The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Being an ecommerce seller, it's always nice to hear success stories from fellow entrepreneurs. But sometimes, the stories can feel quite distant and unrelatable, and while it's nice hearing about the good stuff, it's also important to listen to stories about losses and failures.

Our guest today is my good friend, Tal Moore. Tal is well-known in our community as a successful ecommerce entrepreneur who is comfortable sharing all the bad things that he's overcome in his journey.

In this episode, we'll be talking about how he got into ecommerce with his first brands, the ups and downs of running a business, and which factors to consider when you're torn between turning a failing business around or selling it altogether.

Talking Points:

• Tal's ecommerce journey from Gumballs.com to Guardline - 9:32
• The ugly side of being on top as an online entrepreneur - 24:32
• Dealing with a beaten-up business and sketchy competition - 27:58
• How Tal overcame his lowest point and turned his business around - 37:57
• The problem of having your identity tied to your business - 51:27

I want to thank Tal for doing this podcast with me, and I'm sure our listeners got a lot of value from his insights.

Speaking of insights, we're going live with a free public webinar this July 22 at 10AM (PST) about Amazon A9 Secrets. We'll be sharing our exact strategies to beating Amazon's ranking algorithm and ranking our products even among higher-volume sellers.

Also, in case you missed it, EcomCrew Premium is open this week only! If you're someone looking to join a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, be sure to check out ecomcrew.com/premium today.

As always, if you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review over on iTunes.

Happy selling and we'll talk to you soon!

Today on the show, we have CEO and Co-Founder of Manychat, Mike Yan. He has some exciting news to share about some new features that Instagram is rolling out, and why you should take advantage of them as an ecommerce seller.

Now, if you're new to the show and are just starting off, you might not know it but ManyChat is one of the biggest SaaS (software as a service) in the industry. Before I sold ColorIt back in 2019, I used ManyChat to grow the brand, and it turned out extremely successful for me.

ManyChat is a chart marketing service that helps you automate conversations on messaging platforms to generate leads and boost conversions.

Be sure to check out our previous episode with Mike to learn more about the value that ManyChat and messenger marketing can add to your business:

• E386: Why Messenger Marketing is the Future

For this episode, Mike and I will be talking about the power of Instagram marketing. Instagram is opening up their API and is now allowing DM automation, which is a once in a lifetime opportunity to connect with your customers on a deeper level.

Timestamps:

• What ManyChat is all about - 2:06
• Key changes in Messenger marketing over the past year - 4:10
• Why Instagram will become the most important social network in 2 years - 10:37
• Step-by-step guide to setting up automated DM flows on Instagram - 24:49
• Learn more about Instagram Marketing through the virtual IG Summit - 29:24

I'd like to thank Mike for taking the time to do this episode with me. I can't wait for him to come back with more interesting stuff down the road. To learn more about Instagram marketing, check out ManyChat's free course over on their website.

There's definitely some great strategies discussed in this episode to help you grow your brand. But if you're struggling to rank your products on Amazon, come join our free public webinar this July 22 at 10 AM (PST) about Amazon A9 Secrets. We'll teach you how to master Amazon's ranking algorithm to rank even among high-volume sellers. Reserve your seat here.

Until the next one, happy Selling!

Going from 0 to $1M is no small feat, but Dave has done exactly that, and then some.

For this episode, he'll be talking about all his wins, losses, and future outlook four years after he started a new ecommerce brand from scratch after selling his previous business for top dollar.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out all the previous updates from years 1 through 3:

• Million Dollar Update - 12 Month Update
• E278: Dave's Year 2 Update on His Off-Roading Gear Business
• E325: Rebuilding a 1M Brand - Dave's 3 Year Update

Dave will start out with a real-numbers breakdown of how his brand of offroading gear is doing, and he will talk about how COVID has factored into his metrics and strategy.

He will also be sharing what his future goals are in light of all the FBA rollups walking into town—you'll want to stick around to hear his insights about when it's worth it to sell to an FBA aggregator.

Timestamps:

• Real numbers breakdown (as of June 2021) - 1:00
• Some of Dave's biggest wins throughout the past year - 4:34
• Dave's big losses and missteps - 15:47
• What Dave's goals are for 2022 - 24:19
• Dave's insights about FBA aggregators and potentially selling his business - 27:26

There will definitely be a lot more to unpack after another year of Dave's journey. For now, you can check out all the other good stuff we have on the EcomCrew Podcast, YouTube channel, and Blog.

Speaking of good stuff, a huge part of Dave's success is mastering Amazon's A9 ranking algorithm and nailing down a solid SEO strategy. This July 22 at 10 AM (PST), he'll be sharing all that in a free public webinar on Amazon A9 Secrets. Save yourself a slot here.

If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes. Until the next one, happy selling and we'll talk to you soon!

Amazon's Sponsored Brands is not exactly popular among sellers—over 70 percent of people only use Sponsored Products (which we talked about in the previous edition).

In this episode, Dave will answer all your questions about Sponsored Brands using real numbers from our own experiments (using our own brands).

He'll be diving into whether Sponsored Brands works better (or worse) than Sponsored Products, whether you should be investing in good product videos for Amazon Sponsored Brands Video Ads, and how Amazon records data and attributes sales across various advertising methods.

If you've ever wondered if Sponsored Brands ads are worth it, this is definitely the episode for you.

Timestamps:

• Which performs better: Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brands? - 1:42
• How Amazon attributes sales when using different advertising methods - 9:10
• Sponsored Brands video ads - 9:57
• How our own data compares to what others are reporting - 13:20
• The quality standard for video ads on Amazon - 15:51
• An easy hack to making effective video ads - 18:23
• Should you send people to a product collection page or to your actual storefront? - 20:06

Thank you for tuning in to this episode, and be sure to stay tuned for more editions of our Amazon PPC series.

By the way, if you haven't already, our Secret Source course bundle is still up for grabs. That's 10 value-packed video courses delivered by industry experts at no more than $10 each—PLUS, we're throwing in 2 new bonus courses to sweeten the deal even more! Check out all the courses over on ecomcrew.com/sauce.

Also make sure to head over to iTunes and leave us a review if you enjoyed this episode.

Until the next one, happy selling!

Mental and emotional well-being are among the most overlooked aspects in running a business.

Whether you are aware of it or not, your emotions factor greatly into your behavior and decision-making as an entrepreneur.

This is why today, I'll be sitting down with Topsie VandenBosch to talk all about emotional intelligence and mindset strategies for entrepreneurs, particularly for online business-owners like you.

Topsie is licensed as a Master in Social Work and is currently engaged as a mindset coach for business owners. She'll be sharing with me how and why it's important to maintain a level mind when running a business.

We also talk a lot about mindset strategies that can bring your stress levels down to a minimum and help you avoid getting into a rut.

Timestamps:

• Topsie's background in mental and emotional health - 2:58
• How you can deal with the mental pressures of running a business - 7:06
• How emotions can get the better of you - 14:41
• Keeping yourself from getting into a rut - 19:36
• Why it's important to accept that someone could do something better - 25:25
• The value of receiving objective feedback from someone you trust - 31:03

I definitely learned a lot from Topsie today, as I'm sure you did too. If you want to reach out to her, she's always posting awesome stuff over on Instagram.

You can also hit her up on her website, topsievandenbosch.com, where awesome content like her Escape the Thought Spiral course are available, or email her directly at [email protected].

Speaking of awesome content, our Secret Sauce bundle is currently up for grabs! That's 10 Ecommerce Classes for less than $10 each—PLUS, we're throwing in 2 new bonus courses that you'll surely get a kick out of. Get the course bundle here.

Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Until the next one, happy selling and we'll talk to you soon!

FBA rollups and acquisition companies have been all the rage in 2021, but we don't often hear about the buying side of an ecommerce brand acquisition.

In this episode, I sit down with Sarah Dajani of Boosted Commerce to talk about the operational side of buying ecommerce brands.

Boosted Commerce is an acquisition company that focuses on buying category leaders with a strong Amazon presence.

Some of the good stuff we talk about include Boosted's core investment thesis and what acquisition companies really look at when considering which brands to buy. I also get to pick Sarah's brain about how their company manages to keep the wheels in place after management and operation of an ecommerce business has been passed on.

If you're running a solid ecommerce brand, have a strong Amazon presence, and are looking to exit your business sooner or later, definitely tune into this one.

Timestamps:

• How Sarah ended up at Boosted Commerce - 2:58
• What her company looks for when choosing which ecommerce brands to acquire - 7:56
• The buying side of an acquisition in terms of multiples - 10:52
• What happens after an ecommerce brand acquisition - 19:14
• How Boosted Commerce keeps the wheels turning - 28:41
• Boosted Commerce's brand health analysis - 34:57

I definitely learned a lot from Sarah on this one. If you're interested in selling your business or have some burning questions of your own, you can reach Sarah on [email protected] or check out their website, boostedcommerce.com.

If you're still growing your business, though, there's no better resource than our Secret Sauce course bundle, which we're making available at no more than $10 for each course. This bundle includes 10 value-packed video courses where industry experts share their secret sauce to scaling an ecommerce business. PLUS, we're adding 2 new bonus videos for good measure. Grab your bundle here.

As always, if you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review over on iTunes to let us know!

Happy selling and we'll talk to you soon.

Starting out in ecommerce from zero to a million is tough, and scaling your business further from $1M to $10M is equally daunting.

My guest today is Chase Clymer. He is the co-founder of the Electric Eye Agency, which specializes in helping online entrepreneurs scale their ecommerce businesses. He also hosts the awesome Honest Ecommerce Podcast, which I'm sure a lot of you will find value in as well.

For this episode, Chase and I will be talking about his company's brand-scaling framework that focuses on three key metrics: average order value, conversion rate, and sessions.

We also talk about the common pain points of sellers on Shopify and why it's still among the best solutions out there as well as how much an effective content engine can do for your business.

Timestamps:

• What Chase has been up to for the past several years - 3:06
• Digging deeper into their brand-scaling framework - 4:27
• Key things that you need to do to improve your metrics - 10:54
• The value of developing a content engine in ecommerce - 23:35
• How to get more people atop your funnel and increase sessions - 28:57

I wanna thank Chase for teaching us a lot in this episode. There's definitely a lot of value here if you're a $1M seller who's struggling to take your business to new heights. If you have more questions, you can reach out to him at [email protected]. Also be sure to check out his awesome Honest Ecommerce.

By the way, our Evergreen Webinar on Importing From China in 2021 is back by popular demand. If you want to learn everything there is to know about importing from the world's factory, sign up here.

Lastly, if you haven't already, head over to iTunes and leave us a review. It helps more than you know.

Until the next one, happy selling and we'll talk to you soon!

Just like most other sellers, you probably got into ecommerce for the freedom and the money, but the biggest money you're ever gonna make comes on the day you sell your business.

Would you know what to do when that day comes? Do you think you'll be selling your business for top dollar when it does? Have you planned in advance for a 7-figure exit?

If not, this episode is for you.

Today, I'll be talking to serial entrepreneur and Quiet Light Partner Joe Valley about his new book, The EXITpreneur's Playbook.

In this book, Joe uses his expertise and real life experiences to help you get that exit right without leaving any money on the table—from setting up a game plan, to knowing the actual value of your business, all the way to negotiating and structuring a deal.

Timestamps:

• An overview of The EXITpreneur Playbook - 6:33
• A sneak peek into the chapters and sections of the book - 15:27
• How far in advance you should be planning that exit event - 20:25
• Developing healthy habits and how planning little by little can help you get that exit right - 24:31

I wanna thank Joe for coming onto the show and writing this invaluable book for the ecommerce community. If you want to learn more about The EXITpreneur's Playbook or grab your own copy, head over to exitpreneur.io.

Plus, you'll want to tune in to future episodes, as we'll be announcing the mechanics of the autographed book giveaway. We'll also be announcing the winners shortly thereafter.

On the topic of books, free copies of our Amazon Domination are still up for grabs! This is the definitive guide to launching your product to #1 Best Seller on Amazon—it's yours for free, just pay for shipping.

Also, if you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, don't forget to head over to iTunes and leave us a review.

Until the next one, happy selling and we'll talk to you soon!

Ecommerce sellers often throw money on Facebook and Google ads for most of their revenue. But there's actually a way to use those ads to... well, never rely on ads again (or at least cut your ad costs significantly).

In this episode, I'll be talking to Jordan West, who is the founder and CEO of Mindful Marketing and who also runs the awesome Secrets to Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand Podcast.

Jordan will be sharing how he made over $250K in ecommerce sales in 24 hours without relying on Facebook ads or heavy discounts, and what strategies he used.

We'll be talking about building a VIP group of loyal customers by offering them exclusive products, early access to new products, and even nurturing a community where VIPs can exchange opinions about your brand.

We also go over the benefits of gated product launches and SMS marketing, which could work in ways that you don't really expect.

Timestamps:

• An introduction to who Jordan West is and how he got into entrepreneurship and ecommerce - 02:18
• Gated launches and why building anticipation can boost conversions - 13:13
• Building a VIP group and getting that first thousand people on your list - 18:54
• SMS marketing and which tools Jordan uses for his customer base - 21:56

Tools mentioned:

• Postscript
• Attentive

I had fun hearing about Jordan's experiences and strategies. Be sure to check out Mindful Marketing and his podcast to learn more about ads management and other things ecommerce.

We talked about product launches in this episode, but did you know that 10 minutes is all it takes to successfully launch your rockstar product? This coming June 16 at 10 AM (PST), Founder and CEO of Million Dollar Sellers, Ian Sells will be going live with a free public webinar on Simple and Automated Product Launches in 2021.

It's free, and there's still a lot of slots up for grabs! Save your spot here.

As always, if you liked this episode, head over to iTunes and leave us a review. It helps more than you know.

Until the next one, happy selling!

For most ecommerce sellers, the end goal is to build a solid brand and eventually sell your business. But that's often easier said than done, and I've heard a lot of nightmare stories.

That being said, Lesley Johnson has an entirely different experience, having just sold her business at 3.6x without any serious headache whatsoever.

Today, I'll be talking to Lesley about how she got into ecommerce, what EcomCrew Premium meant for her brand's growth, and the process of selling her business from start to finish.

Lesley also shares how much she's learned in the process and her plans of putting her expanded knowledge base to good use.

If you're in the process of selling your business or are considering that option down the road, definitely give this episode a listen.

Timestamps:

• How Lesley got into ecommerce - 3:40
• What made Lesley join EcomCrew Premium - 12:35
• How Premium helped her easily sell her business - 18:31
• What made Lesley decide to sell her business - 22:54
• Why she exited instead of growing her company - 24:44
• How the deal was structured - 28:48
• Lesley's key takeaway after successfully selling her business - 34:13

I wanna thank Lesley for coming on the show and sharing her experience with us. I'm sure our listeners got a lot of value from her insights. Definitely looking forward to hearing about her next projects soon.

We talked a bit about EcomCrew Premium in this episode. Registrations are closed at the moment (Get notified when it opens), but we do have tons of free stuff you can check out, including our upcoming webinar on Simple and Automated Product Launches, where Ian Sells will teach you how to successfully launch new and old products in just 10 minutes.

That's on June 16 at 10AM (PST). Be sure to save your slot.

If you loved this episode, feel free to leave us a review on iTunes to let us know.

Until the next one, happy selling!