The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Leslie Pierson, Shark Tank Winner and founder of GoodHangUps, joins Mike on the podcast to talk about how she got started in eCommerce, how one unexpected night eventually lead her to appear on Shark Tank, and how she is technically her son's employee. Shark Tank is one of the biggest reality TV shows that almost every business owner knows about. It's not everyday that we get to interview a winner on the podcast. But Leslie Pierson isn't just a typical business owner: she's an Ecomcrew Premium member. In this episode, we get to talk about the multiple things that led to how she built a Shark Tank Winning Business. From starting with selling laptop skins, to building a business out of a 7 year old's idea, Leslie covers her ecommerce journey from start to present. Leslie, thank you for the absolutely delightful conversation, it's been my favourite episode to record out of all 500 or so episodes. I hope to see you more in person, and I wish you and your family all the best with Tacos vs. Burritos. If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at support@ecomcrew.com! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

Mike Beckham, a 9 Figure Business Owner, is on the podcast with Mike today to talk about what he'd do differently if he were to start building a 9 figure business all over again. We dive into how and why brand story is so important, and the uncommon mindset Mike Bekham uses to perpetuate business growth. Its hard enough trying to start an ecommerce business. Being a solopreneur means you'll have to be on top of your inventory levels, your PPC Campaigns, while also writing blog articles, making Youtube videos about your product and not to mention getting UGC from influencers. But what does a 100+ person company look like? Better yet, what did it take to get to be able to sustain that level of overhead? We've invited Mike Bekham, the co-founder of Simple Modern and 9 Figure Business Owner, to the podcast to ask him the golden question. If he had to do it all over again, what would he do differently? We talk about how being part of a community and choosing the right niche can open up more growth opportunities than you realize, and how building a brand starts internally. Here's some timestamps to help you along: 0:00 - Introduction 0:31 - Podcast Start 1:39 - Being a Part of an Amazon Community 6:55 - "What Would You Do Differently?" 7:44 - Playing to your strengths 8:34 - Choosing a product niche 14:53 - Product Differentiation 17:07 - Differentiation without millions in capital 24:13 - How Mike makes sure everyone's winning 30:42 - What Mike's learned over the years Mike, thank you for coming on the podcast and sharing all of the things you'd consider heavily when starting over. I hope that everyone who listens enjoyed the episode as much as I had recording it with you, and wish you well for the rest of the year. If you want to get in touch with Mike, you can find him at Linkedin or you can check out his Twitter. If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at support@ecomcrew.com! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

Entrepreneur John Terry shares how going into retail led to the downfall of his CPG business. Topics include challenges with Walmart and Kroger, unrealistic inventory forecasting, financial risks, repositioning a failing business, and navigating insurance claims with public adjusters.

Chris Duty is back on the podcast as a special guest to talk about all the types of add backs you need to know when selling your ecommerce business. The inspiration for today came from a listener submitted question, which asked "what type of add backs can I negotiate when selling my ecommerce business?" When selling an ecommerce business, its important for owners to be compensated for the stressful one-time events that was experienced in the last 12 months when going to sell. These are called "Add Backs", but what are they exactly? I've invited Chris Duty, an advisor from Quiet Light Brokerage, to talk about the various types of Add Backs that you need to know about, why they matter, and how it can significantly impact the valuation of a business to potential buyers. Here's some timestamps for your convenience: 0:00 - Introduction 0:31 - Ad Spot 2:46 - Background of Today's Subject 4:50 - What is an Add Back? 7:16 - Accrual Accounting 11:04 - Owner Salaries 13:20 - Value of Working Less 16:13 - Payroll Taxes / Income Taxes 17:53 - Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents and Other Legal Fees 19:44 - Change in Service Provider Costs 20:26 - Employee Removal Costs 22:21 - How Mike Views Add Backs 27:33 - Cash Back / Points Credit Cards 30:26 - What if you use a regular credit card? 31:51 - Masterminds & Ecommerce Courses 32:27 - Lowered COGS 37:46 - Negative Add Backs 39:51 - Price Changes 43:33 - Conclusion We hope today's episode was useful to you. If you want to get in touch with Chris you can find him at Linkedin or you can check out the company at QuietLight.com. If you want to check out Chris' previous episode, click here. If you have any questions or any topics you'd like us to discuss on the podcast, you can now email us directly at support@ecomcrew.com! Also, we would really appreciate it if you would leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

Mike discusses some hard hitting points of e-commerce with long-time friend John Canetta, including whether e-commerce will ever get easier, the hidden stresses of running an ecommerce business, and how John was able to recover from losing 80% of his business during quarantine. With a new year coming around, it looks like the ecommerce landscape only gets more and more difficult. Amazon introduces more changes to storage fees, the number of competitors increase day by day, along with all the other stresses of a growing e-commerce business. In fact, the last time I've experienced an "easy" ecommerce year was back in 2019. That's why I've invited John over to the podcast to discuss today's topic. John is a 7-figure business owner, with almost as much (if not more) years in experience selling on Amazon and Google than I do. Here's some timestamps to help you skip to your favorite parts: 0:00 - Introduction 0:30 - Ad Spot 2:46 - Podcast Starts 4:49 - Background on John 6:22 - The Hidden Stresses of an E-Commerce Business 9:15 - Difficulty of E-commerce 11:43 - Why Cash is King 13:10 - Ecommerce Struggles 14:36 - Evaluating the Financial Model 16:09 - The EOS Model 17:33 - Tracking Return on Working Capital 19:04 - 1 SKU Brand vs 100 SKU Brand 22:51 - Machinery Manufacturing Issues As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can. Until next time, happy selling!

It's that time of the year again! In this episode, Dave and I will be revealing the winners (a couple of which you might not have expected) of last year's survey to find out the Best Amazon Seller Software across five categories: Product and Keyword Research PPC Management Reimbursement Services Repricing Tool Product Launches and Giveaways On top of that, we'll be talking about the software that we use in our day to day basis, and whether it's something Dave and I can't live without, the significant shifts in software usage among sellers, and the future of the SaaS ecosystem. To check out the full breakdown of our results, head over to our blog post of the Best Amazon Software of 2023. Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy content like this. Happy selling and we'll talk to you soon!

Mike and Dave review their biggest accomplishments and their deepest pitfalls in the past year. In this episode, Mike and Dave are back to discuss the year in review, and the eventful things that happened in the past year, like traveling to China again after 3 years, visiting Hong Kong and India and the stark differences between the two, and how Mike's experiences of loss and burnout affected him. I want to thank everyone for supporting the EcomCrew Podcast. Whether you've been with us from the start or are just tuning in, I appreciate your time and feedback. I'm sure 2024 will be another year of insightful podcast episodes, and I can't wait to unpack which ones top the charts next time around. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can. Happy selling!

Mike and Dave reflect on 2023 and discuss the various wins and fails that Dave experienced this year, including traveling to China, Hong Kong, and India, the impact of COVID on business growth 3 years in, and how Dave lobbied to change policies around government taxation on digital advertising. The Ecomcrew Podcast is back after the holidays! In this episode, Mike and Dave are back to discuss the year in review, and the eventful things that happened in the past year, like traveling to China again after 3 years, visiting Hong Kong and India and the stark differences between the two, and how the Government has knocked on Dave's door for the money that was given during COVID. Here's some chapters to get you to the most interesting parts: 0:00 - Introduction and Reflection on COVID 2:01 - Traveling to China and Hong Kong 7:13 - Government Financing and Repayment 11:28 - Impact of COVID on Business Growth 18:28 - Government Taxation on Digital Advertising 37:27 - Impact of Sales Tax Laws on Small Businesses 39:28 - The Slow Progress of Bureaucratic Institutions 40:02 - Go and vote! 41:28 - Year in Review and Rating 42:14 - Adapting to Change in Ecommerce 45:12 - The Changing Dynamics of Business I want to thank everyone for supporting the EcomCrew Podcast. Whether you've been with us from the start or are just tuning in, I appreciate your time and feedback. I'm sure 2024 will be another year of insightful podcast episodes, and I can't wait to unpack which ones top the charts next time around. As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can. Happy selling!

Mike Jackness and Ecomcrew's brand manager, Ben Iballa, review the episodes that made the top 10 list of the year and share their thoughts on each one. 2023 was a wild ride. I let go of most of his brands, while costs on Amazon increased by a LOT. Here's a roundup of the top 10 episodes of the year. Some of the best of the year includes when I sold most of his e-commerce business, the rising costs of selling on Amazon, and my perspective on retiring. Here's some timestamps to help you along: 0:00 - Introduction 0:43 - Top 10 Episodes of 2023 3:25 - Year in Review 4:02 - Episode 10 7:08 - Episode 9 8:30 - Episode 8 9:43 - Episode 7 11:39 - Episode 6 13:25 - Episode 5 15:27 - Episode 4 17:25 - Episode 3 20:57 - Episode 2 23:14 - Episode 1 I want to thank everyone for supporting the EcomCrew Podcast. Whether you've been with us from the start or are just tuning in, I appreciate your time and feedback. I'm sure 2024 will be another year of insightful podcast episodes, and I can't wait to unpack which ones top the charts next time around. As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can. Happy selling!

In this episode, Mike and Dave talk about our upcoming Software Poll, and the evolution of software tools in the ecommerce space. They highlight the changes that they've personally seen in the Amazon software space over the past 4 years, including big valuations and the increase in competition. They also show how projects like these can give credibility to you and your niche and improve SEO rankings. They discuss the categories of software tools, such as keyword and product research, PPC management, and reimbursement services. If you want to participate, go ahead to ecomcrew.com/softwarepoll Key Takeaways: Software tools provide a ton of value for running an Amazon business, especially for solo entrepreneurs. The Amazon software space has seen significant changes, including big exits and increased competition. Software polls can help create credibility and improve search engine rankings for businesses. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Annual Software Episode 02:01 Importance of Software in Business 02:52 Changes in Amazon Software 04:09 Reliance on Software Tools 05:38 Big Exits in the Software Space 06:24 Impact of Big Money in the Industry 07:05 Enterprise Offerings and Chinese Market 08:28 Creating Credibility with Software Polls 10:24 Changes in Messaging and Product Launch Services 12:11 Messaging Features in Seller Central 13:18 Historical Data and Trend Lines 14:14 SEO Strategy and Content Creation 17:29 Applying the Strategy to Other Industries 18:42 Trend Lines and Historical Data 19:10 Categories of Software Tools 20:24 Repricing Tools for Private Label Sellers Vote for your seller software here! As always, if you have any questions or anything that you need help with, reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com if you're interested. Don't forget to leave us a review on iTunes if you enjoy our content. If you have any questions, send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to help you in any way we can.