We've been promising to bring you content to get you ready for the holiday season – BFCM is going to be here before you know it. So this week we're bringing you marketing strategies to get you started now. But first, let's talk about cannabis as a business model.
Here are this week’s top stories.
1. Shopify is NOT High, They Just Sell the Ganja
Well, not really … I mean, Tobi Lütke isn’t hanging out on street corners with little Ziplock bags of contraband. But Shopify recently announced that they had put together a set of partnerships and services to let online cannabis entrepreneurs legally market, sell, and distribute non-intoxicating CBD products in the US – and the market is smok’in!
So many potential puns, so little time. But I endured through all the info and wrote up a blog post just for you.
Read about selling CBD products online in the US.
2. Ezra Firestone Makes a Million Dollars
Speaking of gonzo … Ezra Firestone is a marketing kind of guy. Not only does he have his “SmarterMarketer” business, he is the co-founder and CEO of “Boom! By Cindy Joseph,” an online cosmetics business. Well, he sat down for a podcast with Kurt Elster a few weeks ago to lay out his entire strategy for the entire holiday season – including doing a million dollars from BFCM.
Go ahead and listen to this podcast, we dare you.
3. Speaking of Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Get Your Checklist Right Here
Have you started your email and ad planning for the big show yet? Now is the time my friend because we are only eight weeks away from the retail and eCommerce party of the year. And to help, Shopify just posted a blog with a 27-point BFCM checklist.
Read the list, get more sales, be more happy.
4. Microsoft? Who’d Have Thought?
Back in the 1980s and 90s, Microsoft was THER cool company. No joke! And then Apple came back, Google and Amazon were born, and suddenly Bill Gates was eating lunch in the cafeteria alone … again. It’s funny how things come back around, right? Because Microsoft is kicking bytes and taking domains all over again. Want proof? Shopify just got on the Microsoft Advertising bandwagon (you can too).
Read about sexy tech companies that are not Google and Amazon.
5. Thank You Professor, May I Have Another!
We love a little honest critique. We don’t always agree, and that’s cool. But when you take off the gloves and bare-knuckle the tough love, you get our respect. And that’s what Jill Kocher Brown does in the article on Practical eCommerce. She picks three eCommerce blogs and picks them apart to show what works and what doesn’t for SEO.
Class is in session on PracticalEcommerce.
Happy Selling,
Zachary