Today’s episode is a follow-up to one I did back in June about the eCommerceFuel Job Boards. It’s been a while since I launched that project, and I wanted to share some updates to document the journey so you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to launching something from scratch. Listen in to hear what went well, what didn’t go so well, how things are going with the budget, and some key stats of the business so far. You can find show notes and more i...
Nov 23, 2018•18 min
If you’re involved in the ecommerce space, you’ve surely noticed that it’s becoming harder and harder to stay 100% compliant when it comes to sales tax. Between the recent Supreme Court case and Amazon tax issues, quite honestly, it’s getting to be a real pain. So today I have Michael Jackness of EcomCrew.com here to share how a new organization he helped launch called the Online Merchants Guild is fighting against these sales tax hurdles. Listen in to learn what they’re doing, as well as how yo...
Nov 16, 2018•29 min
Today I’ve got LemonStand’s Ross Paul on the show to talk about subscriptions—namely in the e-commerce space. LemonStand is a shopping cart company based in Vancouver, Canada, and as the company’s VP of Growth, Ross knows his stuff when it comes to building a successful subscription model. We dive right in to talk about which businesses can benefit from this model, billing issues people run into, and how to make sure you retain as many customers as possible. Tune in to hear it all now! You can f...
Nov 09, 2018•31 min
In this episode, I’m going to share my experience designing a product from scratch. I’ve touched on this topic in passing on the show before, but today you’ll get a real, behind-the-scenes look at everything, from designing and manufacturing to unit economics and selling on Amazon. And most importantly, I’ll share all the mistakes I made along the way. Listen in to hear how everything went, and what I’d do differently if I had it to do all over again. You can find show notes and more information...
Nov 02, 2018•22 min
Today’s episode is all about an important topic that rarely gets discussed among entrepreneurs: mental health. Being an entrepreneur can be really hard at times; you’ve got super high highs and really low lows, and that can take a major toll. So I’ve got Sherry Walling of ZenFounder.com on the show to talk about how to take care of ourselves while running our businesses. In addition to being an entrepreneur herself—and being married to one—Sherry has a long background in clinical psychology. Lis...
Oct 26, 2018•33 min
Today we’re going to talk about transparency and open companies, specifically the idea of sharing financials with employees. We recently discussed this in our private forum, and the overwhelming response was that it’s a bad idea, but my guests today disagree. Lee and Jake Cook—cofounders of Tadpull—and Hannah Jerome—a Tadpull leadership team member—strongly believe that sharing the key financial results of their business with their team has helped the business. Listen in to hear why they say tha...
Oct 19, 2018•39 min
Today I’m joined by a longtime member of our eCommerceFuel Private Forum, a top contributor, and an all-around stand-up guy, Patrick Barnhill. Patrick is the founder of SpecialistID.com, and on a recent Mastermind call with him, I heard his presentation on how he’s using custom software to streamline his processes, reduce errors, and handle more inventory and order flow. He also shared what he was doing with his business in terms of hacking and prepping his products—especially products that he k...
Oct 12, 2018•37 min
Today on the show, I’ve got a guest who’s long overdue: Scott Voelker of TheAmazingSeller.com. Scott is a well-known guy in the Amazon space, he knows a tremendous amount about the platform, and he has sold tons and tons of products, so today we’re doing a deep dive with someone who knows Amazon inside and out. We cover where there’s still opportunity left within the platform, common mistakes sellers make, the state of reviews in the second half of 2018, some of his favorite tools, and a bunch o...
Oct 05, 2018•51 min
Today’s show is all about retargeting. I’m joined by the co-founder of Shoelace, Reza Khadjavi, who is here to share what makes a great retargeting ad, advice for managing your budget, and much more. Since his company specializes in retargeting—especially for Shopify stores—we cover a lot of ground today. Listen in to learn how to optimize your campaigns if you’re already running them, and if you’re not, you’ll hear lots of great tips for getting started the right way. You can find show notes an...
Sep 28, 2018•36 min
Today I’m joined by Kristina Kurcink, a friend of mine who has spent over a decade working at Nike in roles ranging from design all the way to manufacturing. Being responsible for a lot of the production in Asia, Kristina has seen the whole process leading up to the famous footwear coming off the line. In this episode, she shares key lessons she learned during her ten years working for Nike, particularly some of the manufacturing lessons she learned from being on the ground in Asia. So if you’re...
Sep 21, 2018•29 min
Today’s episode is going to be slightly different than usual. I recently lost a bet and had to take Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com on a three-day road trip around Montana, and during that trip, we recorded a few episodes that we wanted to share. (You can find the other two on his podcast.) While we were on the road, we talked about tons of stuff, so this is kind of a free-ranging episode that covers email deliverability hacks, raising kids as entrepreneurs, and more. Listen in to hear it all...
Sep 14, 2018•27 min
When it comes to collaborating with overseas factories, there are certain things any ecommerce store owner should know. So today I’ve got Nathan Resnick from Sourcify—a company that helps store owners pick the right factories for their design products and streamline their sourcing, design, and development—on the show to discuss how things work in China. Nathan has had tons of experience over there learning the language and culture, and he travels there six or more times per year, so he has a gre...
Sep 07, 2018•28 min
Facebook is one of the biggest traffic channels out there right now, and I’m sure plenty of you listening are running ads on that platform, or at least thinking about it. Admittedly, I’ve only gotten into Facebook ads in the last few months, and it turns out I made some pretty big mistakes along the way. Thankfully, I had Michael Jackness of Terran.com and Miracle Wanzo of HipUndies.com take a peek at what I was doing and give me some pointers, which I'm going to share with you today. If you’re ...
Aug 31, 2018•18 min
So often, when we think about ecommerce, we think about putting a physical item into a box and shipping it somewhere, but that doesn’t have to be the case. You can run an ecommerce store or a business without any inventory at all. Just ask today's guest, Niall O’Malley of eTrainToday.com. Niall started his digital products business back in 2011, and he’s here to share how it all works, some of the downsides of selling digital products (because of course, like anything, there are some downsides),...
Aug 24, 2018•27 min
Shopify bans the sales of guns and accessories, even those legal in the U.S., Kroger Gets Into Online Grocery with “Kroger Ship”, Amazon rumored to be in the running to acquire Landmark Theatres, and more. You can see the full show notes for this episode at https://www.ecommercefuel.com/august-21-2018/. The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and interesting content around the web from the previous two weeks.
Aug 21, 2018•8 min
Over the last decade or so, I’ve managed a bunch of big, stressful projects with a ton of moving pieces, so I know how tricky it can be to keep things running smoothly. That’s why today’s episode is all about how to manage major projects without all the headaches. I’m going to share what I’ve learned from my experience, the strategy I employ, and more to help save you some agony and anguish in your next major project. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2...
Aug 17, 2018•20 min
What comes to mind when you think of Wal-Mart? What about Target? It’s amazing how the two massive retailers can be perceived so differently. Perhaps even more amazing is that Target is the more profitable of the two, despite the fact that Wal-Mart is about six times as big. How is Target able to do that with less scale? What are they doing right? Here to answer those questions are Carrie McAleer of D.a. Davidson & Company and eCommercefuel’s own copywriter extraordinaire, Laura Serino. List...
Aug 10, 2018•26 min
Drew Sanocki is back on the show to share some very interesting things he’s been up to lately. Not only has he had exciting adventures traveling the world with his family, but he's also had some cool adventures in the private equity space. Today he dives into the details about different deals he’s involved with, compensation, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2LncK3C
Aug 03, 2018•42 min
Today we’re continuing our series on building relationships, but instead of advice for creating stronger connections, this episode is all about what not to do. After all, if we’re working hard to expand our professional networks, we can’t let these simple mistakes negate our efforts. So listen in to hear the 14 faux pas that are sure to sabotage your connections before you have a chance to make them. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2NKX48D...
Jul 27, 2018•21 min
Amazon's Prime Day is once again the biggest Sales Day in its History, Shopify will roll out augmented reality this fall, Apple introces new Macbook Pro features, and more. You can see the full show notes for this episode at https://www.ecommercefuel.com/july-24-2018/. The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and interesting content around the web from the previous two weeks.
Jul 24, 2018•9 min
Today I want to talk about something that I think is one of the most important elements of long-term business success: building relationships. How you connect—or fail to connect—with other people has a tremendous impact on your business, so being mindful of the impression you're making is crucial. In this episode, I share 15 habits you should master in order to improve your networking and build better professional relationships. Listen in to hear them all now. You can find show notes and more in...
Jul 20, 2018•25 min
With voice search becoming more and more prevalent these days, is it only a matter of time before it bleeds over into ecommerce and becomes the way people shop in the future? Joining me today to discuss this possibility are Miracle Wanzo of HipUndies.com and Bill D'Alessandro of ElementsBrands.com. We each share our predictions for how voice search will impact the future of ecommerce, as well as possibilities for how this technology could evolve moving forward. You can find show notes and more i...
Jul 13, 2018•34 min
Amazon Jumps into the pharmacy business with $1 Billion Pillpack acquisition, Shopify acquires Return Magic, Paypal Checkout introduces a new feature, and more. You can see the full show notes for this episode at https://www.ecommercefuel.com/july-10-2018/. The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and interesting content around the web from the previous two weeks.
Jul 10, 2018•11 min
Today's topic is one that's near and dear to my heart: remote work. I’m a little bit of a vagabond, and I love not being tied down, so the idea of being able to build a remote team is something that I think is really important. It gets a little tricky when you get into physical products, but today I have Fred Perrotta from Tortuga.com to share how the company he co-founded handles this challenge. Fred shares the potential issues that can arise from working with an entirely remote team, as well a...
Jul 06, 2018•35 min
To celebrate the eCommerceFuel Job Board going live, I thought it’d be fun to have a couple episodes about employees, management, and all things workplace. So joining me today is Alison Green, the writer behind workplace advice blog AskAManager.org. She’s also the author of multiple books on managing people, as well as an advice column for New York magazine. Alison joins me today to discuss everything from having hard conversations with employees to appropriate interview questions to crazy and h...
Jun 29, 2018•35 min
The Supreme Court clears the way for states to charge sales tax, President Trump introduces a new, lean type of health care plan and more. You can see the full show notes for this episode at https://www.ecommercefuel.com/june-26-2018. The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and interesting content around the web from the previous two weeks.
Jun 26, 2018•14 min
Today I’m flying solo on the mic to share something that we’ve been working on for a while now (and just launched this month): the eCommerceFuel Job Board. In addition to explaining what it is, I thought it’d be fun to give you an inside look at what's going on behind the scenes. People tend to reflect after the fact when something works, but rarely do you get to see a play-by-play of what’s happening, the strategies people are using, how much time and money they put into things, etc. In this ep...
Jun 22, 2018•21 min
Today is part two of my interview with Adam Saraceno, the Chief Marketing Officer of Peak Design. We’re picking up the conversation we started last week on leveraging Kickstarter, but we shift gears to talk about how Adam's company has cultivated and maintained such an awesome culture (while still managing to create super high-quality products), which marketing tactics are giving them the best ROI, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2x90Bcw...
Jun 15, 2018•23 min
The News Cart features industry news, community discussions, compelling job opportunities and thoughts on life from Andrew Youderian. This week in the news: Amazon's new Echo Look, how your Android phone will soon make phone calls on your behalf and potential GDPR fines on the horizon. You can see the full show notes for this episode at https://www.ecommercefuel.com/june-12-2018.
Jun 12, 2018•10 min
Today is part one of a deep dive I’m excited to do with Adam Saraceno, the Chief Marketing Officer of a company that has done a phenomenal job leveraging Kickstarter to grow their brand and their business. I think it’s safe to say Peak Design is the most successful crowdfunded company today that’s still active and thriving in 2018. How did they do it? Adam shares that and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2rXdwIX...
Jun 08, 2018•45 min
