Shopify Masters | The Ecommerce Business And Marketing Podcast For Ambitious Entrepreneurs

Sometimes faith in the product is enough for a struggling entrepreneur with no experience to eventually grow into the owner of a successful business. In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll hear from one of these entrepreneurs who built a $5 million shoecare business by tapping into the content and influencers that sneakerheads care about. Stephen Grear is the founder of Reshoevn8r: premium shoe care products for stylish individuals who like to wear their shoes with confidence. Tune in to learn How to find an Instagram influencer to be your brand ambassador How to re-use your content on different platforms How a brand can create their own YouTube channel Show Notes: www.shopify.com/blog/reshoevn8r-content-marketing

In this episode of Shopify masters, you'll learn from entrepreneurs that focus on creating pillar content that they then use to generate endless content for each social media platform. Maxx Burman and Banks Boutte are the founders of Kitbash 3D. Kitbash3D designs premium 3d model kits with everything you need to create immersive digital environments. Tune in to learn What is pillar content and how it can allow you to create content specific for each social media platform How to put on an online festival for your business How focusing on B2B customers can improve your product for all types of customers Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blog/kitbash3d-pillar-content

In this episode, you’ll learn from a hobbyist turned business owner on how to find your niche and how to create & market a course through Shopify. Danielle Spurge is the founder of The Merriweather Council. Danielle helps entrepreneurial makers leverage their talents to create sustainable craft-based businesses. Tune in to learn Why niching down will actually build your business How to transition from being a hobbyist to a business owner and how much time you need How to create and market a course, even if you don’t think you’re an expert Show Notes: www.shopify.com/blog/merriweather-memberships-courses

In this episode, you'll learn from an entrepreneur on how to gracefully handle haters and trolls. Lindsay Rubin is the founder of V-dog. V-dog creates healthy, vegan food and treats for dogs. Tune in to learn How to make sure customers know your core values How to handle disagreements with trolls on social media How to create blog posts that customers actually want **Show Notes:**www.shopify.com/blog/v-dog-controversy-trolls

Being different is the shortest path to standing out with your products in a crowded space. That's not always a good thing, however, when it wins your customer's attention but loses their confidence as a buyer. In this episode of Shopify Masters, we talk about why it's important to create products that are unique but recognizable to new customers. Our guest is Mark Graham who heads up engineering at Grilla Grills: the best wood pellet, smoker, and ceramic grills to meet your needs. Tune in to learn The power of a unique looking product Why you want to create a video comparing all of your products -When you should focus on releasing new products versus improving existing products Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blog/grilla-grills-uniqueness

In this episode, you'll learn from an entrepreneur who built a million dollar business by getting celebrities like Drake to partner with him. Sean Kelly is the founder of Jersey Champs. Jersey Champ is your one-stop shop for one of a kind jerseys that make you stand out from the crowd. Tune in to learn How to grow your Instagram to your first 10,000 followers What makes celebrities like Drake and 2Chainz want to work with you What will getting an Instagram verified badge do for your business Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blog/jersey-champ-celebrities

In this episode, you'll learn from an entrepreneur who tested her business idea by selling 100 t-shirts before launching their own website Mallory Rowan is the founder of LVD FItness. LVD is a lifestyle apparel company that provides one month of clean water for every item sold. Tune in to learn How they sold 100 shirts before launching their store How to build a community that engages with each other Why the type of content matters depending on which social media platform you’re using Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/lvd-vip-list

In today's episode of Shopify Masters, you'll learn from two sisters who leveraged micro influencers to boost their brand. Liza and Lana Mushamel are the founders of Twinkled T: a brand that sells a range of unique nail products designed to bring the nail salon directly into your home. Tune in to learn How to encourage customers to share their photos How to use YouTube to drive traffic to your store How to uncover Instagram influencers before they get huge Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/twinkled-t-micro-influencers

In this episode, you'll learn from an entrepreneur who grew their business by finding influencers in Facebook groups Saadiq Daya is the founder of VagoGo Vapes. VanGo Vapes creates Liquid for Inhalable-Flavor Connoisseurs Tune in to learn What to do when you cannot advertise your product on Facebook or Google How to use Reddit & Facebook groups for influencer marketing How to approach your business when the industry transforms from a sub-culture to mainstream Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/vango-vapes-marketing

In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn from an entrepreneur who focuses on selling her customers on a transformation and why the phone is one of her most important channels. Misha Tenenbaum is the CEO of EditStock provides unedited film projects for students to practice video editing. Tune in to learn: How to find your first 100 customers and what you what you should try to learn from them Why you need to sell your customer’s transformation instead of your product Why it’s so important to get on the phone with customers especially when you have a higher ticket product Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/edit-stock-cold-phone-call

YouTube is arguably one of the top destinations for editorial (i.e. not sponsored) product reviews. Having your products covered by the right reviewer, especially if you're confident in what you're selling, can be a huge win for your business. On today's episode of Shopify Masters, we talk about how one company leverages reviewers in the tech and gaming space to bring their products to customers who are ready to buy. Joe Lieberman is our guest and the Director of Marketing for Antlion Audio: a company that manufactures the world’s leading attachment mic, turning any pair of headphones into a gaming headset. Show Notes: https://bit.ly/2W5zE23

At its core, effective content marketing isn't merely about churning out blog posts, YouTube videos, or podcasts—it's about creating value independent of your products or services and giving it away to your ideal customers. In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn from an entrepreneur who did just that with free printables, growing an email list of over of 200,000 parents and teachers. It's the strategy they first used when they start and still use today. Alexandra Eidens is our guest today and the founder of Big Life Journal: the world’s first growth mindset journals for kids, tweens, and teens. Tune in to learn: How to find freelancers to build your lead magnets How to build a 200,000 person email list using free printables How to run a 60,000 member Facebook group without losing control Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/big-life-journal-printables

With all the buzz about influencer marketing, it's easy to forget that many of your customers have their own online presence and a network they can influence. On today's episode of Shopify Masters, we invite an entrepreneur to share how she grew her business by creating a micro-ambassador program for her brand, effectively turning her customers into her influencers. Cindy Collins is the founder of Euphoric Herbals: maker of herbal products, specializing in pregnancy and postpartum, for women and their families. Tune in to learn: How to identify which business to focus on when you’ve started multiple businesses How to think bigger as an ecommerce entrepreneur What is a micro ambassador program and how to identify worthy ambassadors Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/euphoric-herbals-micro-ambassadors

In this episode, you’ll learn from an entrepreneur who had a successful product launch by having a highly engaged pre-launch email list. Will Africano is the co-founder of GNARBOX: a company that develops products and solutions to revolutionize the multimedia management experience. Through that email list, we started messaging and surveying and bringing all of those people into the product development experience. Tune in to learn How to find the right co-founder for your startup How to build a highly engaged 20,000 person pre-launch email list What angel investors care about versus venture capitalists Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/gnarbox-list-building

Buying a 10-year-old brand often comes with its fair share of advantages: a proven product, an established customer base, and a solid reputation. A rebrand, no matter how much it's needed, can put all of that at risk. Alex Yurek is an entrepreneur who bought and overhauled a mature brand, and on this episode of Shopify Masters he'll share how to do it right. Detour Coffee Roasters is one of the top coffee roasters in Canada and is on a mission to make sure no one has to drink a bad cup of coffee again. Tune in to learn: The process that goes into buying an existing brand How to overhaul your brand safely How to create a website that serves new customers, returning customers and B2B customers all at the same time Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/detour-coffee-rebrand

It generally costs a lot less money and time to sell to existing customers than it does to acquire new ones. That's why marketing shouldn't stop when a customer makes a purchase—not when you can onboard them to help them realize the full value of your products. In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn from an entrepreneur who believes the most important activity you can do to generate repeat business is to onboard new customers after they purchase. Patrick Coddou is the founder of Supply: an independent online retailer of premium grooming gear for guys that demand the best. Tune in to learn How your approach to business transforms when you are able to work on it full-time How to onboard new customers with emails so they can get the most value out of your product How to catch viewers' attention in the first 5 seconds of a YouTube video so they don’t skip your ad Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/supply-customer-onboarding

Growing a seven-figure business in your first year means scaling fast just to keep up. But it's sometimes the things that don't scale that get you there. In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn from an entrepreneur who built an 8-figure business by focusing on product-market fit above all else. Paul Hedrick is the founder of Tecovas: makers of beautiful, top-quality western boots & accessories by hand and sells them directly at honest prices. Here are the lessons he learned as he scaled the size of his team and his advertising spend. Tune in to learn How this brand reached 7-figures in their first year by doing things that did not scale How to do market research by talking to sales associates at retail stores How your average order value affects your advertising strategy Show Notes: https://bit.ly/2DoxFyQ

In today's episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn how one company transitioned from selling directly to consumers to selling mostly to businesses through partnerships. Alon Tamir is the founder and CEO of Studio Proper: maker of beautiful hardware accessories that enable great Apple technology experiences for individuals and businesses alike. Tune in to learn What is an industrial designer and how much does it cost to work with one How you can get burned from a partnership How to transition your site to attract more B2B customers Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/proper-b2c-to-b2b

In this episode of Shopify Masters, you’ll learn from an entrepreneur who relentlessly studies his market to remove features from his products and achieve a better product-market fit. Tune in to learn A unique way to get an appointment with a retail buyer How to mold your product to improve your product-market fit How to keep the momentum going after a successful crowdfunding campaign Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/paper-wallet-product-market-fit

The memories you make are priceless. Unless you create a service to help people immortalize them, like our guest on this episode of Shopify Masters. Nick Macco is the founder of Legacybox: a service that helps people organize, preserve, and enjoy the most important recorded moments by digitizing aging analog tapes, film, and pictures. Find out how he used small frequent failures to bootstrap his company into a $20 million per year business. Tune in to learn Why talking to customers gives you important insight faster than looking at analytics reports The lesson they learned from losing 80% of their company savings on one ad Why revenue should not always be the most important organizational goal Show Notes: http://www.shopify.com/blogs/blog/legacy-box-bootstrapping