The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Amazon sellers' forums and groups were alive with the sound of panic last week.

On February 26th, Amazon sent emails to hundreds and maybe even thousands of sellers containing the following:

Hello,

We are contacting you because you appear to have violated the policies of "Misuse of ratings, feedback, or reviews", "Misuse of sales rank", "Misuse of Search and Browse" on our site... If this conduct continues, you will not be eligible to sell on Amazon.com.

It's needless to say that when you rely on Amazon for 50%+ of your revenue, you need to follow their rules, or face serious consequences--the most serious being getting suspended and losing 50%+ of your revenue. As basic as that sounds, it's very surprising to see so many sellers try to game Amazon's system for a bump in ranking and sales, praying to never get caught.

While we see some posts claiming that the email is just due to a glitch on Amazon's side (since it seems to be sent en masse), it was still enough to give those playing with fire a pretty good scare. Forums exploded with people not knowing what to do, fearing they could lose their accounts at any moment.

This is a situation I go out of my way to avoid. Lessons with Google's SEO have made me realize that I am dependent on these big platforms to succeed, and that it's a no-brainer that I have to follow their policy. We have recently adopted a successful product launch process that will get us on Amazon's good side and cater to what they ultimately want: truly good products and service that customers will enjoy.

Thankfully, we did not get the email. I hope you didn't, too.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew 2018 Amazon Product Launch Strategy How I Develop and Launch Dozens of New Products a Year Amazon Policy Change for Reviews How to Get Amazon Product Reviews in 2018 Amazon Horror Stories from Real Sellers Million Dollar Sellers Group

This episode is dedicated to Bobby, our beloved German Shepherd who passed away last week. He's been with us for 12 years and if you have a pet you know how difficult this is. He gave us companionship, protection, and joy from the day we adopted him to the day he passed away.

To Bobby, this is for you buddy.

On Monday’s episode, Rob and I discussed how to effectively manage Filipino VAs and foster a long-lasting working relationship with them. Now that we’ve got that covered, we move on to the second part of Rob’s problem: scaling his business.

On Monday's episode, Rob and I discussed how to effectively manage Filipino VAs and foster a long-lasting working relationship with them. Now that we've got that covered, we move on to the second part of Rob's problem: scaling his business.

This is a topic we are well-versed in for two reasons: we managed to double our revenue last year, and we are actively trying to replicate that growth this year. We've revamped our systems and put simpler processes in place to try and achieve that growth.

In this episode Rob and I talk about how he can do the same for his business. Some conversation points:

• Systems and processes he needs to put in place for himself and his team
• Product launch process put together by Jacqueline, our Director of eCommerce
• Why a "minimum viable product launch" is a bad idea
• Perfecting product photography
• Maximizing visuals for customers who don't read
• More efficient returns process
• Supplier agreements and warranty claims
• Other things to pay attention to when scaling

We'd like to thank Rob for joining us in this episode, and I definitely had a blast talking to him. If you want to be featured on your own episode and get free business advice from us, sign up to be an Under the Hood guest here.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew courses Under the Hood Our product launch process (PDF) Product launch process worksheet (Excel)

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next week, happy selling!

Rob Hampton, our guest for today's Under the Hood episode, talks about the problems he ran into when working with Filipino VAs. We've managed to put together a team of awesome Filipino VAs who've been with us for a while now. They've done tremendous things for our business and we would not have grown so much in recent years if not for their help. Rob and I discuss how to build such a team, and how to manage VAs in a way that fosters a long-term relationship.

Have you ever hired a Filipino VA and was so pleased with them that you felt like you hit the jackpot? They're incredibly talented, they get things done the way you want, they're just downright fantastic. With them helping you out, you get more time to focus on business direction and you couldn't be happier. But then, and seemingly for no reason, your incredible VA suddenly disappears. What just happened?

Rob Hampton, our guest for today's Under the Hood episode, experienced just that. This, along with many other problems such as declining work quality and failing to communicate regularly, is not an uncommon problem in the outsourcing world. But building a team of loyal Filipino VAs is not impossible. It boils down to one thing: understanding their culture.

We've managed to put together a team of awesome Filipino VAs who've been with us for a while now. They've done tremendous things for our business and we would not have grown so much in recent years if not for their help. Rob and I discuss how to build such a team, and how to manage VAs in a way that fosters a long-term relationship.

In more detail, we discuss:

• what his niche is and how he came about selling on Amazon
• his early experience getting betrayed by his own supplier and how he bounced back from that
• his experience hiring Filipino VAs
• cultural differences between Westerners and Filipinos
• how much freedom to give them while still holding them accountable
• rules to set when working with a VA for the first time
• pay structure, and whether VAs should be paid a fixed monthly/bi-weekly salary or paid hourly instead
• benefits such as 13th month pay, paid time off, and company lunches
• tips and best practices on communication

Hiring people is challenging, but when you hire someone with a different culture from the other side of the globe, things get a lot more difficult. Filipinos in particular are known to be loyal and have a knack for making people happy, and it's not in their nature to knowingly do things that will disappoint you. If you put in the effort to understand their culture, traits, and customs, they will stick with you and do wonders for your business.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew courses Under the Hood Episode 96: Our Philippines Team – Hiring and Maintaining a Team of Rockstar VAs

If you want to be featured on your own episode and get free business advice from us, sign up to be an Under the Hood guest here.

This is just Part 1 of my conversation with Rob. In Part 2, we discuss how to effectively scale his company and reach his goal of $1 million revenue this year. Stay tuned for that on Thursday! Until then, happy selling.

Our months of hard work have finally paid off! We are happy to announce that the following courses are open for registration:

Build a 7-Figure Product Brand Import From China Like a Pro

And to kick things off, we have Dave Bryant from literally the other side of the world on the podcast to talk about the course and the carefully curated content that's waiting for you on the other side.

And if that's not a treat in itself (you guys know how hard it is to get Dave on the podcast), we're offering the two courses for the price of just one, for a limited time only.

I don't want to sound any more salesy than I already do, so here are some conversation points for today's episode:

• Update on Dave's new offroading brand
• What Dave and I are up to
• Our shared belief that strict product labeling is dead, and our strategies moving forward
• The benefits of product differentiation, both in sales and protection
• Dealing with suppliers and packaging hacks
• What to look for in a niche
• Validating products
• Tips on starting a brand
• Our respective revenue expectations when first launching a product

This episode is kind of a preview, so many of the things we talk about here are discussed in more depth in our courses. If you've bought one of our courses previously, just send us an email at [email protected] so we can upgrade your access for FREE.

Also, we have a lot going on for you in the next couple of months. First off is our webinar on March 6th, which you can sign up for here, if you haven't already. Dave and I are also speaking at Global Sources in Hong Kong in April, and since we'd love nothing more than meeting new people and discussing all things ecommerce, we are hosting EcomCrew's very first mastermind on April 21st in Hong Kong. So if you are going to Global Sources and have some free time, we'd love to meet up with you then. Register here!

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew.com/course EcomCrew's 2nd Webinar MyEcomCrew.com Hong Kong Mastermind Global Sources

Thank you so much for listening to the EcomCrew Podcast. Until next week, happy selling!

"If you think about the money as the fuel that drives the car, if the money is getting stopped up before it gets to the vehicle--meaning it's not being organized properly--then you never get the vehicle to move forward." - Ezra Firestone

Ezra Firestone is in the house!

That's right, Ezra Firestone of Smart Marketer is our guest for today's episode. Labeled as the first and leading ecommerce influencer in the world, Ezra runs multiple seven- and eight-figure businesses and has been working in the industry for over a decade. He is a very busy man and I'm definitely stoked to finally be able to talk to him on the podcast!

Today's topic goes to the very core of any business--money. When you run a business, it's only natural to try to lower your expenses as much as possible in order to maximize profits. That means trying to get the lowest cost of goods, lowering advertising spend, and crimping on employee salary. But if you're trying to grow your business and want it to last for more than a couple of years, is that really the right thing to do?

Ezra shares his exact formula on how much he spends on all areas of his businesses. His goal is to grow his businesses aggressively, and that means he tends to spend a lot more on areas where most entrepreneurs tend to cut corners. For example, other people go ballistic when he mentions he spends 10-20% of his top-line on employees alone.

In a little bit more detail, here's what we discussed:

• Who Ezra Firestone is (for those who've been living under a rock)
• How much to sell items for
• The advantages of selling higher-cost, premium items
• How much to spend on Cost of Goods Sold
• Why he spends 10-20% of his top-line revenue on his employees
• How much to reinvest back into direct growth marketing and how to allocate the money for ads
• Metrics for valuation
• What blended Cost per Acquisition is
• Lifetime customer value, repeat order rate, cross-sells and upsells
• When to take cash for equity and when not to

This episode is longer than what we usually do, but I didn't even notice it because I enjoyed talking to Ezra so much. I even compared my numbers to his and will apply many of his principles on my business. He's a very busy guy, but he was kind enough to spend more time on the podcast than most guests usually do!

If you want to learn more about Ezra and check out what he's up to, just go to smartmarketer.com.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew Webinar BOOM! by Cindy Joseph Zipify Pages One Click Upsell

Thanks for listening to this episode! Until the next one, happy selling.

"The reality is that one day you wake up and you realize that you're the bottleneck in your own business, and it's time to be fired." - Mike Jackness on handing over the reins of the company to someone else

Have you ever had that feeling when you just know you're about to get fired from your job? In 41 years I have never been fired--I worked hard enough to not be in that situation--and it's certainly uncomfortable dealing with this issue with a company I started.

You might remember me doing an episode about my goals for 2018, and surprisingly, those were the very goals that led me to feeling I might get fired from my own company. One of my goals is to double in revenue again this year, and at this point in our business, doubling will require a lot more effort than it did last year. That means I, as the CEO, will have to hand off tasks I enjoy and focus more on high-level (and sometimes less exciting) business development efforts.

The thing is, I enjoy doing the lower-level stuff. I like the dopamine hit of a successful Facebook ad or PPC campaign. But when I hired Jacqueline, our Director of Ecommerce, she knew that I needed to give them up in favor of the high-level stuff, so in order to get me to do them, she is essentially firing me from the informal marketing position I always loved.

Here are some points I talked about in this episode:

• A look back at my 2018 goals
• The moment Jacqueline began taking over my job
• How hard it is to hand off some responsibility to focus on higher-level stuff
• Plans of a "Day in the Life of Mike Jackness" podcast episode

It feels weird, to say the least, to no longer be doing what I love in order to do the less sexy but necessary functions of a CEO. But in business there will always be trade-offs, and if giving up dopamine hits is what I need to do to achieve my goals, then I'd gladly do it.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew My 2018 Goals Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business

As always, thanks for listening to this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!

This is Part 2 of last Monday's Under the Hood episode. I talk to Cory Stout of Woodies.com about an impending threat to this business: Chinese sellers. We believe that it's only a matter of time before they swamp Amazon and the platform will be too small for everyone to thrive in. With that in mind, Cory and I discuss a topic that might actually be difficult to talk about--selling his business.

In Part 1, Cory and I talked about his business, Woodies, and the SAAS subscriptions he has racked up in running his business. We went through his SAAS subscriptions and evaluated whether or not he should hold on to some of them and let go of the others. Since he has quite a long list, we continue to talk about the rest of the services he uses in the first part of this episode.

Cory then talks about an impending threat to this business: Chinese sellers. This is a problem we've seen more and more of and talked about extensively last year. The good thing is that there are many things Chinese sellers still can't do to get ahead, but we believe that it's only a matter of time before they swamp Amazon and the platform will be too small for everyone to thrive in. With that in mind, Cory and I discuss a topic that might actually be difficult to talk about--selling his business.

Here's an overview of everything that we discuss:

• Sending traffic to Amazon from his website
• How real the threat of Chinese sellers coming to dominate Amazon is
• Strategies to win against Chinese sellers
• Exit strategy advice
• Ways to maximize the value of his business in case he decides to sell it

This has been a very interesting conversation with Cory. He definitely has his head on the right track, being quite young, and running a million-dollar business while traveling the world. He might have to consider an exit strategy for his business, but with his proven track record, finding success on a new business is something he can absolutely do.

Resources mentioned: MyEcomCrew Under the Hood E88: Exiting Your Business With Joe Valley of Quiet Light Brokerage

Thanks for listening to this episode and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did recording it. Until next week, happy selling!