eComFuel Podcast

Ashley Schroder of A2XAccounting.com joins the show today to talk about a very important (and often neglected) topic: accounting. Now, before your eyes glaze over, there's a good chance that what you'll learn in this episode can save you a lot of money, especially if you know you're not doing all you should to keep up with your accounting on Amazon. So listen in and get Ashley's expert take on a subject that too many merchants don't take seriously enough. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2IaZqKB

Internet, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property Lawyer John DiGiacomo of RevisionLegal.com is back for the third and final part of our series on legal issues. So far, we've covered trademarks and patents, and today we're wrapping up with a grab bag of legal questions to round out our series. Listen in to hear John's insight and advice on a whole random host of legal issues that affect ecommerce entrepreneurs. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2JNV2St

Today we're going to talk about something you've probably heard about by now—and quite possibly are sick of hearing about—but it's going to change the way we market in many ecommerce businesses. That's right, I'm talking about the GDPR. I've brought John DiGiacomo of RevisionLegal.com back on the show to discuss what the law covers, what your liability is, and what could potentially happen if you don't comply. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2rLKoEi

Today we are continuing our legal series with Internet, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property Lawyer John DiGiacomo of RevisionLegal.com. John specializes in both IP and businesses on the web—both subjects that a lot of lawyers don't know much about—so it's great to have him back on the show. Last week we talked about all things patents, and today we're going to do the same with trademarks. This is an interesting and relevant topic, especially given that Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 requires you to file a trademark if you want to have any kind of brand protection. Listen in to hear the crucial things you need to know when it comes to trademarks. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2rsA9EH

Today we're going to kick off a three-part legal series with Internet, Data Privacy, and Intellectual Property Lawyer John DiGiacomo of RevisionLegal.com. John has been a phenomenal member of the eCommerceFuel Private Community, offering loads of expertise on everything to patents to trademarks to copyright infringement, and I knew I had to get him on the show to share his knowledge with podcast listeners, as well. In this first episode of the series, we'll be focusing on patents. There's so much to know about the different types, costs, etc.—including whether getting a patent is worth it for stores in the $2 - $10 million range—and John's here to straighten it all out for us. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2IYxkSO

In the last couple of years, I've really been noticing more and more that people are feeling the pinch of wanting to hire a Director of eCommerce/COO for their businesses. And it makes sense, given the relief that can come from handing off the small details and logistics of running an ecommerce business so you can focus on high-level tasks. So today I have my good friend Michael Jackness of EcomCrew.com back for another episode to share the details of his recent experience hiring a Director/COO and how it changed his business for the better. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2GQfzc5

Building an audience can be tough, especially when you're starting from scratch. So today, I thought it'd be fun to share the mic with Michael Jackness of EcomCrew so we can both give our perspectives on the subject, including what worked for us and what mistakes we made along the way. Michael has done such an incredible job building up EcomCrew.com over the last couple years, and today you'll get a behind-the-scenes look into exactly how he did it. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2GO35k5

The CEO of The Goulet Pen Company shares how engaging with his customers took his company to the next level. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2IuDwTc

Jake Cook is a professor, founder of Tadpull and a fellow Bozeman resident. Today we get together over a glass of bourbon to talk about how Jake finds top talent right from his classroom. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2tGeH3A

As store owner, we can lose sleep over lots of little things, from ornery employees to inventory issues. But there's one fear that can really upset a good night's sleep: a suspension email from Amazon. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2Hd41LJ

Today I'm going to share the major takeaways from a report I just released called The State of the Merchant Report. It has become an annual tradition for me to survey a bunch of store owners to figure out what's going on in the ecommerce world, and this report covers everything from revenue growth, conversion rates, happiness levels, how much profit (and pain) Amazon is causing, and more. Listen in to hear the results—some of them may surprise you! You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2pMd0fu

Normally I turn to Steve Chou and Bill D'Alessandro for advice on what to do in business. Not today. Instead, we're chatting about the biggest mistakes we've made investing in the markets and real estate. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2F9sa9q

When it comes to online advertising, I know it can be a challenge to keep up with the various options on different, ever-changing platforms. So today, I've brought Brett Curry from OMGCommerce.com on to discuss traffic with Google and Amazon in 2018. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2Hr5nU1

As you know, Amazon has been cracking down on reviews. It used to be that you could get incentived reviews, but that's no longer the case. What's a seller to do then? You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2szABor

A few years back I caught up with Clayton Chrismas who purchased TrollingMotors.net from me. I learned how much better the business was doing once it was freed from the shackles and constraints of it's incompetent previous owner (much better, it turned out). You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2CpINY9

Learn how Kris Cody generated $300K+ on Kickstarter without any paid traffic. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2DMaxaT

This is the last episode of shopping cart month, where we talk about some other contenders, even if they're not the biggest ones on the scene. We cover Bigcommerce, Volusion, and Americommerce and compare and contrast their various strengths and weaknesses. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2mTNDap

What I've noticed is that WooCommerce has been like an underdog, but it seems like it's about to change. This week, we're talking with Brian from PostStatus.com and Zach Stepek from MindSize.me to chat about the potential and pitfalls of WooCommerce. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2F9aYfH

Listen to Bill D'Alessandro from Rebel CEO and I doing a recap on my favorite event of the year, the eCommerceFuel Live conference. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2FDGz9w

This week, we're talking with Alan Merrick who is a Magento expert in our community and Kalen Jordan from the podcast Mage Talk about Magento and who it's best suited for. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2CXuQVB

If you like to nerd out on shopping cart software as much as I do, then stay tuned. This week, we're going to dive in talking about Shopify with Carson McComas from Fuel Made. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2CdLJrn

Learn from Jayson Gaignard on how to meaningfully connect with someone busy and well­-known like Seth Godin. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2or4KEl

Learn from Raphael Schneider, YouTube Wizard who has built a channel with more than 125,000 subscribers. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2AFgy7J

This is a followup conversation with Dave McGeady to see the results of a marketing experiment is going and what the results were. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2o4J8uT

Learn highly effective direct mail marketing tips and print catalog ideas to make your store. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2jsBs2l

Today I sit down with Bill D'Alessandro to make some bold ecommerce predictions for 2018. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2B7ccJF

Anastasia leveraged the readership of her popular blog to jump­start the business. So she knows a thing or two about building and connecting with an audience via the written word. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2B9ZLdz

Andy Hayes from PlumDeluxe.com talks about how to grow a blog and how they've used the platform to generate close to two-thirds of their sales. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2zCIrzw

The founder of the popular Leadpages software is getting into cryptocurrency. Let's geek out together talking cryptocurrency with Clay Collins. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2nuPs0U

Learn how to build a highly profitable portfolio of eCommerce businesses. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2iUN11X

Hiring a business manager can free up your time if done correctly. Learn the strategies to find, hire and incentivize the right person. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2y4IP6d

This Fall we hosted "ECF Week", where community members in 20+ cities across the globe got together to connect. I couldn't make all the events but I did my best and joined 8 meetups in 9 days. It was a roadtrip and the likes of which I've never attempted before. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2zBZimU

Learn how to calculate your customer lifetime value and how to use it to grow and improve your business. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2lx8t1E

Andrew Egenes and Phillip Naples from Unbrokerage.com join me to talk what types of eCommerce insurance store owners need to protect themselves. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2lAnzDI

Earlier this year I came close to buying a mid 7-figure business with a team of 15 people. At first, it looked like a diamond in the rough. A business I could purchase relatively cheaply, spend a short time improving and systemizing and then step back to enjoy significantly improved profitability. But after doing my diligence and talking with others I realized it ultimately wasn't the right opportunity for me. How could I have initially been so excited about something that clearly wasn't the right move? Today I share the 7 questions that prevented me from making a very, very expensive mistake... ...and perhaps will help you at some point, too. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2gG7Z80

Our discussion recorded while camping covers his time working with Zappos founder Tony Hsieh, travel, and (of course) lessons learned from making numerous investments in the eCommerce space. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2hLQAHt

John Cavendish joins me today to share his experience growing an FBA Amazon Europe business and discuss the ins-and-outs of what you need to consider if you want to be successful. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2hA9gtI

We dive deep about the ins-and-outs of raising money, building company culture and how to screen for pro-active employees when hiring. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2y3Byql

Over the last nine months I've been a total slacker. The previously weekly podcast got cut back to one flimsy episode a month while I took a sabbatical to take a little time off and figure out what I wanted to do next. Well I'm thrilled to announce that the podcast is returning to its weekly schedule and I've finally figured out what I want to do with my life. (Spoiler: Decided against the full-time mime gig. Turns out it wasn't as lucrative as I thought.) Today on the show I'm excited to bring back the podcast full-tilt, share what I've been up to and what I see ahead for eCommerceFuel. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2y8p7Kn

In the second episode of our SEO series, SEO expert and founder of 180Marketing Jeff Oxford explains how to optimize your internal links to generate more traffic. While internal linking is not the most important SEO factor, solid internal structure will make it easier for Google's crawlers to index your pages. Jeff explains whether old SEO strategies like PageRank, sitemaps, and domain authority are still relevant in 2017. Separating fact from myth is the most important lesson from this episode and will ensure you're using your time effectively. Jeff also walks us through a step-by-step process for helping pages rank better and how to get the right traffic. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2vQguzP

You can boost your on-page SEO with some simple fixes that together create big results, and our eCommerce Fuel Forum expert Jeff Oxford can tell you how. Jeff talks about recent improvements to search engine algorithms that have changed the SEO factors you should be focusing on. We talk about branding, how to handle meta tags, headings, and paragraphs, and why content is still king. Jeff also ranks each on-page SEO factor out of ten, so you know just which elements to polish up to boost your clickthroughs, traffic, and engagement. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2twcm6I

Andy Bedell joins us to share some inside knowledge and tips for using Facebook, Amazon, and other resellers to sell and market products effectively. He also shares his own captivating copywriting process and some investment ideas and inspiration. We also talk about CRAP products, Amazon leakage, how Facebook ads work, how to properly vet a reseller, and plenty more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2sMarv5

Amazon's BOOST Event was the first annual FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) conference for sellers on the platform. Long overdue guest Bill D'Alessandro joins us to give us his five biggest takeaways from BOOST, including new developments in international selling, protecting your brand on Amazon, multichannel fulfillment, and much more. Bill learned that Amazon is focusing on international expansion and making Amazon even more attractive to sell with. Seller-Fulfilled Prime is also growing rapidly, and we discuss whether that's a good thing for sellers, or just a smart play by Amazon. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2toOUY9

With several Hong Kong exhibitions coming up, it's important to make the most out of the opportunity to meet with factories and directly source products. Cameron Walker is the President of Gifts, Home, and Hardware Group at Global Sources and explains how to get what you want out of these massive events. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2sffbL1

It can be tricky to write copy that's both funny and effective. I thought I'd ask Dave Munson of Saddleback Leather, who's a pro at striking this particular balance, for his tips. Dave also talks about how he harnesses video in his business, and what he's learned from running an eCommerce business. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2rtgaVV

On the show today, our resident Importing and China expert Dave Bryant shares what he learned from his experience working in an Amazon warehouse. Dave kicks off the episode by talking about the recent sale of his business, which opened up the chance for him to do a temporary stint at an Amazon warehouse for oversize products. We talk about what it looks like on the floor, how they track productivity, and potential problems Amazon may have with staffing as they continue to grow. Dave also talks about what he'll do differently in his next business now that he has insight into how Amazon's facilities work on a day-to-day level. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2rPWkDx

We're trying something a little different on this episode of eCommerce Fuel: instead of our normal interview, I've invited Noah Kagan and Dave McGeady to talk about Dave's business Wyldsson. Dave, Noah and I talk about the inexpensive, quick, and impactful changes that Wyldsson could make in the next thirty days to boost its sales and improve its conversion rate. We also discuss why Dave should start collecting emails from his customers, how to encourage them to become subscribers, and the small tweak he can make to his product photos to move even more inventory. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2pw55RK

Entrepreneurs that make money off of intellectual property - like artists and eCommerce storeowners Meredith Keller and Matt Snow - know that protecting your IP is an uphill battle. Meredith and Matt join us to talk about how they've dealt with counterfeiters stealing their ideas, and ways we could improve IP and international shipping policy to better support small businesses in the US. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2nfvHJs

100xing your business in three years might sound impossible, but one of our best new eCommerce Fuel contributors - Daniel Parker - is here to share the story of how his company did just that. After being recruited to MyChoiceSoftware in 2013, Daniel and his partner used clever marketing and stellar customer service to drive their business. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2kejPDg

Welcome to the first episode of 2017! Today I'm chatting with Brad Bernhart, a fellow Montana business owner and the craftsman behind the awesome tools over at Earlywood Designs. Brad talks about his recent experience handling an unexpected rush of orders, thanks to a press release over the holiday season that depleted his inventory and left him shorthanded in the workshop. An unanticipated shortage of product is not an uncommon problem for eCommerce business owners to confront, so I thought it would be good to hear how Brad handled the experience. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2jAb0FQ