The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

At this stage in the business, you're moving from selling something to having consistent sales. Today we'll talk about some of the common problems people run into during this stage, critical questions to answer before you can start scaling up, and where to seek out support.

We're bringing you our knowledge and experience from working with brands that have successfully scaled up, and seeing others that haven't.

In part three, we're going to be talking about traction to scaling. So enjoy this week and stay tuned!

• 4:42 How to know when you're in the traction stage of your business growth.
• 7:59 Your goal during this stage of scaling up your business.
• 8:45 Places you can turn to when you're looking for guidance.
• 10:31 Focus on customer acquisition in the early stages of growth.
• 11:26 Why you have to distinguish between signal vs. noise and listen to a diverse set of sources.
• 13:06 One question you have to ask yourself before you continue to scale up.
• 14:48 You must become a channel expert before you outsource.
• 17:13 The minimum AOV you need if you want to acquire new customers via paid ads.
• 20:33 Great opportunities for you if you're in this stage of growth.

• Zero To Launch: The Scaling Series, Part 1
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital Courses
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today we're talking with Helen Guo, co-founder of The Cereal School about how she took her business from zero to well over 7 figures in just eight months.

One of the key components of the business' success is that Helen and her co-founder, Dylan, started by learning and running every aspect of the business themselves, before hiring agencies to take things over.

They also put a lot of initial time into building the brand organically, which made it easier to amplify with paid efforts as they're scaling up.

Helen shares her amazing journey with us, as well as her tips for finding the right agency, and how to build a partnership that will last.

Enjoy!

• 6:06 Helen's entrance into the world of entrepreneurship.
• 9:06 The Cereal School's insanely rapid growth.
• 10:06 Pre-launch efforts to build an audience before the product was ready to officially launch.
• 13:25 How Helen built a 20,000+ person email list without running paid ads.
• 15:29 Helen's philosophical approach to Facebook ads and scaling up.
• 18:58 Lessons learned from working with different advertising agencies.
• 23:10 The importance of actually learning how to run your own marketing, and the creative approach that sets the Cereal School apart.
• 27:57 How Helen successfully onboarded an ad agency to take over for her.
• 31:33 Questions to ask your agency upfront to build a better relationship.
• 32:41 Where Helen goes for new ideas and advice.
• 34:29 How implementing email marketing helped the Cereal School go from 0% to over 25% of revenue from email.
• 36:56 What Helen's looking at to the future to stay ahead of the game.
• 38:49 Apps that Helen is excited about right now.
• 41:57 The thing about the Cereal School's business that can't be easily replicated.

• The Cereal School
• [email protected]
• Asana
• Dropbox
• Klaviyo
• PostScript
• Enquire
• Private Intensive
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Profit Summit
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

That's Campaign Budget Optimization. Andrew sat down with expert digital advertisers Molly Pittman and Depesh Mandalia to talk about what's happening with CBO, how it's working, why it's working the way that it is, and some tips to improve your campaigns.

They discuss:

• Why you can't treat CBO campaigns the same way as you were treating ABO campaigns
• CBO misconceptions
• When CBO works best
• How to think about your budget when setting up CBO
• CBO and Dynamic Creative
• CBO best practices

Enjoy!

• Foxwell Digital Course - CBO: All You Need to Know
• [email protected]
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today we're kicking off our scaling series, where we'll talk about each stage of growth and the challenges you're going to face as you scale up your business from zero to 8-figures.

We're starting off with a "zero to launch" episode where we'll address some of the questions you'll face when you're determining how to launch and going from an idea for a product to actually getting sales.

We'll be sharing core lessons through each of these episodes that will give you value whether you're at the beginning, already making 7-figures, or somewhere in the middle.

Enjoy!

• 4:30 Why we decided to do a scaling series.
• 9:07 The most important thing when you're just starting out? Feedback.
• 10:24 Knowing what your community looks like is critical for scaling.
• 13:40 Once you know your community, identify their buying power and your market potential.
• 15:38 A zero to launch case study.
• 18:16 Common missteps at this stage.
• 19:40 Creating a "talk trigger" product.

• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Over the last 14 years, Cory Bower, founder of Aviator Gear, has built a multi-million dollar business with a team of 48 full-time employees.

When Cory was in the Air Force, he saw a need, launched a company, and to this day uses some of his military systems and structure to keep things running smoothly.

It's always a pleasure to chat with Cory, and I hope you enjoy our conversation about growth, hiring, and critical tools for success.

• 5:55 Introducing Cory Bower and the birth of Aviator Gear.
• 8:12 The unique custom nature of Cory's products.
• 10:20 Cory's journey to becoming a fighter pilot.
• 13:53 Transitioning from fighter jets to ecommerce.
• 16:05 How Cory applies lessons learned in the military to his business.
• 18:42 The team structure Cory's built that lets his business run even when he's not around.
• 23:55 Engines for Aviator Gear's growth over the last year and how they communicate about the custom nature of their products through different parts of the funnel.
• 26:43 The role Cory wishes he would have gotten off his own plate sooner, but why you have to have balance as you grow so the wheels don't fall off.
• 29:18 Tools Aviator Gear uses to keep things running smoothly.
• 35:07 What it looks like to hire and manage a 50-person team.
• 39:29 Cory's learning process and how he finds useful information to help his growth.
• 42:07 Do this simple thing right now to be more productive.

• Aviator Gear
• Klaviyo
• Dropbox
• OnSite by Shopworks
• Pipedrive
• Cory on Twitter - @TrapBower
• [email protected]
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Profit Summit
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

From Facebook, to email, to website optimization, these quick wins will help you generate sales and get results.

Enjoy!

• 4:25 Quick Win #1: 4-6% Lookalikes based off pixel value.
• 5:47 Quick Win #2: Identify previous customers who are likely to spend again, but who are no longer on your email list, and hit them with remarketing.
• 7:23 Quick Win #3: Integrate your Klaviyo audiences with Facebook.
• 8:34 Quick Win #4: Turn great text reviews into video reviews.
• 11:14 Quick Win #5: Use bid caps to ensure your Facebook ads are being shown.
• 13:05 Quick Win #6: Get a fresh perspective on your website.

• Klaviyo
• UserTesting
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today we're talking with Pura Vida CEO, Griffin Thall, to get an inside look at their current strategies, how the company's grown over the last several years, the way his role has evolved, and what it's actually like to prepare your company for a multi-million dollar sale.

Andrew and I both worked with Pura Vida at the very beginning, and we're so excited to reconnect and bring this episode to you today.

Enjoy!

• 6:25 What got Griffin and Pura Vida to where they are today.
• 7:28 How Griffin's role has changed as the company's grown.
• 9:02 Pura Vida's unique influencer strategy and how it started.
• 12:45 Relentless innovation and how Pura Vida continues to increase customer lifetime value.
• 15:18 The moment Griffin realized the brand was going to be a success.
• 16:30 How Pura Vida's growth strategy has changed over time.
• 17:57 The challenges Griffin's faced over the years as CEO.
• 20:12 Where Griffin's seen the most success in hiring.
• 22:12 How Pura Vida's ambassador program started, and where it's at today.
• 22:21 A day in the life of the Pura Vida CEO, and the value of growing a team.
• 24:25 Why you've got to stop wearing all the hats in your business if you want it to scale up.
• 28:14 What you should be focusing on as a founder, instead of getting enticed by the newest Shopify app.
• 29:28 A key approach for brands launching today vs 6 years ago.
• 31:53 Lessons learned about managing cash while scaling up.
• 33:47 How Pura Vida ended up making a deal with Vera Bradley, and the process of finding and securing that kind of partnership.
• 38:07 Griffin's biggest takeaway from meeting with investors.
• 39:34 The expansive value Pura Vida's gained from their partnership with Vera Bradley.
• 41:33 What Griffin's excited about right now and some things in store for Pura Vida in 2020.

• Pura Vida
• Attentive
• Griffin on LinkedIn
• Griffin on Instagram
• [email protected]
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We've had discussions about Facebook and email marketing, business processes, how to avoid burnout, and more.

Today Andrew and I are sharing the top things we've learned in 2019.

What were your big learnings over the last year?

• 5:15 No one cares where you are as long as the work gets done.
• 8:33 Be clear about what you want (because you're going to get it).
• 11:50 Listen, Help, Learn.
• 14:21 Focus on generating profits so you can hire good people.
• 17:52 Dive deeper into discomfort.
• 21:50 Everything takes longer than you expect.
• 24:02 Having a business partner with different perspectives than your own is a huge asset.
• 28: 19 It's still a great time to build an ecommerce brand.
• 30:46 Play is important.
• 31:48 You don't need to learn everything yourself.
• 32:40 Track your time.

• Episode 212: How To Travel 132 Days A Year And Stay Productive
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

From providing inflated results to wasting time on dead-end tactics, many businesses have fired their agencies and moved things in-house.

However, agencies aren't the enemy. You just have to understand how to build the right relationship with them, and truly integrate them with your team.

Our guest today is Susan Wenograd the CMO of digital agency Aimclear.

We talk with Susan about the shift she's seeing in where brands are directing their paid ad spend, and the issues of attribution that are coming along with it. She talks about how to build a deeper relationship with your agency so they can bring you greater success, and her thoughts around navigating the digital landscape as things continue to change and evolve.

This episode is a must-listen whether you're a digital agency or doing digital marketing in-house for a brand.

Enjoy!

• 8:01 What the role of CMO looks like at a digital agency.
• 10:06 The changes in where brands are spending their paid media dollars.
• 14:43 Today's analytics are not the analytics of the future, and why attribution objectives may continue to get less defined.
• 18:08 How to spot an agency that's getting results that are too good to be true.
• 21:26 If you want your agency to be a better partner, you need to more transparent.
• 24:58 As an agency, it's important to have the difficult conversations and be a leader.
• 30:17 Global perspectives on digital marketing and where the US is falling behind.
• 34:35 You cannot fix broken strategy by optimizing tactics.
• 37:02 If you're entire marketing plan only consists of spending $300K/month on Facebook, you do not have a brand (and that's a problem).
• 41:06 Why fluidity and flexibility are the keys to long-term success.
• 42:35 Is it time to hand bidding control over to Facebook?

• Aimclear
• Aimclear Blog
• Susan on Twitter @SusanEDub
• foxwelldigital.com/courses
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you've recently launched a business and want to get started with email marketing, this episode is for you.

Or, if you've had an agency managing your email for some time, and want to make sure everything is running as it should be, there are some helpful tips in here that will deepen your understanding.

We talk about best practices for list creation, how to capture leads, which emails to create first, how to determine the number of emails you should be sending, and more.

Enjoy!

• 4:15 Choosing an email service provider (ESP), and why Klaviyo is a great option for many businesses.
• 5:49 Getting your ESP set up correctly: some key things to keep in mind.
• 8:35 Best practices for list creation and management.
• 9:35 Checklist for making sure your ESP is set up correctly.
• 10:15 How to start capturing leads and growing your list.
• 12:03 The more unique your offer, the better. But ultimately, don't overcomplicate it.
• 14:03 Building an email template for your brand.
• 17:38 Austin's recommended approach for warming up your audience.
• 19:51 Campaign emails vs flow emails and which ones to prioritize.
• 21:59 Automated email flows to start with: Welcome Series (Buy or Die), Abandoned Cart, Browse Abandonment.
• 25:00 Best practices for sending campaign emails and how to start segmenting your list.
• 29:22 When it's right to expand your audience: the ideal open rates to look for.
• 30:44 How to decide how many emails you should be sending.
• 31:49 Examples of valuable content that drives revenue.

• Episode 230: How To Get Started With Facebook Advertising
• Episode 129: Content Marketing – What You Need To Know With Nat Eliason
• Klaviyo
• Sumo
• Privy
• Justuno
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes