Podcasts about minute pitch

✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/collect/zora:0x0c294913a7596b427add7dcbd6d7bbfc7338d53f/5  ------ Matt Hougan is the CIO at Bitwise, and has been one of the best people to talk to when it comes to understanding the ETF process, and the impact of ETFs on the crypto markets.  Today we dive into the specifics on what exactly the ETF approval means for ETH. ------

In this episode of the Better Presentations More Sales podcast host Trevor Lee shares tips and ideas to show you how to deliver a 5 minute pitchIn How to deliver a 5 minute pitch Trevor will take you through six key areas and explain how to get each one right:OutcomeStructureContentPracticeDeliveryQ&AIf you don't like the idea of learning how to transform your business presentations in a group environment then take Trevor's online course Transform your Business Presentations and learn at your own pace. Go to https://trevorleecourses.thinkific.com/courses/transform-your-business-presentations and you can then:Take the free taster course which shows you how to deliver your first ‘big' presentation orSign up for the main course - the first 25 people who sign up and us the code 7steps50 at the checkout will enjoy the course at a 50% discount bringing your investment in yourself below £100! This course aims to do what it says: Transform your Business Presentations And everyone who takes the course is offered complimentary of The Stand Out Business Presenters Club which will offer additional help and advice and opportunities to join group coaching sessions.To find out more Trevor's sales and presentation skills services visit trevorjlee.comIf you or your team are keen to develop their sales or presentation skills, or both then let's start a conversation. Book a 15-20 minute informal no obligation no fee chat with Trevor Lee on Zoom. Simply click here: Trevor Lee 15 minute meetingHere's the link to Trevor's You Tube channel where you can find the 4-5 minute version of his Jan / Feb webinarsCheck out Trevor's new book: 7 Steps to Successful Presentations (USA) - 7 Steps to Successful Presentations (UK) - all the royalties I receive go to the Children's Hospice South West Thank you for listening and for leaving a rating / review. That is much appreciated. Here's how you can connect with me, Trevor Lee, and find out more about how I can help you deliver confident and successful presentations and sales pitches.One to One Business Leader Presentation Coaching Business teams Presentation Training 15 Minute Free 'How can I help you' Zoom callTrevor Lee WebsiteTrevor Lee Linked Trevor Lee You TubeBook: 12 Business Lessons from Running an Ultra Marathon

If you want more information about my Consistent Income program and working with me as your personal strategist/guide, send me an email at  jessica@theartistmarket.co

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0:00:00 Intro 0:08:43 What's in store for E Building Concepts 0:10:35 Is 3DCP Cost Effective? 0:15:21 Estimating Construction Costs 0:40:02 What Alvin Needs to Level Up 0:54:37 From Homeless to 3D Printing Houses 1:22:55 3D Printed Headstone 1:33:10 3 Minute Pitch http://ebuildingconcepts.com https://automate.construction E-Building Concepts YouTube https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCiOIlX...

"You know what this family needs? A mute" Writer Richard Lagravenense, who was raised in New York, wanted to be a playwright like Neil Simon or Eugune O' Neil. It just so happened that he also loved movies with sharp dialogue and great jokes. Learn how he scored his first hit with The Fisher King (which was also his first script ever written on his own), How his personal families Christmases gave him and his sister-in-law the idea and why he left Disney after too much executive meddling. Facebook Instagram Patreon 

Clarity and certainty are essential when you are packaging your talk and positioning yourself as a thought-leader! This is also key to persuading your audience to believe in the strength and value of your message. "Evidence shows people will remember one thing you say. When you speak for an hour, it's going to be something different for each person. But when you speak for a minute, you get to decide what that one thing is." My guest is Ryan Dunphy -- the founder of the Adventurous Entrepreneurs Community. Ryan is incredibly passionate about his subject and about speaking to his audience. This can create the challenge of condensing his message into something more bite-sized when he wants to share his passion about being a speaker. Ryan is one of the most supportive people I've ever met. So today I'm supporting him! And you in the process! This live demo of my pitch coaching session with Ryan will show you how to use a simple 4-step framework to share your message quickly, powerfully, and persuasively. This story format allows you to teach without being preachy, serve without sounding salesy, and tell one memorable story that supports, and flows clearly into, your main idea. ------------------------- If you would like to use this story framework to craft or strengthen your message, here are free resources to get you started: www.15feet.com.

Today on the show Jayson is talking with Ajay Prakash and James Joun, co-founders  of Rinse, a laundry and dry-cleaning app started in 2013. Ajay was COO and CFO of Humble Brands, a consumer product startup. He also had experience at Bonobos, Berkshire Partners, the NBA and Bain & Company. James was a health care investor at Essex Woodlands, a product manager at Genentech, and a consultant with Monitor Group. The company, founded by Ajay Prakash and James Joun, is headquartered in San Francisco. Rinse is a portfolio company of Green D Ventures and Yard Ventures. Rinse started serving customers in 2013, but it was actually 30 years ago when the story really started. Joun's parents have owned a dry cleaning storefront for more than three decades, and for years he'd been wondering how to increase sales in a particularly static industry. Ajay Prakash, befriended Joun at Dartmouth university. James Joun has degrees from Dartmouth and Harvard Business School. Joun was schooled in operations, such as running contraptions like the topper, which presses pant tops, and in the finer points of separating dirt and stains from all manner of fabrics. Joun now competes against the people who brought him into the business who also happen to be his parents. Links:  Follow True Underdog on IG: www.instagram.com/true_underdogReach out to Jayson directly at jayson@trueunderdog.comFollow Jayson on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayson-waller-/Follow Jayson on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jaysonwallerbamCheck out our website to meet the team, view show notes and transcripts: www.trueunderdog.com Mentioned in the Episode: Rinse's Website - https://www.rinse.com/Rinse's Twitter - https://twitter.com/RinseJames's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesjoun/Ajay's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aprakash03/Ajay's Twitter - https://twitter.com/aprakash03 Timestamps: 1:38 - James's Childhood Experience3:31 - How James and Ajay Met6:13 - James and Ajay's Relationship as Business Partners7:10 - Bootstrapping the Business From the Start9:25 - How Rinse Differentiates Itself From Others in the Market13:46 - 2 Minute Pitch for Rinse16:33 - Hardest Thing That James and Ajay Have Had to Overcome While Running Rinse21:11 - Growth Strategy for Rinse Moving Forward23:08 - ‘Covid Proofing' Your Company in the Future26:22 - Cow vs Buffalo28:17 - What Ajay and James Are Most Proud Of

An imaginative new series where ideas explored by participants have '10 minutes in a lift with an investor' to talk about their idea. Mark catches Jermaine off guard today, but Jermaine conjures up something to offer and asks for investment of £15,000,000 over 3-5 years before the investors floor is reached. If you would like to get your idea off the ground or practice pitching your idea, get in touch. --**--**-- Twitter/IG: @_CuriousAnarchy

Jim McVety, CEO of First Step Advisors and advisor to IEI, sits down with Doug to share strategies for K12 companies seeking to grow their business through district partnerships during this unique time in our business. Doug takes his own medicine and does a 2-minute pitch of IEI's hybrid meeting software, @use_remo. Jim critiques. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Hey Unicorn Family! This one is AMAZING! Evan is based in Austin, TX and has an amazing product. Go download it: colorca.st Connect with him: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-kirkham-581b1220/ As always rate and review this podcast and connect with us! https://www.linkedin.com/company/theunicornfinders

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This episode of the Jason Cavness Experience is a Replay of David Meltzer's 2 Minute Pitch Competition cavnessHR website: https://www.cavnessHR.com Jason's email: jasoncavness@cavnessHR.com @cavnessHR   across social media @jasoncavnessHR across social media Pitch Format 10 companies participated. With each pitching for 2 minutes and David giving 3 minutes of feedback and advice. David awarded prizes to the top 3. Spoiler alert, I finished in the top 3. August Two Minute Pitch Competition Here is the link to apply to compete in David's two minute pitch competition on August 28 at 11 am PST https://dmeltzer.com/pitch/ This is a great opportunity to get your company out in front of lots of people. David's Social Media David's FB: https://www.facebook.com/davidmeltzer11/ David's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidmeltzer/?hl=en David's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCflt1OopRWIApMOjVgZyJ6Q David's Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidmeltzer?lang=en David's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeltzer2/ Text David at (949) 298-2905 See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We've been gone for a minute but now we are back in it. This week. We play Two Minute Pitch!

John Kao, founder of EdgeMakers that was recently acquired by Coded Minds and who raised $16 million explains how he managed to raise his first round at the idea stage by giving the right pitch to the right person. If you want to get some inspiration - this episode is for you. Generally the content of Fundraising Radio is pretty dark (as several of my listeners complained) but this one is truly inspiring! John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnkao?lang=en Invest in your host through an IPO: https://humanipo.app/id/konstantin.dubovitskiy

Brant Pinvidic pitched ideas for a living. As a highly successful TV and film producer, his projects were born and died via his ability to communicate the concept simply, quickly, and effectively. Over time he discovered a simple format that all strong pitches shared. We got to dig into his 3 Minute Pitch format, his journey into and out of Hollywood, and how to apply his format to your life, career, and work. Brant was a lot of fun to interview. He's a true professional and a master of his craft. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. You're listening to the Meaning Movement Podcast, a show about work worth doing. In this episode you'll learn: How Brant got into Hollywood Why you shouldn't follow other people's career maps Brant's mindset towards new goals/projects What's stopping you from moving forward What to do if things doesn't work out for you The difference between self-doubt and situational-doubt Why understanding self-doubt and situational-doubt important Why the phrase “You can do whatever you put your mind to" isn't helpful, and what else to use instead Why focus one one thing is better than many How Brant knew it was time to make a jump from producer to speaker-consultant What happens if you focus on potential failure “The 3-Minute Rule” and Brant's new book How to apply "The 3-Minute Rule” to your work, career, and life How to apply Brant's pitch format to a job interview What Brant thinks about "Meaning, calling, and purpose” when it comes to work Show notes at: https://themeaningmovement.com/brant

It's been a hot minute since I did one of these Under the Hood episodes. Today, I bring you one that could be both interesting and potentially helpful for those selling products in narrow niches. It can be difficult to be number one in a highly saturated and competitive niche. That's not usually a problem for folks with businesses in very specific and product-focused niches.   Nevertheless, being involved in an ultra-niche business has its own share of challenges. Today, I'm talking to Mark who helps run a dancewear company in an ultra-niche market.  Originally started by his grandma 40 years ago, he was instrumental in its shift from selling wholesale to retail in 2017. Here's a look at where the business is at right now. How Mark got involved in ecommerce (2:43) How they stared in the online space (4:05) What the revenue's like (5:19) Mike puts in a couple of suggestions for growing the business.  Do SEO (7:11) Look at selling on Amazon (9:26) Put out good quality content (12:15) Start using Facebook Messenger (19:12) Free plus shipping offer (20:46) Create a giveaway (24:57) Add lifestyle photos (29:57) Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win! Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations from the show's first season. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form.

Ecommerce conferences are really a great way to meet people. Sometimes these new acquaintances spark great partnerships as well. I met John Li at lunch during this year's Sellers Summit event in Miami. I got to learn more about PickFu, the polling platform he co-founded.  A few weeks after we met, he sent me an email with a poll he created on the old homepage of one of our brands, Wild Baby. The results were so interesting that I had to get him on the podcast. At the beginning of this interview, he talks in detail about the following: How PickFu started (3:53) Use cases for the tool (6:00) That initial poll was great data to have at the time because we were in the process of changing the Wild Baby homepage. So, each of those 50 comments we got was helpful. When the new homepage was ready, we ran a series of other polls that revolved around the redesigned homepage. Find the timestamps for those below. That first poll John did on our old Wild Baby homepage (7:47) Poll on the redesigned homepage (10:46)  Splitly test (13:22) We also ran a PickFu poll to assess the effectiveness of our sign up page for EcomCrew Premium. Listen to the results at the 25:06 mark. More recently, we ran a poll against a competitor for one of our products. I'm happy to note that 29 out of the 50 people polled opted to buy our product instead of the competitor. Take a look at the results here. I hope you find all of these poll results interesting and useful. If you want to get feedback on your own website images or Amazon listings, you can use our affiliate link at pickfu.com/ecomcrew and get 50% off on your first poll. For questions, you can shoot John an email at john@pickfu.com. Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations from the show's first season. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form.  

Greetings from Jackson, Wyoming! I'm out on the road doing some roadshow stuff for EcomCrew but will be making a side trip to Montana to visit my good friend Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel. Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen the 5 Minute Pitch, I'd tell you to stop reading and head over to watch a couple of episodes, especially the finale, on the official YouTube channel. There you'll see Kim Meckwood, owner and inventor of Click and Carry,  in action.  Kim is the season 1 winner of 5 Minute Pitch. Along with the $50K prize money, all of the judges will be giving her a week-long mentorship session at the end of July. I caught up with her after she won and we had a very insightful discussion, particularly on overcoming and learning from past business struggles. In this episode, you'll learn: Kim's experience as a woman entrepreneur How she got her start in business  How she and her business has been since winning the 5 Minute Pitch Her early struggles (using her 401K to pay for a surge of orders from QVC contract) This episode is part of our Women's Month celebration. We'd love to see more women in the ecommerce industry, so if you are a female business owner, head over to www.ecomcrew.com/underthehood and tell us your story. We'd love to feature you on the podcast. Watch Kim's winning pitch on Season 1 of the 5 Minute Pitch. Or subscribe to the podcast to listen to all the pitches and deliberations while in the car or at the gym. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

It might be July, but this month, we're highlighting the talented ladies among our midst.  I first got the idea for doing this after noticing that there wasn't a single female attendee at our last live event in Hong Kong. It got me thinking about how there ought to be a lot more women in ecommerce but it remains to be a male-dominated industry. In an effort to bring more attention to the accomplishments of women in the ecommerce space, I'm having an all-female guest list. Throughout the month I'll be talking to boss ladies who are running their own online businesses. As this is a premier, it's only fitting to start off with Natalie Mounter. Natalie owns and runs a wedding decor shop called Totally Dazzled. But around here, she's known as the OG superfan.  Here's a peek at what we covered. Losing sight of the “why” Like many solopreneurs, Natalie went through a year where she scrambled just to get a seat at 'the million-dollar table'. While her business grew 2x in revenue, she didn't quite hit 1M and ended up losing money when she outsourced Facebook advertising to two agencies. Social media and its impact Over the years, Natalie's business has gained quite a following on social media. But her brand shines brightest on Pinterest. Totally Dazzled has 450K monthly viewers and Natalie uses the platform for leads. She also enjoys doing tutorials that feature her products so she plans to pump more content into the brand's YouTube channel for her 20K subscribers to share and enjoy. On the Facebook side of things, she keeps the followers engaged via Facebook Live. She later turns these sessions into ads, which have been doing quite well. She and I delve deeper into Facebook marketing and explore other avenues where she can use the platform to build new audience streams and build a bigger following, which hopefully translates to greater profit. Register for EcomCrew Premium so you can have access to tools that can help you jumpstart your online business. Want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots?  Get your free book here. Get advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast.  Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today!  Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Ten episodes ago, I talked about some of the math involved in running an ecommerce business. Episode 250 ended up being one of our most impactful episodes to date. So I thought it would be a good idea to do a deep dive on all the essentials of ecommerce accounting. To do this effectively, I needed to have an expert on board to break down all these things with me. Luckily, I sat next to Scott Scharf and his wife at a dinner during this year's Ecommerce Fuel Live and he agreed to come on the show. A Little Bit about Scott Scott Scharf is the co-founder of Catching Clouds, an accounting services company that caters specifically to online businesses. Through the company, he's worked with ecommerce entrepreneurs for nearly eight years, helping them stay on track financially. What We Covered In this episode, Scott and I go full Ecommerce Accounting 101. Here are some of the basic concepts and terminologies discussed. The most important function of accounting is to have financials you can look at on a daily or monthly basis that will tell you how your business is doing. Profit & Loss Statement (P&L) - all the components that make up your top-line revenue; also called an income statement. An example would be Amazon sales. Cost to Goods Sold (COGS) - shows how much it costs to create, ship, and sell a product/widget. Shipping cost would be included here. Subtracting COGS from P&L would give you the Gross Profit. Subtracting your operation expenses (e.g. payroll) from Gross Profit would give you your Net Profit. Balance Sheet - a report of the company's assets (e.g. inventory, money in the bank) and liabilities (e.g. business loans). Listen to the entire podcast to get a grasp of all these accounting basics to make your better sense of your financials. EcomCrew Premium is opening on June 26th through July 1st. Pre-register today so you can have access to tools that can help jumpstart your online business. We're having a free webinar tomorrow! Learn email marketing fundamentals and hear us talk about our favored strategies to capturing emails and building your list. Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast and get the chance to win over $5K in prizes. Want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots?  Get your free book here. Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Season 1 of the 5 Minute Pitch was a great success. I got to hear and weigh in on the pitches of a diverse set of entrepreneurs, each one putting themselves out there to make their dreams come true. Another awesome thing about that first season was the response we got from people who watched the show on YouTube. Now we've made it possible to listen to all of the pitches whether you're working out at the gym or during your daily commute. Introducing the 5 Minute Pitch Podcast. Listen to all your favorite contestant's pitches at different stages of the competition anytime. Today, I offer you guys a preview of what the episodes are like. Here's one of my favorite contestants doing his round one pitch. Subscribe to the 5 Minute Pitch podcast and get the chance to win over $6K in prizes. Want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots?  Get your free book here. Consult with Mike at your business premises and be featured on the podcast. Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Over the past couple of weeks, you've heard a handful of podcasts recorded in the Philippines. You've heard from Mia and all our employees, including Abby and Muffins. If you've listened to episode 256, these ladies talked a little bit about their specific responsibilities for EcomCrew. But what distinguishes them from the rest is the fact that they work directly for Dave and me. So, I wanted to get them back on the podcast and hear their perspective on what it's like to work on the brand and for the ‘EcomCrew Guys'. Mia didn't leave the room soon enough so she'll be making a cameo on this episode too. Taking the initiative I'm the type of employer who doesn't want to micromanage so I value initiative in the members of my team. The ladies had to pick up this skill and hone it while working for the brand and now have confidence and autonomy in their tasks. First time in Hong Kong As you all know, I love to travel. I also enjoy it when I'm with first-timers in a favorite city. Hong Kong is certainly that city. Last April Abby and Muffins were able to join us there for the EcomCrew Mastermind and check out the booths in the Global Sources Summit. It was their first international travel and I daresay they both had a great time. Listen to the full podcast with these awesome ladies of EcomCrew. Want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots?  Get your free book here. Get advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Dave's back on the podcast with me to talk about one of our favorite topic - tariffs (insert sarcasm). As anyone caught in this plight will know, the US and Chinese governments have reached another impasse in the ongoing trade talks. This resulted in the Trump administration raising tariffs from 10% to 25% on $200 billion worth of goods imported from China effective this month. Here are some key points from our discussion. How are things looking? Both sides of the fence are playing it tough in this trade war for distinctly different reasons. Trump believes he's a great negotiator and is convinced that he will sway the Chinese and bring back manufacturing jobs to America. The Chinese, on the other hand, has learned not to kowtow to any country that perceives itself as a ‘superpower'. It stands firm on its position and will retaliate if necessary to push their trade agenda forward. What are the possible implications? On June 17, 2019, the implementation of 25% tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of goods (List 4 | the final tranche) will be reviewed. If a trade deal isn't reached, it could take effect late in the year. If Chinese imports are tariffed to the hilt, there would be inflationary consequences. How does an ecommerce company like yours prepare for this? Monitor growth Focus on profit instead of top-line growth Make sure cash is being used as effectively as possible Take a closer look at your debt and identify ways of clearing it with a lesser impact on your bottom line How can you ease the impact of these tariffs increases on your business? If your products have a low-profit-margin, increasing prices is inevitable. It's also good to monitor invoices from your Chinese manufacturer and determine how you can cut back on those. And if this mess with tariffs has taught us anything, it's to diversify, diversify, diversify. Source from different countries. China might be a manufacturing powerhouse but other countries like have their strengths too. Vietnam, for instance, produces great textile products. The situation is downright frustrating. But I hope that the insights shared in this episode can still be helpful to all ecommerce sellers out there impacted by the enforced tariffs increases. If you have questions or comments, I'd love to know. Please leave them in the comment section below. Want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots?  Get your free book here. Get advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast?  Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes.   MORE RESOURCES: E182: When the Little Guys Get Caught in the Tariff War

Each year since starting Terran, I make it a point to travel to the Philippines to visit our team there. If you've been following the podcast since day one, you'd have heard me mention Cebu a couple of times. That's where our team is located and every year, I would make the journey to touch base with them in person. Working with employees on the opposite side of the world is challenging. The time difference and slow internet in the Philippines are just some things you need to deal with. But I am truly grateful for the team that we've got. Not only are they able to overcome these challenges, but are able to produce stellar work that exceeds my expectations. There has been so much growth over the past two years. We had three employees to start with and now our Cebu office is home to 10 full-time employees, each making a significant contribution to the brand they work for. Get to know a little bit about our talented and hardworking team members in Cebu when you listen to this podcast. Want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots?  Get your free book here. Want to get advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast?  Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Join season two of the 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling! RESOURCES: Episode 96: Our Philippines Team – Hiring and Maintaining a Team of Rockstar VAs Episode 249: How Our Filipino Team Reacted to the ColorIt Sale Tac9er Facebook Page

Today we're joined by Scott Voelker of The Amazing Seller podcast. Scotty's not just a personal friend but a comrade-in-arms in a number of ecommerce projects, the most recent being season one of the 5 Minute Pitch along with Steve Chou and Greg Mercer. Scott and I have many similarities when it comes to our background and how we've grown our respective ecommerce businesses. So, after hearing his presentation on ecommerce business sustainability at this year's Sellers Summit, I got him on the show solo. Not everything works forever Ecommerce is a dynamic industry. It's constantly evolving according to the latest market trends and who's dominating it (big “bad” Amazon). Strategies that may have worked will lose their edge eventually. As Scott puts it, “Things that worked yesterday may not necessarily work today”. Innovation and a good understanding of the market are crucial for being successful long-term. Grab their attention “Attention is the new currency.” Speaking of marketplaces, what we've found that does work is capturing the market's attention. How do you that? By being genuine and bringing something valuable to the table. After you've identified a target market, you'll need to create a plan that grabs and sustains their attention. This usually involves putting out content in some form or another. But offering valuable content is only half of the picture. You also need to establish that trust with your audience. Do so by proving your expertise in the subject and your willingness to guide people who may not experts themselves, but are working towards getting on that level. Tune in to the full podcast episode for more insights on how you and your brand can navigate the changing tides of ecommerce and remain relevant in the years to come. And check out the resources section of this page for more information on an ecommerce event Scotty's putting together in September.   We have a book and we're giving it away for FREE. If you want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots, get yours here. Want to get advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast?  Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Join season two of the 5 MInute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling! Resources Brand Accelerator Live 2019 E187: How to Save on High-Quality Content for SEO – Under the Hood with Sebastien Taché

Avid listeners would have heard me mention Mia, our PH office director, in this podcast time and again. She is our rock and, through dedication and impressive skills, has single-handedly grown our team from one or two VAs to 9 full-time employees. Mia made her debut on the podcast on episode 142. Back then, she and I talked about her experience with transitioning from a virtual assistant to a managerial role, and how the team she's formed has been doing.   Two years later, we've got more people on board and looking to add some new talent to the roster. I caught up with her again to chat about the biggest changes that have happened to date. These include: Changes to the organizational structure - employees are now working on dedicated brands The ColorIt sale and its impact Letting go of three employees on the same day due to performance issues Tune in to the full episode for a glimpse into Mia's headspace as she navigates the Philippine team through all the new and exciting things in store for the company this year and beyond. We have a book and we're giving it away for FREE If you want a physical copy of our tried-and-tested Amazon launch strategy complete with examples and screenshots, get yours here. Want to get advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast?  Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Catch the finals of the 5 Minute Pitch on YouTube. Join season two by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Many successful ecommerce businesses are born out of necessity. And some of the most successful ecommerce entrepreneurs are selling products that they're truly passionate about. A Business Born of Necessity Eight years ago, Jason Hsieh's son Keanu was diagnosed with autism. Living in Japan at the time, Jason struggled to find support services and products for him. So the family moved to Seattle. In 2017, Jason himself would start developing products that would help children diagnosed with autism and ADHD. Today, his company LakiKid sells three physical product lines -  each addressing different areas where kids with autism and ADHD can benefit from the most. The Struggle to Get Back on Track Sales have been going fairly well for LakiKid until the end of 2018. A supply chain issue caused two of its best-selling SKUs to run out of stock right before Christmas. From averaging close to $50,000 in monthly sales, the business has been struggling to get back on track. At present, LakiKid is over 90 percent Amazon but Jason has been exploring marketing avenues off of the platform to gain back the momentum that was lost. These efforts include a Shopify store, a blog, and hosting a weekly live talk show on Facebook. Listen as I navigate this niche business with this passionate dad and entrepreneur and offer insights on how LakiKid can get the groove back, get more exposure and have those sales figures pick up. Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win! If you're interested in getting onsite advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Catch the finals of the 5 Minute Pitch on YouTube. Join season two by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

I was in Miami for a couple of days last week for Sellers Summit and the finals of 5 Minute Pitch. Without putting out any spoilers, we've already picked a winner this season. I'm excited to meet with this person again to fulfill that mentoring session that comes as part of the prize. For a show that's on its initial run, we've had many interesting business ideas go through. One of which was from Jon Ford. A Relaxing Hobby Turned Profitable Business A firefighter by trade, Jon's quest for a relaxing hobby has turned into a full-fledged business. He is the proud owner of SheaGarden Handmade, an online store that sells handmade soap. Jon's winning personality and passion for his product are proving to be quite a hit with customers. However, being a solopreneur with a full-time job can take its toll. In this episode, we identify Jon's main struggle and I provide tips on how he can get past that. Doing Marketing Right From producing to pricing his handmade soaps, Jon's got a lot on his plate. He wants to find a way to market his products more effectively. You'll often hear Dave and I talk about many different marketing strategies. But I'd like to emphasize that we don't use all of them. And this is the first tip I gave Jon - choose one or two of these to try out for your business. Tune in to the entire podcast for the full discussion and maybe learn a trick or two on how to leverage some out-of-the-box strategies to grow your own ecommerce store. If you're interested in getting onsite advice from Mike and have your business featured on the podcast, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Catch the latest episodes of the 5 Minute Pitch on YouTube. Join season two by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Are you struggling to grow your YouTube followers? If so, boy have I got a treat for you! Today's guest is Eric Bandholz, one of the founders of Beardbrand. From a community dedicated to beard care in 2012, it has become a full-fledged company selling a wide array of men's grooming products. The company is unique in that it isn't reliant on Amazon (at least, not anymore). Instead, it uses other marketing avenues to grow the business. YouTube is one of its core strategies. In the span of 5 years, it has amassed 1 million subscribers on TheBeardbrand channel , which is quite remarkable. Eric was kind enough to share some tips that were crucial to their YouTube success. Have a vision of how your business (i.e. your products or services) can be helpful/useful to people Use media content (videos are big) Learn how the YouTube algorithm works Be prepared to put in that initial effort - the first hundred, the first thousand, the first million is always the hardest Build and streamline a process that allows you to produce content on your channel on a regular basis Listen to the full episode for more insights that you can implement or adapt to meet your own ecommerce marketing strategy.   In other news... EcomCrew Premium is open this week. Get access to our full suite of courses, including the newest one Email Flows to Riches, where we teach you how to use email automation to increase your sales. If you're interested in getting onsite advice from Mike and have your business featured on a podcast, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Catch the latest episodes of the 5 Minute Pitch on YouTube. Join season two by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Hey guys! We're back with Joe Valley for part two of talking about the process involved in selling one of our brands ColorIt.com. In 247, you found Joe and me at that point prior to putting the business up for sale. By the end of the episode, we had gotten a deposit and a signed LOI (letter of intent) from the two wonderful guys who are now the new owners of ColorIt. A signed LOI is similar to a “gentleman's handshake”. We now see the beginnings of a deal at this stage, but not at a point where it is set in stone. Getting from this point to where the deal is actually finalized is what we will be recovering in this particular episode. You'll hear Joe and myself discuss terms like purchase agreement, due diligence and all the minute things done before finalizing a sale and getting that money in the bank. The last episode in this 4-part series will be an interview with Nirav, one of ColorIt's new owners and the team members themselves so stay tuned for that one. If you're interested in getting onsite advice from Mike and have your business featured on a podcast, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Catch the latest episodes of the 5 Minute Pitch on YouTube. Join season two by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Welcome to episode 2 of this 4-part series where I talk about the sale of one of our most profitable brands - ColorIt.com. In episode 246, I discussed the motivation behind this particular move - from the reason behind the sale down to the brand's new owners. A major cog in the wheel with this sale is a man called Joe Valley of Quiet Light Brokerage. Joe has been instrumental in making sure that I was able to pick the right brand to put up for sale (at one point, I wanted to do away with all of them). His insights and advice helped us boost ColorIt's saleability even before we put it up on the market. All the specifics of that are discussed in this episode. If you're planning to sell one of your businesses at some point in the future, give this one a listen. And tune in to the next episode as Joe and I go into more detail about the preparations involved in the sale. If you're interested in getting onsite advice from Mike and have your business featured on a podcast, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Catch the latest episodes of the 5 Minute Pitch on YouTube. Join season two by filling out and submitting the application form. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Amazon is crowded. Everyone and their mom is hawking something on Amazon, and since there's only a finite number of stuff most people are willing to buy, everyone is clawing their way up from the competition to page 1. One tactic sellers employ to get more sales is to lower their prices. The lower your price, the more sales you get. It only makes sense, right? While it is true to some extent, at the end of the day the race to the bottom hurts the most important thing in business: profits. In this episode, I am joined by 5 Minute Pitch contestant Amanda Wittenborn of Amanda Creations to talk about how lowering prices can actually hurt your business, and conversely, how raising prices can make you more money. In addition, we also discuss: Whether it's better to learn how to market a new website or hire an expert to do it The most important factors that influence the ability to scale How a business can stay relevant in 2019 Amanda is a designer who is passionate about spreading joy to kids and convenience to moms by offering custom design services for every celebration. Check out her creations here. Thanks for listening to this episode! Until the next one, happy selling.

If you're a regular podcast listener, you'll know that I've been involved with something called the 5 Minute Pitch. It's a show where we offer up and coming ecommerce entrepreneurs the opportunity to grow their businesses. This season, we had 32 people make their pitches to us for the chance to win $50,000. Going into the second round, we've whittled down the contestants to 17. You can watch the final three pitches from Round 1, as well as the deliberation episode on YouTube. Today, I'll be talking to someone who made the cut. Dawn LaFontaine owns and runs Cat in the Box, a company that sells stylish cardboard boxes for cats. She was featured on the very first episode of 5 Minute Pitch and got a “yes” from all 5 judges. Dawn left quite an impression on me with her presentation. She has such an infectious personality and a good business story that I thought it would be great to share that with our listeners through an Under the Hood episode. In this episode, she and I discuss some strategies she could use to drive and convert traffic. These include: Getting into interruption marketing by targeting Facebook groups that are cat owners Looking at the subset of those cat owners who are homeowners Join season two of 5 Minute Pitch by filling out and submitting the application form.   If you're interested to get onsite advice from Mike and have your business be featured, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today!   Join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Before I hop on a plane to Asia, I thought it would be a good time to do a review of those goals I made for myself at the start of the year. Sell a brand. We already did this. ColorIt is officially no longer ours. We'll be discussing the sale in a series of separate podcasts which is definitely something I'm looking forward to. Position another brand for sale in late 2020. All of our brands now have their own LLCs. I don't know which brand it will be, but we plan to figure this out in the middle of this year. We'll start thinking about this now in anticipation that we will be in a better spot with whatever brand we'll be letting go of next year. Getting back to location independence. Now that ColorIt's off our plate, it's allowed us to move everything to a 3PL and shut down our California warehouse. It's also allowed me to start filming episodes of EcomCrew Roadshow. Reducing debt to zero dollars. We have completed the first step of this. ColorIt's sale has allowed us to pay all of our business debt. We are working on clearing our mortgage by the end of this year. Hike the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. This will be happening in August and I've already started training for it and doing 5-mile walks. Take at least 10 weeks of personal travel. We'll be going to Japan and I'm super looking forward to going to Tokyo. We'll have three full days to spend there. That comes after going to Hong Kong for the Mastermind and Global Sources Summit and the Philippines to visit my team.  Record 6 or more episodes of the EcomCrew Roadshow. Two of those are already done. We're planning to do at least four more. Invest in at least 1 ecommerce business. This is either going to be investing in something that can be a great story for EcomCrew or starting something new. Whatever it is, it will be a transparent case study for all of us to learn from. Lose 10 more pounds. The plan is to lose about a pound a month. I'm pretty convinced that I've lost some weight, although I would need to confirm that with a weighing scale. Visit the Philippines office in 2019. I'm gonna be there for two full weeks at the end of the month and at the beginning of May. Start selling our services for EcomCrew. We haven't started on this yet as staff members working for ColorIt were transferred as part of the sale. But the plan is to offer extra services to EcomCrew Premium members to give them the push they need to grow their businesses, at a minimal cost.  The hope is to launch it this year. Significantly improve the quality of the podcast. Abby is doing pre-interview stuff to send over to me so I'm more prepared to do each episode. We also have a job offer out for a full-time video and audio editor. Film season 2 of 5 Minute Pitch. This will be happening in August. We'll be filming in Austin for a week. We're planning to change the format for this new season based on the things we've learned from the first one. Break each of our brands out into different companies. This is done but we're still in the middle of the repercussions of this move. We are still working on making things as organized as they can be. Start hosting in-person events for EcomCrew. This year, we're going to do at least two. We'll then do another one in Vancouver in the summer. Speak at 6 industry events. I think I'm already signed up for maybe 8 events at this point. Shift to doing things that only bring me immense personal fulfillment. This is a continuing journey but I am particularly enjoying the things I'm currently doing for EcomCrew. With Under the Hood and now with the Roadshow, I've had the chance to do this from a more personal level. Do intermittent fasting for all of 2019 (and eat less meat). I've been able to keep at this for the most part of the quarter. Not to drink the rest of 2019. I have done this but with one exception - a glass of champagne when we closed on ColorIt. That's where I'm at. You can review the first episode of my goals for 2019 by clicking on the link below. https://www.ecomcrew.com/e227-19-goals-for-2019/   Join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Cory Stout has already built a successful brand, Woodies Sunglasses. But like any keen ecommerce entrepreneur, he's seen the potential of acquiring Amazon businesses to grow and improve on. In this Under the Hood, Cory walks me through the process of his latest acquisition. Inspired by the episode with Shakil Prasla of Pro Click Ventures, he jumped on Empire Flippers and looked at his options. He eventually settled on a business selling a bird feeder called Nibbles and paid $30K for it. Cory and I then discussed some low hanging fruit in terms of improving the product listing and marketing. These include: Replacing existing stock photos with high-quality images Improving the copy Adding infographics Investing in PPC Change up the packaging (but not too much) We also discussed how tying in the product with some type of birdseed can be a great way to not only generate interest in Nibbles but also open up the possibility of introducing new product additions to complement this one SKU in the future. If you're interested to get onsite advice from Mike and have your business be featured, sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow today! Join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Watch the final three pitches for Round 1 of the  5 Minute Pitch. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

From a Dublin-based seller, we now have an Under the Hood guest from the UK. Jamie Graham is a Premium member. I met him in person at the Million Dollar Sellers meetup in Cancun last year. He and his wife Kayleigh own a beauty brand that's bringing over a million pounds in revenue, with a 30-40 percent growth rate. In this episode, the majority of the discussion was focused on these three points. Figure out how to build a ‘real' business that's not reliant on him and his wife Developing a top-level hire Working with a sourcing agent Jamie and I also went over how he was able to implement the principles discussed in the book Traction. It's an excellent read, especially if you're on the process of growing and organizing your ecommerce business. Check out the full episode. I'm looking forward to hearing back from Jamie over the next couple of months. With a growing business and a new baby, he'll definitely be having his hands full. Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win! Get more information about Million Dollar Sellers on EcomCrew.com/mds. Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Read more about it here. Join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

This Under the Hood guest is someone our Premium members would know. Fabio Molle was on one of our private webinars last month to talk about strategies he used to grow his brand's Instagram following to more than 200k followers. Fabio is the owner of Functional Tennis, a company that sells match journals to aspiring athletes and enthusiasts alike. While the brand is taking off on this particular social media platform, that success hasn't necessarily translated to a profit boost. The match journal is a good consumable product. Unfortunately, tennis is what you'd call “a niche within a niche” so marketing using conventional channels is out of the question. I brainstormed with Fabio on possible routes he could take to generate more interest in this product. Here are some takeaways. Instead of going the Amazon route, go to the grassroots level. Capitalize on social media channels by adding more content. A free course can be a great lead magnet because it adds value and can create relationships with people. If those people want to learn more, you can then offer paid content. Google Shopping is an asset you'd want to build long term. Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win! Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Read more about it here. Join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

As ecommerce sellers we ultimately want to be seen. That's why we spend ungodly chunks of money on Amazon PPC, Facebook ads, and Google Adwords and Shopping. But what happens if those paid traffic channels become unavailable? Christian Gravel of Grower Scrog Nets is facing this problem. He has developed a product that helps people grow good cannabis more easily in their homes, and with more states legalizing cannabis, it seems like a viable product. However, marketing for products in this niche is very challenging as there's not exactly a Facebook audience fit for it. On top of that, ad platforms like Facebook and Youtube regulate ads for this niche very heavily. Building authority in his niche is essential if he wants to be seen, especially since paid ads is not an option. In this episode Christian and I discuss how to most effectively do this. You'll learn: How to get people to spread the word for you What the ultimate purpose of every blog post should be How to practice writing overwhelmingly great content The 6 essential parts of a great blog post Christian and first I met when he joined the 5 Minute Pitch. Watch his entire pitch here. Thanks for listening! Until the next one, happy selling.

When we made the move from affiliate marketing to selling our own physical products years ago, we realized in a kind of baptism-by-fire way how starkly different the two business models are. Mike Higman, owner of HuntingGearDeals.com, is trying to make the same shift. In this episode, he and I talk about the 3 things he needs to carefully consider to make sure he is prepared to take his business to the next level: cash flow, products to sell, and content strategy. You'll learn: Why cash flow is the enemy of a physical products business How to find the perfect product to sell by leveraging information from your affiliate marketing website The best way to rank your website on Google How to gather content from true fans of your product Why you need to be careful about spending tons of money on web development Mike and I met when he signed up for 5 Minute Pitch. Check out his story and pitch. Resources mentioned: E184: Dealing with Cash Flow 5 Minute Pitch Thanks for listening! Until the next one, happy selling.

This Under the Hood episode is unique and perhaps unexpected. I'm joined by Speck Hansen of earthMonkeys, a brand that sells plush stuffed animals. The company's underlying mission is “for moms that wanna get their kids using less screen time and getting out and doing more physical activities through adventure.” You might say that his products are in direct competition with those sold under one of our brands. However, I'm a firm believer that there's enough business for everyone out there. And by having the opportunity to talk to him about his business and answer his questions, we would be providing greater value to those who are interested in entering the baby niche with these products or those who want to expand their existing product line to include plush toys. Here are some of the salient points from the interview. Word of mouth is an important marketing strategy when selling plush toys. New parents will often befriend other new parents. New moms, in particular, may get advice on baby products from other news moms in their circle. In some cases, you can earn a much better profit by having quantities of products for one SKU and selling them at higher prices. Having a promotional strategy that can tie into plush toys and help kids develop an affinity for them is always a plus. Include 1-2 images on your listing that functions like an infographic. It should go into detail about the features that the toy has. Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win! EcomCrew Premium is Open We're reopening Premium until March 18th! Get access to full-length courses, twice monthly private webinars, and unlimited 1 on 1 email coaching with Mike and Dave. Register here! New Episodes of 5 Minute Pitch A pre-tea company seeking seed money and a passionate mom and designer who wants to spread joy to kids. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019. Sign up for The EcomCrew Roadshow Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Read more about it here. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

It's the end of February and I'm behind on sharing my goals for the year. But here they are. My 19 goals for 2019. I made it a little bit different this year by coming up with three themes - less is more, doubling down on ecomCrew, and focusing more on “me”. As you read through my list, you'll find that each goal fits a theme or two. 1. Sell a brand. I feel that it's time to de-risk and take some money off the table so this year we will be actively working towards selling one of our brands. I will also be creating a series on this with Joe valley from Quiet Light Brokerage. 2. Position another brand for sale in late 2020. We'll start thinking about this now in anticipation that we will be in a better spot with whatever brand we'll be letting go of next year. 3. Getting back to location independence. We were digital nomads before that was even a thing but we've been grounded in San Diego for 5 years but I miss being location independent so we'll be working on that this year. 4. Reducing debt to zero dollars. My aim is to have zero debt in the business and in our personal lives. 5. Hike the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island. Supposedly one of the most beautiful trails in the world. Dave and I will be doing this 5-day hike along with some other guys 6. Take at least 10 weeks of personal travel. There will be a significant amount of personal travel. I'll be incorporating it the trips that we'll be doing for the EcomCrew Roadshow. I'd like to visit Iowa and North Dakota - the last two out of the 50 states that I haven't been to. I'd also like to visit some new countries this year get past the number 50 mark of countries visited. 7. Record 6 or more episodes of the EcomCrew Roadshow. 8. Invest in at least 1 ecommerce business. Leveraging our resources to be able to help other people and businesses grow. 9. Lose 10 more pounds. The plan is to lose about a pound a month. 10. Visit the Philippines office in 2019. 11. Start selling our services for EcomCrew. We'll start small, offering services to Premium members initially. 12. Significantly improve the quality of the podcast. We want the podcast to be really noticeable so we'll be hiring a professional audio and video editor and refining our process of getting people to be interviewed on the podcast. 13. Film season 2 of 5 Minute Pitch. 14. Break each of our brands out into different companies. 15. Start hosting personal events for EcomCrew. Not full-fledged conferences but small gatherings of ecommerce entrepreneurs with a mastermind-like setup. 16. Speak at 6 industry events. 17. Shift to doing things that only bring me immense personal fulfillment. 18. Do intermittent fasting for all of 2019. 19. Not to drink the rest of 2019. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019. Join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Read more about it here. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Hey there! We've had  5 Minute Pitch videos available online for a few weeks now. The entire process has been tiring yet fulfilling and we couldn't have done it without the help of great companies. One of which is Payability, a financing company exclusive for ecommerce sellers. On today's show, we have Vicky Sullivan to talk more about their products - Instant Access and Instant Advance. Here are some specifics that we covered in this interview. The high cost of a missed opportunity in ecommerce Why banks don't understand the needs of ecommerce sellers The difference between business financing and personal debt What is Payability and how is it different? Payability success stories Cash flow is key to growing that ecommerce business. But when it takes Amazon two weeks to pay, this can be quite difficult. This is where Payability's services can be of assistance. Get discounts ($200 sign-on Bonus + 1.5% Instant Access fee!) when you sign up using this link. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019. Registration to EcomCrew Premium is now closed. But, you can join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Read more about it here. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

I consider myself an SEO nerd. I've optimized my company's online assets to rank better on search engines, particularly Google. Although I should say that the techniques I've used have not always been sophisticated nor white hat. As I learned more about SEO (and got slapped by Panda and Penguin updates), my approach to search optimization has become much more aligned with Google's standards. Had I done this at the start, it would have been a lot better for my business overall. But there's definitely room for improvement in how we get these things done. Which brings us to today's episode. My guest is Jeff Oxford, the founder and SEO Director of 180 Marketing. Jeff did what's called an ‘SEO teardown' at this year's ECF Live. And he'll be doing the same to one of our brand sites, Icewraps.com. Here are some takeaways that you can apply to your own website in order to take it to the next level. Solid content and clean navigation are musts. Shopify has one of the most SEO-friendly platforms for ecommerce sites. If you're on Shopify and have a small product catalog of products, it becomes easier to rank your website. If you're doing a site migration, make sure to 301 redirect old pages to the new ones or to another appropriate page. Add your ‘most searched for' keywords as part of the title tags. Tune in to the 5 Minute Pitch. New episodes published weekly until the final round in May at the Sellers Summit 2019. Registration to EcomCrew Premium is now closed. But, you can join this month's giveaway and get the chance to win an annual Premium subscription for free. Need onsite and personalized advice for your struggling ecommerce business? Sign up for the EcomCrew Roadshow. Re more about it here. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

This episode is a follow up of sorts to our 200th episode. After wrapping up 5 Minute Pitch semis, my co-judges Scott Voelker, Steve Chou, Greg Mercier and I had some time to talk a bit about ecommerce while out for dinner here in San Diego. But it's not the usual shop talk that you'd expect. For one, Scott initiated a speed round and dropped this thought-provoking question. What you would do right now with all the information that you know, everything that you've gained, but you only have 5,000 dollars to start your new business? Unsurprisingly, each one of us had a different answer to this. I'd start a blog and get into affiliate marketing. Greg would invent a product or improve upon an existing one. Steve (who doesn't need the $5,000) would join an online forum, become an authority figure and use that influence as a launchpad to having his own paid courses and webinars. Finally, Scott would build an audience by creating content that would target a specific or niche market. These discussions are really something that I look forward to. Being able to bounce ideas of three of my best buddies in the industry, each one successful in his own right is always a treat. That being said, these talks bring about insights that could be useful to any up and coming entrepreneur. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as we had fun recording it. In other news, registration to EcomCrew Premium is now closed but, you can still learn from us through our suite of free courses. There's a total of 20 videos covering ecommerce topics like Importing from China and Building a 7-Figure Business. Find more information on the link below. Free Video Courses We're also launching giveaway during the holidays so like and follow our Facebook page for the latest updates. Finally, if you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

It's our 200th episode. I'd like to start off by saying a BIG THANK YOU to all of you who've tuned in to this podcast from the very first one. A few weeks ago we wrapped up the semi-final round of 5 Minute Pitch. The finalists will be judged on their presentations at the Seller's Summit next year in Miami, Florida. After three days of competition, I sat down with my co-judges Scott Voelker, Steve Chou, and Greg Mercier to record this podcast. Over the course of this endeavor, we've had the chance to meet a variety of entrepreneurs. Some have already gotten their feet wet while others are still at pre-income level. There are those who developed their own products and those who took the “me too” approach in terms of what they wanted to sell. Each of them had something to bring and this whole experience has reinforced our belief that people behind ecommerce businesses are some of the most driven, passionate, and hardworking individuals you'd find anywhere. It is indeed a great community to be a part of. With that said, here are some takeaways from this fun and meaningful discussion. Is it still possible to bootstrap an ecommerce business? Uniqueness and defensibility are good characteristics to have A “me too” product isn't necessarily a bad thing Amazon is still a great place to get started, especially if you're a solopreneur But when your business gains traction, start building your brand outside of Amazon Personality can be a big factor; putting yourself out there to promote your brand can be your ticket to success Double down or diversify? If you have a strategy that you know works, it makes sense to double down or even triple down on it A good time to diversify would be after achieving a significant business goal Head over to https://www.5minutepitch.com/ and sign up so you can follow along with the selection process. Registration to EcomCrew Premium is open for one last time this year. Follow our Facebook page for all the latest updates. Sign up this week and you can get 50% off on our subscription plans. If you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

Early this year my buddies Steve Chou of My Wife Quit Her Job, Scott Voelker of The Amazing Seller, Greg Mercer of Jungle Scout and I came up with a new show called the 5 Minute Pitch. All four of us met up last week to film the semi-finals, and it's a little strange to say this, but it's probably the hardest I've worked the whole year. The schedule was so brutal that I wasn't able to touch my laptop for 3 whole days. Imagine that. The 5 Minute Pitch The 5 Minute Pitch is a Shark Tank style show where we have 32 contestants pitch us their businesses for 5 minutes, for a chance to win $50,000. Unlike Shark Tank, there's no strings attached, which means we don't take any equity from the company that wins. Over the next few weeks after the creation of the show, the four of us and a couple of guest judges got together on Skype while 32 companies pitched their business ideas to us. We narrowed the contestants down to 8 and had them fly to San Diego last week to present an extended pitch, in person, to all four of us plus one very special guest judge who we can't reveal yet (hint: his podcast is in iTunes' top 100 Business Podcasts). We will be airing the first batch of pitches early next year on iTunes and YouTube. The finals, which will determine the winner who will take the $50,000 prize, will be held in Miami, Florida during the Sellers Summit. Most Important Takeaway from the Semi Finals There is one thing that stood out to me during our filming last week (aside from the back pain from having to sit in the same position for too long) and that is there's one thing all successful businesses have. The ability to adapt to change. In business, you don't need to have everything figured out at the get go. You don't need to have everything planned. If you get too buried in planning, taking into account every possible scenario in your head, you might not get around to doing anything at all. Learn to take action, get early feedback, and use that feedback to steer your business in the right direction. Being nimble and learning how to ride the tide is the most important skill you need to learn to achieve business success. If you think about it, so many successful businesses--AirBnB, Lyft, Cisco--didn't have all their ducks in a row. And if you look at their history, they are not the same company as they were when they started. But they all have one thing in common: the ability to adapt to change. Even the 5 Minute Pitch didn't start out perfectly. We knew we wanted to do this but the details weren't clear to any of us when we started. But we went ahead and did it anyway, improvising and learning from our mistakes along the way. The result of it is a show that all four of us are excited and proud to present to you. EcomCrew Premium Opening One Last Time This Year We've recently been limiting the number of people we accommodate with EcomCrew Premium because we wanted to be able to attend to the needs of every single one of our members, and having too many people sign up prevents us from doing that. We have a trick up our sleeve for our next reopening on Black Friday, which will be the last time we will open registrations this year. Connect with us on Facebook to be among the first to get updates about our surprise for the reopening. Thanks for listening to this episode! Until the next one, happy selling.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to sell on Amazon. I know I share the same sentiment with many listeners of this podcast. These days, you need to position your brand in a way that it can effectively differentiate itself. Only then will you be able to sell products effectively. So it's downright frustrating and disheartening when you encounter imitators online who hijack and duplicate products for monetary gain but at the original creator's expense. That being said, it's crucial to have your brand and your products protected by a trademark. And in today's podcast, we not only get to pick the brains of a lawyer who assists clients with protecting their brands. He also has his own ecommerce business to boot. Steven Weigler is someone who's certainly seen both sides of the coin. A former prosecutor and technology law practitioner, he has been running an ecommerce business for a decade. He is also the founder of EmergeCounsel, a business legal services provider.   Steve sheds light on what a trademark is and how many different kinds are there. He also talks about the Amazon Brand Registry and a relatively new program within it called Transparency. Here are some highlights from our discussion. Brand Registry is a way for Amazon to identify legitimate brands and help the sellers of these brands weed out imitators. Filing for a trademark yourself with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is not advisable because it is a tedious process that requires specific legal knowledge and expertise. Any error that could be incurred while doing it on your own will leave a mark and its effects can be potentially irreversible. Going down the DIY route will also end up being more costly than if you had an experienced lawyer doing it on your behalf. On that note, EmergeCounsel has a business service package that's right up this alley. For an $875 all-in fee you can get the following: Strategic discussions about branding and trademark needs A comprehensive trademark search using multiple sources Suggestions for proper trademark categorization to minimize the costs and maximize a trademark's protection Phone-in or in-person consultations as needed USPTO trademark application preparation Responding to technical official actions issued by the USPTO Filing all forms and paperwork throughout the process One year of defense monitoring alerting clients to any possible threat to their trademark Assistance and advisory on the registry process Discounted rates for Emerge counsels For more information, you can get in touch with Steve via his email address: sweigler@emergecounsel.com Other Useful Resources: EcomCrew Premium Give us your 5 Minute Pitch and Win $50,000 Thanks for listening to this episode! If you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!

It takes more than a great idea to achieve success in the ecommerce ecosystem. As Ryan O'Connor will tell you, there have been plenty of hits and misses after he got his ‘lightbulb moment' four years ago. Ryan is the co-founder of One Tribe Apparel and the guest for today's Under the Hood segment. His goal is to boost monthly revenue so that he can transition to doing the business full time. He's also looking for insights on how to launch new products successfully, particularly now that the company is selling on Amazon FBA. He also runs an SEO consulting business. How Ryan got his start in ecommerce Ryan and I followed the same trajectory early in our ecommerce career. Playing poker also led him to affiliate marketing and by 2008 he had a small poker site. But it wasn't until 2014, while leading the life of a digital nomad in Thailand, that he got the idea that has now evolved into a bohemian apparel and accessories company. Company Profile One Tribe Apparel is an LLC company that started in 2014. Ryan originally started selling his Thai inspired pants through an online store created on the Big Commerce platform. The following year he moved to Shopify. Today, One Tribe Apparel also has merchandise on Etsy and Amazon, with 25 wholesale accounts. From an initial revenue of $2,500, the company capped 2017 with $200,000 in revenue with 50% net margin. Goals and Challenges In the past year or so, One Tribe Apparel has been adding new products to expand its existing line and boost revenue but the efforts have been unsuccessful. Ryan personally would like revenue to reach half a million USD to justify working on the business full time. He also wants to do a serious Amazon launch as there's potential demand for yoga accessories in the marketplace. After getting a sense of where his business is at, here are some of my recommendations Get on Google Shopping and get those ads to be profitable. There's a huge audience surrounding yoga and the living a holistic lifestyle on Facebook that One Tribe Apparel can capitalize on. Upping engagement on the business page and launching a free plus shipping offer can be great marketing initiatives on this social channel. Complement awesome product photography with detailed information. It would be good to talk about eco-friendly materials that go into the product's construction. Thanks for listening to this episode! If you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling! Other Useful Resources: EcomCrew Premium Give us your 5 Minute Pitch and Win $50,000 Under the Hood is a segment where we do an hour-long coaching call with one of our listeners. We take a look at their businesses, provide honest feedback, offer our best business advice, and answer whatever questions they have. In exchange for the free coaching, we will turn the call into a podcast episode so that our community can benefit as well. It's a win-win!

If you're an entrepreneur who's been tinkering around with an awesome business idea but short on capital, we'd love to help. In this episode, I met up with three of my buddies in the industry, Greg Mercer from Jungle Scout, Steve Chou from My Wife Quit Her Job, and Scott Voelker from The Amazing Seller, to talk about our latest project called the 5 Minute Pitch. It's an opportunity for bootstrapped online businesses to pitch their best business idea to us as judges and win $50,000. Who are we looking for? We are on the lookout for an online business with great forward momentum. We want someone who can take a unique business idea and add the meat and bones to it. So, give us your business backstory, be transparent about your numbers, and spill all the details for your chosen venture.   Finally, act natural. “Let your personality shine through because at the end of the day we are investing in people. Oftentimes, businesses have to make pivots and go on to do different types of things. So we want to know that the founders that we're giving this money to as a gift are going to really exceed with it.”, says Greg. How can you join? Simply log on to www.5minutepitch.com or fill out the application form here. Please note we only accept 32 entries so time is of the essence. How do we pick a winner? The grand prize winner will be selected after a series of elimination rounds. We're starting with 32 contestants who will be giving us their 5-minute pitch on Skype. From that cluster, we'll be selecting 8 contestants to advance to the next round. These 8 contestants will again be narrowed down to 4. The lucky 4 will be flown to San Diego to present their pitch live to the four judges. From these, we'll then select the grand winner of a $50,000 cash gift.   What does the winner get? We're giving away a cash gift worth $50,000 to the lucky winner plus some mentoring time with each judge. We're launching this contest in the fall. Sign up for our email list to get the latest updates.   Other Useful Resources: MyEcomcrew Jungle Scout My Wife Quit Her Job The Amazing Seller   Thanks for listening to this episode! If you enjoyed listening and think this episode has been useful to you, please take a moment to leave us a review on iTunes. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Happy selling!