EcomCrew has gone through a big transformation ever since the site merged with Dave Bryant's site ChineseImporting.com. In less than a year we've accomplished so much--we've launched new courses, upped the podcast to two episodes per week, and revamped the entire EcomCrew site. Dave and I are tremendously happy with what EcomCrew has become and we are gearing to do even more, but we would not have gone to this point if not for the people helping us behind the scenes.

If you've been listening to the podcast recently or reached out to us at some point, you might have heard of or encountered Abby. Abby is our Filipino VA and one of the people working behind me and Dave to help us get EcomCrew to become so much more. While Dave and I focus (and get distracted) on the course content and speaking at industry events, Abby makes sure everything else run smoothly--from scheduling the podcast episodes to answering emails.

We recently got a chance to get Abby on the podcast (after much persuasion) during our trip to the Philippines. We wanted everybody to meet Abby and get to know her a little, at least virtually. Here's what she and I discussed in this episode:

• How we found her and how she became the EcomCrew VA
• The challenges she encountered early on in the job
• Her day-to-day tasks
• How she learned to produce the podcast
• What's coming for EcomCrew in the future
• Her pro-tip on how to get your VA to stick around

We'd like to thank Abby again for getting on the podcast despite the fact that she was too shy to do it :) If you have someone, or a team of people behind your, never forget to appreciate them and recognize what they're doing to help you get to where you want to be.

Resources mentioned:

Amazon Launch Strategy webinar
E96: Our Philippines Team

Thanks so much for listening! Until the next episode, happy selling.

This is the second episode of a podcast series I'm doing on Traction, a business book written by Gino Wickman geared towards helping business owners run their companies with more growth and enjoyment. My company is currently in the process of applying the system outlined in the book and the impact is so great that I'm documenting the entire process here in the podcast.

In episode 1 of the series I talked about the importance of setting aside time to think about your company's core values and actually putting those core values into writing. In addition, you need to understand that these are not just feel-good buzzwords that will sit on a piece of paper on the bottom of your drawer, so communicating these core values to your employees and everyone else who help you run the company is of utmost importance.

Once you have that done it's time to set your company's core focus and 10 year goal, both of which will be covered in today's episode.

Your core focus is the reason why your company exists. This one can be tricky since Traction explicitly does not consider money-making  as a core focus, and money is the reason why most businesses exist in the first place. But putting money aside, what is it that you want your business to accomplish? What is your company's purpose? What's your passion?

Once you've set your company's core focus, it's time to set your 10-year goal, which should be a BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal). This is a length of time most people can't wrap their heads around and possibly skew to either an underestimation or an unrealistic optimism. In this episode I'll tell you how I figured out my 10-year goal and break it down to relatively short-term, achievable goals.

Resources mentioned:

Webinar - 2018 Amazon Launch Strategy
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business (Amazon afiliate link)
Traction episode 1
Our 2018 $9.7 million forecast

Thanks for listening! Look out for more episodes on Traction in the future. Also, get a chance to win one of our gorgeous mugs by commenting below. Have you set your company's core values? What about focus and goals? Comment away and win!

Today's episode is a little different from what we usually publish.

I recently had to undergo a torturous customer service experience with AT&T. Those of you who are or have been AT&T customers and called their customer service hotline at any time know what I'm talking about. I have been an AT&T customer since 2007 when the first iPhone came out--not by choice, but because no other carrier offered the iPhone at the time--and I can definitely say that it has not been a happy ride. But out of all the years I've been with them and all the calls I made to them, this is, by far, the worst of it all.

So here's a little background: I'm in a family program which made eligible to upgrade to the new iPhone X for free, as long as I return to them my old iPhone. The new phone got lost in the mail and they had to find it, and when it finally got delivered to me after weeks of waiting, there was no return label in the box. I had to call them 3 times to get them to email me the return label. I finally got the label, sent the phone back and thought that was the end of it. But as per Murphy's law, I got a text message from AT&T telling me that they have not yet received the phone, but sent me an email informing me that it was actually delivered. So I called again, and they informed me that the text message was erroneous and that I will not get billed the $999. So I relaxed. But... yes, you guessed it, I got billed $999 for a phone I returned.

$999 is a big amount of money and although so much of my time had already been wasted, I wasn't willing to just let them take that money. So what do you do when you run a podcast and need to call a company you're pissed at? Set up the recorder, call them and record everything, then publish the call to your listeners as a podcast episode.

This episode is a condensed version of 2 very long calls I had with AT&T. We edited many parts out to try to keep the episode at around 30 minutes, but if you want to torture yourself and listen to the whole thing, just click here.

I may have lost my temper in some parts of the call and I have nothing against the agents I spoke to, but AT&T's system is just so frustrating. I know I'm shooting for the moon here, but I hope this gets much attention so that AT&T can finally, finally do something and take better care of their customers.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew Webinar - 2018 Amazon Launch Strategy
Full AT&T calls

Thanks for listening! What's your worst AT&T experience? Share them in the comments below. Until the next episode, happy selling.

We're starting a new series on the EcomCrew Podcast today. This series is called Traction, inspired by a book I read recently which had a tremendous impact on me and my business, so much so that I'm applying the principles laid out in the book to my own company. I'm documenting the process in this podcast series so that you and your business could benefit from my experience.

I've mostly been an entrepreneur for as far as I can remember. When I was 18, armed with a box of business cards and a pager, I started my own company called Discount Computer Consultants. One of my clients hired me and I got a taste of the corporate life. After that stint I went back to being an entrepreneur and have run various companies since. Through all those years, I noticed that there's one thing that kept repeating in all the companies I've run or been in: as the company got bigger, things just started falling apart.

As I run my current company, I've tried my best to avoid the same thing happening especially as we keep on doubling every year. Experience has greatly helped me on this front, but something kept nagging at me and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Until I read Traction.

Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business is a business book written by Gino Wickman who developed a practical method for businesses called the Entrepreneurial Operating System, which aims to help entrepreneurs keep their company on track to achieve lofty goals. We certainly have lofty goals for Terran and Traction is already helping us get there.

This episode is the first of many dedicated to Traction. Here are some of the things I discuss:

• How I started in eCommerce
• The problems most companies face as they grow
• Introduction to Traction and the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
• The importance of sitting down and writing your company's core values
• Our company's 7 core values and how we came up with them

We've slowly began rolling out the Entrepreneurial Operating System in our business and we're already seeing big improvements. I'll continue to cover our progress in this series of podcast episodes, and if you have any questions, just comment down below.

And speaking of comments, once you do leave a comment on this episode, or on the previous episode, you get a chance to win a limited edition EcomCrew mug! Just leave a comment by the end of the week and we'll ship you your cool mug anywhere in the world if you win. Check out how fabulous this mug is here.

We're also running another webinar on May 16th where Dave and I will be talking about our Amazon launch strategy. We've talked about our strategy many times both in the podcast and blog, but this is the first time that you can ask us as many questions as you like, as we provide ample time for Q&A.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew Webinar
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business (Amazon afiliate link)
E120: Getting Fired From My Own Company
Basecamp
Who Moved My Cheese?

Thanks as always for supporting the EcomCrew Podcast. Don't forget to post your comments down below to win your EcomCrew mug! Until next week, happy selling.

Hey everyone!

If you went to the EcommerceFuel Live event in January and got shoved a microphone in the face by me, then this is the episode you've been waiting for :)

You might have forgotten what transpired during the event (especially if you got drunk during the party) but this episode, with all the snippets I recorded both sober and drunk, will surely remind you what an awesome event ECF Live is. If you didn't go, I am pretty sure you're going to want to go next time.

This episode is long overdue considering how long it's been since January but this is the first time in EcomCrew history that we're doing something this different. And in light of new and different things, we're doing something that's another first: we will be raffling off an EcomCrew mug for those who comment below.

That's right, just comment anything about the episode down below (for example, let me know if you think Andrew Youderian's prank is mean) and you get a chance to win an EcomCrew mug, shipped to you for free, anywhere in the world.

Special thanks to Andrew for making ECF Live possible. Make sure to check out this awesome community here. Thanks also to those who put up with me during these interviews, and to the cop who was Andrew's accomplice. I hope you read this and know you're awesome :D

Resources mentioned:

E114: Chasing Retail Dreams with Bill D'Alessandro
E95: Growing and Selling Drop Shipping Businesses with Andrew Youderian
E99: An 18-year Ecommerce Journey with Kevin Stecko
E91: Ecommerce Growth and Profitability With Dana Jaunzemis
EcommerceFuel
E94: On the Road with David Couillard: How to Run an Ecommerce Business while Traveling with Family

Thanks as always for listening, let me know if you like this episode, and until the next one, happy selling!

As ecommerce entrepreneurs we are used to doing things on our own, with many of us even starting out as solopreneurs. This isolation, and the ability to control our time as a result, has been very attractive for us for a long time. But more recently this very same disconnectedness can lead to our own ruin.

One of the issues that rattle us to the bones is online sales tax. States have been salivating on the billions of dollars they could get from online sales and ecommerce steadily grew. They went after the online platforms we sell our products on, especially Amazon, but Amazon has proven to be a big gorilla to fight especially with their ability to create thousands of jobs as leverage against states. And so some states turned their attention to the ones they can easily intimidate: us individual sellers.

Amazon claims ownership of most of everything--customers, listings, even prices--but unsurprisingly sales tax is not one of them. It's up to us to handle sales tax, and everything is so complicated that many of us are not sure what exactly is the right thing to do. Many states even disagree among themselves about sales tax nexus. But still, some sellers have begun receiving letters about this in some states, and it's definitely not a good position to be in.

This is one of the reasons Online Merchants Guild was born. This nonprofit was created by ecommerce sellers for ecommerce sellers, with the goal to have as many members as possible so that we can collectively fight against issues that are too big for any one of us to fight.

In this episode I talk to Bernie Thompson, an 8-figure seller and member of Online Merchants guild, and Paul Rafelson, a lawyer and law professor working with the likes of GE, Microsoft and Walmart. Below is an overview of what we discussed:

• How Online Merchants Guild was founded
• Sales tax nexus and how complicated it is
• The Wayfair case
• Constitutional principles violated by states with regards to sales tax
• Goal for everyone who joins the organization
• Other goals and member benefits like business insurance, discounted shipping rates, etc

Fighting this issue all by ourselves, like what we are used to doing, is costly and ineffective. We need to stand united and we need more support. We can't do this by ourselves. There is strength in numbers.

If you want more information about the organization, just head on to its website (it's still a brand-new site that needs fixing here and there) or send us an email at support@ecomcrew.com. We'd love to discuss it with you.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew webinar
Online Merchants Guild
Amicus Brief

Thanks for listening! Until next week, happy selling.

Last Monday, Kevin and I talked about one of the biggest problems most small ecommerce entrepreneurs encounter: becoming a bottleneck to the growth of their own company. This is something that usually happens when we try to do the unthinkable, which is to do every single task on our own.

Naturally, the best way to solve this is delegation. You can try to be as efficient and productive as you want, but there will only by 24 hours in a day and one body to work with. But how can you find someone you can trust enough and can perform tasks as good as you do without breaking the bank?

That is the question we answer in this episode, which is Part 2 of last Monday's conversation. Kevin and I discuss my VA hiring process, from weeding out spam applications (or applications of people who don't read, which is a lot), what questions to ask, the tests we require applicants to take, training, and how to manage them once they're hired. Ultimately, we talk about how to find a VA who is smart and quick on their feet, who will help him grow his company.

Some conversation points:

• Red flags when hiring VAs
• Filtering irrelevant applications
• My hiring process
• What questions to ask during the interview process
• What kind of experience to look for
• Using Camtasia as a training tool
• Best practices when delegating tasks to a VA

Delegating is not easy, especially if you're assigning tasks to a person who is literally on the other side of the globe. But if you find someone trustworthy and smart, delegation will work wonders not just on your stress levels, but on your business in the long run.

Resources mentioned:

EcomCrew webinar
Under the Hood
Sellers Summit

Thanks so much for listening to this Under the Hood episode! If you want to be in an episode yourself, just sign up here and we'll reach out to you for more details. Until the next episode, happy selling!

At the beginning of January, I laid out 18 goals I wanted to accomplish this year. My list consisted of both business and personal goals, with some items certainly harder and loftier than the others. While I made sure that my goals are reasonably achievable, I can't deny that a part of me--any maybe you, too--is wondering if I can achieve them all.

That's why I decided that I will do a quarterly check on my progress to clearly see how far along I am on the road to achieving my goals. If you've set goals too, this is a practice I highly recommend. Far too often we underestimate how quickly a year can pass, and if you don't make frequent checks on the things you set out to do, you might have the surprise of your life in the form of untended goals by year's end.

So in this episode, I will share with you my first 2018 Goals Quarterly Review. If you didn't get a chance to listen to my goals episode, here's the list of my 18 (yes, I did that to be cheesy) 2018 Goals for your reference:

1. Develop 50 new products
2. Launch on Amazon Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, and eventually, Australia
3. Optimize our Amazon listings to increase sales by 50%
4. Improve PPC
5. Implement the concepts in the book Traction in our business
6. Reach $10 million in revenue with a 10% net profit
7. Lose 12 lbs
8. Record 100 episodes of the podcast
9. Launch a new version of ecomcrew.com
10. Launch 4 new courses
11. Speak at at least 4 industry events
12. Hike 80 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail
13. Take an epic 2-week vacation
14. Visit the Philippines office at least once
15. Read 4 books (I know, I know… 4 books aren’t a lot but I’m not really a book reader so please don’t laugh at me)
16. Hand off my Facebook ads to other people within the company
17. Come up with at least one new tactic that no one else is doing
18. Never lose sight of the bigger picture: create 5 star products that people will truly love and continue to enjoy what I’m doing

I'm happy to say that I'm on track with most of the items on the list. I know, however, that this is just the 1st quarter and unexpected things could derail those goals. But this check has given me the confidence I need to continue with the year head on.

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew
E109: My 2018 Goals
Sellics affiliate link
EcomCrew courses
eCommerceFuel
Global Sources Summit
Sellers Summit

Thanks for listening to this episode. Until next week, happy selling!

When running an ecommerce company as a side hustle, it’s fine–and most of the time necessary–to wear many hats. But if you want your business to grow to more than just a side hustle, it’s a different story altogether.

This week’s Under the Hood call is about how to stop being the bottleneck to the growth of your own company. My guest is Kevin Sanderson, who started his ecommerce company 3 years ago selling online “just to try it”, experienced the rush of his first sale, and never looked back. Now Kevin wants to level up his business to more than just a side hustle. The problem is, as the business grows, the more things he has to do, and only so little time to do them.

So in this coaching call Kevin and I talk about how he can systematize and, more importantly, delegate low level tasks he doesn’t need to be doing so he can concentrate on business strategy instead. This episode is Part 1 of our call, and we cover the following, among others:

• How he started in ecommerce
• His background as a high school football official
• Biggest contributors to his brand’s success
• Why meeting other sellers is a great way to grow one’s own business
• Lowest hanging fruit in terms of delegation
• Why full-time dedicated VAs are better than project-based or part-time VAs
• How to find superstar VAs

For Part 2 Kevin and I discuss how to actually delegate tasks to VAs, what to delegate, and what you must need to do yourself. Stay tuned!

Resources mentioned:

MyEcomCrew
Under the Hood
Sellers Summit

Thanks for listening! Until the next one, happy selling.