How is your pop-up game? Email capture strategies to increase conversion are one of the single most important things you can do to grow your eCommerce business and if you’re using the same old “discount for email” strategy you’re missing out on potential customers. 

This is a tactical episode with how-to steps you can use to improve your email capture strategies to increase conversion right now. 

John Ozuysal is the Head of Growth at Optimonk, a platform where you can create unique, interesting pop-ups and overlays to drive more sales and capture more emails. As we all have holiday marketing top of mind, I thought it would be a great time to bring John in to share what they’re seeing success with right now and provide some inspiration as you determine how to integrate pop-ups and overlays into your Q4 strategy. 

One of the things that they've been experimenting with is conversational pop-ups and John shares how they tripled signups and boosted revenue by 25% using this method. We also cover customer value optimization and opportunities to learn more about buying behavior with qualitative pop-ups. 

If you're interested in quick, easy tweaks to your website that will make you more money… this episode is for you.

Episode Highlights:

• 4:14 Why most eCommerce stores are using pop-ups and overlays the wrong way 
• 5:14 How to 3X your email sign up rate with conversational pop-ups 
• 8:02 What a conversational pop-up is and how to implement email capture strategies to increase conversion
• 9:40 Optimizing engagement for brands with a lot of product categories 
• 11:27 Collecting emails and phone numbers effectively and without drop off 
• 12:02 Using curiosity and mystery instead of discount to drive sign up 
• 13:35 John’s favorite non-monetary incentives to test 
• 16:52 Best tips on how to increase your cart value and AOV 
• 18:19 Using content to convert 
• 19:30 Strategies from B2B that DTC brands should learn from including qualitative feedback
• 22:31 The benefits of qualitative feedback when your inventory is low
• 24:31 How qualitative feedback can decrease abandonment rates
• 26:05 What is customer value optimization and how you should be using it 
• 28:29 Step by step guide for using conversational pop-ups in your Black Friday marketing 

Resources:

• Optimonk: Free Templates To Use (and get 50% off the first 3 month for any paid plan)
• Optimonk: Black Friday Webinar 
• Book: They Ask You Answer by Marcus Sheridan 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you hate what you’re doing - can you stop doing it? How can you stay engaged and keep your business ventures fun? Plus, using video sales letters for viral launches.

Andrew Drish is a good friend and we have spent countless hours talking about business, life, and relationships. So - I'm excited to bring him on the show and share one of these conversations with you. 

Andrew was behind The Foundation, which was a very successful accelerator for developers building software companies. In this episode he shares the story of how he pulled off its 7-figure launch, completely automated, with a video sales letter that went viral.

From there - Andrew shares the story of how he completely burnt out and then came back to entrepreneurship with a whole new approach.

Over the years, Andrew has extensively studied top-performing video ads (Purple Mattress, Squatty Potty, etc) and he shares his winning formula that you can apply directly to your own video creative (hint: it’s more about the script than the visuals).

This is a great interview - Andrew has a ton of insight on life and business and I’m always inspired after talking to him. I hope you are too.

Episode Highlights:

• 4:34 The impact The Artist’s Way has had on running a business
• 5:47 Learnings to make life and running a business more fun and playful
• 8:44 Why heartbreak is the best medicine
• 10:29 The power of the question “what would I do differently?”
• 13:11 The wild story of launching The Foundation while at Burning Man
• 15:26 Why Andy is now dark online and how his entrepreneurial journey has changed after burning out
• 20:16 The key priciples of Andy’s new venture
• 21:48 The nature of entrepreneurs and what a good operator is
• 22:44 How to hire and build a team based on people’s nature
• 23:35 Going from determining principles to starting a business
• 26:00 The art and science of compelling video sales letters
• 31:07 Using humor to get a sale 
• 34:42 Why text should be your priority over imagery when creating a video sales letter
• 38:08 Working with a team to create viral videos 
• 43:47 Crypto currency and it’s potential impact on societal challenges
• 48:48 Resources that have helped Andy on his “DeFi” journey 

Resources:

• Andy’s Website
• TheArtOfLove.com
• @andydrish on Twitter 
• Book: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
• Book: Nature and the Human Soul by Bill Plotkin
• Book: Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller 
• klima.com
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We’ve all been saying it - the world is crazy right now. So - I’m sharing what’s top of mind for me going into Q4 and 2022 including the very real energy crisis in China, opportunities to make 6+ figures flipping NFTs, and what the heck to do with paid social in Q4. 

This episode is a solo cast. I wanted to check in and talk about what's been on my mind as we prepare for Q4 and ultimately start to make our 2022 business plans. 

I’m thinking about how to optimize Facebook and Instagram for Q4 (after a crazy year). I’ve been doing daily journaling and it’s given me a great perspective on where I’m at in my business and life. I’m also talking about how the energy crisis in China will likely impact business and why you should be paying attention now. Plus, I’ll share some new exciting things to come on the podcast with an NFT series. 

I'd love to hear from you on Twitter. What are you thinking about? What's exciting to you right now? Let me know what you’d like to hear more about on the podcast. 

I hope you enjoy this solo episode - I always enjoy talking with you. 

Episode Highlights:

• 2:30 Facebook and Instagram training for Q4
• 3:33 The Artists Way and the profound impact it’s had on me 
• 6:08 My predictions around the current energy crisis in China causing rolling blackouts 
• 8:20 Managing the winter risk in the U.S. 
• 9:18 What I’m doing to prepare 
• 11:17 Flipping NFT’s for over 6 figures
• 12:10 Opportunities for young people to acquire property from NFT sale profits 

Resources:

• Coal Shortages Force Blackouts Across China: The Diplomat
• Don’t Rule Out An Energy Crisis - Goldman Sachs: Yahoo 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

What could you do to make your website better, your ads stronger, and ultimately increase sales? Try one of these expert tips from an agency owner who’s interviewed over 150 eCommerce founders and marketers.

Chase Clymer is the host of the Honest Ecommerce podcast and also co-founder of the Electric Eye Agency. In this episode, we’re talking about mistakes that eCommerce owners make with their website and advertising and how to make simple improvements to avoid them. 

Chase and I also discuss ideas for Black Friday/Cyber Monday marketing, user testing your website, and how to actually run A/B tests. 

Lastly, Chase shares his Brand Scaling Framework philosophy and the 3 KPI’s he bases everything on.  

This is a great practical episode with expert tips and takeaways to implement today. 

Episode Highlights:

• 3:28 Why Chase started the Honest Ecommerce Podcast 
• 4:53 Expert tips from 168 interviews with founders & marketers 
• 10:02 How Chase went from punk rock band to eCommerce
• 11:44 The Brand Scaling Framework and how it works
• 14:27 3 KPIs the Brand Scaling Framework tracks
• 18:33 Simple, consistent improvements that lead to big improvements over time
• 19:23 Mistakes you’re probably making on your website and expert tips on how to fix them 
• 23:34 Why you need to be user testing your site 
• 27:54 Reasonable testing windows for eComm brands based on volume 
• 29:13 Exciting things that are working right now
• 29:52 Best features of Shopify online store 2.0 
• 34:31 How to audit your Shopify apps purpose 
• 37:19 Black Friday/ Cyber Monday expert tips  

Resources:

• Honest Ecommerce Podcast 
• Electric Eye Agency
• Riverside Podcast Recording 
• User Testing
• Conversion Crimes 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

The pandemic forced many owners to shift from brick and mortar to eCommerce. Some succeeded, and some did not. 

Today’s guest was one of the successful -- she doubled her brick and mortar business revenue in 2020 by implementing Shopify, Klaviyo, and a seamless in-store and online rewards program. 

Mandy Buterra began her journey as an entrepreneur at age 50 when she started Wren and Wild a brick and mortar business featuring clean beauty and aerial yoga, in Bend, Oregon. Her business evolved and she was building a good customer base, then COVID hit.  

Instead of panicking, Mandy taught herself eCommerce and joined our Coalition membership. Listen to this episode to learn how she’s now hitting sales highs and doubled her revenue in the last year by transitioning her brick and mortar to eCommerce. 

If you’re in the transition or considering turning your brick and mortar into an online store this episode is filled with good tips about how to integrate the two business models. If you’re already running an eCommerce business Mandy also has tons of tips around how to build a rewards program and smart email marketing to build customer loyalty. 

This is a well-rounded conversation and I know you’ll walk away with at least one tip to implement in your business.

Episode Highlights:

• 4:54 How Mandy started as an entrepreneur
• 8:30 Taking time for clarity before launching a business 
• 9:14 Restarting, again, after losing a lease 
• 11:11 Mandy’s brick and mortar and how COVID impacted it 
• 13:57 How launching a Shopify site doubled business 
• 15:28 Brick and mortar to eCommerce: the differences and advice for people transitioning
• 17:04 The importance of data and capturing email in store 
• 18:13 Transitioning a rewards program from brick and mortar to eCommerce
• 19:38 Rewards program recommendations
• 20:20 What makes a good rewards program
• 23:04 Things that have moved the needle in Mandy’s business 
• 27:29 SKU management and how to narrow and focus offerings 
• 30:30: Planning for Q4 and holiday 
• 31:41 The importance of a network when you’re growing a business 
• 33:50 What brought Mandy’s site from a 1.9% conversion rate to 3.9%
• 35:54 Advice for people growing and building a business

Resources:

• Wrenandwild.com
• @wrenandwild on Instagram 
• Smile.io Rewards Program 
• Klaviyo.com Email Marketing 
• Conversion Crimes Website Testing 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Are you building to sell? You should be. Even if selling isn’t your main priority it will make you a better business owner and it will make the value of your business higher. This episode has the details of how to do it. 

Joe Valley is the author of The Exitpreneur’s Playbook and a buyer and seller of many online businesses, both on his own and now as a broker with Quietlight.com. 

Joe’s book is designed to help you get maximum value for your online business and in this episode we go deep into his vast knowledge of building to sell. He answers a ton of questions you should be asking when you’re thinking about selling your business, what multiples to look at for eCommerce, plus he shares mistakes you might be making now and how to prevent those BEFORE you’re getting ready to sell. 

It's an excellent interview and Joe is truly an expert in building to sell. If you’re ever going to want to sell your business or have thought about buying a business in the future you’re going to get a ton of value in this episode. 

Episode Highlights:

• 4:03 Why Joe wrote his book
• 6:14 Who an Exitpreneur is and building to sell
• 7:11 The argument for building and selling a business
• 10:17 How Joe sets tangible goals with real data
• 11:41 Where to start when determining the value of your business 
• 17:09 How to find a good bookkeeper 
• 18:47 The multiple you should be looking for in eCommerce
• 22:13 Why you should separate inventory when looking at the value of a business 
• 24:19 Joe’s take on aggregators and the roll-ups of FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) and Shopify stores
• 29:50 Things to look out for in deal terms and the “stability payment” 
• 32:19 Do roll-ups blow up or end up incredibly successful?
• 34:36 When you should start planning if you’re building to sell your business 
• 36:46 How to “exit without exiting” 
• 39:06 Is there a sweet spot for time to sell a business?
• 42:09 Joe’s first 3 actions to have success with your first acquisition
• 46:31 How deals are financed on Joe’s site
• 50:32 What Joe’s excited about right now

Resources:

• Quietlight.com
• Exitpreneur.io
• Book: The Exitpreneur’s Playbook by Joe Valley
• Book: Buy Then Build by Walker Deibel
• Centurica.com Market Watch 
• Boopos.fund
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Building a business is filled with amazing highs and big lows. Despite some tough blows in the early days, one eCommerce founder kept his commitment to his personal health and family and found success on the other side.

Jay Campbell is the owner of Aseir Custom, and in this episode he shares his wild journey of building a business. We go deep into what he's learned through major manufacturing issues and how he managed customer experience after that. We discuss how he unlocked massive growth working with influencers. We also talk about Jay’s commitments to his family and personal health and how for the last 5 years he has taken a trip with his wife every 8 weeks. 

Aseir Custom went from about $16k / month in sales in February 2021 to hitting $250k in August 2021. The journey has been anything but linear and there’s a lot to learn from this story. Jay has a great mindset and he shares the raw truth of his experience going through incredibly challenging times while seeing rapid growth in the business simultaneously. 

If you are an operator in the weeds, building a business, or experiencing rapid growth you will get a lot out of this discussion.

Episode Highlights

• 5:16 How Jay and his wife plan their “every eight weeks” travel adventures 
• 8:01 Jay’s transition to eCommerce 
• 11:09 The beginning of Jay’s hair regrowth business 
• 17:07 Managing Black Friday with major manufacturing issues 
• 19:54 How Jay and his business partner recovered their business from almost shutting down
• 25:47 The realities of running an eCommerce business and trying to scale 
• 28:30 The benefits of getting help in the early stages of building a business 
• 33:53 Learning from the first year and a half of Jay’s business 
• 39:43 How Jay manages work while he’s traveling 

Links And Resources

• Jay’s Website 
• Aseir Custom
• @jaycampbell333 on Twitter 
• Jay’s Podcast 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Is TikTok the new frontier for social advertising? How to get reliable Facebook ad performance data post iOS 14? These are some of the questions The Social Savannah is answering for us today.

This episode features Savannah Sanchez a media buyer and owner of The Social Savannah. Savannah started her advertising career at large agencies working on Facebook ad accounts.  In 2019 she left to create her own boutique agency helping eCommerce brands with their paid social advertising.  

She is a prolific creator of ads and creative as well as an optimization expert. She has cracked the code of TikTok ads and continues to be a top creator of winning Facebook creative.  

In this episode Savannah and I discuss how to get started with TikTok ads, the key metrics to be tracking on Facebook post iOS 14, how creative strategies should vary between social channels, and some of the tools Savannah uses to track metrics across channels. Savannah also shares her vast knowledge working with TikTok influencers and what you can do to see success there. 

If you are running a brand or doing digital marketing, you're gonna get a lot out of this episode!

Plus: if you’re a member of the Coalition check out Savannah's recent training: Demystifying TikTok.

Episode Highlights

• 4:40 Savannah’s community of media buyers 
• 7:26 How Savannah got started in advertising 
• 12:05 Takeaways from running media budgets of $100k+
• 15:03 The biggest difference between Facebook and TikTok ad account strategies 
• 18:04 How to start from zero with TikTok advertising 
• 21:05 Finding TikTok content creators 
• 22:26 Going viral on TikTok 
• 23:22 What a good hit rate is for TikTok 
• 24:37 How KPI’s differ by social channel 
• 28:53 The biggest changes on post iOS 14 Facebook 
• 32:31 MER (marketing efficiency ratio): Savannahs favorite KPI 
• 35:35 How long does it take to set up cross channel reporting for a simple channel strategy 
• 38:26 The technical set up for TikTok 
• 39:14 Using TikTok influencers to run ads
• 42:06 What Savannah’s daily life looks like 
• 44:03 Savannahs favorite tools
• 1:01:52 Tips for success when breaking out on your own 

Links And Resources

• Savannah's Website
• Ad Creatives Only Facebook Group
• Supermetrics 
• @social_savannah on Twitter 
• Savannah Sanchez on YouTube
• Superhuman for email 
• Calendly
• Sunsama
• Monday 
• Uber Conference 
• Book: A World Without Email by Cal Newport 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

In this Greatest Hits episode we're revisiting a conversation about market disruption and big goals. JT Marino shares the story of his dream to build a company that would disrupt the mattress industry.

JT Marino was the co-founder of Tuft & Needle, and this is his story of bootstrapping his way from nothing to the largest online mattress retailer in the world.

JT, who is now the Chief Strategy Officer for SSB Phoenix, joins us 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

• 4:58 Introducing JT Marino
• 6:47 How the friendship and partnership started between the founders of Turf & Needle, JT and Daehee
• 11:13 How the Tuft & Needle co-founders maintain a strong friendship while running a business together
• 12:51 How JT’s prior experience with heavily-funded, but unsuccessful, Silicon Valley start-ups influenced Tuft & Needle’s decision to not take outside investments.
• 17:21 The importance of identifying “the problem” when you’re building a business, and how this led to the creation of Tuft & Needle
• 19:28 Some of the other principles the Tuft & Needle founders committed to before starting their business
• 22:11 How JT and Daehee used a problem-solution approach to determine whether they had a product-market fit for Tuft & Needle
• 27:59 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
• 31:30 How Tuft & Needle moved through the pit of sorrow and started to scale
• 35:12 How a Hacker News blog post contributed to explosive growth of Tuft & Needle
• 37:51 The importance of customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth to Tuft & Needle’s success, especially when they had a limited advertising budget
• 39:40 The various channels that helped grow the business over time
• 42:45 JT's approach to tracking attribution across a variety of channels
• 45:55 How Tuft & Needle developed advertising techniques and targeting that span across digital and non-digital
• 50:34 The unconventional reason Tuft & Needle started selling on Amazon
• 53:39 The Net Promoter Score target T&F set before making the decision to list on Amazon
• 56:10 JT’s advice if you’re considering selling on Amazon and the importance of looking at the market picture as you start to grow
• 59:35 The role customer-centricity played in Tuft & Needle’s decision to merge with Serta
• 1:06:46 The future of the mattress industry
• 1:09:48 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
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We’re bringing back this Greatest Hit with 6 quick wins you can execute today to grow your business immediately. 

I get asked for my growth checklist for eCommerce businesses all the time so I'm bringing back this episode with Andrew Foxwell on how to grow your business with 6 tactical and quick wins you can implement today.

We're sharing the tried and true things we know work from Facebook ad set up to email segmentation, and website optimization to customer acquisition. I guarantee these tips will help you generate sales and you'll see results immediately.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 3:59 Quick Win #1: 4-6% Lookalikes based off pixel value.
• 5:21 Quick Win #2: Identify previous customers who are likely to spend again, but who are no longer on your email list, and hit them with remarketing.
• 6:57 Quick Win #3: Integrate your Klaviyo audiences with Facebook.
• 8:08 Quick Win #4: Turn great text reviews into video reviews.
• 10:48 Quick Win #5: Use bid caps to ensure your Facebook ads are being shown.
• 12:39 Quick Win #6: Get a fresh perspective on your website.

Links And Resources

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

Positioning your brand correctly is the most powerful thing you can do to attract and retain customers. Effective copywriting is how you do it. 

My guest on this episode is none other than The Email Copywriter, Chris Orzechowski, and he’s here to deliver massive value about copywriting, positioning, and marketing strategy. 

We talk about how to think about copywriting, ways to improve your emails, and different styles of email campaigns and flows. We go deep into positioning and ways to unlock advertising angles for your brand that are probably already inside your own head if you’re passionate about your business and products. 

Chris is a member of the Coalition, our community of 250+ eComm founders, and recently did a training on How to Make Your Emails Irresistible. It’s one of our most popular trainings so definitely check it out. If you’re interested in joining the Coalition to access this training and more like it, sign up here. 

Episode Highlights:

• 4:08 How Chris became The Email Copywriter 
• 4:54 Why Chris chose to focus on eCommerce copywriting
• 9:01 Where Chris’s advertising inspiration comes from
• 11:36 Debunking the biggest misconception about email marketing - sending too many emails 
• 15:18 Long form copy - why you should test it 
• 19:28 Writing about your product with dimensionalized benefits 
• 21:07 Levels of market sophistication and how to position yourself in your industry
• 24:21 Appealing to your market identity 
• 26:26 Chris’s favorite email testing opportunities
• 28:15 The process Chris uses to test copy 
• 32:08 Copywriting that shifts people’s mindset 
• 33:17 Using your product knowledge to write inspiring copy 
• 39:09 How to talk to your customers to inform your copywriting
• 40:49 The future of email marketing - what you should be thinking about
• 46:11 What’s working right now in email marketing - things to test today
• 52:28 The new marketing copy opportunity - SMS 
• 58:59 How to hire a copywriter 

Resources:

• Chris’s Website 
• Make Your Marketing Emails Irresistible Training
• Copychief.com
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

I have worked with hundreds of different companies at various stages of growth, from pre-launch to multi-million dollar acquisitions. In this Greatest Hits episode we're talking about scaling a brand and what it takes. 

This is the first episode in our scaling series, where we’ll talk about each stage of growth and the challenges you're going to face as you scale up your business from zero to 8-figures.

In this “zero to launch” episode where we’ll address some of the questions you’ll face when you’re determining how to launch and going from an idea for a product to actually getting sales.

If you enjoy this episode be sure to go back and check out the other core episodes in our Scaling Series that will give you value whether you're at the beginning, already making 7-figures, or somewhere in the middle.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:04 Why we decided to do a scaling series.
• 9:12 The most important thing when you’re just starting out? Feedback.
• 10:29 Knowing what your community looks like is critical for scaling.
• 13:45 Once you know your community, identify their buying power and your market potential.
• 15:43 A zero to launch case study.
• 18:21 Common missteps at this stage.
• 19:45 Creating a “talk trigger” product.

Links And Resources

• Launch To Traction: The Scaling Series, Part 2
• Traction to Scaling: The Scaling Series, Part 3
• Growth Mode: The Scaling Series, Part 4
• Case Studies: The Scaling Series, Part 5
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

In this episode we have a handful of quick and easy wins that have been tested and proven to increase revenue. If you’re looking for a win that also saves you time - it’s in here. 

Lisa Byrnes is a marketing and business coach. She's also a member of the Coalition, our community of 250+ eCommerce business owners and experts. 

After 17 years managing multi-million dollar brands, Lisa left her corporate job and started her own marketing business to support emerging eCommerce business owners (specifically women) build their marketing strategy and fulfill their own dreams. 

We’re talking tactical easy wins for emerging brands ($10k - $50k) and this episode is filled with great action items that won’t take much time but could have a big impact on your business. 

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:47 Why Lisa started her coaching business and her focus on female entrepreneurs
• 7:33 The biggest mistakes emerging brands make
• 10:10 Strategy: marketing towards a persona instead of a demographic
• 13:17 Common website mistakes that are easy to fix 
• 16:00 How to tell your authentic brand story & and the marketing power of a founders face
• 18:50 Brands who successfully showcase the founder as the face of the brand 
• 22:12 Easy things to do to engage with customers 
• 25:26 How to focus and not immediately dive into the next new and exciting marketing idea 
• 29:09 How the Coalition has helped Lisa grow her business 
• 29:57 Voice of customer copywriting technique 
• 31:36 One thing to take away from this episode and implement this week 

Resources:

• Lisa’s Website
• @lisabyrnemarketing on Instagram
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

There Are 2 Directions Your Ecomm Brand Can Go - You Can Be A Brand That Scales Up, Or You Can Flop. In This Greatest Hits Episode We Share the Secrets We've Seen Behind The Brands That Make it Big. 

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.

Today we're revisiting an interview I gave on the Ecommerce Evolution Podcast by my good friend Brett Curry. We break down what separates eCommerce brands that scale up versus those that plateau.

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.

This is a great conversation with a lot of tips from Brett and me. I hope you enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:54 Why I’m so passionate about dissecting why some brands scale and others don’t.
• 7:25 The KPIs that separate the businesses that can scale from those that can't.
• 8:47 Demand capture vs. demand generation and which one will allow you to scale.
• 12:20 Factors I look for when evaluating a product’s potential for growth.
• 14:22 How a passionate market can contribute to success.
• 18:32 Why having competitors in your market is a good thing.
• 19:13 Average order value and lifetime value: why they’re important and what to look for if you want to scale.
• 22:17 How to evaluate CPA across different channels and the other metric I recommend examining.
• 24:59 It’s OK if your business doesn’t scale -- and this is why.
• 27:57 Growing your business by expanding your product line.
• 31:49 A true entrepreneur falls in love with their customers, not their product.
• 33:16 Great founders know when to ask for help.
• 34:46 Why business founders need to become experts at their marketing channels before handing over the reins.
• 38:52 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
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Raising capital can go two ways - it can help you reach your goals faster or be disastrous and destroy your business. 

Karen Howland is the managing director at Circle Up, an investment platform that uses technology to invest in early-stage businesses (mostly health and wellness CPG companies). She’s been investing in companies for the last eight years, and in this conversation, we go deep into early-stage investing, what entrepreneurs need to know about raising capital, and the mistakes she sees entrepreneurs make along the way.

Karen also shares what opportunities are out there right now and what she's most excited about. 

If you’re considering raising capital for your business or are interested in investing this episode will give you the tips and tricks to get started. 

Episode Highlights

• 4:12 How Karen first got excited about investing 
• 5:35 The mission of Circle Up and what makes them different from other investment firms
• 8:32 What’s hot right now in the health and wellness space 
• 12:47 Why it’s so hard for large CPG companies to incubate and develop their own new products 
• 15:21 How Covid may have created the opportunity for CPG companies to innovate right now
• 17:43 The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when raising capital
• 24:14 Investing in CPG companies vs. investing in tech companies 
• 28:10 Patterns in companies that have massive success 
• 30:24 How Amazon, retail, and DTC companies can exist together 
• 36:05 What the future of protecting your brand on Amazon will look like
• 40:44 From raising capital to strategic exit - where entrepreneurs have the most challenges
• 43:55 Areas that Karen is excited about investing in

Resources:

• Circle Up Website
• Email Karen: khowland@circleup.com 
• Karen’s LinkedIn 
• @karenhowland2 on Twitter 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Buffy was one of the first brands to crack paid social. As today's Facebook advertisers scramble to adjust to changes on the platform we revisit this Greatest Hits episode to learn from one of the best. 

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

This summer we’re re-releasing some of our top episodes of all time, and this week we’re bringing back this incredibly relevant show with Buffy co-founder Shoaib Kabani.

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 on paid social.

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

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:55 How a desire to change the bedding industry led to the creation of Buffy.
• 7:27 The training Shoaib got from his start in consulting that’s helped him as an entrepreneur.
• 8:41Developing the initial idea and concept for Buffy: providing value and values.
• 10:35 The process of validating the concept online, on social, and in person before going all in.
• 13:33 How do I make this a no brainer for the consumer?
• 15:20 What’s worked for Buffy from a creative perspective and changes they’ve made as they’ve scaled.
• 19:42 Some of the unintended consequences of having a free trial offer.
• 21:01 Unique KPIs Shoaib looks at on a daily basis.
• 23:03 A funnel analysis tool that’s been a game changer as Buffy’s scaled up.
• 24:16 The materials and brand values that make Buffy stand out in the bedding industry.
• 26:27 How Buffy uses landing pages to enhance its sales funnel.
• 29:11 Addressing customer lifetime value when you have a limited number of products.
• 33:15 Shoaib’s approach to launching into new ad channels, specifically with affiliates and podcasts.
• 37:59 How the Buffy founders set their budget for testing new channels and concepts.
• 40:13 What you, the ecommerce business owner, need to be thinking about to be successful.
• 42:48 Exciting insight into what’s next for Buffy.

Links And Resources

• Buffy
• Heap
• Shoaib on Instagram: @ShoaibKabani
• Foxwell Digital
• Brand Growth Expert
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

When someone asks about eCommerce best practices, we always hear, “well, what’s Pura Vida doing?” and in this episode we’re talking with Pura Vida CEO, Griffin Thall, to get an inside look at their strategies, how the company’s grown over the last several years, the way his role has evolved, and what it’s actually like to prepare your company for a multi-million dollar sale.  Get a behind-the-scenes look at Pura Vida's exit strategy.

Interested in the Coalition training with Griffin? You can join the Coalition membership here for access to this and many other great trainings and resources.

Episode Highlights:

• 4:13 The meaning of 4x400 and how it relates to business growth.
• 6:11 Andrew's beginnings in the eCommerce world.
• 10:20 The challenges of operating multiple eCommerce businesses at once and the depth of learning that comes with it.
• 15:57 What Andrew's team at 4x400 looks like.
• 19:03 Metrics Andrew regularly looks at to track brands' success.
• 21:34 Impacts of the iOS 14 update across five different brands. 
• 24:57 Channels Andrew is investing in as a result of Facebook's volatility.
• 29:45 The mindset shift entrepreneurs need to make around attribution.
• 32:37 Why you should take a cautious approach to your 2021 projections, especially if you crushed it in 2020.
• 33:59 How Andrew measures success and the difference between his free cash flow and EBITA goals. 
• 37:15 Recommended resources for eCommerce entrepreneurs.
• 40:10 Lessons Andrew's learned as he's grown into a leader in his business.
• 45:25 Things that are making Andrew's life better right now.

Links and Resources:

• 4x400
  • Bambu Earth
  • Slick Products
  • 31 Bits
  • Genuine Canine
  • Modern Fuel
• QALO
• Agency Partners
  • Kynship
  • CTC
• Community Resources
  • eCommerce Fuel
  • ADmission 
• Podcasts
  • Ecommerce Playbook
  • eCommerce Fuel
  • Generous Giving
  • Planet Money
  • Freakonomics
• Klaviyo
• Twitter
  • Andrew Faris
  • Taylor Holiday
  • Web Smith
• Related Episodes
  • 211: From Seminary To Shopify Plus: A Conversation About Brands with Aaron Orendorff
  • 306: What’s Next In Ecommerce: The Future Of Amazon, Facebook Sustainability, And Emerging Channels With Andrew Youderian
• Intentional Wealth
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 3:37 A coaching community with tools to help you scale up
• 6:41 Building connections with established eCommerce entrepreneurs
• 10:02 Accelerating your growth without adding more to your plate
• 12:03 Expanding your network and keeping yourself accountable
• 14:21 Where to go if you're ready to level up in your business

Links and Resources:

• Coalition
• Intentional Wealth
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 3:05 Step #1 for building a self-managing company: Change your mindset about what's possible.
• 5:07 Step #2: Understand what you're really selling.
• 7:11 Step #3: Start thinking like a general manager, not a coach.
• 9:37 Step #4 for building a self-managing company: Share your intent, not your outline.
• 12:21 Step #5: Narrow down your metrics and give your team autonomy.
• 14:43 Step #6: Embrace delegation as a competitive advantage.
• 17:01 Step #7 for building a self-managing company: Find your mentors.

Links and Resources:

• Intentional Wealth
• Strategic Coach
• Book: The Art of Selling Your Business
• Book: Traction
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 4:26 The Bernie Singles Case Study
• 8:10 Common misconceptions about email marketing
• 10:05 Chase’s early career in email marketing
• 14:02 How Chase took complete ownership of his marketing funnel
• 17:54 The easiest ways to increase your eCommerce revenue with email marketing
• 20:09 How to maximize your email opt-ins 
• 22:31 Does gamification work for opt-ins?
• 23:36 Chase’s email diagnostic checklist
• 27:27 What types of products should be invested in email marketing
• 32:09 The future of SMS marketing and what is overhyped
• 36:41 How to find talented copywriters and designers
• 39:53 Resources that helped Chase build Boundless Labs
• 42:47 What motivates Chase to stay committed to email marketing

Links and Resources:

• Chase Dimond’s Website
• Chase Dimond on Twitter
• Boundless Labs
• Ecommerce Email Marketing Course by Chase Dimond
• Pura Vida Bracelets
• Privy
• Klaviyo
• PostScript
• Seth Godin
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Do you want to unlock massive growth or stay small? If you're unsure why your eCommerce business isn't growing, this episode is for you.

Over the last five years, I've worked with businesses that have grown from $100K per month to $1MM per month, and I've worked with businesses that have continued to stay small, despite their desire for growth.

In this bonus episode, I'm sharing the 9 reasons why your eCommerce business isn't growing, and how you can change that.

If you're ready to unlock growth in your business, without sacrificing your health, personal life, or family, you need to check out Intentional Wealth. It's an 8-week accelerator for eCommerce business owners that kicks off July 7. The enrollment period is open now, and the program is filling up quickly. Get the details here.

Episode Highlights:

• 2:51 Reason #1 why your eCommerce business isn't growing: You're scarcity focused
• 4:12 Reason #2: You aren't keeping up when the game changes
• 5:24 Reason #3: Superhero Syndrome
• 7:23 Reason #4 why your eCommerce business isn't growing: You aren't managing your cash
• 8:35 Reason #5: You're transaction-focused instead of transformation-focused
• 11:20 Reason #6: You're focused on tactics instead of strategy
• 12:46: Reason #7: You don't know what you want or what your business is
• 16:31 Reason #8 why your eCommerce business isn't growing: You think in terms of cost, not investment
• 18:12 Reason #9: You're trying to do it all alone.

Links and Resources:

• Intentional Wealth
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 5:39 Fast-paced growth and what’s next in eCommerce
• 8:39 The state of Amazon for eCommerce sellers
• 13:00 Is Facebook advertising going to be a thing of the future or the past?
• 18:46 Why Andrew Youderian doesn’t think Facebook is the path to sustainable growth
• 23:40 Strategies for owning your relationship with your community
• 28:10 Are you still experiencing asymmetric returns?
• 32:42 How to take advantage of emerging channels to grow your audience
• 35:49 Why Andrew closed the eCommerce Fuel job board
• 40:04 Exciting new tools and the future of Facebook groups
• 45:47 Why social trust is critical to the success of businesses

Links and Resources:

• eCommerce Fuel
• eCommerce Fuel Podcast
• Andrew Youderian on Twitter
• eCommerce Fuel Podcast with Kevin Stecko: Shrinking a Business to Save It
• The My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast with Steve Chou
• Reddit
• Circle
• Podcast 106: Building a Business with Andrew Youderian
• Podcast 006: From The Corporate World To Selling His First ECommerce Store And Much More – Andrew Youderian, ECommerce Fuel
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes
•  

Episode Highlights:

• 4:18 The easiest way to write copy that converts
• 8:27 How to conduct meaningful customer research
• 12:16 Val's new role at Klaviyo
• 21:40 The emails you absolutely need to do customer research for
• 26:13 Val’s approach to balancing qualitative and quantitative data
• 32:06 Klaviyo’s SMS product update 
• 36:54 How do upgrade your flows with SMS
• 41:31 Ways you can optimize your abandoned cart
• 47:31 The power of marketing automation
• 52:00 How to design your customer acquisition flywheel
• 55:29 Val’s Email Marketing Hall of Fame

Links and Resources:

• Val Geisler’s Website
• Klaviyo
• Rev.com
• Otter.ai
• Enjoy HQ
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 6:49 The secret to having a successful exit
• 12:04 How much you should get for your business
• 19:26 The number one job you have as a business owner
• 23:58 Why so few entrepreneurs turn pro
• 28:49 Tactical ways you can increase the long term value of your business
• 36:20 The power of taking a pause in entrepreneurship
• 43:54 The biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when selling their business
• 49:49 What to do if you are forced to take an earnout 

Links and Resources:

• John Warrilow’s Website (Click “Free Gifts” for bonuses from John)
• Built to Sell Radio
• Built to Sell
• The Automatic Customer
• The Art of Selling Your Business
• The Membership Economy
• Podcast 235: A Behind The Scenes Look At Pura Vida’s Multi-Million Dollar Exit
• Podcast 296: The Keys To A 9-Figure Exit: How Moiz Ali Sold Native For $100MM
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 4:44 The future of eCommerce: A return to the renaissance
• 8:26 Google’s changes to audience targeting and attribution
• 11:29 Why agencies and freelancers should be weary of privacy changes
• 19:12 The formula for consistently creating high-converting content
• 28:02 Why subscription models aren't going away anytime soon
• 31:13 How to make a subscription model work for your business
• 35:51 Three types of subscription models to consider
• 42:31 How to keep up with the speed of change in business
• 44:32 What being a basketball coach and CEO have in common
• 48:10 Austin’s perspective shift on his role in business
• 53:43 Check out the eCommerce Evolution Podcast

Links and Resources:

• OMG Commerce
• eCommerce Evolution Podcast
• Brett Curry on Twitter
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath
• The Automatic Customer by John Warrillow
• The Art of Selling Your Business by John Warrillow
• The Membership Economy by John Warrillow
• Podcast 295: Building A $100MM Brand: The Story Behind Snow Teeth Whitening
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 4:23 Why Sean D'Souza created "psychotactics"
• 6:41 What stops people from taking a 3-month vacation
• 10:57 The best way to stop losing customers
• 19:30 Why your business needs to have a uniqueness factor
• 25:12 How to come up with your uniqueness factor
• 32:15 Unpacking the misconception around sales
• 37:07 Tiger Woods' iconic shot and what it has to do with your customers
• 40:58 How to start understanding your customer in a deeper way
• 45:04 Learn more about Sean D'Souza
• 47:08 Sean’s top recommendation for a vacation destination

Links and Resources:

• Sean D’Souza’s Website
• The Three Month Vacation Podcast
• The Brain Audit: Why Customers Buy (And Why They Don't)
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 4:10 Automation #1: Your hiring process
• 10:18 Automation #2: Your social media production
• 15:07 Automation #3: Your inbox
• 18:17 Automation #4: Your project management
• 24:15 Automation #5: Your email marketing
• 29:40 How to combine SMS and email
• 34:04 What Steve is most excited about
• 38:14 Check out Steve’s podcast

Links and Resources:

• My Wife Quit Her Job Website
• My Wife Quit Her Job Podcast
• Airtable
• HelpScout
• Gorgias
• Planoly
• Electric SMS
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 3:51 How Pokoloko was first created
• 6:23 How Pokoloko generated their first $100,000
• 9:19 The biggest difference between running wholesale vs direct to consumer
• 11:02 Three major initiatives that moved the needle when switching to online sales
• 13:32 Critical hires when growing a B2C business 
• 15:28 Marketing initiatives with a high ROI
• 19:01 How transitioning to B2C affects wholesale 
• 20:28 Leaderships lessons Case wishes he knew years ago
• 24:20 What Case is most excited about

Links and Resources:

• Pokoloko
• Pokoloko on Instagram
• Case Bakker on LinkedIn
• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• The Coalition
• Intentional Wealth
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 5:28 Myth #1: You need to diversify your traffic
• 8:38 Myth #2: Google PageSpeed is crucial to getting more sales
• 14:00 Myth #3: You have to be the first to do everything 
• 18:49 Myth #4: If a “big” business is doing it, it must be right
• 23:10 Myth #5: Hustle and grind is the key to business success
• 27:57 Myth #6: People don’t read on the internet 
• 35:40 Check out the Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Links and Resources:

• Kurt Elster
• The Unofficial Shopify Podcast
• Ethercycle
• Podcast 193: “Must Know” Elements Of Successful Ecom Design Most Business Forget
• Podcast 282: 8 Ecommerce All Stars Share Their Best Marketing Advice
• Intentional Wealth
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 4:03 Learning how to create packages to boost your AOV
• 6:20 How Classic Car Stereos manages all of the moving parts in their business
• 8:18 Jeff’s journey from spending time in the weeds of his business to spending time on the golf course
• 10:55 A mindset shift on inventory management and demand planning
• 16:19 Entrepreneurial finance 101: The numbers every entrepreneur should know
• 25:06 Using Google Adwords and why you should always be bidding on your brand
• 29:12 Evolving your leadership style to empower your team
• 34:35 The resources Jeff uses to grow Classic Car Stereos

Links and Resources:

• Classic Car Stereos
• Jeff Vogl on Twitter 
• Jeffv@classiccarstereos.com
• RingCentral
• Ahrefs
• NetSuite
• Podcast 296: The Keys To A 9-Figure Exit: How Moiz Ali Sold Native For $100MM
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights:

• 4:21 How Kristin started as an eCommerce entrepreneur
• 7:27 The moment Kristin realized Holistic Habitat had potential
• 9:55 How Holistic Habitat grew 500% in 2018
• 12:53 Why Kristin doubled her FB ads budget at the beginning of COVID-19
• 16:53 The biggest leadership takeaways from 2020
• 19:13 Working in the Coalition: How Kristin increased profits and got out of her own way
• 23:25 Becoming a Facebook ads pro
• 26:23 How to run Facebook ads that convert
• 28:32 Holistic Habitat’s unforgettable marketing mishaps 
• 31:10 Advice for purpose-driven brands trying to build customer loyalty 
• 33:57 The #1 thing Kristin wishes she knew before starting her entrepreneurship journey
• 35:27 What’s keeping Kristin up at night
• 37:16 Lessons from COVID-19 that keep moving the needle
• 38:43 How Holistic Habitat creatively increases their average order value
• 41:52 Get in touch with Kristin

Links and Resources:

• Holistic Habitat
• Holistic Habitat on Instagram
• Holistic Habitat Insiders Facebook group
• Foxwell Digital
• The Coalition
• Intentional Wealth
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 2:57 Chrissie’s passion for travel
• 5:11 Launching Love Is Project in Bali
• 9:43 The process of getting onto Shark Tank
• 12:55 Chrissie’s mindset heading into Shark Tank and how it panned out
• 14:57 How the power of the press for Love Is Project
• 17:07 The trial and error of hiring freelancers and agencies
• 20:10 How Chrissie is able to work anywhere in the world
•  21:33 What Chrissie wishes she knew before launching Love Is Project
• 21:53 How Chrissie is leveraging the Intentional Wealth program 
• 24:20 Chrissie’s advice for people building a lifestyle brand
• 26:20 What Chrissie is most excited about going forward
• 27:35 Helpful resources for entrepreneurs

Links and Resources:

• Love Is Project
• Love Is Project on Instagram
• Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Chrissie Lam
• How I Built This Podcast
• Klaviyo
• Shopify
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• Intentional Wealth
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 3:30 How Moiz Ali’s family encouraged him to lean into entrepreneurship
• 5:01 What drove Moiz away from law school
• 6:13 How life is like at Proctor & Gamble
• 11:18 A/B testing deodorant: Native vs P&G
• 16:00 Why Native was successful so quickly
• 20:53 Navigating eCommerce upsells
• 23:43 The team members and agencies Native leveraged to grow
• 28:18 What Moiz would do differently if he could hit the reset button
• 31:06 Raising money: Should you or shouldn't you?
• 35:55 Prepping to sell your company
• 39:45 What Moiz’s schedule was like leading up to the sell
• 43:22 Moiz’s advice on whether you should go all-in on your business
• 45:56 eCommerce myths Moiz wants to dispel
• 48:21 The best eCommerce platform to use
• 50:09 How Ali Capital chooses which companies to invest in
• 53:46 What’s exciting Moiz Ali about eCommerce right now
• 55:40 The three main keys to Native’s early success

Links and Resources:

• Moiz Ali's Website
• Exit Strategy Podcast
• Ali Capital
• Native
• Moiz on Instagram
• Moiz on Twitter
• Email Moiz
• PostScript (use this link for a 30-day free trial)
• Gorgias (use this link to get your second month free)
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:02 Josh’s pre-teen start to entrepreneurship
• 8:36 Snow’s defining moment of growth
• 13:55 Josh’s take on paid acquisition
• 16:45 How Snow strategically diversified their marketing channels
• 21:34 The biggest differences between running a $1MM and a $100MM company
• 27:07 How Josh has learned how to ask for help as a leader
• 32:20 The difference between “hunting elephants” and “hunting rabbits”
• 39:26 How Snow leverages influencer marketing and a celebrity’s social capital
• 45:00 Common misconceptions about running an eCommerce business
• 52:29 Where Snow is going and the challenges Josh sees on the horizon
• 56:01 Josh’s words of wisdom for eCommerce entrepreneurs

Links and Resources:

• Snow
• Josh Snow on Instagram
• Powerhouse Mastermind
• Josh Snow’s Interviews on YouTube
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:02 How Kindred Bravely first started in 2015
• 7:02 The KPI system Kindred Bravely uses that promotes ownership
• 14:42 Why you should always schedule time to think
• 16:53 Why you should never be afraid to pay for learning
• 19:39 How to debrief and implement your learnings
• 22:26 The only two functions of your enterprise
• 27:30 How to start thinking and dominos and why you want should
• 28:46 Why you need to create a flywheel
• 34:52 What Garret’s thinking routine looks like and the questions he asks himself
• 36:19 The first hire that Kindred Bravely made and why
• 38:37 How to create a flywheel in Shopify
• 43:17 The most important part of capital management
• 47:00 Kindred Bravely’s financial reporting rhythm
• 51:18 The best way to have successful relationships with agencies
• 53:35 How Garret structures business goals and sprints

Links and Resources:

• Kindred Bravely
• The 4 Day MBA
• Vistage
• Dan Sullivan’s Impact Filter
• Kolbe Index
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:30 How to determine if you should buy or build an eCommerce site
• 7:27 Buying a business to cross-sell
• 9:29 The 6 key tenets to robust due diligence when buying a business
• 13:12 How to assess the quality of a business’ backlinks
• 16:23 Financials you should always assess as a buyer
• 19:23 Problem areas to investigate before buying a business
• 23:15 Technical and legal checklist items you shouldn’t forget
• 25:38 The biggest mistakes most first-time buyers make and how to avoid them
• 27:34 Leveraging SEO and content for growth
• 30:53 Income and age: Two essential criteria for evaluating a company
• 32:49 Buying a business on a bank loan
• 35:48 Five things to always look for when buying
• 39:04 The advice Shakil would have given himself when he was starting out
• 41:30 Shakil’s process for reviewing prospecting companies and getting them through due diligence
• 43:30 What Drew is most excited about when buying
• 46:15 Merger and acquisition opportunities that can help your brand
• 50:45 Uncovering your blind spots within the acquisition process
• 52:26 Boostrapping vs acquisition: Which is right for you and which comes first?

Links and Resources:

• Podcast: 095: 4 Reasons Why You Should Buy An Ecommerce Business & The 6 Key Tenets To Proper Due Diligence
• Podcast: 195: Austin Ecommerce Investor Reveals His Short-Cut To Scaling
• Podcast: 241: Evolutions In Lifecycle Marketing & New Approaches To Creating Wealth
• Websites: FE International, Pro Click Ventures, Nerd Marketing, AutoAnything
• Social Media: David Newell on Twitter, Drew on Instagram
• The San Francisco Fallacy: The Ten Fallacies That Make Founders Fail
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 5:21 The current state of Facebook advertising and what you need to know about iOS 14
• 7:47 Apple’s new positioning around consumer privacy and how it will affect your advertising
• 9:56 How Apple will control the floodgates of information
• 12:52 What we know is changing between iOS 14 and Facebook ads
• 16:05 The upside to these changes within Facebook 
• 18:24 What the upcoming data delay will mean for you 
• 21:42 8 must-have events to set up to prepare for the new normal
• 25:40 How to set up and customize your new events
• 28:58 Don’t get taken advantage of: A word of caution when searching for help
• 32:05 Who is going to be most affected by these changes 
• 37:57 The tools Facebook and Apple are working on to help you

Links and Resources:

• Foxwell Digital Blog: Facebook’s Conversions API (CAPI) and How to implement it with your Shopify site
• Foxwell Digital Blog: What's Working (and what's not) in a Post-iOS14 World
• Foxwell Digital Blog: Facebook Advertising FAQs
• Podcast 278: Facebook’s New Conversions API & Why You Need To Install It Before The New Year
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 5:11 How Justuno has evolved over the years
• 6:52 The business basics Erik has been on top of for the last 10 years
• 11:44 Stretching your marketing dollars as far as you can
• 14:20 What Erik has learned about leading a remote team
• 17:51 The two things Erik tells every single one of his employees
• 21:35 What Erik is most excited about in Justuno’s future
• 26:10 How to optimize your landing pages
• 29:45 What Justuno has on the 2021 roadmap you should know about 
• 32:05 How to get 30 days of free access to the Coalition

Links and Resources:

• Justuno
• Erik on LinkedIn
• Podcast: 154: How We Got A 10% Win With Simple “DIY” Conversion Rate Optimization
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 6:28 How society has entrepreneurs brainwashed
• 8:29 Are you playing a status game or a wealth game?
• 12:11 The Brand Acceleration Formula
• 15:03 The biggest cause for slow business growth
• 17:15 How to avoid shiny object syndrome 
• 20:05 What our most successful clients have in common
• 22:03 The best way to start bringing your big ideas to reality 
• 24:21 Our new Intentional Wealth Program

Links And Resources:

• Intentional Wealth
• Podcast 289: How To Grow The Long Term Value Of Your Business, Whether You Want To Sell Or Not
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:49 Why Ryan is passionate about helping entrepreneurs create long term value
• 8:04 The right time for a business to think about its direction
• 11:16 Annual income vs long term value: Which is better?
• 13:51 How investing in your business could be more valuable than cash
• 18:00 Tracking the value of your company even if you don’t want to sell
• 19:30 What a “good valuation” really means
• 22:28 Things professional buyers are looking for when evaluating your company 
• 25:47 Understanding the J curve and the opportunities you may be missing in your business
• 30:33 When it’s time to find a new CEO
• 35:37 Why you should focus on long term value even if you don’t plan to sell
• 41:16 What business owners should know about the exit process
• 44:21 The things entrepreneurs actually have control over 
• 46:01 What you’ll learn in Ryan’s upcoming Coalition training

Links and Resources:

• Ryan on LinkedIn
• Arkona.io
• Intentional Growth Podcast
• Value Builder System
• Value Opportunity Profile
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

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:

• Traction: Get a Grip On Your Business by Gino Wickman
• Traction Implementation Tools
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

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:

• Traction Accountability Chart
• AirTable
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

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:

• Casely
• The Exit Strategy by Moiz Ali 
• David Hermann on Twitter
• Foxwell Digital
• mark@getcasely.com 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

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:

• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @brandgrowthx on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:59 Nat and Austin’s elk hunt
• 12:08 The biggest thing Nat learned in 2020
• 15:49 Three reasons Nat is able to consistently put out new content
• 20:39 How to ship high-quality creative work
• 27:57 Nat’s system to avoid piling things onto his plate
• 33:29 Advice Nat received that helped him build a business that runs itself
• 38:12 The roles Nat hired for to build and scale his agency
• 43:50 Three types of workstyles you should know about before hiring 
• 48:59 The type of people you need to hire if you want to build a business that runs itself
• 52:00 The business model the most successful companies follow
• 56:42 How to get yourself out of the day-to-day aspect of your business
• 1:02:05 Getting trapped in a company you created
• 1:11:17 Using resistance as a tool for growth
• 1:15:25 Is your productivity destroying your health? 
• 1:24:21 What Nat’s most excited about right now

Links and Resources:

• Growth Machine
• Sacred Hunting
• Ali Abdaal’s YouTube Channel
• Ali Abdaal’s Video Editing Skillshare Course
• David Allen
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• Podcast 129: Content Marketing – What You Need To Know With Nat Eliason
• Podcast 179: Making A Comeback After The Google Medic Update
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:50 What being a more conscious leader means 
• 5:48 The number one thing every leader needs to get clear on
• 8:31 The biggest challenge holding leaders back
• 9:48 Breaking a common addiction in entrepreneurship
• 13:37 Leveraging radical responsibility to grow your business
• 17:37 Three ways to better respect your time and everyone else’s 
• 21:01 Questions the best leaders are always asking

Links and Resources:

• The Social Dilemma
• The Impact Filter
• Podcast 149: The Art of Doing Less But Better with Greg McKeown Part 1
• Podcast 150: The Art of Doing Less But Better with Greg McKeown Part 2
• Podcast 245: How To Build A Successful Agency (Without Burning Yourself Out)
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 3:56 Steve Chou: Avoiding shiny object syndrome 
• 5:43 Peep Laja: The number 1 thing to look into if you’re not making traction
• 8:15 Noah Kagan: What to remain focused on at all times
• 10:58 Kurt Elster: What it takes to be a true expert
• 14:26 Ezra Firestone: Are you quitting too soon?
• 17:00 Chris Orzechowski: How to never have a customer retention problem
• 20:19 Andrew Youderian: Doubling down on what works 
• 23:35 Austin Brawner: Pressure over time

Links and Resources:

• Steve Chou
  • My Wife Quit Her Job
  • Sellers Summit
• Peep Laja
  • Peep's Website
  • Conversion XL
  • Wynter
• Noah Kagan
  • Noah's YouTube Channel
  • Noah's Podcast
  • OkDork
  • AppSumo
• Kurt Elster
  • Kurt's Website
  • The Unofficial Shopify Podcast
  • Ethercycle
• Ezra Firestone
  • Smart Marketer
  • Boom! By Cindy Joseph
• Chris Orzechowski
  • The Email Copywriter
  • Make It Rain Monthly
  • Founder of Orzy Media
• Andrew Youderian
  • Ecommerce Fuel
  • Ecommerce Fuel Podcast
• Austin Brawner
  • The Coalition
  • @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 3:48 The freelancer vs agency debate
• 5:42 Why an agency could be the better option for you
• 7:06 Understanding the true cost of working with an agency
• 9:37 The right questions to ask an agency before hiring them
• 13:56 Why a freelancer might be the best choice for you 
• 15:47 Challenges to look out for when hiring a freelancer 
• 18:10 The benefits of choosing to hire in house
• 22:52 A dangerous trap to avoid

Links and Resources:

• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 8:20 Improving your email marketing and generating $10k in revenue in 7 days
• 10:11 How to ensure Klaviyo is properly connected to your site
• 14:02 Creating an on-brand email template 
• 16:22 How to increase your lead flow
• 18:35 Choosing the right email pop-up provider
• 21:03 The two biggest revenue-generating email flows to focus on
• 23:56 How to set up email marketing tests to determine what works
• 27:16 What’s working with email marketing today
• 30:26 Our formula to make more money from email marketing
• 32:55 Why you should start sending more emails (and why you can't send too many

Links and Resources:

• Recharge
• Justuno
• Privy
• Klaviyo
• AppSumo
• Stamped.io
• Judge.me
• Soapbox
• The Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 5:38 Mike’s journey from biology teacher to ads agency owner
• 8:03 Growing a business as a result of the rise of AI
• 12:11 Why Amazon has the best ad platform for direct response marketing
• 15:12 A bootstrappers mentality vs the accelerator mentality 
• 18:45 How to determine if an accelerator is a good idea for you
• 21:05 The metrics Michael focuses on most to move his business forward
• 23:23 Mike’s unique perspective on retirement
• 26:19 How Michael is evolving his workhorse mentality and detangling himself from entrepreneurship
• 31:27 The motivation behind diving into entrepreneurship
• 34:55 The hardest part about starting a software company
• 41:01 How Michael and his team use the scrum methodology and why they are moving away from Slack
• 46:27 What Michael wishes he could tell his younger self
• 48:28 The number 1 thing every entrepreneur should have on their entrepreneurial journey
• 50:54 Michael's favorite book on entrepreneurship that changed his leadership style for the better
• 53:14 Is Ad Badger right for you?

Links and Resources:

• Michael Facchin on LinkedIn
• Ad Badger
• Search Scientists
• PPC Den Podcast
• Ad Badger on YouTube
• Reboot by Jerry Colonna
• TechCrunch
• Crunchbase 
• Podcast 115: How Retargeting Will Improve Your Business’ Results
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 3:09 Why you need to install Facebook's Conversions API on your Shopify site
• 6:23 Common mistakes that prevent pixels from properly tracking
• 7:32 The impact of tracking all conversion events 
• 10:39 What a 30% increase in conversion reporting can do for your business
• 13:49 The direction of conversion tracking and customer information
• 17:15 How to implement Facebook’s Conversion API onto your site

Links and Resources:

• Foxwell Digital Blog: Facebook’s Conversions API (CAPI) and How to implement it with your Shopify site
• The Social Dilemma 
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Links and Resources:

• Mister Jones Health
• Mister Jones Health on Instagram
• Careers at Mister Jones Health
• Traction by Gino Wickman
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• The E-Myth Revisted by Michael E. Gerber
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 6:27 Establishing what financial freedom looks like for you
• 9:27 The three buckets of investments
• 10:38 How Austin and his wife got into real estate investing
• 16:08 Austin and Andrew's stock market strategy to build wealth
• 19:18 Protecting yourself from an inflation event
• 22:09 Views on cryptocurrency and how to create a hedge for yourself
• 24:12 Austin's business strategy to build wealth
• 2840 How to build a $100M asset without having a $100M business
• 30:48 Leveraging the skills you have to create outsized returns
• 34:04 The importance of having a net worth progress tracking system

Links and Resources:

• Allegra’s Website Factora Wealth
• Wealthfront
• I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
• Brand Growth Experts
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 5:07 How Tim got started in the wellness industry
• 10:00 The effects COVID has had on Tim’s brick-and-mortar and Ecommerce sales
• 14:19 How Tim is applying his customer first strategy online
• 18:55 Building your competitive advantage into your onboarding process
• 21:59 Choosing to double down on what works
• 23:31 The most powerful metric Tim’s team focuses on 
• 25:44 Hard lessons Tim has learned about himself in his entrepreneurial journey
• 28:47 A perspective on what to do when you make the wrong hire
• 30:36 Tim’s approach on local and digital advertising
• 35:31 The email marketing strategy that is generating thousands of dollars in sales every week
• 38:32 What Tim is most excited about in business right now
• 40:01 How you can get in touch with Tim

Links and Resources:

• Find Your Healthy Place (Use discount code "influence" for 10% off)
• Wild Theory (Use discount code "influence" for 10% off)
• Get Found Madison
• Podcast 243: How To Improve Your Ecommerce SEO
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 6:27 How user behavior is impacting the current state of Facebook
• 10:36 A global overview of Facebook ad performance
• 13:59 What the Shaq Stack is and how to use it
• 17:12 Using bid overrides to manage volatile Facebook ad performance
• 19:35 User-generated content and dynamic creative testing
• 22:49 The All-In-One Campaign Budget Optimization when nothing else is working
• 24:48 Finding your unique performance formula
• 27:36 How long you need to run campaigns to maximize Facebook ad performance
• 30:30 When to ramp up your Facebook ad budget
• 33:13 The top 3 things working for US-based advertisers 
• 35:23 Andrew’s Q4 prediction on Facebook ad performance

Links and Resources:

• Podcast 272: 20 Facebook Advertising Strategies You Need To Try Right Now
• Canva
• Kapwing
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 6:34 The power of a $20 haircut: What inspired the Scotch Porter brand
• 10:19 Creating a mission you can get behind
• 12:17 Laying the groundwork for Scotch Porter
• 15:29 The key characteristic you need to solve your startup problems 
• 17:27 What Calvin wishes he knew before signing major retail contracts
• 21:29 Two things Calvin would approach differently if given another chance
• 23:15 The lengthy process of landing inside Playboy magazine
• 25:35 Scotch Porter’s marketing strategies to gain traction
• 27:55 How Calvin would launch a second brand with what he knows now
• 30:23 4 invaluable resources Calvin recommends for your entrepreneurial journey
• 32:26 Why Calvin will hop on a call with any entrepreneur
  34:39 The benefits of bootstrapping vs being funded
• 36:29 How you can get in touch with Calvin and learn more about Scotch Porter

Links and Resources:

• Scotch Porter Website
• Scotch Porter on Instagram
• Scotch Porter on Facebook
• Calvin Quallis on LinkedIn
• Calvin@scotchporter.com
• The Tim Ferriss Show
• The BoF Podcast
• Glossy Podcast
• Masters of Scale Podcast
• How I Built This Podcast
• Brand Growth Experts
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 7:29 Integrating user-generated content into your creative
• 8:43 Leveraging reviews and social proof in ad copy
• 10:16 Using square video link posts
• 11:56 Performance differences between lifestyle photos vs product images
• 13:50 The problem with unanswered comments on your paid social ad
• 17:50 How to give first-time customers a reason to try your product
• 19:19 Bringing new life to an old ad set
• 20:36 Utilizing dynamic pixel actions to introduce new prospecting audiences
• 22:29 Testing broad match dynamic product ads layered with interests
• 23:26 Splitting dynamic product ad time windows to give your customers the best treatment
• 24:24 Analyzing your audience overlap to help scale your ads
• 27:16 Using value bidding to increase your average order value
• 30:23 Bid overrides, the bully method and getting exposure in a competitive space
• 34:58 The importance of advertising to previous customers
• 37:32 Trying product bundling to bring up your AOV
• 42:02 Remarketing to engaged users
• 43:24 Reading your age report breakdown and how to find it
• 46:22 What your Add to Cart to Purchase ratio can tell you
• 48:08 How to try campaign budget optimization
• 49:45 The importance of getting a naming convention installed

Links and Resources:

• Podcast 173: The 5 Step Process to Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account
• The Social Dilemma
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 4:47 Andrew’s philosophy of viewing the world as your buffet 
• 6:57 The history behind flag theory
• 9:48 Why you should be harnessing difficult countries for different benefits
• 13:02 The biggest misconceptions about offshore business
• 19:26 A case for investing in international real estate
• 22:46 Challenges associated with frontier markets
• 26:05 How families are taking advantage of global citizenship
• 30:21 The differences between a tax-friendly state and a tax-friendly country
• 33:51 What it’s like living a nomadic lifestyle
• 37:35 Andrew’s hypothesis on the future state of taxes
• 42:02 How to approach getting a second passport
• 47:42 Questions to ask yourself when deciding if an offshore business is right for you
• 52:03 Where you can get in touch with Andrew

Links and Resources:

• Andrew’s Website
• Andrew’s YouTube Channel
• Nomad Capitalist on Facebook
• Nomad Capitalist on Instagram
• Nomad Capitalist on Twitter
• Nomad Capitalist Book
• The Golden Visa
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 4:58 The problem with copying someone else’s formula for success
• 7:15 Starting a multimillion-dollar company by accident
• 12:52 What it’s like riding the wave of one of the largest diet crazes
• 16:02 How to solve nearly all of the problems in your business
• 20:00 Perfect Keto’s science experiment approach to business
• 22:03 Anthony’s experience with burnout
• 28:31 What Anthony wishes he knew before launching Perfect Keto
• 32:00 Anthony’s new approach to building teams and building a solid business foundation
• 34:02 The next health problem Anthony is looking to solve 
• 36:42 What business owner’s need to know about entering retail
• 39:25 Advice for entrepreneurs working long hours and going off the grid
• 44:41 A mindset shift for entrepreneurs to start enjoying the process
• 50:17 How you can connect with Anthony

Links and Resources:

• Anthony’s Website
• Anthony’s Newsletter
• Anthony on Twitter
• Perfect Keto
• Equip Foods
• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
• Indistractable by Nir Eyal
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Today I’m taking you behind the scenes into the Coalition, my Ecommerce coaching community for Ecommerce entrepreneurs. Every month we have a live training that dives into one aspect of growing your Ecommerce business. In this training, we are talking about the mindset shifts needed to reach 9-figure growth.

Drew Sanocki, CEO of AutoAnything and former CMO KarmaLoop,  joins us and shares his experience running multiple 9-figure businesses. If you own or work with an established Ecommerce business and want to reach for that same success, this is for you.

Episode Highlights

• 8:31 The #1 prerequisite for building a 9-figure business
• 11:37 A key team characteristic at fast-growing companies
• 15:24 An unexpected truth about reinvention and the willingness to pivot
• 18:35 How to be laser-focused on your brand 
• 20:10 Changing your philosophy around hiring and how to attract top talent
• 23:03 What your role as the founder actually evolves into
• 25:58 This is the #1 way to not get what you want
• 28:11 A founder’s trade-off between growth and time
• 30:57 Drew Sanocki’s background in Ecommerce
• 32:30 The biggest differences between a 7-figure and 9-figure company
• 34:48 When to introduce middle management to your team
• 37:27 What Drew spends the most time doing in his business today
• 44:30 Drew’s philosophy on hiring and the power of networking
• 46:57 What successful founders have in common
• 50:52 The difference between being a single founder and having a co-founder
• 52:59 Putting together a board for your business
• 54:08 How to build the most wealth as an entrepreneur
• 59:02 Auditions vs Hiring: How to ensure you’ve found the right fit
• 1:01:16 Deciding to keep your role as the CEO in a growing company
• 1:05:43 The difference between running a software company and Ecommerce business
• 1:13:08 Believing that an exit is possible
• 1:15:07 Why we are in the Golden Age of Ecommerce

Links and Resources:

• AutoAnything
• Karmaloop
• The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
• EOS Model
• The Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 6:58 What iRestore’s 100% year-over-year growth has looked like
• 7:36 The product launch that changed the economics of Kevin’s business
• 12:33 The only two skills Kevin realized he needs to help the business succeed
• 15:18 Lessons from COVID-19 on how to future-proof your business
• 18:53 Creating an optimal work environment and strong company culture 
• 21:38 The impact of working remotely on productivity
• 24:08 What Kevin’s team looks like today
• 26:19 Four things to consider when hiring an agency 
• 29:17 How iRestore manages their paid advertising efforts
• 31:30 The unexpected source of fulfillment for Kevin in his business
• 33:55 How iRestore is creating a better employee experience
• 36:28 The most challenging yet critical piece to your business success 
• 38:50 Kevin’s struggle with transparency with his team
• 41:02 Fortunate opportunities in an unfortunate time: What iRestore is doubling down on
• 44:10 The freedom COVID-19 has given iRestore
• 46:09 What Kevin attributes the businesses’ largest inflection points to
• 48:38 iRestore is hiring!

Links and Resources:

• iRestore
• kevin@irestorelaser.com
• Kevin on LinkedIn
• Podcast: Episode 197: The Inside Story Of How iRestore Scaled To 8 Figures
• The Brand Guild
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:30 How Austin has helped many brands scale from $500k to $1MM.
• 7:00 Why it's so important to do almost every job in your business before turning it over to someone else.
• 8:27 The big differences between the Shopify brands that scale up and those that don't.
• 12:00 How to remove tasks from your plate so your business can scale.
• 14:20 The core KPI's Austin uses to understand his client's scalability.
• 15:56 Understanding what your net promoter score is and why it is so valuable to ecommerce brands.
• 23:00 The point at which Austin regularly sees businesses die out and how you can overcome it.
• 30:17 Everyone wants to scale their business but it does come with a few downsides.
• 33:45 How PR has helped many ecommerce brands become successful.
• 39:34 The questions you should be asking yourself to help you define your success.

Links and Resources:

• Unofficial Shopify Podcast
• Dean Jackson
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 5:11 The stressful, year-long experience of being on Shark Tank
• 12:23 The difference between having business partners and owning 100% of your business
• 14:53 How Eric has created freedom in his life and business over the last 8 years
• 19:44 The pros and cons of being the face of your brand
• 22:27 How Beardbrand showcases different facets of their brand through multiple social media channels
• 25:27 Beardbrand’s approach to dealing with online haters
• 27:55 What Beardbrand focuses on to stay ahead of their competition
• 29:48 An approach to content marketing that creates superfans
• 31:57 The lesson COVID-19 has taught businesses
• 34:49 What Eric wishes he had known when he first started his business
• 35:27 The system Eric uses to hire top-notch employees 
• 37:29 Key roles Eric plays in the business today
• 39:16 Using agencies to grow your business and when to transition to in-house
• 43:50 Beard Brand’s approach to paid advertising
• 46:05 What Eric is curious about right now
• 48:52 The hidden world of infertility and the journey Eric and his wife have been on

Links and Resources:

• Beardbrand.com
• Eric Bandholz on Twitter
• Podcast: Episode 15: Building An Incredibly Successful Community Based ECommerce 
• Eric’s Foundr Course: Blow Up Your Brand
• Farnam Street Newsletter
• Fuel Made 
• Traction by Gino Wickman
• Rocketfuel by Gino Wickman
• Ecommerce Fuel 
• Shark Tank
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 7:32 What Justin learned is critical for rapid, successful growth 
• 9:43  A sophisticated approach to Facebook marketing
• 13:00 Expectation vs Reality: What startling fast growth actually looks like
• 15:51 Justin’s three main roles in the company today and how his team has grown over the last year
• 19:34 Shifting focus to a long-term brand vision
• 21:13 How to get your team into alignment, set realistic expectations and maintain a high work ethic
• 24:20 The sales channel Justin believes is going to take the company to the next level
• 26:03 Factors to consider when crafting paid ad content
• 28:00 The one thing you need to ask yourself before deploying a new marketing strategy
• 32:22 Why disruption is a double-edged sword and the impact it has on your marketing
• 35:27 Oral Essential’s approach to email marketing and the changes they made over the eight months that have had drastic results 
• 38:15 Three steps to successfully drive subscription revenue
• 40:55 Key metrics that will increase the valuation of and stabilize your business
• 43:43 How failure helped Justin get more perspective and learn to set an example for his team
• 45:34 Justin’s advice for entrepreneurs trying to build 9-figure businesses
• 47:47 The most helpful resources Justin has found on his journey, including his recommended Twitter follows
• 50:37 What freedom means to Justin and how it shows up in his business
• 52:13 Analyzing the long term effects of COVID-19 on consumer psychology 
• 57:41 Oral Essentials is hiring!

Links and Resources:

• Episode 221: Secrets of a Facebook Superstar: How This 24-Year-Old CMO Doubled His Business In Less Than A Year
• Episode 264: How to Grow and Sell A 7-Figure Business
• Lumineux Oral Essentials
• justin@oralessentials.com
• Justin on Twitter
• David Herman on Twitter
• Andrew Foxwell on Twitter
• Digitally Native on Twitter
• Social Savannah on Twitter
• Exit Strategy Podcast by Moiz Ali
• Google Data Studio
• The Coalition
• Brand Guild
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

When I met Greg Williams in the Coalition, he told me he wanted to sell his business and be a millionaire by age 40. A year later, he’s done just that.

Greg started Autoimmune Institute in 2017 with the intention to sell, and in just three years, he went from $50,000 to $2,000,000 in sales. In this episode of the Ecommerce Influence podcast, Greg shares the levers he pulled to fast-track business growth, what it actually looks like to sell a 7-figure business, and how to maximize your business’ valuation.

If you’re interested in building a business with the intention to sell, this episode is a must-listen.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:22 The early foundation of Austin’s journey as an entrepreneur
• 8:17 Invaluable experience gained from startup life and lessons learned from burnout
• 10:58 Making sales while you sleep: Austin’s introduction to ecommerce and email marketing
• 12:49 How the Ecommerce Influence podcast was born
• 14:04 The unexpected rise and intentional fall of Austin’s marketing agency
• 18:30 The most important thing to consider when forming a business partnership
• 20:32 Austin’s lowest point in his entrepreneurship journey
• 22:38 The lightbulb moment at a mastermind that led to the creation of a new business model
• 24:47 Crush it culture resurfaces: how a second round of burn out changed the direction of Austin’s business
• 28:50 Hiring a business coach and building a membership site
• 31:23 The three current revenue-drivers for Austin’s business
• 32:42 Austin’s huge mindset shift that led to steady and consistent growth
• 36:07 How to create more freedom in your life as an entrepreneur
• 40:20 Austin’s definition of success in business and life today
• 44:22 An unpopular opinion Austin has about business that many other entrepreneurs won’t agree with

Links and Resources:

• The Doing it Different Podcast
• Make a Difference Asia Conference
• Traffic and Conversion Summit
• James Schramko
• The Coalition
• Brand Guild
• Profit Summit
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Episode Highlights

• 4:44 How the 2008 economic recession introduced Connie to the world of craft pottery
• 7:00 Reinventing pottery to reach the modern household
• 11:16 Connie’s organic approach to content marketing and building a holistic brand
• 13:35 The challenge of being the voice of the brand for a fast-growing business
• 16:41 What East Fork leadership spends 90% of their time on to ensure successful growth
• 19:23 Moving from WordPress to Shopify and the effect it had on demand
• 21:27 How East Fork is managing production and customer expectations in a COVID-19 world
• 23:36 Analyzing profitability and venture capital funding for a capital intensive business 
• 26:21 How East Fork’s leadership style has evolved during COVID-19
• 27:59 The many hats Connie wears as a cofounder
• 30:30 Connie’s process for creating honest and authentic brand collaborations
• 33:05 How to stop following the herd and create space for radical thinking

Episode Highlights

• 3:39 Why the ecommerce industry is primed to have a massive Q4
• 5:59 COVID-19 effects on spending and your consumer’s potential psychological shift during Q4
• 8:01 How to manage your ecommerce inventory to get a leg up against your competition
• 9:12 If your target audience includes these people you might have a difficult Q4
• 10:39 The biggest case against a successful Q4
• 13:17 Large corporations marketing budgets and how they could impact small business’ ability to compete
• 14:27 Austin’s Q4 predictions and his 3 step plan for preparing for the type of quarter in store

Links and Resources:

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

Episode Highlights

• 5:16 How Dan fell into SEO while working as a professional musician
• 7:50 What is SEO really? Is it a channel, a traffic source, links, or something else?
• 13:30 The #1 thing business owners need to think about when it comes to ecommerce SEO in 2020
• 15:49 Informational intent vs. purchase intent content and how you should be using each in your SEO strategy
• 18:53 Letting the keywords be your guide as you’re thinking about creating content with informational or purchase intent content
• 22:40 Breaking down seed keywords and how to identify them for your brand
• 26:04 Why Dan shifted from an agency business model to a consulting and training model
• 31:35 The technical pieces of SEO you need to watch out for in ecommerce
• 33:55 Should you have a developer on your team to help you with technical SEO?
• 35:34 Shopify blog or Wordpress blog: which is better for SEO?
• 37:20 What’s working right now with content: remember the keywords are king.
• 42:56 Backlinks: do you need them and how to build them proactively
• 46:30 Must-have tools for ecommerce SEO in 2020

Links and Resources:

• Evolving SEO
• Experts On The Wire Podcast
• Evolving SEO on Youtube
• Evolving SEO Interview with PR Expert Dmitry Dragilev
• Dan's Seven Beliefs About SEO
• @Dan_Shure on Twitter
• @EvolvingDan on Linkedin
• Strengths Finder
• Google’s Guidelines on SEO
• Google’s Developer guidelines
• Brian Dean’s Skyscraper Technique
• Backlinko.com
• JournoRequest
• HARO
• Dan’s SEO Toolkit
  • Keyword Keg
  • Keywordtool.io
  • Screaming Frog SEO spider
  • SEM Rush
  • Keywords Everywhere plugin
  • SEO Minion
  • Ask.com
  • Google Natural Language
  • 5 Ways To Use Google's Natural Language Tool for SEO (Dan's YouTube Walkthrough)
  • Tf-idf
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Holistic marketing can make your brand more consistent and unified across all your marketing channels so that it stands out from the competition. 

Jesse Semchuck, Director of Acquisition for Traeger Grills, joins us to share what he has learned from viewing channels holistically. He shares what the makeup of his marketing team looks like, how internal teams and third party agencies interact, and how a holistic growth approach can create more synergy across all marketing initiatives and the organization.  

Tune in and find out if holistic marketing is something you should use in your business. 

Episode Highlights: 

• 5:59 Jesse Semchuck’s role at Traeger Grills and what he’s been excited to build over the last year
• 7:55 The difference between selling mattresses and selling smoker grills
• 9:18 What’s working well for Traeger Grills right now
• 11:14 The makeup of Jesse’s marketing team 
• 12:37 Questions Jesse asks when thinking about strategic scaling and how he decides which marketing channels to focus on
• 17:06 Why low ROAS isn’t always a bad thing and the importance of understanding how different channels impact one another
• 20:13 When is the right time to invest in a full funnel holistic approach to your marketing
• 22:42 What most people do wrong when hiring an agency, and a better way to approach it
• 26:58 How internal team interaction with agencies is structured at Traeger Grills
• 29:00 Questions to ask a potential agency partner
• 30:57 When to outsource to an agency versus keeping things in house 
• 32:31 Agency red flags to watch out for

Links and Resources: 

• Subscribe to the Brand Growth Experts Newsletter
• Subscribe to the Foxwell Digital Newsletter
• Jesse Semchuck
• Traeger Grills
• Purple Mattress
• @jessesem on Twitter
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

This Week We’re Bringing You A Throwback To One Of Our Most Popular Episodes Of All Time.

In May 2018 we interviewed Jake Kassan about what it really takes to build a $100 million business. This episode has been incredibly popular, and it still extremely relevant today.

Jake Kassan, founder and CEO of MVMT Watches, was one of my first clients when he was just launching the brand back in 2013. He talks about how things have changed since then, and how MVMT has grown to what it is today.

MVMT strives to be a best in class brand and best in class in all-around marketing, and Jake shares the strategic approach to marketing MVMT uses to achieve those goals. He also talks about how having a strong team is essential to scaling your business and shares his experience hiring a CMO and supporting team, and what you need to know to do it.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 9:05 How building relationships with customers through direct sales online helped MVMT scale.
• 12:04 The best success comes in stages and this is what each stage of growth has looked like for MVMT over the last 5 years.
• 13:12 Jake’s #1 tip for successfully scaling a business (hint: it’s not email or Facebook ads).
• 15:07 What MVMT would do differently if they had to do it all over again.
• 19:05 As an entrepreneur, Jake believes it’s important to always be testing and working through those results to find success.
• 21:13 The basic math MVMT used to scale in the beginning and how they look at “spending-money-to-make-money” now.
• 24:18 Where MVMT is testing for acquisition and where they’re seeing success.
• 28:28 What you need to know when growing your team so you can successfully scale your business.
• 32:15 How MVMT solidified their appeal with customers through user-generated content.
• 35:09 What Jake loves most about building a lifestyle brand.
• 38:11 Every business goes through low times, here’s a few MVMT went through in order to grow.
• 43:09 Why Jake feels it’s so important to network with and learn from other founders.

Links And Resources:

• MVMT Watches
• Hims
• Jake Kassan
• Instagram.com/JakeKassan
• Twitter.com/JakeKassan
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Most companies add a second product line when they want to grow. This week’s guest decided to build a second brand instead.

Ashley Merrill founded women’s sleepwear line Lunya in 2014 because she was tired of wearing her husband’s clothes around the house. Five years later, she decided to expand into menswear, but just adding a men’s line didn’t sit right with her.

Tune in to find out why Ashley decided to start a second brand, how she grew her company from a startup to an established business, and lessons she’s learned about building a team.

Episode Highlights: 

• 5:16 How an ambition to solve a problem resulted in launching Lunya
• 8:00 How business has evolved since its unconventional 2014 launch
• 10:42 Why having major funding in the beginning isn’t always best, and the spending that eventually moved the needle for Lunya
• 13:05 The value of identifying your brand muse.
• 15:28 One company value that’s contributed to Lunya’s success
• 16:30 Hiring lessons learned growing from a start-up into an established business
• 21:00 How Lahgo started and why Ashley built a second brand, rather than simply adding the men’s line to Lunya
• 25:44 The biggest trap entrepreneurs can get stuck in
• 28:48 The High 5 Test and the lessons Ashley learned from getting her MBA
• 33:20 How non-traditional methods of getting in front of people help the brand
• 39:36 Ashley’s key piece of advice for business owners

Links and Resources: 

• Lunya
• Lahgo
• Kinfolk Article featuring Ashley
• The High 5 Test
• Episode 159: The $100 Million Dollar Blueprint W/Mike Danner of Ancient Nutrition
• @ashley__merrill on Instagram
• @lunya on Instagram
• @lahgo on Instagram
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

One of the most challenging parts of growing a business is acquiring valuable customers who will purchase from you regularly. 

Part 3 of our Profit Series gets into the nitty-gritty details of how to increase customer lifetime value. We dive straight into customer-centric versus product-centric businesses and talk about different ways to acquire more high-value customers and share proven tactics that will help you increase customer lifetime value.

Episode Highlights: 

• 3:36 The first strategic decision you must make when thinking about customer lifetime value
• 6:38 The best lever to focus on to increase customer lifetime value
• 8:03 The revolutionary changes with Facebook advertising that help you reach your best customers
• 10:05 The importance of product and service offerings that tailor to high-value customers 
• 11:49 Are loyalty programs a good way to increase customer lifetime value?
• 13:20 The strategy that led Best Buy to boom while their competitors got wiped out
• 15:15 The value of subscriptions and talking to your best customers
• 17:58 How to build a solid referral strategy
• 20:10 Additional tactics to increase customer lifetime value

Links and Resources: 

• Episode 254: Profit Series Part 2: How to Increase Your Average Order Value
• Episode 252: Profit Series Part 1: A Roadmap to a More Profitable and Fulfilling Company
• Episode 178: You Are Treating Your Customers Equally and It’s Costing You Money
• Episode 062: Peter Fader, Wharton School - How to Calculate Customer Lifetime Value & What Customer Centricity Really looks like
• Book: The Customer Centricity Playbook by Dr. Peter Fader
• Talkable
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Is it possible to build a large, successful business with close to $40 million in revenue without using any paid social?

Our guest, Nate Lipton of GrowersHouse, shows us how it can be done. And, in addition to not using paid ads, he’s been able to get his customer acquisition costs to zero.

Nate shares the different approach to marketing that has helped him build several incredibly successful companies in the cannabis and hemp industries. He talks about exactly how you can use YouTube to establish yourself as a trusted brand and drive ad-free sales. 

If you're looking for some refreshing ideas for how you can drive more revenue, this is a great episode to jog your imagination about what's possible.

Episode Highlights: 

• 5:54 Nate’s involvement in the cannabis and hemp industries via multiple different businesses
• 9:44 Fixing a gap in the cannabis industry: the creation of the Grower’s Network
• 12:18 The YouTube channel that lifted the veil on growing operations
• 16:37 How Nate got started in ecommerce and his number one piece of advice for beginners 
• 20:28 What Nate would do differently if he were building his website today
• 22:31 The future role of video in ecommerce and common YouTube misconceptions
• 24:58 Using video to provide clarity around what a product actually does
• 30:42 One factor that will help you win more customers in the long term
• 32:37 How connecting with your competitors and being radically transparent can benefit your business in a major way
• 35:40 Other non-traditional advertising channels that Nate’s using that have resulted in zero customer acquisition costs
• 41:05 The questions you need to ask yourself to reframe your approach to acquiring customers
• 45:37 What you can do right now to increase your revenue

Links and Resources: 

• GrowersHouse
• Growers Network
• Canna Cribs
• TruPotency.com
• nate@growershouse.com
• Instagram: @nate.j.lipton
• Magento
• Shopify
• Boredwalk Tshirts
• James Schramko
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• The Coalition
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

One of the top ways to accelerate your growth on the path to profitability is to increase average order value.

In Part 2 of our Profit Series, we’re diving into successful strategies and tactics you can use to increase your average order value. 

From simple changes with pricing to on-site additions to optimizing your Facebook targeting, we share the exact tactics our top clients are using to increase average order value and how these tactics support the big picture strategy toward profitable growth.

Episode Highlights: 

• 4:27 The 80/20 Rule and how it should impact your overall business strategy
  
• 8:41 The first thing to do if you want to increase average order value
  
• 10:30 Successful approaches to bundling products
  
• 13:02 How to use dynamic product ads to increase average order value
  
• 16:28 A tactic Kettle & Fire is using on their website collections page to boost sales
  
• 18:10 Why your best type of customers are the key for increasing average order value 
  
• 20:34 The difference between upsells and cross-sells and how to determine which is best for your brand
  
• 23:57 The value of delivering relevant products at the point of checkout
  
• 26:19 How upsells can have a huge impact on average order value and why you don’t have to overcomplicate the offer
  
• 29:00 A few additional unique ways to increase average order value
  

Links and Resources: 

• Episode 252: Profit Series, Part 1
  
• Episode 204: How To Build A Baller Quiz Funnel On A Tiny Budget
  
• Book: 80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall
  
• Messenger Mastermind Podcast
  
• Constantly Varied Gear
  
• Dr. Axe Bundles
  
• Kettle & Fire 
  
• Tecovas Boots
  
• Carthook
  
• OneClickUpsell
  
• Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Group
  
• @a_brawn on Twitter
  
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
  
• The Coalition
  
• Brand Growth Experts
  
• Foxwell Digital
  
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

TikTok is all the rage right now. Even with fewer people creating content, there are more people consuming. But what makes this platform so viral?

August Noble went from leading acquisition at SnackNation to helping his clients optimize TikTok’s acquisition channel -- influencers. He is now using key learnings from other social media platforms to ramp up influencer marketing strategies to promote brands. 

Tune in and find out what TikTok is all about and how it’s generating more buzz in the social media world.

Episode Highlights: 

• 3:17 How August Noble shares a similar start with our co-host, Austin
• 4:10 The successes at SnackNation that led August to paid media consulting
• 6:47 Lessons learned from Linkedin for B2B and B2C
• 8:32 How Linkedin helped targeting strategy
• 10:08 The tweet about TikTok that landed August on our podcast 
• 14:29 What makes TikTok more viral than Instagram or Twitter
• 17:26 Building relationships with influencers 
• 21:42 The products that do well on the TikTok platform
• 24:18 What August is prioritizing over tracking
• 26:44 Where TikTok is headed and what the most effective content is
• 30:56 Key learnings from scaling on Facebook and Instagram
• 33:53 What’s the difference between $15K a day and $1k a day ad spend?
• 35:52 Targeting strategies: Specific versus Broad
• 42:48 Tools and resources August recommends 

Links and Resources:

Do you know what you should be focusing on to make your business more profitable?

We’ve had conversations with many clients during these challenging times. While some businesses are booming, others are taking a hit in sales. But the one thing that seems to be on everyone’s mind is profitability.  

In this episode, we set the framework for our entire Profit Series. Whether or not your business is thriving during this time, we share the five-step process of creating the roadmap you can use for profitable growth. 

Episode Highlights: 

• 4:52 The decision you have to make about the metrics you keep in focus
• 6:19 How do you define profit?
• 9:12 What it means to set a profitability goal and how it differs in different industries
• 14:53 How to set a capitalization goal
• 17:55 What is a salary cap?
• 21:25 How to manage salary caps
• 25:03 The three levers to drive profitable growth

Links and Resources: 

• Book: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
• Boredwalk Tshirts
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

They’ve won the Shopify Build a Bigger Business Competition, hit number 20 on the INC 5000 list, and now they’re on the podcast to talk about turning a personal need into a successful business venture.

Garret and Deanne Akerson of Kindred Bravely share how they’ve navigated running a business together as a couple -- from initial startup to hiring over 50 remote employees and all the challenges and milestones in between.

Tune in and enjoy!

Episode Highlights: 

• 4:59 How Garett and Deanne started Kindred Bravely
• 9:01 The lessons learned transitioning from Amazon to Shopify 
• 12:07 How the Amazon ecosystem has evolved and how to approach it now
• 14:47 How to navigate running a business as married entrepreneurs
• 18:17 What trading flexibility for structure looked like for Garret and Deanne
• 21:55 The things that make a large, remote company successful
• 26:36 Milestones and challenges during the hiring process
• 30:53 How to know when it’s time to hire executive-level positions
• 36:47 Group Zoom calls during the interview process -- is there an advantage?
• 42:36 What questions and themes Garett and Deanne like to bring up during interviews

Links and Resources: 

• Kindred Bravely
• Davy Piper
• Shopify Build a Bigger Business
• INC 5000
• Slack
• GetGuru
• Gorgias
• Asana
• Google Suite
• Zoom
• Topgrading
• Cameron Herold
• Book: Meetings Suck
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you are advertising on Facebook and Instagram, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!

As we see an increase in Facebook and Instagram usage due to COVID-19, many of our clients are scaling up their advertising. Today’s episode will cover what’s working right now in paid social and how our clients and partners are scaling up!

Episode Highlights

• 6:37 The specific audiences working right now for top of the funnel advertising
• 9:57 User-generated content that’s providing additional scale 
• 11:30 What’s working right now to scale up middle of the funnel advertising
• 12:22 The audience advertisers should be targeting
• 13:23 Bid strategy - are cost caps working?
• 15:35 How to acknowledge the challenging times on the website and product
• 19:14 Optimizing dynamic creative within campaigns
• 20:58 What optimization is working in low funnel
• 21:33 How to address shipping concerns
• 22:44 Other messaging opportunities to address delivery concerns

Links And Resources

• Facebook and Instagram Pro Ad Buyers Group
• Verb Energy
• Episode 245: How to Build a Successful Agency (Without Burning Yourself Out)
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

The daily habits you or your team have can either hinder your growth or facilitate it. But what should we focus on to build good habits while breaking the bad ones?  

Our guest is James Clear, New York Times bestselling author of Atomic Habits and writer on the James Clear Blog. 

James has spent years researching, writing and talking about the topic of habits. He’ll share his insights on what you can do to grow your business, market better, and rethink your habits.

If you want to create a better system of habits that will improve yourself and your business, this is an episode you’ll want to tune into!

Episode Highlights: 

• 4:58 Why we struggle to develop and maintain the good habits
• 8:14 The principles of habits are the same in various areas of life and work but applied uniquely.
• 10:15 Three big ideas Atomic Habits centers around
• 16:22 What to ask to reinforce your desired identity as an individual or as a company.
• 18:35 Changing environments can be framed as a positive time to form habits
• 21:23 The personal changes James has made during the Coronavirus pandemic to foster better habits
• 25:10 What to focus on first to help your businesses grow
• 28:56 The transition James made from being a blogger to a business owner and how experimentation made it clear what he was actually trying to build
• 33:20 Three things that make a product remarkable enough to buy
• 38:40 Marketing a product to elicit someone’s desire to make the purchase
• 42:14 The habits James no longer values 
• 44:59 Small town influence on James’ family values and love for exploration and travel

Links and Resources: 

• Atomic Habits
• James Clear Blog
• Book: Essentialism
• Aer Backpacks
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Have you ever felt that in order to grow your business, you just need to work harder?

We’re here to tell you that you’re wrong. 

In today’s episode, we’re busting the five myths of ecommerce. From diversifying traffic to always doing the next big thing, we’ll share the realities that will actually help you scale profitably, without burning yourself out.

If you own an ecommerce business or you're intimately involved with one, this episode's for you.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights: 

• 4:54 Myth #1: All I need to do to grow is work harder.
• 6:06 Reality: Do less, but do it better.
• 7:45 Myth #2: To grow you need to diversify traffic.
• 8:03 Reality: Be an expert on one channel, and don’t diversify until you have to.
• 11:59 Myth #3: You need to always be doing what’s new.
• 13:12 Reality: Do the right things at the right time (even if it’s just one thing).
• 17:19 Myth #4: If I follow big brands, I’ll learn what works.
• 20:58 Reality: Here’s what actually works, no matter your size.
• 22:15 Myth #5: Top founders have a clear vision and know what they’re doing from the beginning.
• 23:19 Reality: Find a mentor you can rely on and build your strategy as you grow.

Links and Resources: 

• Episode 149: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 1]
• Episode 225: From T-Shirt Company To Lifestyle Brand (All While Saving The Turtles)
• Episode 239: How The Cereal School Grew From Zero To 7-Figures A Month In Just 1 Year
• Episode 179: Making A Comeback After The Google Medic Update
• Episode 173: The Five Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account 
• Foxwell Digital Courses
• Coalition
• Coalition Members Only Training: The Path to 7-Figures: How To Build, Grow & Scale Your Brand

Being in charge of the global marketing strategy for a 9-figure business is no simple feat.

Our guest today is Andrew Rosch, Director of Channel Marketing Strategy for Trek Bicycle.

He joins us to talk about what it looks like to manage a global strategy team for a huge global organization, the importance of only focusing on a few key metrics, why email is still his favorite marketing channel, organic content strategies that are working for Trek, and much more.

If you’re growing a large business, or you have aspirations to grow into a large business, you won’t want to miss this episode.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:19 What it means to be the Director of Channel Marketing Strategy.
• 7:44 Finding harmony between brick and mortar and ecommerce.
• 9:27 The Trek customer journey both on and offline and how it overlaps.
• 13:02 How Trek avoids alienating its broad-range of customers with its organic content.
• 15:22 The first test influencers have to pass before working with Trek.
• 16:12 How Trek approaches the seasonality of the bike business.
• 18:49 Andrew’s philosophy on measurement and why Trek’s global digital marketers are only responsible for 5 key KPIs.
• 21:23 What the Channel Marketing team at Trek looks like.
• 23:58 How Andrew empowers his global team to share new ideas.
• 25:27 This Director of Channel Marketing Strategy’s favorite marketing channel.
• 27:01 Andrew’s email marketing tech stack and team.
• 29:16 Balancing experimentation and systemization.
• 31:14 Three things Andrew’s learned in his career that have contributed to his success.
• 35:05 In ecommerce, what you see is rarely the whole picture.
• 40:02 The importance of going down the rabbit hole and finding out the larger context of what we see online.
• 43:17 When you create content, assume that whoever is going to see it has never seen anything from your brand before.
• 46:23 Having a brand is key when you’re thinking about business longevity.

Links And Resources

• Trek Bicycles
• Bronto
• Justuno
• Litmus
• 233: Agencies Aren’t Your Enemy: How to Work Together & Build a Better Brand
• @AndrewRosch on Twitter
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

This is the final part in our Scaling Series and we’re talking about some hugely successful brands.

In our previous episodes, we covered zero to launch, launch to traction, traction to scaling, and growth mode, which will take you from the stages of just starting out to making somewhere between $12 and $15 million.

In this episode, we’re diving into specific case studies of brands you’ve probably heard of, like MVMT Watches and Native Deodorant, and talking about why we think they were successful and why they were able to grow and scale up.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this series, whether you’re just starting out or close to making an exit.

Episode Highlights

• 4:07 What MVMT, Pura Vida, and Blenders did that made them special. 
• 6:23 The huge significance of the first-mover advantage.
• 9:12 Taking advantage of upselling and cross-selling. 
• 10:28 The overnight success of Native Deodorant.
• 11:22 Native’s checkout process and what makes it so great.
• 13:27 The power of subscription at scale.
• 16:43 How Tuft & Needle scaled to over $100 MM in mattress sales.
• 18:02 Why being a copycat business really doesn’t pay off.

Links And Resources

• 238: Zero To Launch: The Scaling Series, Part 1
• 240: Launch To Traction: The Scaling Series, Part 2
• 242: Traction to Scaling: The Scaling Series, Part 3
• 244: Growth Mode: The Scaling Series, Part 4
• 199: How JT Marino Built The Largest Online Mattress Retailer In The World
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Every business has its unique set of growth challenges.

Zach Stuck spent several years working for a digital agency before deciding to go out and start an agency of his own, Homestead Studio.

Now he’s in the process of building his agency business. He’s on the front lines of trying to help clients grow their ecommerce brands.

Today we’re covering a range of topics with Zach. We dive into some specific paid social tactics and what’s working right now for Zach’s clients, and we talk about the onboarding process Zach uses for his clients to ensure both his clients, and his agency, can be successful.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:58 How Zach went from working at an agency to starting his own.
• 8:07 Changes in Zach’s role from agency employee to agency owner.
• 9:52 Resources Zach used to help a client grow from zero to a million in their first year.
• 11:26 Common paid social misconceptions Zach hears from his clients.
• 14:33 What’s working in paid social right now and how to successfully approach dynamic creative testing.
• 17:33 Value-based lookalike audiences and how to easily start using them.
• 19:07 The state of social proof in 2020 - does it really matter?
• 23:37 If you don’t have a large customer audience to run social proofing to, what can you do?
• 24:31 A little known fact about 1% lookalike audiences.
• 27:07 Crucial steps for successfully onboarding new clients and building a strong ongoing relationship.
• 32:00 What’s keeping Zach up at night.
• 34:20 You can’t outsource your growth.
• 37:16 The challenges with growing an agency and how finding clients who are the right fit is key to success.
• 43:20 How Zach’s avoiding the churn and burn that happens so often to agencies.
• 44:57 What Zach’s eating, is he working out, and what his daily life looks like.

Links And Resources

• Homestead Studio.co
  
• @ZachMStuck on Twitter
  
• Book: Essentialism
  
• Book: Deep Work
  
• Episode 240: Launch To Traction: The Scaling Series, Part 2
• Klaviyo
• Coalition
• Profit Summit Intensive
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We're in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis and a time of much uncertainty.  

Some of my clients are businesses are experiencing growth, and others are down by 50% or more.

Even if this crisis leads to an economic recession, you get to choose whether or not you want to take part in it.

Today I'm sharing a special recording of one of my recent members-only webinars where I talk about how to lead your ecommerce business during uncertain times, and how to transform this uncertainty into a time of abundance and opportunity for your business (without exploiting anyone).

In this episode we'll talk about:

• The three things business owners should be focused on right now.
• How to think about cash management during a crisis and why you must use this as an opportunity to build a rock-solid financial future.
• Why playing offense is going to become more important than playing defense in the coming months.
• How to lead (not manage) your way through this crisis and come out stronger on the other side.
• How to bring your team together during uncertain times and to build a resilient remote culture.
• How to react if your business HASN’T been impacted by COVID-19 and how you can ethically use this to your advantage.

We will get through this together.

Links And Resources

• Coalition
• Resource: Financing Options for Small Businesses Impacted by COVID-19
• Resource: How to Optimize Your Team and Increase Productivity
• Resource: BGE Forecasting Tool
• Give Local
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

In part 4 of our Scaling Series we’re talking about Growth Mode.

You’ve made your first seven figures and now you’re scaling up to eight figures. You’ve figured out something that works and you might be starting to feel overworked and overwhelmed.

Now is the time to make those key hires and/or outsource channels you feel like you’ve maximized. It’s time to go from the day-to-day manager of your business and grow into the true role of CEO.

In this episode, we’re talking about how to start getting things off your plate, managing inventory issues, and how to determine whether it’s time to focus on a new marketing channel.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 5:38 One of the biggest issues in Growth Mode: Superhero Syndrome.
• 7:57 Implement systems to help you get more off your plate.
• 11:10 Why inventory issues often arise at this stage of growth.
• 13:20 How to solve your inventory issues.
• 16:01 Challenges you might face as you’re trying to hire, and what not to do.
• 18:32 Strategic issues that arise during Growth Mode.
• 20:54 Things to look at to determine how much more room there is for growth with a specific marketing channel.
• 22:06 How to successfully onboard an agency or a new in-house hire.
• 24:33 Businesses that take it to the next level offload successful channels and dive into learning the next one.
• 26:44 Slow down to grow faster.
• 28:14 Remember why you started your business in the first place.
• 29:17 Your transformation from day-to-day business manager to CEO.

Links And Resources

• 238: Zero To Launch: The Scaling Series, Part 1
• 240: Launch To Traction: The Scaling Series, Part 2
• 242: Traction to Scaling: The Scaling Series, Part 3
• 173: The Five Step Process To Optimize Your Facebook Ad Account
• Brand Guild
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you're struggling to make SEO work for your business, this episode is for you.

Our guest today is a dual-threat. He’s building an ecommerce brand while also running a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO. Not only does he get to see what’s working for his clients, but he’s learning from what’s working in his own business.

Eagan Heath is the owner of The Splendid Beast and Founder of Get Found Madison. Today he’s doing a deep dive into ecommerce SEO and talking about how to avoid keyword cannibalization, how to get started with SEO (and if it’s even a good idea for your business), and tips for better tracking attribution.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:11 The dual-threat that is Eagan Heath.
• 9:20 What it takes to grow your skills as an agency and the currency you should be selling in.
• 11:21 The different approach to capturing leads as an agency vs as an ecommerce business.
• 13:16 The complex order process for Splendid Beast and the advantages of a highly custom business.
• 16:21 The strategy Eagan used to double his business over the last four years.
• 18:09 How to avoid keyword cannibalization and appear higher in search results.
• 20:05 When you should start thinking about SEO (and whether you should be thinking about it at all).
• 23:43 How to get started with a very small budget.
• 27:34 Why it’s critical to remember that you are not your customer.
• 32:45 The huge value of having a business coach.
• 35:14 What gives Splendid Beast longevity as a business and differentiates it from competitors.
• 38:01 The issue with attribution on Google Analytics and the solution Eagan is using to work around it.

Links And Resources

• Get Found Madison
• Splendid Beast
• @thesplendidbeast on Instagram
• eagan@getfoundmadison.com
• How to Create a Keyword to URL Map (part of Eagan’s Digital Marketing Mastery Course. If you’re interested in the course, email Eagan directly)
• Eagan’s SEO Checklist
• Ahrefs
• Klaviyo
• Enquire
• Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Profit Summit
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

In part 3 of our Scaling Series, we’re talking about traction to scaling, the period after making your initial $100K to surpassing the million-dollar mark.

There are a number of challenges you’ll face at this stage, including becoming overwhelmed with possibilities, losing strategic focus, wearing too many hats within the business, and more.

Today we walk you through how to tackle these challenges and the things the most successful businesses do at this stage to continue growing to 8-figures and beyond.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 4:41 The first problem we see at this stage? Mindset and losing focus.
• 7:53 Why most business owners lose strategic focus at this stage.
• 8:53 If you’re overwhelmed and losing focus, it’s time to hire.
• 10:05 The critical role you have to hire for if you want to continue to grow.
• 10:42 The second problem business owners run into at this stage? The year-over-year mentality, and why you have to get out of it.
• 13:40 It’s time to get serious about email marketing.
• 15:10 Other things you can do to increase average order value and lifetime value.
• 16:30 The companies growing fastest at this stage all have this in common.
• 17:38 Why connecting with other successful business owners is critical to your success.
• 19:51 Challenges with cash flow at this stage, and how you can alleviate cash-related issues.
• 22:31 More commonalities between companies succeeding at this stage of growth.
• 25:56 If you’re ready to take it to the next level, it’s time to get some outside help.

Links And Resources

• 238: Zero To Launch: The Scaling Series, Part 1
• 240: Launch To Traction: The Scaling Series, Part 2
• 149: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 1]
• 150: The Art Of Doing Less But Better W/ Greg McKeown [Part 2]
• 202: How I Scaled From $500/Day To $15,000/Day In Ad Spend In 30 Days
• 227: How Supply Went From Startup To Shark Tank
• Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits! by Greg Crabtree
• Coalition Training: Where to Start When You're Trying to Grow Your Store + Growth Calculator
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital Courses
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

There is more than one way to create wealth in ecommerce.

While many entrepreneurs follow the path of bootstrapping a business and hoping to one day be acquired, another option is to start on the acquisition side, and grow a portfolio of successful companies.

Our guest today has done both. Drew Sanocki is CEO of AutoAnything, owner of PostPilot, and an expert at lifecycle marketing.

He joins us to talk about the evolution of lifecycle marketing and the big role direct mail is playing in brand loyalty and repeat purchase rate, as well as how mergers and acquisitions can help your brand, and why M&A are his big focus for the upcoming year.

I always learn a lot when we chat with Drew and I hope you enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 9:05 Why Drew is so excited about direct mail marketing.
• 12:08 The role of direct mail for Drew's 9-figure dropshipping company.
• 14:54 Bringing direct mail into traditional lifecycle marketing and how it enhances your brand.
• 18:55 Exploring brand partnerships in the direct mail space.
• 19:46 Prospecting with direct mail.
• 21:56 Syncing direct mail with Klaviyo and segments that are working particularly well.
• 27:48 The shifting customer journey and how Drew sees it evolving in the near future.
• 32:49 Why merchandising can be the best kind of marketing.
• 36:11 What Drew’s excited about in this new decade and what he sees as the quickest way to grow a company.
• 39:13 Merger and acquisition opportunities that can help your brand.
• 42:38 Why most business owners have a blind spot to the acquisition process and how Drew would get started building a portfolio.
• 46:15 Bootstrapping vs acquisition -- does it matter which comes first?

Links And Resources

• Nerd Marketing
• Drew on Instagram - @drewsanocki
• AutoAnything
• PostPilot
• 234: The 5 Things We’ve Learned In The Last 12 Months
• 203: Why You Should Stop Selling Yourself Short And Think Like A Billionaire
• 195: Austin Ecommerce Investor Reveals His Short-Cut To Scaling
• 116: 4 Profitable Email Strategies You Can Swipe For Your Brand
• How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp
• The San Francisco Fallacy by Jonathan Seigel 
• Nathan Barry: The Ladders of Wealth Creation
• Klaviyo
• Share Local Media
• William Painter
• Training: How to Increase Sales & Delight Customers with Direct Mail Marketing
• Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Profit Summit
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We’re on to part 2 of our scaling series, where we talk about the stage from launch to traction, when you’re on track for, or surpassed, the $100K mark.

At this stage in the business, you’re moving from selling something to having consistent sales. Today we’ll talk about some of the common problems people run into during this stage, critical questions to answer before you can start scaling up, and where to seek out support.

We’re bringing you our knowledge and experience from working with brands that have successfully scaled up, and seeing others that haven’t.

In part three, we're going to be talking about traction to scaling. So enjoy this week and stay tuned!

Episode Highlights

• 4:42 How to know when you’re in the traction stage of your business growth.
• 7:59 Your goal during this stage of scaling up your business.
• 8:45 Places you can turn to when you’re looking for guidance.
• 10:31 Focus on customer acquisition in the early stages of growth.
• 11:26 Why you have to distinguish between signal vs. noise and listen to a diverse set of sources.
• 13:06 One question you have to ask yourself before you continue to scale up.
• 14:48 You must become a channel expert before you outsource.
• 17:13 The minimum AOV you need if you want to acquire new customers via paid ads.
• 20:33 Great opportunities for you if you’re in this stage of growth.

Links And Resources

• Zero To Launch: The Scaling Series, Part 1
• The Coalition
• Foxwell Digital Courses
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

If you want to run your business successfully, you need to have a deep understanding of how everything works.

Today we’re talking with Helen Guo, co-founder of The Cereal School about how she took her business from zero to well over 7 figures in just eight months.

One of the key components of the business’ success is that Helen and her co-founder, Dylan, started by learning and running every aspect of the business themselves, before hiring agencies to take things over.

They also put a lot of initial time into building the brand organically, which made it easier to amplify with paid efforts as they’re scaling up.

Helen shares her amazing journey with us, as well as her tips for finding the right agency, and how to build a partnership that will last.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:06 Helen’s entrance into the world of entrepreneurship.
• 9:06 The Cereal School’s insanely rapid growth.
• 10:06 Pre-launch efforts to build an audience before the product was ready to officially launch. 
• 13:25 How Helen built a 20,000+ person email list without running paid ads.
• 15:29 Helen’s philosophical approach to Facebook ads and scaling up.
• 18:58 Lessons learned from working with different advertising agencies.
• 23:10 The importance of actually learning how to run your own marketing, and the creative approach that sets the Cereal School apart.
• 27:57 How Helen successfully onboarded an ad agency to take over for her.
• 31:33 Questions to ask your agency upfront to build a better relationship.
• 32:41 Where Helen goes for new ideas and advice.
• 34:29 How implementing email marketing helped the Cereal School go from 0% to over 25% of revenue from email.
• 36:56 What Helen’s looking at to the future to stay ahead of the game.
• 38:49 Apps that Helen is excited about right now.
• 41:57 The thing about the Cereal School’s business that can’t be easily replicated.

Links And Resources

• The Cereal School
• helen@thecerealschool.com
• Asana
• Dropbox
• Klaviyo
• PostScript
• Enquire
• Private Intensive
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Profit Summit
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

On today's special BONUS episode we're talking about CBO.

That's Campaign Budget Optimization. Andrew sat down with expert digital advertisers Molly Pittman and Depesh Mandalia to talk about what's happening with CBO, how it's working, why it's working the way that it is, and some tips to improve your campaigns.

They discuss:

• Why you can't treat CBO campaigns the same way as you were treating ABO campaigns
• CBO misconceptions
• When CBO works best
• How to think about your budget when setting up CBO
• CBO and Dynamic Creative
• CBO best practices

Enjoy!

Links And Resources

• Foxwell Digital Course - CBO: All You Need to Know
• andrew@foxwelldigital.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Andrew and I have worked with hundreds of different companies at various stages of growth, from pre-launch to multi-million dollar acquisition.

Today we’re kicking off our scaling series, where we’ll talk about each stage of growth and the challenges you're going to face as you scale up your business from zero to 8-figures.

We’re starting off with a “zero to launch” episode where we’ll address some of the questions you’ll face when you’re determining how to launch and going from an idea for a product to actually getting sales.

We’ll be sharing core lessons through each of these episodes that will give you value whether you're at the beginning, already making 7-figures, or somewhere in the middle.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 4:30 Why we decided to do a scaling series.
• 9:07 The most important thing when you’re just starting out? Feedback.
• 10:24 Knowing what your community looks like is critical for scaling.
• 13:40 Once you know your community, identify their buying power and your market potential.
• 15:38 A zero to launch case study.
• 18:16 Common missteps at this stage.
• 19:40 Creating a “talk trigger” product.

Links And Resources

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

One of the keys to successful growth is hiring a team that keeps the business running, whether the founder is there or not.

Over the last 14 years, Cory Bower, founder of Aviator Gear, has built a multi-million dollar business with a team of 48 full-time employees.

When Cory was in the Air Force, he saw a need, launched a company, and to this day uses some of his military systems and structure to keep things running smoothly.

It’s always a pleasure to chat with Cory, and I hope you enjoy our conversation about growth, hiring, and critical tools for success.

Episode Highlights

• 5:55 Introducing Cory Bower and the birth of Aviator Gear.
• 8:12 The unique custom nature of Cory’s products.
• 10:20 Cory’s journey to becoming a fighter pilot.
• 13:53 Transitioning from fighter jets to ecommerce.
• 16:05 How Cory applies lessons learned in the military to his business.
• 18:42 The team structure Cory’s built that lets his business run even when he’s not around.
• 23:55 Engines for Aviator Gear’s growth over the last year and how they communicate about the custom nature of their products through different parts of the funnel.
• 26:43 The role Cory wishes he would have gotten off his own plate sooner, but why you have to have balance as you grow so the wheels don’t fall off.
• 29:18 Tools Aviator Gear uses to keep things running smoothly.
• 35:07 What it looks like to hire and manage a 50-person team.
• 39:29 Cory’s learning process and how he finds useful information to help his growth.
• 42:07 Do this simple thing right now to be more productive.

Links And Resources

• Aviator Gear
• Klaviyo
• Dropbox
• OnSite by Shopworks
• Pipedrive
• Cory on Twitter - @TrapBower
• trap@aviatorgear.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Profit Summit
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

We’re getting tactical today and bringing you 6 quick wins you can execute today to grow your business.

From Facebook, to email, to website optimization, these quick wins will help you generate sales and get results.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 4:25 Quick Win #1: 4-6% Lookalikes based off pixel value.
• 5:47 Quick Win #2: Identify previous customers who are likely to spend again, but who are no longer on your email list, and hit them with remarketing.
• 7:23 Quick Win #3: Integrate your Klaviyo audiences with Facebook.
• 8:34 Quick Win #4: Turn great text reviews into video reviews.
• 11:14 Quick Win #5: Use bid caps to ensure your Facebook ads are being shown.
• 13:05 Quick Win #6: Get a fresh perspective on your website.

Links And Resources

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

When someone asks about eCommerce best practices, we always hear, “well, what’s Pura Vida doing?”

Today we’re talking with Pura Vida CEO, Griffin Thall, to get an inside look at their current strategies, how the company’s grown over the last several years, the way his role has evolved, and what it's actually like to prepare your company for a multi-million dollar sale.

Andrew and I both worked with Pura Vida at the very beginning, and we’re so excited to reconnect and bring this episode to you today.

Enjoy!

Episode Highlights

• 6:25 What got Griffin and Pura Vida to where they are today.
• 7:28 How Griffin’s role has changed as the company’s grown.
• 9:02 Pura Vida’s unique influencer strategy and how it started.
• 12:45 Relentless innovation and how Pura Vida continues to increase customer lifetime value.
• 15:18 The moment Griffin realized the brand was going to be a success.
• 16:30 How Pura Vida’s growth strategy has changed over time.
• 17:57 The challenges Griffin’s faced over the years as CEO.
• 20:12 Where Griffin’s seen the most success in hiring.
• 22:12 How Pura Vida’s ambassador program started, and where it’s at today.
• 22:21 A day in the life of the Pura Vida CEO, and the value of growing a team.
• 24:25 Why you’ve got to stop wearing all the hats in your business if you want it to scale up.
• 28:14 What you should be focusing on as a founder, instead of getting enticed by the newest Shopify app.
• 29:28 A key approach for brands launching today vs 6 years ago.
• 31:53 Lessons learned about managing cash while scaling up.
• 33:47 How Pura Vida ended up making a deal with Vera Bradley, and the process of finding and securing that kind of partnership.
• 38:07 Griffin’s biggest takeaway from meeting with investors.
• 39:34 The expansive value Pura Vida’s gained from their partnership with Vera Bradley.
• 41:33 What Griffin’s excited about right now and some things in store for Pura Vida in 2020.

Links And Resources

• Pura Vida
• Attentive
• Griffin on LinkedIn
• Griffin on Instagram
• griffin@puravidabracelets.com
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Every year I grow more personally and professionally, and these weekly episodes are a big part of that.

We’ve had discussions about Facebook and email marketing, business processes, how to avoid burnout, and more.

Today Andrew and I are sharing the top things we’ve learned in 2019.

What were your big learnings over the last year?

Episode Highlights

• 5:15 No one cares where you are as long as the work gets done.
• 8:33 Be clear about what you want (because you’re going to get it).
• 11:50 Listen, Help, Learn.
• 14:21 Focus on generating profits so you can hire good people.
• 17:52 Dive deeper into discomfort.
• 21:50 Everything takes longer than you expect.
• 24:02 Having a business partner with different perspectives than your own is a huge asset.
• 28: 19 It’s still a great time to build an ecommerce brand.
• 30:46 Play is important.
• 31:48 You don’t need to learn everything yourself.
• 32:40 Track your time.

Links And Resources

• Episode 212: How To Travel 132 Days A Year And Stay Productive
• Profit Summit
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• @andrewfoxwell on Twitter
• Brand Growth Experts
• Foxwell Digital
• Review or subscribe on iTunes