The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

Earlier this week, we dropped part one of our incredible interview with NYT best-selling author Greg Mckeown. We had a ton of fun chopping it up with Greg about how to improve your life by doing less. If you haven’t listened to that episode, I’d recommend starting there.

Greg’s book Essentialism has had a profound impact on both Andrew’s life and my own. If you feel like you’re spending time on trivial tasks and you want to remove the “trivial many” and focus on the essential few, this episode is for you. Enjoy part 2!

Episode Highlights

  • 4:15 How the criteria you use to set goals will dictate where you plateau.
  • 6:00 The closet metaphor you should be using to dial in your success.
  • 8:39 When it comes to the essentials have you asked yourself this one question?
  • 10:14 The 4 key questions you should be asking of yourself and your brand.
  • 12:19 The Southwest Airlines moto that can help you find your perfect customer and what happened to Continental Airlines when they tried to copy Southwest.
  • 19:10 How Greg McKeown personally wraps up his week, month, year and retreats
  • 25:37 The 100,000 foot view that Greg uses to help him understand the essential vs. nonessential.
  • 26:41 How Greg thinks every business owner/executive should be making decisions for their business.

Links and Resources

Sponsor

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. If you’re running an ecommerce business and sending emails to your customers, you should be using Klaviyo. It will help you find out who your best customers are and target them one-to-one to make more money.

I’ve been using Klaviyo since they were just two employees. Now they have a team of 150 and are rolling out new features almost weekly. If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyoand you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Direct download: EI_150_Greg_McKeown_Pt2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

About 2 years ago I purchased and then subsequently devoured the book Essentialism. At the time, I was stretched thin and had too many irons in the fire. The wisdom of Greg Mckeown helped me refocus on what really mattered. Today, I have the tremendous privilege of welcoming Greg on the show.

Have you ever felt the urge to declutter your work life? Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized? The remedy is rarely to “get more done” and almost always to “do the right things.” In today’s episode, we explore what stops otherwise outstanding people from breaking through to the next level, and dive into why most people struggle to define what’s important in their life. Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

  • 5:22 The meaning of being an essentialist as defined by author Greg Mckeown himself.
  • 8:26 How contribution may be keeping you from getting to the next level.
  • 12:23 Why it's impossible to have multiple priorities and still be successful.
  • 14:08 How to train your brain to focus on the most important thing you should be doing right now.
  • 17:30 How scheduling free thought time can keep you from mimicking others and help you get ahead of the competition.
  • 20:22 The 4 things you should focus on when planning your day and the one thing you may realize as you develop this habit.
  • 25:11 Why you shouldn’t feel guilty saying “no” when the work doesn’t fit with your internal goals.
  • 30:18 The 3 stages of essentialism and how to use them when interacting with colleagues and clients.

Links and Resources

Sponsor

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. If you’re running an ecommerce business and sending emails to your customers, you should be using Klaviyo. It will help you find out who your best customers are and target them one-to-one to make more money.

I’ve been using Klaviyo since they were just two employees. Now they have a team of 150 and are rolling out new features almost weekly. If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyoand you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Direct download: EI_149_Greg_McKeown_pt1_v1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

The number one question I get from ecommerce business owners, whether they’re just starting out or making $4MM a year, is: how do I scale? If you’re asking yourself that question, this episode is for you.

In today’s Flash Episode I’ll walk through the big picture strategy that will help guide you on the path to 8 figures. We’ll talk about the three phases of growth, from $0 to $10MM, and what you should be doing at each phase in order to grow your business. I’ll talk about how your role as business owner will evolve as your company scales, and the three levers you should focus on to scale your business. And, I’ll share my #1 piece of advice for what you can do today to kickstart your growth.

Episode Highlights

  • 4:03 (Phase 1) The importance of finding a marketing channel that works for you, learning it well and doubling down on it.
  • 5:36 (Phase 2) Now that you’ve mastered the channel, here’s why you need to remove yourself to continue growing.
  • 7:41 Once you've found your replacement, its time to focus on increasing these key metrics.
  • 8:47 How email is still king when it comes to increasing buyer frequency.
  • 11:25 (Phase 3) If 8 figures is in sight, it might be time to step out of the way and develop a team to take over
  • 13:59 How developing a hiring plan can increase your growth to 8 figures
  • 14:55 This is the one thing you should never expect when hiring someone to replace you in a role.

Links and Resources

Sponsor

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. If you’re running an ecommerce business and sending emails to your customers, you should be using Klaviyo. It will help you find out who your best customers are and target them one-to-one to make more money.

I’ve been using Klaviyo since they were just two employees. Now they have a team of 150 and are rolling out new features almost weekly. If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyoand you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Direct download: 148_Flash_How_to_Scale_to_8_Figures_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

Did you know that messenger bots have the highest engagement rates at the lowest cost per lead? Did you know that messenger subscribers can be 5-10 times more valuable than email subscribers? If you’re ready to grow your business with personalized, highly targeted communications, then this episode is for you.

Mikael Yang, CEO and Co-Founder of ManyChat, joins us today to talk about messenger bots. Messenger has bypassed social networks to become the number one channel people are using to communicate with each other, and with brands. Yang shares the opportunities ecommerce businesses have with messenger bots to reach their customers in this highly intimate and engaging channel. Only 1% of marketers are using messenger, which is anticipated to become the main communication channel for B2C in the near future, and Yang talks about why now is the time you should start.

Episode Highlights:  

  • 6:53 Why Messenger is the future of B2C communication.
  • 7:46 The Chinese ecommerce bot strategy that the West may not be ready for.
  • 10:39 The one mistake Mikael sees most ecomm businesses making when it comes to bots.
  • 11:59 How messenger bots may be the final nail in e-mail’s coffin.
  • 12:43 The reason why bots will elevate the level of messaging over what we currently see with email.
  • 15:52 How the structure of email encourages marketers to spam their audience and what Facebook is doing to ensure relevance to its users with bots.  
  • 20:39 The ways Mikael sees Facebook controlling costs and rewarding businesses for positive messenger engagement.
  • 22:52 What’s really working for brands using messenger bots right now.
  • 28:02 The 3 actions you should take with messenger bots.
  • 33:40 How to develop a conversation with your audience through messenger bots to understand what they really want from you.
  • 38:28 New to messenger bots and looking for the “quick win”? This is what Mikael suggests.

Links and Resources:

 

This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. If you’re running an ecommerce business and sending emails to your customers, you should be using Klaviyo. It will help you find out who your best customers are and target them one-to-one to make more money.

I’ve been using Klaviyo since they were just two employees. Now they have a team of 150 and are rolling out new features almost weekly. If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.



Direct download: EI_147_MikaelYang.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

Are your CPAs on Facebook or Instagram rising? If so, you’re not alone. As more advertisers pour into the channel the cost of advertising is going up! Today, we’ve got a special “Flash Episode” for you. We share why your acquisition costs always increase as you spend more and we go step-by-step through a process that will help you advertise more effectively and profitably.

This is a technical episode and one you might need to listen to a couple of times. But if you’re struggling to scale up your ad spend, it could be the ladder you need to take it to the next level.  Andrew and I go super deep into the FB weeds and talk about audience building, refreshing ads, horizontal scaling, etc. Paid social advertisers...enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

  • 4:30 The super tool that Facebook has given advertisers and you’re likely not even using it.
  • 6:08 How to find the “First Time Impression Ratio” for your ads to make sure you are reaching new users.
  • 10:23 Red Alert: Your CPA’s are rising: Here are the 5 levers you can pull to see overall improvements
  • 14:23 If you haven’t tried Instagram placement in over a year or even the last 6 months, you should be trying and testing Instagram placements
  • 16:06 How you can correct a failing ad set with just 5 minutes and a pen and some paper.
  • 16:20 The advice Molly Pittman shared with Andrew as it relates to scaling your business on Facebook.
  • 17:24 Austin’s key takeaway from his recent read: Scientific Advertising  

Links and Resources:

Direct download: EI_146_Flash_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

1