The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

Today we're sharing five tips that will help you keep you from losing your mind this holiday season.

Enjoy!

• 5:36 Tip #1: Communicate holiday availability expectations early for both your team and your family.
• 8:55 Tip #2: Plan, plan, and plan again.
• 10:11 Important components of your marketing plan.
• 14:13 Tip #3: Evaluate your success based on execution, not outcome.
• 17:29 Tip #4: Be nice to your service providers.
• 19:11 Tip #5: Lean into the season.

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

That's exactly what happened for Oral Essentials when they doubled-down on their FB advertising and focused on scaling up.

Oral Essentials CMO, Justin Maddahi, joins us today to discuss some of the game-changing tactics that have helped him grow the business with Facebook. He talks about why he's shifted to nearly all user-generated content, how he approaches creative testing, and why he's managing all aspects of Facebook in-house.

If you're trying to scale up your advertising, you won't want to miss this episode.

Enjoy!

• 6:15 The birth of Oral Essentials and what separates them from other oral care brands.
• 8:11 Justin's journey from science major to CMO.
• 9:48 Why Justin decided to expand the business beyond Amazon and start owning his own channels.
• 11:56 The Facebook tactics that helped Oral Essentials see massive growth, including what Justin says you must start doing right now.
• 13:00 Why shifting to user-generated content is key to Facebook success.
• 16:01 How Oral Essentials got into influencer marketing and the main metrics to look at when deciding which influencers are best for your brand.
• 20:44 Justin's approach to A/B testing Facebook ads and how much he recommends tweaking an ad before giving up on it.
• 23:45 Why it's worthwhile to sacrifice a lookalike audience for the sake of testing.
• 25:12 The reason Justin hasn't tried Facebook's new Dynamic Creative Testing feature yet.
• 27:24 Don't get hung up on targeting -- creative is what changes the game.
• 29:29 From ad agency to in-house: why Justin first outsourced his ads, and then decided to bring then back in.
• 31:37 Pro tip: engage with your audience when they comment on your ads.
• 32:47 Oral Essential's growth strategy: why they're expanding into retail stores and the impact their increased Facebook budget has had on retail sales.
• 35:00 The two most important things Justin's learned while doubling the business over the last 12 months.
• 38:41 If you truly want to see success with your Facebook ads, get help from an expert.

• Oral Essentials
• Upfluence
• Episode 173: The Five-Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account (the RCAB-P Process)
• Book: Wizard of Ads
• [email protected]
• Ecommerce Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Successful, productive people don't work more, they work on fewer things that have greater impact.

Today we're joined by productivity expert and ex-world champion poker player Chris Sparks, who is also the founder and CEO of The Forcing Function.

Chris helps entrepreneurs identify what they truly want in life (step #1 to increasing your productivity) and then works with them to achieve their goals in the most effective way possible.

We talk with Chris about how to figure out what you actually want, the importance of leveraging your unique assets, and why reflection is the missing ingredient to progress.

• 6:44 Introducing Chris Sparks and how his obsession with productivity began at the poker table.
• 10:12 Why Chris decided to forego a job opportunity at Ford to become a professional poker player.
• 14:56 The double-down inspiration for Chris' new book: Experiment Without Limits.
• 19:46 What sets Chris' action-oriented (and free) productivity workbook apart.
• 22:33 The first question Chris asks when he starts working with a new client.
• 23:38 The difference between peak performers and those who are not.
• 25:42 Common myths about what productivity actually looks like.
• 28:39 Why it's better to take one small step forward every single day rather than make big changes all at once.
• 32:12 How to figure out what you actually want.
• 38:18 What to do when your business has incredible momentum, but it's costing you the lifestyle freedom you dreamed it would give you.
• 44:28 The importance of reflection to your productivity and progress.
• 47:04 The biggest weapon in any entrepreneur's arsenal.
• 48:23 Tools Chris uses every day that increase his productivity.

• The Forcing Function
• Free Workbook: Experiment Without Limits
• Performance Assessment
• Blog: 100+ Resources for Optimizing Your Productivity and Performance
• Oura Ring
• Chris Sparks on Facebook
• @SparksRemarks on Twitter
• @SparksRemarks on Instagram
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you've been spinning your wheels looking for a new way to move some inventory and surprise and delight your customers, you don't want to miss this episode.

Meri Geraldine, founder of the sustainable jewelry brand Gardens of the Sun, joins us to share the creative way she moved $25K in product in just a few hours.

Meri also talks about building an ethical supply chain, ingraining her personal values into the ethos of her business, and how she grew from a small Etsy shop into a full-blown ecommerce store.

Enjoy!

• 5:55 Introducing Meri and how she transitioned from working as a sustainability consultant in Indonesia to creating Gardens of the Sun.
• 9:18 How Meri's quest to meet everybody in her supply chain led to the creation of a sustainable gold mining cooperative.
• 12:15 From an Etsy shop to a full-blown business.
• 14:49 The unexpected joys and challenges of growing a successful business.
• 16:38 How Meri incorporates her values into the ethos of her business.
• 18:53 Benefits of having a Bali-based business.
• 21:16 Maximizing your VIPs: How Meri sold $10K of inventory live on Instagram in just a few hours.
• 25:55 Smashing her monthly sales record with a specialty live sale on Facebook.
• 28:01 How Meri manages invoices and missed payments during live sales.
• 31:53 The other advertising levers Gardens of the Sun uses.
• 33:05 Lessons learned as a sustainability consultant that made Meri a better entrepreneur.
• 34:31 The 3 things Meri is trying to grow in the future: sapphires, creatives sales, and marketing through storytelling.
• 36:59 Resources Meri recommends to other business owners and marketers.

• Gardens of the Sun
• Twitter: @GardensOfTheSun
• Instagram: @GardensOfTheSun
• Kurt Elster's Unofficial Shopify Podcast
• Unofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast/
• Ecommerce Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

It cares about its users.

That's why it recently launched a new tool called the Customer Feedback Score.

Facebook is using this tool to crackdown on drop shippers and other advertisers whose products don't deliver.

Today we're going to talk about where to find this tool, how to interpret the data it provides, and what you can do to improve your score.

Enjoy!

• 5:40 How Facebook is cracking down on drop shippers and shoddy products with its new tool.
• 8:25 Where to find you Customer Feedback Score in your account.
• 9:36 What you'll see when you access your Customer Feedback Score and how to understand your score.
• 11:40 Reviewing positive feedback: what your customers want more of.
• 13:46 Identifying opportunities for improvement.
• 17:30 Don't let your score drop too low or your ads, and your page, will be banned from Facebook.
• 18:55 As the big 3 ad platforms work to create better experiences for consumers, you've got to plan ahead and shift your approach accordingly.

• The Facebook Customer Score
• Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Group
• Episode 215: Practical Tips From A Founder Who Got Slapped By Google…And Recovered
• Article: Facebook ramps up customer feedback surveys to crack down on misleading e-commerce ads
• Article: Introducing Checkout on Instagram
• [email protected]
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today's guest is no stranger to failure -- he once invested $250K in a company that never even launched.

But now, Josh Meyer is the CEO and co-founder of Brickell Men's Products, the fastest-growing company in Maine and the fastest-growing skincare company in the world.

Josh joins us to talk about the challenges Brickell faced with their rocketship growth, why he'd never raise money for a business again, and his love-hate relationship with Amazon.

Enjoy!

• 6:44 Introducing Josh and his path to becoming the CEO and co-founder of the fastest-growing company in Maine.
• 9:45 How Josh runs a business based in Maine, while living in Florida.
• 12:23 The moment Josh realized Brickell's success was real.
• 14:00 Lessons learned from a $250K business flop.
• 17:32 Some of the challenges of being a fast-growing company.
• 20:39 How Josh assesses Brickell's success and growth potential, and why he doesn't trust Google Analytics.
• 24:56 As you spend more money on Facebook, you need to be critically examining the leads you acquire.
• 27:58 Brickell's approach to customer loyalty programs and how it's shifted as they've grown.
• 31:10 Why Brickell is willing to sell their soul to capture email addresses.
• 33:27 How Josh's approach to email has evolved as the business has grown.
• 36:49 Why Josh thinks spending money on social media influencers is total BS.
• 39:01 When it comes to rolling out new products, if you're going to fail, fail quickly.
• 41:14 Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer: how Amazon contributes to Brickell's continued success.
• 44:54 Resources that have helped Josh along the way.
• 48:30 Now Hiring: Brickell is looking for a Marketing Director.
• 51:18 Three things you can do right now to start growing your business even faster.

• Brickell Men's Products
• Eight Saints
• [email protected]
• Hiring: Marketing Director for Brickell Men's Products
• Klaviyo
• Upwork
• Asana
• Monday
• Noah Kagan: What I Learned Growing an 8-Figure Business
• Private Intensive Workshop
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Hiring sucks.

I've heard this time and time again.

Over the last month, I've gone through the process of hiring a marketing apprentice. I used an approach that's helped me successfully hire many people over the years -- without stress.

Today, I'm going to share my entire approach with you, so you can make your next great hire, painlessly.

We'll discuss how to create a job post that will attract great talent, how to conduct the pre-interview evaluation process, how to conduct a really great interview, and more.

• 6:59 The first step in the hiring process: figuring out what you're looking for.
• 8:05 Don't make this mistake when creating your job listing.
• 9:01 How to write a job post that will attract great talent.
• 12:44 Writing your post to attract the right people, repel the wrong ones, and make it easy to disqualify applicants.
• 15:03 Outlining the skills and responsibilities you're looking for in your job post that connect with your company ethos.
• 16:20 Some places to consider posting your job.
• 18:50 How to filter through your first round of candidates.
• 20:09 Round two of the application process: the test task.
• 23:27 How requiring a test task helps you make the right hire and why it's not too much to ask, especially for remote positions.
• 25:58 The weeding out process after completion of the test task.
• 27:14 Round 3: getting to know your top candidates before the interview.
• 28:19 A lesson we learned at the interview stage and the change we'll make in the future.
• 30:07 How to approach the face-to-face interview and some questions to ask.
• 34:17 Why we always request a Kolbe score before making a hire.
• 36:09 Extending an offer, onboarding, and beyond.
• 38:48 During this entire process, stay true to your company's values.

• Want access to all of our job post templates and resources? You can find them in the Coalition.
• We Work Remotely
• Dynamite Jobs
• Handshake
• Craigslist
• AngelList
• Indeed
• Ecommerce Fuel
• FlexJobs
• RemoteOK
• Kolbe Index
• Episode 205: Becoming A Brand: Instagram Moms And Peruvian Product Misadventures
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

That's exactly what happened to today's guest earlier this year.

Mike Colavita, founder of Fat Buddha Glass, joins us today to talk about his experience being on the receiving end of a big Google slap and how he's recovering from an organic search drop. He shares why his site was dinged in the first place and the changes they've implemented since then to make nearly a full recovery five months later.

What at first seemed like the worst possible situation turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to Mike's business.

I know you're going to enjoy this episode!

• 5:00 Introducing Mike Colavita and his entrepreneurial journey.
• 6:45 The birth of Fat Buddha Glass.
• 9:20 How to raise brand awareness when you're banned from practically every channel.
• 12:10 The turning point from part-time business to full-time endeavor.
• 15:19 Finding new marketing channels through content partnerships and placements.
• 16:41 The dire effect of the Google algorithm update on Fat Buddha Glass.
• 18:55 Why Google dinged Fat Buddha Glass and why Mike says it was actually one of the best things that's ever happened to his business.
• 21:09 What mistakes Fat Buddha Glass was making with their SEO strategy and how they've fixed them.
• 24:45 Content is more than just your blog.
• 25:59 The strategies Fat Buddha Glass implemented to recover from its Google slap.
• 30:40 Google reveals what they're looking for when evaluating web content.
• 32:06 The role blog posts played in improving Fat Buddha Glass' rankings and why they prioritized product descriptions first.
• 34:57 Tools Mike recommends that helped him on his road to SEO recovery.
• 40:36 The value of having a phone number on your website and how it builds trust.

• Fat Buddha Glass
• Klaviyo
• Google's SEO Guidelines
• Ahrefs
• Google Docs
• Wunderlist
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• The Ecommerce Coalition
• Grasshopper
• [email protected]
• @FatBuddhaGlass on Instagram
• Episode 179: Making A Comeback After The Google Medic Update
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Great Facebook ad creative really sets successful brands apart. But, there's not a lot of information out there about the fundamentals of building a system to generate ongoing creative and how to test whether it's actually working.

So today we're breaking it down for you. We talk about how to approach creative if you're spending $5000 a week or $100,000, the questions to ask before you start testing, what's working right now in terms of creative sizing, and some new tools you must start using.

Enjoy!

• 5:48 The amount of Facebook ad creative you need to be testing, and why it's easier to create content now than ever before.
• 8:16 Clarifying the correlation between how much you can test and your overall budget.
• 9:28 A quick and simple way to pull together UGC and create an ad.
• 13:18 The most common issue businesses run into with putting together new creative.
• 15:22 A system for new creative development that will scale up, whether you're spending $5K a month or $50K a month.
• 17:21 How often you should be putting new content into your funnel.
• 18:26 The frequency to look for that signals it's time to update your Facebook ad creative.
• 20:06 What's working with ad sizing right now and the new tools you need to know about.
• 24:54 The first question to ask yourself before you start testing your ads.
• 27:32 A step-by-step process for testing your creative and what to look for to determine success.
• 29:35 How much money to put behind your creative testing.
• 30:28 Which audiences to test your ads on.
• 31:39 Dynamic Creative Testing and why Andrew believes this is the most efficient way to test your ads.

• Slack
• Canva
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today's guest, who has been managing social strategy in the direct-to-consumer space since he was 15 years old, helped Hint water make a killing when he was their Director of DTC business.

Recently featured on Forbes 2019 list of 30 under 30, Nik Sharma is an expert at DTC marketing.

We chat with Nik about what he's invested in now, his thoughts on building a brand, and his insightful tips on how to write scroll-stopping ad copy.

The DTC space continues to evolve and Nik is at the forefront. I know you'll learn a lot during this episode just like we did.

Enjoy!

• 6:51 Nik's fascinating career journey, starting at age 15.
• 9:07 How Nik successfully managed to sell water online with Hint.
• 12:14 The role of storytelling and the willingness to test new ideas in Hint's marketing success.
• 14:50 The company structure that allowed Nik to accelerate Hint's growth.
• 16:55 Changes Nik has seen within the direct-to-consumer space and the three things right now that are driving revenue.
• 22:06 How to evaluate whether you're copy is going to be scroll-stopping.
• 26:34 Haus' unique offering that made them so appealing for Nik to invest in.
• 31:07 Components of building a strong community as a brand.
• 35:33 Where Nik would start if he built his own brand today.
• 38:28 The important data to evaluate before investing in a company and the tech stack Nik recommends to access it.

• Haus
• The Quench
• VaynerMedia
• AdEspresso
• Brooklinen
• Dirty Lemon
• Rex by The Infatuation
• Looker
• Glue
• Mixpanel
• Text Nik: 917-905-2340
• @mrsharma on Twitter
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @AndrewFoxwell on Twitter
• Ecommerce Profit Summit
• Foxwell Digital Courses (use code FB50 for $50 off)