Skye Chilton is the owner of RealMushrooms.com, a family-owned and operated company that supplies top-quality herbal and medicinal mushroom products online. Skye partnered with his father, Jeff Chilton, a well-renowned expert in mushrooms, and leveraged his expertise and credibility in the industry to grow the brand. What is particularly interesting about Skye is how he leveraged podcasting and social media to grow consumer awareness without throwing money at advertising, which as we all know is...
May 28, 2021•47 min
Nikhil Krishnan is the founder and author of Out of Pocket Health, a newsletter featuring in-depth analysis and clever memes about the state of the healthcare system in the United States today. Listen in as we discuss the two biggest problems in the US system today, the dichotomy between the US being a leader in cutting edge technology while also having an issue with access to basic healthcare for many, and we dive into the options for small businesses who want to provide health insurance for th...
May 21, 2021•58 min
Scott Scharf is co-founder of Catching Clouds, the leaders in e-commerce accounting that offer a solution for entrepreneurs who struggle with understanding - or even getting - accurate financial information about their business. Listen in as we discuss all things ERP, including a review and overview of the main platforms available, what the advantages and disadvantages are of each, and why it’s a good thing that we’re starting to see consolidation among the platforms. Scott also shares his advic...
May 14, 2021•48 min
Chuckie Gregory is the founder of Club EarlyBird, a morning cocktail that makes it easy to wake up early and that has grown from $0 to $1-million in sales in less than a year. In this episode, Chuckie details the SMS messaging strategy that they use at Club EarlyBird, including why they collect phone numbers with a post-purchase opt-in rather than at checkout, how he justifies the cost of SMS messaging over other forms of marketing, and why he implemented “Get Sh*t Done Tuesday.” You can find sh...
May 07, 2021•43 min
Garret and Deeanne Akerson are the co-founders of Kindred Bravely, which creates maternity and nursing clothes that are beautiful, comfortable, and most importantly, useful. They have an incredibly successful business story, but in this episode we’re talking about something that doesn’t get discussed a lot: how do you build a meaningful and successful business while also raising kids? We’re getting candid on the parenting front and are talking about what Garret and Deeanne did well, what they di...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr
This is a somewhat selfish episode because this guest makes my absolute favorite shirts in the entire world, and I wanted to learn more about the inner workings of the business. Ryan Light is the CEO of Pistol Lake, a men’s apparel company that was founded in 2012 with the goal to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. at a reasonable price—and with really amazing quality. Ryan is not the founder of Pistol Lake, but he was brought in by the founders to run the company, and he has lots to share abo...
Apr 23, 2021•43 min
Conor Lewis has a really cool story. He is the Founder of GetTheFort.com, a magnetic pillow fort that he designed, crowdfunded, and brought to market in under a year. What’s really cool about Conor though is that he is entirely self-taught on eCommerce, but still managed to build a huge audience through social channels by tapping into his previous branding, design, and video experience. In this episode, we dive into how Conor was able to pull off a super-successful $2.8 million Kickstarter campa...
Apr 16, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Today we are going to be talking about selling and acquiring businesses with a couple of people who have recently been through the process themselves. Chris Carey recently sold his business, MAPerformance.com, to David Rauch’s team over at AnthemWheels.com. In this episode, they will be sharing the story of their unique transaction, as well as the power of trust and rapport in existing relationships. Listen in to learn what it's like working with private equity firms (or deciding not to) and how...
Apr 09, 2021•49 min
If you are an entrepreneur, you have probably come across a business being sold so cheaply that you considered purchasing it. However, being business savvy enough to differentiate between fantastic buying opportunities and energy-destroying lemons can be very tricky. So in this episode, we have Brian Lejeune and Janine Do, owners of VirginiaBoysKitchens.com, joining the show to discuss how they purchased a business that had not made a profit in over half a decade and turned it into a profitable,...
Apr 02, 2021•59 min
If you are not quite sure what asset based lending is in relation to other types of lending, you are definitely not alone. David Golob is CEO of Microcom.us, a high-volume Amazon seller, and an expert on asset based lending, and he’s here to give us the goods on this unique lending type. Listen in as David shares why you might consider asset based lending over other types of financing, as well as what you can expect the process to look like. You can find show notes and more information by clicki...
Mar 26, 2021•44 min
If you love geeking out on the finance side as much as we do, this is an episode you definitely don't want to miss! I'm going down the rabbit hole of banking, lending, and financing with Bill D’Alessandro, founder and CEO at Elements Brands and frequent co-host of this podcast. Consider this episode a master cheat sheet for all entrepreneurs who want to get their finances in order and get the most out of their banking relationships. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: ...
Mar 19, 2021•46 min
Today we are joined by Sujay Kapadia, Founder of Hospitology Products. Sujay left his job as a doctor to pursue a career in the eCommerce world, and he has been selling on Amazon since 2012. In this episode, we discuss his time on Amazon and how he has seen the online marketplace change over the years. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3t1wk7L Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners? Learn more here . Want to hear about new episod...
Mar 12, 2021•38 min
We updated our site about nine months ago with more of a holistic message in mind for eCommerceFuel, wanting to focus not only on the community, but also on ECF Capital and the podcast. Unfortunately, it did not end up performing as well as we hoped. So we decided to bring in Quinn Zeda and her team at Conversion Crimes to perform an audit, and they came back with some pretty painful results, which we will be diving into today. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https...
Mar 05, 2021•41 min
With Apple rolling out iOS 14 in the spring, users will be able to opt out of being tracked by apps. So where will this leave Facebook ads or other online marketing services? Today Miracle Wanzo of DiscoveryMarketing.io joins the show to discuss this topic, diving into the serious implications this will have for marketing in the digital world. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2MivRyc Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners? Learn...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Where do you even start when you are wanting to grow your brand's revenue? Especially when it is extremely niche? Today Ben Jenkins, owner of Warstic.com, joins the show to discuss how he grew his high-quality baseball bat brand to over $8 million in the past four years alone. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3tPFIwe Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners? Learn more here . Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news roun...
Feb 19, 2021•45 min
Closing on a deal can feel incredibly intimidating and scary. How do you know if this is the right fit for your company? What is the paperwork involved? Today my friends and colleagues, Bill D'Alessandro of ElementsBrands.com and Michael Jackness of EcomCrew.com, join the show to help me explain how the team at ECF Capital finally ended up choosing a deal to close on and the work that went into it. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2Msxjyd Interested i...
Feb 12, 2021•37 min
Everyone always says how hard it is to work through deals and figure out what is good and what is not, but you never truly understand until you are in it. Today I will be talking about everything that went into searching for ECF Capital investments, including how I kept track of them all and the importance of doing your due diligence on the owners of companies. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/39u4KZU Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure S...
Feb 05, 2021•22 min
Last year I announced ECF Capital, an eCommerce fund investment group that looks to invest in promising eCommerce companies with a group of experienced investors. Over the course of the last 12 months, we have been setting everything up, looking for deals, and finally culminating and closing on our first deal in December. So in this episode, I will be running you through the process of getting a fund like this started and what exactly goes on behind the scenes. You can find show notes and more i...
Jan 29, 2021•24 min
There are so many challenges and aspects to think about when launching a new project. Last week we touched on the eCommerce and business sides of launching Overlander.com, and today I want to shift the conversation to focus more on the management and team building lessons I learned while working on this project. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3ssENBl Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners? Learn more here . Want to hear about ...
Jan 22, 2021•25 min
Are you searching for a way to explore remote and untouched areas? Overlanding is essentially a vehicle-based exploration in travel, a fusion of off-roading and camping, and something I have been incredibly interested in. Today I will be walking you through a website that I spent the last six months of 2020 working on, Overlander.com, and I’ll explain the lessons I learned while spearheading this project. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2LQnZU4 Inter...
Jan 15, 2021•33 min
The second half of 2020 was an especially busy and stressful time for me personally. In today's episode I reflect back on the period, consider how too much work impacted my personal life and share a few takeaways and lessons.
Jan 08, 2021•27 min
This is a replay of the episode with Dafina Smith of CovetAndMane.com where we discuss the benefit of not selling on your website. Listen in as Dafina shares how her products are promoted, how she got started in the eCommerce world, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3pl0e51 Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners? Learn more here . Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups? Subscribe via email....
Jan 01, 2021•41 min
This is a replay of the episode with Will Roman from Chisos.com. We debate if it's possible to scale a brand voice beyond the founder, highly effective SMS techniques for cart abandonment, pop-up shops, and – of course – why they only offer free shipping to Texans. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3mMdz4u Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners? Learn more here . Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups? Subsc...
Dec 25, 2020•42 min
If you have an idea to try to create an electronic consumer good, is it worth it? Today Adam Leeb, the maker of Astrohaus.com, joins the show to discuss whether it is possible to break into the market, whether it’s something you can do if you don’t have an electrical engineering degree, and how he went about chip manufacturing. Adam also shares his thoughts on Apple and what he thinks about when he sees an iPhone. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3g52...
Dec 18, 2020•39 min
As tradition would have it, Bill D’Alessandro from ElementsBrands.com and I are back with our predictions for 2021. Although neither of us predicted a global pandemic ravaging the eCommerce world as we knew it, we go over the predictions we did have from last year and whether they came true or not. Did Amazon profit and grow as much as we predicted in 2020? Listen in to find out! You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3lBBSBP Interested in our Private Commu...
Dec 11, 2020•54 min
How can we arm the “rebel force” or smaller merchants with the similar AI and data sets that Amazon has? In this episode, Jake Cook, co-owner of Tadpull.com, explains this and more. Listen in as we cover topics such as the benefit of creating an index, what metrics an index tracks, and how this can help the community going forward. Jake also shares what it was like cruising around the USA in a van over the summer during a pandemic. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: h...
Dec 04, 2020•41 min
If you own an eCommerce business, I am guessing you have tried to outsource your content at some point. Generally speaking, once you begin outsourcing this content that you were so passionate about, the quality of the copy goes down. So is it possible to have someone create content for you—while maintaining your standards? Here with me to answer this question and more is Katrina McKinnon, the owner of CopySmiths.com. Listen in as we discuss how Katrina is “killing it with cold outreach,” the bes...
Nov 27, 2020•37 min
Today we are joined by Will Critcher, who is the Director of eCommerce for DeathWishCoffee.com. In this episode, we talk about the brand and how they've had their coffee endorsed by astronauts, as well as how they are thinking about email newsletters differently and what they have done to improve the results they’ve seen with them. Will also discusses how he got a product to the #5 position in all of the grocery category on Amazon. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: h...
Nov 20, 2020•35 min
Today we are picking up with the second half of the discussion we started last week with Ezra Firestone of SmartMarketer.com. In this episode, we talk about building backyard home offices, including what we are putting in our own home offices and creative ways to solve plumbing issues (without breaking the bank!). We also dive deep into Shopify checkout and explore what these changes could mean for the eCommerce ecosystem. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bi...
Nov 13, 2020•38 min
Today’s episode is a little less structured, as I'm talking with my good friend Ezra Firestone of SmartMarketer.com about everything from what makes a strong relationship to what it's like growing up on a hippie commune. Listen in as we dive into what Ezra's been up to and how he's creating a communal living space, as well as the importance of networking and so much more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2FRFNvf Interested in our Private Community for...
Nov 06, 2020•27 min
