The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Kurt Elster, Paul Reda

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NEW EPISODES EVERY TUESDAY, SUBSCRIBE FOR UNBEATABLE ECOM RECON – Every Tuesday since 2014, host Kurt Elster shares the Shopify success stories that nobody tells you about, straight from the entrepreneurs living it. Subscribe for a raw look at what it really takes to succeed on Shopify.

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

"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

Feb 25, • 49:41

How a Twitter Account Became a Thriving Shopify Brand

“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

Feb 18, • 47:26

Reinventing Oral Care: The Slate Flosser Story

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 inno

Feb 11, • 42:38

Building Frizz + Co: Haircare, Shopify, and Community

Building Frizz + Co: Haircare, Shopify, and CommunityDaphné 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

Feb 4, • 46:52

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

“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 LinksShopify Planet

Jan 28, • 47:23

Montana Knife Company: American-Made Knife Empire

What if your side hustle turned into an 8-figure brand selling out every week?Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DxGxZ20rfQIMontana 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+ consecuti

Jan 21, • 49:57

Growing a Supps Brand to $70M in 2.5 Years

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.LinksPeopleDevyn MerklinDr. Blake LivingoodEzra FirestoneRandall PitchRussell BrunsonBrandsHooniganLivingood DailyOffsetSmart MarketerApps

Jan 14, • 51:41

Avoiding CRO myths

“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 S

Jan 7, • 45:19

How This Athlete Built a $10M Sock Brand

"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

Dec 31, 2024 • 43:22

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

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 ju

Dec 24, 2024 • 49:56

Turning Scratched Lenses into 8 Figures

“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 sm

Dec 17, 2024 • 43:18

Shopify’s New Customer Accounts

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.LinksGet all the info on what's new: Shopify Editions Winter ’25More people & links:Patrick Millegan (Senior Product Lead, Shopify)Kurt Elster (Host,

Dec 11, 2024 • 43:21

Smart Marketer Live Recap

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.SponsorsZipifyCleverificOmnisendHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a

Dec 10, 2024 • 43:58

Building a Successful Shopify App & Community

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 so

Dec 3, 2024 • 45:56

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

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 mi

Nov 26, 2024 • 48:18

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

“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

Nov 19, 2024 • 45:20

The Black Friday Email Guide for Real-World Brands

“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 int

Nov 12, 2024 • 46:14

How Downpay Solves Payment Challenges | The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

"I can't stop talking about partial payment, apparently." – Diana BirsanCo-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 c

Nov 5, 2024 • 41:17

How Shopify Built a Financial Hub to Empower Entrepreneurs

“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 t

Oct 29, 2024 • 42:58

TikTok Shop Made This Stationary Store Go Viral

“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

Oct 22, 2024 • 44:37

PR Strategy for Shopify Stores

“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

Oct 15, 2024 • 43:54

SHOP CAMPAIGNS: Deep Dive

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/djnSFyBsB7MWe 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 scal

Oct 8, 2024 • 50:08

Meet $100M+ Chubbies Co-Founder Kyle Hency

“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 explo

Oct 1, 2024 • 46:52

Top Pickleball Creator's Video Content Strategy

"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 busine

Sep 24, 2024 • 49:11

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

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 turni

Sep 17, 2024 • 50:16

Inside the Shadowy World of Returns Fraud

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 Linksnofraud.com - ch

Sep 10, 2024 • 53:44

Boost Conversions with Build Grow Scale’s CRO Tips

“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 b

Sep 3, 2024 • 49:06

Goodsellas: Why Movie Spoof Ads are Total Genius

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 be

Aug 27, 2024 • 38:44

Insider Tips on Buying & Selling Shopify Stores

"Buying a business is so much faster than building one and so much safer if you buy big enough."Also on YouTube: youtu.be/BuDtoDsC4tAGet 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, esse

Aug 20, 2024 • 48:34

Inside Shopify’s Major Checkout Upgrade

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fIDw3fvPPgIUnpack 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

Aug 13, 2024 • 1:02:09

Building a Sustainable Activewear Brand from Scratch

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 entrepre

Aug 6, 2024 • 51:26

The Declining Churn Fallacy

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.Show LinksRetention SpreadsheetPPT DeckYouTube Video Series:First Video (One Segment Model)Second Video (Two Segment Model)Third Video (Beta G

Jul 30, 2024 • 47:07

How Dapper Boi is Smashing Fashion's Gender Limits

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 ho

Jul 23, 2024 • 47:15

Unlocking Shopify Flow

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

Jul 16, 2024 • 46:49

Chalet Nursery’s Shopify POS Implementation

Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DcptOEqEACwJoin 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-grandfat

Jul 12, 2024 • 27:00

Mastering Shopify App Development

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 questi

Jul 9, 2024 • 48:13

Shopify Magic Media Editor

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

Jul 5, 2024 • 18:26

Editions.dev 2024 Trip Report

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mi3iKmZBxREWe’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.Show Linkseditions.devShopify Editions | Summer '24SponsorsZipifyCleverificNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsle

Jul 2, 2024 • 45:13

Is Faire is a Must-Have for Wholesale?

"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

Jun 25, 2024 • 44:43

Affiliate Marketing's New Content Code

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 mod

Jun 18, 2024 • 46:29

Slumberkins: From Craft Fairs to Shark Tank

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

Jun 11, 2024 • 51:08

Shopify & SEO Tactics

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

Jun 4, 2024 • 56:11

Buying Over Building a Business

"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

May 28, 2024 • 46:38

Katanas, Candy, & a Billion Views

Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DFUi5Cq8YuoWe'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

May 21, 2024 • 41:03

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

Detroit's Mia Ray took her passion for fashion from a blog to a $50M Glam-aholic empireWatch: https://youtu.be/OqGQTRpjuJQFrom 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 b

May 14, 2024 • 49:43

The Business of Star Wars Nostalgia

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

May 7, 2024 • 46:02

Chatbots Aren't Dead: How AI Is Selling Backpacks

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 me

Apr 30, 2024 • 42:20

Streamlining SEO on Shopify

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 sele

Apr 23, 2024 • 51:58

Quiz Funnel Strategies

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.Show LinksChantiZak.comOctaneInteractJones Road Quiz

Apr 16, 2024 • 43:19

Cashflow Tips from an Ecom CFO

"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 wit

Apr 9, 2024 • 45:30

From Code to Craft: Rustic & Main's Rise

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 rin

Apr 2, 2024 • 50:47

How Chubbies Built a Menswear Movement

"We were the luckiest people in the world to be able to do this stuff."Full Video Interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fEUf9MTXk4cThis 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

Mar 26, 2024 • 44:45

eCommerceFuel Live 2024

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 epis

Mar 19, 2024 • 1:04:19

Insights for European eCommerce Success

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,

Mar 12, 2024 • 40:14

Troop's Mushroom Supplement Success

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 suppl

Mar 5, 2024 • 47:09

Let's Sell Some Trucker Hats

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 lifecy

Feb 27, 2024 • 48:09

Shopify Themes: Selection & Insider Tips

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 f

Feb 20, 2024 • 43:03

Sharma's Success Secrets

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)

Feb 13, 2024 • 44:39

Shopify Editions Winter '24

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 a

Feb 6, 2024 • 44:01

Google Ads Strategies for Shopify

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)

Jan 30, 2024 • 45:53

From Festival Romance to $5M Fashion Brand

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-Dri

Jan 23, 2024 • 46:09

Creating Ads that Connect in the Attention Economy

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 Times

Jan 16, 2024 • 41:09

How a Firefighter Mastered Marketing

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 al

Jan 9, 2024 • 49:08

Optimizing Shopify Themes: Redesign or Just Refine?

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

Jan 2, 2024 • 52:47

Post-Holiday Profit Strategies

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

Dec 26, 2023 • 46:05

Scaling Skincare: Bushbalm's Rise

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 strategi

Dec 19, 2023 • 49:48

Breaking Down a Black Friday Blowout

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 div

Dec 12, 2023 • 48:14

Inside 2023's Black Friday Surge

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,

Dec 5, 2023 • 47:56

Dropshipping $30M in Auto Parts

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 t

Nov 28, 2023 • 48:55

The Analog Film Entrepreneur

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

Nov 21, 2023 • 47:47

Gas Monkey's Sweepstakes Strategy

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

Nov 14, 2023 • 49:49

Riding Vinyl's Revival

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-

Nov 7, 2023 • 41:58

From Shopify to Store Owner

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 LinksBull & CleaverAbraSponsorsF

Oct 31, 2023 • 49:04

News, Q&A, & Pro Tips

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 LinksMontana Knife CompanyTriple 60Navage@ShopifySupport tweetEthercycleSp

Oct 24, 2023 • 1:00:16

Product Pre-Launch Planning

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 con

Oct 17, 2023 • 54:45

Q4 Holiday Promo Playbook

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

Oct 10, 2023 • 48:47

The Email Automation Blueprint

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 LinksSmart Marketer CoursesBOOMoVertoneSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Elevar - Neve

Oct 3, 2023 • 44:20

The Candy Hackers

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 facto

Sep 26, 2023 • 44:36

Ask Us Anything

Also on YouTube: youtu.be/LZlbfPiEYYYThis 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 ad

Sep 19, 2023 • 45:31

Decoding Effective PPC Ads

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

Sep 12, 2023 • 46:33

Salty Britches

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 entrepren

Sep 5, 2023 • 50:37

Profit, Contribution Margin, & Growth

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 LinksStore Hero - Unofficial Shopify Podcast listeners get a 20% discount and monthly calls for 3 months with the founders.SponsorsFree 30-day trial of

Aug 29, 2023 • 44:11

Mastering ManyChat Marketing

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

Aug 22, 2023 • 44:56

Profit Over Panic: Braxley's Comeback Story

See it on YouTube: youtu.be/cQXHEJOPgfcEver 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 bra

Aug 15, 2023 • 42:12

Shopify Editions Summer ’23

Also on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/ioGVduoPnPMEvery 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 untangl

Aug 8, 2023 • 47:53

Creating Profitable Influencer Relationships

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 fo

Aug 1, 2023 • 58:40

Optimizing Price for Profits

Video interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ISSTJFIUd8wGet 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, Glimmer

Jul 25, 2023 • 43:39

A Tennis Pro Turned Bag Entrepreneur

YouTube: https://youtu.be/rM2dQwDZe5UWe 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.S

Jul 18, 2023 • 49:42

Mic Drop: JZ Mic's Marketing Masterclass

Youtube Interview: https://youtu.be/ZOxFs99yHuAEver 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,

Jul 11, 2023 • 40:28

Shopify Subscription App Selection

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

Jul 4, 2023 • 41:42

Making the World's First Creatine Gummy

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

Jun 27, 2023 • 42:02

Mastering Kickstarter for Product Launches

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 Kickstart

Jun 20, 2023 • 43:17

Unraveling eCommerce Accounting for Shopify Merchants

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!Show LinksBean NinjasBench (Re

Jun 13, 2023 • 45:12

Secrets from a $100M Ecom Entrepreneur

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.Ti

Jun 6, 2023 • 44:19

News & Updates: May 2023

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] Ex

May 30, 2023 • 44:36

The Magic of Forever Transactions

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 ma

May 23, 2023 • 44:29

Crowdsourcing the Future of Lab Gear

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 a

May 16, 2023 • 53:03

Happy Bulge: Swimming Through The Waves of Success

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

May 9, 2023 • 53:55

Sustainable Shopping through Advocate Apparel

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, produ

May 2, 2023 • 51:05

Ride Your Ride

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 Linksdispatch.bike use code TECHNASTY15SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and a

Apr 25, 2023 • 58:41

From Edible Cookie Dough to Ecommerce Success

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 Linksbrodough.cagrowwitherica

Apr 18, 2023 • 44:48

Captivate the Right Customers

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 doll

Apr 11, 2023 • 1:00:01

Unlocking the Power of Customer Lifetime Value

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

Apr 4, 2023 • 50:41

Shopify Editions: NEW Online Store Features

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 OptionShop Promise & Expected Delivery DatesAI-integrated Shopify MagicMeta Objects & Quality of Life Improvementsand more!Show LinksShopify Editions | Winter ’23Shopify CheckoutShopify Suppl

Mar 28, 2023 • 44:07

Building a Viral Fashion Accessory: The Ponyback Hat

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 amon

Mar 21, 2023 • 1:00:14

Making Social Media Magic with Disney Dan's Proven Approach

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.S

Mar 14, 2023 • 1:00:42

Lume Cube's Journey

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 read

Mar 7, 2023 • 50:47

Top-Converting Landing Pages

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

Feb 28, 2023 • 43:49

Twitter for Entrepreneurs: How to Grow Your Network

"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 LinksTweet Hunter@OneJKMolina@kurtincSponsorsFree 30-day tri

Feb 21, 2023 • 44:00

SELLING ART ONLINE: How Jon Chase Built a Career

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 Linksjonchasestudios.cominstagram.com/jchase7452SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nast

Feb 14, 2023 • 56:57

Ask Me Anything: January '23

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 LinksNYT: Ken Block, Rally Driver and YouTube Stuntman, Dies a

Feb 7, 2023 • 42:47

How Merci Handy's Gone Global with Shopify and Stranger Things

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 LinksMerci Handy USDrop - Insta

Jan 31, 2023 • 44:53

Why Your Personal Brand Matters (And How To Build One)

"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 pers

Jan 24, 2023 • 41:36

Maximizing Retention: Tactics for Reducing Subscription Churn

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 ind

Jan 17, 2023 • 45:28

How an Iconic Flask Revived an 1890s Housewares Brand Online

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 rec

Jan 10, 2023 • 42:25

How a Subscription Box Biz Got a Netflix Show

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 vendorsWhat working with Netflix is really likeExample metrics for subscription businessesStrategies to re

Jan 3, 2023 • 55:21

Can Cashback Rewards Save Ecommerce from Discount Addiction?

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'

Dec 27, 2022 • 38:15

BUILDING A CULT(URE) OF COMMUNITY

"Business, like life, is about how you make people feel. It's that simple, and it's that hard." –Daniel MeyerAuthenticity & 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 Linkscaitlinteed.comThe Culting of BrandsTwitter/@caitlinteedInstagram/@caitlinteedAmlin

Dec 20, 2022 • 47:59

AI Chat Funnels: Bots are back, are they better?

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 h

Dec 13, 2022 • 55:17

Picking the Perfect Shopify Theme

"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

Dec 6, 2022 • 45:23

Postal Petals Disrupts Floral Industry

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 in

Nov 29, 2022 • 50:10

How ‘Made With Local’ Scaled with Values

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 i

Nov 22, 2022 • 51:18

How Harley Finkelstein Went From Shopify's Earliest User to its President

This episode is also available on YouTube: youtu.be/eyGIORYpio4Before 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

Nov 15, 2022 • 54:34

2022 eCommerce Trends Report

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

Nov 8, 2022 • 44:50

Automating Real UGC on TikTok

How a 12-month-old platform, Bounty, is merging influencers and loyalty for efficient customer acquisitionGUEST 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 i

Nov 1, 2022 • 43:41

Maximizing CLTV this Q4 w/ SMS & Email

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-

Oct 25, 2022 • 51:38

AMA OCTOBER

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 BFCMApp recommendations for promosPlus data, design, and business decisions.

Oct 18, 2022 • 44:07

DEAR META ADS BUYER, YOU'RE NOT ALONE

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 Instag

Oct 11, 2022 • 45:01

Maximize Your Paid Ads with Google Performance Max

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 l

Oct 4, 2022 • 43:27

Reach Your Audience Without Paid Ads

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 bette

Sep 27, 2022 • 51:16

Reviving Revo Sunglasses

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 st

Sep 20, 2022 • 41:40

Growing Cat Backpacks into a 7-Figure Biz

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

Sep 13, 2022 • 47:27

Content Marketing isn't a Campaign

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 Finali

Sep 6, 2022 • 47:23

Unlocking Customer Experience Mindset

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 BiasesCustomer Phone InterviewsScary Tests, Tools, and where to startThrough his consultancy, Draft, Nick Disabato conducts research-d

Aug 30, 2022 • 44:24

The Business of Games

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

Aug 23, 2022 • 48:22

Be Your Brand’s Best Publicist

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 Your

Aug 16, 2022 • 39:11

Q&A: Shopify Store Strategy

Our popular 'Ask Us Anything' series continuesWe open with news of a ponzi scheme, then answer your burning questions.We discuss:Maximizing your advertising dollarsShopify's share priceBuilding the perfect ecom teamand more_!_Show LinksOverhyped & Under-Regulated: Zadeh Kicks, the Sneaker Arbitrage that Cost Customers MillionsSponsorsFree 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 RewindTry Bold Produ

Aug 9, 2022 • 41:52

Building a Baked Goods Brand with a Mission

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.Show LinksWunderkeksWunderkeks: About UsIG:@wunderkeks_atxRepublic.com/wunderkeksSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com a

Aug 2, 2022 • 46:37

Shopify Editions Summer 2022 Recap

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 e

Jul 26, 2022 • 42:58

Immutable Laws of Conversions

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 LinksOpting In To Optimization - use code GOODFRIENDSthegood.comjonmacdonald.comGoogle OptimizeAmazon Mechan

Jul 19, 2022 • 45:22

No Shortcuts: Lessons from 13 Years in Online Marketing

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

Jul 12, 2022 • 46:32

Selling Your Online Business

Learn the Four Pillars of ValueWhich deal types are available (its more than just cash)As interest rates rise, why you want to be SBA qualifiedWhy you want to use accrual accounting to clean up your booksElaine 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 si

Jul 5, 2022 • 42:47

Split Testing Product Prices

"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 exp

Jun 28, 2022 • 41:40

The Most Controversial Way to Get Subscribers

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 foun

Jun 21, 2022 • 44:03

No Best Practices: 7 Surprising Split Tests

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...Show LinksGoogle OptimizeTuffy Rhodes' 3HR Opening DayBaymard - Readability: The Optimal Line LengthCharacter counterSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, emai

Jun 14, 2022 • 48:33

Useful Google Tools for Your Store

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 R

Jun 7, 2022 • 42:55

SEO & Content Strategy Simplified

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 employthe right approach to Meta title & description tagsHow to take advantage of Google's Natural Language Processing pushPlus an update on the global supply chain.Show LinksMozCopyAIOpenAI’s API for GPT-3Double Your WDWOtter.aiGoogle Search ConsoleShopify SupplyMVMTGovalorhianbeutler.comSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertise

May 31, 2022 • 44:12

Q&A: Shopify Feature & Strategy Update

In this Ask Us Anything episode, we discuss new features and answer your burning questions.What's new at Shopify:AudiencesDelivery DatesSFN + DeliverrAnd your questions:When to upgrade your planThe importance of being a HYPE BEASTMetafields impact on SEOConversion Rate FactorsAnd moreShow LinksShopify AudiencesEstimated Delivery Dates at CheckoutShopify acquires DeliverrShop PromiseSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech

May 24, 2022 • 50:01

Understanding Influencer Product Seeding

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

May 17, 2022 • 42:41

Tools to Get Your Money Right

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 20

May 10, 2022 • 39:20

Undoing Headless

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, Onlin

May 3, 2022 • 40:33

Custom Theming a Multimillion Lifestyle Brand

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 Linksshiticoolers.comSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipi

Apr 26, 2022 • 54:52

Easy Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

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 LinksoVertoneGovaloAMP by Shop SheriffPost Pilot - The Godfather offer! They'll build the first campaign for you and send them.SponsorsFree 30-day

Apr 19, 2022 • 41:44

Lessons from 20 Years of Ecommerce

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 1999The specifics on buying oVertone Haircare with Ezra FirestoneWhat makes a business attr

Apr 12, 2022 • 51:39

AMA: What's Working in 2022

In this Ask Me Anything episode sourced from our listeners, we discuss...Alternatives to Shopify and Google AnalyticsTikTok StrategyWhat 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 sectionsGoogle PageSpe

Apr 5, 2022 • 47:47

Becca Davison of UnbuckleMe

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 Ama

Mar 29, 2022 • 49:08

Starting a Ghost Pepper Honey Brand

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

Mar 22, 2022 • 42:50

Conversion Copywriting (and how Humor Helps, Maybe)

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 f

Mar 15, 2022 • 30:13

Migrating to Shopify

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 Ethe

Mar 8, 2022 • 49:08

Kelley Higney of Bug Bite Thing (Shark Tank Update)

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

Mar 1, 2022 • 45:33

Building Community Through Challenges

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 LinksAlicia's challengemakers.comEzra

Feb 22, 2022 • 43:11

How a Dad Started a Kids' Clothing Line in 2020

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.Show LinksAmbitious KidsDesignPickle - Gig economy design serviceBluebird Group - Retail services agencyCanvaPlaceitDribbbleBroken Record with Rick RubinThe Social Med

Feb 15, 2022 • 51:46

Why These Teddy Bears are Exclusively Wholesale

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 Linksplushinarush.comSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus"

Feb 8, 2022 • 45:15

The Future of Ecommerce

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-lJ6GKPsdashShow LinksThe Future of Commerce: Industry Report (2022) - Download Shopify’s complete Future of Commerce report for yourself.Or get just Shopify's Future of Ecommerce reportSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@

Feb 1, 2022 • 41:10

AMA: Metafields, Online Store 2.0, & more

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 LinksShopify BalanceShopify and JD.com unlock world’s largest ecommerce market for merchantsHelp Doc: Displaying metafields on your online storeSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.

Jan 25, 2022 • 1:00:04

Ben Knegendorf's High-Ticket Dropshipping Approach

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 Linksthe3dprinterguy.comempireflippers.comGary Veeshoptinyhouses.comhttps://www.shoptinyhouses.com/standingdesknation.comdropshipbreakthru.comDropShipPodcastSponsorsFree 30-day trial of

Jan 18, 2022 • 45:10

Sprinkler Nerd Says, "Dropshipping's Not Dead"

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 emb

Jan 11, 2022 • 59:01

How Braxley Bands sold 200K+  Watch straps

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 LinksBraxley Bands - Text

Jan 4, 2022 • 42:25

Banned From Facebook, SEO Saves Store

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 Linksebikegeneration.comFour

Dec 28, 2021 • 46:18

How a Plush Toy Earns This Couple Six Figures

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 worki

Dec 21, 2021 • 49:57

3PL ShipBob Sees Strong Black Friday Fulfillment

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 fulfill

Dec 14, 2021 • 35:18

How CROSSNET reinvented volleyball on Shopify

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 Linkscrossnetgame.comSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zi

Dec 7, 2021 • 47:08

Conversion Copywriting

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.friction

Nov 30, 2021 • 59:24

How Inclusivity & Community Sells Apparel

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;

Nov 23, 2021 • 55:24

The Facebook ROAS Death Spiral

This episode is also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/2O8th50rMbMIf 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 go

Nov 16, 2021 • 54:12

Dynamic Commerce with Shopify's Hydrogen

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 t

Nov 11, 2021 • 31:17

(What to do) When Inventory Runs Out

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 LinksBloomberg: 2021 Gift Cards Expected to Surge Amid ShortagesBook: The New AbnormalThe Economist: America Inc and the shortage economyApp store: GovaloGovaloSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify

Nov 9, 2021 • 49:11

Steal Ezra Firestone's 2021 Million Dollar Holiday Blueprint

Learn the strategies master marketer Ezra Firestone is using this year for his 8-figure ecommerce brand.Show LinksSmart Holiday BootcampZipify PagesSmart MarketerBoomSponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeS

Nov 2, 2021 • 49:42

How Mrs. Elster gets 500+ visits/day from Google

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 LinksDouble Your WDWHoliday Email GuideNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe whe

Oct 28, 2021 • 22:24

Your 2021 Black Friday Facebook Ads Strategy

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 LinksKB's Free BFCM Strategy GuideProduceDeptSuperMetricsPromote a discount using a shareable linkFacebook: Google

Oct 26, 2021 • 1:10:13

Holiday Email Marketing Tips & Prep

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 2021Improving deliverability (to offset lowered open rates)Why testing your offers is your biggest opportunityThe optional Klaviyo snippets you probably forgot to installOur guest today is Chase is currently a Partner at Structured — a top ecommerce marketing

Oct 19, 2021 • 53:17

How a FB Ads expert bootstrapped from 0–$100K

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 adsWh

Oct 12, 2021 • 53:17

Supply Chain Snags' Merchant Impact

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 eco

Oct 5, 2021 • 43:01

Connected Retail: Bridging Offline & Online Stores

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 ac

Sep 28, 2021 • 43:37

Donations, Not Discounts

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 LinksGivz.com/unofficial - Get 3 months freelolibeautyCharit

Sep 21, 2021 • 41:25

BFCM: Predictions for Your Promotions

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?SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Te

Sep 14, 2021 • 36:46

Headless 101

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 LinksShogun FrontendNOMAD - 15% off full priced and in stock gear on nomadgoods.com with code 'unofficial'Reese's LinkedInSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty

Sep 7, 2021 • 43:07

BFCM: Prepping for this Holiday Season

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.SponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify t

Aug 31, 2021 • 45:24

Your Data is Probably Bad

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 thinkIf you go hea

Aug 24, 2021 • 46:48

What matters for the future of ecommerce

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

Aug 17, 2021 • 36:38

July Recap: The Summer Slump

Paul and Kurt recap and discuss July's ecom buzz:Klaviyo's new featuresHeadless HotnessThe Summer SlumpPaul's Beef(s) with KurtOur favorite Online Store 2.0 featureShow LinksKlaviyo Product EventScreencast: Online Store 2.0 DemoShogun FrontendSponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your sho

Aug 10, 2021 • 43:10

Discount Code Abuse: Protecting Your Profits

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 mercha

Aug 3, 2021 • 38:38

Q&A: Online Store 2.0

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 pagesHow to promote subscriptionsEstablishing free shipping minimums...and more. Somewhat more. Most of it is even Shopify related.Show LinksResources:OOTS: "Is My Theme Compatible With Online Store 2.0?

Jul 27, 2021 • 50:32

Zuly Matallana of Tiara (Dragon's Den Update)

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 TIA

Jul 20, 2021 • 41:50

Two Stores & a Full-time Job

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 identityThe case for co-foundersTools to stay organizedBalancing perfectionism vs "just launching"What they did when Facebook traffic didn't convertShow Linksbambinobikes.com - Use code UNOFF

Jul 13, 2021 • 48:58

Lots of traffic but no sales?

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 Ind

Jul 6, 2021 • 47:18

Shopify Unite 2021 Recap

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 LinksShopify UniteNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWha

Jun 29, 2021 • 26:07

Using Pre-Orders to Grow Inventory

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 LinksGist YarnWeave PodcastBooster Product Filter & SearchKlaviyoSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get a

Jun 29, 2021 • 39:31

The Boneheaded Mistakes We've All Made Running Online Businesses

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 LinksTwirly GirlBrian Dean's Core Web Vitals researchPickfuShipScoutHotjarBumblebee LinensSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify O

Jun 22, 2021 • 54:35

Converting Your First Customers

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 Kla

Jun 15, 2021 • 54:58

Your Most Important Page is Product

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 LinksFrictionless CommerceRishi on LinkedInzingermansbakehouse.comjpeterman.comSponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast

Jun 8, 2021 • 51:12

How a Former Hockey Player Found Spikey Success

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 o

Jun 1, 2021 • 44:46

AMA: Improving Conversions & User Experience

Addressing large drop-offs at checkoutBest navigation style for large catalogsPagination vs infinite scrolla "back to basics" checklist for a $1M/y merchantWhat's the best way to advertise for conversion please?What to do when PPC traffic doesn't convertTips and tricks with Turbo.Structuring your homepage in a new storeManaging burnout when you can't take a vacationSetting up wholesalers for successCore web vitals??SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email hel

May 25, 2021 • 51:55

How Community & Story Bootstrapped KinkyCurlyYaki to Success

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 LinksKinkyCurlyYakiShopify Prep School@itsviviankayeSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify

May 18, 2021 • 45:51

How Kettle & Fire Scaled Affiliate Relationships to 7-figures

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 influencersHow to get big influencers' attentionThe difference between affiliate and ambassador programsWhat are you paying for? Defining influencer deliverables and typical costsCreating a VIP experience for brand ambassadorsTop 3 Most Successful ChannelsOur guest today is Jack Meredith, VP of Market

May 11, 2021 • 44:35

Is your developer faking your PageSpeed score?

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 LinksPageSpeed InsightsStore Speed Anxiety RegulatorSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift

May 4, 2021 • 41:51

Selling The Best Cotton Candy You Will Ever Taste

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 entrepreneur

Apr 27, 2021 • 43:04

6 Ecommerce Myths Holding You Back

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

Apr 20, 2021 • 41:25

How to Spot Fake Influencers

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 brandHow to spot fake influencersWhat metrics to look for when picking an influencer.Breaking down the metrics of a couple well known influencersCorey Turner lives in Massachusetts with hi

Apr 13, 2021 • 45:14

Growing Your Store [Merchant Q&A]

In this episode, we answer questions from Shopify merchants in our Facebook group. We discuss...Analyzing HeatmapsWhen to outsource your marketingInventory forecastingTop Klaviyo FlowsCollections as SEO honeypotsMobile Collections: Is one or two columns best?...And more! Like Paul's pizza dough recipe.Links Mentionedebikegeneration.comMatsuda.comSponsorsFree 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

Apr 6, 2021 • 44:09

Six Sane Ways to Optimize Your Product Detail Page

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, Fo

Mar 30, 2021 • 50:11

Love Is: How Chrissie Lam Empowers Female Artisans

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 campaignand then launched it as e-com brand.Show LinksLove Is ProjectSponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkou

Mar 23, 2021 • 43:30

Optimizing the Customer Journey by Exiting the Ecommerce Echo Chamber

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 c

Mar 16, 2021 • 43:29

Preparing Your Facebook Ads for iOS14

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 LinksProduceDeptZuckerberg wants to “inflict pain” on AppleSponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold

Mar 9, 2021 • 45:39

How Tacticalories Sells Out Weekly

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 businessWhy you're GAF (give a fuck) score is importantHow they grew 4x

Mar 2, 2021 • 50:40

Scaling Your Store AMA, Part II

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 youWhy Paul always wears minor league t-shirts The #1 mistake Paul sees merchants makeWhat to do when you’re just straight up uninspiredAdding dynamic personalization to ShopifyHow to find cross-sell opportunitiesThe one thing all new merchants should knew

Feb 23, 2021 • 57:43

How TikTok Revitalized This Pandemic-fatigued Merchant

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 lov

Feb 16, 2021 • 59:30

How to Scale Your Store [Q&A]

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 storesWhat should you look for in a web developer for redoing websites?...and more. Always more. Such as, "How much did Kurt lose on GameStonk?"SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bo

Feb 9, 2021 • 56:17

How Two Strangers Partnered to Sell $1mm in Jerky

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 jobKeys to building realtionships with potential business partnersHow they launched with grassroots marketing effortsHow having parallel local and national strategies worked wellThe power of podcast appea

Feb 2, 2021 • 56:48

How Travel Apparel Brand Aviator Survived 2020

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 LinksAviatorKlaviyoPostscriptGrowaveSocial Media Marketing PodcastIn Conv

Jan 26, 2021 • 49:46

When a Pandemic Pauses Your Business

Julie Elster (as in Mrs. Elster) joins us again for a candid update on how 2020 impacted her travel business, hosted on Shopify.Show LinksDoubleYourWDW.comPast Episode: My Wife Started a Shopify Store!Past Episode: How Julie Elster Generates 10,000 Organic VisitorsSponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at ch

Jan 19, 2021 • 45:02

The Most Common CRO Blind Spots

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 LinksDraftBaymardSponsorsFree 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 trialSave 20%

Jan 12, 2021 • 43:03

New Year's Resolutions for your Shopify Business

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.SponsorsFree 30-day trial of Zipify OCU - (To get an unadvertised gift, email help@zipify.com and ask for the "Tech Nasty Bonus".Try Bold

Jan 5, 2021 • 48:25

Stumped by SMS? Ask the Expert.

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

Dec 29, 2020 • 47:20

How a Tesla Accessory Store Built a Cult Fanbase

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, d

Dec 22, 2020 • 49:22

Shipageddon, Cyber Monday, & Simulated Chicken

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 LinksShipBob's Shipping Carrier DataNUGGSSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever y

Dec 15, 2020 • 1:01:11

The Future of Ecommerce

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, ShopifyEric Bandholz, BeardbrandMarnie Consky, Thigh SocietyEzra Firestone, Smart MarketerIlana Davis, Shopify Expert & Website RescuerSteve Chou, My Wife Quit Her JobNick DiSabato, DraftAustin Brawner, Brand Growth ExpertsVal Giesler, Fix My ChurnAndrew Youderian, EcommerceFuelRhian Beutler, Venn

Dec 8, 2020 • 48:22

Black Friday 2020 Data Download

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, Presiden

Dec 1, 2020 • 47:09

Building a DTC Matcha Business with No Ad Spend

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 Ki

Nov 24, 2020 • 39:44

What Every Merchant Should Know About Theme Development

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 performancethe common pitfalls to avoid with your themelearning enough development to be dangerousa user testing crash courseAnne 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

Nov 17, 2020 • 1:00:45

This Master Tea Blender Shifted Their Family Business Online, Selling Seven-Figures

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 storyHow to power product discovery with 300 varieties of teaWhat its like running a store with 50+ appsWhy they're fighting for inclusive messagingLinks MentionedHarney.comHot CinnamonAs The Tea Steeps PodcastNosto -

Nov 10, 2020 • 1:03:32

Thigh Society: How One Woman Sells 7-Figures of Anti-Chafing Underwear

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-aver

Nov 3, 2020 • 59:23

Black Friday 2020 Facebook Marketing Strategies

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 StrategyWhich promos were the most successful in 2019When to use Campaign Budget OptimizationA 2019 FB Ads Postmortem2020 BFCM ConsiderationsShow LinksBFCM Strategy GuideTw:@kurtb

Oct 29, 2020 • 42:01

Choosing, Changing, & Maintaining Your Shopify Theme

Out of The Sandbox's Sean Campbell joins us to discuss all things theme related:When & how should you upgrade or change themesWhat to consider in a new themeBehind the scenes of the Shopify Theme Storethe "New Online Store Editor Experience"How to expedite support ticketsSean 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 exper

Oct 27, 2020 • 1:01:31

Maximizing Revenue on Black Friday through Financing & More

In this episode:Increasing average order value with financing,a new sexy store,and your Black Friday prep crash course.Show Links2020 Holiday Email GuideSezzle - My Sezzle referral code is SZXRLQJ. When you use it, you'll get one month free, no strings attached.Vex ClothingSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search

Oct 20, 2020 • 56:39

Steal Ezra Firestone's Million Dollar Black Friday Blueprint

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 strategyWhy to set up pre-sale campaignsBest times to send emailEvery single app in every Ezra's storeShow LinksEzra's 2019 podcast everM

Oct 13, 2020 • 57:14

How Nomad Goods Drives Seven-figures Revenue Through Klaviyo

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 contentThe right ratio of plain text vs HTML emailsThe most important thing to split testChuck 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

Oct 6, 2020 • 47:26

Manufacturing Authenticity: From Sneaker Drops to Shinola Saving Detroit

We discuss:The ethics of financing solutionsLaunching your products like YeezyRumors: An update on Native Checkout IntegrationsNews: A Shopify data leak, and a Shopify Partner arrested by the FBIAre Nikkola, Madewell, and Shinola authentic brands?And then we test drive the Shinola store.Links MentionedHow Madewell Bought And Sold My Family's History - BuzzFeedPageSpeed Anxiety ToolNS8 co-founder Adam Rogas charged with securities fraudThe Real History of America's Most Authentic Fake Brand - Inc

Sep 29, 2020 • 1:11:57

How Stephanie Morimoto Built a Wellness Brand So Good Venus Williams Invested

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

Sep 22, 2020 • 45:22

DTC Darlings: Is Gymshark worth $1.4 Billion?

We discuss:An Income Store court case updateAWAY Travel has a sale, DTC Twitter takes noticeGymShark's billion dollar valuationAnd then we tear down the Gymshark store.Links MentionedIncome Store ReceivershipAttorneys Quitting? (Income Store Update)Emilia Gardner's Income Store YouTube PlaylistAWAY TravelIs 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, prod

Sep 15, 2020 • 1:03:51

How Nomad Goods Went from $150K on Kickstarter to $20mm on Shopify

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 changedWhy they're proudly omni-channelWhy its worth listening to a few bad ideasNomad dreams up and builds out aw

Sep 8, 2020 • 42:21

Q&A: PageSpeed, Plus, Preparing for Q4

This episode is available as a video interview on YouTube:  youtu.be/S3-9NZ1OLV8In this listener Q&A episode aimed at optimizing for Q4, we discuss:Which cart type is bestWhat we're doing differently this Black FridayThe problem with PageSpeedKlaviyo Email Flow & Campaign tipsHow to promote without discountingAnd we close with a breakdown of when Shopify Plus makes sense.Links MentionedKurt's MAME CabinetHerb'n'Eden InterviewEtsy: Paul's Maltese FalconGymSharkGymShark Page SpeedPingdom ToolHolid

Sep 1, 2020 • 54:11

Unlearn Everything: Developing Your Success Mindset

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 entrepreneurDon't be so hard on yourselfCultivating mindfulnessHow to make big financial decisionsMegan Auman is a jewelry designer, metal

Aug 27, 2020 • 51:15

How Herb'N Eden Marketed Their Way to Sold Out Success

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.Links MentionedHerb'N EdenHerb'N Eden Brand StoryIG:@herbnedenSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's reve

Aug 25, 2020 • 56:30

Q4, USPS, Themes, & Joe Biden's Teeth

Also available in live hi-def action on YouTube:  youtu.be/khPjZKvOPhsIn this episode:Our Q4 BFCM predictionsWhat's up with USPS?KeySmart's Andy Bedell talks switching themesand we teardown the official Joe Biden merch storeLinks MentionedForbes: Trump Admits To Blocking USPS Funding Over Mail-In VotingKeySmartJoe Biden storeOculus Quest VRSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Sh

Aug 18, 2020 • 57:23

How a Better Brand Voice Built an 8-figure Business

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 laun

Aug 11, 2020 • 47:07

Get Your Money Right: Bookkeeping, Profitability, & Pre-orders

In this episode, we discuss listener-suggested topics: bookkeeping, profitability, and pre-orders.And then we tear down the official LEGO store.Links MentionedBenchShipScoutCrowdfunderProduct Filter & SearchLEGOSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search engine ranking with Venntov SEO Meta ManagerNever miss an episo

Aug 4, 2020 • 59:10

How Melita Cyril Achieved Six-figure Sock Sales & Social Impact

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 brandStrategies to increase AOVs, despite selling a low priced itemWhy and how sh

Jul 28, 2020 • 1:00:42

Things that Annoy Merchants: Lawsuits, PageSpeed, & Blogging

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.Links MentionedBrickloot LEGO LED KitsPaul's favorite light bulbsKurt's Merino Wool ApparelKurt's Favorite JeansRevTim Hipp, freelance transcriptionPingdom ToolsDoubleYourWDWSmallPetSelectThe Beard Mentor BlogMinor League Baseball StoreSnowCommerceSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klavi

Jul 21, 2020 • 1:08:04

Steal Beyoncé's Instagram Strategy

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

Jul 14, 2020 • 1:02:27

The Web has an Accessibility Problem

In today's episode:Why now may be a good time to upgrade your themeThe broken promises of accessibility and what to do about itAnd finally an Away Travel teardown that goes off the railsLinks MentionedKeySmartTurbo Changelog The Ship of TheseusCORSA PerformanceAccessiBeAwaySponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code KURT20 at checkoutImprove your shop’s search

Jul 7, 2020 • 1:01:50

Carbon Fiber Kickstarters: Building a Disruptive Manufacturing Business on Shopify

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 businessHow a revenue share agreement empowered their businessThe exact influencer outreach strategy they usedHow niche group buys are growing their manufacturing businessGabriel Mountjoy is a graduate of the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Department in San Luis Obispo, CA. He and his wife, Ann Mountjoy, founde

Jun 30, 2020 • 56:46

Your Menu Sucks: Navigation Optimization Made Simple

In this episode, we discuss:Kurt's run-in with a KarenHow to optimize your main menu navigation for higher conversionsA spicy website teardown of Chicago condiment institution Marconi FoodsLinks MentionedMain Menu examples: KeySmart, Hoonigan, Proven Winners DirectTeardown: Marconi FoodsSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify theme - Use code PODCAST20 at checkoutImprove yo

Jun 23, 2020 • 1:00:53

Crowdfunding $380k for a Better T-shirt

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.

Jun 16, 2020 • 1:06:09

Black Lives Matter

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.Links MentionedNational Bail Fund NetworkBombasSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTry Bold Product Upsell, free trialSave 20% on Turbo, a blazing fast Shopify th

Jun 9, 2020 • 1:05:33

How a University Student Started a 7-Figure Vintage Clothing Business

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

Jun 4, 2020 • 39:22

Launching a Journal to Make Men Stronger

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 t

Jun 2, 2020 • 50:17

Re-Unite Recap

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.Links MentionedCarcaine SupplyProven Winners DirectShopify Re-UniteRe-Unite RecapPit VipersSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with Klaviyo's revenue-driving email platformTr

May 26, 2020 • 56:13

Why Revenue is a Vanity Metric (and what to watch instead)

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 financesThe biggest financial challenges merchants faceWhich financial metri

May 21, 2020 • 43:38

King Kong Apparel: Selling 60,000+ Gym Bags on Shopify

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 evangelistsWhat they'd do differently starting overThe most underestimated component of successHow their quizOh, and you'll never gues

May 19, 2020 • 48:26

Everyone's Going Online: 2020's Ecommerce Boom

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 reportThe wild projects we're working on right nowPredictions Shopify's newest featuresOur number one Facebook ads tip from a man who spends $30K/day on adsAN ALLBIRDS TEARDOWN!!Links MentionedShopify's Q1 2020 financial reportShopify Re-UniteVirtual Shopify MeetupSponsorsGet powerful marketing automation with K

May 12, 2020 • 1:10:01

Comedy in Commerce: Help Customers Love You More

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 conversionsHow to approach voice of customer researchHow 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 copywr

May 7, 2020 • 45:03

The Fundamental Truths of Million Dollar Ecom Brands

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 himWhy the pandemic can be good for youThe dangers of short term decisionsWhat most entreprenuers get wrong when scales 7-figure businessesRyan's product & audience formulas for s

May 5, 2020 • 1:01:14

Listener Q&A: Marketing & Retention Edition

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 programSEO Apps VS DIY SEO VS Using a consultant for SEOWhat gear, setup and software do you use to do remote podcast with video?Pros and cons of affiliate programsWhat to do with 15,000 visitors a month and barely any salesA sane beginner's approach to Faceboo

Apr 28, 2020 • 1:05:40

Shopify SEO: Lessons from the #1 SEO App Developer

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 knowWhat does Mobile Indexing First mean for your store?How to approach Google's technical recommendationsWhat 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

Apr 21, 2020 • 54:49

UPDATE: An Alleged $75mm Ponzi Scheme Pt. III

In today's episode we start with an update on the SEC v. The Income Store. They've fired back at the SEC's Receiver for not “maintaining” the sites at the level they need to be run at, and some new details are revealed.Then we answer the top questions we’ve heard from Shopify merchants on the impact of COVID-19:What advice do you have for a company that sells products that people aren’t buying right now? How can we maintain our business?We have seen a spike in new business due to COVID-19, how d

Apr 14, 2020 • 52:56

How COVID19 Changes The Way We Shop

"This is an astoundingly good read on the situation. Wow."That's what I said to today's guest when he explained his view on what's driving purchasing behavior over the last four weeks.In this episode, we're joined by Klaviyo's Director of Product Management, Jake Cohen.Jake has been using Klaviyo's  network of 30,000 businesses and their data science skills to analyze consumer behavior in response to the pandemic.With weeks of data, we're ready to start theorizing on why we're buying the way we

Apr 9, 2020 • 39:24

Brian Dean's Shopify SEO Strategy

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 contentHow to u

Apr 7, 2020 • 42:45

Coronavirus' eCommerce Impact: It's complicated

In this episode, we discuss:How we're holding up, personally and professionallyAnecdotes and data points on the current state of ecommerce based on what we're hearing from clients and colleaguesWhat to watch for in the next several monthsYour immediate opportunitiesPlus Kurt & Paul embarrass themselves doing Bane impressions.Links MentionedKlaviyo's COVID-19 survey insightsShipBob TrendsPaul's Illinois COVID19 cases Common Thread's Coronavirus DataNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get

Mar 31, 2020 • 45:39

Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times

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,

Mar 26, 2020 • 45:03

The Fashion Designer Bringing Latex from Beyonce to Consumers

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 we

Mar 24, 2020 • 50:06

Coronanxiety & the DTC Brand Apocalypse

In this one, Paul talks Kurt out of going full Doomsday Prepper, then does some ranting about VC money.We discuss:Candid COVID19 ConcernsOur Q1 revenue reportWhy all the Warby Parker clones are implodingand your best abandoned cart subject linesLinks MentionedArticle: Why All the Warby Parker Clones Are Now ImplodingBook: Profit FirstYouTube: Diesel Bros TeardownNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopif

Mar 17, 2020 • 47:41

Casting a Voice for Your Brand

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"

Mar 10, 2020 • 44:51

Shopify joins Libra: Now what?

On February 21st, Shopify announced they're joining Libra, Facebook's troubled cryptocurrency effort.Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said its to increase access to ecommerce to countries lacking in banking infrastructure.What's it mean for you?We discuss that, we cover Coronavirus impact on business, and answer your questions on SEO, content marketing, and how to hire an agency when no one will work with you.Links MentionedShopify joins LibraWikipedia: FloozCNBC: Global stock markets have lost $6 trillio

Mar 3, 2020 • 58:28

Make Your Website Accessible (and Avoid Lawsuits‎)

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 a

Feb 25, 2020 • 50:20

UPDATE: An Alleged $75mm Ponzi Scheme Pt. II

This episode is also available on YouTube: Last month we told you about the SEC's case against the Income Store, an investment firm that purchased over Shopify stores.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 mor

Feb 18, 2020 • 43:09

A Shiti Story: $1mm/yr Rebranding Coolers

“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 b

Feb 11, 2020 • 46:39

[Q&A] PPC Traffic & Sales Funnels

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 storeWhat is the best sales funnel for a high ticket item?How to launch into another marketSEO for products with variants...and more.Links MentionedSezzle - Use referral code SZXRLQJ to get one month free, no strings attached.WorkMacroBold Returns ManagerNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHe

Feb 4, 2020 • 47:32

Focus on Fun & Profit: What a Firefighter Learned Selling Thousands of Wallets

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

Jan 28, 2020 • 58:01

An Alleged $75 million Ponzi Scheme

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

Jan 21, 2020 • 49:43

Serial Success on Shopify

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 s

Jan 14, 2020 • 59:50

Generating Traffic & Revenue in 2020

In this Listener Q&A episode, we talk:Post-purchase email marketingContent strategies when you can't run adsMigrating sales from Amazon to ShopifyNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp the showAsk a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook GroupLeave a reviewSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsWhat's Kurt up to?See our recent work at EthercycleSubscribe to our YouTube ChannelApply to work with Kurt to grow your store.SponsorsGet pow

Jan 7, 2020 • 42:15

Manufacture Your Product: Finding the Right Factory Partner

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 r

Dec 30, 2019 • 49:03

Creating a Socially-conscious Fashion Brand at 22

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_ Never miss an episode Subscribe wherever you get yo

Dec 23, 2019 • 37:22

Differentiate or Die

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 AutoZoneThe simple strategies that Drew used to save KarmaLoop from extinctionHow to easily leverage direct mail to grow your businessIn 2013, Dre

Dec 17, 2019 • 46:15

BFCM Post-Mortem 2019

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 statsHow our biggest clients performedAnd our key takeaways for our successful BFCM in 2020Links, in order of discussion:Cyber Week 2019 Statistics InfographicNever miss an episodeSubscribe wherever you get your podcastsJoin Kurt's newsletterHelp

Dec 10, 2019 • 38:45

Turning Handmade Wallets into a Million Dollar Business

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 validat

Dec 3, 2019 • 40:36

2020 Presidential Shopify Store Teardowns

This episode is available on YouTube. Watch now: https://youtu.be/mjeP1M5cgEgIts 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 SalesWe'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 subj

Nov 26, 2019 • 52:44

Turning iPhones Into Hollywood Cameras and Revenue

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 MentionedioGrapherCmd-PDave's About PageShapeways 3D PrintingKickstarter

Nov 21, 2019 • 47:13

How to Establish a Successful Jewelry Brand

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 st

Nov 19, 2019 • 47:42

Lessons Learned from 7-figure SMS Marketing

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 clientsHow to get a 95% SMS open rate and 25% clickthrough rate on your SMSGetting started with SMS in 30-minutesWhat to absolutely NOT to do with SMSNew Buzzword: "Owned Channels"The most effective way to grow an SMS listEasy tactics for BFCM, advanced tacticsJeremy has been working in the eComm

Nov 14, 2019 • 39:02

Black Friday Hot Takes & SEMA Take Aways

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

Nov 12, 2019 • 40:52

Your 6-figure Product Launch Blueprint

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 businessRisks around trademarksWhat to do when Facebook ads get too expenseHow to focus on profitabilityMark's next level launch strategyWhy you should never do a weekend launchThe ideal day to launch a productMark is the founder and C

Nov 7, 2019 • 47:07

Shockingly Good Customer Service

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 revenu

Nov 5, 2019 • 50:32

Your 2019 Black Friday Facebook Ads Strategy

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 FridayHow to plan your budgetSetting your site up for successWhy you should try Dynamic Ads for Broad Audiences (DABA)Links MentionedBFCM Strate

Oct 31, 2019 • 47:22

Listener Mailbag: Conversion Rate Secrets, Pop-up Optimization, and More

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 tes

Oct 29, 2019 • 51:40

Get 99% open rates – affordably – by leveraging this channel

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 rateThe objections, rules, and regulations to know when texting customersHow to build your SMS lists (and monetize them in the process)How to run successful text campa

Oct 25, 2019 • 48:02

The Wriggler: Launching a New Product with No Experience

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 th

Oct 22, 2019 • 52:55

Shopify vs. Shopify Plus [Listener Mailbag]

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-9CqspYpDMYour questions, answered:Customer retention techniquesStrategies to increase conversion rates from blog visitsHow often should you be emailing customers? And and at what point do you go for the sale?How to think about migrating to Shopify PlusWhat's the best app/solution for wholesalePlus

Oct 15, 2019 • 49:54

$38 million in 10 Weeks Selling Hover Boards

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 KlaviyoWhy a Repeat Nurture Series could be your most overlooked flowHow kicking subscribers off their list is driving r

Oct 8, 2019 • 40:32

Live from Klaviyo:BOS Conference 2019

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’l

Oct 1, 2019 • 1:03:31

Set up Klaviyo Like a Pro

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 throughYou'll learn:When & how to use split-testing in emails to maximize revenueThree examples of Klaviyo quick wins you can implement todayHow and why to segmentWhich must-have automation workfl

Sep 27, 2019 • 59:35

How Ezra Firestone plans to make a million dollars on Black Friday (with this exact blueprint)

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 strategyIndustry gossipWhy to set up pre-sale campaignEzra's ten email Black Friday strategyBest times to send emailHow to setup landing

Sep 24, 2019 • 54:32

[Q&A] 9 Worries from Merchants Prepping for Q4

In this listener mailbag episode, you'll hear nine questions from merchants preparing for Black Friday:How to manage your app addictionThe power of SMS marketingWhen to update your product descriptionsConsiderations when selling on Amazon and ShopifyThe top mistake merchants make on Black FridayMulti Currency in a nutshellShould you block site traffic from other countries?Plus: Kurt terrifies his children, and Paul kills Moby Dick.Show LinksRetention RocketSMSBumpPingdom ToolsThe Truth About Goo

Sep 17, 2019 • 55:52

How a Fashion Designer Started a Niche Brand At 21

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, Im

Sep 10, 2019 • 1:03:21

Homepage Design Made Simple

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 st

Sep 3, 2019 • 42:16

How Tactical Baby Gear Scaled to Seven-Figures

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 ma

Aug 27, 2019 • 54:50

The Boring Ways Seven-Figure Stores Got There

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,

Aug 20, 2019 • 56:35

Boredwalk: How a Husband & Wife Team Grew a 'Cult' T-shirt Business

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 cleve

Aug 13, 2019 • 51:19

Have Your Best Black Friday Ever by Starting Now

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

Aug 6, 2019 • 50:37

[BONUS] Effective Facebook Ad Funnels for 2019

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 nowSpecific examples of targeting new customersThe hot ad formats to try nowWhat's new: Broad Match Dynamic Product Adsand strategy for September's campaign budget optimization requirementGrab a notepad and tune-in 'cause this one is full of actionable ad

Aug 2, 2019 • 57:41

Maximizing Your Facebook Ad Budgets

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

Jul 30, 2019 • 48:55

Optimize Everything

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. Show Links Adam's Polishes Old School Shirts Orglamix Cats Trailer Never miss an episode Subscribe wherev

Jul 23, 2019 • 50:40

How Chubbies Built a Shorts Empire with Content Marketing

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 s

Jul 16, 2019 • 50:43

Profitable & Durable: Staying Small in Business

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. Show Links Adam's Polishes Kurt

Jul 9, 2019 • 39:09

[BONUS] Using YouTube Ads to Drive Awareness & Sales

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

Jul 5, 2019 • 41:20

Sci-fi Books & Rad Leggings

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 Cesar is the author of two sci-fi book s

Jul 2, 2019 • 58:17

Is Apple Business Chat The Future of E-Commerce?

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 excit

Jun 26, 2019 • 42:23

Your Shopify Unite 2019 Recap

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 Meaningf

Jun 25, 2019 • 35:43

New to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast?

The journey of an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. It takes more than just grit and determination to succeed - it takes a willingness to do things differently.That's where The Unofficial Shopify Podcast comes in.Hosted by long-time Shopify Partner Kurt Elster, this podcast is a no holds barred discussion of ecommerce growth strategy & tactics. With over two million downloads, we bring together the world's most successful Shopify entrepreneurs to share their secrets to success.But make

Jun 14, 2019 • 1:46

Forming Successful Business Partnerships

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 Never miss an episode Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Join Kurt's newsletter Help the show Ask a question in

Jun 11, 2019 • 43:25

Six-figure Info Product Sales with Christina Scalera

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 C

Jun 4, 2019 • 53:07

Capitalizing on the CBD Gold Rush

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

Jun 4, 2019 • 45:05

Listener Mailbag: Paul Punches the Monkey

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 “What’s Shopify Plus got that regular Shopify doesn’t?” Metafilter: Where was the effing monkey? Klaviyo Bold Brain Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes Join Kurt's

May 28, 2019 • 45:55

HOONIGAN: Building a Lifestyle Brand

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.

May 21, 2019 • 47:56

The Problem with Google PageSpeed Insights

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 e

May 14, 2019 • 40:15

[BONUS] How Agency Owner Kelly Vaughn Builds Seven-Figure Stores

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 advi

May 10, 2019 • 40:42

How Julie Elster Generates 10,000 Organic Visitors

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

May 7, 2019 • 59:23

Split Tests That Win: How to Start Optimizing Your Shopify Store

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 &

Apr 30, 2019 • 43:41

Getting Customers for Life through Email

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 Copywrit

Apr 23, 2019 • 44:44

Turning Shopify Analytics into Actionable Insights

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 Tun

Apr 16, 2019 • 40:53

From 0 to $4 Million with Physical Product Licensing

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 agreem

Apr 9, 2019 • 45:17

MailChimp & Shopify Break Up– Now What?

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 New site launch: Hoonigan Racing Shopify Meetup MailChimp Integration Workarounds Klaviyo Never miss an episode Subscribe on iTunes

Apr 2, 2019 • 48:09

[BONUS] Retention Marketing with Retention Rocket

Earlier this year, we helped migrate one of our first clients onto Shopify Plus. As part of that re-platforming, we tried a new app called Retention Rocket that had dramatic results. That shouldn't be a surprise if you're familiar with the co-founder. Dylan Whitman started BVAccel, the largest Shopify agency. His experience as an agency owner directly led to the creation of Retention Rocket You'll hear: How insights as an agency owner led to the creation of Retention Rocket Why rising acquisiti

Mar 29, 2019 • 36:42

Being Profitable

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 th

Mar 26, 2019 • 53:05

How to Run Heatmaps, Facebook Groups, & Your First Store

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 Meetup Hoonigan Case Study Hotjar Facebook Group Oberlo Review us on iTunes Never miss an episode Subscribe

Mar 19, 2019 • 1:00:23

Google Ads Success in 2019

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

Mar 12, 2019 • 57:56

Myth Busting, Finding Your Voice, and Growth Hacks

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 Sub

Mar 5, 2019 • 59:15

Bringing The Ultimate Gym Sneaker to Market

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

Feb 26, 2019 • 1:00:28

Building a Business for the Life You Want

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 Ju

Feb 19, 2019 • 45:53

Pop-up Profits: Actionable Tactics from Collecting 100 million Emails

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 cou

Feb 12, 2019 • 33:18

Building Perfect Product Pages

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 Tactical Baby Gear Chicago Brick Oven WalMart Share your thoughts Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Share this show on Twitter Never miss an episode Su

Feb 5, 2019 • 41:50

Actionable Analytics: Setting up Google Analytics for Shopify

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 J

Jan 29, 2019 • 43:12

Building The Perfect Homepage

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

Jan 22, 2019 • 56:58

Klaviyo Update: Beyond Black Friday [BONUS EPISODE]

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.

Jan 18, 2019 • 15:40

The $700K Sale: Steal These Strategies

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

Jan 15, 2019 • 50:48

How to Lose Tens of Thousands of Dollars Starting an Online Business

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 pr

Jan 8, 2019 • 52:41

Bigger isn't Better: Why Staying Small is The Next Big Thing in Business

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 Mer

Jan 2, 2019 • 40:41

Can You Design Your Way To Success?

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 Tactical Baby Gear Sand Valley Golf Ethercycle Paul Reda Share your thoughts Ask a question in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast Facebook Group Share t

Dec 26, 2018 • 39:13

How an ER Doc Built a Soap Company in 9 Months

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 orph

Dec 18, 2018 • 49:16

Lessons from Growing Two 8-figure Companies

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

Dec 11, 2018 • 54:03

10 Million Views: How to Tell Your Brand's Story With Help from a Professional Screenwriter

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 effec

Dec 4, 2018 • 49:37

How Allan Branch Sold a Crazy Idea to Lowe's

This is an episode about the mindset of a truly successful (professionally, financially, and personally) entrepreneur who has been a huge inspiration to me. Allan Branch is a serial entrepreneur who went from owning three multi-million dollar businesses simultaneously to selling crazy projects into a YouTube TV show. When asked what he does, Allan Branch likes to say, "when I grow up and becomes an adult, I'll figure out what I want to do with my life." He's 38. So far he's built and sold severa

Nov 27, 2018 • 52:26

Why Your Blog Sucks (and What You Need To Do Instead)

Everyone loves promise of SEO, content marketing, and blogging– Do it right and you get an endless supply of free qualified traffic to your site. Do it wrong, and you get nothing. Unfortunately, a majority of content marketing plans end up falling flat with only a few truly succeeding enough to just the investment. So what's the difference? What are the majority of us doing wrong? In this episode, Nat Eliason, former head of Growth at Sumo and the founder of Growth Machine, talks to us about wha

Nov 20, 2018 • 1:02:32

How to Prevent Fraud & Chargebacks

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 Reco

Nov 13, 2018 • 47:50

Fixing The Societal Problem That's Costing You Conversions

What's the one conversion rate optimization tactic that can create a 7% add to cart increase, 41% average order value boost, and 11-21% increase in conversion? Your payment options! Today we're talking to Paul Paradis of payment solution Sezzle about the societal problem that's stopping merchants, and then we'll be joined by Australian Ecommerce Entrepreneur Dave Diamond to hear how he's marketing alternative payment methods in his stores. Paul is Cofounder and Chief Revenue Officer at Sezzle, a

Nov 6, 2018 • 54:54

Black Friday Advertising: Your 5-Phase Blueprint

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 fo

Oct 30, 2018 • 54:45

Black Friday Advertising: Preparing Your Facebook Ads for #BFCM

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

Oct 23, 2018 • 46:48

What's New in Klaviyo

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 eter

Oct 16, 2018 • 47:41

Cowbucker: Starting a Hat Revolution

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

Oct 9, 2018 • 44:31

My Wife Started a Shopify Store! (BONUS EPISODE)

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,

Oct 4, 2018 • 40:56

Holiday SEO: Leverage the Holiday Search Traffic Spike

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, Raymo

Oct 2, 2018 • 44:09

Outsourcing Your Customer Service

Keeping the needs of your customer in mind can be difficult as your business grows. That's why it's necessary to outsource your customer service to keep meeting and exceeding your customers expectations. But how do you do it? And what's the ROI of happy customers? In this episode, you'll hear how outsourced customer service can increase conversions and delight customers… without risk to brand or budget. Our guest today has led customer service operations supporting ten of the Fortune 100 compani

Sep 25, 2018 • 43:34

$500k/mo in 4 hours/week: The Story of BombTech Golf

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 t

Sep 18, 2018 • 1:00:36

How To Use Facebook Messenger To Sell Online

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 MyWifeQuitHerJo

Sep 11, 2018 • 43:27

Personalization Marketing: How to Get Started Today

The people who visit your website are all different. Some are loyal customers. Others just showed up a second ago from Google. Using generalized copy to reach them all is a problem because when you try to speak to everyone, you reach no one. No matter where someone is in your customer journey, personalization marketing can ensure they see the right offer that exactly matches their current need. In today's episode, we'll break down exactly how to get this started (before the holidays!) with Dana

Sep 4, 2018 • 46:41

6072 Subscribers in 14 Days: How to Run a Giveaway

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 gr

Aug 28, 2018 • 47:04

Proven Abandoned Cart Email Tactics

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

Aug 21, 2018 • 56:31

Don’t be a Vending Machine: Going Beyond Rewards to Build Loyalty

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 an

Aug 14, 2018 • 43:08

Ultraworking: Productivity Hacks for Busy People

There are 168 hours in a week. How are you spending those? In this episode, you'll learn how to get all your work done quickly and effectively, grow revenues and ship projects, and stay sane in the process while delighting customers. Sebastian Marshall is the cofounder of Ultraworking, a company that's building the future of work itself. Ultraworking's "performance-enhancing software" is being used by fast-growth businesses, programmers, engineers, attorneys, and creatives, including employees a

Aug 7, 2018 • 49:19

Bulletproof Your Store: How to Protect Yourself from Data & Security Disasters

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 thi

Jul 31, 2018 • 51:04

AR, VR, & 3D: Changing The Way We Shop

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

Jul 24, 2018 • 1:01:08

Global Ecommerce: How to Go International & Expand Your Reach

(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 to

Jul 17, 2018 • 55:11

PostedProtein: Bootstrapping from 0 to £250K+

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

Jul 10, 2018 • 45:41

Hybrid Dropshipping: Fulfill Orders Like the Big Guys

The largest online retailers do not have a single method to fulfill all of their product. They use a combination of internal warehouses, 3PL's, and dropshipping direct from a manufacturer or distributor. This approach enables them to seemingly always have product in-stock, get the best prices, and have a variety of items in their catalog. We call this hybrid dropshipping, and its not just for the big guys anymore. New apps and services have made accessible to everyone. To discuss it, Charles Pal

Jul 2, 2018 • 48:19

Scaling Your Store Up: How to go from $500K to $100MM

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 business

Jun 26, 2018 • 43:30

Powerful & Practical Content Marketing

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

Jun 19, 2018 • 45:58

Becoming Known: The Case for Personal Branding

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

Jun 12, 2018 • 54:25

Bricks & Clicks: Serial Entrepreneur Dan Cox’s Journey from Retail to Online

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

Jun 5, 2018 • 47:34

GDPRmageddon: What U.S. Merchants Need to Know

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

May 29, 2018 • 38:44

Shopify Unite 2018 Recap: Now What?

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-Cur

May 22, 2018 • 50:34

Live at Shopify Unite 2018

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 (inclu

May 15, 2018 • 34:17

Behind The Scenes at Jay Leno’s Garage

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 thei

May 8, 2018 • 50:33

Finding your True Fans & Brand Advocates

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 ma

May 1, 2018 • 52:58

Customer Service Strategy: Surviving the Worst Customer Situations

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

Apr 24, 2018 • 53:43

How-to: Automated Email Follow-up Campaigns Made Easy

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.

Apr 17, 2018 • 50:57

Grow & Convert with Content Marketing

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 a

Apr 10, 2018 • 56:27

Copywriting Decoded: How to Turn Copy into Conversions

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

Apr 3, 2018 • 40:39

Launching Lean & Quick: Building Nimble Sites with Galen King

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—b

Mar 27, 2018 • 49:14

Good Design with Chris Pointer: How to approach Shopify Themes

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 ab

Mar 20, 2018 • 48:29

B2B eCommerce MasterPlan: How to Scale Your Business with Wholesale eCommerce

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

Mar 13, 2018 • 46:33

The Beard King: How a Hairy Sink Launched a 7-figure Business

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-

Mar 6, 2018 • 56:43

Is dropshipping dead? What successful dropshippers know

"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 beco

Feb 27, 2018 • 37:30

Game of Bluff: Your Internet Law & Copyright Infringement Primer

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 e

Feb 20, 2018 • 38:59

Marriage for Entrepreneurs with Julie Elster (Valentine's Day Bonus)

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

Feb 14, 2018 • 21:24

Sourcing: How to find the right factory for your product idea

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 brou

Feb 13, 2018 • 44:18

Automating the Ultimate Customer Service Experience

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

Feb 6, 2018 • 45:39

How to grow a 700,000+ email list with AppSumo's Noah Kagan

Today’s guest started 2 multi-million dollar businesses, grew a 700,000+ email list, and even knows where to find the best tacos in the world. Yes, we’re talking to Noah Kagan who was #30 at Facebook, #4 at Mint and is currently Chief Sumo at SumoMe.com, which offers free tools to grow your website traffic. Mixergy’s Andrew Warner said, “Noah showed me how to grow my email list and figure out my site’s revenue model. Don’t let his casual, taco-talking style fool you. The guy gets serious busines

Jan 30, 2018 • 1:16:39

Validating & Scaling Your Shopify Store using Amazon FBA

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

Jan 23, 2018 • 42:26

How KeySmart Made $1.3 Million on a Product Launch

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 monu

Jan 16, 2018 • 58:07

New Year, New Ads: Facebook Ads Best Practices for 2018

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 foc

Jan 9, 2018 • 45:47

Increasing Average Order Value on Autopilot

When looking to increase store revenue, most people look to improve their traffic or their conversion rate. There’s another option boost revenue without changing how many visitors you get or how well your site converts. It’s your average order value. The easiest way to increase your average order value is with upsells or cross-sells. Using an app like Bold Apps Product Upsell makes this an easy feature to add, but you still need to think of offers that make sense, implement, test, and revise the

Jan 2, 2018 • 45:59

The Future of Dropshipping: Automating Licensed Apparel

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 all

Dec 26, 2017 • 47:41

Growing Your List & Revenue With Pop-ups

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 a

Dec 19, 2017 • 43:20

Using Emotion to Optimize Conversions With Talia Wolf

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. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podc

Dec 12, 2017 • 44:27

Make Shipping Sexy: Creating a better shopping experience

If you want your customers to return, you’ll need to put extra effort into your shipping. On today’s episode, Shopify Guru Rob Brown joins us to first establish the best practices for shipping rules in Shopify, and then gives us easy, accessible tips that any merchant can use to improve their shipping experience. You’ll learn exactly how to create an all-encompassing experience for customers throughout the buyer journey. And the best part is that many of our ideas are cheaper than a Facebook ad.

Dec 5, 2017 • 37:11

Working With Apps: How to Find (or Build) the Right Apps for Your Store

One of the more common questions I get is, "Hey Kurt, what apps do you recommend?" Like any experienced Shopify Expert, I normally give a cryptic non-answer like "I recommend installing nothing until you have a specific pain or problem than can be solved by a single app. Audit your apps regularly to make sure you still need them." This is not the answer you or anyone is looking to hear. It's not my fault, it's because I have PTSD from logging into client stores and discovering 40+ apps installed

Nov 28, 2017 • 40:40

Chat Bots: Recover Abandoned Carts with Facebook Messenger

In 2016, chatbots were said to be the next big thing in ecommerce. It’s nearly 2018, and we’re starting to see real results from chat bots, specifically remarketing via Facebook Messenger. In one client’s stores, we saw this approach recover 1 out of 3 abandoned sessions. This gets us excited. On today’s episode, we’re joined but a Shopify merchant turned service provider who knows the space better than most. Arjun Ohri is the CEO of ShopMessage, the first e-commerce marketing automation platfor

Nov 21, 2017 • 49:38

Hire Better: How to Build a Dependable Tech Team

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

Nov 14, 2017 • 1:06:59

$1 million in Year 1: Selling Tutorials on Shopify with RGG EDU

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 lau

Nov 7, 2017 • 53:40

Make Your Own Luck: How Doug Geiger Built a Durable Business

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 episod

Oct 31, 2017 • 57:47

Overwhelmed: How to be More Productive & Less Stressed

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 l

Oct 24, 2017 • 42:18

Erilan: Discretion & Sensitivity in eCommerce

A few weeks back, a listener suggested that we record an episode about marketing for sensitive niches. That sounded like an interesting challenge, so I tweeted about it. I had assumed that sensitive referred to age-restricted industries like tobacco, cannabis, adult goods, etc. Instead, we got a far more interesting response from a long-time listener. He wrote to us: My mum got breast cancer 10 years ago and had to have a double mastectomy. She lives in rural Australia where access to all the n

Oct 17, 2017 • 33:40

Growth Multipliers: Steal These Email Campaigns

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

Oct 10, 2017 • 44:01

Your Black Friday Email Marketing Plan

Black Friday will be here before we know it, and maybe you’re stressed about it. If you don’t have a plan in place for your Black Friday email campaign, you’re right to be stressed. You could be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table. Getting started with email marketing can be overwhelming, especially for Black Friday. On today’s episode, we will discuss a solid actionable plan for a successful Black Friday email marketing campaign. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast via E

Oct 3, 2017 • 43:45

Beef Jerky, Gaming, & $100K: The JerkyXP Story

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 (

Sep 26, 2017 • 36:52

Shopify Flow: How-to Automate Everything

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 wor

Sep 19, 2017 • 53:39

Fulfill Your Orders: How-to Own The Ordering Process

Every Shopify store owner has the same problem: Fulfilling orders! If you’re amazing at marketing your store and getting sales, then you’d better be amazing at fulfilling those orders too, or your business will crumble under the weight of negative reviews. Operations and logistics are tough for most new shop owners. In today’s episode we’ll learn some best practices from someone with years of experience running operations for his own ecomerce business. Our guest today is Aaron Rubin. He’s both a

Sep 12, 2017 • 34:30

The Business of Fashion: Using Personas & Calendars to Grow

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 o

Sep 5, 2017 • 52:42

Forget Maybe: Here's How To Grow Your Store With Content Marketing

When it comes to content marketing, most businesses are guessing. "Maybe X topic will work, maybe Y keyword is good to target." Forget maybe. Today we’re going to break down a simple, step-by-step system you can follow to get the highest possible ROI from your content marketing efforts. It’s not enough to rank for a keyword. We need visitors that we can convert to customers. Our guest today is Bill Widmer, an SEO-obsessed eCommerce content marketing consultant. He's worked with many brands, suc

Aug 29, 2017 • 54:16

Small Data: How to Increase Revenues with Customer Research

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. Fo

Aug 22, 2017 • 39:17

Sourcing the Future: How One Man Brought Smart Jackets to Market

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. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast via Email Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podc

Aug 15, 2017 • 38:32

Embracing Video: How Tactical Baby Gear Grew 5x with Video

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.

Aug 8, 2017 • 43:09

How to Omnichannel: Bridging Online & In-Store Experiences

Rarely on this do we talk about ecommerce from a retail-first perspective. Today that changes. How does ecommerce as a channel fit into an existing and successful brick & mortar experience? If you’re a retailer re-selling other people’s products in a brick & mortar, this episode is for you. Joining us to discuss it is Gregg Shanefelt. Gregg is a senior web developer and marketer who has been working with small businesses since 2009 with a passion for helping the little (and not so little) guys g

Aug 1, 2017 • 41:28

4X Your Black Friday Emails with Segmentation

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.

Jul 25, 2017 • 51:38

eCommerce Trends You Need to Boost Sales Before Black Friday

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

Jul 18, 2017 • 31:00

How to Get Better Traffic, Free with Semantic Data

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

Jul 11, 2017 • 45:13

Building The Perfect Shopify Theme

Not all Shopify themes are created equal. Even in the Shopify Theme Store, which has a carefully curated collection of fewer than 50 themes, some are certainly better than others. That's we've learned In working on Shopify themes for the last five years. (Which is why we now only work on themes from trusted developers.) For new store owners on Shopify, choosing the right theme can be an intimidating task. On today's episode, I talk through my theming experience, and we take a deep dive into a ne

Jul 4, 2017 • 41:01

How customizable is Shopify, really?

The biggest misconception about Shopify I hear from people considering the platform is that it’s “not customizable.” Joining me to discuss the realities of customization on Shopify is repeat guest Ross Allchorn Ross an entrepreneur and a specialist in e-commerce and digital marketing. Founder of ShopCreatify, a Shopify design, development and customization collaborative. His days are filled mostly with solving interesting and complicated issues on Shopify and allowing his merchant clients to squ

Jun 27, 2017 • 41:15

The Vivian Lou Story: How One Mom Quit Her Job to Sell Insoles on HSN

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. J

Jun 20, 2017 • 37:09

Pad & Quill: How an Award-winning Business Started With $1,200

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 wh

Jun 13, 2017 • 37:22

The Future of Your Checkout (And How It'll Help You Sell More Stuff)

At Shopify Unite, we heard that Shopify is advancing their checkout process by adding new features like Shopify Pay. Advancement in the checkout process is great for merchants, and especially important for Shopify. It's important because the Shopify checkout process is tightly controlled. There's limited customization options, and unless you're on Shopify Plus, you're not given access to edit the checkout process. This brings us to a controversial point: is it not being able to edit that checkou

Jun 6, 2017 • 41:10

How to Take Your Email Marketing to the Next Level

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 conve

May 30, 2017 • 45:08

How-to Sell More With Content-first Facebook Sales Funnels

It’s tremendously easy to waste money with Facebook ads, yet we’ve heard so many successful entreprenuers talk about their success with Facebook Ads. So what can we do stack their cards in your favor? Our guest today, Kurt Bullock, walks through a proven blueprint that any store can use to yield better results with Facebook Ads by leveraging content to grow your Shopify store. Kurt Bullock is the founder of ecommerce agency ProduceDept, creator of TargetEcho and HelloSocial - which are tools for

May 23, 2017 • 34:59

$3M in 7 Months: The GorillaGoodies Standard Operating Procedure

When starting an ecommerce store, it generally happens in one of two ways: You find a pain or problem in your life and realize you can solve it. And that becomes your first product. Or you want to try ecommerce, then brainstorm a dozen ideas to try. Corey Wright has turned the latter into a science. Corey started a digital marketing company with his brother in 2005 that focused on helping to recruit and license real estate agents throughout the United States and Canada. In May of 2016, he and

May 16, 2017 • 43:32

The Pet Care Card: How a 21-year-old Built a Six-figure Business

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 a

May 9, 2017 • 30:48

Shopify Unite 2017 Pt.3

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

May 4, 2017 • 23:29

Shopify Unite 2017 Pt.2

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. 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 A

May 3, 2017 • 15:53

Shopify Unite 2017 Pt.1

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. 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, a

May 2, 2017 • 12:33

Free Up Your Business: Delegating & Hiring with Connor Gillivan

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 Bootst

Apr 25, 2017 • 30:00

Urbain: How a 20-year-old Entrepreneur from Minneapolis Earns a 3x ROI on Facebook

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

Apr 18, 2017 • 32:05

Ecommerce SEO in 2017: Smart Marketing Strategies from John Doherty

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 consultan

Apr 11, 2017 • 50:00

Shopping Cart Migration: Planning Your Move to Shopify

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 st

Apr 4, 2017 • 34:04

Getting People Talking About Your Brand (Even if you're not an Influencer)

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

Mar 28, 2017 • 26:54

Writing Effective Sales Copy with Sean McCabe

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 mess

Mar 21, 2017 • 28:07

Shopify Scripts: Getting Started with Gavin Ballard

What if you could get total control over your pricing discounts & promotions without using an app or discount codes? What if your Shopify store let you offer Buy One Get One Free or Tiered Pricing? It would increase your conversions and revenue, right? That's what Shopify Scripts empowers you to do. It gives you the power to control your online store’s business logic - the conditional behaviors of your online store; giving you previously unheard-of levels of customization that starts at your cus

Mar 14, 2017 • 33:20

Fueled by Death: How Death Wish Coffee Earned a Spot In The Super Bowl

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’ compet

Mar 7, 2017 • 39:38

How Peter Friis crowdfunded more than $200K without Kickstarter

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

Feb 28, 2017 • 48:34

Peter Keller: Growing a Crossfit Store Explosively Without Paid Ads

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... — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on Stitcher Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podca

Feb 21, 2017 • 45:16

Four Ecommerce Trends for 2017 Marketing Strategy With Phil Kyprianou

Where should you be investing your resources in 2017? To answer that question, we're joined by serial entrepreneur, coach & speaker, Phil Kyprianou. For the past decade, Phil has been dedicating himself to internet marketing. With a Facebook group of nearly 25K Shopify storeowners, Phil is always to give back to the community. Having built multiple successful Shopify stores, and worked with Fortune 500 companies and agencies, Phil knows what works based on hard-won experience. In today's episode

Feb 14, 2017 • 49:53

The Remarketing Matrix: 10x Your Remarketing Campaigns With This Procedure

I love remarketing, and I love standard operating procedures. Our guest today is a remarketing wizard, and he walks us through a professional methodology for growing your remarketing campaigns in a systematic way. Tom Bukevicius is a Principal at SCUBE Marketing, an E-Commerce marketing agency delivering results through PPC & CRO. Tom’s motto is “Magic bullets are for losers. Execution is key”. If you have a business that's already selling and maybe even using remarketing, then you know what a t

Feb 7, 2017 • 44:47

Step-by-Step Pre-Crowdfunding Campaigns: What to Do Before You Raise Money

A funny thing happened. At the end of October, I had a few clients reach out to me and say, "Hey Kurt, you should talk to this guy Reid who just gave an amazing presentation at eCommerceFuel Live about crowdfunding." Turns out they were talking about a client we'd worked with on crowdfunding campaign. Joining us today is Reid Covington, an energetic entrepreneur with a history of both realizing and accelerating growth for ecommerce businesses. By night, Reid is the founder of Chargemander.com wh

Jan 31, 2017 • 39:28

Michael Steele: Sell Like a Human

On this show, I interview two kinds of people. ecommerce entrepreneurs who walk the walk, and ecommerce professionals talk the talk. On rare occasion, you find a unicorn of an entrepreneur who does both. A few weeks ago we had Chad from Skubana who fit the bill. And this week I've found another unicorn! Micheal Steele, a self-made man, who runs a shop with his wife, and then takes the applied learnings from that store and uses them to inform his consultancy, Sell Like a Human. As director of mar

Jan 24, 2017 • 43:11

Embracing Controversy: How This Bikini Startup Went Viral

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 he

Jan 17, 2017 • 39:12

Podcasting for Business: The Tremendous Growth Engine

Podcasting could be a tremendous growth engine for your business, and it's more accessible than ever. You don't need expensive equipment and an audio engineer to make a podcast that people will love. Ben Kreuger joins us to walk through why and how to start podcasting. Ben Krueger is the Podcast Educator and founder of Cashflow Podcasting. Their innovative process is a new way for thought leaders to host a podcast of their in just a few hours of their time per month. Ben specializes in helping t

Jan 10, 2017 • 50:43

From 0 to $20 million dollars: Chad Rubin's Story

Chad Rubin builds e-commerce businesses. Fresh out of college and Wall Street, he took his family vacuum business online and built his own direct to consumer e-commerce business called Crucial Vacuum. He grew it from 0 a $20 million dollar valuation in just 7 years. He also happens to be a top 250 Amazon seller. Unsatisfied with existing ERP software, he co-founded Skubana with DJ Kunovac and built one of e-commerces hottest operational softwares. Skubana is the only software that you’ll ever ne

Jan 3, 2017 • 38:38

We Built a Shopify App for Fun & Profit

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 sp

Dec 20, 2016 • 30:24

Sell More with Email Autoresponders

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

Dec 13, 2016 • 33:42

Expanding your Ecommerce Business on Amazon with Kiri Masters

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

Dec 6, 2016 • 25:04

Profitable Facebook Ads & Audiences Decoded with Kurt Bullock

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. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shop

Dec 1, 2016 • 30:27

Best-Seller Insights & The Top 10 Shopify Apps to Increase Sales with Tom Davies

Black Friday is right around the corner, but it's not too late to set your store up for maximum sales. Tom Davies, creator of the Best Seller Insights app, joins us to discuss four ways that knowing your store's best (and worst) sellers can maximize your store’s success. After that, we dive into Tom's list of ten Shopify apps to boost your store's sales. I guarantee there's at least one app, strategy, or tactic in this episode that you can implement today to make more money in your store before

Nov 22, 2016 • 36:31

Shopify Plus: An In-Depth Guide with Mac King

In the past, growing store owners would sometimes wonder, "What happens if I outgrow Shopify?" In response to that question, Shopify launched an enterprise-level plan called Shopify Plus. It hosts huge brands like Kylie Cosmetics or the Los Angeles Lakers, in addition to our very own friends EverestBands and KeySmart. If you're already on Shopify, you might wonder if and when Shopify Plus is right for you. To answer those questions, Mackenzie "Mac" King joins us. He should know, he's run his own

Nov 15, 2016 • 36:26

Get Wallet-out Google Shopping Traffic with Brett Curry

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

Nov 1, 2016 • 33:32

A/B Testing: Is it a 'sack of money' button?

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 yo

Oct 25, 2016 • 32:42

Conversion Rate Optimization & User Research with Joris Bryon

I'm a sucker for conversion rate optimization talk because so many people approach it differently. I always learn something new. Which is why I jumped at the chance to talk to Joris Bryan in Malta about how he views conversion rate optimization. Co-founder of dexter.agency, Joris is, among other things, a ConversionXL Certified Optimizer, author of Frankwatching and Emerce, conversion optimization trainer for Frankwatching and guest lecturer ‘Data-driven Conversion Optimization’ at University Co

Oct 18, 2016 • 28:03

Violent Little Machine Shop: Morale Patches & a Mindset for Success

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. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on Stitcher Su

Oct 11, 2016 • 49:04

The Perfect Shopify Funnel with Richard Patey

In an ideal world, we could point a Facebook ad at your homepage and generate sales. But we don't live in a perfect world, and that's a terrible strategy. Joining us to share the winning strategy that he used to grow and sell his own Shopify store is Richard Patey. Richard Patey is the founder of funnelengine.com which offers done for you marketing & sales funnels for ecommerce stores. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on Stitcher

Oct 4, 2016 • 31:37

Crowdfunding Secrets For Kickstarter Success with Scott Adamson

Did you know $2.5 billion dollars have been pledged to Kickstarter projects? BIllion. With a B. That's just for successful campaigns. Only 35% of campaigns end up getting funded on Kickstarter. So what can you do ensure success on Kickstarter? Joining us to tell us to share crowdfunding secrets of success is Scott Adamson, co-founder of Kickbooster Inc. Since launch, Kickbooster has worked with over 1300 crowdfunding campaigns, has been featured by tech writers at Tech Crunch, Gadget Flow, Art o

Sep 27, 2016 • 26:26

From the Detroit Tigers to Shirt Maker: Steven Fisher's Story

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 profe

Sep 20, 2016 • 33:06

Hustling to change your life with Neil Patel

It’s that time of year again… Summer is winding to a close. The kids are heading back to school. I am starting to notice the sun setting a bit earlier. While there’s always something a bit sad about seeing the long, sunny days go away, there’s also something I find very motivating about fall. To me, it’s a time of new focus and energy. There’s only a few more months left in the year, and I want to make it count. I want to double down after the family vacation or a few too many long weekends over

Sep 15, 2016 • 12:52

Offering Wholesale: Solutions & Realities with Ross Allchorn

Using Shopify for Wholesale is one of the single most requested "features" I hear from new and existing clients. But there's several ways to go about it, and no obvious right way until you've experienced it. In this episode, South African Shopify Expert Ross Allchorn and I put our heads together and come up with a best practice solution for adding a wholesale channel to your ecommerce business. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on

Sep 13, 2016 • 30:30

Tactical Diaper Bags & Side Hustles with Beav Brodie

"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 dea

Sep 6, 2016 • 33:16

Starting Adwords from scratch - From $0 to $10K as fast as possible with Daryl Mander

Daryl Mander joins us today today with 20 minutes of actionable advice on making an extra $10k/mo with AdWords. Daryl is the founder and CEO of Big Flare, the Adwords agency for small Ecommerce businesses. He's helped big brands like Panasonic, AOL, 20th Century Fox and the UK Royal Mint to bring in more sales via advertising and now he's dedicated to bringing those big brand lessons to small budget advertisers. Learn: The biggest mistakes that Ecommerce stores make on Adwords How to start Adwo

Aug 30, 2016 • 32:17

Optimizing for Retention & Repeat Purchases with Eric Davis

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,

Aug 23, 2016 • 30:27

Abandoned Carts with John Peder

If you're already up-and-running, your store will have abandoned carts. The bigger your store, the more you'll be losing. Abandoned cart recovery is one of the first things you should do to optimize your store and stop leaving money on the table. Today's guest, John Peder, runs CartRecovery.com. He says, "As a store owner, you've probably heard the term before but you might not be sure what cart abandonment is. Simply put, not everyone who visits your store will become a customer. That's to be e

Aug 16, 2016 • 29:01

Jobs to be Done: Kurt Buys Luggage with Eric White

If there’s one recurring theme in The Unofficial Shopify Podcast, it’s that you have to talk to your customers. So today, we’re going to talk to a real-life Shopify customer about a purchase: me. In this episode, Eric White demonstrates how to conduct a customer interview… me about a recent purchase I made from a Shopify. He’s good at it too, he helps businesses use Jobs-to-Be-Done thinking to design, market, prototype and manage innovative products and services. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Sh

Aug 9, 2016 • 26:36

Predictive Marketing & Green Pants with Gautham Pandiyan

Last year I kept hearing about data science. This year I'm hearing about predictive marketing. Joining us to explain it is Gautham Pandiyan. Gautham Pandiyan is the Director of Strategic Alliances at Windsor Circle, managing their partnership with Shopify, other eCommerce/Marketing vendors and Agencies "to drive stellar business outcomes." (That's a good line, I should steal it.) — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on Stitcher Subsc

Aug 2, 2016 • 26:07

Hiring Shopify Experts with Jonathan Kennedy

Ever try to hire a contractor, freelancer, or even Shopify Expert only to have them disappear or stop returning your calls? You're not alone. After seeing firsthand the white spaces that Shopify's growth and simplicity create in the market, Jonathan Kennedy created a new Shopify experts category for small tasks based on some of the needs of an exploding user base. We discuss why it's so hard to hire, and what you can do about it. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe

Jul 26, 2016 • 31:24

Facebook Funnels & Growth Hacking with Kenn Costales

In the past we've talked about the importance of research, sales funnels, and Facebook ads. But how do we tie those concepts together? Kenn Costales from GrowthHackerKit thinks he can. Kenn is the founder of Monolith Growth Consulting & GrowthHackerKit.com. He helps consumer eCommerce brands get more conversions. Unlike others, he’s focused on testing full Facebook funnels & building 90 day rolling plans instead of changing ad copy and button colors. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Jul 19, 2016 • 33:44

Cross-sells & Upsells with Ezra Firestone of SmartMarketer

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. — Subscribe to T

Jul 12, 2016 • 30:38

Designing Products & 3D Printing with Dorian Ferrari

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 experienc

Jul 5, 2016 • 31:10

Listener Mailbag: "What are 5 must have plug ins / apps?"

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. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on Stitcher Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast via RSS — Free Guide I want to sen

Jul 2, 2016 • 15:58

Market Research Made Easy with Joe from BluShark Straps

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. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Uno

Jun 28, 2016 • 39:35

Virtual Conferences & Growth Hacking with Zachary McClung

What if you could throw a conference with one thousand people all interested in what you have to offer? And what if it only cost $3 per attendee? That's what Zachary McClung did with a virtual conference. (Having spoken at a few myself, I know firsthand just how powerful they can be.) With a relatively unknown brand, he was able to launch a virtual conference that earned him new customers, new connections, media coverage, and more. All with his brand at centerstage. And he's going to do us exact

Jun 21, 2016 • 35:09

Back to Basics: Ecommerce Fundamentals with Ross Allchorn

When starting your Shopify business, you’ll discover there’s a lot more to consider besides what you’ll be selling. Ross Allchorn takes us back to basics with some advice for first-time storeowners. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on Stitcher Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast via RSS — Learn: Why you need a plan What to realistically expect How to provide better customer service (and bust customer's objections) Why yo

Jun 14, 2016 • 25:41

Backyard Offices & Co-Working Spaces with Lee Tengum

Technology has enabled us to easily work from anywhere, but should we? Lee Tengum, successful Canadian serial entrepreneur, joins us to discuss the simple question of where and how you much should you work. Lee is the founder of 7am. When not building automation tools for clients, Lee produces useful tools for others, most recently CreatorLove.com. You can find Lee on twitter at @workwithlee. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on S

Jun 7, 2016 • 28:39

Well-Endowed Men & Pitching Bloggers with Leo Tropeano

Leo Tropeano was an accountant with a problem: He wanted better fitting jeans without having to sacrifice comfort. Most men would have accepted existing jeans on the market. Leo instead had his ideal jeans designed & manufactured. Not only did his friends notice, they wanted a pair too. In today’s episode, Leo tells us his advice for going from Kickstarter to Shopify, and exactly how he found and pitched big blogs on promoting his jeans. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Su

May 31, 2016 • 29:04

No Bull Marketing & Making Money Online with Matt Giovanisci

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 U

May 24, 2016 • 49:02

How to Dramatically Increase Email Click-through Rates With Data you Already Have

Joining me today is Taylor Sicard. Taylor runs the growth and partnerships at Rare.io, but I first met him years ago when was an early member of the Shopify Partners team building out their partner program, and spends his spare time running his Shopify stores. In doing that, he has so much institutional knowledge, that when I talked to him last week, I learned so much I knew we had to record a podcast. We dive into: Deliver the right email at the right time. Showing your customers the right con

May 17, 2016 • 24:13

The Future of eCommerce: How Shopify is Enabling Commerce Everywhere

Levin Mejia, Shopify Designer Advocate, discusses the future of ecommerce and how Shopify is pushing the envelope forward. Levin is a self-taught designer and front-end developer whose passion for design combined with his thirst for continual learning inspired him to run his own conference: Go Beyond Pixels. He has worked for clients all over the world, such as Vox Media in NYC, and now works as a Designer Advocate for Shopify. — Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to

May 10, 2016 • 34:13

How Andy Bedell Tripled Revenue With Facebook Video Ads

"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 Shopif

May 3, 2016 • 34:37

Jay Myers: What Successful Shopify Storeowners Know

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, Sh

Apr 26, 2016 • 44:49

CMS Made Simple: How to Work Around Shopify's Limitations

Ever find yourself editing a product in your store and wishing you had more options that just title and description? Our guest John Carbone did. John is a senior Drupal developer, who loved Shopify's ecommerce abilities, but missed the extensibililty provided by Drupal. After first developing a solution to merge the two platforms together, he developed a clean way to add custom fields to Shopify's product pages. If you've ever wished you could easily add different specifications to various produ

Apr 19, 2016 • 28:13

Outsource Your Back Office: Dan Arriola on Logistics & Fulfillment

Sick of picking & packing orders yourself? How about warehousing? You've probably considered outsourcing fulfillment (or you will) but don't know where to begin. That's how I felt! So we brought in Dan Arriola, CEO of iD Commerce + Logistics, is an expert on scaling e-commerce businesses. Having partnered with both startups and Fortune 500 online retailers alike to streamline their fulfillment operations, Dan walks us through everything you wanted to know about fulfillment. Bonus: iD Commerce an

Apr 12, 2016 • 29:41

John McIntyre: Automating Email Campaigns To Win Customers

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

Apr 5, 2016 • 34:39

Nate Murray: The Mindset to 42 Shopify Stores

"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

Mar 29, 2016 • 28:53

Rand Fishkin on SEO for Ecommerce Websites

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, Goog

Mar 22, 2016 • 35:18

You Need a Virtual Assistant

Growing and scaling your business effectively is a must, but as you do that, the first limiting factor you'll reach is yourself. At some point, you'll discover you aren't superman, and you'll need to offload work to others. Q: How can you get more time back, while still growing your business? A: Hire a VA (virtual assistant). (Hint: It shouldn't be just any VA!) In this episode we talk to Gina Horkey who gives us an introductory overview of hiring and working with virtual assistants. We walk thr

Mar 15, 2016 • 24:52

How Beardbrand Built a Better Business by Building Community

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." Subscribe to The Unofficial Shopify Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to

Mar 8, 2016 • 28:08

Revenue Hack: Upgrade Your Order Confirmation Emails

Smart marketers know that the first sale is the only beginning of a relationship with a customer. If your marketing stops after the first sale, you are leaving money on the table. Moreover, while there're lots of ways to extend that the lifetime value of a customer, there's one thing you should be doing first. Upgrade your order confirmation emails! And today we’re talking with Adii Pienaar of Receiptful. Adii is a serial entrepreneur "learning through making (new) mistakes." He previously co-fo

Mar 1, 2016 • 30:15

Mindzai: How to Start a Designer DIY Toy Business

"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. Subscribe to The Unoffic

Feb 23, 2016 • 27:43

Jake Starr: The Recycled Firefighter

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

Feb 16, 2016 • 25:58

Stitch People: Building a Tribe

"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

Feb 9, 2016 • 32:33

Mo' Money, Mo' Problems with nickd

Having no money is a terrible feeling, but having too much money can make us equally miserable. That's what years of studies on the mental well-being of the wealthy has taught us anyway. Our topic today is money & happiness. A lot of entrepreneurs quit their jobs because they’re unhappy, but erroneously think that being rich will make them happy. Yet I’ve met plenty of rich and miserable people. Nick Disabato is a designer and writer from Chicago. He runs Draft, a small interaction design consul

Feb 2, 2016 • 28:28

Drunk User Testing with Richard Littauer

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 Littau

Jan 26, 2016 • 37:10

Neil Patel: Triple Your Email Opt-In Rate with Lead Magnets

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.

Jan 19, 2016 • 23:44

The Ultimate Facebook Advertising Hack: Dynamic Product Ads

After a brief intro on the headache that can be the Facebook Pixel, Kurt and Zach dive into the newest kids on the Facebook Ad block: dynamic product ads! When to start remarketing? How much does remarketing cost? What ROI to expect? "Flightplan is the easiest way to launch Facebook Dynamic Product ads and generate sales for your shop. Our instant onboarding handles all the configuration, so you can focus on managing your store, not configuring your ads." (Sounds good? No, it sounds great.) Grab

Jan 12, 2016 • 30:34

Customer Retention: How to Keep Customers Coming Back

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 c

Jan 5, 2016 • 31:04

Alex O'Byrne: 100 Orders on the First day

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

Dec 29, 2015 • 31:16

Entrepreneur's Journey: How Diana House Started an Industry

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 compan

Dec 22, 2015 • 36:02

Masterminds: The Entrepreneur's Secret Weapon

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

Dec 15, 2015 • 34:43

Small Business Accounting 101: Hiring a Bookkeeper

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

Dec 8, 2015 • 28:44

Are Instagram ads the now best bang for your buck?

Instagram ads are the newest PPC channel, and, as such, are crazy affordable. That’s good news for advertisers. Michael Perry, CEO of Kit, joins us again. Last time he told us the secrets of Facebook Ads (and boy was he right.) Now he's back to tell us how he cracked the code on Instagram. In this episode, we break down proven strategies that will help you take over all aspects of Instagram. "In my opinion, Instagram ads are the biggest bang for the buck right now. Impression costs have been muc

Dec 1, 2015 • 34:40

Make Stuff Happen: The Power of Side Projects

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

Nov 24, 2015 • 31:59

Get Specific: The Power of Positioning

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 -->

Nov 17, 2015 • 33:57

Get Real with Paul Jarvis: Being Authentic in Marketing

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 f

Nov 10, 2015 • 30:14

Word of Mouth Marketing: How To Build a Profitable Refer-a-Friend Program

"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, o

Nov 3, 2015 • 26:29

Actively Disqualify: When is Shopify the wrong choice?

You know your market like the back of your hand. Now you need to make a decision about which platform and plugins to use. Is Shopify the right choice? Probably, but what if it isn't? How would you know? To find out, we talk with self-described "ecommerce junkie" and agency owner Michael Bower. Twelve years running and servicing ecommerce companies means Michael “gets” the growing pains merchants feel. Combined with a pragmatic worldview and an enthusiastic drive to help others, he's uniquely sui

Oct 27, 2015 • 31:23

Gavin Ballard: Finding the Right Apps for Your Store

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&quot

Oct 20, 2015 • 41:13

Ready for Christmas? Holiday Ecommerce Tips & Tricks [BONUS]

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: B

Oct 15, 2015 • 17:52

Predictable Revenue: Turn Your Store Into a Money Machine with Subscriptions

Want to build build predictable, recurring revenue into your online store? Learn how through subscription pricing models. In this episode, Bold Apps' Kevin Wild join us. He's an absolute evangelist for the subscription model, and with good reason. Kevin is product manager of Bold Apps Recurring Orders app for Shopify. You'll learn: How you can turn any Shopify store into a predictable sales machine The technical hurdles to watch out for when implementing recurring orders Different models you pr

Oct 13, 2015 • 39:37

3 Mindset Shifts to Double Your Business

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 fe

Oct 6, 2015 • 37:45

Liston Witherill: Research & Copywriting Secrets for Massively Boosting Conversions

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.

Aug 31, 2015 • 27:46

Social Media Strategy For Dummies

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.

Aug 24, 2015 • 45:49

Business Brokers: How to buy or Sell my Shopify Store?

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

Aug 17, 2015 • 23:37

"How do I SEO my Shopify store?" For Dummies

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 pr

Aug 10, 2015 • 18:44

I installed Google Analytics: Now what?

When you open Google Analytics, be honest, I bet you don't get much beyond just admiring your unique monthly visitors, right? And that's okay, there's so many fiddly knobs and dials and switch in GA that it's tough to even know where to begin. But there's a gold mine of data there that you should be leveraging. Which is exactly what Jevin Maltais of Quickjack Solutions and the Ecommerce Growth Weekly newsletters joined us to talk about. You'll learn: The power of segmenting your audience How t

Aug 3, 2015 • 34:09

Don't Break The Chain: A Guide to Customer Lifecycle Marketing

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.

Jul 27, 2015 • 41:25

Matt Quinn: Segmentation for Dummies

What if you could tailor your email, ad, and even your Shopify site to your individual customers? By dramatically increasing the relevance of yours ads and emails, you'll the lower the costs per click and unsubscribes, and engage your audience like never before. It's not crazy, it's called segmenting, and the smartest marketers have been doing it for some time now. Fortunately, it's now available and accessible to the rest of us in our Shopify stores using a service called Sauce. The co-founder

Jul 20, 2015 • 38:08

Step on The Gas: Jordan Gal on Building Successful Ecommerce Businesses

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-Founde

Jul 13, 2015 • 39:45

Michael Perry: Digital Marketing Assistant

Kurt talks with Michael Perry, CEO of Kit: a Digital Marketing Assistant for Small Business Owners. Michael just got back from the Shopify retail tour where he met hundreds of Shopify store owners, and presented to thousands of store owners on The Art of Facebook Ads. Links: KitCRM The Art of Facebook Ads Upcoming Webinars Twitter: @michealperry Michael has graciously offered to answer any questions you have, just shoot an email to michael@kitcrm.com

Jul 6, 2015 • 31:41

Inbox Zero: A guide to email triage

If you ever feared opening your email, then this episode is for you. Clocking in at 30 minutes and jam packed with golden nuggets of inbox triage wisdom for busy store owners and professionals. We talk real email productivity with Chris Cichon of Boomerang. Links: Boomerang - Boomerang adds scheduled sending and the easiest, most integrated email reminders to Gmail, helping you reach Inbox Zero. Inbox Pause - Make your email take a break. Boomerang Calendar - Simple calendar scheduling, bu

Jun 29, 2015 • 30:38

Keith Perhac: Building Your Sales Funnel Pt.2

In this episode, I chat to Keith Perhac. Keith runs a successful marketing and optimisation agency in Japan. Alongside working at his agency Keith has been building a premium membership platform called Summit Evergreen. In part 1, we covered the sales funnel (What is it and why do we care?) and how to optimize your sales funnel to get the most lifetime value out of your customers while providing the best experience. As we mentioned on pt.2 of our interview with Keith, Kurt & Keith will be doing

Jun 22, 2015 • 1:00:13

Winning Product Photography with Adam Rasheed Pt.2

In the second half of a two part episode, Commercial Photographer Adam Rasheed joins us to tell us how you can improve your photography (or hire a professional to tackle it.) When small businesses want to make a better impression both online and in person, they should showcase their products and services in the best way possible. Unfortunately buying a nice camera or hiring a young relative for a few bucks doesn’t cut. There isn’t only technical ability, but a knowledge of your subject matter in

Jun 15, 2015 • 24:01

Winning Product Photography with Adam Rasheed Pt.1

Great photos can mean the difference between a new customer and a lost sale. Commercial Photographer Adam Rasheed joins us to tell us how you can do that yourself (or hire a professional to tackle it.) When small businesses want to make a better impression both online and in person, they should showcase their products and services in the best way possible. Unfortunately buying a nice camera or hiring a young relative for a few bucks doesn’t cut. There isn’t only technical ability, but a knowledg

Jun 6, 2015 • 31:11

Josh Highland: Shopify Empire

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

May 28, 2015 • 31:04

Keith Perhac: Building Your Sales Funnel Pt.1

In this episode, I chat to Keith Perhac. Keith runs a successful marketing and optimisation agency in Japan. Alongside working at his agency Keith has been building a premium membership platform called Summit Evergreen. We covered the sales funnel (What is it and why do we care?) and how to optimize your sales funnel to get the most lifetime value out of your customers while providing the best experience. As we mentioned on pt.2 of our interview with Keith, Kurt & Keith will be doing teardowns (

May 20, 2015 • 50:00

Zach Weiss, worn&wound, Affordable Watch Strap King

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 conc

May 7, 2015 • 35:09

Google's Mobile Apocalypse & Jonathan Stark

On April 22nd 2015, Google began actively ranking websites based on mobile-friendliness. To dig deep on what that means, and how Shopify store owners can take advantage of it, we reached out to Jonathan Stark, a mobile strategy consultant who helps consumer brands thrive in the post-PC era. 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 expe

Apr 23, 2015 • 45:47

Following Your Passion & Making the Jump

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 tha

Feb 10, 2015 • 23:43

United Pixelworkers: A Post Mortem

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

Feb 2, 2015 • 43:24

Drop Shipping and Ecommerce Automation

We talked to Sina Djafari about dropshipping, ecommerce in general, and his dropshipping automation software, DuoPlane. What if you could automate the manual tasks that bog you down, freeing you up to focus on growing your business? That's what dropshipping and order management software promises, but how do you get started? Who is it good for? I didn't know very much about it myself, so I set out to find out. And even if you don't want to hear about dropshipping, skip the first 25 minutes for a

Feb 2, 2015 • 33:04

Responsive is Everything: Straight Talking 2014 Ecommerce Holiday Data

Every day we see analytics data from our client's stores, and most of the time we use it as a benchmark of our performance and move on. But sometimes, we look at all of that data as a big picture. This week, we looked at Google Analytics data about 41K visitors to our client's store during Black Friday weekend and drew some conclusions – big and small – that may change how you view your mobile strategy. We looked at data from our top 20 performing ecommerce clients (mostly on the Shopify platfor

Dec 8, 2014 • 20:28

The Problem With Sexy: How to Improve any Shopify Theme

In this episode, we bring you deep in the weeds of Shopify theme development with smooth-talking aussie dev Gavin Ballard. Gavin is the author of the Bootstrap for Shopify framework, as well as the upcoming course Mastering Shopify Themes (featuring our own Kurt Elster.) We discuss: *What's the problem with picking a sexy theme? *Why does Paul hate Bootstrap? *How can anyone start usability testing? *And three pieces of actionable advice for improving any Shopify theme You can learn more about G

Dec 4, 2014 • 34:44

How To Kill it With Ecommerce Content Marketing

Have you ever wondered how some ecommerce stores become known as the go-to guys for a particular niche? They'll sell the same products at the same prices as their competition, but somehow they're always top of mind when it comes to their niche. It's not through SEO wizardry, or fancy campaigns, it's actually a misunderstand tactic called content marketing. You know that blog you haven't updated in six months? That's typically what people think of with content marketing. We don't blame you, creat

Oct 28, 2014 • 29:32

How One Man Quit His Job To Sell Wallets Featured in GQ

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

Oct 15, 2014 • 24:21

Essential E-commerce Processes For Growing Your Business

Every Shopify store owner struggles with juggling a million job descriptions everyday, from new customer acquisition, marketing, service / product delivery, accounting, human resource management and the rest. There is no “secret sauce” that will fix an entrepreneur’s need for knowing his business inside and out. One key, however, to every successful businesses are Processes (aka: To-Do’s, Procedures, Documentation, etc) For those fortunate entrepreneurs who jumped into a business without any cor

Oct 10, 2014 • 24:06

How The Kewl Shop Stays Competitive (Selling Sexy Dresses)

I talked with Charles Fitzgerald about his Shopify store, The Kewl Shop, and came away with loads of actionable insight. Started in late 2012, The Kewl Shop have quickly grown to become one of the top 150K web sites in the world. Founded by Charles, their focus has narrowed into the supply of top quality bandage dresses, shoes and leggings– areas of immense competition in the online world. So how do they stay ahead of their competition in an a fiercely competitive niche? Listen and find out. :)

Oct 6, 2014 • 26:09

Ecommerce interaction design with NickD

Today we're talking with Nick Disabato of Draft, a small interaction design consultancy in Chicago. His previous clients include Gravitytank, New Music USA, Chicago Magazine, The Wirecutter, and too many other attractive, intelligent people to count. We spent quite a bit of time talking about his work designing a delightful user experience for Cards Against Humanity. We discuss... Cards Against Humanity marketing strategy Split-testing Conversion rate optimization And more Links: Cards Agains

Sep 29, 2014 • 28:08

Brutally Honest SEO Advice for Ecommerce Entrepreneurs

Kai Davis is a dynamite internet marketing professional. He’s really reinventing how his clients view SEO and creating an amazing suite offerings with which anyone can build an amazing organic stream for their website. We discuss: How Kai boosts a website's findability Why you should focus on results, not SEO What best practices to follow What does on-site SEO involve? How do you get quality backlinks? The education problem that SEO faces What a bad SEO engagement looks like Link-building strat

Sep 19, 2014 • 23:05

Michael DiMartini, Everest Bands creator, talks Kickstarter success

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 l

Sep 11, 2014 • 28:20