Topics covered: state of retail 2018, a recent history of specialty retail, independent retailers, O2O (online-to-offline conversion), last mile retail, specialty brick and mortar online presence

Topics covered: state of retail 2018, marketplaces, selling on Amazon, pros and cons of online marketplaces, channel conflict from marketplaces, navigating marketplaces strategically, marketplace only brands, enhanced brand content, online counterfeiting, timing to employ a marketplace strategy

Topics covered: customer economy, creating expansion and opportunity, doing “likable” things, connecting with different generations, the power of listening, authentic connections

Today’s guest has a very unique skillset, tailor-made to help us all understand how to emotionally connect our brand with our target end consumer (avatar). You’re about to meet Margo Aaron; she has a Master’s degree in psychology from Columbia University, a background in academic education and research, and years of doing end-consumer research for major consumer packaged goods companies like Starbucks, Target and Seattle’s Best Coffee.

Today, my friends, we’re talking about HOW to open new channels. Yep: you’ll hear that there’s a lot of work. You’ll hear that timing changes, needs change, and mistakes are inevitable. But you’ll also learn from one of the grand-poo-bahs of the outdoor industry (and multichannel wizard and consultant) the steps and non-negotiables and suggestions to making these adaptations as seamless as possible.

Topics covered: public relations, including: events, media, influencer relations, brand strategy, social and digital communications, email marketing, content marketing, Verde Brand Communications, creative delivery of PR

Topics covered: “New” retail, online and offline strategy coordination, the industrialization of multichannel business, Amazon as a search engine, fluid budgeting, average cost of sale, marketing expectations, customer lifetime value, driving revenue vs. acquiring repeat customers, seller central headline search ad, online ad buy budgeting, protecting ad space for your customer journey, advertising on Amazon

My guest, Dan Phan, is a breath of fresh air! His mission is teaching businesses how to start driving with confidence in this digital evolution, instead of being driven batty by all of the change.

On today’s show, I talk with the great Oz, himself: Sean Ellis, the man responsible for so many of those growth stories. We take the lessons from growth hacking in tech and interpret them to the physical product world of the outdoor industries.

Season one of Channel Mastery is coming to an end, but fear not we’ve already started production on season 2, and have booked someone special!

In fact, we’re so excited about what’s to come we aren’t even going to miss a week before going right into season 2.

Download this episode today to learn what lies ahead and a few highlights from what we’ve been through.