eCommerce Evolution

 Kim and Tim Lewis are truly an inspiring success story. They’re happily married with 3 kids. They run a business that just raised $4 Million in crowd-funded equity. They’ve been on Shark Tank and they were featured as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things. They have huge goals for the future. So what is their brand Curl Mix? It’s a line of hair care products formulated for curly hair…and it has a raving fan base. 

In this merchant success episode we unpack some key lessons including:

• How Curl Mix got started and how doing FB lives from the shower helped their products go viral
• How they got on shark tank and tips for doing the same
• The definition and explanation crowdfunded equity 
• 3 tips for raising $4.5 million + of crowdfunded equity
• How CurlMix plans to become a black-owned P&G
• How to increase recurring revenue
• Plus more!

Cody is a former college hoop star turned influencer marketing pro. His resume of influencers he’s partnered with is pretty impressive.  He’s worked with the likes of Lebron James, Mike Trout, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and more. His passion is helping great eCommerce brands scale with simple, effective influencer marketing. And he believes that most brands approach influencer marketing all wrong. 

Here’s a look at what we cover in this episode. 

• What’s changed in the last year in influencer marketing?
• What mistakes are ecomm brands still making?
• How do you work with people like Lebron and Mike Trout?
• What’s the solution to tracking in a post iOS 14.5 world. 
• Tips for getting started and executing an effective influencer marketing program.
• Plus more!

Supply chain and logistics. When everything is running smoothly, it’s a breeze. When there are problems, inventory issues can cripple an eComm business. Inventory, and supply chain management has been struggle city in 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately, 2022 isn’t looking much better. 

In this episode I interview Chelsea Cohen of So Stocked and we unpack some super smart inventory and supply chain strategies. This content is a MUST if you want to remain competitive (and avoid pulling your hair out from supply chain pain). 

Here’s a look at what we cover:

• The Golden rule of logistics - don’t let anyone have all of your stuff - and how to apply it.
• Container optimizations - with the cost of containers rising, container optimization can have a big impact on your overall profitability. 
• Carton optimizations - This is a next-level tactic that can save you big. Especially when you combine it with container optimization. 
• 4 points that impact your restock limit with Amazon 
• 3 triggers to pull to avoid restock limit crashes during out of stock periods

The market for eCommerce businesses has never been hotter. Now dozens of brand aggregators have war chests of $100s of millions of dollars with one mission - buy and grow eComm brands. We’re now seeing valuations in the 5-6x of EBITA where just a few years ago we were only seeing 3-4x multiples.  

Now is a great time to sell an eCommerce brand. And, if done right, it’s still not a bad time to buy a brand.  

Chris Yates is co-owner of Centurica a company that offers buy-side due diligence for digital businesses. He’s also the founder of Rhodium Weekend - a vetted community of digital entrepreneurs and investors. 

Here’s a look at what we cover.  

• Mistakes when going through due diligence
• Most important steps/tips when going through due diligence 
• Mistakes when evaluating your own business
• As you hit different vacation tiers - types of buyers and buyers wants and needs change 
• How aggregators are changing the landscape of DTC M&A
• What is Rhodium weekend? Mastermind and speakers. Real in the trenches stuff and fun activities

Josh Martin is fearless. At age 24 he’s winning contests, designing new products, building communities and partnering with some real movers and shakers in our industry. In this episode I grill Josh (pun intended) on his success with his BBQ company and his experience in the wine business. There are tons of lessons in this episode whether you’re running an 8 or 9 figure business or just getting started.  

• How Josh won the Million Dollar Brand Scholarship Award
• Influencer marketing mistakes to avoid
• Keys to $.25 email list opt-in strategies
• How to run good customer surveys and getting useful data
• Understanding the “why” behind your product and how that influences marketing and future product launches
• Plus more!

The holy grail right now for online advertising is to be both funny and persuasive. To be relevant and engaging. Funny videos that sell are rare. Mostly because most people don’t know how to create them. In this episode Joseph walks us through his 8-step process for creating funny videos that sell without hiring an expert. 

Joseph Wilkins has a rich background in creating videos that convert. He launched his career in the infomercial business while working on the launch of Little Giant Ladder. That infomercial went on to sell hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ladders.  

I’ve had the privilege of working closely with Joseph on a mutual client - Tru Earth. Joseph and his team created videos for Tru Earth that have now racked up over 100 million views! More than that, though, they are driving new customer acquisition.  

Here’s a look at what we cover:

• Why having a crystal clear picture of your customer in your head is a must before you do anything else. You wouldn’t write a letter without knowing who you’re writing it to, would you?
• How Joseph assembles a team of people to write scripts and why this is more important than fancy editing skills.
• How to find talent for videos
• Why you should probably forget about going viral
• Getting your pace right and testing before you go live with a video
• How and when to add humor to your ads
• How to think about production quality

Growing your sales on Amazon really comes down to three things:

1. Getting found on Amazon by improving your organic rankings or paying for ads.  
2. Getting more people to click on your listings once they see it.  
3. Convincing more shoppers that your product is the one for them.

It sounds simple enough right? But most Amazon sellers miss several key tactics that severely limit growth. That’s why I was so excited to talk to Daniela Bolzmann founder of Mindfulgoods.co. She is a PRO at making products on Amazon stand out. She’s so good, in fact, that Amazon created a case study featuring her work.  Here’s a look at what we unpack on this episode:

• How to maximize your SEO efforts for launching new products on Amazon
• How to integrate and tweak existing listings that already rank to get them to rank HIGHER
• Leveraging your 6 images for maximum conversions
• What to do with A+ content to make your product nearly irresistible 
• How Yes Bar gets it right with their listing optimization and storefront optimization
• Top Amazon listing mistakes sellers make and how to avoid them

If you’re thinking about selling now or anytime in the next 5 years, you need the info in this episode.  

In the first half of 2021 alone, $2.5 billion in capital has been raise by brand aggregators all looking to acquire eCommerce brands.  

Currently there are over 100 aggregators just in the eCommerce space. A few months ago, I met Dave Bunch at Ezra Firestone’s Blue Ribbon Mastermind in Miami. We were both speaking there and when I heard his story, I knew I wanted him to be on the podcast. Dave is the President of Growve a $250 Million dollar aggregator with close to 25 brands under one roof.  

So why the rise of aggregators? What makes that business model so attractive? Why are brands selling to aggregators? Those are all questions I wanted to ask Dave.  

Here’s a look at what we talk about:

• Why right now might be a good time to take some chips off the table
• The benefits of rolling equity vs. full buyouts
• Why you should be weary of large offers
• When deals go bad - how to better prepare for the issues that always arise when closing deals
• What’s the end game for aggregators including going public through SPACs, selling to Private Equity and selling to strategic investors

Deacon helps founders & CEOs create profitable, scalable business growth through coaching and consulting programs at SharpBusinessGrowth.com. He's led teams overseeing $50 Million in marketing campaigns, and delivered revenue growth results recognized by Inc. 5000.   If you look at wildly successful DTC brands compared to the rest, you definitely find some differences. But those differences aren’t always what you think. Sometimes really great products fail. Sometimes insanely smart entrepreneurs never reach their full potential. Sometimes great marketing tactics alone just aren’t enough. Deacon Bradley is one of those guys that you feel smarter just from one conversation with him. In this episode we talk about Growth Mulitpliers vs. Growth Inhibitors. Some of these might surprise you.  

• Missing the connector of brand and strategy that make your team and your agencies to be successful
• The story of an awesome DTC product that never fully figured out who they were
• The power of Vision and commanders intent
• How to be a visionary that integrators love to work with
• What “knowing your numbers” really means and really looks like
• How to avoid being a “genius with a thousand helpers”

​​Most of the high growth eComm companies I know are all building to sell. Some want to sell once revenue hits $5 million, some $25 million and some $100+.  Regardless of what your target number is or regardless of if you even have a number, this interview with Chad will be super helpful.  

Hear how Chad built his pet brand business and sold it for 7-figures in under 3 years. 

Here’s a look at what we’ll cover:  

• Tips and advice for sellers 
• Maximize EBITA as you prepare to sell
• Practical tips to “think profit first.”
• Tips for prepping to sell your business
• Learning from successes and failures
• Understanding how self-imposed limits are holding you back!