Ecommerce Conversations

Jai Dolwani, founder of The Starters and former CMO, shares his remarkable journey from startup failures to creating a successful marketplace for fractional ecommerce talent. He discusses the rising demand for freelancing in ecommerce and offers insightful hiring tips for brands. Jai emphasizes the importance of a robust vetting process for freelancers and how fractional talent can enhance business flexibility. He also highlights plans to upscale talent offerings and the balance between execution and strategic coaching in today's market.

Please enjoy this repeat of a popular episode first aired in January 24, 2025.According to Will Nitze, founder and CEO of IQBAR, success in a competitive market requires finding its uncompetitive niches. He did that with his flagship protein bar, which is plant-based, low-sugar, and plainly labeled.That was seven years ago when he launched the company with a $75,000 Kickstarter campaign.Fast forward to 2025, and IQBAR also makes IQMIX (hydration) and IQJOE (coffee). All promote brain health without competing against each other.Will shares his journey in this episode — from his initial capital raise to scaling revenue, adding products, and managing wholesale channels.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/protein-bar-founder-thrives-in-a-crowded-fieldFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcastsListener reviews of Ecommerce Conversations elevate visibility and help others experience the lessons of online entrepreneurs. We invite you to leave a review on this channel.   ******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com

Reflecting on the ups and downs of 2025, a business owner shares his company's financial recovery and strategies that revived profitability. He highlights a significant boost in subscription growth and the shift to lean inventory for better efficiency. Amid challenges like market stagnation and tough staffing decisions, he embraces customer-driven product launches. Personal insights reveal a touching father-daughter trip and the closure of a long infertility journey, emphasizing the importance of aligning business goals with life priorities.

In "How to Leave the U.S.A.," the venerable New Yorker magazine recently addressed what many residents have apparently considered.Yet Mikkel Thorup has lived outside of his native Canada for 25 years. He's visited 120 countries and resided in nine of them. His business, Expat Money, helps others do the same while protecting assets and lifestyle.Why relocate overseas? What are the risks and the rewards? Mikkel addressed those questions and more in this episode.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/expat-money-ceo-on-moving-abroadFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Abir Syed is an accountant turned marketer turned chief financial officer. He says ecommerce marketing success largely depends on creative volume, and few merchants have exhausted any channel, much less Meta.Abir is co-founder of UpCounting, an accounting and fractional CFO firm in Montréal, Canada. In this episode, he shares common financial mistakes of merchants, key metrics to monitor, and, yes, how to grow ecommerce ad revenue on Meta.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/cfo-brands-rarely-max-out-meta-adsFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Jeff Oxford is our go-to interview for ecommerce SEO. The founder of Oregon-based 180 Marketing, an agency, Jeff first appeared on the podcast in 2022 when he addressed SEO's "four buckets." We invited him back late last year to explain AI's impact on search traffic and how merchants can adapt.In this our latest interview, he shared optimization tactics for ChatGPT, with a caveat: Google's AI Mode could eventually dominate.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/will-googles-ai-mode-dominate-chatgptFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com

Chris Elrod is a renewable power entrepreneur. His company, Treaty Oak Clean Energy, builds massive solar projects that provide electricity for large corporations and utility firms.It's boom times for electricity generators as the likes of Google, ChatGPT, and Amazon scramble for reliable sources.How, exactly, does a company build a solar-generating plant and then sell the electricity to end users? Eric asked Chris those questions and more in this conversation.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/solar-power-developer-on-fueling-the-gridFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com 

Seth Spears is a Colorado-based entrepreneur who once taught consumers how to make their own non-toxic personal care products. He says customers valued the results but not the actual production process. "They kept asking us for ready-made versions," he told me.So he launched Wellnesse, a direct-to-consumer brand producing all-natural self-care goods, in 2020. Toothpaste quickly became the dominant item.In our recent conversation, Seth shared the origins of Wellnesse, the demand for holistic oral care, marketing challenges, and more.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/natural-toothpaste-propels-wellnesse-comFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webinars. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com

Kevlyn Walsh, a former art teacher from Denver, is now a thriving entrepreneur with her Etsy shop, Festive Gal, and a new Shopify venture, Bake It Fancy. She shares how a headband for a Christmas party kickstarted her journey. Kevlyn dives into the challenges of managing custom orders and scaling operations on Etsy. She critiques the platform's limitations and discusses the benefits of diversifying to Shopify for her baking accessories. Plus, she emphasizes the importance of personality in marketing and offers insightful advice for fellow sellers.

Andy Gould co-founded Batch, a Wisconsin-based D2C cannabis brand, in 2018. He says the company struggled for years until it perfected content creation and advertising. “Once we dialed in our Meta ads and built a strong creative flywheel, everything took off,” he said.Host Eric Bandholz first interviewed Andy and his two co-founders in 2023. In this latest conversation, Andy addresses video production, regulatory scrutiny, and “hockey stick” growth — from annual revenue of $5 million to $50 million in two years.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/batch-cannabis-scales-to-50-millionFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/tag/podcasts******The mission of Practical Ecommerce is to help online merchants improve their businesses. We do this with expert articles, podcasts, and webcasts. We are an independent publishing company founded in 2005 and unaffiliated with any ecommerce platform or provider. https://www.practicalecommerce.com