Today we’re bringing you part two of our “How to Get Started” series, and in this episode, we’re talking about email marketing.

If you’ve recently launched a business and want to get started with email marketing, this episode is for you.

Or, if you’ve had an agency managing your email for some time, and want to make sure everything is running as it should be, there are some helpful tips in here that will deepen your understanding.

We talk about best practices for list creation, how to capture leads, which emails to create first, how to determine the number of emails you should be sending, and more.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 4:15 Choosing an email service provider (ESP), and why Klaviyo is a great option for many businesses.
• 5:49 Getting your ESP set up correctly: some key things to keep in mind.
• 8:35 Best practices for list creation and management.
• 9:35 Checklist for making sure your ESP is set up correctly.
• 10:15 How to start capturing leads and growing your list.
• 12:03 The more unique your offer, the better. But ultimately, don’t overcomplicate it.
• 14:03 Building an email template for your brand.
• 17:38 Austin’s recommended approach for warming up your audience.
• 19:51 Campaign emails vs flow emails and which ones to prioritize.
• 21:59 Automated email flows to start with: Welcome Series (Buy or Die), Abandoned Cart, Browse Abandonment.
• 25:00 Best practices for sending campaign emails and how to start segmenting your list.
• 29:22 When it’s right to expand your audience: the ideal open rates to look for.
• 30:44 How to decide how many emails you should be sending.
• 31:49 Examples of valuable content that drives revenue.

Links And Resources

• Episode 230: How To Get Started With Facebook Advertising
• Episode 129: Content Marketing – What You Need To Know With Nat Eliason
• Klaviyo
• Sumo
• Privy
• Justuno
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Not many ecommerce brands can say they’ve been around for almost 30 years, but Peepers is one of them.

Founded in 1993, with a website that went live in 1996, Peepers has been going strong ever since.

In the last 10 years alone, they’ve grown by 900%.

John Hart joined the team five years ago and is now the Ecommerce and Operations Director.

Today he joins us to talk about how Peepers has continued to evolve, the marketing strategies they're using, including why they find major value in Amazon, and how they’ve successfully approached wholesale.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:08 Introducing John and how he ended up at Peepers.
• 8:27 What Peepers is doing differently that allowed it to grow 900% over the last 10 years.
• 10:10 Peepers’ approach to growth and the channels they’re currently investing in.
• 12:36 Prospecting techniques for both online and offline.
• 13:57 John’s feelings about selling on Amazon and how they make it work in their overall marketing strategy.
• 17:22 The challenge of selling glasses online, and the fun strategy Peepers is using to overcome it.
• 20:29 Why Peepers hasn’t ventured into AI on their site yet.
• 22:36 Lessons learned about website speed and sacrifices that had to be made.
• 25:01 Coming up with the perfect product price and Peepers’ price-testing process.
• 28:49 Peepers’ approach to growing the wholesale component of the business and supporting their partners.
• 31:32 How John’s role has evolved over the last five years and what he’s focusing on now.
• 33:51 Employee retention at Peepers and what they do to keep people happy.
• 38:09 A quick win from John will help you improve your business.

Links And Resources

• Peepers.com
• Peepers Perfect Pair Finder
• Episode 204: How To Build A Baller Quiz Funnel On A Tiny Budget
• John on LinkedIn
• john@peepers.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

One of the questions we’ve received from several listeners recently is, “Can you guys talk about how to get started with Facebook advertising?”

We’ve done quite a few episodes where we talk about scaling up your Facebook ads, but we've never started at the very beginning.

Today we’re doing just that.

If you’ve never advertised on Facebook before, or you’re just starting out, this episode is for you.

We’ll talk through how to set up Facebook Business Manager, how to start building audiences for different parts of the sales funnel, how to approach your initial budget, and what success looks like in your first few months of advertising.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:35 If you’re just getting started with Facebook advertising, here are the first steps.
• 8:01 Dynamic Product ads: what are they and why you need them.
• 8:50 Creating customer avatars to inform your interest-based targeting.
• 10:51 The main hurdles you may come across when setting up Facebook Business Manager.
• 13:00 How to check whether you’ve set up Business Manager correctly.
• 14:34 Where people often get stuck with creative and the components of great content.
• 16:51 The three phases of the sales funnel and how to start building audiences for each phase right out of the gate.
• 20:13 How to approach the first three months of advertising: crafting your brand message, how much to spend, and what success looks like.
• 23:23 What is your Cost Per Acquisition goal, and how do you determine it?
• 26:38 How to understand your initial Facebook advertising metrics.
• 28:16 Where to go next after you’re getting comfortable with your advertising.
• 29:35 How to decide which objective to pick for different parts of the funnel.
• 31:31 Two objectives you shouldn't be using.
• 34:07 The key component you have to understand when you get started with Facebook advertising and what success often looks like for the first several months.

Links And Resources

• Facebook Business Manager 
• Facebook Blueprint
• Facebook Pixel Helper Chrome Extension
• Book: Breakthrough Advertising
• Episode 214: How To Crank Up Your Advertising Creative (Aka What’s Working Now)
• Episode: 198: How To Create Winning Content On Facebook And Instagram
• Episode 173: The Five Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account (RCAB-P)
• The Coalition
• Andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Who says girls can’t wear dinosaur dresses?

Rebecca Melsky was frustrated when the only patterns she could find for her daughter were pink and flowery. Where were the rocket ships and trucks for girls?

In 2013 she teamed up with her friend Eva to start Princess Awesome, a stereotype-busting business that creates clothes of all colors, and with all kinds of patterns, for both girls and boys.

Today we sit down with Rebecca to talk about their massive crowdfunding success, how they’ve managed the growth of their business while prioritizing their families, and the key Klaviyo strategies helping them drive major revenue from email.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:51 The story of how Princess Awesome was born.
• 7:39 Princess Awesome’s explosive experience with crowdfunding.
• 12:25 The major impact Kickstarter had for Rebecca’s business, from more than just a financial perspective.
• 13:58 Taking the next step in business growth after Kickstarter success.
• 17:40 Product innovation and the creation of Princess Awesome’s women’s line and brother company.
• 20:39 The benefits of using Klaviyo for email marketing.
• 22:34 How to plan your email campaigns, and how segmentation can help drive more sales.
• 29:20 Things Rebecca’s done over the last year that have had a big impact on her business.
• 32:05 Why Princess Awesome outsources their fulfillment.
• 35:41 The company makeup of Princess Awesome and the critical support roles they’ve outsourced.
• 37:33 Growing a business that serves your lifestyle and how this has been a core part of Rebecca’s business from day one.

Links And Resources

• Princess Awesome
• rebecca@princess-awesome.com
• Klaviyo
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We've got a special Black Friday/Cyber Monday BONUS episode for you today.

Andrew saw down with Alex Afterman of 11:11 Digital, Deirdre Kelly and Terry Whalen of Sum Digital, Kurt Bullock of Product Department and Paul Fairbrother of Hootsuite/AdEspresso to do a post-BFCM 2019 recap.

They discuss:

• Trends they saw over the weekend
• Bidding strategies that worked
• Audiences that were successful
• Creatives we saw working well
• Reporting and assessing numbers

Enjoy!

Links And Resources

• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today we’re taking a break from our normal programming to go on a short rant about things we hate in the ecommerce industry.

We want to shed light on some of the frustrating things we’ve come across over the years to help you keep your sanity as you’re growing your business.

We believe in the importance of truth and transparency, and that every single business is different, and hope our little rant today will help you avoid frustration and see through the B.S.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:32 Thing we hate #1: When people take advantage of business owners by making things seem more complicated than they really are.
• 9:18 Just because it’s a big, well-recognized company, doesn’t mean it’s actually doing well, so don’t compare yourself.
• 11:11 Warning signs to watch out for with bogus business information.
• 11:47 Thing we hate #2: When entrepreneurs are told they have to be running ads on every single possible channel.
• 15:07 Thing we hate #3: Example sharing without context.
• 18:11 Thing we hate #4: Not having enough information about why people are building their businesses a certain way and the lifestyles they’re hoping to achieve.
• 21:19 Why context is so important, and why there’s no simple success blueprint for every business to follow.
• 23:17 An example of how to think about the bigger thematic approach when you’re trying to decide if a certain tactic is going to work for you.

Links And Resources

• Book: The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (and Why They Don't)
• The Coalition
• The Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Group
• 227: How Supply Went from Startup to Shark Tank
• 135: [Case Study] How Messenger Ads Are Driving Real Revenue W/ Mark Arruda
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

While it may only take a great idea to start a business, it takes a heck of a lot of hard work to build a successful one.

Five years ago Patrick Coddou was unhappily working at his corporate job when he had an idea, spurred by personal passion and necessity.

That idea eventually got off the ground with two successful Kickstarters, and recently landed Patrick and his wife and co-founder, Jessica, on Shark Tank, where they got backing from Robert Herjavec.

This idea, which has now grown into a multi-million dollar company, is Supply, a men's shaving and grooming company.

Today Patrick joins us to give an inside look at what makes Supply successful today, and the challenges he faces as he continues to grow his business.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:39 Introducing Patrick and how he started Supply.
• 7:21 The pivotal role of Kickstarter in Supply’s launch and success.
• 9:19 Where the idea for Supply came from and the challenge of creating good products.
• 13:53 Why Patrick wants to grow as quickly as possible with as little outside funding as possible, and the metrics he looks at to track his success.
• 18:59 What Patrick plans to focus on in 2020 as he further diversifies his marketing channels.
• 22:26 As Supply is starting to expand internationally, here are some of the considerations and challenges Patrick is facing.
• 25:48 Why Supply is so appealing in the international market, and how Patrick uses customer service to clarify his value proposition and support customers.
• 29:57 The post-purchase survey questions that help with Supply’s customer retention and satisfaction.
• 34:39 Things Patrick’s done in the last year that have had the biggest impact on his personal and professional life.
• 38:48 The truth about entrepreneurial life that Patrick wants everyone to know.

Links And Resources

• Supply
• Supply on Shark Tank
• Patrick@getsupply.com
• Patrick on Twitter: @SoundsLikeCanoe
• Profit Summit
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Two common questions I get from clients are: How much should I spend on advertising and what is a good return on ad spend?

Andrew and I are tackling these questions today by breaking down the calculations you need to do to determine what a good ROAS is for your business.

We also discuss how to have an open conversation with your advertising agency and the first question you really need to ask yourself before you can realistically estimate the ROAS you need to be successful.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:15 The inspiration for this episode: one of the most common questions Austin gets in the Coalition.
• 6:55 What is a good return on ad spend (ROAS)?
• 9:08 The first question you need to ask yourself to help determine what ROAS is realistic.
• 11:05 Why you have to know your math before you start telling your advertising partner what ROAS you “need.”
• 12:15 The first question you should really be asking to figure out a good ROAS for your business.
• 13:04 Breaking down ROAS calculation and how to discuss it with your agency.
• 15:49 The importance of making the distinction between warm and cold traffic.
• 19:27 A further look at how to calculate the ROAS you need for your business.

Links And Resources

• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

As he sat down at his desk on the first day at his first post-college job he thought, “The cubicle life just isn’t for me.”

If you’re an entrepreneur, I would venture to bet you’ve had a similar thought at some point along the way.

Today we’re joined by Matt Schroeder, the co-founder of Shelly Cove, who started the business in college with his family, and has been off to the races ever since.

Matt tells the story of how he taught himself marketing and his journey to eventually leaving his secure job to go all-in on Shelly Cove. He shares the unique ways the brand surprises and delights its customers to keep them coming back for more, and why, as the business has grown, he’s more open to just saying “Yes.”

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:21 How Matt got started in ecommerce and the birth of Shelly Cove.
• 10:39 The roles in Matt’s family-run business.
• 13:57 Lessons learned from going to school full-time while also growing a business.
• 16:55 How Matt became an expert in marketing and business.
• 18:27 The strategy behind Shelly Cove’s product development and release.
• 20:34 When Matt realized he wanted to put all his energy into the business.
• 23:31 How Shelly Cove built a strong brand from day one and the delivery tactic they use to set themselves apart.
• 25:54 Connecting customers with the company’s charity to build deeper brand loyalty.
• 28:18 Some things Matt tried that ultimately flopped.
• 31:36 The turning point from t-shirt company to lifestyle brand.
• 33:26 Surprising sources Matt uses for his shipping supplies.
• 34:44 Advice from Matt: don’t run sales too often.
• 35:20 Looking to make a little extra cash with your business? Check out these sites.
• 37:38 What’s on Matt’s mind right now as Shelly Cove continues to grow.
• 39:26 The roles Matt hired for that allowed him to free up his time significantly.
• 43:53 Matt’s advice for aspiring business owners.

Links And Resources

• Shelly Cove
• Uprinting
• Faire
• Tundra
• Matt on Instagram
• Matt on Twitter - @SchroedsBiz
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Due to Facebook’s influence, your website is less and less often the first place potential customers learn about your brand.

We don’t see this changing anytime soon. In fact, Facebook’s already moving to on-site checkout, removing the need to visit your website altogether.

Today we’re talking about the future of Facebook advertising and how we see it evolving. We discuss what Facebook’s plans are for the platform, as well as for Instagram, and how you can be prepared for what’s to come. 

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:13 Why we’re talking about Facebook’s future and what you’ll learn today.
• 6:53 What Facebook has planned for future interactive elements.
• 9:04 How to use Instagram polls to increase engagement.
• 11:17 The future of augmented reality on Facebook and how it could impact your CPM.
• 14:22 Interactive games as ads: worth the hype or overrated?
• 16:05 Andrew’s biggest takeaways about the future of Facebook advertising.

Links And Resources

• 217: How Josh Meyer Built The Fastest Growing Company In Maine
• 208: The Power Of Paid Social: How Buffy.Co Blew Up
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

You look up at the clock and realize you’ve been working for 14 hours.

You’ve still got a dozen more emails to respond to before you can go home, maybe spend a little time with your family, then get 4 hours of sleep and start the cycle again the next day.

Sound familiar? This, my friends, is the recipe for burnout.

As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to get addicted to your work and feel like if you’re not spending 16 hours a day trying to grow your business, the person who is will beat you to the top.

Burnout isn’t talked about enough in the ecommerce world.

But today we’re changing that in our conversation with Mike Jackness, Co-Founder of EcomCrew and someone who has built and sold multiple businesses.

Mike shares the story of how he got started in ecommerce, his criteria for buying a business, and what it means to deal with entrepreneurial burnout.

This conversation really hit home for us, and we hope you get a lot out of it.

Episode Highlights

• 6:28 Mike’s life on the road for the last several months.
• 7:52 Who is Mike Jackness and how did he get started in ecommerce?
• 9:30 From ice wraps to adult coloring books: the variety of businesses Mike’s been involved with over the years.
• 11:49 Big opportunities in ecommerce right now that will help your brand stand out.
• 14:27 The criteria Mike’s looking for as he’s thinking about buying another business.
• 18:53 Strategies for increasing average order value and customer lifetime value.
• 23:24 If you’re going to launch a new product, make sure it has synergy with the rest of your brand.
• 26:05 The truth about entrepreneurial burnout and the importance of having connections and support.
• 30:05 Things to watch out for to help prevent yourself from burning out and the ongoing struggle of running a business.
• 34:35 How do you create an environment where you don’t have to compete?
• 36:25 The importance of identifying the time when you’re actually being productive.
• 39:12 Technical challenges of living on the road.

Links And Resources

• EcomCrew
• EcomCrew Podcast
• EcomCrew Roadshow
• Mike@ecomcrew.com
• Support@ecomcrew.com
• EcomCrew on Twitter
• Ice Wraps
• ColorIt
• One Click Upsell
• Klaviyo
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We’re in the midst of the busiest time of year for eCommerce. Will Q4 craziness get the best of you, or will you come out on the other side with your sanity intact?

Today we’re sharing five tips that will help you keep you from losing your mind this holiday season.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:36 Tip #1: Communicate holiday availability expectations early for both your team and your family.
• 8:55 Tip #2: Plan, plan, and plan again.
• 10:11 Important components of your marketing plan.
• 14:13 Tip #3: Evaluate your success based on execution, not outcome.
• 17:29 Tip #4: Be nice to your service providers.
• 19:11 Tip #5: Lean into the season.

Links And Resources

• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

What if you could double your business with Facebook over the next year?

That’s exactly what happened for Oral Essentials when they doubled-down on their FB advertising and focused on scaling up.

Oral Essentials CMO, Justin Maddahi, joins us today to discuss some of the game-changing tactics that have helped him grow the business with Facebook. He talks about why he’s shifted to nearly all user-generated content, how he approaches creative testing, and why he’s managing all aspects of Facebook in-house.

If you’re trying to scale up your advertising, you won’t want to miss this episode.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:15 The birth of Oral Essentials and what separates them from other oral care brands.
• 8:11 Justin’s journey from science major to CMO.
• 9:48 Why Justin decided to expand the business beyond Amazon and start owning his own channels.
• 11:56 The Facebook tactics that helped Oral Essentials see massive growth, including what Justin says you must start doing right now.
• 13:00 Why shifting to user-generated content is key to Facebook success.
• 16:01 How Oral Essentials got into influencer marketing and the main metrics to look at when deciding which influencers are best for your brand.
• 20:44 Justin’s approach to A/B testing Facebook ads and how much he recommends tweaking an ad before giving up on it.
• 23:45 Why it’s worthwhile to sacrifice a lookalike audience for the sake of testing.
• 25:12 The reason Justin hasn’t tried Facebook’s new Dynamic Creative Testing feature yet.
• 27:24 Don’t get hung up on targeting -- creative is what changes the game.
• 29:29 From ad agency to in-house: why Justin first outsourced his ads, and then decided to bring then back in.
• 31:37 Pro tip: engage with your audience when they comment on your ads.
• 32:47 Oral Essential’s growth strategy: why they’re expanding into retail stores and the impact their increased Facebook budget has had on retail sales.
• 35:00 The two most important things Justin’s learned while doubling the business over the last 12 months.
• 38:41 If you truly want to see success with your Facebook ads, get help from an expert.

Links And Resources

• Oral Essentials
• Upfluence
• Episode 173: The Five-Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account (the RCAB-P Process) 
• Book: Wizard of Ads
• justin@oralessentials.com 
• Ecommerce Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If someone tells you the secret to success is working as much as you possibly can, they’re wrong.

Successful, productive people don’t work more, they work on fewer things that have greater impact.

Today we’re joined by productivity expert and ex-world champion poker player Chris Sparks, who is also the founder and CEO of The Forcing Function.

Chris helps entrepreneurs identify what they truly want in life (step #1 to increasing your productivity) and then works with them to achieve their goals in the most effective way possible.

We talk with Chris about how to figure out what you actually want, the importance of leveraging your unique assets, and why reflection is the missing ingredient to progress.

Episode Highlights

• 6:44 Introducing Chris Sparks and how his obsession with productivity began at the poker table.
• 10:12 Why Chris decided to forego a job opportunity at Ford to become a professional poker player.
• 14:56 The double-down inspiration for Chris’ new book: Experiment Without Limits.
• 19:46 What sets Chris’ action-oriented (and free) productivity workbook apart.
• 22:33 The first question Chris asks when he starts working with a new client.
• 23:38 The difference between peak performers and those who are not.
• 25:42 Common myths about what productivity actually looks like.
• 28:39 Why it’s better to take one small step forward every single day rather than make big changes all at once.
• 32:12 How to figure out what you actually want.
• 38:18 What to do when your business has incredible momentum, but it’s costing you the lifestyle freedom you dreamed it would give you.
• 44:28 The importance of reflection to your productivity and progress.
• 47:04 The biggest weapon in any entrepreneur’s arsenal.
• 48:23 Tools Chris uses every day that increase his productivity.

Links And Resources

• The Forcing Function
• Free Workbook: Experiment Without Limits
• Performance Assessment
• Blog: 100+ Resources for Optimizing Your Productivity and Performance
• Oura Ring
• Chris Sparks on Facebook
• @SparksRemarks on Twitter
• @SparksRemarks on Instagram
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Do you ever get into a rut with your marketing ideas?

If you’ve been spinning your wheels looking for a new way to move some inventory and surprise and delight your customers, you don’t want to miss this episode.

Meri Geraldine, founder of the sustainable jewelry brand Gardens of the Sun, joins us to share the creative way she moved $25K in product in just a few hours.

Meri also talks about building an ethical supply chain, ingraining her personal values into the ethos of her business, and how she grew from a small Etsy shop into a full-blown ecommerce store.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:55 Introducing Meri and how she transitioned from working as a sustainability consultant in Indonesia to creating Gardens of the Sun.
• 9:18 How Meri’s quest to meet everybody in her supply chain led to the creation of a sustainable gold mining cooperative.
• 12:15 From an Etsy shop to a full-blown business.
• 14:49 The unexpected joys and challenges of growing a successful business.
• 16:38 How Meri incorporates her values into the ethos of her business.
• 18:53 Benefits of having a Bali-based business.
• 21:16 Maximizing your VIPs: How Meri sold $10K of inventory live on Instagram in just a few hours.
• 25:55 Smashing her monthly sales record with a specialty live sale on Facebook.
• 28:01 How Meri manages invoices and missed payments during live sales.
• 31:53 The other advertising levers Gardens of the Sun uses.
• 33:05 Lessons learned as a sustainability consultant that made Meri a better entrepreneur.
• 34:31 The 3 things Meri is trying to grow in the future: sapphires, creatives sales, and marketing through storytelling.
• 36:59 Resources Meri recommends to other business owners and marketers.

Links And Resources

• Gardens of the Sun
• Twitter: @GardensOfTheSun
• Instagram: @GardensOfTheSun
• Kurt Elster's Unofficial Shopify Podcast
• Unofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast/
• Ecommerce Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Hey advertisers, Facebook doesn’t care about you.

It cares about its users.

That’s why it recently launched a new tool called the Customer Feedback Score.

Facebook is using this tool to crackdown on drop shippers and other advertisers whose products don’t deliver.

Today we’re going to talk about where to find this tool, how to interpret the data it provides, and what you can do to improve your score.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:40 How Facebook is cracking down on drop shippers and shoddy products with its new tool.
• 8:25 Where to find you Customer Feedback Score in your account.
• 9:36 What you’ll see when you access your Customer Feedback Score and how to understand your score.
• 11:40 Reviewing positive feedback: what your customers want more of.
• 13:46 Identifying opportunities for improvement.
• 17:30 Don’t let your score drop too low or your ads, and your page, will be banned from Facebook.
• 18:55 As the big 3 ad platforms work to create better experiences for consumers, you’ve got to plan ahead and shift your approach accordingly.

Links And Resources

• The Facebook Customer Score
• Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Group
• Episode 215: Practical Tips From A Founder Who Got Slapped By Google…And Recovered
• Article: Facebook ramps up customer feedback surveys to crack down on misleading e-commerce ads
• Article: Introducing Checkout on Instagram
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Sometimes it takes a lot of failures before you make it big.

Today’s guest is no stranger to failure -- he once invested $250K in a company that never even launched.

But now, Josh Meyer is the CEO and co-founder of Brickell Men's Products, the fastest-growing company in Maine and the fastest-growing skincare company in the world.

Josh joins us to talk about the challenges Brickell faced with their rocketship growth, why he’d never raise money for a business again, and his love-hate relationship with Amazon.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:44 Introducing Josh and his path to becoming the CEO and co-founder of the fastest-growing company in Maine.
• 9:45 How Josh runs a business based in Maine, while living in Florida.
• 12:23 The moment Josh realized Brickell’s success was real.
• 14:00 Lessons learned from a $250K business flop.
• 17:32 Some of the challenges of being a fast-growing company.
• 20:39 How Josh assesses Brickell’s success and growth potential, and why he doesn’t trust Google Analytics.
• 24:56 As you spend more money on Facebook, you need to be critically examining the leads you acquire.
• 27:58 Brickell’s approach to customer loyalty programs and how it’s shifted as they’ve grown.
• 31:10 Why Brickell is willing to sell their soul to capture email addresses.
• 33:27 How Josh’s approach to email has evolved as the business has grown.
• 36:49 Why Josh thinks spending money on social media influencers is total BS.
• 39:01 When it comes to rolling out new products, if you’re going to fail, fail quickly.
• 41:14 Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer: how Amazon contributes to Brickell’s continued success.
• 44:54 Resources that have helped Josh along the way.
• 48:30 Now Hiring: Brickell is looking for a Marketing Director.
• 51:18 Three things you can do right now to start growing your business even faster.

Links And Resources

• Brickell Men's Products
• Eight Saints
• josh@brickellmensproducts.com
• Hiring: Marketing Director for Brickell Men's Products
• Klaviyo
• Upwork
• Asana
• Monday
• Noah Kagan: What I Learned Growing an 8-Figure Business
• Private Intensive Workshop
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

When I ask business owners what’s holding them back from making their next big hire, you know what they tell me?

Hiring sucks.

I’ve heard this time and time again.

Over the last month, I've gone through the process of hiring a marketing apprentice. I used an approach that’s helped me successfully hire many people over the years -- without stress.

Today, I’m going to share my entire approach with you, so you can make your next great hire, painlessly.

We’ll discuss how to create a job post that will attract great talent, how to conduct the pre-interview evaluation process, how to conduct a really great interview, and more.

Episode Highlights

• 6:59 The first step in the hiring process: figuring out what you’re looking for.
• 8:05 Don't make this mistake when creating your job listing.
• 9:01 How to write a job post that will attract great talent.
• 12:44 Writing your post to attract the right people, repel the wrong ones, and make it easy to disqualify applicants.
• 15:03 Outlining the skills and responsibilities you’re looking for in your job post that connect with your company ethos.
• 16:20 Some places to consider posting your job.
• 18:50 How to filter through your first round of candidates.
• 20:09 Round two of the application process: the test task.
• 23:27 How requiring a test task helps you make the right hire and why it’s not too much to ask, especially for remote positions.
• 25:58 The weeding out process after completion of the test task.
• 27:14 Round 3: getting to know your top candidates before the interview.
• 28:19 A lesson we learned at the interview stage and the change we’ll make in the future.
• 30:07 How to approach the face-to-face interview and some questions to ask.
• 34:17 Why we always request a Kolbe score before making a hire.
• 36:09 Extending an offer, onboarding, and beyond.
• 38:48 During this entire process, stay true to your company’s values.

Links And Resources

• Want access to all of our job post templates and resources? You can find them in the Coalition.
• We Work Remotely
• Dynamite Jobs
• Handshake
• Craigslist
• AngelList
• Indeed
• Ecommerce Fuel
• FlexJobs
• RemoteOK
• Kolbe Index
• Episode 205: Becoming A Brand: Instagram Moms And Peruvian Product Misadventures
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

What would you do if your organic traffic dropped by 90% overnight?

That’s exactly what happened to today’s guest earlier this year.

Mike Colavita, founder of Fat Buddha Glass, joins us today to talk about his experience being on the receiving end of a big Google slap and how he's recovering from an organic search drop. He shares why his site was dinged in the first place and the changes they’ve implemented since then to make nearly a full recovery five months later.

What at first seemed like the worst possible situation turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to Mike’s business.

I know you're going to enjoy this episode!

Episode Highlights

• 5:00 Introducing Mike Colavita and his entrepreneurial journey. 
• 6:45 The birth of Fat Buddha Glass.
• 9:20 How to raise brand awareness when you’re banned from practically every channel.
• 12:10 The turning point from part-time business to full-time endeavor.
• 15:19 Finding new marketing channels through content partnerships and placements.
• 16:41 The dire effect of the Google algorithm update on Fat Buddha Glass.
• 18:55 Why Google dinged Fat Buddha Glass and why Mike says it was actually one of the best things that’s ever happened to his business.
• 21:09 What mistakes Fat Buddha Glass was making with their SEO strategy and how they’ve fixed them.
• 24:45 Content is more than just your blog.
• 25:59 The strategies Fat Buddha Glass implemented to recover from its Google slap.
• 30:40 Google reveals what they’re looking for when evaluating web content.
• 32:06 The role blog posts played in improving Fat Buddha Glass’ rankings and why they prioritized product descriptions first.
• 34:57 Tools Mike recommends that helped him on his road to SEO recovery.
• 40:36 The value of having a phone number on your website and how it builds trust.

Links And Resources

• Fat Buddha Glass
• Klaviyo
• Google's SEO Guidelines
• Ahrefs
• Google Docs
• Wunderlist
• Google Analytics
• Google Search Console
• The Ecommerce Coalition
• Grasshopper
• mike@fatbud.com
• @FatBuddhaGlass on Instagram
• Episode 179: Making A Comeback After The Google Medic Update
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you’ve been wondering how to improve your Facebook ad creative, you’re not alone.

Great Facebook ad creative really sets successful brands apart. But, there’s not a lot of information out there about the fundamentals of building a system to generate ongoing creative and how to test whether it’s actually working.

So today we’re breaking it down for you. We talk about how to approach creative if you’re spending $5000 a week or $100,000, the questions to ask before you start testing, what’s working right now in terms of creative sizing, and some new tools you must start using.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:48 The amount of Facebook ad creative you need to be testing, and why it’s easier to create content now than ever before.
• 8:16 Clarifying the correlation between how much you can test and your overall budget.
• 9:28 A quick and simple way to pull together UGC and create an ad.
• 13:18 The most common issue businesses run into with putting together new creative.
• 15:22 A system for new creative development that will scale up, whether you’re spending $5K a month or $50K a month.
• 17:21 How often you should be putting new content into your funnel.
• 18:26 The frequency to look for that signals it’s time to update your Facebook ad creative.
• 20:06 What’s working with ad sizing right now and the new tools you need to know about.
• 24:54 The first question to ask yourself before you start testing your ads.
• 27:32 A step-by-step process for testing your creative and what to look for to determine success.
• 29:35 How much money to put behind your creative testing.
• 30:28 Which audiences to test your ads on.
• 31:39 Dynamic Creative Testing and why Andrew believes this is the most efficient way to test your ads.

Links And Resources

• Slack
• Canva
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you can sell water online, you can sell anything.

Today’s guest, who has been managing social strategy in the direct-to-consumer space since he was 15 years old, helped Hint water make a killing when he was their Director of DTC business.

Recently featured on Forbes 2019 list of 30 under 30, Nik Sharma is an expert at DTC marketing.

We chat with Nik about what he’s invested in now, his thoughts on building a brand, and his insightful tips on how to write scroll-stopping ad copy.

The DTC space continues to evolve and Nik is at the forefront. I know you’ll learn a lot during this episode just like we did.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:51 Nik’s fascinating career journey, starting at age 15.
• 9:07 How Nik successfully managed to sell water online with Hint.
• 12:14 The role of storytelling and the willingness to test new ideas in Hint’s marketing success.
• 14:50 The company structure that allowed Nik to accelerate Hint’s growth.
• 16:55 Changes Nik has seen within the direct-to-consumer space and the three things right now that are driving revenue.
• 22:06 How to evaluate whether you’re copy is going to be scroll-stopping.
• 26:34 Haus’ unique offering that made them so appealing for Nik to invest in.
• 31:07 Components of building a strong community as a brand.
• 35:33 Where Nik would start if he built his own brand today.
• 38:28 The important data to evaluate before investing in a company and the tech stack Nik recommends to access it.

Links And Resources

• Haus
• The Quench
• VaynerMedia
• AdEspresso
• Brooklinen
• Dirty Lemon
• Rex by The Infatuation
• Looker
• Glue
• Mixpanel
• Text Nik: 917-905-2340
• @mrsharma on Twitter
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @AndrewFoxwell on Twitter
• Ecommerce Profit Summit
• Foxwell Digital Courses (use code FB50 for $50 off)

Many business owners tell me one of the reasons they started their own company is to have the freedom to travel.

However, as their business grows, travel becomes stressful and they feel like they have less freedom, not more.

Today we’re helping you get that freedom to travel back by sharing our strategies for stress-free and productive traveling. We both have a lot of experience traveling and working, and we want to give you our tips for enjoying yourself, and getting stuff done, while on the road.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:08 The travel mindset and setting expectations.
• 6:59 The pace of business travel vs. ongoing travel.
• 7:59 A key thing to do on travel days that will help reduce stress.
• 10:47 In order to keep the freedom to travel as your team grows, you need to protect each other’s time.
• 13:42 The travel kit to put together to help you be more productive.
• 15:24 Andrew’s addition to his travel kit that’s been a game changer for staying calm on the road.
• 16:02 Tips for making the most out of long flights and drives.
• 19:05 Andrew’s road trip recipe for success.
• 21:50 What to do right away when you land in a new city to get grounded and ready to be productive.
• 25:20 Some travel apps/access hacks.

Links And Resources

• Headspace app
• Airbnb (if you haven't used Airbnb before, this link will give you $40 off)
• Work Hard Anywhere app
• LiquidSpace
• Breather
• LoungeBuddy
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @AndrewFoxwell on Twitter
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

The Golden Era of the direct-to-consumer business may very well be over.

But there are still ecommerce brands out there who are crushing it and in today’s episode we explore some of the reasons why.

Former Shopify Plus blog editor Aaron Orendorff has written a ton about ecommerce and the direct-to-consumer craze.

Today we have a thoughtful conversation about what it means to build a ecommerce brand in the current climate, what some fast-growing, successful companies are doing to show up in a more unique way, and how a bigger picture process around customer acquisition is helping them succeed.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 7:00 Introducing Aaron Orendorff and his two distinct professional lives.
• 10:26 Aaron’s transition from Seminary to Shopify Plus.
• 16:03 Why the Golden Era of direct-to-consumer is over.
• 18:26 How do small ecommerce brands with limited products succeed at shifting categories to scale up?
• 24:18 Engineering AOV from the start to the end of your sales funnel.
• 28:58 Good loyalty program tactics.
• 29:59 The three ingredients to a successful loyalty program.
• 33:37 Some companies who are killing it with their rewards programs.
• 37:23 Why it’s better to drive paid media to content rather than your product page.
• 41:52 SEO as part of the long game for the success of your ecommerce brand...is it right for everyone?
• 44:13 Which brands should invest in content and which ones shouldn't.
• 48:58 You can’t build a brand around itself, you build it around your community.

Links And Resources

• MarketingProfs
• How direct-to-consumer brands can avoid startup purgatory (VentureBeat)
• The State of D2C Marketing in 2019 (Yotpo)
• GHOST Loyalty Program
• @AaronOrendorff on Twitter
• @WilsonGHung on Twitter
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @AndrewFoxwell on Twitter
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Some Ecommerce Brands Make It Big While Others Stall Out, It’s A Fact.

But there’s really no big mystery behind why this happens.

A few months ago I was interviewed on a podcast by my good friend Brett Curry on the Ecommerce Evolution Podcast. We break down what separates e-commerce brands that scale up versus those that plateau.

After re-listening to the episode, I decided to share it with you. Brett and I talk about a variety of things, including average order value and lifetime value, and how that directly impacts your ability to scale up. We talk about demand generation versus demand capture: which is “better” and which lends itself to being able to scale. We talk about the roadmap to building a team and scaling up your business, how your role as a CEO changes as you grow, and much, much more.

I had a great time chatting with Brett, and I hope you enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 8:25 Why I’m so passionate about dissecting why some brands scale and others don’t.
• 9:56 The KPIs that separate the businesses that can scale from those that can’t.
• 11:18 Demand capture vs. demand generation and which one will allow you to scale.
• 14:51 Factors I look for when evaluating a product’s potential for growth.
• 16:53 How a passionate market can contribute to success.
• 21:03 Why having competitors in your market is a good thing.
• 21:44 Average order value and lifetime value: why they’re important and what to look for if you want to scale.
• 24:48 How to evaluate CPA across different channels and the other metric I recommend examining.
• 27:30 It’s OK if your business doesn’t scale — and this is why.
• 30:28 Growing your business by expanding your product line.
• 34:20 A true entrepreneur falls in love with their customers, not their product.
• 35:47 Great founders know when to ask for help.
• 37:17 Why business founders need to become experts at their marketing channels before handing over the reins.
• 41:23 How a CEO’s role shifts as the company grows.

Links And Resources

• ECommerce Evolution Podcast
• Business Lunch Podcast
• 2PM
• Episode 189: What’s Actually Working In SEM And On YouTube In 2019 (with Brett Curry)
• Profit Summit Intensive Workshop
• The Ecommerce Coalition
• Training: What’s Working With Google Ads Right Now
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Email is one of the most trusted ways to drive revenue in ecommerce.

But I still see too many people leaving money on the table and missing out on low-hanging fruit.

Today I’ll walk you through how to do a two-day email overhaul that will help you increase your revenue.

We’ll start by making sure your email service provider and integrations are set up correctly, create a branded email template, ensure you have a great offer that’s capturing tons of leads, and identify the email flows to build that have the biggest financial impact for your business.

This is the exact email overhaul process I’ve used with my clients to help them bring in $10K from email in just one week after set-up.

Can’t wait to hear your results!

Episode Highlights

• 5:06 How to ensure your email service provider is set up correctly.
• 6:20 The importance of tracking viewed products.
• 7:30 Other common mistakes Austin sees with ESP setup and integrations.
• 10:20 Creating an email template for your brand (without a designer).
• 13:45 Lead capture: the questions to ask yourself to make sure you’re set up for success.
• 14:55 How to come up with a good offer.
• 16:38 Deciding which tool is right for your lead capture.
• 18:55 The email flows that have the biggest financial impact for your business.
• 21:25 Simple tests to run that will improve your email performance and a tip for using profile properties to evaluate the success of your email sequences over time.
• 25:25 Tips for improving your subject line copywriting.
• 26:55 Using plain text emails to drive clicks.
• 28:00 Adding animated GIFs to emails with Soapbox.
• 28:50 Merging your content with commerce.

Links And Resources

• Klaviyo 
• Omnisend 
• CartHook
• ReCharge
• Justuno 
• Soapbox
• Private Intensive
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you’ve been on Facebook in the past week, you’ve probably seen an ad from Buffy.

What started as an idea to disrupt the bedding industry has grown into a multi-million dollar business.

Today Buffy co-founder Shoaib Kabani joins us to cover a range of topics.

We talk about everything from product development, to the importance of testing, how landing pages can improve your funnel, and what performance KPIs you have to be thinking about as you scale. , how he thinks about scaling up their business, what's worked for them.

Whether you’re a business owner or an ecommerce marketer, you’re going to get a lot out of this episode.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights: 

• 4:49 How a desire to change the bedding industry led to the creation of Buffy.
• 6:21 The training Shoaib got from his start in consulting that’s helped him as an entrepreneur.
• 7:35 Developing the initial idea and concept for Buffy: providing value and values.
• 9:31 The process of validating the concept online, on social, and in person before going all in.
• 12:48 How do I make this a no brainer for the consumer?
• 14:16 What’s worked for Buffy from a creative perspective and changes they’ve made as they’ve scaled.
• 18:40 Some of the unintended consequences of having a free trial offer.
• 19:56 Unique KPIs Shoaib looks at on a daily basis.
• 22:00 A funnel analysis tool that’s been a game changer as Buffy’s scaled up.
• 23:10 The materials and brand values that make Buffy stand out in the bedding industry.
• 25:05 How Buffy uses landing pages to enhance its sales funnel.
• 28:09 Addressing customer lifetime value when you have a limited number of products.
• 32:08 Shoaib’s approach to launching into new ad channels, specifically with affiliates and podcasts.
• 37:14 How the Buffy founders set their budget for testing new channels and concepts.
• 39:10 What you, the ecommerce business owner, need to be thinking about to be successful.
• 41:25 Exciting insight into what’s next for Buffy.

Links and Resources: 

• Buffy
• Heap
• Shoaib on Instagram: @ShoaibKabani
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts

It’s our goal to help our clients succeed, but even the experts get it wrong sometimes.

As we've seen in the first six months of the year, things have changed wildly within Facebook. Today, Andrew shares some of the advice he’s given that hasn’t worked out. And while he’s never intentionally led anyone astray, things don’t always go as planned. Andrew talks about five times his advice has failed on Facebook and the lessons learned from those mistakes.

We hope by sharing some of the worst Facebook advice of the year we’ll prevent you from making any of these mistakes yourself.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights: 

• 3:02 Why we’re talking about failure.
• 6:11 Budget advice: what we’ve said before and how we’d correct it.
• 10:35 Creative is the most important part of the FB ad equation, bottom line.
• 13:15 The gut check question to ask yourself before you run with your creative content.
• 14:55 Honesty around product market fit when you have a very specific niche.
• 18:40 Campaign budget optimization: it’s still the Wild West.
• 22:00 Not all lookalike audiences are created equal.
• 23:42 How to determine if your audience is viable for creating a lookalike audience.

Links and Resources: 

• Episode 191: How An Artist And Engineer Turned Business Owners Built A “Cult” 
• Episode 196: The Ugly Truth About Why Your Business Isn’t Scaling
• Episode 198: How To Create Winning Content On Facebook And Instagram
• Episode 202: How I Scaled From $500/Day To $15,000/Day In Ad Spend In 30 Days
• Andrew on Twitter: @andrewfoxwell
• Austin on Twitter: @a_brawn
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts

Q3 is officially here. What are you doing to prepare for the second half of the year?

For my team, the end of the quarter means it’s time to get out of the day-to-day grind and do some bigger picture planning.

Every three months we do a quarterly business offsite, where we take a step back so we can review our goals, and set new ones, that will help us move forward in the right direction.

Today we’re talking about the process we follow for our quarterly business offsite and how you can host one of your own. I’ll share the questions we ask to review the previous 90 days, how we capture ideas for improvements, and how we come up with our north star goal for the upcoming quarter.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 2:49 Why Austin’s excited to get off the grid and plan for a new quarter.
• 4:44 How to start preparing for your quarterly business offsite.
• 9:35 Questions to ask as you prepare for your offsite that will help your employees take ownership in the business.
• 12:35 A question that will help narrow in on the vision for the upcoming quarter.
• 13:29 Bonus question: what is one unique way we could create more monthly recurring revenue for the business?
• 14:59 The themes we use for each day of our offsite.
• 15:49 The big question Austin asks himself when reviewing the numbers from the previous quarter.
• 18:11 Questions to answer during a freewriting session to gain clarity on where you want the business to be one year from now.
• 19:10 A more structured alternative for creating a vision for the future.
• 20:59 The freedom and flexibility this kind of planning can give you, both in your work and in your life.
• 25:20 Reviewing your website and evaluating your funnel with critical eyes.
• 26:24 Day two of the quarterly business offsite: goal setting for the next 90 days and identifying your “north star.”
• 30:49 How to successfully wrap up your offsite (don’t forget to celebrate!).

Links And Resources

• Book: The Goal
• Chris Rudolph: Freedom Business Family
• UserTesting
• Episode 203: Why You Should Stop Selling Yourself Short And Think Like A Billionaire
• Andrew on Twitter
• Austin on Twitter
• The Coalition
• Brand Guild
• Foxwell Digital Courses
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Join The Coalition

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, I have something really exciting for you. For the last year and a half I’ve been coaching business owners and marketers inside a group called The Coalition. What launched as an experiment became a game changer for our over 150 members. 

If you’d like me and my team of expert marketers and ecommerce operators to coach you on your journey to scaling up your ecommerce business, this is your opportunity. We go in-depth on all the topics we talk about on this podcast and provide actionable training every single month. You’ll also get one-on-one coaching from me to help you grow your business. 

Head over to JointheCoalition.com to learn more. Can’t wait to see you inside.

It’s not always easy to maintain high-quality standards, especially when you want to sell organic, sustainable, and made-in-the-USA products.

Costs get high and sometimes that means concessions have to be made.

But sticking to your guns can lead to major payoff, especially when your customers have your back.

Today we chat with Jen and Kevin Long of Noble Carriage, who share the amazing story of how they built their dream company selling organic and sustainable baby clothes.

They share how they built and nurtured a supportive community, how this community helped them in the creation and launch of their own products, their challenging product sourcing journey, and how they’ve stood by their strict sustainability standards along the way.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:23 A game changer quick win tip on A/B testing.
• 8:35 How the search for safe and sustainable baby clothes led to the creation of Noble Carriage.
• 10:26 How Noble Carriage engages with its online community of moms in a way that provides support and establishes trust.
• 15:05 The importance of slowing down and examining your profit margins when evaluating your business and your ability to scale. 
• 18:39 What Jen and Kevin would have done differently in the growth of their business and why it’s so important not to get stuck living in the grind.
• 21:26 One of Kevin’s big lessons: If you’re going to fail, fail fast.
• 23:04 The value of understanding their audience before creating and launching their own products.
• 26:59 The challenging journey of sourcing organic and sustainable baby clothes.
• 31:09 The role of Noble Carriage’s community in their successful product development and launch.
• 33:08 How Noble Carriage marketed their new product across multiple channels. 
• 35:03 What’s working with email for Noble Carriage.
• 37:17 Jen’s plans for expanding their ambassador program.
• 40:51 Some exciting new Noble Carriage products coming later this year to Noble Carriage that people must watch out for and when these will be released.

Links and Resources:

• Noble Carriage
• Noble Carriage on Instagram: @noblecarriage
• Episode 149: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 1]
• Episode 150: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 2]
• Ecommerce Profit Summit (formerly the Brand Growth Experts Intensive)
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts

Join the Coalition

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, I have something really exciting for you. For the last year and a half I’ve been coaching business owners and marketers inside a group called The Coalition. What launched as an experiment became a game changer for our over 150 members.

If you’d like me and my team of expert marketers and ecommerce operators to coach you on your journey to scaling up your ecommerce business, this is your opportunity. We go in-depth on all the topics we talk about on this podcast and provide actionable training every single month. You’ll also get one-on-one coaching from me to help you grow your business.

Head over to JointheCoalition.com to learn more. Can’t wait to see you inside.

Quizzes are powerful tools used by some of the most successful companies I work with.

They can help you capture more emails, display personalized product recommendations to your customers, and increase your conversion rate. In today's episode, I'll share my tips on what companies can see the biggest gains from a quiz, who is killing it right now with their quiz funnels, and how you can build one for your business today.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 5:46 Why the most successful companies Austin works with use quiz funnels.
• 6:47 The company or product type that’s a perfect fit for a quiz funnel.
• 8:13 If you have a lot of organic traffic, here’s an example of how a quiz funnel can turn visitors into subscribers.
• 10:44 The companies quiz funnels don't necessarily work well for.
• 12:51 Two examples of companies that are successfully using a quiz funnel.
• 15:31 What sets successful quizzes apart.
• 16:17 Figuring out the right questions to ask.
• 19:10 How to create your first quiz.
• 21:31 Austin’s recommended quiz building tools.

Links and Resources:

• Typeform
• Klaviyo
• Annemarie Gianni Quiz
• Annmarie Gianni thank you page
• Beardbrand
• The Ecommerce Marketing Quiz
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners, and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo 

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Sponsor: Brex

Most online brands will tell you their biggest challenge is cash flow, right? Usually, you’re paying an arm and a leg on interest and fees to finance your inventory and seasonality.

Brex is the only corporate credit card built specifically with the needs of ecommerce business in mind, with crazy-good terms: Net 60 float, with no personal guarantee. Your card limit’s based on your monthly sales, not your credit score—and, oh yeah, there’s absolutely no interest and no fees. Whatever you spend on day 1, you have a whole 60 days to pay back. What you spend on day 2, you have another 60 days to pay, or day 61. Brex’s whole goal is to shrink that window between you paying for shipping or inventory and the revenue that’s going to generate, so you can keep growing. Brex is really built for ecommerce—it’s amazing. Right now, Brex is in the US only, so if that’s you, sign up with the code “influence” and a $250 credit will be added to your account and Brex will waive your card fees for life.

Got to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/brex to sign up.

Have you stopped to consider the next step in your entrepreneurial journey?

Perhaps you own a six or seven figure business now, but where will you be in 10 years? Will you still be living in the grind? Or are your sights set on acquiring companies and building a portfolio?

Today’s guest has done it all. He’s built his own business, was the CMO of Karmaloop, worked as a consultant, and now is the CEO of AutoAnything (just one of the businesses in his current portfolio). Drew Sanocki is back to talk about this journey and his recent entry into the acquisition side of ecommerce.

Drew will share his insights on buying businesses, establishing company culture, hiring the right team, and why these days he’s more focused on creating alignment than hustling.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 2:53 A quick win with Facebook’s new cost cap bidding.
• 9:55 The perspective Drew gained from a trip around the world and how it led him to think like a billionaire by focusing on acquiring assets rather than hustling.
• 13:14 How Drew made his first acquisition.
• 16:39 Drew's journey from Chairman of the Board to becoming CEO of AutoAnything.
• 18:50 What it's like to run a $100 million dropshipping company.
• 20:09 Comparing life as the CMO of Karmaloop vs. the CEO of AutoAnything.
• 23:29 The importance of making the right hires if you want to be a successful CEO.
• 25:28 Drew’s approach to building a strong company culture.
• 28:58 The impact of a company’s size on its culture.
• 32:17 How long it took Drew to make cultural changes once he took over as CEO.
• 34:36 Drew’s ebb and flow between lifestyle businesses and managing a company at a larger scale.
• 37:59 A lesson in the importance of thinking like a billionaire.
• 40:01 What you need to know now in order to succeed as an investor in the future, and how to use your current skill set to your advantage.
• 48:25 How Drew made the decision to make a change in his professional life.
• 51:05 The importance of rest, setting boundaries, and work-life balance.
• 53:57 How being starved for resources helps you to prioritize.
• 54:59 OKRs: What are they and how they’ve helped create alignment and focus within Drew’s business.
• 58:15 Why Drew is fired up about direct mail in 2019.
• 1:00:12 How Drew manages to run three companies at once.

Links and Resources:

• Netflix Culture Deck
• AutoAnything
• PostPilot
• GoSimple
• Nerd Marketing
• Book: Powerful by Patty McCord
• Book: Measure What Matters by John Doerr
• Book: Deep Work by Cal Newport
• Drew on Instagram: @drewsanocki
• Episode 183: How To Manage Your Time Strategically While Growing Your Business
• Episode 116: 4 Profitable Email Strategies You Can Swipe For Your Brand
• Cost Cap Facebook Bidding
• Klaviyo
• Ecommerce Profit Summit (formerly the Brand Growth Experts Intensive)
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Join The Coalition

If you’ve enjoyed this podcast, I have something really exciting for you. For the last year and a half I’ve been coaching business owners and marketers inside a group called The Coalition. What launched as an experiment became a game changer for our over 150 members. 

If you’d like me and my team of expert marketers and ecommerce operators to coach you on your journey to scaling up your ecommerce business, this is your opportunity. We go in-depth on all the topics we talk about on this podcast and provide actionable training every single month. You’ll also get one-on-one coaching from me to help you grow your business. 

Head over to JointheCoalition.com to learn more. Can’t wait to see you inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo 

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Sponsor: Shoelace

Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores build brand equity, increase conversions and grow revenue using Customer Journey Retargeting by showing the right ad to the right people at the right time.

Shoelace is excited to announce its all-new integration with Klaviyo. This integration lets you seamlessly synchronize your marketing activity across your email and retargeting channels. Boost your email campaigns by automatically retargeting email recipients across multiple channels. Increase campaign engagement by showing ads to recipients who didn’t open or click an individual campaign. Most importantly, drive growth by effortlessly retargeting all of your Klaviyo lists and segments with personalized messaging.

To find out more visit ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and supercharge your email campaigns today.

When you talk about scaling up in ecommerce, Facebook ads are often the first thing on most business owners’ lists.

Today Andrew shares the exact steps he followed to help a client scale from $500/day to $15,000/day in ad spend in 30 days. He talks about what you need to do before you start scaling and the steps to follow as you grow.

If you’re ready to dive deep into the weeds of your Facebook ad account, build new audiences, test new placements, and explore bidding options, this episode is for you.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:22 Words of caution when you hear someone say there’s only one way to do something.
• 9:20 How to establish your baseline before you start scaling up your Facebook ads.
• 11:31 Preparing to address the creative gap as you scale.
• 13:32 What’s worked for Andrew when it comes to images on Facebook and Instagram.
• 15:50 Building your arsenal of audiences: what to test as your ads scale.
• 17:45 Andrew's thoughts on how Facebook creates value-based lookalike audiences and potential audience overlap.
• 20:42 The definition of horizontal scaling.
• 21:05 The importance of testing different audiences to find the one that works best.
• 23:55 How to set up an interest CBO with help from Google Analytics.
• 25:25 Setting up your remarketing audiences as you scale.
• 28:09 The most valuable thing that worked for Andrew’s client: top of the funnel Instagram stories.
• 30:15 Andrew's process for setting up your Facebook and Instagram placements.
• 32:00 How to bid effectively as you scale.
• 35:10 How to approach ad account monitoring so you don’t kill your own progress.
• 36:43 Campaigns with CBO vs. other campaigns: when to use it and when you might not want to.
• 30:07 Austin shares his experience in running a campaign CBO as an experiment.

Links and Resources:

• Episode 198: How To Create Winning Content On Facebook And Instagram
• Episode 191: How An Artist And Engineer Turned Business Owners Built A “Cult”
• Episode 146: Why Your Ads Get More Expensive As You Scale (And What To Do About It)
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Sponsor: Shoelace

Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores build brand equity, increase conversions and grow revenue using Customer Journey Retargeting by showing the right ad to the right people at the right time.

Shoelace is excited to announce its all-new integration with Klaviyo. This integration lets you seamlessly synchronize your marketing activity across your email and retargeting channels. Boost your email campaigns by automatically retargeting email recipients across multiple channels. Increase campaign engagement by showing ads to recipients who didn’t open or click an individual campaign. Most importantly, drive growth by effortlessly retargeting all of your Klaviyo lists and segments with personalized messaging.

To find out more visit ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and supercharge your email campaigns today.

Advertising plays a big role in any ecommerce strategy. So what do you do if your brand is banned from advertising on Facebook, Google, and Amazon?

That’s the challenge faced by Chad Lio, Director of Marketing for Veritas Farms, a company that sells CBD. While not technically regulated by the FDA, there are still many limitations when it comes to advertising CBD.

Today Chad joins us to talk about Veritas Farms’ multifaceted marketing approach, and how they successfully drive sales, despite being banned from some of the top ad platforms. He’ll share what’s working for them with influencer marketing, media buying, SEO, and more, and the critical role research plays across their entire strategy.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:48 Chad’s experience in digital marketing and ecommerce.
• 6:12 Multifaceted marketing: what it means to be the Director of Marketing for a company that sells both online and in retail brick and mortar.
• 8:02 Navigating the wild, wild west of selling CBD.
• 12:10 The detailed process Chad and his team follow to find the right influencers.
• 15:32 The importance of doing your research, especially when it comes to SEO.
• 19:15 Content Marketing: deciding what channel you want to go after first.
• 22:15 Chad’s #1 piece of advice for content marketing in ecommerce.
• 25:10 How Veritas Farms uses the 80/20 rule in their content marketing strategy and the role media buying plays for them.
• 27:54 What to look for when seeking publishers for your sponsored content.
• 29:57 The marketing strategy that's most effective for Veritas Farms.
• 31:47 Questions to ask before you start focusing on conversion rate optimization.
• 35:35 The email sequence that’s most successful for Veritas Farms, and a new Klaviyo feature you won’t want to miss.
• 37:50 Veritas Farms lead generation strategy and the importance of segmenting your email list.
• 41:35 Why research is a critical component if you want to successfully scale up.

Links and Resources:

• Veritas Farms
• Episode 129: Content Marketing – What You Need To Know With Nat Eliason
• Hotjar
• Visual Website Optimizer
• Crazy Egg
• Klaviyo
• Chad on Instagram: thechadlio
• Chad on Twitter: @thechadlio
• Chad on LinkedIn
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Sponsor: Shoelace

Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores build brand equity, increase conversions and grow revenue using Customer Journey Retargeting by showing the right ad to the right people at the right time.

Shoelace is excited to announce its all-new integration with Klaviyo. This integration lets you seamlessly synchronize your marketing activity across your email and retargeting channels. Boost your email campaigns by automatically retargeting email recipients across multiple channels. Increase campaign engagement by showing ads to recipients who didn’t open or click an individual campaign. Most importantly, drive growth by effortlessly retargeting all of your Klaviyo lists and segments with personalized messaging.

To find out more visit ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and supercharge your email campaigns today.

When I’m working with my private coaching clients our conversations inevitably end up focusing on how to become a more effective executive.

In today's episode, Andrew and I share four rules to follow that will help you make better decisions as an executive and run your business, team, or agency more effectively.

These rules include tracking and understanding your time, focusing on doing more of the right things, setting and reviewing your goals often, and asking yourself what the business needs from you. We'll also share how we've implemented these rules in our own businesses and how they've made us more effective.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:49 Rule #1: Respect and understand your time.
• 5:04 How to efficiently track your time and what to do when once you understand where you’re spending it.
• 6:56 How finding his “Zone of Genius” helped Andrew focus his time and better delegate tasks.
• 9:02 Rule #2: Do more of less.
• 11:12 The importance of setting aside uninterrupted time for high leverage projects.
• 12:29 Rule #3: Set the right goals and review them often.
• 14:14 The metrics you should be tracking to predict success (HINT: Revenue isn’t one of them).
• 16:06 Rule #4: Ask yourself what you can do to help the business.

Links and Resources:

• Episode 183: How To Manage Your Time Strategically While Growing Your Business
• Episode 084: (Part 1) The Art & Science Of Doing Twice As Much In Half The Time Using Scrum For Ecommerce
• Episode 085: (Part 2) The Art & Science Of Doing Twice As Much In Half The Time Using Scrum For Ecommerce
• Episode 086: (Part 3) The Art & Science Of Doing Twice As Much In Half The Time Using Scrum For Ecommerce
• Episode 149: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 1]
• Episode 150: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 2]
• Toggl
• Tracking Time
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

JT Marino wanted to build a company that would disrupt an industry.

With Tuft & Needle he did just that, bootstrapping his way from nothing to the largest online mattress retailer in the world.

JT, co-founder of Tuft & Needle and now the Chief Strategy Officer for SSB Phoenix, joins us today to share his incredible story.

We talk about why customer-centricity was one of Tuft & Needle’s core principles from the beginning, and the role it played in their eventual merger with Serta Simmons. JT shares his thoughts on the importance, as a founder, of having an intimate understanding of how every aspect of your business works, and why they decided not to take any outside investments when they first started out.

This is one of my favorite founder interviews we’ve done and I hope you enjoy it!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:52 Introducing JT Marino
• 5:41 How the friendship and partnership started between the founders of Turf & Needle, JT and Daehee
• 10:07 How the Tuft & Needle co-founders maintain a strong friendship while running a business together
• 11:45 How JT’s prior experience with heavily-funded, but unsuccessful, Silicon Valley start-ups influenced Tuft & Needle’s decision to not take outside investments.
• 16:15 The importance of identifying “the problem” when you’re building a business, and how this led to the creation of Tuft & Needle
• 18:22 Some of the other principles the Tuft & Needle founders committed to before starting their business
• 20:05 How JT and Daehee used a problem-solution approach to determine whether they had product-market fit for Tuft & Needle
• 26:53 The benefits of being highly involved with and having an intimate understanding of every aspect of the business, from manufacturing to supply chain to marketing
• 29:57 How Tuft & Needle moved through the pit of sorrow and started to scale
• 34:06 How a Hacker News blog post contributed to explosive growth ofTuft & Needle
• 36:51 The importance of customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth to Tuft & Needle’s success, especially when they had a limited advertising budget
• 38:34 The various channels that helped grow the business over time
• 41:39 JT's approach to tracking attribution across a variety of channels
• 44:49 How Tuft & Needle developed advertising techniques and targeting that span across digital and non-digital
• 49:28 The unconventional reason Tuft & Needle started selling on Amazon
• 52:33 The Net Promoter Score target T&F set before making the decision to list on Amazon
• 55:04 JT’s advice if you’re considering selling on Amazon and the importance of looking at the market picture as you start to grow
• 58:29 The role customer-centricity played in Tuft & Needle’s decision to merge with Serta
• 1:05:40 The future of the mattress industry
• 1:08:42 JT shares his hobbies and what’s in store for him in the next year

Links and Resources:

• Tuft & Needle
• How to Get Startup Ideas by Paul Graham
• Blog: How we bootstrapped to the #1 rated mattress on Amazon.com
• Meet the Warby Parker of Mattresses
• JT on Twitter: @johnmarino
• JT@tn.com
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Most of the time when our clients get big wins they can be traced back to the quality of their content.

Big wins come from winning content, and today Andrew and I are going to discuss how to create that winning content for Facebook and Instagram ads. We’ll share the specific features your content must have if you want to stand out, and our top tips for creating winning imagery, video, and copy.

These principles apply not only to Facebook and Instagram, but can be integrated across your entire marketing funnel to help you in all aspects of your business.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 2:40 A tactic that helped one of Andrew’s clients see an 8X return during their spring launches
• 5:14 What’s working now with Facebook and Instagram advertising and the winning features your contents must have
• 6:30 The three fundamental things you must get across in your content: trust, previous customer experience, and quality
• 10:04 How to turn a Facebook ad into its own landing page with all the fundamentals included
• 12:02 When you’re creating imagery, ask yourself: How can I make this look real and represent what it actually looks like when someone’s using it?
• 12:57 Why user-generated content can provide you with the best imagery, and a company that’s killing it with their UGC content
• 14:49 Andrew's take on lifestyle imagery and making sure your product is at least 50% of any image
• 17:21 What you should consider when it comes to creating  video content, and why you might not want to do it at all
• 18:08 Types of video content that can work well
• 21:29 If you have a product that needs an explanation, then video may be a necessity for your advertising.
• 23:44 What makes good copy, including: ratings, your unique value propositions, a clear CTA, scarcity, and more
• 28:58 Austin's tips for how to get started with writing your winning content

Links and Resources:

• Book: Influence
• Grin
• Episode 184: Use These 20 Questions to Get Unstuck With Your Facebook Ads Part 1
• Andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Sponsor: Katana

If you’re in the product making business, we have great news for you. There’s now a Shopify app built and designed for merchants that make their own products. You can manage your sales orders, raw materials, production schedule inventory and material purchasing from one single dashboard. The name of this app is Katana.

Katana is designed for makers, crafters and small manufacturers selling on Shopify. Until now, product makers selling in ecommerce had to settle with messy spreadsheets or regular inventory management software, which can be challenging if you make your own products. Katana is built from ground up with the needs of small manufacturers in mind. Production scheduling and inventory management has never been this easy for Shopify merchants.

For a free 14-day trial of Katana, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/katana. And, use the code “influence” when signing up to get 30% off from your first 3 months of a paid subscription.

Establishing trust among your customers can be challenging, especially in certain markets.

Kevin Chen is Vice President and co-founder of iRestore, a company that sells laser hair growth systems. Despite selling a product with a particularly skeptical audience, iRestore has grown to eight-figures over the last few years.

Kevin joins us today to share his story of success. He talks about how he establishes trust and builds social proof with his customers, how he became an expert in Facebook advertising and iRestore’s secret behind their success with video on Facebook.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:51 How Kevin got started in the ecommerce space.
• 7:24 “Does it really work?” How iRestore gained the trust of a skeptical audience.
• 9:41 How iRestore keeps their customers engaged during their hair growth journey in order to cultivate social proof once they get results.
• 11:19 iRestore’s journey from Amazon to Shopify, to Facebook, and when Kevin realized he had a business that worked.
• 13:14 How hiring an agency helped Kevin became an expert at Facebook advertising.
• 15:40 The contribution of iRestore's in-house customer service team in collecting user-generated content.
• 18:19 How the changes to Facebook’s advertising platform have led Kevin to focus more on lead generation.
• 20:25 Why you don’t have to be so focused on conversion objective as explained by Andrew.
• 22:10 A conceptual example of why you don’t have to solely focus on conversion and ROAS.
• 23:56 iRestore’s secret behind their winning Facebook video ads.
• 27:41 How Kevin sees different paid channels working together to both drive and capture demand.
• 30:00 The realization Kevin had while the business is growing that he's no longer doing right now
• 32:26 Shiny Object Syndrome: how Kevin is learning to say no.
• 34:25 Kevin's input in hiring: what he looks for when hiring and the importance of mindset.
• 36:16 What Kevin is working on right now that he’s most excited about and his goal for iRestore this year.
• 38:11 How Kevin is approaching new product development in terms of increasing LTV and AOV.
• 40:08 How Kevin keeps himself motivated and healthy despite the demanding hours at work.

Links and Resources:

• Restore
• kevin@irestorelaser.com
• Now Hiring: iRestore LinkedIn
• Now Hiring: iRestore Indeed
• Help Scout
• Animoto
• Google Data Studio
• Book: Traction
• Episode 183: How To Manage Your Time Strategically While Growing Your Business
• Austin on Twitter: @a_brawn
• Andrew on Twitter: @Andrewfoxwell
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Sponsor: Katana

If you’re in the product making business, we have great news for you. There’s now a Shopify app built and designed for merchants that make their own products. You can manage your sales orders, raw materials, production schedule inventory and material purchasing from one single dashboard. The name of this app is Katana.

Katana is designed for makers, crafters and small manufacturers selling on Shopify. Until now, product makers selling in ecommerce had to settle with messy spreadsheets or regular inventory management software, which can be challenging if you make your own products. Katana is built from ground up with the needs of small manufacturers in mind. Production scheduling and inventory management has never been this easy for Shopify merchants.

For a free 14-day trial of Katana, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/katana. And, use the code “influence” when signing up to get 30% off from your first 3 months of a paid subscription.

We know how frustrating it is when your business isn’t growing at the rate you think it should.

Andrew and I have gone under the hood of dozens of different companies over the years and now when a company approaches us, it’s easy to spot the ones that will be able to scale up, and the ones that will struggle.

Today, we share seven reasons your business might not be scaling and what you can do to fix it. We’ll talk about market size, margins, LTV, and product diversification, and how all of these things impact your ability to scale. This episode will help you identify potential issues and give you solutions for the most common reasons why your business may not be scaling.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:32 Reason #1 that your business might not be scaling: Your market is too small or too cheap.
• 6:25 What to do if your market is too cheap.
• 7:50 One solution for scaling up if your market is too small.
• 8:43 Reason #2 that your business isn’t scaling: Your contribution margin isn’t large enough.
• 10:29 How to solve your contribution margin issue..
• 11:26 Reason #3: Your AOV or LTV is too low to advertise profitably.
• 13:13 The workaround for increasing LTV if you have a low AOV.
• 15:02 Reason #4: You don't have any repeat customers.
• 16:08 How to build a product system that will get you repeat customers.
• 18:21 Reason #5: You don't have complementary products.
• 20:20 Reason #6 why you might not be scaling: You're too cheap to hire quality people.
• 22:25 Reason #7: You have a product that you sell, not a business.
• 23:48 If you’re just selling a product, here’s what you need to do to build a business.
• 25:39 You don’t always have to scale to be successful.

Links and Resources:

• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Running one company can be a challenge. But what about running 12?

Our guest today is doing just that. Ecommerce investor Shakil Prasla of Pro Click Ventures joins us to talk about how he built his portfolio of ecommerce businesses. He shares what he looks for when acquiring new companies, how to hire CEOs, and what’s possible on the acquisition side of ecommerce.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:38 Shakil Prasla's background and how he got started in the ecommerce space.
• 7:54 From website builder to ecommerce investor.
• 9:57 How Shakil structured his 12 businesses and how they operate together.
• 12:47 SEO and content: the importance of these when considering acquisition and future growth.
• 16:39 Income and age of company: Why these two criteria are essential in evaluating a company to see if it’s worth buying.
• 18:22 How Shakil is able to productively manage 12 businesses at once and the apps that help him to be more efficient.
• 22:42 Shakil’s experience with buying companies with a bank loan and how to go about financing a loan.
• 227:35 How Shakil gives his businesses a competitive advantage: through the lens of an investor.
• 30:02 What Shakil looks for when hiring managers and CEOs.
• 33:43 The incentive structure for the CEOs of Shakil’s businesses, and what he does if they quit.
• 36:54 The other factors Shakil looks for when determining whether a company is a good buy.
• 41:07 The advice Shakil would have given himself when he was just starting out.
• 42:26 Shakil’s biggest mistake when buying a business.
• 43:41 Shakil's structure for reviewing prospective companies, and how many actually make it to the due diligence process.
• 46:12 Why Shakil doesn’t believe you need to focus on one thing at a time to be successful.

Links and Resources:

• Pro Click Ventures
• Shakil@proclickventures.com
• eCommerceFuel
• Klipfolio
• Gantt chart
• Asana
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It's my online coaching community and it's an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com and you can learn some more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

If you’ve been having issues with Facebook recently, you’re not alone.

My Twitter feed has been blowing up with people talking about the problems they're having and screenshots of breakdowns and errors.

So in today’s bonus episode, Andrew and I provide some background on how these Facebook issues started, what changes are here to stay, and what you can do to manage your clients' (or your own) expectations.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 2:42 When the Facebook issues started and the problems we’re seeing.
• 6:07 Andrew’s theories on why this massive disruption is happening on Facebook.
• 8:50 The 4 things you can do to help your client or team when confronting these Facebook issues.
• 9:18 #1: Show them the data to prove you’re taking action to stabilize the account.
• 10:18 #2: Send your client this podcast.
• 11:01 #3: Let them know it’s not permanent.
• 12:02 The macro trend that’s going to continue on Facebook even after the current issues are addressed.
• 12:52 #4: Communicate the importance of quality creative and great UX both on Facebook and your website.
• 14:08 Other channels to consider for diversification and stability.
• 15:47 The bigger question you should be examining in relation to your business model as Facebook costs continue to rise.
• 17:47 Why these issues actually present a great opportunity for you or your clients.
• 18:41 The Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Industry Group.

Links and Resources:

• Post-Facebook Outage, Ad Buyers are Grappling with Out-of-Control Costs
• Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Industry Group
• Andrew on Twitter: @Andrewfoxwell
• Andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

If you’re not yet familiar with Campaign Budget Optimization, now is the time.

Facebook recently rolled out this new ad feature and has plans for it to become a requirement for all advertisers later this year.

Today, Andrew goes in-depth with everything you need to know about Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO). We discuss what CBO is all about: the framework for setting it up, how to approach your bids, and other killer tips that will make sure you’re set up for success when you start testing it out.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:57 The new feature for your Facebook Ad campaigns: Campaign Budget Optimization.
• 5:15 What is CBO and how it's different from the traditional model.
• 8:27 How to set up the ideal CBO campaign.
• 10:57 Determining your audiences within the CBO.
• 13:38 Strategies that are staying the same with CBO.
• 14:36 Recommended bidding for CBO.
• 15:37 How CBO works within prospecting and remarketing.
• 17:35 Reasons why CBO scales well.
• 19:39 What are minimum and maximum spends within CBO and how to manage them.
• 22:22 Killer tips from Andrew to get the most out of CBO.

Links and Resources:

• Episode 173: The Five-Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account
• The Brand Guild
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, or hiring a team, diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

How often have you added a new element to your website because you thought it “looked cool”?

The reality is that a jumble of “cool” widgets and features can slow down your site and actually worsen your customer experience.

In today's episode, we bring back Kurt Elster who is a specialist in conversion rate optimization and runs an ecommerce website design and development agency, Ethercycle.

Kurt shares his insights on the key components of a successful ecommerce website design. Learn the how-tos and what-nots of what makes a great website, including product page design, the importance of great copywriting, and why design actually shouldn’t be your #1 focus.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:02 “Ruthless Empathy”: the mindset Kurt says you need to have when analyzing your website.
• 6:44 The core elements of successful ecommerce website design.
• 8:46 The questions to ask yourself to determine whether you really need all those widgets on your site.
• 10:41 How to balance simplicity with complexity in your website.
• 13:22 Why you should approach your website design with a clear decision framework, rather than a design wishlist.
• 15:36 The interesting things Walmart is doing with its web design that have helped increase its online sales.
• 20:04 What Austin sees as a standout on Walmart's site that a lot of Shopify stores don't do.
• 21:29 Which design should come first: mobile or desktop?
• 24:49 The key elements to include on your homepage.
• 27:00 Aspects of homepage design that work to direct people to the product page (and why this should be your #1 goal).
• 30:59 Your product pages: the must-haves, what's usually missing, and the perfect example of a business that's doing it right.
• 35:08 Why Kurt doesn’t believe you should use artificial scarcity to drive people to buy.
• 37:20 How to use urgency and scarcity in a legitimate way.
• 38:54 Why you should be using video on your product page.
• 41:34 An alternative to artificial scarcity as suggested by Austin.
• 43:49 The best ways to sell complementary products to people and increase AOV.
• 49:39 Why Kurt’s excited about the future of personalization.
• 51:19 Something Kurt believes to be true that most other entrepreneurs don’t agree with.

Links And Resources

• RightMessage
• The Unofficial Shopify Podcast
• KurtElster@tokurtelster.com
• Ethercycle
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts

Become a Member

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It’s my online coaching community, and it’s an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners, and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com for more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Your customers are worth more than what they purchase from your store today.

If you can retain them as a customer over time, you can gain more profits for your business.

This week, Andrew and I have a meaty, and sometimes conflicting, conversation on customer lifetime value (LTV). We start by breaking it down with the basic definition and then share higher level strategies for how you can increase customer LTV, as well as some tactics you can implement today.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:02 How to measure customer LTV (and why it’s difficult to do).
• 5:52 The first question Andrew has his client’s answer when they ask about LTV.
• 7:39 Calculating retention rate: why you can only do it if you have a subscription business, and what to look for if you don't.
• 8:37 The 3 metrics to increase in order to improve LTV.
• 10:17 What Native Deodorant is doing during their checkout process that’s driving increased customer LTV.
• 13:08 The benefit of a subscription business and why you should consider it, even if you don’t think that model is right for you.
• 18:01 Andrew's view on how lifetime value can increase by finding out clients motivation points.
• 19:04 Why Austin cautions against giving using surveys and VIP customer discounts as a way to increase LTV.
• 20:52 The number one thing Austin now believes is the best option for increasing LTV.
• 22:21 How utilizing value-based lookalikes and bid optimization on Facebook can increase LTV.
• 23:24 A Facebook tactic for increasing LTV that most people don't know exists.
• 24:33 A trend Austin believes is going to be very successful for companies in the future.
• 25:22 Additional Facebook and email tactics for increasing LTV.
• 28:25 Why cost of acquisition prices are going up and what you can do about it.
• 31:41 How to boost LTV on the next re-bill using Recharge.

Links and Resources:

• Wilson Hung’s Blog Post on Customer Lifetime Value
• Episode 178: You’re Treating Your Customers Equally (And It’s Costing You Money)
• Native Deodorant tweet
• Dynamic Product Ad on Facebook
• ReallyGoodEmails.com
• ARPU
• Recharge App on Shopify
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Success in the ecommerce world doesn’t happen overnight.

Our guests today are not only big contributors to the ecommerce community, but are also co-founders of a business they built from nothing to one that now has a cult following.

I met Matt and Meredith, owners of Boredwalk T-Shirts, at an Intensive I led a couple of years ago. Today they join us to share the story of how they built their “cult” of customers, including customer service best practices and how they overhauled their hiring process to rebuild a team that is excited about the core values of the company.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 6:29 How it all started for Matt and Meredith in the ecommerce space.
• 8:06 The cheeky birth of  Boredwalk T-Shirts.
• 11:11 The big team and operational changes Matt and Meredith made in 2018 that allowed them to grow their business.
• 13:45 How Matt and Meredith's revamped their hiring process to find the best people for their business.
• 18:41 Things Matt and Meredith tried last year on Facebook and Pinterest that didn't deliver the results they hoped for, even though, hypothetically, they should have.
• 25:08 The journey from focusing on the marketplace side of the business to focusing on customer retention (i.e., building a “cult”).
• 30:00 Matt and Meredith’s customer service philosophy: responding promptly, managing expectations, and not negotiating with terrorists.
• 33:10 Why the Boredwalk founders go against the industry standard when it comes to dealing with bad customer behavior.
• 35:55 How not to talk to customers: the operational side of Boredwalk’s customer service strategy.
• 39:30 How Matt and Meredith take extra care of their “whales" and bond with their audience.
• 40:51 The realities of owning an ecommerce business: why it’s not just a side hustle and what it takes to be successful.
• 44:49 Mental health of entrepreneurs, and why Matt and Meredith don’t recommend the ecommerce world to all.
• 47:15 How the Boredwalk founders have changed in the last four years and what’s helped them make it to where they are now.

Links and Resources:

• Boredwalk T-Shirts
• Ecommercefuel.com
• Matt and Meredith's blog post on the job advertising process
• Book: Traction
• The Boredwalk Podcast interview with Brian Swichkow
• Episode 116: 4 Profitable Email Strategies You Can Swipe For Your Brand
• Help Scout
• Scan Mailboxes
• eCommerceFuel Podcast: Cultivating Better Mental Health as Entrepreneurs with Sherry Walling
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you've been a podcast listener for a while and you've yet to join the Brand Growth Experts Membership, now is the time to do it. It's my online coaching community and it's an incredible resource for you. We've got about 120 members, all ecommerce business owners and marketers. And in that community, I work with you one on one to help scale up your business.

That could be scaling up advertising, hiring a team, or diving into marketing strategy. We go really in depth every single month on topics that we also talk about on the podcast. So, if you've enjoyed the podcast, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership. Head over to brandgrowthexperts.com and you can learn some more information. Can't wait to see you guys on the inside.

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you’re looking to grow your business, there’s only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they’ll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that’ll help grow your business and make more money. That’s why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

A topic that’s come up a lot in my recent conversations is how to hire a high-level marketing person.

Finding the right candidate can be tough, and when you’re a business owner doing a million other things, it can be even tougher.

In this episode, Andrew and I talk through the hiring process, from deciding when to hire, to where to look for the best candidates, and the questions to ask before hiring to make sure you’re getting the best person for the job.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:41 How to know when it’s time to hire a CMO or Director of Marketing and one of the key signs to look for.
• 6:28 Two main things to understand when you start the hiring process for a high-level marketing candidate.
• 7:35 The most effective way to find the ideal candidate.
• 9:23 Tips for working with a recruiter to find your next CMO.
• 11:14 The two different types of candidates you’ll find when hiring a Director of Marketing.
• 13:24 What to ask a potential new hire before you bring them in for an interview and the type of answers to look for.
• 17:32 Once you confirm someone is a good fit, it’s time for the 15-minute phone call. Here are the questions to ask during that call.
• 19:42 What is a “T-Shaped Marketer” and why you want to hire one.
• 23:46 The framework for the in-person interview and what to look for.
• 25:29 The last thing to do before hiring the person you think is the right fit.

Links and Resources:

• The Brand Guild
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you're looking to grow your business, there's only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they'll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that'll help grow your business and make more money. That's why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

The customer purchase journey is no longer a linear path.

SEM and YouTube advertising have changed not only the way consumers find products, but also how businesses track where purchases come from.

Today we’re joined by returning guest and CEO of OMG Commerce, Brett Curry. Brett shares his expert advice on where to get started with search-driven advertising, the resources to better understand attribution from each channel, and how you can use SEM, Google Shopping and YouTube to increase customer lifetime value.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 6:04 Brett’s background in SEO, Google Shopping and direct response marketing.
• 8:12 Search, Google Shopping, or YouTube: which is best for ecommerce and where you should start.
• 12:42 The importance of understanding why people are on YouTube in order to successfully reach your audience.
• 15:02 Why Brett thinks Facebook is ahead when it comes to conversion tracking and the importance of understanding attribution across different channels.
• 17:44 Recommended resources to help business owners understand attribution models for YouTube, SEM and Google Shopping.
• 18:40 How search is impacting the customer journey and the entire sales funnel.
• 22:08 The types of audiences to build on YouTube to successfully reach your potential customers.
• 26:44 Getting your audio and visuals right on YouTube is directly related to understanding how someone is using the channel.
• 28:11 The type of team you need to build to successfully support advertising on YouTube.
• 31:50 What type of budget Brett recommends to get you started on YouTube.
• 33:42 How to determine your budgets for promotion on YouTube vs. Google Search and Shopping.
• 35:57 Brett’s thoughts on lifetime value of customers coming from YouTube vs. Facebook.
• 38:02 YouTube,  Google Shopping, or SEM: which is best for raising lifetime value and how they can work together.
• 41:48 Why you should absolutely be investing in paid search for your branded keywords.
• 44:34 How to determine how much of your budget you should be spending on branded keywords.
• 46:43 Why you should separate out branded from non-branded keywords in terms of reporting.
• 50:04 Some of the challenges advertisers run into with Google Shopping and how to get around them.

Links and Resources:

• Episode 064: Brett Curry, OMG Commerce – Tips, Tricks & Hacks To Big Returns With Google Shopping, The Premier Advertising Channel For Ecommerce
• OMG Commerce
• Smart Marketer: 2-minute Crash Course on YouTube & TrueView Ads, with Brett Curry
• Think with Google
• Article: How Search Intent is Influencing the Marketing Funnel
• 7 Tips for the Perfect YouTube Ad From Brett Curry
• Ecommerce Evolution Podcast
• Brett Curry on LinkedIn
• Brett Curry on Facebook
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

If you're looking to grow your business, there's only one way. By building real, quality customer relationships. Most marketing software will claim that they do this, but they'll never deliver on those promises. Klaviyo, though, is different. Klaviyo helps you build meaningful customer relationships by listening to and understanding cues from your customers, which allows you to easily turn that information into valuable marketing messages that'll help grow your business and make more money. That's why over 10,000 innovative brands have switched to Klaviyo.

If you aren’t already a customer, head over to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/klaviyo and you’ll get a free trial + priority on-boarding.

Making the decision to outsource your paid social to an agency can be tough.

It’s a big decision to hand over the reigns of your social advertising to someone outside of your business, and one of the questions Andrew and I get a lot is, “when is the right time to hire an agency?”

Today we address that question, as well as the specific questions to ask when you’re vetting your agency (and the answers to look for), and what you can do as a client to ensure you have a great relationship with your new partner.

Episode Highlights:

• 4:41 The first thing you need to do before you hire an agency.
• 7:00 Andrew's calculation for determining whether or not it makes sense to hire an agency to manage your ads.
• 12:24 If you don’t want to do the math, why you should at least be tracking your time.
• 16:11 The first question to ask when vetting an agency: Do you manage my ads in my own ad account or in your business manager?
• 18:29 Question #2: Who is in charge of creating the creative?
• 21:48 Question #3: What are your best performing look-a-likes or audiences?
• 22:38 Question #4: How do you normally approach mid-funnel targeting?
• 24:29 Question #5: What previous experience do you have and can you show me results?
• 25:46 Question #6: What are the expectations for performance?
• 27:40 Why you have to be careful as a business owner with over promises from agencies.
• 31:08 Question #7: What are your best clients doing and what do you expect us to do if we want to perform like your best clients?

Links and Resources:

• Episode 181: The Changing State Of Paid Social: Tips, Strategy, And How To Win
• Episode 183: How To Manage Your Time Strategically While Growing Your Business
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

Magical things can happen in your business with a strong brand and a loyal customer base.

Bryan Anthonys’ founders Amber Reynolds and Ed Glassman built a seven-figure business, in part by creating a brand and products that their customers feel deeply connected with.

Today the husband and wife team share the story of how they built their business, the lessons they’ve learned along the way, and the secret to their customer loyalty.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:07 From hustling on Ebay to building their own ecommerce store: the story of how Ed and Amber started Bryan Anthonys.
• 8:52 What’s working for Ed and Amber’s business right now.
• 9:35 Tough lessons learned when it comes to expanding your product portfolio.
• 10:55 The strength of Bryan Anthonys’ brand and how they design products that really connect with people.
• 14:44 How Ed and Amber's build customer loyalty.
• 16:44 Why Bryan Anthonys made the bold decision to have all aspects of their business (manufacturing, shipping, distribution) based in the US and the impact it’s had on their vendors.
• 21:02 Bryan Anthonys approach to customers service and one story that set them as the gold standard for Gracie.
• 25:48 How Bryan Anthonys uses text message marketing to bring in revenue from cart abandoners.
• 29:15 The power and value of having a good agency partner and what it’s done for Ed and Amber’s business.
• 31:37 What to expect with Bryan Anthonys in the upcoming years.

Links and Resources:

• Bryan Anthonys
• Gorgias
• Retention Rocket
• Bryan Anthonys on Instagram
• Bryan Anthonys on Facebook
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

Too many established ecommerce stores run out of money before they can scale.

Over the last several years, I’ve helped 126 ecommerce brands build more profitable businesses. 78 of them scaled into 7-figure businesses. 2 them had $100 million dollar exits.

Through this experience, I’ve learned that if you observe certain principles as you scale, you’ll increase your chance of doing it profitably.

Today I share my 3-step formula for profitably scaling your ecommerce business. Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:10 The two conversations Austin had with clients that inspired this episode.
• 5:55 Strategy #1 for profitably scaling: Mindset.
• 6:20 Understanding your business’ DNA to get into the right mindset for growth.
• 9:40 The tough choices you have to make when you commit to growing profitably.
• 11:15 Strategy #2 for profitably scaling: Money.
• 11:32 How to calculate and set a profitability goal for your business.
• 14:17 Most business owners are paying themselves to little. Here’s how to calculate a fair wage for yourself.
• 17:31 Figuring out how much money you need to have in your business to be fully capitalized.
• 19:40 Is now the right time to hire? How to calculate how much you can spend on salaries based on your profitability goals.
• 24:29 The three financial components on your business to focus on after setting your salary cap.
• 25:57 Strategy #3 for profitably scaling: Method.
• 26:54 The biggest levers to focus on to grow a more profitable business.
• 34:33 Increasing average order value with "priority processing."

Links and Resources:

• Episode 178: You’re Treating Your Customers Equally (And It’s Costing You Money)
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member

If you liked this episode, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

Earlier this week, Andrew shared the first 10 of 20 questions he asks when auditing clients’ Facebook accounts to see whether they’re managing them to their fullest potential.

Today he shares the rest of his tactical questions to help you optimize your Facebook ad account, including questions about audience overlap, value bidding, and your add to cart to purchase ratio. Part two of this episode will give you the full list of questions so you can complete a professional level Facebook audit on your own.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 3:42 Question #11: Do you have too high of an audience overlap?
• 4:37 How to know if audience overlap is an issue for your account.
• 6:31 Question #12: Have you tried or requested value bidding?
• 9:41 Question #13: If things are feeling stale on your account, have you tried a bid override?
• 14:16 Question #14: Are you advertising to previous customers?
• 16:48 Question #15: Have you tried product bundling to bring up the AOV?
• 21:19 Question #16: Are you remarketing to engaged users?
• 22:41 Question #17: What does your age report breakdown look like (and where to find it)?
• 25:39 Question #18: What is your Add to Cart to Purchase ratio?
• 27:25 Question #19: Have you tried campaign budget optimization?
• 28:44 Question #20: Do you have consistent naming conventions set up in your account?

Links and Resources:

• Episode 184: Use These 10 Questions to Get Unstuck With Your Facebook Ads Part 1
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

A few weeks ago Andrew shared his five-step process for optimizing your Facebook ad account.

In part one of this two-part episode, Andrew takes a more tactical approach and shares 10 questions he asks when auditing clients’ Facebook accounts to see whether they’re running things in the best way possible.

After auditing more than 200 Facebook accounts last year, Andrew has seen accounts that are killing it and those that have a lot of room for improvement. Whether you’re on one end of the spectrum or the other, these questions will help you identify changes you can make to improve what you’re doing on Facebook.

Stay tuned later this week for part two of this episode, where Andrew will share the additional 10 questions to ask when auditing your Facebook account. Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 8:06 Question #1: Is user-generated content integrated somewhere in the creative?
• 9:16 Question #2: Are you utilizing reviews in your copy?
• 10:53 Question #3: Are you utilizing square video link posts?
• 12:39  Question #4: Is your product at least 40% to 50% of your ad image?
• 14:20 Question #5: Are there unanswered comments or questions on your ad??
• 18:26 Question #6: Is there a discount integrated at some point in the funnel?
• 19:56 Question #7: If you have an ad set that you stopped running because it died, have you tried duplicating it and running it at a lower budget to give it new life?
• 21:13  Question #8: Have you introduced new prospecting audiences based on dynamic pixel actions?
• 23:07 Question #9: Are you trying broad match dynamic product ads layered with interests?
• 24:03 Question #10: Have you split you dynamic product ad time windows, separating the adds to cart and the view content?
• 25:07 How long it typically takes for Andrew to audit an account and the process he goes through.
• 26:23 The most common mistakes Andrew sees when he’s reviewing Facebook ad accounts

Links and Resources:

• The Five Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com

Become a Member

If you liked this episode, you're going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Shoelace

This episode is brought to you by Shoelace. Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores tell their brand story, increase conversions, and grow revenue through Customer Journey Retargeting. This personalized approached to retargeting shows the right customers the right ads at the right time based on where they are in the buying journey with your brand. Whether a visitor is discovering your brand for the first time or a loyal repeat-customer is considering a purchase from your latest collection, they'll see tailored ad content that evolves like an engaging story in the days and weeks following their visit.

Shoelace's automation platform makes it a breeze to run memorable retargeting experiences. Visit ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and get started on working with Shoelace today. Mention "Ecommerce Influence" to claim a special offer during your free trial!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

Something most of my clients tell me they struggle with is time management and always being busy.

There’s so much to do and it feels like there’s never enough time to do it. Often most of their time is spent in their business, leaving little time to spend on the things they enjoy in their personal life.

Time is something both Andrew and I are focusing on this year: how we can spend more time doing the things we want to do while continuing to grow our businesses.

Today we’ll share some of the strategies and tools we use for effective time management, and the impact they’ve had on our lifestyles.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 7:34 Buffer days versus focus days: Austin’s approach.
• 9:36 Andrew’s take on buffer days and buffer zones.
• 13:36 Creating an ideal schedule that works for you.
• 16:23 The importance of protecting your schedule once you’ve planned it out.
• 17:19 Building milestones or keystones into your week to keep yourself on track.
• 19:23 Andrew's approach to setting goals, including a 100-year vision and the “One Thing.”
• 20:10 Starting with your “One Thing” and building in the other time management frameworks to create change in your life.
• 22:22 How giving away control of your time is like giving away control of your bank account.
• 23:21 Learning how to say NO, or at least no-ish.
• 26:06 What Austin does before making a decision about a requested meeting or opportunity.
• 28:18 The benefit of estimating time for tasks and tracking how long things actually take.
• 30:07 Using time tracking to understand time spent vs. revenue and which tasks are actually aligned with your larger financial goals.
• 32:11 What Andrew is using as an alternative to email in order to spend less time in his inbox.
• 33:08 Tools Austin uses to effectively manage his time.
• 35:19 Time management tools Andrew is using.

Links And Resources:

• Book: Essentialism
• Episode 149: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 1]
• Episode 150: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 2]
• Productivity Planner by Intelligent Change
• Panda Planner
• Freedom App
• Be Focused App
• Freedom Business Family Weekly Planning Sheet
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Shoelace

This episode is brought to you by Shoelace. Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores tell their brand story, increase conversions, and grow revenue through Customer Journey Retargeting. This personalized approached to retargeting shows the right customers the right ads at the right time based on where they are in the buying journey with your brand. Whether a visitor is discovering your brand for the first time or a loyal repeat-customer is considering a purchase from your latest collection, they'll see tailored ad content that evolves like an engaging story in the days and weeks following their visit.

Shoelace's automation platform makes it a breeze to run memorable retargeting experiences. Visit to ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and get started on working with Shoelace today. Mention "Ecommerce Influence" to claim a special offer during your free trial!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

As the world of digital marketing continues to become more integrated it becomes increasingly difficult to analyze your metrics across various channels.

This is particularly true when it comes to attribution.

Late last year Facebook launched a new attribution tool that will allow you, for the first time, to easily compare data across all of your paid channels at the same time.

If you’re running ads across multiple channels, you won’t want to miss this episode. Andrew talks about the Facebook Attribution tool’s best features, how to set it up, and why you should start using it right away.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 5:48 Facebook’s new Attribution tool: what it is and how it works.
• 7:53 Some of the common issues people run into with attribution.
• 11:58 Why you should start using the new Facebook Attribution tool.
• 15:26 How to set up the Facebook Attribution tool.
• 18:48 A big benefit of the Facebook Attribution tool? Discovering hidden profits.
• 19:30 The difference between various attribution models and the questions to ask yourself when you’re setting things up.
• 24:47 Andrew shares his advice on choosing an attribution window.
• 29:10 The dashboard you’ll see once you set up Facebook Attribution, and how to use it to start digging into your data.
• 31:38 The three most valuable things Andrew recommends looking at within the Facebook Attribution dashboard.
• 37:11 Why it’s absolutely worth your time to set up the Facebook Attribution tool.

Links And Resources:

• Book: Atomic Habits
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Andrew@FoxwellDigital.com
• iTunes

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Shoelace

This episode is brought to you by Shoelace. Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores tell their brand story, increase conversions, and grow revenue through Customer Journey Retargeting. This personalized approached to retargeting shows the right customers the right ads at the right time based on where they are in the buying journey with your brand. Whether a visitor is discovering your brand for the first time or a loyal repeat-customer is considering a purchase from your latest collection, they'll see tailored ad content that evolves like an engaging story in the days and weeks following their visit.

Shoelace's automation platform makes it a breeze to run memorable retargeting experiences. Visit ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and get started on working with Shoelace today. Mention "Ecommerce Influence" to claim a special offer during your free trial!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

One of the most exciting (and frustrating) parts of being a marketer today is that platforms are constantly evolving and our strategies have to evolve with them.

Today we’re joined by Susan Wenograd, Account Group Director at Aimclear, who brings her insights on the changes that are coming in 2019 and how ecommerce business owners and marketers need to start thinking differently about their paid social strategies.

Susan talks about how paid media is moving from a direct response channel to an integrated one, the impact this has as content and budgets are split into increasingly smaller parts, what to do when you start seeing a decreasing ROAS on Facebook, and the role brand awareness plays in all of this.

If you’re investing in paid media, you will not want to miss this episode. Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 8:50 How the marketing landscape changed in 2018, especially with paid social, and what ecommerce business owners and marketers need to be aware of moving into 2019.
• 11:34 As paid media becomes more of an integrated channel rather than direct ROAS, you’re going to have to think differently about your messaging.
• 12:55 The consequences creating snack-sized content has on your messaging and your ad spend.
• 15:58 What sets great agencies and practitioners apart, and what to look for if you’re hiring.
• 17:54 Multi-touch attribution: what it is and how to start measuring it.
• 21:58 Common multi-touch models and their upsides and downsides.
• 24:17 The cross-channel trick to increase the click-through-rate of Facebook ads.
• 26:04 How to adjust your cross-channel SEM tactics depending on your budget.
• 28:08 Why it’s important to integrate a brand awareness strategy into your funnel and where to do it.
• 34:24 The types of interactions Susan sees on ads with general brand messaging vs. on ads that are pushing a sale.
• 36:07 Susan’s tips for managing your marketing spend this year, and your expectations.
• 40:51 Where content marketing fits for ecommerce businesses.

Links And Resources:

• SusanEDub
• Atomic Habits
• Marketing Land
• Aimclear
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Shoelace

This episode is brought to you by Shoelace. Shoelace helps fast-growing ecommerce stores tell their brand story, increase conversions, and grow revenue through Customer Journey Retargeting. This personalized approached to retargeting shows the right customers the right ads at the right time based on where they are in the buying journey with your brand. Whether a visitor is discovering your brand for the first time or a loyal repeat-customer is considering a purchase from your latest collection, they'll see tailored ad content that evolves like an engaging story in the days and weeks following their visit.

Shoelace's automation platform makes it a breeze to run memorable retargeting experiences. Visit ecommerceinfluence.com/shoelace and get started on working with Shoelace today. Mention "Ecommerce Influence" to claim a special offer during your free trial!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you're going through this, they're going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.

In 2018, I radically changed my approach to setting goals and running my business. As we enter a New Year, I wanted to put together an episode focused on how to set goals that will leave you more fulfilled.

Instead of setting massive goals, I ask myself simple questions and make strategic changes to my business and life based on my answers. Those strategic changes led to more profit, less stress, and more personal freedom.

In this episode, both Andrew and I share a glimpse into our businesses and our personal plans for 2019.  We also offer you some straightforward questions you can use to help you set more fulfilling goals in 2019. This episode will give you a head start for 2019. Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 2:09 How Austin is approaching 2019.
• 4:16 The reason Austin wants to discuss goal setting and the impact it made last year.
• 5:24 2 questions Austin is asking himself right now.
• 8:05 Andrew shares a crazy story about a client who sold his business accidentally.
• 10:14 Other questions Austin is asking himself for 2019.
• 12:05 Andrew's most important framework for this year.
• 12:23 Distinction between growth in the business vs growth in your profit.
• 13:02 The focus Austin has on working forever.
• 14:18 Andrew's framework that he wants to do this year.
• 15:48 What going all-in would mean and examples of it.
• 17:50 How to go about building a portfolio business.
• 20:48 How the cash-flow grow strategy work.
• 23:05 Main focus of a cash flow grow strategy.
• 23:41 Why Austin used cash flow grow strategy from the previous year.
• 26:53 Things Austin had seen over the last year that made a big impact on businesses.
• 28:48 Tips on a better lifestyle free from stress this 2019.

Links and Resources:

• Brand Growth Experts Membership
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor:

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

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.

The Google Medic update a few months ago caused a big upset for many people in the ecommerce space.

Our guest today, Nat Eliason, is an expert in content marketing and SEO, and he shares his insights into what happened, the outcome, and why he thinks Google is smart for the changes they’ve made, even those some of his own clients were impacted.

Nat joins us on the podcast for the second time and you won’t want to miss his discussion about why solid, well-written content is still the best way to drive traffic to your site and his recommendations for the best tools for auditing your site and improving SEO.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:44 Why Nat practices intermittent fasting.
• 7:36 How Growth Machine has grown over the last year since Nat’s first time on the Ecommerce Influence podcast.
• 11:10 Why creating awesome content is still the best way to drive traffic to your site.
• 14:21 Nat explains why it’s better to be paying a bit more for better writers and better content.
• 15:30 How the 80/20 rule applies differently when it comes to writing a creative article.
• 18:30 Google Medic update: what it is and its effect on different sites.
• 21:37 Nat’s hypothesis about why some health sites were hurt by the Medic update more than others.
• 25:06 Recommendations for those that have been hurt by the Medic update.
• 26:36 Why creating a second blog might be a good strategy to try to increase your results on Google.
• 30:08 Why Nat says Google was smart to make the update.
• 31:17 Nat’s favorite tools for site auditing.
• 32:51 The main things to look for in your site audit results.
• 33:46 Other tools Nat recommends.
• 35:23 “No More Struggle Porn” – how Nat’s article originated, why he took a stance on idolizing the obsession with working hard, and how it reached more than 350,000 views.
• 42:21 The reality of what it actually looks like to be an entrepreneur.
• 44:16 Realizing that working harder and struggling can be a false sense of progress in your business.
• 49:40 The importance of creating space for play within the business lifestyle.
• 51:42 The books that had the biggest impact on Nat this year.

Links And Resource

• @nateliason
• NatEliason.com
• Growth Machine
• AHREFS
• SEO PowerSuite
• Clearscope
• It Doesn't Have to be Crazy at Work
• Elephant in the Brain
• Discipline and Punish
• Darwin's Dangerous Idea
• Gödel, Escher, Bach
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital

Become a Member:

If you liked this episode, you’re going to love the Brand Growth Experts Membership.  It’s a community of top ecommerce business owners and marketers who I coach one-on-one to help scale up their businesses. Together we’ll create a plan that will help you scale up your business, and then I’ll help you execute it.

If you want to make sure you’re growing as quickly and sustainably as possible, click here to learn more. Hope to see you on the inside!

Sponsor: Klaviyo

Today’s episode is brought to you by Klaviyo. Over 10,000 brands have joined Klaviyo to help them build higher-quality relationships with their customers. Klaviyo does not force you to compromise between speed and powerful functionality, you get both. Interested to see Klaviyo’s impact? Tune into their 12-part docu-series following three brands—Chubbies, SunSki and the Love Is Project. You’ll learn how they prepared for Cyber Weekend 2018, marketing throughout the holidays, and beyond. Along the way, we’ll fill you in on what you should be doing as a business to push your marketing strategy to the next level.

Also, as you’re going through this, they’re going to show you how to prepare the business to continue to take it to the next level segment and grow and use it to use Klaviyo to drive more profitable interactions. If you want to go check out this docu-series, go to www.ecommerceinfluence.com/beyond.