"So how do you win if you're doing what everyone else is doing? If we're all using Best Selling Rank or BSR, then everyone is always going to sell the same products and we're just flooding the market with all the same products. So we try to go where the puck is going and not where the puck is." - Chad Rubin of Skubana
In our second 3 digit episode we have Chad Rubin of Skubana as our guest. "Chad Rubin of Skubana" is how I refer to him but he is so much more than that. He co-founded Skubana, a multi-channel inventory management software that we have been using for over a year now. He is a 7-figure seller who also runs the Accelerate Workshop, an exclusive one-day workshop for high-volume multi-channel ecommerce sellers.
Like Kevin Stecko of 80sTees.com, Chad is one of those we jokingly call the "grandfathers of ecommerce" because he has been in ecommerce for a very long time. At the time there was an absence of good ecommerce tools, so to satisfy his own ecommerce needs, he created his own internal tools and shared them with the world, one of which is Skubana.
In this episode we talk about a topic that is of crucial importance especially for those just venturing in ecommerce--how do you find profitable products to sell in a market that is already saturated?
Many sellers do their research: they look at BSR and probably fire up Jungle Scout to judge profitability, and that could work, but people who do that usually end up selling "me-too products". That saturates the market even more and buries their products beneath thousands of similar others.
Chad has a solution. He doesn't want to do what everybody else is doing; he instead focuses on what people are actually looking for but which Amazon does not have yet. He explains how he does this in detail and provides some examples in our conversation.
We also covered other topics, including:
This is a fully packed episode with actionable advice and lots of resources and software recommendations. We've compiled the links below so you can easily check them out.
Resources mentioned:
AsiaInspection
Stamped.io
EcomCrew Podcast Episode 35: Chad Rubin on the Development of Skubana
Crucial Vacuum
Think Crucial
Accelerate Workshop
Shopify apps he is using:
Bold Brain
Bold Tiered Pricing
Bold Upsell
Webinar:
International Selling Secrets Direct From Amazon For Maximum ROI on International Marketplaces
That's episode 101 guys! We hope you find Chad's valuable actionable advice useful in your own business. If you do and you enjoyed this episode, we'd really love it if you'd leave us an honest review on iTunes. That will help us in our rankings and discoverability so we can reach more ecommerce entrepreneurs out there.
As always, thanks for listening. Until the next episode, happy selling!
100 episodes! Can you believe it?
Today marks a special moment in EcomCrew history. We've hit a very important milestone and we never would have done it without YOU.
I had my struggles; I can't tell you how frustrating it is not knowing whether people truly enjoyed listening to the podcast or if they got any real value out of it or not.
But then I go to these live events and people come up to me and tell me how the podcast helped them in their businesses, and I just feel stoked. It makes me feel like what we're doing makes a difference, and pushes me, and the rest of EcomCrew, to do our best in putting out even better content for you. Your comments, feedback, questions, and support keep us going.
And to celebrate our 100th episode, we have a special treat for you. I got 5 of my favorite successful ecommerce entrepreneurs in this episode and asked them one question:
"What would you have done differently if you could talk to your younger self when you were just getting started in ecommerce?"
Their answers are a mix of rookie mistakes and lessons that took them years to learn. You can use these lessons as warnings or advice and apply them to your own business, without having to go through years of trial and error.
Below is a snippet:
From Andrew Youderian of EcommerceFuel:
"The biggest thing I would probably fundamentally change in my approach about starting an ecommerce business today versus what I've done in the past is probably take something that I thought--it didn't have to be something I was madly in love with, or my soul passion but something that [I] had some kind of interest or overlap with what I enjoy or who I was."
From Bill D'Alessandro of Elements Brands:
"If I could go back in time, I would smack my 4 Hour Workweek self across the head and say, Don't be a wimp, hire people."
From Greg Mercer of Jungle Scout:
"If I were to start all over again--once I figured out how to launch the successful products, and the products themselves had good unit economics--I would've looked into using other people's money to invest in my business to start to scale it up faster."
From Scott Voelker of The Amazing Seller:
"I would focus on finding something that you know you can launch multiple products in, and then from there, taking that approach of a brand where you're able to have a face to that brand ... and then start building that following, start building that email list."
From Steve Chou of My Wife Quit Her Job:
"If there's something that you enjoy per se, that might not necessarily be the best idea for a business. Because chances are that if you have to do it for money, or you feel like it's a chore, then you're not going to enjoy it anymore."
And of course, EcomCrew will not be the same without Dave Bryant. He has been a prolific addition to the crew and has added many extremely useful content to the site. Here's what he would have done differently:
"If I can tell myself one thing to do differently at the beginning of my ecommerce journey, it would definitely be to start with an end goal in mind and reverse engineer from there."
Those are just a sneak peek of our incredibly loaded conversations. Go ahead and listen to the entire episode and find out why they came up with those answers.
Resources mentioned:
AsiaInspection
Stamped.io
EcommerceFuel
Elements Brands
Jungle Scout
The Amazing Seller
My Wife Quit Her Job
2018 Sellers Summit
EcommerceFuel Live
And that concludes 100 episodes of the EcomCrew podcast! We invite you to stay with us for another hundred episodes of our ecommerce journey.
And from everyone at EcomCrew, THANK YOU.
"I think perpetual unhappiness with everything about an entrepreneur's business is probably the only way they're going to be successful, right? Always be thinking that something needs to be improved." - Kevin Stecko, 80sTees.com
Our guest for the last episode before we hit the 100 mark is my good friend Kevin Stecko from 80sTees.com. We jokingly call Kevin as one of the "grandfathers of ecommerce", having started his business way back in 1999. He has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in the business, and has gone with the wave of changes of what made ecommerce what it is today. In this episode we talk about his entire ecommerce journey--how everything started, where he stands in his ecommerce business now, and the joys and challenges of being in a constantly changing business for 18 years.
This episode is quite longer than usual, and that's because it's fully packed with lessons from Kevin's almost 2 decades of ecommerce experience. Below are the highlights:
This has been a really fun conversation with Kevin (especially the Secret Service stuff) and it is a good close before we hit the 100th episode. It's always great to hear about a fellow entrepreneur's ecommerce experience, but hearing from someone who's been riding the ecommerce wave for almost 2 decades is nothing short of amazing.
Resources mentioned:
AsiaInspection
Stamped.io
80stees.com
Shopify
Thanks for listening to this episode and feel free to post any comments down below or message us at support@ecomcrew.com. Stay tuned for our special 100th episode next week!
"Definitely I would be vigilant like in an initial screening process. I know most online sellers probably don't have the luxury of being able to see all of their factories but if they do, if they do go to Canton Fair, I highly recommend it. Just so you know what you're dealing with and if you're not comfortable with that, definitely have some backup plans." - Gary Huang, founder of 80/20 Sourcing
One of the best perks of going to the Global Sources Summit is that I get to meet many people who are a wealth of knowledge for my business. One of these people is Gary Huang, founder of 80/20 Sourcing, a blog dedicated to show entrepreneurs how to source from China efficiently and cost-effectively. I heard him speak at Global Sources and I knew I just had to invite him to be a podcast guest so that I can share with you the valuable things I learned from him.
Gary lives in China and this episode was recorded via a call I made to him from California. The call quality suffered from the Chinese internet connection which, as you know, is not exactly zippy. Nevertheless, this episode is fully packed with great value for anyone who imports anything from China so it will be worth powering through the bad call quality to get to the good stuff.
Gary's topic at the Global Sources Summit is about supplier negotiation. There are so many things you can negotiate with your supplier aside from price of goods, and we talk about that a little bit in this episode. As a bonus, Gary has been awesome to give EcomCrew listeners access to his Negotiations pack, which includes the Online Seller's Guide to Negotiating with Suppliers e-book, a negotiations cheatsheet, and a "Secrets of Successful Sourcing" Masterclass video. You can get them all here for FREE.
Here are the highlights of our conversation:
We hope you find this episode useful, as I did when I listened to Gary during his Global Sources talk. Don't forget to go to 8020sourcing.com/ecomcrew to get you FREE Negotiations pack.
Resources mentioned:
AsiaInspection
Stamped.io
8020sourcing.com
8020sourcing.com/ecomcrew
As always, thanks for listening to this episode. We'd love to have your feedback at iTunes and if you'd like to reach us, you can do so at support@ecomcrew.com. Until next episode, happy selling!
"Sometimes you have to do something that makes you uncomfortable to further your career and your life and I really believe that." - Mike Jackness on speaking at the Global Sources Summit
This episode is a play-by-play report of my entire trip to Asia, covering the Global Sources Summit, the Canton Fair, meeting with our Philippines team -- basically everything my team and I did while we were in Asia from early October through early November.
If you're like me who doesn't like following someone's life abroad on an hour-by-hour basis, then this episode probably isn't for you. But if you are in ecommerce and have never been to these events in Asia before (or you're just curious about what we do there), this will give you a pretty good overview of what it's like to be on the road, traveling back and forth between cities to attend fairs and meet people, things you might need to do if you are serious in growing your importing business.
These are the highlights of my nearly month-long trip:
My wife Michelle, our Director of Ecommerce Jacqueline, and I crammed so many activities during our time in Asia that when we arrived back in San Diego we were all absolutely drained. These trips are very productive and rewarding, but be warned -- it can also be terribly exhausting.
Nevertheless, trips like this are very valuable for entrepreneurs looking for serious growth. The trick is laying out what you want to accomplish while you're there, which for me, are three things: meeting as many like-minded people/entrepreneurs as possible, touring as many factories as possible, and building as many relationships as you can with the people you already work with.
Resources mentioned:
Thanks for listening to this episode! If you can, please leave an honest feedback on iTunes and reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com. Until next episode, happy selling!
"I loved my job when I worked as a VA for Mike and he really made me feel like I was part of the company even though I was here in the Philippines. So I guess what I'm trying to say is to have a Mia and to have a team like what we have in Cebu, you need to be a Mike." - Mia Pamisa, Philippines Team Manager, Terran
If you've been listening to our podcast for a while now you know that we run multiple brands simultaneously and it's no secret that a vital part of our growth and keeping things together is our Philippines team. I've been mentioning them on the podcast and we get asked a lot how we put together such a great team. If you're serious about developing a virtual team, this episode is for you.
During our trip to China, we went over to the Philippines to personally meet with our team there. This episode was recorded with me, my wife Michelle, our Director of Ecommerce Jacqueline, and the entire team in one room. It's refreshing to be able talk to them in person and not just on Skype.
We went around the room and introduced every single member of the team and what they do for us. We also talked about a bunch of other things including:
I always joke that anyone who wants to build a remote team absolutely needs a Mia. She was our first hire and everything single hire was made possible because of her. She is sort of the rock in our team and finding her was a crucial part of our strategy. You can't have a Mia on Day 1 though. What you can do is get the best general VA you can find, build rapport and trust, and gradually train them. Invest a lot on training them -- it will pay off many times over.
If you don't have a VA helping you run your business, I highly suggest you get one now. VAs significantly reduce the amount of time you spend on trivial tasks and save you the mental and physical energy you need to focus on business growth strategies and decision-making.
If you're unsure which tasks you can assign to a VA, we made a list of 25 things we outsource to our VAs and 7 things we do ourselves. Get it here for FREE!
Resources mentioned:
AsiaInspection
Stamped.io
Tactical.com
ColorIt.com
Onlinejobs.ph
Digital Marketer Training
Thanks for tuning in this Monday and expect a fresh new episode on Thursday. Please leave us an honest review on iTunes and send comments/questions/suggestions our way at support@ecomcrew.com. Happy selling!
"Part of the hard part of selling a business is not just all the mechanics behind the scene, but finding a good buyer who is honest, and who has money, and who isn't pulling your chain and can actually close the deal. And is reasonable. Those are not inconsequential things to find in a buyer."
-Andrew Youderian, eCommerceFuel founder
I have an exciting episode today as I am interviewing one of the most awesome people I know, not just in ecommerce but in life in general.
Andrew Youderian is the founder of eCommerceFuel, a vetted community of high 6 and 7 figure ecommerce store owners who help each other grow their ecommerce businesses. The community hosts the annual eCommerceFuel Live event where members get to meet each other in person and share tips and actionable advice on how to successfully run their businesses.
It's one of the events I absolutely love attending and it seems I'm not the only one who shares this sentiment -- event tickets sold out hours after the event was publicly announced.
Andrew launched and sold numerous successful drop shipping ecommerce stores over the years. In this episode we talk about two stores he sold -- TrollingMotors.net and Right Channel Radios -- and a behind-the-scenes conversation about possibly the most interesting ecommerce store sale he made.
Other things we talked about:
We hope you enjoy this episode. If you own a store with a minimum of $250K in annual revenue and want access to a treasure trove of information to help grow your business, apply for eCommerceFuel membership here!
Resources mentioned today:
eCommerceFuel
eCommerceFuel Live
Stamped.io
AsiaInspection
How to Sell a Business: The Open-Book Sale of My $600K Store (With Complete Financials)
You'll notice we have a different podcast format -- it's just one of the changes we are adopting moving forward. We've committed to release two episodes per week, plus we will be bring you a weekly news roundup so you don't miss anything important in ecommerce land.
Thanks for listening to Episode 95! Please leave us an honest review on iTunes; it will really help us out. You can also reach out to us at support@ecomcrew.com for any comments or suggestions. Happy selling!
Many of you might have read or at least heard of Tim Ferriss' famous 4 Hour Workweek. It might seem like a crazy idea, but you've probably seen many people pull it off, quitting their day jobs and "living the dream" -- sipping margaritas on a beach somewhere in the Pacific while money continues to flow into their pockets. But for us running ecommerce businesses and probably with a family to take care of, is it even possible?
In this episode Dave and I interview an ecommerce entrepreneur who was able to make such a lifestyle possible. David Couillard (yes, that's two Daves in one episode) has been on the road for 4 years now with his wife and kid, with another one on the way, while managing his ecommerce business from his RV. He has been hanging out with us here in Hong Kong and we got a chance to ask him about how he was able pull it off.
Here are the highlights of our conversation:
It's true that such a lifestyle is not for everyone, but many of us dream of having lots of time to spend with family and maybe even to travel the world. We now have more ways than ever to automate our businesses and run it with fewer hours on our end. If you can do it now, why wait?
Resources Mentioned:
This episode is released on a Monday and we have another episode coming out on Thursday. That's right, we're upping the podcast to twice per week with new episodes released every Monday and Thursday.
Please leave us a review on iTunes and send us your thoughts over at support@ecomcrew.com; we'd love to hear from you. Thanks for listening!
This week's episode is a special one, as it's one of the few episodes where I get to have Dave on the show. Better yet, we are sitting in the same room in Hong Kong, just a couple of days after the Global Sources Summit where we both had a blast. Hopefully videos of the talks will be released soon for those who were not able to attend the event.
We have many takeaways from our time in Hong Kong but one of the most eye-opening is just how much Chinese sellers are invading the Amazon market. They've grown comfortable using Amazon FBA and have become sophisticated in their marketing techniques. Adding to this is the fact that more and more of these sellers are using downright black-hat techniques to try to win more sales.
This topic is just one of the 5 key takeaways Dave and I will talk about in this episode.
Here are other conversation points:
With Chinese sellers getting on the Amazon train and recent factory crackdowns, we might be facing a challenging time ahead. You might be tempted to attempt black-hat techniques like other sellers are doing to stay on top, but keep in mind that the dire consequences make it hardly worth doing. We highly encourage you to stay on Amazon's good side.
Resources mentioned:
Global Sources
ams.amazon.com
Stamped.io
AsiaInspection
We hope you enjoy Episode 93 of the EcomCrew Podcast. If you want to reach us, just email us at support@ecomcrew.com. Thanks for listening!