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Patrick Rauland
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I’d by no means skilled something prefer it. I used to be standing inside a actual plane service surrounded by fighter jets whereas Maverick himself, THE Prime Gun, took pictures with smiling eCommerce entrepreneurs. With that good swagger and smirk I may have sworn Tom Cruise will need to have taken a break from filming Mission Inconceivable 8 to schmooze on the Opening Celebration for eCommerceFuel Stay.
Final week over 300 eCommerce Gas members gathered in San Diego for eCommerceFuel Stay. With an unique visitor restricted to enterprise house owners who convey in additional than seven figures, that is the highest occasion of the yr for most of the eCommerce entrepreneurs who attend.
If you happen to’ve spent any time within the eCommerce house, then you understand there’s a veritable glut of networking and informational occasions for on-line entrepreneurs. However solely eCommerceFuel Stay provides its company the chance to mingle with the cream of the crop. By making this a non-public occasion for probably the most profitable enterprise house owners in our already-vetted group, we assure every particular person within the corridor is a peer with prime tier data and expertise of their subject.
Bringing an On-line Group to Life
Not like most enterprise occasions, eCommerceFuel Stay prioritizes deep connections, with the objective of bringing our digital group collectively in actual life. Sure, we provide keynote audio system, breakout classes, and workshops at eCommerceFuel Stay. However these operate extra as a leaping off level for attendees who need to mingle and type connections with different eCommerce entrepreneurs.
Pleasant for New Connections
In my heyday, I attended so many eCommerce conferences that my frequent flier miles may have taken me to Timbuktu. At most of these occasions, I’d should power myself to speak to some new folks, earlier than speeding again to my resort for a Netflix binge. I’m an extrovert, however even I discover it draining to work together with strangers in an effort to type new skilled relationships.
However our occasions group has taken the stress out of socializing by assembling a bunch of actions that make you are feeling relaxed within the eCommerceFuel group.
Previous to the fabulous plane service opening social gathering, they supplied a brand new member dinner. Then, for lunch on the primary day, they created an assigned seating chart that grouped collectively company with comparable pursuits.
For dinner on the second evening, we had been grouped with completely different attendees, however nonetheless discovered loads to speak about as we strolled to the restaurant within the nice San Diego night air. The dialogue was diversified – from baseball guidelines to the landed prices of our merchandise. (Is it higher to make fewer however bigger orders of stock to optimize our cost-of-goods-sold??)
We ate at Kettner Trade, and their luxurious tapas type meals allowed us to actually share our meal collectively, passing plates such as you would at grandma’s desk. In fact the ambiance was a lot hipper than Granny’s, with a DJ and harpist providing fairly the avant garde leisure combo. It was a memorable meal to say the least.
Noticed a DJ with a harpist at a restaurant final week. I am stunned how a lot I appreciated the combo. 🤘
Are there any bands on the market that make music like this? pic.twitter.com/GwXomAqCQn
— Patrick Rauland (@BFTrick) March 14, 2023
Adventures Promote Particular person Relationships
The second day of eCommerceFuel stay supplied an enormous block of time devoted to adventures. Among the many quite a few choices accessible, attendees may take the chance to discover ways to surf, take pleasure in a meals tour of San Diego, sail in a regatta, go on safari, or kayak by means of sea caves.
My state is landlocked, so the lure of the ocean I so not often see known as to me, and I selected to go on the kayaking tour.
The 2-person kayaks gave my paddling accomplice, Mike, and I the possibility to get to know each other as our information taught us about San Diego’s sea life. We noticed the ocean caves and bought the magical expertise of watching wild seals swim round us. As we made our method again to the seashore, most of our fellow tour attendees bought a refreshing dip within the Pacific when their kayaks tipped over. Our vessel was one among solely two that didn’t capsize – so now Mike and I’ve one thing to brag about on the subsequent ECF Stay. 💪
Events Promote Assembly Teams of Individuals
Each evening is a celebration at ECF Stay! Actually. The occasions group crafted a uniquely festive expertise for every night of the convention. I already gushed in regards to the Prime Gun themed opening evening social gathering.
Credit score to our member Seth Haber for this picture
Along with the Tom Cruise impersonator, we bought a tour of the plane service, and a former (non-impersonator) Navy pilot defined the way it was used throughout battle and peacetime.
Tuesday evening we had a Cantina themed social gathering with mezcal tastings, a margarita shaking lesson, and an excellent outdated whack on the piñata.
At that social gathering, I met Lianna Patch and we geeked-out over the communication books we’ve learn and the locations we’ve lived. I’m undecided if our companies will ever overlap, however within the brief time we spent collectively I realized she was an individual whose recommendation I may belief. I’ll be paying additional consideration to her phrases of knowledge within the discussion board any more.
And that’s the objective of all the social occasions we provide at ECF Stay. It’s arduous to actually find out about an individual by means of textual content (even for these of us who carried out our earliest relationships through AOL On the spot Messenger). However actual life conversations offer you a stable base on which to construct a rapport that strengthens your on-line interactions.
The closing social gathering befell on the Youngsters’s Museum. Don’t fear, the kids had been all gone. However when the youngsters are away, the adults get to play! We bought to discover the museum unfettered by the guilt of taking over an exercise that was meant for tiny people. We went again to our childhoods, driving down the slide and taking one another out in a pleasant recreation of laser tag.
Enterprise Takeaways
In fact the occasion wasn’t all adventures, events, and video games. We additionally need to give our group members high quality info, and our keynote classes aimed to supply simply that.
We had 4 keynotes all through the occasion, however the speak from Casey Brown about Pricing Technique caught with me probably the most.
“Each single proportion level of worth is 5-10x magnified on the underside line. It is best to defend every single % or pricing like a mountain of gold.”
– Casey Brown at @ecommercefuel Stay. pic.twitter.com/EqCQumNjGD
— Andrew Youderian (@youderian) March 6, 2023
For me, the important thing takeaway was that pricing must be a thought-about determination – strategic and calculated. Most retailer house owners are too scared to boost costs. They suppose if their costs go up, then they’ll lose a considerable amount of quantity, say 16%. However Casey confirmed us that in actuality, most house owners over-estimate the dangers and quantity will solely lower by 4% .
And once you do the maths on net-profit, you may see that companies usually earn more money by rising costs by 5%. They might lose as much as 8% in quantity, however their web revenue nonetheless will increase by 7%.
Takeaway: Don’t set your costs primarily based on concern. Meet along with your group on a weekly, month-to-month, or quarterly foundation to reevaluate your costs.
One other keynote that left an impression was Nik Sharma who understands use the shopper voice in advertising and marketing. If a buyer unboxes your product and says, “That is the Tesla of mattresses” that’s precisely what you must use in your advertising and marketing.
Welcoming the unbelievable @mrsharma for his keynote at @ecommercefuel Stay! pic.twitter.com/BqB2F21eA5
— Andrew Youderian (@youderian) March 8, 2023
Breakout Classes For Particular Areas of Curiosity
In addition to the 4 keynotes classes everybody on the convention attended, there have been 12 breakout classes starting from optimizing your Google PMax adverts to a narrative about how dropping 85% of staff truly saved somebody’s enterprise. The most well-liked session was a workshop about getting began with Generative AI expertise utilizing ChatGPT and Midjourney.
Credit score to our member Alison Smith
For my very own pursuits, I loved Dave Stickland’s discuss his entrepreneurial journey and the way specializing in fewer initiatives led him to be extra worthwhile in every.
The legend himself @dave_stickland crushing the main target lesson at @ecommercefuel Stay pic.twitter.com/SnFqtmXLz6
— Chad Carlton (@ChadCarleton) March 7, 2023
I additionally realized lots from Sean McGinnis’ discuss each Conversion Fee Optimization (CRO) method he used to save lots of KURU Footwear. A few of his methods had been apparent, like rising the font measurement on cell so folks can learn the copy. However he additionally revealed his extra superior strategies, like an e mail advertising and marketing group that sends emails 5 days per week(!) to particular segments for various functions.
Most, if not all, of the audio system in these classes jam packed their dialogue with actual world particulars. You’ll be able to study extra about conversion charge optimization (or every other subject) from somebody who truly applied adjustments and shared their outcomes, slightly than studying a listicle of concepts that would possibly work from somebody who hasn’t put any of that info into apply.
Downtime Lets You Marinate on Good Enterprise Concepts
Generally you simply want one other entrepreneur to reiterate some extent. you must observe a selected technique however you haven’t succeeded so far.
Whereas my kayaking group was driving again to the convention in our bus, a couple of attendees satisfied one other visitor to provide e mail advertising and marketing one other go.
He had had poor luck with e mail advertising and marketing up to now, however about quarter-hour into his dialog together with his fellow entrepreneurs, he mentioned:
“This bus trip again paid for the entire occasion”
Our keynotes and breakout classes are an incredible primer, however the true worth of our occasion is within the enterprise conversations they facilitate along with your ECF friends.
ECF Stay 2024
If you happen to’ve gotten this far, you’re most likely itching to seek out out how one can be a part of eCommerceFuel Stay subsequent yr. By no means concern, our occasions group is right here! The 2024 dates are already set, and the placement determined – The Massive Straightforward itself, New Orleans!
There’ll be events, adventures, keynotes, and breakout classes identical to we had in 2023. ECF Stay is the best option to combine enterprise enchancment, and social journey for eCommerce entrepreneurs. Be a part of us!
However keep in mind, ECF Stay is a non-public occasion, open solely to eCommerceFuel members. If you wish to attend subsequent yr, take part in our personal group of 7-figure and bigger retailer house owners, browse our overview listing with over 20,000 critiques on each sort of software program or SaaS you might be contemplating for your small business, and attend a regional ECF meetup apply to grow to be a member of eCommerceFuel right now.
Put up by Patrick Rauland
Patrick loves entrepreneurship and teaches eCommerce, advertising and marketing, and WordPress programs at LinkedIn Studying. He is additionally developed each eCommerce and membership software program. When he is not in entrance of a display he loves to color tiny toy miniatures.
