Economic Crisis - time to panic or time to press ahead?  While challenging and painful, there are huge opportunities right now.  Some of the world’s most successful companies grew leaps and bounds during recessions (Toyota, Kellogs and many others).  On this show investor, mentor and brilliant marketer and entrepreneur Roland Frasier and I talk about what you need to do to survive and thrive right now.  From getting your head right, to ensuring financial stability to how to market your product - right now. The market has shifted but money is still up for grabs.  Here’s what we cover: Understanding the physiological segments of the market and how to reach customers that are still actively buying now How your product positioning should pivot during times of extreme uncertainty How companies like Toyota and Kellogg’s crushed their competitors during a recession How to secure financing right now What to measure and how to measure to keep your head above water

Liz Germain is a YouTube Marketing legend.  We met when I was speaking at an event for eCommerce brands at the YouTube LA Offices.  Between her own fitness channel and her client’s channels, she’s helped rack up over 100 million organic video views on YouTube.  Wow. In this interview, we deep dive into how she does it. From the content, she creates to the research that inspires it. We also discuss where you should start and how to take your YouTube channel to the next level.  Here’s what we cover Liz’s killer YouTube Influencer structure that leverages evergreen content for years of leads  How Liz created a video and blog post for a natural birth control method that is still generating leads and sales 4 years after it was created.  Compare that to an Instagram story that has a shelf life of just 24 hours.   The 3 types of YouTube content and where you should start The fundamentals of building a great YouTube Channel Plus more!

We’ve all had the following experience.  We’re on a quest for a specific product hoping if will fulfill a very specific need.  So we visit a product page on Amazon or another eCommerce site hoping that this might be the product we’ve been eagerly searching for….But, to our disappointment the product page doesn’t clearly tell us if the product will meet our need or not.  So we don’t buy. Uh-oh. Pop quiz.  What can increase customer engagement, improve conversion rates by 2-10x, and drive substantial organic traffic?  Easy - Q&A content. My guest this week is James Arnold, the Co-Founder of Answer Base a SaaS platform that makes it easy to collect and leverage Q&A and FAQ content.  In this episode we dive into the following: Why Q&A content on product details pages is so powerful Taking a cue from Amazon where and how to use Q&A content on PDPs How to build a Knowledge Based that answers 80%+ of your shoppers questions How to structure your Q&A content to rank well on Google….HINT:  Google LOVES Q&A Content. And so do shoppers.   How to leverage FAQ pages Plus more!

Quick - what’s the best, most effective viral video ad you’ve seen?  Poo-Pourri? Purple Mattress? Maybe Squatty Potty? Chatbooks? Each of those videos (plus dozens more) were created by my guest today and his team at Harmon Brothers.  And not only where these videos viral hits…they SOLD stuff. Funny. Memorable. And persuasive to the tunes of hundreds of millions in sales. That's hard to accomplish.   In this episode, we dig into some of the tips, tactics and secrets behind the Harmon Brother’s unrivaled success.  We dive into the following: 3 big mistakes most companies make when it comes to video ads Why humor is NOT a silver bullet  The inside scoop behind Poo-Pourri and haw it launched the Harmon Brothers to national prominence How do you land on the right “BIG idea” How and when to get feedback on your script and initial video edits How to think and create videos like the Harmon Brothers Plus more

The thought of going International with your eComm business is both exciting and scary. It also seems like a HUGE undertaking. New tax codes, laws, and confusing acronyms to deal with like VAT and GST. Plus we still have the dated mindset that says we only expand internationally once we’ve maximized what we can get here in the good ole U S of A.   Kevin Sanderson will challenge your thinking and bust some myths to help you go international much sooner than you possibly thought…maybe right now. Here’s what we discuss: What market you should target first when you go international What markets should you consider 2nd and 3rd when going International What are some non-obvious benefits to going international like lower ad costs and lower competition What about Australia? What steps to take and when to try your first international market Plus much more!

Transparency. Sustainability. Social responsibility. More than just buzz words these are now expectations that consumers have of the brands they buy from. In this episode, we dive into what it means to be a mission-driven eCommerce brand. We share lots of powerful examples like Everlane, All Birds and more. My friend Ezra Firestone’s company Smart Marketer has the perfect slogan - Serve the World Unselfishly and Profit. Now you can do the right thing by fighting hunger, helping orphans, cleaning up the environment or supporting mental health AND build a profitable brand in the process. In this episode with Stephen we discuss the following: Who is the conscious consumer and how are they impacting eCommerce? Do companies have to go “all-in” on a mission or can this be a gradual process? What is “greenwashing” and why should you avoid it. Exploring the Mission Driven Marketing Playbook Plus more!

There are over 150 million Alexa devices in use today.  Google has sold upwards of 50 million of its Google Home devices.  While most devices are used primarily to listen to music or play games or control appliances like lights and heat and air…voice commerce is on the rise too. In this episode, I interview Anmol Oberoi the Founder and CEO of Emitrr - a voice-first SaaS Platform.  We dive into voice commerce use-cases that are making an impact now. We also talk about where voice commerce is likely heading in the near future.  Here’s a quick look at what we discuss: How games and quizzes through voice can benefit ecommerce companies What voice skills to develop and launch first and how to use customer feedback to make sure you’ll have high adoption rates What are the most popular voice skills that customers want right now  How voice can build loyalty and put a “fence” around your top customers keeping competitors away How smart devices with screens like the Echo Show and Google’ Nest Hub might make the biggest shopping impact right away

Shopify apps are great.  Someone else spends hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars, developing functionality that you can use for just $30 per month.   Apps on Shopify are so easy to install and so seemingly harmless that many store owners install dozens and dozens of apps - many of which they uninstall or never use.  This approach can have serious unintended consequences. In this episode we dive into a smarter approach to apps that can help any Shopify store owner.  Here’s a look at what we cover: How to determine if it’s better to use an app or hire a developer to hard code a desired functionality.  What category of apps are best to consider now for Shopify What apps are almost always a bad idea How to tell if you have app conflict When should you consider apps vs. just switching to Shopify Plus Plus more!

It’s safe to say that your SEO approach is likely outdated.  If you’re looking for the latest hack, trick or SEO loophole - you’re barking up the wrong tree.  If you’re obsessing over ranking and traditional keywords then you may be off target. In this episode we talk about why “intent” is now the most important word in SEO and content marketing.  We look at how search behavior is changing. We also consider how Google is indexing different forms of content like podcasts and video transcripts and what that means to us as marketers.   In this episode we dive into:  The BERT Update.  What is and how it’s the nail in the coffin for old-school SEO.   Why is intent the most important word for SEO? How REI tackles intent and what you should learn from their content strategies. Different content types - articles, podcasts, etc. How do you figure out what people are searching for and asking at different stages How to create content and rank that content for shoppers at different stages of the buying journey. Plus more!

Mike Ugino is the CMO and co-founder of Sellbrite a SaaS platform for marketplace sellers.  Sellbrite was recently acquired by GoDaddy. In this episode we breakdown how Mike and his business partner Brian approached building the company with selling it in mind.  We also talk about what the acquisition process was like including saying no to GoDaddy initially. In this episode we uncover some golden ideas for scaling and exiting your business including: How constraints lead to creativity What building it to sell means and looks like Hitting plateaus and how to grow again How to know if a deal is right and saying “no” when it isn’t….even if it means turning down GoDaddy How to keep your culture when you sell