We’re on to part 2 of our scaling series, where we talk about the stage from launch to traction, when you’re on track for, or surpassed, the $100K mark. At this stage in the business, you’re moving from selling something to having consistent sales. Today we’ll talk about some of the common problems people run into during this stage, critical questions to answer before you can start scaling up, and where to seek out support. We’re bringing you our knowledge and experience from working with brands...
Feb 25, 2020•17 min
If you want to run your business successfully, you need to have a deep understanding of how everything works. Today we’re talking with Helen Guo, co-founder of The Cereal School about how she took her business from zero to well over 7 figures in just eight months. One of the key components of the business’ success is that Helen and her co-founder, Dylan, started by learning and running every aspect of the business themselves, before hiring agencies to take things over. They also put a lot of ini...
Feb 18, 2020•44 min
On today's special BONUS episode we're talking about CBO. That's Campaign Budget Optimization. Andrew sat down with expert digital advertisers Molly Pittman and Depesh Mandalia to talk about what's happening with CBO, how it's working, why it's working the way that it is, and some tips to improve your campaigns. They discuss: Why you can't treat CBO campaigns the same way as you were treating ABO campaigns CBO misconceptions When CBO works best How to think about your budget when setting up CBO ...
Feb 14, 2020•54 min
Andrew and I have worked with hundreds of different companies at various stages of growth, from pre-launch to multi-million dollar acquisition. Today we’re kicking off our scaling series, where we’ll talk about each stage of growth and the challenges you're going to face as you scale up your business from zero to 8-figures. We’re starting off with a “zero to launch” episode where we’ll address some of the questions you’ll face when you’re determining how to launch and going from an idea for a pr...
Feb 11, 2020•22 min
One of the keys to successful growth is hiring a team that keeps the business running, whether the founder is there or not. Over the last 14 years, Cory Bower, founder of Aviator Gear, has built a multi-million dollar business with a team of 48 full-time employees. When Cory was in the Air Force, he saw a need, launched a company, and to this day uses some of his military systems and structure to keep things running smoothly. It’s always a pleasure to chat with Cory, and I hope you enjoy our con...
Feb 04, 2020•47 min
We’re getting tactical today and bringing you 6 quick wins you can execute today to grow your business. From Facebook, to email, to website optimization, these quick wins will help you generate sales and get results. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 4:25 Quick Win #1: 4-6% Lookalikes based off pixel value. 5:47 Quick Win #2: Identify previous customers who are likely to spend again, but who are no longer on your email list, and hit them with remarketing. 7:23 Quick Win #3: Integrate your Klaviyo audien...
Jan 28, 2020•16 min
When someone asks about eCommerce best practices, we always hear, “well, what’s Pura Vida doing?” Today we’re talking with Pura Vida CEO, Griffin Thall, to get an inside look at their current strategies, how the company’s grown over the last several years, the way his role has evolved, and what it's actually like to prepare your company for a multi-million dollar sale. Andrew and I both worked with Pura Vida at the very beginning, and we’re so excited to reconnect and bring this episode to you t...
Jan 21, 2020•45 min
Every year I grow more personally and professionally, and these weekly episodes are a big part of that. We’ve had discussions about Facebook and email marketing, business processes, how to avoid burnout, and more. Today Andrew and I are sharing the top things we’ve learned in 2019. What were your big learnings over the last year? Episode Highlights 5:15 No one cares where you are as long as the work gets done. 8:33 Be clear about what you want (because you’re going to get it). 11:50 Listen, Help...
Jan 14, 2020•33 min
Digital agencies get a bad rap these days. From providing inflated results to wasting time on dead-end tactics, many businesses have fired their agencies and moved things in-house. However, agencies aren’t the enemy. You just have to understand how to build the right relationship with them, and truly integrate them with your team. Our guest today is Susan Wenograd the CMO of digital agency Aimclear. We talk with Susan about the shift she’s seeing in where brands are directing their paid ad spend...
Jan 07, 2020•48 min
Today we’re bringing you part two of our “How to Get Started” series, and in this episode, we’re talking about email marketing. If you’ve recently launched a business and want to get started with email marketing, this episode is for you. Or, if you’ve had an agency managing your email for some time, and want to make sure everything is running as it should be, there are some helpful tips in here that will deepen your understanding. We talk about best practices for list creation, how to capture le...
Dec 31, 2019•33 min
Not many ecommerce brands can say they’ve been around for almost 30 years, but Peepers is one of them. Founded in 1993, with a website that went live in 1996, Peepers has been going strong ever since. In the last 10 years alone, they’ve grown by 900%. John Hart joined the team five years ago and is now the Ecommerce and Operations Director. Today he joins us to talk about how Peepers has continued to evolve, the marketing strategies they're using, including why they find major value in Amazon, a...
Dec 24, 2019•41 min
One of the questions we’ve received from several listeners recently is, “Can you guys talk about how to get started with Facebook advertising?” We’ve done quite a few episodes where we talk about scaling up your Facebook ads, but we've never started at the very beginning. Today we’re doing just that. If you’ve never advertised on Facebook before, or you’re just starting out, this episode is for you. We’ll talk through how to set up Facebook Business Manager, how to start building audiences for d...
Dec 17, 2019•32 min
Who says girls can’t wear dinosaur dresses? Rebecca Melsky was frustrated when the only patterns she could find for her daughter were pink and flowery. Where were the rocket ships and trucks for girls? In 2013 she teamed up with her friend Eva to start Princess Awesome, a stereotype-busting business that creates clothes of all colors, and with all kinds of patterns, for both girls and boys. Today we sit down with Rebecca to talk about their massive crowdfunding success, how they’ve managed the g...
Dec 10, 2019•43 min
We've got a special Black Friday/Cyber Monday BONUS episode for you today. Andrew saw down with Alex Afterman of 11:11 Digital, Deirdre Kelly and Terry Whalen of Sum Digital, Kurt Bullock of Product Department and Paul Fairbrother of Hootsuite/AdEspresso to do a post-BFCM 2019 recap. They discuss: Trends they saw over the weekend Bidding strategies that worked Audiences that were successful Creatives we saw working well Reporting and assessing numbers Enjoy! Links And Resources @a_brawn on Twitt...
Dec 06, 2019•41 min
Today we’re taking a break from our normal programming to go on a short rant about things we hate in the ecommerce industry. We want to shed light on some of the frustrating things we’ve come across over the years to help you keep your sanity as you’re growing your business. We believe in the importance of truth and transparency, and that every single business is different, and hope our little rant today will help you avoid frustration and see through the B.S. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 5:32 Thin...
Dec 03, 2019•26 min
While it may only take a great idea to start a business, it takes a heck of a lot of hard work to build a successful one. Five years ago Patrick Coddou was unhappily working at his corporate job when he had an idea, spurred by personal passion and necessity. That idea eventually got off the ground with two successful Kickstarters, and recently landed Patrick and his wife and co-founder, Jessica, on Shark Tank, where they got backing from Robert Herjavec. This idea, which has now grown into a mul...
Nov 26, 2019•45 min
Two common questions I get from clients are: How much should I spend on advertising and what is a good return on ad spend? Andrew and I are tackling these questions today by breaking down the calculations you need to do to determine what a good ROAS is for your business. We also discuss how to have an open conversation with your advertising agency and the first question you really need to ask yourself before you can realistically estimate the ROAS you need to be successful. Enjoy! Episode Highli...
Nov 19, 2019•25 min
As he sat down at his desk on the first day at his first post-college job he thought, “The cubicle life just isn’t for me.” If you’re an entrepreneur, I would venture to bet you’ve had a similar thought at some point along the way. Today we’re joined by Matt Schroeder, the co-founder of Shelly Cove, who started the business in college with his family, and has been off to the races ever since. Matt tells the story of how he taught himself marketing and his journey to eventually leaving his secure...
Nov 12, 2019•46 min
Due to Facebook’s influence, your website is less and less often the first place potential customers learn about your brand. We don’t see this changing anytime soon. In fact, Facebook’s already moving to on-site checkout, removing the need to visit your website altogether. Today we’re talking about the future of Facebook advertising and how we see it evolving. We discuss what Facebook’s plans are for the platform, as well as for Instagram, and how you can be prepared for what’s to come. Enjoy! E...
Nov 05, 2019•21 min
You look up at the clock and realize you’ve been working for 14 hours. You’ve still got a dozen more emails to respond to before you can go home, maybe spend a little time with your family, then get 4 hours of sleep and start the cycle again the next day. Sound familiar? This, my friends, is the recipe for burnout. As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to get addicted to your work and feel like if you’re not spending 16 hours a day trying to grow your business, the person who is will beat you to the top...
Oct 29, 2019•47 min
We’re in the midst of the busiest time of year for eCommerce. Will Q4 craziness get the best of you, or will you come out on the other side with your sanity intact? Today we’re sharing five tips that will help you keep you from losing your mind this holiday season. Enjoy! Episode Highlights 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: E...
Oct 22, 2019•24 min
What if you could double your business with Facebook over the next year? 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 i...
Oct 15, 2019•42 min
If someone tells you the secret to success is working as much as you possibly can, they’re wrong. 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 i...
Oct 08, 2019•54 min
Do you ever get into a rut with your marketing ideas? 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 s...
Oct 01, 2019•40 min
Hey advertisers, Facebook doesn’t care about you. 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! Episode Highlights 5:40 How Facebook is cracking down on drop shippers and shoddy product...
Sep 24, 2019•23 min
Sometimes it takes a lot of failures before you make it big. 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 ...
Sep 17, 2019•55 min
When I ask business owners what’s holding them back from making their next big hire, you know what they tell me? 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 wi...
Sep 10, 2019•42 min
What would you do if your organic traffic dropped by 90% overnight? 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 th...
Sep 03, 2019•46 min
If you’ve been wondering how to improve your Facebook ad creative, you’re not alone. 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 work...
Aug 27, 2019•34 min
If you can sell water online, you can sell anything. 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...
Aug 20, 2019•43 min
