Product discovery on Amazon is almost exclusively driven by search.  So if you want to drive more sales on Amazon you have to get better at search - both the organic side (SEO) and the paid ad side.  In this week’s episode, I interview a man who knows Amazon search inside and out - George Lawrence.     He started Merchant Words in 2013 and has grown it into one of the most popular Amazon research tools on the market.  In my chat with George, we dive into all things Amazon search including…   - Common Amazon SEO mistakes to avoid - Finding hidden sales opportunities through keyword research (brace yourself we use a pretty off the wall and potentially controversial example).   - How Amazon search has changed in recent years and what that means to you. - When analyzing search data, what metrics matter and what metrics don’t - Preparing for more product searches on Alexa and “Amazon Choice” - Current trends on Walmart & Jet.com    Plus more!  Check it out.

Facebook ads are one of the hottest paid channels for online merchants right now.  FB ads played a huge part in Ezra Firestone's growth from under $10million in revenue to over $22.5 million in a single year.     Part of achieving success on Facebook is keeping up to date on what's working now.….And it's a moving target.    Ezra spends upwards of $15,000 per day on Facebook Ads and he's tracking his performance carefully.     Here's a glimpse of what we cover on the show: - How Ezra is currently building his Facebook Sales Funnels - The 4 types of ads you should be testing - Why you should consider video ads for FB - Landing page tips for converting more FB ad traffic - New audience targeting techniques that are different than what Ezra was teaching & testing just a few months ago. - Bonus!  We get a little bit "deep" at the beginning and end of this episode.  We talk about being a mission-driven business and sticking to your values even as you experience rapid growth and have opportunities coming at you from every angle.  Learn from Ezra's wisdom and his story here…   Plus, more!

Bart Mroz has his finger on the pulse of the eCommerce industry.  He's the co-host of the Register Podcast and writes for Entrepreneur, Retail Dive, Social Media Today and more.     This episode is all about emerging trends, what's next, and how we should approach (our least favorite term) omnichannel.     Bart moved to the US as a boy who spoke no English.  We talk some about being an immigrant entrepreneur and then dive into some pretty compelling questions such as:   - What technologies will disrupt eCommerce in the next 1-5 years? - What are the most common problems you're solving for larger eCommerce clients right now?  How do you think those will differ in 2-5 years? - What platforms and payment systems are you most impressed with? - How is omnichannel changing and where is retail in general headed? - Are there any legitimate contenders for Amazon - who could give them a run for their money? - Plus more!   Bart is a fascinating guy, and I think you'll love the interview.  Enjoy!

What are you doing to delight your best shoppers?  How are you encouraging or incentivizing your best customers to come back and tell a friend?  How are you consistently growing repeat purchases?     If your answer is "I'm not sure," or "I could do more," or even "we're doing pretty good there," this episode is for you.     I've seen different studies, but I think it's safe to say that driving a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than keeping an existing one.     With that in mind, it makes sense to put plenty of effort and energy into keeping and delighting existing customers.  Also, the best new customers are often those who are referred by your existing customers.     Steve Deckert and his company Smile.io (formerly Sweet Tooth) are veterans in the rewards space for eCommerce.  Here's a quick look at what we cover on this episode: - How to build a powerful referral program - How to build a successful VIP program - Loyalty campaign mistakes to avoid - How InkBox saw an 80% lift in repeat purchases with these strategies - How to properly get the word out about your new program and ensure participation - Plus more!

If you're not continually tweaking and testing for better conversion rates, you're leaving money on the table.     Nick Disabato is a guy that I never heard of until all of a sudden I saw him everywhere.  From working on BOOM with Ezra Firestone to speaking at eCommerce events to being interviewed on multiple podcasts.  All of a sudden I couldn't escape this guy.  :)    Nick is incredibly bright and has a great process for finding and fixing conversion rate problems for eCommerce sites.   In this episode we cover:   - Top conversion tools - Where to begin with conversion rate optimization - Simple improvements Nick helped Ezra create for BOOM that created a big conversion lift - What big ecommerce stores fail at over and over again and how you can capitalize on it. - How to get real answers out of your customers and turn that into conversion gold - Top conversion resources - Plus more!

Without good copy, you're sunk….or at best fighting an uphill battle.     I love all the new tools for eCommerce that we have at our disposal.  From AI tools, to automation, to personalization, augmented reality etc.  But here's the deal.  None of that matters if you can't tell a good story or produce copy that compels people to buy.  Often, she who tells the best story wins…   I review dozens of eCommerce sites each week and it's very clear to me that good copywriting is a lost art.     My guest on this week's episode is Julie Boswell, co-founder of AskaCopyExpert.com.  Julie was the director of marketing for Bill Glazer and Dan Kennedy at GKIC for 4 years.  Her copy helped fill seats at the famous Super Conference and Info Summit back in their heyday.     In this session we dive into the power of strong copy to boost eCommerce sales.     Here's what we dive into:  - How to write emotional copy that elicits a response - Common copy mistakes to avoid - Copy tips for better product detail pages - Email copy tips - eCommerce companies to emulate who understand good copy - Plus more

My guest on the podcast today has a unique perspective on both Amazon and on building your ecommerce team.   Nathan Hirsch built a wildly successful drop shipping business on Amazon in 2009.  He's since scaled that to multi-million dollar per year business.  in 2015 he launched freeeup.com to help online merchants find vetted outsourcers with eCommerce experience.    In this episode we dig into some Amazon news and trends to pay attention to and we provide some specific insights for building your ecommerce team.   Here's a quick snapshot. - How Amazon has changed since 2009 - Biggest mistakes he sees merchants making on Amazon - What Amazon changes should resellers be preparing for - Top hiring mistakes - Killer interview questions - Processes for properly vetting and hiring eCommerce rock stars

Few entrepreneurs achieve what Russell Brunson has. From selling "how to make potato gun" information in his college dorm to 40,000 paid monthly subscribers on Clickfunnels, his current SaaS platform, Russell knows how to make stuff happen. That's why leaders like Tony Robbins and The Profit's Marcus Lemonis speak at Russell's events and even go to him for marketing advice. In today's episode we cover: - What a successful ecomm funnels look like - Top ecommerce funnel mistakes - Why building a movement and building a brand should go together - How expert status can help combat the "race to the bottom" - Russell's incredible story of selling how to make potato gun information online in college to huge SaaS Business and events with Tony Robbins, Marcus Lemonis, etc. - Traffic sources Russell is most excited about  

There is an art and a science to selling.  Boring doesn't sell.  Neither does average.  Ryan Stewman is neither.  He's a 4x best selling author and the host of the very successful Hardcore Closer podcast.   You don't have to necessarily match Ryan's style to appreciate and benefit from the principles he teaches.  We uncover some gold on this episode to help you craft better closing product pages, videos, online ads and social media posts.     Here's a quick rundown of what we cover:   - 3 things you need to sell more today - The benefits of building a persona - Tips to sell more via video - How to craft emails that close deals and leave people wanting to see your next email - How to get into the sales state of mind - His recent weekend speaking to a group of MMA fighters - Plus more!   Warning - This episode does contain profanity.  Not necessarily excessive, but there is some.  Just a heads up.  The content is excellent.    Enjoy!

It's one thing to build a site, drive some traffic and close a few sales.  It's another thing entirely to build a lifestyle brand that resonates with your audience.   The story of Everyday California is a great one chock full of entrepreneurial insights.  My friend and long time client Chris Lynch and his business partner Michael Sammer started their business with just a couple of Kayaks and a beat up truck in La Jolla Shore near San Diego, CA. Fast forward 9 years and they have a super cool apparel line that's growing at 10x year-over-year online.  They have a license deal with Cherokee - the company that owns Tony Hawk's brand.  They're driving traffic through search and social and there's no slowing down in sight.     Here are some of the lessons we cover in this episode: - Keys to great design and building a brand that endures - Top traffic sources for their ecommerce store - Why they switched from Magento to Shopify Plus - A crazy Facebook/Instagram post that is raking in the sales - How to successfully diversify your business - When to pull the plug on a new initiative - Plus more!