The Ecommerce Influence Podcast

Implementing Traction at your company? Here’s what you should know before you start. 

Many of our clients inside of the Coalition have heard of Traction and have considered trying to implement EOS at their company. If this phrase is new to you, EOS - the Entrepreneurial Operating System - is a set of concepts and tools that can help your team align on a clear vision, make progress towards defined goals, and increase accountability and communication. 

Our team dove headfirst into the task of implementing Traction just over a year ago and we’ve learned a lot since. In this episode, I’m sharing how we adopted the EOS methodology, the pros and cons of using it, and who I think has the most to gain from it. 

If you’re an eCommerce entrepreneur who thinks there might be a better way to run your business, this episode is for you.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

  • 4:50 Life before finding Traction
  • 6:53 The best part about using the EOS process and how it changed the game for us
  • 8:05 What “rocks” are and how they address the biggest struggles I see entrepreneurs facing today
  • 10:27 The feedback from my team that I didn’t see coming
  • 11:51 How we work around the biggest con of using EOS 
  • 15:07 Who EOS works best for
  • 16:10 Why I think solopreneurs will struggle implementing EOS 
  • 18:59 How to get free 30-day access to the Coalition

Links and Resources:

Direct download: EI_288.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

Do you want to know how to hire rockstar talent this year? 

Finding high-quality talent is a major key to the growth of any organization. However, it’s often seen as a difficult task and can cost a lot of time and money when done incorrectly.

At Brand Growth Experts we just hired our newest Community and Events Manager after sorting through nearly three hundred applications and I’m here to tell you how we did it.

You’ll learn our step-by-process on how to hire a great employee every time, ways to simplify and structure your hiring process, and the tools we used to manage hundreds of applications.

If you've been wondering how to hire without getting overwhelmed at the task this episode is for you.

Episode Highlights

  • 6:36 Creating your accountability chart
  • 9:39 How to attract the right candidates
  • 14:24 Promoting your job with advertising
  • 16:52 The number one mistake I see companies make when hiring 
  • 19:22 Mapping out your hiring process 
  • 22:20 How to hire using AirTable
  • 24:06 Are you valuing your own opportunity?

Links and Resources:

Direct download: EI_287_hiring.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

Is your content strategy worth half a million dollars? 

Mark Stallings is the CEO of Casely, an ecommerce tech-accessories retailer that’s gone from zero to eight figures in just four years. After dropping out of college, Mark convinced his sister Emily to cofound the company with him. They’ve been bootstrapping their way through everything from website coding to paid advertising ever since.

I’ve gotten to know Mark over the last few years after he became a founding member of The Coalition in 2018. He joins us to share what he and his sister learned over the years, including how they profitably spend half a million dollars on paid advertising every month. We also touch on how they leverage their content strategy for growth, their approach to hiring, and how they maintain a lean team.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

  • 6:45 How Casely leverages the subscription model 
  • 10:33 Why Mark dropped out of college after one year
  • 12:14 Diving into an Instagram rabbit hole to understand your audience
  • 16:08 What the first six months of paid advertising looked like for Casely
  • 18:31 The content strategy that’s taking the business to the next level
  • 22:29 Building and scaling the Casely team
  • 27:22 The two biggest obstacles when using FB ads
  • 29:37 How Mark spends time in the business
  • 31:12 Common misconceptions people have about spending a lot on Facebook
  • 31:45 The top metrics Mark closely monitors 
  • 35:01 Mark’s biggest learning experience over 2020
  • 38:51 The hardest part about building Casely
  • 40:05 The secret sauce for hiring and company culture
  • 43:26 What Mark is most curious about today
  • 45:00 Two things every ecommerce company should focus on
  • 47:15 Mark’s resources and strategies for growing your business

Links and Resources:

Direct download: EI_286_MarkStallings.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

2020 Threw Us All For A Loop. Here’s What We Learned From It and How It’s Helping Us Prepare For 2021. 

Nobody saw COVID-19 coming and nearly every business had to make pivots while market conditions changed daily. 

Not only did I see changes happen in my own business, but I also witnessed them across all of the ecommerce companies I have the opportunity to work with inside of The Coalition. This made my annual end-of-year review that much more interesting so I decided to wrap up my findings in this episode and share it with you.

In this episode, I talk about the things that went well for me and the companies we work with, the hard lessons and challenges that were presented, and the top takeaways that every ecommerce business owner needs to know to prepare for 2021.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

  • 3:55 The number one question I’m asking myself about 2020
  • 7:45 How hiring has been a game-changer for our business
  • 10:07 What having a local community has done for me
  • 11:25 The COVID-19 impact on our business 
  • 17:09 My biggest takeaways from 2020
  • 18:44 Do you own your marketing channels?
  • 20:09 How having multiple streams of income can help prepare for 2021
  • 22:29 Industries that are going to continue to thrive
  • 23:27 Why awareness might not be your marketing problem

Links and Resources:

Direct download: EI_285_year_in_Review.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am CDT

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