The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Today’s guest is George Lawrence, the founder of MerchantWords. I’ve been wanting to get him on the podcast for ages. Finally, we’ve had the chance to record this episode.  Before getting into the meat and bones of what his awesome tool does, a bit of storytime. George is known in and around the industry as one of the good guys. Not just for his generosity in sharing what he knows but also for his resilience in the face of setbacks. Last year, his house burned down in one of the fires that ravaged parts of Southern California. Fortunately, personal and business experience instilled a sense of preparedness in him. With things up on the cloud and having a distributed workforce, he was able to forge on with his company. Now on to MerchantWords. If you ever wanted to get in-depth insights on what people are searching for in your niche, it’s definitely a must-try. Here’s George giving the 411 on this awesome tool. how  Merchant Words started (9:50) what MerchantWords does (16:40)  how it's beneficial to sellers  (18:25) some real-world examples (23:15) Sign up for MerchantWords using our link and get $21 off on a monthly plan.  Speaking of great tools, we recently did a series of webinars with Helium 10, which we turned into a mini-course. Even if you don’t use Helium 10, I think you’ll find the information there that's really interesting. Head over to ecomcrew.com/helium to watch the entire series. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Just as the title says, this episode is all about helping you get a better sense of how the due diligence process works by talking about a bit about how it was done for a brand we sold - ColorIt.com. I’m joined by Chris Yates and Brian Diener, from Centurica, a company that helps online business buyers conduct due diligence on prospective acquisitions. They not only handled the due diligence on ColorIt but also served as a go-between for myself and the new owners to ensure that this part of the buying process went as smoothly as possible. Chris provides a bit more detail about the Centurica through the following: What the company does (4:22) The process of doing due diligence (5:35) Potential costs for the service (7:14) Brian, who did the actual due diligence on ColorIt, talks about how it was done. Verification process (13:17) Accuracy of splitting up fees (15:02) Checking supplier relationships (16:47) How P&Ls are reviewed (19:45) What goes into a client report (21:09) The results and how we reacted (27:47) Learn more about Centrica's services from the website or book a free phone consultation.  Get the full picture of what went down with the ColorIt sale when you listen to these episodes. E246: Why I Sold ColorIt.com E247: Preparing for the ColorIt Sale with Joe Valley – Part 1 E248: Preparing for the ColorIt Sale with Joe Valley – Part 2 E249: How Our Filipino Team Reacted to the ColorIt Sale Get info about the Rhodium Weekend event in October. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

It’s been a hot minute since I did one of these Under the Hood episodes. Today, I bring you one that could be both interesting and potentially helpful for those selling products in narrow niches. It can be difficult to be number one in a highly saturated and competitive niche. That’s not usually a problem for folks with businesses in very specific and product-focused niches.   Nevertheless, being involved in an ultra-niche business has its own share of challenges. Today, I’m talking to Mark who helps run a dancewear company in an ultra-niche market.  Originally started by his grandma 40 years ago, he was instrumental in its shift from selling wholesale to retail in 2017. Here’s a look at where the business is at right now. How Mark got involved in ecommerce (2:43) How they stared in the online space (4:05) What the revenue’s like (5:19) Mike puts in a couple of suggestions for growing the business.  Do SEO (7:11) Look at selling on Amazon (9:26) Put out good quality content (12:15) Start using Facebook Messenger (19:12) Free plus shipping offer (20:46) Create a giveaway (24:57) Add lifestyle photos (29:57) Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It’s a win-win! Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations from the show’s first season. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form.

Ecommerce conferences are really a great way to meet people. Sometimes these new acquaintances spark great partnerships as well. I met John Li at lunch during this year’s Sellers Summit event in Miami. I got to learn more about PickFu, the polling platform he co-founded.  A few weeks after we met, he sent me an email with a poll he created on the old homepage of one of our brands, Wild Baby. The results were so interesting that I had to get him on the podcast. At the beginning of this interview, he talks in detail about the following: How PickFu started (3:53) Use cases for the tool (6:00) That initial poll was great data to have at the time because we were in the process of changing the Wild Baby homepage. So, each of those 50 comments we got was helpful. When the new homepage was ready, we ran a series of other polls that revolved around the redesigned homepage. Find the timestamps for those below. That first poll John did on our old Wild Baby homepage (7:47) Poll on the redesigned homepage (10:46)  Splitly test (13:22) We also ran a PickFu poll to assess the effectiveness of our sign up page for EcomCrew Premium. Listen to the results at the 25:06 mark. More recently, we ran a poll against a competitor for one of our products. I'm happy to note that 29 out of the 50 people polled opted to buy our product instead of the competitor. Take a look at the results here. I hope you find all of these poll results interesting and useful. If you want to get feedback on your own website images or Amazon listings, you can use our affiliate link at pickfu.com/ecomcrew and get 50% off on your first poll. For questions, you can shoot John an email at john@pickfu.com. Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations from the show’s first season. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form.  

How time flies. We’re right past the middle of the year. Soon it’ll be the holidays, a busy time for any ecommerce seller. People in ecommerce may have similar experiences, but stumble into the industry in a lot of interesting ways.  Daniel Buelhoff’s story is pretty out there. A short time after graduating from college, he and his partners were able to raise €12 million to fund Smeet, a social gaming company. When that venture went south, he pivoted to ecommerce with an expiring Nespresso patent. Now, he sells physical products online through Gourmesso and is expecting 8-figure revenues.  In this podcast you’ll learn: How Daniel got his start in business (4:17) How he and his partners raised €12 million in venture capital to start the gaming company Smeet (6:14) How the changes in Facebook had an adverse effect on Smeet (9:54) Transitioning to ecommerce with an expiring Nespresso patent  (13:55) Achieving success with Gourmesso in such a crowded niche (22:23) Expanding to the other niches and acquiring more businesses (29:25) Some things that helped him grow his coffee business (34:53) Listen as Daniel shares inspiring insights on finding a niche, maintaining it, and growing it to the n'th level. 

It’s almost the end of July and we’re down to the last episode of Women’s Month. I’ve had a great time chatting and learning from all these incredible women. Today’s guest is a returnee to the EcomCrew Podcast. Dana Jaunzemis is the founder of HomeHealthtesting.com. She has a solid accounting background. She and I have been friends for years and was in one of my earliest podcast episodes where we talked about ecommerce growth and profitability. In this episode, she and I discuss the importance of ecommerce accounting and how to make more money out of existing sales. Dana shares her thoughts on the following: Percentage of women involved in ecommerce (3:29) The importance of liking and respecting your customer base (10:19) The joys of being an ecommerce entrepreneur (12:01) Approaching ecommerce accounting at the micro-level; essential data points (22:35) Aside from her core business, Dana also blogs about her experiences as an entrepreneur on 44ideas.net. TOOLS MENTIONED: Sellics HelloProfit This episode is part of our Women’s Month celebration. We’d love to see more women in the ecommerce industry, so if you are a female business owner, head over to www.ecomcrew.com/underthehood and tell us your story. We’d love to feature you on the podcast.

Today’s guest is Aneta Winiarski, she operates from Toronto, Canada. Aneta owns and runs a kitchenware brand called Stylized Settings, which is sold exclusively on Amazon.  A growing business like hers can eat up a lot of time. As a mom to two boys, she’s looking at ways to have more control over that growth by diversifying away from Amazon. Give this episode a listen and you’ll learn: On the lack of women in the industry (2:13) How she got her start in ecommerce (5:06) How she started her kitchenware brand (6:51) Last year’s revenues and how’s 2019 going (8:43) The challenges she’s facing with the business (9:39) Diversifying from the Amazon-only world (10:10)  I also answered Aneta’s questions (17:08) on a bunch of topics including hiring more people and managing inventory. Here are the timestamps to that for easy reference. When Aneta should diversify away from Amazon (19:07) Outsourcing routine tasks in the business (22:04) Content creation - where to focus limited time and resources (31:34) Diversifying into Amazon Canada (39:30) Inventory management (46:00) This episode is part of our Women’s Month celebration. We’d love to see more women in the ecommerce industry, so if you are a female business owner, head over to www.ecomcrew.com/underthehood and tell us your story. We’d love to feature you on the podcast.

On today’s show, I talk to one-half of a husband and wife team who has managed to build a successful online business off of Amazon. What’s more amazing is their carving a spot for their brand in a highly competitive niche. Meredith Erin and her husband Matt are the two creatives behind Boredwalk, an online shop that sells a variety of wearable art.  Meredith and I talk about a variety of topics - from their creative inspirations to being partners in and outside of the business.  In this episode you’ll learn: Meredith on how the lack of females in STEM professions has led to fewer women building businesses online (3:45) How a hobby turned into a full-fledged ecommerce business (8:51) What their creative process is like (11:36) How she and her husband were able to carve out a spot for their products in a crowded niche (14:26) On the importance of “leading with content” and creating great emails (17:59) How she and Matt manage being a couple as well as business partners (22:58) How they grew Boredwalk and continue to make it profitable (26:07) Why they no longer sell on Amazon (43:03) This episode is part of our Women’s Month celebration. We’d love to see more women in the ecommerce industry, so if you are a female business owner, head over to www.ecomcrew.com/underthehood and tell us your story. We’d love to feature you on the podcast. 

Today’s guest is Jamie Futscher, the awesome person behind SpiritedGifts.com. Jamie’s also a part of my main mastermind group and someone I consider to be a really good friend.  You’ll hear her say that I know more about her business than most people. And as someone privileged enough to have had that insight on what she does, I can say that she’s truly an inspiring person.  Jamie has bulldozed down tough challenges to be able to grow her business to where it is today. She shares insights on her journey as a female entrepreneur. In this episode, you’ll learn: Jamie’s take on female priorities and how that plays into ecommerce (5:03) How the ‘4-Hour Work Week’ got her started as an entrepreneur (8:01) How she got to engraving her products (11:36) How she’s dealt with struggles related to scaling her business (16:19) How she’s hired a new manager (18:13) What the holidays are like for her and her company (23:59) EPISODES ON TRACTION: E138: Traction Part 1 – Company Core Values E140: Traction Part 2 – Company Core Focus and 10 Year Goal E143: Traction Part 3 – Marketing Strategy and 3-Year Plan E149: Traction Part 4 – One Year Plan and Quarterly Rocks I hope you enjoyed the fifth installment of this podcast for our Women’s Month celebration. We’d love to see more women in the ecommerce industry, so if you are a female business owner, head over to www.ecomcrew.com/underthehood and tell us your story. We’d love to feature you on the podcast. Want to get on the podcast and talk about your business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today!  If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Greetings from Jackson, Wyoming! I’m out on the road doing some roadshow stuff for EcomCrew but will be making a side trip to Montana to visit my good friend Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel. Spoiler alert! If you haven’t seen the 5 Minute Pitch, I’d tell you to stop reading and head over to watch a couple of episodes, especially the finale, on the official YouTube channel. There you’ll see Kim Meckwood, owner and inventor of Click and Carry,  in action.  Kim is the season 1 winner of 5 Minute Pitch. Along with the $50K prize money, all of the judges will be giving her a week-long mentorship session at the end of July. I caught up with her after she won and we had a very insightful discussion, particularly on overcoming and learning from past business struggles. In this episode, you’ll learn: Kim’s experience as a woman entrepreneur How she got her start in business  How she and her business has been since winning the 5 Minute Pitch Her early struggles (using her 401K to pay for a surge of orders from QVC contract) This episode is part of our Women’s Month celebration. We’d love to see more women in the ecommerce industry, so if you are a female business owner, head over to www.ecomcrew.com/underthehood and tell us your story. We’d love to feature you on the podcast. Watch Kim’s winning pitch on Season 1 of the 5 Minute Pitch. Or subscribe to the podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations while in the car or at the gym. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!