In Episode 82, we continue our series on  Growing Your Online Sales. And this week we are chatting with Michael Steel, eCommerce Marketing expert about automating your online store.

This is a huge area to cover and making sure you are saving your valuable time and resources, it’s important as a store owner to make sure you have automation in place. Michael shares some great tips to help you get started down the right path.

We chatted about:

* What marketing automation is

* How marketing automation is beneficial to your online store

* What are some of the first steps to get your marketing automation started

* The best tools for a small business with a limited budget to set up their marketing automation

Check out Michaels blog that is packed with great insights and actionable tips at Sell Like a Human.

A great post Michael mentioned on the show:  Beyond the Pop-up: 14 Alternative Strategies to Grow an Email List for eCommerce

Want to nail down your automation with WooCommerce. Check out this online course that will get your email automation completely set up and active on your WooCommerce store.

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

In today’s podcast, we are talking about using social and forums for customer interaction: the benefits and challenges of running a forum on your online store, as well as creating a social community. And who could help us better than one of the lead developers of bbPress and BuddyPress for WordPress, John Jacoby. John not only is a genius in the tech side of things, but he also has first-hand experience and understanding of what it takes to create these kinds of communities. Today he is sharing and shares some thoughts on how all of this can help you as a store owner.

We chatted about:

* The real differences between offering a forum vs. building a social community on your store.

* How an online store benefits from having a forum

* The advantages to building a social community on an online store

* Pros and cons of choosing between using site-based social, using a Facebook page, or a combination of both

* John’s other recommendations for store owners

Thanks to our sponsor, Bluehost.

In today’s podcast, my good friend and colleague, Patrick Rauland joins us as we announce a new project we launched, the Lift Off Summit. This online summit is the culmination of something we both care deeply about: the struggles online store owners face getting and keeping customers. As a result, we brought 21 experts to share with you everything they know about getting traffic and loyal customers.

For five days in June, over 500 people watched 3-4 videos each day absolutely free.

So tune in to learn why we pulled together this event and what you can expect. And of course, you can now get full access to the site with not only the videos from that week, but an additional video from each speaker and an audio file to download to listen to anytime, anywhere.

Thanks to our sponsor Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 80 May 31 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone, welcome back to the WP e-Commerce Show. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. On today’s show we are mixing things up a bit. I’ve partnered with my friend and colleague Patrick Rauland to put together a five-day online e-Commerce summit. A few months ago, in a post Patrick wrote on his blog, he hinted that, hey, I’m thinking about doing an online conference. I reached out to him and said, “Let’s do this together.” The rest is history. So that is what our show is about today. It’s really more of an interview show and I’m bring Patrick on to let him share the goodies. So hey, Patrick, welcome back to the show.

Patrick Rauland: Thank you, Bob. It feels cozy here. I feels like I’ve come back maybe two times now?

Bob: You know, actually, I thought it was the fourth time.

Patrick: Is that right?

Bob: And I figured out, since this is episode 80, that means you’ve been on five percent of my shows.

Patrick: That’s cool. Do I get like a medal when I get on the fifth episode— or a T-shirt?

Bob: It would be kind of like Saturday Night Live.

Patrick: I was JUST thinking that!

Meet Patrick Rauland, Co-organizer of the Lift Off Summit

Bob: [laughter] OK, so let’s start in on this Lift Off. But before we do, everybody kind of knows me, Patrick. And they know you from being on the show a few times. But for those people who don’t know what you do, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Patrick: Yeah, so I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve been in eCommerce for about five years. I’ve done everything: sites for clients, eCommerce support and commerce development, eCommerce product management. And now I’m working for myself. So I’ve kind of done all this different stuff and it all leads into why we’re doing this.

As a product manager, I talked to so many people who could build a website, but didn’t know how to get people there. That’s that’s kind of why I’m doing this now. So many people struggle to get traffic to their sites. So in addition to the summit, I started to offer my own nine months ago and now I am doing a lot of the e-commerce content for Lynda.com. So if you go over there, I have three eCommerce courses: I have a Shopify course, I have a second Shopify course in the works. And then I have a couple of Google Analytics courses that isn’t anything to do with eCommerce, but is something that I’m interested in.

What is the Lift Off Summit and why are we doing it?

Bob: Yeah. And as you mentioned,

In today’s podcast, we are taking a look at the unique space that a marketplace fills in the eCommerce world and an example of just what starting up a marketplace involves, both the rewards and the challenges. To hear the story behind a successful marketplace, we have invited Brady Nord, co-founder of MOJO Marketplace. Brady takes us through his journey and not only shares what it takes to get started, but also how to keep the momentum up and what you need to know about choosing the right products and services to sell.

We chatted about:

* The decision to start MOJO Marketplace and what drove the founders

* The challenges that are specifically unique to starting a marketplace

* What Brady would differently if he had the chance for a do-over

* The importance of the  service and training aspect in the space of a marketplace

* The dynamics of selling themes for multiple platforms

* How Brady makes sure that the vendors who provide 3rd-party services perform to MOJO’s expectations

* Brady’s final tip on creating an online site as a reseller

Thanks to our Sponsor Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 79 May 24 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Bob Dunn here, known as Bob WP on the web. In today’s show, we are in for a special treat. I know that nothing is more powerful to learn from than the story of someone who has successfully launched an e-commerce site. Learning about the successes as well as the challenges first hand is more valuable than anything you can imagine. Today, I’m excited to bring you the story behind a marketplace. In fact, specifically, MOJO Marketplace. To hear the story, we have invited Brady Nord, co-founder of MOJO Marketplace and currently VP of products at Bluehost. Welcome to the show, Brady.

Brady Nord: Hey, thanks, Bob. Appreciate you having me.

Bob: My pleasure. Before we get into your story, I’m sure we have lots to talk about, can you just tell us a little bit more about what you are currently doing at Bluehost?

Meet Brady Nord, Co-founder of MOJO Marketplace

Brady: Yeah, happy to. As I transitioned out of MOJO, I’m pretty new here at Bluehost. I’ve been a customer long time, but now I’ve been in this role for about six months. I’m focused on rethinking about, how do we change the strategy of hosting? How do we not talk so much about the technology and provide a better platform for people to get online? That’s really the focus that we’re trying to target.

Bob: Cool.

Brady: That goes from our products and services to the platform as a whole. How do we help people succeed online?, not, specifically, how do we provide cPanel or something like that. Really trying to think about the customer component.

Bob: I think that’s true because I’m around these developers all the time. I’m not a developer myself. It may be a little too much outside when talking to clients versus, what this can do for our client. I think those clients, they want to know that it works, one thing. Sometimes that technical stuff it’s like their eyes glaze over and it’s like, “What is this going to do for my business?”

Brady: Yep. That’s 100 percent. 100 percent.

Bob: “What are you talking about, FTP?” Don’t freak me out.”

Brady: Exactly. When you look at the people getting online today, it’s a much more novice user base as a whole than 5, 10 years ago. We have to dumb this down.

In Episode 78, we continue our series on Growing Your Online Sales. In this, the second show of the series, we are diving into Google Analytics to learn how it can help you with your online store.

Understanding and keeping tabs on what customers are doing on your site, where they are coming from and several other factors play a large part in the success of your site. And Google Analytics is a great way to get started. Though there are a ton of features you will find, in this show we are taking it from the beginning and helping you to understand how to best use Google Analytics. To help us to start uncovering its potential, we have asked Beka Rice from SkyVerge to join us and share her insights on how to get started without being too overwhelmed.

We chatted about:

* The basics any online business should understand, whether you are selling anything online or not

* The essential pieces every online store owner should know when starting with Google Analytics

* What specific reports you should use, such as Shopping Behavior and Checkout Behavior and what they will help you with

* When Google Analytics is not the right choice for you as a online store owner

* Beka’s final thoughts on what you should also pay attention to when starting with Google Analytics

Listen to Beka talk about the why, how and solutions to cart abandonment: The Science of Abandoned Carts with Beka Rice

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here:

Bob Dunn: Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. On today’s show, we dive into analytics, specifically Google Analytics, and your online store. I know from my own experience that getting into those analytics takes time because of all it has to offer. And often it can be overwhelming. So for this show we want to focus on the store owner who is just starting with Google Analytics. And to help us with this, I’ve asked my good friend Beka Rice from SkyVerge to join us. Hey Beka, welcome to the show.

Beka Rice: Hey, thank you so much for having me. It’s good to speak with you again today.

Bob: Yeah, I was thinking I think last time was the first WooConf and we did a little live thing there with, well, you were one of three. I think we were talking online courses. It’s good to have you back on the show, going in a totally different direction this time.

Beka: Yeah, absolutely, though, coincidentally, that was tied to the talk I  actually did there, so I guess we’ll bring it back full circle.

Meet Beka Rice, WooCommerce Lead at SkyVerge

Bob: Perfect. So now, before we jump in those questions for those who don’t know, can you share a bit about who you are and what you do at SkyVerge?

Beka: Absolutely. So I’ve worked at SkyVerge for a few years now and we are a business that provides tools for eCommerce stores large and small.

We’ve built a large majority of the official eCommerce extensions available at WooCommerce.com. So we’re the largest third party developer for WooCommerce. We also built six Shopify apps. And we have one app called Jilt  which is a cross-platform tool for eCommerce, Shopify and Easy Digital Downloads to help people save abandoned carts and recover lost revenue. So we try to focus on tools that will help eCommerce merchants improve their stores and drive more revenue.

Bob: Excellent. I’ve used or written about a lot of your extensions, especially the eCommerce extensions. Some of them are some of the top-traffic posts, too, because they’re so wildly popular. You guys are doing a fantastic job over at SkyVerge.

Beka: Thank you.

In today’s podcast, we are venturing into what many find to be the second most complex part of running an online store with physical products, and that is shipping. As with taxes, it’s a maze of variables and choices that can often bog you down. And to help you to get a better grip on planning our shipping, we invited Robert Gilbreath, VP of Marketing & Partnerships at ShipStation. Robert provides some great guidelines that not only help you get started but also to get you thinking on preparation for scaling as your product inventory grows.

We chatted about:

* The first two important steps to make once you know the product that you need to ship

* How to navigate the maze of shipping options

* Some of the major challenges store owners face when working through the shipping process

* What products can be a challenge to ship

* Robert’s four points to consider when planning your shipping

* When shipping is no longer a DIY part of your business

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 77 May 17 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Bob Dunn here, known as BobWP on the web. In today’s show we are going to touch on a subject that many online retailers need to know. We’ve talked about taxes, which is huge and have yet to touch on the subject of shipping.

Now we know that taxes make a very broad and complicated topic when it comes to online sales. Possibly it’s the most complicated, but shipping kind of falls right behind that because there are certain challenges, especially when you’re looking at a store with a lot of products shipped across the world. Even local shipping has to be done right. So if you’re someone just starting out as an online retailer or looking to increase your product line, today I’ve asked Robert Gilbreath, V.P. of marketing and partnerships at ShipStation, to join us. Hey Robert, welcome to the show.

Robert Gilbreath: Hey, thanks for having me.

Bob: My pleasure. Now Robert, before we really get into the questions, what I’d love to do is have you tell us a little bit about yourself and what ShipStation does.

Meet Robert Gilbreath, VP of Marketing & Partnerships at ShipStation

Robert: Sure thing. I feel like I have a pretty interesting story because before I joined the team here at ShipStation, I was an eCommerce retailer for most of my career. I started selling on eBay in the mid- 90s, a year or so after eBay launched. My dad and I started selling auto parts on eBay.

That was sort of my toe in the water and I got hooked really quick. I learned a lot about online marketing and search engine optimization originally by learning how to be a good seller on ebay. I had done some other sites outside of the auto parts world and then became a thought leader and an executive at several rather large online retailers. Most recently, before I joined ShipStation, I was running eCommerce for calendars.com which is an internet retailer, top 500 reseller of calendars Yes, people still buy big paper calendar—lots of them.

Bob: My wife does. She loves hers. She has to have that one that’s on her desk.

Robert: Yeah. The loyalty and affinity to some calendars is pretty amazing. But, you know, so I spent most of my career being a retailer and the opportunity came to join a ShipStation and I literally have been, any size customer that ShipStation’s going to have whether it’s mom-and-pop like my dad and I selling a few auto parts on e-bay, all the way up to guys who ship a quarter million thin...

In Episode 76, we begin our series on Growing Your Online Sales. To kick it off we could think of no one better than Pat Flynn.

If you are thinking of diving into this space, or already are doing online courses, this is a must-listen-to-show. Pat blogs at The Smart Passive Income Blog and hosts a podcast by the same name. Besides running one of the fastest growing blogs in the online marketing and blogging industry, he also has several other businesses,  including  niche sites. In today’s show we are exploring the big picture of how choose to grow your sales, whether through email, social or advertising, or a mix of them all. Learn how to get the most of of your strategies with some very helpful tips and insights from Pat.

We chatted about:

* If someone has the resources to use only a single channel for outreach, Pat gives his suggestions

* How to get started with your list building

* Finding that right incentive to get your readers and customers to opt-in

* Pat’s top tips for building your list through email, social and advertising

* If a channel is working for you well, should you stick with it or level out and work on some other channels

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 76 May 15 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the WP eCommerce Show. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. Today, we are kicking off our series on Growing Your Online Sales. And what better way to kick it off than to bring Pat Flynn on to talk about growing your list, which in turn grows your sales. Welcome to the show, Pat.

Pat Flynn: Hey, thanks for having me, Bob. I’m really excited to be here.

Bob: Yeah, this is so cool, Pat. I know odds are that many of my listeners already know you— or of you— but can you give us a rundown of everything you do? Because I know you have several different websites. Just a little bit for the person who says, “Who is Pat Flynn?”.

Meet Pat Fynn, Founder of SmartPassiveIncome.com

Pat: It’s funny because sometimes my wife and even my parents don’t know how to answer that question because there are so many things that I’m involved with. But my quick story is I got laid off in 2008 from the world of architecture and I took some knowledge I had about an exam that I had taken called The Lead Exam and I packaged that into a web site with practice exams and study guides and that sort of thing. That was my first foray into sort of doing my own business. And it really took off. I mean I had made over $200,000 a year after I started selling those things and a lot of people were asking me, “How did you do that? Tell me more. I want to learn— tell me everything.”

So I built a Web site called SmartPassiveIncome.com. It was October of 2008, just to give you timeframe. My goal was just to share everything I had done, everything that I wish I’d done differently and things that I’m learning along the way. And even down to the penny how much I’m earning and where it’s all coming from, what my sales are like and that sort of thing. So this was 2008. Now I have many other web properties, I have a software company. I have written books, I do public speaking and I go around the world and do keynotes and get paid for that, which is crazy because I never thought I would do that.

I’m working on my second book now and I have a podcast called The Smart Passive Income Podcast,

In Episode 75, we are taking a look at how sponsoring conferences can help you grow your eCommerce site. We touch on both conferences, and WordCamps, which are unique to the WordPress community and users. To hear some great first-hand experience we invited Devin Sears, Field Marketer for Bluehost to give us some insights on what you should consider when making that first move in sponsoring conferences as well as having booths at a conference. You will even find a few good tips if have already dove into conference sponsorships on what you should expect and maintain in your marketing efforts.

We chatted about:

* The challenge of smaller businesses having budgets for larger conferences

* The value of sponsoring smaller conferences 

* How to approach direct competition in conference sponsorships and vendor booths

* Why you want a swag strategy

* The benefits and challenges of having larger giveaways at your booth

* What you should expect when it comes to ROI (return on investment)

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 75 May 10 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, Everyone. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. Today we are taking a bit of a twist with the podcast when it comes to marketing your online store, or in fact any online presence you may have, when it comes to selling your product service. And that is the value of participating in industry conferences. Not talking here about a networking event, but rather sponsoring the event or participating via a booth, which conferences often call the expo part. In any case, I thought what better guest to bring on our show than Devin Sears, who does field marketing for BlueHost, the sponsor of our podcast shows. Welcome to the show, Devin.

Devin Sears: Thank you, Bob, and thank you so much for having me on the show. I know you and I have had the pleasure of working together a lot. So it’s nice to be a guest on the show once again. It is my second time. Hopefully a couple more times down the road.

Bob: Oh yeah, we’ll get you on again. Well, I know we have chatted and hung out a lot together. ‘m looking forward to picking your brain on this subject because it’s something a lot of businesses and online sellers can use. Devin before we get into this subject, can you tell us a little bit more of what that exactly field marketing is?

Meet Devin Sears, Manager of Field Marketing for Bluehost

Devin: Yeah. So it’s kind of interesting right now, especially in the tech industry, because there’s a huge push for digital marketing. As you know, that’s PPC, anything online like that. I do the kind of marketing for Bluehost that is pretty much everything else. You know, anything that doesn’t happen on the web, the interpersonal communication stuff.

I manage a team that goes to different events around the country, sometimes around the globe, and we advocate for Bluehost and a lot of it is educational, which I will get into a little bit more as we go through this podcast. But I love my job. It gives me a chance to travel and meet tons of people and it’s amazing. It’s a lot of fun.

Bob: And you’re very good at it, too. I will admit that sometimes with technology it takes you a little bit to get the job done but with the events, you’re really good.

Devin: I’m a little slow, Bob, but I’ll get there.

In Episode 74, we are wrapping up our series,  Starting and Growing Your Online Course. In today’s show we talk about the biggest challenge when it comes to your online courses. And that is attracting your students and building a healthy community. And to help us get a better grip on marketing our courses, we bring in Troy Dean, founder of WP Elevation, who has been very successful in the online course space.

From my own experience, I have seen a lot of people who dive into online courses, build their site, create their content, and then hope for signups. This is where the largest number of individuals hit a brick wall. They can be amazing teachers with awesome content, but they struggle with driving the traffic and signups to their site. Listen to these great tips and insights from Troy on how you can successfully market your online course.

We chatted about:

* At what point in the process of planning your course, creating the content and building the site should you start to seriously think about the marketing side? (Troy’s answer may surprise you.)

* How to find that sweet spot of when to start marketing and what you should consider when pre-announcing your launch

* Troy’s two biggest tips on where you should be promoting your online course

* How the marketing process ties into not only the launch of your course but also its growth

* How important it is to know why you are starting this online course

* Never underestimating the power of community and how that is a key to your course’s success

The other shows in this series:

Online Courses: The Past, the Present and the Future with Brian Clark

Tips for Starting Your First Online Course with Carrie Dils

How Courses Can Help Grow Your Online Store with Chris Badgett

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 74 May 8 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey, everyone. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. Thanks for tuning into into the fourth and last show of our series: What You Need to Know about Starting and Growing your Online Course. We’ve talked about the landscape, the scope of online courses, how to start them with your online store. But today we are talking about what I feel is one of the top challenges when it comes to online courses and that is marketing your course. In fact from experience, talking with others, this is where I’ve seen a lot of people drop the ball when it comes to the success of their course. So to help us wrap our brain around some of the basics here, we have Troy Dean, co-founder of WP Elevation. Hey, Troy, welcome to the show.

Troy Dean: Hey, Bob. Thanks for having me. I can’t believe it’s taken us this long to actually connect and have this conversation.

Bob: I think it was the last WordCamp, WordCamp Miami, that was the first time we actually found each other.

Troy: Yeah, I know. I’ve walked past you several times but we didn’t actually connect until Miami. So it’s a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.

Bob: Well, Troy, I gave a very brief description of you as co-founder of WP Elevation, but there may be some listeners out there who don’t know what you do.

In Episode 73, we are talking about branding your first online product. Branding has been around a long time, and has changed considerably over the years. And yet a lot of the earlier basics of branding still apply. To help us understand more about how to brand that first product, we have invited Kim Doyal, who specializes in product development and online marketing at theWPChick.com. She shares with us how she has helped others bring their brand to the forefront, as well as her own lessons learned while branding her first app.

We chatted about:

* How Kim defines branding and what it means today

* Figuring out whether to brand a new product under your existing brand or a separate brand

* The common challenges in branding a product

* An example of what she felt was a perfect launch for a first product— and why it was successful

* How going back to the fundamentals can help you with branding your product

Thanks to Our Podcast Sponsor: Bluehost

Transcript

You can also download a pdf of the full transcript here: WordPress eCommerce Show Episode 73 May 3 2017

Bob Dunn: Hey everyone and welcome back to the WP e-Commerce Show. Bob Dunn here, also known as BobWP on the web. Today we are talking about branding, particularly around products you are planning to sell. Over the years, the concept and meaning of branding have taken a few twists and turns. To help us understand today’s world of branding, I’ve asked my friend Kim Doyal to join us. Hey, Kim. Thanks for taking the time to be on our show today.

Kim Doyal: Thanks for having me, Bob. I am happy to be here.

Bob: So, Kim, we have a lot to cover today. I’m not sure how long I’ve known you, but it seems like forever. Would you tell us a bit about what you’re doing these days?

Meet Kim Doyal, Online Marketer and Podcaster

Kim: I am proud to say I am out of the client service space. You know, I got my feet wet and really dug into WordPress. But my focus these days is really two things. Content marketing is one;  I love creating content, leveraging it for traffic and all that good stuff. So I’ve gotten a little obsessed with content marketing.

The other thing is, I’ve partnered with someone to develop a web app called Lead Surveys. We’re a couple months out from getting that open and, you know, I love my tools and stuff. And I have always come from this place. It needs to be simple. I shouldn’t have to hire somebody to manage a tool that I’m using for my business. But yeah, it’s it’s all about marketing and content for me now. Creating that and growing an audience. Like I said, I’m kind of out of the service space.

Bob: Yeah. Branding is interesting because it’s so much content now and there’s so much branding around that.

I’m going to pick your brain, what you’re doing, and all of your experience you’ve had with branding. You’ve been involved with it throughout your career or at least your online career.

So let’s start with this. Talking about branding in general, I know many moons ago when I was first in the space and doing print branding, it was, “Hey, I want a logo.”

What about the client who knows she needs branding but doesn’t really understand it?

At the time, it was just like make sure all your print materials match your logo colors and, believe it or not, that was branding for businesses. And then the web grew, other factors came into play and now it’s huge and covers so many aspects. So my challenge to you is how do you describe branding when a client comes to you a...