The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Remembering Casey Bard

Kurt Elster, Casey Bard — Thu, 9 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

This is a memorial republish. Casey Bard, founder of Tacticalories Seasoning Co., died in early April 2026 after a three-year fight with Stage 4 colorectal cancer. Casey told the people close to him that when he was gone, he wanted them to tell stories about him. This is Casey in his own words, recorded in March 2021.

Casey started Tacticalories with $500 and mixed his first batch in his bathtub. By 2020 the company had grown 4x. We talked about building a brand around a personal Venn diagram of interests, why he drops one product at a time instead of seasonal collections, the 2020 manufacturing chaos, and why he refused to dropship, refused coupon codes, and refused to take outside money.

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/casey-is-choosing-to-continue-the-fight

Why Shopify Opened B2B to ALL Plans

Samir Pradhan, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Shopify just opened up its foundational B2B features to all paid plans, not just Plus. Samir Pradhan, VP of Product at Shopify, joins the show to break down what merchants actually get: company profiles, up to three custom catalogs, quantity rules, ACH payments, vaulted credit cards, and 50+ features total, at no additional cost. We walk through the setup, talk about what stays Plus-only, and dig into why B2B was consistently a top three merchant request. Plus, 96% GMV growth for merchants already using these tools. If you've been avoiding wholesale or duct-taping workarounds, this is the episode.

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The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

He Had Zero Audio Experience. Then He Sold $300K in Turntables.

Noam Sugarman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

"I don't have any really relevant credentials or qualifications when it comes to this sort of thing."

Noam Sugarman got fed up trying to find a stereo system that looked good, sounded good, and didn't require an engineering degree to buy. So he built his own. With no audio background, he launched Dum Audio, raised $75K on Indiegogo, then ditched crowdfunding platforms entirely to run pre-order campaigns on his own Shopify store, where he saw better return on ad spend. Five years and $300K+ in sales later, he's shipping hi-fi turntables, speakers, and amps direct to consumer.

We talk about pricing in a market where a stereo can cost $100 or $100,000, why his self-run Shopify campaign outperformed Indiegogo, and how 60% of his crowdfunding buyers added a subwoofer upsell he only expected a third to take.

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7 Years to Profit: The Hamster Ball Reinvented

Kurt Elster, Ethan Haber — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

"There were three or four years straight where we were like, if it doesn't go the way we need it to go, we'll close it down at the end of the year -- and then year end comes and we're just like, close enough to keep going."

Ethan Haber was a college sophomore with a studio art degree, a hamster named Mooksy, and a problem: the hamster ball hadn't been improved since the 1970s. So he invented a better one. Then came COVID, molds stuck at the Port of Long Beach, a packaging supplier who switched materials without telling him, four years of unprofitability, and social media backlash from people who don't even own hamsters.

2026 is his first profitable year. We talked about how he got to 750 retail locations, why he quit Meta ads and tripled Amazon sales, and the cold LinkedIn DM that landed him the founder of PetSmart as a mentor.

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AEO: Get ChatGPT to Recommend Your Brand

Patrick Rice, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

"I think this is a revival of SEO, a little bit of a resurrection."

SEO expert Patrick Rice is back, and this time he brought receipts. His agency got a Shopify brand to show up in ChatGPT recommendations 60-70% of the time and in Google AI Overviews 86% of the time, with a 35-40% sustained increase in branded search. All in six months. We dig into the exact GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) tactics that made it happen: web consensus through listicle outreach, structured data, Reddit strategy, and why the AI search land grab looks a lot like early SEO, before the filters catch up.

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The Shopify Product Network Explained

Kurt Elster, Amanda Engelman — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Amanda Engelman is the Director of Product at Shopify leading advertising and channel expansion. She built the Shopify Product Network, a free app that lets other Shopify merchants' products appear on your store. You earn commission on every sale, you keep the customer, and you get category expansion insights without carrying a single unit of inventory. One store earned over $3,000 in commissions in just two months.

We dig into how SPN decides what products to show (and how they're solving the "taste" problem), the checkout engineering that makes multi-merchant transactions seamless, and why this might be the lowest-risk growth lever available to Shopify merchants right now.

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We Built a Shopify App. Here's What Broke.

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda, Karl Meisterheim — Tue, 3 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"Even if it ends up being something that ends the universe, it at least will have been a fun ride. So let's do it."

That's what Karl Meisterheim said when Kurt pitched him on building a Shopify app. Over a year later, Promo Party Pro is live, and the journey from "this should be easy" to "why is the cart API doing that" was anything but smooth. Kurt, Paul Reda, and Karl sit down to talk through the whole thing: why free gift with purchase is Kurt's favorite promo, the edge cases that nearly broke them, the popup cooldown debate that consumed days, and what it actually takes to ship a polished app on Shopify in 2025.

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Live Selling Secrets From a $25M Golf Brand

Kurt Elster, Nick Mertz — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"Nobody wants to get rich slowly."

Nick Mertz started Pins and Aces with $6,000 and zero outside capital. Today, his golf lifestyle brand does $25 million a year, employs over 40 people, and ships every order from their own warehouse outside Denver. But with customer acquisition costs through the roof, Nick stopped fighting the ad auction and built an omnichannel machine instead. We break down how live selling on Whatnot and TikTok became a serious revenue channel ($400K in December alone on TikTok Shop), why licensing collabs with Coca-Cola and South Park actually boost brand legitimacy, and how wholesale is flipping from 10% to 40% of revenue. Plus: the grab bag strategy that went nuclear, and why Nick runs his family business like a sports team.

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Why This Agency Dropped Paid Media (And Got Bigger)

Amer Grozdanic, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 15:53:34 +0000

"I kinda told myself I need to take a step back from e-commerce. When I took a step back, e-commerce said no and put me back in."

Amer Grozdanic burned out running paid media for brands. The results were good — but never good enough. So he walked away, rebuilt his agency around what he could actually control, and landed clients like MVMT Watches and Billie Eilish without spending a dollar on ads. Today, Praella works with brands up to $400M in revenue, and Amer's seen the same blind spots in almost every store.

We dig into the Shopify features most merchants ignore (B2B, Markets, Flows, Collective), why BattlBox's Whatnot channel converts 10X better than TikTok Shop, and the one question you should ask any agency before signing a retainer.

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ERP Explained w/ GoodDay's Kyle Hency

Kyle Hency, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

For most direct-to-consumer brands, the term "ERP" evokes dread. Six-month implementations. Six-figure costs. Software built for factories, not Shopify stores. Kyle Hency experienced that pain firsthand. He scaled Chubbies Shorts past $100 million in revenue, and along the way, his "sophisticated" spreadsheet system (built by a former banker) completely fell apart. The breaking point? When Nordstrom called wanting to stock Chubbies, and his team realized they had no infrastructure to even accept the order. That painful lesson led Hency to raise $13.5 million for GoodDay Software, an ERP designed from day one for Shopify merchants. In this episode, we demystify what an ERP actually is, identify the warning signs that a brand has outgrown spreadsheets, and explore why the traditional barriers to operational infrastructure are finally falling for smaller businesses. Hency makes the case that it doesn't have to be this hard anymore.

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Influencer Whitelisting: What It Is & How to Start

Brad Hoos, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Feb 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Here's something most merchants don't realize: you can run paid ads through an influencer's handle instead of your own. It's called whitelisting, and it converts about 15% better. Brad Hoos, CEO of Outloud Group and owner of Shopify store MuskOx Flannels, has been doing influencer marketing since YouTube was mostly cat videos. In this episode, he breaks down how whitelisting works step by step, why he thinks of creators as "decentralized media companies," and what most brands overthink when they're just getting started.

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The Financial Blind Spot Costing 7-Figure Stores Millions

Salena Knight, Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"You can't control tariffs. You can't control the weather. But you can control what's happening within your business."

Salena Knight has audited thousands of retail businesses since 2007 and found that 4 out of 5 seven-figure stores share the same blind spot—and it's not marketing. It's money. We talked about why inventory is secretly taxable cash sitting on your shelves, how one brand increased profit margins 30% by auditing their pick-and-pack costs, and why running a 30% off sale on luxury products got zero orders.

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A Mushroom Brand's Bet Against Booze

Jake Mellman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"I would have invested 100% of all of the money that we raised into Meta. I would have done nothing else but secure that one channel first."

After launching Troop, a functional mushroom gummy brand, Jake Mellman discovered that community events and sampling don't pay the bills. What does: Meta ads, a 76% contribution margin, and defaulting customers to quarterly subscriptions. Now he's applied those lessons to Psilly Goose, a functional beverage targeting the 46% of American adults who've stopped drinking. The challenge: THC restrictions, heavy shipping costs, and a farm bill that could shut him down by November.

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The First Shop Mini

Bill Staley, Kurt Elster — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"Shop has this amazing opportunity to convert shoppers into people that are being entertained by shoppable content."

Bill Staley built the first Shop Mini to launch on Shopify's Shop app. Food Social brings 10,000+ shoppable recipes to 200 million potential users. We dig into why Shop is Shopify's most underrated channel, how personalization matches recipes to purchase history, and why intent-based shopping beats interruption marketing every time.

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The Period Brand That Won $1.5M in Pitch Contests

Dana Roberts, Monica Williams, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Dana Roberts spent years watching fifth-grade girls panic through their first periods with ill-fitting products and no preparation. The period care aisle hadn't changed in decades. Same brands. Same sizing that was never designed for a 10-year-old's body. When she pitched the idea to her god-sister, Dr. Monica Williams, she got a polite brush-off. Years later, Monica's own daughter started showing signs of puberty, and suddenly the problem wasn't theoretical anymore.

What followed was a brutal education in bootstrapping: churning through agencies, surviving iOS 14.5, and funding an entire company through pitch competitions because traditional VCs wouldn't write checks. Last year, a three-minute pitch won them $1 million from Pharrell Williams. Then Ulta told them to change their name if they wanted shelf space. They did it in 90 days.

Now Scarlet by RedDrop is in almost 400 stores trying to fix something the industry ignored for generations. We talked about all of it, including the part where Monica says she wishes she'd never bootstrapped at all.

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The €330M Exit Guy Shares His Europe Playbook

Chris Erthel, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

"We were close to closing the company two or three times. Every winter was like, okay, that's it. Goodbye company."

Chris Erthel built Meller sunglasses from a Spanish side project into a brand that sells a pair every 28 seconds. Along the way, he helped scale HelloBody from €30M to €107M as fractional CMO before its €330M exit to Henkel. We talked about why US brands fail in Europe, the cultural quirks that kill conversions in Germany, and why Italy requires cash on delivery or you're dead on arrival. He's run 3,500+ A/B tests and shares counterintuitive findings that challenge everything you think you know about landing pages and ad creative.

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$1.7M BFCM: Inside Montana Knife Company's Black Friday

Brandon Horoho, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Montana Knife Company pulled in $1.7 million over Black Friday weekend without discounting a single knife. Co-founder Brandon Horoho explains how: five targeted product drops, one for each customer persona. An email cadence so aggressive he was watching unsubscribe rates like a hawk. And a VIP program where the reward shows up unannounced in your mailbox. It's a story about knowing exactly who your customer is and giving them what they want before they ask. Also: why Brandon actually high-fives when his repeat customer rate goes down.

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Native A/B Testing Hits Shopify: What You Need to Know

Aaron Glazer, Kurt Elster — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 23:04:58 +0000

"It's really about helping merchants become more informed, helping them make more bold decisions."

Aaron Glazer, Product Lead at Shopify, reveals two features from Winter '26 Edition that change how merchants test and optimize their stores. Rollouts brings native split testing directly into the admin. SimGym deploys AI agents trained on billions of purchases to find what's broken before real customers do.

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SHOPIFY EDITIONS WINTER '26

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 16 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Shopify just dropped their "Renaissance Edition" with 150+ product updates. We cut through the noise. Sidekick finally works—I use it daily now for reports, segments, and Flow automations. Native A/B testing arrives with Rollouts and SimGym. The new Product Network let one early adopter earn $1,400 in commission in 30 days. And Shop App? #1 in the App Store over BFCM. Here's what actually matters for store owners.

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Why Your Creative Strategy Is Burning Cash

Nehal Kazim, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

"Do you care enough about new customer acquisition? What you care about shows up based off of your actions, not your thoughts or your words."

Meta's Andromeda update broke everyone's brain and most brands still haven't recovered. Nehal Kazim, CEO of Ad Pros, argues that the industry overcorrected by wildly overproducing content, burning through budgets on concepts that never receive meaningful spend. His math: you're paying $250-500 per asset for creatives that never get tested. Kazim has spent 13 years running campaigns for brands like Canada Goose and DTC companies doing $10-16 million a month. His solution is a profitability-first framework that tracks new customer contribution margin daily and calibrates creative output to what your budget can actually support. Also discussed: why Meta told him to stop hook testing, and the $25K Cardi B ad he hated that completely crushed.

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She Sold 250K Shampoo Bars Without Amazon or Ads

ETHERCYCLE LLC — Tue, 2 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Kate Assaraf tried every plastic-free shampoo bar on the market. They sat in her shower like, and I'm quoting here, "tombstones." Failed products. Dead ends. So she decided to make her own. Without Instagram ads. Without Amazon. Without any of the things you're supposed to need to build a business. Today on our program, we follow Kate's journey from beauty industry veteran to the woman who said no to everything, and built a million-dollar company anyway.

In this episode, we explore how Kate sold 250,000 shampoo bars in 4 years while refusing Meta ads, Amazon listings, and influencer partnerships. When her contract manufacturer went under, she didn't find a new one—she built her own factory and hired the displaced workers. Now with 400+ retail partners and 7-figure revenue, Kate proves that sometimes the best growth strategy is saying no to growth hacks.

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Kate Assaraf is the founder of DIP Haircare, a plastic-free beauty brand that's redefined sustainable haircare without compromising performance. With 20 years in the beauty industry, Kate launched DIP from her kitchen table in October 2021 after discovering that existing eco-friendly alternatives failed to deliver. Her shampoo and conditioner bars compete directly with luxury salon brands while lasting up to a year. By refusing traditional DTC tactics and focusing on local retail partnerships, she's built a 7-figure business that champions American manufacturing and community-first commerce.

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What Discounts Actually Make People Buy (Study)

Cara Marin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

There's this thing that happens when you run an e-commerce store. You know you need to discount, but you're terrified. Terrified of training customers to wait for sales. Terrified of looking cheap. So you do nothing, or worse, you slap WELCOME10 on your popup and call it a day. Meanwhile, the big brands? They're discounting constantly. Just invisibly.

Cara Marin from Seguno looked at 162,000 discount code sets. Real data from real stores. And what she found flips everything we thought we knew. The most successful stores discount more, not less. They just do it smarter. With unique codes. With segmentation. With strategies that preserve brand value while driving conversions.

The revelation that changes everything: it's not about the discount. It's about the delivery. 20% off might be the magic number, but 10% is secretly almost as effective. Gift with purchase is used 6X more by Plus stores. And those customer service recovery codes? They're turning angry customers into superfans. This isn't theory. This is what actually works.

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This Founder Automated Influencer Outreach Completely

Bora Celik, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

So there's this guy, Bora Celik. Software engineer, thirty years in the game. Last year he tells his investors something crazy: SaaS is dead. Not dying. Dead. And here's the thing - he might be right. See, while everyone's playing with ChatGPT, asking it questions, Bora's building these things called AI agents. They don't just answer questions. They do the work. Like, actually reach out to influencers, negotiate deals, send products, follow up. No humans involved. One of his clients, Harney & Sons Tea, they've got agents running their entire influencer program. The agents find people, check their engagement rates, send emails, track who posts. Everything. And the wildest part? The CEOs of these $100 million companies are building their own agents now. Using tools anyone can access. Today, Bora shows us exactly how.

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Buff Clucks: From Homework Assignment to 7-Figure Chicken Brand

Kurt Elster, Celia Hatch — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

So there's this moment in 2022 where Celia Hatch wakes up from a dream about chicken supplements called "Chicken Spice." She thinks it's ridiculous. Fast forward to today, and she's running a seven-figure business serving America's 13% of households with backyard chickens.

The twist is it started as her teenage son's eighth-grade homework assignment. He made $500 selling herbs in craft bags, then quit. Ms. Hatch, a serial entrepreneur with 16 businesses behind her, picked it up and scaled Buff Clucks to seven figures in 18 months using Meta advertising, landing pages, and subscription bundling.

This is a story about accidental entrepreneurship, the growing market of premium pet owners willing to double their feed costs, and why sometimes the best business ideas come to you in your sleep. Along the way, Celia reveals why their Shopify store is the "neglected child" of their operation, how a "sneeze warning" became genius marketing, and why she wishes she'd built a proper Shopify store from day one.

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What's New in Shopify: November 2025

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Shopify just went from 100 variants per product to 2,048. Shopify Partners Kurt Elster and Paul Reda tested it and found out there's a secret limit at 250 where everything changes. Your theme might work perfectly, it might half-work, or it might completely break depending on when it was built.

They also dig into the new VS Code-based theme editor (developers love it, merchants hate it), the "unlisted" product status that's perfect for hiding free gifts and private sales, and Kurt reveals the one homepage element that gets clicked more than anything else—you're probably not using it right.

This is pure Shopify platform talk that's more entertaining than it should be.

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Black Friday Starts Early: The 3-Week Email Strategy

Fil Pejic, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Kurt and Filip break down buy-two-get-two offers that crush percentage discounts, why five emails on Black Friday is actually conservative, and the three-week framework 8-figure brands use to win Q4. If you're planning to send a couple emails on Cyber Monday and call it done, this episode will make you rethink everything.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
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Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
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Accessibility: Bet Hannon's 4-Step Fix

Bet Hannon, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000

"These tools rely on automation that only catches 30% of issues. And for blind users with screen readers? The overlays often conflict with their assistive tech—making the site harder to use."

Bet Hannon runs AccessiCart, an agency that fixes accessibility problems for e-commerce stores—usually right after they've been sued. We talked about why "quick fix" overlay plugins are making the problem worse, the four accessibility issues you can fix right now, and what the European Accessibility Act's €100K fines mean for US-based stores.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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ethercycle.com/apply

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Smart Marketer Live 2025

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000

I spent three days at Smart Marketer Live in Denver, capturing raw conversations with agency owners, brand founders, and Meta reps about what's actually working in 2025.

This isn't your typical conference recap. We're talking about Meta's Andromeda update that killed everyone's ad performance over the summer, why TikTok Shop might be a trap, and how a chicken supplement business owner plans to poach employees like she's manifesting herbs.

Featuring Beav Brodie (Tactical Baby Gear), Brett Curry (OMG Commerce), Attila from Smart Marketer, and Celia Hatch (Buff Clucks).

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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Jomboy's 3-in-1 Store + ChatGPT Shopping Arrives

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 7 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000

So there's this baseball media company. They make shirts about guys with nicknames like "The Big Dumper." And they needed three different store experiences, but only wanted to use one store. What our co-host Paul Reda figured out next is either brilliant or insane. Maybe both.

Today on the show, we're asking: when does a hack become a feature? When does one store become three? And why would anyone voluntarily remove every frontend app from their Shopify store? Plus, ChatGPT can now sell your products directly. No, really. We'll explain how that works and why Kurt thinks automated fraud prevention might actually matter this time.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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ethercycle.com/apply

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SEO Is Dead. Long Live GEO. w/ Domaine's Mac King

Mac King, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

"ChatGPT is not that sophisticated yet. So for marketers, what that means is there are real ways right now for arbitrage in this short period of time before ChatGPT gets good enough to say, no, we're only showing the proper result."

Mac King from Domaine breaks down why merchants are seeing ChatGPT and Perplexity show up as referral sources in their analytics—and what to do about it. We talked about the terminology wars (GEO vs AEO vs AI search optimization), why AI engines favor content from Google's 10th page, and the Reddit strategies that actually work without getting banned.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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ethercycle.com/apply

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Jamil Bhuya: Why Store Owners Can't See Conversion Killers

Jamil Bhuya, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Jamil Bhuya has scaled businesses across three wildly different industries: restaurants, beauty, and now Shopify agencies. That multi-industry perspective gives him a unique superpower—he can spot the conversion killers that store owners become blind to. We talked about why fresh eyes matter more than fancy tools, the psychology behind purchase objections, and how being too close to your business destroys your ability to see what customers actually need.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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ethercycle.com/apply

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Bots, Fraud, & Other Online Store BS

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 16 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

We're seeing 10x more bots than humans on client stores. Fraudsters are buying your cheapest items to test stolen credit cards. Your SEO agency wants 150 new collections.

This week, we dig into the actual problems hitting Shopify stores right now. Not theory, not best practices, but the real BS we're fixing for clients. We break down why your analytics are lying, how to stop credit card testers, and whether more granular SEO collections are brilliant or idiotic.

Plus: The free Shopify app that caught a critical launch mistake, proof that ChatGPT drives revenue, and beta access to our new Promo Party app.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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ethercycle.com/apply

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The $720K Exit That Disappeared

Ben Knegendorf, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

"I'm not very good at success. That's something I learned as part of this."

Ben Knegendorf went from forklift operator at Walmart to selling his stake in an indoor golf business for $720,000. Then he watched most of it disappear through lifestyle creep, speculative investments, and financial ignorance. His second exit was different - and his brutal honesty about where the money went offers real lessons for entrepreneurs facing their first big payday.

Sponsors

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com/unofficial

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

Work with Kurt

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ethercycle.com/apply

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The Unofficial Shopify Podcast explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

They Bought a 'Hated' Shopify App for 2X Revenue (Now Worth Millions)

Andrew Le, Tu Pham, Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: youtu.be/gGdS45JY2Yo

Andrew Le and Tu Pham acquired Edit Order, a distressed Shopify app with a terrible reputation, for just 2x revenue in 2015. Ten years later, they've transformed it into Cleverific—a multi-million dollar order editing powerhouse.

Guests:

Andrew Le - Co-founder & Lead Developer, Cleverific
Tu Pham - Co-founder, Marketing & Design, Cleverific
Website: https://cleverific.com/

Sponsors

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

Work with Kurt

Apply for Shopify Help - ethercycle.com/apply
See Our Results - ethercycle.com/work
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Why Shopify's Shipping Just Got Way Better

Vibhor Chhabra, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: youtu.be/56r_UJZbtLg

"We want to make sure that merchants who are starting their business who don't know what are all the jobs they need to take care of for shipping to merchants who are thriving and understand the space and have complex workflows, we can solve this problem for everybody."

Vibhor Chhabra, Director of Product at Shopify, breaks down how Shopify Shipping has evolved into something completely different from what you might remember. We covered the new carrier integrations (including FedEx), bulk label printing for up to 250 orders, automatic shipping insurance up to $200, and why Amazon is now a fulfillment partner through SFN. Plus how shipping transforms from a cost center into a competitive advantage.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com/unofficial

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

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ethercycle.com/apply

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Ex-Supps CMO's Counter-Intuitive Growth Strategies

Kurt Elster, Devyn Merklyn — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: youtu.be/0HHJ5tONfVo

Most Shopify store owners are doing growth completely wrong. They're trying to lower ad costs, make prettier websites, and rush customers to buy. Devyn Merklin from X-Scale flips all of this on its head with counter-intuitive strategies that actually work.

In this episode, you'll discover why the biggest mistake seven-figure brands make is racing to the bottom on customer acquisition costs instead of learning to outbid competition. Devyn shares how one brand tripled subscription revenue from $6K to $22K MRR in just 45 days using gamification instead of discounts.

You'll learn the psychology behind giveaway strategies that actually build qualified prospect lists, why ugly websites convert better than pretty ones, and the empathy-driven approach to customer journey optimization that most brands completely miss.

Sponsors:

Swym (getswym.com/kurt) – Wishlists & back in stock alerts
Cleverific (cleverific.com/unofficial) – Smart order editing
Zipify (zipify.com/KURT) – High-converting sales funnels

Key takeaways include the LTV vs CAC mindset shift that separates big brands from struggling stores, the month 4 subscription churn fix that prevents customer dropout, and why your landing pages are probably bleeding money without you knowing it.

If you're tired of following conventional wisdom that doesn't work, this episode reveals the contrarian strategies that actually drive results.

Guest: Devyn Merklin, X-Scale (thexscale.com)

Links:

Apply to work with Kurt: ethercycle.com/apply
Kurt's newsletter: kurtelster.com
Free growth mastermind: thexscale.com

The £500K Exit That Saved Jayden Clark's Sanity

Jayden Clark, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: YouTube: youtu.be/p1PO9o9Se5o

"I'm not very good at success. That's something I learned as part of this. I actually think probably most of us aren't very good at success."

Jayden Clark thought he'd cracked the code on dropshipping success. Then his seven-figure business nearly broke him. We talked about why he sold for £500K instead of holding out for millions, the SEO and paid ad strategies that drove his rapid growth, and how a 90-minute massage changed everything.

SPONSORS

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com/unofficial

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

WORK WITH KURT

Apply for Shopify Help
ethercycle.com/apply

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How Portland Leather Hit $500M + Top 50 on Shopify

Curtis Matsko, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: youtu.be/nckQhAvYA-Q

"We'll have done over 500 million in total sales. We'll do 310 million in the next 18 months."

Curtis Matsko went from art festivals to a top 50 Shopify store by doing everything conventional wisdom says not to do. His company controls every step from raw material procurement to customer delivery, achieving top 50 Shopify status while maintaining 50% repeat customer rates on non-consumable goods.

Today he owns the biggest leather factory in North America and has some very strong opinions about banking, business clichés, and why most Shopify owners are doing it wrong.

Most valuable insight: Meta doesn't know when you run out of inventory - they just think your ads stopped working and charge you more.

Listen now on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Sponsors

Swym – Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels

How Shine Supply Hit $7M/yr Without Paid Ads

Colby Stevens, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also Available on YouTube: youtu.be/_nqN9HyOpxM

What happens when a 23-year-old refuses to play the ecommerce advertising game? Colby Stevens built Shine Supply into a $7M detailing brand using nothing but Instagram ASMR videos, authentic storytelling, and a "people over profit" philosophy.

No paid ads until last month. No Amazon. No selling out to scale.

Instead: 80,000 Instagram followers, hundreds of photo reviews, and a community that buys because they believe in the brand, not just the product.

Colby breaks down the exact strategies that grew their family's Shopify store - from Klaviyo automation that actually works to the review incentive system that drives social proof. Plus why they turned down millions in Amazon revenue to stay true to their dealers.

Key Takeaways:

How to build 80k Instagram followers organically
The ASMR video strategy getting thousands of views
Review incentive system that drives social proof
Why they refused millions in Amazon revenue
Klaviyo automation that actually converts
Building authentic brand community on Shopify

Fair warning: you'll want to detail your car after this one.

Sponsors:

Swym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
getswym.com/kurt

Cleverific - Smart order editing for Shopify
cleverific.com/unofficial

Zipify - Build high-converting sales funnels
zipify.com/KURT

Guest Links:

Shine Supply - Colby's detailing brand
shinesupply.com

Shine Supply Instagram - 80k followers, zero ads
instagram.com/shinesupply

Mentioned Tools:

Shopify - Ecommerce platform
shopify.com

Klaviyo - Email marketing automation
klaviyo.com

Loox Reviews - Photo review system
loox.app

Work With Kurt:

Apply for Shopify Help
ethercycle.com/apply

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ethercycle.com/work

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Viral Mattress Ads & Crowdfunding

Bryant Garvin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Available on YouTube: [youtu.be/wDlijQtbLJo](https://youtu.be/wDlijQtbLJo)

What if your brand could sell a million orders before shipping a single product?

Bryant Garvin, marketing lead at Ozlo Sleep and former CMO of Groove Life, did exactly that. In this episode, he shares how performance branding, differentiated product, and a viral video formula helped Ozlo launch with massive traction. From his early work at Purple Mattress to Groove Life’s rise, Bryant breaks down what it takes to turn pre-orders into a brand-building machine.

Sponsors:

Swym – Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels

Links & Resources:

Work with Kurt

What 20M Shopify Surveys Reveal About Attribution

Matt Bahr, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Watch the video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TMVqWfaddG8

Shopify store owners: what if one simple question could improve your ad spend, creative, and segmentation?

In this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, Matt Bahr, founder of Fairing, unpacks what 20 million post-purchase surveys taught him about attribution—and why most brands still get it wrong. Learn how to track what really works, identify new channels like AppLovin and CTV, and use surveys to improve more than just marketing.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why last-click attribution is broken—and what to use instead
The one survey question every brand should ask
How Fairing’s data reveals the rise of AppLovin and CTV
What zero-party data can do for your segmentation and CRO
How top brands like Bombas and Thrive use surveys to drive action

Sponsors:

Swym – Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels

Resources mentioned:

Work with Kurt:

Top Shopify Conversion Mistakes

Kurt Elster, Shaun Brandt — Tue, 8 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube...

What’s really holding your Shopify store back? After 10,000 UX audits, Oddit co-founder Shaun Brandt has answers, and most stores are making the same 7 mistakes. Menus that bury the merch. Popups that hijack the screen. Product pages with zero context.

This episode is a takedown of bad ecommerce decisions, packed with fixes that actually make you more money. Whether you’re running a $50k side hustle or an eight-figure brand, the solutions are simple and the impact is real.

If your conversion rate’s stuck, this is your episode.

Sponsors:

Swym – Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & more
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels

Links

Work With Kurt

SEO for AI: What Works, What’s Snake Oil

Kurt Elster, Jason Berkowitz — Tue, 1 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Available on YouTube: youtu.be/qdpFmuFD8yE

Shopify merchants are getting pitched AI SEO “solutions” left and right—none of them proven. So I called Jason Berkowitz, an SEO who actually knows the game, to answer the real question: what should you actually do to rank in an AI-powered world? (Spoiler: most of it’s nonsense.) We break down what’s real, what’s trash, and why good SEO still wins—even in a sea of chatbots and grifters.

Sponsors

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Viralsweep – Create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways

Links

Work With Kurt

Grow your Shopify store with me: https://ethercycle.com/apply
See client results: https://ethercycle.com/work
Join my newsletter for Shopify insights: https://kurtelster.com/

How Divorce, Cancer, and TikTok Built a Shopify Brand

Sara Olsher, Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Sara Olsher started Mighty + Bright as a handmade calendar to help her toddler cope with divorce. A decade (and one breast cancer diagnosis) later, it’s a full-time Shopify business helping kids, adults, and neurodivergent folks navigate tough life stuff with visual structure. In this episode, Sara shares how she bootstrapped the brand, embraced customer feedback, and scaled with purpose—not just ad spend.

You’ll learn:

How personal chaos sparked a viral product line
Why bootstrapping kept her business healthy and profitable
The power of customer-led product development
How one TikTok collab outsold her entire kids’ line

Sponsors

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors & costs

Links and Resources:

Apps, Tools, & Services

StoreHero – Profit-focused ad tracking and analytics
Octane AI – Shop quizzes for Shopify
Sensible Forecasting – Inventory planning
Bundles.app – Inventory syncing for Shopify bundles
iPaKey – Packing and fulfillment scanner tool

Work with Kurt:

→ Grow your Shopify store
→ See client success stories
→ Join Kurt’s newsletter

Shopify POS V10: What’s New?

Ray Reddy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: youtu.be/4lOLw1k4ocA

Shopify VP of Retail, Ray Reddy, joins to walk through what’s new in POS V10.

Faster checkouts
Split fulfillment
Custom branding
Better search

If you sell in person, this episode is for you.

Show Links

Sponsors

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Boost AI Search & Filter – Frictionless Product Discovery with AI

Work with Kurt

Inside Shopify Editions.dev 2025

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Watch on YouTube

Shopify unveiled a sweeping AI-first vision at Editions.dev 2025, and it's got their partners buzzing. In this episode, we go beyond the keynote to bring you on-the-ground reactions from developers, partners, and skeptics alike.

Featuring interviews with:

We dig into:

Horizon's AI-generated blocks
Shopify’s global product catalog push
The looming idea of a multi-store global cart

Some call it the future of commerce. We call it required listening.

Sponsors

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Viralsweep – Create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways

Links

Related Resources

For more unfiltered Shopify wisdom:

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

How BRĒZ Built a $28M Better-For-You Buzz Brand on Shopify

Aaron Nosbisch, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000

What if your Shopify brand could sell 16 million cans and hit $28M in its first full year? Aaron Nosbisch did just that with BRĒZ, a microdose drink brand that taps into the decline of alcohol, the rise of wellness, and a smarter ecommerce playbook. In this episode, he breaks down the entire journey—from ignored category to household name.

Show Links

Aaron Nosbisch: https://twitter.com/AaronJNosbisch
BRĒZ: https://drinkbrez.com
Lucyd: https://www.wearelucyd.com

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Viralsweep – Create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways.

Work with Kurt:

Grow your Shopify store: https://ethercycle.com/apply
Join the newsletter: https://kurtelster.com/

Subscribe for more Shopify founder stories.

How a BOGO Deal Bootstrapped Neven Eyewear to Millions

Jonathan Strauss, Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fXKVcwl8FS8

How a BOGO Deal Bootstrapped Neven Eyewear to Millions

Jonathan Strauss lost a $500 pair of sunglasses jet skiing—and turned that wipeout into Neven Eyewear. What began as a desperate liquidation promo turned into a DTC breakthrough. In this episode, Strauss reveals how a buy-one-get-two offer saved his brand, what’s changed with Meta ads, and why scaling a bootstrapped Shopify store takes more grit than cash.

Learn:

Why BOGO x3 worked when nothing else did
How Neven ships worldwide with no VC money
The backend tech powering their crazy offer
What most brands get wrong about Meta ads

Sponsored by:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors & costs

Links:

Neven Eyewear → neveneyewear.com
Sight for Sound → neveneyewear.com/pages/sight-for-sound
Judge.me Reviews → apps.shopify.com/judgeme
Glasson 360 Viewer → apps.shopify.com/glasson
Shopify → shopify.com

SEO in 2025: What Still Works for Shopify

Jeff Oxford, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Still trying to crack the SEO code in 2025? Jeff Oxford has worked on 300+ eCommerce sites, and he’s here to share what actually works for Shopify merchants now. From why your $300 product may be killing your rankings to how AI tools can scale your SEO ops, Jeff cuts through the noise. This episode delivers a tactical, no-fluff breakdown of SEO strategy in a search landscape increasingly shaped by AI, user behavior, and smarter content.

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels: zipify.com/KURT
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify: cleverific.com/unofficial
Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors: addressvalidator.com

Links & Resources:

Jeff Oxford – 180marketing.com
Kurt Elster – kurtelster.com

Tools & Services Mentioned:

Work With Kurt:

Apply to work with Kurt: ethercycle.com/apply
See our client success stories: ethercycle.com/work
Get my newsletter: kurtelster.com

Meta’s AI Ads Engine Explained (Andromeda + ASC)

Kurt Bullock, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: youtu.be/m9YTxRsosJA

Meta just rewrote the Facebook ads playbook—and Shopify merchants need to catch up.

In this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, ad strategist Kurt Bullock (Produce Dept) breaks down how Meta’s new AI-driven ad system, Andromeda, is reshaping targeting, delivery, and scale. From embeddings and vectors to Advantage+ campaigns and creative testing, this is the update your ad strategy needs.

Whether you’re running Facebook ads yourself or just trying to understand what your agency’s talking about, this episode gives you the clarity—and tactics—to keep up.

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors & costs

Links & Resources:

Free Resource: Creative Angle Questions + Testing Framework
Kurt Bullock: @KurtBullock on Twitter
Produce Dept: https://www.producedept.co
Kurt Elster: https://kurtelster.com
Meta Ads Manager: https://www.facebook.com/business/tools/ads-manager
Shopify Meta Channel: https://www.shopify.com/facebook-instagram

Work with Kurt:

Apply to work with Kurt: https://ethercycle.com/apply
Join the newsletter: https://kurtelster.com

How Bamboo Socks Built a B2B Empire on Faire

Lucy Jeffrey, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: youtu.be/l8ANgFlZK0Y

It started with a sock. A turtle sock. That led to a Shopify store, a wholesale boom, and—accidentally—an agency. In this episode, Lucy Jeffrey shares how she turned Bare Kind from a seasonal side hustle into one of Faire’s fastest-growing brands. She walks us through surviving seasonality, scaling through B2B, ditching paid ads, and launching a service business that helps other brands win on Faire. A story about survival, strategy, and what happens when your Q4 makes or breaks you.

Topics Discussed:

Growing a DTC sock brand from scratch
Why Faire became a game changer
Turning content into a client acquisition machine
Balancing two businesses and one marriage
Why sustainability isn’t selling anymore—and what is
Turning off Meta ads (and doing better without them)

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors & costs

Links:

How TikTok & Sidekick Helped Sell Out a Skincare Brand

Ben Attwood, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: youtu.be/Pi20dFaHoVg

Ben Attwood left agency life to create a men’s skincare brand he actually wanted to use. With no investors, no marketing budget, and no prior product experience, he built Clubhouse Skin using TikTok, Shopify, and a lot of trial and error.

In this episode, Ben shares how he:

Sold out his first product run—twice
Built a loyal customer base by building in public
Used Shopify Sidekick to find superfans and boost conversions
Leveraged AI to do what agencies charge thousands for
Landed in retail by rallying his TikTok followers

Whether you're launching a product, bootstrapping a brand, or curious about real-world uses of AI in ecommerce, this one’s packed with practical takeaways.

Show Links:

Clubhouse Skin

Shopify

Shopify Magic
Getting started with Sidekick
Shopify Newsroom: AI helped these founders fast-track their way to first sale

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Boost AI Search & Filter – Collection filtering + smart search

Subscribe for weekly interviews with Shopify founders and experts.

How Smart Brands Win Top-of-Funnel in 2025

Smriti Jayaraman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/XXSr4Po30oY

Paid ads are busted. SEO is back but weirder. Gen Z isn’t using Google. What now?
VC Smriti Jayaraman pulls back the curtain on the Shopify brands building futuristic funnels today. We’re talking AI quizzes, voice search, digital oracles, and tech that reads your face to guess your shirt size. It’s strange. It’s smart. And it works.

💡 What We Cover:

Why AI search is reshaping ecommerce—and how to rank in it
How Shopify brands are using gamified funnels to capture attention
What to know about AI influencers, personalized merchandising, and site search
Why your brand needs to think like a membership club, not a subscription box
Real tech examples from Corazon Capital’s portfolio

💸 Sponsors

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Viralsweep – Create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways

🔗 Links

🎯 Work With Me

Want me to grow your Shopify store? Apply here
See what we’ve done for other merchants: View portfolio
Get my free newsletter for Shopify insights: Join here

🎧 The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster. Subscribe for weekly interviews with Shopify entrepreneurs and experts.

700K YouTube Subs to Shopify Sales

Cathy Yoder, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Her fans call her "The Queen of Air Fryers." She gave away recipes. Her fans demanded a cookbook. One $15 PDF later, Cathy Yoder had a 5-figure launch weekend—and she hasn't looked back. With over 700K subscribers, Cathy built a content-powered Shopify business that turns viewers into superfans (and customers).

In this episode, Cathy breaks down:

How to use YouTube as your #1 lead-gen channel
Building products based on comment section gold
What flopped, what worked, and why done > perfect
Integrating YouTube with Shopify for seamless sales

If you're a creator, a merchant, or both—this is the funnel playbook you've been waiting for.

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Boost AI Search & Filter – AI-powered search that converts

Work with Kurt:

Grow your Shopify store with me → ethercycle.com/apply
See how we help stores grow → ethercycle.com/work
Get my Shopify newsletter → kurtelster.com

Pit Viper: These Shades Print Money

Chris Garcin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Pit Viper isn’t for everyone. And that might be the secret to its success.

It starts with a guy on a ski trip. His sunglasses break. So, naturally, he walks into a military surplus store, finds an old pair of ballistic glasses from the early 90s, and thinks, these are perfect.

Fast forward a few years, and those surplus shades—once traded for beers and ski lifts—have turned into Pit Viper, a brand worth millions.

But here’s the question: how do you build a business that doesn’t just sell sunglasses, but sells attitude? A brand that’s loud, weird, and completely unignorable?

Today on the show: Chris Garcin, CEO of Pit Viper, explains how they took what should have been a joke and turned it into a cult phenomenon.

Links & Resources
🔗 Shop Pit Viper: www.pitviper.com
🎧 More stories like this: The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Work With Kurt
🚀 Want to grow your Shopify store? We help brands like yours increase conversions, improve UX, and drive more sales.
📩 Let’s talk: ethercycle.com/apply
🛠️ See how I’ve helped other brands: ethercycle.com/work
💡 Join my newsletter for no-BS ecommerce insights: kurtelster.com

Connect with Kurt:

💬 Twitter: @kurtinc
📩 Newsletter: kurtelster.com

Sponsors:

📈 Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
🔥 Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
📬 Viralsweep – Create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways.

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Leave a review on iTunes—it helps more Shopify merchants find the show!

Shopify Dev AMA: Store Spying, AI Tools, and Trends

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 Apr 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Two Shopify Partners get real in an AMA packed with listener questions. Store spying tricks, AI fails, bold 2025 predictions, a garage full of jacked-up cars, and a sneak peek at their next app.

What you’ll learn:

How to spy on Shopify stores using public endpoints and browser tools
What’s broken (and what’s promising) in Shopify’s new AI tools
How devs actually use ChatGPT to write Shopify code
Email marketing best practices, including double opt-in insights
A look behind the scenes at a new Shopify app in development

Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels: http://zipify.com/KURT
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Viralsweep – Run sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways: https://www.viralsweep.com/

Show Links:

Liquid Weekly: https://liquidweekly.com/
Editions.dev: https://editions.dev/pages/editions-dev
Tactical Baby Gear: https://tacticalbabygear.com/
Shopify AI Store Setup Tool: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/ai-store-generator-tool
Copy All URLs Chrome Extension: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/copy-all-urls/djdmadneanknadilpjiknlnanaolmbfk?hl=en
Store Leads: https://storeleads.app/reports/shopify

Work with Kurt:

Grow your Shopify store with me → https://ethercycle.com/apply
See our client results → https://ethercycle.com/work
Join my newsletter → https://kurtelster.com/

Lady Gaga’s on Shopify: Go Behind the Build

Kurt Elster, Michal Klim — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Lady Gaga has a new Shopify site. But this isn’t just a merch store. It’s a stage, a story, a digital home—built to evolve as fast as she does.

Her team needed something different. A site that could change overnight and feel as immersive as her albums. So they went headless, partnering with Commerce-UI, a Shopify agency known for pushing boundaries.

In this episode, Shopify Partner Michal Klim takes us inside the build:

How Hydrogen and Oxygen power a site that never stands still.
Why merch sales weren’t the top priority—and what was.
Why a “conversion-first” mindset wouldn’t work here—and what did.

It’s a story about what happens when a global superstar takes Shopify beyond ecommerce best practices.

🎧 Listen now on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is made by possible by our sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Address Validator – Reduce delivery address errors & costs

Special thanks to our friends at Shopify and to our listeners.

Show Links

Lady Gaga’s Shopify Store – See the site in action
Abracadabra! Building Lady Gaga's magical storefront experience on Hydrogen - Shopify Newsroom article
Commerce-UI – The agency behind Lady Gaga’s Shopify site
Shopify Hydrogen – Build headless commerce experiences
Shopify Oxygen – Deploy Hydrogen storefronts on Shopify’s infrastructure
Sanity CMS – Headless CMS used for editorial content

Work with Kurt

Want to optimize your Shopify store and grow your business? I help Shopify merchants like you increase conversions, streamline operations, and build standout online experiences.

Apply to work with me: Ethercycle
See how I’ve helped other brands: Recent Client Successes
Get my best Shopify insights: Join My Newsletter

Let’s make your Shopify store better, faster, and more profitable.

The Store That Won March Madness

Megan Smalley, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Megan Smalley didn’t plan to build a powerhouse ecommerce brand. Scarlet & Gold started as a creative side project—until she got laid off.

Fast forward 12 years, and Scarlet & Gold is one of the only women-owned businesses licensed for NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) merch on Shopify. This March, their Shopify sales are up 74.2% year-over-year—with over 53.6% of those sales tied to March Madness merchandise.

And here’s the kicker: 69.5% of their basketball sales come from just two NIL deals.

So how did she do it? What makes NIL merch so powerful? And what’s it really like running an ecommerce business that lives and dies by game-day hype?

That’s what we’re talking about today.

👉 Read more from Shopify’s newsroom: shopify.com/news/march-madness-entrepreneurs

Links & Resources

🔗 Check out Scarlet & Gold → scarletandgoldshop.com
🔗 Need custom merch? → scarletandgoldcustom.com

📌 Sponsors:

Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
Address Validator – Reduce delivery errors & costs

🎧 Enjoyed this episode?
Subscribe & leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube.

💡 Want to grow your Shopify store? Work with Kurt:

Apply for a strategy session → ethercycle.com/apply
See what we’ve built → ethercycle.com/work
Get my best Shopify insights → kurtelster.com

👥 Join Our Private Facebook Group:
Connect with other Shopify entrepreneurs → facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast

This is a story about ecommerce, sports, and the weird world of NIL merch.
It’s about how one Shopify store turned athlete partnerships into real growth.
And it’s about what happens when you take a risk—and it actually works.

10 Shopify Mistakes Killing Your Sales

Jay Myers, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Are you making one of these Shopify mistakes? If so, you’re losing sales. In this episode, The Unofficial Shopify Podcast host Kurt Elster teams up with Bold Commerce co-founder Jay Myers to reveal the top 10 mistakes that Shopify merchants make—some of which even big brands get wrong. From neglected checkouts to bloated main menus, they share simple, actionable fixes that can boost conversions and keep customers coming back.

What You’ll Learn:

The #1 checkout mistake that kills trust (and how to fix it in 60 seconds)
Why most subscription models fail—and the secret to making them work
The overlooked product page changes that increase add-to-cart rates
Why your main menu is confusing customers (and how to fix it)
How to stop relying on paid ads and build a business that lasts

Links & Resources:

Bold Commerce – Shopify apps for subscriptions, upsells, and more
Subscription Death Curve – Jay Myers' SubSummit Keynote
Shopify Markets – Sell globally from a single store
Shopify Checkout Customization – How to brand your checkout
Klaviyo – Email & SMS marketing for e-commerce
Master & Dynamic – Premium headphones with long-form product pages
Timbuk2 – Example of great product pages for bags
Tactical Baby Gear – Niche brand with strong storytelling
Clubhouse – Audio platform that rose to pandemic fame
“Jobs to Be Done” (JTBD) – Product innovation concept by Clayton Christensen
Seth Godin’s Blog – Marketing insights from Seth Godin

Connect with Kurt:

💬 Twitter: @kurtinc
📩 Newsletter: kurtelster.com
🚀 Work with Kurt: ethercycle.com/apply

Sponsors:

📈 Zipify – Build high-converting sales funnels
🔥 Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify
📬 Viralsweep – Create sweepstakes, contests, and giveaways.

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Leave a review on iTunes—it helps more Shopify merchants find the show!

Fart-Proof Underwear? This Shopify Brand Says Yes

Collin White, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Mar 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Imagine a world where your worst gas-related fears simply… disappear. No awkward moments, no subtle side-eye glances. Just peace, dignity, and activated carbon filters.

That’s the world Collin White and his father set out to create when they launched Tootles, a Shopify store selling flatulence-filtering underwear. At first, people laughed. But then, they listened. Because for people with digestive issues, this isn’t a joke—it’s a solution.

Today on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, Collin joins Kurt to talk about building a business in a deeply niche market, convincing manufacturers that fart-proof underwear is, in fact, a real thing, and finding customers who need his product (but don’t necessarily want to talk about it).

In this episode:

✔️ How Collin and his dad took Tootles from idea to reality
✔️ The science behind fart filtration (yes, it works)
✔️ Marketing a taboo product without making it a joke
✔️ How Tootles increases AOV with clever bundling
✔️ Why subscriptions aren’t always the answer for consumable products

Farts are funny. Business is serious. And somewhere in the middle, there’s a Shopify success story worth listening to.

Links & Resources

🔗 Tootles Website: WearTootles.com
🔗 Kurt’s Shopify Agency: Ethercycle.com
🔗 Judge.me (Review App Used by Tootles): Judge.me

Sponsors

🔗 Cleverific: cleverific.com/unofficial
🔗 Zipify: zipify.com/KURT
🔗 ViralSweep: apps.shopify.com/viralsweep

Obvi’s Ron Shah on Fails, Exits & Lessons Learned

Ron Shah, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:00:00 +0000

"You start with ‘there’s no way this is me.’ Then you question everything. Then, eventually, you realize—this really could be me."

Ron Shah built Obvi into a $100M+ powerhouse, with $40M in top-line revenue in 2024. But not every business he touched turned to gold. Today, Ron gets brutally honest about two brands he started—Coffee Over Cardio and Paw Rangers—that didn’t go as planned.

This isn’t your typical success story. Ron shares:

Why success in one business doesn’t guarantee success in another
The emotional toll of failure and the ego traps that cost him money
How to know when to walk away, pivot, or double down
What he’d do differently if he launched these brands today

Most founders only share their wins. Ron is sharing his losses. And why, in hindsight, they might be even more valuable.

Resources & Links

Follow Ron on Twitter: @obviceo
Check out Obvi: myobvi.com
Listen to Ron’s podcast, Chew On This: Listen here
coffeeovercardio
pawrangers.com

Sponsors

Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
Address Validator: https://www.addressvalidator.com/

Work With Kurt

Grow your Shopify store with me: ethercycle.com/apply
Join my newsletter for Shopify insights: kurtelster.com

📩 Enjoyed the episode? Leave a review and let us know what you think!

How a Twitter Account Became a Thriving Shopify Brand

David Lindahl, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 11:00:00 +0000

“Rainier Watch started as me shouting into the void about whether the mountain was out. Now, it’s a brand in REI. Didn’t see that coming.”

David Lindahl started Rainier Watch as a simple Twitter account—just a guy posting updates on whether Mount Rainier was visible that day. No business plan, no grand vision. Just a love for the mountain.

But then people started following. They started asking for stickers. And suddenly, David found himself running an e-commerce brand. What began as a hobby turned into a business selling apparel, getting into retail stores like REI, and building a loyal community of outdoor enthusiasts.

This week, we follow David’s journey—from side project to full-time business. How he scaled his Shopify store, navigated wholesale partnerships, and made every mistake possible before finally getting it right. Along the way, we look at what happens when an entrepreneur outgrows their own operation, the challenges of building a brand rooted in a specific place, and what it really takes to turn a passion into a sustainable business.

Links

🛍 Shop Rainier Watch: https://shop.rainierwatch.com/

Sponsors

💡 Cleverific – Smart order editing for Shopify: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
🚀 Zipify – Optimize your Shopify store with Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
📍 Address Validator – Prevent shipping mistakes before they happen: https://www.addressvalidator.com/

Work with Kurt

🔹 Grow your Shopify store with me: https://ethercycle.com/apply
📈 See our recent client successes: https://ethercycle.com/work

Reinventing Oral Care: The Slate Flosser Story

Brynn Snyder, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, Brynn Snyder, co-founder of Slate Flosser, shares how she and her dentist husband tackled one of the most overlooked aspects of health—flossing. Together, they reimagined oral care with a product that could prevent gum disease, heart issues, and more.

But flossing is just the beginning. This episode dives into their journey through a $194K Kickstarter campaign, battling knockoffs on Amazon, and scaling a Shopify store with sustainability and innovation at its core.

Brynn reveals the challenges and triumphs of creating a physical product, why subscription models are key to recurring revenue, and how staying passionate can make or break your business.

Flossing might not seem revolutionary—until you hear this story.

Show Links

Sponsors

Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
Address Validator: https://www.addressvalidator.com/

Work with Kurt

Grow your Shopify store with me: https://ethercycle.com/apply
See our recent client successes: https://ethercycle.com/work

Building Frizz + Co: Haircare, Shopify, and Community

Daphné Eastmond, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Feb 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Building Frizz + Co: Haircare, Shopify, and Community

Daphné Eastmond ditched the CPA grind to create Frizz + Co, a brand that says screw the stigma and celebrates textured hair. From her raw startup struggles to her bold in-person events, Daphne shares how she’s making haircare personal—and real.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

Why Daphne left accounting to launch Frizz + Co.
How her personal hair struggles inspired a hero product.
The scrappy marketing tactics that worked (and the ones that didn’t).
How in-person events became her secret growth weapon.
Lessons from bootstrapping, product seeding, and building a Shopify brand.

Links Mentioned:

Frizz + Co: https://frizzhair.co
Connect with Daphne: Instagram @frizz.co

Sponsors:

Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Boost Filter & Search: https://apps.shopify.com/product-filter-search

CTA:
Subscribe for more Shopify insights and stories like this! [Insert subscription link]

Why Shopify’s Planet App is Good for Business (and the Earth)

David Vranicar, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 11:00:00 +0000

“Why not try it? Planet is low-risk, easy to configure, and can have a meaningful impact on your brand and the planet.”

Discover how Shopify Planet helps merchants make a positive environmental impact while boosting customer trust and conversions. David Vranicar, Shopify’s sustainability operations lead, explains how this innovative app enables carbon-neutral shipping with zero hassle. Learn how it works, why it benefits your business, and what it means for your customers.

Show Links
Shopify Planet: https://apps.shopify.com/planet
Reach out to the Planet team: planet [at] shopify.com

Sponsors:
Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Boost Filter & Search: https://apps.shopify.com/product-filter-search

Work with Kurt:

Grow your Shopify store with me: https://ethercycle.com/apply
See our recent client successes: https://ethercycle.com/work
Join my newsletter for Shopify insights: https://kurtelster.com/

🎙️ The Unofficial Shopify Podcast – Your go-to resource for actionable ecommerce insights.

Montana Knife Company: American-Made Knife Empire

Brandon Horoho, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 11:00:00 +0000

What if your side hustle turned into an 8-figure brand selling out every week?

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DxGxZ20rfQI

Montana Knife Company’s Brandon Horoho shares the journey from launching during COVID to building a global brand rooted in American manufacturing. Discover how MKC redefined success with transparency, customer engagement, and relentless marketing.

Episode Highlights:

Why MKC chose Shopify as their platform and how it drives their success.
The secrets behind MKC’s 120+ consecutive weekly product sellouts.
How owning your email list can outshine ad spend.
Building a thriving direct-to-consumer brand in a competitive market.
The challenges and rewards of investing in local manufacturing.
What’s next for MKC: Pocket knives and a 50,000 sq. ft. facility.

About Brandon Horoho:
Brandon Horoho is the co-founder and CMO of Montana Knife Company, an American-made knife brand that has taken the DTC world by storm. With weekly product drops and an obsessive focus on quality, MKC has grown from a garage startup to an 8-figure powerhouse in just four years.

Show Links
Montana Knife Company: https://montanaknifecompany.com
Follow MKC on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montanaknifecompany
Work with Kurt: https://ethercycle.com/

Sponsors:
Cleverific: https://cleverific.com/unofficial
Zipify: http://zipify.com/KURT
Address Validator: https://www.addressvalidator.com/

Work with Kurt:
Grow your Shopify store with me: https://ethercycle.com/apply
See our recent client successes: https://ethercycle.com/work

Growing a Supps Brand to $70M in 2.5 Years

Devyn Merklyn, Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Devyn Merklin, former CMO of Livingood Daily, shares the raw truth behind scaling a supplement brand to $70M in annual revenue. From relentless testing to mastering Shopify funnels, Devyn provides a thoughtful analysis of the strategies that worked, the mistakes that taught valuable lessons, and how brands can apply these insights to their own growth journeys.

Links

People

Brands

Apps

Tools

Services

Sponsors

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Never miss an episode

Avoiding CRO myths

Oliver Kenyon, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Jan 2025 11:00:00 +0000

“Look, if you redesign your grocery store and I can’t find the chicken or checkout clerk I like, I’m shopping somewhere else.”

How do you turn clicks into customers without falling for CRO myths? Oliver Kenyon, CEO of ConversionWise, exposes the lazy habits holding Shopify stores back and shares proven strategies to boost sales. It’s all about clarity, problem-solving, and delivering customer value—no gimmicks, just real results. This episode is packed with actionable insights to transform your Shopify store into a revenue machine.

Links

Oliver Kenyon

Oliver's ConversionWise

Kurt Elster (Host)

Sponsors

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Never miss an episode

How This Athlete Built a $10M Sock Brand

Rob Fraser, Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000

"I wanted to create a product that could be the yoga pant for the foot."

Rob Fraser, former pro cyclist and the founder of Outway, believes socks should do more than cover your feet. Drawing from his background in sport, Fraser has crafted a brand that blends durability with everyday style. In this episode, he shares the unlikely story of how a thousand-dollar loan sparked a $10 million business, tapping into the potential of a $50 billion market. What follows is a lesson in resilience, as Fraser discusses growth, innovation, and the quest to make socks worthy of serious consumer loyalty.

Sponsors

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Never miss an episode

Why Mizzen+Main’s $100M Founder Left to Build a Baby Monitor

Kevin Lavelle, Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Kevin Lavelle’s got a knack for big ideas and starting fresh. First, he took on menswear with Mizzen+Main, bringing performance fabric to dress shirts and making them a hit with pro athletes and office rebels alike. Now he’s back with something new—a baby monitor. Yep, from dress shirts to baby tech. In this episode, he breaks down the whole journey: the wild beginnings, early mistakes, and how he built a brand from scratch, twice. It’s a sharp take on the wins, the losses, and why some ideas just stick around until you finally make them happen.

Episode Highlights:

How Kevin’s “aha” moment led to Mizzen+Main’s success.
The surprising lessons from scaling a DTC menswear brand.
Transitioning from clothing to tech: Why Kevin started Harbor.
Kevin’s experience with early product mistakes and customer trust.
The power of influencer partnerships and wholesale growth.
How a Tim Ferriss podcast ad skyrocketed Mizzen+Main’s sales.
What it takes to launch a product parents trust with their kids.

Mentioned in This Episode

Brands & Businesses

People Mentioned

Sponsors

Help the Show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Support the show by leaving a review and subscribing

What’s Kurt Up To?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store

Never Miss an Episode

Turning Scratched Lenses into 8 Figures

Brandon Dill, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000

“We’re doing about 1,500 pairs a day… we’re gonna hit eight figures this year, probably next year for sure.”

You know that favorite pair of sunglasses you can’t throw away? Brandon Dill turned that frustration into an 8-figure business. He’s the founder of Fuse Lenses, a brand built on bringing those scratched shades back to life.

In this episode, we trace Brandon’s journey from side hustle to scaling a manufacturing business, built on curiosity, ingenuity, and a lot of hustle. But it’s not all smooth sailing—Brandon dives into the realities of cash flow struggles, seasonal peaks, and the surprising challenges of bootstrapping. And as his company grows, he reflects on what success truly means when passion becomes a job.

Sponsors

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Never miss an episode

Shopify’s New Customer Accounts

Patrick Millegan, Kurt Elster — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 14:45:00 +0000

Tired of logging into five different portals just to make a return? Shopify says enough. Patrick Millegan joins Kurt Elster to talk about the new customer account extensions, designed to simplify logins, reduce support headaches, and make online shopping enjoyable again. It’s a step forward for UX that proves e-commerce should be easy for everyone.

Sponsors

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Never miss an episode

Smart Marketer Live Recap

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Mindset, AI, and ghost hunting— Smart Marketer Live wasn’t your typical marketing event. We break down the big ideas that got us thinking (and laughing) in Denver. You'll get an inside look at the conference, featuring attendee interviews that explore themes like artificial intelligence in business, strategic reinvestment, and the evolving role of mindset in small business success.

Sponsors

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Never miss an episode

Building a Successful Shopify App & Community

Harshdeep Singh Hura, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Dec 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Harshdeep Singh Hura didn’t just stumble into the Shopify partner community—he helped build it. In this episode, we meet the first-ever recipient of the Shopify Community Award, whose open-source projects now power nearly 8% of the app ecosystem.

Harshdeep shares his 10-year journey, from hacking together iOS apps as a teenager to leading a full-service Shopify agency, and ultimately shifting his focus to empowering developers and merchants alike. We delve into the art of app development—where solving real problems beats engineering perfection—and explore how community, open-source contributions, and a touch of humor shaped Harshdeep’s path. Along the way, we hear tales of triumph, a few bumps in the road, and why one app is designed to show clown emojis to would-be copycats.

Listen in for a conversation that goes beyond code to capture the heart of what it means to thrive in the Shopify ecosystem.

Sponsors

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

10,000 UX Audits Later: How Oddit Boosts Shopify Sales (Without Data or Meetings)

Shaun Brandt, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 11:00:00 +0000

What if you could boost your Shopify sales without relying on data or endless meetings? Oddit's unconventional approach has turned heads—stripping away feedback loops, simplifying designs, and focusing on clarity above all else. Oddit co-founder Shaun Brandt joins to share his experience delivering over 10,000 UX audits, helping brands increase conversions by fixing the basics.

🎯 Episode Highlights:

Why Oddit doesn’t rely on data for UX audits and what makes their approach work.
The most common mistakes Shopify stores make with navigation and communication.
How Shaun’s team has optimized over 10,000 stores using clear, actionable design improvements.
Why simplifying the user experience drives more conversions.
The anti-agency model Oddit uses and why it’s so effective.
How Oddit helps brands increase conversions without endless meetings or feedback loops.
The importance of clarity over cleverness in online store design.

👤 About Shaun Brandt:
Shaun Brandt is the co-founder of Oddit, a UX design firm known for its unique approach to conversion optimization. With over 10,000 audits under their belt, Oddit helps Shopify merchants strip away the fluff and focus on what really matters: clarity and user experience. Shaun’s team specializes in delivering high-value audits without the typical meetings and feedback loops, offering merchants clear, actionable improvements that drive results.

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From $800K to $26M: Depesh Mandalia’s Facebook Ads Story

Depesh Mandalia, Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 11:00:00 +0000

“It’s truly magic. That’s the word I use internally to describe what we’re doing here.”

What if you could turn $800K into $26 million in just 18 months—using nothing but Facebook ads? That’s exactly what Depesh Mandalia did. In this episode, he breaks down how he went from figuring out Facebook ads the hard way to running an agency that’s managed over $100 million in client revenue. Depesh doesn’t hold back on the real wins, the messy failures, and the lessons learned from scaling campaigns that most of us can only dream about.

We dig into why creative is king, how to survive the iOS 14 apocalypse, and why scaling ads gets easier once you’ve cracked the code. Plus, there’s a surprising ad campaign involving a 1-star review that somehow… worked.

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The Black Friday Email Guide for Real-World Brands

Kurt Elster, Colby Kane — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 11:00:00 +0000

“Honestly, I think my best customers don’t even look at the discounts. They get the email, see the new pants, and just say, ‘I want them.’”

Black Friday: the annual marketing frenzy brands prep for all year. Kurt Elster sits down with Colby Kane of Aviator USA, who has a refreshingly different approach. No cringe sales gimmicks, just a smart, no-nonsense plan. Colby shares his early-access tactics, simple email flows, and why staying low-key can outperform loud, constant discounting. They dig into why subtle beats loud, how to run discounts without gutting brand value, and how a straightforward plan is the real power move. If you’re ready for a fresh, real-world approach to Black Friday, this episode’s your blueprint.

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How Downpay Solves Payment Challenges | The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Diana Birsan, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Nov 2024 11:00:00 +0000

"I can't stop talking about partial payment, apparently." – Diana Birsan

Co-founder of Downpay and former Shopify Product Manager, Diana Birsan, joins us to break down how she built Downpay, the app that lets merchants offer partial payments for pre-orders, custom-made products, and more. It’s a potential game-changer for stores with long lead times and high-ticket items. Diana shares how she made the leap from a stable gig at Shopify to starting her own thing. Want to know how partial payments could boost your sales? This episode has the answers.

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How Shopify Built a Financial Hub to Empower Entrepreneurs

Vikram Anreddy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

“It’s truly magic. That’s the word I use internally to describe what we’re doing here.”

We chat with Vikram Anreddy, Head of Product for Finance at Shopify, about how Shopify is making money management way easier for merchants. Taxes, loans, cash flow—it’s all getting simplified with Shopify Finance, a one-stop shop for all your business finances. Vikram walks us through how this whole idea came about, what problems they’re solving, and what’s next. If managing your money has ever made you want to pull your hair out, this one’s for you. Plus, who knew taxes could be this easy?

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TikTok Shop Made This Stationary Store Go Viral

Josh Hadley, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

“Most brands just send out samples and then it’s done. We go the extra mile that 99% of brands do not do.”

Building a multi-million dollar business typically involves more than wedding invitations and viral TikToks. Yet for Josh Hadley, it began precisely there. In this episode, he recounts the evolution of his e-commerce brand, Hadley Designs, from a niche stationery shop to an 8-figure operation navigating the complex terrain of Amazon and Shopify. The conversation with Kurt Elster explores how TikTok Shop became a surprising growth catalyst, offering a modern twist on the age-old challenge of acquiring customers. Hadley’s story offers a glimpse into the future of retail, where scaling hinges on the power of social media and the unpredictability of going viral. Tune in to hear how Josh took viral hits and turned them into a full-blown growth strategy

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PR Strategy for Shopify Stores

Gloria Chou, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

“PR is the highest leverage activity, and we’re not taught that because it’s easier to just create a reel and hope it goes viral.”

In this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, we meet Gloria Chou, a PR coach on a mission to break down the barriers of traditional media. Gloria didn’t take the expected path into public relations—she reinvented it. She shares how she went from diplomat to helping small businesses earn coveted media spots in outlets like Forbes and The New York Times, using her unique CPR method for pitching. We explore the quiet power of PR, how to land a spot in a holiday gift guide, and why PR might just be the secret weapon for Shopify entrepreneurs looking to grow.

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SHOP CAMPAIGNS: Deep Dive

Andrius Baranauskas, Nathan Onesian, Nick Daniels, Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/djnSFyBsB7M

We explore Shopify’s latest updates to simplify customer acquisition through its Shop Campaigns tool.

Host Kurt Elster talks with Shopify's Andrius Baranauskas, Product Director for Shop Campaigns, Shopify's not-so-secret weapon for getting new customers on autopilot.

Later, Nathan Onesian, Director of Ecommerce from melin, and Nick Daniels, Senior Ecommerce Manager, from OluKai spill how Shop Campaigns turned into their secret weapon for scaling fast.

Key Takeaways:

What is Shop Campaigns and how it simplifies customer acquisition
The power of Shop Cash to incentivize purchases
New features to win backlapsed customers with incentives on Shop
Real-world success stories from top Shopify brands

Guests:
Andrius Baranauskas, Product Directorat Shopify
Nathan Onesian, Director of Ecommerce at melin
Nick Daniels, Senior Ecommerce Manager at OluKai

Links:

Shop Campaigns
[Shop Campaigns video] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rddSHVroIcc)
Shop.app
Melin
OluKai

Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more insights into growing your Shopify store!

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Meet $100M+ Chubbies Co-Founder Kyle Hency

Kyle Hency, Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000

“I’m a builder. I want to be building a team, building an exceptional product, and competing every day.”

Kyle Hency had a simple goal: create a brand that speaks authentically to men like him. What started as a fun idea among friends quickly grew into Chubbies, a $100M+ brand known for its short shorts and unapologetic personality. In this episode, Kyle reflects on the early days of experimenting with marketing, the challenges of scaling, and the unexpected lessons learned along the way. We explore how he transitioned from building Chubbies to co-founding Loop Returns, and now, his latest venture, GoodDay Software, an ERP solution for Shopify merchants. It’s a journey of reinvention, risk, and relentless pursuit of creating something new—while keeping things fun.

Show Links

GoodDay Software
Chubbies
Loop Returns
Kyle’s favorite book: That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph
Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn and Twitter

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Top Pickleball Creator's Video Content Strategy

Connor Hance, Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000

"Our number one best-selling product… it’s called the Dink Master."

Enhance Pickleball's Connor Hance shares his incredible journey from college tennis player to the leading content creator and entrepreneur in the fast-growing world of pickleball.

🎯 Episode Highlights:

Connor's transition from tennis to pickleball during the pandemic.
How Connor’s first product sold over $1,000 a day on Amazon.
The viral content strategy that grew his YouTube channel to 100 million views.
Building a six-figure business without paid advertising.
Insights into product development and scaling an e-commerce brand.
Connor’s advice on leveraging social media to drive brand growth.
The importance of learning from industry experts and peers.

👤 About Connor Hance:
Connor Hance, a former D1 tennis player for UCLA, stumbled into the world of pickleball during the pandemic. What started as a casual interest quickly turned into a thriving business. Today, Connor is known as the #1 content creator in the pickleball community, with his brand Enhance Pickleball dominating both on Amazon and across social media platforms. From his early days taping pickleball courts at his parents’ tennis facility to launching a successful line of pickleball products, Connor’s story is one of passion, perseverance, and smart content strategy.

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How a Reddit Post Led to a $5M Skincare Brand

Austin Beals, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Hear how Austin Beals hacked his way out of a chronic skin condition to create Dermazen, a skincare brand that’s bringing in $5 million a year. No investors, no BS— just one man’s obsessive quest to relieve his own seborrheic dermatitis symptoms that turned into a product line changing lives. Austin talks about bootstrapping with a small SBA loan, leveraging niche Reddit communities, and the guerilla marketing tactics that propelled his brand into the big leagues. This is the blueprint for turning your personal problems into a game-changing business.

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Inside the Shadowy World of Returns Fraud

Shoshanah Posner, Scott Gifis, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Tackle the increasingly troubling issue of returns fraud in the e-commerce world. As return fraud rises, this once-overlooked issue is now a major concern for online retailers. You'll learn how fraudsters are gaming the system and the wild, often unnoticed, methods they're using to rip off small businesses. Brace yourself for a journey into the less-talked-about side of your shopping cart. Join us as we explore the critical steps needed to combat this growing challenge.

Show Links

nofraud.com - check out their blog which has resources on return fraud, covering all the different types & prevention strategies

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Boost Conversions with Build Grow Scale’s CRO Tips

Matthew Stafford, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000

“Most Shopify themes are built by developers to create an online store catalog, not a converting funnel.”

In this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, Kurt Elster talks with Matthew Stafford, the CEO of BuildGrowScale, about finding success in e-commerce. Stafford, who went from selling t-shirts to mastering conversion rate optimization (CRO), shares his journey and offers practical advice for Shopify store owners. He discusses how to boost conversion rates, improve site speed, and create better user experiences. Whether you’re an experienced store owner or just starting out, Stafford’s insights will help you navigate the challenges of online retail and achieve lasting success. Tune in for a mix of compelling stories and actionable tips that can transform your e-commerce business.

Show Links

BuildGrowScale

Microsoft Clarity

Lucky Orange

Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

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Goodsellas: Why Movie Spoof Ads are Total Genius

Kurt Elster, Molly Pittman — Tue, 27 Aug 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Step into the rebellious side of marketing with this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. Molly Pittman from Smart Marketer joins to rip up the rulebook on conventional advertising. We dive into the creation of "Goodsellas," a grassroots, "Goodfellas"-inspired commercial that flips traditional marketing on its head. Their conversation reveals the intricacies of creating a commercial that’s not just a spoof, but a smart, cost-effective marketing strategy. This episode is more than just a behind-the-scenes glimpse; it’s an invitation to reconsider the power and potential of creative thinking in the digital marketplace, challenging listeners to think differently about the intersection of commerce, culture, and creativity.

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Insider Tips on Buying & Selling Shopify Stores

Gregory Elfrink, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 10:00:00 +0000

"Buying a business is so much faster than building one and so much safer if you buy big enough."

Also on YouTube: youtu.be/BuDtoDsC4tA

Get the inside scoop on buying and selling Shopify stores from Gregory Elfrink at Empire Flippers. From the highs of a $13 million payday to the lows of emotional burnout, Gregory spills the secrets and dirty truths of the business game. Gregory, with over eight years of experience, shares valuable insights on the benefits of acquiring an established business, essential steps for preparing a store for sale, and key factors influencing business valuation. If you're ready to play big and cash in, this episode is your backstage pass to the raw, unfiltered realities of the e-commerce hustle.

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Inside Shopify’s Major Checkout Upgrade

Michael Elmgreen, Blake Waldron, Brett Fish, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fIDw3fvPPgI

Unpack the intricacies of Shopify's Checkout Extensibility— a feature poised to revolutionize online commerce.

Michael Elmgreen, Shopify's Product Director, discusses the rationale behind this upgrade, enhancing security and streamlining customization.
Blake Waldron provides a developer's-eye view of the migration, shedding light on the nuanced challenges and opportunities it presents.
Brett Fish navigates the complex terrain of data layer implementation, ensuring that critical marketing integrations remain intact. \

With global commerce evolving, this episode offers a sophisticated look at the future of digital checkouts, where efficiency and innovation converge.

Show Links

Shopify Help Center: Checkout Extensibility
Shopify App: Checkout Blocks (recently acquired by Shopify!)
Checkout Extensibility Upgrade
Shopify Help Center: Customer Events
Convert Digital
Checkout Components - They're offering 30% off any plan for 12 months to listeners through that landing page!
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Building a Sustainable Activewear Brand from Scratch

Mary Bemis, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Aug 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Reprise Activewear founder Mary Bemis takes us through her incredible journey from launching a Kickstarter campaign to building a sustainable activewear brand that has caught the attention of Self Magazine and The View. She opens up about the gritty realities of bootstrapping—dealing with shady manufacturers, losing thousands, and balancing a day job while building her brand. This episode is a deep dive into the world of sustainable fashion, offering inspiration and practical advice for entrepreneurs looking to make a difference. Listen in to hear how Mary turned her passion for a healthier lifestyle into a thriving business.

Show Links

Reprise Activewear

Functional Fabric Fair

Reprise on Kickstarter

IG:repriseactivewear

IG:@maryb612

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The Declining Churn Fallacy

Daniel McCarthy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Get ready for a deep dive into what really makes customers stick around or peace out. Professor Daniel McCarthy unravels the myths around churn rates and why a low number isn't always a high-five moment for businesses. If data drives your decisions, this episode is an indispensable resource for anyone navigating the complexities of subscription businesses.

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How Dapper Boi is Smashing Fashion's Gender Limits

Vicky Pasche, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Vicky Pasche, a Shark Tank alum and co-founder of Dapper Boi, reveals how a personal quest for authenticity led to the creation of a groundbreaking apparel line.

Dapper Boi's innovative apparel line challenges traditional fashion norms by offering all-gender, size-inclusive clothing. Vicky discusses her journey from personal struggle to entrepreneurial success, touching on the brand's origins, its pivotal appearance on Shark Tank, and its commitment to fostering inclusivity in fashion. Explore how Dapper Boi has navigated industry challenges and cultivated a loyal customer base through a distinct business model that emphasizes authenticity and body positivity. Join us to understand the impact of socially conscious entrepreneurship in the rapidly evolving fashion industry.

Tune in to this inspiring episode to grasp how passion and perseverance can revolutionize an industry. Subscribe for more stories of innovation and transformation in the ecommerce world.

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Unlocking Shopify Flow

Paul Nuschke, Matti Pihlainen, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Unlocking Shopify Flow: Automation Insights with Paul Nuschke & Matti Pihlainen

In this bonus episode we dive deep into the world of Shopify Flow with two remarkable guests. Paul Nuschke, the Senior Product Lead at Shopify, and Matti Pihlainen, a successful merchant who implemented Flow at Full Cycle, join us to explore the power of automation in e-commerce.

Episode Highlights:

Introduction to Shopify Flow: What it is and how it can transform your business.
Key features and recent updates in Shopify Flow.
Matti Pihlainen's success story with Full Cycle.
Practical applications and creative uses of Shopify Flow.
Getting started with Shopify Flow: Tips and best practices.
Troubleshooting common issues and maximizing Flow’s potential.
Future developments and exciting new features in Shopify Flow.

About Paul Nuschke:
Paul Nuschke is a leading figure at Shopify, responsible for the development and growth of Shopify Flow. With a passion for automation and efficiency, Paul has dedicated his career to creating tools that empower merchants to streamline their operations. Before joining Shopify, Paul had a diverse career in tech, contributing to several groundbreaking projects and innovations. His insights and expertise have made him a sought-after speaker and a respected voice in the e-commerce community.

About Matti Pihlainen:
Matti Pihlainen is a pioneering merchant and the owner of Full Cycle, a successful bike shop in Ottawa. Matti has creatively leveraged Shopify Flow to automate and optimize various aspects of his business, resulting in significant time savings and operational efficiency. His hands-on experience and innovative approach offer invaluable insights for other merchants looking to harness the power of Shopify Flow.

Sponsors

Zipify

Cleverific

If you enjoyed this episode, please review and subscribe for more insights into the world of e-commerce and Shopify. Don’t forget to check out our previous episodes and follow our guests on social media for the latest updates and tips.

Additional Resources:

Chalet Nursery’s Shopify POS Implementation

Lawson Thalmann, Kurt Elster — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DcptOEqEACw

Join Kurt Elster, host of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, as he sits down with Lawson Thalmann, CTO of Chalet Nursery, to discuss how they’ve transformed their family business with Shopify POS. Lawson shares insights into their journey from legacy systems to cutting-edge retail technology.

Guest Background: Lawson Thalmann, CTO of Chalet Nursery, has been at the forefront of integrating technology into the family business. Started by his great-grandfather in 1917, Chalet Nursery is a local institution in Wilmette, Illinois. Lawson joined the business officially seven years ago, bringing a tech-savvy approach to retail operations. His first major project was moving their sales online with Shopify, a groundbreaking move for the garden center industry. Lawson’s passion for innovation has kept Chalet Nursery ahead of the curve, from mobile POS systems to advanced UI extensions.

Visit Chalet Nursery: chaletnursery.com

Shopify POS: shopify.com/pos

Mastering Shopify App Development

Mat De Sousa, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Sit down with the insightful Mat De Sousa, a trailblazing Shopify app developer whose creations, Wide Bundle and Wide Review, have generated enviable annual recurring revenues. His story is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit that flourishes within the Shopify community and serves as inspiration for anyone looking to innovate in this space.

Listen in as we explore the art of transforming a simple idea into a thriving Shopify app. By honing in on customer pain points, asking the right questions, and targeting niche markets, we unravel how app developers can create solutions that resonate with users, save time, and conserve resources, all while paving the way for a successful product launch.

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Shopify Magic Media Editor

Mary Bemis, Kurt Elster — Fri, 5 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Mary Bemis, the founder of Reprise Activewear, shares her experience using Shopify’s Magic Media Editor and its AI features.

Guest Background: Mary Bemis founded Reprise Activewear six years ago, starting with a successful Kickstarter campaign. Her brand focuses on sustainability, using plant-based materials to create high-quality activewear. Despite bootstrapping her business, Mary has grown Reprise into a notable brand in the sustainable fashion industry. She leverages her hands-on approach to handle everything from website building to product fulfillment, making her an exemplary figure for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Episode Highlights:

Introduction to Shopify's Magic Media Editor and its AI features.
How Reprise Activewear transitioned from Kickstarter to Shopify.
The impact of the Magic Media Editor on Mary's workflow.
Tips and tricks for using the AI tools effectively.
The benefits of Shopify's support and educational resources.
How the Magic Media Editor saves time and money.
Creative uses of AI for ecommerce marketing.

Guest Background:
Mary Bemis founded Reprise Activewear six years ago, starting with a successful Kickstarter campaign. Her brand focuses on sustainability, using plant-based materials to create high-quality activewear. Despite bootstrapping her business, Mary has grown Reprise into a notable brand in the sustainable fashion industry. She leverages her hands-on approach to handle everything from website building to product fulfillment, making her an exemplary figure for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Links:

Editions.dev 2024 Trip Report

Mac King, Anne Thomas, Kurt Elster, Harley Finkelstein, Paul Reda — Tue, 2 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mi3iKmZBxRE

We’ve got all the highlights from the Shopify Editions.dev conference in Toronto. With exclusive insights from Harley Finkelstein, Shopify's president, we unpack the exciting upcoming updates designed to keep the Shopify intuitive admin interface effortless for all merchants, big and small.

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Is Faire is a Must-Have for Wholesale?

Emily Grey, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0000

"Faire really helps us connect and buy wholesale merchandise, and it's cheaper than trade shows."

Discover how 'FAIRE really helps us connect and buy wholesale merchandise,' as Emily Grey of Flourish Market explains the transformative effects of integrating Faire with Shopify, a B2B platform for retailers to buy products for their shops.

Emily offers key insights into pricing strategies and tackles common wholesale challenges. Learn how leveraging Faire can transform your retail business. Tune in for actionable advice on optimizing your e-commerce setup through Faire and Shopify.

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Affiliate Marketing's New Content Code

Noah Tucker, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Get the inside scoop on how to revolutionize your affiliate content game. It's not just about what you say, but how you say it. Dive into the strategies that are setting today's affiliate marketers apart from the pack.

Forget what you thought you knew about affiliate marketing; it's not just bloggers and review sites anymore. We're talking influencers, social media creators, and yes, even your own customers turning into affiliate powerhouses.

Noah breaks down the nuts and bolts of setting up a modern affiliate program. We dive into the mechanics and the mindset needed to turn your customers into your biggest advocates. Think about it: customers who love your brand can now champion it, and get a piece of the pie too. And if you're wondering how TikTok fits into this puzzle, we've got you covered. Noah shares insights on leveraging this platform to manufacture virality through short-form content, a strategy that's as intriguing as it is effective.

But wait, there's more. We tackle the nuances of tracking sales, using landing pages effectively, and why engagement with smaller influencers might just be your golden ticket.

Tune in to unravel the secrets of modern affiliate marketing and discover how you can turn your e-commerce store into a magnet for both customers and affiliates.

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Slumberkins: From Craft Fairs to Shark Tank

Kelly Oriard, Callie Christensen, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Also available with video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/-qxIqPtAYhE

Join us as we explore the journey of Kelly Oriard and Kaylee Christensen, founders of Slumberkins, an emotional wellness brand dedicated to fostering children's self-esteem and mindfulness.

Learn how these educators-turned-entrepreneurs brought Bigfoot and Sloth to life and navigated high-stakes environments like Shark Tank and the Silicon Valley Bank crash.
Discover how their focus on transparency, authenticity, and community support transformed challenges into opportunities, leading to a TV show with the Jim Henson Company.
Tune in to hear their practical strategies for building a resilient brand in the children's market and how they balance creativity and business.

Subscribe now for insightful stories and actionable advice.

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Shopify & SEO Tactics

Jason Berkowitz, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Join us with SEO expert Jason Berkowitz as we dissect e-commerce SEO. We're cutting through the noise of AI content and zeroing in on standout strategies. It's all about making your site visible online, illustrated by a case study on an outdoor sports gear brand. We're not just talking SEO basics; we're giving you actionable strategies for Shopify stores to turn browsers into buyers. We go beyond headings, exploring how articles can drive traffic to products. Plus, we're unpacking the real deal with SEO tools and Shopify's role in e-commerce. Tune in for insights that could transform your digital strategy.

Episode Highlights:

Jason’s Journey in SEO - From a self-proclaimed SEO weirdo to the founder of Break the Web.
Evolution of SEO - How SEO strategies have changed from 2009 to today.
Impact of AI on SEO - Navigating the challenges and opportunities AI presents to search engine optimization.
Common SEO Frustrations - Addressing the common annoyances and misconceptions in SEO.
Effective Keyword Research - Tools and techniques for finding the right keywords.
On-Page vs. Off-Page SEO - Understanding the balance and importance of both.
Link Building Strategies - Practical tips for earning quality backlinks.

Guest Background:

Jason Berkowitz has been a prominent figure in the SEO industry since 2009. As the founder and SEO Director of Break the Web, he has helped numerous DTC brands enhance their online presence. Known for his transparent and results-driven approach, Jason has been a trusted advisor to in-house marketing teams, helping them navigate the complexities of SEO. Outside of his professional achievements, Jason is passionate about demystifying SEO and making it accessible to all.

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Tune in to learn the secrets of successful SEO from one of the industry's leading experts!

Buying Over Building a Business

Drew Sanocki, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000

"It's just a hell of a lot easier to optimize a business than to start something from scratch."

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/tbVh1J1sOEQ

Drew Sanocki has a knack for transforming struggling businesses into profitable ventures. In this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, host Kurt Elster taps into Drew's extensive experience to uncover the strategies that have driven his success. With over two decades in e-commerce, Drew shares why he often opts to buy businesses rather than starting from scratch. He reveals how this approach allows him to leverage existing assets and customer bases for quick wins and sustainable growth. Drew also gives listeners a peek into the key tactics that have helped him revive and profit from these acquisitions. If you’re looking to shake up your marketing strategy or simply want a fresh perspective on growth, this conversation is for you.

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Katanas, Candy, & a Billion Views

Isaac Medeiros, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DFUi5Cq8Yuo

We're slicing deep into the world of e-commerce with Isaac Medeiros, the man behind MiniKatana and Kanpai Foods. After using TikTok to sell out of his swords, he's become bearish on the platform and gone all in on YouTube Shorts. Isaac's ingenious marketing on YouTube Shorts has racked up a billion views and millions of subscribers. More recently, Isaac has built a manufacturing facility in LA and begun producing his own line of candy called Kanpai Foods. It's a tale of adaptability, understanding market dynamics, and seizing opportunities that others might miss. Get ready to unwrap layers of insights, from viral content creation to the real pains of launching a consumer goods brand.

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Glam-Aholic: From Blog to $50M Fashion Brand

Mia Ray, Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Detroit's Mia Ray took her passion for fashion from a blog to a $50M Glam-aholic empire

Watch: https://youtu.be/OqGQTRpjuJQ

From her roots in Detroit, Mia dishes on turning a passion for fashion into a flourishing lifestyle empire, all while keeping it real and relatable.

We dive into the highs and lows of building a brand, the game-changing role of social media, and how staying true to yourself can be your biggest asset in business.

Expect unfiltered insights and raw stories from the frontline of building a business against all odds.

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The Business of Star Wars Nostalgia

Mike Freeman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 May 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Could you turn your geeky hobby into a thriving business?

In this week’s episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, we follow Mike Freeman, the mastermind behind Fourth Moon Toys, as he shares his transformative journey from a casual Star Wars collector to the owner of a booming online and retail business. Drawing on his experiences from the early days of internet trading to launching a niche market venture on Shopify, Mike reveals the challenges and triumphs of turning a passionate hobby into a successful enterprise. Tune in to discover how community engagement and a steadfast commitment to authenticity have shaped his business ethos and hear Mike’s insights on the evolving landscape of collectibles. Whether you're a collector, a Star Wars enthusiast, or an entrepreneur at heart, this episode offers a compelling look at the intersections of nostalgia, commerce, and innovation.

Key Takeaways

Niche Knowledge is Power: Mike's deep understanding of Star Wars collectibles, down to the most minute details, has set Fourth Moon Toys apart in a competitive market.

Community Engagement is Crucial: Actively participating in the collector community not only enhances credibility but also fosters a loyal customer base.

Authenticity Builds Trust: Rigorous authentication processes ensure that customers receive genuine collectibles, solidifying trust and encouraging repeat business.

Flexibility in Business Models: Transitioning from an online-only model to embracing physical retail can open new avenues for growth and customer interaction.

Long-term Vision: Like Shopify's approach to business, focusing on long-term relationships and reputation over quick profits is vital for sustainable success.

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Chatbots Aren't Dead: How AI Is Selling Backpacks

Kurt Elster, Jake Starr — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

We're talking AI chatbots as a top of funnel marketing medium with Recycled Firefighter founder Jake Starr. Jake spills the tea on turning his unique products (recycled firehose American flags!) into a digital sensation earning 20,000 email subscribers monthly, thanks to his new chatty AI sidekick. Dive into the fun and quirky world of Jake's creation 'Josh' the sales bot, and uncover how AI is the secret sauce to customer engagement and skyrocketing sales. It's a blend of old-school crafting meets new-school tech. If you're looking for a new top of funnel strategy to engage prospective customers, this is it.

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Streamlining SEO on Shopify

Patrick Rice, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Did you know over 60% of online experiences start with a search engine? In e-commerce, visibility in these search results is crucial for success.

This episode dives into SEO Tools & Tactics for Shopify. Joining us is experienced SEO professional Patrick Rice, who shares the strategies and tools he uses with his Shopify clients.

We delve into the practical use of tools like SEMrush, Matrixify, and ChatGPT, exploring their impact on online store visibility. Patrick provides valuable insights on selecting the right keywords and effectively optimizing product pages.

Tune in to enhance your store's SEO. This conversation is your stepping stone to improved online presence.

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Quiz Funnel Strategies

Chanti Zak, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

What if the simple act of asking your customers the right questions could transform your e-commerce store? From segmenting audiences to personalizing product recommendations, guest Chanti Zak shows how quizzes can do more than just engage—they can drive sales and deepen connections. Join us as we uncover the hidden power of quizzes in the digital marketplace, where every answer can lead to a new discovery about your business and your customers.

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Cashflow Tips from an Ecom CFO

Matt Putra, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

"The financially sound & successful e-commerce businesses are lean as long as they can be. They keep costs down and are just careful." – Matt Putra

Unlock the secrets to a more secure financial future with guidance from fractional CFO Matt Putra, whose expertise in cash flow management is a lifeline for e-commerce businesses swimming in unpredictable waters. Together with Matt, we dissect the strategies that can help you avoid cash emergencies and achieve sustainable growth. From negotiating with suppliers like a seasoned diplomat to harnessing the power of financing, we've got your back on the voyage to fiscal stability.

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From Code to Craft: Rustic & Main's Rise

Mike Yarbrough, Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Apr 2024 10:00:00 +0000

When Mike Yarbrough swapped his software development hat for a craftsman's apron to manage carpal tunnel syndrome, he didn't just mend his physical ailments—he forged a new path as an entrepreneur. Rustic & Main sprouted from his love for woodworking, evolving from a garage project into a bustling hub where historic materials are transformed into rings with stories. This episode peels back the curtain on Mike's favorite creations, like the Muir ring and the USS North Carolina battleship teak ring, offering a peek into the soulful process of preserving history through jewelry.

As Mike and his wife navigated the choppy waters of business expansion, they discovered that their personal journey mirrored the growth of their brand. From grappling with parking headaches to embracing Lean principles, their small venture expanded its roots, outgrowing the confines of their home and stretching into a full-fledged team. Learn how they dealt with the pandemic's financial whirlwinds, navigated the challenges of working remotely, and kept their marriage strong while steering the Rustic & Main ship through uncharted waters.

Stepping into the world of e-commerce and custom development, Mike's tale continues with innovative twists that have shaped the customer experience at Rustic & Main. Discover the woodworking ambiance of their ring-making studio and how non-traditional approaches to jewelry making have disrupted the market. Mike's journey is a testament to the power of ingenuity in craftsmanship and the relentless pursuit of a vision that marries rustic charm with entrepreneurial finesse. Join us for this inspiring conversation, chock-full of insights for both aspiring artisans and seasoned business owners alike.

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How Chubbies Built a Menswear Movement

Preston Rutherford, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000

"We were the luckiest people in the world to be able to do this stuff."

Full Video Interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fEUf9MTXk4c

This week, I'm joined by Preston Rutherford, co-founder of the Chubbies Shorts empire that's been redefining men's fashion with a splash of retro and an avalanche of fun since 2011. Preston, a Stanford grad with a knack for spotting gaps in the fashion world, shares how a simple idea of retro shorts spiraled into a nationwide trend.

Preston walks us through the early days of selling shorts right out of a backpack, the evolution of Chubbies' identity, and the power of community in brand building. But it's not all smooth sailing. Preston gets real about the challenges of seasonality in fashion, the pitfalls of over-reliance on direct response marketing, and the emotional rollercoaster of building and selling a brand.

So, slip into your favorite shorts, whether it’s the weekend or not, and let's get down to business with Preston Rutherford’s insights. Don’t forget to subscribe for more stories like this.

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eCommerceFuel Live 2024

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we're heading to the vibrant and bustling eCommerceFuel Live 2024 in New Orleans. Join me, Kurt Elster, for raw, unscripted conversations with some of the biggest names in eCommerce. Get ready to hear from Brett Curry of OMGcommerce, Elaine Eason at QuietLight, Eulalie Cook from Tadpull, Jimmy Kim of Sendlane, and the incredibly talented copywriter Lianna Patch. We'll also dive into insights with Taylor Holiday from Common Thread Collective, among other notable guests. This episode is all about getting to the heart of eCommerce - the unfiltered, real-world experiences and strategies from those who breathe life into this industry every day. So, tune in and get ready to absorb wisdom and stories that you won't find anywhere else.

Highlights:

Exclusive, unscripted interviews with eCommerce experts
A deep dive into the unpolished, real side of the eCommerce world
Insights and stories from top industry professionals

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ECF Live

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Insights for European eCommerce Success

David Simoes, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Listen in as we tackle the intricate world of e-commerce internationalization, with a particular focus on the contrasting landscapes between North America and Europe. I'm joined by David Simoas, an expert in the field hailing from the Czech Republic, who shares his rich experience navigating through the complex terrain of culturally diverse European markets. We dissect the ease of conducting e-commerce in the States and how it starkly differs from Europe's language barriers, currency variations, and a maze of regulations that could befuddle even the most seasoned entrepreneurs.

Venturing across borders in the digital marketplace brings a slew of unique challenges and solutions that we unravel in our conversation. David and I exchange insights on the necessity of localizing content, from sales messaging to adapting to cultural norms and payment methods that vary from one country to another. We highlight the effectiveness of translation tools and AI in bridging communication gaps, ensuring your online store resonates with international audiences. Whether it's dealing with credit cards, bank transfers, or local payment peculiarities, this chat lays out the essentials for a smooth cross-border e-commerce operation.

Rounding off our discussion, we dive into Shopify's journey of capturing the European market amidst strict privacy laws and regional preferences for homegrown digital solutions. David offers a unique perspective on the hesitation surrounding platform adoption like Shopify, sharing strategies to shift the e-commerce mindset in favor of such versatile tools. From the value of local expertise to the surprising impact of marketing budgets, we cover all bases, offering valuable advice to merchants eager to make their mark in Europe's dynamic e-commerce landscape. Join us for a wealth of knowledge and practical tips from the frontline of international digital commerce.

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Troop's Mushroom Supplement Success

Jake Mellman, Stephanie Moyal, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Mar 2024 11:00:00 +0000

When the world turned upside down, Jake Mellman and Stephanie Moyal found resilience in an unexpected place: the humble mushroom. Their spirited discussion with us captures the essence of their company, Troop, which crafts delightful functional mushroom gummies. Through their narrative, we learn how the global shift in health consciousness and Jake's personal aftermath of a ski accident converged with Stephanie's entrepreneurial spirit, leading to the birth of a brand that's not just about supplements but about seizing opportunity in the face of adversity.

Timestamps

(00:00) The Rise of Mushroom Supplements

(06:43) From Mushroom Enthusiasts to Business Owners

(17:22) Sourcing and Extracting Quality Mushrooms

(30:21) Strategies for Shopify Store Success

(45:20) Mastering Social Media Marketing and Troop

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Let's Sell Some Trucker Hats

Jessie Goodell, Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 11:00:00 +0000

We take on the challenge of revamping a trucker hat Shopify store from the ground up. Our team member and e-commerce maven, Jessie Goodell, brings her real-world experience managing her ecom brand for outdoor trucker hats to the table. Listen in as we dissect the transition from Amazon to Shopify, and discuss website improvements in a quest for online store over marketplace sales. Stay tuned as we gear up for future episodes where we'll measure the success of our efforts and strategize on lifecycle email marketing and beyond, all while appreciating Jesse's invaluable contributions to this e-commerce adventure.

Timestamps

(03:43 - 05:03) Rebranding Challenges on Amazon
(07:22 - 08:12) Amazon Listing Struggles and Promotions
(16:10 - 17:13) Product Variants and Shopify Integration
(22:35 - 24:23) Website Homepage Re-Design Suggestions
(33:00 - 34:03) Improving Product Listing User Experience
(38:54 - 39:56) Maximizing Product Listing Content
(42:35 - 43:51) Product Origins and Manufacturing Changes
(45:33 - 46:18) Professional Photo Shoot for Content Creation

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Shopify Themes: Selection & Insider Tips

Marcus Seoighe, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:00:00 +0000

A Shopify theme is not just about making your store look good... it's the backbone of your customer's shopping experience. There is a lot of functionality baked into it, and as a result, your bottom line may also be tied to which theme you pick.

Marcus Seoighe of Clean Canvas, and ex-Senior Theme Partners Manager at Shopify, joins us to unpack how the right theme can elevate customer experience & drive your bottom line.

In this episode, we delve into the evolution of Shopify themes & how staying fresh is crucial for your digital storefront. It's a deep dive into what makes themes succeed & how the partnership community at Shopify pushes boundaries for merchants.

Chapters:

From Shopify to Clean Canvas
Themes and Evolution of Platforms
Shopify vs. Non-Shopify Themes
Limitations and Versatility of Shopify Themes
Considerations for Choosing a Premium Theme
Exploring Extensibility and Theme Usage
Expertise, Products, and a Competition

Our conversation isn't just theory; it's loaded with practical advice. From choosing the right theme to understanding premium offerings, we cover the factors that matter most to your e-commerce success.

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Sharma's Success Secrets

Nik Sharma, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Nik Sharma, the brains behind Sharma Brands, has gone from freelance hotshot to the head honcho of a major digital agency that's a big deal in the CPG world. Nik walks us through how Sharma Brands evolved, bringing everything in-house. Think of it as a digital shopping mall, where each floor offers a new, top-notch service to boost your brand's online presence.

Highlights
(00:00) Sharma Brands and the DTC Evolution
(08:34) Cutting Through the Noise
(16:10) Brand Building and Content Creation
(30:18) Retail Sales and DTC Technology
(34:44) E-Commerce Strategies and Missed Opportunities
(44:10) Learn More About Nick Sharma

Nik dishes out his playbook on e-commerce success. He talks about the importance of testing your market, crafting content that clicks, and building a killer team. We explore tech tools that can give your business a leg up, like subscription optimization and creating landing pages that hit the mark.

Don't miss this opportunity to enrich your digital branding toolkit with insights from a top expert in the field.

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Shopify Editions Winter '24

Kim Samuelsen, Jay Larson, John Festa, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Feb 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Join Kurt Elster and a panel of Shopify experts as they delve into the Shopify Editions Winter '24 announcements. Our panelists, including Kim Samuelsen, Jay Larson, and John Festa, break down the latest Shopify features and updates, offering a deep dive into the new 2000 variant limit, combined product listings, B2B enhancements, and the transformative power of AI in e-commerce.

These updates are the tools you need to keep your brand ahead of the curve. This episode's a deep dive into all that and more, with insights from folks who really know their stuff. Worth a listen for anyone looking to stay sharp in this space.

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Google Ads Strategies for Shopify

Menachem Ani, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Listen in as Menachem Ani, a Google Ads expert with two decades of experience, joins to explore Google Ads and the current best practices for Shopify merchants seeking to amplify their e-commerce growth. We're talking Performance Max, Demand Gen campaigns, and the nitty-gritty of integrating Google with Shopify. We delve into advanced tactics for segmenting campaigns, the art of crafting killer product titles, and leveraging audience signals to make your ads pop.

Chapters

(00:00) Google Ads
(09:45) Google Performance Max and Demand Generation
(17:59) Crowdfunder and Google Ads
(25:14) Google Ads and ROI for Success
(28:43) Optimizing Google Ads and Customizing Feeds
(36:18) Google Ads Tactics and Optimization

The future of Google Ads is knocking, with automation and YouTube Shorts taking the front seat. Menachem drops some serious knowledge on feeding the system with data for optimal results and shares tips for conquering the ever-changing landscape of Google Ads.

If you're ready to elevate your Google Ads game, this is the episode you don't want to miss.

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From Festival Romance to $5M Fashion Brand

Donal Breslin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Sit down with Donal Breslin from Nomad the Label. This isn't your run-of-the-mill fashion brand story. Picture this: a music festival romance turns into a full-blown e-commerce venture. Donal and his partner Louisa didn't just fall in love; they built a brand around it. Nomad's all about that linen life – think bohemian, think sustainable, think comfort.

Chapter Timestamps
(00:00) Exploring Nomad the Label's Linen
(04:57) Building a Successful Fashion Brand Lessons
(18:53) The Importance of Data-Driven E-Commerce Management
(31:06) Sustainability and Expansion in International Markets
(43:49) Ambitious Growth Plans for Nomad Label

Donal walks us through their leap from market stalls to the digital world. Their strategy? Top-notch service, no discounts, all integrity. This team knows their customer and they cater to her with a mix of heartfelt content and sharp business sense.

As we wrapped up our chat, it was clear that for Donal and Louisa, it's about more than clothes; it's about crafting a way of life that mirrors the comfort and ease their brand embodies. Listeners with a penchant for fashion, and those curious about turning passion into a thriving business, will find this episode a source of inspiration and a treasure trove of savvy business acumen.

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Creating Ads that Connect in the Attention Economy

Jacques Spitzer, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we're getting real with Jacques Spitzer, the advertising guru from Raindrop Agency. He's here to break down how storytelling in ads can do more than just catch your eye – it can open wallets. We're tracing Raindrop's path from its first big win with Dr. Squatch to crafting campaigns for Native. Jacques gets into the brainy side of things, explaining how emotions drive buying decisions and how that can lead to an ad being more memorable than your last birthday party.

Chapter Timestamps

(00:00) Creating Profit-First Advertising Campaigns
(16:16) The Power of Advertising and Authenticity
(25:44) Connected TV Ads Potential Understanding
(32:02) Evolution of Video Content and Advertising

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Sponsors

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How a Firefighter Mastered Marketing

Johnny Hickey, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Jan 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Johnny Hickey, former New York firefighter turned digital marketer, tells us what he's learned jumping into ecommerce in 2018 and learning on the job.

He gives us the lowdown on the essentials – focus on user experience and keep your email marketing game strong. He's candid about the ad game too, comparing the heavyweights: Google and Facebook Ads. His advice? Sometimes you need a pro to take a swing at those Facebook Ads.

The real deal with Johnny is his approach to learning and adapting. He's all about experimenting and not being afraid to call in the cavalry when things get too technical. For those grappling with Pinterest Ads, TikTok Ads, and the ever-elusive SEO, Johnny's experiences are like finding a lighthouse in a storm.

Chapter Timestamps

(00:00) Transitioning From Firefighter to E-Commerce Entrepreneur
(09:32) Launching a Mask Business in 2020
(19:45) Marketing Strategies and Trade Show Success
(26:41) Maximizing Revenue With Email and Facebook
(40:11) Frustrations With Google, Pinterest, and TikTok
(47:42) Advice and Influence on Shopify Site

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Optimizing Shopify Themes: Redesign or Just Refine?

ETHERCYCLE LLC — Tue, 2 Jan 2024 11:00:00 +0000

As we approach 2024, the mantra for every Shopify store owner should be 'Build Better, Grow Faster'. But how do you turn this mantra into reality?

Today, we're zeroing in on the theme 'Build a Better Store for 2024'. We're dissecting the critical shifts in e-commerce and how they impact your store's future.

With us is Chase Clymer, a Shopify savant from Electric Eye. He's the brains behind successful store transformations and is here to share his playbook for e-commerce excellence.

Chase dives into why embracing Shopify Online Store 2.0 is a game-changer, discussing its customization capabilities and how it aligns with consumer expectations in 2024.

From conducting thorough code audits to prioritizing user experience, Chase lays out actionable strategies to refine your store. We explore the power of customer feedback and the underrated art of split testing in driving conversions.

As 2024 looms, the challenge is clear: innovate or stagnate. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone aiming to build a better Shopify store in the coming year.

Hit subscribe for more e-commerce wisdom that will help you lead the pack in 2024. Building a better store starts here.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Post-Holiday Profit Strategies

Michael Epstein, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Many e-commerce ventures hit a sales dry spell right after the holiday cheers fade. But what if Q1 could be more than just a slump?

In today's episode, we're turning conventional wisdom on its head, exploring how Q1's challenges can be flipped into profitable opportunities – welcome to the world of 'Q5'.

Our guest expert is Michael Epstein, a seasoned pro in the e-commerce arena with 25 years under his belt. As the strategic brain behind PostPilot, Michael's blend of SaaS savvy, agency acumen, and e-commerce expertise makes him the perfect navigator for today's deep dive.

Key Insights:

Unveiling how Q1 can be a mini-Christmas for the right products.
Mastering the art of juggling operational expenses with profit maximization.
A close look at the ever-shifting terrain of e-commerce and how to capture customer interest.
The strategic use of Direct Mail in a predominantly digital marketplace.
Smart advice for smaller brands on growth trajectory and timing for diversifying marketing efforts.

Don't forget to subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, leave a review if you loved the episode, or tell a friend. We appreciate you.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Scaling Skincare: Bushbalm's Rise

David Gaylord, Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

In this Unofficial Shopify Podcast episode, we sit down with David Gaylord, the mastermind behind Bushbalm Skincare. From his Shopify days to leading a skincare revolution, David reveals the art of growing a business from its online roots to retail success. He emphasizes the crucial roles of web design and ongoing marketing refinement. David's journey with Bushbalm, Ottawa's fastest-growing company, serves as a playbook for Shopify entrepreneurs, highlighting the virtues of patience and strategic growth in e-commerce. Expect a straight-to-the-point, insightful discussion, tailor-made for those looking to make their mark in the digital marketplace.

Show Links

https://bushbalm.com/
[https://bushbalm.ca/pages/ottawas-bushbalm-dragons-den](Bushbalm on Dragon's Den)
https://www.replo.app/
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Breaking Down a Black Friday Blowout

Kurt Elster, Sean Reyes — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Today we're dissecting a Black Friday bonanza. Join us as Sean Reyes of Shock Surplus, a previous guest and a Shopify Plus success story, takes us behind the scenes of their record-breaking Black Friday. With a cool million in a single week, Sean's insights are nothing short of gold dust for anyone in the e-commerce space.

Sean reveals the nitty-gritty of their promotional strategies, from tiered discounts to email campaigns, and how they leveraged Shopify's capabilities to maximum effect. We dive deep into the psychology behind consumer discounts, the importance of strategic planning, and how a shift in promotional tactics led to a 40% increase in revenue.

Sean's candid sharing of their journey – from a non-promotional stance to a finely-tuned Black Friday strategy – provides invaluable insights. If you're looking to understand the impact of well-crafted promotions and strategic preparation on e-commerce success, this is a must-listen episode.

Show Links

Shock Surplus
Sean's Previous Episode: "Dropshipping $30M in Auto Parts"
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Inside 2023's Black Friday Surge

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Dec 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Black Friday 2023 wasn't just big – it was record-breaking, with Shopify merchants alone pulling in a whopping $4.1 billion in sales.

Dive deep into the Black Friday frenzy, dissecting the data and sharing real-world insights from the Shopify ecosystem. From Adobe Analytics to Shopify's own press release, we cover it all.

Key Highlights:

The Economic Indicators: We discuss how various reports and our own client data reflect a strong economic trend.
The Spending Paradox: Despite economic complaints, real dollar spending is significantly up. We explore this interesting dichotomy.
Shopify's Performance: A look into Shopify's platform data, revealing a 22% increase in sales and insights into top-selling countries.
Client Case Studies: Insights from our client experiences, including standout performers and the power of strategic platform migration.
Marketing Insights: We cover successful Black Friday strategies, including blended ROAS numbers, PPC ad resurgence, and the evolving landscape of online sales.
Website Design Discussions: Tackling the perennial debate over homepage carousels and hero images, we propose alternative strategies for effective homepage design.
Audience Q&A: Responding to AMA questions from our Facebook group, we discuss customer communication strategies, effective marketing for budget-conscious businesses, and much more.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Clean Size Charts: Shopify Size Chart App
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Dropshipping $30M in Auto Parts

Sean Reyes, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Imagine scaling a business from $3 million to $30 million in a vertical that's as competitive as it gets.

Today's episode is a deep dive into the world of dropshipping automotive parts—a tale of triumph that stretches from the roots of eBay to the heights of a multimillion-dollar business.

Joining us is Sean Reyes of Shock Surplus, to tell us how he propelled his brand from modest beginnings to a dropship titan that cornered the market in 2020.

We'll unpack the journey of a brand that's not only thrived but dominated, dissecting the blend of tech-savviness, market understanding, and the audacious spirit needed to excel.

Sean's story is one of precision growth and the art of capitalizing on market opportunities, from navigating the COVID-19 pandemic to mastering the Facebook ad landscape.

Expect to gather a trove of actionable advice, from leveraging education as a powerful marketing tool to the nitty-gritty of data management with a product catalog that would make a librarian weep.

We'll explore how Shock Surplus has built a robust community by fostering genuine connections with their audience, leading with education, and backing it up with expertise.

Hear how authenticity in content creation and customer education has established Shock Surplus as a trusted authority in a niche market.

Don't miss this behind-the-scenes look at scaling an e-commerce business, a must-listen for any entrepreneur aiming for the stars.

Hit subscribe, and leave a review if you love what you're hearing. It's about growth, not just in sales but in knowledge. Tune in, turn it up, and take your store to the next level.

Show Links

shocksurplus.com
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

The Analog Film Entrepreneur

ETHERCYCLE LLC — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

We sit down with Paul McKay, the man behind Analogue Wonderland, who's turning back the clock on photography while keeping his feet firmly in the present. He left a decade-long corporate gig to dive into something more soulful. We’re talking about the allure of analog in a digital world and how Paul is making that magic accessible. We dig into community building, the ins and outs of marketing in this unique niche, and even touch on how AI is tiptoeing into the realm of the retro. It's all about balancing yesterday's tangible joys with today's digital conveniences. Tune in for a trip through the complexities of harmonizing the old with the new.

Show Links

Analogue Wonderland

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Gas Monkey's Sweepstakes Strategy

Craig Martens, Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Today's guest is Craig Martens from Gas Monkey Garage, and we're peeling back the layers on the art of sweepstakes marketing. Craig shares the blueprint for running these promotions legally and their surprising effect on business growth. He talks customer engagement, conversion secrets, and positions sweepstakes as a potential game-changer for your online store. Packed with real scenarios and savvy advice, this is a conversation that cuts through the noise of typical marketing chatter.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
StoreHero - Get a unified view of your sales, marketing & profitability metrics.
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Riding Vinyl's Revival

Mark Poppen, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Nov 2023 11:00:00 +0000

We're diving deep into the vinyl revival with Mark Poppen, the man behind Funky Moose Records. If you've ever wondered why vinyl records are outselling CDs or how to make a dent in the eCommerce world, this chat's for you. Mark shares how he rode the wave of vinyl's resurgence and built an eCommerce empire. We delve into the nitty-gritty—from SEO tactics to dealing with suppliers and why sometimes, you've got to trust your gut over the data. Mark even spills the beans on how he navigated a near-crisis with a key distributor. It's a laid-back chat with serious insights. Don't miss it.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

From Shopify to Store Owner

Daniel Patricio, Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Imagine spending eight years shaping products inside Shopify's hallowed halls, only to step out and run your own store. That's Daniel Patricio's story. He left Shopify start his own store, Bull and Cleaver. But here’s the twist— Daniel's journey took an unexpected detour when Apple's iOS 14 update shook the landscape. Together, we'll explore this new conversion rate normal, take a sneak peek into the future of online storefronts, and share some insider tips.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

News, Q&A, & Pro Tips

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

New episode this week and its a fun one. Listener-favorite Paul Reda is back in the co-host chair, always spicy. We’re kicking off with some fresh-off-the-press news and updates in the Shopify world. Then, we'll let you in on what we've been working on. Got questions? Good, because we're diving into a Listener Q&A segment where we answer your questions. Throughout, we're handing you some practical Black Friday advice.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Product Pre-Launch Planning

Vance Lee, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Kurt Elster sits down with Vance, a crowdfunding expert, to explore the strategies behind successful Kickstarter campaigns. From understanding your target audience to refining your product presentation, Vance's advice is a goldmine for aspiring entrepreneurs. Whether you're new to crowdfunding or already running a Shopify store, this conversation will inspire you to take your ideas to the next level. Join the crowdfunding adventure now and learn the secrets to launching with confidence!

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Q4 Holiday Promo Playbook

Molly Pittman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

As the year winds down, pumpkin spice aromas fill the air and holiday sales are everywhere. So, how do companies make the most of this bustling season? Molly Pittman, CEO of SmartMarketer, joins us to unravel the complexities of holiday marketing. She explains why the fourth quarter, or Q4, is both a golden opportunity and a challenging time for businesses. Molly walks us through a detailed plan that starts with pre-Black Friday strategies and goes all the way to New Year's resolutions. The key takeaway? With solid planning, focused efforts, and a touch of creativity, the holiday season can be extremely profitable for your business.

Show Links

Brands and apps mentioned:

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

The Email Automation Blueprint

Laura Palladino, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

What makes a store more than a marketplace but a community? The answer might be sitting in your inbox. With insights from Laura Palladino, we explore how the right email strategy can turn one-time buyers into lifelong customers. In this episode, we demystify the elements that make an email campaign truly resonate.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

The Candy Hackers

Adama Nesil, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Today, we step into the world of Adama Nesil, the creator of Candy Hackers. In a landscape dominated by sugary, processed treats, Adama has managed to carve a niche with gluten-free and dairy-free candies. But this is more than a story of culinary innovation. It’s about how a mother turned dietary restrictions into an advantage, capturing not just the palate but also the imagination of her audience. From her modest kitchen to TikTok fame and even to the corridors of a renowned UK chocolate factory, this episode explores the sweet blend of creativity, resilience, and smart business.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Ask Us Anything

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: youtu.be/LZlbfPiEYYY

This week, Kurt and Paul tackle a series of questions from real Shopify merchants. The specter of Black Friday is upon us, but the message is clear: prepare, don't panic. The conversation shifts to the pros and cons of one-page checkouts and dives deep into the world of Google Analytics. If you're an international seller, the topic of duties and taxes will be of particular interest. And for the bootstrappers out there, the episode closes with indispensable advice on growing without a hefty ad budget.

Show Links

Google Sales Channel
Elevar
Duties and import taxes
DHL Duty and Tax Calculator

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Decoding Effective PPC Ads

Jessie Healy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Jessie Healy Spent $20 Million on Digital ads, Here's What's Working In 2023

Sit down with Jessie Healy, a digital advertising veteran with a focus on e-commerce. Jessie, whose agency oversees $20 million in digital advertising, discusses the subtle art of crafting an ad that resonates. She also offers a nuanced perspective on the role of algorithms, the pitfalls of over-optimization, and why a one-size-fits-all approach to advertising doesn't work. But she also brings something more: an understanding that behind every click, every metric, there's a human making a choice. It's a conversation that goes beyond tactics to explore what really makes consumers click, literally and metaphorically.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Salty Britches

Amy Tucker, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Sep 2023 10:00:00 +0000

In today's episode, we meet Amy Tucker, the founder of Salty Britches, a skin care line. Amy begins her journey with a straightforward aim: to make her son's ocean trips enjoyable and chafe-free. As we follow her from her kitchen to scaling challenges and Shopify dashboards, we see how solving a simple problem can take unexpected turns. Fast forward, and she's navigating the complexities of co-packers, military contracts, and even winter skin relief. This episode isn't just a lesson in entrepreneurship; it's about the intricacies of human need, the power of relationships, the surprising pathways of invention, and the unanticipated lessons you learn along the way.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Profit, Contribution Margin, & Growth

Thomas Gleeson, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

What's behind the profit margin? Kurt Elster and Thomas Gleeson take a reflective look at e-commerce, dissecting common mistakes and revealing the path to understanding real profits. It's a conversation about numbers, but also about strategy, innovation, and the road to success. A must-listen for those seeking clarity on calculating profits.

Show Links

Store Hero - Unofficial Shopify Podcast listeners get a 20% discount and monthly calls for 3 months with the founders.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Elevar - Never miss another conversion with Elevar’s server-side tracking. Enhance Klaviyo flow performance 2-3x. Plans from $0 a month + 15-day free trials on all plans.
Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.
Not on Shopify? Start your free trial

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Mastering ManyChat Marketing

Liziana Carter, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Today on the show, a deep dive into the ever-evolving world of chatbots. Kurt Elster sits down with Liziana Carter, navigating through the winding lanes of ManyChat's storied past, from its 24-hour glory days to its more restrained present. But beyond the tech, there's a bigger question: In a world racing towards automation, where does the human touch fit? And how do you strike the balance between the convenience of a bot and the nuance of a human? Plus, some sound advice for anyone wading into these digital waters. This is a story of technology, of change, and, most importantly, of finding the human in the machine.

Show Links

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Profit Over Panic: Braxley's Comeback Story

Kurt Elster, Braxton Manley — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

See it on YouTube: youtu.be/cQXHEJOPgfc

Ever wondered how an accidental idea can morph into a thriving business? To find out, we're thrilled to have Braxton Manley, the innovative founder of Braxley Bands, sharing his entrepreneurial journey with us today. Braxton unfolds his unique journey from repurposing socks into Apple watch bands to establishing a successful DTC brand. He delves into his evolving product design philosophy, his knack for enhancing perceived product value, his approach to brand collaborations, and his exciting future plans.

If you found Braxton's journey inspiring and enlightening, hit the subscribe button to never miss an episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. Stay tuned, stay inspired!

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Shopify Editions Summer ’23

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 8 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ioGVduoPnPM

Every six months, like clockwork, Shopify unveils its latest offerings. This summer's Shopify Edition is here, brimming with innovative features designed to help businesses of all sizes thrive. Join us as we unpack the contents of the latest Shopify Edition, a biannual event that showcases Shopify's latest and greatest features. We'll discuss how Shopify is expanding subscriptions access, facilitating product bundling, and more. Tune in as we untangle the threads of the latest Shopify narrative.

Show Links

Shopify Editions Summer ’23

Sponsors

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Creating Profitable Influencer Relationships

Tomer Hen, Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 Aug 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Ever wondered how to make the most of influencer partnerships without breaking the bank? Tomer Hen, founder of Switch Supplements and a recognized Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur, has the answers. Uncover the power of product seeding and how to build authentic partnerships with influencers, even on a budget. Learn the art of engaging influencers with value-driven offerings, rather than cash payments. Tomer's expert advice will guide you through the process of identifying the right influencers for your brand and fostering lasting connections. Discover the secrets behind turning influencer love into real revenue, and get ready to revolutionize your approach to influencer marketing. For more tips and strategies from industry leaders, subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast today.

Show Links

Switch Supplements

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Optimizing Price for Profits

Byron Myers, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ISSTJFIUd8w

Get ready to unlock the secrets of pricing optimization with data enthusiast and serial entrepreneur, Byron Myers. This episode delves into Byron's journey to transform e-commerce businesses by harnessing the power of data-driven pricing strategies. From understanding price elasticity to navigating segmented pricing, Byron lays out the steps to boost profitability. He also takes us behind the scenes of his wildly successful venture, GlimmerWish, purveyors of mermaid and unicorn themed hair care.

Hungry for more insights into business growth and success? Don't wait, subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast today and step into the future of ecommerce.

Show Links

GlimmerWish
profitprofessor.io - 50% discount, use code KURT

Sponsors

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A Tennis Pro Turned Bag Entrepreneur

Jack Concho, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 10:00:00 +0000

YouTube: https://youtu.be/rM2dQwDZe5U

We talk with Jack Oswald, a former professional tennis player turned entrepreneur. Oswald speaks candidly about designing a better sports bag, leveraging customer feedback and in-person interactions to improve the product. He highlights the effectiveness of short story videos, quizzes, and personal customer interactions in driving sales. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to improve their product design, customer engagement, and sales strategy.

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Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

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Mic Drop: JZ Mic's Marketing Masterclass

Andris Zemmers, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Youtube Interview: https://youtu.be/ZOxFs99yHuA

Ever wondered how to grow a niche brand into a global force? On this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, we hear from Andris Zemmers, marketing director at JZ Microphones about the success their high-ticket product lines have seen in 10 countries. Dive into the strategies that drove JZ's growth - from lead magnets to audience targeting, email sequences, and more. Hear how strategic partnerships with influencers, personalized customer service, and new product lines are propelling JZ further in their industry. Don't miss out on this episode for practical tips and a relatable experience.

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Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

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Shopify Subscription App Selection

Kurt Elster, Andriy Rudnyk — Tue, 4 Jul 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Jump into the sea of subscription apps with the guidance of our guest Andriy Rudnyk. He breaks down the common mistakes when picking an app and forecasts the future of subscription apps. Plus, discover his number one advice for growing your subscription business – it’s all about your most valuable subscribers. Tune in and boost your business strategy.

In this episode, we'll cover:

Picking the right subscription app among a sea of choices.
When to consider a subscription program for your product.
The evolution of legacy subscriptions apps like Recharge and Bold Commerce.
The top-rated subscribe-and-save apps.
The future of the subscription app market.

Show Links

GSA
Best Starters: Timo, Subify, Ongoing Subscriptions
Best Subscribe & Save: Loop, Stay.ai, Skio
Best Build a box: Awtomic
App Store: Good Subscription Optimizer
Andriy on LinkedIn

Sponsors

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Theme Updater Plus: Vault - Effortlessly back up and quickly restore your Shopify Store
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify - Brands using Loop retain over 50% of their revenue by promoting exchanges over refunds.

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Making the World's First Creatine Gummy

Dylan Menter, Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

One life-changing realization transformed him from a SpaceX employee to a pioneering entrepreneur…

We have Dylan Menter, the brain behind Bear Balanced and the world's first Creatine gummies, on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast this week.

Dylan recounts his unusual path to entrepreneurship, highlighting how determination and self-teaching led to the mastery of Google Ads. He also provides valuable insights into harnessing the right resources, maximizing outputs with minimum input, and his plans for breaking into the retail market.

To learn more about Dylan's entrepreneurial journey and gain actionable business advice, subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

See the full interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QVNS5G3M4yA

Additional Resources

Bear Balanced
Pickle Power
USPTO
Solutions 8 YouTube = Google Ads tutorials

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Mastering Kickstarter for Product Launches

Khierstyn Ross, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Delve into the world of Kickstarter and learn how Shopify merchants can use it to launch products and build an audience. Khierstyn Ross, Chief Brand Builder at Launch and Scale, joins us to explain...

TIMESTAMPS

[00:03:40] Kickstarter: Crowdfunding for new product inventory.

[00:07:06] Knockoffs are a real online threat.

[00:12:49] Kickstarter helps launch and boost audience reach.

[00:16:50] Storytelling justifies crowdfunding to existing customers.

[00:19:43] Pre-launch: build audience for Kickstarter success.

[00:23:33] Paid ads lead to qualified email list. VIP funnel.

[00:27:36] Preparing for launch by herding customers.

[00:33:41] Over communicate to avoid Kickstarter campaign errors.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Unraveling eCommerce Accounting for Shopify Merchants

Wayne Richards, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Join us on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast as eCommerce accounting expert Wayne Richard shares financial strategies for Shopify store owners. Learn common mistakes, efficiency metrics, sales tax nexus complexities, and money-saving tips. Wayne also advises on choosing the right accountant and emphasizes the importance of setting aside profits for unforeseen expenses. Supercharge your store's finances with insights from Wayne Richard in this accounting-packed episode!

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Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Secrets from a $100M Ecom Entrepreneur

Nick Mertz, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Entrepreneur Nick Mertz on Challenges of E-commerce, In-House Operations, and Hiring the Right People.

Today's episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast brings you Nick Mertz, the reclusive yet unstoppable e-commerce juggernaut behind $100 million in revenue. This unstoppable entrepreneur has generated over $100 million in revenue with ventures like Rugged Apparel, Adam's Polishes, and Pins & Aces. How does he do it? Discover his strategies for hiring, in-house operations, and mastering growth.

Timestamped overview

[00:01:21} Podcast featuring successful e-com entrepreneur Nick, discussing challenges and successful ventures, including Leno's Garage.

[00:04:38} Started e-com business in college selling survival bracelets, sold it after a few years.

[00:08:59} Starting an e-commerce business does not require a lot of money. Differentiation is key to success in a competitive market. Validating the idea is important before starting.

[00:12:21} Stick with it, have grit, and don't expect overnight success. One mannequin company survived the 2008 recession while 90% of competitors went out of business. Some products have TikTok booms, but persistence is necessary to turn it into a business.

[00:13:50} Two successful products: beer sleeve and liquor stick, with a focus on innovation and marketing. Dealing with copycats involves legal action.

[00:20:39} Small brand collab with Bud Light - no license, no royalty, just make cool stuff and use it. Unlimited
beer sent. Those brand collabs legitimized the brand leading to other collabs. Some licensed stuff, like NCAA.

[00:24:38} Starting as a side project, Pins and Aces grew to become a real business by hiring key people while maintaining a fun culture. Hiring slowly and firing quickly is important for building a strong team.

[00:27:19} Employees have equity in the company and a bonus program; giving opportunities for growth leads to retention.

[00:33:55} DIY approach has drawbacks like lost packages, missing inventory, shipping wrong item, but offers personal touch and control over shipping experience.

[00:38:58} New products, collaborations, growing brands, relaunching Hooga Lab, and moving to a new building.

[00:41:33} Stay focused on your product and niche, even if it doesn't sell immediately. Grinding it out for at least 6 months can lead to success.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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News & Updates: May 2023

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 30 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

We discuss a range of topics from technical problem-solving to the impact of AI and automation. We explore how to enhance your ecommerce business with alternative strategies such as live shopping, and Shopify's new performance-boosting URL change. We also dive into the use of Chat GPT for writing and the importance of domain names in the present-day landscape. Tune in to gain insights on how to improve your online store and stay up-to-date with the latest ecommerce trends.

TIMESTAMPS
[00:04:46] Exploring the relevance of.com domain names
[00:15:00] Shopify Changing URL Strategy for Faster Loading
[00:21:53] ChatGPT struggles to accurately determine month-end dates
[00:25:47] Uncovering the Syntax of ChatGPT
[00:31:57] Facebook's New Shopping Rules
[00:37:18] Unconventional E-commerce Strategies

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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The Magic of Forever Transactions

Robbie Kellman Baxter, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Explore the world of subscription models and their potential pitfalls. From losing profits from your best customers switching to the subscription model to ensuring that customers are not abusing the service, we discuss how experimentation and testing is needed to find the ideal customer and mitigate these risks. We also look at how retention strategies, market research, and ease of cancellations play a key role in the success of subscription-based businesses. Featuring expert advice on how to match customer goals with added value offerings, set expectations, and price effectively, this episode offers invaluable insights for all business owners. We also take a deep dive into Netflix's customer-centric approach and how their focus on retention is crucial to their success. Tune in to learn how to avoid common pitfalls and create meaningful recurring revenue.

Timestamps

[00:03:24] The Customer Centricity of Netflix
[00:06:31] "The Importance of Easy Subscription Cancellations"
[00:12:15] "LinkedIn: Connecting Across Generations and Industries"
[00:20:50] "Keeping it simple: Avoiding subscription pitfalls"
[00:25:27] "Unlocking the Benefits of Subscriptions - Coffee, Wine, Seltzer"
[00:29:26] Maximizing Retention Rates for Subscription Services
[00:37:00] "Expert Tips for Testing Subscription Models"
[00:40:09] "Small Businesses' Advantage: Knowing Customers for Success"

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Crowdsourcing the Future of Lab Gear

Derek Miller, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Get ready to put on your lab coat and nerd out with the founder and CEO of Genius Lab Gear, Derek Miller, on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. Derek spills the beans on his journey from making stickers to creating the world's best lab coat. But that's not all - he's taking a unique approach to launching his latest product by crowdsourcing the design and crowdfunding the manufacturing of lab coats with his community of fans. and creating a carbon-neutral with Shopify Planet. So grab your pipettes and get ready to learn this proven pre-order launch process.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Happy Bulge: Swimming Through The Waves of Success

Jeremy Bradley, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

On this episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, Kurt Elster speaks to Jeremy Bradley, the founder of Happy Bulge Swim Co. Jeremy started his company in April 2019 and by August 2020 was pivoting to e-commerce due to global shutdowns cancelling events. With tongue-in-cheek puns and wordplay, Jeremy recounts his journey from radio host in Hollywood, to bestselling author, and now successful clothing business owner. He shares strategies for success such as appreciation for customers and content creation with focus on seasonality and being reactive. Other topics discussed include customer conversions, creativity and experimentation, understanding one's audience, and more. Tune into this episode to get all the details about Jeremy's journey with Happy Bulge!

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Sustainable Shopping through Advocate Apparel

Dr. Patrick Rynne, Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Join host Kurt Elster and his guest, Dr. Patrick Rynne, for an episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. Dr. Rynne is the founder of Waterlust—a brand that creates “advocate apparel” like UV-protective leggings and rash guards. Plus, their collaboration with SpongeBob SquarePants celebrates Paramount's sustainability efforts while honoring Stephen Hillenberg’s legacy as a marine science educator. Hear what Dr. Rynne has to say about sustainable fashion, incremental improvement approaches, product traceability and carbon neutrality. Find out why transparency and customer education are so important to Waterlust—and how they use Shopify to empower their mission. Tune into this inspiring episode now.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Ride Your Ride

Brian De Groodt, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Listen in as Kurt Elster catches up with Brian De Groodt about his inspiring journey creating an innovative line of personalized custom cycling components for cyclists all around the world. Hear the story of how Dispatch was born after an investment in a bicycle frame manufacturer (Siren Bicycles) and get tips on key strategies that this solo founder uses.

Show Links

dispatch.bike use code TECHNASTY15

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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From Edible Cookie Dough to Ecommerce Success

Erica Rankin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Sit down with Erica Rankin, the founder and CEO of Bro Dough, a plant-based, protein-infused, edible cookie dough company based out of Canada. Erica shares her journey from launching Bro Dough in 2019 to growing her following across multiple platforms to over 260K. As a successful ecommerce entrepreneur and digital marketing expert, Erica also offers insights into navigating food manufacturing challenges and the importance of having a good manufacturing partner.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Captivate the Right Customers

Scott Cunningham, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we discuss how to unlock lower acquisition costs, retention, and profitability by captivating the right type of customers. Scott Cunningham shares his five-part offer stack formula for Shopify merchants. Learn how to understand your customer, use hooks to grab attention, create a relatable narrative, differentiate with brand attributes, and craft a value proposition that converts leads into loyal customers. Listen in as Scott offers insights gained from managing millions of dollars in digital advertising spend and driving 20-40% of all sales through email marketing.

Show Links

[https://www.sociallite.ca/](Social Lite)
Merchant Mastery

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Unlocking the Power of Customer Lifetime Value

Daniel McCarty, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Ecom Businesses often rely on Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) to stay profitable, but the correct formula can be hard to calculate. Fear not! Mr. Daniel McCarthy is here with his expertise in statistical methodology and contemporary empirical marketing problems - which he published extensively on – ready to share why CLTV needs special attention from businesses and how they should go about doing it right. Don't miss this opportunity of a lifetime by learning more from an accomplished academic who's taken home numerous awards for research excellence.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Shopify Editions: NEW Online Store Features

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Tune into The Unofficial Shopify Podcast for all the goods on the biggest updates and features coming to Shopify. From one-page checkout to AI integration to quality of life improvements, they'll tell you which ones are worth paying attention to stay ahead of the competition.

Checkout Enhancements & One Page Option
Shop Promise & Expected Delivery Dates
AI-integrated Shopify Magic
Meta Objects & Quality of Life Improvements
and more!

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Building a Viral Fashion Accessory: The Ponyback Hat

Stacey Keller, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Have you heard about the revolutionary Ponyback Hat? Tune in to this episode to hear from its founder, Stacey Keller, about the inspiration behind this innovative fashion accessory and how it went viral on social media. Building a successful business involves more than just having a great product idea – it requires navigating manufacturing and marketing challenges too. Discover how she turned her idea into a viral sensation and built a community-driven brand and why it has become so popular among fashion-savvy consumers.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Making Social Media Magic with Disney Dan's Proven Approach

Dan Becker, Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Sit down with YouTube content creator Dan Becker (AKA Disney Dan) to discuss the power of storytelling in content marketing, tips for creating engaging social media content, and how to build a strong personal brand that resonates with your audience. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your content marketing strategy to the next level, this episode is packed with practical advice and real-world examples from someone who's been there, and grown YouTube channel to 300K subscribers.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Lume Cube's Journey

Riley Stricklin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Mar 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Join us as we explore how Lume Cube became the leading brand in personal lighting for creators and innovators. Though COVID-19 hit them hard, their team was able to quickly adapt and increase demand for their products. By 2021, Lume Cube was reaching sales milestones of $5 million/month. Riley Stricklin, the Co-Founder & CEO behind this success story joins us on this episode to discuss how they innovated and invested to become an 8-figure empire. Tune into hear their inspiring story and get ready to level up your content creating game.

Show Links

LumeCube 20% off with code UNOFFICIAL (good until May 1st 2023)
Cordless Ring Light Pro
LumeCube Kickstarter (2014)

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Top-Converting Landing Pages

Logan Grasby, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Creating Shopify landing pages is essential to success as an online store.

In this episode, you'll learn how to create pages that look great and help you boost your return on advertising spend (ROAS).

You can only tweak ad creative in Business Manager for so long before you're rearranging deck chairs on the titanic.

Landing pages are key - today we've got someone who's built 300 of them and he's going to talk us through it all.

Logan Grasby is The Director of Product at Appstle and the Co-founder of Conversion Pages. Logan has deep ecommerce experience from building a Shopify brand from the ground up, to scaling a Shopify Plus brand to 8 figures as the Ecommerce Lead at Inspired Go. In 2022 he founded Conversion Pages which has built over 300 landing pages for ecommerce brands to date.

Show Links

Conversion Pages - $500 off your first landing page with Conversion Pages
Webflow
Clarity
@logangrasby

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Twitter for Entrepreneurs: How to Grow Your Network

JK Molina, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

"Twitter is like the sweatpants of social media."

Twitter can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs, but not in the same way as other social media platforms.

In this episode, you'll hear how to grow your network and make the most of Twitter's potential as an entrepreneur.

We're joined by JK Molina. After successfully exiting his SaaS Tweet Hunter for $1.4 million dollars, he now coaches people on how to monetize their Twitter audience.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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SELLING ART ONLINE: How Jon Chase Built a Career

Jon Chase, Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Get your creative juices flowing this week on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast with Jon Chase: master artist & online entrepreneur. From his roots with Famous Stars & Straps to becoming art director for HOONIGAN and now back selling art again with Shopify, Jon has an inspiring story about how he built a career out of creativity.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Ask Me Anything: January '23

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 7 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

In this AMA episode, we're tackling your listener questions. Learn our insights on ChatGPT and get an inside look at what questions you should be asking yourself come 2023. We'll also give tips on how window shoppers can join your email list as well as provide advice if you've been thinking about migrating from WordPress to Shopify. Plus- are Shopify Functions a yes or no for us? Tune-in this week and find out all that plus more!

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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How Merci Handy's Gone Global with Shopify and Stranger Things

Louis Marty, Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Interview with Louis Marty, co-founder and CEO of Merci Handy. In this episode, Louis discusses his experience building and growing a successful eCommerce business overseas, before expanding into North America. He shares his journey from building a custom website and creating a viral video, to discovering Shopify and eventually making the switch. Louis also discusses the challenges he faced along the way, and how he ultimately overcame them to achieve success.

Show Links

Merci Handy US
Drop - Instagram Automation
Louis on LinkedIn

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Why Your Personal Brand Matters (And How To Build One)

Sigute Zitikyte, Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000

"Personal branding leads the right people to you."

This episode is all about PERSONAL BRANDING FOR ENTREPRENEURS. To discuss it, we're joined by Sigute Zitikyte.

Sigute is a personal brand and business coach who believes that being multi passionate is your superpower. She's been doing this over a decade, helping mission driven companies, including Shopify, expand their reach through partnerships and community. She's now on a mission to empower ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs through personal branding.

Show Links

Sigute's Newsletter
SiguteZitikyte.com

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Maximizing Retention: Tactics for Reducing Subscription Churn

Andriy Rudnyk, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we discuss the subscription business model and how to make it successful on Shopify. Our guest is Andriy Rudnyk, founder of Good Subscription Agency, who shares his insights on common mistakes brands make with subscriptions, the difference between good and bad subscription strategies, and advanced tactics for boosting subscriber conversions and reducing churn. We also discuss the growth of subscription businesses in eCommerce and the lessons that can be learned from the SaaS industry.

Show Links

Good Subscription Agency - Get $595 off your first month with GSA.
SUBTA
The Forever Transaction
Cheese Grotto
Awtomic
Skio
Rodeo
Smartrr

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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How an Iconic Flask Revived an 1890s Housewares Brand Online

Sean Bandawat, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000

Our guest today acquired a business, grew it from $90,000 in sales to $2 million, and created a category selling luxury flasks in the process.

We're joined by CEO of Jacob Bromwell, Sean Bandawat the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of luxury flasks and kitchenware, established in 1819.

GUEST BIO: Sean Bandawat is a second generation entrepreneur and real estate investor. Mr. Bandawat embarked on his business career by acquiring Jacob Bromwell®, an iconic home goods company nationally recognized as the oldest housewares manufacturer in the United States, founded in 1819. The revival of the Jacob Bromwell® brand began in college when he developed a business plan that set out to completely transform and revitalize the troubled company which was once a household name. His bold turnaround plan proved successful, and in 2020 Jacob Bromwell® was recognized by Shopify as being in the top 1% of its highest growth e-commerce retail stores. Additionally, since his acquisition, Jacob Bromwell® has received global media attention in nearly every major news publication, including Inc., The Wall Street Journal, GQ, Martha Stewart Living, Esquire, People, and more.

Show Links

jacobbromwell.com - Use code KURT

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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How a Subscription Box Biz Got a Netflix Show

John Roman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000

We all love subscriptions, the allure of recurring predictable revenue is too hard to pass up. They're hard to get right.

We need an experienced subscription veteran who's been there and can tell us what what works and what's a waste of time.

John Roman, CEO of subscription box companies BattlBox and Carnivore Club, joins us to go deep on how to do subscriptions right.

You'll hear:

How to pitch vendors
What working with Netflix is really like
Example metrics for subscription businesses
Strategies to reduce churn
How they sold the company for eight-figures

Did I mention that they sold a show to Netflix?

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Venntov, makers of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn
Retention.com: Reclaim 5-10x Abandonment Revenue
Loop Returns: Ecommerce Returns Management for Shopify

Never miss an episode

Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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Can Cashback Rewards Save Ecommerce from Discount Addiction?

Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Here's how I shop from a new brand. I see an ad on Facebook, I click through, if the site is on Shopify and looks legit, maybe I'll buy. When I do buy, I'm going to wait until I'm on my desktop so that I can use a browser extension to painlessly check for coupon codes and apply the best one. Every single time. The bigger the discount, the bigger the dopamine hit, the more likely I am to buy. That's the truth.

I can only do this because I know brands are just as addicted to coupon codes as Iam.

We're joined by Oren Charnoff, Cofounder and CEO, at Fondue based in Tel Aviv.

Fondue just raised $11m to replace every coupon code with CashBack.

Prior to cofounding Fondue, Oren was on the founding team at Hanaco Ventures, a now $1.5B VC fund based in TLV and NY.

Oren is a long time listener, first time caller into the podcast!

Show Links

GetFondue - Let them know you heard about it on the podcast.
Honey - Automatic coupon codes via a browser extension
Loop Returns - "Loop helps Shopify's best brands optimize return costs, retain more revenue, and prevent return losses."
Negative Underwear - "Negative is underwear that fits your life - effortless bras, underwear, thongs and loungewear."

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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BUILDING A CULT(URE) OF COMMUNITY

Caitlin Teed, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 11:00:00 +0000

"Business, like life, is about how you make people feel. It's that simple, and it's that hard." –Daniel Meyer

Authenticity & community are buzzwords we here often when discussing brand marketing in 2022, but what does community look like?

Caitlin Teed, a creative marketer who helped make Shopify's community what it is today, discusses her experience with community-building and her career in eCommerce tech.

Show Links

caitlinteed.com
The Culting of Brands
Twitter/@caitlinteed
Instagram/@caitlinteed
Amlings Cycle - Kurts first Shopify build.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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AI Chat Funnels: Bots are back, are they better?

Natasha Willis, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 11:00:00 +0000

In 2016, Facebook opened up messenger bots. And in 2017, it felt like we hit peak chat bots. We didnt hear about them as much in 2019, but that doesnt mean they ever went away, and now there is a resurgence of chat bots. I love automation and AI, so let's revisit chat bots!

At the very least, you’ll benefit from this talk if you want to use Instagram to get more sales.
At the most, you’ll learn how to 2-10x your sales on Instagram.

Natasha Willis is the co-founder of School of Bots, where she has helped train over 14,000 businesses how to use AI Chat Funnels to grow revenue. Her expertise comes from generating more than $30 million in sales for clients like Foundr, ClickFunnels, and Mindvalley. Natasha has spoken at 160+ events alongside influencers like Gary Vaynerchuk and Richard Branson, and has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and more.

Show Links

School of Bots
ManyChat
@natashatwillis - DM her 'kurt' to see it in action

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Picking the Perfect Shopify Theme

Trudy MacNabb, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Dec 2022 11:00:00 +0000

"Which theme should I use for a store that sells..." is a common question from Shopify merchants. With 97 themes currently in the Shopify Theme Store, thousands mores floating around the web, and very few of them made to the same standard, what's the right answer? How do you go about picking a theme? What about custom themes? That adds infinite variability.

To discuss it, we're joined by Cofounder of Up at Five & Design Packs, Trudy MacNabb. She's run her Shopify agency Up at Five for seven years, and has worked with clients such as WWF, Canada Learning Code, and Jenny Bird. She has a deep knowledge of both front-end and back-end development (she used to be a mainframe developer!) and is a driving force behind the Shopify app Design Packs.

Show Links

Up at five
Shopify Themes
Code Shopify
Design Packs - Get an extra free section! Install the Design Packs app for free to get our standard free sections. For a limited time, choose an additional section to add for free. Send the name of the section and the promo code KURT through the in-app contact form and we'll grant you full access. Details: Available until January 15th, 2023. Does not apply to templates.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Postal Petals Disrupts Floral Industry

Talia Boone, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 11:00:00 +0000

The great lockdown of 2020 seems like a lifetime ago. At that time, a lot of took on hobbies. Some of us baked. I made a lot of homemade pizza.

Today's guest also picked up a pandemic hobby, and then, unlike my homemade pizza, she turned it from a passion to a business.

Talia Boone, founder of Postal Petals, a store that sells “do it yourself” flower arrangements shares her journey from sports marketing to entrepreneurship, and we'll find out just how tough - but not impossible - it is to break into some industries.

TALIA'S BIO: Postal Petals Founder & CEO, Talia R. Boone, enters the floral industry after a groundbreaking career in sports, entertainment and social impact. She brings with her over 15 years of experience in brand strategy, communications, marketing, public relations, promotions, sales and strategic partnerships.

In addition to Postal Petals, she is the Managing Director of INTER:SECT, a tactical solutions agency that serves as a catalyst for pioneering ideas, collaboration and creative opportunities that exist at the intersection of sports & entertainment, business, technology, consciousness, culture and the arts.

Talia’s passion to help drive efforts to achieve long-standing, systematic social justice spills over into anything she does and that includes Postal Petals, where messages encouraging consumers to register to vote and highlighting the frequent injustices against underrepresented communities can be found throughout the brand’s site and its social media platforms.

A native of a Los Angeles suburb, Talia is a graduate of San Diego State University where she earned a degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations. Talia is an advocate of civic engagement and collective social change as well as a lover of facts, experiences, art, culture and of course flowers.

Show Links

Postal Petals

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

How ‘Made With Local’ Scaled with Values

Sheena Russell, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Made with Local started as a simple farmer’s market table and is now a B-Corp certified food provider available at stores across Canada–but it’s still baked at home (that is Dartmouth, Nova Scotia!), by locals with local ingredients.

Founder & CEO Sheena Russell is on a mission to inspire mindfulness and conscious consumption through community connection, storytelling, and food.

A Certified B Corp, Sheena and her team at Made with Local are committed to creating delicious snacks that have social impact, baked-in.

Show Links

Made with Local
Flower Cart Group
B Lab
Pulp & Wire - Female-founded natural CPG agency

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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How Harley Finkelstein Went From Shopify's Earliest User to its President

Harley Finkelstein, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 11:00:00 +0000

This episode is also available on YouTube: youtu.be/eyGIORYpio4

Before Harley Finkelstein was President of Shopify, he was one of their first customers, selling t-shirts on a Shopify store sixteen years ago. In 2010, he joined the company as a "jack of all trades" and now serves as its president.

Today, Shopify as a platform is the second largest online retailer in the U.S., and Harley is once again a merchant selling on Shopify.

In this episode, Harley opens up to us to share his origin story, why ecommerce is an outdated term, what he's most proud of at Shopify, and where he thinks he could have done better.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

2022 eCommerce Trends Report

Kurt Elster, Andrew Youderian — Tue, 8 Nov 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Ecommerce Fuel community leader Andrew Youderian joins us to discuss the results of his 2022 ecommerce trends report gathered directly from store owners like you.

We'll give you a unique, detailed look at what trends are shaping the eCommerce landscape and, ultimately, your business.

GUEST BIO: Andrew Youderian is the Founder of eCommerceFuel, a community for 7- and 8-figure brand owners. I'm a member, its a high quality community. Also a podcast host of Ecomm Fuel, and early inspiration for After a few years in the investment banking world, Andrew decided he’d had enough and decided to quit and start his first eCommerce business. He has since sold numerous eCommerce stores over the years and loves geeking out about eCommerce, investing, finance, marketing and community.

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Automating Real UGC on TikTok

Abe Wolke, Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

How a 12-month-old platform, Bounty, is merging influencers and loyalty for efficient customer acquisition

GUEST BIO: Abe started Bounty in November 2021 following Apple’s iOS 14.5 privacy updates that turned the advertising industry upside down. He previously co-founded two direct to consumer brands, but due to the product categories, couldn’t run Facebook ads. Instead, he focused on working with influencers and creators to drive growth. When the privacy updates drove digital advertising to an inflection point, Abraham leveraged his learnings in the new advertising landscape to create a new scalable channel to help brands drive growth.

Show Links

Bounty
Twitter:@abewolke

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Maximizing CLTV this Q4 w/ SMS & Email

Reinis Krumins, Tracey Wallace, Lindy Crea, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

This panel was originally recorded live during Commerce Accel 2022, and is syndicated on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast with permission from conference organizer Kunle Campbell.

We find ourselves in a challenging retail and economic environment this year, the stakes have never been higher, and consumer psychology and behavior is adjusting rapidly to new market realities.

Throughout the next 40 minutes, this group of messaging and customer lifetime value maximization experts will give you the step-by-step on what you need to do as a brand to adjust your marketing to changing consumer psychology, and give you the best practices that top brands are using already in response to changing market conditions.

Panelists:

Reinis Krumins, co-founder of agencyJR, an eCom email marketing agency working with your favorite 7 & 8 figure brands. His team has generated over $30,000,000 in email sales in the past 3 years.

Tracey Wallace, Director of Content Strategy at Klaviyo, where her team helps to educate SMB and MM ecommerce brands on how to grow more efficiently with email and SMS, yes, but also how to build their own audiences, increase lifetime value and build a legacy brand that outlasts any economic headwinds. Previously, she was the Editor-in-Chief at BigCommerce, and even started her own DTC brand to test out the theories and advice her writers were giving. Tracey comes from a long line of educators, and is focused on helping business leaders have more successful impact at their organisations.

Lindy Crea, VP of Partnerships at Recharge, the leading subscription management solution, helping ecommerce merchants of all sizes launch and scale subscription offerings. Lindy leads the team responsible for Recharge’s all-star partner network.

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commerceaccel.com

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AMA OCTOBER

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

The 9th installment of our popular AMA series.

In this Ask Me Anything episode sourced from our listeners, we discuss...

Free resources to get you prepped for BFCM
App recommendations for promos
Plus data, design, and business decisions.

DEAR META ADS BUYER, YOU'RE NOT ALONE

Andrew Foxwell, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

If you're struggling with Facebook ads, you’re not crazy and you’re not alone. Social media advertising is not what it once was, and neither is Q4. This new landscape is really, really hard.

Guest Bio: Andrew runs Foxwell Digital, where he not only advises companies on their marketing strategies and overseas digital ad campaigns on behalf of clients, but he also runs a community of 400 digital marketers from beginner to expert, which collectively spends over $100M per month on Facebook and Instagram.

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Maximize Your Paid Ads with Google Performance Max

Brett Curry, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Performance MAX campaigns are HOT right now. This super campaign type combines ALL of Google's channels into one campaign - Search Ads, Shopping Ads, Display Ads, Gmail Ads and YouTube ads all in one. We're seeing amazing early results and believe this will be a game changer for eCommerce brands.

To break it down, we're joined by Google Premier Partner Brett Curry.

Brett is the CEO of OMG Commerce, a digital marketing agency, Google Premier Partner and Amazon Ad Partner. Brett is the host of two leading eCommerce podcasts - Spicy Curry and eCommerce Evolution Podcast highlighting what’s new and what’s next in eCommerce. He and his team manage Google, YouTube, and Amazon ad campaigns for growing eCommerce brands. They’ve worked with an impressive array of brands including NATIVE, Boom by Cindy Joseph, Monin, Organifi, Madison Reed and many more. He's a frequent speaker on top industry stages like Traffic & Conversion Summit, Social Media Marketing World, SellerCon, IRCE and more.

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Reach Your Audience Without Paid Ads

Rand Fishkin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Do you feel like you're burning money at the altar of Facebook while Zuckerberg builds a VR empire? Are you earning break even ROAS, and hoping ad prices don't rise any further?

If you are, that's not uncommon.

In August, I was at Ecommerce Day in LA, and heard their keynote speaker say "Facebook and Google's entire business model is to take credit of sales that were already going to happen."

And then he convinced me that was true.

Joining us today with some unconventional wisdom on building a better marketing plan for your brand is Rand Fishkin.

Rand Fishkin is cofounder and CEO of SparkToro, makers of fine audience research software.

Rand's Bio: In 2018, Rand started SparkToro with Casey Henry and published, with Penguin/Random House, Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World. Rand previously co-contributed to two books: Art of SEO, and Inbound Marketing & SEO. He’s been profiled in the Seattle Times, featured in Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, named to BusinessWeek’s 30 Under 30, written about in Newsweek, The Next Web, the Inc 500, and hundreds of other publications. He is, however, most proud of his prominent appearances in Geraldine’s first book, All Over the Place. Geraldine and Rand are also small investors in TinySeed Accelerator, LegUp, TeamSportz, Techstars Seattle and Backstage Capital.

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Reviving Revo Sunglasses

Cliff Robinson, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

If you're a little older than me, you may remember a particularly cool pair of sunglasses that was famous for using NASA satellite tech in their lenses and for being the first real activewear sunglasses in the 80s.

I'm talking about REVO sunglasses.

Our guest today is Cliff Robinson, CEO of Revo. Cliff has fashion in blood. You see, he was born into fashion, his family’s nearly century old business designs, manufactures, sells and distributes high-quality designer brand eyewear right in my home state of Illinois.

Today we're going to discuss the journey from an old school family business licensing other people's names to becoming a brand owner, and the learnings that come along with this shift in business strategy.

Show Links

Revo Sunglasses - Discount for listeners - use code KURT for 20% off on revo.com

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Growing Cat Backpacks into a 7-Figure Biz

Emily Miethner, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Today's guest co-founded the #1 cat travel brand in the world. You read that right.

We're joined by Emily Miethner from travelcatshop.com, now the #1 cat travel brand in the world, and a fast-growing, global 7-figure DTC brand serving catstomers in 75+ countries. As the Chief Marketing Officer, Emily manages influencer marketing, SMS and email marketing, organic digital content, retail, product development, and partnerships.

She's been featured on Good Morning America, in-studio on Cheddar TV Live, and in The New York Times, Wall Sreet Journal, Vice, U.S. News, Vogue, Fast Company, and more, and on 20+ podcasts.

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Content Marketing isn't a Campaign

Jake Karls, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Today's guest is Jake Karls, a co-founder at chocolate factory & DTC brand Mid-Day Squares.

Jake's job goal is to grow their brand by building genuine relationships – with investors, buyers, journalists, and their 80-person team. He's done that with a content marketing approach that he describes as "starring in our own reality TV show" that includes real life therapy sessions and inspiring others to be unapologetically themselves.

Though Jake was recognized as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist this year, his self-proclaimed “greatest accomplishment” was learning how to be confident in himself.

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Unlocking Customer Experience Mindset

Kurt Elster, Nick Disabato — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Today's guest is Nick Disabato, a conversion rate optimization consultant who believes "Ecommerce isn’t a video game. It’s relationships with real people, at scale." In this episode, we'll learn how his customer-focused mindset has helped in improve conversion rates and shift company cultures at the same time for his clients.

You'll hear:

Design Mindset & Cognitive Biases
Customer Phone Interviews
Scary Tests, Tools, and where to start

Through his consultancy, Draft, Nick Disabato 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.

Show Links

Draft - Nick's design consultancy
@nickd's twitter rant
Google Optimize - Split Testing tool
Store Design - Nick's new mini how-to guide
Hotjar - Heatmapping tool

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The Business of Games

Tim Swindle, Scott Robinson, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Scott Brown & Tim Swindle are the creators of PaddleSmash, a new outdoor active game that combines elements of Pickleball and Spikeball.

Scott Brown is the co-founder of Marbles: The Brain Store, a retail concept focused on building better brains through play, which eventually grew to 40 stores, a website, a catalog business and a proprietary product division.

Tim Swindle created Utter Nonsense, an entertaining card game that was quickly carried by several retailers and ultimately within all 1,800 Target stores. Utter Nonsense was acquired in 2017 by private equity backed, PlayMonster.

What did the learn and where are they going? Today is all about product development in the toys & games space.

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Be Your Brand’s Best Publicist

Chuck Melber, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Today's topic is PR...

PR or "earned media" is very attractive. Authentic content and engagement that you dont have to pay for. Its like SEO for press.

Sounds great? So why isn't everyone doing it? Because it's hard and expensive.

As the host of a moderately successful podcast, I get a lot of pitches from PR firms and they're mostly awful. Or we've had clients hire PR firms and feel like they flushed $10K/mo down the toilet.

So how do you do it right? Like many things, the answer might be Do It Yourself, at least at first.

The attraction is clear. Who wouldn't want to be featured in Wirecutter, GQ, Engadget, Techcrunch, Forbes, CNN, Wall Street Journal, or even huge YouTube channels like iJustine. Our guest today has, and he's going to tell us how to do it.

Our guest today has been doing PR for eight years as part of his role at NOMAD GOODS. We're joined by listener & recurring guest Chuck Melber. During his tenure at Nomad he has established a strong foundation in advertising, email marketing, affiliate marketing, PR, and influencer marketing.

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Q&A: Shopify Store Strategy

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 9 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Our popular 'Ask Us Anything' series continues

We open with news of a ponzi scheme, then answer your burning questions.

We discuss:

Maximizing your advertising dollars
Shopify's share price
Building the perfect ecom team

and more_!_

Show Links

Overhyped & Under-Regulated: Zadeh Kicks, the Sneaker Arbitrage that Cost Customers Millions

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Building a Baked Goods Brand with a Mission

Hans Schrei, Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000

A cookie brand born in Farmer's Markets discovers their mission after a chance encounter with the lead singer of Imagine Dragons.

This is the story of Wunderkeks, an Austin-based baked goods company specializing in cookies, and building safe spaces with those baked goods.

We're joined by Hans Schrei, co-founder of Wunderkeks.

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Shopify Editions Summer 2022 Recap

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Move over Unite, the big announcements are now happening twice a year with Shopify Editions, Shopify’s new semi-annual showcase.

CEO Tobi says, “With Shopify Editions, we’re sharing our big bets and latest innovations in commerce so that those ambitious enough to try their hand at entrepreneurship can start and scale faster than ever before.”

There's a lot to explore, every time I revisit Editions, I find something I missed before. In this episode, we'll talk through the announcements we're most excited about.

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Immutable Laws of Conversions

Jon MacDonald, Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, our guest packages more than a decade of knowledge and experience into just a handful of immutable laws that can help savvy brands convert more visitors into buyers.

We're joined by Jon MacDonald, founder of The Good, a conversion optimization firm that has helped globally-recognized brands like Nike, Adobe, Xerox, and The Economist exceed their ambitious growth goals.

Show Links

Opting In To Optimization - use code GOODFRIENDS
thegood.com
jonmacdonald.com
Google Optimize
Amazon Mechanical Turk
Wikipedia: Mechanical Turk - Trivia!

Sponsors

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No Shortcuts: Lessons from 13 Years in Online Marketing

Jason Portnoy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Jul 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Our guest today didn't know what he didn't know when he started an apparel brand in 2009, and only grew to dislike it the more successful he became, so he eventually exited the business in 2017 to focus on digital marketing.

Today, he's a go-to expert on Facebook ads, with a lot of unconventional opinions, and a no BS approach that's refreshing in the marketing space. That's the kind of experience we can benefit from.

We're joined by Jason Portnoy, owner of JPORT Media, a 7-figure agency that has generated over $150M in revenue for their clients.

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Selling Your Online Business

ETHERCYCLE LLC — Tue, 5 Jul 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Learn the Four Pillars of Value
Which deal types are available (its more than just cash)
As interest rates rise, why you want to be SBA qualified
Why you want to use accrual accounting to clean up your books

Elaine is an advisor at Quiet Light where she helps online-based businesses exit. She has a background in e-commerce and a track record of success in online business. She started her first profitable eCommerce business on Etsy in 2009 and has built 3 more businesses since, including a content site, an online subscription service, and a multi-million dollar fitness eCommerce brand that she exited through Quiet Light before joining their team as an advisor.

Show Links

Quietlight - They offer free business valuations and help with exit planning for online business owners. Anyone interested can contact Elaine at elaine@quietlight.com.

Sponsors

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Split Testing Product Prices

Drew Marconi, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Jun 2022 10:00:00 +0000

"Addressing prices once every year or two isn't going to work anymore."

You've probably already invested time testing and analyzing your sales funnel, but have you ever tested your pricing? How did you determine the pricing on your site? It was a best guess, right?

With all the changes in the last year - iOS & FB, supply chain disruptions, inflation - pivoting to a margin focus is so important. The days of just focusing on the top line are over.

In today's episode, we learn from a price testing expert if you should optimize revenue and profit for the traffic you have by split testing your pricing. Its not right for everbody, and its more than just prices. It’s shipping, returns, discounts, subscription savings, etc. There may be a lot of low hanging fruit.

We're joined by Drew Marconi, CEO of Intelligems, a price-testing and margin optimization product for e-commerce brands. Prior to starting Intelligems, he built Dynamic Pricing systems at Via Transportation, and was a manager at McKinsey & Company beforehand. He has a degree in Economics & Education Policy.

Show Links

Intelligems - A/B Test your pricing on your Shopify store.

Sponsors

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The Most Controversial Way to Get Subscribers

Adam Robinson, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode: An email insider exposes how to acquire the email addresses of anonymous website visitors who don't make a purchase or fill out a form. You read that right. But is it even legal? And if so, what are the risks and ROI?

Our guest should know, after all he's an email marketing veteran with a successful exit under his belt.

We're joined by Adam Robinson, founder and CEO of GetEmails, which he's bootstrapped to 10m ARR in 24 months with six people. Prior to GetEmails, Adam was the founder/CEO of Robly Email Marketing, which was bootstrapped and he exited for 8 figures to private equity in 2020.

Show Links

getemails.com - We'll give you 25% off for the first 3mo ... just use the offer code UNOFFICIAL when you sign up.

Sponsors

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No Best Practices: 7 Surprising Split Tests

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Most business owners would agree that data-driven decisions are preferable, so why then are we all overlooking split testing when making design decisions? In this episode, we talk through seven interesting split tests and the implications of their results. With one big caveat: there are no best practices...

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Useful Google Tools for Your Store

Kurt Elster, Ilana Davis — Tue, 7 Jun 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Google offers many free and excellent tools for business owners, but knowing which ones to invest in, and what to do with can be intimdating. Our guest today talks us through a low-stress, high impact approach to optimizing for Google's business tools that applies to nearly any store. (If you haven't setup Google Search Console yet, listen to this episode.)

Which of Google's free tools should you always use?
Which Google Search Console warnings actually matter? (It cries wolf!)
The opportunity of Rich Results Data

Ilana Davis is a Shopify Superhero who works with e-commerce shops to remove friction from the buying process. She’s the owner of JSON-LD for SEO, a Shopify app that gets you more organic traffic through Rich Results. Ilana rescues websites to attract more visitors, provide better SEO, and increase conversion rates at a fraction of the cost of a full redesign.

Show Links

Google Search Console
Google Merchant Center
JSON-LD for SEO
ilanadavis.com
Rich Results Test
Get a free structured data audit by emailing support@ilanadavis.com

Sponsors

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SEO & Content Strategy Simplified

Rhian Beutler, Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Long time SEO expert and Shopify Partner Rhian Beutler returns to the show with updates to tell us...

the SEO & content strategy every store should employ
the right approach to Meta title & description tags
How to take advantage of Google's Natural Language Processing push

Plus an update on the global supply chain.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Q&A: Shopify Feature & Strategy Update

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 24 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this Ask Us Anything episode, we discuss new features and answer your burning questions.

What's new at Shopify:

Audiences
Delivery Dates
SFN + Deliverr

And your questions:

When to upgrade your plan
The importance of being a HYPE BEAST
Metafields impact on SEO
Conversion Rate Factors
And more

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Understanding Influencer Product Seeding

Cody Wittick, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In today's episode, we learn a sane and accessible influencer marketing strategy that has worked for brand and big small: product seeding.

We're joined by Cody Wittick, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Kynship, an influencer marketing agency.

Prior to co-founding Kynship, Cody worked at QALO, the brand that created the silicone wedding ring, where he built out a robust influencer program of 500+ influencers, all through the foundation of seeding. This included contracting thousands of micro-influencers in a variety of industries to produce monthly UGC and organic posts, while also working with household names such as Lebron James, Jason Aldean, Mike Trout, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Tools to Get Your Money Right

Tui Allen, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we hear how Shopify merchants can better manage their business finances, and increase conversion at checkout.

Our guest today is Tui Allen, a Product Director at Shopify, overseeing financial solutions for entrepreneurs and businesses.

This includes Shopify Capital (available to merchants in the US, UK, and Canada) which provides merchants with timely access to funds to help their businesses grow, simplifying the tedious processes found at traditional banks. Since its launch in 2016, Shopify Capital has provided more than $3 billion in funding to merchants worldwide.

With over 20 years of experience in the software and technology sector, Tui Allen has a track record of leading product development not just for Shopify, but also global financial ERP, CRM and payment solutions for several Fortune 100 companies.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Undoing Headless

Tom Siodlak, Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 3 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In episode 400, we heard from veteran ecom investor Drew Sanocki that he'd acquired oVertone Haircare along with ecom powerhouse influencer Ezra Firestone.

In today's episode, our recent hire Tom Siodlak talks us through the behind the scenes experience of working with Ezra and the oVertone team on migrating the site from headless back to native Shopify with a custom theme. He reveals the premium theme we used as a framework, his thoughts on developing custom Shopify themes, design process, Online Store 2.0's impact, and more.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Custom Theming a Multimillion Lifestyle Brand

Craig LeBlanc, Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In episode 235, we heard how SHITI Coolers started with $400 in parody stickers back in 2016 and by 2019 had grown into a seven-figure lifestyle brand.

Today, they're back on the show to discuss their next phase of growth, beginning with a custom theme and rebranding effort. Not just any custom theme, when we built with them and launched less than 24 hours before recording this episode.

Show Links

shiticoolers.com

Sponsors

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Easy Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 10:00:00 +0000

We discuss the top mistakes to avoid early in your entrepreneurial journey. Look, when you start something new, you don't know what you don't know. It's easy to make a lot of mistakes early on that become obvious to you only later with experience. I know this because I've been through it. I've engaged in all of the mistakes we're about to discuss.

Show Links

oVertone
Govalo
AMP by Shop Sheriff
Post Pilot - The Godfather offer! They'll build the first campaign for you and send them.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Lessons from 20 Years of Ecommerce

Drew Sanocki, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Serial entrepreneur Drew Sanocki shares his career learnings after starting, buying, running, or selling numerous ecommerce businesses.

Notable quotes:

"You make most of your money on the exit."
"Buying a business reduces the risk... its the ultimate shortcut"
"Valuations change over time. Growing ecommerce businesses can sell for 5-8x EBITDA"

We discuss:

Selling furniture as one of the earliest dropshippers in 1999
The specifics on buying oVertone Haircare with Ezra Firestone
What makes a business attractive as a purchase
The importance of retention marketing

Show Links

oVertone
AutoAnything
DuoPlane
Powerful by Patty McCord
#341 - RFM Segmentation with Juliana Jackson
Post Pilot - The Godfather offer! They'll build the first campaign for you and send them.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

AMA: What's Working in 2022

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 5 Apr 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this Ask Me Anything episode sourced from our listeners, we discuss...

Alternatives to Shopify and Google Analytics
TikTok Strategy
What do successful brands do differently?
Is SEO still viable?
What's one thing around the corner no one is talking about yet?
Which 3 eComm strategies that just don't work like they used to?
Meta Shops (FB/IG)... Should Shopify merchants have checkout on their owned Shopify store, or, Meta Checkout (In-app checkout)?
The NEW Shopify Customers View sections
Google PageSpeed Fallout
Return Management Apps

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

Never miss an episode

Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Becca Davison of UnbuckleMe

Becca Davison, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Mar 2022 10:00:00 +0000

We're joined by Becca Davison, co-inventor of UnbuckleMe, an innovative, patented tool that makes it easy to open kids’ car seat buckles. She's a Shark Tank alum who experienced the most unusual event in the Shark Tank: all five Sharks were interested in investing in and partnering with UnBuckleMe.

When Becca's mom Barb offered to help out with childcare, they identified a problem, and Barb was uniquely positioned to solve it. Fast forward 5 years later, UnbuckleMe is a top selling product on Amazon with over 6k reviews, available at Target, Walmart, buybuyBABY and loved by parents & grandparents across the country.

Show Links

UnbuckleMe - Take 15% off with code podcast15
Kickstarter: UnbuckleMe
Safe in the Seat
Klaviyo
Attentive

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Starting a Ghost Pepper Honey Brand

Raoul Benavides, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Our guest today is a serial entrepreneur who shuns the hustle & grind and instead focuses on enjoying the journey of starting a business.

"I have had many ups and downs but one night I had a dream about my grandfather and hot honey and the name heart soul heat all came into focus."

We're joined by Raoul Benavides, founder of Heart Soul Heat, a purveyor of ghost-pepper infused honey.

"As someone with a big entrepreneurial spirit and roots in Mexican food culture, I want to incorporate the best of my family’s legacy into some new products that I could share with everyone."

Show Links

Heart Soul Heat - KURT20 for 20% your first order
Podcorn
PRX

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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Conversion Copywriting (and how Humor Helps, Maybe)

Kurt Elster, Lianna Patch — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode originally recorded live for a virtual audience at The Future of Ecommerce, we talk with conversion copywriter Lianna Patch about how to improve your store's copywriting and maybe even add a dash of humor.

TAKEAWAYS:

What are some easily fixable copy mistakes (AKA copy-tunities) you'd like to see more stores address?
What's the difference between conversion copy and direct response copy?
What are some non-metric based ways to measure your copy's effectiveness?
Where's the best place for store owners to try using humor in their copy?

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Migrating to Shopify

Kurt Elster, Stewart Knapman — Tue, 8 Mar 2022 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we talk through migrating to Shopify: things to watch out for, and experienced advice on how to make the most of migrating to Shopify.

Our expert guest contributors are:

Stewart Knapman who joins us from New Zealand where he is a Merchant Solutions Engineer at Shopify. Before moving to Shopify he spent the last decade working as a Shopify partner and Plus Expert helping merchants get the most out of the platform.
Karl Meisterheim, author of the Liquid Weekly newsletter, and an Ethercycle team member currently working on a migration from Magento to Shopify.

Show Links

Docs: Migrate to Shopify
Transporter App
Matrixify - Shopify Data Bulk Import Export Update & Migrate
Liquid Weekly

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Apply to work with us to grow your store.

Kelley Higney of Bug Bite Thing (Shark Tank Update)

Kurt Elster, Kelley Higney — Tue, 1 Mar 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Since creating Bug Bite Thing in 2017, Kelley has been a "Mom on a Mission" to offer the most effective chemical-free solution for insect bite relief worldwide.

In 2013, Kelley Higney moved from California to Florida, only to discover the horror of living with mosquitoes. Her daughter suffered from constant mosquito bites. After many failed attempts using creams and trying home remedies, Kelley discovered a little-known tool that uses suction to help remove insect saliva/venom from under the skin. Kelley was amazed to find that the product worked and also offered instant relief.

The company gained nationwide recognition in October 2019 when Kelley and her mother appeared on ABC’s hit show, ‘Shark Tank. Bug Bite Thing is Amazon’s #1 selling product for insect bite relief with over 40,000 reviews. Kelley is a member of the Fast Company Executive Board and Forbes Business Council. She has received several awards, including ‘Female Entrepreneur of the Year’ by the 2021 Stevie Awards for Women in Business 2021. She resides in South Florida with her husband, Richard, and their daughters, Leah and Lilly.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Building Community Through Challenges

Kurt Elster, Alicia Reynoso — Tue, 22 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Alicia Reynoso began selling online 7 years ago and has since built and exited an 8-figure brand on Amazon and Shopify.

It wasn't until she launched her free 60 Day Challenge that she was able to grow a hyper engaged community around her brand. With this challenge and community of super fans, Alicia was able to scale their business, increase their customer lifetime value, generate an endless amount of UGC and differentiate themselves from the competition.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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How a Dad Started a Kids' Clothing Line in 2020

Kyle Hale, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Kyle Hale spent a year teaching himself to draw so he could start Ambitious Kids, a T-shirt company for children. His designs have a retro midwestern vibe that has a way of sparking conversations. Still early in his journey, Kyle is open about the struggles he's faced starting his brand, and the lessons he's learned in the process.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Why These Teddy Bears are Exclusively Wholesale

Kurt Elster, Todd Steinberg — Tue, 8 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

How a family business selling teddy bears, Plush in a Rush, went from a regional traveling salesperson venture to a nationwide wholesale e-commerce store. Yes, this store is exclusively wholesale, and thriving. Having sold online for nearly 20 years, owner Todd Steinberg has a lot of unexpected and practical advice to share from his experiences.

Show Links

plushinarush.com

Sponsors

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The Future of Ecommerce

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 1 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

We discuss our own key takeaways Shopify's extensive Future of Ecommerce Industry Report for 2022 to arm you with the ecommerce trends, insights, and advice you need to succeed in 2022.

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z26-lJ6GKPsdash

Show Links

The Future of Commerce: Industry Report (2022) - Download Shopify’s complete Future of Commerce report for yourself.
Or get just Shopify's Future of Ecommerce report

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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AMA: Metafields, Online Store 2.0, & more

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Also available in glorious HD video on YouTube:

Show producer Paul Reda returns to from paternity leave and he's on fire with hot takes in this AMA episode. We answer your burning ecommerce questions. Today's themes are metafields, theming, and Online Store 2.0.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Ben Knegendorf's High-Ticket Dropshipping Approach

Ben Knegendorf, Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

How a Walmart forklift driver with no ecommerce experience started (and sold) a series of successful dropshipping businesses. In this episode, Ben lays out his practical and repeatable approach to building legitimate high-ticket dropshipping businesses all while breaking through limiting beliefs and mindsets.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Sprinkler Nerd Says, "Dropshipping's Not Dead"

Andy Humphrey, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

In 2004, Andy Humphrey took the $108 he'd saved and turned it into $10,000 profit in 6 months selling Christmas lights on SuperTwinkle.com while working full-time as a distributor account manager.

Fast forward >> today he sell millions online tactfully optimizing SprinklerSupplyStore.com and blazing trails with wholesale distributors.

Along the way, you may have seen him on ABC's, Shark Tank (ECOMOWER, 2011), or working with irrigation technology, helping hundreds of contractors & distributors embrace the digital transformation and improve their business.

With almost two decades of experience, Andy has a tremendous understanding of what it takes to succeed as an online entreprenuers.

Show Links

TreeKeeperBag.com
Sprinkler Supply Store
Inventory Integration App: DuoPlane
Content Site Example: Double Your WDW
andyhumphrey.com

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Back up your store with Rewind
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Privy: The Fastest Way To Grow Sales With Email & SMS

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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How Braxley Bands sold 200K+  Watch straps

Braxton Manley, Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

How a design student bootstrapped a watch strap business with $20 and a sock, cultivated a loyal repeat customer base, and ultimately sold over 200,000 watch bands starting from a dorm room in Texas. Our guest today is Braxton Manley, founder of Braxley Bands, a lifestyle brand combining style and function to make insanely comfortable Apple Watch bands. What he began working on for a random class project in 2016 has since gotten out of hand and on over 200k wrists.

Show Links

Braxley Bands - Text KURT to 85709 for 20% off!
PoolSuite
Postscript
Klaviyo
Fuel Made

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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Banned From Facebook, SEO Saves Store

John Murphy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Good SEO and content strategy can help ecommerce store owners be less reliant on paid traffic.

Do you rely on paid ads to get traffic? What happens if you get banned from running ads or traffic dries up?

That's exactly what happened to today's guest. Without Facebook and Google ads to generate traffic, he had to figure out an SEO strategy to replace the lost traffic to his eBike store. The solution? Study affiliate marketers and apply their strategies to ecommerce.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

How a Plush Toy Earns This Couple Six Figures

Kurt Elster, Jonathon Denholm — Tue, 21 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Jonathon and Maria Denholm have invented a new way for teachers to manage their classrooms with an adorable product they call Your Teacher's Pet Creature. In this episode, Jonathon shares their journey going from "having no clue what I was doing" to running a 6-figure Shopify store with a completely new product alongside his wife, all while juggling two kids and a full-time job.

You'll hear the steps they took to go from idea to product to making a positive difference in education all while working towards financial independence.

Show Links

yourteacherspetcreature.com - Use code TECHNASTY at checkout for 15% off sitewide
Upwork
Kickstarter
App: Beprofit ‑ Profit Analytics
App: Candy Rack — One Click Upsell
App: Digital Downloads

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

3PL ShipBob Sees Strong Black Friday Fulfillment

Casey Armstrong, Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

According to Shopify sales data, "merchants on Shopify generated peak sales of nearly $3.1 million per minute at 12:02 PM EST on Black Friday, and merchants crossed $1 billion in sales by 4:00am EST, four hours earlier than Black Friday in 2020."

Now we have to get all that product delivered. In 2020, that was a problem. Is it an issue this year?

CMO of ShipBob, Casey Armstrong, joins to tell us. The global 3PL ships millions of orders per month for over 7,000 brands across a network of 30 fulfillment centers worldwide. They track and publish carrier fulfillment data which they'll share with us in this episode.

After a BFCM breakdown, we discuss common questions around outsourcing fulfillment, and the future of fulfillment.

Show Links

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How CROSSNET reinvented volleyball on Shopify

Chris Meade, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In today's show, CROSSNET co-founder & CMO Chris Meade tells us how he bootstrapped the world’s first four way volleyball game into a 8 figure business in 4 years.

CROSSNET is sold in over 2,500+ retail stores, has been played in 10,000 schools, and has even aired on ESPN.

In this episode, Chris is candid about his journey, and lays out the struggles and tactics that led to their success.

Show Links

crossnetgame.com

Sponsors

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Conversion Copywriting

Rishi Rawat, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In our last chat with Rishi (AKA the Shopify product page guy), we talked about why product pages are important (https://unofficialshopifypodcast.com/episodes/rishi-rawat). It was one of our most popular 2021 episodes.

So I invited Rishi back. This time we dug into how to rewrite the product description so it connects with the psychology of your shopper.

Rishi has been experimenting with conversion ideas for the last 13 years. He’s discovered a 9 point conversion copywriting (https://www.frictionless-commerce.com/blog/conversion-copywriting-checklist/) framework.

Frictionless Commerce (Rishi’s company) specializes in helping Shopify sites improve product page conversions by 20% in 90 days. They A/B test to prove their ideas make you more money.

PS: they are probably the only digital marketing agency that I know of who takes inspiration from a 130-year-old Sears catalog (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DlxvIV2810lgDsw0CQLgxVyhVea6PMzE/view?usp=sharing).

WANT MORE?

Rishi also has a weekly buyer psychology newsletter: https://www.frictionless-commerce.com/JOIN

Sponsors

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How Inclusivity & Community Sells Apparel

Kurt Elster, Adam Greenberg — Tue, 23 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Our guest is Adam Greenberg, one of the co-founders and CMO of ONE BONE, a size inclusive brand for the hard-to-fit man.

He’s a morning show radio host on Virgin Radio in Montreal, Canada, and he used to tour as an MC (TB1) in an EDM DJ duo (1DAFUL). While he was on tour across North America, he had to custom make his own clothing because finding something that looked as good as it fit, was very hard to come by.

Now, the group of partners at ONE BONE are attracting tons of people with a solution; fun, friendly and accessible marketing, and thousands of people who become loyal and passionate ambassadors.

Show Links

onebonebrand.com
Kurt's Fave T-shirtThe "Michael" Waffle Tee

Sponsors

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The Facebook ROAS Death Spiral

William Harris, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2O8th50rMbM

If you advertise on Facebook (or other ad platforms) you need to understand Media Efficiency Ratio (MER) vs. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and how to think about advertising incrementally.

Why Facebook Ads reporting on ROAS is broken.
If you’re pulling back on Facebook ads as a result, you're hurting your business.
Switching to a different metric based on the two cold-hard facts of your business (money leaving your bank and money going into your bank) can get you back on track and scaling profitably again.

Our guest today is William Harris, founder of Elumynt, a growth agency for Shopify stores. In the last 9 months, they've helped six clients get acquired, with the largest selling for a whopping $800M.

Show Links

William's Agency: Elumynt
Article: The Facebook ROAS Death Spiral: Fix it Now — or Lose Your Shopify Store
Article: https://elumynt.com/facebook-ads-ios14-roas/
Twitter: @wmharris101

Sponsors

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Dynamic Commerce with Shopify's Hydrogen

Kurt Elster, Ilya Grigorik — Thu, 11 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Hear from Ilya Grigorik at Shopify about the latest with Hydrogen, Shopify’s new React-based custom storefronts framework.

At Shopify Unite 2021 last summer, Tobi Lütke demo'd a new quick-start toolkit for store development called Hydrogen.

It looked cool, seeing Tobi demo it made me want it, but truthfully I didn't understand it. Should I have FOMO? Because I think I do.

We're going full tech nerd in this one, my friends. This episode is for the developers or those major retailers thinking about their store's infrastructure.

Ilya Grigorik, Principal Engineer at Shopify, joins us to discuss this new tooling and give us some insight into Shopify's vision for the future of commerce.

Show Links

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(What to do) When Inventory Runs Out

Rhian Beutler, Kelly Vaughn — Tue, 9 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Rhian Beutler and Kelly Vaughn join us to discuss the state of the supply chain and the economy in Q4, what that means for your store, and what you can do to avoid "dead ends" on your site and "save Christmas for your customers."

Show Links

Bloomberg: 2021 Gift Cards Expected to Surge Amid Shortages
Book: The New Abnormal
The Economist: America Inc and the shortage economy
App store: Govalo
Govalo

Sponsors

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Steal Ezra Firestone's 2021 Million Dollar Holiday Blueprint

Ezra Firestone, Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Nov 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Learn the strategies master marketer Ezra Firestone is using this year for his 8-figure ecommerce brand.

Show Links

Sponsors

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How Mrs. Elster gets 500+ visits/day from Google

Julie Elster, Kurt Elster — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode, Julie Elster (AKA Mrs. Unofficial Shopify Podcast) describes the free content strategy and "feedback loop" she's implemented on her Shopify store to generate 550 qualified organic visits daily to her store, all without using paid traffic or tools.

Show Links

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Your 2021 Black Friday Facebook Ads Strategy

Kurt Elster, Kurt Bullock — Tue, 26 Oct 2021 10:00:00 +0000

We're taking a deep dive into Facebook ads strategy. We're talking what we're seeing working, and sane strategies you can use in your campaigns.

You'll learn a three stage strategy to set your Facebook ads funnel up for success this holiday season.

Our guest today is Kurt Bullock, founder of ecommerce marketing agency the Produce Department, and our strategic Facebook ads partner.

Show Links

Sponsors

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Holiday Email Marketing Tips & Prep

Kurt Elster, Chase Dimond — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Joining us to discuss Pre and Post BFCM Email Marketing Strategies is Chase Diamond, an experienced email marketer who has sent over one billion emails resulting in $75 million in email attributable revenue.

We learn:

Dialing in messaging for 2021
Improving deliverability (to offset lowered open rates)
Why testing your offers is your biggest opportunity
The optional Klaviyo snippets you probably forgot to install

Our guest today is Chase is currently a Partner at Structured — a top ecommerce marketing agency, where he runs the email team. A few of our previous and current clients include: Orgain, The Chive, Original Grain, and Crossnet.

Show Links

chasedimond.com
The Ultimate BFCM Email Marketing Playbook by Chase Dimond - Use code KURT for 30% off.
Klaviyo Docs: How to Create an "Added to Cart" Event for Shopify
The Very Good Bra
@ecomchasedimond

Sponsors

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How a FB Ads expert bootstrapped from 0–$100K

Mojca Zove, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we talk to an experienced Facebook marketer Mojca Zove who started her first real online store in 2020, and then bootstrapped it to 100k in 6 months. The number of things she learned along the way is priceless.

Her store, Your Soul Time, sells crystals and natural incense. Almost a year later their house is packed with inventory and they’re opening their first brick & mortar store and looking to scale beyond the local market.

We learn:

How she got her first sales without paid ads
What she learned about good and bad packaging
Why she's not participating in Black Friday
Her post-iOS14.5 Facebook advice

Show Links

Sponsors

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What's Kurt up to?

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Supply Chain Snags' Merchant Impact

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 5 Oct 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we discuss the global supply chain disruption affecting US store shelves.

Turns out the mega ship got stuck in the Suez Canal was nothing compared to this.

Why are limits on toilet paper back in stores?

How many container ships are sitting in the water outside of Long Beach right now?

Why does Amazon want to legalize weed?

Turns out all of these things are related to supply chain disruptions.

That's one epic traffic jam and it shows no signs of letting up before the holidays.

As ecommerce professionals, what are we gonna do about it?

Connected Retail: Bridging Offline & Online Stores

Kevin McKenzie, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0000

This episode is for you if...

You have retail locations (or are considering it) then you'll want to hear at least the first 20 minutes of this "Connected Retail" discussion with an experienced insider.
OR you have a Shopify store and a Point-of-Sale but they don't talk, then you'll want to listen to the whole episode.

Lots of industry analysis and insight in this one from our guest Kevin McKenzie, the CEO of SKU IQ.

Aside from saving owners a ton of time avoiding the end of day double data entry across to systems that don’t normally connect, Kevin has a seriously impressive resume. As Chief Digital Officer at Westfield, he oversaw the development of all digital strategy and omni-channel initiatives. Before that, he was Sr VP of CNET Shopping.

Show Links

SKU IQ

Sponsors

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Donations, Not Discounts

Andrew Forman, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Shopify merchants will hear about the problems with discounting, how the modern consumer is changing, and one innovative way you can adapt.

As co-founder and CEO of Givz, Andrew Forman is helping Shopify merchants drive sales without discounts, while reaching an increasingly socially-aware demographic.

Prior to Givz, Andrew was treasurer for a nonprofit, where the pains of accepting donations drove him to start Givz.

Show Links

Sponsors

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BFCM: Predictions for Your Promotions

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0000

For our upcoming Black Friday merchant survey, we asked what questions you wanted to be included. In this episode, we're predicting the answers to those questions before we conduct the survey.

Questions like...

What's better: Free Gift with Purchase or flat discount rates?
Do you buy extra inventory or clear out distressed inventory?
What's Plan B if your BFCM sales don't meet your goals?

Sponsors

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Headless 101

Reese Hammerstrom, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Sep 2021 10:00:00 +0000

On today's show, we're getting a crash course on Headless Ecommerce. Our guest today is uniquely suited to the task, having led a headless Shopify migration for a top 100 Shopify Plus store, and most recently joining headless solution provider Shogun.

Show Links

Shogun Frontend
NOMAD - 15% off full priced and in stock gear on nomadgoods.com with code 'unofficial'
Reese's LinkedIn

Sponsors

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BFCM: Prepping for this Holiday Season

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000

If you're going to have the best holiday selling season ever, you need to have a plan in place starting now. But what's that look like? What do we prioritize?

In this episode, we'll talk through phase 1 of your Best-Black-Friday-Ever plan by laying the strategic groundwork you need to succeed.

Sponsors

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ama-online-store-20

Title

Q&A: Online Store 2.0

Summary

When should you upgrade?

Description

In this Ask Us Anything episode, we answer listener questions.

When should I upgrade to Online Store 2.0?
What's headless ecommerce?
The new metafields: What are they? How would I use them?
What are you doing differently with FB Ads since the Apple privacy update?
How to structure content for landing pages
How to promote subscriptions
Establishing free shipping minimums

...and more. Somewhat more. Most of it is even Shopify related.

Show Links

Resources:

Tools:

Stores:

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Your Data is Probably Bad

Kurt Elster, Rich Hannah — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Everyone likes to say they make data-driven decisions, fewer actually do, and even fewer are making those decisions with good data.

As more and more Shopify businesses drill into making data driven decisions having the proper foundation is imperative.

I have Rich Hannah from RHUX analytics here. One of our mutual clients has been working with him and was really impressed.

Hot takes:

Shopify's Google Analytics native integration is imperfect
Size speed doesn't matter as much as you think
If you go headless, your data is going to brek.

Prior to starting his own agency, Rich was the former lead analytics engineer for lululemon and consulted for brands like Nordstrom, Major League Soccer, Zendesk, Starbucks, Tesla and others.

What matters for the future of ecommerce

Kurt Elster, Andrew Jones, Emmett Shine, Lisel Welden — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Kurt Elster, Emmett Shine, and Lisel Welden work with DTC brands on the daily, respectively, so you’d think they’ve heard and seen it all. From Domino's self-driving cars to Walmart’s plan to be fully self-checkout by the end of 2021, to virtual fitting rooms debuting at a time when a lot of Americans really just want to get back into the mall (you get the picture)-- we want to know their takes on what's upcoming in ecommerce.

On the panel:

Emmett Shine, Founder and Executive Creative Director of Pattern (FKA Gin Lane)
Lisel Welden, Advisor, CMO, Board Director | Former Nike, Lyft & Bleacher Report
Kurt Elster, your Unofficial Shopify Podcast host
Moderated by Andrew Jones, Route's Marketing Director

This panel was originally recorded for Route Connect, an Ecommerce Conference

Show Links

Route Connect

Sponsors

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July Recap: The Summer Slump

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Paul and Kurt recap and discuss July's ecom buzz:

Klaviyo's new features
Headless Hotness
The Summer Slump
Paul's Beef(s) with Kurt
Our favorite Online Store 2.0 feature

Show Links

Sponsors

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Discount Code Abuse: Protecting Your Profits

Kathleen Booth, Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Aug 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we'll pull back the curtain on how coupon extensions work, and reveal new data showing how they really impact key performance metrics like average order value and cart completion.

How do coupon extensions like Honey and Capital One Shopping get the discount codes that they share in their apps?
When a coupon extension is present in a user's browser, how does that impact attribution?
What is the impact that coupon extensions have on average order value and cart completion?
If a merchant is doing affiliate marketing, what should they know about coupon extensions and how they affect affiliate fees?

Kathleen is VP of Marketing at clean.io, where she's on a mission to help ecommerce brands grow profits and make smarter marketing decisions by improving the effectiveness of their discount strategies. Prior to joining clean.io, Kathleen spent 11 years as the founder and CEO of a digital marketing agency where she advised hundreds of companies on go-to-market and digital marketing strategies.

Show Links

Sponsors

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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
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What's Kurt up to?

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Q&A: Online Store 2.0

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this Ask Us Anything episode, we answer listener questions.

When should I upgrade to Online Store 2.0?
What's headless ecommerce?
The new metafields: What are they? How would I use them?
What are you doing differently with FB Ads since the Apple privacy update?
How to structure content for landing pages
How to promote subscriptions
Establishing free shipping minimums

...and more. Somewhat more. Most of it is even Shopify related.

Show Links

Resources:

Tools:

Stores:

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

Never miss an episode

Help the show

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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Zuly Matallana of Tiara (Dragon's Den Update)

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 10:00:00 +0000

For more than 15 years Zuly Matallana worked in large multinational companies to develop businesses by successfully leading teams to monetize market opportunities.

Now, Zuly is translating the skills she gained to become a successful entrepreneur. It started when Zuly recognized the need for a product to help busy women keep their hair dry while showering. Consequently, she found an opportunity to introduce a sustainable Shower Cap in a space traditionally dominated by single-use plastics.

The TIARA Shower Cap has not only been successful worldwide but has also gained a lot of media attention. Here are some highlights:

• Zuly “faced the fire” at Canada’s CBC TV Hit series Dragons’ Den securing a deal with Manjit and Jim.
• Gift Pick GMA 2019
• Spoke about her business to more than 3 million people on The View.
• In 2020, deemed a Must Have by Allure

TIARA’s newest haircare innovation, The Night Cap, sold out in less than 30 minutes. This gave Zuly the confidence to spearhead the brand. She is now innovating a line of functional products for women – with sustainability in mind.

Show Links

TIARA - 10% Discount with the Code TIARALOVE

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Two Stores & a Full-time Job

Kurt Elster, Ryan Tarver — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Ryan Tarver, a serial entrepreneur with a full-time job, joins us to discuss the realities of what it’s like to start a LLC, design a brand, and launch two shops while having a full time job, a toddler, a newborn, and way too many hobbies in the middle of a global pandemic.

We discuss:

The importance of brand identity
The case for co-founders
Tools to stay organized
Balancing perfectionism vs "just launching"
What they did when Facebook traffic didn't convert

Show Links

bambinobikes.com - Use code UNOFFICIAL15
2 A.M. Baby - Use code UNOFFICIAL15
Asana
Out of The Sandbox Turbo Theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Lots of traffic but no sales?

Kurt Elster, Kausambi Manjita — Tue, 6 Jul 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In-store marketing & merchandising are the basics of eCommerce but something that is missed often.

Our guest today won the 2020 Shopify Commerce Awards with her app ModeMagic by Mason. She's conducted interviews with over 2,000 merchants, discovering their biggest pain point is "Lots of traffic but no sales."

In this episode, we'll learn what are the basics of in-store marketing - where merchants typically go wrong, and how to do better.

Born in a small town in north east India, grown up across India followed by working in San Francisco, Toronto & India, Kaus has thrived as a global citizen. These experiences have made her very empathetic and helps her connect to small business owners across the globe.

Kaus leads an all-star girls team, mentors women developers & storytellers across the world and is focused on creating a maker first culture.

Show Links

ModeMagic Sale Booster - Free 1 month-trial on ModeMagic Sale Booster app on the Shopify App Store... for all Unofficial Shopify Podcast listeners! Use the code MERCHME while upgrading your plan.
The Fascination
Harry's
[@kmanjita}twitter.com/kmanjita

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Shopify Unite 2021 Recap

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 20:53:19 +0000

Working from home looked good on Shopify because this year's Unite announcements are the most featured-packed yet. So much is changing that they're calling it "Online Store 2.0"

In this episode, we recap the highlights with a focus on what matters for merchants.

Show Links

Shopify Unite

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Using Pre-Orders to Grow Inventory

Sarah Resnick, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Manufacturing your own goods is expensive, and can be even more expensive when you manufacture in the U.S. In this episode, Sarah Resnick, founder of Gist Yarn, tells us how she's used pre-ordering to fund our inventory growth.

Sarah started her career as a community and union organizer, and made the switch to small business when she helped to run a cut and sew factory in 2016.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
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The Boneheaded Mistakes We've All Made Running Online Businesses

Steve Chou, Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Steve Chou and his wife Jennifer built a seven-figure business... and made a lot of mistakes along the way. We all have!

This episode isn't about successes, it's about the stuff everybody (myself included) gets wrong when starting out.

MyWifeQuitHerJob's Steve Chou co-hosts this joint episode to discuss the boneheaded mistakes we've all made running online businesses.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Converting Your First Customers

Val Geisler, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Customer acquisition costs are more expensive than ever, so how can small brands acquire their first customers without spending big on paid traffic? Our guest today has a practical approach to that problem most brands can implement today.

How can a brand get customers if they don't have a budget for ads?
Why should brands invest in BFCM planning when it's so far off?
What are big brands doing that small brands can replicate?

Val Geisler is the Customer Evangelist at Klaviyo. Prior to joining the Klaviyo team, Val was an email marketing consultant for B2B and B2C brands. Because she's obsessed with improving how brands and customers connect, Val loves digging into the best ways to use different channels to make lasting connections. And memes. Val loves a good meme, too.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
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Your Most Important Page is Product

Kurt Elster, Rishi Rawat — Tue, 8 Jun 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Through vigorous testing over a decade long ecommerce career, today's guest has come to a conclusion: the product is the most important page on the whole site, and he's got outside-the-box wisdom on how to optimize it.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How a Former Hockey Player Found Spikey Success

Kurt Elster, Paul de Jersey — Tue, 1 Jun 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Paul de Jersey wants you to lie on what looks like a bed of nails. If you think this is unusual, so did he when he first experienced a spikey acupuncture mat, but it works. It worked so well that he eventually began selling his own spike mats on Shopify, and even appeared on Dragon's Den to pitch the idea.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Paul de Jersey is a former Division 1 hockey player turned entrepreneur. This is the story of his journey founding Aku, a line of premium self-care products with over $1m in sales. It wasn't easy though– Paul shares his struggles and successes with us in this episode.

Show Links

akuspike.com - Use code KURT at checkout for 20% off your products.
Aku's Dragons Den Pitch

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
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AMA: Improving Conversions & User Experience

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 25 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Addressing large drop-offs at checkout
Best navigation style for large catalogs
Pagination vs infinite scroll
a "back to basics" checklist for a $1M/y merchant
What's the best way to advertise for conversion please?
What to do when PPC traffic doesn't convert
Tips and tricks with Turbo.
Structuring your homepage in a new store
Managing burnout when you can't take a vacation
Setting up wholesalers for success
Core web vitals??

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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What's Kurt up to?

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How Community & Story Bootstrapped KinkyCurlyYaki to Success

Kurt Elster, Vivian Kaye — Tue, 18 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Vivian Kaye describes herself as "Oprah + Gary Vee" and that's a pretty good description.

Her presence and genuine desire to continuously learn and grow while keeping it REAL quickly made her a personality who transcended the title of Founder and CEO.

In this episode, she tells us how she started a premium textured hair extension brand for Black women, and then grew it to a million dollars without paid ads.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How Kettle & Fire Scaled Affiliate Relationships to 7-figures

Jack Meredith, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, you'll hear How Kettle & Fire scaled their affiliate and partnerships programs to 7-figures in revenue. We'll talk through best practices + actionable tactics.

The tools to identify influencers
How to get big influencers' attention
The difference between affiliate and ambassador programs
What are you paying for? Defining influencer deliverables and typical costs
Creating a VIP experience for brand ambassadors
Top 3 Most Successful Channels

Our guest today is Jack Meredith, VP of Marketing at Kettle & Fire, one of the fastest growing brands in the health & wellness consumer goods space. He was employee #1 and played an instrumental role in taking the brand from zero to 8 figures in revenue. Aside from his day job, Jack also consults for DTC brands on all things marketing and growth.

Show Links

Kettle & Fire
Dovetale
Sparktoro
Magellan AI
dtcplaybooks.com - SOPs, tools, templates, and video trainings made by and for ecommerce pro's. - Use code KURT to get 20% off your order.
Tw:@jvmeredith

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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What's Kurt up to?

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Is your developer faking your PageSpeed score?

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 4 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Everyone wants a better PageSpeed score. So when a client came to us with unusually good PageSpeed scores in a theme we set up last year, we wanted to know how they achieved it so we could replicate the results.

Had a random developer seemingly cracked the code for theme performance optimization for Shopify? Finding out took days of research, and what we found shocked us.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Selling The Best Cotton Candy You Will Ever Taste

Therese Dozier, Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Head Mutha Fluffa Therese Dozier, founder of LUV SPUN, turned her events based cotton candy business around in 2020 by moving her Artisanal Candy Floss to Shopify.

LUVSPUN provides a unique flavor experience beyond the pink or blue cotton candy you’re used to. Their branding is fun, edgy, and their 200 flavors are unique and fantastic.

LUVSPUN is more than just candy floss. It was founded to teach kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder that they can create their own future success through entrepreneurship and that they are completely capable of carving out their own space in this world and that their differences should be celebrated.

Show Links

LUVSPUN - Use code SHOPIFY15 for 15% off order.
IFundWomen of Color
In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love You Want
@luvspunfloss

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
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Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
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6 Ecommerce Myths Holding You Back

Kurt Elster, Austin Brawner — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Misinformation is spewed left and right about nearly everything in eCommerce and it’s driving us insane.

In this joint episode, fellow ecom coach and podcast host Austin Brawner joins the show to dispel the top six ecommerce myths we encounter with merchants every day.

If you’ve been a long-time listener of the podcast, you know that Austin is a trusted recurring guest and in this episode, we’re hoping to put a nail in the coffin of six costly eCommerce myths.

Tune in as we set the record straight on Google PageSpeed, website design and copywriting, work ethic and so much more.

Episode Highlights:

Myth #1: You need to diversify your traffic
Myth #2: Google PageSpeed is crucial to getting more sales
Myth #3: You have to be the first to do everything
Myth #4: If a “big” business is doing it, it must be right
Myth #5: Hustle and grind is the key to business success
Myth #6: People don’t read on the internet

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How to Spot Fake Influencers

Kurt Elster, Corey Turner — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we break down influencer marketing for ecommerce with a Shopify merchant that used influencer marketing to launch their weighted blanket in 2017 with influencers including Kourtney Kardashian.

Guest Corey Turner is candidly breaks down:

The positives & negatives of influencer marketing for a DTC brand
How to spot fake influencers
What metrics to look for when picking an influencer.
Breaking down the metrics of a couple well known influencers

Corey Turner lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two kids (Henry, 3 and Avery 1). After graduating Northeastern University in 2009, he joined a startup with friends dropshipping mattresses. In 2013, they sold to MattressFirm. From 2013 to about 2016, they ran MattressFirm's ecommerce division. Late 2017, BlanQuil was launched just in time for the peak hype in weighted blankets.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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What's Kurt up to?

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Growing Your Store [Merchant Q&A]

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Apr 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we answer questions from Shopify merchants in our Facebook group. We discuss...

Analyzing Heatmaps
When to outsource your marketing
Inventory forecasting
Top Klaviyo Flows
Collections as SEO honeypots
Mobile Collections: Is one or two columns best?

...And more! Like Paul's pizza dough recipe.

Links Mentioned

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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What's Kurt up to?

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Six Sane Ways to Optimize Your Product Detail Page

Josh Frank, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode:

What are the most common mistakes that Shopify store owners make with their product pages?
What steps can store owners take to figure out if their product page needs help?
What things are you seeing on stores that makes you filled with rage? (note from josh: I'm only halfway kidding with this. I've seen such an uptick in terrible user experience on stores. Between a cookie popup, email popup, chat slide out, etc. we are ruining new users experience)

Our guest today is Josh Frank, Founder & Head of Optimization at Test Triggers, Josh has helped countless eCommerce businesses boost their revenue with conversion optimization. Running close to a thousand A/B tests have helped Josh to distill the true optimization tactics from the b.s.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Help the show

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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Love Is: How Chrissie Lam Empowers Female Artisans

Kurt Elster, Chrissie Lam — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

We talk to SharkTank alum Chrissie Lam about her Love Is Project journey.

How Chrissie created the original love bracelet in Kenya,
transformed a personal photo project to a viral social media campaign
and then launched it as e-com brand.

Show Links

Love Is Project

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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What's Kurt up to?

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Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

Optimizing the Customer Journey by Exiting the Ecommerce Echo Chamber

Juliana Jackson, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Juliana Jackson, AKA The CLV Lady, Juliana is one of the principal architects of the Customer Value Optimization Category, a ground-breaking innovation framework for ecommerce companies that identifies the most important customers segments thanks to the RFM model, understanding behavioral patterns that need to be addressed in order to prioritize what matters to improve profitability and customer loyalty for ecommerce brands.

She also has some unconventional opinions about ecommerce and its echo chamber problem.

Why RFM segmentation is more important than CLTV
What to ask your customers in an interview
Why is ecommerce a sausage fest

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Preparing Your Facebook Ads for iOS14

Kurt Elster, Kurt Bullock — Tue, 9 Mar 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Apple says they're "standing up for users." Facebook says an upcoming prompt in Apple's iOS 14 is bad for small businesses. Regardless of which side you think if self-serving here, if you advertise on Facebook, you need to understand what's happening because you have some homework to do to prepare.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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How Tacticalories Sells Out Weekly

Casey Bard, Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Mar 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Casey Bard had a decent side hustle on Shopify and a full-time job... until he got a call from his boss letting him know that he no longer he had a job because the company leadership may be going to jail. That was the turning point where Casey knew his Shopify side hustle had to become his full-time income. This is the story of how Tacticalories Seasoning Company came to be.

Takeaways:

How asking "what's really me?" formed the business
Why you're GAF (give a fuck) score is important
How they grew 4x in 2020 through product launches
Why tattoo artists make great label designers

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
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Scaling Your Store AMA, Part II

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Feb 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Today we're doing a follow-up to our popular AMA from our Facebook group, Unofficial Shopify Podcast Insider's.

We answer your questions, such as:

Developing your positioning (without confusing customers)
Finding newsletter content that works for you
Why Paul always wears minor league t-shirts
The #1 mistake Paul sees merchants make
What to do when you’re just straight up uninspired
Adding dynamic personalization to Shopify
How to find cross-sell opportunities
The one thing all new merchants should knew
What does Kurt's customer survey contain?

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

Never miss an episode

Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Leave a review
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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How TikTok Revitalized This Pandemic-fatigued Merchant

Cesar Torres, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 11:00:00 +0000

In June 2019, Cesar Torres joined us to share the unusual story of how he turned a merch store for his sci-fi book series into a fitness leggings brand with a big impact on LGBTQ+ fans of the brand.

Then, the pandemic hit and he experienced what we all did: the crushing desperation of not knowing what's going to happen. He understandably became increasingly demoralized... until he found his voice again through TikTok and Twitch.

It's a compelling, unusual, and ultimately inspiring story from a lovely person.

Cesar is the author of two sci-fi book series: The Coil and How to Kill a Superhero. He is also the CEO and Designer of LED Queens fitness apparel, which is a direct spinoff from both of his book series. He earned his journalism degree at Northwestern University and a computer science masters degree at DePaul University. He's currently based out of Chicago.

Show Links

LED Queens - Cesar says to check it out on Mobile for the best coupon via SMS.
JULY 2ND, 2019 E228 with Cesar
LED Queens Gaming (@ledqueens_gaming) | TikTok
LED Queens Gaming on Twitch
Cesar's top 3 app picks: Privy, Smile.io, Return Magic, Fraud Killer

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How to Scale Your Store [Q&A]

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 9 Feb 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Today we're doing an AMA from our Facebook group, Unofficial Shopify Podcast Insider's.

We answer your questions, such as:

Tips for growing Shopify store from six to seven figures.
Benchmarks for gross margin for successful e-commerce stores
What should you look for in a web developer for redoing websites?

...and more. Always more. Such as, "How much did Kurt lose on GameStonk?"

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How Two Strangers Partnered to Sell $1mm in Jerky

Kurt Elster, Dustin Riechmann — Tue, 2 Feb 2021 11:00:00 +0000

After leaving his 20-year engineering career to become a local marketing consultant, Dustin Riechman discovered a jerky so good that he decided to pitch a relative stranger on a business partnership that resulted in $1mm in sales in two years.

The mindset that gave him the confidence to quit his job
Keys to building realtionships with potential business partners
How they launched with grassroots marketing efforts
How having parallel local and national strategies worked well
The power of podcast appearances (and how it got their products into WalMart)

Show Links

FireCreek Snacks - Use code UNOFFICIAL for 15% and free shipping
PGA Merchandise Show
Loox
ReferralCandy
Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Bold Recurring Orders

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How Travel Apparel Brand Aviator Survived 2020

Colby Kane — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Colby Kane, owner and founder of Aviator, discusses how the 2008 recession shaped his business, how he's survived the current pandemic, and what he expects will happen in 2021.

Colby is a designer and art director who started out in the fast-paced world of NY Fashion as an art director at Macy’s. He moved to LA in order to build something different, find a balance between work and family, and give back to his community.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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When a Pandemic Pauses Your Business

Julie Elster, Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Julie Elster (as in Mrs. Elster) joins us again for a candid update on how 2020 impacted her travel business, hosted on Shopify.

Show Links

DoubleYourWDW.com
Past Episode: My Wife Started a Shopify Store!
Past Episode: How Julie Elster Generates 10,000 Organic Visitors

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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The Most Common CRO Blind Spots

Kurt Elster, Nick Disabato — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Returning for his fourth appearance is Nick Disabato, ecommerce conversion rate optimization wunderkind.

On today's episode: an airing of grievances around merchant's approach to conversion rate optimization.

We talk through the common mistakes in methodology & management, and your top missed opportunities.

Show Links

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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New Year's Resolutions for your Shopify Business

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Jan 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Now through January we’ll see an influx of new listeners. (Welcome!)

We asked our new listeners, "what’s your number one question as you grow your Shopify store?"

And to our established merchants, we asked, "what do you wish you knew when just starting out?"

Today, we’ll talk through the top comments and turn those into actionable New Year's business resolutions.

Sponsors

Free 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".
Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial
Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout
Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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Stumped by SMS? Ask the Expert.

Arri Bagah, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Worried mobile messaging will annoy your customers? Not if you do it right.

We ask SMS marketing consultant Arri Bagah listener submitted questions like...

What do people really want when they sign up for SMS?
Should we get into SMS if we’re not based in North America?
How often to mass broadcast?

Arri Bagah became an expert in the mobile messaging space and is invited to speak at large conferences including Traffic and Conversions Summit, and Conversations Conference and DTC DAY. Arri is the founder of Conversmart, and served in the US Army.

Show Links

Conversmart - Request a Free Email or SMS Marketing Consult from Arri
State of DTC Text-Message Marketing (2020 Edition)
Personal Mastery Podcast

Sponsors

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How a Tesla Accessory Store Built a Cult Fanbase

Kurt Elster, Peter White — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 11:00:00 +0000

When I bought our first electric vehicle earlier this year, I did what a lot of new car buyers do and went accessory shopping. It was not long before I started seeing ads for aftermarket accessory vendor Abstract Ocean, and reading about them on forums.

Our guest today is Peter White, co-founder of Abstract Ocean. In 2013, Peter and his wife picked up their first Tesla. Aside from being the spark for Abstract Ocean, it proved completely life-changing (cue the Tesla grin - even now, years later, driving is a pure and utter joy - despite traffic).

Show Links

AbstractOcean - 15% off any purchase when you useuse code UNOFFICIAL
The 2013 Forum Post that started it all
SentiOne

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Shipageddon, Cyber Monday, & Simulated Chicken

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we discuss Shipageddon Season and the Cyber Monday that broke shipping. Then a Nuggs teardown– They're "the Tesla of chicken."

Show Links

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The Future of Ecommerce

Tue, 8 Dec 2020 11:00:00 +0000

As ecommerce professionals, what did we learn from 2020? And what happens in 2021?

Those are the questions I posed to a number of a clever ecommerce industry folks.

Entreprenuers like:

Harley Finkelstein, Shopify
Eric Bandholz, Beardbrand
Marnie Consky, Thigh Society
Ezra Firestone, Smart Marketer
Ilana Davis, Shopify Expert & Website Rescuer
Steve Chou, My Wife Quit Her Job
Nick DiSabato, Draft
Austin Brawner, Brand Growth Experts
Val Giesler, Fix My Churn
Andrew Youderian, EcommerceFuel
Rhian Beutler, Venntov
Anne Thomas, Shop Critique
Ben Jabbawy, Privy

This episode is a fire hose of valuable insights, tips, and trends.

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Black Friday 2020 Data Download

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 1 Dec 2020 11:00:00 +0000

From the start of Black Friday in New Zealand through the end of Black Friday in California, Shopify merchants saw a 75% increase in sales from Black Friday in 2019. By 8:00am EST, merchants on Shopify collectively had crossed $1 billion in sales.

“We’re thrilled with the Black Friday sales generated by the businesses on Shopify. In just a single day, merchants around the world produced more than 80% of the sales of the entire holiday shopping weekend last year,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify.

Let's unpack that.

Show Links

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Building a DTC Matcha Business with No Ad Spend

Eric Gower, Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 11:00:00 +0000

We talk to a cookbook author who turned his experience living in Japan into a Shopify store focused on selling the best quality matcha possible.

Eric is the founder and chief evangelist at Breakaway Matcha. He's also an author, ghostwriter, editor, cooking instructor, and private chef. For 16 years, he lived and worked in Japan, where he took deep dives into all things matcha, food, literature, arts, and culture. Eric is the author of three cookbooks: The Breakaway Cook, The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen, and Eric's Kitchen. He lives and works in Marin County, CA.

Show Links

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What Every Merchant Should Know About Theme Development

Anne Thomas, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we'll talk to one of the most experienced Shopify theme developers on the planet: Anne Thomas.

You'll learn...

how to audit your theme for performance
the common pitfalls to avoid with your theme
learning enough development to be dangerous
a user testing crash course

Anne Thomas is an experienced web developer who has helped create some of the best Shopify themes in the market. She spent almost 5 years at Out of the Sandbox as the Technical Director working on themes such as Turbo and Flex.

Her knowledge of the Shopify platform runs deep and she's recently started her own company, Shop Critique, where she works directly with merchants to help them makeover their shops and make sure they are using their themes and apps in the best ways possible.

Show Links

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This Master Tea Blender Shifted Their Family Business Online, Selling Seven-Figures

Emeric Harney, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Nov 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Third-generation Master Tea Blender Emeric Harney joins us to discuss the online success of their 37-year-old family tea business, Harney & Sons. Harney & Sons is a tea company that is committed to "making quality tea an everyday luxury."

Key Takeaways:

How they leverage their brand story
How to power product discovery with 300 varieties of tea
What its like running a store with 50+ apps
Why they're fighting for inclusive messaging

Links Mentioned

Sponsors

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Thigh Society: How One Woman Sells 7-Figures of Anti-Chafing Underwear

Kurt Elster, Marnie Consky — Tue, 3 Nov 2020 11:00:00 +0000

Marnie Consky is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Anti-Chafing Champion of Thigh Society (US), a niche undergarment brand offering moisture-wicking, breathable, and discreet boxer brief underwear for women. Thigh Society prevents inner thigh chafing while providing modesty coverage and is on a body-positive mission to normalize this common skin issue while helping women love their thighs at any size.

Key Takeaways:

How she bootstrapped a million dollar business starting with just $8K CAD as a risk-averse solopreneur
Why starting with retail wholesale helped her get started online
Why you should start with one product (and how to better forecast inventory)

Marnie grew Thigh Society to a six-figure business while working a demanding full-time job before deciding to focus exclusively on building the business in late 2016, and has grown it to 7 figures since. Before becoming a full-time entrepreneur, Marnie worked for organizations in Toronto, Canada including Accenture, the Ontario Ministry of Government Services, and the Rotman School of Management (MBA school) in a variety of strategic talent management roles.

Links Mentioned

Thigh Society (US) - Use code UNOFFICIAL at checkout to save 15% on your order
Thigh Society (CA)
Draft - Marnie's conversion rate optimization consultant
[Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh](https://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446576220/ref=sr_1_1?
Maker's Row - For anyone looking for resources to start an apparel business
Toronto Fashion Incubator E-Lists & Guidebooks
The Entrepreneur's Guide to Sewn Product Manufacturing
2PMl - Marnie's favorite free weekly newsletter
Company of One by Paul Jarvis - Marnie's book recommendation

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Black Friday 2020 Facebook Marketing Strategies

Kurt Bullock, Kurt Elster — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, you'll learn a three stage strategy to set your Facebook ads funnel up for success before and during Black Friday.

Facebook Ads are more expensive than ever, and Black Friday is going to bring the muppets out of the woodwork which will drive costs up even more.

You'll the hear answers to:

Your 2020 FB Ads Strategy
Which promos were the most successful in 2019
When to use Campaign Budget Optimization
A 2019 FB Ads Postmortem
2020 BFCM Considerations

Show Links

This episode made possible by Rewind

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Choosing, Changing, & Maintaining Your Shopify Theme

Kurt Elster, Sean Campbell — Tue, 27 Oct 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Out of The Sandbox's Sean Campbell joins us to discuss all things theme related:

When & how should you upgrade or change themes
What to consider in a new theme
Behind the scenes of the Shopify Theme Store
the "New Online Store Editor Experience"
How to expedite support tickets

Sean is a Shopify Theme project manager with 6+ years of experience helping agencies, partners, and merchants navigate the Shopify ecosystem. With a focus on Out of the Sandbox Themes, Sean possesses in-depth knowledge and experience from the perspective of shoppers, merchants, theme developers, and agencies.

Links Mentioned

Out of The Sandbox - Use code KURT20 at checkout to get 20% off Flex or Turbo
Reunite 2020: Everything we announced and exclusive updates from Shopify Plus - Discusses Sections Everywhere
Using the Page.details Template
Theme Updater App
Merchant Collective

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Maximizing Revenue on Black Friday through Financing & More

Kurt Elster, Tom Siodlak, Paul Reda — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode:

Increasing average order value with financing,
a new sexy store,
and your Black Friday prep crash course.

Show Links

2020 Holiday Email Guide
Sezzle - My Sezzle referral code is SZXRLQJ. When you use it, you'll get one month free, no strings attached.
Vex Clothing

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Steal Ezra Firestone's Million Dollar Black Friday Blueprint

Ezra Firestone, Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 10:00:00 +0000

In 2018, Ezra Firestone generated $700K over Black Friday, with $100k alone on Thanksgiving for his Shopify store BOOM by Cindy Joseph.

This year he plans do 30% more and he's going to tell us exactly how.

Master Marketer Ezra Firestone breaks down the exact Black Friday and holiday email campaigns he'll be running this year.

You'll learn:

Ezra's content marketing strategy
Why to set up pre-sale campaigns
Best times to send email
Every single app in every Ezra's store

Show Links

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How Nomad Goods Drives Seven-figures Revenue Through Klaviyo

Chuck Melber, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Oct 2020 10:00:00 +0000

Nomad Goods' Chuck Melber joins us to tell us in details what he's doing in Klaviyo to generate seven-figures worth of revenue annually.

Key Takeaways:

"A clean list is a well-delivered list"
How to segment abandoned cart flows for personalized content
The right ratio of plain text vs HTML emails
The most important thing to split test

Chuck started his post college life working in the world of ecommerce and marketing and quickly made the leap into the realm of UX/ID. Over the course of a few years he was privileged to consult on projects with companies like GoPro, Mozilla, and LG. Thanks to retail experience he brought a unique perspective regarding consumer electronics and a desire to make navigating the world a simpler, more enjoyable experience.

In 2015 Chuck returned to marketing, advertising, and growth with a broader appreciation for aesthetics and usability. During his tenure at Nomad he has established a strong foundation in advertising, email marketing, affiliate marketing, PR, and influencer marketing.

When not working, you can find Chuck adventuring, fishing offshore, or in the kitchen.

Links Mentioned

Nomad Goods - Use code UNOFFICIAL for 20% in-stock goods until October 1st.
Klaviyo
Tinuiti
Tone SMS Recovery
Nomad Sticker Pack
Kurt's Vinyl Plotter

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Manufacturing Authenticity: From Sneaker Drops to Shinola Saving Detroit

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 10:00:10 +0000

We discuss:

The ethics of financing solutions
Launching your products like Yeezy
Rumors: An update on Native Checkout Integrations
News: A Shopify data leak, and a Shopify Partner arrested by the FBI
Are Nikkola, Madewell, and Shinola authentic brands?

And then we test drive the Shinola store.

Links Mentioned

Sponsors

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How Stephanie Morimoto Built a Wellness Brand So Good Venus Williams Invested

Kurt Elster, Stephanie Morimoto — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 10:00:02 +0000

Stephanie Morimoto is the owner and CEO of Asutra, a natural beauty company so good that customer Venus Williams approached them to get involved.

Asutra offers over 50 organic, natural products – from natural solutions to help with pain relief and sleep to skincare to bath & body – for people who invest in self-care.

Asutra is woman-owned and women-led; 77% of their team are people of color; and 100% of their staff would recommend Asutra as a great place to work.

Key Takeaways:

How a "luck sail" led to the purchase of Asutra
Why she shifted from Amazon to DTC on Shopify
The double edged sword of selling in national retail chains
The unexpected way Venus Williams got involved
How a social mission impacted their hiring process

Stephanie is an enthusiastic board member of Equality Illinois, which advocates for LGBTQ rights; and Naturally Chicago, which creates an ecosystem for natural products companies to thrive. In her spare time, she’s an avid urban gardener who grows everything from tomatoes to lilacs.

Links Mentioned

Asutra
Pointer Creative
Product Recommendations: Spray Pain Away Magnesium Oil, Chill Pain Away CBD Magnesium, Menthol Pain Cream, Melt Pain Away Body Butter
Purpose Workforce
Web Savvy

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DTC Darlings: Is Gymshark worth $1.4 Billion?

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 10:00:12 +0000

We discuss:

An Income Store court case update
AWAY Travel has a sale, DTC Twitter takes notice
GymShark's billion dollar valuation

And then we tear down the Gymshark store.

Links Mentioned

Income Store Receivership
Attorneys Quitting? (Income Store Update)
Emilia Gardner's Income Store YouTube Playlist
AWAY Travel
Is Gymshark worth $1.4 Billion?
Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company, Part 2 - Sahil Lavingia, Gumroad’s founder, shares what he’s learned along the way about strategy, product, and growth
GymShark

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How Nomad Goods Went from $150K on Kickstarter to $20mm on Shopify

Noah Dentzel, Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Sep 2020 10:00:12 +0000

Noah Dentzel is Co-Founder and CEO of Nomad. Nomad launched in 2012 on Kickstarter with their first product, ChargeCard, a USB cable the size and shape of a credit card designed to keep your phone charged on the go, a "jumper cable" for your phone.

Key Takeaways:

The great mindset advice (provided by a Zoltar fortune telling machine)
What goes into a successful Kickstarter, and how its changed
Why they're proudly omni-channel
Why its worth listening to a few bad ideas

Nomad dreams up and builds out award-winning modern, minimalist accessories for smartphones and smartwatches. They've successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter (2012), Indiegogo (2013) and CircleUp (2014) and sell direct to consumer on their Shopify-powered site as well as through select retail and distribution partners in the US and globally.

Links Mentioned

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Q&A: PageSpeed, Plus, Preparing for Q4

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 Sep 2020 10:00:20 +0000

This episode is available as a video interview on YouTube: youtu.be/S3-9NZ1OLV8

In this listener Q&A episode aimed at optimizing for Q4, we discuss:

Which cart type is best
What we're doing differently this Black Friday
The problem with PageSpeed
Klaviyo Email Flow & Campaign tips
How to promote without discounting

And we close with a breakdown of when Shopify Plus makes sense.

Links Mentioned

Kurt's MAME Cabinet
Herb'n'Eden Interview
Etsy: Paul's Maltese Falcon
GymShark
GymShark Page Speed
Pingdom Tool
Holiday Email Guide
Story Brand (Kurt called it Brand Story in the show, that's wrong.)
Shopify Plus

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Unlearn Everything: Developing Your Success Mindset

Kurt Elster, Megan Auman — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 10:00:09 +0000

This bonus episode of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast is presented by Rewind.

The secret to productivity & success isn't a system, it's a mindset. Metalsmith and entrepreneur Megan Auman returns to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast to discuss how she's cultivated an "investment mindset" and the power of mindset in business.

Key Takeaways:

How to take a vacation as a entrepreneur
Don't be so hard on yourself
Cultivating mindfulness
How to make big financial decisions

Megan Auman is a jewelry designer, metalsmith, educator and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in selling art through a variety of channels. In addition to running her eponymous jewelry line, she is the founder of Designing an MBA, which features business thinking for artists and makers, and Artists & Profit Makers, an online mentorship community.

A best-selling CreativeLive instructor, her designs have been featured in Elle Decor, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light and on top-rated blogs like Design*Sponge. Her newest class, Sell Without Shame, helps artists and makers find and articulate the value in their work.

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How Herb'N Eden Marketed Their Way to Sold Out Success

Quinton Lewis, Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 10:00:19 +0000

Quinton Lewis sells soap. A lot of soap. So much soap that customers wait weeks for their order to be produced. And he only started in the last few years.

Quinton is the co founder of Herb'N Eden. He is currently the head of Marketing & Operations at Herb'N Eden.

In this episode, we'll walk through his journey, including a detailed overview of their content marketing strategy.

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Q4, USPS, Themes, & Joe Biden's Teeth

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster, Andy Bedell — Tue, 18 Aug 2020 10:00:15 +0000

Also available in live hi-def action on YouTube: youtu.be/khPjZKvOPhs

In this episode:

Our Q4 BFCM predictions
What's up with USPS?
KeySmart's Andy Bedell talks switching themes
and we teardown the official Joe Biden merch store

Links Mentioned

Forbes: Trump Admits To Blocking USPS Funding Over Mail-In Voting

KeySmart

Joe Biden store

Oculus Quest VR

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Get powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platform

Try Bold Product Upsell, free trial

Save 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkout

Improve your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta Manager

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How a Better Brand Voice Built an 8-figure Business

Kurt Elster, Alex Brown — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 10:00:05 +0000

Alex Brown has been launching e-commerce companies for over 5 years, starting with multiple successful crowdfunding campaigns (like Coolbox which ended up on ABC’s Shark). He is best known as CoFounder of the viral hit Dollar Beard Club. DBC hit $10M in their first year with no performance marketing or affiliate help, and has gone on to become a scalable and globally known brand with over 300M video views.

You'll learn:

Is crowdfunding still relevant?
The one thing that makes or breaks product launches
How a video-first strategy launched their brand
The conditions for virality
The three questions to ask yourself to build an incredible brand story
What to do when you feel overwhelmed

Since exiting Beard Club, Alex has been advising multiple companies and speaking around the world on branding and content marketing. He currently runs the first e-commerce brand accelerator program for brands on pace for 8+ figures, and is an advisor to NGO’s helping building entrepreneurial ecosystems.

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This episode was made possible by Ecom Growers - In eCommerce, the difference between great and good email campaigns is hundreds of thousands of dollars Ecom Growers is an agency that figured it out so you don’t leave any sales on the table.

Get Your Money Right: Bookkeeping, Profitability, & Pre-orders

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 4 Aug 2020 10:00:33 +0000

In this episode, we discuss listener-suggested topics: bookkeeping, profitability, and pre-orders.

And then we tear down the official LEGO store.

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How Melita Cyril Achieved Six-figure Sock Sales & Social Impact

Kurt Elster, Melita Cyril — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 10:00:03 +0000

A recovering banker and management consultant, Melita Cyril had her eyes (and ears) open for different entrepreneurial ideas during her maternity leave. When her baby boy suffered from eczema and she struggled to find the right socks for his sensitive feet, she started Q for Quinn - a company that sells gentle, comfortable socks for the entire family.

We talk through:

Her journey as a "mompreneur" of a family apparel brand
Strategies to increase AOVs, despite selling a low priced item
Why and how she incorporated social impact into her mission
How she get early traction

Melita is a mom of two kids and in addition to running Q for Quinn, she is also a children’s book author. Melita holds an MBA from the University of Toronto and a BSc (Hons) Economics from the London School of Economics.

Links Mentioned

Q for Quinn - Use code KURTSPECIAL to save 15% on socks (because everyone can use more comfortable socks.)

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Things that Annoy Merchants: Lawsuits, PageSpeed, & Blogging

Julie Elster, Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Jul 2020 10:00:04 +0000

We discuss what an accessibility lawsuit costs, why Google PageSpeed is our Emperor Palpatine, building better blog pages in Shopify, and finally we tear down the official Minor League Baseball store.

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Steal Beyoncé's Instagram Strategy

Kurt Elster, Leslie Eugene — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 10:00:05 +0000

From planning & scheduling your content for Instagram to what does and doesn't work in 2020, our guest today lays out a complete strategy to organic Instagram marketing that anyone can use to market their Shopify store starting today. We finish the episode with answers to your top Instagram questions.

Our Instagram expert in this episode is Leslie Eugene. Over the years, she's developed a reputation for helping fashion & beauty online brands build communities around their product or services that convert their audience into paying customers and brand evangelists. While social media plays a vital role in that conversion, there’s another distinctive key that makes all the difference in her success: her passion for great social media marketing.

Your questions answered:

What’s the drawback in switching to a business account on Instagram - how much organic reach do you lose?
What are the top 3 things small business should be doing on social that they probably aren’t?
How often would you recommend posting in IG stories?
How should an Ecom Store social media strategy change over the course of the store's maturity e.g pre-launch, launch, growth, maturity, etc.
When does it make sense for a business to hire for organic social media?
Does high engagement on your page reduce ad costs?

Links Mentioned

Pretty Haute
Planoly
Iconosquare
@miaray, @iamminglee - Examples of great Instagram accounts

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The Web has an Accessibility Problem

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Jul 2020 10:00:29 +0000

In today's episode:

Why now may be a good time to upgrade your theme
The broken promises of accessibility and what to do about it
And finally an Away Travel teardown that goes off the rails

Links Mentioned

KeySmart
Turbo Changelog
The Ship of Theseus
CORSA Performance
AccessiBe
Away

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Carbon Fiber Kickstarters: Building a Disruptive Manufacturing Business on Shopify

Gabriel Mountjoy, Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 10:00:21 +0000

After raising $164,775 on Kickstarter, this husband & wife team is disrupting carbon fiber manufacturing.

You'll the hear answers to:

How they raised $164,775 on Kickstarter to start their business
How a revenue share agreement empowered their business
The exact influencer outreach strategy they used
How niche group buys are growing their manufacturing business

Gabriel Mountjoy is a graduate of the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Department in San Luis Obispo, CA. He and his wife, Ann Mountjoy, founded Common Fibers in 2013 after invention of a carbon fiber hinge. For the past six years they have developed composite products for the automotive, aerospace, medical, construction, and consumer goods industries. With two patents, they are building a passionate team that will continue to disrupt the composites industry and change how manufacturing is currently done.

Links Mentioned

Kickstarter Carbon Fiber Wallet Campaign (2014)
Book: How to shoot video that doesn't suck
Gabe's wallet store: Common Fibers - 30% off with code ETHERCYCLE at checkout
Refersion
CFGroupBuy
Crowdfunder

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Your Menu Sucks: Navigation Optimization Made Simple

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 10:00:10 +0000

In this episode, we discuss:

Kurt's run-in with a Karen
How to optimize your main menu navigation for higher conversions
A spicy website teardown of Chicago condiment institution Marconi Foods

Links Mentioned

Main Menu examples: KeySmart, Hoonigan, Proven Winners Direct

Teardown: Marconi Foods

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Crowdfunding $380k for a Better T-shirt

Dan Demsky, Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Jun 2020 10:00:07 +0000

Years ago, Dan Demsky wanted to buy a merino wool t-shirt for travel to lighten his load... and he couldn't find one. It haunted him. He knew this product should exist, and after a business coach told him he shouldn't do it, he spent 18 months on research and development that resulted in a crowdfunding campaign that raised $380K USD.

That brand was Unbound Merino, purveyors of quality merino wool clothing. Today, Unbound Merino is a multi-million dollar global brand selling in over 100 countries.

Its not all puppies and roses: they had positioned the brand as a travel accessory, impacting their sales in a pandemic world.

Key Takeaways:

The grassroots campaign strategy that drove their initial success
The difference between publishing and launching your store
How the pandemic has created a new mentality for their business

Links Mentioned

UnboundMerino
IndieGogo: Unbound Merino - The ultimate travel hack

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Black Lives Matter

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 9 Jun 2020 10:00:09 +0000

In this episode, we have an uncomfortable and necessary conversation about racism.

If you disagree with anti-racism or feel that this conversation doesn't belong in our show, then unsubscribe.

George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, and countless others should be alive.

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How a University Student Started a 7-Figure Vintage Clothing Business

Kurt Elster, Rory Westbrook — Thu, 4 Jun 2020 10:00:16 +0000

Through his love of vintage clothing, Rory Westbrook founded True Vintage out of his bedroom while still a student at the University of Portsmouth. Growing quicker than he could have anticipated, True Vintage has consistently doubled their annual revenue year-over-year since inception.

Using a combination of digital marketing strategies (including brand collaborations with Tommy Hilfiger and Urban Outfitters) Rory and the True Vintage team have built an engaged instagram following of over 300,000 people.

Links Mentioned

True Vintage
Shoppex - Receive a 15% discount when you book a demo and quote KURT in the sign 􏰀up process.

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This episode was made possible by Ecom Growers - In eCommerce, the difference between great and good email campaigns is hundreds of thousands of dollars Ecom Growers is an agency that figured it out so you don’t leave any sales on the table.

Launching a Journal to Make Men Stronger

Kurt Elster, Ollie Aplin — Tue, 2 Jun 2020 10:00:03 +0000

In this episode, you'll hear how a designer and entrepreneur from the UK turned a personal tragedy into a compelling story and business that has helped thousands of men live better lives.

Ollie Aplin is the co-founder of MindJournal, the global men's journaling movement a mission to help guys feel happier and healthier.

We ask him:

Why journaling and why journaling for men?
Why launch on Kickstarter? (Building a community and validation was key)
How did you overcome the fear of putting yourself out there and taking a risk both emotionally and financially?
What lessons have you learned about yourself, or entrepreneurship since launching in 2016
The one piece of advice you would give to other entrepreneurs who are thinking about launching a new business or product in 2020

Links Mentioned

Kickstarter
Mindjournals - Use code KURT20 to get 20% off your first Journal
IG:@ollieaplin
Do Purpose by David Hieatt

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Re-Unite Recap

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 May 2020 10:00:12 +0000

This episode is also available with video on YouTube.

Last week at Shopify Re-Unite, a webinar keynote, Shopify's leadership team revealed new and upcoming features. Paul and I attended and will give you the run down today.

After that, we do a teardown of Pit Vipers, a store that is equal parts impressive and ridiculous.

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Why Revenue is a Vanity Metric (and what to watch instead)

Jason Andrew, Kurt Elster — Thu, 21 May 2020 10:00:10 +0000

Using accounting as a useful business tool is harder than it sounds. Most of us don't really know what we should be looking at or how to interpret it.

In today's episode, you'll learn some counter-intuitive wisdom and financial truths you can start using immediately to accelerate you light years ahead of the competition.

Key Takeaways:

How cash conversion cycle (CCC) is the most important key performance indicator for your finances
The biggest financial challenges merchants face
Which financial metrics you should be actively monitoring
How to be smarter about discounting
Avoiding the common mistakes Ecommerce merchants make with their finances

Our guest today is Jason Andrew, a chartered accountant, founder, and business advisor to high-growth businesses. His accounting firm, SBO.Financial, focuses on helping Ecommerce businesses with their numbers, ranging from bookkeeping and financial control to profit and cash flow maximisation strategies.

In 2019, Jason published an entrepreneurial accounting book, Stark Naked Numbers, which he describes as "the 4-hour work week of business finance."

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This episode was made possible by Ecom Growers - In eCommerce, the difference between great and good email campaigns is hundreds of thousands of dollars Ecom Growers is an agency that figured it out so you don’t leave any sales on the table.

King Kong Apparel: Selling 60,000+ Gym Bags on Shopify

Stefan Gehrig, Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 May 2020 10:00:04 +0000

Stefan Gehrig, a former Research Scientist, started King Kong Apparel in 2011 when he was heavily involved in the still-niche sport of CrossFit. Since then, starting with a single (relatively crappy) gym bag he has scaled to a Shopify Plus store that sells tens of thousands of bags, backpacks and meal prep bags per year.

We talk:

How they built a community of brand evangelists
What they'd do differently starting over
The most underestimated component of success
How their quiz

Oh, and you'll never guess where they got their mascot from. It's wild.

King Kong bags are widely known for their toughness, durability and functionally and have grown with the sport of CrossFit, and branched out into other fitness markets.

Links Mentioned

King Kong Apparel
The 4-Hour Workweek (For the two of you haven't read it yet)
Pickzen - Quiz App

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Everyone's Going Online: 2020's Ecommerce Boom

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 May 2020 10:00:12 +0000

The world is changing, and a core part of that change is everyone and everything finally getting online.

Ecommerce is booming. Let's talk through it:

We discuss Shopify's Q1 2020 financial report
The wild projects we're working on right now
Predictions Shopify's newest features
Our number one Facebook ads tip from a man who spends $30K/day on ads
AN ALLBIRDS TEARDOWN!!

Links Mentioned

Sponsors

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Comedy in Commerce: Help Customers Love You More

Kurt Elster, Lianna Patch — Thu, 7 May 2020 10:00:18 +0000

In this episode, Shopify merchants will hear how they could be better using humor in their marketing copy (especially email!) to improve conversions.

How humor boosts conversions
How to approach voice of customer research
How can store owners and marketers write funnier copy without offending customers or coming off the wrong way?
How do you know you're succeeding with humor?
What are some big opportunities most brands overlook when creating their email automations?

Lianna Patch is a conversion copywriter and comedian whose greatest dream is to make your customers pause, smile, and click (in that order).

She’s written copy for Freshbooks, Manly Bands, LifeStraw, and The Contract Shop, among other delightful clients, and regularly speaks at ecommerce and software conferences around the world.

Links Mentioned

Punchline Copy
SNAP Copy
SNAP Copy's free Voice of Customer Research Kit
@punchlinecopy

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This episode was made possible by Ecom Growers - In eCommerce, the difference between great and good email campaigns is hundreds of thousands of dollars Ecom Growers is an agency that figured it out so you don’t leave any sales on the table.

The Fundamental Truths of Million Dollar Ecom Brands

Ryan Daniel Moran, Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 May 2020 10:00:24 +0000

Our guest today has a long track record with ecommerce: both successes and failures. We're joined by Ryan Daniel Moran, founder of Freedom Fast Lane and Capitalism.com, to discuss what he believes are the fundamental appraoches that create the enduring ecommerce success stories.

Key Moments:

How the Income Store affected him
Why the pandemic can be good for you
The dangers of short term decisions
What most entreprenuers get wrong when scales 7-figure businesses
Ryan's product & audience formulas for success

As a serial entrepreneur, author, speaker, and investor, Ryan's main focus is on creating lifestyle freedom --- helping people create lasting businesses and investing the profits, while enjoying a higher quality of life, and working less.

In addition to operating, selling, and investing in multiple million dollar ecommerce brands, Ryan is best known for his work at Freedom Fast Lane - where he leads "The Tribe" and helps entrepreneurs develop their business plan, get results rapidly, and invest for passive income.

In The Tribe, he is responsible for creating 100+ millionaires, many of which occurred in 12 months or less following his philosophies on creating products people want, marketing them profitably, and creating life-long customers and brand evangelist.

Ryan's mission is to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs to create jobs, contribute to the economy, and uplift their families and local communities to create a better world.

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Listener Q&A: Marketing & Retention Edition

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 10:00:04 +0000

In this listener Q&A episode, we answer nine merchant's pressing questions regarding marketing their Shopify stores. We even try something new and call a few experts on the phone to get their answers.

Tik Tok: is it time?
Starting a loyalty program
SEO Apps VS DIY SEO VS Using a consultant for SEO
What gear, setup and software do you use to do remote podcast with video?
Pros and cons of affiliate programs
What to do with 15,000 visitors a month and barely any sales
A sane beginner's approach to Facebook Ads
Which reviews app to choose (and structured metadata)
And lastly a thought exercise: "What are the top 3 things you would do to grow your following/list if starting a new store from scratch on a low budget of say around $200/month."

Plus Paul reveals the terrible secret his refrigerator has been hiding, and Kurt wears makeup.

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Sponsors

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Shopify SEO: Lessons from the #1 SEO App Developer

Rhian Beutler, Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 10:00:12 +0000

Today we're joined by long-time Shopify Partner and SEO app developer Rhian Beutler to discuss your SEO questions.

In this Shopify SEO Crash Course, you'll hear the answer to:

Do those ‘seo’ apps really work?
The latest Google Algorithm changes you need to know
What does Mobile Indexing First mean for your store?
How to approach Google's technical recommendations
What happens if you have to pause your business online?
How long should my alt tags be? Is there such a thing as them being too long?
What are best practices for image alt tags? Do I really write for accessibility or do I stuff keywords?
How do you research keywords to target based on your niche?
What does optimizing for a keyword really mean?
How much time should I spend creating content vs building backlinks?

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Brian Dean's Shopify SEO Strategy

Brian Dean, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Apr 2020 10:00:28 +0000

As we look for more ways to generate quality organic traffic to our stores, SEO will come to mind.

In this episode, you'll will hear how to get more search engine traffic to your store.

We're joined by an SEO Expert who has been called an "SEO genius" by Entrepreneur.com and a "brilliant entrepreneur" by Inc Magazine.

If you've read the Backlinko blog or watched their YouTube channel, you'll recognize today's guest, Brian Dean.

Brian's going to tell us:

How to create awesome ecommerce content
How to use Authority Sculpting to boost rankings to product and category pages
How to rank above Amazon (yes, its possible!)

Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times

Kurt Elster, Dave Rodenbaugh — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 10:00:16 +0000

Today we're joined by a Business owner sharing experience of surviving 3 recessions in 25 years. This episode is about actionable advice.

What's the upside of a recession, if any?
What strategies do you advise for surviving a downturn in the economy for any business?
What are the biggest mistakes stores & businesses are going to make during the pullback?
What's different about this downturn from the others?

Dave is the founder of Recapture, an abandoned cart and email marketing solution for Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento. He's also the co-host of Rogue Startups podcast talking about his entrepreneurial journey, and he runs Big Snow Tiny Conf West, a small web business mastermind-style conference with skiing.

Links Mentioned

Headscape
@daverodenbaugh
Recapture - 60 Day Trial
Rewind - Backup your store, automatically

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Rewind

The Fashion Designer Bringing Latex from Beyonce to Consumers

Kurt Elster, Laura Petrielli-Pulice — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 08:00:08 +0000

On this episode, we're joined by Laura Petrielli-Pulice, a fashion designer who has designed for celebrities and icons of art and culture including Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Katy Perry, and Dita Von Teese.

Her clothing has graced the pages of highly respected fashion magazines such as Vogue, W, Interview Magazine, and more.

Pulice was also runner-up on the Bravo fashion competition show Styled to Rock hosted by Rihanna.

Today, you can buy her clothing from her Shopify store, but her first website went live 20 years ago.

In today's episode, we'll walk through her journey.

Links Mentioned

Vex Clothing *NSFW
IG:@vexclothing *NSFW

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Casting a Voice for Your Brand

Michael Jamin, Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:00:03 +0000

Your story is the ultimate way to create an emotional connection with your customers so that they not only become raving fans, they share your story with their friends.

In this episode, professional sitcom writer and showrunner Michael Jamin will teach you how to find your mission statement, create your customer avatar, cast a "voice" for your brand, then how to apply that to your marketing so you're always telling one, cohesive brand story.

You'll hear:

Why you shouldn't "fake it 'til you make it"
What makes a great mission statement?
How to create my customer avatar?
How to "cast" a spokesperson to "speak" to your customer
How to apply it all this to your branding

Michael Jamin has been a professional sitcom writer/showrunner for 25 years. His many credits include King of the Hill, Just Shoot Me, Beavis & Butthead, Rules of Engagement, Wilfred, Maron, Brickleberry and many others. By applying his knowledge of storytelling to his wife's clothing line, TwirlyGirl, they grew it into a multi-million dollar company.

Michael's branding videos were so successful on Facebook, that several companies asked him to share his marketing expertise. That's how CardboardRocketships came to be. It's a website that offers instruction on how to tell your brand story.

Links Mentioned

Never miss an episode

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 wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

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Apply to work with Kurt to grow your store.

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Make Your Website Accessible (and Avoid Lawsuits‎)

Kurt Elster, Ilana Davis — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 11:00:19 +0000

In this episode, we learn what it means to have an accessible website, why you should care, and how you can benefit.

You'll hear the answers to:

What does an accessible website mean?
Is that the same thing as the ADA?
What can merchants get out of having an accessible website?
Doesn’t Shopify take care of web accessibility for me?

Ilana Davis works with Shopify merchants to remove friction from the buying process. By keeping web accessibility top of mind, she’s able to create effective websites that attract more visitors, provide better SEO, and increase conversion rates.

In order of discussion:

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Special Listener Offer from Ilana: When you mention The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, you’ll receive 15% off a Website Rescue. Complete my interest form before 2/29/20. Must purchase by 3/30/20. A Website Rescue allows us to salvage your e-commerce store for a fraction of the cost of a full redesign. If your planning a redesign in 2020, don’t redesign your store. Rescue it! More info: https://www.ilanadavis.com/website-rescues

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
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A Shiti Story: $1mm/yr Rebranding Coolers

Travor Zacny, Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 11:00:13 +0000

“We had no idea writing the word “SHITI” on a napkin and taping it to an old cooler would have such a following behind it”

In 2016, Trevor and Austin Zacny founded SHITI® Coolers with a basic mission: To keep using that same damn Coleman with the rusted lid and squeaky hinges in hope there were more people out there just like them. A simple SHITI sticker was enough to represent the lifestyle they had been living for years.

This is the journey of a brand that started wiuth $400 in parody stickers back in 2016 and by 2019 had grown into a seven-figure lifestyle brand.

Show Links

SHITI Coolers - (Use code UNOFFICIAL10 for 10% off.)
App: BACK IN STOCK
Backpack Cooler
@shiti_coolers

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What's Kurt up to?

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[Q&A] PPC Traffic & Sales Funnels

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 4 Feb 2020 11:00:11 +0000

In today's listener Q&A episode, you asked, we answered:

Should you advertise on Pinterest?
What's the deal with financing apps?
Remarketing strategies with a new store
What is the best sales funnel for a high ticket item?
How to launch into another market
SEO for products with variants

...and more.

Links Mentioned

Sezzle - Use referral code SZXRLQJ to get one month free, no strings attached.
WorkMacro
Bold Returns Manager

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Focus on Fun & Profit: What a Firefighter Learned Selling Thousands of Wallets

Jake Starr, Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 11:00:20 +0000

Jake Starr, a former firefighter, started Recycled Firefighter in 2013 when he noticed decommissioned fire hoses being thrown into the landfill, took some home, and turned it into an iPad case he sold on Etsy. "I feel bad for whoever bought it."

Today, Jake's Shopify Plus store has sold thousands of wallets, backpacks, tool rolls and more made from recycled canvas fire hose material. He owes his success in part to the Every Day Carry community on Instagram where he has nearly 100,000 followers.

In this candid interview, Jake joins us in studio to discuss his journey, what he's learned, and why he's chosen to keep his business intentionally small, bootstrapped, and fun.

Links Mentioned

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An Alleged $75 million Ponzi Scheme

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 11:00:07 +0000

Last Spring, a listener invited me to lunch with the Courtrights, a couple who ran a business that invested in Shopify stores– hundreds of Shopify stores– and offered a guaranteed rate of return to investors.

On January 14th, the SEC announced that, "it filed an emergency enforcement action and obtained a temporary restraining order and asset freeze against Illinois resident Kenneth D. Courtright, III and his company, Todays Growth Consultant Inc., in connection with an alleged Ponzi-like scheme that raised at least $75 million from more than 500 investors throughout the United States and abroad."

Let's unpack that.

Links Mentioned

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Serial Success on Shopify

Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 11:00:22 +0000

Our guest today is Thomas "Tommy" Tartaglia, the self-described World's Okayest Exerciser, who sold more than $100k in t-shirts with "World's Okayest Exerciser" printed on it last year on Shopify.

You'll hear:

Why Amazon is a double-edged sword
How offline events helped jumpstart their business
The synergistic warehouse space they established
How planning was game changing for Tommy's success (and how you clone it)
Tommy's practical approach to mindfulness
Where you should start with a new business

Thomas Tartaglia has a bunch of degree's from various colleges, a significant amount of time in the Military, and a handful of years trying to figure out E-Commerce. He relies on other people to make himself look good.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Generating Traffic & Revenue in 2020

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Jan 2020 11:00:07 +0000

In this Listener Q&A episode, we talk:

Post-purchase email marketing
Content strategies when you can't run ads
Migrating sales from Amazon to Shopify

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Manufacture Your Product: Finding the Right Factory Partner

Kurt Elster, Charlie Kaliman — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 11:00:03 +0000

One of the hardest parts of ecommerce entrepreneurship is manufacturing your first product, but as retail and technology has changed, it's also become easier than ever. Today we'll pull back the curtain on finding a manufacturer with a man who has decades of experience.

Our guest today, Charles Kaliman, has helped big box retail stores launch new brands and find manufacturing supply chains. He collaborated in launching brands such as I.N.C., Structure, Everlast, and Gant.

You'll hear:

Finding the right factory partner
Mistakes to avoid
How to vet a factory
Why a great factory can help you finance
How digitization and changing retail has disrupted and democratized manufacturing
Why you should work backwards
What we can learn from Kim Kardashian's shapewear line

Charles has been in leadership positions holding operational responsibility at major retailers and brands. Charles’ international experience has provided him with a deep understanding of a dynamic and ever-changing global manufacturing base. He developed relationships with leading global vendors and travelled extensively to factories in Asia, India, Bangladesh, Central America and the USA.

Show Links

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Creating a Socially-conscious Fashion Brand at 22

Kurt Elster, Emily Jaime — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 11:00:04 +0000

Emily Jaime is the designer and founder of YIREH. She started the brand early in 2014 (when she was 22 years old!), without a background in fashion or business. She has built her online boutique with the desire to not only design functional and easy to wear clothing for women, but to also empower and encourage them to live their best lives.

Show Links

YIREH - Use code UNOFFICIAL for 15% off your order.
Book: Building a StoryBrand
IG: @YIREH_

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Differentiate or Die

Kurt Elster, Drew Sanocki — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 11:00:01 +0000

Today's guest has twenty years of ecommerce experience and believes that "You can't survive as a commodity dropship retailer. You have to differentiate or Amazon will eat your lunch. If not today, then tomorrow."

In this episode, he'll tell us how he differentiated Karmaloop and more.

You'll hear:

Lessons learned running a nine-figure brand acquired from AutoZone
The simple strategies that Drew used to save KarmaLoop from extinction
How to easily leverage direct mail to grow your business

In 2013, Drew founded his first company, DesignPublic.com, with $500 cash. Today he's the CEO of nine-figure vertically integrated brand AutoAnything. In between, he's saved Karmaloop, got Teamwork to eight figures, and built a variety of software and retail businesses.

In order of discussion:

AutoAnything.com
Traction
80/20 Rule
Karmaloop
Kettle & Fire
Teamwork
Ecommerce is a Bear
PostPilot - Get 15% off your first purchase with code KURT15
Nerd Marketing

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What's Kurt up to?

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BFCM Post-Mortem 2019

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 11:00:22 +0000

This episode is also available on YouTube.

Shopify merchants broke records with $2.9+ billion in worldwide sales over Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.

In this episode, we unpack the biggest shopping week of the year.

You'll hear:

Typical Facebook Ads ROAS stats
How our biggest clients performed
And our key takeaways for our successful BFCM in 2020

Links, in order of discussion:

Cyber Week 2019 Statistics Infographic

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Turning Handmade Wallets into a Million Dollar Business

Kurt Elster, Ryan Popoff — Tue, 3 Dec 2019 11:00:09 +0000

Ryan Popoff founded a leather goods company after learning leather working as a creative outlet. Bootstrapped and run solo in 2013, Ryan is now leading a team of 12 full-time craftspeople in a 1,400 sq. ft. workshop in British Columbia.

Popov Leather makes handmade leather goods like wallets, belts, watch straps, notebook covers, and more. They're made to order, reasonably priced, and have turned thousands of customers into devoted fans.

In this episode, you'll learn:

How to use Etsy to validate ideas
Practical tips for effective photography
A straightforward influencer strategy
and how to know when to hire

Popov Leather is the quintessential rural small town success story. A hobby turns into a micro business following spousal encouragement which then turns into a thriving fast-growth business. Six years after its first sale, Popov Leather today YOR revenue growth as more than 90% of their production is shipped to satisfied international customers.

Show Links

Never miss an episode

Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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2020 Presidential Shopify Store Teardowns

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Nov 2019 11:00:15 +0000

This episode is available on YouTube. Watch now: https://youtu.be/mjeP1M5cgEg

Its too late to change anything on your store now this close to Black Friday, so instead, lets do something fun and talk about politics.

In today's episode: How Presidential Candidates Maximize eCommerce Sales

We'll compare the Shopify stores of President Trump's 2020 campaign, and four Democratic presidential candidates, to see where they could improve and what they did right.

Listener note: While politicians are the subject of our teardown, we have entirely avoided political issues. Nothing about this episode should be considered political commentary. Fight the urge to send us your political opinions. Please.

In order of discussion:

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Turning iPhones Into Hollywood Cameras and Revenue

Kurt Elster, Dave Basulto — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 11:00:04 +0000

First we'll hear Dave's journey from Hollywood Producer to High School teacher to international mobile filmmaking seller.

At the end of the episode, Dave gives us the crash course on how you can radically improve the quality of video you're producing with the iOS device you already have.

Stick around for the end to learn how to win giveaway our iOgrapher Multi Case for mobile phones and the iOgrapher Flexible tripod! x3!

Links Mentioned

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

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This episode made possible by Rewind

How to Establish a Successful Jewelry Brand

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 19 Nov 2019 11:00:09 +0000

Megan Auman is a jewelry designer, metalsmith, educator and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience in selling art through a variety of channels. In this episode, Megan reveals how she built her own high-end handmade jewelry business, what it takes to sell art and handmade products online, and the mistakes artists make when selling online.

You'll learn:

Where to steal free time from
The problem with Etsy for makers
The steps you should take today if starting from scratch
A sane content strategy
Why you need a strategy for making money today, and another for money long-term.

In addition to running her eponymous jewelry line, she is the founder of Designing an MBA, which features business thinking for artists and makers, and Artists & Profit Makers, an online mentorship community. A best-selling CreativeLive instructor, her designs have been featured in Elle Decor, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light and on top-rated blogs like Design*Sponge.

Show Links

Megan's Shopify store
Book: How to Break With Your Phone
Book: Digital Minimalism
NY NOW
Course: Market Your Selfie
MeganAuman.com
Megan's new book: Try It & See: How to Get Sh*t Done While Overanalyzing Everything

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Lessons Learned from 7-figure SMS Marketing

Jeremy Horowitz, Kurt Elster — Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:00:11 +0000

After early success in 2017 with SMS while working at Lumee - Kim Kardashian's favorite selfie case - Jeremy Horowitz went all in on SMS marketing.

You'll hear:

The advantage of personalizing SMS for your clients
How to get a 95% SMS open rate and 25% clickthrough rate on your SMS
Getting started with SMS in 30-minutes
What to absolutely NOT to do with SMS
New Buzzword: "Owned Channels"
The most effective way to grow an SMS list
Easy tactics for BFCM, advanced tactics

Jeremy has been working in the eCommerce space for 5 years building both eCommerce brands and tools for eCommerce companies. He currently runs an agency and podcast of the same name – Messenger Mastermind – where he works with 7-Figure eCommerce companies to build out their Owned Channels (Email, SMS, Push Notifications, Facebook Messenger, and Facebook Groups) to drive more profitable revenue growth.

Previously, Jeremy was LuMee's (aka Kim Kardashian's favorite selfie case) eCommerce Manager where he owned the DTC experience of LuMee.com and built tripled the Revenue generated from Email year over year. In addition he also built the SMS, Messenger and Push programs to drive a combined 6-Figures in Revenue per year.

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Help the show

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Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.
Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube
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This episode made possible by Rewind

Black Friday Hot Takes & SEMA Take Aways

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 12 Nov 2019 11:00:10 +0000

You asked, we answered:

"So Kurt if you were to start a store what niche would you start in?"
"You mentioned the importance of building an email list- any practical ideas for how to get people to sign up?"
"Timing for social media posts for holidays. Aka when to release your Black Friday deal on social."
"What to budget for your one day ads on social for black Friday, etc."
"What type of ads should we run for BF? How can the ads be aligned with the emails per Ezra’s email campaign?"

Plus Kurt goes to SEMA to rub elbows with a few celebrities.

Links Mentioned

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Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube
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Sponsors

Your 6-figure Product Launch Blueprint

Kurt Elster, Mark Arruda — Thu, 7 Nov 2019 11:00:15 +0000

Ever wonder the best time and day to promote a product or sale? Or what strategy to use to get orders all day long? In this episode, 7-figure Shopify merchant Mark Arruda breaks down the exact strategy he's using.

You'll hear:

How Etsy made (and almost broke) Mark's business
Risks around trademarks
What to do when Facebook ads get too expense
How to focus on profitability
Mark's next level launch strategy
Why you should never do a weekend launch
The ideal day to launch a product

Mark is the founder and CEO of Constantly Varied Gear, co-host of the Messenger Mastermind Podcast and an avid community builder and marketer.

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube
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This episode made possible by Rewind

Shockingly Good Customer Service

Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Nov 2019 11:00:10 +0000

In this episode, 7-figure merchant Tyler 'Sully' Sullivan from Bombtech Golf teaches us his approach to customer service and how his focus "is shocking customers with amazing service so price and repeat orders are a given."

You'll hear:

How a Facebook Group drives 100x ROI
Why customer service can let you double or triple your prices
Why revenue is a vanity number
Examples of how to wow your customers

In 2018, BombTech Golf sold 170,000 golf clubs resulting in mid seven figure revenue with just three employees and a four hour work week.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Bombtech Golf - Sully's Shopify store
Klaviyo - Sully's preferred email marketing automation platform
EcomGrowners - Sully's agency

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Sponsors

Your 2019 Black Friday Facebook Ads Strategy

Kurt Elster, Kurt Bullock — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 10:00:10 +0000

In this episode, you'll learn a three stage strategy to set your Facebook ads funnel up for success before and during Black Friday.

Facebook Ads are more expensive than ever, and Black Friday is going to bring the muppets out of the woodwork which will drive costs up even more.

You'll the hear answers to:

A 3-stage approach to Facebook Ads success on Black Friday
How to plan your budget
Setting your site up for success
Why you should try Dynamic Ads for Broad Audiences (DABA)

Links Mentioned

BFCM Strategy Guide

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This episode made possible by Rewind

Listener Mailbag: Conversion Rate Secrets, Pop-up Optimization, and More

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 10:00:13 +0000

In this episode, we open with a deep dive into conversion rates across devices and traffic sources, and how you can apply that info to your store.

This episode is also available as a video interview on YouTube.

You'll the hear answers to:

When looking at mobile vs desktop conversion rates, what is the expected drop off on mobile?
What app do your best stores use for returns/exchanges on Shopify?
How to scale creative.
Why use Privy if we are using Klaviyo?
Is there a step by step process you use to test product pages to optimize for conversions?
How do you suggest you make your business stand apart from the others in a saturated market?
How to choose which apps make the cut and which ones don’t?
Ways to improve signups from pop-up forms by using data?
Any 'outside the box' Black Friday promotion ideas?

Links Mentioned

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Help the show

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Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.
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What's Kurt up to?

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Take a ride with Kurt on YouTube
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Sponsors

Get 99% open rates – affordably – by leveraging this channel

Kurt Elster, Mike Stoychev — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 10:00:07 +0000

We've seen SMS drive 20x ROI for our clients, but Shopify merchants have been slow to adopt SMS marketing. If you've been ignoring SMS as a channel, this episode addresses the common objections and risks around SMS marketing, and breaks down how to run SMS as a successful channel for your store.

You'll learn:

Why SMS gets a 99% open rate
The objections, rules, and regulations to know when texting customers
How to build your SMS lists (and monetize them in the process)
How to run successful text campaigns
Using SMS for customer service

Mihail is the founder and CEO of SMSBump, Shopify's first texting marketing platform. He has 8+ years worth of eCommerce experience and has worked with brands such as Facebook, MasterCard, Amazon Pay, Google, Square etc.

Show Links

SMSBump.com
SMSBump in the Shopify app store
Merchant to watch: Fashion Nova
Special offer: EMail mike@smsbump.com and mention The Unofficial Shopify Podcast for white glove onboarding

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Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

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.

The Wriggler: Launching a New Product with No Experience

Kurt Elster, Aileen McCauley — Tue, 22 Oct 2019 10:00:01 +0000

Aileen McCauley is a mom to two kids, a school psychologist and, together with her husband James, is co-creator of The Wriggler, which is the first portable changing pad for babies and toddlers who wriggle during diaper changing. Aileen and James created The Wriggler after experiencing the problem with their own little one.

When they couldn't find a solution, James, who is a part-time teacher and part-time stay-at-home dad, borrowed a sewing machine, learned to sew and came up with a solution that returned diaper changing to the calm, predictable experience it had once been. Still in its first year in business, The Wriggler is now a multi-award winning changing pad that has been called a 'sanity saver' and a 'miracle mat' by the many independent parent product testers who have reviewed it.

You'll hear:

How they went from idea to product in 18 months
How did you generate awareness about The Wriggler / marketing strategy?
What have been some highlights of your first year in business?
How has the journey on both stores differed?
How Aileen's shot their most succesful video ad on an iPhone
The launch formula they used

Show Links

The Wriggler (US) - Use code unofficial for 30% your Wriggler mat.
The Wriggler (UK)
Perpetual Traffic (Podcast)
Ecom Crew (Podcast)
Ecommerce Influence (Podcast)
Contagious (Book)
Wizard of Ads (Book)
Tipping Point (Book)
Launch (Book)
Bold MultiCurrency (App)
Geolizr (App)
Bold Cashier (App)
FOMO (App)

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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 wherever you get your podcasts

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

Shopify vs. Shopify Plus [Listener Mailbag]

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 10:00:21 +0000

In today's episode we open with ecommerce news, Shopify feature updates, and some lingering questions from Klaviyo:BOS.

This episode is also available as a video interview on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/S-9CqspYpDM

Your questions, answered:

Customer retention techniques
Strategies to increase conversion rates from blog visits
How often should you be emailing customers? And and at what point do you go for the sale?
How to think about migrating to Shopify Plus
What's the best app/solution for wholesale

Plus Kurt survives the #onechipchallenge.

Links Mentioned

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Help the show

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

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

$38 million in 10 Weeks Selling Hover Boards

Josh Behr, Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Oct 2019 10:00:06 +0000

Today's guest has had tremendous adventures in ecommerce – from managing Jack Threads' 16-million person list to earning $38mm in 10 weeks selling hover boards – and today he's going to share it all with us.

The first twenty minutes of this episode are possibly the most value-packed show we've ever recorded.

You'll hear:

The exact exit intent strategy they're using with Privy and Klaviyo
Why a Repeat Nurture Series could be your most overlooked flow
How kicking subscribers off their list is driving revenue
Why best subject line could be "a deal to good to pass up"
The case for plain text
How to ensure your emails land in the inbox
Using Google Trends to find seven-figure product ideas

Josh writes, "My career has taken an interesting path over the past 16 years, from accounting to digital marketing, I have seen it all. After 7 years into my career, I finally realized I was not enjoying my day to day life as a public accountant and was given an opportunity to become the Controller to one of the clients. This was my first introduction to e-commerce and marketing. After 6 months into my Controller position, I was able to skim the surface into marketing and quickly became hooked! From this point, I began my transition out of accounting and solely into digital marketing. I was given opportunities from a variety of well-known streetwear brands such as Jack Threads and Black Pyramid and multiple freelance projects, which really allowed me to hone my craft and accelerate each brands revenue. I am currently the Digital Marketing Director at Amerex Group."

Links Mentioned

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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 wherever you get your podcasts

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

Live from Klaviyo:BOS Conference 2019

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 1 Oct 2019 10:00:07 +0000

On September 25th & 26th, Kurt went to Boston to attend Klaviyo:BOS Conference 2019. You'll hear interviews with real merchants using Klaviyo to own their marketing and grow their business, plus learn the new features coming to Klaviyo.

Described as, "the ultimate experience to take your ecommerce marketing to the next level. It’s where the brightest industry leaders, fastest-growing brands, and expert product specialists come together to share real-world examples and actionable strategies that’ll help you own the entire customer experience and grow your brand."

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Klaviyo:BOS

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Set up Klaviyo Like a Pro

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 10:00:07 +0000

Want to know what's working for us with Klaviyo right now? We turn to ecommerce marketing wizard Kurt Bullock to get an update and learn the exact blueprint he uses to achieve 20% revenue increases for Shopify merchants.

First we'll discuss some quick wins for existing Klaviyo users, and then we'll walk through

You'll learn:

When & how to use split-testing in emails to maximize revenue
Three examples of Klaviyo quick wins you can implement today
How and why to segment
Which must-have automation workflows to start with
Step-by-step how pro's set up Klaviyo accounts

Grab a notepad and tune-in 'cause this one is full of actionable advice.

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This episode made possible by Rewind

How Ezra Firestone plans to make a million dollars on Black Friday (with this exact blueprint)

Kurt Elster, Ezra Firestone — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:00:06 +0000

In 2018, Ezra Firestone generated $700K over Black Friday, with $100k alone on Thanksgiving for his Shopify store BOOM by Cindy Joseph.

This year he plans do 30% more and he's going to tell us exactly how.

Master Marketer Ezra Firestone breaks down the exact Black Friday and holiday email campaigns he'll be running this year.

You'll learn:

Ezra's content marketing strategy
Industry gossip
Why to set up pre-sale campaign
Ezra's ten email Black Friday strategy
Best times to send email
How to setup landing pages for holiday promos

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[Q&A] 9 Worries from Merchants Prepping for Q4

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 10:00:03 +0000

In this listener mailbag episode, you'll hear nine questions from merchants preparing for Black Friday:

How to manage your app addiction
The power of SMS marketing
When to update your product descriptions
Considerations when selling on Amazon and Shopify
The top mistake merchants make on Black Friday
Multi Currency in a nutshell
Should you block site traffic from other countries?

Plus: Kurt terrifies his children, and Paul kills Moby Dick.

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What's Kurt up to?

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How a Fashion Designer Started a Niche Brand At 21

Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:00:08 +0000

Rivky Itzkowitz is a 24 year old fashion designer living in NYC. As a practicing Orthodox Jew, she was frustrated at not being able to find modest special occasion wear that actually fit, so she set out to create her own. This episode is about the inspiring journey of hardship and success that came next.

You'll learn:

How to have the best relationships with your retailers
Why wholesale may be the best way to start a business
The differences in how to market wholesale vs. retail

Her company, Impact Fashion is the only size inclusive modest special occasion fashion line on the market. Every style is fitted to perfection and is available in sizes 2-24 because there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be. Her wholesale line is stocked in over 25 boutiques nationwide. In September 2018 she launched the B2C arm of her company on Shopify, impactfashionnyc.com.

Tune in for more details!

Show Links

ImpactFashionNYC - Use code UNOFFICIAL on impactfashionnyc.com for free shipping with purchase
IG: @impact.fashion.nyc

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What's Kurt up to?

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Homepage Design Made Simple

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 3 Sep 2019 10:00:12 +0000

Who else wants lower bounce rates and higher conversion rates from visitors to their homepage?

We discuss:

Should your homepage be a squeeze page?
What in Turbo theme should be tweaked to improve the mobile experience?
What content should go on the home page?
Is HERO a must? Should the value prop be the hero image headline?
Should your homepage be a branded experience or a long form sales page?

Plus Kurt develops an unnatural love for leather goods, and Paul lays out what niche he'd start a store in.

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What's Kurt up to?

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How Tactical Baby Gear Scaled to Seven-Figures

Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Aug 2019 10:00:15 +0000

Shopify Plus merchant Tactical Baby Gear is disrupting the booming world of baby products — estimated this year to produce more than $11 billion in revenue worldwide — by specializing in military-style baby gear. Founder Beav Brodie and COO Alex Alexander Kristoff join us to discuss their seven-figure success.

We'll find out:

Why you should want to fire your customer service people
Why they believe in business partnerships
The candid challenges they've faced
Beav's social media & content marketing strategy

...and more in this candid interview.

Tune in for more details!

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The Boring Ways Seven-Figure Stores Got There

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 10:00:07 +0000

You'll hear the answers to:

With all the shiny toys available for merchants, how should you prioritize them?
If someone feels totally overwhelmed as a merchant, what’s the one thing they should hire out to alleviate the stress?
What's the formula to determine product pricing? Are there good methods for testing different price points with your customers?
How do you properly split test multiple ad creatives for a new product, prior to launching conversion campaigns?

Plus Kurt gets a new jacket, and Paul knows who shot JFK.

Show Links

Headed to Klaviyo Boston? Unofficial Shopify Podcast listeners get $300 off by using code UnofficialShop300 at checkout.
Kurt's rad denim jacket, a gift from Pak Rat Ink.

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Boredwalk: How a Husband & Wife Team Grew a 'Cult' T-shirt Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 09:00:20 +0000

Creative husband and wife team Matt Snow and Meredith Erin, owners of Boredwalk T-Shirts, take us through their entrepreneurial journey building a cult of customers around their lifestyle apparel brand.

You'll hear:

Why you should embrace the suck
The one tactic that helped me them gain early sales
Why they hate Amazon
The customer-centric content-first marketing strategy that has grown their business
Why you should start a podcast now

These artists-turned-ecommerce professionals produce clever original graphic goods, including apparel, accessories, and decor items. Known for their dark humor and sharp wit, Meredith and Matt have created a corner of the internet where fellow misanthropes can laugh at the world and themselves.

Tune in for more details!

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Have Your Best Black Friday Ever by Starting Now

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Aug 2019 10:00:20 +0000

Instead of waiting until November to take action, let's discuss what you can do right now to put your store in the best possible position to capitalize on Black Friday sales.

You'll hear:

high ROI traffic options other than paid Facebook, Instagram or google
the best way to get featured in places like Buzzfeed
converting lookers into buyers!
Top conversion rate optimizations techniques for product pages.

Plus Kurt sees Weird Al, and Paul needs his ear drops.

Show Links

RockAuto - Example of a successful site left intentionally dated
Adam's Polishes Quick Detail Spray - Great example of a PDP
Turbo - Use Code PODCAST20 to save 20% off the purchase price of Turbo.

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What's Kurt up to?

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[BONUS] Effective Facebook Ad Funnels for 2019

Kurt Elster — Fri, 2 Aug 2019 19:33:19 +0000

Want to know what's working with Facebook ads right now? We turn to ecommerce marketing wizard Kurt Bullock to learn the exact blueprint he uses to achieve 10x returns on ad spend.

You'll learn:

The exact strategies & tactics working for us right now
Specific examples of targeting new customers
The hot ad formats to try now
What's new: Broad Match Dynamic Product Ads
and strategy for September's campaign budget optimization requirement

Grab a notepad and tune-in 'cause this one is full of actionable advice.

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This episode made possible by Rewind

Maximizing Your Facebook Ad Budgets

Kurt Elster, Andrew Foxwell — Tue, 30 Jul 2019 10:00:19 +0000

Facebook ads are getting increasingly competitive and expensive– and it's not stopping anytime soon. That's scary for those of us that rely on Facebook ads to power their business and their income. In this episode, social media advisor Andrew Foxwell talks us through tactics to make Facebook ads a more reliable part of your business.

You'll hear:

Why Facebook ad costs are rising
How to recognize and overcome facebook ad fatigue
What mandatory Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) means for you
Why social proofing is an algorithmic game changer
How to accelerate engagement on your ads

Since co-founding Foxwell Digital in 2012, Andrew Foxwell and his wife Gracie have worked with hundreds of businesses, non-profits, and organizations to launch, optimize, and manage more than $10 million in Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns.

Andrew's past & present clients include Square, Eventbrite, Fitbit, Blenders Eyewear, Pura Vida Bracelets, Bryan Anthonys, Grand Ole Opry, and more. Andrew regularly teaches training courses with Jon Loomer on various topics such as Facebook Analytics, Business Manager, Dynamic Ads, Scaling, and much more.

Andrew is also the co-host of the Ecommerce Influence podcast and has been featured in the New York Times, TechCrunch, and various other print/online publications.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Andrew's consulting site: Foxwell Digital
FB Training Ads: Jon Loomer
Twitter: @andrewfoxwell
FB Group: eCommerce Heavyweights

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Optimize Everything

ETHERCYCLE LLC — Tue, 23 Jul 2019 10:00:13 +0000

In this listener mailbag episode, you'll hear the answers to:

What is the biggest factor conversion rate?
Where should you send cold traffic?
What should go in a email welcome series?
What are typical image requirements for Shopify product photography?
and what to do if you have a cash-eating monster business

Plus Julie gets a surprise, we geek out about cars, and Kurt disappoints Paul.

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What's Kurt up to?

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How Chubbies Built a Shorts Empire with Content Marketing

Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 09:01:00 +0000

What happens creativity and comedy empowers your business? Weekend shorts purveyor Joey Avery, the Ecommerce Content Manager at Chubbies, will tell us what's working when building a shorts empire, and reveal solid gold advice on finding your brand's voice and entertaining your customers.

You'll learn:

The origins of the Chubbies brand voice and messaging
Why they hired a comedian with no marketing experience to handle content
The power of creative culture
Chubbies exact email and social media strategies
Chubbies lifecycle email strategy
advice on how to start your own podcast

After starting his career in Cape Town, South Africa Joey Avery brought his positive and energetic brand of comedy to San Francisco and received the Jimmy Gunn award for Best Newcomer to the Bay Area comedy scene. He was recently honored by the SF Chronicle as one of the Bay Area's Comics to catch. Joey appeared on Fox and AJ+ as well as in the San Francisco Sketchfest Comedy Festival and the San Diego Sun God Music and Arts Festival. He hosts the Chubbies Podcast, the Pier 69 podcast, and creates content for Chubbies Entertainment.

Show Links

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What's Kurt up to?

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Profitable & Durable: Staying Small in Business

Paul Reda, Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Jul 2019 10:00:10 +0000

In this episode, we talk about why we choose to stay small, and the tools we use to maximize efficiency and profits.

Ultimately, our goal is to build a business that supports the life we want. A life that lets us enjoy time with our families. We’re running a small business by choice. We don’t want to spend our days managing employees. Instead, we want to treat our time as a scarce resource and invest in helping others build businesses for the lives they want too.

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What's Kurt up to?

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[BONUS] Using YouTube Ads to Drive Awareness & Sales

Kurt Elster — Fri, 5 Jul 2019 09:58:00 +0000

In this episode, you'll learn how to use YouTube Ads to grow your brand and drive sales from recurring guest Brett Curry, CEO of OMG Commerce, a digital marketing agency and Google Premier Partner.

You'll hear:

What does YouTube advertising look like?
Who is a good candidate for YouTube ads?
How do the YouTube ad types work?
Keys to a good YouTube ad
How to retarget store visitors with YouTube ads

In addition to running OMG Commerce, Brett is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping published by Shopify. He is also the host of the eCommerce Evolution Podcast highlighting what’s new and what’s next in eCommerce. He and his team manage Google, Amazon, and YouTube ad campaigns for over 100 growing brands. His insights into Amazon and Google Advertising have been featured on stage at top industry events like IRCE, Seller Summit, and Social Media Marketing World. His articles are featured on leading industry sites like Shopify, Big Commerce, and Search Engine Journal, and he’s a frequent guest on top marketing podcasts like Ecommerce Fuel, Perpetual Traffic, Social Media Examiner and many more.

Tune in for more details!

Show Links

Brett's Agency: OMG Commerce
Brett's Article: How I Recovered 2,328 Abandoned Shopify Carts With YouTube Ads
Harmon Brothers
Book recommendation: Tested Advertising Methods
Book recommendation: Ogilvy on Advertising
Grammarly
Video: Brett's YouTube Ad Tips

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What's Kurt up to?

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Rewind

Sci-fi Books & Rad Leggings

Kurt Elster, Cesar Torres — Tue, 2 Jul 2019 09:00:00 +0000

On this show, we've found a common pattern to merchants' entrepreneurial journeys on Shopify. This is not one of those stories. This is the journey of Cesar Torres who turned a merch store for his sci-fi book series into a fitness leggings brand with a big impact on LGBTQ+ fans of the brand.

You'll hear:

What Cesar learned working at the Wirecutter
How listening to customers pivoted his business to success
How an uncommon journey led to uncommon success

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Cesar's site: LED Queens
Wirecutter
Cesar's books: The Coil and How to Kill a Superhero
Instagram: @LEDQueens
App: Returnly
App: Smile
App: Privy
Cesar's personal site: CesarTorres.me

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What's Kurt up to?

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Is Apple Business Chat The Future of E-Commerce?

Michael Perry, Kurt Elster — Wed, 26 Jun 2019 15:00:15 +0000

If this show had a mantra, it might be, "People buy from people, not brands." There is no personal commerce channel than conversational commerce. Today, Shopify and Apple announced that Shopify Merchants can now use Apple's Business Chat, a tremendously powerful new way for organizations to connect with customers directly from within Messages. Previously only available to Fortune 500 business like 1800Flowers and Home Depot, it's now available today for your Shopify store. That's exciting, but what does it mean for your business?

To find out, we're joined by Shopify's Director of Product, Michael Perry.

You'll learn:

The game changing feature coming to Shopify Ping
How to improve your customer relationships (and build a competitive moat around your business)
Why you can't ignore conversational commerce
How to use chat to 3x conversion rates up

Michael Perry founded Kit, which was acquired by Shopify in 2016. He's now Director of Product at Shopify, and fiercely passionate about conversational commerce and its potential for the future of ecommerce.

Show Links

Shopify Ping
Tw:@michaelperry

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Your Shopify Unite 2019 Recap

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 25 Jun 2019 09:00:21 +0000

Last week Shopify announced their most ambitious features to date at the fourth annual Shopify Unite partner conference. Paul and I attended, and break it down for you here.

How Shopify is going after Amazon
Why it's going to be easier than ever to manage your store
And why Shopify is now the entrepreneurship operating system

Show Links

Shopify Blog: Everything Announced at Shopify Unite 2019
Shopify Unite
Shopify Fulfillment Network
Shopify Plus Blog: Unite 2019: New Tools to Unlock Meaningful Customer Experiences

Kurt's Unite Notes

What's new on Shopify? These are the notes I took during the Shopify Unite keynote:

Online store:

Site-wide sections
Apps can add sections
Product pages have parent and child templates
Content portability: all content lives outside theme, simplifying theme changes
Native video & 3-D support on product pages
Check-out app extensions for native integrations of things like subscriptions
Multi-currency checkout rolling out to all merchants
Multi-language API for native localized content

POS:

Tap & chip case for mobile orders. Apple store like experience. Printed with a custom logo.
Cart extension apps.
Entirely redesigned POS interface
Native “buy online pick up in store”

Admin:

New “shipping profiles” to assign product-specific shipping rules.
Order editing!!!

Plus:

All new interface: centralized view of multiple stores
Multistore dashboard for customers, orders, Flow automation, etc
Future: cloning & store sync
Multi-store staff managed in one place

Apps:

Command line interface tool to make dev easier
Shopify App Bridge: one library to rule them all, and create more embedded apps
GraphQL improvements mean faster apps
More stable apps because of API versioning. (Keeps apps from breaking when the API changes.)

Shopify Fulfillment Network:

2 days to deliver
99.9% order accuracy
Multichannel support
Custom packaging & branding
Returns/exchange support
Now: Merchants of every size. (10-10,000 orders/day)
Later: Merchants of every size. (3-30,000 orders/day)
Beta complete, apply for early access at shopify.com/fulfillment

When: Most updates had a timeline of "Available later this year"

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What's Kurt up to?

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Forming Successful Business Partnerships

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 09:00:05 +0000

In this listener mailbag episode, you'll hear:

The hardest decisions we've ever made in our business
Why Kurt thinks retail arbitrage is better than dropshipping
Why business partnerships are sexless marriages
and a spirited debate on toilet paper

Show Links

Spotify: The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals - The 1960s, Vol.1
App of the week: Bonjoro
BioBidet Supreme BB-1000

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Six-figure Info Product Sales with Christina Scalera

Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Jun 2019 09:01:00 +0000

Four years ago, today's guest found herself dreaming of pursuing a more creative path, and she started to look for alternatives to her in-house legal job. She explored everything from teaching yoga to becoming a freelance graphic designer to opening an Etsy shop. In the process, she ended up coming full circle by creating a business that brought the benefit of her legal training to help her fellow creatives.

Joining us is Christina Scalera, the attorney turned ecommerce entrepreneur behind The Contract Shop, a contract template store for creative entrepreneurs, wedding professionals, and coaches. In this candid episode, Christina walks us through her journey from how she made her first sale four years ago up to today where her annual sale now does six-figures.

You'll learn:

How she found her business idea by accident
The exact method that launched her store with $4K in pre-orders
How she scaled that success to drive business growth

Tune in for more details!

Show Links

The Contract Shop
Nick's Consultancy: Draft

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What's Kurt up to?

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Capitalizing on the CBD Gold Rush

Kurt Elster, Andy Muntean — Tue, 4 Jun 2019 09:00:01 +0000

Today's guest put his money where his mouth is when he joined ecommerce incubator Chillest Capital to launch and manage direct to consumer brands selling things like premium beef jerky, CBD supplements, and more.

You'll learn:

The legality of CBD
Why CBD is so hot right now
How a lifestyle brand is an acquisition channel
Working around advertising limitations for sensitive advertising
The dangers of high-risk payment gateways

Andy has worked in eCommerce across several different categories and brands from fast scaling start-ups to enterprise level brands such as Proactiv and Coca-Cola. Prior to Co-Founding Holiday, a Chillest Capital portfolio company, he served as Chief of Stuff at Brand Value Accelerator and as a project manager at Gotham Alpha. His passion lies in driving innovation and growth within organizations looking to adapt to the ever-changing digital world.

Show Links

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What's Kurt up to?

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Listener Mailbag: Paul Punches the Monkey

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 28 May 2019 09:00:05 +0000

In today's listener mailbag episode, we discuss topics and questions chosen by you.

You'll learn:

How the shadiest internet villains illicitly advertise
How to advertise when you can't use Facebook or Google
How to make Shopify Plus make money for you
and the "must have" mostly-free apps for your store

Show Links

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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HOONIGAN: Building a Lifestyle Brand

Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 May 2019 09:00:08 +0000

According to Wikipedia, Hoonigan Industries is "an apparel brand for auto enthusiasts." According to its 20 million fans, it's an car culture movement. Either way, they're on Shopify Plus, and have an incredible story to share starting back in the 2000's when co-owner and rally driver Ken Block appeared on BBC show Top Gear and filmed the hit YouTube video "Gymkhana 2", making the most viral video of 2009.

You'll learn:

The origin story of Hoonigan, Gymkhana, and Ken Block.
The authentic content that got them to an audience of 20million people and three daytime Emmy nominations
What's changed in social media and the one thing that will separate you

Ron Zaras is a man who has somehow snuck his way into the ranks of automotive media.

Starting life as an automotive journalist (read: intern) directly out of college working for 0-60 magazine, he learned that he could sustain a living telling automotive stories - and has been attempting to do so ever since.

After an 8 year stint working directly for Ken Block under the Hoonigan Racing Division banner, he moved over to the Hoonigan Industries home base in Long Beach, California to help evolve their marketing in both media and apparel segments.

Tune in for more details!

Show Links

HOONIGAN - RZARAS2042 for 20% off at Hoonigan.com!
GYMKHANA TWO
Garage Garage: Racecar Bed
Scumbag Labs: Steer Left, Turn RIGHT?? Opposite Steering Jeep Melts Our Brains!
Instagram: @roncar

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What's Kurt up to?

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The Problem with Google PageSpeed Insights

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 14 May 2019 09:00:00 +0000

Websites should be fast. No one is arguing about that. What constitutes fast has somehow been perverted by an anxiety-inducing score assigned by the cruel mistress known as Google PageSpeed Insights. In this episode, we throw Google PageSpeed in the bonfire.

You'll learn:

Why Google PageSpeed Insights is an awful boogeyman that needs to be stopped
A sane approach to making your website faster
When to upgrade Shopify plans
and strategies to setup your main menus correctly (again)

The boys get extra salty in this one.

Tune in for more details!

Show Links

Pingdom Tools
Crush.pics
Paul's website - It gets a perfect PageSpeed score.
Shopify Pricing
Kurt's Shopify Plus breakdown

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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

[BONUS] How Agency Owner Kelly Vaughn Builds Seven-Figure Stores

Kurt Elster — Fri, 10 May 2019 09:01:00 +0000

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

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Rewind

How Julie Elster Generates 10,000 Organic Visitors

Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 May 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Split Tests That Win: How to Start Optimizing Your Shopify Store

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 30 Apr 2019 09:01:00 +0000

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

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Getting Customers for Life through Email

Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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

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Help the show

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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

Turning Shopify Analytics into Actionable Insights

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 09:01:00 +0000

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

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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.
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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

From 0 to $4 Million with Physical Product Licensing

Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Apr 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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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

MailChimp & Shopify Break Up– Now What?

Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Apr 2019 09:01:00 +0000

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

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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.
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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

Being Profitable

Kurt Elster, Austin Brawner — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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
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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

How to Run Heatmaps, Facebook Groups, & Your First Store

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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

Never miss an episode

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

Google Ads Success in 2019

Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 10:00:00 +0000

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

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

Myth Busting, Finding Your Voice, and Growth Hacks

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 5 Mar 2019 10:00:00 +0000

In our second listener mailbag episode, we answer three topics chosen by you.

You'll hear:

Myth Busted: Debunking popular merchant myths
How to find your blogging voice
Growth Hacks: What the big boys are doing that you can too
Plus, why Kurt made drama with the CEO of Simplecast

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Apple Support: Use your voice to enter text on your Mac
Chicago Brick Oven
Apple Support: How to record the screen on your iPhone
The Brain Audit
Hotjar

Never miss an episode

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

Bringing The Ultimate Gym Sneaker to Market

Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Chief Everything Officer and footwear designer Darin Hager couldn’t find the sneaker style he craved at retail. His own designs were hindered by the corporate footwear brands he designed for day in and day out for over 10 years. So in 2008 he set out on his own create his own sneaker brand.

Learn

The mindset that drove Darin to entrepreneurship
How Darin leveraged his unfair advantages
The dark side of selling in big box stores
How video games (and licensing) helped Daren sell more

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Heyday Footwear - SPECIAL OFFER: Use code 'UNOFFICIAL' and save on your first pair of HEYDAY sneakers
Book: The New Rules of Retail
Darin's theme: Shoptimized Theme
App: ShipTimer
App: FOMO

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Building a Business for the Life You Want

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 10:00:00 +0000

In our first listener mailbag episode, you told us what to discuss, and we deliver.

You'll hear:

Podcasting 101: learn everything you need to know to start your own podcast in 10 minutes
How to grow your business from day 1 without pay-per-click ads
Why calling bootstrapped businesses a “lifestyle business” is offensive

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Kurt's recommended mic: Blue Yeti
Famebit - YouTube's Influencer Marketing Engine
Medium: Licensing Roadmap for E-commerce Entrepreneurs
Julie Elster's website: Double Your WDW

Our Podcast Setup

Kurt and Paul's mic's: Shure SM7B
Preamp/Processor: dbx 286s
Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
Hosting: Simplecast
Free Editing Software: Audacity

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Pop-up Profits: Actionable Tactics from Collecting 100 million Emails

Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Learn the current state of on-site conversions from Privy founder Ben Jabbawy.

After capturing over 100 million emails with Privy, Ben Jabbawy reveals:

The most effective pop-up campaigns (that you probably aren't running)
the dirty secret about checkout abandonment emails
and what they're doing with $4.25M in funding

Ben is the founder of Privy, the leader in on-site conversions for Shopify stores. Through Ben’s leadership, he has helped grow Privy to support over 300,000 marketers in 180 countries. His data-driven approach to lead capture and on-site personalization has helped brands like Leesa Mattress, The Beatles, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and now you.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Building Perfect Product Pages

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 5 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Building on our last discussion of the "perfect homepage" we move onto the next step in the sales funnel: Product Detail Pages.

In this episode, Paul and Kurt break down tested & proven product detail page elements you should use to maximize your own conversions.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Actionable Analytics: Setting up Google Analytics for Shopify

Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Most of us have Google Analytics running on our stores. But what are we doing with that? And is it reporting correctly?

In this episode, we'll learn how to turn Google Analytics into a powerful business tool.

Founder & Head of Optimization at Test Triggers, Josh Frank walks us through start to finish an actually useful Google Analytics strategy.

Josh has helped countless eCommerce businesses boost their revenue with conversion optimization. Running close to a thousand A/B tests have helped Josh to distill the true optimization tactics from the b.s.

We'll find out:

How to set up your Analytics correctly so your data is clean
Why Google Analytics and Shopify report differently and what to do about it
Why Google Data Studio is a GAME CHANGER.
What you should actually be doing with your Analytics tool

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Special Offers from our Sponsors

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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?”

Building The Perfect Homepage

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 22 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

You can think of your Shopify store's homepage as the storefront of your store. Just because someone walks by, doesn't mean they're going to come in and shop. You have to to present an alluring storefront to your customer to coax them down your sales funnel.

In this episode, Paul and Kurt break down the tested & proven homepage layout you should use to maximize your own conversions.

Paul and Kurt discuss:

The strategy to use when thinking about your homepage's layout
Why each element has a job (and what it is)
The right way to setup your image carousel
How to implement "safety nets"
and why you may be suffering from I-arrhea

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Klaviyo Update: Beyond Black Friday [BONUS EPISODE]

Kurt Elster — Fri, 18 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

In this brief bonus episode with Klaviyo's senior marketing manager, Alicia Thomas, you'll learn:

What seven and eight figures brands are doing differently with their email marketing
What you can do to get ahead with email marketing
Several upcoming events to grow your business

Links mentioned:

Klaviyo's Docuseries: Beyond Black Friday
Klaviyo:BOS - Use code KURT100 to save $100 on your registration
Meet Kurt, Paul, and other Shopify Merchants on the 31st in at our Shopify Meetup.

The $700K Sale: Steal These Strategies

Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Jan 2019 11:00:00 +0000

Shopify wunderkind Ezra Firestone walks us through his $700K holiday sale. DONT MISS THIS EPISODE.

We'll find out:

How 14,573 of their most engaged subscribers generated the most revenue
The breakdown of the holiday email strategy, which they used to build excitement and generate sales
The Holiday ad campaign generated a 10x return on ad spend
Why they opted for a simple, to-the-point landing page design this year (and why it was effective)
The exact way they optimize their product detail page
And more!

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

How to Lose Tens of Thousands of Dollars Starting an Online Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Jan 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Every year around this time, we see an influx of new people to our community looking to add to their income by starting an ecommerce business. According to a recent article in the Atlantic, "many people turn to a growing number of self-proclaimed experts promise they can teach anyone how to make a passive income selling cheap Chinese goods in the internet's largest store. Not everyone’s getting rich quick."

Paul and Kurt discuss:

Why it's easier to get scammed than you think
How to protect yourself
What to do instead

Tune in for more details!

Resources

How to Lose Tens of Thousands of Dollars on Amazon
Book: Profit First
FB Group: Shopify Entreprenuers
Blue Ribbon Mastermind
Podcast: The Dream

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Bigger isn't Better: Why Staying Small is The Next Big Thing in Business

Kurt Elster — Wed, 2 Jan 2019 11:14:00 +0000

Paul Jarvis joins us to explain why he believes the real key to richer and more fulfilling work could be to not create and scale something into a massive corporation, but rather, to work for yourself, determine your own hours, and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one.

Paul is the author of Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing For Business. He’s worked with professional athletes like Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal, corporate giants like Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz, and entrepreneurs with online empires like Danielle LaPorte and Marie Forleo. Currently he teaches popular online courses, hosts several podcasts and develops small but mighty software solutions.

Find out Paul's answers to:

What are some specific prompts that will help us question growth (so that we’re not blindly growing)?
Do you think the philosophies of “staying small” can reinforce self-limiting beliefs? Could it be holding someone back from their potential? Can upper-limits actually be a good thing?
Why is resilience so important for companies (or companies of one)?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Can You Design Your Way To Success?

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Wrapping up the year, my business partner (and producer of this show) Paul Reda joins me to discuss his experiences as a Shopify theme developer with ten years of experience.

We'll find out:

The dark truth about ecommerce design
How you could be over-optimizing your store
And how to approach theme performance

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

How an ER Doc Built a Soap Company in 9 Months

Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 12:30:00 +0000

This is the story of how a lemonade stand became turned into a successful skincare line.

In less than one year, today's guest began manufacturing all-natural soap, sold out of their first 5,000 units on Amazon, gained hundreds of positive reviews for their nine-item catalog, and launched a Shopify store.

All while working full-time as an ER physician with kids.

It's with those kids that our story starts. After raising $3,000 in the National Lemonade Day Program in Houston to help support an orphanage in India, they sought out to explore entrepreneurship as a family...

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Lessons from Growing Two 8-figure Companies

Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Tom Ness is co-founder and former CMO of Truth Nutra and former CMO at Kinobody, and has since left both companies to pursue his new venture, Rugged Naturals - a natural personal care product brand for men. Tom is a self-taught, self-starter with a passion for building companies that create a positive impact. He has helped scale two companies from inception to nearly 8 figures in revenue apiece, impacting hundreds of thousands of lives around the world.

We'll find out:

The hallmarks of a brand with 8-figure potential
Why selling in spite of your website represents a tremendous opportunity
How one book (Ask) was a game-changer for their business
Tom's "opportunity checklist" for identifying great businesses
What to focus on when scaling (and the number one problem faced by most marketers)

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Help the show

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.
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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?”

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10 Million Views: How to Tell Your Brand's Story With Help from a Professional Screenwriter

Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Dec 2018 12:00:00 +0000

You already know the importance of sharing your brand’s story. I've told you over & over on this show, "People buy from people, not brands." Your story is the ultimate way to create an emotional connection with your customers so that they not only become raving fans, they share your story with their friends.

Unfortunately, no one tells you HOW to write your story. Worse yet, most marketing experts don’t even know what a story is. Our guest today demonstrates this to hilarious effect on yours truly.

Michael Jamin has been a professional sitcom writer since 1996. His many credits include Just Shoot Me, King of the Hill, Beavis & Butthead, Out of Practice, Wilfred, Rules of Engagement, Brickleberry, and Tacoma FD. He’s also served as Co-Showrunner/Executive Producer of Maron, Glenn Martin DDS and Rhett & Link’s Buddy System.

In his spare time, Michael runs marketing for TwirlyGirl, a unique line of girls clothing started by his wife, Cynthia. By applying his sitcom writing and producing skills to their marketing videos, Michael has helped grow TwirlyGirl into a multi-million dollar brand.

We'll find out:

How Micheal went from Hollywood to Ecommerce
The branding mistake we all make starting out
How to tell your story
What IS and ISNT story?
Elements of a great brand story
The importance of details to your story
How to find your brand’s unique voice.
How to craft entertaining Product Descriptions
What to do if you
Why video quality isn’t nearly as important as writing quality.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

TwirlyGirl - A unique line of girls clothing started by Michael's wife, Cynthia
Michael's Guide to eCommerce Branding - For those who want to improve their storytelling skills.
Cardboard Rocketship - A boutique marketing agency that specializes in creating funny videos that sell.

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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?”

Special Offers from our Sponsors

How to Prevent Fraud & Chargebacks

Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Get a glimpse into the silent crime wave that cost the US economy $16 billion last year: credit card fraud.

We'll find out:

How fraudsters get ahold of your customers' personal info
The various fraud schemes criminals use (this is fascinating)
How chargebacks work
How to protect yourself

Tune in for more details!

Resources

NoFraud
NoFraud in the App Store
SPECIAL OFFER: 20% off for your first three months of service when you mention The Unofficial Shopify Podcast at the end of your trial
Recommended Reading: Kingpin by Kevin Poulsen - "How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground"
App: Fraud Filter by Shopify

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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?”

Special Offers from our Sponsors

Black Friday Advertising: Your 5-Phase Blueprint

Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000

In last week's episode, Kurt Bullock walked us through tips and strategies to maximize our Facebook ad budgets before the holidays.

This week we build on that conversation and learn the five-phases of holiday advertising and example offers and audiences to run during the holidays.

Our guest today is Karan Jassar, founder and CEO of Socioh, a social media marketing service for Shopify stores looking to optimize Facebook & Instagram ads and retargeting.

Before Socioh, Karan worked for Yahoo for on all advertising systems, even playing a role in building their new search marketing system (think Adwords but for Yahoo/Bing search). That experience gave him in-depth technical knowledge of advertising and how it works on the inside. Now he works on the other side helping merchants be more successful with their advertising efforts.

Karan has a Master's Degree in Computer Science from USC with a specialization in Artificial Intelligence so you know he knows what's up.

We'll find out:

Quick wins to boost ad conversions
The new Facebook catalog option that will boost your creative
The number one frustration sellers face (and what to do about it)
The five-phase approach to exponentially boost your revenue
Example ad campaigns to run during each phase of the holidays

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Black Friday Advertising: Preparing Your Facebook Ads for #BFCM

Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 10:00:00 +0000

Get your products on your customer's minds (and wishlists) this year without blowing a fortune on Facebook ads.

Kurt Bullock joins us to discuss the tactics & strategies you need to know to maximize your Facebook ads before, during, and after Black Friday.

Kurt Bullock is the founder of ecommerce agency ProduceDept, our exclusive marketing partner at Ethercycle for nearly three years.

We'll find out:

What's different about Facebook ads marketing during the holidays vs any other time of year?
The one hack to keep budgets in line going into the holidays
The one ad placement you need to run (and why to run multiple placements)
Budgeting strategies
What percentage to set your lookalike audiences to
The ad calendar blueprint to maximize your

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Facebook Holiday Prep Checklist

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

What's New in Klaviyo

Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Klaviyo is the most recommended email marketing platform for Shopify merchants.

In this episode, we hear what features are new in Klaviyo that you should implement before the holidays. Plus we discover the interesting views on marketing that Klaviyo's company culture has produced.

Jake is the Director of Product at Klaviyo. Jake has been working in marketing since he was one, when his parents started an advertising agency. He started going grey at age 9 — draw your own conclusions! He is an eternal optimist and has dedicated his career to helping businesses who are short on bandwidth, budget or expertise market like the most sophisticated brands on earth and grow incredibly fast. He prioritizes his family, then Klaviyo, then golf.

We'll find out:

Why Klaviyo's new form builder is the best out there
How to leverage the power of "progressive profiling" to increase conversions
How the Klaviyo team studied their own friendships to build more relevant tools
Klaviyo's investment in dynamic web personalization
How you can submit feature requests to Klaviyo (that actually get heard, considered, and implemented)
Why Klaviyo is in the business of helping you send less email, not more

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Don't have a Klaviyo account yet? Get one free at klaviyo.com
Klaviyo Blog: AI-Powered Customer Lifetime Value
Klaviyo on LinkedIn
Klaviyo is offering free BFCM Strategy Assessments to get you prepared for the Holiday Season. Our email marketing and e-commerce experts at Klaviyo will work to understand your current strategy and give you a customized recommendation to drive better results this Holiday season. Go to klaviyo.com/bfcm to sign up for your free assessment.

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Cowbucker: Starting a Hat Revolution

Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Today we're hearing from the co-founder of Cowbucker, inventor of "the Bucker," a hat that's part trucker lid and part cowboy brim. According to them, it's "probably mankind's greatest invention."

Here's the wild part: they have sold close to 50,000 of them since launching in October 2014.

In today's episode, Derek shares his journey with us, and tells what he's learned along the way.

We'll find out:

How they sold their 144 units as their first order... with only a prototype
The unfair advantages that propelled their early success
After that initial success, how they scaled by repeating the same success
Derek's advice for running a successful Kickstarter
How Cowbucker drove traffic to their Shopify store

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Cowbucker - Use code KURT25 to get 25% off your Cowbucker hat. (Good from 10/9/18 to 10/16/18)
Kickstarter Campaign: Cowbucker Presents the Bucker
Book Recommendation: Traction by Gino Wickman
Book Recommendation: Marketing That Works by Leonard M. Lodish
App Recommendation: Tidio

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

My Wife Started a Shopify Store! (BONUS EPISODE)

Kurt Elster — Thu, 4 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Less than one month after launching her first Shopify store, I interview Julie Elster about her experience so far.

Julie Elster is the owner of the one-month old Disney World-planning info-product empire Double Your WDW.

In 2015, she achieved viral success among freelancers when she started (and just ended) Just Tell Julie, an accounts receivable service.

We'll find out:

what’s working & what’s not,
her marketing plan,
the unexpected reaction from family and friends,
her unfair advantages,
why she had to blow up her last business,

...and more in this candid interview in our pajamas.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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?”

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Holiday SEO: Leverage the Holiday Search Traffic Spike

Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 Oct 2018 11:00:00 +0000

It's not too late to drive additional revenue with holiday SEO. And it's easier than you think.

In this episode, we walk through each step of the holiday SEO planning process in detail. We'll learn how to engage in thoughtful keyword research, create optimized content for the season, and even the right way to link to your holiday content properly.

Dale Bertrand runs Fire&Spark, an ecommerce marketing agency in Boston, MA. His clients include Citizen Watch, Ministry of Supply, Makerbot, Raymond Weil and Bulova. He has two decades of experience applying his graduate school work in artificial intelligence to digital marketing. Dale started his career building high-performance computing systems for the National Security Agency. Now, Dale is a specialist in search engine marketing, online advertising and analytics. In his spare time, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing and urban adventures with his two kids.

We'll find out:

How to find and target effective keyword phrases
How to best create holiday landing pages in Shopify (without spending hours on writing)
How and why to market your holiday pages year-round
The minimum viable strategy for Holiday SEO

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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?”

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$500k/mo in 4 hours/week: The Story of BombTech Golf

Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Want to do seven-figures in revenue and work four hours a week? How about getting there in two years?

Today's guest has done just that. He's sold 170,000 golf clubs resulting in $6.3 million revenue last year with just three employees and a four hour work week.

We're joined by BombTech Golf's Tyler 'Sully' Sullivan who shares with his story, what's worked, what hasn't, and how you can emulate his success in your own store.

Early on, I would make videos that were terrible, but I put my face to the brand and made it personal. Attaching myself to the brand was one of the key reasons why I was able to scale up the business.

You'll Learn

The mindset shifts that enabled Sully's success
How community engagement was pivotal to building going from zero to seven figure
Sully's advice on how to vet a fulfillment center
How delegating everything in his business led him to a 4-hour work week and increased sales
Why design doesn't matter as much as you think.
How doing email really well has been critical to their success (and the three tips that have driven their success)
Why personal branding is necessity

Tune in for more details!

Resources

BombTech Golf
Klaviyo Case Study
Sully's amazing about page
Ecom Growers - Sully's email marketing consulting business.

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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?”

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How To Use Facebook Messenger To Sell Online

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 11 Sep 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Learn how Facebook Messenger marketing with chatbots gets My Wife Quit Her Job's Steve Chou incredible results that blow email marketing out of the water.

Steve's getting:

Open rates 5X better than email
Click through rates 8X better than email
Revenue per subscriber 3.5X better than email

Steve lays out his success for us.

Steve runs an ecommerce store with his wife at BumblebeeLinens.com where he's tested chatbots in the wild. In addition, he runs the popular blog and podcast MyWifeQuitHerJob where he teaches others how to start a profitable ecommerce business.

You'll Learn

Why the quality of messenger subscribers is better than email
The easiest way to get messenger subscribers
How Steve uses chatbots to answer customer service inquiries
How to not violate Facebook's Messenger Terms of Service
The amazing way to improve your Facebook Ads' effectiveness with Messenger
How to mix Facebook Messenger with email

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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?”

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6072 Subscribers in 14 Days: How to Run a Giveaway

Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Do giveaways work?

Are they an an effective strategy for both growing your email list and increasing your sales?

Yes!

In a published study from ColorIt.com, giving away $447 dollars worth of product resulted in:

6072 Email Subs
6176 Tweets
5000 FB Likes
2500 More Twitter followers
159 Orders During The Contest
85 Orders After Contest Ended
$3.47 Per New Customer Acquired

What's the secret?

In this episode, My Wife Quit Her Job's Steve Chou reveals the exact step-by-step giveaway strategy to grow your email list and increase your sales.

Shopify merchants will hear how giveaways are an effective strategy for both growing your email list and increasing your sales

Steve runs the popular blog and podcast MyWifeQuitHerJob where he teaches others how to start a profitable ecommerce business. In addition, he runs an ecommerce store with his wife at BumblebeeLinens.com and an annual conference called the Sellers Summit. His latest business venture is GoBrandWin which is a platform that facilitates group giveaways for brands.

You'll Learn

What to give away
Strategies to promote giveaway
When not to run a giveaway
Steve's exact Facebook ad & email strategy

Tune in for more details!

Resources

https://gobrandwin.com/
[https://gobrandwin.com/advertise/](Apply For GoBrandWin's Next Giveaway)
https://mywifequitherjob.com/
[https://apps.shopify.com/viralsweep](Viral Sweep)

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Proven Abandoned Cart Email Tactics

Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Approximately 70% of your customers will abandon their carts... if you're lucky.

That's why the most profitable email marketing workflow you can possibly run is an abandoned cart sequence.

In today's episode, we'll cover the best practice four email sequence guaranteed to help you re-engage customers and recover revenue.

After that, we'll talk through three out of the box ideas that are proven to work.

Adii Pienaar, founder of Conversio, joins us today to explain. Prior to Conversio, Adii was co-founder of WooThemes/WooCommerce, where he made his early entrepreneurial mistakes while learning about building software for ecommerce stores.

You'll Learn

The current state of abandoned carts in ecommerce
The best practices for abandoned cart sequence you need to implement today
Three out-of-the-box ideas to test in your sequences

Tune in for more details!

Resources

https://conversio.com/ - Email marketing and reviews for your store.
https://kickbox.com/ - Email list hygiene service
[https://adii.me/](Adii's blog)

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Don’t be a Vending Machine: Going Beyond Rewards to Build Loyalty

Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Is your business just a vending machine? And is that vending machine on fire?

Consider this: Facebook ad costs have gone up substantially since last year. CPM’s have increased on average 35% since last quarter. If a significant portion of your qualified traffic is coming from paid traffic, your business is actively on fire.

Today's guest thinks so, but he's got some ideas on how to solve it. In today's episode, you'll learn how going beyond basic rewards programs can help you stop discounting and start building a community of loyal customers.

Steve Deckert is the founder of Smile.io. They power reward programs for 20,000 merchants across the globe. Use Smile.io to reward your customers for completing profitable actions.

You'll Learn

Why your store maybe a vending a machine (and what to do instead)
How to build a VIP program
How to reward customers for micro actions like writing reviews

Tune in for more details!

Resources

https://smile.io/ - Sign up for the Smile basic plan or above & mention the Unofficial Shopify Podcast, and get one free Smile app integration.

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Bulletproof Your Store: How to Protect Yourself from Data & Security Disasters

Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we’re talking about how to bulletproof your online store from data disasters and security issues that are more common than you think.

Mike Potter joins us to discuss. He’s the co-founder and CEO of Rewind.io, an online backup service for SaaS apps. His company is trusted by thousands of ecommerce merchants to backup their Shopify and BigCommerce stores.

There’s a saying that entrepreneurs like to move fast and break things. To that, Mike Potter would say: “go ahead and break things - just make sure you have a backup.” Since launching Rewind in 2015, he’s talked with hundreds of merchants who really did break their store - whether it was their fault or not - and helped them get their site back to normal.

Having experienced data loss himself, Mike is passionate about helping small businesses to better protect their data and digital assets.

You'll Learn

The state of backups in Shopify
Top 3 risks to your store
How to mitigate those risks
Best practices to lockdown your store
Backing up your store manually and automatically

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

AR, VR, & 3D: Changing The Way We Shop

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 24 Jul 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Apple and Google's mobile operating systems already ship with software components to support AR, hardware prices for VR are rapidly dropping, and the industry is expanding.

VR, AR, and 3D is already here and even in use today by merchants on the bleeding edge of technology.

Soon 3D and virtual reality could be seamlessly embedded into your Shopify store.

(And it'll cost less than you think.)

In this episode, you'll hear about how AR & VR will change how we shop, and come away with inspiration on how these new technologies can provide more engaging experiences for their buyers.

Daniel Beauchamp, Shopify's Augmented and Virtual Reality team lead, joins us to discuss it. Daniel’s team explores how these technologies change the way we shop and run our businesses, both today and in the future.

You'll Learn

What's the difference between AR and VR?
How is AR / VR going to change the way we shop?
How will merchants be able to use this tech on Shopify?
Are these technologies only consumer-facing? How can merchants use it?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Magnolia Market on the iTunes App Store - Built with the Shopify Mobile Buy SDK and ARKit, you can easily preview a selection of products in your home in incredible detail.
Tapcart - Turn your Shopify store into an iPhone app
Fashion Nova on the iTunes App Store
Medium: Shopify VR - Experiments, thoughts, and lessons learned from Shopify’s VR team.

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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

Global Ecommerce: How to Go International & Expand Your Reach

Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Jul 2018 11:00:00 +0000

(Video of this episode is available on YouTube.)

Everyone's looking for the silver bullet to grow their business.

Growing globally through internationalization is may just be the only way to get that big win.

It's a scary proposition. International expansion sounds like it should be wrought with challenges and complexities.

Joining us to discuss it is marketing wunderkind Andy Bedell. In this episode, he teaches us the exact step-by-step process he developed while helping grow KeySmart into a top 100 Shopify store and Facebook advertiser using internationalization.

You'll Learn

When & why go international (there are two reasons that surprised me)
How to decide if your product is a good fit
Tackling shipping
The free "MVP" solutions to tackle currency conversion
How this year's newest Shopify features will make it easier & better than ever
Exactly how to approach Facebook ads
What should scare you about not going international

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

PostedProtein: Bootstrapping from 0 to £250K+

Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Jul 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Today's guest did what some people will tell you is impossible.

From his kitchen, he built an ecommerce business from 0 to £250K+ in 2 years in a saturated market without borrowing money.

UK-based entrepreneur Tom Brown joins us to discuss the journey, mindset, and tactics that helped him build a successful business selling protein bars online.

You'll Learn

How Tom got his first customers with zero money on social media
Which apps were most effective in scaling their business
The mindset that's empowered his continued growth
How he leverages the Shopify ecosystem
The surprisingly simple way he raises cash on demand

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Help the show

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.
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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?”

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Scaling Your Store Up: How to go from $500K to $100MM

Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 11:00:00 +0000

When you first start your business, that first sale is a big deal. It's proof that your idea is valid. The excitement wears off and the second sale just isn't as exciting. It quickly becomes a game of chasing the dragon to repeat that success high. Maybe it's your first 100 orders, or your first $100K.

Either way, the only way to maintain the high of achievement is to keep scaling.

There's a lot of information on how to go from 0 to $100K in a business, but what separates the six figure businesses from the nine-figure businesses?

To find out, we look to an ecommerce expert consultant that's worked with many of the top Shopify stores in the world (including MVMT, Dr. Axe, and Kettle and Fire) to define a growth strategy, scale their advertising, and hire the team necessary to get to the next level.

Austin Brawner joins us to reveal the growth secrets his consultancy, Brand Growth Experts, uses to help established ecommerce companies scale up while remaining profitable.

Austin also hosts the fantastic Ecommerce Influence Podcast, where Andrew Foxwell and he share advanced traffic and conversion strategies for fast-growing online brands.

You'll Learn

What's the big difference between Shopify brands that scale up and ones that don't?
How to scale through delegation?
The key performance indicators that determine if you can scale
The levers to pull to scale your store
Why is it so tough to scale?
What are the downsides of scaling up?
The dark side of mentor stores

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Sponsors

Powerful & Practical Content Marketing

Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Rounding up our four-part series this quarter on content marketing, in this episode, we discuss practical approaches on building relationships with content marketing (and several mistakes you're probably making.)

By creating a content marketing plan, publishing videos, blogs, and even Facebook Live, you'll gain consistent branding, amplified online exposure, and real relationships with your customers so that you can sell more, more often.

Joining us to discuss all things content & social is super-powered serial entrepreneur Lyndsay Philips. She's the CEO & Founder of Smooth Sailing Business Growth & Smooth Business Growth Podcast. She leads a rock star team to support entrepreneurs who are seeking fast-paced business growth but finally have come to the realization that they can’t do it alone, do it all, and do it well.

You'll Learn

Refresher: what content marketing is and what strategies are working today?
The biggest mistakes you're probably making when posting content on social media
The dating approach you can use to build relationships with customers through social media
Leveraging video right now - how do we get more engagement and stronger relationships using this marketing strategy?
Plus: Kurt gets excited about chatbots & FB Live.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Sponsors

Becoming Known: The Case for Personal Branding

Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 11:00:00 +0000

In today's episode, you'll learn how to sell more, more often with personal branding, an often overlooked strategy that lets you sell person to person at scale by sparking that human connection.

Two reasons:

People buy from people, not brands.
As a business owner, you are your own best brand ambassador.

We're joined by recurring guest, good friend, and master of his own brand, Kai Davis.

Kai Davis is an Ecommerce and Shopify Marketing Expert. He helps Shopify store owners sell more, more often to their best customers.

Want to learn how to sell more, more often? Visit DoubleYourEcommerce.com and sign up today to learn more.

You'll Learn

What is personal branding?
Why is personal branding important to build trust?
How is personal branding different than normal branding?
How to craft your personal story (the easy way)
Why Kurt peacocks in his camo blazer (and you should too)
Great inspirational examples of personal branding

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Sponsors

Bricks & Clicks: Serial Entrepreneur Dan Cox’s Journey from Retail to Online

Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Jun 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Ever meet those entrepreneurial super heroes who can do it all?

Today's guest definitely falls into that category.

After double majoring in Business and Economics, Dan Cox fell back on his love for athletics and nutrition and started opening up 5 nutrition stores in Las Vegas and Southern California.

Seeing a gap in the market, Dan then also started developing his own all natural Supplement lines which he sold online through laser-focused branded websites.

His Shopify stores include MetCon® for endurance athletes, Detox Tea Caps™ for and fat burning, and most recently Wellthy™, a health essential And lifestyle supplements.

The drive for Dan's own lines came from his interested in providing the cleanest, most effective, all natural products that filled voids in the market.

Oh, and on top of that, he still runs his brick & mortar stores, travels regularly, and has appeared in two primetime network reality TV shows.

You'll Learn

The mindset question that jumpstarted Dan's journey
Dan's surprising outlook on retail
How a brick & mortar experience compares to online
And how Dan was able to step away from his business for a month to participate in a primetime network reality TV show

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Sponsors

GDPRmageddon: What U.S. Merchants Need to Know

Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 May 2018 11:31:00 +0000

As of May 25th, 2018, the European Union requires companies of all sizes to take steps to help secure personal data rights and more generally protect that data.

(And if you don't comply, that'll be a 20 million euro fine.)

But what does it mean for US stores? You will hear about it, and it will impact you, but to what degree?

Joining us to decipher the law's impact on US merchants is Dave Rodenbaugh. Dave runs an email marketing service with European customers who necessitated he figure out GDPR fast or risk losing them.

Dave is the founder of Recapture, an abandoned cart and email marketing solution for Shopify and Magento. He's also the co-host of Rogue Startups podcast (https://roguestartups.com) talking about his entrepreneurial journey, and he runs Big Snow Tiny Conf West (https://bigsnowtinyconfwest.com), a small web business mastermind-style conference with skiing.

You'll Learn

What is GDPR?
How is GDPR going to impact my store?
Why should I care if I'm from the US?
What are the biggest things that I need to change about my store to get ready?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Shopify Unite 2018 Recap: Now What?

Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 May 2018 00:30:00 +0000

Last week, you heard the firsthand announcements from Unite attendees on-site at Toronto.

Today, you'll get caught up on what’s new & improved from Shopify, what it means for your store, and how to avoid being overwhelmed.

Joining us to break it down are fellow Shopify Partners and agency owners Ross Beyeler of GrowthSpark and Alex O'Byrne of We Make Websites.

You'll learn our takes on:

Overall themes & sentiment
Connectors for Shopify Flow
Fraud Protection
Marketing Dashboard
Multi-Currency
Local Payments
POS
Dynamic Checkout
New Discounts
Ping

Sound like a lot? It is! (And it's not even everything that was announced. )

It's easy to get overwhelmed, so we'll break it down where you should put investing resources.

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Live at Shopify Unite 2018

Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 May 2018 11:00:00 +0000

This week we have a special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site.

In early May, Shopify Partners from around the world gathered together in Toronto for the 3rd annual Unite conference: a three-day event to discuss all things Shopify, commerce, and technology.

And they announced a ton of stuff. Rather than have me tell you about it, we put together lightning interviews with twenty attendees (including Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke) to find out what's most impactful coming out of Unite.

Resources

Unite

Share your thoughts

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Help the show

Leave an honest review on iTunes. Your ratings & reviews help, and I read each one.
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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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Behind The Scenes at Jay Leno’s Garage

Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 May 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Having a celebrity-endorsed brand and a great product must be like easy mode for ecommerce, right?

Maybe not. In today's episode, we learn the behind-the-scenes story on how Jay Leno began selling a complete line of car care products.

We're joined by Chris Walters, the Director of Marketing at Jay Leno’s Garage.

You'll Learn

What's it like working for a celebrity brand?
What's Jay driving these days?
How did they get involved with Jay Leno?
Which marketing channels are moving the needle on their business?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Finding your True Fans & Brand Advocates

Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 May 2018 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, you'll hear about some of the best ways find brand advocates because your affiliate program (or customer referral program) is only as good as its advocates!

Arlen Robinson is a seasoned business owner and co-founder of OSI Affiliate Software which gives businesses the opportunity to setup and manage their own affiliate and customer referral programs. He should know, he's been doing it for 20 years.

Arlen also hosts the weekly Ecommerce Marketing Podcast in which he interviews marketing experts (such as yours truly) about successful ecommerce marketing strategies.

Together, we lay out a strategy for identifying your brand advocates, and reaching out to them.

You'll Learn

Who are the top brand advocates today?
When looking for high profile brand advocates, should they have a minimum number of followers?
What are the best ways to reach out to influencers?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

15-day Free trial of Omnistar Referral Software
Ecommerce Marketing Podcast
Izea
Traackr
OpenInfluence

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Customer Service Strategy: Surviving the Worst Customer Situations

Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Apr 2018 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we're talking customer service. Great customer service can make or break your brand, and your sanity. Joining us to discuss it is a self-proclaimed provider of excellent customer service for the past 20 years, fellow podcast host Dave Rodenbaugh.

Dave is the founder of Recapture, an email marketing and abandoned cart solution for Shopify and Magento. He's also the co-host of the Rogue Startups podcast chronicling his journey as a single-founder startup. As if that weren't enough, Dave even runs BigSnow TinyConf West, a business mastermind and ski getaway for small web businesses. Passionate about customer service, eCommerce and small business.

You'll Learn

How is everyone doing support wrong today?
Live chat-- is it worth it?
What are the worst things we can say to customers when they contact us for support?
What's the most important thing we can do to improve customer support?
How to deal with toxic customers

Tune in for more details!

Resources

[Recapture]https://recapture.io) - Mention The Unofficial Shopify Podcast for a free 60-day trial
Recapture in the Shopify app store
Rogue Startups podcast
BigSnow TinyConf West
Gorgias.io

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

How-to: Automated Email Follow-up Campaigns Made Easy

Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 10:00:00 +0000

In this episode, we're talking sales automation. Specifically, how to use simple email sales funnels to automate the process of converting website visitors into new customers & repeat buyers.

Catherine Langman joins us to discuss. She's the Founder and CEO of the Productpreneur Marketing. Her passion is to help entrepreneurs with eCommerce businesses businesses to be more successful and in control, by helping them to attract their ideal customers and sell more products online - on autopilot.

Having previously launched, built and sold an award-winning business eCommerce business herself, and combined with a career in branding and digital design agencies, Catherine has extensive professional experience in product development, brand communications and online marketing for product-based businesses. As a marketing consultant, Catherine has helped her clients to achieve massive growth in their own businesses.

You'll Learn

What is a sales funnel? What do we mean by automation?
How to attract new people to your list with unconventional lead magnets
How a three email sequence converts new subscribers into customers
How a four email post-purchase customer service sequence ensure happys customers

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Grow & Convert with Content Marketing

Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 18:00:00 +0000

In this episode, you'll learn how to use content marketing to get traffic to your store, specifically, when it works, when it doesn't, and patterns we've noticed in successful content.

The warm and knowledgeable Devesh Khanal joins us to discuss it.

Devesh runs Grow & Convert, a content marketing agency producing magazine quality, in-depth blog content for companies. He's full of practical advice that anyone can implement to drive more qualified traffic to their store.

I asked him...

What are the different types of "content marketing" that ecommerce store owners could do?
Are there ecommerce stores or brands where you think content marketing isn't a good idea?
For blog content, how should you come up with ideas of what to write?
Who should you hire to do this for you? Should the owner do it themselves?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Copywriting Decoded: How to Turn Copy into Conversions

Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Apr 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Why is copywriting so hard? It took me years to figure it out.

The answer is likely mindset. There are a few mental hurdles you need to get over if you're going to write effective web copy that converts.

(And you should, optimizing copy can do more for your conversion rate than any other tactic.)

To help us break it down, fellow podcaster David Garfinkel joins us.

David mentors business owners and professional copywriters to go from good to great! Many of his clients have created websites, sales letters, and ads that have made millions, both for themselves and others.

David's the author of the bestselling book "Breakthrough Copywriting," and has written copy himself that has made millions of dollars. His all-time record was a sales letter for a six-person company that generated $40 million in sales. David also hosts the popular Copywriters Podcast.

You'll Learn

If you’re new to copywriting, what are the key things you need to know to make your copy convert?
If you have copy that’s not converting now, what can you do to get it working?
If you have copy that’s converting and you’d like it to work better, what can you do to improve conversions?
What are some resources (free, as well as lower investment and higher investment) a marketer can use to become better at putting together copy that converts?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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 Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?”

Launching Lean & Quick: Building Nimble Sites with Galen King

Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 11:00:00 +0000

In this episode, you'll learn how to think about launching lean, staying nimble, and growing fast!

Galen King from O.G. Shopify agency Lucid joins us to discuss a practical strategic approach to launching new brands on Shopify.

Galen King is the founder and creative director of Lucid, a small digital agency with offices in New Zealand and New York City. One of the first Shopify Partners, he's been dabbling with Shopify since 2006 and have designed and built many stores as well as side-projects—both on Shopify and elsewhere.

You'll Learn

Why Galen thinks you should probably start with this one free theme
The danger of 3rd party themes
Where to invest resources
How far ahead should you plan? And how should you approach it in a practical way?
How does "authentic storytelling" fit into the lean launch plan?
How important is design?
When launching a new site on Shopify, what should you focus on?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

Good Design with Chris Pointer: How to approach Shopify Themes

Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 11:00:00 +0000

For many merchants, design is the single hardest part of setting up and running a Shopify store.

Chris Pointer of Pointer Creative has 16+ years of design experience. His agency works exclusively on Shopify and has produced custom themes for the NY Times, Death Wish Coffee, and others. In this episode, he teaches us how to approach design, communicate what we want to designers, and when & why to go totally custom.

You'll Learn

Why design matters and what makes it hard
How to make talking about design easier
Ways to work better with a designer or agency
When & why to go custom and what it'll cost

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

B2B eCommerce MasterPlan: How to Scale Your Business with Wholesale eCommerce

Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 11:00:00 +0000

Whether you're a wholesaler looking to start selling to your customers online, a manufacturer wanting to increase the orders coming through your website, or an online retailer looking to branch out into B2B sales, today's episode will take you through the key considerations to making B2B eCommerce a success for your business.

Today's guest, Chloë Thomas, is an eCommerce expert focused on eCommerce strategy and marketing, to help eCommerce people make better decisions as they build their path to success. Author of several books, keynote speaker, advisor, and host of the eCommerce MasterPlan Podcast. Her latest book is an Amazon.com bestseller – B2B eCommerce MasterPlan: How to make Wholesale eCommerce A key part of your business to Business Sales Growth.

You'll Learn

What is B2B eCommerce, and why should we care?
How does B2B vs B2C mindset differ?
How does B2B vs B2C website differ?
Who is this an opportunity for?
How can you be successful in B2B eCommerce?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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

The Beard King: How a Hairy Sink Launched a 7-figure Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Mar 2018 17:00:00 +0000

If coming up with a good product idea is hard, then turning it into a successful brand is harder.

Nicholas Galekovic, the entrepreneur behind Beard King, joins us to discuss a journey that went from his bathroom, to Shark Tank, to a viral-success product that has resulted in a seven-figure business in less than five years.

In today's episode, Nicholas Galekovic walks through his journey bootstrapping for "sink share" with his flagship product, the Beard Bib.

You'll Learn

The "ah-ha" moment where he found his problem and how a competitor almost stopped him before he started.
How he launched his product on Instagram and the 20 million views of viral success that followed.
How he got on SharkTank and what they're looking for.
Why Beard King is equal parts lifestyle brand and product company.
Why Amazon is the wild west of ecommerce
The Beard King's advice for aspiring entreprenuers

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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
Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Is dropshipping dead? What successful dropshippers know

Kurt Elster — Tue, 27 Feb 2018 12:00:00 +0000

"Is dropshipping dead?"

That was one of the most common questions I got toward the end of the last year.

Here's the thing– I don't know! Is it? Why are you asking me? There are certainly people more suited to answer this than me.

To find out, we're talking to Tomas Slimas, Chief Marketing Officer at Oberlo. He should know– Oberlo users have dropshipped more than 100 million products during the last 24 months.

In today's episode, you'll learn the answer, as well as what it takes to become a successful dropshipper, and even how dropshipping can scale your existing store.

You'll Learn

Is dropshipping dead?
What successful dropshippers know
What advantages does drop shipping have?
How do you choose which products to sell?
Are there specific risks to dropshipping?
How can Oberlo help you build and even scale your store?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter

Never miss an episode

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
Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Game of Bluff: Your Internet Law & Copyright Infringement Primer

Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Doing business online without retaining an Internet lawyer is the equivalent of playing Russian Roulette– things tend not to end well. The days of the Internet being the Wild West are long gone. The empire is striking back! You need an experienced Internet attorney to guide you through the ever-growing collection of newly enacted laws and regulations governments are launching to address online legal issues.

In this episode, Richard Chapo, a business lawyer with a sense of humor and 25 years of experience, walks us through business entity formation, copyright and trademark registration and enforcement, DMCA compliance, and the one thing you need to know about your Privacy Policy.

You'll Learn

When starting, choosing between sole proprietorship, S-Corp, or LLC.
Why the S-corp and LLC just became more attractive as business models.
The importance of a CPA
How do you use the DMCA to keep people from stealing your content?
What does a lawsuit cost?
How to tackle copyright infringement when it goes overseas
When infringement can be a positive
What you need to know about your Privacy Policy

Tune in for more details!

Resources

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Marriage for Entrepreneurs with Julie Elster (Valentine's Day Bonus)

Kurt Elster — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 12:00:00 +0000

Ever wonder what it's like to be married to an entrepreneur? Or how a self-employed couple make it work and what the potential pitfalls may be?

My wife and I both are business owners who work together, and we make it work, but not without a few key considerations.

In this bonus episode, my wife and I discuss our unconventional relationship from our bedroom.

You'll learn

The one trick to know when to make your side hustle your full-time job
How self-employed couples make it work
When businesses let accounts receivable ruin them (and what to do about it)

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter or Facebook.

Never miss an episode

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
Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Sourcing: How to find the right factory for your product idea

Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:00:00 +0000

If you've ever had a brilliant million dollar idea for a product, you've wondered, "How do I get it manufactured?"

To do that, you'll need to find a manufacturer who will work with you. And that's where the nightmare starts for many entrepreneurs. That's when you discover that for most people it's a web of miscommunications, middlemen, and missed deadlines.

So how do you do it right? How do you avoid the pitfalls that have befallen so many crowdfunded products?

Our guest today has brought dozens of products to market, run three ecommerce companies (sold one), and been a part of projects on Kickstarter raising over seven figures.

Nathan Resnick joins us today from his new company, Sourcify, a platform that makes manufacturing easy.

Having helped hundreds of companies manufacture products around the world, Nathan is going to discuss with us how to find, vet, and build a relationship with a factory so that you can turn your idea into a real product.

Learn:

How to vet a factory
Nathan's approach to dropshipping
How to build relationships with factories
And why you may be in competition with factories in the near future

Tune in for more details!

Links Mentioned:

Sourcify

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Help the show

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What's Kurt up to?

See our recent work at Ethercycle
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Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Automating the Ultimate Customer Service Experience

Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Feb 2018 12:00:00 +0000

As you grow your business, you'll soon need to start delegating things. First is usually fulfillment, and soon after is customer support.

So how do you get customer support off of your plate while providing an amazing experience for your customers?

The answer might be automation.

I first met today's guest while speaking at the Day With Shopify tour, and immediately knew that he'd made something special.

Romain Lapeyre joins us today to discuss customer support automation. After all, he cofounded a customer support automation platform, raised $1.5 million, and niched down on Shopify in the process. Their product, Gorgias, helps Shopify merchants manage all their support requests in one place, and automatically respond to common questions.

You'll Learn

Why is customer support important?
How can you automate customer service right now?
How do you automate it without angering customers?
Should merchants try to automate all of their support? Where is the limit?

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter or Facebook.

Never miss an episode

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
Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Validating & Scaling Your Shopify Store using Amazon FBA

Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000

The hardest part of building a brand is often attracting an audience.

After all, if no one has heard of you, how will you sell to them?

That’s why it’s been no surprise to me that over the last two years, I’ve helped quite a few successful Amazon sellers expand onto Shopify.

Starting in a marketplace like Amazon customers find you more easily, and rapidly validate your product-market fit.

Once validated, you can then leverage Amazon to grow your Shopify store.

But it’s not all roses and sunshine. There are some issues too.

Today’s guest is a successful Amazon seller, Shopify merchant, and former Amazon FBA consultant. Noah Deligio will tell us, form his personal experience, how best to leverage both Amazon and Shopify for your business.

You'll learn:

What is Amazon FBA?
How can you leverage both platforms?
What are the pitfalls of Amazon vs Shopify?

Resources

How to Sell on Amazon Using Shopify

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
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Never miss an episode

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
Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

How KeySmart Made $1.3 Million on a Product Launch

Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000

When starting out with your store, most folks struggle to get their first sale.

Then, if you do find your product-market fit, and get traction in your niche, you set your sites on growing to your first million dollars in revenue. And if you can get there, you’d feel pretty great.

Now what if I told you our guest today got to a million dollars in revenue in a few months on a single new product launch with pre-orders.

Pretty wild, right?

On today’s episode, we’ll pull back the curtain on this monumental success.

Andy Bedell is the head of marketing for KeySmart, one of Shopifys largest e-commerce stores. He is an experienced advertiser and email marketer with over $20 million in revenue under his belt.

In addition to KeySmart, Andy has consulted advertising agencies, other eCommerce stores, and several Kickstarter campaigns.

Before entering the eCommerce world he ran advertising for the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Executive Education department.

You'll learn:

How they got into a partnership with Tile
How Andy approached business development through partnerships
How did the crowdfund model helped with their campaign
The pros & cons of crowdfunding on your Shopify store vs going with Kickstarter

Tune in for more details!

Resources

Share your thoughts

Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group
Share this show on Twitter or Facebook.

Never miss an episode

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
Read a free sample chapter of Kurt's book Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

New Year, New Ads: Facebook Ads Best Practices for 2018

Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Jan 2018 12:00:00 +0000

You already know Facebook is the #1 acquisition channel for your online business. We’re seeing clients with 4-6x returns on ad spend using Facebook ads.

But Facebook is a rapidly evolving platform. It seems like new features are being added every day. So what should we ad types and features should you be looking to use to grow your Shopify store as we start 2018?

Joining us to discuss is Facebook ads guru Mojca Zove.

Mojca is a Facebook Ads expert, author, and international speaker. Her work focuses on helping multimillion-dollar businesses generate more leads and increase profits with a carefully developed Facebook Advertising Strategy, so they can devote their time to other aspects of their business.

She’s also the author of the Facebook Ads Manual: Everything You Need To Know To Get Started and the creator of The Facebook Ads Academy.

Listen now.

—

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—

Learn:

The essential Facebook Ads Strategy for an ecommerce business
Facebook’s most important new features for merchants
The best ad types for Shopify stores

Links Mentioned:

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

The Future of Dropshipping: Automating Licensed Apparel

Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 12:00:00 +0000

On Shopify, fashion & apparel is the largest vertical. It’s always one of the most difficult. One threat fashion retailers face is purchasing too much inventory.

The solution that many merchants choose to avoid inventory issues is dropshipping. It’s inexpensive, accessible, and easy… depending on the products you want to send. If you’re looking for licensed products like pop culture apparel, it can be challenging to find authentic goods to sell.

That’s where Hingeto’s MXED comes in. MXED allows you to quickly and easily sell officially licensed pop culture products within your Shopify store. It’s a game changer.

Leandrew Robinson, co-founder of Hingeto, joins us to talk inventory risk, the future of drop shipping, and Marshawn Lynch.

Hingeto builds tech solutions to help clothing retailers grow their sales without inventory risk. Early customers included PacSun and Marshawn Lynch's Beastmode.

Before Hingeto, Leandrew helped 500 fashion brands make 1/2 a billion in revenue, in his 6 year stint as founder of flash sale site PLNDR.com & Chief Strategy Officer of Karmaloop.

Listen now.

—

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Work with Kurt

—

Learn:

How running a flash sale site showed him the problem with fashion inventory
What to do if you bought too much inventory?
How a new app can add real licensed to product to your store in a few clicks. (This is a game changer.)
How Leandrew gained Marshawn Lynch’s Beastmode as client
Marshawn Lynch’s most admirable quality as an entrepreneuer.
How long is too long to hold inventory

Links Mentioned:

Drive More Sales with a Same-Day Shipping Countdown Timer

Give customers another reason to buy with our simple to use, professional-looking shipping countdown timer.

☞ Start your free 7-day trial

Growing Your List & Revenue With Pop-ups

Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 12:00:00 +0000

We’ve talked often on this show about the importance of emails.

But leveraging emails as a marketing channel requires having a list of customers and prospects to send those emails to.

So what do you do? The answer is pop-ups.

In this episode, we discuss best practices and benchmarks for pop-ups with the founder of popular pop-up app Privy, Ben Jabbawy.

Through Ben’s leadership, he has helped grow Privy to support over 200,000 marketers in 180 countries. His data-driven approach to lead capture and on-site personalization has helped brands like UNIQLO, The Beatles, The Ellen Degeneres Show, and now you.

Listen now.

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—

Learn:

The gap in your funnel that’s fixed by pop-ups
The difference between advanced pop-ups and a basic pop-up
Use cases, offers, and stats for pop-ups
How to use pop-ups without angering Google
The #1 factor that affects conversion rate
The most effective formats and triggers for pop-ups

Links Mentioned:

Drive More Sales with a Same-Day Shipping Countdown Timer

Give customers another reason to buy with our simple to use, professional-looking shipping countdown timer.

☞ Start your free 7-day trial

Using Emotion to Optimize Conversions With Talia Wolf

Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:00:00 +0000

As founder and chief optimizer at GetUplift, Talia Wolf uses emotion, customer-centric research and persuasive design to generate more revenues, leads and sales for businesses.

Recently listed as one of the most influential experts in conversion optimization, Talia is a conversion optimization specialist, trainer and keynote speaker.

Today she’ll teach us her emotional targeting methodology and why it works so well in increasing conversions.

Listen now.

—

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—

Learn:

The emotional targeting methodology to increase conversions
Why best practices suck
The trap of copying competitors
How to profile customers
Why we buy
The myths of conversion rate optimization
Why color psychology is total rubbish

Links Mentioned:

Drive More Sales with a Same-Day Shipping Countdown Timer

Give customers another reason to buy with our simple to use, professional-looking shipping countdown timer.

☞ Start your free 7-day trial

Hire Better: How to Build a Dependable Tech Team

Kurt Elster — Tue, 14 Nov 2017 12:00:00 +0000

As your store grows, you will inevitably have to hire freelancers, consultants, or employees for your tech team.

It can be an intimidating process that leaves you struggling to keep projects on track.

You don’t have to learn how to be a great manager the hard way. Our guest today wants to help you level up faster.

Marcus Blankenship gets paid to coach overwhelmed technical managers. He's managed a variety of teams and is going to talk us through how to hire better.

Today’s episode will leave you feeling dramatically more confident and capable in hiring for your Shopify team, and you’ll see better performance from your team.

—

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—

Learn:

The number one mistake store owners make when hiring freelancers
What red flags to work for?
Why we’re more forgiving at the beginning of the relationship
What’s the most important attribute to look for when hiring a freelancers?
When to use a “reset conversation”
How to set expectations
The questions to ask to ensure a project goes well
Why questions are a part of any professional doing their job responsibily
How can you be sure you won’t get screwed
How & why to avoid The Winner’s Curse

Links Mentioned:

MarcusBlankenship.com
Join Marcus' list and learn how to manage with his free newsletter
Recommended Reading: Crucial Conversations
Recommended Reading: Humble Inquiry

2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide

Are you putting off creating a holiday email marketing plan because planning emails is a chore?

In this no-fluff executive summary, you'll learn every opportunity to send holiday emails, how to write subject lines that get opened, how many emails to send to maximize revenue, and one tip to not annoy customers.

☞ Get the 2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide now

If you are less than 100% satisfied with your purchase and email me saying so, I will immediately click the Refund button and return 100% of your money, no questions asked.

$1 million in Year 1: Selling Tutorials on Shopify with RGG EDU

Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Nov 2017 12:00:00 +0000

One of the most successful Shopify businesses I've run across doesn't sell any physical goods at all.

They sell digital goods and did $1 million in revenue in their first year.

Joining us to share his journey is Gary Martin, the co-founder of RGG EDU, a documentary based production company that specializes in the most comprehensive photography & Photoshop tutorials in the world.

After turning down a lucrative job opportunity on Apple's Cupertino software development team, Gary decided to launch his own career in photography and never work for anyone again.

Within a few years, he again made the dramatic decision to ditch client services and instead go on a journey to create the world's best and highest quality educational content.

Three years after launching their store on Shopify, they are recognized as one of the premier educational resources for photography. We are in 150 countries worldwide, have the best photography podcast on the internet, and get to travel the world and learn from the best photographers in the world.

Listen now...

—

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Learn:

How they use conferences and the “Netflix effect” to create content marketing
How having a clear position statement helped drive their business
Why having a business partnership has worked to grow their business
How they marketed their first products successfully on social media
The advantages of joint venture products
Exactly how they automate product delivery
Gary's advice for all Shopify store owners

Links Mentioned:

2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide

Are you putting off creating a holiday email marketing plan because planning emails is a chore?

☞ Get the 2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide now

If you are less than 100% satisfied with your purchase and email me saying so, I will immediately click the Refund button and return 100% of your money, no questions asked.

Make Your Own Luck: How Doug Geiger Built a Durable Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +0000

In 2012, Doug Geiger stole his wife’s crockpot, bought $400 worth of lanolin while already in debt, and powered through his own self-doubt and anxiety to start his beard care company.

Today, Doug’s products can be found in over 150 stores nationwide.

Doug is not only the founder of Can You Handlebar he is the driving force behind the company and its myriad endeavors.

Having found success with Can You Handlebar, Doug does what he can when he can to encourage that success in others.

In this episode, he walks us through both his journey and his mindset for success. If you’re looking for the secret sauce to building a durable business that supports the life you want, you’ll want to hear what Doug believes is a realistic & sustainable approach to achieve that dream.

Listen now.

Then join The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group and comment with your biggest “Ah-ha” moment or take away from this episode, and you could win $150 in Can You Handlebar products!

—

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Learn:

Doug’s mindset for success
How Doug went from idea to product
“If you can’t tap into your virtue, then tap into your vices”
How Doug powered through anxiety and self-doubt
The mistakes Doug made in their first two years (and how you can avoid them.)
The first way he created working revenue for the business
How he got his products in hundreds of stores nationwide.
How to make your success inevitable

Links Mentioned:

Win $150 giveaway from Can You Handlebar:

Join The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group and comment with your biggest “Ah-ha” moment or take away from this episode, and you could win $150 in Can You Handlebar products!

Overwhelmed: How to be More Productive & Less Stressed

Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +0000

Do you feel overwhelmed?

In discussions and surveys from Shopify store owners and listeners of this show, we’ve learned one thing: you feel overwhelmed.

That’s the number one answer to the question, “What’s the number one problem you’re facing with your Shopify store right now?”

In today’s episode, I sat down with an author who was instrumental in the success of my business. You’ve heard me recommend Sean D’Souza’s book, The Brain Audit, has been frequently on this show, and it was my honor to learn Sean’s approach to productivity.

Speaking with him, it became clear that he’s as disciplined as he is relaxed. His mindset to overcoming overwhelm is both inventive and actionable.

Sean takes three months of vacation every year and yet is one of the most productive people I’ve met.

Whether you’re feeling stressed or just plain stuck, Sean’s advice could change the way you’re building your business and even living life.

Listen now.

—

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—

Learn:

Why being busy isn’t a status symbol
How rest can improve your productivity
Why you need downtime built into your work & life
Recognizing the difference between being overwhelmed & distracted
Sean’s “Bare Minimum” approach to projects
Setting triggers instead of alarms
The importance of accountability
Why do people fail

Links Mentioned chronologically:

2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide

Are you putting off creating a holiday email marketing plan because planning emails is a chore?

☞ Get the 2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide now

If you are less than 100% satisfied with your purchase and email me saying so, I will immediately click the Refund button and return 100% of your money, no questions asked.il-flow-automation/)

Growth Multipliers: Steal These Email Campaigns

Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 11:00:00 +0000

If you listen to this show, you probably doing some email marketing for your Shopify store.

One problem: so does everyone else.

It's tough to stand out, and it's certainly tough to innovate with new campaign ideas that achieve meaningful results.

In today's episode, we'll do some outside the box thinking to build growth into your ecommerce email campaigns.

Joining us to discuss it is Shanelle Mullin from Shopify.

She’s a content creator who helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses faster. She's a jill-of-all-trades marketer with a 10-year background in content marketing and optimization.

—

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Learn:

What are the ecommerce growth multipliers and why do they matter?
The formula for increasing with revenue without spending more on traffic
How to increase average order value
How to increase customer lifetime value
A data-driven approach to email marketing
Four email campaigns you can start running today

Links Mentioned chronologically:

Black Friday is around the corner

Are you prepared?

Adding email marketing automation to your store can help make this your best holiday season ever:

☞ https://ethercycle.com/pricing/email-flow-automation/

2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide

Are you putting off creating a holiday email marketing plan because planning emails is a chore?

☞ Get the 2017 Ecommerce Holiday Email Marketing Guide now

If you are less than 100% satisfied with your purchase and email me saying so, I will immediately click the Refund button and return 100% of your money, no questions asked.ok")

Beef Jerky, Gaming, & $100K: The JerkyXP Story

Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 11:00:00 +0000

The archetypal internet startup story is this: two room mates start a website out of their dorm room, and rapidly become so successful, going to college doesn't even make sense anymore.

I've yet to meet anyone who fit that mold, until now.

Six years ago, Max Zitney and his twin brother, Zach, started selling beef jerky with $1,200 and a website from their Ohio State University apartment as college sophomores.

In 2015, JerkyXP was selected as one of 20 Chase Mission Main Street grant recipients (from more than 30,000 applicants) to receive $100,000.

Six months ago, they sold their business to focus on a new B2B ecommerce venture.

So how did they do it? What happened between then and now?

In this episode, Max lays out their journey and the exact strategies they used to the grow (and exit) their business.

—

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Learn:

How they bootstrapped an ecommerce business from a college apartment
The exact strategy they used to turn Twitter followers into buyers
The hidden fees to watch out for when choosing a 3PL
Why they switched to Facebook Live for social media promotion
When they knew to sell their business

Links Mentioned chronologically:

Black Friday is around the corner

Are you prepared?

My done-for-you Facebook Sales Funnels can help make this your best holiday season ever:

☞ https://ethercycle.com/pricing/facebook-sales-funnel/

Shopify Flow: How-to Automate Everything

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 19 Sep 2017 11:00:00 +0000

If you’ve ever worked with me on something, then you know I love automation. All kinds of automation. My house is loaded with home automation gadgets, and my business has been built on marketing automation.

Why? Because it saves time, keeps me efficient, and is all-around convenient. Automation never sleeps.

Which is why at last year’s Shopify Unite, there was one feature announcement in particular that piqued my interest.

We were shown a new feature that would allow you to create automation workflows right in your Shopify admin. It was called Flow, and I was very excited to try it. Adding automation to your business represents a potentially tremendous revenue boost for ecommerce stores. Research shows that business automation leads to more productivity and higher revenues.

On September 18th, Flow left beta and was published publicly in the Shopify App Store for any Plus customer to use. But should you use it? What can you do with it?

To find out, we’ll talk to two people on both sides of the table about their Flow experience.

First, we’ll hear from David Moellenkamp, the Director of Product at Shopify Plus, about how they’ve built Flow to solve the problems of Shopify’s highest volume merchants (and what their vision for Flow is long-term.)

Then we’ll hear from Michelle Frey-Tarbox, the backend guru at Shinesty who will tell us about her experience with Flow and how it helped her as she operationally supported Shinesty’s brand growth from launch to $5M in 3 years.

If you aren’t exploring automation now, you’re going to be outpaced quickly by competitors. In this episode, we’ll learn how to use Shopify Flow’s automation can make your everyday processes wildly more efficient.

Listen now.

—

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Work with Kurt

—

Learn:

What is ecommerce automation?
What is Shopify Flow?
What are some of the benefits of Flow?
How is Flow delivering on ecommerce automation? What are some examples of Flow?
What are some of the results Shinesty has experienced using Flow?
How has Flow impacted Shinesty?

Links Mentioned chronologically:

The Business of Fashion: Using Personas & Calendars to Grow

Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Sep 2017 16:00:00 +0000

If there’s one industry that’s harder than most to market, it’s fashion.

Why is it so intrinsically difficult to market a fashion store?

And if we know why, what can we do about it?

Joining us to break it down is Jacklyn Deans.

Jacklyn Deans is the Founder and Principal eCommerce Consultant at Flash + Color.

Flash + Color helps Fashion, Beauty, and Lifestyle brands establish and expand their businesses online.

With over 15 years of eCommerce and Digital Marketing experience, she advises brands on how to exponentially increase sales, boost engagement, and create loyal customers.

—

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Learn:

What are the top mistakes Fashion, Beauty, and Lifestyle eCommerce businesses make?
Why & how you NEED to create great buyer personas?
Jacklyn’s secret for getting market research for free.
Why is it so important to make a Marketing Calendar for your business?
What are the elements of a good marketing Calendar?

Links Mentioned chronologically:

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Small Data: How to Increase Revenues with Customer Research

Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Aug 2017 11:00:00 +0000

In the last several years, big data has been a buzzword. But big data is just that: big. It can be overwhelming.

Today we’re going to talk about small data: customer research.

Customer research is vital to high-impact marketing.

Let’s say you’ve found something gone awry in your Google Analytics. A page that underperforms, what do you do about it?

That’s where Customer Research and “small data” can be immensely valuable.

Josh Frank of TestingTriggers.com joins us today to talk us through it.

For years, Josh has been been working with eCommerce companies to optimize their websites for higher revenue using a blend of marketing and technical expertise to improve conversion rates.

Josh formerly headed up ecommerce teams and worked to pioneer testing cultures within organizations. Now, he works exclusively on getting eCommerce stores more profit through profitable customer research and a/b testing.

Listen now.

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Learn:

What is customer research?
The simplest approach to start with customer research
What to look for (and what to do with) your research
What’s holding you back from doing customer research
Josh’s favorite tool for customer research
Example site polls to run

Links Mentioned chronologically:

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Sourcing the Future: How One Man Brought Smart Jackets to Market

Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 12:49:00 +0000

It’s 2017, forget about flying cars, where are our smart clothes?

Today’s guest is making smarter clothes

Peter Netzel of Kelvin Techstyles joins us today to discuss his journey. He drops a megaton knowledge bomb regarding sourcing and manufacturing products through Alibaba.

If you’ve ever considered having a product manufactured, but didn’t know where to start, Peter makes it sound easy.

Listen now.

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Learn:

Peter’s advice for “frugal innovation”
Why limitations can create innovation
The false constraint holding you back
Realistic manufacturing options for entreprenuers
Why Peter did the opposite of Kickstarter
How to source product with a “shotgun approach”
Where to be careful when working with manufacturers
The different types of manufacturers
Optimizing your Amazon ranking

Links Mentioned:

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Embracing Video: How Tactical Baby Gear Grew 5x with Video

Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Aug 2017 11:00:00 +0000

If this show had a mantra, it might be "People buy from people, not brands."

I've certainly said it enough times

because I believe firmly in the power of selling H2H, human to human.

I've seen solopreneuer stores try so hard to make themselves look bigger than they are, and we see right through it.

Hey, I did the same thing when I started my own business eight years ago.

But one of the turning points that leveled up our business was when I got out in front of as the face of the brand.

It's something I've seen as a common characteristic of successful online brands

And today's guest does a great job at it.

He was on our show last summer as well after moving his store onto Shopify and experiencing explosive growth after a successful free plus shipping campaign.

Now he's back to update us how his business grown in the last year through his personal video content marketing

Joining us today is Beav Brodie from Tactical Baby Gear.

Beav developed Tactical Baby Gear and brought it to market in 2013 using Instagram as a platform to promote and sell it initially. He came from a 15 year career as a custom car builder and knew some, but very little about e-commerce, and had to learn everything on his own

The results have been extraordinary

Listen now.

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Learn:

Beav’s approach to video
Why you shouldn’t sell directly
How to know what content to provide
Why it builds trust & loyalty
Why you should build a reputation, not a personal brand
What you need to get started
How to keep it real (and why it matters)
Why you need to get out of your own
What gear to use (and why you should buy a mic first)
Beav’s answer to the number one question he gets to work/life balance

Links Mentioned:

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

4X Your Black Friday Emails with Segmentation

Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 12:06:00 +0000

Last week we heard from Kaleigh Moore on ecommerce trends that will optimize your store in preparation for Black Friday

One of the suggestions from that episode that got most excited was the idea of a buyer’s guide– specifically having customers segment themselves into new vs returning customers by offering a buyer’s guide on the home page.

That’s a simple but powerful example of customer segmentation.

Right now, nearly all websites treat all visitors the same.

But our customers aren’t the same.

If we can segment them based on their interests and actions, then we can personalize their experience, and make our marketing much more relevant to them.

To discuss the realities of personalization, is RightMessage founder Brennan Dunn. RightMessage is a software company that helps bring on-site personalization to the masses.

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Learn:

What is segmentation and why do we care?
The Facebook Ads tactic to improve segmentation
The Black Friday segmentation strategy Brennan used to 4x his sales with no list growth
How to start implementing segmentation in Shopify
How segmenting can improve your reports
Brennan’s one high-value takeaway for store owners

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Full Transcript:

eCommerce Trends You Need to Boost Sales Before Black Friday

Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 11:00:00 +0000

The year is half over, which means the holidays will be upon us before we know it.

The summer, right now, is the time to start preparing for the holidays.

One way to prepare is to look at what’s working for other ecommerce retailers and cherry pick those ideas for your own brand.

Joining us to discuss several actionable example of revenue-boosting trends is Kaleigh Moore.

Kaleigh is a freelance writer specializing in eCommerce. Since 2013, she's been working with various eCommerce platforms and publications like Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur to highlight the best practices, new data, and rapid growth associated with online sales.

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—

Learn:

Top trends for ecommerce
What your product page needs to convert
What to do when products go out of stock
How to increase Average Order Value
The importance of segmentation and buyer’s guides
Which trend to start with
Kaleigh’s one tip for store owners

Links Mentioned:

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

How to Get Better Traffic, Free with Semantic Data

Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Jul 2017 10:00:00 +0000

Everyone wants better ranking but that’s not really what they want.

Stores want more traffic.

They want that because it leads to sales.

Sales is what really matters.

All of SEO is just a marketing channel to get more visitors who turn into customers.

The main FIX for SEO is better rankings

What if there was a way to get more sales with the existing rankings you already have?

How?

By convincing more searchers to click on your search listings.

More clicks == more traffic == more sales.

What we’re talking about today is a search enhancement in Google called Rich Snippets, specifically Product Rich Snippets.

They enhance your existing search results with more data and pixels.

Eric Davis joins us today to walk us through it in easy to understand terms.

Eric is founder of Little Stream Software, which helps Shopify entrepreneurs customize their Shopify stores using public and private Shopify Apps.

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Work with Kurt

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Learn:

Why we should invest in structured data
What structured data does
How it affects your appearance in search results
When and why Google might rewrite your title and descriptions
What Google’s motivations are
Which rich snippets are available to help you sell more
When you may not want to use semantic markup
And how to test for it and use it in your store today
How to get in touch with Eric for a free review of your structured data

Links Mentioned:

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Full Transcript:

Kurt Elster: Recording from Ethercycle Headquarters outside Chicago, this is the unofficial Shopify Podcast and I’m your host Kurt Elster. Today, let’s take a little trip down memory lane. I recall we were doing a lot of just web development, front end development stuff, really exciting, back in say 2012. That feels like a lifetime ago already, maybe 2011. There was a lot of talk about this thing called semantic data or structured HTML or structured data, semantic HTML. Basically, the World Wide Web consortium who makes these standards that we used to development websites came up with whole bunch of fun HTML tags to try and describe the content of a site to robots essentially for Google’s benefit.

We would wrap our content in these fancy tags and then ideally Google would understand, “This is what this stuff does,” or what this is about. In theory, we would all go along with it, because by implementing this, by going through the effort of adding in this extra code to describe your page to Google, you would get more relevant results, more relevant search queries, better qualified traffic. There’s a whole host of reasons to do it. It was really exciting. We’re going to have structure data for just about everything you could come up with. It never really went anywhere. For two reasons, there’s a lot of work for people and because Google got much better at figuring out what it was looking at.

It did survive in one vertical and that’s ecommerce. They still have this stuff for reviews and for product data. It’s still out there. Where you’ve got these extra HTML tags that are going tell Google when it looks at a product page, “This is what’s on here.” Then it could do all kinds of cool stuff with that data. We’ve got, ideally, this great SEO benefit and opportunity from this fairly straightforward technical thing that we can implement in Shopify themes. Why would we do it and why do we engage in SEO or even talk about this or mess with it? Well, it’s because everybody, every store owner wants better rankings. Isn’t that really what they want? What they want is more traffic to the store?

Well, do you really want more traffic? No. You want more sales, sales is what really matters. All of SEO is just a marketing channel to get more visitors who turn into customers. The main fix for SEO is better rankings, but what if we could get more sales with existing rankings you already have, so we don’t have to mess with getting more backlinks or trying to con Google into pushing our rankings up. Well, using this rich snippet data, in theory, we could get more qualified traffic and increase our click-through rate. There’s one issue here, I don’t entirely understand the concept. There’s a lot of nuance in this, so I have brought our friend back who’s been on the show before, Eric Davis.

He was here almost exactly a year ago talking about his suite of Shopify apps. He has a new one that does exactly this, that adds this structure data to your Shopify store. Eric is joining us. He is the founder of Little Stream Software, which help Shopify entrepreneurs customize their Shopify store using public and private Shopify apps. The guy is a development guru, but what I like about him is he’s a renaissance man. He’s got development skills and he understands this technical SEO and he definitely understands the importance of marketing. He even produces a wonderful weekly newsletter for Shopify stores that you should subscribe too. I subscribe to it. I’m going to include it in the show notes for you.

Eric. Thank you for joining us.

Eric Davis: Thanks for having me Kurt.

Kurt Elster: My pleasure. All right, a little long on the intro that time for me. I apologize for being a bit long-winded. It’s a technical issue and I wanted to get people engaged and interested as to why we’re talking about this. Tell me, what are we talking about?

Eric Davis: I think you covered it pretty well. Structure data, rich snippets, the whole point of that is getting more traffic or more sales to your store. It’s funny, because I actually have customers who will buy one of my apps. They’ll email me like, “Hey, I bought your app, it’s going to give me more sales, but I don’t know what the heck it does, can you check it for me?” There’s knowledge on this topic, but it’s very technical and most stores, even if you’re slightly in a technical bid a little bit like you’ve done some theme work. This is way beyond. I was talking about standards, how web stuff works, how search publish works.

Kurt Elster: Right and to be clear. The implementation itself is not that complicated. It’s the concepts around it and making sure it’s actually working.

Eric Davis: Exactly, yeah. It’s one of those things where when it works, it’s like, “That’s pretty simple, I understand it,” but getting all the bits to point the right way and not screw up, that’s the hard part. I mean like you said, it’s almost every store owner I talk to; they want more traffic from SEO if they’re using it as a channel. They want more traffic. That almost always is sold to them from SEO consultants as you need better rankings, you need to get these keywords and you do keyword analysis like some jargon, jargon, jargon.

Really, the end goals, the store owner just needs more people coming to their store that are qualified and want to buy their products that end up buying their products like its ecommerce 101 stuff. The interesting thing is structure data and what I call search enhancements that Google does like rich snippets. That’s one really good way to get this without like fighting, incline everyone for better rankings in the search results.

Kurt Elster: Okay. The pitch here, the idea is you’ve got an existing store. We’re already ranking for something in Google, but we’re not necessarily number one, two or three. If we implement this technology into our Shopify theme, then it’s going to do what?

Eric Davis: What happens is, let’s assume you put the data in right, you do the few technical bits. Google reveals your site, analyzes it. It says, “Thumbs up you’re doing the right stuff.” Google will change how your search results appear. Let’s say your result number four in the search results. Instead of looking like everyone else, you can get say like these orange stars. Let’s say like five out of five, so like a 128 people reviewed it. It might show a price or a price range. You have a line of shirts that will show $10 to $30 dollars, it will say if it’s in stock or if it’s out of stock. The big thing from a UX design point of view is this is your same search listing. You just got all these extra data.

If you look at the pages, just a bunch of pixels, your search result, even if it’s number four, has more pixels than number one. Especially if you get the review stars in there, which are orange, Google’s page doesn’t have a lot of color other than the logo. Having orange on a page that’s mostly white and blue, it’s like, boom, there’s your call to action. I’ve heard of stories that are ranked like four for seventh, getting more traffic than the first search result.

Kurt Elster: Okay, so it sounds really cool. We’ve got the standard search listing is just title and then description. If we’re lucky, we have optimized our meta description and Google chose to do it, chose to show it. It’s because they don’t necessarily do it.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: If found, if you over optimize page title and description, sometimes Google will mess with you and they will rewrite both of those things as they see fit.

Eric Davis: Yeah and actually if we write those based on your queries. If you have it prefect and working perfect for a brand query, if it’s more detailed like, “I want to buy something, something,” if Google decides that there’s other data on the page that is more relevant to the actual search term from that one user, they will rewrite what’s your description and title looks like on the fly. I had one customer where he had a screen shot of a search results, the title and what was highlighted in the content weren’t even on his page at all. They weren’t even on his site. Google rerouted and reworded it and he changed the search result on that search.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: I knew it was happening. I didn’t realize to what extent or why. You’re right, it has not occurred to me that it’s based on the search query, because ultimately, all Google wants is, just same as you, they want a good customer experience. For them, it’s, “Hey, the person is asking us a question, let’s get them to the right answer. The best answer as fast as possible.” That’s what they’re looking for. They’re including experience and part of that.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: The structure data is going to help-

Eric Davis: They want the best query and they also want you, the searcher to be satisfied with it, because Google will track if someone comes to your site and it comes right back with the “back” button and goes somewhere else. They track that data. They know if you have a great meta description that gives you a great listing, but when they go there and they bounce right away, Google will take that as a factor. They want people to go to a place and be happy and satisfied with the store and basically never come back to Google for that search again.

Kurt Elster: Okay. I search for something; Google might rewrite my title and description to match the query. If I’m lucky, the person clicks through. Then if they land in the sight and it didn’t match, it didn’t meet their expectation based on the page title and description or it didn’t answer their original query, they’re going to click “back” in Google, because you’re probably running Google Analytics on your site. Google is certainly running analytics on their own site. They see when that person clicks “back” and ends up back on Google. I was saying, “Your biggest enemy isn’t a competitor, it’s the “back” button.” This is even more reason to believe that’s the case. Then Google knows if it happens a couple of times, they’ll know, all right, this is the wrong result to give for that query.

Cool, okay. This is ideally where now, because we’ve described this data to Google, we’ll have more qualified traffic, we also get a much bigger search listing. It’s got more screen real estate. It’s got a different color, so it really pops and stands out. Even if we’re not number one through three, that top box, it’s still very likely that we could possibly beat out one through three if they don’t have the structure data showing or the rich snippet as they say. Then it’s going to help qualify the traffic better. If they were giving them more info upfront, they become that much more likely to click “back” and further hurt our search ranking, correct?

Eric Davis: Exactly. Yeah. For example, I’ll put it in the show notes, but one day I just searched for red flannel shirts, because I just wanted some product that everyone knows. I have a screenshot of the actual results I got. The first, we got two hits from Target, Forever 21, Amazon and JCPenney, so the top results. You don’t have to know much about SEO to look at that and say the fourth result from Amazon is the best looking result. The other ones are like category or collection results or there’s no data there, but the Amazon, I can see it’s rated to 3.5 stars, 780 reviews. I see they have different sizes. Rich snippets, especially if your market doesn’t have it, if your competitors don’t have them, can be really, really powerful.

Another interesting aspect to them is even if all your competitors have rich snippets and you’re just basically trying to meet them. If you see 10 different listings from 10 different companies for a product and it all shows they’re all out of stock or they have a price of $300 or $400. If your listing is in there with a lower price or better reviews or something else, you might actually let the searcher, your potential customer do a price comparison without even leaving the search results.

They would look at it and be like, “This person is a little surprised with the best reviews,” or whatever their criteria is, maybe it’s a product that’s out of stock and want to separate your store. They’re going to come to your store primed to buy and just basically click to your store, click the buy button, checkout and done. We’re talking about 30, 60 seconds on your site have purchased that right there.

Kurt Elster: To be clear, this is still organic search. I don’t have to pay anything to Google for this?

Eric Davis: Correct.

Kurt Elster: Awesome.

Eric Davis: Yeah, this is all organic and just because Google screwed up on the name. Honestly, these are called the rich snippets. There’s another thing called rich cards, which they’re not available for products, but you will see them for recipes especially on mobile for like news items. They’re on a carousel up top, but they use the same data, but they’re not for products.

Kurt Elster: They’re probably like answering queries.

Eric Davis: Yeah. It almost looks like it in the product listing and ads, the actual page Google thing where it looks like it’s product rich cards, but that’s a paid thing. People get it confused, because Google is I think playing with the names and trying to get people to buy ads for products. Rich snippets, well, we’re talking about structure data. This is organic stuff. Google doesn’t give it to everyone, but most stores I’ve seen and worked with get it when you have the data right. These benefits are free. They’re on your site as long as your data is still there, as long as your data is correct too.

Kurt Elster: Yeah.

Eric Davis: It’s pretty easy.

Kurt Elster: Google, they want a good experience for the searcher, so it’s in their best results to show this stuff. They just need you to actually set it up in your theme.

Eric Davis: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: Is this different from Google Answers?

Eric Davis: Yeah, this is completely different.

Kurt Elster: All right. Yeah, right. What gets confusing is all the different nomenclature. To recap, if the thing that you’d have to put into the code of your website, into your Shopify theme is called structure data, correct?

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: All right.

Eric Davis: Yeah. That data like you said it’s top of the show. That helps identify what parts of the page. This is a page about a product. Here’s the data, the product price, the description. They’re called offers to like variants, what different types of products here. That’s for rich snippets, but Google will also use that for other things like the answers for what’s called sitelink search, what that they call they like their business knowledge [structurally 00:14:04], once you give that data to Google that goes into a bunch of different places too. That and all of that other stuff is very murky in like Google secret sauce. The rich snippets are pretty much pretty good A to B to C almost direct result.

Kurt Elster: Okay. Down the road, there’s no reason not to do it. We’re future proofing our site, because there may be new features that Google adds down the road. We seem to be doing more and more of this Google Answer stuff.

Eric Davis: That’s right.

Kurt Elster: When I say Google Answer as an example, if you type in who is Lady Gaga, the first result is not a result, it’s a box with a quote that they think answers the question. It’s got info from biography.com and Wikipedia where it’s trying to give you a faster result.

Eric Davis: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: Some of those queries I know they do manually, some of it may be on rich snippet data. It’s cool. The thing it shows in the product listing in my search listing, those features are rich snippets, correct?

Eric Davis: Correct.

Kurt Elster: All right and then to run through the rich snippets that it can add, the most basic is sitelinks where it’s going to show internal links that links to other pages internally on your site. We’ve seen an example where it shows the reviews and will show that screenshot in the show notes where you could see the reviews on the product, which is cool. The third one, it could show variants like sizes.

Eric Davis: Yeah, I see some of those.

Kurt Elster: I’ve never seen that, that’s cool.

Eric Davis: Yeah, there’s another one I saw. I looked at the data on the page and I think it was like a manual thing, they Google Plus them, because it was like it’s from REI.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: Some popular large company. It actually showed product attributes. Price and all that like people can get, but it actually had the listing. Then there’s another probably another two lines-ish of text underneath it. That was like four bullet points and two columns. I think it was jacket, what the material is made out off, the sizing like what extra large, large that sort of thing and a few other things. Actually, I’ve never seen that on any other site, except for like a travel result, which actually use emojis, which was interesting. Yeah, you can get some product details, product attributes coming up too. That might be a new thing. It might be like only higher insights will get that manually, but yeah.

Kurt Elster: Okay. I found a good example of one. I searched YETI Cooler, very popular product. I figure that would come up with something. Sure enough, first result is the brand store. Yeah, it’s yeti.com and it has a bunch of the sitelinks under it. Then the second result is REI and it has this rich snippet data in here where bright orange, it’s got five stars. It says rating 4.9, 1,377 reviews, $350 in stock. It’s got reviews, price and availability.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: Super cool.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: I don’t have to say anything for this. Let me ask the devil’s advocate question, is there any reason I wouldn’t want to set up rich snippet data in my store for semantic markups, sorry?

Eric Davis: One customer shared a really good point of it. I ended up talking through it in a week. He went ahead and did it, but he didn’t want his prices available publicly. He wanted them. He was doing a wholesale thing. He wanted to have availability and review shown, but not prices just due to the way that the structure data like the more technical aspects work. He couldn’t do that. Prices are required for the products. We were going to try to do something different, whereas just reviews coming through, but we heated up saying, “You know what? I’ll just show the actual retail price and then when people create an account and are approved for membership and all that, that’s when I’ll show the actual price instead of the retail one.”

There really isn’t any other reason other than you don’t want SEO or organic traffic as a channel. If you’re getting everything from social or just paid traffic, it might not be worth the few hours it takes to set this up. It’s one of those, if you get any kind of traffic from SEO like it’s just nice to have.

Kurt Elster: Okay, I am sold on this. I love it. Tell me what I got to do to get it into my store. All right, I want to do it. What’s the next step?

Eric Davis: The good news is you might already have it in the store. I think Shopify has a requirement on their themes that all themes have to have structure data. Now that’s the bar. The problem is that bar is way too low. Without exaggerating, at least a hundred stores, probably 200 or 300. Almost every one of them, their theme has some structure data, but it either has errors. It is missing information like a product description, something kind of important or they flat out don’t have anything or it’s missing the products that might have stuff about this is the website or this is the breadcrumb category navigation. It doesn’t have details of the product.

Kurt Elster: Sorry, let me another devil’s advocate question. If set my rich snippet or my semantic, what’s the correct term for this?

Eric Davis: Structure data.

Kurt Elster: Structure data, okay.

Eric Davis: This is like the modern-

Kurt Elster: Okay, structure data. This is why it’s confusing. It’s harder. I don’t even know what phrase to use when I’m searching for it. Clients, asked me about it. They’re like, “You know the thing in the search listing?” I’m like, “Yeah, because there’s no good way to describe this.” All right, so semantic data; is there any risks to setting it up and then mostly I screwed up where I’ve got blank fields or something misattributed, is that a risk or would Google just ignore it?

Eric Davis: There’s two big risk with it. The first one is the most common one and that’s, you’re missing a key value, like I said, price is required. Price also has to be formatted a certain way. If you’re missing a field and I guess you’re linked to Google’s tool, which will tell you if there’s errors. If you’re missing a field, Google just flat out ignores that data. If you’re missing the price on a product, Google just ignores that product and doesn’t consider that paste you have the product structure data.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: Sometimes price is a weird one, because structure data is just spaghetti in general across the entire internet. It’s just bad.

Kurt Elster: Spaghetti code being a developer term for interval, messy, ugly code.

Eric Davis: Yeah. Almost every site is going to have if they’ve never done anything that’s going to have some problems and issues. Google, they’ll bend the rules a little bit. Price is the big one on themes. It has to be a numeric value. No commas, no currency symbols any of that stuff. If you have the price with a currency symbol, which is technically invalid, Google will flag it as a warning. They’ll say like, “This is wrong, you should fix it. We understand what you’re doing here and we’ll let this work in the rich snippet's system for now, but you should correct it in the future before we kick you out.” Most themes have some of this already. I’ll show you links to check your theme, it’s pretty easy.

There’s also different apps you can sell. I have one that focuses on it, but some SEO apps will add structure data. Review apps are also really good at adding some structure data around reviews, which are on their own. They don’t do very much, but when you attach them to products like the product structure data that’s where you get the orange stars. That’s the best goal for ecommerce right there, is getting product with reviews, there’s orange stars, prices, availability and if you can, which I don’t know how it works yet, but those product attributes, that’s the gold standard.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, I know the first review app I saw doing this probably was Yappo has that. It’s one of the, I believe it’s a premium feature.

Eric Davis: Yeah, it’s on their [higher earn plans 00:22:09], but yeah, they do it.

Kurt Elster: Very likely worthwhile to do it. Okay.

Eric Davis: Shopify is product reviews app, which is the most common one. It does it too. To put it nicely, it had some difficulties in the past with structure data. It’s like I’ve actually reported bugs with new fixes to help them. My app actually does an integration with them, but even the free apps.

Kurt Elster: Cool.

Eric Davis: I have an integration with eight of them. Well, six of them are free or have a free plan that I can get you the review structure data. It’s not like you don’t have to pay to get into that. You can get that review database on your app and Shopify is product reviews app, which is free. It’s good starting one. It can get that data out too.

Kurt Elster: You said that Shopify’s theme requirements, because we learned in the last episode, there are only about 50, maybe less than 50 themes in the theme store. It’s very restricted and it’s really tough to get a theme in. Even then, they’re not only the likes, some are certainly better than others. You’re saying structure data is a requirement at least for the product information.

Eric Davis: Yeah, it’s weird. It’s like a checkbox like you have to have structure data, but I think every Shopify free theme that I’ve looked at like the major popular ones, probably a dozen, they’ve all had a problem out of the box.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: Out of the sandbox, one customer has their theme. Their theme actually, if I remember, they were one of the only ones that had good structure data, but I don’t remember, which one it was or that. This stuff changes, one difficulty with structure data especially if you’re using it in your theme, which is called either microformats or microdata, so there’s more jargon for you, so you can use it.

Kurt Elster: It just keeps getting worse.

Eric Davis: Yeah, but if you have structure data in your theme, the big problem is that it’s like interspaced in HTML. If you edit your theme, install an app, to have someone customize the theme or anything like that. There’s a strong chance that they don’t know how structure data works and is organized. They could break.

Kurt Elster: Okay. We’ll say it’s fragile. It’s easy to screw up.

Eric Davis: Very fragile. Yeah.

Kurt Elster: I’ve downloaded my theme from the Shopify theme store in say the last year. We’re assuming it’s got rich snippet data, because it was a requirement to be in the theme store. We don’t if it actually works or not. There are plenty of reasons it could be broken like an app could have changed the code messing around with the theme could have broken the code. It may not have worked right from the beginning or requirements have changed and it no longer works. Tell me, how do I test for it? How do we know that I’ve got this structure data setup correctly in my Shopify theme?

Eric Davis: I got some good news and bad news. The good news is there’s a tool that Google actually created that’s free, anyone can use it. It’s very robust, very powerful. Bad news, is that it’s kind of developer-level tool. You can use it, but don’t get afraid of what it’s doing. I guess one big thing is if you want to try it and you’re confused or you don’t understand the results, you can email me. The best way to be from my app on the app store is just use the contact support. I go through, we’ll say half a dozen, you may even have a couple dozen stores a week of like, “Hey, would this work on my store?” It takes me a couple of minutes to actually go through, but basically what you do is you take your store URL.

I use the product URL, because that’s going to be the most important one. Put that in the tool. It will spit out HTML on the right side and your structure data on the right side, HTML on the left side. Ideally what you’ll see is you’ll see you have a product, you have an organization like a website and you can drill on to the data. That’s actually takes the structure data in your HTML and puts it into a better format. For example, that YETI Cooler you just talked about, I threw into this tool and I could see there’s product. Your name is Tundra 45 Cooler, here’s a brand, here’s the reviews, which are called aggregate ratings, there’s 1,377, here’s the offers, here’s the SKUs.

It basically represents the data. If you can run that and see product or if so on the product, did you see product and at a minimum organization or it could be like local business or something on like a business-y type of data there and there’s no errors, you're probably good to go. You might want to inspect the actual data. I think I might have an article. It belongs to like the minimum data you’re going to want. If you do that and you don’t see any data on the right side or you see errors or even a warning, your theme probably isn’t like it’s probably not going to be good enough. You probably want to do some tweaks whether manually or through an app or something.

Kurt Elster: Okay, you’re right, because we had a store with a perfectly legitimate theme. It was modified heavily. Then when we phase the last test before we launched the store, we went and checked. We use this Google Structured Data Testing Tool. We run the product page in. Sure enough, we had one error and it was price. It was because the theme. I don’t know if this was multiple people worked on this theme.

I don’t know if it was like that from the beginning or an app changed or something changed it, but it had the currency. It was calling it currency inside the price. It turns out that’s enough to break it. What you’re saying, I thought that Google could figure that out. That’s not complicated. In the testing tool, did give it as one error. One error, you screwed up the price buddy by adding-

Eric Davis: Yeah, that one error prevents you from getting rich snippets for that page completely.

Kurt Elster: Yeah. We went and we fixed it. It was an easy fix, but had we not checked it and cared, that one thing would have totally borked this where it wouldn’t show at all. Yeah, no good.

Eric Davis: Yeah and I was going to say to like all the reviews that I do with stores, problems with the price field is the number one by far. 80/20 were like 80% of them have price problems. It’s either they’re missing a price or they have a currency in there, because there’s a separate field for currency. Google gets that from a different place. It has a currency in there, where on some products if there’s a comma of like the 1000ths place. They shouldn’t have the comma in the data, so that’s another one. Another common one especially on international stores or multilingual, is that some apps or some tweaks will put in spam tags and stuff around price or currency to just switch the currencies.

Well, if that goes into the structure data that’s invalid. You can’t have HTML as your data for that. Price is a big one. Even if Google helps you and says, “This is a warning.” You need to fix that. Google did an update three or four months ago that basically affected most Shopify stores and basically wiped out their rich snippets for a short period of time. Yeah. I even noticed it on my apps, even though it’s not a store, but the apps use the same stuff. I myself when my apps had a 40% drop in organic traffic over that period. Something [inaudible 00:29:28]. No ranking has changed any of that stuff for the app. Yeah, use Google Structured Data Testing Tool, it is kind of geeky, it is developer-level tool.

Kurt Elster: It’s very straightforward.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: You copy and paste the URL of your product page. I just tried it right now. Paste it into the structure data testing tool and then it will pull out the structure data; show it to you in a nice little format. Right in the top right, it says, “Errors, warnings,” so you know right away, like a warning. Okay, it means you can get away with it, maybe, but fix it ideally. An error means they’re probably not going to show your stuff.

Eric Davis: Yeah and more detailed stuff would be like getting into it and saying like, “Do you have this specific data? Are all your variants showing up? Do you have your reviews linked in there or the review is separate probably not going to get in the data?” That stuff is important too. The first part, like you said, if it says no errors and you have a product data-type listener, you’re pretty good to go on the first part.

Kurt Elster: Okay, so if I do it on the store and I can do this myself, I don’t have to be technical. I can run this thing through and get a good idea if it works or not. Let’s say if scenario one, the data is there, but it’s showing errors, what do I do?

Eric Davis: We use the price, because that’s an easy one. If the price is there what you can actually do on the right side or showing the data, you can open up and click through things. You can actually click on the price field. That will update the HTML on the left side to show you where it is. Sometimes, if you know a little bit of HTML, you can look at them and be like, “Yeah, I can just remove the currency symbol from the front of that in my theme,” and you’re good to go.

Some other times, you might need to get a developer to come in to change how the structure data is. Instead of wrapping the actual price that’s shown in the structure data tags, maybe we’re going to take that out and put it in its own hidden area. You can actually format it and if you did your currency conversions, you can do it outside of the structure data, just to keep the structure data pristine.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: If you have and if there’s like a few errors, it’s kind of some basic HTML tweaks. Now there is one thing, my app does it, but there’s other apps that do too. The way structure data works with rich snippets, you can have duplicate data. Unlike normal stuff with Google, duplication or copies is bad. Well, structure data, it doesn’t matter. If you have two copies of your product structure data, it’s the same product, but one has this warning or error and one is pristine and good.

Google for the search, well, actually, look at that and be like, “This one is kind of crappy. This one’s good. I’m going to use the good one.” This basically what my app does. You can install a really good high quality version of it. You don’t even have to worry about fixing your theme. You can just kind of let those areas go away.

Kurt Elster: Cool, all right. If I run it through and there’s nothing there, now what do I do? I know for a fact, okay, we got no structure data, what should I do if I want to get the structure data in there?

Eric Davis: Yes. You’re going to have to add it. You’re going to either have to market up in the theme, which would be the microformat, microdata, which my opinion, as a developer doing this, that’s a pain in the ass, you’re not going to want to do it, it’s really hard. That’s what’s fragile. You can add it using JSON-LD. It’s a technical term for the way the data is setup. That’s easier, but it’s less fragile or like I said, you can install my app or other people’s apps that add that data for you. My app and I’m pretty sure the other ones are the same thing.

We get our data from Shopify through Liquid. It’s like super easy to do that and you can write a snippet in your theme itself if you want to do it by hand. You just pull out the product data. Pull the reviews data if you have it. The formatting of that data is the hard part of like you said take out the currency symbol or this thing needs to be quoted or this is just a URL. You do that and as long as you can keep that snippet of code with your theme, if you upgrade your theme or change your theme, you should be good to go.

Kurt Elster: Even if I do, I try and get the code in there myself. It’s possible that the structure data requirements change over time and who’s not going to tell me about it. Unless I’m staying on top of this, it’s one more thing to worry about.

Eric Davis: Yeah, I think about once like eight months ago or maybe nine months ago. There is a change where the business data, if you’re using a certain type, you would have to add a price range field and I think it was a logo field, because Google wants to use that price range when you’re doing like a map result of like showing how expensive different places are.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: That was just a change. They just switched it and it’s required. It was a kind of thing, if you don’t have it, all of a sudden you would get errors in this, the data testing tool and you’ll lose rich snippets, because you’re missing it.

Kurt Elster: That’s the advantage to using an app is they’re going to stay on top of the rich snippet data. In theory, an app will merely notify me or they’ll update it, correct?

Eric Davis: Correct. Yeah and there’s. Those changes, that changes every now and then. I have seen two or three. They’re like Google Algorithm updates where it can break everything and change stuff, but no one talks about it. I discovered that the last one that want to hit solo Shopify stores. I discovered that one because a customer said, “Hey, some things going on,” I looked into it. It actually wasn’t my app. It was actually a different app that I was integrating with.

It basically was like Google just flipped the switch and turned off a bunch of features that people were using and relying on. There’s no public information about it. Actually, I ended up writing an article on it just so that there’s something about, “Hey, this is what happened on this date. Here’s how you change it, here’s how you test it, here’s how you upgrade it.” We’ll say that process would take five minutes per product in your store. Some customers that I have of like five, 10,000 SKUs like that would be a weeks of work just to get upgraded and lose ground of where they were.

Kurt Elster: Okay, let’s say I don’t want to mess around. I just want to go. I want use an app. Get this done, so I don’t have to think about it. What’s the name of your app?

Eric Davis: Yeah, so I would just say buy my app. It’s JSON-LD for SEO. Unlike other SEO apps like it only focuses on structure data.

Kurt Elster: Right.

Eric Davis: I’m giving you the greatest structure data possible using Shopify. It’s a one time charge, you pay for it, install it. You get to the snippet. You’ll get updates for as long as the app is going for your store. I have ruled out a couple updates a month. The biggest, the bigger ones I do is I integrate with review apps, like I said I think there’s eight I integrated with. It’s the kind of thing of all of a sudden, you get that integration and it’s pushed out to your store or if there was changes scheme that goes out.

I want don’t want to say it’s in beta, but it’s something I’m testing. There’s some also some integration I’m working with Google Shopping or Merchant Center, five listing ads and all that stuff, because Google added features there. Basically, every customer who’s installed in the past year and a half, they’re going to get that update for free just as included in the price.

Kurt Elster: What is that price?

Eric Davis: Right now, it’s $69. I do adjust the price as I go, being a business. I have another-

Kurt Elster: Monthly or one time fee?

Eric Davis: One time fee.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Eric Davis: If you paid, you’re good. If you paid the $69 today and it goes up to $99 tomorrow. You’re good with the $69 and there’s no concern about that. I do have a higher earn plan, which has more guarantees. I kind of do some manual monitoring and checking of your store. That’s more recent, but I will say, what was the number? I think it was 83% of the stores who bought the higher earn plan, got rich snippets within the first two months. One of them was amazing, the search engine, basically, their store with their products, because like page after page of high quality rich snippets. I was. I’m going to talk to them and try to do a case study, because that shows you how good this stuff can work.

Kurt Elster: I just looked at your Shopify app listing for JSON-LD for SEO. It’s got a 102 reviews. It’s five stars. If someone who has an app, that’s a great sign. It is tough to get people to write reviews.

Eric Davis: Yeah and I’m really proud of that. I was joking with one guy. He said that my reviewers will write five-paragraph essays, because he loved the service so much.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, sure enough. I scrolled down, not only are they positive reviews. The reviews, many of them are very detailed.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: Also, it’s not mentioned there; when you install you also get the standard on boarding. I tend to teach you about rich snippets, show you examples of it. More on the education like here’s the benefits you’re going to get not telling you what you need to do. It’s one of those, you install it and it’s done. It’s a couple of clicks automatically updated. If you change your theme, it will automatically change or reinstall itself.

Eric Davis: That’s a clever trick.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, it’s really hands off.

Eric Davis: I’m going to probably add a couple of features. I might let you customize and tweak some advance features, but it’s pretty much automatic. One thing, you also get. You get those emails, but you also will end up getting my daily email list, if you want it, which is just every day, every work day, there’s a bunch of tips and tricks of Shopify stuff like SEO, traffic, conversion rate optimization, getting a little bit right now into conversion rate optimization for adding to cart. Getting people to get their products in the cart, so they can start checking it out or you could start sending up any cart sequences. There’s a lot of educational components baked into the product too that you get.

Kurt Elster: Very good. All right, we’re coming to the end of our time together. Any closing thoughts, anything you’d like to add?

Eric Davis: Yeah. I’ll give you some links. Really, whether you have an SEO tool, when you get mine, you want to do it by yourself or you want to have a developer. You need to at least run a search and see how your store is going. I’ve kind of tweaked a lot of Google advance search options here. I have an article that describes how you can do a search to see all the products on your store and actually the rich snippets for them. Recommend, run that, go through, depending on your product, how long, three or four, five pages and see where you’re at. If you have rich snippets for 30 products, you’re probably good. If you don’t see any rich snippets or you see like just price coming through or just some basic data, there’s going to be optimizations you can make for that.

Like I said earlier, if you’re concerned about this and you want a better review with it, just go to the apps or page with the contact support, that will come to me and just say, “Hey, Eric, I heard you on Kurt’s show. Can you just do a quick check on my store?” I’ll get back to you basically and give the honest advice. You’re good to go or here are some things you can tweak and also like if my app would actually help me or not. Yeah, see where you’re at. If you feel like you’re not good or you can improve, ask me to do a review for your store if you want and add all the structure data you need.

Rich snippets, is like almost a free lunch Google is giving people right now. It takes a couple of weeks for you to get them, but it’s very low effort to do it at first and it’s just better traffic. It’s free. It’s not paid traffic and the conversions are really good. I have one customer who he basically doubled the amount of traffic to his store within a couple of weeks. Do it, check out what your store is doing. I’m there for questions if you have any, but you got to take advantage of this if you can.

Kurt Elster: I think that’s, that’s the title of the episode right there is how to get better traffic for you. That is the end outcome of this. That’s what I’m going to use for the title. Perfect. Okay.

Eric Davis: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: Eric, thank you. I appreciate it. Genuinely, I was familiar with structure data. I’ve had to troubleshoot it, but I didn’t feel entirely confident talking about it, because it’s so technical. Now having walked through this, it’s the ideal outcome. I learned something new. Our listeners learned something new along with me. It’s fantastic. I really appreciate your time. Thank you, Eric.

Eric Davis: You’re welcome. Glad to be here. I hope a lot of listeners get some benefit from this, because it is very powerful and useful.

Kurt Elster: I’m sure they will. That’s it for us today at the Unofficial Shopify Podcast. I would love to hear your thought son this episode, so please, join our Facebook group, search for the Unofficial Shopify Podcast. You’ll find our insider’s club group on Facebook and talk to us or sign up for my newsletter, kurtelster.com, shoot me an email and I will reply to any thoughtful email. Either way, you’ll be notified and whenever a new episode goes live. Of course, if you like to work with me on your next project, you can apply at ethercycle.com. As always, thanks for listening and we’ll be back next week.

The Vivian Lou Story: How One Mom Quit Her Job to Sell Insoles on HSN

Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 12:00:00 +0000

In speaking with Shopify entrepreneurs, there are definite patterns that appear in successful stores

A common one is having a product that solves a pain or problem for people

Today’s guest sells one product that solves a literal pain and has been tremendously successful doing so

If you’ve ever worn high heels, you know there are designed for style over comfort

That’s where Vivian Lou comes in. Vivian Lou is a brand that promises to allow women to wear high heels four times longer without pain.

Joining me is Vivian Lou’s president, Abby Walker.

Abby’s entrepreneurial journey started 3 years ago after she picked up the phone and asked one simple question.

She launched her company as a hobby business (while being a full time working mom of two kids.)

Since then, her flagship product - an insole for high heels - has been featured in O! Magazine, Real Simple and USA TODAY. It’s also been featured on The View and is sold on HSN.

In May 2016, she quit her full-time job to pursue her dream and has covered her lost corporate salary (and then some) since November 2016.

In today’s episode, Abby will explain her journey and the mindset shifts that enabled her success.

—

Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast via Email

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Work with Kurt

—

Learn:

How Abby frames selling
How she found her product idea
Her journey from side hustle to full-time job
How she got on HSN (and what that relationship looks like)
Why she uses a long-form sales page (and how it converts)
Abby’s success tips for new entreprenuers

Links Mentioned:

Vivian Lou - Use code UNOFFICIAL at checkout to save 20% off (Good through July 2017)
HARO

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Pad & Quill: How an Award-winning Business Started With $1,200

Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 12:00:00 +0000

If you own a tablet or iPad, you’ve probably shopped for a case for it. And if you bought a case for it, did you ever run across beautiful leather cases that looked like books?

If so, you and I have the same taste. Pad & Quill makes those luxurious cases.

Our guest today is Brian Holmes, President, and owner of Pad & Quill. He started the business in 2010 with his wife, Kari.

It was a desire to create exceptionally crafted luxury accessories (rather than profits) that motivated Holmes when he chose to start the business with a budget of just over $1,000.

Pad and Quill is the tale of a shop formed with bookbinders, carpenters, a painter and a working mom coming together to create beautiful handmade iPad/iPhone cases, leather bags, and other dry goods.

In this episode, we dive into his seven-year journey in ecommerce and discover what he’s learned along the way.

—

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Work with Kurt

—

Learn:

How Pad & Quill got started
Their direct approach to launching the brand
Why you should embrace your passion
The advantage of lifetime warranties
How to Brian pitches the press
The golden rule that governs Brian’s marketing
Why he moved from Magento to Shopify Plus
And his advice for entrepreneurs

Links Mentioned:

PadAndQuill - Use coupon code BHAPPY10 to get 10% off any product
Shopify Plus

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Transcript

Kurt: Hello, and welcome back to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast. I'm your host, Kurt Elster, recording from Ethercycle headquarters; about 10 minutes from O'Hare Airport, if you're familiar. And today I'm talking to a wonderful, seven year-old eCommerce store owner. Well, the store is seven years old. The owner is not seven years old, I should say, I should be specific. But we've got this app called Crowdfunder, and it's not the easiest thing to install if you're not familiar with HTML.

So people ask me, "Hey Kurt, can you install this thing for me?" And I say, "Yes, of course." And in doing that, I always get to check out some interesting stores. And in this case, I said, gee this seems ... I was looking at a store, it was called Pad & Quill, and I thought, this seems awfully familiar. So I went and I searched through my email, and sure enough, I had bought an iPad case from Pad & Quill in 2011. So I reached out, and I acted like, this seemed familiar because it is familiar; I used to have your case on my first gen iPad, and I would love to hear your story. This looks like a fascinating brand, they were in the process of moving to Shopify Plus. So I wanted to hear that story.

So joining me today, is Brian Holmes, who is the President/Owner of Pad & Quill. He started in 2010 with his wife, Kari. Prior to running Pad & Quill, he's a Tradesman for over 16 years; we'll find out in what. He and Kari have been married for almost 27 years. Congratulations! It is so much easier to do this with a supportive family, and doing it with family helps.

But Brian, thank you for joining us.

Brian: Kurt, thank you for having us on. I appreciate it, having me on.

My only question is, you've only boughten one case since 2011, Kurt. What's goin on?

Kurt: (laughs)

Let's see, I had-

Brian: (laughs)

Kurt: So for the longest time I just had the standard iPad case on there. And then one of my kids dropped it on the kitchen tile floor like two or three years ago, and we have not had an iPad since.

Someday.

Brian: Ah.

Kurt: Someday I'll get around to buying another iPad.

Brian: Yes. Well, you're right I'm not seven years old, I'm almost 50, but I've been doing this for seven years. That is correct.

Kurt: Very good.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: For our listeners, what is Pad & Quill?

Brian: So, Pad & Quill is a, we are a luxury accessory maker. So we design and craft luxury goods for tech and play. That's kinda what we like to say. They're durable goods. They're artisan made. Those four words are very important to us.

We don't wanna make anything that is going to fade away within a year and breakdown, et cetera. So all of our products come with longer warranties, and we want them to be very well made, as far as what we call good art. So when we make a product, to us, it should be both beautiful and functional. Cause you can have a lot of products out there that are really nice to look at, but they don't last, or they're really, really functional, but they're just ugly. So what we're trying to do is create these kind of beautiful leather bags, iPad cases, MacBook cases, things like that, that are unique, but also provide a function, provide a utility and are durable. They last a long time.

So that's kinda been our focus. We're a typical company, that when we started, we started one place, and ended up somewhere else. That's very common in startup stories, that the products you started with aren't always the products you end up making five years later.

Kurt: So somewhere along your line you had to pivot. Going back to the beginning, how did you start Pad & Quill?

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: And what was your first product?

Brian: Yeah. So we started with $1,200, and I-

Kurt: Very good.

Brian: I painted my web designer's deck.

Kurt: (laughs)

Brian: She painted it ... She still works with us, she's still a consultant, Kathy. She made our website. She coded it on ... I can't even remember where it was coded, what platform; think it was WordPress. And we started an original ... She built it all, all I knew is that I had seen a product out in San Francisco by a company called DODOcase.

Kurt: DODOcase, another Shopify store.

Brian: Yeah, they made a wood and book case, and I saw what they were doing. And I thought, my word, we could do this, but we could more than what they're doing. We could do, like, MacBook cases, and iPhone cases, and all kinds of stuff.

So that kinda was the inspiration. So we took the $1,200, I paid a photographer far less than he deserved; he still works with me today. Now he's making money, but he knew we didn't have a lot so he gave me a deal. We built four prototypes, and we put up the site, it was in late June of 2010, and just started reaching out to the press saying, "Hey, we've got these products. They're on pre-order, they'll deliver in six weeks." You know, basically, help us fund this, in many ways. Reached out to everyone you could think of. Some Wired, I was talking to Walt Mossberg at The Wall Street Journal, who turned me down, of course.

Kurt: (laughs)

Brian: But what happened was, we got picked up by a couple people. So Gadget Lab picked us up at Wired, and then someone at Gizmodo wrote about us; and it started to pick up. Sales started coming in, and what had happened is, it was really born of not an idea that I had been thinking about. It was born out of a passion of a product I already saw, that I liked, which was the iPad and then the book bindery style case. And it just, kinda like, came together one evening. I was just like, "Wait a minute, we could do this. And we could do this better." You know, cause typical entrepreneurs think they can always do it better. So I was thinking, we can do this better, or different.

Kurt: So when you saw that original DODOcase-

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: You saw an iPad, [inaudible 00:05:50] and you saw ... And at that time, that was very early; I don't know if that was the first gen or second gen iPad at that point.

Brian: First gen, first gen.

Kurt: First gen, okay. So very early on.

When you first held an iPad, it did have kind of a magical quality to it, where it's like, it's just this big, solid glass display that I can poke at.

Brian: Right.

Kurt: And at that time, apps had really ... Like, a lot of them had these very novel interfaces; it was pretty exciting.

Brian: It was.

Kurt: Back six years ago, it seems like forever ago, and now we don't think twice about it. But it was exciting. And then you had seen, you're right, DODOcase in San Francisco who was using traditional book ... Really, I mean, they were making cases using just traditional book binding-

Brian: Techniques, yeah.

Kurt: Techniques.

Brian: Yep.

Kurt: And you're right, in the typical, the entrepreneurial mindset, you said, "I love both of these. Why can't I do this? Why not me?"

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: That's often how businesses start. Why not me?

Brian: Yeah, and it didn't have, necessarily, a logic behind it. It had an opportunity, is what was seen. But here's the interesting thing, what happened was, is that as Kari and I started working on these products, all of a sudden there was something that connected for both of us; which was, these devices by Apple are beautifully designed, made of aluminum and glass, steel, gorgeous, gorgeous finishes, but they lacked warmth.

Kurt: Yeah, they're ultra modern, which-

Brian: Yeah, they're ultra modern

Kurt: Can often make them feel cold.

Brian: Which is fine, but we love, and that's a huge passion of ours, is that we love traditional materials. So it wasn't just book bindery, and that's why after the first two years of selling I ... I mean, we shipped about 3,000 iPad cases out of my basement window-

Kurt: Hmm

Brian: In the first nine months of the business. So what we were doing is we were having a bindery in Minneapolis make the books. And we were having a CNC Maker make the wood, and they were putting it together for us. And then we would take it to our basement and do some finishing touches, and ship them.

So, we continued our press push. We constantly were reaching out to the press, coming out with new products. So we were in a never-ending cycle of creating new things. So we created a book-style case for a MacBook Air, which was very unique to the market, and that got us a lot of pickup. We just kept working through all these different products.

We did stuff for the Kindle, at that time. This again, back in 2010 when the Kindle was pretty popular. Yeah, and then after about 3,000 or 4,000 products, my wife was like, "I want the basement back."

Kurt: (laughs)

Brian: So that's pretty much what happened. So we found a spot in Northeast Minneapolis, which is kind of an arts community area of Minneapolis, in downtown. We found a little spot there, and that's where we've been since. So, we've been there since I think May of 2011.

Kurt: Did you, at all, have a background in business, entrepreneurship, manufacturing? Did you have any unfair advantage or skills that you think played a part in the success? Or at least, did you just have so much hubris you said, "You know, I think I could do this and then figure it out."

Brian: Yeah, it's interesting you said unfair, cause that's an interesting term; that it's unfair. I mean, I know what you mean, like did I have something that I could leverage, that other people wouldn't typically have.

Here's the thing, I had been a painting contractor. So I had done wall painting, like, house painting. I'd done that for 16 years. We had four kids. I didn't wanna be a painter for the rest of my life. And then the last five years of my trades work, and this was my own company, and I had a couple guys working for me, we were pretty small. In the last five years, I got into more artistic designs. So I was doing a lot of artisan finishes on walls and design work.

Kurt: Like French plaster, and that kinda thing.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: Okay.

Brian: Exactly.

Kurt: Cool.

Brian: And Venetian plasters, all that stuff. And what was interesting was, I really enjoyed that part of it. I, then, got my four year degree. In those last five years, I got my four year degree at night, in Psychology, ironically.

I had never finished my four year. I went and got it, never used it. Think I decided at the end of my Psychology degree that I couldn't listen to people that long.

Kurt: (laughs)

Brian: So I ended up not doing anything with that, but I took a job with a small tech startup; cause I wanted to get out of painting. I didn't feel like I was using my skills the way I wanted to. So I took a risk and jumped into a small startup, which failed. It failed in about 18 months. It was a tech startup with a guy here locally, he was an inventor. It went poorly.

What happened was, is that, the idea for Pad & Quill, the idea for me ... Like, I didn't have any manufacturing background. But my time, those 18 months in that startup, taught me almost a Master's level about here's how you'd operationalize a product; here's all the things you would need to make a product happen. And so, I think Pad & Quill was kinda like, a culmination of multiple life experience; running a painting company, being part of a small startup. It just kinda all came together, and I thought I could do this, and here's how I'd do it.

And as I've moved further away, I'm realizing I love design. You know, I have no background in actual design. I have no background in product design. It was very much self-taught, but it's following ... I'm good at reading what people want to see in the markets, and then kind of taking it and putting my own flavor to it.

Kurt: Okay.

So early on you started with, it starts with your passion, and it sounds like you have a passion for product design, which is great.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: It's so much easier to run a business when it's exciting to you, versus I'm just going to do this because it will sell. That's such a struggle; and some people have the discipline to do it. I think it just makes life harder.

Brian: It does.

Kurt: Certainly easier if you enjoy the product.

So you created this ... How many products did you launch with, like, within the first 12 months?

Brian: Two. Oh, in 12 months, probably-

Kurt: So you started with two.

Brian: Started with two, and then we added some Kindle, and then some MacBook products. So they-

Kurt: And they're all variations on ... They're essentially the same product in different form factors.

Brian: Exactly. It was the same product on the same theme. So then, in 2011, the iPad 2 came out, so that was a big lift for us; and we became a competitor to DODOcase. And there was another company, I believe called Portenzo, out there at the time; and Treegloo. There was a few other competitors doing what we were doing.

But here's what happened, and this was a huge shift for us, in 2012, so I'm a good two years in, I was noticing that these books were falling apart. So what was happening is, these books were made in traditional book bindery techniques, using really good book material; but they were falling apart. And I was like, they look beautiful, but they don't last. And I was realizing this is a ... You know, people love our product, they love our design, but I don't love that they don't last. And if you're cynical you could say, well that just means people will come back and buy another one. And my comment to that is, no, it means people will be disaffected by your brand.

Kurt: I agree.

Brian: They'll say your stuff isn't gonna last.

Kurt: The brands I've seen where the product is incredibly durable, where they're comfortable in giving, like, really outlandish warranties on it because it's so durable; those are the brands where people, they don't have to worry about it falling apart and someone buying another one because people like it so much, they recommend it and they often will buy multiples.

Brian: Right.

Kurt: A good example would be, oh there's a Reddit group, I think, called Buy It For Life, where people just recommend products that they think will last a lifetime.

Brian: Oh, funny.

Kurt: Yeah. Off the top of my head ... And some are leather goods. But often times we see Saddleback Leather's bags mentioned, Beltman leather gun belts, which a gun belt-

Brian: Okay.

Kurt: Just turns out, it's a very stiff belt.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: I'm wearing one right now; it's a client.

Brian: (laughs)

Kurt: Yeah, those are great.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: What's the other one? Another good example. Oh, we use Everest bands as an example; they make watch straps for Rolex, but out of this unreal durable rubber. We had a review where someone said that they run it through an autoclave on a weekly basis, and the thing's fine.

Brian: Yeah, yeah.

Kurt: And it doesn't hurt their sales, people buy multiple products. So, no, I'm with you.

Brian: And so what happened is, in 2011, I said that's it. It was late 2011, I said we have gotta shift to leather. We've just gotta shift, cause this is not a sustainable ... We're doing the eCommerce thing well. You know, by the way, we're not buying any ads from Google for the first three years.

We are existing purely on reaching out to the press with new products. Any press that'll listen to us, and you know, if you have something kind of sexy, they'll write about it.

Kurt: So that's a-

Brian: And that would bring in sales.

Kurt: Alright, that is an excellent point. But it's so difficult.

Brian: Mm-hmm (affirmative)

Kurt: Early on, the only marketing you were doing were two things, PR and these continuous launch cycles.

Brian: Yep.

Kurt: So you're coming out. You end up, kinda trapped in a thing where you're always launching new products; and that could be good, or it can be a struggle.

Brian: Yeah, it's a little of both.

Kurt: It's a little of both.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: But it gives you a reason to keep reaching out to the press. And once, I think, you've gotten over that initial hurdle where they're interested in you, and you start developing relationships, it helps.

Brian: Right.

Kurt: But what do you think goes into, like, what makes a good press pitch? Cause this is so difficult.

Brian: Yeah. This is a good question. This is a good question.

Two things, be real. You know, don't sit there and try to ... Don't talk to a press person like you're not pitching them; you are pitching them. But, with that said, be brief. Okay. Brevity is the soul of wit, is a famous saying. I love that saying; it's very true. Be very brief in your communication.

Send a big fat image to the press. Make sure you're taking some photography of your product that looks nice. Pay a photographer friend, if you're just starting out, to maybe give you a hand. Because good imagery goes a long ways in a writer's mind, because in the end, what they're looking for is, are you offering me something my readers would care about? Is this interesting to my readers? Cause if it's interesting, yeah I'll write about it. I'll mention it. I'll tweet about it.

So, be brief, be very real, just be open. Say, "Hey we're just starting out. We're a family business." That's what we used to say. Our pitch was, "Hey this is Brian from Pad & Quill. We're a small family business here, in Minneapolis. We've got these beautiful new iPad cases we're just releasing. Here's some images. Thanks for any considerations, if you'd cover us."

I still say that same email, what I just said to you just now, today.

Kurt: Hmm.

Brian: I still email that exact same way, today, when I'm emailing Wired.

Kurt: I'm sure it works.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: I am on the receiving end of so many awful pitch emails, and outreach emails.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: That when one comes through where it's like, alright, it's not a giant wall of text. It's concise, it's to the point, it tells me what the advantage to me and my audience is, and it's not trying to trick me, or in any way mislead me. It's saying, hey, this is who I am, this is what I can offer you or your audience, and if you wanna know more information, here's next ups.

Brian: Right.

Kurt: And it's genuine and real.

Brian: It is, and I think that, that has a huge benefit. Again, it's that whole idea of, are you serving people? So I come from the place of serving my customers. I serve my customers, then I'll be able to create an income for myself and my family.

If I serve my vendors by creating a customer base, then my vendors will be loyal to me, and continue to make products on time; because they know that I have a loyal customer base. If I'm going to the press, am I operating from a place of service? How am I serving the press person? Not using, serving. There's a huge difference between those two. Because in serving someone, you're saying, how can I help your column to be more interesting? Would this be a way to do it? And the press person may say, "No, this is not of interest to me right now," and that's fine.

But it's better to come from that perspective, more of humility, than to come from, "You know, you should cover this. We have a lot of customers. You should cover our products, they last forever."

Kurt: (laughs)

Brian: That doesn't go very far with the press.

It's funny, I wanna finish that pivot because you brought up a company I wanna kinda tie you into. So, in 2012, we wanted to move to leather goods. I wanted to get into more leather cases. I wanted to make an iPhone case. We were making them, at the time, out of traditional book bindery material. They'd last, honestly, about nine months. We were charging, like, $50, and I'm thinking, that's too much money for somethin that falls apart. You know? How do we do this?

So I started reaching out to leather manufacturing companies, and I came across a company called Saddleback Leather Company.

Kurt: Very good.

Brian: And I hit up their PR guy, and I said, "Hey, I wanna do manufacturing." And they said no. And on the third time, I kept coming back, they gave in. So, all of our, the majority, I shouldn't say all, but the majority of our leather goods are made by Saddleback's manufacturing. So, Dave Munson's a good friend of mine, that developed over the last four years from all this. So it's funny you brought up Saddleback, cause I was like, "Yep, that's our people."

Kurt: Right.

Brian: And that's the thing is that, what I knew I needed, I don't wanna make just a beautiful item, I have to make something that lasts and is durable. And we have been so thrilled to be working with Saddleback's team. They have a plant in Mexico that we use, and it's just phenomenal, they treat their people really well. I've been there, I've seen what they do. It's just a fantastic company to work with.

Yeah, so that's who we use for all our leather. So that happened in 2012, and we launched this little leather wallet case with them; and it was partly made here, actually. Some of it was made here, some of it was made in Mexico. It was all brought to St. Paul and assembled, and that took off in 2012. We had a huge, huge sales cycle, our biggest year ever in 2012; at that time.

Kurt: This is just a leather wallet? This was your-

Brian: Yeah, it was basically, like, a leather wallet case with our wood frame. We had our unique wood frame attached to all leather, so it was really durable. And that started in 2012, it was featured in the New York Times in 2013. We had a big year in 2013 and 14 because of it.

Yeah, iPhone cases were real good to us in the first three years. And then, in 2013, 14 is when we started developing our lifestyle line. That's when we started bringing in bags, we started creating ... Our first bag launch was in late 2013.

Kurt: I'm admiring your Classic Journeyman leather wallet on your website. I gotta-

Brian: Oh yeah.

Kurt: Pick up one of these.

Oh, and it even comes in different colors.

Brian: Oh yeah.

Kurt: Oh that chest-

Brian: Yeah, if that Chestnut looks familiar, you've seen it at Saddleback Leather. And I have no problem promoting Saddleback, cause honestly, it's a great company.

Dave and I are different designer styles, definitely, but he makes great bags. He makes great bags.

Kurt: Yeah, I see right on here. It says, "30 day, money back promise, and 10 year leather guarantee."

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: So tell me, was it scary to offer this kind of warranty?

Brian: Yeah. Yeah, it always is. It was funny cause I had a guy from inc.com, I was doing an interview two years ago, and he asked me, "Why not lifetime warranty? Why 25?" And I thought, it was a good question, and I thought, because lifetime is so cliched; everyone says lifetime. But by putting 25 years, what I'm trying to say is, it's gonna last two and half decades. You're gonna get a lot of use out of it. And by the time they last two and half decades, you're probably gonna want another one anyhow. You know, we'll have new stuff by then.

Kurt: Right.

Brian: I think we put a year around it because it gives it a definitive, like, wow this is built to really last. Yes, it's built to last.

Is it scary? Yeah, it is, because you do have things break. Hardware breaks, stitching fails; it happens from time to time. We repair it and take care of it, but yeah. Put it this way, I don't feel nervous about the quality we're putting out, though. Does that make sense? We got a lot of confidence behind what we're doing.

Kurt: Right, if you're confident in it, it shouldn't be scary.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: If you believe in your product, you shouldn't be afraid of it.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: I mean, really, your only fear is will people abuse it? And you're always gonna get someone who does.

Brian: Yeah. I mean, we started coming out with ... We found a book bindery material that lasts more than six months. We found one that lasts for years. Now, we put a one year warranty on it, but it'll last. We tell customers, it's a one year warranty, but you'll have it for years. Because we found this really tough buckram, that's really beautiful; it's used in the library of Congress. That's what we wrap our iPad cases in.

Kurt: Hmm.

Brian: So for us, it's all about the materials. Will they last? So I guess I'm ... No, to answer the question, I'm not too worried because we're trying to use the materials that will last.

Kurt: Right.

Brian: Yeah.

Kurt: So you've got, you're in the process ... Well, probably by the time this airs, maybe, your Shopify store will have launched.

Brian: Hard to say.

Kurt: Hard to say. Maybe it has, maybe it hasn't.

Brian: We actually see a delay coming because of, and you can edit this out if you want, or keep it in, I don't care. We may be unable to switch for at least a month or two because of a new iPad coming out in a few weeks.

Kurt: (laughs)

Cool.

Brian: Because of that, we're gonna have so much lift on the site, we are very hesitant to shift platforms until the sales calm down.

Kurt: So what platform are you on now?

Brian: Magento.

Kurt: And you're switching to Shopify Plus. Tell me-

Brian: Thank God.

Kurt: (laughs)

Alright, so what happened? Why are you doing that?

Brian: We were told early on, I had talked to a consulting group, and they said, "Oh, you should be on Magento, it's scalable, you can customize."

All true, all true. I call Magento, kinda like, the PC, and Shopify is kinda like a Mac.

Kurt: Hmm.

Brian: That's how I see the two. I mean, you can do a lot of customization on Shopify, but it's very plug and play friendly. And for the entrepreneur who wants to start a company, the last thing you want, is to be figuring out how many hours you can pay a $150 an hour developer. Because if you have a Magento site, that's what you're doing all the time. You're paying a developer, constantly, for the smallest changes.

Kurt: Right.

Brian: Whereas, on Shopify, you have app store, you have plugins. We're, of course, with what we're doing, we're paying developers to help us with small projects here and there. But for the most part, it's really a lot easier to assemble a Shopify site. Magento is definitely customizable, but boy, you better have Magento Pro engineers, who are doing all your coding. They have to do all your maintenance, manage all your plugins. If you have conflicts with your plugins, that's up to you to figure it out. Shopify does all that for you. They do that thinking for you.

Kurt: Right.

Brian: That's something that is a huge benefit to us. We were debating Magento 2.0, last year, or Shopify, and came down on Shopify.

Kurt: What was the straw that broke the camel's back, where you said, alright it's time to make the switch? Cause it is not an easy task to change platforms when you've got an existing, running business.

Brian: It's not. I think, a couple things. One, we designed this site about three to four years ago, it was starting to feel three to four years old. The current site at padandquill.com if you go there right now, it's three to four years old design. And we're kinda, you know what, we need to make this a little cleaner. We've moved more into a luxury lifestyle brand. We wanna even display more large imagery about our lifestyle and what we do, and what we love. So, that was kinda the impetus to go, okay, what platform do we want it? We were thinking, originally, Magento 2.0, and then we started considering just how much technical work was required; and that's when we reached out to Shopify, and it was a pretty easy sale. Cause we were like, "Sounds good!" I mean, we'd pay a certain fee. We're on Shopify, what's it called? Shopify Plus?

Kurt: Shopify Plus.

Brian: Yeah, so we're paying a fee, but that's like, I already pay that fee with a developer right now to guarantee 99.9% uptime.

Kurt: Right, yeah.

Brian: I have to pay someone that right now.

Kurt: Yeah. The thing you're trading ... It's interesting to sell, trying to explain the benefits and the value proposition of Shopify Plus to an existing Shopify store owner. They're like, "Alright." You have to figure out, like, what's the problem you're facing, and the Shopify Plus will solve it. Versus when someone is on Magento and they're looking at switching and you go, well you don't worry about, you know, for one flat fee, someone else is gonna manage and you never worry about hosting uptime, updates, security, all of that goes away, and support.

Brian: Right.

Kurt: And it just becomes a no brainer.

Brian: And we've had security issues, just being open with you. We've had some security issues pop up because of outdated plugins.

Kurt: Right, and those-

Brian: And all kinds of stuff. And it was, like, an outdated plugin in a blog.

Kurt: Yeah.

Brian: On our Magento site. And someone had gotten in through the back door, and we caught it, fixed it. But it was one of these things where we're like, okay Shopify does all that for us.

Kurt: Yeah. I have, literally, never seen a security vulnerability like that happen on Shopify. Whereas, previously we did a lot of WordPress development work, and that was like a constant, constant battle trying to keep those things locked down.

Brian: Right.

That's the last thing you need to be worrying about. Right?

Kurt: Yeah, that's just such an unnecessary-

Brian: I mean, that's the last thing. When you're designing products, you're trying to ... Cause what am I? I'm a designer. I'm a salesman. I'm a community developer. Like, we have a family of customers, that's where our focus needs to be. You know? Not on security issues on the site. Cause 98% of our revenue comes from eCommerce, our store.

Kurt: Hmm.

That's excellent.

Brian: Yeah, we are not in wholesale. We're very much like Saddleback; we're eCommerce only.

Kurt: So, we're coming to the end of our time together. You have had a long, successful, and wonderful journey over the last seven years. What are some of the things you've learned, that you would go back tell yourself when you were starting out?

Brian: Oh, that's a great question.

Did I tell you to ask me that question? That's a good one.

Kurt: (laughs)

No, no. You said what three things have you learned building a brand?

Brian: Yeah.

I would say this, if you have a product you're making that's starting to sell, and it's selling pretty well and you love making that product, and other products like it ... Whatever the field is, whatever you do, be very careful to not listen to consultants too much. There is wisdom in a host of counselors, there really is. But in the end, your passion has to be from you about what you wanna sell and bring to your customers. So be careful how much you listen to consult ... I did a lot of consultant listening early on, that I wouldn't do now. I would just be who I am. And the more that Kari and I have just been who we are as a couple in this business, the more success we've seen. The more we have followed what other people have told us, "Well, you're getting big now. You really need to think about strategic changes." Those are big disasters. Not disasters, that's a heavy word. Those have not been fruitful.

So, be who you are. To the degree that you can do something you love, is a huge blessing, it really is. Not everyone gets that opportunity. Like I said, I was painting for 17 years. I was thankful I was able to bring in an income, but I didn't really enjoy painting. So, where you can match a passion or a desire to income, it's awesome. But it's not ... I don't think it's something you can always do. Does that make sense?

Kurt: No, absolutely.

Brian: I'm not trying to paint a rosy picture here, because it's pretty hard to do that.

Kurt: I think it comes down to having an authentic voice, being true to yourself, being true to your brand.

Brian: Yep.

Kurt: The hard part is figuring out what that voice and brand are, and then letting that show through. Every time I've been scared to include more of my personality in my marketing and my work, it has always paid off. You know, people like having that authentic voice; and that's what part of the podcast is.

Brian: Right.

Kurt: I'm myself on the show, and then by the time someone says, "Hey Kurt, could we work together on this?" And we get on the phone, they go, "I feel like I already know you." Yeah, because the whole time, I've been myself, and that's so important.

Brian: Right.

That is so important. It is so important.

Plus, you'll just be happier with yourself, at the end of the day. Cause you've been true to yourself, even if the business doesn't work out. You just don't guarantee that any of these businesses will succeed, right?

Kurt: No, absolutely not. It's always a risk.

Brian: But in the end of day, if they fail, were you yourself? Were you trying to be yourself? Yeah.

Kurt: So, Brian-

Brian: A good entrepreneur gets back up and says, "Okay, what can I do next?"

Kurt: Yeah, you learn from it, you move on.

Brian: Yep.

Kurt: And try the next thing.

Brian: Yep.

Kurt: So Brian, where can people go to learn more about you?

Brian: Yeah, so, the best place to learn about us is at www.padandquill.com. So that's our website, click on About Us if you wanna see our story in more detail; that's at the bottom of the page, About Us. You'll see a picture of Kari and I, and there's kind of our story, and kinda what drives us, our passion is very interesting as well.

Also, coupon code. We have a coupon code for your listeners.

Kurt: Wonderful.

Brian: So bhappy. So the letter B, and then happy, H-A-P-P-Y, number 10, just one zero. That's 10% off anything, any product, including bags, leather bags as well.

Kurt: And they are beautiful bags. 10%.

Brian: Thank you! Thank you.

Kurt: Alright, I wrote that down, I will include it in the show notes for folks.

Brian: Cool.

Kurt: Brian, thank you for everything. I appreciate it.

Brian: Yeah, Kurt, thanks so much for having us on, and wish you best with your success on your podcast.

Kurt: Thank you.

That's all for us today at The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. So please, join our Facebook group, The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders, and let me know. Or sign up for my newsletter, kurtelster.com, shoot me an email. Either way, you'll be notified whenever a new episode goes live.

And of course, if you'd like to work with me on your next Shopify project, you can apply at Ethercycle. Com.

As always, thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week.

How to Take Your Email Marketing to the Next Level

Kurt Elster — Tue, 30 May 2017 12:00:00 +0000

In April during our Unite coverage, I had dinner with Carson McComas, the owner of Shopify Plus agency Fuel Made, and we got to talking about our mutual love of marketing automation, and specifically Klaviyo.

Now, if you’re not using Klaviyo, that’s okay. Don’t tune out, hear me out.

Carson mentioned to me that they were having great success with Klaviyo to the point where they were pushing the limits of ecommerce email marketing automation.

I immediately knew I had to have the rest of the conversation on this show.

So I emailed Carson, and here’s what he said:

“Would love have Lisa on with you. She's the bomb and knows email marketing and Klaviyo like a pro. She's generated some pretty incredible ROI for our clients like Beardbrand.”

Lisa heads the email marketing department at Fuel Made, she specializes in Klaviyo Email Marketing, and she knows it like the back of her hand.

She's looked through 100's of Klaviyo accounts, helping clients add tens of thousands of dollars in automated monthly revenue by setting up their triggered marketing.

In this episode, LIsa Oberst is going to walk this through the very same Klaviyo email marketing automation campaigns she's used to add huge value to Shopify stores like BeardBrand.

—

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Work with Kurt

—

Learn how:

Why and how to start with email marketing
What to do before starting with email marketing
The three typical lead magnet formats Lisa uses, and how to brainstorm Lead Magnets that capture emails
The safe & polite way to offer your opt-in
The 3-step approach to pop-ups
The basic segmentations you must have
The 4-step email cart abandonment email that converts
The uncommon email that converts at 9% for BeardBrand
Lisa’s one-tip from

Links Mentioned:

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Transcript

Kurt Elster: Recording from Ethercycle headquarters outside Chicago. This is the unofficial Shopify Podcast and I’m your host Kurt Elster. You heard our wonderful Shopify Unite coverage, which was very exciting. One of our best, our most listened two weeks ever; 7,000 downloads something crazy. We’re going to crack a quarter million downloads. I’m really, really excited. I could not have done it without you guys. It’s amazing. It’s been a wild ride. Anyway continuing on that Unite coverage, I met with a lot of really interesting bright people there and that’s where I have been picking up some wonderful guests, was from networking at Unite.

One of the first things I did, was go to a VIP dinner there and the gentleman sitting to my left at this dinner was none other than Carson McComas your Shopify Plus Agency Fuel Made. We got to talking pretty quickly about our mutual love of marketing automation and specifically Klaviyo. Now, if you’re not using Klaviyo, that’s okay, don’t turn out. Here me out here, because a lot of marketing automation principles will work across several different platforms and just that I like and endorse Klaviyo. Carson mentioned to me that they’re having great success with Klaviyo to the point where they are pushing the limits of ecommerce email marketing automation.

At which point, I heard the needle scratch in my head and I immediately knew I had to hear the rest of this conversation on the show so that you could benefit from it. Of course, I want to learn too. I do most of my learning through this podcast truthfully. It’s great resource for me. I emailed Carson right away and I said, "Hey, come on the show. You’re a great person, I want to hear this." He replied, and I am quoting. He said, “I’d love to have Lisa on with you. She’s the bomb and those email marketing in Klaviyo like a pro, she’s generated some incredible return on investment for clients like Beardbrand. I could not have wrote a better intro myself.

Now I know Lisa has female marketing department at Fuel Made. I’m told she specializes in Klaviyo email marketing and she knows it like the back of her hand. I believe it. She has looked through hundreds of Klaviyo accounts helping clients at tens of thousands of dollars in automated monthly revenue by signing up their triggered marketing, so Lisa, thank you for joining us.

Lisa Oberst: Thank you, Kurt, great intro. I appreciate that.

Kurt Elster: My pleasure. Tell me, give me briefly, give me your Klaviyo background, how did you get into this?

Lisa Oberst: Sure, so about two years ago, a little bit more, I moved to L.A. and joined a three-person team that was building an agency specialized in Klaviyo. That’s really when I started my special connection to Klaviyo and since then I’ve been just needy in Klaviyo, so about a year ago, I joined Fuel Made and I’ve been developing our Klaviyo email marketing at Fuel Made.

Kurt Elster: Very good. You’ve worked with some big brands including a well known Shopify rockstar who’s been on the show once before the Beardbrand guys were very cool, tremendous business and probably them evangelizing their experience is really contributed to the explosion of beard oil products, which is crazy to think about. Aside from that, so certainly you have street cred, but let’s dive into it. First, make the case for email marketing in general. I will play devil’s advocate. People go, "Email marketing is dead. It’s all about social media." Help me make the case for email marketing?

Lisa Oberst: Sure, that shouldn’t be too hard. A lot of stores that I start a conversation with don’t have any email marketing in place. The most important thing, they don’t even have a need capture in place. They have no way of even starting a conversation with leads who come through their store. I know, Kurt, you know about this. It is so important to capture all of this traffic that you’re spending money on to get to your store and that is not going to convert. About 98% of visitors are not going to convert on a first purchase, because you need to have the opportunity to start up a conversation with these people before they leave your store.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, as an example, let’s say I got the most optimized store in the world. I have some clients with really optimized stores. They do 5% conversion rate, that’s amazing. That means for every hundred people that go to that store 95 of them don’t buy anything, they just show up and bounce. Whereas, email marketing lets you turn anonymous visitors are more or less useless to you. Email marketing is going to let you provide value to them. Start building a relationship with them. Stay top of mind and lots of other fun things we will learn about.

If you think email marketing is dead compared to social media, well, A; they’re not mutually exclusive. You could do both. You could certainly do both. Think about how many times a day you check your email. Unless you are unbelievably disciplined, you are probably checking it 10 times a day. That’s just the nature of who we are as a culture now. Don’t discount email marketing and love it. All right, now we’ve the case for it. I believe in it. What do you do first? How do we start this conversation?

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, it’s all about the conversations. You want to start by thinking of who you’re talking to. As I said already, the first thing you want to do is having need capture in place. Before we even thinking about writing an email and sitting down to write content, you want to take a step back and think of who is your ideal customer. That’s the way we do it and I definitely recommend doing it, is having a picture of your ideal customer in your head to think of what is the offer that is going to get them so excited that they will not even think twice about giving you their email address. That is step one. That’s coming up with a great offer.

Kurt Elster: Before we’ve even come up with, we’ve even touched email marketing, really, we’re thinking about the lead magnet. I’d like to think of the lead magnet as like, all right before-

Lisa Oberst: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: The email marketing at that point, if you think of it is like human to human is dating, by that point you have gotten the digits, you’re now entering the beginning stages of dating here with this customer before even then, you need a good pick up line. That’s your lead magnet. The first thing you think about is your lead magnet, but that something that make sense that is valuable to the customer, right?

Lisa Oberst: Right, exactly. It’s going to vary. It’s going to vary a lot from one story to another. You mentioned Beardbrand for example. In Beardbrand’s case we are giving away information. It’s all education-based and it is working extremely well, but we were able to 4x; their lead capture rate by just giving away 10 tips on how to grow a beard.

Kurt Elster: Is it like PDF or an email course?

Lisa Oberst: It’s an email. It actually just one email. Yeah, it’s one email with 10 tips and then it’s beginning of a Beardbrand bootcamp.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Lisa Oberst: Sorry, go ahead.

Kurt Elster: No, so I love this idea. This is like the first chapter of my book Ecommerce Bootcamp we talk about … You could get the free sample for free if you guys want it, ecommerce-bootcamp.com. We talk about sales through education or for lack of a better term "saducation". That’s actually what you just described. You’re not giving away a coupon. You’re not giving away free product or sample. You’re just flat out providing people. You’re giving away value by educating them.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly. In some cases, giving away a discount, giving away a product is going to be the most relevant offer. In others, it isn’t. It’s all about thinking the person that you’re starting the conversation with. In Beardbrand’s case, we’re talking to customers who are obsessed with their beard; they want to learn everything about it. It makes sense to grab them with this education-based marketing. We do that and then we feed them into a welcome sequence. This welcome sequence is the continuation of the conversation. We’re gradually taking the new visitor through a journey of learning about their beard. We’re telling them everything they’re wondering about their beard already.

At the same time, we’re taking this so little opportunity to tell them about Beardbrand products, because, well, how to take good care of your beard, you might want to check this out as well. We’re not making it all about the product. We’re making it about value, about what the customer is interested in, does that make sense?

Kurt Elster: No. Absolutely. Yeah. No one wants to be sold too. I don’t want to listen to a sales pitch. I don’t want to hear about your time share. I want value. I want you to give me a better life. As a man with a moderate/mild beard, if you give me some tips on, "What do I do with this thing so it doesn’t like scraggly and gross?" Honest to god, it’s a thing you have to learn. I found it like I did not figure out how to properly shape and shave my beard until this year when I saw a video from another beard Shopify store BEARD KING, sells a different product.

Yeah, honest to god, it sounds silly, but when you think about it, now I learned that. Now almost every time I trim my beard I think about that piece of content and I think about BEARD KING. This connection has been made where I can’t help but think about this Shopify store and their product every Sunday when I’m trimming my beard in the mirror. You’re doing the same thing.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly. We’re also training customers to expect high value from these emails. They’re going to start loving to open these emails, because they just know that it’s going to be full of exactly what they want to learn about. The beauty about this journey, this welcome sequence bootcamp is that we’re gradually taking them to a point where they’re going to be dying to buy from Beardbrand.

Kurt Elster: I like it.

Lisa Oberst: If they haven’t bought by the end of … it’s a five-day bootcamp, and they haven’t bought by the end, well, we’re actually telling them, "Here’s a free gift, because you deserve it. You have made it through the bootcamp. Get this gift to become part of the club officially." Yeah, there’s all the psychology that goes into it, but we’re honestly using a elements of scarcity. We’re using customer reviews. Social-

Kurt Elster: Social.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly, social proof. All of that, packaged in a way that looks like it’s all about the customer.

Kurt Elster: Right, so as long as you’re providing them more value than you’re asking for, it no longer feels sleazy. It doesn’t feel like a sales pitch. You could still slide in those elements that act as psychological triggers to sales like scarcity, urgency and social proof. You don’t have to feel guilty about it. Ultimately, if you believe in your product, you shouldn’t feel guilty about trying to sell it to people. I’ve seen that.

If you’re confident and if you believe in it, it’s probably your duty to educate people about why they may want your product in their life. Okay, so some knee grade, basic tips here. How do I come up with a lead magnet idea? Implementing a lead magnet, not terribly tough technically, the hardest part is coming up with the idea. Do you have someone like go-to formats, ideas or methods for brainstorming these things?

Lisa Oberst: Yes, there are three typical ways to go, either education-based or discount-based or product offered. Before even thinking about that, what I typically do is, again, I take a step back and I think of who I am speaking to. What is going to be the key offer that’s going to get them to take? For example, I have another client where they were offering 10% off. Their audience are gamers. They sell custom gaming accessories. Their offer was 10% off. We switched that over to giving away a card, a token that is worth $1 in the store that probably cost about 10¢ to make, just about 10x to your capture rate.

Exactly, much, much higher dollar value with the 10% off, but so much more exciting to think of the token. I like to go as much as possible to think of something tangible. Think of something in your store that’s tangible either education or a product. Imagine, your customer see that and using it. Is that going to be exciting to them? That’s really where I’d like to start when coming up with these offers.

Kurt Elster: I like it.

Lisa Oberst: The more tangible the better, typically. Again, if I have another client who is medical supply company and in their case 10% off was right on. You have to think of your audience. You have to think of what, where they’re coming from.

Kurt Elster: Even if you’re like I really don’t know. Also if you go, "I really don’t know what they want." Just experiment, it is not hard to change these things and switch them up and try them.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, okay. Offering, probably like the most basic, the go-to. You don’t have to think about it too hard. It’s just, "Hey, here’s a 10% off coupon for signing up, right? That one’s easy.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly, yeah.

Kurt Elster: You don’t even need marketing automation to do that one. You stick the coupon code in your welcome email or whatever it is regardless of platform. There you go. It’s like these are all tips that work independently with Klaviyo. You can do them on Klaviyo, I wish you would, but you don’t have to. What else? My gosh, I lost my train of thought. Yeah, I’m talking about the different lead magnets that work. Yeah, then from there, you know you could combine that with education. You could follow up with email course. I love email courses just because you’re in their inbox everyday for a week or like in your case the Beardbrand bootcamp, which is a nice alliteration to it. It helps keep you top of mind. It gets you in the earn box every week.

I love what you said, "Hey, you train them to expect value." That’s how you keep those open rates up. As long as that first email delivers on the promise of the lead magnet and it better deliver on the promise of that opt-in form and then some. Then people go, “Okay, these are providing me value.” They’re going to see them and they’re going to be willing to keep opening them and that’s what’s going to help keep open rates up naturally with great tip. Then the other one, format we have recently seen work well is a regular giveaway, because like a monthly or weekly giveaway. We did it on Jay Leno’s Store, lenosgarage.com. That one worked pretty well. We haven’t tried anything else. There’s no comparison.

All right, so my next question on these lead magnets. We haven’t even got in the marketing automation.

Lisa Oberst: I know.

Kurt Elster: Mostly, we’re just talking about the opt-in form lead magnet and what you give them. Okay. We’ll move on, one last question, how should I set up the opt-in form? I’ve seen them in the footer, I’ve seen them as exit-intent, as popup. At Leno store, we do it as a promo bar and a landing page. There’s at least five different ways I could format a lead magnet. You can even do Facebook lead ads. What’s the right way or is it all of them. What do I do?

Lisa Oberst: Well, the same answer that goes for all of this. There is no one right way.

Kurt Elster: Right, it depends, is the right answer.

Lisa Oberst: It depends, right. For most cases, we like to go with an exit-intent popup. They’re great because they don’t interrupt the flow of your customer. If someone comes to your store, they intend to buy … you really do not want to be throwing a popup in their face. First of all, it’s disrespectful. They are here. They’re trying to get something done. Second of all, you’re giving away margin. If you’re giving away a discount and someone comes to your store with the intention to buy, you do not need to be sending them this discount code. That’s why, I definitely lean on the side of exit-intent popups. Now in Beardbrand’s case, we don’t do that. Instead, we want to go even less aggressive and have a hello bar-type banner at the top.

It depends. Beardbrand has a very specific way of communicating. If they did not want to do a popup, fine, a banner works fine as well. The conversion rates are similar. It’s going to depend on how aggressive you want to go. If you want to go all out, then you could go for a Mat, a type of Sumo Mat.

Kurt Elster: I hate those things.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, my problem with those is that they tend to trigger every single time you go to the store. They don’t give you time to breathe. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, but it does work wonders in some cases.

Kurt Elster: I agree with you. I love the exit-intent. It’s the safe, polite way to do it. Then if someone who’s on the site to shop, you will never going to see your exit-intent popup form. If they’re there, they browsed and then they’re leaving. Okay, as a safety net, we have our last stage. Hey, let me give you something for free, please. All you’re going to do is give me your email address, which is way harder than it sounds. People don’t want to give up their email address, I don’t blame them. You need to be finding something of value.

Lisa Oberst: Okay. Exactly.

Kurt Elster: Go ahead.

Lisa Oberst: What’s crazy with those exit-intent is that they’re capturing customers who are leaving the store. We’re still able with the welcome sequence to convert them at about eight to 10%, so that is huge.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, you’re right. In theory, you’re capturing the least engaged segment of the audience and still converting one out of 10 of them which is just awesome. Okay, then my last question on exit-intent popups. The work on desktop, what do you do on mobile? There’s no mouse. The exit-intent popup is just watching for the mouse to go toward the tab, right?

Lisa Oberst: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: Mobile, their touch devices, there’s no-

Lisa Oberst: It doesn’t work. Yeah, so that’s a problem. The way we go around it is we trigger the popup with scrolling. One way of knowing that someone is exiting the page on mobile is that they’re scrolling quickly towards the top and so that’s one way of knowing that they’re leaving. Another alternative is just to turn it into a timed popup.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Lisa Oberst: Depending on the audience.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, I typically done it as … I use OptiMonk and you can use OptiMonk just you know, whatever to do your popup forms or if you’re fancy and you have a front-end developer, there’s a free open source JavaScript called ouibounce, O-U-I bounce that I like.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, mobile I was just doing the timer. I did not know about the scrolling trick that’s very clever. I have to explore that more.

Lisa Oberst: Yes and we build our own custom popups just so we have all that flexibility. One last tip about popups, this is, again, something that we’re able to do because we build them in-house, but I love building the popup in a three-step manner. This all comes back to value, value, value first. On our popups, we don’t even show you the email field on the first screen. It’s only a question.

For example, when we’re giving away those token cards, the first screen that’s going to show up is which one of these two token cards would you like for free? There’s nothing indicating that you’re going to have to do anything. It’s all value. Then once the reader has made that micro-commitment of picking one of the two cards the chances of them going forward with giving away their email address are increased. This is a psychologic triggers that we use in this set up.

Kurt Elster: I love it.

Lisa Oberst: Another little tip there.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, it is rather than ask for, "Hey, buy my stuff, give me your credit card details." That’s a huge ask. You go with a series of micro-commitments that helps you build that relationship and build trust. The simplest one is, “Hey, did you want this free thing?” “Okay, yeah, the answer is yes, I do.”

Lisa Oberst: Okay.

Kurt Elster: You step them through it.

Lisa Oberst: Once they said that, then they’re going to focus all through.

Kurt Elster: Can you share with us the store that uses the coin thing, this three-step process?

Lisa Oberst: Sure, instagaming.

Kurt Elster: Got it.

Lisa Oberst: We actually also use that on Beardbrand.

Kurt Elster: Okay, cool. I’m going to include all of these in the show notes, so people could check it out. I’m sorry if your opt-in rates go up and your conversion rates go down.

Lisa Oberst: Conversions.

Kurt Elster: Sorry.

Lisa Oberst: At least, we’re aware.

Kurt Elster: If you check these out, please go, just by something small so she has something to do with that.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, I was going to say it. These products are amazing. You’re going to love them.

Kurt Elster: Yeah. Okay. In this sense, you’ve got into one of the early, one of the nice tenets about email marketing automation. You’re only showing the sequence to a particular kind person. You’re not just blasting the same message to everyone all the time. This is segmentation. Talk to me about segmentation?

Lisa Oberst: Yes, the basic segmentation that you must put in place is what we just talked about with welcome sequence. This is someone who comes to your store. If they’re not buying, you put them to through this welcome sequence. Then on top of that, abandon carts, so this is someone who went as far as putting a product in their cart, but didn’t buy, so that’s another sequence. Then on top of that is the post-purchase sequence. Those are really the core foundation of automation; post-purchase, abandon car, welcome sequences.

Kurt Elster: All right. Go ahead.

Lisa Oberst: Go for it. No, go for it.

Kurt Elster: All right, so I love the … the welcome sequence is clever and each segment, each sequence has a goal. The sequence is to take these very fairly cold prospects and turn them into customers through a longer effort in high touch engagement process that’s fully automated, which is very cool. That’s our first one. That’s with our exit-intent popup. Cart abandonment, they added the cart and left the store so now we’re going to follow up with them. I have a format I follow that I like, what is yours? I will share you mine, if you show me yours.

Lisa Oberst: Okay, well, mine is typically built with four emails. I like to go with four emails to present about across five, six days, it depends. First, goes out two hours an abandoned cart you want to hit. The idea is not to be creepy and not to be too intrusive, but to still potential hit them with an email before they’ve left their computer.

Kurt Elster: Strike while the iron is hot.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly. This email is always, always customer support-centered. It’s just being helpful, because most of these customers who place an item in their cart, then abandoned necessarily because they didn’t want to buy. They abandoned maybe because they got distracted and maybe, I don’t know, someone got home and they just forgot that they were in the middle of placing an order. The idea of this first email is just to remind them, also, at the same time, you’re reminding them, but you’re also discovering if they had an issue, if they had a question. You can discover some really interesting information about your cart by just asking the customer if, maybe, they weren’t able to put their order through. That’s signal number one.

Kurt Elster: Right.

Lisa Oberst: It gets a lot of answers, a lot of customers think that someone sat down and wrote that email specifically for them and they really appreciate it.

Kurt Elster: This sounds like the first email will be very plain texted.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, it is, a 100%.

Kurt Elster: Okay. It’s interesting that we separately discovered and came about the same approach. What I was doing was after four hours. Pretty similar, then I thought strike while the iron is hot, I would send them an email even if this was just basic Shopify cart abandonment an email or they only send one or it fits in something fancier like Klaviyo or Conversio. I would send them off an email. Its plain texted and says, "Hey, I’m the owner of whatever, and I saw you abandon your cart. I just want to make sure you didn’t have any issues or if you have any questions just hit reply and let me know how I can help."

It was just a way to find did they have a customer service issue, can we be proactive, can we find objections? Ultimately, most of the time, they got distracted, they forgot or they just said, "Yeah, not quite comfortable yet." Getting that personal touch email where it’s proactive on customer service that’s very positive. That’s going to help increase trust. Okay, cool. We came up with the same thing separately. I like it.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah. One little thing I like to do with that email is it’s plain text, but I like to add a head shot in the signature just to give it even more of an element of real human interaction.

Kurt Elster: That’s a good idea. I like it. Next?

Lisa Oberst: Number two. Number two, definitely, you want to show the cart content. At that point, a primary goes out about a day later. You want to show the content to get them out and excited about the products they were looking at. Sometimes, you can include a discount already in that second email. I try to keep it for the third, fourth. It depends on the brand. It depends on how much they want to send out discount codes or not, but that’s an option.

Kurt Elster: I like it. Okay. Yeah, typically, my second one I just go, "Good things come to those who wait, here’s 10% off your purchase and here’s your cart." Something like that after 24 hours.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, yes. The next one can go out after 48 and then that’s when you want to really start pushing, putting some discount code in. They definitely have an element of scarcity in saying, "Well, wait, we can’t keep these items forever, maybe make it fun." Definitely, for example, in gaining, they have a lot of fun on their store that we can reuse, so we do that, which is make it entertaining. I find that making emails fun, entertaining, definitely have higher return.

Kurt Elster: Yeah. Why not make it fun. Everything doesn’t have to be super professional and serious. A great example of this that I always point to, super successful Shopify store Violent Little Machine Shop, violentlittle.com. All of their descriptions are like its all gallows humor. They’re swearing same with their emails. It talks about like writing them drunk. The store does phenomenally well. It’s just such a great business because their audience likes that. It’s authentic and engaging and it’s rough and tumble and it works for them. Be fun, be yourself. I think have an authentic voice.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: That helps a lot.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, if you can afford to be fun, maybe you can say someone is going to run off with your cart content or just come up with some entertaining way, excuses for being in their inbox.

Kurt Elster: All right, the third segmentation then is the post-purchase sale. We finally, we went through these two.

Lisa Oberst: Yes.

Kurt Elster: In theory, people who’ve gotten these two email sequences. They’ve got them to purchase, they’ve got a lot of emails, they’re really building a relationship here, but the really successful stores don’t just stop there.

Lisa Oberst: Nope.

Kurt Elster: At this point, we have optimized the top of our funnel, we validate our business, but how do we extend customer lifetime value both ways and I’m sure you have ideas?

Lisa Oberst: Yes, there’s so much that you can do with post-purchase email. One first tip I want to point out, especially for Shopify Plus stores. It’s sending your order confirmation through Klaviyo. This just heads up, it isn’t just the one click setup. It’s a little complicated because you have to deal with Klaviyo’s tags and put the email together. It enables you to include a product feed. The product feed is huge. It’s going to show the specific products that a customer has highest chance of it wanting. I like to do the order confirmation, because order confirmation emails have the highest open rates. They have about 70% open rate on average.

If you can show more products in that email, I typically, actually for Beardbrand the order confirmation email is converting at .8%, .9%, that’s sending to every single customer. It’s a little bit counterintuitive, but customers are super excited after making an order and it’s a really good time to be actually showing them more products.

Kurt Elster: I have loved this feature in Conversio which was normally called Receiptful. That’s like how they started, was just this one single idea in automation. Just, hey, show them upsell products in the email receipt. I had no idea you could make this work in Klaviyo. I am so excited.

Lisa Oberst: I saw them. Yes. No. As I said, it is not a one click setup, but it will figure it out.

Kurt Elster: I hope someone from Klaviyo is listening to this. This needs to be added in one of like the defaults of just inflows. My gosh, that’s fantastic.

Lisa Oberst: I will send them an email.

Kurt Elster: Please do. One of the issues you run into here, when you do this one is there’s no way to turn off the order confirmation email from Shopify itself. You got to replace it with something, what do you stick in there?

Lisa Oberst: No, you can with Shopify Plus.

Kurt Elster: Okay.

Lisa Oberst: You just have to reach out to them.

Kurt Elster: Very good.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, it’s a little sneaky.

Kurt Elster: Instead of Shopify, what we typically do is make that one just like a personal plain text thank you from the owners. It’s like, "Hey, you placed for an order, thank you for your purchase. Your receipt’s on its way in the second email is the way around it.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, that’s perfect.

Kurt Elster: Cool.

Lisa Oberst: That’s perfect. After that, definitely, you want to send a thank you email and those, you might be surprised again, but those convert at the same rate about as the order confirmation email. Include another product feed, why not?

Kurt Elster: I love the product feed, just tell me what that is in Klaviyo, they’ve got this drag and drop editor, it’s very cool. You could drag product feed in and it gives you latest products, newest products, but most likely to buy. Something of that effect give you a couple of different feeds or you can make different feeds.

Lisa Oberst: Make them, yeah.

Kurt Elster: Yeah. The one you want is the one that people chose them products they’re most likely to buy because it’s got a JavaScript widget in your theme so it could track what people actually looked at. I always suspected what it’s showing them. The intersection of bestsellers and products they looked at but didn’t buy.

Lisa Oberst: The way it works, if you set it up with the waiting. The way it works is it looks like what products the customer bought. If they bought A and B products and another customer ended up, pass about A and B and C, they’re going show them C.

Kurt Elster: Okay, so it’s based on historical purchase data from other customers?

Lisa Oberst: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: Very clever, it’s personalized recommendations. You don’t have to do anything. It does it automatically, dynamically, super cool.

Lisa Oberst: That’s a main great feature. Thank you emails, big ones too. Now something that we do for Beardbrand, for example is for every single product in the store, we have a special, we have a particular email that goes out. Let’s say someone buys beard oil. We’re going to send them a post-purchase email that teaches them exactly how to use their beard oil. If they bought a balm, we’re going to send them an email that shows them how to use their balm. That’s taking it to another level.

Kurt Elster: What you’re doing, it’s very clever. You’re going to ensure, you’re going to help keep the excited, because I’m assuming they get this between the time they purchased and before they get the product, right?

Lisa Oberst: Yes.

Kurt Elster: Okay. It shows up. It helps keep that excitement going, but you’re also going to preempt like you already know what customers objections are, issues. It’s going to preempt those things and really radically increase customer satisfaction, because when that product shows up, they already know, "Hey, this is how I apply beard oil." The first time I bought beard oil, it showed up and it occurred to me, “Wait a second, I don’t know how you actually apply this or how much.”

Lisa Oberst: What do I do with this?

Kurt Elster: I had to go find a video that explained it.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, exactly. If you know that your customers are going to be wondering, "Okay, well, what do I do with this when I receive it?" Send them the email with instructions. Very, very helpful. It helps establish that relationship to another level again, just increasing customer lifetime value, letting them know that you care enough to send them all that information.

Kurt Elster: That one, that’s huge. It may not seem obvious as to like, "This is going to sell them something. No, it doesn’t need to; this is an investment in that relationship." You’re going to have happier customers, you’re going to have less customer support request and it’s going to them more likely to buy and recommend your products.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly. It’s an excuse just to be in their inbox.

Kurt Elster: Right.

Lisa Oberst: Again, it’s an excuse. Well, before sending them another sales email, you’re sending them a lot of value. Next time they get an email they’re going to open it again expecting value.

Kurt Elster: What do I do? All right, we have now set them up where we know they’re going to open up that next email. What is the next email?

Lisa Oberst: That’s when you want to study a bit of your customer lifetime value. You want to know; what is the typical journey of one of your customers, do they buy a second time after one month, after three months, what’s normal? Let’s take Beardbrand as an example; typically, a great customer will buy maybe every month. What we want to do after a month after their first order, we want us to be in their inbox. We want to show them, okay, well, you’re probably running out of the product so here you can click this one click button and add the product again to your cart. That’s one thing that we do.

Kurt Elster: Swell.

Lisa Oberst: It takes a little bit of coding, but it’s possible to set this up so that you show them their past order. You have a "add to cart" button right next to the product so that all they have to do is click that button and refill.

Kurt Elster: Very good. There’s another way to do it, I forgot what it’s called, but you could build a link that when clicked on sends everyone to the checkout process with a particular item or items already in their cart. This is a clever idea you have. In their case, they have a consumable good. We know they use it. It maybe takes 30 days to use it up since it’s a consumable. Then you follow up with them, "Hey, are you running low, don’t run out, order now, order again. Here you go." Just make it so branded easy, remove all the friction for them. It’s clever. What else can we do?

Lisa Oberst: What we do in some cases if they didn’t buy after one month? Well, shoot them another email after three months. Maybe that they hadn’t run out yet, maybe they just needed a bit more time before buying again. Send them another different email basically saying that same idea a little bit later. Then if they really haven’t purchased in a while, you want to win them back. To do that, you can get creative, send win-back emails that, I don’t know, a bit of emotion, be clever, be fun and give them a reason to come back. Maybe a discount, maybe a free product, those work pretty well in win-back emails.

Kurt Elster: Let’s say after, for most brands, it’s going to be somewhere in between 50 and 80 days or if they don’t make another purchase, we can really think of them as lost customer. They’re a one time purchase, now they’re gone. Maybe they’ll be back, but maybe not. What we could do is send these win-back emails, where we try before they turn out, before they totally forget about us. Great, make another purchase, come back, we love you, that kind of thing. All right.

Lisa Oberst: Exactly.

Kurt Elster: All of those things. Those are three workflows or three colors for email marketing automation. Really tremendous, you’ve absolutely opened the kimono on this stuff. As someone who lives, eats, breathes Klaviyo, do have any Klaviyo pro-tips for working with the platform?

Lisa Oberst: Actually, you’ve mentioned some of them already. Definitely using the product feed, I know you love it. I love it, it’s amazing. Some other tips, so you definitely can setup. It takes a little bit of coding, but there’s a way of setting it up your store, so that a customer who clicks through from your Klaviyo email has his discount code applied automatically to the store.

Kurt Elster: I didn’t know that.

Lisa Oberst: Again, that does take a little bit of coding, but with Shopify Plus, Shopify also, that’s possible. That really makes for a smooth process. Another thing that’s possible by tweaking the Shopify Plus cart a little bit is trading a discount code that will automatically add the free gift to the cart.

Kurt Elster: That one for just Shopify Plus only, right?

Lisa Oberst: That is Shopify Plus only, yes.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, we did that. Well, there’s an app that will do it called like Secomapp Free Gifts, but it’s not the same. It’s not quite the same as the smooth frictionless version that you can get with a little bit of JavaScript plus Shopify scripts.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah, exactly. Actually, big news, Klaviyo just announced that Shopify stores will be able to have custom coupons sent out through Klaviyo as of now, so that’s really exciting.

Kurt Elster: Yes.

Lisa Oberst: It used to be only for Shopify Plus.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, so what it would do is Klaviyo in Shopify Plus only could dynamically generate coupon codes. When you sense somewhat like, you get the abandoned cart email go say, "You get 10% off, order now!" Then the next you go, “It’s going to expire.” Well, really like you were lying essentially, because everyone got the same coupon code.

Lisa Oberst: Yeah.

Kurt Elster: Even if you limit to them with one email and then those end up on coupon code sites. It was like the good outweigh the bad, but it wasn’t perfect. Versus now, if you are in Shopify Plus, Klaviyo could dynamically generate a one time use coupon code for each individual person, which was very cool. It worked well, I liked it. Now, as of yesterday, well, as of May 16th, we see that that works on all Shopify stores even Klaviyo, very cool. Last question, we’re running-

Lisa Oberst: Go for it.

Kurt Elster: When you’ve gone long, because this has been tremendously valuable. Last question, what’s your favorite part about what you do?

Lisa Oberst: You might have noticed I have a bit of an accent. That’s because I’m French, I’m American, I grew up in Belgium. I’ve traveled a lot. I have a lot of different experiences to pull from whenever I start working for a new client. I love that aspect of the job. I love diving into these new personalities that I have to embody to be able to rewrite the best copy for each client.

One thing, I didn’t mention, but every single time I write for one customer, I have someone that I think about. For example, the in gaming sales, game accessories, I’m not a gamer, but I do have friends who are and every time I sit down to write, I start the email, "Hello, Jeremy." I really, really dive into that personality. I think that that’s amazing. I get to learn a ton. I have learned so much about growing a beard. I really wish I could grow a beard right now.

Kurt Elster: I love that idea. Yeah, when I was trying to unlearn like the awful academic business pros that have beaten into me in school, I had to unlearn that stuff write natural sounding, authentic sounding emails. One of the early tricks that helped was picturing the one person that you’re answering. Writing to a single individual and that’s going to help you kind of do some code changing, some code switching and writing their email. I love that you’re actually titling it when you right the first draft, of course is like, hey, and that person’s name. That’s going to help you keep you on track as opposed to writing those gross emails that are like, "hello newsletter." You keep in touch one-on-one.

Lisa Oberst: Hello world. Exactly. Yeah.

Kurt Elster: Very good. Lisa, where can people go to learn more about you?

Lisa Oberst: They can go to fuelmade.com and we’ve actually put together a free checklist, email checklist that you can access at fuelmade.com/usp for unofficial Shopify podcast. This checklist, it gives a lot of tips on how to think through every aspect of your emails before sending them out. Lots of best practices and it’s just a great way to make sure that you don’t forget a key element of the email before sending it. Great value, definitely go get it. It’s at fuelmade.com/usp.

Kurt Elster: I will include the link to fuelmade.com/usp. Download the checklist; I’m sure it is greatly valuable. You’re talking to a Klaviyo pro here. What was going to say? Lisa, thank you so much for doing this. I greatly appreciate it.

Lisa Oberst: Thank you, Kurt. This was great.

Kurt Elster: I have learned a lot. To our listeners, thanks for your time and attention, your wonderful reviews on iTunes, your kind words et cetera. However, you found this, find out more about it and get those show notes at unofficialshopifypodcast.com. If you don’t want to miss another episode, you want to be notified, sign up for my newsletter, kurtelster.com. Shoot you an email whenever we post a new episode. Of course, if you like to work with me in your next project, you can apply at ethercycle.com. Thanks everybody and we’ll be back next week.

The Pet Care Card: How a 21-year-old Built a Six-figure Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 May 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Your pets are a part of your family, but when the adults go to work, and the kids are at school, your pets are left home alone. So what happens to them if something happens to you?

That's what a 21-year-old AJ Montoya wondered. So one day he decided to solve the problem by designing a credit card sized card with his emergency contact info. That way if he were ever in an accident, sick or injured and unable to return home to care for his pet, the card would be seen in his wallet, alerting those around you that your pet needs care.

Now AJ sells that same card (and more) on thepetcarecard.com– and business is good. Quit your job good. Hire your family to work for you good. And on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, he's going to tell us how it happened, and what you should do differently.

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Learn how:

He looked to his own life to find a pain to solve
They validated without having a product
They got their initial sales
He made the switch from side hustle to full-time Shopify storeowners
He used automation to free up his time
And the things he wished he could change

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Shopify Unite 2017 Pt.3

Kurt Elster — Thu, 4 May 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Part three of our special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site.

On April 20th, a thousand Shopify Partners from around the world gathered together in San Francisco for our 2nd annual Unite conference: a two-day event to discuss all things Shopify, commerce, and technology.

And they announced a ton of stuff. There was something for everyone announced: new payment options, Shopify Plus features, app APIs, new theme toolkits, and more.

Rather than have me tell you about it, we put together lightning interviews with twenty attendees (including Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein) to find out what's most impactful coming out of Unite.

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Shopify Unite 2017 Pt.2

Kurt Elster — Wed, 3 May 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Part two of our special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site.

And they announced a ton of stuff. There was something for everyone announced: new payment options, Shopify Plus features, app APIs, new theme toolkits, and more.

Rather than have me tell you about it, we put together lightning interviews with twenty attendees (including Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein) to find out what's most impactful coming out of Unite.

—

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Shopify Unite 2017 Pt.1

Kurt Elster — Tue, 2 May 2017 12:00:00 +0000

This week we have a special Shopify Unite edition of the show in which we cover many of the announcements from Unite last week by interviewing the attendees on-site.

And they announced a ton of stuff. There was something for everyone announced: new payment options, Shopify Plus features, app APIs, new theme toolkits, and more.

Rather than have me tell you about it, we put together lightning interviews with twenty attendees (including Shopify COO Harley Finkelstein) to find out what's most impactful coming out of Unite.

—

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Free Up Your Business: Delegating & Hiring with Connor Gillivan

Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Many Shopify store owners are bootstrapped solopreneurs, which means you’re handling everything in your business. As your business grows, you may want to delegate tasks, to give yourself free time to do focus on more valuable things, or maybe you just want to work less.

The first time you hire is the scariest. Where do you start? How do you train people? How should you hire?

To answer these questions and more, we’re joined by Connor Gillivan, author of Free Up Your Business: 50 Secrets to Bootstrap Million Dollar Companies, founder of FreeeUp.com, and a veteran ecommerce entrepreneur who has sold over $20 million on Amazon.

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Learn:

How Connor went from college dorm room entrepreneur to selling over $20 million on Amazon
How he took that experience and leveraged it to build FreeeUp, online hiring marketplace for eCommerce business owners, with over 1,000 customers.
How Shopify store owners can utilize remote freelancers to stay focused on what they do best and make their operations more efficient.
Connor’s process for how store owners can remove tasks from their plate, surround themselves with experts, and keep pushing the company forward with their expertise.
And why it’s okay to take a trial and error approach

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Urbain: How a 20-year-old Entrepreneur from Minneapolis Earns a 3x ROI on Facebook

Kurt Elster — Tue, 18 Apr 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Logan Ketterling is a 20-year-old entrepreneur from Minneapolis who combined his passions for fashion, storytelling, and online marketing to launch a successful jewelry business. Logan's brand Urbain creates unique pieces from places of significance such as historic sites or local hotspots.

Since the launch, Logan has worked hard to get awareness about his unique products. Using Facebook Ads, Logan has built profitable funnels to get a customer aware, engaged, and active in his business. Some of these funnels returning 2 to 3 times ROI using unique audiences and tons of research to build an onramp to a new brand in a crowded space.

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Learn:

The exact steps in his Facebook sales funnel
How Logan targets prospective customers
His long-term wins with Facebook advertising
The mistakes he would have changed in his journey

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Ecommerce SEO in 2017: Smart Marketing Strategies from John Doherty

Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Free traffic from Google through SEO can be a pillar of success for your Shopify store.

Unfortunately, SEO advice is often general, not actionable, and sometimes wrong.

As a result, it's tough to find 'real' experts.

Today we're talking with John Doherty about ecommerce-specific tactics to grow your organic search traffic.

John is the founder of GetCredo.com, a company that connects great companies with the right marketing expert for their needs. He's also a freelance digital marketing consultant. In the past, he ran growth marketing at Trulia Rentals, marketing for HotPads.com, and worked for SEO agency Distilled in New York City.

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Learn:

The highest-leverage things ecommerce stores can do for SEO (that many get wrong)
How long does SEO take to work?
The right way to think about SEO when getting a new project/site off the ground
How to compete against the big players like Amazon and Zappos
When you should hire out for SEO?

Free Guide

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Shopping Cart Migration: Planning Your Move to Shopify

Kurt Elster — Tue, 4 Apr 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Today on The Unofficial Shopify Podcast we’re talking about migrating to Shopify

If you already have an ecommerce website or are using a different ecommerce platform for your business, it is important to make sure that your product information and other content make it over to Shopify.

Ross Beyeler, a Shopify Plus expert, specializes in migrations, and joins us today to walk us through what a successful migration looks like.

Ross is the Founder and CEO of Growth Spark, an agency that provides strategy, design and development services to e-commerce companies. Since its founding in 2008, Growth Spark has completed over 350 projects with brands including Bose, Newbury Comics, Johnny Cupcakes, BottleKeeper and many more.

During that time, the firm has also received awards from Interactive Media Awards, Internet Retailer and BusinessWeek.

Ross is a proud alum of Babson College where he occasionally guest lectures on topics including e-commerce, design and entrepreneurship.

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Learn:

Why do people migrate to Shopify?
Which platforms are migrating to Shopify?
How long does it take and what does it cost?
How should you approach your migration project?
What are the key components to a successful project that are often overlooked?
How do you migrate data and why is it so hard?
What can't you import?
What are the technical aspects of a migration?
What to expect with search engine ranking and optimization?

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Getting People Talking About Your Brand (Even if you're not an Influencer)

Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 12:00:00 +0000

Pop-Quiz: Which marketing channel is the most effective and costs the least?

Answer: Word of mouth.

Today, David Fallarme joins us in this actionable episode to discuss the essentials behind successful word of mouth marketing.

David currently heads up marketing for ReferralCandy, a Shopify app that gives your store a referral program.

David's background includes making viral Facebook games played by millions, and he uses that experience to help ecommerce stores increase their sales with word of mouth.

—

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Learn:

How to get hundreds of people talking about your store when you launch, even if you aren't an influencer
The most common beginner mistakes everyone makes when setting up referral program
How to refine your positioning to increase likelihood of people talking about you
How offering social status to your buyers is a powerful motivator

Free Guide

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Writing Effective Sales Copy with Sean McCabe

Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 12:00:00 +0000

You may have a great product, but it's not going to sell itself.

If you can’t convince someone your product is the right one for them, it doesn’t matter how good it is. Nobody’s going to buy.

Maybe you can relate:
You launched and nobody bought— or only made a few sales.
You launched and nobody cared at all. Crickets.
You launched but sales plummeted immediately after.

Would it surprise you to hear the solution to all these problems is writing?

It ALL starts with writing. Crafting the right message is critical.

Writing effective sales copy is an incredibly valuable skill.

That's why I've brought Sean McCabe on talk with me about writing effective sales copy.

Sean is an entrepreneur who writes over a million words a year on business, and has helped tens of thousands of students build and grow sustainable businesses with his courses on copywriting, pricing, and marketing. He knows what he’s talking about!

After today's episode, you should be able to sell MORE of what you sell by learning to write effective sales copy.

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Fueled by Death: How Death Wish Coffee Earned a Spot In The Super Bowl

Kurt Elster — Tue, 7 Mar 2017 13:00:00 +0000

In 2012, Death Wish Coffee Co. was started in a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, NY. Founder, Mike Brown, saw a need for coffee that was both strong and delicious to serve his groggy, morning customers. After creating the perfect blend of beans and combining it with his unique roasting technique, the 'World's Strongest Coffee' was born. Today, thousands of people trust Death Wish Coffee to wake them up and keep them going every day.

In 2015, we won Intuit’s ‘Small Business Big Game’ competition, which gave us a 30- second commercial spot during the Superbowl. Since then, their business has grown every day allowing them to reach more coffee drinkers than ever before and invest in tremendous marketing efforts. They were the official coffee sponsor of New York Comic Con, they’ve sponsored Nascar Driver Ty Dillon, and they’ve had the opportunity to support amazing charities like the Special Olympics with their products.

Today we're going to talk with their founder, Mike Brown, to hear his story and how he's made sure the Death Wish brand fits into every aspect of their fans' lives.

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How Peter Friis crowdfunded more than $200K without Kickstarter

Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 13:21:00 +0000

Let me warn you now: you'll want to have a notepad ready before listening to this episode, because it may be our most actionable ever.

Peter Friis is CEO and co-founder of ESSIO, the world's first aromatherapy diffuser for your shower.

He recently had a major breakthrough in their conversion rate by designing an entirely new landing page using industry best practices and directing traffic to this page instead of their website.

The results?

A 665% lift in add to carts and 494% lift in conversion rate overall.

This was great until they ran out of all their stock (because their CPAs were so low).

They decided tp take the same landing page and convert it into a crowdfunding page where people could effectively get in line (and get a great discount) by pre-ordering. Mind you, they did this all outside of Kickstarter and without the framework of a traditional crowdfunding platform.

Over the course of 3 months, they sold more than $200K worth of product and were nearly sold out again when their new inventory arrived.

On today's show, we dive into Peter's story and the ins & outs of what they did and how others can replicate their success.

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Learn:

How they came up with the idea as a family
Peter's method for validating the idea for $100
How he gets so much PR, and how to create the perfect pitch
How we got his product on Good Morning America
The breakthrough that enabled his Facebook ads success
The elements of a successful product video
And finally, the techniques that 5x'd their conversion rates

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Peter Keller: Growing a Crossfit Store Explosively Without Paid Ads

Kurt Elster — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Peter founded Fringe Sport out of his garage in 2010 and grew it to 7 figures in revenue in 18 months. Now he is CEO of Fringe Sport, focused on bringing Great Products with Great Prices and World Class Customer Service to WODers and weightlifters.

He has one problem though: his friends think he's crazy for his most recent marketing decision...

—

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Learn:

The market research tactic he used when starting his business
The three pillars of his current marketing strategy
How he's made customer service culture more than just lip service
And the biggest mistake he wish he could change

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Embracing Controversy: How This Bikini Startup Went Viral

Kurt Elster — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 13:00:00 +0000

Of all the store owners I hear from with thoughts on finding & engaging customers on social media, Candice Galek, CEO and Founder of Bikini Luxe is by far one of the most impressive. In under two years, she took her Shopify store from her living room in Miami Beach to a warehouse and a team of more than 40 employees worldwide all while amassing a social media following of more than 250,000.

In today's episode, Candace pulls back the curtain on her humble beginnings, tremendous growth, and her contrarian approach to social media.

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Learn:

The importance of face time
How she grew her following to 250K people
Her approach to social media
How to get influencers to sell for you
How she went viral on LinkedIn for a 20% boost in sales

Free Guide

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We Built a Shopify App for Fun & Profit

Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 13:00:00 +0000

One of the best things about Shopify is its extensibility and the ecosystem that goes along with it. Recently we released our first (and currently only) Shopify app, and wanted to share that experience with you. It turns out it’s surprisingly easy to custom apps for a store’s private use, and almost as easy to monetize those apps in the Shopify app store.

Jeremy Green, who developed Crowdfunder App with us, joins us to discuss the experience.

Jeremy Green is a software architecture consultant specializing in Ruby on Rails and Ember for SaaS applications. He's the founder of Remarq.io and CloudHdr.com. He's an active contributor to the Oklahoma tech scene through his involvement with Techlahoma, Code for Okc, and OkcRuby.

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Learn:

How long it took
What to budget
Difficulty level
How apps work within Shopify
What the approval process is like

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Sell More with Email Autoresponders

Kurt Elster — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Klaviyo's Chad Vanags joins us to explain just how easy it's become to use data-driven personalization in your email marketing to make more money on autopilot. He breaks down what email flows consistently make the most money, and what the best practices to use when implementing those workflows.

Currently the head of agency training at Klaviyo, Chad teaches how to successfully implement email flows for immediate success. Previously, he was the co-founder of the agency Ecommerce Influence where he worked with brands like MVMT Watches, Tipsy Elves, Stance Socks, Blenders Eyewear, and many more. He was also the producer and co-host of the Ecommerce Influence podcast.

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Learn:

The easy tips Chad has for ecommerce stores looking to get ahead this season
The specific tactics or trends that are really helping to improve targeting for ecommerce stores
The most successful emails that stores should be sending

Expanding your Ecommerce Business on Amazon with Kiri Masters

Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Dec 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Kiri is the CEO and founder of Bobsled Marketing, an Amazon marketing agency that has changed the way businesses sell and promote their products in the online marketplace. The agency was launched in 2015, following Kiri’s own entrepreneurial efforts on Amazon with her own brand, I Like That Lamp. Trying and testing tools and strategies with her own brand, Kiri realized that many product businesses would benefit greatly from being Amazon, but have neither the time or experience to properly launch their products there.

At the core of Bobsled Marketing’s success is a self-designed, self-tested, comprehensive process that Kiri created to launch and optimize product listings on Amazon with a clear objective: to drive maximum revenue through the channel. To-date, this same process has been replicated by the Bobsled Marketing team for over 200 products across most product categories on Amazon.

Bobsled Marketing had humble beginnings. In July 2015, Kiri was doing piecemeal freelancing projects for consumer goods companies who needed help with maintaining and growing their sales on Amazon. Soon, she took her business to a whole new level. Kiri identified an overlooked opportunity amongst crowdfunded brands, which needed to quickly develop sales & distribution channels after their Kickstarter campaign ended.

This niche approach has boosted Bobsled Marketing into one of the go-to Amazon marketing agencies for established brands in less than a year, offering new opportunities, both for new businesses and for digital professionals looking for the right company to harness their extraordinary analytical skills. Kiri’s company grew to more than 10 staff, and manages 7 figures per month in sales on the Amazon marketplace for more than 30 clients. These clients now range from crowdfunded hardware startups and large European manufacturers to a billion-dollar consumer brand.

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Learn:

Why should brands consider launching their products on Amazon?
What are the top things that brands do wrong when they launch on Amazon?
What does Amazon cost? What does that get?

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Profitable Facebook Ads & Audiences Decoded with Kurt Bullock

Kurt Elster — Thu, 1 Dec 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Facebook is giving us more ways than ever to quickly and inexpensively generate custom audiences. As a busy store owner, learning to navigate Facebook's myriad of advertising options effectively can be a time-consuming endeavor.

Kurt Bullock joins us to discuss Facebook's new options, and you can use them to set up a sales funnel that segments and targets customers through their relationship with your brand.

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Learn:

Learn why interest target isn’t every effective
How to reach the right people on Facebook
The new Facebook Custom Audiences available
The top of funnel ad type that converts best

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Transcript

Kurt Elster: Today, I've got none other than Kurt Bullock, slightly confusing we have the same first name. He's a Shopify marketing master who specializes in Facebook ads. I noticed because he's been working with me for the last several months fulfilling a lot of our projects and doing an extraordinary job.

I'm really excited to have him here with us. Anyway, we're going into it. We're recording live from Ethercycle Headquarters outside Chicago. I'm your host, Kurt Elster. Kurt, thank you for joining us.

Kurt Bullock: Good morning, Kurt.

Kurt Elster: How're you doing?

Bullock: I am doing great.

Kurt Elster: Diving right into it, Facebook ads and Shopify, we know Facebook ads are great way to drive new traffic, qualify customers to your store, bring back prospects, people who haven't bought yet but a lot people who implemented themselves do it in a way probably differently than you and I would go about it. Let's start with, what's the wrong way? How are people doing it and screwing it up?

Bullock: I think that a lot of people go at it with the approach of trying to put together a profile. This is the way that before there were all these cool new targeting methods, it was really only way to go. This is what they teach in a lot of courses.
You would go in put together a profile of your target customer, find all their interests...

Kurt Elster: Like a customer avatar?

Bullock: There you go. You're putting together a customer avatar, trying to find all the magazines that they read, their customers, their competitions, Facebook pages and try to put together a profile and run ads to that group of interests.
The problem with that is you are reaching a pool of audience at that point. They don't know anything about you and it's an expensive and a hard way to go. A lot of people come away from Facebook ads, Googling it doesn't work, I think, because they have difficulty with the targeting.

Kurt Elster: Interest targeting not very effective. What works better than interest targeting?

Bullock: When I work with a new client, the first thing I do is get them to upload, let's say, a customer list if it's larger than 100 or 200 customers or their whole newsletter list so that we can create a custom audience.

Kurt Elster: Why do we need the two different lists? Why not just lump them together?

Bullock: It's great if you can segment and find the most, let's say, your best customers. For instance, if you were to rank them just your newsletter members are going to be less targeted, less relevant than your customer list who have all gone through and decided to purchase your product.
If you have enough customers that you can upload this to Facebook and the reason you did enough, I say that, is because Facebook's then going to use their algorithm magic and try and create a new audience for you. Create a lookalike audience with completely unique people in there for you to target your ads to.

Kurt Elster: That's based on if I give them a list of email addresses or a list of phone numbers which is less successful. What's the minimum for to make a lookalike audience?

Bullock: I'm not sure what their hard number is, to be honest. I usually don't upload anything less than 200. I don't have very good luck if I go under 200. They may have a hard limit but I couldn't tell you what it is specifically.

Kurt Elster: It changes. It's hard to keep up because the stuff changes so quickly.

Bullock: Yes it does.

Kurt Elster: It used to be 100. If you upload a list of 100, that assumes 100 percent match rate, right? Not every email address will correspond to a Facebook account.

Bullock: That's right.

Kurt Elster: 200 is a totally safe number to do with. Let's say, I had a bigger list of past customers. I'm not even playing devil's advocate here. I generally wonder about this. Is it better to upload, let's say, I've got a list of 10,000 customers, and just put everybody who's ever given me $1, or more?
Or segment it and say, "All right, should I only upload the 1,000 repeat customers I have, since they'd be my best buyers, or upload the buyers who spent more than $1,000 with me in the last year?"

Bullock: That's exactly right. I would definitely go ahead and upload the repeat buyers, or the buyers that have exceeded a certain threshold, if you have numbers like 10,000 to work with. A lot of people don't. You put together the best audience that you can and give Facebook the best material to work with.
Go ahead.

Kurt Elster: For lookalike audiences, we want quality over quantity for my source material?

Bullock: You've got it. Garbage in, garbage out. That's exactly right. You want to make sure that you give them the best audience possible. They'll give you a new audience to target. Sometimes, you do have to jump up to your newsletter list, if you don't have very many people to do that with.

Kurt Elster: They generate. We give it source material. We want whatever we have, but the highest quality we have, minimum 200 to be safe. It generates a lookalike audience of that.
It just says, "All right. Facebook bought loyalty card data, and credit card data, and unbelievably creepy stuff that they know about you," but it makes for effective ads when they can build these profiles.

It's not like there's a person doing it, which if that helps you, make it feel less creepy. It's an algorithm that does it. No one can individually pinpoint people. They're very careful about that. It creates a list of two million people, say, in the US.

Once I've got that list of two million people, here's another one, where again, I'm not playing dumb. I really wonder this. Is it a good idea to run the ads against that entire list of people, or if I have a clear idea of who my best buyer is, to run some segmentation on that list? I say like, "Here's my best buyers. Give me a lookalike audience."

Now I know my best customers are women, 25 to 34. Should we limit the custom audience to just that?

Bullock: That's what I try and go with. Two million is a high number. Facebook is getting much better at being able to handle that. Before, it was a bad idea, in my opinion, to run against two million. I still try and put on some limits. Albeit, when I start a new campaign, I do try and go broad so that I can collect data.
Sometimes, I am surprised at who really is engaging and who's purchasing. I oftentimes, try and go broad. If I'm selling something that is for women primarily, I'll go ahead and select women but I might leave the age range open and then let it run for, maybe, a week or a few days at the very least.

Then go back. Check the results. I can begin to focus that in before I have wasted too much money on, maybe, those outlying age segments.

Kurt Elster: Do you use the Audience Insights tool for this?

Bullock: Yes. I use Audience Insights to research it. I build the ads in the Power Editor. It's got a real similar form that you'll find in the Audience Insights tool, you'll find in the Power Editor for building these.

Kurt Elster: I am addicted to the Audience Insights tool. It is my favorite thing. [laughs] It is the coolest thing to play with because you don't have to spend any money with Facebook to use it. You could just say, "All right. Facebook, you've got all this info. Give me all the demographic data about my Facebook page likes."
Or, "Here's an email list," or, "Here's a list of phone numbers. Tell me, what does this audience look like." They tell you like, "OK, well, they're dislikely to own a home, be married, in this age range, have this level of education." It's just unreal. I think it's a ton of fun to play with.

Bullock: It is. It's crazy. As you mentioned before, Facebook purchases all these third party, big hunks of data. They try and assimilate that, and match it to their Facebook users. You can find out stuff that's not related. For instance, if they're in a market for a car, their buying purchases, if they have a mortgage, and then stuff that you do indicate on Facebook.
I was talking yesterday with somebody that did things for people that are getting married, and weddings. You can see if people are engaged and target people that are getting engaged. It can be creepy, if you're not careful with the way that you approach it, but really, really great information.

Kurt Elster: Yeah, it's a little disturbing when we were shopping for a house, and suddenly I'm seeing ads for houses. I didn't put anything on Facebook about that. We hadn't announced to anyone that my wife is pregnant, and we're already seeing ads on Facebook. It's a little weird.

Bullock: That's a little much.

Kurt Elster: Facebook is your snoopy aunt who knows too much.
[laughter]

Kurt Elster: The end result though is it creates relevant advertising, it's very personalized, it feels real.
I've got my custom audience, I've got my Audience Insights, I've got all this stuff loaded into Facebook. Well, I always view that there's three kinds of customers that I can advertise to.

I got cold traffic people who've never seen or heard of me before. Warm traffic people, say, visited the site in the last two, three, four weeks, and purchasers, people like my active customers who bought from me. What do I do now?

Bullock: The goal would be to try and get to warm as quickly as possible. If you're brand new to the Facebook platform, if you don't have a pixel on your site, I don't know if we need to clarify that for any of our listeners but...

Kurt Elster: Yeah, explain it.
Kurt
Bullock: The Facebook pixel is just a little piece of code that you get from Facebook when you sign up for an ad account. You want to put it on all of your web properties, on every page of all your sites, whether you're marketing them right now or not.
The sooner the better, because the day will come when it's useful to you and it can be a real treasure trove if you have had it sitting there collecting information. I guess the way that it collects information is that as people visit your site, this will communicate basic information about their activities on your site to Facebook that you can then use to market to them.

For instance, I had a customer, we had put a pixel on their site about six months ago. He forgot about it. They engaged with us and for our first promotion, we had a list of 22,000 people that had visited their site and not taken any action. The owner in this case didn't know how he had collected that information, but it was because we had that pixel on there.

That's key. You really can't do Facebook advertising without a pixel. One last point on the pixel, that's what gets your analytics data. You can see if any of your ads are converting, if sales are coming from those ads, and it can really help you steer your efforts. Without it, you're pretty much going blind.

Kurt Elster: In Shopify, there's two ways to implement the Facebook pixel. I can either just drop it into...under website settings, it will say like, "Google Analytics," and then your Facebook pixel, and you just give it the ID number. Makes it very easy.
When they first rolled that out, it had issues. It didn't report right. Has that been fixed? Do you use that or do you manually write it into the theme and the checkout settings?

Bullock: I do both, depending on the customers' commitment to sending data and also their needs. You're right, it used to be really bad and almost unusable, and then they took major steps to fix that. Now, you can actually get by -- better than get by -- you can do well by just putting the pixel in there, it'll send good data.
I still run into issues with my customers that if we want to get really custom, then I usually go in and use Google Tag Manager and we do a custom setup so that we can send exactly the data that we want for different actions that they take.

You can go custom, but if you guys are getting started, by all means, just get that pixel ID number and you can Google that. I'm sure there will be 100 screenshots that show you how the pixel ID looks like, pop it into your Shopify theme, you just go to the online store, and then preferences, and then it's going to be about halfway down the page.

Kurt Elster: I've got my email lists uploaded, I've generated lookalike audience based on those, I've run through them with Audience Insights to get a clearer picture of who my customers are. I've got my Facebook pixel integrated on my site, which you can also run Audience Insights on the anonymous visitors to your site so it gets the value out of that, which is cool.
At that point, I'm set up. I'm ready to start paying money and running ads, which is cool at this point. We still haven't spent any money yet in this process. We both approach it as a funnel, right? You should always approach everything as a funnel. Where do I start? What do I do?

Bullock: Facebook's done some really cool things with custom audiences, so my first objective when I'm building a funnel is to take that cold traffic, that really wide audience, could be a few million if you scope it that high, and bring that down to just the people that have a realistic chance of being prospects for my products.
There's a lot of ways to do that, but one of the ways that Facebook has recently introduced is we can create custom audiences based on video views. What I would do is after I have all the stuff that you just described set up, you could then put a product video, explainer video. The old way to remember it was to educate, demonstrate, or entertain as many as you can.

I put together a video like that and then you can have Facebook create a new audience, a new custom audience with people that have watched a certain percentage of your videos. If you sort it by people who have watched 95 percent or more, they will be more relevant, but it will be a smaller audience. That's the trade-off.

If you need a larger audience, then you could go to people that watched 25 percent of your video or 50 percent.

The idea here is that people would only stick around and watch 50 percent or 95 percent of your video if they are interested in what you're talking about. That builds that next custom audience and this audience is going to be more focused and this is where I'm going to begin to really focus my advertising dollars and my retargeting campaigns from here down the funnel.

Kurt Elster: I love product videos, especially to get that initial traffic. They're moving in my timeline, they indicate a higher level of sophistication that if I just had an image ad. What makes a good video? What are the caveats here? How long should they be? What should I go for?

Bullock: There's a lot of testing being done and it depends on your market. That's the thing that, unfortunately, you hear over and over again, is that it's all about testing and experimenting, which is also cool because you can find out the answers for your particular store by running a few tests. Having said that, I have had really great luck with videos that are two minutes or less.
I've got a friend who actually had these seminars that he had recorded and posted. We're talking like 60, 70 minute seminars, and he posted those and gave those a shot as well, and figured, "Boy, if somebody sticks through that whole thing, then they're definitely interested in what I have to say." He came with a really small audience, the very focused.

What I normally do for an e-commerce store is a two minute product video. You could feature a bestselling product, a new product.

I've had great luck with behind the scenes footage, customer stories, all this stuff that gives customers a behind the scenes look at who's running the company and about your products. Helps to form that relationship so they can start to trust you, and the next time you speak to them, it's not, "How do you do, sir?" a cold new introduction.

Now you can speak to them as acquaintances. You already know each other and something about each other at this point.

Kurt Elster: The only caveat...Go ahead.

Bullock: One last point on that...Go ahead, Kurt.

Kurt Elster: Videos, if you watch, you can graph in Facebook how long people watch, like what the drop-off is. It looks like a black diamond ski slope the longer it gets. Even a two-minute video, I've seen you'll lose 60 percent of people in the first 30 seconds. Anyone past 30 seconds is like super engaged because they've watch the whole thing.
The only caveat I've seen is you have to assume that the video has to work without sound. Either at close captioning to it, which they make very easy, or just try use title cards to try and have it make sense without sound.

Bullock: That's exactly right. Another thing that I would like to add is you can include call-to-action link. The three that I use most often for ecommerce, I had to shop now, learn more, or signup. There's little call-to-action there.
Even if they don't take action, if they only watch the video, they are now in your funnel, which is pretty amazing.

Kurt Elster: Do these have to be professionally produced video, or can I just take my iPhone 7 and turn it horizontal and film myself talking?

Bullock: That's exactly right. It's funny. A lot of times, people see a slick production and skip it. It seems marketing material. It's something that at apartment put out, maybe.
When we see somebody that has a phone turned towards themselves or they're filming a product, as long as it's not real shaky and annoying in that way, then I've had really great results with that. Oftentimes, better results with a slightly Lo-Fi video compared to the really polished ones.

Kurt Elster: Because it feels authentic.

Bullock: Polished ones feel really effective. That's exactly right. You get the authenticity, which is what people are looking for when they're engaging and trying to learn about your business.

Kurt Elster: At this point, in theory, the person clicked through the ad or watched most of the video. Now, what do I do with them? I'm assuming they haven't bought yet.

Bullock: If they have bought, then you can eliminate them from the rest of this ad funnel. What I typically do is after I have them sorted by, let's say, people that watch 50 percent or more of your video, then I start making what maybe would be my old cold offer.
For instance, you could take a carousel ad of your five best selling products. Send that to them with a promo for new customers. First time buyers, promo code, and here're some of our top products. Now, instead of running this ad right into the huge audience, it's a more focused audience for advertising, those are more effective.

It's interesting that further you go down the funnel, the higher your ROI and the lower your cost, your CPM goes down to the cost observe a million impressions to your viewers. That's the next thing I do, is try and get them to the site to take a look at a product.

Kurt Elster: How do we do that?

Bullock: Oftentimes, I use those carousel ads.

Kurt Elster: One of those?

Bullock: Yes, carousel ads with top selling products are awesome for that step. Once they make it to your site, then the efficiency of your ads go ways up. It goes way up because you can see what they looked at, and the next ad that you show. If they didn't convert, then the next ad you show them can be related to whatever they checked out on your site, which is amazing. It's awesome.
You can deliver a message that is appropriate to a product they look at and how far they are down the funnel. If they've added the card, then you can send them a card and didn't purchased, then you can send them on a banning card message.

Kurt Elster: These are all variations on re-marketing, right?

Bullock: Yes, you got it. Everything is re-marketing below your initial cold traffic campaign. Once you have a custom audience built, then you are re-marketing, which is super effective.

Kurt Elster: I love re-marketing. Essentially, you're only showing ads to people who raised their hand. Suddenly it goes for people who you really like. You're a street vendor at that point just yelling at them in their news-feed like, "Hey, check this out. We're selling Simpson and Son Tonic."
Like that, how it feels when it's just these drive-by ads versus the re-marketing ads. Those people evolve. They have in some way raise their hand and said, "Hey, I am recently interested in what you're selling." They're familiar with it. It doesn't feel quite so strange, it feels personalized.

The other thing is you're no longer biding against this huge pool. You're only targeting your own audience now. Suddenly, the cost per click goes way down.

Bullock: Absolutely. There's new features that Facebook has ruled out you. Not everybody will see this in their accounts if they were to look today, but they're ruling them out actively right now.
For instance, when somebody makes it to your site, you can now do things like you can create a custom audience of people that have added a particular item, or added anything to their cart more than once. Let's say seven-day period without making a purchase. You could target people that have purchased a certain amount in a time period. You can target people that have looked at, let's say, five pages or more.

There's all kinds of cool stuff that you can do now with these new audience. The way that you find those is when you're building custom audiences just like the way that you normally would in Facebook, there's a new button that will appear.

It says, "Advance mode." If you click on Advance Mode, that's where you can really unlock all of this potential. It has modifiers like it will sum numbers for you, do greater than, less than, at least, all kinds of cool stuff.

The goal of this is obviously to find the most relevant audience. Pick up the low-hanging fruit, the people that are ready to take that next step and give them the right offer.

Kurt Elster: If you've got an existing store, you have existing traffic sources, I would focus on editing the re-marketing because that's your low-hanging fruit. You can add this safety net of sorts to bring people back to the site. We know on the average, I don't even need to see the site.
People will have to see it like, three, four, five, maybe up to eight times before they make a purchase decision.

What was I going to say? I lost my train of thought. Versus if you have no traffic, then the re-marketing really is going to be a struggle. It's nice to put it in place early because you only need an audience of 100 people before they'll start showing. You want to focus on that top of funnel, which is so much harder.

With videos, it really makes it much easier because they're engaging. They don't have to be high production or crazy.

Bullock: This could be anywhere, but it can be the top of your funnel cold. Now, Facebook lets you target people that have engaged with your Facebook page. It lets you target people that have opened up a new type of ad. It's not that new anymore, but a lead ad. There's all kinds of ways that you can build these custom audience. It's where it used to just be people that visit your website.
Now, you can target people. They are taking different actions with your content on Facebook. If you are getting started, you don't have a great web presence, then you can start with a Facebook presence, or just start posting content on Facebook and targeting people to interact with. You can send ads to people that thumbs up your post, if you want, or share them, or all kinds of different actions.

It's a great way to fill the top of your funnel, and of course build those re-marketing audiences.

Kurt Elster: There's lots of great advice here. In 20 minutes, we packed in a ton of info. I'm sure some people's heads are swimming with the stuff. You put together a download that walks us through it. What's that about?

Bullock: I put together a download. It's got 14 different targeting custom audience setups that we run through. With screenshots, that will show you how to create them on your end.
I was talking about how to target people that had purchased two times or more in 30 days. You can see exactly how we put that together. You can download that from our site. The web address is producedept.co/unofficial-shopify-podcast.

Kurt Elster: I'll include that link in the show notes, of course, for people. You sent me the PDF. I've got it in front of me now. It is literally screenshots of here is the custom audience, here's exactly how to set it up in Facebook. It makes it super easy to start experimenting with stuff right now.

Bullock: You could start using the stuff this afternoon with your ads and see better results, make more sales, target the right audiences.

Kurt Elster: Kurt, we're coming to the end of our time together. Do you have any closing thoughts? What's one thing you wish every shopify store owner would do?

Bullock: The crown jewel of Facebook advertising is getting dynamic product ad setup, that's another episode. You could Google it, but they're amazing. It's something to strive for. It's not very difficult to setup. That's one thing.
The other thing is really just focusing on learning how to create cold traffic. As you mention, that can be the most difficult part, but that's the key. It's learning how to bring cold traffic into your funnel. If you can do that, then these other campaigns that we've talked about will take care of the rest and bring people safely down to purchase and repeat purchaser.

Kurt Elster: Where could people go to learn more about you?

Bullock: You can check out our main site, which is producedepartment.co. I've also got another site, kurtbullock.com, which has some of the other things that I work on. I have developed some software ads and that sort of thing.

Kurt Elster: That was incredibly helpful. I hope people start experimenting with these new features in Facebook ads. They're really quite extra ordinary. It was years ago, you had to be some big enterprise to have access to stuff like this, with a huge and minimum advertising budget.
Now, Facebook has absolutely democratized it. They have made it available to everybody. It's extraordinary.

Anyway, Kurt, thank you. I appreciate it. I learned a lot.

Bullock: Thanks a lot, Kurt.

Kurt Elster: I have an announcement. Our first Shopify app went live in the Shopify apps store on Tuesday of this week. This episode comes out Thursday, went live on Tuesday. It is a crowdfunding app.
If you have an existing store with an existing audience, but you want to have better pre-orders, our crowdfunding app, it's called Crowdfunder, we'll let you setup a countdown timer, show how many have purchase, set funding goals, and then chose what happens when it ends, and if it was fund or not. It's very cool. It's got a free trial. It's only 90 bucks a month after that.

[background music]

Kurt Elster: Check it out. I would really appreciate it. Go to the App Store, search Crowdfunder. Thanks, everybody, and we'll be back next week.

Get Wallet-out Google Shopping Traffic with Brett Curry

Kurt Elster — Tue, 1 Nov 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Google Shopping ads are one of the leading traffic sources that can give you the ultimate edge. This hidden gem is often overlooked by store owners (and your competition.) Brett Curry, author of The Ultimate Guide to Google Shopping, joins us to walk through setting up profitable product listing ads.

Brett Curry is the CEO of OMG Commerce. Brett started his first marketing agency in 2003 and launched his first search engine marketing campaign in 2004. After some early big wins, Brett was hooked. Now he leads a team of SEO and SEM professionals serving ecommerce clients. Brett is also the host of the eCommerce Evolution podcast aimed at bringing you what's new and what's next in the world of eCommerce.

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Learn:

Why is Google Shopping such a powerful channel for most online merchant?
What are some common Google Shopping mistakes you see merchants making?
What are some quick win tips for better Google Shopping results?

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I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

A/B Testing: Is it a 'sack of money' button?

Kurt Elster — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 12:00:00 +0000

What's a good conversion rate? One that's better than last month.

But how did you get there?

Nick Disabato has built a career on research-focused A/B testing. Over the past year, he's helped Shopify Plus store KeySmart achieve extraordinary success. He joins us today to discuss that journey and how you can improve your store 5% monthly with his approach to split testing.

"Never forget: focusing on your customers brings you more customers. Are you focused on helping your customers, or are you focusing on what your coworkers want?"

—

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Join The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group

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Learn:

How testing makes you money
What makes a successful test
Testing's impact on design
Why testing defangs your internal debates

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Transcript

Kurt: 00:06 Before we continue, I wanted to share a quick tip from our sponsor, Referral Candy. We'll find out what's working, then do more of that, so look at your top sales channels and then double down. It's the 80 20 rule and action. For many stores, word of mouth is a top channel, but how do you double down on the word of mouth? Check out Referral Candy - increase word of mouth sales by giving your store a refer a friend program. They're giving you guys 50 bucks to get started with it. Just go to Kurtelster.com/referralcandy to get started.

Kurt: 00:37 Hello and welcome to this episode of the Unofficial Shopify Podcast. I'm your host, Kurt Elster, agency owner, Ethercycle, author of the Ecommerce Bootcamp, and a lot of other things. Find out more on Kurtelster.com. That's my podcast radio voice. At this point, I can't say Unofficial Shopify Podcast any other way. I apologize for that. Joining me today is a wonderful gentleman who, through a mastermind group that he started, has changed my life and a lot of inspiration to me and is also an quite the interesting character who's been on the show before. Please welcome Nick Disabato.

Nick: 01:11 Hi there. How's it going? Really happy to be here.

Kurt: 01:15 So Nick, the last time you were here, it was a good episode. I enjoyed it. I like talking to you, but for you, you had a great outcome from it. You landed your favorite client.

Nick: 01:27 No offense to my other clients. All of my clients are really my favorite client. I landed a fantastic client. They are a lifestyle, everyday carry brand called Keysmart. If you go to getkeysmart.com - they are wonderful. It's essentially like a multifunction tool for your keys and it makes your keys a little bit more organized, has a few extra tools and all these other things. Just to talk about what I do for a living - I run A/b tests for e-commerce and SaaS businesses. Those in the audience who don't know what A/B tests are - you have a change, you want to vet the economic impact of it, you test it against the control and you determine what the actual lift is. You've come up with ideas through research, you end up making that a core part of your design process so that you're not making bad decisions that could potentially hurt your business and you're more carefully and scientifically vetting what could actually convert better. Keysmart's revenue has gone up. I forget the last calculation I had done. I think it's something like 75 percent as a direct result of my A/B testing over the past nine months. Nevermind the fact that they have also been growing significantly as a company. So that helps as a force multiplier, right? Like they're getting more traffic, they're getting more sales, and then people who come in are more likely to convert that last bit is because of my work.

Kurt: 03:02 On Shopify Plus, they have a really cool custom theme. I've done a few few modifications to it for them. There's like a lot of brands you hear talked about on Shopify that are very popular and you don't hear Keysmart talked about that often, which I always find strange because it's a cool product, but it also is quantifiably one of the most successful stores on Shopify.

Nick: 03:25 I even mentioned to Andy, who's one of the people there, that we should just say we have like thousands of happy customers. Then he said we have millions of happy customers. I'm like, great.

Kurt: 03:37 I was talking to Andy, who has been on the show before to say, wow, your facebook campaigns and your marketing... Andy's the one who did this stuff and it's phenomenal. I've never seen anything this successful. And he said, yeah, we could scale it, but we can't ship fast enough. That's your problem?! Your bottleneck is because you literally can't get the product out the door quick enough. That's nuts. I've never heard anyone say that

Nick: 04:05 That's a really good problem to have. I like when I can cause problems for my clients.

Kurt: 04:13 That's what you did. How did that happen? What is the test you ran? How did you go about it? How did you know what tests to run? Cause I know with a/b testing, everyone thinks it'll help them pick the right button color. And it's not that at all. It's quite a bit more complicated than that.

Nick: 04:32 Yeah, everybody wants to know where they should start with testing. When they ask me that, it's as if they want the one weird tip that causes the revenue to go up by 75 percent. That's not at all true. I'm so sorry. What I do is research what your customers are doing and then come up with informed guesses as to what these tests may be. Button colors generally don't work. Headlines work. If you have a clear idea of what kind of headline you should be writing, there is no such thing as just writing a headline for the sake of it being "more persuasive." So what I'm doing is going into Google Analytics and figuring out if mobile is converting dismally. OK, why? Well, the page time is taking really long time to load.

Nick: 05:20 Well, that kind of sucks. Why is the page to taking a long time to load? Oh, you have a one megabyte product image on your page and you never bothered compressing it and it loads great on my comcast for business connection, but then I go into chrome and simulate a 3DG connection that's dropping occasionally and the page takes 38 seconds to load. You're not closing a sale. That was one example of research. What I did was go into one of the product pages and then extensively compress the product image and it ended up being like a 38K product image. It looked a little granular. Whatever. It's on your cell phone, you're on a train. You don't know what it actually looks like, and it's probably smaller than the actual product in person, but I ended up converting something like 11 percent higher because way more people were able to load the page effectively and make a purchasing decision.

Nick: 06:17 They don't care how compressed your product image is or what CDN is serving it. That was the most basic mobile optimization thing. But I went in, said this isn't working, let's fix it. It's leaking money. That wasn't a headline, it wasn't a button color, it was something that should have probably happened at the beginning of this site being built out, but nobody caught it. So that's one thing. Another thing that I run is heat maps on your site. I determine where people are clicking, how long down the page people are scrolling, that sort of stuff. One thing that I find very frequently in Shopify is that they keep the same navigation on the same template from page to page. So you end up having like the full blown navigation and all these things all over every page of the site. And that includes your shopping cart and your checkout pages.

Nick: 07:13 That sucks for a variety of reasons. This is a rare moment where I'm going to recommend something pretty fervently and say it will probably convert better. When I say probably, I mean it's likely to. Don't blame me if it doesn't. You have to test it, but try removing those links in your header navigation. When people get to the shopping cart page - Amazon does it, Ebay does it, and it works extremely well for keeping people focused on conversion. They're not just like, oh, shiny. And then go somewhere else when they're just about to pay you. The last thing people want to do at any point in the transaction is fill out a form, but you have to make them do it and you'll have to make them do it at the last step. So I strongly recommend doing that.

Nick: 07:59 We have most importantly over the past nine months crafted a process and an internal culture around constantly checking our own beliefs around things. I think that's been the biggest outcome. We have a part time developer on staff right now who is constantly making changes to try and optimize stuff from a programming and technical debt perspective, which allow us to run tests considerably faster. Ideally, you always want a test to be running as much as humanly possible. You want there to be kind of consistent tempo around it so you want to be building the next test while a given test is running. So, we have a Trello board for vetting test ideas and researching them and we move things along on this Trello board and when we get to the point where we need to be building it, then I coordinate with the developer to build it. If you don't have a developer, one thing I would recommend installing as few plugins as humanly possible in your Shopify store, and I know that sounds so cringe worthy because plugins are a huge value add to Shopify, but they add a lot of code dependencies and craft that might actually bite you later on. I'm not saying this about Keysmart necessarily, but I have seen it enough.

Kurt: 09:17 It's true of any store that installs into several plugins; even one could start adding these bizarre dependencies. And then to your earlier point about performance optimization, there are two things that generally cause those performance slowdowns. One is the giant image like you described. It's very common because people want their image to look the best. So they save it out in the highest possible size that causes these bloated load times. Plugins and Apps - each time you add one that starts adding code dependencies. You'll see sites that load jquery like four and five times because of these apps aren't paying attention to each other and you've installed something and installed it. But yeah, it's a little bit of a rabbit hole there.

Nick: 09:56 Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, that's definitely something that can weigh down your site and keep you from being able to make changes and deploy. And it's so funny, it's this combination of like the full facebook move fast and break things mentality, but you're doing it in a way that isn't so fast. We need to research it. So you're making a lot of changes, but a lot of it is like almost infrastructural where you're figuring out, OK, well how am I creating a separate product so that I can make changes to that and shunt people there as a variant page. How can I create variations on Shopify's end using if/then logic. There's no in built framework for this. So you're running a test maybe on maybe one product page that has if/then logic, if you're particularly sophisticated, or you're just running two skews and hoping to God that the inventory works out. I've definitely encountered both of those situations. If you're in a position like Keysmart, you cannot afford to have two different skews and hope that the inventory works out for reasons you had just mentioned, Kurt, right? It can be really difficult there.

Kurt: 11:10 So going back, you had mentioned heat maps. Two questions. What is good heat mapping software and what am I supposed to get out of heat mapping?

Kurt: 11:24 I'm going to start with the second one first. You're supposed to understand where people are interacting with the page and where people aren't interacting with the page. Then you figure out how that squares up with your business goals. I've written a huge, huge, deep dive on heat maps recently that actually goes through a couple of example ones and then says, OK, well people aren't clicking on our primary call to action and why is that happening? Well this area is lighting up like a Christmas tree. Why are they going? And you just have to ask yourself, why are they going, how can I make them do something else? Because they're not going to be cajoled into actually doing the thing that you want. You have to investigate their motivations, right?

Nick: 12:07 Why is the page persuading people to go to the things that I don't want them to go to? Then you start to come up with some speculations about it and you'd say, well, OK, well maybe they're not ready to buy. Maybe it's a high involvement product, maybe it's not our flagship product, but it's the cheapest product. Maybe a masthead - we've never bothered swapping out the masthead image. Maybe it's just the first place that people go after viewing a facebook ad. And so we haven't like actually segmented this sensibly enough. The thing you're trying to figure out about heat maps is like real world customer behavior, right? Good tools for it - for most of my Shopify clients, I already have heat maps that I get out of my a/b testing framework, which is visual website optimizer.

Nick: 12:54 You could go to vwo.com. It's a little bit overkill if you're not actually running a/b tests yet. In that case, I would recommend hotjar.com. They're like $29 a month. It's just comically cheap and you get heat maps, scroll maps, you get to see people's cursor and finger as they go around the screen. It's amazing and always really compelling evidence for a client. Usually when you show heat maps to clients, they feel like they're staring directly into the matrix because they've never actually seen the real world behavior in that visual way before. They go a little feral over it, which is great. Right. But heat maps and Google analytics are only two of the things that I do. I also actually get paying customers on the phone and talk to them for an hour about why, what competitors they vetted in, why they chose to buy it at this point in time, what motivated them, whether they're using it now, and what their problems were beforehand.

Nick: 14:03 I actually ran an annual survey for Keysmart in particular recently and it was asking about like other every day carry things. That's going to shape a lot of the other products that we're going to be putting out later. So there's a lot of like other strategic things that you can be doing; it's not just about vetting the impact of the design decisions, but you end up like drilling down to the business needs in a lot of ways and saying, OK, well what does this business stands for? Is it selling a bunch of this widget to people or is it providing a broader ecosystem around the thing that we care about? Neither bad answers, right? You just need to know what the answer is so you don't go down the wrong rabbit hole.

Kurt: 14:39 This sounds a lot like a lot less like traditional a/b testing in more business and user research which are incredibly valuable things. But is it a/b testing?

Nick: 14:59 Well I say it's research-driven a/b testing. A/b testing is a tool that you use in the service of optimization and it is usually the last step if you're getting a certain number of sales. If you're on Shopify Plus and you're listening to this, you probably get enough sales for a/b testing. If you get 500,000, that's probably the minimum, especially if you have one flagship product and all your traffic is going in there. You should not be stabbing in the dark on your design decisions. You should not be arguing internally about your design decisions and wheel spinning and then saying, well, a/b tests our way out of the hole. That is not a good strategy for making changes to your site. That is how you end up getting a 12.5 percent success rate on A/b tests industry wide. And that is true, right? But if you research stuff and just say people aren't clicking here; even something that basic ups the success rate to around 58-59% in Draft's case. That's tests that are generating revenue, not mailing list sign ups, not people are engaging with the page more. No, no, no. Screw those things. What matters is that you are increasing revenue, decreasing costs, or decreasing risks to the business. And in A/b testing, you're getting at least two of those things every single time.

Nick: 16:32 You have to end up backing it up with research. It's absolutely essential. If people say, I want to cut the research and I just want you to run a/b tests for me, I'd probably nope out of the project.

Kurt: 16:44 Knowing you, I can assure you that's what you would do at that point. You're just shooting in the dark.

Nick: 16:55 Yeah, honestly I charge you. I have probably a moral obligation to not take the project at that point because I would take early five figures of your money, do a bunch of research via Marionette for you, not get good business results, and you would waste money on me. And then we would part ways and everyone would feel frustrated. And you would think that a/b testing writ large as a failure. My goal in my career is to make sure that people understand that design decisions have an economic impact. I'm doing a tremendously bad disservice to the cause of design if I would take a project that did not actually have research as a component for it.

Kurt: 17:32 I don't have a good follow-up question.

Kurt: 17:42 Give me a good next question. I've got nothing.

Nick: 17:54 This is a big mindset thing. Like it's, it's something people are used to design decisions by debate, right? There used to be around ideas.

Kurt: 18:06 You know, even getting hired as a designer, you go through this constant back and forth with clients and that's why you have to back up a lot of design decisions. Saying, I didn't just pick that because it looked pretty, here's the reasoning behind it. I've cited my sources. Even then you're going to get push-back. The person's going to say, well, my dog doesn't like blue. So you have to change those kinds of things.

Nick: 18:28 Yeah. And I actually run into the study testing clients, like I've had one recently, a keysmart were lovely clients. They are insanely brilliant. They're a wonderful team and there is a forgivable foible at play here where we have the Trello board where we're suggesting different design decisions and all these things and we'll start batting it around. And in the critique process, most good designers, they have what's called the yes. No, yes. Other places called the Shit Sandwich. And uh, where you say, I love this idea, I think that we might need to change it in a little bit this way or what's your thinking on that? Or something like that. And then you end up with another yes. Like, uh, again, I think that this is really cool. I just wanted to know what's going on here. So that is classic critique, active listening technique, non-violent communication that allows people to not feel threatened or imposed upon when you're proposing something.

Kurt: 19:20 Right. Um, which is great, right? Um, it's super useful and what they see is, that's a great idea. And they're like, great, I just shipped it and I'm like, well no, this is a board for testing ideas that have to be tested and researched and there's gotta be a process. And so I ended up having to like spell out, here's what happens when a t how, here's how test ideas get on fire, hose them on, here's what happens when they get on, they need to go through this process, not only to make me feel good about having this actually go the way we wanted to, but also to kind of expose it to the harsh light of day, right? Like we need to make sure that not only is it a good idea to us, but it's actually a revenue generating idea for the business.

Kurt: 20:07 And that involves research that involves spending a little more time actually thinking about the ramifications of the decision that involves squaring it up against all the other decisions that we've put together in the past. Right? Like the more tests we run, the more likely it is we're going to continue coming up with decisions that don't work for us or that we've already tried. And some other form and we want to make sure we're not spinning our wheels on this. Um, so I had to go and sit down and say, you know, you want to do ab testing like you hired me. That seems obvious enough, but your still thinking in a way that is like the socratic inquiry design decisions that, that everybody does and I get why you do it. It's because you have like 10 years background in this industry and that's all you've known.

Kurt: 20:57 And then I asked to come in and be the fun ruiner right? I'm really good at ruining people's fun. I'm really good at it. Um, and I don't like having to come in and be the fun ruiner I like it when people agree broadly with the concept of Ab testing and then figure out the execution behind it. Right? And there's a lot of like, psychological impact that too, you know, like when a test fails and you have to say, well we should keep testing. You don't look good politically by doing that as a consultant or as a worker or anything. If you're the champion of the project, you look terrible to your boss and the best clients are ones where we'll spend like three months planning a task and putting together this giant, ambitious reworking. It fails miserably and they're like, it's OK.

Kurt: 21:47 I saved you from wasting more time on what would be a boondoggle of a project. But if you let, you know, if you get emotionally invested in it and you have people you know, fighting for, um, you know, they're, they're designed candidate for just to save face. It doesn't work. And that's where it split testing gives everyone this easy out. You know, when I argue with my children clear, like they just want an out, but they don't want to have to say, well, I was wrong. They'll always take the out if you give it to them. And I think that's um, as a tool for ending Itar internal debates, split testing is wonderful and you know, in your own language you say, well, it defines them.

Kurt: 22:26 Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it, it, if you have a process for considering design decisions, defangs them. And it also removes what in Ux parlance, it's called the hippo or the highest paid person's opinion. I love it. I relish it. Nothing more than when the like high school marketing intern comes up with a testable design decision that bumps revenue by 15 percent. And I just know about the CEO is design decisions. It's like one of my favorite things. It's so satisfying. I'm like, you know John over here, I'm actually about 15 percent more revenue for the business and we're paying him barely minimum wage credit.

Kurt: 23:07 No one wants. No one's gonna argue with it because who doesn't? If you're, if you're the business owner, if you're the employee, you're goal is roy in Split testing gives you this beautiful framework to do that. Right?

Kurt: 23:21 Roi Is also measurable in decreasing costs. Right? And I can come in. The most classic example for Ab testing is like this was a disastrous thing and it lost 11 percent revenue and now we're not rolling it out to everyone. So we avoided a bullet, right? That's the most classic one. But I tell you, I've run shopify Ab tests that pair to back the number of skews that we were offering and ended up decreasing overall like cost of goods and cost of manufacturing by like 25, 30 percent because it turned out nobody gave a crap about all the ancillary products that we were offering and offering it in one color, one size actually worked better for us.

Kurt: 24:04 You're eliminating, um, in many cases you're eliminating choice paralysis. People don't have to consider the thing they probably don't want. And even if it was like one in five, you still have a Pareto's principle, the 80 20 rule. And you're exploiting that by offering fewer products. People like storage often act like I'm crazy when I suggest that. I'm like, have you considered offering fewer products? Here are fewer options. So they're like, what? No more products means more money and it isn't the case. Not always.

Kurt: 24:33 Yeah. And then you can cite a bunch of consumer research around it, but like shopify store owners have printers in general, they have a habit of like they made a successful product and now let's make it green. Or let's make it slightly larger or let's put Swarovski crystals on it or something, you know, and, and they, they get antsy because there's this constant process of reinvention and it might juice the numbers temporarily because you're getting a little bit more engagement from like collectors or something like that. And that could work in the long-term if you're a brand like field notes and you've released something new every three months and you can run out of it really quickly, but most storefronts probably don't have that luxury or they're probably not creating goods that are amenable to doing that. And so I would, you know, removing products is one of those things and that's one where it's like maybe we are settling intubate, but like what's the monetary upside? And I asked them to like, you know, we got rid of these products. That's great. Like what's the upside for you? It was like, oh, probably we just produced manufacturing expenses by 25 percent. I'm like, peel jaw off the floor. Like, are you kidding me? Like oh, OK, fine.

Kurt: 25:52 Yeah. If I want to hire nick D, if I want to hire you to do my split testing, I know you actually run a business that's small by design. Um, so you can take out of the limited number of clients at any one time so I can hire you or,

Kurt: 26:12 or you can. Um, so there are, there are a few ways to, uh, enlist my services. So the easiest thing that you can do right now, if you go to ab testing manual [inaudible], I, uh, I'm writing a book and creating a video course around everything that you need to know about Ab testing for your store. Right? There are three different packages. One of them is just the book. If you just want to know tactics about how to run an ab test and research it. Another is the video that talks about all the strategy, like the things that we were just talking about around, like dealing with disappointment around Ab tests, dealing with the psychological impact of it, the mindset shift needed in an organization. And then the third thing, which is obviously my favorite, is I come in and do a giant tear down of your site and you get the video course and everything else and it's like a hour long video tear down, like I actually go through on screencasts and pick everything apart and offer a ton of testable ideas.

Kurt: 27:11 I also run heat maps and fine tune your google analytics install for you. So that's the deluxe wash if you want the really big package where I come in and run a b tests for you and dictate your strategy, um, that is probably going to be accepting new clients shortly before the holidays. Knock on wood. Um, I don't know when this episode runs, but um, I'm hoping to open up like one slot for a store owner probably end of November, ish. That might give us enough time to start ab testing and Ernest for the holidays. Um, it might get us enough time to get a plan going, but timeline depends heavily on like where your sites at and what you've gotten stalled, what your team looks like, that sort of thing. Um, but if you go to draft a dot and you, I spelled it all out, I'm probably your best option is grab a copy of the Ab testing manual, read through it, see if it makes sense as something that you should be doing for your business. You should really only be working on ab testing. You could work on optimization. Anyone can do that. Anyone can fix browser bugs or compress the images on their mobile pages. Um, but if you're running ab testing, you should probably have around 500 to 1000 transactions a month minimum. Ah, and that's not everyone who's listening to this, but it could be you someday. And maybe you'll think of me then.

Kurt: 28:35 So what's, we're coming to the riverside together. Want to see if you have any closing thoughts. What's one thing you wish every shopify store owner would do?

Kurt: 28:43 God, your biggest enemy is yourself. Most of the time when you think about the way that people are engaging with your product, you may be wrong and that is scary. You're the one who is the most informed about your product. Um, you think about it every day. It's your job, it's your life's work, um, but that's exactly why you shouldn't trust yourself on it, and the most important thing that you can do is listen to your customers and do what you can do, research it, whether or not you ab test anything after is that's up to you, but take the time to like run a survey. You can put together something on type form in 15 minutes and blasts it out to your mailing list and put it as a call out on your homepage for a week and then analyze what the impact is and it might teach you a lot.

Kurt: 29:29 What do you think about including a link? If you made a survey like that, it's easy to use type form [inaudible]. There's no reason you shouldn't have the data you get out of those things is unbelievably valuable. What do you think about including that in the, uh, order confirmation and the receipt?

Kurt: 29:42 The thing that I actually love doing kind of like life cycle emails too. So you get an order confirmation but, and actually deliver the product yet the order confirmation might be like jobs to be done type stuff like Clayton Christensen type questions. Like what led you to do this? What was the last thing you had an objection about before you went and purchased? Um, who else did you consider that sort of stuff. That's really great to get right at the height of purchase because it's also the height of enthusiasm. I love also sending a survey or sending a survey separately. Um, maybe like two or three months after they received the product. Like are you still using it? How did you enjoy it? Do you have any issues with it? Um, were there any problems with like assembly or something like that? Those are amazing. Amazing for figuring out.

Kurt: 30:29 Not just like how to actually talk about it on your website and get revenue generating changes, but maybe even for like how would you help with onboarding on the product, right? Like how you help with maintenance of the product or something like that. Like is it a leather wallet? Is it prone to cracking? Great. Sell a bottle of needs, foot oil on your site and get people to condition their wallets, pushed that a lot in a little card that you ship with the product, that sort of stuff. Um, it's, you know, optimization effects every part of the business.

Kurt: 31:00 Absolutely. Those are all great tips. Um, so what's one piece of information you'd like to correct about Ab testing?

Kurt: 31:07 Um, it is not a sack of money button. It is a tool, it is not a panacea for your job and it is a tool and it is one part of optimization and you have to be considering things more holistically than just this headline converts better.

Kurt: 31:24 Very good. And lastly, where can people go to learn more about you?

Kurt: 31:28 Draft Dot n u a n as in Nick, U as in the letter u university that um, and uh, yeah, if you want to learn more about the AB testing manual, ab testing manual, [inaudible] is your best option there.

Kurt: 31:45 Nick. Thank you. It's been my honor and pleasure.

Kurt: 31:48 A total honor. Thank you so much for having me back on.

Kurt: 31:50 So however this audio made it until find out more about an unofficial shopify podcast.com, and if you'd like to be notified whenever a new episode goes live, subscribe in Itunes, join our facebook group, unofficial shopify podcast insiders, or set up for my newsletter.

Speaker 5: 32:05 I'll shoot you an email whenever we post a new episode. Thanks everybody and we'll be back in. Our program was produced today by Paul Reeder. The unofficial shopify podcast is distributed by either cycle, LLC will be back next week with more value bombs for shopify store owners. If you're looking for more high quality and actionable advice on learning the business of e commerce, join thousands of other shopify store owners on our totally free newsletter at ecommerce bootcamp. That's e-commerce hyphen bootcamp.

Violent Little Machine Shop: Morale Patches & a Mindset for Success

Kurt Elster — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Today's guest runs the least politically correct store we've come across, and we love it.

Yanne Root, founder of Violent Little Machine Shop, has made a business out of inappropriate morale patches.

In this episode, we talk about Yanne's individual journey, what makes his business successful, "the voice" he presents to customers, and the mindset he uses to stay successful.

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From the Detroit Tigers to Shirt Maker: Steven Fisher's Story

Kurt Elster — Tue, 20 Sep 2016 12:00:00 +0000

In this episode we're talking to Steven Fisher, Co-Founder and CEO at State & Liberty Clothing Company, about his journey and meteoric rise to success.

Prior to founding the company, Steven graduated from the University of Michigan and worked for the Detroit Tigers in data analytics.

After being disappointed and frustrated with all other dress shirts on the market, Steven and co-founder Lee launched State & Liberty Clothing Company in January of 2015. By focusing on fit, feel and a professional look, they've have created the best dress shirt on the market for the athletically built.

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Learn:

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The social strategy that skyrocketed sales
Steven’s #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

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Tactical Diaper Bags & Side Hustles with Beav Brodie

Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Sep 2016 12:00:00 +0000

"You can play video games all day if you want, but I'm busting my ass, I want to build an empire." That's what Beav Brodie told me about his journey building his Shopify store TacticalBabyGear.com, an amazing niche store selling tactical-style diaper bags for today's dad. (I know I'm buying one.)

Dads are actively dedicating themselves more than ever to their children’s upbringing these days. While a generation ago tackling a diaper change may have scared off many a dad, these days dealing with a baby’s messy habits is frequently a team endeavor. This co-parenting is a beautiful new norm that extends beyond loaded diapers -- it's a world in which parents find themselves in the trenches of child rearing together. So why are diaper bags still designed as if the wife will be the only one carrying them?

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The journey Beav took in starting his business
The exact Instagram Strategy he used to grow
And his favorite app to run their growing store

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Optimizing for Retention & Repeat Purchases with Eric Davis

Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Building a base of loyal and repeat customers is a top goal of many Shopify stores.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to find what characteristics these valuable customers share so stores end up with weak, generic customer retention plans which lose them customers.

Instead, by focusing on three key metrics for your repeat customers in your retention plan, you can keep those customers loyal and grow your store's revenue.

Eric Davis joins us to walk through why what key metrics we should be checking, and why. He's suited to discuss it as his consultancy, Little Stream Software, helps ecommerce entrepreneurs customize their Shopify stores using public and private Shopify Apps.

—

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—

Learn:

Why your repeat purchase rate is an excellent measure of your future success
How to calculate your repeat purchase rate and average order values
Why defining the path of your ideal customer can help you evaluate marketing and retention tactics
Why focusing on repeat customers can have an out-sized ROI impact on your revenue

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Cross-sells & Upsells with Ezra Firestone of SmartMarketer

Kurt Elster — Tue, 12 Jul 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Ezra says, "If you have a business driven by the ad model, you MUST understand upsells, cross sells... it's what's allowed us to grow to $1.5million/month."

Ezra Firestone is a partner in BOOM! by Cindy Joseph and the company’s head of digital marketing. He runs a private network of eCommerce websites and regularly consults for companies across the U.S and Canada. He is the founder/creative director of SmartMarketer, an information hub for do-it-yourself entrepreneurs.

—

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—

Learn:

Conversion bonuses your site needs to have
The difference between cross sell and upsell
The right way to do cross sell
How Ezra sets up post purchase upsells
Ezra reveals all of his stats including his email revenue
and the product you’ll never guess he sold in 2009

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Designing Products & 3D Printing with Dorian Ferrari

Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Jul 2016 12:00:00 +0000

What's the best product to sell? Your own! Most people have likely had an idea for a product they'd like to make, but that's all they have: an idea. We don't know what to do next. In today's episode, I talk to product designer Dorian Ferrari about what exact steps to take to go from idea to reality, how much it'll cost, and what pitfalls to watch out for.

Dorian Ferrari helps inventors and small businesses take their concepts to prototype or production ready 3D models. With 20 years of experience, his clients come from all over the consumer product spectrum from toys to phones.

—

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—

Learn:

Going from concept to prototype
Hiring a product or mechanical designer
The difference between prototypes to mass manufactured
What to bring to your product designer
How much to budget for your prototype
Where & how to get 3D prints made
Pitfalls of entering the manufacturing stage and mass production
How design for 3D printing is different than design for manufacturing.
Best ways to bridge your prototype and production.

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Listener Mailbag: "What are 5 must have plug ins / apps?"

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Sat, 2 Jul 2016 12:00:00 +0000

In this listener mailbag episode, I discuss the must have apps for your Shopify store. As you'd expect, it's opinionated, but only five minutes.

Have a question you'd like answered? Subscribe to my newsletter at http://kurtelster.com then reply to any email, and let me know what question you'd like answered.

—

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—

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Market Research Made Easy with Joe from BluShark Straps

Kurt Elster — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Ever experience a crappy product and think, "I can do that better!"

That's what happened to Joe Scarpati. When faced with a nylon watch strap that didn't meet his expectations, he decided to do something about it.

But not before some research to ensure his success.

Joe’s background is in market research, which he has leveraged to offer watch enthusiasts a better nylon watch strap through his company, BluShark.

—

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—

Learn:

Learn why the most successful sites have only a few SKUs.
Why the most successful stores figure out a mathematical formula on how to market.
How to turn your angriest customer into raving fans
What are the future big opportunities of ecommerce?
FirstName’s #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.
Product number doesn’t matter,

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

No Bull Marketing & Making Money Online with Matt Giovanisci

Kurt Elster — Tue, 24 May 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Can you build a profitable brand by ignoring all that online marketing bullshit? Today's guest, Matt Giovanisci, believes you can, and intends to prove it.

Matt is the creator of Swim University and a co-founder of Listen, Money Matters, a personal finance podcast that gets more downloads in a day as The Unofficial Shopify Podcast gets in a week. He also recently started MoneyLab, a series of documented experiments in making money online.

Matt candidly shares his story of success building Swim University – an online resource site for swimming pool and hot tub owners that earns him six figures annually.

Oh, and he once rapped about his podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnH4CSg-gR8

—

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—

Learn:

Matt’s “one stop shop” concept for content marketing
The reaction your visitors should have when they land on your site
How humor enables better marketing
Why & how to write for people, not Google
The importance of a single sentence
Matt #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

How Andy Bedell Tripled Revenue With Facebook Video Ads

Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 May 2016 12:00:00 +0000

"The first time we ran video ads, sales immediately tripled."

Andy has been running PPC ads for a while, but struck gold about a year ago with Facebook video ads. After just 2 weeks of running video ads he was able to triple the revenue of a large Shopify store.

Now he has set up thousands of ad campaigns, and he has discovered a formula for telling good stories that make great video ads. He spills the beans on that formula so you can make profitable Facebook video ads for your Shopify store.

—

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—

Learn:

Learn why the most successful sites have only a few SKUs.
Best practices for video ad
The formula for crafting effective video ads
The optimal length for a video ad
Which tools can make video ads easily
And the one thing most video advertisers get wrong

TUSP Exclusives

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I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Jay Myers: What Successful Shopify Storeowners Know

Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Jay Myers is one of the co-founders of Bold Commerce. He has a long history in ecommerce and uses that to help build some of the best apps on Shopify. Currently he heads up marketing at Bold, and works very close with the product team.

With 22 apps in the app store, and a staff of one hundred, Jay Myers and the Bold Apps team has learned a lot about ecommerce.

Jay had some online retail shops that he built on the Shopify platform, but Jay wished they could do a little more for him. After all, Shopify is a brilliant, efficient, and easy to use platform for selling your goods, but Jay wanted to do more. Big surprise. He wanted to market directly to his shoppers while they were on his website and make more sales.

Lucky for Jay, Shopify allows developers to create plugins, add-ons, and applications and put them in their App store for all to use. But Jay also found that most third party developers were creating apps for managing the back end of your store and nothing really existed to help market products on the front end, help customers buy more, and help retailers sell more. So Jay called up a couple friends of his who were very well versed in eCommerce software design and pitched them the idea of building some apps for his store that they could then also put in the Shopify App Store and provide to other store owners. These gentlemen became the ownership team of the Bold Innovation Group, Shopify's leading app developer.

With tens of thousands of app installs, Jay has learned firsthand what makes some stores succeed. In this episode, we learn what separates successful stores from the rest of the pack.

—

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—

Learn:

Learn why the most successful sites have only a few SKUs.
Why the most successful stores figure out a mathematical formula on how to market.
How to turn your angriest customer into raving fans
What are the future big opportunities of ecommerce?

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

John McIntyre: Automating Email Campaigns To Win Customers

Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Apr 2016 12:00:00 +0000

Email marketing can be HUGE for ecommerce stores and online retailers.

Problem is, most companies do it wrong. Or they just don’t do it at all.

Joining us to unpack email marketing is John McIntyre.

John McIntyre is the founder of ReEngager, a done-for-you ecommerce email marketing agency. ReEngager helps ecommerce companies increase total sales by 15-30% with email marketing.

He is the host of The McMethod Email Marketing Podcast, one of the highest-rated marketing podcasts on iTunes. John has a knack for getting world-leading marketers, copywriters and entrepreneurs onto his podcast, and this has lead to the wild success of the show.

Since 2012, John has helped thousands of business convert more customers online by implementing a variety of email marketing and email copywriting strategies.

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Learn:

How to set up an abandoned cart sequence that works
How to keep an email list warm and gradually move them closer to making a purchase
What to expect from email marketing
John #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Nate Murray: The Mindset to 42 Shopify Stores

Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:00:00 +0000

"We all have the currency of time that we can't get back, so where do we invest it?"

Nate Murray is the founder of Merchline.

Merchline is "Official Online Storefront Fulfillment Provider & Screenprinter to the band/artist/apparel line industries."

Started in 2001, Merchline now operates a whopping 42 Shopify storefronts on behalf of artists like Skrillex, Christina Perry, Reach Records, and more.

Nate has taken the DIY ethic and applied it with astonishing success to his business.

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Learn:

The mindset that empowers Nate's success
Why to stop analyzing and start shipping
How to combat the Amazon Effect
Nate’s #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Rand Fishkin on SEO for Ecommerce Websites

Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:00:00 +0000

One of the most misunderstood aspects of any online business is SEO. (And that’s for several reasons that I could do an episode on alone but I won’t.) Instead, we talk to a guest that I’m honored to have, Rand Fishkin

Rand Fishkin uses the ludicrous title, Wizard of Moz. He's founder and former CEO of Moz, co-author of a pair of books on SEO, and co-founder of Inbound.org. Rand's an unsaveable addict of all things content, search, & social on the web, from his multiple blogs to Twitter, Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a shared Instagram account.

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Learn:

Why Wikipedia talks about his mustache
How he would market an ecommerce business
Which is more important: on-site SEO vs backlinks
How should eCommerce stores deal with duplicate content?
Is performance important?
Why four star reviews are better than five star reviews
The _one_ piece of eCommerce SEO misinformation out there you need to know
Rand's #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

How Beardbrand Built a Better Business by Building Community

Kurt Elster — Tue, 8 Mar 2016 13:00:00 +0000

We talk with Eric Bandholz of Beardbrand on how we went from community to business. Growing slowly and organically at first, and eventually blowing up into a bearded sensation that's sparked copycats and inspired thousands.

"At Beardbrand, we're trying to change the way the world views beards."

Eric is a self-described "husband, father, entrepreneur, world traveler, ancap, designer and founder of BeardBrand."

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Learn:

How to use content marketing
Why to focus on improving your customer's life better
Why to help your customer become a better version of themselves
FirstName’s #1 tip for The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Mindzai: How to Start a Designer DIY Toy Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 13:00:00 +0000

"If I was 95 and selling toys, would I be happy? Yea!" -Chris Tsang on finding your passion

Chris Tsang is the founder of Mindzai, a designer toy store and toy design company. Chris started his company in his bedroom 3 years ago and has since grown his business into 2 brick and mortar shops in Canada and now expanding into the US Market. In addition, after 2 successful Kickstarter campaigns, he’s moving quickly into toy manufacturing and wholesale distribution.

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We discuss...

Why you should go to conventions
The importance of email lists
Why to sell to existing lists
Why not to make your emails overly polished
Why you should think about making your own product
The personality traits of successful entrepreneurs

Contact Info:

http://www.mindzai.com
http://facebook.com/mindzaicreativeshop
http://instagram.com/mindzai

Free Guide

I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free.

Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Jake Starr: The Recycled Firefighter

Kurt Elster — Tue, 16 Feb 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Jake Starr, a 12 yr veteran firefighter, always enjoyed making his own gear by hand. He worked with leather and fashioned gear that included backpacking hammocks. After joining the Louisville fire department, Jake’s need to create handmade goods would not go extinguished.

A few years ago his department was getting ready to replace older hoses. He asked his Chief if he could take some of the discarded hoses to create iPad sleeves and explore other ideas. After working long shifts at the Firehouse, he would head home and put in work from behind a sewing machine.

Learn:

How Instagram Photography and a great story fueled his marketing and growth
How small-scale manufacturing can lead to large scale profits
When to source a US Manufacturer
Dealing with copycats
and following your passion

Links:

Check out http://www.RecycledFirefighter.com and be sure to to follow @RecycledFirefighter on Instagram.

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Stitch People: Building a Tribe

Kurt Elster — Tue, 9 Feb 2016 13:00:00 +0000

"We don't know anything about marketing."

That's what one entrepreneurial couple with a successful niche store and growing community of brand evangelists told me.

They may think they know nothing about marketing, but they're actually doing everything right.

This is one of our favorite episodes because it's jam-packed with great advice from regular folks.

Lizzy and Spencer both quit their day jobs work full time on Stitch People. With two books already out and several more in the design queue, Stitch People is becoming a common name in the contemporary cross-stitch market.

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Links:

Check out Stitch People online: http://stitchpeople.com or follow them on http://instagram.com/stitchpeople and http://facebook.com/stitchpeople to see what authenticity in marketing looks like.

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Drunk User Testing with Richard Littauer

Kurt Elster — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Richard is the brains and the stomach behind The User Is Drunk, a site set up a few months ago to help people learn just how their site looks to a drunk person.

Here is his process: Richard gets drunk, looks at your website, and tries to give advice about how it could be better while he pretends to be a normal user.

Richard and I talk a bit about his story and what you can do today to make your site just that much better for drunk — and, more importantly, sober — users.

More about Richard Littauer: He's a developer, UX designer, and digital nomad. His clients include the MIT Media Lab, Hubspot, and VWO. Currently, he lives in Boston, and enjoys writing and reading emails and haiku. He writes a weekly newsletter, available on his website at burntfen.com.

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Show Links

http://theuserisdrunk.com/
http://burntfen.com/
https://tinyletter.com/richlitt
http://drunkusertesting.com/

Free Guide

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Neil Patel: Triple Your Email Opt-In Rate with Lead Magnets

Kurt Elster — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Our topic today is using lead magnets to triple your email opt-in rate!

An important topic because every online entrepreneur is in the business of list building.

But that old opt-in form in your footer won’t collect much of anything these days.

As marketers, though, we evolve with the times, and our tactics evolve, too.

We began to offer free products such as e-books, courses, checklists, and videos for anyone who signed up to our lists. These are called lead magnets because they attract leads.

And it worked.

Joining this episode is Neil Patel, founder of KISSmetrics, Crazy Egg, QuickSprout & Hellobar.

Neil was named one of the top 10 marketing experts by Forbes, called a top influencer by the Wall Street Journal, and was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama.

See Neil's best performing lead magnet (and subscribe yourself) at http://neilpatel.com/blog/

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Tell me where to send your sample at ecommerce-bootcamp.com

Customer Retention: How to Keep Customers Coming Back

Kurt Elster — Tue, 5 Jan 2016 13:00:00 +0000

To build a sustainable ecommerce business, getting customers to buy should only be the start of a much longer relationship. Retaining customers (and turning them into brand evangelists) is the secret of revenue maximization that the big boys have known for years.

Ross Beyeler of Growth Spark joins us today to discuss how to achieve prolonged success with your Shopify business.

You'll learn the 5 Stages of Customer Retention:

Support
Loyalty
Advocacy
Analytics
Automation

And the best tools to capitalize on those stages.

A graduate of Babson College, Ross Beyeler has been an active entrepreneur in the technology space since 2005 with experience ranging in digital marketing, business development and strategic management. In 2007, Ross co-founded For Art's Sake Media, Inc., a technology company servicing the art industry, where he led the organization through its seed funding, team building and product launch. In December 2008, Ross went on to start Growth Spark, a design and technology consultancy focused on helping eCommerce and B2B service companies become more efficient and more profitable. Since it's founding, Growth Spark has completed over 225 projects and led Ross to a 2010 nomination as one of BusinessWeek's Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25.

Ross can be reached through http://growthspark.com/ or Twitter: https://twitter.com/rbeyeler

Show Links:

https://apps.shopify.com/help-scout
https://apps.shopify.com/sweet-tooth
http://www.olapic.com/
https://apps.shopify.com/klaviyo-email-marketing
https://apps.shopify.com/lumiary
https://apps.shopify.com/nosto-personalization-for-shopify

Alex O'Byrne: 100 Orders on the First day

Kurt Elster — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Alex O'Byrne recently launched the new Negative Underwear website, which took an astonishing 100 orders on the first day alone, followed by 7000 unique visits in just 5 days. A fantastic achievement that any ecommerce entrepreneur would be thrilled with.

Alex pulls back the curtain and discusses the strategies necessary to achieve those results... and they're surprisingly grassroots.

Alex O'Byrne is a Shopify Expert and co-founder of the UK's top-rated e-commerce agency WeMakeWebsites. He speaks regularly on the topic of marketing and e-commerce for design-led retailers and organizations such as the London College of Fashion and Startup Weekend. His agency, WeMakeWebsites builds beautiful and effective online stores for creative retail companies.

Show Links:

http://wemakewebsites.com/
https://twitter.com/alwaysmaking

Entrepreneur's Journey: How Diana House Started an Industry

Kurt Elster — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Diana is an authenticity driven entrepreneur who is constantly seeking, creating, developing, growing and learning. She is passionate about business, personal development, wellness, travel, spirituality, productivity and maximizing her time and life to live exceptionally across all facets: faith, relationships, business and health.

Being very unsure of her career path in her youth, she became even more unclear after completing law school. Pushed to find her passions she started her first company Tiny Devotions Inc. after taking a sabbatical in Bali post-graduating. Being keen to identify niches – Diana literally started an industry with her company selling mala beads and intentional accessories. Now with hundreds of competitors, Tiny Devotions founded in 2009 is still the innovative leader in the space.

Having come from a very entrepreneurial family, the buzz of business, startups and deals is part of her DNA and a constant adventure no matter where she is in the world on her extensive travels with her husband.

Hear our journey and the lessons she's learned along the way.

Show Links:

http://www.tinydevotions.com/
http://www.dianahouse.com/
https://twitter.com/dianahouse_

PS: I want to send you a sample chapter of Ecommerce Bootcamp, absolutely free. Get it at http://ecommerce-bootcamp.com/

Masterminds: The Entrepreneur's Secret Weapon

Kurt Elster — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

I owe much of my business success to my Mastermind group– I credit being in a mastermind with boosting my revenue 10x.

So what is a Mastermind, how do they work, and why or how should you join one? To answer that question, Kai Davis and Jonathan Stark join Kurt to discuss their own mastermind experiences.

Jonathan Stark is a mobile strategy consultant who helps senior executives transition their business to mobile. Jonathan is the author of three books on mobile and web development, most notably O'Reilly's Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript which is available in seven languages. His Jonathan's Card experiment made international headlines by combining mobile payments with social giving to create a "pay it forward" coffee movement at Starbucks locations all over the U.S.

Kai Davis is an Outreach Consultant in Eugene, Oregon, who helps bootstrappers, product creators, self-funded startups, and single founder companies grow their audience and promote their best products and content. He connect with influencers and finds opportunities to expose your best products and content to their audience.

Show Links

https://mastermindjam.com/
https://expensiveproblem.com/
http://doubleyouraudience.com/

Small Business Accounting 101: Hiring a Bookkeeper

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 8 Dec 2015 13:00:00 +0000

The year is almost over, and that means one thing: time to get your books in order!

With running a business, you already know you need to stay on top the accounting that goes along with running a store. Joining us in this episode is Donnie Cooper of LessAccounting, to discuss why and how to make bookkeeping nothing like going to the dentist.

You'll learn:

The difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper (and when to use each)
Why you want a bookkeeper
What's a minimum viable company
When and how do you owe taxes
What to do when you're late on taxes
Why not to ignore the IRS
The secret to success: outsource anything you're not great at
and why you should "just take next steps."

If you'd like to automate your accounting with a real life bookkeeper, reachout to Donnie at http://lessaccounting.com/autopilot

Make Stuff Happen: The Power of Side Projects

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 24 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Joining us is friend and colleague Keir Whitaker. Keir works at Shopify as their Designer Advocate. Like us, he's also had a lot of side projects.

In this episode we discuss:

What's a side project, why have one?
The importance of projects. I have many, some worked, most didn't, and all were
lessons learned
Using Shopify to launch an MVP and validate a side
project.
How despite all the advances in technology, good business
is still about personal relationships (and conferences are the fast
track to those)

(Oh! And check out Kurt's new website --> http://kurtelster.com/ and while you're there, join the Insider's List, we've got some exciting things coming up you won't want to miss.)

Get Specific: The Power of Positioning

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Want to stop competing against Amazon and everyone else? Consultant Philip Morgan will teach us how to use hyper-specific positioning to make that happen.

In this episode, you'll hear how to position your business in a way that leads to higher conversion rates and better customers.

Get Philip's free crash course on positioning - https://philipmorganconsulting.com/free-positioning-crash-course - Though focused at dev shops, the knowledge is still useful.

(Oh! And check out Kurt's new website --> http://kurtelster.com/ and while you're there, join the Insider's List, we've got some exciting things coming up you won't want to miss.)

Get Real with Paul Jarvis: Being Authentic in Marketing

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +0000

Joining our episode is special guest Paul Jarvis, a self-described freelancer evangelist who teaches creatives & freelancers how to make their businesses work on their own terms.

Paul's worked with companies like Microsoft, Yahoo and MTV, plus entrepreneurs with massive digital empires, including Danielle LaPorte, Alexandra Franzen, Marie Forleo and Kris Carr (and a whole bunch of amazing folks in between).

He applied what he learned in his web design work to writing, and grew his audience from zero to releasing a bestseller, just a year-and-a-half after writing his first book. His words now appear in every major business publication and reach over 100,000 people every month.

Those are the numbers and facts. But, Paul's goal isn’t to earn millions or become a bullshit thought leader; it’s to do work that matches his internal compass and provide real value. Defining success on his own terms has made him who he is, and that's what we're going to discuss: the importance of finding your authentic voice and using it in your business.

Sign up for Paul's Newsletter at https://pjrvs.com/signup and join 16K+ others reading his weekly articles about freelancing, life and creativity.

(Oh! And check out Kurt's new website which was inspired by Paul's! --> http://kurtelster.com/ and while you're there, join the Insider's List, we've got some exciting things coming up you won't want to miss.)

Word of Mouth Marketing: How To Build a Profitable Refer-a-Friend Program

Kurt Elster — Tue, 3 Nov 2015 13:00:00 +0000

"A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising." - Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO

Why doesn't everybody do referral marketing, then? Why isn't it more popular?

Because referral marketing is notoriously hard to execute properly. It requires a significant investment of time, energy and resources. It requires commitment. It requires a quality product that's worth talking about. It requires great incentives, effective communications, and the system has to be functionally watertight, or you'll have unhappy customers.

In this episode, we talk with ReferralCandy CEO Dinesh Raju how to get it right. He shares what he's learned from running thousands of referral programs for merchants, retailers and businesses of all sizes, across all verticals. We'll discuss every single detail, from the incentive structures to how to effectively communicate them to your advocates.

Add A Refer-A-Friend Program To Your Shopify Store: http://pages.referralcandy.com/InterviewPodcast.html

Oh! And check out Kurt's new website --> http://kurtelster.com/ and while you're there, join the Insider's List, we've got some exciting things coming up you won't want to miss.

Gavin Ballard: Finding the Right Apps for Your Store

Kurt Elster, Gavin Ballard — Tue, 20 Oct 2015 12:00:00 +0000

If you've ever run a Shopify store you've almost certainly taken a stroll through the Shopify App Store and installed some of the Apps on offer.

But what are Shopify Apps, really? And how can store owners make sure they pick reliable, well-developed Apps that provide a measurable return on investment?

In this episode we talk to Gavin Ballard, founder at Disco and author of Mastering Shopify Themes and Mastering Shopify Apps, about all things Shopify Apps, including:

The "problem first" approach to finding Apps that deliver value;
How to evaluate the reliability and quality of Apps in the App Store;
Two things to watch out for when taking on board App recommendations;
The benefits of having a custom application built, and how to find a professional developer to build it.

If you enjoy this episode, USP listeners can grab a FREE copy of Disco's Shopify App Handbook, which covers the above material and more, from https://www.discolabs.com/handbook/?code=usp.

Links:

Mastering Shopify Themes: http://gavinballard.com/mastering-shopify-themes/
Mastering Shopify Apps: http://gavinballard.com/mastering-shopify-apps/
Useful Gifts: https://www.usefulgifts.org/
Screenflow: http://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm

Ready for Christmas? Holiday Ecommerce Tips & Tricks [BONUS]

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Thu, 15 Oct 2015 12:00:00 +0000

We've got a mini bonus episode for you on getting your store ready for the holidays!

The holidays are a stressful time. Your in-laws fly in for a long visit, the weather is lousy, you spend more than you anticipated on gifts, and you can feel yourself coming down with a cold.

For 72 hours or more, your life turns into a bad sitcom.

Oh, and if you're reading, you're probably also a retailer. On top of the personal drama, you’re facing a single day that may make or break your entire fiscal year: Black Friday. That’s actually why it’s called Black Friday. It’s the day that a retailer’s books go from red (operating at a loss) to black (operating at a profit).

With the holidays around the corner, let's talk about how we can make the most out of the holidays with the highest degree of success – and the lowest degree of stress. So tackling a full-site redesign in October is probably out of the question. While it might work, it’s too risky.

Instead of gearing up for a huge project, let’s focus on some quick wins that you can implement to prep now to prep your store before Black Friday and the holidays.

3 Mindset Shifts to Double Your Business

Kurt Elster — Tue, 6 Oct 2015 12:00:00 +0000

After a brief hiatus, we're back with season 2 of TUSP!

Last month, I spoke at The Double Your Freelancing Conference that took place in Norfolk. It gave me the opportutinity to pick the brains of a lot of great people, and now I want to to share that information with you. In this episode, Kai Davis, who spoke with me at the conference, joins me to discuss what key takeaways we got from the conference.

You'll learn the mindset shifts we uncovered at Double Your Freelancing Conference from our fellow speakers.
You'll be inspired to take action, apply a new direction to your own businesses, and strive for productivity and focus. You know, all the things that make you more money.

Links:

Liston Witherill: Research & Copywriting Secrets for Massively Boosting Conversions

Kurt Elster — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Have you wondered why your store doesn’t get more conversions?

There are two types of businesses: 1) the kind that intimately understand their customers, and 2) the kind that shoot aimlessly and occasionally hit the target. Both types of businesses may succeed for a while, but let’s face it: the second type of business isn’t sustainable.

You know that talking to your customers is the the only way to know them, but it’s one of those things that slips to the bottom of your to-do list. That’s okay.

In this episode we talk to Liston WItherill of Good Funnel to find out:

Why don’t people get more excited about my business?
Why aren’t I getting more sales from my website?
How do I answer objections, right in the copy that I write?
How do I improve my onsite conversion rates by at least 30%?

Liston is here to help you resonate with your audience to get more leads and conversions. In other words, we can answer these pressing questions for you.

Liston Witherill is an online marketer and Chief Creative at Good Funnel. He helps tech and info businesses understand their customers to sell more. He studies copywriting, persuasion, pricing, positioning and automation to help businesses hit the hockey stick - or at least come close. After serving as Director of Marketing for a $10M company, Liston declined their CMO position to instead pursue his own business. He has a MS in Environmental Science and a BA in Political Science and Economics. He’s an environmentalist and hiphop artist, too - but that’s a different story.

Learn more about Liston at http://goodfunnel.co/ and be sure to sign up for his email course.

Social Media Strategy For Dummies

Kurt Elster — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 12:01:00 +0000

New store owners often look to social media to kickstart their marketing efforts, yet rarely succeed. To help break the social mediocrity that most brands engaged in, we talked with Mojca Marš from http://superspicymedia.com/ about how to achieve it.

Mojca Marš consults with companies on the use of social media, email marketing and content marketing. Since social media is her passion, and she loves to communicate with people and create active communities around great brands/companies.

Business Brokers: How to buy or Sell my Shopify Store?

Kurt Elster — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Ever wonder how to buy or sell a website? We did, so we talked to David Newell, an experienced business broker.

David is Brokerage Director at FE International. Starting out as an banker, he moved online to use his transaction experience for website brokerage. At FEI, he spends his time speaking with buyers, executing deals and working on raising industry standards to encourage more investments. In 2014 he closed more than $6M in sales and wrote a book on buying internet businesses for investors new to the space.

Useful links:

Buyer Guide: http://feinternational.com/buyerguide/
Advanced Buyer Guide: http://feinternational.com/advancedbuyerguide
Valuing businesses: http://feinternational.com/blog/how-do-you-value-an-online-business/

"How do I SEO my Shopify store?" For Dummies

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I spent the whole day at the Shopify Retail tour. They'd invited me, along with a few other folks, to answer questions about Shopify and Ecommerce from existing and potential Shopify customers. From 10am until 4:30pm, I talked to a diverse and interesting lot of folks.

But every single person asked me some variation of one universal question: "how do I SEO?"

I get why they're asking. If your site appears at the top of google searches for a variety of things related to your products, you'll have loads of traffic. And potentially you didn't pay for it, if only you could crack the code on SEO! If only you knew the magic formula of H1 and alt tags to make the google machine happy.

But that's not realistic. It's at best an attempt to game a hugely complex and constantly changing algorithm into giving you traffic you don't deserve.

I say you don't deserve it because you're trying to cheat the system. Instead, let's come up with a real strategy that works.

Step 1: Let's forget about obsessing over html. If you're using a new premium theme from a good developer like Pixel Union or Out of The Sandbox then you've already done 99% of everything you need to support technical SEO efforts. Open graph, schema markup, etc. All there and done. Don't waste more time and money on this because you'll never get a good ROI out of it. Let's face facts: google engineers are smarter than you.

Step 2: on site SEO. Google wants what your customers want: relevant, valuable content. You have to write articles, guides, interviews, and all the other valuable content you enjoy on other sites. My most successful Shopify Plus couldn't care less about SEO. Instead of fussing with alt tags, he hired three writers to produce great blog content for him. It only costs $1200/mo which is way cheap for the ROI he gets. Here's the best part: he never worries about writing the perfect SEO copy, because he's instead creating on-topic and relevant articles. You can do the same thing. Write on your own or hire someone.

I already know your objection: "Kurt I'm a lousy writer and I can't afford a writer." I've got a hack for you that I use. Dictate your articles using the text to speech already built in to your device. Macs are great at this. Then send it to a copy editor. I pay $30/article on average for copy editing.

Step 3: off-site SEO. Links to your site from sites with a similar audience are massively important. (Note: The spammy blog comment links you buy from a snake oil salesman SEO pro for $500/mo are the opposite of this.)

Here's where we need to again forget about SEO; start thinking like a public relations firm. The best SEO strategy I've ever seen is PR outreach. Find blogs, forums, YouTube channels, and Instagram rockstars who are in your niche. Now email them. Email them and offer them free product in exchange for an honest review. This is a numbers game but it's the only way you'll get relevant links with qualified traffic. This tactic is powerful in that you'll be able to trade up the chain. You'll start with small blogs and as word of mouth grows you'll be able to build relationships that move you up to blogs getting millions of daily visitors. This tactic isn't particularly difficult but it is time consuming. You can hire someone to do it for you which will save you time and speed things up because outreach professionals already have a network to leverage. (I personally recommend Kai Davis for this kind of work, he's pulled great results for my clients.)

What's the takeaway here? Instead of trying to learn the finer points of semantic HTML while guessing at google's algorithm, all you need to do is share your passion. Make your love of your niche infectious and the SEO will follow.

Don't Break The Chain: A Guide to Customer Lifecycle Marketing

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +0000

What happens when a new visitor hits your website? They don't buy. And that's okay! In this episode, we skip the guest interviews, and instead Paul and Kurt talk through the strategies and tactics involved in building trust with customers.

The Chain:

Anonymous visitor
Engaged prospect
Cart abandoner
Buyers
Repeat buyer
Brand evangelist

You'll learn to visualize your relationship with your customers and the tactics we recommend to turn anonymous visitors into brand evangelists.

Step on The Gas: Jordan Gal on Building Successful Ecommerce Businesses

Kurt Elster — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Jordan Gal is the Co-Founder and CEO of CartHook, an effective abandoned cart recovery solution. CartHook tracks and captures the email addresses of visitors going through your checkout process. When a visitor abandons a purchase, an automated email campaign is triggered that is designed to bring the customer back to the site to complete the purchase. CartHook customers are recovering an average of 10% to 20% of abandoned carts and boosting revenue by up to 15%.

Previously he was the Co-Founder of YCA Shops which operated a network of niche ecommerce stores. That company grew quickly and was acquired in mid-2009, so Jordan knows a thing or two about successful ecommerce. On top of that, he hosts the popular Bootstrapped Web Podcast.

So what we're saying is Jordan knows a thing or two about ecommerce, and optimization in general. He joins us today to share his experience, and in particular, two powerful anecdotes about learning from your customers that you won't want to miss.

Be sure to check out CartHook as well as follow Jordan on Twitter.

Josh Highland: Shopify Empire

Kurt Elster, Josh Highland — Thu, 28 May 2015 12:48:00 +0000

Josh Highland Giese Better known as Josh Highland, owns and operates Venntov.com, a software and services company focused on the Shopify platform. Venntov.com has been a certified Shopify Expert since 2011 and has assisted hundreds of Shopify shop owners.

Josh has literally written the book on SEO for Shopify stores. We talk to him about what that means and why you should care. You'll want to take notes for this episode.

You can get his book from http://shopifyempire.com/
Learn more about Josh at http://joshhighland.com/
or even hire him at https://venntov.com/

Zach Weiss, worn&wound, Affordable Watch Strap King

Kurt Elster, Zach Weiss — Thu, 7 May 2015 13:55:00 +0000

Zach is a lifelong watch collector and has the stash of scratched up Swatches to prove it. He holds a B.A. from Bard College in Studio Arts and a Masters of Design in Designed Objects from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a working product, graphic and packaging designer, he views watches as the perfect synergy of 2D and 3D design: the place where form, function, fashion and mechanical wonderment come together. He has even had some viral success with his own ORBO digital watch concept.

Having started a hugely successful watch blog, worn&wound has also launched an equally successful watch strap and accessory store. All of the items offered at the worn&wound shop are developed by the worn&wound team with the goal of creating products of superior quality and affordable price. Further, they're proud to say that all worn&wound watch straps and original products are designed and manufactured in the USA.

Read their blog at http://www.wornandwound.com/ and grab one of their watch straps at http://shop.wornandwound.com/

PS: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and write a review. iTunes is all about reviews!

Following Your Passion & Making the Jump

Kurt Elster — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 22:13:00 +0000

This week we talk with Jeff Sheldon from Ugmonk.

It all started with a simple idea – design fresh high-quality unique items. Just one month after Jeff had graduated college, married his high-school sweetheart, moved to Burlington, VT, and started a full-time design job, he found myself brainstorming about launching his own brand centered around a love for typography and minimal design: Ugmonk.

What started as an outlet for my passion and entrepreneurial experiment quickly grew into much more than just selling a few shirts.

Listen and find out how Jeff went from full-time agency employee to full-time Shopify store owner and clothing designer.

Check out Ugmonk and pick up some finery for yourself. (I know I've got my eye on those waxed canvas bags. I love the patina waxed canvas develops with use.)

PS: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and write a review. iTunes is all about reviews!

United Pixelworkers: A Post Mortem

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Mon, 2 Feb 2015 20:35:00 +0000

This episode is a little bit different in that we talked to the owner of a closed but beloved Shopify store called United Pixelworkers. UPW sold a collection of niche t-shirts for graphic designers and web workers in general, each themed as a local labor union. They were great, and we even have one.

If you'll join the three of us for 40 minutes of value-packed advice, Nathan shares with us his story and drops some great advice...

How to market yourself using the law of reciprocity
How to borrow an audience and trade up the chain
The advantage of pre-orders flash sales
and why you have to be shameless.

You can follow Nathan on Twitter, and check out his current venture Cotton Bureau – A curated online community for high quality t-shirts. Seriously high quality. We found ourselves drooling over half of them.

PS: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and write a review. iTunes is all about reviews!

How One Man Quit His Job To Sell Wallets Featured in GQ

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:40:00 +0000

Ever dream of quitting your 9-5 job to do your own thing? How about manufacturing your own product and selling it direct to consumer? That's what Kyle Bardouche did. But get this, he launched 7 different products in 3 months. That's crazy, right?

It gets crazier. Kyle was selling his products on Etsy, and ended up in GQ. Most people would be happy with that level of success, but Kyle then cracked the code on Instagram advertising.

It's a great story, filled with actionable marketing advice, and loaded with inspiration.

Give it a listen and be sure to checkout Amos and especially their whiskey wallets.

PS: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and write a review. iTunes is all about reviews!

Michael DiMartini, Everest Bands creator, talks Kickstarter success

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 16:46:00 +0000

Michael DiMartini from Everest Bands come on the show to chat and share his success with us. He's gone from failed businesses to two successful Kickstarter campaigns and an amazing product line sold through Shopify. Michael doesn't just sell watch bands. He sells literally the best rubber watch strap made- and it's for a Rolex.

We discuss:

What Everest Bands is all about (it's more than just swiss rubber)
What goes in to a successful Kickstarter
The ROI of Facebook likes
What it takes to be a luxury brand
The Apple Watch
Michael's favorite watch
And his single best tip for Shopify store owners.

Check out Everest Bands Shopify store or their Facebook campaign.

PS: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and write a review. iTunes is all about reviews!

Full transcript

[opening music]

Announcer: This is the Unofficial Shopify Podcast with Kurt Elster and Paul Reda, your resource for growing your Shopify business, sponsored by Ethercycle.

Kurt Elster: Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Unofficial Shopify Podcast. I'm your host Kurt, and with me is my business partner and co-host Paul.

Paul Reda: Welcome. Hello.

Kurt: Joining us today is Michael DiMartini from Everest Bands. He is one of our favorite clients, a Kickstarter success, a manufacturer and a Shopify store owner. Michael, it's around 3:30 there in St Loius, what are you up to?

Michael DiMartini: Well, if it was Friday, I'd be drinking a cold one.

Kurt: There you go.

Michael: Obviously, I am excited to do this first inaugural podcast with you guys and really appreciate it. Super excited to talk more about our company and Shopify and the great job that you guys have done for us.

Kurt: Thank you. Tell us a little bit about Everest Band. What's an Everest Band?

Michael: About two and a half years ago, my partners and I came up with an idea for a rubber Rolex replacement watch strap. Now, two years later, we had a successful Kickstarter with our first rubber strap. We are on our second version now, made in Switzerland. Just recently, last month, we had our second successful Kickstarter for a leather strap. It was a wonderful experience. Thank God for Kickstarter.

Kurt: [laughs] This band is made in Switzerland, huh?

Michael: Yeah. Our rubber strap is entirely made in Switzerland, rubber-wise. We actually have a steel oyster link that is attached to it and we coat that with a coating called DLC, diamond-like coating. That is actually from here on the US.

Kurt: I think, I and a lot of people, we have ideas. We're like, "Oh, we got this great idea for a thing." Making a thing is hard. It's easy to have an idea. It's tough to actually get it manufactured. How did you go end up in Switzerland, asking a manufacturer to build your rubber? How does that happen? How do I get there?

Michael: To be very honest, we actually had two previous versions. One was made, or tempted to be made, here in the St. Louis area. Honestly, it was a complete epic fail and we did not actually produce any straps for sale.

We had a second version that was also made in the United States. That was a very good strap. We had some limitations with the manufacturer on, basically, material choices. We traveled the globe to find what we think would be the absolute best manufacturer. Honestly, the Swiss just blew us away with their technology at rubber molding.

The company we use specializes in rubber watch strap molding. I can't list the names of the companies, but probably the top 10 watch manufacturers in the world use them to make their rubber straps. I actually had to pretty much beg them to take my business.

Kurt: Did you pretty much beg them or did you literally beg them?

Michael: Oh, no. I got on the proverbial hands and knees and literally said, "Please, please make my strap." They said, "Sure. We'll do it." How did I get there? A lot of research. Honestly, a tremendous amount of research and actually asking industry experts. I asked other watch companies who they used.

Kurt: I think that's one of the things a lot of people should do or don't know how to do is, do I go out and ask people in my industry or even competitors, "What are you doing? How do you do it? Can I pick your brain?" Did you do that? How do you go about that?

Michael: Yes, of course. There's a two-part answer to that. One of them does relate to Kickstarter. Whenever you're producing a product like we produce or really anything of a higher-end level, don't be embarrassed to ask others how they're doing it. For sure, other people are more than happy to help.

We just started with other watchmakers, high-end watchmakers. They were very open with us. Some were, of course, tentative for giving us any information whatsoever. When they immediately found out that we weren't a competitor, a direct competitor in any way, they were more than happy to talk to us.

Kurt: Really, the only barrier to entry is you psychologically just being willing to go out and ask. What's the worst that can happen, they say no? If you don't ask, you've guaranteed that you get nothing out of it.

Michael: Honestly, let's call it, any entrepreneur has to have some balls.

Kurt: [laughs] Right. It took me a long time to get there.

Michael: You can't be fearful of being told to drop dead.

Kurt: [laughs] That's a good line. That's a great quote. We should include that as a tweet. Tell me, what goes into...You got the seed money or got this off the ground using Kickstarter twice now, right?

Michael: Yeah. Just a really quick back story, I had another business that was a failure, to be honest. I think that the best entrepreneur is the one that get kicked down at least once or twice and they then learn from those mistakes and take it from there.

Our first business, completely unrelated in every single facet, local business, didn't deliver a product, delivered a service, et cetera, was a failure because of a lot of different things. One, we added too much debt to the business. When we were looking at the product itself, the product idea, we felt that Kickstarter was perfect for us.

It gave us the ability to have a presale, so we knew if the product was worth doing. We did of course put a lot of money into it at the very beginning. The amount that we put in was a little bit more than what we got from Kickstarter, but really Kickstarter did finish line us on our first product.

On the second one, we took a completely different direction. We were going not for what we did on our first one, where we were trying to get the seed money to finish the project. It was more of wanting to make sure the market place wanted the product. We, of course, used the funds to pay for the finish line of the second product.

We also didn't go after retailers, for example. We just went after the general public. On our first Kickstarter, more than half of our Kickstarter proceeds were from retailers. If I was doing this all over again for a first time, I definitely would try and get retailers involved in my first product.

Kurt: Now that you're a Kickstarter veteran, if you had one tip for someone who's about to launch their product on Kickstarter, what would it be?

Michael: The first tip that I would give is you really have to have your crap together. I mean it.

Kurt: It's a good tip. Get your shit together!

Michael: Get your shit together! Don't start Kickstarter with questions, because you're going to get annihilated, number one. Number two, when I say that, I mean there are so many different levels to that. Starting with that, not only do you become an expert in your area through at least understanding the part that you're going to sell and manufacture, number one.

Number two, you're going to want to have excellent pictures of a prototype. You want to have connected with the lowest level of purchasing. Usually, that's through forums and different items that are connected to some type of social media connection. Yes, get your sit together.

Paul: You mentioned social media, and we think that social media advertising is sort of bullshit here. It's a lot of snake oil. It doesn't get the ROI that the social media people like to claim it does, at least in our experience. However, you have a ton of Facebook Likes and the majority of your traffic comes in via Facebook. Why do you think you were able to pull that off?

Michael: That's a really good question. To be really honest with you, I think that each business has a different successful tool in some level of marketing. For example, we seem to have a product where people need to physically see it. With social media, we can present pictures constantly.

When we have a Facebook Like, for example...and I'll be honest, it costs us very few cents per Facebook Like, whereas in other industries it's very expensive to acquire a Like because...

Kurt: Actually, I didn't know that Likes are on like a bidding system where it varies by industry. How many Facebook Likes do you have, anyway?

Michael: We have 128,000. We're probably going to achieve today 129,000.

Kurt: How many did you have where you saw it really was paying off for you, in terms of sales?

Michael: Probably after 5,000. Honestly, after about 5,000 Likes.

Kurt: So, 5,000 is the baseline that people should be shooting for and 100,000 is ideal.

Michael: Actually, to be very honest with you, our end goal for Facebook Likes for the end of 2015 is over a million.

Kurt: Yes! There's no limit, so why not shoot for the ceiling?

Michael: Exactly. To better answer your question, because that's a really good one especially for entrepreneurs, Facebook, Instagram, those things are free. There is no form of free marketing better that that.

It costs you money to put a sign on the wall of your office or your storefront. It costs you money to have, honestly, Ethercycle do work for you. Facebook is free. Social media's free, but to make it successful, you need those tools behind you, like Ethercycle's work, like a sign maker for your outside, like a very good business card printer, so on and so forth. That is what gets you the end success.

Paul: Social media marketing takes a lot of time too, which people just assume that it's a thing that just happens for free and you don't have to worry about it. There's a lot of time-suck there as well.

Michael: Yeah. For my own self, as the marketing person for our company, I focus 50 percent of my day on social media. Development of it.

Paul: Earlier, you mentioned forums and that really tickled something in my brain. Another one of our big clients that works in aftermarket auto parts and they do millions of dollars in revenue a year, a portion of their sale staff is just devoted to pumping up the product on forums and selling on forums.

Because a forum dedicated to the kind of product that you're selling is essentially just a captured audience of people that are super interested in what you want to sell them.

Michael: Yeah. A forum is a community of hobbyists, obviously. Some of them are not hobbyists. Some of those are people like, for example for us, a watch repair company. They might have access to a forum and they keep up to date on what's popular and what not.

That's how a lot of our business has come from, especially on the retailer side. To be very honest with you, we involve ourselves enough to give a presentation of new products and ideas but not so much that we're going to get kicked off. Because it's a club. That's what it is.

Paul: You think to swoop in and be, "Buy my stuff!" You can't spam them.

Kurt: [laughs]

Paul: Engaging is the word. You want to engage. Not just spam.

Michael: Yeah. Exactly. At the end of the day, let's call that as it is, no one likes to be sold anything, everybody likes to buy stuff.

Kurt: Speaking of buying, you're selling a luxury brand. You're selling a premium item for people who have already bought from a luxury brand. You only sell for Rolex, correct?

Michael: On Everest Bands, yeah. We do have a secondary site, we don't need to get into that today but yeah. Our primary focus is Everest and Everest Horology products in general, just only focuses entirely on Rolex users, Rolex owners and wearers.

Kurt: All right. I think luxury brands as an idea fascinate me. I know we've gone back and forth about it in the office. Sometimes you have to tease out, "Is this just a product with a very expensive price tag?" It's purely a status symbol.

Rolex is extremely well made. It's a premium product. It's well made. At the same time, everyone knows it's expensive. Starting Rolex, brand new, is going to be eight grand. For a product like Everest Brands, it's a luxury product. How did you get to become a luxury product? What's the barrier to entry to be a premium luxury brand? Is it just a big price tag? What is it?

Michael: A lot of people are trying to make things in different countries right now for a super low cost. The consumer today of course likes value but, if you're talking about a luxury product or becoming a luxury company, you have to remember that, what does the end user want? True end users. Luxury purchasers.

Quality is a corner stone of whatever you're making. Second - longevity of life. Don't think that people with money have any interest in buying something over and over again every six to 12 months. They're just not interested in doing that.

It's very uncommon that you see a destroyed Gucci bag or a pair Ferragamo shoes that are quite a few years old and still look excellent. Mercedes Benzes last a very long time. They're not a car that you drive for three years and throw away.

At the end of the day, Everest makes a product that is the highest quality in the world. There is no better rubber strap or leather strap ever. The longevity and life of our product is very long. From a luxury standpoint, our service is extremely high. I have direct communication with almost with every single costumer at some level.

Kurt: All right. A luxury brand obviously is more than just the premium price. You have to back it up. If you're going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk and have a product that's number one in its category, in terms of precision manufacturing. Then being able to back it up with customer support, so people don't even have to wonder. They know they'll be able to get a hold of you.

Speaking of luxury products, premium brands, we can't ignore Apple. You're a watch guy. I'm into watches. I think partly you've got me into watches. The Apple watch was just announced yesterday. I'm dating this podcast a little bit. The Apple watch just came out. I love it. I think it looks great. For $350, I don't think you get a watch that's better. What do you think?

Michael: First, obviously Everest has had its own level of getting kicked while it's down, we'll say, when we were first starting. I'm not going to kick the Apple watch while no one's even really seen it yet. Do I think it's going to hurt the hot horology world? Absolutely not.

I don't think it's even going to get remotely dent Rolex, Omega, Bell & Ross's sales because, honestly, people buy those products because they love the watch. They could care less about time keeping.

Paul: Yeah, I agree with you there. Hublot has nothing to worry about. But in my mind, judging by what I've read and what I've heard you and Kurt talk about about the low end of the watch industry, in terms of the low end of the luxury watches, the kind of things that are available at that price point, it's my impression that the Apple watch blows everything out of the water at that price point.

Michael: Yeah. The other side of the spectrum is - not to try and compare entirely a Rolex to an Apple watch...I have a Rolex. It's seven years old. It looks brand new. I treat it well but I don't have a seven-year-old iPhone, gentlemen.

Kurt: [laughs] Good point.

Michael: Do I think it's going to be somewhat or something that you replace every three to four years at a maximum? Yeah. The Everest Band, for example, I am still wearing the original first single piece that came off the assembly line today and it still looks as if it's brand new. That was a year and a half ago.

Again, it just goes back to the whole luxury idea. Is Apple producing a luxury product? No. They're just producing a great piece of technology that has a lot of advancements. It's not going to affect Hublot. It's not going to affect Omega. It's not going to affect Rolex.

But on a low end line, say for example a Casio? Yeah. Casio, Seico, low ends, they're going to feel it. They're going to feel the heat pretty hard probably.

Kurt: The sub-five hundred dollar people are in trouble. The heirloom, status symbol and $10,000 watches have nothing to worry about.

Michael: Yeah. I don't particularly see that Southwest is affecting private jet sales.

Kurt: [laughs] Good point I didn't figure it out that way.

Michael: Lets call it as it is, but do I feel the Southwest is probably affecting American Airlines in sales? Hell yeah, gentlemen. Come on. It like $98. Give me a break. To go up to Chicago from St. Louis, I would pick that over $300 flight on American Airlines, for example.

Also, there's a million of those, but I'm excited to see what happens with the Apple iWatch, especially because I watched kind of amazingly as the Pebble watch was coming down the pipeline. It was in its Kickstarter when I was doing my first Everest Band Kickstarter.

We are brothers from another mother. I really feel that the Pebble hasn't really hit the marketplace the way they thought it would.

Paul: I think that is true. Every smart watch that's come out.

Kurt: Every smart watch, yeah.

Michael: Oh yeah.

Kurt: I had a Pebble watch, I thought it was an awful. I wore it like handful of times and I ended up selling it. I lost money on it. It's just not a good product.

Michael: Then, on top of it, I really almost feel bad for Pebble, because they had such enormous phoenix rise at the very beginning with, I think it was $10 million in sales...

Kurt: I know they broke a record for fundraising on Kickstarter.

Michael: Oh yeah. Just recently the Coolest Cooler knocked them off the top. More importantly, they had countless issues. They couldn't get the damn thing out for a year. I can tell you right now, our customers were...we were late by three weeks and they were freaking out.

I just feel that when it comes down to being successful, selling a product and what not, there are a lot of different parts that have to play in to it. The one great thing about Apple is that they are so well organized that this multiple-billion dollar company is going to probably hit it really well on their first version.

The first iPhone was pretty sweet, but I am worried that, honestly, it could be the next Newton. I don't know if you guys remember that P.O.S.

Kurt: Yeah. I love it. The only thing I can ever think of about the Newton, I think a lot of people our age too, is the Newton on the Simpsons.

Paul: Yeah, "Eat up Martha."

Kurt: "Eat up Martha."

Paul: The main thing that is in my mind is that I don't wear watches. I don't understand why anyone would wear a watch, because I have an atomic clock that I carry around in my pocket at all times that also does things more than a watch.

Kurt: It's jewelry really...

Paul: No. and I don't...

[crosstalk]

Kurt: It's jewelry that happens to tell the time.

Paul: I don't wear any jewelry, so it's kind of meaningless to me. I saw the smart watch and, because I'm stupid, I was kind of like, "All right, I kind of want it a little bit."

Kurt: It's not stupid, it's geeky. It's another screen. I see the attraction.

Michael: I totally see the attractions too, because honestly, you don't fit in to...like Kurt fits in to it but not everybody fits into that wanting of a high-end watch. Honestly, Rolex probably produces about a million high-end time pieces a year annually.

Kurt: That blows my mind. A million people a year are spending $8,000 plus on a watch.

Paul: I was doing research on how the watch might affect Apple's bottom line, because I am an Apple shareholder and...

Kurt: That makes two of us. High five.

Paul: ...the world watch market produces something like 1.2 billion watches a year. If 1.2 billion watches get made, Rolex makes 1 million of them. That's less than one percent. [laughs]

Kurt: It's still crazy.

Paul: I'm sure in terms of revenue, they're way higher, but not in terms of watches produced.

Michael: Exactly. At the end of the day, you've got 1.2 billion watches being made annually. There's going to be a large percentage of them that are going to last a very short amount of time. They're $20, $15. They're $75.

You know what? You're right. I think the Apple watch is a creative, brilliant idea that is well-designed. I'm simply not going to bang it, even though...I don't think I'll ever buy one. But it's just a different animal.

Paul: It's a different thing.

Kurt: It's a new market.

Man 2: I think Jony Ive said during the video that, "You know, we are going to replace Rolex." He made some crack about replacing Rolex and a lot of those brands. That is kind of like, "All right. You are not right there." Because that's...

Kurt: Don't be reaching for the stars.

[crosstalk]

Paul: This is a different thing they are selling. They both might be called watches, but they are different things.

Michael: Rolex is not a buggy whip, gentlemen. Honestly, for him to say that shows, sadly, that even though he's a beautiful and wonderful designer, his complete and utter ignorance on the watch industry is completely...he overly showed it during that point.

Paul: I'm really excited to listen to this in five years and then we're like, "Oh man, Apple controls everything. We were idiots."

Kurt: [laughs] "I can't believe Apple bought Rolex." Tell me, you are a watch guy, what's your favorite watch?

Michael: I hate to say that I'm a...Even though I love complex, beautiful watches, I have to still say that the Rolex Submariner, in it's simple form, it's absolutely the most beautiful watch I've ever seen. It is a timeless, gorgeous definition of what a watch should be. It's accuracy is absolutely impressive.

It's an over a 60-year design that's slightly evolved to almost absolute perfection with their current version. I look at so many other watches, and you just don't ever see that.

When you look at watches, in general, or really products in general, let's just start with the car or anything like that or the Internet for that matter, very seldomly do you see one company be able to take their vision from 60 years ago and still keep running with it perfectly.

Kurt: Yeah, it's true. The Rolex Submariner shape is classic and timeless, like people will always recognize a bottle of Coke, I think number one, and number two, they'll know Rolex when they see it.

Michael: Not to try and push Ethercycle in any way, but...

[crosstalk]

Kurt: Oh no, please do. Please do.

Michael: I know, but I really feel like one thing that you guys did great was that...I said to you during our design meetings that I wanted a website that showed the essence of Rolex's website and Rolex's presence.

I didn't want to be Rolex. That's not what my intension was, but you guys were able to take the essence of that. That's complex. Countless people try and make watches just like Rolex watches, and they are completely off the mark every single time.

It's good to see you guys, actually, were able to both manufacture my idea of what our website should look like but also give it that same feeling that it's going to last. I'm not going to change my website six months from tomorrow.

I actually think that we are only going to minorly evolve it over the next two or three years as technology develops better in Shopify.

Kurt: That's the way to do it. I think the people who have the most success are not the ones who tear down their website every six months, but instead are doing just constant iterations. With you, it's really every two weeks, even sometimes weekly, we're making continuous changes that really add up to better conversion and more sales, et cetera.

Speaking that, as a Shopify store owner, give me one tip for Shopify store owners.

Michael: The one tip is I do believe you need to trust something as important as your website to professionals, because if you are going to run a website like Shopify's -- very well built technology -- you can download one of their templates. You can figure out how to put some images and things like that. At the end of the day, the consumer is very short lived in their decision-making online.

I look at the amount of time that people are on our website, and they are only there for a minute or two really sometimes.

Kurt: A minute and a half is good. That's extraordinary.

Michael: That is such an integral important part. To spend 2, 3, 4 thousand dollars on something that you are going to have as an asset in your company for the next 12 to 24 to 36 months...it's kind of foolish to think that, "I will just download a fifty dollar template and just start going with it."

You need professional guidance, especially, even at a base level when you first do Kickstarter, when you first do this things, when you're first coming up with the product idea or your first, you're even just starting up a retail store online, you need to have that guidance. Because without that, your conversion rate will be much lower. Even if you think it's looks great and your mom does too, it doesn't matter.

What matters is the end consumer has complete confidence in buying the product and you need the company to really do that and develop your website.

Kurt: Hell yeah. God, I'm going to have to embed that audio on the second website now. [laughs]

Paul: Autoplay audio now on the website. Big conversion. People love that.

Kurt: You are right. That is a conversion killer.

[laughter]

Kurt: I think that I learned a lot. I hope other people learned a lot. It was really good. It was great having you. Michael I looked forward to talking more with Everest Bands and really growing that brand. Thank you for joining us.

Michael: Thank you guys. Again, I really feel, not to go back a couple of times to do something, but if you're going to do a Kickstarter, you really need to get things organized. One of the most important things in organizing it is the image that you put out there, because if you don't have that, you will fail.

Kurt: Your number one tip is still, will always ring true in my mind and it's good to hear it, "get your shit together."

Michael: Get your shit together. Don't start without your shit together boys, because it's going to fail. I had a great time...

Paul: Advice for everyone.

Michael: Yeah, honestly. Your mom told you when you were 18 years old, "Get your shit together."

Kurt: All right, this is fantastic. Thank you, Michael.

Michael: Thanks guys.

Paul: Thank you.

[closing music]

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