The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

In this episode, you'll learn how to use YouTube Ads to grow your brand and drive sales from recurring guest Brett Curry, CEO of OMG Commerce, a digital marketing agency and Google Premier Partner. You'll hear: What does YouTube advertising look like? Who is a good candidate for YouTube ads? How do the YouTube ad types work? Keys to a good YouTube ad How to retarget store visitors with YouTube ads In addition to running OMG Commerce, Brett is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping published by Shopify. He is also the host of the eCommerce Evolution Podcast highlighting what’s new and what’s next in eCommerce. He and his team manage Google, Amazon, and YouTube ad campaigns for over 100 growing brands. His insights into Amazon and Google Advertising have been featured on stage at top industry events like IRCE, Seller Summit, and Social Media Marketing World. His articles are featured on leading industry sites like Shopify, Big Commerce, and Search Engine Journal, and he’s a frequent guest on top marketing podcasts like Ecommerce Fuel, Perpetual Traffic, Social Media Examiner and many more. Tune in for more details! Show Links Brett's Agency: OMG Commerce Brett's Article: How I Recovered 2,328 Abandoned Shopify Carts With YouTube Ads Harmon Brothers Book recommendation: Tested Advertising Methods Book recommendation: Ogilvy on Advertising Grammarly Video: Brett's YouTube Ad Tips Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Rewind

On this show, we've found a common pattern to merchants' entrepreneurial journeys on Shopify. This is not one of those stories. This is the journey of Cesar Torres who turned a merch store for his sci-fi book series into a fitness leggings brand with a big impact on LGBTQ+ fans of the brand. You'll hear: What Cesar learned working at the Wirecutter How listening to customers pivoted his business to success How an uncommon journey led to uncommon success Cesar is the author of two sci-fi book series: The Coil and How to Kill a Superhero. He is also the CEO and Designer of LED Queens fitness apparel, which is a direct spinoff from both of his book series. He earned his journalism degree at Northwestern University and a computer science masters degree at DePaul University. He's currently based out of Chicago. Tune in for more details! Resources Cesar's site: LED Queens Wirecutter Cesar's books: The Coil and How to Kill a Superhero Instagram: @LEDQueens App: Returnly App: Smile App: Privy Cesar's personal site: CesarTorres.me Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

If this show had a mantra, it might be, "People buy from people, not brands." There is no personal commerce channel than conversational commerce. Today, Shopify and Apple announced that Shopify Merchants can now use Apple's Business Chat, a tremendously powerful new way for organizations to connect with customers directly from within Messages. Previously only available to Fortune 500 business like 1800Flowers and Home Depot, it's now available today for your Shopify store. That's exciting, but what does it mean for your business? To find out, we're joined by Shopify's Director of Product, Michael Perry. You'll learn: The game changing feature coming to Shopify Ping How to improve your customer relationships (and build a competitive moat around your business) Why you can't ignore conversational commerce How to use chat to 3x conversion rates up Michael Perry founded Kit, which was acquired by Shopify in 2016. He's now Director of Product at Shopify, and fiercely passionate about conversational commerce and its potential for the future of ecommerce. Show Links Shopify Ping Tw:@michaelperry Never miss an episode Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

Last week Shopify announced their most ambitious features to date at the fourth annual Shopify Unite partner conference. Paul and I attended, and break it down for you here. How Shopify is going after Amazon Why it's going to be easier than ever to manage your store And why Shopify is now the entrepreneurship operating system Show Links Shopify Blog: Everything Announced at Shopify Unite 2019 Shopify Unite Shopify Fulfillment Network Shopify Plus Blog: Unite 2019: New Tools to Unlock Meaningful Customer Experiences Kurt's Unite Notes What's new on Shopify? These are the notes I took during the Shopify Unite keynote: Online store: Site-wide sections Apps can add sections Product pages have parent and child templates Content portability: all content lives outside theme, simplifying theme changes Native video & 3-D support on product pages Check-out app extensions for native integrations of things like subscriptions Multi-currency checkout rolling out to all merchants Multi-language API for native localized content POS: Tap & chip case for mobile orders. Apple store like experience. Printed with a custom logo. Cart extension apps. Entirely redesigned POS interface Native “buy online pick up in store” Admin: New “shipping profiles” to assign product-specific shipping rules. Order editing!!! Plus: All new interface: centralized view of multiple stores Multistore dashboard for customers, orders, Flow automation, etc Future: cloning & store sync Multi-store staff managed in one place Apps: Command line interface tool to make dev easier Shopify App Bridge: one library to rule them all, and create more embedded apps GraphQL improvements mean faster apps More stable apps because of API versioning. (Keeps apps from breaking when the API changes.) Shopify Fulfillment Network: 2 days to deliver 99.9% order accuracy Multichannel support Custom packaging & branding Returns/exchange support Now: Merchants of every size. (10-10,000 orders/day) Later: Merchants of every size. (3-30,000 orders/day) Beta complete, apply for early access at shopify.com/fulfillment When: Most updates had a timeline of "Available later this year" Never miss an episode Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

In this listener mailbag episode, you'll hear: The hardest decisions we've ever made in our business Why Kurt thinks retail arbitrage is better than dropshipping Why business partnerships are sexless marriages and a spirited debate on toilet paper Show Links Spotify: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals - The 1960s, Vol.1 App of the week: Bonjoro BioBidet Supreme BB-1000 Never miss an episode Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

Four years ago, today's guest found herself dreaming of pursuing a more creative path, and she started to look for alternatives to her in-house legal job. She explored everything from teaching yoga to becoming a freelance graphic designer to opening an Etsy shop. In the process, she ended up coming full circle by creating a business that brought the benefit of her legal training to help her fellow creatives. Joining us is Christina Scalera, the attorney turned ecommerce entrepreneur behind The Contract Shop, a contract template store for creative entrepreneurs, wedding professionals, and coaches. In this candid episode, Christina walks us through her journey from how she made her first sale four years ago up to today where her annual sale now does six-figures. You'll learn: How she found her business idea by accident The exact method that launched her store with $4K in pre-orders How she scaled that success to drive business growth Tune in for more details! Show Links The Contract Shop Nick's Consultancy: Draft Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

Today's guest put his money where his mouth is when he joined ecommerce incubator Chillest Capital to launch and manage direct to consumer brands selling things like premium beef jerky, CBD supplements, and more. You'll learn: The legality of CBD Why CBD is so hot right now How a lifestyle brand is an acquisition channel Working around advertising limitations for sensitive advertising The dangers of high-risk payment gateways Andy has worked in eCommerce across several different categories and brands from fast scaling start-ups to enterprise level brands such as Proactiv and Coca-Cola. Prior to Co-Founding Holiday, a Chillest Capital portfolio company, he served as Chief of Stuff at Brand Value Accelerator and as a project manager at Gotham Alpha. His passion lies in driving innovation and growth within organizations looking to adapt to the ever-changing digital world. Show Links Chillest C-Star Provisions Beef Jerky Holiday CBD Gummies LinkedIn: Dylan Whitman BVAccel LinkedIn: Andy Muntean RetentionRocket Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

In today's listener mailbag episode, we discuss topics and questions chosen by you. You'll learn: How the shadiest internet villains illicitly advertise How to advertise when you can't use Facebook or Google How to make Shopify Plus make money for you and the "must have" mostly-free apps for your store Show Links “What’s Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?” Metafilter: Where was the effing monkey? Klaviyo Bold Brain Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

According to Wikipedia, Hoonigan Industries is "an apparel brand for auto enthusiasts." According to its 20 million fans, it's an car culture movement. Either way, they're on Shopify Plus, and have an incredible story to share starting back in the 2000's when co-owner and rally driver Ken Block appeared on BBC show Top Gear and filmed the hit YouTube video "Gymkhana 2", making the most viral video of 2009. You'll learn: The origin story of Hoonigan, Gymkhana, and Ken Block. The authentic content that got them to an audience of 20million people and three daytime Emmy nominations What's changed in social media and the one thing that will separate you Ron Zaras is a man who has somehow snuck his way into the ranks of automotive media. Starting life as an automotive journalist (read: intern) directly out of college working for 0-60 magazine, he learned that he could sustain a living telling automotive stories - and has been attempting to do so ever since. After an 8 year stint working directly for Ken Block under the Hoonigan Racing Division banner, he moved over to the Hoonigan Industries home base in Long Beach, California to help evolve their marketing in both media and apparel segments. Tune in for more details! Show Links HOONIGAN - RZARAS2042 for 20% off at Hoonigan.com! GYMKHANA TWO Garage Garage: Racecar Bed Scumbag Labs: Steer Left, Turn RIGHT?? Opposite Steering Jeep Melts Our Brains! Instagram: @roncar Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr

Websites should be fast. No one is arguing about that. What constitutes fast has somehow been perverted by an anxiety-inducing score assigned by the cruel mistress known as Google PageSpeed Insights. In this episode, we throw Google PageSpeed in the bonfire. You'll learn: Why Google PageSpeed Insights is an awful boogeyman that needs to be stopped A sane approach to making your website faster When to upgrade Shopify plans and strategies to setup your main menus correctly (again) The boys get extra salty in this one. Tune in for more details! Show Links Pingdom Tools Crush.pics Paul's website - It gets a perfect PageSpeed score. Shopify Pricing Kurt's Shopify Plus breakdown Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one. Subscribe on iTunes What's Kurt up to? See our recent work at Ethercycle Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store. Sponsors Try Bold Product Upsell free for 90 days Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager Outsource your Shopify customer service with Simplr