The Ecomcrew Ecommerce Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 5: ECF Live Trip Report Nov 26, 2015

Show notes

I’m casting solo today because Grant just had a baby! Congratulations! He’ll be back next week, but in the meantime, I’m going to talk about one of the best experiences I’ve had since becoming an online entrepreneur.

I recently joined a forum called eCommerceFuel, a private online community for business owners that’s secure enough for candid business discussion and social enough to connect you with some new and exciting people. I’ve been attending their live events since I joined a few months ago, and this past conference I just attended blew my mind. Beyond the free food and open bar, the conference hosted networking events, group sessions, and keynote speakers discussing everything from personal business anecdotes, economic philosophies, to tips for using Facebook advertisements.

Now, I’m not the kind of guy that likes to speak in front of crowds, but the breakout sessions and mastermind groups at this conference pushed me out of my comfort zone – in the best way! I’ve since joined two mastermind groups, and communicating with these amazing business owners through the forum is a great way to keep in touch and grow your business at the same time. Tune in now to find out how you can join the forum and hear about:

eCommerceFuel and their amazing live events
Mike’s first-hand experience with eCommerceFuel
Mike’s favorite speakers and breakout sessions from eCommerceFuel
Travel tips so you can get the most out of your e-commerce events
What mastermind groups are and how valuable they can be

You can apply for the eCommerceFuel forum online at www.ecommercefuel.com. You don’t have to be a member to hear their podcast, so tune in and test them out to see if they work for you.

Leave us a review iTunes and head over to our site www.ecomcrew.com for more news and updates on what’s working for e-commerce today.

Episode 4 - Shipping Insights with James Peacock of inXpress Nov 19, 2015

Show notes

On our podcast today we play host to James Peacock, president of the Arizona branch of inXpress, the international shipping guru that has saved both Grant and myself tons of money shipping overseas. What makes his website great is the fact that it requires no extra fees. You only pay when you ship, and the discounts you receive from inXpress can be combined with your existing discounts from USPS and UPS.

James offers up some insightful tidbits of business information that can help you conquer the biggest challenge of e-commerce: Shipping! “People use our account as a barometer to see what kind of deals you’ll be getting,” James says as he explains the price of goods both domestically and abroad. “Every small to mid-size company are all receiving a discount…the problem is that, because international is the smallest amount of their shipping volume, the discount equals the volume. So if you have low volume, you have low discounts. We’re saving people over 40% [internationally] on top of their discounts from USPS.”

Beyond telling you how to save money, James also shares his opinion on:

The cost benefits of air shipping over sea shipping and vice-versa
The pros and cons of purchasing from overseas vendors, including China, Canada, and Europe
The meaning of “all-in pricing” when it comes to security, fees, and taxes involved with importing and exporting abroad
How you can save money on your logistics by shopping for smart shippers

To learn more about James and his work with inXpress, tune in today and visit his website at www.intlshippingrates.com. You can also reach him directly by phone at 480-405-6390 or online at james.peacock@inxpress.com.

Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes and sign up for our newsletter at www.ecomcrew.com if you haven’t already. Enjoy the show!

Tools and Techniques to Improve Conversions Nov 12, 2015

Show notes

In today’s episode we’ll be talking about how to modify your conversion for your e-commerce store for your checkout page and cart page to increase your checkout rate.

These are methods we’ve used that have worked on our websites, have been documented, and are essentially fool-proof. We’ll also be uncovering the most common problems made on e-commerce sites, and telling you how to fix them. Here are some other topics we go over:

Why conversions are great and why you should focus on them
Why you should reconsider how you’re using PayPal at checkout
Why it’s important to test your payment methods
How to baby-proof your checkout to get your conversions up
How to eliminate distractions on your website

If you’ve ever wondered how your customers interact with your website, we’ll be talking about the different kinds of software and tools you can use to gain information that will help you improve your traffic. We also go in depth on each method we’ve used to gain much higher percentage of both traffic and conversions. Some other things you’ll be learning today include:

How to reassure your customers that your checkout page is safe
How to do a split test with our favorite tool
How to use up-sales to boost revenue
How to capture users so they don’t leave your site quite so soon
How to analyze your traffic data to improve your website’s experience

Links and software discussed:

In the next few weeks we’ll be starting a brand-new segment where you could win a free one hour analysis of your website (that we usually charge hundreds of dollars for as consultants). What we´ll do is look through a bunch of requests, pick an interesting website, talk about it on the podcast, interview the person and give them our expert analysis. Besides that we will be sure to promote it as well in an effort to increase the person’s e-com conversions and business in the weeks to come. This is a great opportunity, so if you want to be considered, head over to www.ecomcrew.com and fill out our contact form.

Make sure to check back next Tuesday for another great episode, where we’ll be bringing back our segment “Websites to Evaluate and Buy.” You can also stay tuned through our blog posts.

Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes and sign up for our newsletter at www.ecomcrew.com if you haven’t already. Enjoy the show!

Episode 2: Shipping, Shipping, Shipping Oct 20, 2015

Show notes

On today’s podcast we talk about SHIPPING! It’s the first thing we look at when we are seeking out online businesses to buy and own. E-commerce operates on a whole other level that involves storage and shipping since you may not always have a brick-and-mortar storefront to hold your goods. You need to know the size and weight of the items you plan on selling so that you can organize your shipping logistics accordingly and affordably.

Shipping is very important, and knowing the weight, the size, and the fragility of each of your items will save you a lot of stress when it comes to finding the right shipping team. Logistics is a tricky realm to balance, and many people overlook it and focus more on other elements of businesses ownership, like marketing, sales, and conversion.

That’s why, on today’s cast, we cover the most important aspects of logistics, including:

Stocking items that can utilize the USPS flat-rate boxes (pro-tip: USPS is much, much cheaper than UPS)
Researching and investing in products that won’t become obsolete after 6 months
Paying attention to your margin and be sure your shipping doesn’t cut into your profit
Recognizing that the industry is always in flux and you will have to change your model numbers

Realizing early on how important shipping is will save you the headache later. It will influence which online businesses you choose to invest in, and it will help you maintain your success as a business owner. Shipping your products the right way proves to your clients and your manufacturers that you care about each and every item you are selling. Because if you don’t care, why should they?

And because shipping plays such a huge role in buying and selling domains and e-commerce websites, we offer up even more tips and tricks in this episode so you know what to look out for as you start shopping around, including:

Evaluation: How much are you willing to pay?
Risk Management: What do you have to lose?
Staff and Salary: Who is taking care of the backend of your site?
Customer Service: What are your customers asking you?

Tune in today and find out how you can ship affordably and invest wisely in your next online business venture!

Don’t forget to leave us a review on iTunes and sign up for our newsletter at www.ecomcrew.com if you haven’t already. Enjoy the show!

Episode 1: Welcome to the Ecom Crew Podcast Oct 20, 2015

Show notes

Welcome to the first ever episode of the E-Commerce Crew Podcast! Since this is the first episode, introductions are in order:

We are your hosts, Grant Yuan and Mike Jackness. Both of us have been involved with business for most of our professional lives, and we have a similar background in online marketing and the affiliate industry. Grant started working with affiliates in 2003, focusing on online gaming and a lot of poker sites. Mike is a lifelong entrepreneur who started running his own businesses at 18 with nothing but a pack of business cards and a pager. He worked with online marketing for many years before he turned himself on to buying and selling host names for websites, and that’s how he got involved with buying, owning, and selling his own e-commerce businesses.

Our podcast is our opportunity to share all we’ve learned with the rest of you out there struggling and succeed to run your own e-commerce businesses. Each episode will focus on the tips we’ve learned, the ones that didn’t work so well, the progression we’ve made over the years, and where we think we’re going to be heading into the future. There will be guests on air to share their insights, and we will be covering a range of topics, including:

Where trends are going and how you can stay on top of them
How to buy smart with keystone pricing
How to negotiate shipping prices for your specific business focus (pro tip: the best items to ship are socks)
Pros and cons of paying cash or credit for your wholesale supply
How to avoid leaving money on the table

Over the next few weeks, this podcast will evolve to become one of the most important tools you use to become and stay successful at running your online business.

Stay tuned for episodes on buying and selling online businesses and domains, selling your products on Amazon, building your brand, and how to prepare your own exit strategy so you can continue to expand your interests and develop new businesses.

Leave us a review iTunes and head over to our site www.ecomcrew.com for more news and updates on what’s working for e-commerce today.

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