My guest today is John Li, co-founder of Pickfu.  John is a really sharp dude, with a very unique service.  A service that started as a side project and became a standalone business sort of on accident…more on that in the episode.    Pickfu is a consumer feedback tool that allows you to get real customer feedback in minutes.  This has driven insights into product page enhancements, better product imagery, better ads, better Amazon listings and more.   In this episode, we dive into some of the top learnings John and his team have gained from the myriad of tests run on their platform.  Some are quite surprising. I’m confident that you’ll take away a few things you need to test or change to improve your sales on and off Amazon.  Here’s a highlight of what we cover: Surprising learnings from testing images and how your biases might be hurting your results on and off Amazon. 3 keys to better descriptions on your Amazon listings that consistently outperform the norm. How to find out what features and benefits a customer is really buying when they buy your product so you can highlight those features and benefits in your ads.   How there are probably some things that you think are “good enough” that are probably costing you sales.     How to properly run a test and how to ask consumers good questions.  If you ask bad questions, you’ll get bad feedback...the kind that’s unhelpful and not actionable.     Plus more!

Steve Chou is an eCommerce podcast host, eCommerce store owner, and former microprocessor designer.  In fact, the microprocessor running the phone in your hand was likely designed by Steve’s team. All of that to say, Steve is a pretty smart dude. I recently saw Steve in San Diego at Social Media Marketing World where we were both speaking.  We had lunch and talked a little about Chatbots. I was instantly intrigued. Chatbots and Messenger ads have huge potential to create more helpful, more personal experiences with your brand.  All with the goal of increasing sales and building loyalty. Here’s a quick look at what Steve and I discuss... The rules behind using Messenger as a business.  Facebook is very strict here. If you don’t know the rules, you’ll likely get yourself into trouble. How often should you send promotional messages on Messenger? When to run true Messenger Ads vs. when you can run other ad types on Facebook but tie in Messenger in a stealthy way (this will save you some money on ads). How Steve is using Messenger bots to cut down on customer service calls by 70%. How Steve sees using chatbots in the future. Steve’s favorite tools for chatbots.   Plus more!

My guest on this show is a legend in the eCommerce space.  He’s the founder of the Shopify Agency, Ethercycle. He’s the host of the wildly popular Unofficial Shopify Podcast.  And, he’s just an overall really smart dude. When most ecommerce companies consider conversion rate optimization they usually immediately think of split testing, multivariate testing, cart optimization, etc.  BUT, most merchants fail to ask a very important question - “where should I start with my conversion optimization efforts?” And, according to our guest today, the answer to that question is rarely - if ever - split testing. I knew the general direction of this interview before we started to record, but I didn’t know specifics.  I was blown away by the simplicity, but also the power of Kurt’s suggestions. EVERY store owner would benefit from going through the exercises discussed in this episode.  Here’s a quick glimpse at what we covered: The power of surveys for your best customers and how a recent survey totally transformed a brick oven seller. How to ask questions of your best customers including Kurt’s 3 favorite questions to ask. What information to glean from people who visit your site and don’t convert. How to harness the power of heat maps and scroll maps. The little known “coffee shop gift card” test for watching how users interact with your site.   Some of Kurt’s favorite tools for testing Tips for split testing if you chose to go that route.   Plus much more

Video ads on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram continue to rank among the best performing ads right now for ecommerce companies.  The difference between a great video and an OK video is HUGE. To really scale on any of those platforms though, you have to know how to craft a video that converts.    Enter Andrew Eckblad. Andrew Eckblad was killing it with online video before it was the cool thing to do.   Andrew has spent the last 10 years serving as Frank Kern’s video guy. He’s also the Manager of Video Marketing and Production for Kartra.  And he’s the founder of ConvertViews.com a collective of direct response video editors. His videos have directly grossed over $100 million in product sales. Here’s a glimpse of what Andrew and I cover in this interview: Andrew’s simple but profound 2 keys to a video that sells Nuances to consider for videos that work on Facebook vs. Videos that work on YouTube How to apply the “do I care” test to your videos. The importance of pacing, transitions, and on-screen text Using the principles of a good headline to craft the perfect video opener How to use pattern interrupts How Andrew got the job working for Frank Kern The difference between videos for gurus vs. videos that sell ecommerce products. How to get people to take action Plus much more!   This is one of my favorite interviews of late.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did….then go out and create some killer videos!   Brett

There probably isn’t a more consistent rule in business or in life like the 80/20 rule.  Usually, 80% or more of your results and success come from just 20% of your efforts. I’m all about finding the 20% of activities, changes, etc. to focus on to deliver the biggest impact.   In this episode, I bring back my business partner Chris Brewer to outline the 7 key areas you should focus on to grow your business both on Google and on Amazon this year.   These are 7 factors that should provide a big return for you. We’ll cover a variety of topics including: How and why you should invest in YouTube ads What to expect and what to consider with Google’s automation and smart bidding options How the SEO practices that everyone has forgotten may be a secret weapon for you. How Amazon is pouring more money and time into their ad platforms and what that means for growing your business.   Plus more!

Ross Beyeler knows a thing or two about ecommerce sites that convert.  He’s built a few sites that I really love. Charley Hustle (mostly because I’m a huge Chiefs Fan and KU Jayhawks fan), Bottle Keeper,  Johnny Cupcakes, Assoline and more.       We get into several key design, UX and conversion rate optimization topics and examples including:   Home page optimization and how the approach shifts if you have a large vs. small SKU count Storytelling in ecommerce and why successful ecommerce brands are great storytellers Product Detail Page (PDP) “must haves” for a better experience and better conversions Creating better collection and improved navigation 4 conversion killers to avoid like the plague Site search and recommendations for doing this better especially for larger SKU counts How to mine site search data for improvements Plus more!

Tom Wang is a true Amazon success story. He builds a very successful brand on Amazon after a pretty big crash and burn experience. Literally a “burn” experience as his first venture was in hoverboards.   In this episode we breakdown Tom’s success and talk about what is relevant for growth on Amazon in 2019.  We tackle Tom’s advice for some pretty critical Amazon tasks.   How to get reviews now and not violate Amazon’s terms of service. How to diversify traffic and boost organic rankings Product line extension and how to launch your next product on Amazon How to successfully use Amazon Giveaways and lightning deals Plus more!   Don’t miss it!  

Matt Ward built an Amazon business from nothing with a goal of selling it for $1million in 12 months.  His goal once the sale was final was to work on stuff that mattered more to him….He reached his goal of selling his company and now he’s running a podcast and writing books on some pretty interesting topics.  He’s had the privilege of interviewing some pretty stellar people including one of my marketing heroes - Seth Godin.   Matt is a fascinating person and extremely bright.     In this episode we get into some pretty interesting territory, including: How Matt scaled so quickly, What AMZ sellers should consider now and what the future holds What’s next for Amazon What’s Amazon’s goal with Echo devices and owned brands (like Amazon Basics) and who will continue to win as Amazon’s domination grows.   Voice Search and Smart home - and what it means for Amazon and Google and YOU. Facebook Portal and our predictions on it. Why 10x results doesn’t require 10x effort Plus, more...

The Cyber Five (Thanksgiving - Cyber Monday) this year broke all kinds of records and was an interesting departure from years past in several ways.  In this episode I welcome back to the podcast my business partner, Chris Brewer. We look at this holiday shopping season from a few different perspectives.  We talk in general terms about how our clients who are mostly in the $5 to $50 Million per year in sales did during the Cyber 5 and after. We also looked at trends and data from the largest ecomm companies.   By the numbers….a Look at the Industry as a Whole.   Here are just a few of the highlights we look at in this episode. Thanksgiving weekend was up 23% - total spend was $24.2 billion.  Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday. Mobile spend was $10 billion of that (approaching half) and that’s up 44% from last year.  So doubling the growth rate of the holiday trend as a whole. Main Drivers of online sales Email at 26% - up 2% YoY Paid Search at 22% - up 6% YoY Social - minimal impact 1.3% of sales….(remember this stat is from the big guys, not mid-sized companies). Surprises from our clients: Black Friday was our clients biggest day by a long shot with Cyber Monday finishing 2nd. Social continues to be a big investment for our clients but getting the same results as last year has been difficult mainly due to rising ad costs. YouTube big as well - one of the top 3 channels for several of our clients. Winning Formula: We talk about what our most successful clients did well so you can properly plan for next year.  We look at several winning tactics including: Email - build, cultivate and prime your email list for Cyber 5.  Multiple email reminders - often 3 per day. Start early - Wednesday even.  We found our most successful clients started sales or at least started promoting sales early. Consumers have finite dollars to spend, get their attention early and you’ll have a better chance to grab your share of wallet. Build your retargeting audiences early - our clients who had the most success had large lists of people who’ve visited their site in the past or viewed a YouTube video who we could then retarget.  

If you’re like me then you’re not overly familiar with affiliate marketing.  It is a bit of a mystery for a lot of us marketers and ecomm entrepreneurs.   However it does have some huge positives: Scalable: Once you attract the right affiliates and have the right offer, you can go from 0 to thousands of orders in no time.   Predictable - As you know, I’m a PPC guy.  I’ll always love PPC, but there are variables there.  With Affiliate marketing you pay the same cost per acquisition every time giving you some predictability.     My guest on this episode is Nate Lind.  Nate is an eCommerce entrepreneur, a marketer and the founder of the Online Seller’s Summit.  He’s also a guy who knows a thing or two about affiliate marketing. Nate’s best single day using affiliate marketing was $4.6 million in sales.  He now has a student doing up to $1million in sales per day from affiliate marketing. Not only has Nate built multiple businesses off the profits from affiliate marketing, he also built a tool to better manage affiliate marketing called Offer Profit.  This tool was so successful - he sold to Limelight.   On the podcast we discuss what it takes to succeed with affiliate marketing: Keys to a good offer Making the math work - how to structure your affiliate offers to both motivate affiliates and maximize your growth. Customer lifetime value and Nate’s favorite marketing mantra The best businesses for affiliate marketing How Nate lives a 4 hour workweek Why getting punched in the mouth is OK Plus more!