eCommerce Fuel

New post from The eCommerceFuel Blog: It's everyone's new favorite social media platform and for some business owners, it's a gold mine. Lily Jade is a multi-million dollar diaper bag business and they've generated seven figures alone through Instagram. eCommerceFuel community members and founders of Lily Jade, Landon and Meggan Wood, along  with their Instagram manager, Ashley McGleary, share the secrets behind using influencers and creating engagement to create buzz (and lots of sales) using Instagram. Subscribe:  iTunes | Stitcher (With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and guests, Landon & Meggan Wood and Ashley McGleary of Lily Jade ) Andrew: Hey, hey, guys, it's Andrew here. And welcome to the eCommerceFuel podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in to the show today. And on the show, we're talking Instagram today, and specifically, how do you generate seven figures in sales from Instagram? And my guests have done that. Not only do that they have a multi-million dollar business, and have done well with Instagram, but they've generated seven figures in sales just from the Instagram channel itself, by their own estimates. A really impressive story. And the owners, who are eCommerceFuel community members, I had the chance to meet them at ECF Live last year in Nashville, Landon and Meggan Wood, and they've got a really incredible story. And we're...we have them on, and we're also joined by their, kind of a Instagram manager. She heads up their Instagram team at the company, Ashley McClearyan. And talk tactics. How do you make this work? We talk about the early days, how they got going, how they got their 1,000 followers. We talk how much you should expect to spend when you paying for influencers to share your things, based on how many followers and how much engagement we have. We talk about how you should put together an engagement letter when you have people that you're paying sponsored posts for, to make sure they present your brand in a way that actually gets engagement and represents you the way that you want to be seen. And we talk about that, and a lot of other things in today's interview. So, I'm going to go ahead and get the intros brief as possible, and let's go ahead and jump right in to discussion with Landon, Meggan, and Ashley from Lily Jade. In Search of a Great Diaper Bag Andrew: So, Meggan, you were mentioning that you've only been doing this for a couple years. I think like, October of 2013, you and Landon and the team there, and...which, really surprised me, given the quality of the business of your line of products, and what you've been able to accomplish since then. So, was LilyJade born out of just, your need for a good diaper bag? Meggan: Yeah, actually it was. I'm a mom of two little girls, and when I had my second daughter, I looked at my husband and said that one day I wanted to design a diaper bag line that did not look anything like a diaper bag, and that had multiple functions, just as a great coat, and that had an organizational component that would help keep moms and women and business women just organized. Help their lives run a little bit more efficiently. So, yeah. Andrew: I think this is the kind of thing where you don't really realize how valuable that is until you have kids. Because we have a couple girls now, and when we had our first, my wife got a...she got something...not a...she didn't know about Lily Jade, but she kind of got a nicer, higher end designer bag, because she uses it so much. Meggan and Landon, of course, you guys are married, for people who may not be aware of that, just listening. But, have you been working together since the beginning of the company, and what are your different, respective roles within Lily Jade? Landon: Yes, we have been working since the beginning of the company. I think that we work well together as a team.

Today Ilana Wechsler from TeachTraffic.com joins the show to give us a crash course on Google Display Network. This platform is a very important piece of the marketing pie that more people should utilize, and Ilana breaks down why we should all be paying attention to it. Listen in as we cover what you need to know about Google Display Network and tips for implementing it in your business. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2TG2J2Z Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.   Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups?  Subscribe via email.

On this week’s episode, Morgen Newman shares the strategy his company, MixedMade, used when developing and launching in such a short time frame. With the goal of demystifying the start-up process, transparency is very important to Morgen. He also dives into the company's current growth, as well as ideas he hopes to execute in the near future.

Bryce Adams is the founder of Metorik, a company that is best described as the Swiss Army Knife of WooCommerce. Not only does Bryce know a ton about WooCommerce, but he also bootstrapped an extremely profitable business with himself as the only employee—and managed to do so in a way that didn’t sacrifice customer service or the quality of the product. I brought him on the show today to ask him how he did it, what helped him decide where to put his time and money to make his company such a success, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2Z7MC0B 

Building an audience can be tough, especially when you’re starting from scratch. So today, I thought it’d be fun to share the mic with Michael Jackness of EcomCrew so we can both give our perspectives on the subject, including what worked for us and what mistakes we made along the way. Michael has done such an incredible job building up EcomCrew.com over the last couple years, and today you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look into exactly how he did it. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2GO35k5 

This week’s episode is a special treat for anyone who was not able to make it to last weekends’ eCommerceFuel Live Event. Welcome Brandon Eley, founder and owner of 2BigFeet.com. Brandon is a 15-year eCommerce veteran, speaker, blogger and author of Online Marketing Inside Out. Brandon shares his incredible entrepreneurial journey, from blowing all of his start-up money, to being near bankruptcy, and turning it all around to making over 7 figures. You do not want to miss this informative and inspiring session from the eCommerceFuel Live event.  You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1q9QgRS

Today Lianna Patch of Punchline Copy joins the show to discuss how not to be boring with your website and how to sell through humor. It's hard to do well—which is why not many people do it—but if you can pull it off, you have a huge advantage in the marketplace. Listen in to hear Lianna give her best tips on writing hilarious copy, ideas for sprucing things up on your website, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2Xqmc8d Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.   Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups?  Subscribe via email.

Today Drew Sanocki of NerdMarketing.com is back on the show, this time to discuss a company he has recently become the owner of called PostPilot. Designed to help eCommerce businesses sell more products through post card marketing, PostPilot helps users create automated post card campaigns to build up loyalty and sales. Listen in as Drew explains how to leverage post cards in your business, how his companies are gearing up for Black Friday, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/33EqU6k Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.   Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups?  Subscribe via email.

eCommerceFuel veteran Ezra Firestone, of SmartMarketer.com, returns to talk about social media and paid traffic. Ezra has become a paid traffic guru, focusing on the multitude of ways to drive traffic to your website using different channels available today. Ezra explains the best method to determine your strategy specific to your business and budget. With our help, you will be armed with the information you need to finish 2015 with a plan that will drive traffic to your site through the roof. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1QH70cy

Today we are doing a replay of one of my favorite episodes from 2019 with Eric Bandholz from Beardbrand.com. Eric won the ECF 5 award for the most upvoted thread of 2018, and in this episode, he shares what made that year such a great one for his company. He talks about what made them decide to leave Amazon, how they’ve changed up their strategy, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2stIxrH Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.   Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups?  Subscribe via email.

When it comes to finances, a lot of eCommerce store owners tend to struggle. So today, I’ve got Cyndi Thomason of Bookskeep.com on the show to shed light on how to make your business profitable using the Profit First methodology. Cyndi is an eCommerce accountant and bookkeeper specifically focused on this methodology, and she shares how to set it up in your own business, advice for allocating funds, and lots more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2IGxOSB 

Bill joins me today to discuss which shipping carriers will save your business the most money. We look at the strengths and weaknesses of each carrier and what you need to do to negotiate the best possible deals. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1LZ5fYo

Today we have Bill D’Alessandro from ElementsBrands.com joining the show to discuss our eCommerce predictions for the coming year. We will be sharing how our predictions for 2019 held up now that we are approaching the end of the year, as well as if any of our ideas came to fruition. You’ll learn whether we think America is heading toward a recession in 2020, our thoughts on the coming election, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2Lysgbz Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.   Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups?  Subscribe via email.

Today Chris Nelson from MCARBO.com joins the show to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to manufacturing in the USA. Unlike most American businesses, almost everything MCARBO sells is manufactured here in the United States, so Chris has tons of insight to share on the subject. Listen in as he explains pricing differences, the number of suppliers he needs to keep things running smoothly, and more. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: https://bit.ly/2lZ2zH7 Interested in our Private Community for 7-Figure Store Owners?  Learn more here.   Want to hear about new episodes and eCommerce news round-ups?  Subscribe via email.

In the world of Amazon Prime, free shipping has become an expected standard for most online shoppers. For most of the bigger retailers, this does not pose any significant threat to their bottom line. But how can the smaller eCommerce owners compete in that environment? Shipping has been a topic that we've discussed briefly in the past, but today, we are talking about how you can offer free shipping as a merchant, without absolutely murdering your profitability. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1gKQgGa

If you’re in the eCommerce field, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Peep Laja from ConversionXL.com, one of the most respected conversion blogs online. I invited Peep to join us on the eCommerce Fuel podcast to discuss some of the best practices for increasing your eCommerce conversion. Get full show notes and more information here: http://bit.ly/1RheCGh

X and I dig into some specifics about email deliverability best practices, including what makes up your email reputation. We talk about how to come back from being put on a blacklist and if it's possible to make it past Google's "Updates" tab into your customer's main inbox. X also shares several tools for managing email lists and avoiding spam traps that can immobilize your business email. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2hCiwPG 

Arman Assadi has worked on copywriting projects for well-known entrepreneurs such as Neil Patel, Timothy Sykes, and others. He also has experience running a 7-figure eCommerce store, so I asked him to come on to talk about the 80/20 of eCommerce copywriting. We also discuss how to work more productively by understanding your brain type, as well as differences among crowdfunding platforms. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2DVsw1i 

We've got a quick but extensive accounting lesson for you today from Catching Clouds co-founder Scott Scharf.  As an eCommerce accounting expert, Scott gets to see the inner workings of dozens of eCommerce businesses -- and he's here to tell us what separates the good from the great. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/2fLg7BN 

Growing the marketing plan of your eCommerce business can be a difficult task, especially if you are a first-time entrepreneur. Knowing the right steps to take can be daunting even for an experienced business owner, but, with help, you can navigate the tricky steps to marketing success. You can find show notes and more information by clicking here: http://bit.ly/1FyJcIg