Ecommerce Pulse

Shopify Reunite Recap & Reactions

Links and notes Shopify's Reunite recap blog article Causeway 305 Envision.io

One simple method to make more money with your existing traffic and customers

64: Inventing a new product and selling it online, with Ken Foster

Topics covered in this episode: How Ken and his family designed and manufactured a brand new product in the pet industry Dealing with intellectual property issues for new products (like patents and trademarks) How offering a more generous return policy actually correlated with a...

63: Dropshipping vs. buying wholesale, with Richard Lazazzera

Topics covered in this episode: Differences between dropshipping and buying wholesale Pros and cons of drop shipping and scenarios when you might want to try it Tips to be successful with dropshipping How the "free plus shipping" model works and things to consider before trying it Pros and...

62: When your Amazon product flops, with Shabbir Nooruddin

Shabbir began selling a product that brought in $5996.13 in revenue during the first 50 days. Leighton checks in with Shabbir to see how things are going a few months later. Topics covered in this episode: Some lessons that Shabbir has learned...

61: Research-based A/B testing, with Nick Disabato

Topics covered in this episode: Nick D's work, writing, tips, and tools Basics of A/B testing How to interview your customers to learn what needs to change on your website How to know when your business is ready for A/B testing Most common UX and copy mistakes...

60: How to hire and work with virtual assistants

Topics covered in this episode: How to know when it’s the right time to hire a VA What you should look for in a good VA and how to prepare for having one Helpful tips in the hiring process and in managing a VA Listener...

59: Effective abandoned cart campaigns with Jordan Gal

How many apps or services do you use for your online store that let you track the ROI on your investment in that app, down to the dollar? Jordan Gal of CartHook.com joins me today for a discussion about abandoned cart...

57: How to use Facebook to grow your business, with Mojca Mars

Mojca Mars is a social media consultant who really knows her stuff, and today she shares her best strategies and tricks for making the most of Facebook. Mojca shares the secrets behind how to know when you should boost a Facebook...

56: How to use content marketing to grow your ecommerce business, with Casandra Campbell

Casandra Campbell is the managing editor of the Shopify blog, so she's got serious chops when it comes to content marketing. Shopify's content team publishes at least 5 blog posts a week on the main Shopify blog, and this content marketing...

55: How to write amazing copy that generates sales, with Stephanie Simon

What is copywriting? How can doing it well help you make more sales with your ecommerce store? What's a customer avatar, and how can you develop one that will help you write amazing copy for your online store? How can...

54: Catching up with Richard Lazazzera on Facebook groups, SEO tricks, our own ecom stores, and more

Richard Lazazzera of A Better Lemonade Stand has been building an active Facebook community for ecommerce entrepreneurs. He's also focusing on SEO, using SEMRush to figure out new keywords to focus on and outrank his competitors. We talk about our ecommerce...

53: How to double your audience through blogger outreach, with Kai Davis

Kai Davis is an outreach consultant, which means that he helps his clients get featured in other blogs and podcasts by building relationships with influencers. In this episode, Kai and I talk about how to identify the right influencers to reach...

52: Getting started selling on Amazon, with Shabbir Nooruddin

Shabbir started selling baking mats on Amazon, and failed. Then he tried a second product and did $5996.13 in revenue during the first 50 days. In this episode we discuss how he did it, how to tell which products are selling...

51: Extending the customer lifecycle with Drew Sanocki

envision.io/51 Drew Sanocki reveals the basics of how tripwire marketing and discount ladders can make customers stick around longer, buying from you again and again. Links mentioned on the show: Karmaloop Mineral Nerd Marketing Klaviyo Rejoiner CartHook Toggl The Pomodoro Technique Tomighty 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Working Less...

EP 050: How Corey Ferreira started a profitable ecommerce brand in 5 weeks with Alibaba

envision.io/50 Corey Ferreira works on the Shopify content team, and he recently published a huge, in-depth case study showing exactly how he started a profitable ecommerce store with products he imported through Alibaba. I had Corey on the show to talk about how...

EP 049: Tucker Schreiber on what it’s like to work at Shopify while starting ecommerce shops on the side

envision.io/49 Tucker Schreiber from Shopify's Growth and Marketing team joins me this week to talk ecommerce. After seeing one of the businesses that Tucker started, Shopify offered him a job, and he's continued starting online stores while working there. A few of the topics we...

EP 048: Kurt Elster on building an audience, Facebook ad tricks, and optimizing your site for conversions

Kurt Elster is one of the most knowledgeable and fun-to-listen-to ecommerce pros I know. Kurt was kind enough to come on the show and share his ecommerce expertise, Shopify savvy, and marketing mastery to help you get more eyeballs on your products...

EP 047: Listener questions answered

Leighton is developing a new Shopify theme with loads of features and options. His drop shipping site suddenly stops making sales for a mysterious reason. Richard is trying out his first popup store. Shabbir gets a sudden unexplained boost in organic...

EP 046: What we’re up to, Shopify app pricing, and AI web design

Leighton returns from a hiatus and has launched a new drop shipping site. Richard doubles his conversion rate using 5 simple Shopify apps and has a bone to pick with Shopify app developers who charge too much. Shabbir is developing a BigCommerce...

EP 045: The Adwords approach that works, with Drew Sanocki

Today I’m talking with Drew Sanocki about how to use paid traffic to grow your ecommerce business. Drew founded DesignPublic.com, an online store that sells home furniture and decor, and he did it using the drop ship model. He built...

EP 044: 5 Common Startup Myths, with Rod Zwahlen

Today I’m talking with Rod Zwahlen from WhitePlum.com. You may remember Hilary Zwahlen from episode 39, and Rod and Hilary are married, so they are a cool example of a couple who are running an ecommerce business together. You may remember...

EP 043: A transparent talk about the challenges of ecommerce with Robert of RCModelsWiz.co.uk

Today I’m talking with my friend Robert, who started his online store last year selling RC cars, boats, and helicopters. Last month Robert and I exchanged a few emails and talked on Skype, and I wanted to have him on...

EP 042: Replacing a six-figure income in 1 year selling wedding linens, with Steve Chou

Today I’m joined by Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com. For those of you who don’t know him already, Steve and his wife started an ecommerce business selling wedding linens that grew to replace his wife’s six-figure salary within one year. Steve’s...

EP 041: When should you give up on a business idea? And what should you do with it? A discussion with Shabbir Nooruddin

Today I have my friend Shabbir Nooruddin on the show again, and we’re talking about how to know when you should give up on your business idea--when to call it quits and move on to other projects. We’ll also...

EP 040: Selling Hip Undies, doing PR Marketing, and succeeding with Facebook ads with Miracle Wanzo

Today I have Miracle Wanzo on the show to talk about how she went from selling on eBay to launching her own online stores. Miracle is the owner of HipUndies.com and several other ecommerce sites, and she’ll be telling us...

EP 039: How a stay-at-home mom built a $2 million+ business in a year, with Hilary Zwahlen

Today I’m excited to share a discussion with you that I had with Hilary Zwahlen of White Plum. Hilary is a busy mom who started selling jewelry out of her home last year, and then quickly grew her business...

EP 038: Drop Ship Lifestyle with Anton Kraly

Last week I had Johnny FD on the show, talking about how he built an ecommerce business that now allows him to live and travel in Thailand, running his business remotely. Johnny mentioned the Anton Method, which is a particular...

EP 037: Living in Thailand and building a $20k/month dropshipping store with Johnny FD

Today I have Johnny FD on the show to talk about how he built a drop shipping business that now earns him a full-time income and allows him to live and travel in Thailand. Johnny and I will be talking...

EP 036: Selling big shoes with Brandon Eley

Today  I have Brandon Eley of 2BigFeet.com on the show to talk about how he built a seven figure ecommerce business selling big shoes. Brandon’s been in ecommerce for about 15 years, and he and I will be talking about how...

EP 035: Email marketing for ecommerce with John McIntyre

Today we're talking about email marketing for ecommerce with John McIntyre, the autoresponder guy. John and I are going to be talking about all of the ways that you can use email to increase your revenues. John has some great points...

EP 034: Should you post the same content everywhere? Also, an update on how Survival Knife Experts is doing

Today I'm answering a question sent to me by Jenny, a listener: How do you decide what content to publish on your blog vs. newsletter vs. social media? Should you post the same thing on Facebook as you do on Twitter? I've...

EP 033: An ecommerce coaching session with Carole Rains of Rustic Artistry

Today I’ve got Carole Rains from Rustic Artistry on the show for an ecommerce coaching session. As you know, I’ve previously invited listeners to email me about their own ecommerce ventures and apply for a free consulting session with me to...

EP 032: Starting a brand and getting products manufactured for under $2k with Terry Lin

Today I’ve got Terry Lin on the show from BuildMyOnlineStore.com. Terry recently quit his job, moved to Vietnam, and is now working on building his own ecommerce brand, Baller Leather. He’ll tell you more about himself and his business, but...

EP 031: Growth hacking for ecommerce: What it means and how to do it

Is growth hacking just an overused buzzword or is it something you should be thinking about?  What is growth hacking, and what does it mean to small ecommerce businesses? Today I'll be talking about 3 key concepts of growth hacking, and I'll...

EP 030: 6 lessons I’ve learned through starting my ecommerce business

In today's episode I share six things I've learned recently through starting Survival Knife Experts, my drop ship ecommerce business. Here are the six lessons I've been learning. Listen to the episode below for tips and strategies on how to solve...

EP 029: A talk with Pat Flynn about building a brand from scratch

In today's episode I'll be sharing a conversation I recently had with Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com. Pat is an expert at building new niche websites, becoming an expert in a niche, creating high-quality authoritative content, and building awareness of a...

EP 028: Listener Questions: Does guest blogging still work? How can I write interesting content for “boring” niches? And more…

Today's episode is a question and answer session. We'll be covering some important topics, including: Whether or not you should still be using guest blogging for SEO, in light of Matt Cutts' recent condemnation of the practice How to write interesting articles...

EP 027: Audio Blog: 8 quick actions you can take to boost your online store towards massive success

This weekend, Mrs. Ecommerce Pulse and I are moving to Cancun, Mexico. We are extremely excited about our move, and are currently working long days and nights to pack our things into storage, move out of our apartment, and get...

EP 026: An Intro to Conversion Rate Optimization with Francis Teo

In today's episode, I have an information-packed discussion with Francis Teo. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), according to Francis, is "the science and art of getting more people to take action on your website." Francis shares why the often-quoted "industry-standard" conversion rate...

EP 025: Manufacturing products to sell with Richard Lazazzera

In today's episode, you'll hear an interview with Richard Lazazzera, an amazing ecommerce entrepreneur who shares his experience with manufacturing products in North America and building a men's fashion accessories brand. Richard has built, bought, and sold multiple ecommerce businesses,...

EP 024: An Ecommerce Coaching Session with Matt Ward of Remotorboater.com

In today's episode, you'll hear another ecommerce coaching session with Matt Ward. Matt recently started an online store selling remote controlled boats, and he reached out to me after hearing about the free recorded coaching sessions that I've mentioned on...

EP 023: How I’m building an email list and using it to make sales

In today's episode, I share my written marketing plan for Survival Knife Experts, and then I drill down int...

EP 022: Audio Blog: 5 ways to support yourself financially while bootstrapping an online business

Today's episode is an audio blog--an audio version of a blog post previously published here on Ecommerce Pulse. This is a bit of an experiment--I'm interested to get the feedback of you, my fantastic listeners, as to whether or not...

EP 021: 4 psychological barriers that you’re facing as an ecommerce entrepreneur and how to overcome them

In today's episode, we'll be talking about several obstacles that confront us as we go down the road of ecommerce entrepreneurship. These are challenges that I'm facing right now, and things that have been on my mind a lot lately,...

EP 020: An Ecommerce Coaching Session with Donnie Lawson

In today's episode, you'll be listening in on a coaching session with Donnie Lawson. Donnie is in the planning stages of setting up his ecommerce business, and you'll hear us talk about the criteria he used to choose his niche, how...

EP 019: Ecommerce is a Bear (4 strategies for competing against Amazon)

Today I'm joined by Shabbir Nooruddin of BootstrappingEcommerce.com for a discussion of Andy Dunn's article, "E-Commerce is a Bear." The basic idea behind the article is this: Big ecommerce companies like Amazon are like grizzly bears--they are the apex predators...

EP 018: What I’ve been learning about increasing productivity, reducing stress, and managing my time

Today we'll be discussing the challenges and psychological obstacles that face entrepreneurs like you and me. Lately I've learned a few strategies that have helped me overcome some of these challenges--here's a preview of a few of the topics covered...

EP 017: How to design your own ecommerce site when you’re not a designer

If you're a bootstrapper, you're not going to spend thousands of dollars on professional web designers and marketers--you're going to be figuring all of that out on your own. In this episode, we'll be talking about some basic design principles...

EP 016: Update on Survival Knife Experts

I've been busy working on Survival Knife Experts, and in this episode you'll hear everything that's been going on with SEO, advertising, and what I've been learning. To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes. Links referenced during the show: Zite.com...