The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Mike catches up with PostPilot’s Drew Sanocki to talk about spotting opportunities in business, the bullishness of SaaS, and the efficacy of real mail in today’s environment.   Ever since I attended eCommerceFuel Live five or six years ago, I’ve always admired Drew Sanocki for his knowledge and experience in the business.   Drew is the founder and executive chairman of PostPilot, a service that aims to help businesses grow through direct mail by creating personalized postcard campaigns.   In this episode, Drew and I discuss some of the milestones in our ecommerce journey, the gold mine that is SaaS, and how direct mail is the way to go these days.   Audio Timestamps:  Intro - 0:00  Mike and Dave’s New Business - 1:08  How Mike met Drew - 4:05  Mike’s approach to buying an ecommerce business - 6:08 Drew’s thoughts on the current business landscape - 12:40  Seeing an opportunity and grabbing it - 15:41 Advantages of venturing into SaaS - 19:24  Growing a SaaS company - 24:12 Advantages of email - 32:06  PostPilot’s Godfather Offer - 37:02   Drew, thank you for joining me again on the podcast. I look forward to seeing you in person soon. If you guys need help with marketing for your business, Drew has got an awesome treat for you: click here for PostPilot’s Godfather offer.   As always, leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!

With our businesses fortunately well and stable, we thought it was high time we worked on a new project – this time, as business partners!   Dave and I have always talked about working on a business together, but we never really came up with anything concrete.   That is until we stumbled upon this hidden gem of sorts: Knitting.com. Although we absolutely have zero expertise on the subject matter, we saw potential in it and the audience it has.   We weren’t on the same page initially, but after a trip to Palm Springs (and a shot or two), we eventually agreed that this was a good move and a worthy investment.   We’re starting – or should I say ‘stitching’ – a new chapter in our careers and we couldn’t be more excited. We hope you’ll join us along for the ride.   Video Timestamps:  Why we decided to buy a business together - 3:10 Buying versus building a business - 4:40 Serendipitous moments in our e-commerce journey - 8:30 Why hobbies are worth pursuing in e-commerce - 11:47 The big announcement - 16:17 Challenges of seasonal businesses - 20:36 Getting the right domain name - 23:00 First hire for the new brand - 29:05 Our vision for this business venture - 32:15   New year, new business venture. We hope you’re just as pumped as we are about this exciting project of ours. We can’t wait to officially launch the site and products later this year. For now, check out Dave's blog post on how we ended up choosing this domain name. Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this week’s episode. Also, make sure to tune in to the podcast as we’ll be revealing more details about our new business in the coming months.   Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!

As the pandemic continues to drag on, running a successful ecommerce business is not without its challenges. 2021 may not have been the COVID-free year Dave and I wanted for our businesses, but that’s not to say it was all bad.   It wasn’t an easy year, but looking back, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate too, which we will talk about in this episode – and we may or may not discuss a little bit about our new but still secret new business.    Timestamps:  Was 2021 a good year? - 1:47 The year in numbers, starting with IceWraps - 5:24 Offroading - 8:45 Mike’s forecast for IceWraps - 12:36 How freight rates could affect business - 13:52 Wild Baby - 18:26 TAC9ER - 23:40 Mystery brand (to be announced) - 31:00 Mike’s wins and losses - 37:52 Dave’s wins and losses - 43:20   2021 was quite the year, huh? There were some moments of adversity there, but we persevered. Now that we’ve begun a new year, we’re looking forward to better days for business and an auspicious launch of our new brand, which will come very soon.   That’s a wrap for this week’s podcast. You guys know the drill: leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Make sure to tune in to next week’s episode as it will be quite a special one. Happy selling!

WallCharmers co-owner Viktor Morosov talks about how his company has grown and evolved since quitting his office job, and the struggles he encountered during the pandemic.   Juggling a nine-to-five job and an e-commerce start-up is no easy feat and is certainly an exhausting set-up to maintain.    So when Wall Charmers’ numbers hit an all-time high in April 2021, Viktor and his business partner Lance took a leap of faith, resigned from their main jobs and decided to run their e-commerce baby full time.   Growing their company during the Covid crisis–what with all the delays and restrictions–proved to be a challenge. But Viktor took everything in stride, gaining invaluable lessons and experiences along the way.   Timestamps:  Mike and Viktor’s first meeting during the EcomCrew roadshow in 2019 - 0:33 How Wall Charmers has evolved since then - 2:57 Maintaining a warehouse versus tapping 3PL - 6:00 Decision fatigue and the importance of the ‘less is more’ approach - 8:45 Challenges in logistics and inventory during Covid era - 11:45 Viktor quitting his job to focus on Wall Charmers - 17:05 Taking the time to pause and be grateful for the big and small wins - 26:00 Running an e-commerce business while traveling around the world - 30:00 Valuable lessons Viktor learned over the years - 42:55   And just like that, we’ve come to the end of episode 431 of the podcast. Viktor, thank you so much for always accepting our invitation to be on the show. It’s always a fun conversation with you.   As always, feel free to leave us a review over on iTunes if you had fun tuning in to this week’s episode. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!

Elements Brands CEO Bill D’Alessandro returns to chat with Mike about his recent (and unfortunate) experience with an Amazon aggregator who bought his business.   For many entrepreneurs, selling a business can be an even bigger achievement than starting one. While some luck out with finding honest-to-goodness buyers of their business, others get caught up in less favorable situations.   Bill D’Alessandro, founder and CEO of Elements Brands, is no amateur when it comes to selling businesses with 10 years of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions. But even a man of experience like him isn’t exempt from the occasional rotten buyer.   In this episode, Bill shares in painstaking detail the dodgy deal he had to face with an Amazon aggregator who bought the business he was divesting. From how the deal started and ended to valuable takeaways of the event, Bill’s story is certainly one you want to listen to.   Timestamps:  How the deal with the shady Amazon aggregator started - 4:18 The first red flag - 7:32 Tips on how to protect yourself as a seller during a negotiation - 13:56 Continuation of Bill’s story - 22:30 Recap and some tips from Mike and Bill on how to navigate a fishy deal - 41:12   That’s it for this week’s EcomCrew Podcast. As always, it’s a pleasure to have Bill on the show. It’s not exactly the most inspiring story to tell, but it’s an equally important one nonetheless.   If you enjoyed this week’s episode, feel free to leave us a review over on iTunes. Happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!

Mike and Lazada founder Pierre Poignant talk about the differences in ecommerce philosophies between the East and the West.   Born out of the digital revolution, Lazada is one of the largest ecommerce platforms in Southeast Asia.   In this episode, I sit down with Lazada Co-Founder and former CEO, Pierre Poignant, to talk about how he saw a massive opportunity for digital retail in Southeast Asia, how Lazada operates smoothly across international borders, and how they scaled the company after being acquired by Alibaba.    Pierre also shares some valuable insights on the ecommerce principles in the East that could work for many sellers in the West, as well as how he’s helping sellers grow their brands through his new company.   Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 How Pierre got started with building Lazada - 2:43 How Lazada was founded - 5:41 How Lazada manages logistics all over Southeast Asia - 9:59 Being acquired by Alibaba - 12:56 Leaving Lazada and starting a new venture - 15:29 Ecommerce philosophies in the east that could work in the west - 17:09 Branded’s business model and core philosophy - 18:37 The next ecommerce revolution - 22:03   I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Pierre as much as I have, and I definitely can’t wait to have him back a couple of years from now to see how far Branded has come along. If you want to learn more about their services, head over to their website, joinbranded.com or connect with Pierre on LinkedIn.   Don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content, and as always, happy selling and we’ll see you in the next one!

Mike and Dave discuss the most popular ecommerce tools out there, giving their two cents on which seller software are better than others.   Last month, we ran our yearly community poll to find out which among the myriad of seller software our EcomCrew community predominantly uses.   The poll was aimed at determining the most popular Amazon software in 5 categories: Product Launches and Giveaways Keyword and Product Research PPC Management Reimbursement Management, and Pricing Management   THE RESULTS ARE IN! We’ll be discussing the winning software for each of the categories and why they edged out the competition. We’ll also be sharing some insights compared to last year's numbers, on why and how you should be using these tools to grow your ecommerce business—and why you’re leaving a lot of money on the table if you don’t!   Timestamps Introduction - 0:00 Holiday catch-up with Dave - 0:25 The Typhoon in the Philippines delaying our podcasts - 1:32  Overview of our Best Amazon Software of 2021 poll - 4:23 The most used tool for Product Launches and Giveaways - 4:58 The most popular Keyword and Product Research Tool - 8:09 The best software for PPC Management - 13:03 The best Reimbursement Management Tool - 19:24 The most popular Repricing Tool - 24:45 The lucky winner announcement - 30:54 Mike and Dave's all-time favorite software - 32:36 We’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to cast their votes, and congratulations to the lucky winner of a full year of EcomCrew Premium membership!  If you like this episode, don’t forget to help us out by leaving us a review over on iTunes so we can help more e-commerce sellers with our content.    ’Til the next one, happy selling!

Mike and Dave look back at 2021 and reveal the year’s Top 10 EcomCrew Podcast episodes.   Throughout 2021, we’ve had some great conversations with a lot of interesting people about all things ecommerce—from tips and strategies to taking your business to new heights, to peeling the curtain back on aggregators, to analyzing the latest market trends and Amazon policy drops.    Would you believe that our first episode of the Ecomcrew Podcast was released on October 20, 2015?    In this episode, Dave and I will unveil the Top 10 EcomCrew Podcast episodes of 2021. We’ll take a deep dive into what makes these episodes great and why you should definitely go back and give them a listen if you haven’t already.   Audio Timestamps:   Looking back at how the podcast did in 2021 - 5:10  Best Episodes from 10th to 6th place - 11:34 5th Place - 15:19 4th Place - 18:47 3rd Place - 20:46  2nd Place - 30:25 1st Place - 35:56   Did your favorite episode make the list?    Thank you to everyone who tuned in to the podcast last year. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you! We promise more awesome content for you in 2022.    Happy holidays and, as always, we’ll talk to you soon!

Mike and Greg have a fireside chat about how they are applying the 4-burner theory as ecommerce sellers to not lose sight of other meaningful things in life.   Being an ecommerce entrepreneur means wearing many hats and oftentimes being so busy that you tend to lose track of other meaningful things in life.    Today, Greg Howlett and I will be talking about the 4-burner theory and how we are applying it to balance our priorities in business and in life. This theory helped me out a lot in my journey towards a balanced entrepreneurship, and I’ve talked about it in greater detail back in Episode 290.   Greg is a friend I met through Ecommerce Fuel, a community of 6 to 7 figure ecommerce store owners dedicated to helping people build and grow Amazon and other ecommerce businesses.    Today, Greg and I will have a fireside chat about how we balance work, family, friends, and personal health using the 4-burner theory, which can be a struggle for most ecommerce sellers.    Timestamps: Introduction - 1:18 Greg’s current Amazon business - 2:50 Balancing life when the work burner is cranked up - 6:30 Managing family matters as an ecommerce seller - 21:16   I wanna thank Greg for a very insightful conversation, and I can’t wait to hear a lot more from him down the road.    By the way, in case you missed it, our traditional software poll is currently accepting entries! This yearly survey helps us discover trends in the industry and which software and tools sellers are really finding useful in running their ecommerce business.    This year, one lucky person will win a full year’s worth of EcomCrew Premium membership absolutely free! Just head over to ecomcrew.com/softwarepoll to participate.    Until the next one, happy selling and we’ll talk to you soon!

Amazon sellers use various software as tools to help grow their businesses and make processes smoother. If you’ve ever wondered which ones are used by most sellers, you’re not alone.   To settle this matter, we’ve decided to bring back last year's survey that will give us a list of the most popular Amazon seller software. We’ve created a total of four categories, which we discuss in detail in this episode.   The good news is that you can take part in this survey, and after answering just 5 questions, you can get a chance to win a full year of EcomCrew Premium subscription!   Just head on over to ecomcrew.com/softwarepoll, and don’t miss your chance to enjoy EcomCrew Premium for free!   For more details about the survey and the software tools we feature, head on over to the EcomCrew blog page and read Dave's article.   If you like this episode, please don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes. It helps our channel a lot and also allows us to reach more e-commerce sellers who can benefit from our content.   Until the next one, happy selling!