We’re looking out to the (near) future at some very creative opportunities for eCommerce in NFTs. These ideas could help circumvent some of the margin pressure and economic challenges brands are facing today. 

This episode features Taylor Holiday, the founder of Common Thread Collective. Before running an eCommerce agency he had his own D2C brand so he brings a ton of knowledge from being on both the brand and the agency side of eComm business. Taylor is an NFT enthusiast and has some brilliant ideas about NFTs and their place in the changing sphere of eCommerce. 

In this fascinating conversation, you’ll learn a ton about NFTs -- what they are and how you might be able to use them to combat margin pressure in your eCommerce brand. 

Episode Highlights:

• 4:37 Taylors large business vision 
• 6:23 The difference between running a brand and running an agency 
• 7:30 Complexities around cash flow management & human relational problems
• 9:40 The importance of your product to the success of your brand 
• 11:20 What the hell is going on with Facebook 
• 14:33 Quantifying what other brands are seeing in metrics right now
• 15:19 The primary metric to care about post iOS launch 
• 16:56 aMER (acquisition marketing efficiency rating): why it’s critical 
• 20:07 Diversification is not primarily an advertising strategy 
• 23:39 Where to start if you’re moving out of Facebook 
• 25:05 Why Web3 is so exciting & what it means for current margin pressure 
• 26:31 Margin innovation and opportunities in the metaverse
• 32:04 Why you shouldn’t blow off investing in cryptocurrency 
• 33:19 Examples of creativity with eCommerce in NFTs used to bring in fast cash
• 36:16 Why NFTs are a better version of Kickstarter 
• 37:35 Creating built-in affiliates with NFT holders
• 38:44 The NFT as a community access token as well as an asset
• 43:13 How to continue to add value associated with holding your NFTs
• 47:34 Shopify beta opportunity for eCommerce in NFTs sold like a SKU 
• 48:37 Using NFTs for access to special content or promotions 
• 52:28 What’s just interesting and what’s actually important in the future of eCommerce in NFTs
• 56:51 What % of Shopify stores might invest in NFTs next year? 
• 57:56 Raising funds & engaging a target market with NFTs
• 1:02:42 The calendar cleanse process that has helped Taylor manage his many priorities 

Resources:

• @TaylorHoliday on Twitter
• Common Thread Collective.
• RTFKT
• The Hundreds, Adam Bomb Squad
• Mintgate.io
• Crypto Dads
• The Brand Growth Membership
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Was Facebook ever really performing as well as we thought - or was our attribution model just wrong? A post-purchase survey will tell you where people are actually hearing about your brand. 

If you're spending money on Facebook you know it's incredibly hard to figure out where your customers are coming from. Matt Bahr, CEO of Enquire Labs, has a way to help you better track attribution with a post-purchase survey. 

I stumbled across Enquire a couple of years ago and thought they were super interesting because their simple survey really helped us figure out what was effective marketing and what was not. In this episode, we talk all about what they're doing and how they’ve helped brands figure out attribution in the midst of the chaos of iOS changes. 

It's an excellent episode and you’ll get a lot of interesting tips for running successful marketing. 

Episode Highlights:

• 3:58 Matt’s timing of building a post-purchase survey app 
• 6:31 How Enquire came to be 
• 10:22 Where brand’s think sales are coming from vs where the sales are actually coming from
• 12:50 The power of word of mouth 
• 14:51 Thinking about attribution using post-purchase surveys 
• 18:00 A better way to get questions answered by customers 
• 21:10 Comparing quantitative and qualitative data 
• 21:38 What smaller brands can learn from the bigger brands 
• 24:57 Higher AOV: is it harder to track? 

Resources:

• Enquire Labs
• @mattrbahr on Twitter
• Enquire Post Purchase Survey App on Shopify 
• Brand Growth Membership 
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Cryptocurrency is the financial system of the future. Ready or not it’s coming and as an eCommerce founder, there are opportunities you could be taking advantage of now. 

This episode is part of a series on cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFI). My guest, Nat Eliason, has been a guest before as an SEO expert but in the last year he’s made a trajectory shift and moved into the space of web3, and specifically DeFi. 

Nat talks about why he made the shift, what he’s so excited about and why, as a business owner, you should care. We go into the basics of DeFi and how people are getting hedge fund style returns. 

If you know nothing about cryptocurrency, this episode is for you - Nat has some simple ways you can start earning money today. 

Episode Highlights:

• 5:04 Nat’s shift from SEO to DeFi
• 6:28 What is DeFi and why is it important
• 9:22 How DeFi levels the playing field and gives individuals with small capital access to high returns
• 12:34 Examples of high returns 
• 14:49 What a stablecoin is 
• 16:05 The risks with stablecoins
• 20:14 Metamask and seed phrase: what are they and how do they provide security
• 25:02 How long you have to “park” your stablecoins to see returns
• 27:36 The range of interest returns historically seen
• 29:48 Ways to profit that haven’t traditionally been available to average people
• 31:48 The difference between a fiat-collateralized coin and a crypto-collateralized coin
• 34:48 Wrapped Bitcoin: what is it
• 38:08 Minimum collateralization ratios 
• 40:26 How debt protocols work in DeFi & what happens in a market crash 
• 46:26 Yield farming: what is it 
• 50:26 How network security works 
• 52:24 “Staking your Eth” - how and what that means 
• 55:57 What is impermanent loss and why do you want to avoid it? 
• 1:02:01 Biggest hurdles to DeFi being widely adopted right now 
• 1:05:03 As an eCommerce owner - what should you be thinking about
• 1:09.50 What Nat’s excited about right now 

Resources:

• Nat’s Course: DeFi Orientation
• @nateliason on Twitter 
• Podcast 129: Content Marketing – What You Need To Know With Nat Eliason
• Podcast 284: How To Build A Business That Runs Itself With Nat Eliason
• Yearn
• Oasis
• Badger.finance
• Alchemix
• Convex 
• Tokamak
• Klima DAO
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

You might be surprised how lessons learned from over a decade on a SWAT team apply to building a highly successful lifestyle brand. 

Todd Lamb, CEO of PureLife Organics, was a police officer for 17 years, as a SWAT team leader and then canine officer. When his wife started having health issues he turned to natural remedies and found an incredibly successful protocol that helped her heal. He wanted to share this protocol with others and thus, Pure Life Organics was born. 

Today, the business Todd built from the ground up is well on it’s way to 9-figures. In this episode - Todd shares his wisdom about paid traffic and expertise in creating offers. He talks about how his team systematically worked to make native ads work and how they're testing at a budget of $10k to $15k a week to get results.

There are some great nuggets here about native ads, copywriting, and creative strategizing. Enjoy!

Episode Highlights:

• 4:29 Lessons from working as a canine officer 
• 7:31 The idea behind Pure Life Organics 
• 12:47 Todd’s protocol and ingredients 
• 14:40 Looking at growth in the business
• 16:28 Developing a sales funnel 
• 17:37 Selling the first million dollars of product with native ads and cross-promotions 
• 19:34 Testing with big spend 
• 21:12 Finding success with Native Ads and the difference from Facebook ads
• 26:09 Long-form copy & writing offers that convert 
• 29:07 Impacts from current eCommerce challenges like iOS 14 & supply chain 
• 34:54 Exploring NFTs with a tree-planting program
• 37:27 Enhancing the experience and getting people excited 
• 40:20 Prioritizing the routine & how Todd does it all 

Resources:

• Purelifeorganics.com
• @purelife.organics on Instagram 
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes

Would you quit your day job and move to Miami to sell your new product while playing on the beach? Sounds like a dream and this founder made it a reality, with a lot of hard work, motivation and talent. 

This episode’s guest is Chris Meade, the founder of Crossnet, one of the fastest-growing games in the US. 

Chris has been on an incredible journey from quitting his job at Uber to moving to Miami to sell his dream game on the beaches. Crossnet has grown incredibly fast due to an organic viral video and word-of-mouth marketing with live events and influencers. In just a few years they’ve gone from selling 2-5 nets a month to an 8-figure business. 

Crossnet started as DTC and has expanded into big-box retail and Chris shares some of the opportunities and challenges that came with that shift. 

This is a great founder's story and an inspiration if you have a product idea. I hope you enjoy it! 

Episode Highlights:

• 4:21 What exactly is Crossnet
• 5:09 How the idea of Crossnet was born 
• 7:36 Getting people to care about a brand at the start 
• 10:09 The catalyst & viral video that started the growth
• 13:02 Being frugal and why Crossnet has been successful 
• 13:50 Initial marketing wins 
• 15:17 Talking to customers and adjusting marketing to speak to them 
• 16:50 The role of founder and changes from 2 sales a day to 8-figures 
• 18:11 Going from eCommerce DTC to big box retail 
• 20:54 iOS 14: its impact and how Crossnet is measuring metrics now 
• 23:43 Tips for success with influencers 
• 25:47 Structuring retainer deals with influencers
• 27:24 Supply chain issues and manufacturing in China 
• 32:03 Advertising: agencies or in-house?
• 33:55 Lessons from running a seasonal business 
• 36:21 Chris’s favorite marketing resources 
• 37:47 Content marketing on LinkedIn
• 39:40 Keeping a team engaged and excited about the product 

Resources:

• Crossnetgame.com
• @Cjmeade on LinkedIn 
• @chrismeadej on Twitter 
• Book: Double Your Profits by Bob Fifer
• The Coalition
• @a_brawn on Twitter
• Review or subscribe on iTunes