Secrets To Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand

Send us a textPeople these days prefer to see real customers who use your product and see how they use these products in their everyday lives. It is a big help to establish a good relationship with your customers and give them the best experience possible with your brand.  In this episode, Corinne Crockett of Outer talks about an incredible and unique way that they set up 1000 physical retail locations without putting up much money which resulted in exponential success.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEOne of the biggest secrets to Outer's success has been its neighborhood showroom program.Brands can partner with outer and showcase their products in their neighborhood showroom.User-generated content (UGCs) are important for people these days. They don't want to hear from a salesperson who's paid a commission, they want to hear what people think from real people.Building a strong community of people who love your brand can be a huge help for your business.Business owners need to be agile and okay to leave behind the strategies and tactics that worked yesterday but don't work for them today. Recommended App:Impulsehttps://apps.apple.com/us/app/impulse-brain-training/id1451295827 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cyberry.impulse&gl=US Recommended Podcast:Acquiredhttps://www.acquired.fm/ Today’s Guest:Corinne Crockett is the SVP of Marketing at Outer.Outer is a sustainable outdoor furniture company.Connect and learn more about here: Website:  https://liveouter.com/ LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinnecrockett This month’s sponsor is 8fig, an eCommerce funding and planning platform that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to scale their store to new heights through continuous, equity-free capital and supply chain planning. Find out more about how 8fig is helping sellers grow through adaptable funding at 8fig.co.Promo Code: upGrowth (mention upGrowth during sign up for 5% off the cost of capital of an 8fig Growth Plan)

Send us a textAcquiring a business is better and easier than starting a new one. It’s also important to remember that when you acquire a business, it is better to not be in too much of a rush.In this episode, Jeremy Harbour, founder of Unity Group, talks all about why you should be looking at mergers, acquisitions, and roll-ups right now and why buying a business is better than starting a business.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEAn effective way of doing deals is through bond programs.When you are a public company, if you do something that materially affects the business, you have to have a way of notifying your stakeholders that a change has happened.Don't be in too much of a hurry to rinse out the synergies. Buying a business and pretty much leaving it alone for a little while is not a bad thing.There are ways to structure a deal with no leverage or a very small amount of leverage in them instead of just throwing tons of money into it such as the use of deferred payments and stocks or bondsA big mistake that people make is that they treat the acquisition as a procurement process. It is not a procurement process, it's a sales process.Joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, and exits add tons of shareholder value to your business and grow the value of the business.What holds a lot of entrepreneurs back is that they are in the weeds too much. Entrepreneurship is moving away from competition and towards collaborations. There's so much leverage in working with your competitors instead of against them.There are three levers that you could use to control your business -- sales, marketing, and your team.The secret to scaling is buying a company.Most startups do very well in the first three years in terms of growth, but then growth plateaus. Eventually, it gets harder and harder to move the dial as you get bigger.A lot of people do not realize how much time they can get back when you sell a company.Recommended Apps:Whatsapp  https://www.whatsapp.com Zoomhttps://www.zoom.us  Today’s Guest:Jeremy Harbour is an M&A expert and the founder of Unity GroupUnity Group actively invests in and purchases businesses in the $1-$15M turnover range, across just about any sector.Connect and learn more about Jeremy Harbour here: Website: https://www.jeremyharbour.com/ LinkedIn: https://sg.linkedin.com/in/jeremyharbour Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harbour.jeremy/ Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/jeremyjharbour This month’s sponsor is 8fig, an eCommerce funding, and planning platform that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to scale their store to new heights through continuous, equity-free capital and supply chain planning. Find out more about how 8fig is helping sellers grow through adaptable funding at 8fig.co.Promo Code: upGrowth (mention upGrowth during sign-up for 5% off the cost of capital of an 8fig Growth Plan)We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!

Send us a textOnce you find your gap in the market and start something that solves a problem, the next step is to learn, grow and adapt to changes that will inevitably occur through your business journey. In this episode, Jennifer Long from Shop Noble talks about her journey over the last eight years building Shop Noble. She shares how she started, the strategies that worked for her at the time, and what is working now in 2022, as well as what she thinks is going to work in 2023.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEInfluencer Marketing is still working in 2022. Shopify Collabs is an amazing new feature that Shopify rolled out.A big driver for growing a business is learning what things you are not great at and then delegating to people who are experts in those things.Focus on being profitable.Hire smart people to work with you and focus on what is moving the needle for your business. Try not to get distracted by shiny objects.Recommended Tools:Klaviyohttps://www.klaviyo.com Stamped.IOhttps://www.stamped.io  Recommended Audiobook:Profit First by Mike Machalowiczhttps://profitfirstbook.com/ Recommended Podcast:Second Life Podcasthttps://www.secondlifepod.com Today’s Guest:Jennifer Long is the founder of Shop Noble.Shop Noble is a lifestyle brand for women and kids focusing on clothing that is fashionable, functional, and sustainably made. Connect and learn more about Jennifer and Shop Noble here: Website:  https://:www.shopnoble.com Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/shopnoble This month’s sponsor is 8fig, an eCommerce funding, and planning platform that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to scale their store to new heights through continuous, equity-free capital and supply chain planning. Find out more about how 8fig is helping sellers grow through adaptable funding at 8fig.co.Promo Code: upGrowth (mention upGrowth during sign-up for 5% off the cost of capital of an 8fig Growth Plan)We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textNot knowing your numbers and focusing on the wrong metrics can make you lose sight of the big picture. If you are losing money or making a lot of it and you don’t understand your numbers, you won’t be able to scale.In this episode, Jordan West and Joe Putnam talk all about the kinds of numbers to monitor in your business and why your ROAS can be a horrible metric to focus on.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEIf you don't know your numbers, you won't be able to scale.Separate your variable cost and your fixed cost and keep an eye on them.Paying too much attention to return on ad spend can be a pitfall.ROAS doesn't tell you how much money you're making and your profit.Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) tells you more of the picture than just the ROAS itself.Brands that invest in their branding and storytelling are winning long-term.Jordan: Google is the unsexy place that will probably make you a lot of money.Put the time to know your numbers and wrestle with them until you understand them.The best decision any business owner can make to scale successfully is to find somebody who's already accomplished what they want to do and work with them. Recommended App:Notionhttps://www.notion.so/ Triple Whalehttps://www.triplewhale.com/ Recommended Book:Myth Revisitedhttps://books.google.com/books/about/The_E_Myth_Revisited.html?id=HHJVIpbpSgsC Buzzmarketing by Mark Hugheshttps://books.google.com/books/about/Buzzmarketing.html?id=0o1x0gumuBMC Today’s Guest:Joe Putnam is the founder of Conversion Engine.Conversion Engine helps eCommerce brands use highly effective paid ads and e-mail and SMS marketing to grow and make more.Connect and learn more about Joe and Conversion Engine here: Website:  https://theconversionengine.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-putnam-8935052 Twitter: https://twitter.com/JosephPutnam E-mail Address: joe@conversionengin.co This month’s sponsor is 8fig, an eCommerce funding, and planning platform that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to scale their store to new heights through continuous, equity-free capital and supply chain planning. Find out more about how 8fig is helping sellers grow through adaptable funding at 8fig.co.Promo Code: mention upGrowth during sign up for 5% off the cost of capital of an 8fig Growth Plan!We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textAfter auditing over 75 brands in the last year and onboarding more than 25 brands it was clear brands don't have a complete picture of their numbers as they invest into paid ads. Dashboards show great results, revenues are increasing, yet, you have less money in the bank. If this sounds familiar, you probably don’t know the numbers you need to know. In this episode, Jordan West talks about the six numbers you must know as a marketing leader, founder or CEO of your company to scale profitably!Listen and enjoy this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEThe 6 Numbers that Matters1. Burn Rate What is the minimum fixed operating expenses each month, regardless of your monthly sales volume? Do you know how fast you are going through your money.2.  Cost of Goods Sold What are the total variable costs for that product to be sales ready? Calculate this by sku!3. Loaded Cost of Delivery What are the costs associated with fulfilling and delivering that order to a customer?4. Contribution Margin Before Marketing Spend Do you know what your sales volume needs to be to hit break even? 5. Revenue MixWhat percentage of sales comes from new versus existing customers?If it's too much on existing customers, then you probably need to focus more on acquisition. 6. Contribution Margin After Marketing Spend What is the maximum that you can spend to acquire customers profitably?You need to understand your customer's LTV to know what you can spend to acquire a customer. Connect with Jordan here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/This month’s sponsor is 8fig, an eCommerce funding, and planning platform that gives entrepreneurs the freedom to scale their store to new heights through continuous, equity-free capital and supply chain planning. Find out more about how 8fig is helping sellers grow through adaptable funding at 8fig.co.Promo Code: mention upGrowth during sign-up for 5% off the cost of capital of an 8fig Growth Plan!We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand to help you find your 6 Must Know Numbers! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textNow that the eCommerce space has grown so much, to succeed you have to create something different. Otherwise, you are just going to spend a lot more money to capture attention and acquire a customer. You have to stand out.In this episode, Jordan West and Jason Wong talk about what's working and what is not in the current landscape. Jason shares his journey in the eCommerce space since he was a teen and the lessons he learned from it now as an investor in numerous successful companies!Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEA lot of success comes down to timing, the right opportunity showing up, a little bit of luck, and some skill.Even a silly idea should have contingency plans for it.Every founder needs to think through the consequences of doing a certain thing, how they can minimize their risk exposure, how they can make their life easier down the line, or how they can make more money by doing this one thing.Brands should be innovative.If you're just making something mediocre, you're not going to stand out.Only brands that have that wow factor in their product are going to survive.Beyond the IOS 14 level, the algorithm has changed how people consume content, driving a different landscape for what kinds of products survive and what don't.    Media buyers nowadays aren't the media buyers that you're seeing years ago. Hiring the right people to bring your visions to life makes a huge difference to your business.Recommended App: Bountyhttps://www.bounty.co Recommended Book: Pitch Anything by Oren Klaffhttps://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/10321016 Today’s Guest:Jason Wong has been an eCommerce founder since he was 14 and now owns multiple brands and consults on some of the fastest growing DTC and technology companies in ecommerce.Connect and learn more about Jason Wong here: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/eggroll Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pug  Podcast: eCommerce Building Blockshttps://open.spotify.com/show/10CBUCOefYMW1daDnzNBnn https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/ecommerce-building-blocks/id1609342466 This month’s sponsor is Parker, the first card built exclusively for eCommerce. Free up cash flow and grow your business with Parker by getting net-60 terms on every transaction. Parker is currently offering a $1000 sign-up bonus for Secrets To Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand listeners. Go to getparker.com to chat with the team today - and make sure you mention where you came from! We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textThe greatest problem solvers win the game. Things are always changing in the e-commerce space and we can’t keep on relying on the old practices that we used to. We should always look at the macro-perspective to better solve problems and reach success for our businesses.In this episode, Jordan West and Nigel Thomas, CEO of Alpha Inbound, talk about the things that you need to hear in the e-commerce space right now. Nigel also shares the two metrics to check that will almost guarantee the success of a TikTok ad.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODESharing knowledge and best practices with other people in your space and learning from each other can greatly benefit you and your market. 2022 is brutal but it is also a test to see who the real problem solvers are.Now, you can't rely on just ROAS. To grow the business, you need to focus on how much it costs to acquire a new customer.See your marketing efficiency ratio- that's what puts the power in your hands.If you look at the micro-perspective, you'll see that competition and ad costs are going to get higher and this isn’t going to change. If you can afford to pay three times more to acquire a customer than who you're competing with, you're going to win the game.If you're building a business and a brand, it's not about today but rather what you are building for the future.Going into new markets is extremely powerful with TikTok. The hook rate ratio and retention rate ratio are the two main metrics to focus on with TikTok.Branding is the hidden lever that affects how good your paid media is in the long term. Recommended App:EdgeTaghttps://www.edgetag.io VideoWisehttps://www.videowise.com Recommended Podcast:The Game with Alex Hormozihttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-game-w-alex-hormozi/id1254720112 https://open.spotify.com/show/6YNopzKDGDwf0auIpPTIID Today’s Guest:Nigel Thomas is the CEO of Alpha Inbound.Alpha Inbound is a marketing agency that works with 7 and 8-figure DTC brands and helps these brands drive more revenue from paid social.  Connect and learn more about Nigel here: LinkedIn:  https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nigelthomas-ai This month’s sponsor is Parker, the first card built exclusively for eCommerce. Free up cash flow and grow your business with Parker by getting net-60 terms on every transaction. Parker is currently offering a $1000 sign-up bonus for Secrets To Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand listeners. Go to getparker.com to chat with the team today - and make sure you mention where you came from! We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other ecommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textGetting deals with big celebrities is challenging and working with high-profile investors can add a layer of difficulty to your business, but if you can overcome these obstacles, there’s a massive upside.In this episode, Jordan interviews Julius Langkilde of Christopher Cloos. He shares his company’s journey from how it started to where it is today. He also talks about getting celebrity endorsement deals for their brand from the likes of Tom Brady, Robin Thicke & more.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEIt's about making the right marketing story. You’ve got to make sure that the talent is not necessarily economically invested in the business but emotionally attached to the project. A pull from the celebrities' followers is what you want to get from your deals with them.You want to be category exclusive with the talents.If you can get the talent to at least discuss equity with you, that is also a good path to go together. You have the responsibility to be a leader that your employees will appreciate.Recommended App: Shopifyhttps://www.shopify.com Recommended Podcast: The Peter Schiff Showhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peter-schiff-show-podcast/id404963432 Today’s Guest:Julius Langkilde is a co-founder and the president of Christopher Cloos.Christopher Cloos is a Danish eyewear brand with a mission to dress a million faces across the planet with their eyewear. It is also their mission to make these eyewear frames from biodegradable materials. Connect and learn more about  Julius and Christopher Cloos here: Website:  https://christopher-cloos.com LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/julius-august-langkilde-hoeedt-8322b764  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christophercloos Email Address: julius@christophercloos.dk This month’s sponsor is Parker, the first card built exclusively for eCommerce. Free up cash flow and grow your business with Parker by getting net-60 terms on every transaction. Parker is currently offering a $1000 sign-up bonus for Secrets To Scaling Your Ecommerce Brand listeners. Go to getparker.com to chat with the team today - and make sure you mention where you came from! We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other ecommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textYou have to think bigger to grow bigger. Seeing the infinite possibilities around you makes you see the world in a different way and it makes your world better. When you start to believe that you can be something bigger, you start to make things happen. In this episode, Daniel Price of My 1st Years talks about his company's journey and its growth from a brand new startup to a thriving 8 figure brand.Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODETaking on investment is about scaling quicker than you would otherwise.Bring on the right partner who believes in the journey.A lot of people take on investment because it sounds great and a lot of people think they need £1-2 million but they haven't looked at why they need it.Brand story, brand partnerships, and out-of-the-box ideas are critical to get to the right people.When someone wants your help as a consultant for a few days and you're pricing it up, you're not pricing the few days but the years of your experience.  Think bigger than anyone else in your space.Recommended App: LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/ Recommended Audiobook:Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knighthttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27220736-shoe-dog Today’s Guest:Daniel Price is the co-founder of My 1st Years and the founder of Alberti Group.My 1st Years is a personalized children gifting brand in the UK.Connect and learn more about Daniel Price here: LinkedIn:  https://uk.linkedin.com/in/danielprice1 E-mail Address: daniel@albertigroup.co This month’s sponsor is Parker, the first card built exclusively for eCommerce. Free up cash flow and grow your business with Parker by getting net-60 terms on every transaction. Parker is currently offering a $1000 sign-up bonus for Upgrowth listeners. Go to getparker.com to chat with the team today - and make sure you mention where you came from!We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast

Send us a textAfter IOS 14.5, Meta lost so much data. The good news is this platform is now reinventing itself. Their new campaign type utilizes AI to produce incredible results.In this episode, Jordan talks about the new advantage plus shopping campaign on Facebook and some of the best practices to do in this type of campaign. Listen and learn in this episode!KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODEYour interest audiences, your look-alike audiences, and all these little things that everyone loves to talk about are not that big of a deal. Let Meta do the targeting for you and find your ideal customer.Put in the people who have converted for you on Meta, and they’ll create whatever look-alike they can, based on that data.Make sure that you've got a lot of data to feed to them. The more data, the better.Use purchase as your conversion event.Add your desired location targeting.30% budget cap is recommended for your existing customers and the rest of the budget is going to be put towards people who don't know about you.You've got to focus on your offering and your creative, not on targeting.In most cases, you've got to do a 7-day click and a 1-day view for attribution. Most of your customers are going to take a few days before they purchase your product and not everybody immediately clicks on your ad.You can take suggested ads or you can take creatives that have worked well in the past or currently are performing and test them there.You can take a look at an audience performance breakdown.Connect with Jordan here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/This month’s sponsor is Parker, the first card built exclusively for eCommerce. Free up cash flow and grow your business with Parker by getting net-60 terms on every transaction. Parker is currently offering a $1000 sign-up bonus for Upgrowth listeners. Go to getparker.com to chat with the team today - and make sure you mention where you came from!We love our podcast community and listeners so much that we have decided to offer a free eCommerce Growth Plan for your brand! To learn more and how we can help, click here:upgrowthcommerce.com/growJoin our community and connect with other eCommerce brand owners and marketers!https://www.facebook.com/groups/secretstoscalingpodcast