Ecommerce Pulse

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 and tactics that you can implement today, so I’m excited to share our discussion with you. A few of the key points in our discussion include:

How to set up a 3-email abandoned cart sequence that breaks down specific barriers to customers making a purchase

Our thoughts on whether or not you should use a discount code to get cart abandoners to complete their order

How to keep an email list warm and gradually move them closer to making a purchase

The different types of email marketing you should be implementing for your store

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

The Linen Napkin

AbandonApp

The McMethod Email Marketing Podcast

EmailForEcommerce.com

How to build an email list that builds your ecommerce business (my guest article on Shopify)

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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 started blog posts, Twitter and Facebook. I want to launch a good newsletter campaign. I just want to make sure I'm doing this effectively.

I've heard podcast related to creating content for each of these, but not one where you define a strategy for all.

Thank you for what you do!!!

Jenny

This is a great question, and in this episode you'll hear my thoughts on the matter. I'll also give you an update on Survival Knife Experts, including how my amazing wife, Ryan, is helping me implement my marketing plan. I'll share about social media, guest posting, SEO, and PPC. Finally, I'll share a few key lessons I've learned recently that I plan to take action on for Survival Knife Experts and possibly with a new store down the road.

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

PermaBloom.co.uk

Travel Like a Boss Podcast

Asana

My video tutorial on how to set up an email signup landing page in Shopify

Product Reviews app for Shopify

HitTail

Anton Method

PulsePremium (use discount code ECOMMERCEPULSE for 20% off your first 2 months)

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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 be recorded and shared with all of you. I think it can be really helpful to hear about what one of your fellow entrepreneurs is doing, the challenges they are facing, and what’s been working for them. We’re all probably facing a lot of similar challenges, so this is a chance for us to learn from each other. I’m always open to doing more of these coaching sessions, so if you’re interested in coming on the show for one of them, shoot me an email and tell me your story.

A few of the key points we’ll be covering include:

How Carole got her site featured on several high-profile blogs that have driven thousands of visitors to her site

A number of suggestions I gave Carole for how to improve her conversion rate on high-priced items

How Carole built up her Facebook and Pinterest followers to over 2000 followers and how she’s continuing to build those social media followings

Some ideas for how she could get nice product photography done for products around the country from different suppliers

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

Rustic Artistry

PicMonkey - Free online photo editor

Optimizely

Visual Website Optimizer

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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 Terry and I discuss a couple of really important topics that I think you’ll enjoy hearing about:

First, you’ll hear how Terry got a brand new product designed, got a sample of the product made, and the first run of 150 units manufactured for less than $2,000. But even more exciting, we’ll be talking about how Terry got pre-orders that covered the entire cost of manufacturing that first run. You’ll also hear about how he’s marketing the site by reaching out to bloggers in his niche in order to build awareness, traffic, and sales.

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

TryCelery.com - Accept pre-orders for your product

BuildMyOnlineStore.com - Terry Lin's ecommerce podcast and blog

BallerLeather.com - Terry's online shop selling leather wallets

Tropical MBA

Alibaba - Find manufacturers for your product

Shipwire

Fulfillrite

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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 be sharing some real-world examples of ecommerce websites that use growth hacking to grow. My goal is for you to finish this episode with 2-3 specific actionable items that you can implement today to start growing your business using the concepts of growth hacking.

A few of the items we'll be talking about in this episode include:

What attributes of products lead them to spread organically

How to use analytics to hone down your growth efforts on the most effective methods

What a funnel is and what it means to you

I'll also be sharing the key points of growth hacking that differentiate it from traditional marketing:

Growth hacking incorporates built-in virality.

Growth hacking relies heavily on analytics.

Growth hacking focuses on an awareness of where the traffic is in today’s economy, and on placing yourself where you’re visible to that traffic

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

The Ultimate Guide to Dropshipping

The Definitive Guide to Growth Hacking

Diamond Candles - An example of an ecommerce site that uses a unique customer experience to build virality into their products.

Moo - A business card store that uses a "pass-it-on" discount card to build virality into their products.

AirBnB - A site that leveraged the user base of AirBnB to build their own traffic and users

Google Analytics

Kissmetrics

My free 5-day email course on how to choose an ecommerce niche

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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 these problems and defeat these challenges!

The hardest part comes after you launch.

It's difficult to do more than one thing at a time.

Shipping costs will kill you.

Don't invest in low-return activities or advertising.

Keyword selection is king.

Shiny object syndrome is real and dangerous.

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

SurvivaKnifeExperts.com - My drop ship ecommerce business

AskPat.com - Pat Flynn's new podcast answering listener questions.

Startups for the Rest of Us - A fantastic podcast on bootstrapping a business that I recommend you check out

The Great PPC Experiment, Part 1 - My experiment with using Facebook ads to drive traffic to Survival Knife Experts

Spy On Your Ecommerce Competition Like James Bond 007

How to Research your Ecommerce Competitors

12 Strategies for Avoiding Shiny Object Syndrome

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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 new brand. He shares his experiences and tips in today's episode, and I'm extremely excited for you to hear what he has to say.

Here's a preview of what you'll hear in this episode:

How Pat talked with people in his niche before launching his site to figure out the best ways to create content to reach them.

How he's building awareness of the FoodTruckr brand by churning out high-quality content and generating word-of-mouth buzz.

How to become an expert in a niche

Pat's tips for finding areas of your business that you could outsource to VAs

And more...

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

CloudFlare.com - A free CDN service to boost your website's speed and reliability

Smart Passive Income

FoodTruckr

Security Guard Training HQ

Entrepreneur on Fire with John Lee Dumas

Eventual Millionaire with Jaime Tarde (check spelling?)

Social Triggers with Derek Halpern

Virtual Staff Finder with Chris Ducker

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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 for "boring" niches (including some specific questions to ask yourself to help you brainstorm)

Some tips for what to do after launching a new ecommerce site to start driving traffic and sales

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

EmbedResponsively.com - A free tool to help you embed YouTube, Vimeo, and other videos responsively (so they show up well on any device).

The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO - Matt Cutts' blog post.

ClocksMarketplace.com - Amiel's new ecommerce website, for which he's trying to write interesting content.

How to Write Interesting Content for a "Boring" Topic

Quora.com and Yahoo Answers - Good places to learn what questions people are asking about your "boring" topic.

eCommHub.com - An online SAAS tool that syncs your stock levels between your ecommerce site and your suppliers. It also handles things like sending shipping tracking numbers.

Magento - An open source ecommerce platform. I don't recommend using it unless you're ready to tackle big technical issues to set up and manage your store.

TraditionalShavingShop.co.uk - Mitesh's brand new ecommerce site. Mitesh asked what he should do next to start driving traffic and sales.

HootSuite - A tool to schedule your social media posts ahead of time.

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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 everything ready.

Due to our hectic schedule this week, today's episode is an Audio Blog--an audio version of a blog post previously published here on Ecommerce Pulse. Don't worry--next week the show will be back to normal.

To read the original blog post, click here.

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

The original blog post: 8 quick actions you can take to boost your online store towards massive success

HootSuite - The tool I use to manage my social media accounts for Ecommerce Pulse and Survival Knife Experts

Evergreen content - A term I used during the show. Don't know what it is? Click the link to find out.

Bounce rates - Another term you should know (and stat you should track on your site)!

Theodore Levitt - I paraphrased something that Mr. Levitt once said about quarter-inch drill bits and holes

Yotpo - An easy and free way to add reviews to your ecommerce site. Using Shopify? View the Shopify app page here.

How to take better product photos

Ecommerce toolkit - The top tools I use to build and manage my online businesses

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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 of 2-4% is not something you absolutely count on, and he also talks about some general principles you can use and potential pitfalls to avoid.

An overview of what Francis and I discuss during the show:

What CRO is

What the benefits of CRO are (what it will do for your business)

When you should start doing CRO as a startup

Tools that will help you do it

Francis' top tips for optimizing your site without hiring a consultant

To hear the episode, click play below or download in iTunes.

Links referenced during the show:

Conversions Guaranteed - Francis Teo's CRO agency

The Conversions Podcast - Francis' podcast about, well, conversions. ;)

Startups for The Rest of Us - A great podcast targeted to helping solo entrepreneurs

Optimizely - One of the tools Francis recommends for doing CRO

Visual Website Optimizer - The other CRO tool Francis mentioned

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