No one can accuse ecommerce copywriter Chris Orzechowski of mimicking others. In an era of image-heavy emails, he prefers plain text. Amid the Facebook-Google advertising juggernaut, he likes X. Orzechowski is an 11-year writer and marketer, first as a freelancer and then, in 2020, at Orzy, the agency he founded. In this episode, he addresses his keys to successful product copy, frustration with Meta, and migration to X Ads. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see:...

Rabah Rahil first appeared on this podcast in September 2022. He was the chief marketing officer of Triple Whale, an analytics platform. He addressed customer acquisition, attribution, and more. He’s now the CMO of Fermàt Commerce, a SaaS provider of customized customer journeys. Founded in 2021, it has raised nearly $30 million in venture capital funding. In this episode, Rahil discusses Fermàt’s software, target customers, and his role with the company. For an edited and condensed...

The post-Covid ecommerce hangover has hit Roman Khan. He launched his first direct-to-consumer brand in 2013, acquired others, and in 2021 founded Peak 21, an aggregator with equity investors. The outlook was good. Fast forward to 2024, and many ecommerce companies are struggling. Mergers and acquisitions have cratered. Yet Khan perseveres. His team reviews dozens of purchase candidates every month, albeit cautiously. In this conversation, Khan shares his investment criteria, current market...

Faraz Kahn began losing his hair at age 21. Years later, when searching for startup business ideas, he focused on own experience. The result is Fully Vital, a direct-to-consumer seller of hair loss serums and supplements that he launched in 2021. In this episode, Kahn addresses his launch of Fully Vital, marketing challenges, and lessons learned along the way. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6rli For all condensed transcripts with audio,...

BGR is a media site covering consumer technology, such as games and devices. Jonathan Geller launched the company in 2006 and sold it to Penske Media in 2010. He remains its president and general manager. The site has long relied on organic search traffic, which it monetizes with advertising and affiliate commissions. But the tsunami of low-grade AI content has upended search rankings and thus BGR's business. In this episode, Geller addresses the future of search engines, the era of weak...

Phillip Jackson launched Future Commerce in 2016. The company produces articles, newsletters, and podcasts focusing on coming trends and developments in business. He believes commerce produces a gentler society, one that fosters culture and stability. Commerce is culture, he states. In this episode, he discusses his company's mission, large versus small brands, the maturity of ecommerce, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see:...

Study a successful entrepreneur, and you'll likely uncover resilience. Take Aaron Marino. Twenty years ago his first business, a fitness center, failed, leaving him with half a million dollars of debt.  Fast-forward to 2024, and Marino is a YouTube celebrity and thriving serial entrepreneur, mainly with men's grooming products. He first appeared on the podcast in 2020. In this episode, he discusses failure, success, helping others, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with...

Jake Zaratsian is a content creator at Jungle Scout, the Amazon seller platform. He's also a part-time brand owner on that marketplace, selling disposable dinnerware plates made from palm leaves. Curious, we asked him, "Why palm plates?" He cited three reasons. He sought a product with at least 300 monthly sales, a selling price of $20 each, and consumable for repeat buyers. Disposable palm-leaf plates fit the need. In this episode, Zaratsian addresses dos and don'ts for Amazon sellers,...

Andrew Faris once managed huge Meta Ad budgets while CEO of ecommerce brands. He still manages huge budgets, but now at his agency on behalf of ad clients.  We asked him for pointers on advertising bread-and-butter commodity-type products. "Directness is the answer," he replied. "The more tightly you communicate your product and what it does, the better." This is Faris's third appearance on the podcast. In 2022 he discussed his career transition, having left the CEO role. Last year he...

Bryant Jaquez picked a heck of a time to become a CEO. A longtime CMO for direct-to-consumer brands, Jaquez accepted the CEO job early this year for BuddyLove, a Dallas-based women's apparel company coming off a pandemic-fueled boom and a dismal 2023. "The overhead and debt service caught up with them," he said. "Thus far my job has been a lot of restructuring, evaluating expenses, and making deep cuts — some were painful, such as layoffs." In this episode, he shares his journey from chief...

Mike Tecku first appeared on this podcast in 2019 as an Amazon marketplace seller. He then sold that business, a maker of floormats, shortly afterward. He retired, became bored, and in 2022 launched Momentum, a direct-to-consumer nutritional shake producer. He and I discussed that venture last year in his second appearance. He's back. Momentum Shake is flourishing, as is Tecku. He's evolved from the nuts and bolts of making money to achieving a purpose, building a team, and self-improvement....

Allen Walton is the founder of SpyGuy, a seller of surveillance cameras from his base in Texas. He's also a world traveler and a seasoned acquirer of airline travel points. Ecommerce merchants who pay with a rewards credit card for advertising, shipping, and other expenses can "rack-up crazy points," he told me. In our recent interview, his third for this podcast, he elaborated on his methods for obtaining cheap airline tickets and hotel accommodations. For an edited and condensed...

Aaron Orendorff is a chaplain turned writer turned digital marketer. He was the first editor-in-chief at Shopify Plus and then vice president of marketing at Common Thread Collective, an ecommerce agency. He's now head of marketing for Recart, an SMS platform, but his passion is empowering colleagues and clients. "I find joy in bigging others up," he says. In this episode, he shares his ecommerce journey, communication methods, and, importantly, achieving sobriety. For an edited and...

Mike Carroll, a weightlifting buddy of host Eric Bandholz, lost his job last fall. He had been an insurance salesman for 25 years and is now contemplating a new career. Eric asked him, "Have you thought about ecommerce?" He had not. Launching an ecommerce company intrigued him, but he was unsure where to start. Knowing many would-be entrepreneurs with similar concerns, Eric invited him on the podcast. Here's that conversation. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio,...

Hosting "Ecommerce Conversations" is a welcome respite from my day job of running Beardbrand, the direct-to-consumer company I co-founded in 2012. I periodically post updates on Beardbrand's performance, hoping the transparency helps other entrepreneurs.  This episode is my recap of 2023.  It was a terrible year for me and Beardbrand — the first year we were in the red. We've always had around 15% margins, but not in 2023. We experienced declining sales, unexpected tax bills, a frivolous...

Mike Beckham sees the benefits of competitive markets. Simple Modern, a company he co-founded in 2015, sells insulated drinkware, competing against Yeti and other large providers. He says markets are competitive because many consumers value those products. "Capturing a small percentage of a competitive market can make you insanely successful," he stated. Beckham shares his ecommerce journey in this episode, addressing Amazon, digital-first merchandising, physical-store sales, and more. For...

Joe Anhalt is a New York-based copywriter turned designer turned all-around marketer. He consults with direct-to-consumer ecommerce companies on growth strategies, including branding. He emphasizes storytelling and conveying a brand’s point of view. “You can bring shoppers into your world,” he said. “Brand-building is like world-building.” In this episode, he addresses multiple growth tactics, including marketing channels, design essentials, multichannel selling, and, yes, the importance of...

David Perell helps folks improve their writing skills. His company offers an online course, YouTube author interviews, and a weekly newsletter. But his broader goal is supporting excellence. He stated, "It's worth doing exceptional work with whatever you do. The modern world is polluted with mediocrity." In this episode, Perell addresses writing and speaking and their impact on entrepreneurial success.  For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio,...

Postscript is an SMS marketing provider for Shopify brands. The company launched in 2018 and has since raised a whopping $106.2 million across four funding rounds, per Crunchbase. Alex Beller is Postscript's president and one of three co-founders. Postscript's marketing platform is SMS-only and Shopify-only. To Beller, that translates to "best in class" performance. In this conversation, Beller addresses the company's focus, regulatory compliance, 2023 results, and more. For an edited and...

In 2016 David Gaylord was a Shopify employee looking for a side hustle. Then he came up with a funky idea: skincare lotions for hair removal along bikini lines. The business name was even funkier: Bushbalm. Fast forward to 2023, and Bushbalm is booming, selling lotions and trimmers directly to thousands of consumers and wholesale to Ulta Beauty and 3,000 waxing salons. It spends a whopping $200,000 per month on Facebook ads. In this conversation, Gaylord shares his journey, addressing sales...

Merchants often default to China for outsourced manufacturing. Yet competitive suppliers exist worldwide. For Palermo House, a direct-to-consumer provider of luxury furniture, Argentina is a natural source. Marco Ferro is the company’s California-based founder with Argentina roots. He was born there, as were his parents, co-owners of the business. In this episode, Ferro addresses importing goods from South America, shipping furniture to customers, bootstrapping challenges, and more.  For...

In 2014 Eric Steckling launched Brio, a Michigan-based direct-to-consumer seller of beard trimmers. In 2022 the company acquired Ollie, a subscription-based provider of teeth whiteners. The brands are seemingly complementary. Both sell grooming products. But merging them was challenging. Having been combined post-acquisition, they now function separately. In our recent conversation, Steckling addressed launching Brio, acquiring Ollie, and lessons learned along the way. The entire audio of...

Mark Wagner believes the best payment chargeback recovery systems are automated and data-driven. He founded Disputifier, an Austin, Texas-based chargeback software company, on that premise in 2021. He told me, "We've developed an intuitive system over the years. It combines data from the transaction with our testing and identifies an appropriate response." In this episode, Wagner discusses the state of ecommerce chargebacks and how merchants can recover false claims.  For an edited and...

Ryan Hunter Masters is a Colorado-based musician who loves to dance. In 2015 he launched Show Her Off to teach swing dancing online. The business sells video courses — streaming and DVD — to booming success. Hunter Masters first appeared on the podcast in 2019. In this second conversation, he addressed the origins of Show Her Off, customer acquisition channels, and his internal litmus test for starting any new company.  For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see:...