Threading The Needle

From acquisition, to relaunch, to this episode. Every weekly episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast up until this point has been leadup to this moment. Our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits, is a fully-built player in the ecommerce space. But, even though this is one of our favorite growth phases – brand redesign, supply chain locked down, etc – that doesn’t mean scaling it through ads going well. Actually, it’s going badly. Here’s why.

The first in a new monthly episode – CEO of Common Thread Collective, Taylor Holiday and host, Andrew Faris each bring one topic they've been wrestling with over the last month and talk it through. Shownote Resources: 1. QALO "Mark Of A Maker" Quality Campaign: https://bit.ly/2ZodSJZ 2. QALO "Mark Of A Maker" Quality Campaign Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5f7-ObdsvQ 3. Western Rise "Wear From Anywhere" Campaign: https://bit.ly/2Zk1dHN 4. "Mud Bogging" Facebook Group: https://business.facebook.com/theMudBog/?business_id=1514355852207761

The episode title pretty much says it all … But, when we started this podcast, we committed to sharing it all – the raw numbers, struggles, and growth. And after our brand relaunch for 31 Bits did not go as planned, there’s an emphasis on the “struggle” piece of our podcast title. Here’s what happened.

We finally relaunched our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits. After months of planning and research, we share how it went. Plus, get the exact strategies we used, so you can replicate what worked for your own business.

Our brand, Slick Products, just had it’s biggest. win. ever. That’s because we (finally) solved the problem of customer retention. How? This Richard Thaler quote — a Nobel Prize winning economist — from our new episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast sums it up: “If you want someone to do something, then make it easy.” Seriously though, this realization may have unlocked the account for us. And we’re still grasping what just happened. P.S. These are the exact assets we used in the campaign discussed in the episode. Feel free to check them out and follow along as you listen: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3z5ylequ3hhl5ag/Ecommerce%20Playbook%20Podcast%20-%20We%20Solved%20Our%20Brand%E2%80%99s%20%231%20Problem.zip?dl=0

On this week’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we talk about the challenge of sorting out profit vs. growth. Truthfully, it’s something we battle with for our own brand (Bambu Earth), but we know we’re not alone. It's a live issue for many operators. Knowing that, we get really transparent and talk a lot about the numbers – so that you can take these learnings and apply them to your own brand.

We are right on the cusp of rolling out all the work we’ve put in to get our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits, firing on all cylinders. That’s because we've just finished building out 31 Bit’s new homepage. For this week’s update, we’re taking a break from the numbers and focusing on the marketing substructure of our homepage – telling you the “why” behind strategic design and copywriting decisions onsite.

The challenge and beauty of our newly acquired brand, 31 Bits, centers on its mission of ethical manufacturing. While we’re always striving for ethical business decisions, it doesn’t mean business ethics are easy. When applied to the supply chain, a list of challenges can ensue, but the rewards are worth it. On today’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast – Andrew Faris interviews Rob Clemons, Director of Supply Chain at 4x400 – about setting up a supply chain that is “ruthlessly focused on caring for people well.”

C.S. Lewis said it first, and we’re seconding it today on the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast. Regardless of what the gurus say, jumpstarting revenue isn’t necessarily easy – especially coming off the back of a new brand acquisition. And, to be frank, revenue for our brand 31 Bits is getting destroyed right now. But, here’s why we’re not too worried about it ... [ BONUS: If you’re interested in diving into this story even more, here’s a link to what 31 Bit’s gameplan calendar looks like: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1024/1659/files/31_Bits_Calendar_-_Uganda_Close_Bali_Focus_Campaign.pdf?v=1595437790 ]

We acquired our fifth brand into the 4x400 ecosystem! Listen now to find out... Featuring: Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective

On today’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast we’re talking about the product development approach for 31 Bits. It’s built not just on what we think looks good – but, on what fits the unit economic approach we’re going after.

We’ve analyzed the problem, now it’s time to fix it. But, before we get to any solutions, we have one last question about conversion rate to answer… From website session to add-to-cart to initiate checkout to purchase – where did visitors drop off in the funnel? Once we determined the answer, we came up with a 4-step plan to fix conversion rate. As an added bonus, here's the Strategy Deck for 31 Bits: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1unKoo-tmjOC9BIx0YuFix4EAPdNGLqj8/view?usp=sharing

On today’s episode of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we’re defining success, putting a number on it, and pointing to metrics that indicate it. As we walk you through the journey of both acquiring and growing a business in real-time for this new season, one thing is still clear – you’re learning it, while we’re learning it.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast! Coming off the back of acquiring a new brand, this season will focus on pulling back the veil of how we approach growing a business from the ground up. First up, how we solve the problem of customer acquisition.

There’s big business opportunities in front of you if you stop with the small stuff. How big? Well, let’s just put it this way: our brand Slick Products had one of it’s highest revenue days ever this past weekend… … and on today’s episode we’ll tell you exactly how we did it.

Fresh off of the new acquisition of ethical fashion brand, 31 Bits, into the 4x400 portfolio – we talk about the ONE metric that will determine our destiny with the brand. We could either get this right, or get it really wrong. Listen now.

Bonus Episode! Host, Andrew Faris interviews the founders of newly acquired brand, 31 Bits.

From founder story to the future, we cover all things brand acquisition today as we add a new business to the 4x400 ecosystem. + Special guest, Taylor Holiday, CEO of Common Thread Collective.

Today on the Ecommerce Playbook Podcast, we talk about one of our brands that’s finding remarkable success in the age of coronavirus, the exact tactics we used to double it’s ad performance, the implications of it on our cash system… … And why that is absolutely terrifying. Seriously, the implications of it on the rest of our business are straight-up scary. So (as always), here’s the real numbers, struggles and growth behind our business.

Today we're talking about the challenge of success. In particular, the challenge of figuring out inventory buying vetted against performance.