The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

Quick win: how to optimize your email marketing to make it work harder for you (without working harder yourself).

Key Takeaways:

• 3X your email sign up rate with conversational pop-ups
• Why your transactional emails need personalization
• How to conduct customer research
• Write insanely good copy by using what your customers say
• What KPIs to track with changing privacy policies

Resources:

• Brand Growth Membership (Join today for a 7-day trial)
• @BrandGrowthX on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Make more money, work less, and be prepared for a black swan event when you offset the risk of business by investing smartly.

Taylor Pearson is the founder of Mutiny Fund, where he helps investors maximize the long-term growth of their portfolios.

In this episode, he shares how he thinks about investing and diversifying as a business owner. We talk about how to think about diversifying your portfolio to offset the risk you've taken by going all-in on a business

You'll learn what talk risk means, how to better preserve wealth and what to think about investing right now when it seems like the whole world is going crazy.

This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and listeners are reminded that managed futures and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. Visit mutinyfund.com/disclaimer for more information.

Episode Highlights:

• 4:18 Taylor's tail risk and long volatility hedge fund, Munity Fund
• 6:50 Why you should be thinking about tail risk
• 10:28 What exactly tail risk means
• 13:58 Playing the long game in investing and evaluating your personal risk tolerance
• 18:18 Are we headed for a major economy altering black swan event?
• 21:10 Debt super cycles and patterns in financial history
• 23:58 Should you be preparing your portfolio for a black swan event?
• 27:41 Being an optimistic & rational prepper
• 31:36 Thinking about your business as a part of your portfolio and how to balance risk
• 35:30 Finding a minority stake business owner for your business
• 38:13 Conservative assets to offset your business with
• 43:03 Taylor's thoughts on holding cash right now
• 47:06 How often you should think about rebalancing

Resources:

• Munity Fund
• @TaylorPearsonMe on Twitter
• Taylorpearson.me
• The Brand Growth Membership (7-day free trial if you join today)
• @BrandGrowthX on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Quick win: where to unlock hidden revenue in your email marketing.

Key Takeaways:

• How to determine which emails to focus on (that will drive the most revenue) and when to test.
• How to optimize your flows (trigger emails) to ensure you're not leaving money on the table.
• 3 email mistakes you're probably making and how to fix them.

Resources:

• The Brand Growth Accelerator (apply today: next cohort starts Feb 15, 2022)
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @BrandGrowthX on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you want to be successful you need to focus on selling your business, not selling your product. (Even if you're not planning on selling)

This is an episode about the system that we use to run our business called the Effortless Growth Operating System (EGOS).

It's a 6-step system that we share with members of the Brand Growth Membership and help people implement directly in their own business in the Brand Growth Accelerator.

Today - Austin and Lily team up to give you a look into how it works and Austin shares his own experience with poor management and burnout that led to the creation of the Effortless Growth Operating System.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• How to create compelling job descriptions & how to hire the right people
• How to focus your energy on the areas of your business you love
• How to get clear on your vision & truly believe in it

Episode Highlights:

• 5:08 Austin's background in eComm, business, and operations
• 9:22 The Effortless Growth Operating System and how it can improve your business
• 11:48 What Austin has done to improve his own business and processes
• 12:33 Why eComm brands who want fast growth need the Effortless Growth Operating System
• 19:50 Under-discussed issues with hiring right now
• 22:21 How to get help implementing an operating system in your business
• Join the The Brand Growth Accelerator and we will help you scale your business
• 25:58 Why you should be focused on selling you busines and not your product (even if you're not planning on selling your business)
• 27:30 Austin's tip on what to do RIGHT NOW in your business
• 29:16 Lily's tip on what to do RIGHT NOW in your business

Resources:

• The Brand Growth Accelerator (apply today: next cohort starts Feb 15, 2022)
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Facebook is smarter than you, and your customers are better marketers. (Learnings from working at a fast-growing brand.)

Today's guest is our own Brand Growth Experts Marketing Manager, Lily Ackerly.

We're talking about Lily's journey being one of the first employees at a fast-growing brand and what she's learned from really teaching herself the ropes in eCommerce.

Lily also has a lot of experience in customer support - and we're going to give you some reasons why you should keep your marketing and customer support teams close and engaged with each other.

You're going to be hearing more from Lily on the podcast so this is your first opportunity to "meet" her and hear some of her ideas.

Episode Highlights:

• 5:49 Lily's start in eCommerce at a fast growing brand
• 7:49 Team set up in the early days of a business
• 8:45 Wholesale and the word of mouth benefits it gives
• 9:47 Facebook in 2016
• 13:31 Learnings from Facebook ad account management
• 14:57 Keeping advertising (and reporting on it) simple
• 17:55 Culture first when growing a team
• 19:03 The importance of customer support & connecting it to marketing
• 19:58 Advice to get out of the customer support weeds
• 24:12 Why having a creative design team is more important than ever
• 28:23 What a successful agency partnership looks like
• 32:44 The importance of connecting with other eComm people and why it's better than books
• If you're interested in connecting with other eComm owners check out our Brand Growth Accelerator
• 34:20 Advice from Lily: keep it simple
• 35:24 Campaign and promotion tips

Resources:

• The Brand Growth Accelerator (apply today: next cohort starts Feb 15, 2022)
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

How do you sell a product that no one understands until they try it? With smart marketing, positioning, packaging, and a solid mix of DTC to big box sales.

John Pinto founder of BoomBoom Naturals (all-natural nasal sticks) and he's been a friend of mine for over 10 years, we met and got our start together working at our first job out of college.

In this episode, we talk about John's journey with BoomBoom, what he's learned in DTC and acquiring over 500,000 customers through Facebook and online marketing, and his recent (and very successful) shift from DTC to big box stores.

We also talked about life balance, being an entrepreneur with kids and what that looks like. John's one of the most balanced people that I know and he shares some of his ideas and hacks around how he's been able to keep that going while building a large and fast-growing company.

Episode Highlights:

• 5:47 How John and Austin met
• 7:05 Johns eCommerce venture
• 11:52 When Jordan Belfort endorses your product
• 13:33 Selling a product that's in a new category
• 17:25 Shifting from DTC to big box stores and why
• 21:12 What goes into pursuing a relationship with big box stores
• 27:09 In-store marketing strategy
• 33:36 Going deep in one geographic area and then replicating what works elsewhere
• 34:27 How John prioritizes things that matter outside of work
• 45:40 Personal growth leading to business success
• 57:01 What the Shark Tank experience is like

Resources:

• BoomBoom Naturals
• BoomBoom on Shark Tank
• Book: The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
• Book: Breath by James Nestor
• The Brand Growth Accelerator (apply today: next cohort starts Feb 15, 2022)
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Get out from under never-ending to-do lists, delegate and build a business with happier employees, customers, and profit.

Cameron Herold was the CEO of 1-800-Junk, which he grew from 2 million to well over 100 million. He now has a company called the CEO Alliance where he helps second in command up their game and be more successful.

He's also the author of 5 books, including Vivid Vision, which lays the foundation for building a vivid vision in 3-year segments for your business and life.

There's a ton of insight to gain from Cameron and we discuss getting clear on your priorities, traveling while running a business, having kids and still being an entrepreneur, and strategy for how to delegate, manage, hire and train your team.

Episode Highlights:

• 5:26 Traveling to Antarctica with a group of CEO's
• 8:31 Creating a larger vision for life and work and how Cameron came to practice and teach this
• 11:25 How to have a successful CEO and COO relationship to be successful
• 13:11 Cameron's experience in a CEO / COO relationship
• 14:52 Hiring talent when experiencing rapid growth
• 17:21 Training & "passing information" from entrepreneur to leadership team
• 21:53 System lesson's from franchisors for all business owners
• 25:41 Filling the model for setting goals
• 27:24 Why employee happiness should come before customer happiness
• 29:31 What motivates Cameron & how he stays motivated
• 30:42 Cameron's personal vivid vision for the last 3 years
• 32:42 Building a global lifestyle
• 40:54 Making decisions for life and career and how it changes over a lifetime
• 42:35 How to adjust when things don't go according to your vision
• 46:45 Being an entrepreneur and having a family
• 47:42 Delegation strategy and why leaders should be at the bottom of the org chart

Resources:

• Investinyourleaders.com
• Cameronherold.com
• Book: How to Run Away From Home: And Bring Your Family With You by Adam Dailey
• Book: Vivid Vision by Cameron Herold
• Book: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredibly Voyage by Alfred Lansing
• The Brand Growth Accelerator (apply today: next cohort starts Feb 15, 2022)
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

It's been a wild wave in ecommerce when we look at where the industry started to where the opportunities are today. My guest today reflects on what's he's learned at 15 years in ecommerce and what's coming in ecommerce in 2022.

Drew Sanocki was the CEO of the eCommerce brand AutoAnything, the founder of the blog nerdmarketing.com and the owner of the Shopify direct marketing app PostPilot.

He has his hands in a lot of key areas in eCommerce and has been in the game for about 15 years.

In this episode, Drew shares his well-rounded journey from buying out, being the CEO, and acquiring a bunch of companies. We talk about what it's like to run a $100 million retailer and what it's like to run a small brand and scale up to 7-figures.

This episode has a ton of information on what's been working in eComm, where things have started to shift and we end with where we think this wild ride is going for eCommerce in 2022.

Episode Highlights

• 5:40 Secrets to turning 50 and being in the best shape of life
• 7:10 Taking over as the CEO of AutoAnything
• 8:25 Transitioning after exiting to an eCommerce aggregator
• 9:16 Biggest learnings from taking over a 200+ person organization
• 10:47 Acquisitions: why some work and some don't
• 12:45 Exiting early due to supply chain issues
• 18:51 Drew's thoughts on supply chain challenges and issues
• 22:14 Growing as a leader by running both big and small businesses
• 23:45 What daily life looks like when being more strategic in the business
• 25:26 Drew's role at PostPilot: postcard marketing
• 26:26 Hiring a CEO
• 27:36 Tips on structuring deals
• 30:40 What Drew's excited about in eCommerce in 2022
• 33:07 The time is right for direct mail marketing
• 37:14 Differences between running a SaaS business and an eCommerce business
• 39:31 Hiring developers
• 41:10 Advice from Drew's business experience: iterate quickly
• 44:08 The last 15 years of eCommerce and what's next for eCommerce in 2022

Resources:

• PostPilot
• How to Increase Sales & Delight Customers with Direct Mail Marketing: Drew's Training Inside the Brand Growth Membership
• Brand Growth Accelerator (apply today: next cohort starts Feb 15, 2022)
• Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

"Where did the SEO hide the dead body? On page two of Google." Yes - SEO in 2022 will still play a huge role in eComm success. With ad costs going up it's a great time to learn how to drive quality organic traffic with smart SEO tactics.

John Murphy is the CEO of Ebike Generation and an eCommerce SEO expert.

In this episode, we talk about John's journey, and how he went from being an executive at GE to starting his own eCommerce company. John's eComm success has largely come from SEO after he was banned from Google Ads and Facebook ads in the early days of his business.

He shares his tips on how he drives $2 million a year from just SEO and what SEO in 2022 will look like (yes - free traffic still exists).

Note: John is offering his course How I Generate $2M+ Per Year in Sales from Organic Traffic in the membership in March. If you're a member you can register here. Or if you'd like to join to take the course you can find more information here.

Episode Highlights:

• 5:47 How John started selling online
• 8:09 Finding the right product
• 12:03 Getting the first sale
• 13:58 Supply chain issues & COVID
• 16:20 Finding the right niche and not being scared to narrow down
• 22:28 Getting banned from Google and Facebook ads
• 24:49 Shifting to SEO for a majority of traffic
• 29:09 SEO in 2022
• 31:24 How much content do you actually need to be successful in SEO
• 36:58 External linking & its relevance today
• 39:46 What's working now in SEO backlinks
• 45:27 Getting organic traffic when you're too reliant on paid traffic

Resources:

• EcomSEOFormula.com
• ebikegeneration.com
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

The path to massive success is often through failure. This episode's guest went from Forbes 30 under 30 to bankruptcy in the same year and reflects on lessons learned.

Josh Durham co-founded Weighted Comforts, one of the first weighted blanket brands, with his mom in 2015. They took off like a rocket, hitting 8-figures in 4 years.

But - they hit some snags, the market shifted and at age 24 Josh went from almost $10 million in sales to bankruptcy in a period of less than a year.

In this episode, he goes through what it was like to grow, how they did it, and then what it was like when it all unraveled. Josh is very transparent in his experience of where and how things went wrong in a way you're not going to hear in many places. There's a lot to learn here.

Josh has gone on to have success with another brand and now his own agency, Aligned Growth, and he shares a bunch of learnings from having worked with a lot of different brands now.

Episode Highlights:

• 3:56 How Josh got involved with eCommerce growth marketing
• 5:44 Josh's first Shopify store in 2015 and how it came to be
• 7:53 The downfall of Josh's business
• 10:39 Dealing with limited cash and coping with the stress of a business in trouble
• 11:47 What the strategy and business looked like in the end
• 14:01 Closing out in an asset sale
• 16:28 Filing for bankruptcy at 24 years old
• 18:10 Biggest takeaways from a failing business
• 21:58 The dangers of scaling a single product business
• 26:54 Josh's next venture & hitting 35 million
• 28:51 Starting marketing at product development
• 30:24 How to stand out after competitors come it
• 34:22 Starting an agency
• 36:16 The importance of creative refresh on brand growth
• 38:01 Managing creative at an agency
• 43:09 Current eCommerce requires a higher level of execution on creative

Resources:

• Aligned Growth
• @JoshJDurham on Twitter
• Book: Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! by Greg Crabtree
• Book: The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes