to navigate Facebook's myriad of advertising options effectively can be a time-consuming endeavor. Kurt Bullock joins us to discuss Facebook's new options, and you can use them to set up a sales funnel that segments and targets customers through their relationship with...

Google Shopping ads are one of the leading traffic sources that can give you the ultimate edge. This hidden gem is often overlooked by store owners (and your competition.) Brett Curry, author of The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping, joins us to walk through setting up profitable product listing ads. Brett Curry is the CEO of OMG Commerce. Brett started his first marketing agency in 2003 and launc...

What's a good conversion rate? One that's better than last month. But how did you get there? Nick Disabato has built a career on research-focused A/B testing. Over the past year, he's helped Shopify Plus store KeySmart achieve extraordinary success. He joins us today to discuss that journey and how you can improve your store 5% monthly with his approach to split testing. "Never forget: focusi...

Today's guest runs the least politically correct store we've come across, and we love it. Yanne Root, founder of Violent Little Machine Shop, has made a business out of inappropriate morale patches. In this episode, we talk about Yanne's individual journey, what makes his business successful, "the voice" he presents to customers, and the mindset he uses to stay successful. — Subscribe to...

In this episode we're talking to Steven Fisher, Co-Founder and CEO at State & Liberty Clothing Company, about his journey and meteoric rise to success. Prior to founding the company, Steven graduated from the University of Michigan and worked for the Detroit Tigers in data analytics. After being disappointed and frustrated with all other dress shirts on the market, Steven and co-founder Lee la...