The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

This is an episode I wish we didn't have to record.

Competition on Amazon is getting stiffer and stiffer and some sellers, in order to succeed, use the short cut and employ black-hat tactics--killing the business of other sellers mercilessly, if need be.

In this episode we discuss in detail how these black-hat tactics work. I invited three Amazon sellers who actually went through the grueling experience of being victims to competitors who have no moral compass. We are doing this in the hopes that we spread awareness of what is happening, especially since Amazon doesn't seem to care much.

Below is an overview what we discussed:

• How Kevin Chen, who sells items in the health and beauty market, fell victim to fake reviews and fake comments on nearly all of his reviews
• How Chris Nowak, founder of My PPC Pal, got accused of selling counterfeits of a product he developed and manufactured himself
• Robert Weisberg's baffling case against Amazon itself (or someone selling via Amazon Vendor Express)
• How they tried to resolve their cases and how Amazon responded (spoiler alert: they weren't of any help at all)

Lately we noticed that these black hat practices are getting more and more prevalent. What's sad is Amazon mostly only cares about buyers and much less about sellers. It seems that they are okay with letting honest sellers lose, as long as they get their commissions.

We want to spread as much awareness as possible about what's happening, and if we band together, we can make a big difference.

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection Million Dollar Private Label Pros My PPC Pal

Want to get an hour of free coaching from Mike and Dave? Sign up at ecomcrew.com/underthehood.

Thanks for listening!

We're excited to do something new at the EcomCrew Podcast! We want to make EcomCrew a better and more awesome resource for ecommerce business owners like you and today marks the start of that endeavor. Today we are releasing a brand-new podcast segment which we believe will tremendously help you wherever you are in your ecommerce journey.

The segment is called Under the Hood, where we call one of our listeners and talk about their businesses for at least one hour. It is essentially a free coaching call--we will take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win!

If you're interested in becoming an Under the Hood guest, just sign up at ecomcrew.com/underthehood.

For our pilot Under the Hood episode, we interview and coach Brad Bernhart, owner of an online business sellling hardwood kitchen utensils. Below are the details of his business:

2016 revenue: $405k Net margins: 40% Channels: 98% on Shopify website, just recently re-started on Amazon Biggest challenge: Scaling a plateauing business and keeping up with production if the business grows (he manufactures his own products)

The first part of the coaching call consists of me getting a better idea of Brad's business and understanding his current pain points. After that we discussed the following:

1. The "cha-ching" Shopify alert (yes, some of us are guilty of not turning that off)
2. If I were on Brad's shoes, what would I do next?

In part 2 I elaborated on why I would do what I told him I'd do if I were in his shoes. I even asked him to get a pen and paper because we talked about pretty high level stuff (I hope we did not make Brad's head explode with all that information). Stay tuned for that next Monday.

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection EcomCrew.com/UnderTheHood Brad's interview with Andrew Youderian

If you want to be on the podcast too and receive an hour or more of free coaching, just head over to ecomcrew.com/underthehood to sign up. Abby, our VA, will reach out to you for the next step.

If you don't want to reveal your niche/products to the audience, that is totally fine. We asked Brad if he could reveal to us some details of his business, and he was happy to oblige.

Thanks for listening to this episode, and until the next one, happy selling!

"Never lose sight of the bigger picture--life is short, so make great products that customers truly enjoy and enjoy coming to work." - Mike on one of his most important 2018 goals

2018 just rolled in and there's no better time to set goals for the fresh year than today. I think everyone should be doing something like this, as having clear and sharp goals keeps you from getting distracted by seemingly important but meaningless things. It helps you focus your time and resources on the things that truly matter.

I put together 18 goals (yes, I did 18 to be cheesy) that I'm going to work towards achieving this year. It's a collection of goals for Terran (our holding company for ColorIt, IceWraps, Tactical, and WildBaby), for EcomCrew, and for my personal life as well.

Below are my 2018 goals (in no particular order) which I will explain in detail in today's podcast:

1. Develop 50 new products
2. Launch on Amazon Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and eventually, Australia
3. Optimize our Amazon listings to increase sales by 50%
4. Improve PPC
5. Implement the concepts in the book Traction in our business
6. Reach $10 million in revenue with a 10% net profit
7. Lose 12 lbs
8. Record 100 episodes of the podcast
9. Launch a new version of ecomcrew.com
10. Launch 4 new courses
11. Speak at at least 4 industry events
12. Hike 80 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail
13. Take an epic 2-week vacation
14. Visit the Philippines office at least once
15. Read 4 books (I know, I know... 4 books aren't a lot but I'm not really a book reader so please don't laugh at me)
16. Hand off my Facebook ads to other people within the company
17. Come up with at least one new tactic that no one else is doing
18. Never lose sight of the bigger picture: create 5 star products that people will truly love and continue to enjoy what I'm doing

That's a pretty long list; some of the items are harder than the others, but they're all clear goals that will guide our efforts this year. What are your goals? Feel free to share them in the comments below.

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business Under the Hood ECF Live Global Sources Sellers Summit

Merry Christmas everybody!

We just want to thank you guys for an awesome year, it never would have been possible without you. We did a lot of things that are new to us this year (insert shameless plug for our course) and you've stuck with us through the hiccups, providing us feedback along the way which helped us improve immensely. We can't thank you enough for that.

Since everyone will be on holiday mode for the next couple of days, we figured we'd do the same and take a break on the podcast. This is not a long term break, we're just going to skip 3 episodes and resume on the 4th of January, kicking off the new year with a goal planning episode.

We hope you have a blast during the holidays, and see you again next year!

As 2017 comes to a close, it's only fitting to devote our last episode of the year to 2018 ecommerce predictions. Dave and I listed what we think will happen in the ecommerce world next year, from sales tax to Bitcoin. It's always fun to make these predictions and then revisit them by the end of 2018 to see how many of them actually happened.

It would've been great to have Dave on the episode as well, but he is still in China as of recording this, so I will just cover his predictions here. This will also be our last full-length episode for the year and we will resume with new episodes twice a week next year. I also recorded a short special for Christmas Day next week, stay tuned for that!

Here are our predictions for ecommerce next year:

• Amazon will start collecting sales tax for sellers in multiple states (it will begin collecting sales tax for merchants in Washington State early next year)
• Shopify will continue to dominate hosted ecommerce platforms but its stock will dive when investors realize there's a finite number of ecommerce store owners to grow their customer base with
• Facebook will start to monetize messaging near the end of 2018
• Amazon will continue to get bad press for counterfeits and knockoffs, do a major crackdown which will benefit brand owners but probably hurt sellers selling third party merchandise
• China will continue the crackdown on factories heavily contributing to pollution
• Facebook ads will continue to get more expensive - way more expensive
• Amazon will increase fees substantially (Amazon has just announced fee increases beginning February, probably with more increases to come)
• Amazon will actually do something about the review debacle
• More sites accepting Bitcoin in ecommerce--especially international
• Amazon will continue to grab market share
• Amazon will start or acquire a transportation network

Many of these predictions bring terror to us sellers--especially Amazon FBA fee increases and sales tax--but ecommerce in general is expected to grow over the next few years and we are hoping to ride along on that growth.

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection Amazon FBA's Largest Ever Fee Increase Coming in 2018 - How Will it Affect You? 2-Hour EcomCrew Q&A Webinar

Registration for our first-ever webinar is still open. You can ask us anything under the sun about ecommerce for 2 hours for FREE. Go here for more details.

Thanks as always for listening. Until next year, happy selling!

I just did a podcast about my 2017 biggest struggles in our last episode and today I will cover the biggest news to ever explode in the ecommerce world this year. It definitely seems like 2017 flew us by but not without leaving news bombs that left a lot of people in ecommerce amused, worried, hopeful and wondering what's going to happen next.

We compiled a list of the biggest news in ecommerce this year, ranging from the Bitcoin explosion to the ever-so-perplexing sales tax. The items on this list are not written in any particular order. Listen to the podcast for my discussion of each.

1. Amazon acquiring Whole Foods
2. Massive Single's Day sales
3. Record-breaking Cyber Monday sales
4. Soaring Bitcoin price
5. Shopify once got accused as a "get-rich-quick" scheme
6. Sales tax amnesty
7. Marketplace tax collection in Washington
8. Factory crackdowns in China
9. Amazon's quest for HQ2
10. Amazon and Google's feud
11. Launching of Amazon Australia
12. Controversial Amazon Key
13. Net Neutrality
14. Walmart buying Jet.com

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection Free 2 hour webinar How to Hire Virtual Assistants and Open an Overseas Office in the Philippines

As part of our goal to get more reviews on iTunes, we are hosting our first-ever 2-hour Webinar on December 21st where we will answer any ecommerce questions you have and give you tips you need. I usually charge $500/hr for consulting but this webinar is free, the only thing we ask in return is for you to leave us an honest review on iTunes. Check out how to join the webinar here.

We hope you enjoy this episode and as always, happy selling!

"In general, I think that people spend too much time talking about their wins, and gloating, and how well things are going and never talk about the disarray or things that are going on behind the scenes, or things that they're struggling with. I think it's important to talk about this stuff; I think everyone goes through these types of things." - Mike Jackness on the business and life struggles he faced this year

This is that time of the year when people talk about "best-of", "top 10 of the year", and all those things that highlight the most significant things that happened to them this year. It's a great way to look back on the successes and lessons of the year that is about to end and to get ready for the year that is about to come.

In this podcast I will not do a "best of". Instead, I will talk about the struggles and the challenges I faced. Too many people talk about the glory of being an entrepreneur and sweep the mess under the rug. Being in ecommerce is not all roses and the bigger your business grows, the more problems you encounter. So in this episode, I will talk about the hardships, the confusions, the worry and all the uncertainties that we faced head on this year, and what we did to get overcome them.

I elaborate the following challenges my company and I faced head on:

1. Having to reinvent myself as we adopted a new launch strategy (I talk about our new launch strategy in detail in this episode)
2. Keeping up with explosive growth and the tough high-level decisions I had to make
3. Hiring a C-level employee for the first time and how scary that moment was
4. Trying to get our non-Amazon sales to catch up with our Amazon sales and the constant dread of something terrible happening to our account
5. Being able to systematize everything
6. Staying focused and keeping myself away from pet projects
7. Working with my wife (happy wife, happy life right?)

It definitely has not been an easy year but with all the struggles came the fruits of our labor: explosive business growth, a great team, and happy customers. We don't expect problems to let up anytime soon since we are gearing for more growth next year, but we do know that we will be giving it all we've got. And you should, too.

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection Our Amazon Product Launch Strategy for 2018 Free 2-hour Webinar

If you enjoyed listening to our podcast, please leave us an honest review on iTunes. We badly need reviews to help us get discovered by other ecommerce entrepreneurs out there looking for our content and we need your help.

In connection, we are having a 2-hour coaching webinar on December 21st and attendees can ask anything under the sun and we will give our honest unbridled advice that will be really helpful for your business. Normally I charge $500/hr of my consulting time but this webinar will be for free. The only thing we ask in return is that you leave us an honest review of the podcast. You can check out the details here.

Thanks as always for tuning in. Until next episode, happy selling!

"If you put no effort into your stuff, like if you're really not contributing any value to whatever community you're in--you have crappy packaging, crappy products, crappy support--you're not going to get anywhere. So you have to make yourself stand out." - Nat Arem of Hookgrip

Here at EcomCrew we put emphasis into how important it is to build a brand and not just sell a bunch of products. It's fine if you're just starting, but building your brand needs to be a part of your long-term strategy. Having a brand makes it easier to move off of Amazon if you decide to, or if, God forbid, Amazon suspends your account.

Having a brand also makes it easier to establish a following of loyal customers. Today's guest, Nat Arem of Hookgrip, talks about how he built a brand around in a niche that is full of die-hard followers: CrossFit and weightlifting.

Nat has been a friend of mine for 10 years now and has been around when I was still neck-deep in the online poker world. We both got out of that and went separate ways but surprisingly both found ourselves in ecommerce.

In this episode Nat and I talk about our online poker days and how he turned his passion--weightlifting--into a solid brand with a loyal fanbase.

Conversation points:

• The time we were living in Costa Rica doing online poker
• Why we both left the online poker business
• How photography became a big part of his business
• How Hookgrip started and how he developed a loyal fanbase
• What makes a good brand
• How his passion turned into a profitable business

Resources mentioned:

Stamped.io AsiaInspection Under The Hood Hookgrip

We hope you enjoy this episode, and if you did, please leave us an honest review on iTunes. And as a thank you for leaving a review, you are welcome to join our 2 hour webinar on December 21st. Click here for more details.

Have you heard of Under The Hood? Starting next year, we will be featuring a segment where selected listeners get an hour (up to 1.5 hrs) of FREE coaching with Mike and Dave. In exchange, the coaching session will be recorded and turned into a podcast episode. Sign up at ecomcrew.com/UnderTheHood if you're interested.

Once again thanks for listening, and until next episode, happy selling!

“If you’re never been an entrepreneur before, I would suggest starting a business. If you have done it once, I would strongly advice buying a business. It’s just a lot easier.” – Bill D’Alessandro of Elements Brands

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while now you might have noticed that when I talk about my speaking engagements, I always give credit to someone who told me–back when I was unwilling to speak in front of a large crowd and would rather get a root canal–that I needed to do something that makes me uncomfortable to further my career and life. That someone is my guest in today’s episode.

Bill D’Alessandro is the founder of Elements Brands, a company that acquires and scales consumer products brands. He has been buying businesses for 7 years now and currently owns 9 brands with over 130 products. We invited him to be one of the special guests of our 100th episode and if you haven’t listened to that, absolutely do so–you will find nuggets of advice you won’t get anywhere.

In this episode we discuss why he prefers buying businesses over starting one from scratch and when you can do the same.

Here’s an overview of what we discussed:

* How Bill and I met and how he helped push me to become a speaker

* Why he prefers buying existing businesses

* When it is right to start a business or invest in an existing one

* Bill’s buying criteria and the attributes of a business that is a good buy

* Turning ugly into an opportunity

* What businesses to avoid buying

* The time when a third party tried to sue him for buying one of his businesses

* What he does after buying a business

* Why not all debt is bad, especially if you bought a business you want to grow (unless you have rich parents)

If you want to explore the possibility of selling your business, you can reach out to Bill on Twitter or shoot him an email at [email protected].

Resources mentioned:

AsiaInspection

Stamped.io

Elements Brands

Under the Hood

We have a new segment on the show! Starting next year, we will be featuring a segment called Under the Hood, where selected listeners get an hour (up to 1.5 hrs) of FREE coaching with Mike and Dave. In exchange, the coaching session will be recorded and turned into a podcast episode.

If you want to ask Mike and Dave for ANY advice about your business absolutely for FREE and want to help put out good content for the podcast as well, we need you. Sign up at ecomcrew.com/UnderTheHood if you’re interested.

Thanks as always for listening, and until next week, happy selling!

 

Full Audio Transcript

Mike: This is Mike, and welcome to episode number 103 of the EcomCrew Podcast. You can go to EcomCrew.com/103 for the show notes for this episode. Today I have a special guest: Bill DAlessandro. I don’t know how I made it through the first 103 episodes without getting this guy on the podcast. He was nice enough to do a segment on the 100th episode. If you haven’t listened to that, go back and check that out.

But Bill is one of the most influential people that I’ve met in e-commerce.

"If you're never been an entrepreneur before, I would suggest starting a business. If you have done it once, I would strongly advice buying a business. It's just a lot easier." - Bill D'Alessandro of Elements Brands

If you've been listening to the podcast for a while now you might have noticed I that when I talk about my speaking engagements, I always give credit to someone who told me--back when I was unwilling to speak in front of a large crowd and would rather get a root canal--that I needed to do something that makes me uncomfortable to further my career and life. That someone is my guest in today's episode.

Bill D'Alessandro is the founder of Elements Brands, a company that acquires and scales consumer products brands. He has been buying businesses for 7 years now and currently owns 9 brands with over 130 products. We invited him to be one of the special guests of our 100th episode and if you haven't listened to that, absolutely do so--you will find nuggets of advice you won't get anywhere.

In this episode we discuss why he prefers buying businesses over starting one from scratch and when you can do the same.

Here's an overview of what we discussed:

• How Bill and I met and how he helped push me to become a speaker
• Why he prefers buying existing businesses
• When it is right to start a business or invest in an existing one
• Bill's buying criteria and the attributes of a business that is a good buy
• Turning ugly into an opportunity
• What businesses to avoid buying
• The time when a third party tried to sue him for buying one of his businesses
• What he does after buying a business
• Why not all debt is bad, especially if you bought a business you want to grow (unless you have rich parents)

If you want to explore the possibility of selling your business, you can reach out to Bill on Twitter or shoot him an email at [email protected].

Resources mentioned:

AsiaInspection Stamped.io Elements Brands Under the Hood

We have a new segment on the show! Starting next year, we will be featuring a segment called Under the Hood, where selected listeners get an hour (up to 1.5 hrs) of FREE coaching with Mike and Dave. In exchange, the coaching session will be recorded and turned into a podcast episode.

If you want to ask Mike and Dave for ANY advice about your business absolutely for FREE and want to help put out good content for the podcast as well, we need you. Sign up at ecomcrew.com/UnderTheHood if you're interested.

Thanks as always for listening, and until next week, happy selling!