The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Mike is joined by Carlos Alvarez, an elementary school dropout who, years later, would exit a business for 2.6 million dollars. This week on the podcast, we have the founder of Wizards of Ecom, Carlos Alvarez. If there's one thing Carlos and I have in common, it's that we've beaten the odds. As school dropouts, we're not expected to succeed in life. But after a few years of grit and hard work, here we are. Carlos has quite the story to share with us today, from dropping out of school at the age of 10 and getting scammed by a non-existent Alibaba supplier to exiting a business selling insects and founding a successful ecommerce academy. Needless to say, his journey is quite the ride. Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Hustling at a young age - 4:00 The importance of education - 8:35 "Touching the stove" and learning from it - 10:23 Staying ahead of the curve - 14:16 Saving for a rainy day - 16:57 Finding motivation to keep going - 22:32 Work-life balance and burnout - 25:36 That's it for this week's episode. Carlos, thank you so much for coming on the show and telling us a little bit about your incredible story. I hope to have you again here in the future. In the meantime, tune in to the latest episode of the Wizards of Ecom podcast featuring yours truly, which comes out on the 28th. Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our podcast. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Welcome to the podcast edition of our February Brand Report! Each month, we'll break down our monthly revenue so you can see what's working and what's not. February's revenue was $621,816, which is roughly equal to that of January, and we dive into what exactly affected our revenue: what we worked on, our wins, and our painful losses. Dive into each section here: Intro - 0:00 Impact of increasing shipping rates on sales - 1:45 Finding a middle ground to keep your business sustainable - 4:47 Raising prices to compensate for higher shipping costs - 7:40 Disruptions due to global events - 9:18 Pros and cons of Amazon Global Logistics - 10:05 Hybrid shipping style - 13:20 Brand Report proper - 14:25 Using BSR to gauge impact of price changes - 16:15 Working with influencers - 18:20 Things that went well in February - 22:00 Things that didn't go as well - 24:00 That's it for our Brand Report for February. If you want to see a more detailed and comprehensive breakdown of our check out the blogpost up on our website. Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our podcast. Tune in next month for our March Brand Report. Till then, happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Mike and Dave discuss quite the polarizing topic: cryptocurrency – and how it might revolutionize the financial industry in the future. Our topic for today is not totally in line with ecommerce, but a bunch of you guys requested it so here we are: Ecomcrew's one and only episode on cryptocurrency. The subject is especially interesting since Dave and I aren't exactly on the same team when it comes to this one, even though we both have experience investing in it. For this episode, we break down some of the ambiguities surrounding cryptocurrency, how we think it'll impact the business landscape, and whether or not it's worth investing in. Although, just a quick disclaimer: this episode is not, in any way, us giving financial advice; rather, simply our two cents on the matter at hand. Timestamps: Using cryptocurrency to buy domains - 2:13 A gray area in sales taxation - 4:45 Mike's investment in cryptocurrency - 10:18 Dave's qualms about cryptocurrency - 19:55 How the Internet changed and disrupted businesses - 24:54 Day trading cryptocurrency - 30:57 Investing in Bitcoin - 38:08 The importance of timing in investment - 44:54 Whether or not you choose to invest in cryptocurrency, just remember to never put all your eggs in one basket. After all, risk is part of being in business. That's it for this week's episode. Feel free to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoy our content. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Mike is joined by Mediavine's Eric Hochberger to talk about how enhanced privacy and data protection is affecting ecommerce and the future of advertising. Consumers are becoming more wary and on edge about online security and keeping their data safe. Developers address this concern by doubling down on data privacy and limiting ads, albeit, at the expense of businesses' efforts to reach potential customers. In this episode, I talk to Eric Hochberger, who runs the ad management company Mediavine, about how these changes and consumer concerns will impact profit and shape the direction of advertising. Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Eric Hochberger's background in the industry - 2:07 What Mediavine does - 3:04 Alarm Grid - 3:55 Repercussions of enhanced privacy on businesses - 5:34 A common misconception of consumers regarding privacy - 7:58 Curating ads based on users' interest - 10:52 Possible impact on monetization - 14:48 Amazon and Facebook advertising - 17:14 Staying nimble and adapting to the market - 20:06 Trellis by Mediavine - 23:54 Thank you for coming on the podcast, Eric. If you're planning to get a website running or already have an existing one that needs an update, check out Trellis by Mediavine. It's a WordPress framework optimized for speed, which I tested out myself and can vouch for. If you'd like to try out Trellis for yourself, Eric and the Mediavine team have been gracious enough to offer a discount for all Ecomcrew listeners. Use the coupon code SAVE20TRELLIS for 20% off your first year of Trellis. In other news, we've got a Secret Sauce webinar coming up on the 16th. This month's mini class is all about making incremental product improvements for big returns. Check out the linked page for more information about the latest course and the topics that we'll be covering. That's it for this week's EcomCrew Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, show us some love by leaving a review over on iTunes. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

The inspiration for a business can strike at any time. For Hasan Hasmani, CEO of Underdog Games, the big idea came to him during a meeting with a client. After several years of selling other people's board games, that fateful conversation would eventually lead him to running a company and developing his own. For non-essential goods such as board games, capturing a market can be difficult. But with the right idea and execution, you can find a loyal community and eventually run a sustainable and scalable business. Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Hasan's trek through ecommerce - 2:05 The lightbulb moment for Underdog Games - 3:15 How Underdog develops its board games - 9:10 Facebook advertising troubles - 10:43 LTVs and profit margins in the board game niche - 12:00 Ecomcrew Premium Waitlist is Open! - 13:38 Creating products with the audience in mind - 14:35 Hasan's current strategy with paid advertising - 16:06 The 18 month development cycle in board games - 16:33 Candid feedback and creativity - 19:13 Investment costs - 22:07 Ranking and sale trends - 23:51 How Mike deals with a seasonal business - 27:02 Hasan's focal point after FB ad troubles - 29:15 Why finding the right niche is more important than ever - 31:15 Hasan's advice for starting an ecommerce business - 33:51 | 34:53 | 36:30 Outro - 37:50 Hasan, thank you so much for your time. If you have any questions for Hasan and his company, simply fill out the contact form on the Underdog Games website and his team will relay it to him accordingly. Ready to build your own company like Hasan and Underdog Games? We have a brand new edition of Secret Sauce and this month's class on the 16th, we'll be discussing how to make improvements on your products for competitive advantage. That's it for this week's EcomCrew Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Mike sits down with the co-founder of Intelligems, Drew Marconi, to discuss a subject many entrepreneurs find quite personal: pricing. Pricing is a tricky aspect to navigate when running a business. Set it too high, you'll turn away potential customers. Set it too low and you'll run the risk of struggling to keep your business afloat. So, how do you balance the scales in a mutually beneficial way? This week on the show, Drew Marconi of Intelligems talks to us about the company he co-founded, the impact of price on conversion, the importance of price testing, and the best ways to go about it. Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Invitation to Prosper Event - 1:41 How Drew's interest in pricing started - 4:22 Background of Intelligems - 7:16 The importance of experimentation in pricing - 9:07 Best methods for price testing - 11:13 What Mike is doing wrong regarding repricing - 17:10 Being afraid of touching pricing - 20:38 Intelligems' services - 27:05 Pricing trends according to Drew - 31:25 Thank you so much Drew for coming on the podcast. If you have any questions for him about pricing or Intelligems' services, shoot him an email at drew@intelligems.io and maybe work together on how you can find more profit in your brand's store. If you're looking to build an Amazon brand from scratch, we've got a new edition of Secret Sauce, where we'll be sharing with you our monthly numbers from all our brands and deriving relevant insights that you can use to start yours. By subscribing, you'll get access to exclusive monthly mini-classes, previous webinars, as well as email support directly from Dave and I. For our next webinar on the 16th, we'll be discussing how to make improvements on your products for competitive advantage. That's it for this week's EcomCrew Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Contrary to the expression "Money is no obstacle," for many start-up entrepreneurs, it's actually the biggest hump to overcome when getting started. So many great ideas and brands fail to come to fruition mainly because of one factor: funding, or the lack thereof. In this episode, we have Asher Ismail of Uncapped to share with us what the company he co-founded does, how ecommerce entrepreneurs can get capital for their businesses and what important factors come into play during the process. Audio Timestamps: Introduction - 0:00 Background of Asher and Uncapped - 5:06 Challenges of securing capital for an ecommerce business - 11:02 Mainstream ways to get funding - 14:58 Giving away equity - 17:57 Crowdfunding - 19:43 Factors to consider when looking for funding - 21:55 Uncapped's payment terms and application process - 28:55 Pros and cons of financing from banks - 40:53 Uncapped's Secret 50k offer - 41:59 Asher, thank you so much for being on the podcast. To our listeners, if you're earning at least $10,000 a month and looking to scale your business or increase inventory, don't miss out on the Secret 50k offer Uncapped has exclusively for you guys. The Secret 50k offer is a $50,000 loan free of Uncapped's flat fee. To apply, all you have to do is send an email to asher@weareuncapped.com with the subject line "Secret 50k" and tell them a little bit about your business. Speaking of growing businesses, we've got a hot new edition of Secret Sauce, where we'll be breaking down step by step how to build an Amazon brand from scratch, as we're slowly growing our newest one, Knitting.com. A Secret Sauce subscription gets you access to exclusive monthly mini-classes, previous webinars, as well as email support directly from Dave and I. We'll also be sharing the exact revenue numbers of each of our brands, plus tips and strategies. That's it for this week's EcomCrew Podcast. Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Mike chats with Eric Suddarth of Seller Rocket about Amazon's Onsite Associates Program and how editorial content can positively influence potential customers. In a massive ecommerce platform like Amazon where there are literally thousands of results for every product search, getting your business clicked on (and added to cart) is a challenge. For this episode, I am joined by Seller Rocket's Eric Suddarth to talk about how editorial recommendations work on Amazon and how you can utilize the Onsite Associates Program. As Seller Rocket's general manager, Eric also discusses the importance of leveraging strategic editorial content to get your brand the visibility it deserves. Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Want to know more about our new business, Knitting.com? - 1:53 How these editorial recommendations on Amazon work - 4:25 Amazon Onsite Associates Program - 6:32 Value proposition of Seller Rocket to publishers - 14:17 Benefits of tapping a service like Seller Rocket - 19:10 The impact of editorials on lead conversion - 21:24 Factors publishers consider when producing content - 24:21 What Seller Rocket does - 26:20 Eric, thank you for taking the time to be with us on the podcast. If any of you guys want to give Seller Rocket a try, mention the EcomCrew podcast when you shoot them an email (launch@sellerrocket.io) to get a sweet $100 discount off your first piece of content. As we grow Knitting.com, we're taking you along with a brand new edition of Secret Sauce. Sign up for Secret Sauce to get access to exclusive monthly mini-classes and previous webinars, as well as our brand revenue and strategies report. Step by step, we'll be breaking down our numbers and sharing our insights with you in real-time. That's it for this week's EcomCrew Podcast. Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

Mike catches up with PostPilot's Drew Sanocki to talk about spotting opportunities in business, the bullishness of SaaS, and the efficacy of real mail in today's environment. Ever since I attended eCommerceFuel Live five or six years ago, I've always admired Drew Sanocki for his knowledge and experience in the business. Drew is the founder and executive chairman of PostPilot, a service that aims to help businesses grow through direct mail by creating personalized postcard campaigns. In this episode, Drew and I discuss some of the milestones in our ecommerce journey, the gold mine that is SaaS, and how direct mail is the way to go these days. Audio Timestamps: Intro - 0:00 Mike and Dave's New Business - 1:08 How Mike met Drew - 4:05 Mike's approach to buying an ecommerce business - 6:08 Drew's thoughts on the current business landscape - 12:40 Seeing an opportunity and grabbing it - 15:41 Advantages of venturing into SaaS - 19:24 Growing a SaaS company - 24:12 Advantages of email - 32:06 PostPilot's Godfather Offer - 37:02 Drew, thank you for joining me again on the podcast. I look forward to seeing you in person soon. If you guys need help with marketing for your business, Drew has got an awesome treat for you: click here for PostPilot's Godfather offer. As always, leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this episode. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!

With our businesses fortunately well and stable, we thought it was high time we worked on a new project – this time, as business partners! Dave and I have always talked about working on a business together, but we never really came up with anything concrete. That is until we stumbled upon this hidden gem of sorts: Knitting.com. Although we absolutely have zero expertise on the subject matter, we saw potential in it and the audience it has. We weren't on the same page initially, but after a trip to Palm Springs (and a shot or two), we eventually agreed that this was a good move and a worthy investment. We're starting – or should I say 'stitching' – a new chapter in our careers and we couldn't be more excited. We hope you'll join us along for the ride. Video Timestamps: Why we decided to buy a business together - 3:10 Buying versus building a business - 4:40 Serendipitous moments in our e-commerce journey - 8:30 Why hobbies are worth pursuing in e-commerce - 11:47 The big announcement - 16:17 Challenges of seasonal businesses - 20:36 Getting the right domain name - 23:00 First hire for the new brand - 29:05 Our vision for this business venture - 32:15 New year, new business venture. We hope you're just as pumped as we are about this exciting project of ours. We can't wait to officially launch the site and products later this year. For now, check out Dave's blog post on how we ended up choosing this domain name. Don't forget to leave us a review over on iTunes if you enjoyed this week's episode. Also, make sure to tune in to the podcast as we'll be revealing more details about our new business in the coming months. Happy selling and we'll see you in the next one!