Taylor Loren

In this episode of UpYourStack Podcast, I chat with Maddie Bell from Scheduler AI. She’s tackling the challenge of "Speed to Lead." It's all about quickly responding to new leads, as the likelihood of converting them into customers decreases the longer you wait to engage with them. Responding promptly demonstrates attentiveness and increases the chances of securing the lead. Now, imagine having an AI agent that handles this for you! Here are some highlights from our chat: AI-Driven Availability Matching: Scheduler AI intelligently matches meeting times based on participants' availability, reducing back-and-forth emails and accelerating the scheduling process. This leads to a more efficient workflow and timely meetings. Customizable Meeting Types and Templates: Scheduler AI offers customizable meeting types and templates, allowing teams to tailor the scheduling experience to different customer needs and scenarios, ensuring every interaction is relevant and personalized. Analytics and Reporting: Scheduler AI provides detailed analytics and reporting on scheduling activities. These insights help RevOps leaders understand meeting patterns, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions to improve overall efficiency. Enhanced Customer Experience: Scheduler AI enhances the customer experience by ensuring that meetings are scheduled at convenient times with minimal hassle. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and better relationships. Maddie’s story is inspiring, and Scheduler.ai is solving many pain points that growing organizations face when trying to respond to leads promptly. I hope you enjoy this episode! Check out the links in the comments section to listen to the podcast in your preferred format. HubSpot obo.

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Let’s talk about one of the most overlooked concepts when it comes to scaling your Shopify store: Incrementality. It’s easy to get caught up in the allure of quick wins—throwing more ad spend at a campaign, expecting exponential growth. But here’s the reality: not all sales are incremental. And if you’re not tracking incrementality, you’re likely overspending and missing out on sustainable growth. So, what is Incrementality? In simple terms, incrementality measures the true impact of your marketing efforts by isolating the sales that wouldn’t have happened without your specific campaign. It’s the difference between what your customers would have done on their own and what they did because of your ads. Why is this so important? Avoiding Double Counting: When scaling, it’s tempting to credit all sales to your ads, but the truth is, some of those sales might have happened without them. Incrementality helps you identify the real impact of your marketing efforts so you can avoid double counting. Optimizing Ad Spend: By understanding which campaigns are genuinely driving new revenue, you can allocate your budget more effectively. Incrementality ensures that you’re not just spending more, but spending smarter. Sustainable Growth: Scaling isn’t just about growing fast; it’s about growing profitably. Incrementality helps you see where your true growth is coming from, allowing you to double down on strategies that lead to long-term success. Here’s how to apply Incrementality in your Shopify store: Run Controlled Experiments: Use A/B testing to measure the incremental lift of your campaigns. Compare a test group exposed to your ads with a control group that isn’t to see the true impact. Leverage Attribution Models: Move beyond last-click attribution. Use multi-touch attribution models that give you a fuller picture of your customer journey and the incremental value of each touchpoint. Focus on High-Impact Channels: Identify which channels drive the most incremental sales and prioritize them. This ensures your scaling efforts are focused on strategies that truly add value. Bottom line: Scaling your Shopify store without understanding incrementality is like driving with a blindfold on. You might get somewhere, but you won’t know how you got there—or if you’re heading in the right direction.

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The only serious competition to Klaviyo in 2025 for email/SMS on Shopify is Yotpo. Sendlane? They have a rebuilding job on their hands. Attentive? I hear too much negative sentiment. Omnisend? They're competing on the 'pricing' narrative. Yotpo is the only credible competitor that can challenge Klaviyo beyond the pricing argument. Because let's be honest, businesses that migrate ESPs to save a few hundred $ per month are generally not winning businesses SaaS wants to attract. As an ESP, Klaviyo's innovation and stability last year widened the gap significantly. But Yotpo is a better 'consolidated' platform, and that's a positioning that is still picking up momentum in 2025. Yotpo's reviews, loyalty and SMS are all solid, and their analytics are pretty decent too. They have a legit claim to be a better all-in-one 'retention' platform than Klaviyo, who appears to have struggled to date with their CDP & Reviews rollout. They are also the biggest threat to Klaviyo's integrations & ecosystem moat given the resources and backing they have. I think these 2 titans are going to battle it out in 2025 and the end customers are going to be the winner. It wouldn't surprise me if a native AI tool could also hit the market and cause some disruption based on ease-of-use, intuition AND cost, but that's an unknown right now. What are your predictions for 2025? #shopify #klaviyo #yotpo

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I’ve been studying social listening and consumer research for over a year now, and I’ve been saying this for a while: social media is turning into its own version of SEO. Platforms like Instagram are no longer just about hashtags. Their algorithm now processes every piece of content, analyzing the keywords in bios, captions, and more to determine who might find it relevant or interesting. As Later puts it: “Instagram’s algorithm processes every piece of content on the app, gathering information it can use to determine what the post is about — and by proxy, who might find it interesting.” This is where social listening shines. It’s not just about posting; it’s about hearing the conversations happening around your brand, your space, and your audience’s needs. The word of social is shifting, and brands, creators, and marketers need to shift with it. https://lnkd.in/eDiYc9fH

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Canada’s e-commerce scene is stronger than you think—and creative is still the #1 challenge holding brands back. Here’s what I learned at #EcomNorth that every DTC brand needs to know. 1. Canada’s E-commerce Resilience Canada is a lot more resilient than most people think. While the US often dominates the e-commerce conversation, I'm incredibly bullish on Canadian brands. It's exciting to see so many Canadians stepping into the DTC space and investing in their growth. The energy and commitment at this conference were inspiring. 2. Creative is Still a Major Hurdle Creative continues to be a massive challenge for brands. Everyone knows it’s crucial for paid social growth, but many still struggle with how to generate creative at scale that delivers ROI. James Zhao at No Growth (www.nogrowth.ca) gave an incredible presentation on their approach to creative, and tailors their services to lead with video creative while offering media buying as a secondary service. It’s a smart edge for scaling in 2024 and beyond. 3. Aaron Spivak is a beast Aaron was the first speaker, and he set the tone. His story of coming from nothing, failing repeatedly, and eventually achieving his goals was truly inspiring. What stood out was his mindset: "If someone else can do it, I can do it too." That level of confidence is exactly what brand owners need to generate ideas and push their creative boundaries. Brands are lucky he didn’t pick another category to dominate lol Thanks for putting on a great event! Looking forward to seeing everyone next year.

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In this video, we’re going to dive into how to increase profit for your Shopify store. With so many guru’s posting screenshots of overall revenue numbers on Shopify… It’s hard not to get caught up in focusing on top-line revenue... Instead of focusing on what really matters.  Profit.  Now, most videos I’ve seen on increasing profit tend to focus on hacks/tricks to get more sales… We’re going to focus on creating long-lasting meaningful improvements in profit. We’re going to start with the basics and slowly get more complex throughout the video… https://lnkd.in/ehmSeZhF - #shopify #derekstroh

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Is your 2025 growth strategy trapped in disconnected spreadsheets? 🤔 Here's a scenario I see far too often: 🚩 Content calendar in Asana, managed by a writer in Toronto 🚩 Social strategy in Google Docs, run by an agency in California 🚩 LinkedIn outreach by a VA in Philippines 🚩 Email campaigns from a contractor in Chicago 🚩 Lead tracking spread across 3 different CRM attempts 🚩 "Big picture" goals scribbled on sticky notes (ugh, guilty 🙋‍♀️ ) If this sounds familiar, "raise your hand" in the comments. This is the Resource Trap - when your growth depends on disconnected systems masquerading as strategy. Recently, I work with a client that was stuck here. Their sales leader was drowning in marketing tasks while opportunities slipped through cracks between systems. "Good enough" results masked the real cost of chaos. Here's the truth: Most professional services firms are building their 2025 growth on scattered spreadsheets and disconnected tactics. You're experts at what you do. Your solutions transform lives. Your impact matters too much to let disconnected systems hold you back. 2025 isn't some distant future - it's being shaped by today's decisions. Ready to move beyond "good enough"? #BusinessStrategy #ProfessionalServices #Growth2025 #MarketingStrategy #BusinessGrowth

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The One Metric Most Shopify Brands Are Ignoring (And It’s Costing You Big) Here’s the truth: Most Shopify founders I talk to don’t actually know how much they can afford to pay to acquire a new customer. They’ve scaled their ad spend, hired agencies, and pushed for growth… but when I ask them to break down their Acquisition Marketing Efficiency Ratio (AMER) or their New Customer ROAS (NCROAS)? 👉 Crickets. Why does this matter? Because without these numbers, scaling isn’t strategic—it’s guesswork. Here’s how we’re fixing this for eCommerce brands looking to scale profitably: 1️⃣ Switching from MER to AMER: MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio) looks at your total revenue divided by total ad spend. That’s great, but it includes all revenue—retention, upsells, repeat customers—which doesn’t tell you how efficiently your paid ads are driving new customer revenue. AMER, on the other hand, is laser-focused. It isolates new customer revenue divided by total ad spend, giving you the real picture of how effectively your ads are growing your customer base. 2️⃣ Uncovering Your Break-Even Point: Your AMER helps determine your break-even CAC (Cost to Acquire a Customer). Once we know this number, we can work backward to align ad spend, creative testing, and campaign strategy to hit your profitability goals. 3️⃣ Building Campaigns That Scale Smarter: We pair financial clarity with creative strategy. This means isolating angles, targeting specific personas, and focusing on profit-first scaling—not just vanity metrics like ROAS. 🚨 Here’s the hard truth: If you don’t know your AMER or your CAC threshold, you’re blindly throwing ad dollars at the wall. But if you do know these numbers? Scaling becomes systematic, predictable, and—most importantly—profitable. Curious to see how this could work for your brand? Let me know, and I’ll share more insights about the exact process we’re using to scale Shopify brands to 8-figures and beyond.

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Tired of seeing "TOP BFCM TIPS 🔥" in your feed? I wrote a post that is a break from the content du jour - nurturing customer retention WITHOUT discounts. Klaviyo was kind enough to feature it in the community. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Link in comments. #ecommerce #customerrentention #retentionmarketing #emailmarketing

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Frustrated with ad spend that doesn’t drive clear results? Many DTC brands hit familiar roadblocks on their way to scaling up. This is the Vulcan way to help Shopify stores grow with intention: Clarity on What’s Working: A lot of brands simply don’t know how ad spend impacts the bottom line. With in-depth dashboards and reports that go beyond the usual metrics, we help you see exactly what’s driving revenue—from product page views to conversion rates. Scaling with Strategy: Growth shouldn’t be a guessing game. We take brands from that $50-100k mark and help them reach new heights with data-backed strategies. Through full-scale ad management across Google, Meta, and more, we ensure your growth is stable, sustainable, and scalable. Creative that Speaks to Your Audience: No more wasted spend on ads that have lost their impact. We’re constantly testing and iterating, keeping your ads fresh and relevant so you’re always connecting with the right audience in the right way. One Team, One Goal: When everything’s managed under one roof, it’s easier to keep your brand voice consistent and performance-driven. With Vulcan, you get a partner who understands the ins and outs of your ad spend and is committed to pushing your growth forward. If your brand is ready to get real about scaling up, let’s talk!

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I’ve seen it happen over and over again. A Shopify brand hits its stride—scaling to 7-figures, maybe even touching 8—and then the momentum stalls. Why? Because what got you here won’t get you there. I’ve worked with 150+ Shopify brands, and here’s the hard truth: Scaling is as much about what you stop doing as what you start. Here’s where most brands hit roadblocks: ➡️ Ad accounts packed with duplicate campaigns and no clear testing strategy. ➡️ Creative fatigue kicking in because they’re running the same ads over and over. ➡️ Blind spots in key financial metrics like MER, aMER, and Contribution Margins. We’ve helped brands push past these bottlenecks by focusing on efficiency—because scaling isn’t about spending more. It’s about spending smarter. Here’s how we do it: 1️⃣ Simplify the Ad Account – Strip out the noise and focus on high-impact campaigns with clear goals. 2️⃣ Ruthless Creative Testing – Build systems to rotate fresh ideas weekly. If you’re not testing at least 10 creatives, you’re leaving money on the table. 3️⃣ Profit-Driven Metrics – Forget vanity metrics like ROAS. Focus on Contribution Margins, AMER, and CAC thresholds to scale sustainably. We’ve scaled brands from $46K/month to $351K/month in just 3 months using these strategies. It’s not magic—it’s systems. If your scaling feels stuck, it’s not the market. It’s inefficiency. What’s the biggest bottleneck you’re facing right now? Let me know below—I’d love to share insights that have worked for others in the same spot. Let’s fix the leaks, dial in the systems, and make 2025 your most profitable year yet.

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Do you have a metric ton of blogs on your shopify site… that are not doing anything for you? Here’s how we fixed that for one of our clients: Started with 200 existing blog posts - written by VAs and AI.  If I was a high school english teacher, I’d give them a respectable B, B-. Not terrible, but not performing. Instead of creating new content, we: \- Added more depth to key sections \- Restructured the flow \- Refined intro paragraphs \- Built strategic internal links Focused on maximizing existing content rather than creating new posts. And any blog that wasn’t geared towards high intent buyers that would funnel to collection pages?  We cut those. They were dead weight. Every optimization supported our collection pages.  That's where the actual revenue comes from. No new content needed. Just smarter optimization of what already existed.

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An excellent series of tips + Eric Doty's sample freelancer onboarding deck is a shining example all those who hire freelancers should aspire to!

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Squid Game Season 2 Drops Dec 26th, 2024! 🦑💰 Time for a business game plan! 💵 Did you know people made billions selling Squid Game merch after Season 1? Now it’s YOUR turn to grab a piece of the pie! How to Get Started FAST: 1️⃣ Set up a Shopify POD Store (Print On Demand = no inventory headaches). 2️⃣ Sell: - T-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, mugs, posters, toys, dolls (check relevant policies first) - Use creative designs inspired by the show (NO copyright violations—be smart!). - Add quotes like “Do you want to play a game?” or iconic shapes like circles, triangles, and squares. 3️⃣ Promote Like a Pro: TikTok Strategy: Start a Squid Game fan account, post memes/trending clips, hit 1K followers, and link your store in bio. Meta Ads: Start a facebook and instagram account, post the same content as above DM Influencers: Send free merch or pay for shoutouts in the Netflix/movie niches. ⏳ Why Act Now? This is a time-sensitive niche. The hype will fade, just like it did with Season 1 and other viral shows/movies. Start TODAY, ride the wave, and watch the profits roll in! 🌊💸 🚀 Ready to play the game? 🕹️

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“We almost broke Shopify.” Early on in ecommerce, Jay Myers launched the first app that helped people sell more on Shopify with The Chive… and Shopify wasn’t set up to handle it. Even Tobias Lütke was tempted to get rid of Bold apps at the time. Fast forward a little bit, and Bold Commerce apps has over 780,000 merchants using their apps, won EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Deloitte Fast 50, and is focusing much more attention on subscription ecommerce. In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast by Elumynt, Jay and I dig into: ✅ How Jay hacked Shopify’s APIs to upsell on the platform (and almost broke Shopify with The Chive) ✅ What is subscription e-commerce? ✅ How subscription e-commerce impacts purchasing behavior with a shoutout to Fabletics, lululemon, and RH for the great work they’ve done in this space ✅ Positioning your products to secure 100% subscription conversion ✅ The importance of comparing CAC to LTV ✅ How to target niche customer segments ✅ The benefits of partnering with other subscription platforms ✅ Why Jay agrees with Harley Finkelstein about hiring entrepreneurs ✅ The brilliance of the Membership Economy by Robbie Kellman Baxter Plus, as always, we get into a little of the personal stuff as we talk about how Jay has never written a resume and what he “sucks at”. You can watch the video here: https://lnkd.in/gHQhb7yr Also, a special thank you to former guest, Darin Lynch, for introducing me to Jay years ago. #EcommerceGrowth #SubscriptionCommerce #Entrepreneurship #BusinessStrategy #DigitalMarketing #CustomerRetention #StartupSuccess #InnovativeBusiness #LeadershipInsights #B2BMarketing #ecommerce #retail #DTC #podcast

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We scaled this brand to $4.5MM last year by changing one simple thing. Most Shopify founders are tracking the wrong metrics. If you’re stuck wondering where your revenue is going every month, this post is for you. 👉 Here’s how these two hidden KPIs helped us double our client’s ad spend and nearly double their revenue: 1️⃣ MER & AMER Over ROAS While ROAS measures individual campaigns, MER and AMER give you a full picture of your store’s performance. They reveal how efficiently your marketing dollars translate into revenue and how much you're spending to acquire customers across all channels. 2️⃣ The Growth Map That Changed the Game By tracking these KPIs, we didn’t just scale blindly. We optimized every dollar, ensuring contribution margins grew alongside revenue. This led to smarter ad spend decisions, better cost controls, and ultimately, massive growth. 3️⃣ Step-by-Step Metric Breakdown In the video, I show you exactly how to: - Calculate MER and AMER using real Shopify data - Interpret these metrics to spot opportunities for growth Apply these insights to build a scalable, profitable strategy 💡 If you’ve been stuck in the dark about your store’s true profitability, these metrics will change the game. You’ll finally know where your money goes—and how to make it work harder for you. Are you ready to scale smarter, not just bigger? ➡️ Watch the full breakdown to learn how we leveraged MER and AMER to revolutionize our client’s business. The same framework could unlock your e-commerce potential too. Watch the video in the comments below... Enjoy this? Repost it to your network and follow Chris Marrano for more. Want to improve your Shopify results? Join our newsletter of thousands of subscribers today: https://lnkd.in/eqzi5mtV

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Two weeks ago, I started the r/CanadianBacon sub on Reddit so Hardbacon expertise can be found on Google. (PS: For those of you that are not aware, Google search result now mostly display Reddit threads for any query, which basically relegates websites like Hardbacon to the second page of search results) There are already 630 Canadians in this sub and I personally answered dozens of personal finance questions from the members. We are also getting better at paid acquisition and running campaigns on Facebook, Bing and Google (yes, the irony is not lost on me). We launched 2 Linkedin newsletters (Canadian Bacon in English and Gras Dur in French) that generated 15,000 articles views so far. We are also running multiple ads campaign to grow our email newsletter and are currently working on a soon to be launched SMS-based newsletter. My point is there are always other ways. Thanks Google for teaching me importance of traffic diversification :)

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Remember when #DTC brands were the darlings of the business world? Just pump money into ads and boom: You got hockey stick growth, riding the wave to success. 🌊 Well, 2024 had other plans. The DTC landscape is shifting beneath our feet. Brands that were once the poster children for explosive growth are now facing a harsh reality check. And it's not just about rising ad costs (though that's certainly part of it). But what's really going on here? And what can brands do about it? Let's break it down: 📈 The Free Money Party is Over: With interest rates up, the era of easy venture capital is behind us. Profitability isn't just nice to have – it's essential. 💰 Ad Costs Are Squeezing Margins: As platforms mature, the cost of acquiring customers is skyrocketing. That old CAC to LTV ratio? It needs a serious rethink. 🫶 Customer Loyalty is the New Growth Engine: Acquiring new customers at any cost doesn't cut it anymore. Retention and repeat purchases are the name of the game. 🚛 Supply Chain Realities: The "sell first, figure out logistics later" approach is dead. Brands need robust, resilient supply chains to thrive. 🔐 Data Privacy Changes the Game: With tracking restrictions tightening, the spray-and-pray ad approach is losing its effectiveness. Brands need to get smarter about their targeting and messaging. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: sustainable growth isn't about how much you can spend. It's about how efficiently you can operate, how well you understand your customers, and how much value you can provide. The DTC brands that will thrive in this new landscape are the ones willing to challenge their assumptions, diversify their strategies, and focus on building real, lasting relationships with their customers. What's your take? Are you seeing this shift in your industry? How are you adapting your growth strategy for this new reality? #DTCStrategy #SustainableGrowth #Ecommerce

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