eCommerce Evolution

In recent years SEO has lost its luster as a “hot” traffic source. Panda and Penguin updates have made it all but impossible to “game the system” and trick Google into ranking your site.  That said, organic traffic can still be insanely powerful for your brand.  SEO can help drive relevant traffic at nearly every stage of the shopping funnel - helping your build a following and sell more stuff.

 

While there are no viable SEO tricks now, there are proven strategies that will help you rank well and rank relatively quickly.  

 

While I’ve been an SEO practitioner since the early 2000s and even though OMG Commerce offers SEO services for eCommerce - I still wanted to have Dale Bertrand on to talk SEO.  Dale is the Owner and Digital Strategist for fireandspark.com and he knows his SEO.

 

Here’s a look at the SEO topics we cover in this episode.  

• Link building that works in 2018 and beyond.  Quality backlinks are still one of the most powerful ranking signals in Google’s algorithm.  The catch is that Google is better than ever at sniffing out and ignoring or penalizing spammy backlinks.  In this episode we discuss the right way to approach link building.
• Building content without being a writer.  My guess is that creating content isn’t your favorite activity.  But good content is CRUCIAL for effective SEO strategies. We discuss how to generate content without the pain of writing.  
• How to make category and product detail pages rank.  Category and product detail pages are your money makers, but getting them to rank can be a challenge.  We discuss how.
• The value of “pillar content” and how to create it.  Without “pillar content” your SEO will be at a disadvantage.  We discuss what it is and how to go about creating it.
• Technical structure for a solid page.  We nerd out a little bit on technical SEO, but not too much.
• Plus more!

This episode is a treat both in terms of topic and guest.  I have my long-time business partner Chris Brewer on to talk about the most important topic of the year for most eCommerce companies - Holiday Sales.  

 

For most eComm companies the Holiday season will determine whether you have a good year or a not so good year.  For some companies every day of holiday sales is the equivalent of a week or two the rest of the year. Having a great holiday season requires planning, attention to detail and some creativity.  

 

I see things lining up for most eCommerce companies to break sales records this Holiday.  Will you be one of them?

 

Here’s a look at what we cover:

• Getting Your Google Ad Campaigns Ready - getting your search, shopping and brand campaigns ready to “make hay” this holiday season.  
• Getting Your YouTube Ads Ready - Do you have remarketing in place?  Are you capitalizing on your competition? Do you have a unique holiday message?  All of this and more is important to maximize YouTube results.
• Getting Your Amazon Ads Ready - Amazon is poised to CRUSH IT this holiday season.  Are your ad campaigns ready?
• Getting Your Email Marketing in Place - Email marketing could be your x-factor this holiday.  Remember to segment and remember the rule of 3!
• Planning your promotions - Get your promo calendar finished now!
• Staying on Top of Everything - We talk about ways to stay on top of everything and make sure nothing is missed this holiday season.  

 

Here’s to making Holiday 2018 your best ever...

There are two critical ways Patent Law impacts online merchants:

1. Making sure you protect your unique products and intellectual property (IP)
2. Making sure you don’t infringe on someone else’s patents

 

My guest for this episode is Patent Attorney, Rich Goldstein.  Rich is a wealth of knowledge on patent law and has carved out a niche in the eCommerce space.  I am NOT a legal expert, to say the least, so I was really excited to dive into this topic and learn more myself.

 

Here’s a look at what we covered:

• When should you consider a patent and how much do they cost?
• What’s the number 1 reason for a patent?
• What are the 2 factors to see if a product is patentable?
• Talk about the different enough test?
• 2 Types of patents and when to consider each type
• How to protect against knock off and specifically protecting yourself on Amazon.
• How do you avoid patent infringement?
• Top resources and guides for patents and IP.  

 

I’m convinced that the most successful eCommerce companies in the years to come will be those who build a brand.  

Building a community, telling a brand story that resonates, building products that people are passionate about, differentiating from the competition - all are part of what it asked to build a successful brand.

Companies that just learn a few tricks and tactics to sell more on Amazon or those that rely on just a few google traffic hacks, or those who only sell products that are available from other sellers are in a much weaker position than those who build a brand. That’s why I was super excited to bring on the show a brand building powerhouse like Rick Cesari. Rick has been involved with some pretty stellar brands over the years including the George Foreman Grill, GoPro Cameras, Sonicare Toothbrush, Oxiclean and others. He knows what it takes to position and market a product to make turn it into a massive winner.  

Here’s a look at what we cover:

• Using direct response ads principles and building a brand at the same time.
• Tips to building a great brand including feedback loops, crafting a USP, getting to the benefit and more.  Learn how Rick helped the Juiceman brand go head-to-head with Krups and Braun and generate $75 million in sales in just 4 years.
• How to differentiate.  We both love Sally Hogshead’s quote “Different is better than better.”
• Tips for great videos.  One of our favorite topics and an area that Rick is an expert in.  We talk about what makes for a great video. 
• Using Ricks brand-building and marketing tips on Amazon.
• Plus more

Whether you’re planning to sell your eCommerce business in 1 year or 3 years or never, the information in this podcast is pure eCommerce gold. Regardless of your exit plans, it’s important to know how to make your business more valuable now.  

 

My guest for this episode is Joe Valley, Director of Brokerage Services at Quiet Light Brokerage.  Joe is a seasoned eComm expert and a former business owner. As a broker of eCommerce businesses his perspective is unique and insightful.  Here’s a look at what we discuss:

 

• What is my eComm business worth?  Everyone wants to know this. Joe lays out some quick guidelines to keep in mind.  
• The 4 Pillars of a sellable company.  The beauty of these pillars is that they also will help you run a better business NOW!
• Biggest mistakes people make when they decide to sell?
• Biggest success story of someone who sold?
• Most important financial metrics to determine value?

• The story of profitability and why cash flow isn’t the whole story
• Trend analysis and how it impacts value
• How long does it take to sell an eCommerce business
• How does a company being on Amazon vs. not being on Amazon impact value?
• Plus more!

The company with the best data feeds wins.  That’s maybe not the kind of comment you hear too often and it’s not going to be the headline for any motivational posters.  But, there is some truth to it.   On this episode my guest is Brian Roizen, Co-Founder and Chief Architect for Feedonomics, a full-service product feed platform.  While it’s not always true that the company with the best data feed wins, I do believe that your marketing efforts can only be as good as the data that feeds them.     In this episode we get slightly nerdy, but also really practical.  Here’s a look at what we cover.   - Why it’s worth the time to build a good feed.  In a saturated environment you have to differentiate.  A good data feed is one way to help your products stand out.   - How the perfect feed + perfect campaign structure is where you can really gain a competitive edge in Google Shopping and other channels.   - Top feed mistakes to avoid   - Amazon feed tips for world-class Amazon product listings - How to automate Amazon repricing for competitive niches - Benefits of Amazon Brand Registry - Facebook feed tips - How Walmart is growing ecommerce through acquisition and how to profit from their marketplace.   - Google Manufacturer Center why and when you should take control of it - Plus more!

While I’ve spent most of my marketing career focused on driving traffic that converts, I know the importance of a good landing page and sales funnel.  A few months ago I met The Lady Boss. Kaelin Poulin and her husband Brandon when I spoke at an event in Atlanta.   I was struck by how good they’ve been at building funnels, building community, and selling products.  First a little about Brandon, then an overview of our discussion.   Brandon Poulin is CEO and Co-Founder of LadyBoss, the first global weight loss system and support community for women. With the help of his rockstar wife Kaelin and their leadership team, he has helped transform the lives of over 140,000 customers across the world. With its 4 unique product lines having accumulated tens of millions in revenue, Brandon and his team at LadyBoss are disrupting the weight loss industry by simply focusing on helping women lose weight while loving themselves again.   What we cover in this episode:

• How to approach building a new funnel?

• Keys to a successful funnel

• Diagnosing and improving struggling funnels

• Building a community and a following like a Boss

• Plus more!

When I first met Charlie Youakim the CEO and co-founder or Sezzle I was surprised by a few things he told me:

• Millennials prefer to pay with debit cards

• Only 1 in 3 millennials have credit cards

• Not having credit cards impacts the way millennials shop online and most don’t like the hassle of applying for a card.

  Some regulations put into place after the recession in 2008 like prohibiting credit card companies from marketing on college campuses and raising the legal age to sign up for a credit card to 21 instead of 18 have all played into this.     Sezzle has put together an interesting product that allows both merchants and customers to get what they want.  The interesting thing is that Sezzle didn’t start with their current offering. As a long-time entrepreneur I was fascinated to hear how Sezzle pivoted from their original idea (which just didn’t take off) to its current offering with great success.    

• How outerwear company 686 raised AOVs by 22% and increased total sales by 5% by offering payment plans

• How athleisure store Inflow Style raised AOVs by 40% and increased totals sales by 8% by offering payment plans

• How and when to pivot as an entrepreneur

• The 3 ways to grow a business and how payment plans can help with all 3.

• Plus the history of credit cards (call me a nerd, but this was interesting to me)...

While exit pops, lead magnets, page takeovers are not necessarily new, I love the approach that Lindsey and her team at Hello Bar take to improve online conversions.   I met Lindsey through a good friend of mine and was immediately impressed with her approach. She’s strategic in her use of conversion tools.  Many merchants just sort of throw tools together and hope that something works. Anyone who’s listened to this podcast for any length of time knows that I’m a huge fan of good data and letting data speak.  Lindsey takes a data driven approach to creating better use of conversion tools and lead magnets.   Here’s a quick look at what we dive into on this call:

• Why customers actually prefer page takeovers to other exit pops (and the numbers back it up)

• Headline tips from marketing masters and why your current headlines might suck

• How Neil Patel gets more conversions on his properties

• Headline formulas to get more clicks, signups and sales

• Lead magnet ideas that drive conversion vs. lead magnets that lead to eye rolls.

• Plus more conversion optimization gold

  Want a free 30-day trial of hellobar? Check it out here.

f you aren’t using YouTube at least for remarketing - you’re missing out.  With over 1 Billion monthly users and average session durations of over 40 min. (longer than what most people spend on Facebook in a day) YouTube has the attention of your prospects and customers.     Not only does YouTube have your prospects and customers eyes and ears, they also have a really attractive advertising offering - TrueView.  With the TrueView pre-roll (aka “before” videos) you as the advertiser only pays if someone actually watches your video or clicks through to your site. If someone skips before the :30 mark, you pay nothing.  Pretty cool.   Throw some really advanced audience targeting features on top of that and you have all kinds of options for both top and bottom of the funnel marketing on YouTube.     This episode is a recording of a talk I gave in San Diego at Social Media Marketing World.  In it I cover the following:  

• How your prospects are using YouTube and how that should influence your strategy

• The best audiences to target with your ads

• 5 Tips to creating great video ads that hook prospects and get them to take action

• YouTube for Top of Funnel - the bulk of this talk is about remarketing, but YouTube has some great benefits for Top of Funnel which I outline here.  

• Targeting options - If you go Top of Funnel what kind of targeting options should you consider.

• Plus more!