How would you like to generate a whopping $250k in sales on a new product launch without running Facebook ads and without offering deep discounts?  Sound impossible?  It’s not.  It’s the magic of Gated Launches.

So what’s a gated launch?  It’s a product launch that’s only available to VIPs or top customers.  While it may sound complex, it’s really not.  It does take some work to build a VIP community. But, if you do it right, it’s actually pretty easy to maintain.  In this episode Jordan West, founder and CMO of Little and Lively, a children’s apparel brand, breaks down how his gated launches have generated as much as $120k in sales in the first two hours after going live.   

Here’s a look at what we discuss in this episode:

• The psychology behind gated launches and why they are so powerful
• How to build a healthy, vibrant VIP group that is low maintenance
• How to foster the proper buying mentality in your VIP group
• How to harness VIP feedback for new product development
• The secret of using personalized 1-to-1 videos
• Plus more

If you’re like me, then you're fascinated by the stories of “tech geniuses.”  I never get tired of hearing the origin stories of great tech startups and geniuses behind them (The Social Network is still one of my favorite movies).  In this episode I interview Shawn Livermore, author of the new book Average Joe: Be the Silicon Valley Tech Genius.

Shawn’s new book uncovers some of the magic behind blockbuster tech products like Gmail, Dropbox, Snapchat, Ring, Bitcoin and more.  We bust some long-held myths and underscore how you can learn from the success of tech icons.  Here’s a look at what we cover:

• How moving slow is the new fast in some key areas
• How believing you have to be a genius to succeed in business (even tech)  is a myth
• How to properly incubate ideas and allow your brain to work the way it works best
• The story of Gmail and it’s creator Paul Buchheit 
• The story of Polaroid and how to innovate

How quickly can you find the following key metrics from your business?

Contribution margin. 

Inventory turn ratio.  

Return on inventory (the other ROI).  

If you struggled a bit finding those answers (or if you just want to go to the next level), you need to listen to this episode with John Canetta.  This episode was super fun for me and the content is what separates eComm companies who just get by vs. those who thrive (and end up with big exits).  It’s a must-listen for serious store owners.   

You HAVE to know your numbers.  And your P&L may be lying to you and you don’t even know it.  

• How his hedgehog concept allows him to consistently hit 80% margins vs. 40-50% like some of his competitors.
• His piggybank metaphor and how it shapes his decision making
• Marketing is fun, but operations are where your profits are
• Understanding your numbers and making it SIMPLE - 
• How to look at and use Post Aggregate Gross, Contribution Margin, and Return on Inventory to hit his goals
• John’s 3 keys to business success

Brennan Agranoff was building spreadsheets at age 13.  He learned a little HTML in High School.   Growing up playing club basketball in Oregon with Nike HQ in his backyard, Brennan saw the appeal of custom socks as a young teen.  So he launched his first eComm brand called HoopSwag at age 13.  Brennan is a master of creative growth ideas.  He combines that with an intense focus on product and process development and automation.  We talked about both growth ideas and process automation at length in this episode.  

• How creative gifting has opened up his Micro-micro influencer approach
• How to go from VA to automation
• Always asking “how do I remove myself from this?”
• How Brennan shares a similar philosophy to Amazon to automate anything repeatable
• The comparison of good code to good process development
• The power of good mentors
• Plus more

If you sell a great product, then no doubt you’re getting referrals.  Referrals are great, but just waiting for them to happen on their own is NOT a formula for rapid growth.  Referral programs are a proven, but underutilized strategy for growing eCommerce brands. In this episode, I interview Arlen Robinson, referral marketing specialist, podcast host, and co-founder of Affiliate Software. We dig into some powerful points to help you take your referral marketing and affiliate marketing to the next level.  Here’s a look at what we cover:

• What’s the difference between referral, affiliate, and influencer marketing and how they each impact your business.
• To incentivize or not to incentivize?  Understanding the when, why, and how of referral incentives.
• Creating a viral loop to get customers into your referral program
• Tools and approaches to make it easy
• Plus some real-world case studies

This eCommerce power couple is ON FIRE.  They are cranking out AMAZING products on Amazon and growing fast.  More importantly, they’re having fun in the process.  

More surprising and impressive than the growth is that they’re married, work together and, wait for it...still like each other!  

We uncover some really powerful lessons in Amazon growth, business growth, and maintaining healthy work relationships.  I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Here’s a look at what we cover:

• How to pivot and grow
• How being in the right role to compliment each other is super important (whether you’re married to your business partner or not)
• Mistakes in hiring the wrong people and how to get this right
• How to know when and how to “let it go” and not get your feelings hurt
• How Tenacity and passion create the ultimate 1-2 punch
• Learning from your successes - a great tragedy is business is succeeding and not know why you succeeded.  
• Knowing your super power and using it consistently

Facebook is still a land of opportunity, but it is NOT currently smooth sailing.  The most powerful storm right now is, of course, privacy concerns.  Namely, the iOS 14 update and how it will impact advertisers' ability to track and optimize campaigns.  Facebook’s ability to track users everywhere online as they did in the past is going to be severely limited.  Whenever I talk to Facebook advertisers right now, uncertainty is the best way to describe their outlook on the platform.   

In this episode, Bob and I tackle some really key issues facing Facebook advertisers right now.  How do we continue to scale and maintain CPAs in the face of privacy changes?  What kind of video ads are working right now?  What data do we focus on and optimize toward when some data is taken away?  Bob is the author of a brand new book - The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising (4th edition).   And he owns a company that specializes in creating authentic video content called feed stories.  

• Spend 80% of your time on your offer and on your creative
• What is the conversion API and why you need it
• The power of interview-based video ads
• How you should think about audience targeting right now
• How targeting based on engagement metrics such as watch time on a video ad can be just as effective or MORE effective than retargeting landing page visitors.  
• While Facebook is pushing for shorter videos Bob is finding success with :60 to :90 videos consistently
• How changes in online platforms is creating a renaissance of sorts for marketers

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 this year. I focus a little more on the ad and marketing space as it relates to eCommerce. Andrew focuses his predictions more on eCommerce as a whole, plus a few macroeconomic predictions.  

Hopefully, you find this fun and entertaining, and helpful. Even if we end up being dead wrong about our predictions, I think you’ll find some interesting nuggets here.

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 gut and bowel health transformed into a thoroughly engaged community and a brand that’s growing by leaps and bounds.  

Everyone says they want to build a brand.  Few know what that means.  Even fewer are willing to do what it takes. In this episode Adi and I break down her step-by-step approach to influencer marketing + brand and community building.  

Here’s a quick look at what we discuss: 

• How to find influencers with REAL influence
• How influencer marketing help Adi land in UltaHow to use a spreadsheet to build your first influencer lists
• The difference between IG and YT influencers
• How to leave nothing to chance and help influencers feel like you’re rooting for them and helping them succeed
• When to pay fees for influencers vs. when to pay commissions
• Tools to tracking and making influencer marketing easy
• How spreadsheets can be your secret weapon when getting started with influencer marketing
• Plus more!

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 need to build a brand.  You need products that delight customers and serve a unique purpose.  You need listings that clearly communicate your brand difference and value proposition.  And you need to work on driving rankings the right way.  

My guest today is Emma Schermer Tamir - Co-founder of Marketing by Emma.  We talk about how listing optimization on Amazon has shifted in recent years and how brand building now plays a major role in your success on Amazon.  Here’s a look at what we discuss:

• From brand registry to making customers happy, to Google traffic - why building a brand makes sense.
• Spammy product titles or more pleasing to the eye titles - what works and what doesn’t when crafting the perfect title
• Why skimmability should be one of your primary goals when writing bullet points and descriptions
• How proper listing optimization on Amazon can possibly lead to more traffic from Google
• What great brands can teach us about A+ content, product differentiation, and breaking through the noise on Amazon.