

The Unofficial Shopify Podcast
Kurt Elster, Paul Reda
NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY, SUBSCRIBE FOR UNBEATABLE ECOM RECON – Every Tuesday since 2014, host Kurt Elster shares the Shopify success stories that nobody tells you about, straight from the entrepreneurs living it. Subscribe for a raw look at what it really takes to succeed on Shopify.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 10, 2019 • 41min
[BONUS] How Agency Owner Kelly Vaughn Builds Seven-Figure Stores
At the age of 24, she quit her job to freelance full time— and in her first year, she earned $137,000.
Joining me in studio is Kelly Vaughn, founder of all-female Shopify agency The Taproom.
Kelly will tell us how she got her start, and how she helps high-growth Shopify stores go from six to seven figures.
You'll hear:
The tactics Kelly uses to scale stores from six to seven-figures
Recommendations for a successful subscription service
What successful merchants do that others don't
Kelly's advice for staying competitive in the fashion & apparel niche
Kelly Vaughn is a Shopify Expert and founder of The Taproom Agency, a Shopify marketing agency rooted in Atlanta. Kelly and her team have helped hundreds of Shopify merchants build wishful marketing strategies, map out customer journeys that convert, and provide the insight, experience, and tools businesses need to keep growing. When she doesn't have her nose in a Macbook, Kelly is traveling across Europe with her 9.8/10 husband, experimenting with new gin and tonic combos, and putting on all her sweaters at once because she just loves sweaters SO MUCH.
Tune in for more details!
This episode is made possible through a sponsorship from Rewind. Rewind creates a daily, automatic backup of your Shopify store – protecting your most valuable online assets. Recover from small mistakes and huge disasters in minutes. Start your free trial.
Show Links
thetaproom.com
Tw:@kvlly
Kelly's Newsletter
ReCharge
Klaviyo
Smile
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

May 7, 2019 • 59min
How Julie Elster Generates 10,000 Organic Visitors
Last fall, my wife started a Shopify store and told us the struggle is real in a podcast episode. It became one of our all-time top ten episodes. On May 14th, she returns to the show to update us
Just six months after launching her first Shopify store, we check in with Julie Elster about her experience. She'll tell us what's worked, what hasn't, and the content marketing strategy that's generating 10,000 monthly views without any paid traffic.
We'll find out:
what’s working & what’s not,
a Pinterest strategy that works
how to lose money with influencers
her simple but effective content marketing strategy
and her best lead magnet
Julie Elster is the owner of the Disney World-planning brand Double Your WDW, which she started in September 2018.
Tune in for more details!
Show Links
Double Your WDW
Instagram: @DoubleYourWDW
Tailwind <- Get $15 off when you use Julie's referral link.
WorkMacro
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

Apr 30, 2019 • 44min
Split Tests That Win: How to Start Optimizing Your Shopify Store
In this episode recorded in front of a live audience, CRO Wunderkind Nick Disabato will teach you his exact methodology for winning 67.2% of split-tests over the past five years.
Through his consultancy, Draft, Nick conducts research-driven optimizations of online stores, so they can grow without needing to increase their ad spend. Rather than running the usual marketing playbook, Nick uses design research as the fundamental tool for optimization. He also wrote design best-sellers Cadence & Slang and Value-Based Design.
Tune in for more details!
Show Links
Nick's Slides and Notes
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

Apr 23, 2019 • 45min
Getting Customers for Life through Email
In this episode, you'll learn how the customer experience extends beyond support tickets. Automated emails, on-site messaging, and even the 'from:' name in your emails impact the overall experience more than you might realize.
You'll hear:
How a welcome series can make or break your brand
The business case for personal branding
When not to send promo emails
The email framework that will make you more money.
Val Geisler is ridiculously obsessed with email. An Email Marketing Conversion Copywriter and Strategist, Val spent over a decade on the inside of companies from non-profits to 7-figure businesses to tech startups. She brings her background in content creation, customer experience, and digital strategy to her incredible clients every day. Email isn't dead, and Val is here to help you bring yours back to life.
Tune in for more details!
Resources
Val's free Dinner Party Strategy download
Val on Twitter: @lovevalgeisler
Messaging examples: RecycledFirefighter, Outdoor Voices
ValGeisler.com
FixMyChurn.com
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

Apr 16, 2019 • 41min
Turning Shopify Analytics into Actionable Insights
You can use Shopify's analytics and reports to learn about your sales and customers in great detail. Or you can tear hair out, create unnecessary panic, and make rash decisions.
In this episode, we'll break down a sane approach to your Shopify analytics complete with example benchmarks for your key performance indicators.
You'll hear:
Which stats measure the health of your store
Ranges for conversion rate, AOV, and RCR
Kurt's KPI-based approach to analytics
What successful brands get right
Tune in for more details!
Show Links
Chicago Shopify Plus Meetup
JavaHouse
Klaviyo
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

Apr 9, 2019 • 45min
From 0 to $4 Million with Physical Product Licensing
At 53, Paul Miller began his private label business on Amazon in 2015 selling headphone headbands called CozyPhones. Two years later, he had grown his brand to $4 million in annual revenue. So what happened in between? Paul locked in a licensing deal with Nickelodeon that skyrocketed his brand he received advice from a friend to pursue licensing for his products. After a deep-dive into the world of licensing, and surrounding himself with a team of experts, he has executed multiple license agreements as both a licensee and licensor.
You'll hear:
How licensing changes the game for online sellers
How Paul went from zero to $4 Million in less than 4 years
How do you take your business to the next level through licensing?
• Starting over at 53 - it’s not always easy but it’s worth it
Tune in for more details!
Resources
Paul's Free Course: Licensing Roadmap for E-commerce Entrepreneurs
Paul's brand: CozyPhones
Licensing.org
Licensing Expo
LinkedIn: Paul Miller
Share your thoughts
Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter
Never miss an episode
Subscribe on iTunes
Join Kurt's newsletter
Help the show
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
Grow Your Store in 2019
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Prefer to DIY? Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com
Learn what's Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”
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

Apr 2, 2019 • 48min
MailChimp & Shopify Break Up– Now What?
In the wake of the Shopify x MailChimp breakup, we're talking nothing but email in this episode.
You'll hear:
What's going on behind the scenes with MailChimp
Your options now
What drives good open rates
A practical intro to segmentation
How to clean your list
Which email automations drive revenue
Plus Paul talks some trash.
Tune in for more details!
Show Links
New site launch: Hoonigan Racing
Shopify Meetup
MailChimp Integration Workarounds
Klaviyo
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

Mar 26, 2019 • 53min
Being Profitable
Revenue is a great vanity metric, but profit gets you paid. In today's episode, we talk through a simple strategy to get yourself profitable, then brainstorm practical tactics to boost profits.
We ask the expert:
What is the biggest reason why most stores can't scale?
What is the biggest opportunity for most store owners that they don't take advantage of?
How do you know if you can hire someone?
How much should you be spending on marketing?
How do you identify your best customers?
Austin is the host of the Ecommerce Influence podcast and the founder of Brand Growth Experts. He works with established ecommerce brands to define their marketing strategy, scale their advertising, and hire the team needed to get to the next level.
Tune in for more details!
Resources
Brand Growth Experts
Book: Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!
Book: Profit First
Example: Pura Vida Monthly Club
Ecommerce Influence
Share your thoughts
Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter
Never miss an episode
Subscribe on iTunes
Join Kurt's newsletter
Help the show
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
Grow Your Store in 2018
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Prefer to DIY? Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com
Learn what's Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”
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

Mar 19, 2019 • 1h
How to Run Heatmaps, Facebook Groups, & Your First Store
In this listener-inspired episode, we break down the answers to your questions.
You'll hear:
How to use Hotjar's free plan to easily conversion rate optimize your store
Build your tribe with a Facebook group
Options to reduce risk when sourcing products for your first store
Plus: Paul drops hot takes, and Kurt invents a new creative compound insult.
Tune in for more details!
Resources
Meetup
Hoonigan Case Study
Hotjar
Facebook Group
Oberlo
Review us on iTunes
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

Mar 12, 2019 • 58min
Google Ads Success in 2019
Google ads is more complex than ever before. Truthfully, it's downright scary if you don't know what you're doing, and an exceptional good way to lose money. Yet if you do know what you're doing, it can generate huge sums of wallet-out ready to buy customers to your store. So what do the experts know that we don't?
We ask the expert your questions:
Best tool/app to automate the set up and optimization of Google Ads?
Top tips for budget efficiency
Any interesting or new displays that google are introducing?
How to optimize the google smart shopping app for Shopify
How do you start a campaign from scratch properly?
What's the number one mistake people make with Google Ads?
What's a reasonable budget to see results with Google Shopping ads?
Learn:
What's new for Google Ads in 2019
Laser targeting your audience segments to stop wasting money
Rules of success for testing ads (and the mistake most people make)
How to track phone sales
Tom Bukevicius is a Principal at SCUBE Marketing, E-Commerce marketing agency delivering results through PPC & CRO. Tom’s motto is “Magic bullets are for losers. Execution is key.”
Tune in for more details!
Resources
Scube Marketing
Google Shopping App
Adalysis - Google Ads Optimization, Management & Testing Tool
Spreadsheet: Shopify Objective Calculator
3 Ways You Could be Unknowingly Wasting Ad Budget
Optimize Your Google Shopping Campaign Structure for Success
The Ultimate Guide to No-Pain Copywriting - or, Every Copywriting Formula Ever
Share your thoughts
Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter
Never miss an episode
Subscribe on iTunes
Join Kurt's newsletter
Help the show
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
Grow Your Store in 2018
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.
Prefer to DIY? Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com
Learn what's Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”
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


