The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

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E136: Online Merchants Guild Apr 12, 2018

Show notes

As ecommerce entrepreneurs we are used to doing things on our own, with many of us even starting out as solopreneurs. This isolation, and the ability to control our time as a result, has been very attractive for us for a long time. But more recently this very same disconnectedness can lead to our own ruin.

One of the issues that rattle us to the bones is online sales tax. States have been salivating on the billions of dollars they could get from online sales and ecommerce steadily grew. They went after the online platforms we sell our products on, especially Amazon, but Amazon has proven to be a big gorilla to fight especially with their ability to create thousands of jobs as leverage against states. And so some states turned their attention to the ones they can easily intimidate: us individual sellers.

Amazon claims ownership of most of everything--customers, listings, even prices--but unsurprisingly sales tax is not one of them. It's up to us to handle sales tax, and everything is so complicated that many of us are not sure what exactly is the right thing to do. Many states even disagree among themselves about sales tax nexus. But still, some sellers have begun receiving letters about this in some states, and it's definitely not a good position to be in.

This is one of the reasons Online Merchants Guild was born. This nonprofit was created by ecommerce sellers for ecommerce sellers, with the goal to have as many members as possible so that we can collectively fight against issues that are too big for any one of us to fight.

In this episode I talk to Bernie Thompson, an 8-figure seller and member of Online Merchants guild, and Paul Rafelson, a lawyer and law professor working with the likes of GE, Microsoft and Walmart. Below is an overview of what we discussed:

How Online Merchants Guild was founded
Sales tax nexus and how complicated it is
The Wayfair case
Constitutional principles violated by states with regards to sales tax
Goal for everyone who joins the organization
Other goals and member benefits like business insurance, discounted shipping rates, etc

Fighting this issue all by ourselves, like what we are used to doing, is costly and ineffective. We need to stand united and we need more support. We can't do this by ourselves. There is strength in numbers.

If you want more information about the organization, just head on to its website (it's still a brand-new site that needs fixing here and there) or send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to discuss it with you.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew webinar Online Merchants Guild Amicus Brief

Thanks for listening! Until next week, happy selling.

E135: Under the Hood with Kevin Sanderson Part 2 - Hiring, Training, and Delegating Tasks to VAs Apr 09, 2018

Show notes

Last Monday, Kevin and I talked about one of the biggest problems most small ecommerce entrepreneurs encounter: becoming a bottleneck to the growth of their own company. This is something that usually happens when we try to do the unthinkable, which is to do every single task on our own.

Naturally, the best way to solve this is delegation. You can try to be as efficient and productive as you want, but there will only by 24 hours in a day and one body to work with. But how can you find someone you can trust enough and can perform tasks as good as you do without breaking the bank?

That is the question we answer in this episode, which is Part 2 of last Monday's conversation. Kevin and I discuss my VA hiring process, from weeding out spam applications (or applications of people who don't read, which is a lot), what questions to ask, the tests we require applicants to take, training, and how to manage them once they're hired. Ultimately, we talk about how to find a VA who is smart and quick on their feet, who will help him grow his company.

Some conversation points:

Red flags when hiring VAs
Filtering irrelevant applications
My hiring process
What questions to ask during the interview process
What kind of experience to look for
Using Camtasia as a training tool
Best practices when delegating tasks to a VA

Delegating is not easy, especially if you're assigning tasks to a person who is literally on the other side of the globe. But if you find someone trustworthy and smart, delegation will work wonders not just on your stress levels, but on your business in the long run.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew webinar Under the Hood Sellers Summit

Thanks so much for listening to this Under the Hood episode! If you want to be in an episode yourself, just sign up here and we'll reach out to you for more details. Until the next episode, happy selling!

E134: 2018 Goals Quarterly Review Apr 05, 2018

Show notes

At the beginning of January, I laid out 18 goals I wanted to accomplish this year. My list consisted of both business and personal goals, with some items certainly harder and loftier than the others. While I made sure that my goals are reasonably achievable, I can't deny that a part of me--any maybe you, too--is wondering if I can achieve them all.

That's why I decided that I will do a quarterly check on my progress to clearly see how far along I am on the road to achieving my goals. If you've set goals too, this is a practice I highly recommend. Far too often we underestimate how quickly a year can pass, and if you don't make frequent checks on the things you set out to do, you might have the surprise of your life in the form of untended goals by year's end.

So in this episode, I will share with you my first 2018 Goals Quarterly Review. If you didn't get a chance to listen to my goals episode, here's the list of my 18 (yes, I did that to be cheesy) 2018 Goals for your reference:

Develop 50 new products
Launch on Amazon Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and eventually, Australia
Optimize our Amazon listings to increase sales by 50%
Improve PPC
Implement the concepts in the book Traction in our business
Reach $10 million in revenue with a 10% net profit
Lose 12 lbs
Record 100 episodes of the podcast
Launch a new version of ecomcrew.com
Launch 4 new courses
Speak at at least 4 industry events
Hike 80 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail
Take an epic 2-week vacation
Visit the Philippines office at least once
Read 4 books (I know, I know… 4 books aren't a lot but I'm not really a book reader so please don't laugh at me)
Hand off my Facebook ads to other people within the company
Come up with at least one new tactic that no one else is doing
Never lose sight of the bigger picture: create 5 star products that people will truly love and continue to enjoy what I'm doing

I'm happy to say that I'm on track with most of the items on the list. I know, however, that this is just the 1st quarter and unexpected things could derail those goals. But this check has given me the confidence I need to continue with the year head on.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew E109: My 2018 Goals Sellics affiliate link EcomCrew courses eCommerceFuel Global Sources Summit Sellers Summit

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next week, happy selling!

E133: Under the Hood with Kevin Sanderson - How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Own Business Apr 02, 2018

Show notes

When running an ecommerce company as a side hustle, it's fine–and most of the time necessary–to wear many hats. But if you want your business to grow to more than just a side hustle, it's a different story altogether.

This week's Under the Hood call is about how to stop being the bottleneck to the growth of your own company. My guest is Kevin Sanderson, who started his ecommerce company 3 years ago selling online "just to try it", experienced the rush of his first sale, and never looked back. Now Kevin wants to level up his business to more than just a side hustle. The problem is, as the business grows, the more things he has to do, and only so little time to do them.

So in this coaching call Kevin and I talk about how he can systematize and, more importantly, delegate low level tasks he doesn't need to be doing so he can concentrate on business strategy instead. This episode is Part 1 of our call, and we cover the following, among others:

How he started in ecommerce
His background as a high school football official
Biggest contributors to his brand's success
Why meeting other sellers is a great way to grow one's own business
Lowest hanging fruit in terms of delegation
Why full-time dedicated VAs are better than project-based or part-time VAs
How to find superstar VAs

For Part 2 Kevin and I discuss how to actually delegate tasks to VAs, what to delegate, and what you must need to do yourself. Stay tuned!

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew Under the Hood Sellers Summit

Thanks for listening! Until the next one, happy selling.

E132: Dropshipping vs. Private Labeling - A Friendly Debate Mar 29, 2018

Show notes

"Is drop shipping dead?" - so many blog posts in 2018

We've recently encountered a paradox of sorts.

If you type "is drop shipping dead" in a Google search bar and hit enter, you'll notice that the first page is chockfull of blog posts with that exact same title. This could only mean that people are catching on the thought that the drop shipping business model is pretty much in a bubble, and if it hasn't already burst, it's most certainly about to.

The arguments on those blog posts against the merits of drop shipping echo our own. That is why we focus on a business model that is sustainable and won't go anywhere anytime soon—building a brand through private labeling.

Then Dave stumbled upon something interesting while doing some research for a blog post. He found that the average monthly Google searches for "drop shipping" was about 400k in 2016 when drop shipping was at its most successful. Come January 2018, and the searches for the same phrase was at a whopping 1.2 million. If blog posts are questioning the merits of drop shipping, why is there an increased interest in drop shipping?

This issue caught even more of our attention when someone from a site selling drop shipping courses reached out to us asking to come on the podcast. If this site is earning more than $3 million dollars, is drop shipping, in fact, not dead?

Interestingly, Dave and I have different opinions about this. I believe that drop shipping is not sustainable with very razor thin margins and is not worth it. Dave, however, thinks that there is still some opportunity left.

So we decided to take it to the recording studio and have a debate about whether or not drop shipping is dead, and if private labeling is definitely the way to go. This episode is the result of that debate.

Some conversation points:

Our own experiences in drop shipping
Why I decided to stop drop shipping and sell my own products instead
The pros and cons of drop shipping
Too many courses from drop shipping "gurus"
Reasons drop shipping is right for you
Reasons drop shipping is not right for you
What you need to do to survive with the drop shipping business model
Is drop shipping really dead?

This has been an insightful and fun episode. Dave does't come on the podcast enough, but when he does come, we usually debate about something we have different opinions on.

This episode will hopefully give you an insight to the two sides of the coin. In the end, the choice will be yours. What's important is that you know what you're getting into, and that you don't buy into the hype simply because of the hype.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew State of the Merchant report CB Radios Trollingmotors.net Survivalfood.com E121: How Ezra Firestone Spends Money Growing His Businesses Global Sources Summit EcomCrew Hong Kong Mastermind

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next week, happy selling!

E131: How We Came Up with Our 2018 Forecast Mar 26, 2018

Show notes

If you've been listening to the podcast for the better part of the quarter, then my 10 million dollar goal by the end of the year should be pretty familiar to you. Let me tell you something though, our forecast does not actually point to $10 million, it's actually $9.7 million to be specific. But... $10 million sounds a lot nicer :)

But how did we come up with $10 million in the first place? Was it because it sounded nice? Well, a little bit of yes...and no. Over the past couple of years we noticed a trend in our business: we've been constantly in growth mode, usually doubling in revenue every year. So we thought it natural for our business to double again, and since we ended 2017 at $5 million in revenue, we're on track to get to the $10 million mark this year.

But we realized that going from $5 million to $10 million requires so much more effort and resources than it did going from $2.5 million to $5 million. That means we need to make changes and do things we haven't done ever before. That also means our target revenue is still pretty arbitrary. At this point we realized the truth of a quote I like to attribute to Dave:

"Ambiguous goals lead to ambiguous outcomes."

So our COO Jaqueline and I sat down to examine if we can get to that revenue at all, and if so, how. After thoroughly inspecting all aspects of our business, we finally got to a revenue number that's not just pulled out of thin air and is backed by deep research: $9.7 million. Close enough.

In this episode I discuss exactly how we got to that number (down to the penny). But as a sneak peak, here are 3 key areas of improvement from which we derived that number:

Improving Amazon listings - After some split testing, we realized that we could significantly increase rankings and sales simply by improving titles, product photography, and adding infographics in our listings. We then deduced that if we improve all of our current listings, we can get a significant bump in overall revenue. We used the data from our split tests to come up with a reasonable target revenue.

International expansion - This may vary between sources, but very roughly speaking, Amazon.ca can give you a 10% boost in sales and Amazon EU (all EU marketplaces combined) can boost sales up to 50%. We used our current revenue numbers to come up with a target number for these marketplaces.

Releasing new products - Launching new products is inevitable for massive growth. Based on early launch data for new products, we calculated how much sales we can generate per product per month. We already have a goal of launching 50 new products this year, so factoring that into the equation gave us a pretty good view of how much revenue we can generate from new products alone.

Forecasting is a long and arduous process, but it gives you an idea if your goals are at all possible and if so, how do you get there. With our forecast, we were able to find out exactly what we need to do every quarter, every month, and every day to get where want to be. And if we don't hit that revenue goal, we'll know exactly where we went wrong and how to correct our course next year.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew Interview with our New Director of Ecommerce My 2018 Goals Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business Splitly

How about you? What's your revenue forecast this year, or do you have one at all? Share in the comments below!

As always, thanks for listening. Until the next one, happy selling!

E130: Under the Hood with Matt Baack Part 2 - Transitioning from B2B to B2C Mar 22, 2018

Show notes

During last week's episode Matt and I talked about the lowest hanging fruit he can take advantage of as he transitions from a mixed B2B and B2C model to completely B2C.

Matt owns Angle 33, selling wine thermals, beer chillers, and other cool housewares made of concrete. The nature of Matt's products make it quite difficult to optimize areas like PPC ads, but its uniqueness definitely makes it stand out from the hordes of Amazon products in the same category.

In this episode we continue to talk about the low-hanging fruit he can easily pluck in his transition. We talk about how he can use the uniqueness of his products to his advantage and get around the advertising problem.

Specifically, we talk about the following:

Amazon customization and work-reward ratio
Email campaigns and getting people into a subscribers list
Facebook and Instagram ads
Ways to leverage B2B sales to create more B2C sales
Social proof
Discounts and reviews
Product price point
Google shopping
Product photography
Launching on Amazon with a bang
Product variations

We'd like to thank Matt again for coming on to the podcast and talking about his business. Don't forget to check out his cool concrete wine thermals and beer chillers at Angle 33.

If you want to be featured on your own Under the Hood episode, just sign up here.

Resources mentioned:

Angle 33 MyEcomCrew E102: Amazon Product Launch Strategy for 2018 How I Develop and Launch Dozens of New Products a Year Under the Hood

Thanks for listening! Until next week, happy selling!

E129: How to Pick the Perfect Product Mar 19, 2018

Show notes

"How do you pick the perfect ecommerce product?"

This is one of the questions I get asked the most. It's understandable--with hordes of products to choose from and a wide array of Amazon categories, choosing just the right product is overwhelming. If your business is bootstrapped and your products are not selling well, you are pretty much doomed. In this case it's not just overwhelming--it's downright scary.

So in today's episode I will share with you the method I use when picking the perfect products to sell. Before we begin though, let me just clarify that "perfect" is relative--what works for me might be something you don't like at all. But if you'd like see just how I chose my current home-runs and why, then this episode is for you.

Potential products must go through a checklist before I consider selling them. I developed this product selection criteria out of frustrations I encountered with the products I used to sell in my old business. Those headaches gave me a clear understanding of what a headache-free perfect product should be, which would be the following:

Small, light, and easy to ship
Hard to damage
Doesn't have a high return rate
Is not a fad (what happened to all the fidget spinners?)
Is not seasonal
Is not an electronic device and has no electronic component
Is preferably not oversized
Consumable, or at least something that customers are more likely to purchase multiple times
Has high margins
Can be sold between $25-$100
Can be differentiated
People can be passionate about
Has a direct correlation with a Facebook audience for which you can do free plus shipping offers

I explain each point and why I came up with them in more detail in the podcast. As you can see, some things might not work for you (electronics might be something you're passionate about). But if you're just starting and have absolutely no idea what products to choose, the checklist is a good place to start.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew Treadmill.com EcomCrew course How Ezra Firestone Spends Money Growing His Businesses

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!

E128: Under the Hood with Matt Baack Part 1 - Transitioning from B2B to B2C Mar 15, 2018

Show notes

In today's supply chain, manufacturers often get the thinnest slice of the margin pie. With customers shopping globally and demanding better pricing, retailers compress margins to stay afloat, which puts pressure on their distributors, which in turn passes the pressure along to manufacturers. With margins squeezed the hardest, it's no wonder manufacturers are looking beyond the traditional supply chain and want to reach out to customers directly, capturing profits that their distributors and retailers make.

This is the case with today's Under the Hood episode guest. Matt Baack sells wine thermals, beer chillers, and other house ware accessories made of concrete. He used to operate solely as a B2B manufacturer, but has now begun selling direct to consumers via his online site, Angle 33. Matt makes a good profit margin in the B2C area and wants to transition completely to B2C.

In this episode we talk about how he can make this transition as smooth as possible. We look at the low-hanging fruit--the options that can move the needle as fast as possible without spending a ton of money. For Part 1 of our conversation, we talk about the following, among others:

How he started on ecommerce
His awesome products
How much of his business is in the B2C area, and what his margins look like
Using Amazon as the first step to scale more of his business to B2C
Getting the help of influencers to promote his products
Other channels that are perfect for his brand

This is just Part 1. We get to more of this in Part 2 which is coming out next week, so stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, if you are looking for awesome, totally unique wine thermals, coasters or beer chillers, head over to Angle 33. I can already think of a couple of people in my life who would love his products.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew Angle 33 Jungle Scout Famebit Houzz

Thanks for listening to this episode. If you want to be featured on your own episode and get free business advice from us, just sign up here. Until next week, happy selling!

E127: The Importance of Masterminds on Business and Personal Life Mar 12, 2018

Show notes

If you've been listening to the EcomCrew Podcast for quite some time, you'll know that I'm a big believer of masterminds. The company of people who understand your struggles as an entrepreneur and offer guidance on your growth is invaluable. In the words of Napoleon Hill:

"Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act on building the life you desire."

I recently joined a mastermind with mid- to high-seven figure entrepreneurs and I just came back from an in-person retreat with them. I just literally landed and went right away to record the podcast, because the retreat had such a profound impact on me that I had to record while everything is still fresh on my mind.

While the entire weekend had been absolutely beneficial to me and everyone who was at the retreat, let me share with you one of the most impactful activities we had. Each of us answered one of the following questions, which I think everyone needs to be asked at some point:

1. Describe your relationship with your father from his point of view. 2. What was the last conflict you had with your spouse? 3. What was the lowest point leading your company? 4. What is something you're most ashamed of about your life? 5. What is the best thing you ever did? 6. Tell about a decision that you made that you regret. 7. What is your most public failure? 8. When did you most recently feel self-doubt? 9. How do you manage your ego? 10. What are not doing, that you need to be doing, and you want to do before you die? 11. What are you doing right now that you know you absolutely must do? 12. What is one thing you want to do before you die? 13. What is the most questionable thing you've done this year? 14. Do you think that cheating is natural? 15. What are you most afraid of? 16. Tell a recent time where you lacked integrity.

As you can see from the questions, this mastermind weekend is pretty emotional for me. It's easy for me to nerd out about business, but opening up about personal things is a challenge for me. This mastermind retreat helped me get over that hump, and made me reflect on the big picture and see what actually matters to me in the long run.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew E109: My 2018 Goals

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until the next one, happy selling!

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