In this episode, Chris and Julia Tunstall share their journey of building a successful brand in the cocktail industry, what it's like to have your spouse as a business partner and a few tips on how they make it work. 

Chris and Julia Tunstall are the owners of the brand, A Bar Above, and have been friends of mine in the industry for longer than I can remember.

I've invited them on the podcast today to find out their entrepreneurial story, and how they manage to stay business partners together through 10 years of being in the business together. 

Spoiler alert: it takes a whole lot of effective communication, trust, and a clear list of roles and responsibilities between each other. Ultimately, they emphasize the importance of finding a system that works for both partners and playing to each other's strengths.

The Big Takeaways

Here's a few of the big key points from this episode: 

• Creating a high-quality experience for your customers, whether a physical or a digital product, can lead to customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
• If you sell B2B, you'll know that there's a problem if they make a complaint. 
• Focusing on customer satisfaction and providing exceptional products can lead to long-term success.
• Clear roles and responsibilities are crucial for a successful partnership, especially if you're working with your spouse. 
• Effective communication and trust are key to navigating the dynamics of being both business and life partners.
• Understanding and respecting each other's working styles can help create a harmonious working relationship.

Timestamps 

• 00:00 - Introduction and Background
• 03:09 - Transition from Education to Physical Products
• 07:23 - Expanding Product Line and B2B Market
• 12:23 - Innovative Experiences for Consumers
• 19:08 - Customer Satisfaction and Future Growth
• 20:32 - The Impact of Reviews on Product Success
• 21:23 - The Importance of Consistent Branding
• 22:16 - The Evolution of Launch Strategies
• 23:26 - Appreciating Well-Designed Websites
• 24:41 - The Challenges of Working with a Spouse
• 28:12 - Navigating the Dynamics of Being Business and Life Partners
• 30:48 - The Pressure of Being the Sole Income Provider
• 32:34 - Understanding and Respecting Different Working Styles

Chris and Julia, thank you again for coming on the podcast! It was nice catching up with you again, and I look forward to meeting you both in Vegas soon.

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected].

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

In this episode, Mike and Dave dissect Amazon's latest announcement regarding Return Fees, how this will affect sellers starting on June 1st, and a possible option to combat these fees. 

Another day, another fee gets announced. It seems like third-party sellers are getting hit left and right lately with new fees, the latest one being Return Fees. In this episode, Dave and I are going to dive into the latest announcement regarding Return Fees, what this means for sellers, and how you can possibly combat these fees. 

If you're in a hurry, here's a few of the big key points from this episode: 

• Starting June 1st, Amazon will start charging sellers $2-$4 extra dollars to process returns. 
• This will only affect SKUs that have surpassed the return threshold in their category. The specific thresholds have been listed by Amazon here. 
• To check for your product's return rate, check out Amazon's SKU Economics Dashboard which is available in Seller Central. 
• Take into account your product's return fees, and double check if your products are still profitable. 
• If you're over the Return Threshold for your product, increase your price. 
• Turning on the "Returnless Returns" option for your most returned products can be a viable way to combat these extra charges. 

• Podcast Start - 0:00
• Looking at return rates and return thresholds - 0:35 
• The return fees announcement - 1:22 
• The published thresholds for categories - 2:21
• How return fees affect your products profitability - 3:30
• All the new fees to think about - 4:54
• Tip: The SKU Economics Dashboard - 5:20
• How the Return Rate Thresholds are calculated - 6:08
• What sellers should do - 6:56 
• Mike's most returned product - 7:05
• Tip: How to "possibly" combat these return fees: turning on returnless returns - 7:47
• Dave's most returned products - 10:33
• People taking advantage of Amazon's return policy - 11:26
• The automotive category's return threshold - 14:11
• The silver lining: being forced to double check operational costs - 15:39 
• Return fees will be charged for units above the threshold - 19:12
• How return fees compare to storage fees - 20:46
• Return fee predictions - 21:43 
• Catching up on Hockey with Dave - 21:57

Links to Tools Mentioned: 

• Link to Amazon Return Thresholds 
• Link to the SKU Economics Dashboard 
• Link to Helium10 

Dave, thanks again for coming on the podcast! It was nice catching up with you again, and I look forward to the follow-up episode we'll do about returns soon. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected].

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

Kevin Williams is on the podcast today to talk about his entrepreneurial journey. From founding brands like Brush Hero to appearing on Shark Tank and finally, to diving deep into AI, we cover the lessons that he's learned through each brand and venture. 

Kevin Williams is the founder of MadBrains AI, a company that specializes in AI literacy and training. With an extensive background in ecommerce, Kevin consistently provides practical tips to digital marketers on how to leverage AI for their brands.

Kevin and I met quite a while back in 2015, where Kevin held a presentation on the importance of product validation before marketing, and that's when I had an epiphany — if no one is interested in your product before you go to sell, it's not worth it.  

After years of friendship, I've decided to get him on to catch up with him and get a background of his experience as an entrepreneur. Here's some timestamps: 

Timestamps: 

• Podcast Start - 0:00
• Mike's Reason for Getting Friends on the Podcast - 0:30 
• Kevin's Product Validation Presentation and Business Model - 1:30 
• Traffic is 4x more expensive now - 2:44 
• Kevin's Patent Concept - 4:17 
• The Origins of Brush Hero - 6:28 
• Importance of Storytelling - 7:26 
• How Counterfeits Destroyed Brush Hero - 8:41
• Being CEO of Balls.co - 11:48
• "What happened to Balls.co?" - 13:59
• Diving into AI - 20:14
• "What's one thing that I should have asked?" - 28:26

If you're in a hurry, I've listed a few of the big takeaways I personally found to be the most impactful:  

• Traffic is so way more expensive now. In 2015, it would cost 25c - 50c to buy traffic on Facebook Ads. Currently, it costs $3-$4 to buy traffic. If you want to start buying ads, it might be more cost-efficient to use a cheaper social networks like TikTok. 
• Being granted a patent is a bucket list item for most tinkerers and engineers. However, a lot of people don't go beyond that point. Partnering with a patent holder can be a good way to find products to sell on Amazon. 
• Storytelling boils down to three main points: 
  1.  Man - your brand or product 
  2.  Mountain - the big problem 
  3.  Getting Over Mountain - how your product solves your problem
• Online reviews have a big impact on offline sales. If your product is available in a brick and mortar store, shoppers will normally try to price-match by checking your product on Amazon and they'll run into your negative reviews. 
• Running a business that's based overseas while having staff that's based in a separate country can be very physically and mentally taxing. 
• Getting shadowbanned on your advertising account is more common than you think. It's a term that describes getting really poor performance on your advertising account, without explicit notice from the platform. 
• Balls.co suffered from their success in the influencer marketing. After receiving a lot of traffic from their influencer marketing, they were starting to be seen as an entertainment company instead of a product company. This meant that they werent getting much sales from their marketing efforts.
• All of the Fortune 10,000 companies are concerned about the implications of AI, but only 5% of them have training in place. 
• You should be leveraging AI to automate customer service. There is no reason for you to be doing first-contact customer service anymore as a business owner and AI can make this a lot easier for you. 
• Taking the previous point a step further, you can use AI to sift through previous chatlogs,  emails and reviews for practical information that you can use in your marketing, customer service and product development. 
• You need to be checking your SEO and keyword rankings almost daily. AI generated content is really finnicky as of now, and it can affect your keyword rankings on Google by a huge margin. 

Kevin, thanks for coming on the podcast! It was nice seeing you again, and I hope our paths cross again before the next eCommerceFuel Live. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected]. You can find Kevin on LinkedIn, where he publishes practical AI tips every week. You can also find him through his company MadBrains.  Thanks for coming on to the podcast Kevin! 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

Jeff Oxford joins us on the podcast today to talk about the most recent Google Update, who the winners were, and how search is going to look like with AI in the horizon.

Jeff Oxford is the Founder and SEO Director of 180 Marketing, a marketing agency that specialises in SEO strategies which cover everything from keyword research to webpage optimization.

Today, he's on the podcast to talk about the most recent Google update that happened in March. Specifically, we'll dive into the criteria that Google uses to rank websites, the winners of the most recent update, and why brand metrics plays an important role in search. 

The big takeaway here is that no matter what, keep playing the long game. When it comes to content, it's only a matter of time until your content starts making its way through the algorithm and to the audience that you're targeting. 

It really is just a matter of time. It might be an overnight viral success, or it might be a crawl towards the goal, but it's a matter of when it happens instead. 

Timestamps: 

• Podcast Start - 0:00
• Catching up with Jeff - 0:31
• Google's March Core Update - 2:14 
• Why Mike was excited for this update - 4:30 
• Playing the long term game - 6:03
• Google's update patterns - 7:40
• Mike Jackness History Lesson - 9:31 
• How Google finds cheaters - 12:23 
• Why Reddit and Quora won the last update - 14:43 
• Why Brand Metrics matter for SEO - 15:58
• How do you get started in building your SEO? - 18:13 
• Stick with it! - 20:31 
• What is Search going to look like moving forward? - 22:38
• How will Google incentivise making good content with AI in the future? - 28:11
• Learn more about Jeff Oxford - 30:39

Jeff, thanks for coming on the podcast! It was nice seeing you again, although through a virtual screen instead of in person but we'll take what we can get! 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected]. 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

In the world of ecommerce, opinions on starting a dropshipping business really differ. Some people say it's an unprofitable business model while others swear by it. 

Well, dropshipping is still very much around. But as Amazon moved into a position of dominance, its appeal has waned. The fact that some so-called “gurus” who sell dropshipping as an “easy” way to earn millions hasn’t helped either.

However, there are those who own sustainable dropshipping businesses. 

Pat Haggerty, owner of Right Channel Radios, is one of them.

I’ve asked Pat to join me in this podcast episode to talk in detail about his business, Right Channel Radios. 

I hope our discussion didn’t only prove informative but encouraged you to look at dropshipping businesses in a different, albeit more positive light.

Pat, thank you for accepting the invite to record a podcast together. I really appreciate it, and I look forward to seeing you again in the next events. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected]. 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

Dana Jaunzemis joins the EcomCrew podcast today to talk about how she evaluated businesses before purchasing them, why she chose to sell her businesses, and ultimately chose to retire. 

Dana Jaunzemis and I met for the first time years ago during my eCommerce speaking circuit and has since become a great friend of mine. She's the killer combination of having a really interesting background, while also being incredibly intellectual business-wise and philosophically too. 

She's been a good friend that's always been helpful when I've run into troubles of my own, especially those regarding burnout, identity and the end goal as an entrepreneur. 

Today, I wanted to pick her brains on the podcast about what it's like to have been recently retired from eCommerce, how she still finds a sense of fulfilment and the factors she considers before buying a business, which may or may not have been on my mind lately.

"E-commerce, while easy, is the highest risk type of business [in my opinion]."

- Dana Jaunzemis

Timestamps: 

• 0:00 - Podcast Start
• 0:31 - Introduction
• 2:49 - Dana's Career Timeline
• 4:54 - The Appeal of E-Commerce for Introverts
• 6:28 - Is E-Commerce Difficult? 
• 9:19 - The Difference Between Successful and Failing Businesses
• 11:44 - How lessons in life can apply to your future
• 15:40 - Factors to Consider When Buying A Business
• 16:31 - Factor #1: Profitability
• 16:46 - Factor #2: Where Your Skillset Fits In
• 24:24 - Why Dana chose to sell her business
• 30:01 - Risks of e-commerce
• 31:41 - Factor #3: Inventory Costs 
• 34:19 - Finding Fulfilment in Retirement
• 38:14 - Knowing when 'enough' is enough
• 41:53 - Moving Goalposts 
• 46:30 - What was it like buying a business with friends? 

Dana, thank you for accepting the invite to record a podcast together. I really appreciate it, and I look forward to seeing you again in the next events. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected]. 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

John Di Giacomo joins us on the podcast today to talk about the most common lawsuit claims that he's personally seen in the past few years in the ecommerce industry, and how you can avoid them. 

John Di Giacomo is the founding partner of Revision Legal, a law firm with expertise in Internet law, copyright & trademark law, and related areas. 

Today, he's on the podcast to talk about the most common cases that have been on the rise recently. Specifically, we'll be talking about ADA Cases and CIPA claims, and how ecommerce sellers can protect themselves from these claims. 

The big takeaway here is to make sure that you're protected from these false claims. 

Because it's not a matter of if it happens, but a matter of when it happens. The best way to protect yourselves is to take preventive action before these claims ultimately kill your business, because it can definitely happen. 

John, thanks for coming on the podcast! It was nice having you back on after several years since your last episode and I hope to hear good news from you in the future. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected]. 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well! We would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

Dave and I discuss the delays to the New "Low Inventory" fees, how you can be exempted from those fees, and the impending FTC Investigation into Amazon.

After months of complaints over the new fees, it seems like Amazon's heard (or read, in this case) the message that people aren't happy about being charged for having too little in FBA Warehouses. To gain some brownie points, they've decided to delay the effectivity date of these new fees. But what does this mean in the big picture? 

We all know that Amazon's being investigated by the FTC for their monopolistic practices. With that being said, why would Amazon choose to apply new fees that effectively erodes profit margin from third party sellers? 

We discuss that, and more in today's episode. Here's some timestamps below to get you started: 

• Intro - 0:00 
• Going to China and experiencing sandstorms - 0:31 
• The Great Wall of China - 1:53
• Big Amazon News & Official Announcement - 2:46 
• Exceptions for AWD Users - 5:46 
• "There are nuances to every business..." - 6:55 
• Amazon's Monopoly - 8:59 
• Investigating Overseas Sellers on Amazon - 10:52 
• FTC's Investigation into Amazon - 13:03 
• Why would Amazon announce new fees while being investigated by the FTC? - 16:32 
• The FANG Companies vs. TikTok - 22:02
• Making sure you're still profitable - 26:04

The big takeaway here is to make sure that you're still profitable. 

Go into your Amazon account, check out how much you are going to be charged in April for these fees, and adjust your pricing accordingly to make sure that you're still having a healthy and profitable business. 

If any listeners would like to have a discussion about this, let me know by emailing us directly at [email protected]. 

Also, if you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can email us directly as well!

Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

Neil Twa from High Voltage Business Builders joins us on the podcast to drop some massive value bombs. He breaks down how you can increase brand awareness on Amazon, his approaches to Product Development, and how you can restart the Honeymoon Period on Amazon. Listen in for some great lessons from Neil! 

Amazon's only getting tougher and tougher. 

It seems like the laundry list of things that you need to do to ensure success keeps getting longer and longer after each year, but what exactly are the things to do? 

I've asked Neil Twa to join me on the podcast today to talk about this very topic. Neil has actually given me a lot of high value thoughts during this recording that I think you should probably listen to on repeat over and over, as there are some things that just come off as surprising. 

Here are just a few: 

Lesson #1: Below the $50 retail price point, you'll be competing against a lot of brands. There isn't as much increase in competition in the price point of $50 - $150 retail. 

Lesson #2: Get more than 1 manufacturer just so you don't have all your eggs in one basket. 

Lesson #3: Never get started with electronics. 

If you want to skip to certain parts of today's episode, here are some timestamps!

• 0:00 - Intro
• 0:32 - Neil's Podcast 
• 1:20 - What you need to do to be successful on Amazon 
• 2:06 - Con #1: Platform Risk  
• 2:56 - Con #2: Increased competition 
• 4:38 - How to Increase Brand Awareness on Amazon
• 8:43 - How to approach Product Development 
• 12:46 - Why oversized products have to be priced correctly
• 14:54 - Never start with electronics
• 15:45 - Neil's product rules 
• 16:38 - How to increase your product's perceived value 
• 24:03 - How to restart the Honeymoon Period 
• 24:49 - Google Cosmo 
• 29:15 - How would you start an ecommerce business today?

Neil, I can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast. It was great having you on and these lessons are surely going to be valuable for a ton of listeners. 

If you guys want to hear more from Neil, check out the High Voltage Business Builders podcast! 

Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!

Steve Chou makes an appearance on today's episode to discuss some key takeaways he and Mike learned while attending EcommerceFuel Live 2024. 

It's conference season for eCommerce! 

I just got back from ECF Live 2024, which was a great experience where I got to meet old friends and discuss a few of the issues that's been going on in the industry like Amazon's new fees, the recent Google update, and the ever-eroding margins. 

As always, I like to get someone who was at the conference with me to discuss some of the things that we've learned, and who else better than Steve Chou! Steve is a good friend of mine for several years now who runs My Wife Quit Her Job and is also hosting this year's Seller Summit, so we're live today to talk about the things we've learned. 

We talk about the 4 key takeaways that we came away with, and how we can apply it to our businesses. Here's some timestamps to get you guys going: 

• Intro - 0:00 
• Catching up with Steve - 0:30 
• Mike's favorite time of the year - 1:15
• Mike and Steve's ECF Live experience - 2:42 
• Steve's first takeaway #1: Google Update - 3:54
• The future of Search and AI - 4:29 
• How fast things change - 9:25 
• Second takeaway #2: Tiktok Shop - 10:37 
• Third takeaway #3: Higher profit margins are the key to success - 15:11
• Fourth takeaway #4: Amazon's New Fees - 18:01 
• What's happening in Seller Summit this year? - 23:06 
• Seller Summit's Mastermind Day - 23:45 
• Sign up for Seller's Summit - 27:07
• Why Mike hates flying - 30:03

Steve, it was great recording with you as always! I really appreciate you coming on and doing this podcast with me. If you guys would like to learn more about Steve, check out MyWifeQuitHerJob to learn more about him! 

Seller Summit is on May 13th and 14th this year, so get your tickets here and you can put in a special request to get Mike as your Mastermind Leader. 

Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions or any topics you’d like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at [email protected]! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. 

Thanks for listening!