The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda
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Jan 11, 2022 • 59min

Sprinkler Nerd Says, "Dropshipping's Not Dead"

In 2004, Andy Humphrey took the $108 he'd saved and turned it into $10,000 profit in 6 months selling Christmas lights on SuperTwinkle.com while working full-time as a distributor account manager.Fast forward >> today he sell millions online tactfully optimizing SprinklerSupplyStore.com and blazing trails with wholesale distributors.Along the way, you may have seen him on ABC's, Shark Tank (ECOMOWER, 2011), or working with irrigation technology, helping hundreds of contractors & distributors embrace the digital transformation and improve their business.With almost two decades of experience, Andy has a tremendous understanding of what it takes to succeed as an online entreprenuers.Show LinksTreeKeeperBag.comSprinkler Supply StoreInventory Integration App: DuoPlaneContent Site Example: Double Your WDWandyhumphrey.comSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Back up your store with RewindTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialPrivy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMSNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Jan 4, 2022 • 42min

How Braxley Bands sold 200K+  Watch straps

How a design student bootstrapped a watch strap business with $20 and a sock, cultivated a loyal repeat customer base, and ultimately sold over 200,000 watch bands starting from a dorm room in Texas. Our guest today is Braxton Manley, founder of Braxley Bands, a lifestyle brand combining style and function to make insanely comfortable Apple Watch bands. What he began working on for a random class project in 2016 has since gotten out of hand and on over 200k wrists.Show LinksBraxley Bands - Text KURT to 85709 for 20% off!PoolSuitePostscriptKlaviyoFuel MadeSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Dec 28, 2021 • 46min

Banned From Facebook, SEO Saves Store

Good SEO and content strategy can help ecommerce store owners be less reliant on paid traffic.Do you rely on paid ads to get traffic? What happens if you get banned from running ads or traffic dries up?That's exactly what happened to today's guest. Without Facebook and Google ads to generate traffic, he had to figure out an SEO strategy to replace the lost traffic to his eBike store. The solution? Study affiliate marketers and apply their strategies to ecommerce.Show Linksebikegeneration.comFour Hour Work WeekNiche Pursuits PodcastAnswer the PublicEcom SEO FormulaSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Dec 21, 2021 • 50min

How a Plush Toy Earns This Couple Six Figures

Jonathon and Maria Denholm have invented a new way for teachers to manage their classrooms with an adorable product they call Your Teacher's Pet Creature. In this episode, Jonathon shares their journey going from "having no clue what I was doing" to running a 6-figure Shopify store with a completely new product alongside his wife, all while juggling two kids and a full-time job.You'll hear the steps they took to go from idea to product to making a positive difference in education all while working towards financial independence.Show Linksyourteacherspetcreature.com - Use code TECHNASTY at checkout for 15% off sitewideUpworkKickstarterApp: Beprofit ‑ Profit AnalyticsApp: Candy Rack — One Click UpsellApp: Digital DownloadsSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Dec 14, 2021 • 35min

3PL ShipBob Sees Strong Black Friday Fulfillment

According to Shopify sales data, "merchants on Shopify generated peak sales of nearly $3.1 million per minute at 12:02 PM EST on Black Friday, and merchants crossed $1 billion in sales by 4:00am EST, four hours earlier than Black Friday in 2020."Now we have to get all that product delivered. In 2020, that was a problem. Is it an issue this year?CMO of ShipBob, Casey Armstrong, joins to tell us. The global 3PL ships millions of orders per month for over 7,000 brands across a network of 30 fulfillment centers worldwide. They track and publish carrier fulfillment data which they'll share with us in this episode.After a BFCM breakdown, we discuss common questions around outsourcing fulfillment, and the future of fulfillment.Show LinksShipBobShipBob Carrier DataBlack Friday, but make it epic: Shopify merchants break records with $2.9 billion in salesSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Dec 7, 2021 • 47min

How CROSSNET reinvented volleyball on Shopify

In today's show, CROSSNET co-founder & CMO Chris Meade tells us how he bootstrapped the world’s first four way volleyball game into a 8 figure business in 4 years.CROSSNET is sold in over 2,500+ retail stores, has been played in 10,000 schools, and has even aired on ESPN.In this episode, Chris is candid about his journey, and lays out the struggles and tactics that led to their success.Show Linkscrossnetgame.comSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Nov 30, 2021 • 59min

Conversion Copywriting

In our last chat with Rishi (AKA the Shopify product page guy), we talked about why product pages are important (https://unofficialshopifypodcast.com/episodes/rishi-rawat). It was one of our most popular 2021 episodes. So I invited Rishi back. This time we dug into how to rewrite the product description so it connects with the psychology of your shopper.Rishi has been experimenting with conversion ideas for the last 13 years. He’s discovered a 9 point conversion copywriting (https://www.frictionless-commerce.com/blog/conversion-copywriting-checklist/) framework.Frictionless Commerce (Rishi’s company) specializes in helping Shopify sites improve product page conversions by 20% in 90 days. They A/B test to prove their ideas make you more money.PS: they are probably the only digital marketing agency that I know of who takes inspiration from a 130-year-old Sears catalog (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DlxvIV2810lgDsw0CQLgxVyhVea6PMzE/view?usp=sharing).WANT MORE?Rishi also has a weekly buyer psychology newsletter: https://www.frictionless-commerce.com/JOINSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Nov 23, 2021 • 55min

How Inclusivity & Community Sells Apparel

Our guest is Adam Greenberg, one of the co-founders and CMO of ONE BONE, a size inclusive brand for the hard-to-fit man.He’s a morning show radio host on Virgin Radio in Montreal, Canada, and he used to tour as an MC (TB1) in an EDM DJ duo (1DAFUL). While he was on tour across North America, he had to custom make his own clothing because finding something that looked as good as it fit, was very hard to come by.Now, the group of partners at ONE BONE are attracting tons of people with a solution; fun, friendly and accessible marketing, and thousands of people who become loyal and passionate ambassadors.Show Linksonebonebrand.comKurt's Fave T-shirtThe "Michael" Waffle TeeSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Nov 16, 2021 • 54min

The Facebook ROAS Death Spiral

This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2O8th50rMbMIf you advertise on Facebook (or other ad platforms) you need to understand Media Efficiency Ratio (MER) vs. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and how to think about advertising incrementally.Why Facebook Ads reporting on ROAS is broken.If you’re pulling back on Facebook ads as a result, you're hurting your business.Switching to a different metric based on the two cold-hard facts of your business (money leaving your bank and money going into your bank) can get you back on track and scaling profitably again.Our guest today is William Harris, founder of Elumynt, a growth agency for Shopify stores. In the last 9 months, they've helped six clients get acquired, with the largest selling for a whopping $800M.Show LinksWilliam's Agency: ElumyntArticle: The Facebook ROAS Death Spiral: Fix it Now — or Lose Your Shopify StoreArticle: https://elumynt.com/facebook-ads-ios14-roas/Twitter: @wmharris101SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
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Nov 11, 2021 • 31min

Dynamic Commerce with Shopify's Hydrogen

Hear from Ilya Grigorik at Shopify about the latest with Hydrogen, Shopify’s new React-based custom storefronts framework.At Shopify Unite 2021 last summer, Tobi Lütke demo'd a new quick-start toolkit for store development called Hydrogen.It looked cool, seeing Tobi demo it made me want it, but truthfully I didn't understand it. Should I have FOMO? Because I think I do.We're going full tech nerd in this one, my friends. This episode is for the developers or those major retailers thinking about their store's infrastructure.Ilya Grigorik, Principal Engineer at Shopify, joins us to discuss this new tooling and give us some insight into Shopify's vision for the future of commerce.Show Linksshopify.dev/hydrogenYouTube: Hydrogen Coding Demo with Tobi Lütke | Shopify Unite 2021SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

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