Ep. 76 The Amazon Scaling Playbook: Brand, IP, and Systems That Actually Drive Growth

Ep. 76 The Amazon Scaling Playbook: Brand, IP, and Systems That Actually Drive Growth

What does it really take to scale on Amazon in 2026? In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman sits down with Amazon growth operator and fractional eCommerce leader Dr. Drew Littlejohns to break down the biggest challenges brands face when trying to grow beyond early traction and into serious scale. Drew has spent more than a decade helping brands navigate Amazon, DTC, and omnichannel growth. From scaling a brand from $500K to a projected $28M run rate, to building and managing Amazon systems from the inside out, he shares practical lessons most sellers learn the hard way. If you're an Amazon seller, DTC founder, or eCommerce operator looking to build a more profitable and sustainable business, this episode is packed with actionable insights. In this episode: ✅ Why Amazon growth eventually requires an omnichannel strategy ✅ The biggest mistakes brands make when scaling ✅ How branding impacts long-term business value ✅ The costly consequences of ignoring trademarks and IP protection ✅ Shopify vs other eCommerce platforms ✅ How to vet agencies, freelancers, and in-house hires ✅ Why profit matters more than revenue when evaluating growth ✅ Building systems and SOPs that support scale 🔗 Connect with Drew Littlejohns LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-littlejohns-21673a13 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/drew-littlejohns-21673a13] ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 Introduction & Meeting Drew in Nashville 01:13 Who Is Drew Littlejohns? 02:26 Amazon Then vs Amazon Now 04:30 The Biggest Challenges of Scaling on Amazon 06:20 Is Shopify Still the Best Platform for Brands? 08:00 The #1 Mistake Amazon Sellers Make 10:18 Why IP & Trademarks Matter More Than You Think 11:08 Building AOV, LTV & Customer Retention 13:12 Danan's Branding Mistake & Domain Lessons 16:44 How to Vet Agencies, Freelancers & In-House Talent 18:11 Why Percentage-of-Spend Agency Models Are Outdated 20:34 Revenue vs Profit: The Truth About Growth 20:58 What Good Agencies and Freelancers Actually Do 21:55 What Brands Should Expect to Pay for Talent 23:51 How to Connect with Drew 24:47 Future Deep-Dive SOP Episodes 25:34 Outro #TheeComGrowthShow #AmazonFBA #eCommerceGrowth KEEP IN TOUCH: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow [https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow] 👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow [https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow] 🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow [https://x.com/eComGrowthShow] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow [https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow] Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com [https://ecomtriage.com]] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.

Ep. 75 How To Work With Influencers The Smart Way

Influencer marketing can build trust, create high-performing content, and drive real brand awareness, but only when brands approach it the right way. In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman talks with Chelsea Clark, founder and CEO of momfluence, about how eCommerce brands can work with creators more strategically. Chelsea shares why brands often choose the wrong influencers, why one-off campaigns rarely work, and how creator partnerships should be treated as a long-term brand-building strategy. They also discuss how to find aligned creators, why follower count is not the best indicator of success, how to brief influencers without making the content feel scripted, and what brands should actually track when measuring campaign performance. 🔗 Connect with Chelsea Clark: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-clark-momfluence/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-clark-momfluence/] Instagram: https://instagram.com/momfluence.co [https://instagram.com/momfluence.co] Website: https://momfluence.co [https://momfluence.co] ⏱️ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction 01:14 Who is Chelsea Clark? 02:18 How momfluence started 07:29 Biggest mistakes brands make with influencers 10:14 How to find the right creators 13:10 How brands should approach influencer marketing 14:58 Should brands create their own content too? 17:10 Why honest creator content matters 19:44 Do different niches need different influencer strategies? 21:29 How to get the most out of influencer partnerships 22:45 How momfluence helps brands run campaigns 25:46 Where to connect with Chelsea #TheeComGrowthShow #InfluencerMarketing #Momfluence KEEP IN TOUCH: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow [https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow] 👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow [https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow] 🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow [https://x.com/eComGrowthShow] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow [https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow] Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com [https://ecomtriage.com]] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.

Ep. 74 Why International Amazon Influencers Struggle and the System Fixing It

International Amazon influencers are approved, ready, and motivated, but many still can’t access the US products that drive the highest commission opportunities. In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman talks with Omar Ortiz, Founder of UnboxLane, about the gap holding international creators back from scaling inside the Amazon Influencer Program. Omar breaks down why Creator Connections is such a major income opportunity, why geography creates a massive barrier for creators outside the US, and how UnboxLane helps solve it by receiving products, filming Amazon-compliant unboxings, and delivering the footage creators need to upload and earn. If you’re an international Amazon influencer looking to build real commission income without handling US shipping, filming, or production yourself, this episode is for you. 📢 Special Offer: Listeners of The eCom Growth Show get their first UnboxLane video completely free. Grab your spot here: https://unboxlane.com/creators [https://unboxlane.com/creators] 🔗 Connect with Omar Ortiz / UnboxLane: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@Omar-unbox [http://www.youtube.com/@Omar-unbox] Website: https://unboxlane.com/creators [https://unboxlane.com/creators] 🕰️ Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:57 Why this episode matters for Amazon influencers 02:16 How Omar discovered the international creator problem 03:17 Can brands use UnboxLane too? 04:44 How to become an Amazon influencer 07:38 What it takes to build Amazon influencer income 09:06 Why Creator Connections matters 11:35 How UnboxLane works 13:26 Why the US Amazon market is still the biggest opportunity 15:51 How creators should choose products 19:29 Free first video offer for listeners 22:10 Omar’s pricing philosophy and final thoughts #TheeComGrowthShow #AmazonInfluencer #UnboxLane KEEP IN TOUCH: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman] 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow [https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow] 👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow [https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow] 🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow [https://x.com/eComGrowthShow] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow [https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow] Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com [https://ecomtriage.com]] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.

Ep. 73 How Can eCommerce Brands Take Back Control of Product Discovery From AI?

AI search is changing how shoppers discover products, and eCommerce brands that rely only on traditional SEO or Amazon traffic may be at risk of becoming invisible. In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman sits down with Adrian Nikolov, Founder of Haide Digital, to break down how platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Mode decide which brands, products, and sources get recommended. Adrian explains why the future of organic growth is no longer just about ranking on page one of Google. It’s about being cited, trusted, and retrievable across AI-powered search systems. From topical authority and Reddit mentions to server-side rendering, product schema, and Google’s Shopping Graph, this episode gives eCommerce brands a practical look at what they need to build now to stay visible as AI reshapes product discovery. You’ll learn why YouTube, Reddit, reviews, third-party mentions, and clean website infrastructure matter more than ever, and how brands can start auditing their visibility inside LLMs today. 🔗 Connect with Adrian Nikolov LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-nikolov/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haide.digital/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wearehaidee Website: https://haide.digital ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction to Adrian Nikolov and Haide Digital 01:19 – Adrian’s background in organic search 02:04 – Why Haide Digital was built for the future of search 03:05 – How AI finds and recommends products 04:14 – Why AI search is different from traditional Google results 08:09 – Topical authority and search everywhere optimization 09:28 – Why YouTube and Reddit matter for AI visibility 12:04 – How brands become invisible to AI search 12:59 – Blocking LLM crawlers and Cloudflare settings 14:14 – Why heavy JavaScript can make your website unreadable 15:09 – The trust problem: reviews, mentions, and third-party presence 21:17 – Google’s Shopping Graph and the future of agentic shopping 24:30 – What eCommerce brands should focus on now 30:16 – How to test your brand visibility inside LLMs 32:33 – Why product schema and structured data matter 33:55 – Final advice for brands preparing for AI search 34:11 – Where to connect with Adrian #TheeComGrowthShow #AISearch #eCommerceSEO KEEP IN TOUCH: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow 👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow 🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.

Ep. 72 The Community Blueprint

What does it really take to build a thriving eCommerce community? In this episode of The eCom Growth Show, Danan Coleman talks with Matt Holman, Founder and CEO of Commerce Catalyst, about how he turned a small marketer meetup into a network of over 1,000 eCommerce professionals. Matt shares why community should start with genuine relationships, not sales pitches, and how consistency, value-first events, and clear purpose can turn a simple gathering into a powerful growth engine. You’ll learn why the best communities are built around real needs, how to keep people engaged long-term, and why helping first often creates stronger business opportunities later. 🔗 Connect with Matt Holman LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holman-matthew/ Commerce Catalyst LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/commerce-catalyst/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/commerce_catalyst_co/ Newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/CommerceCatalyst Slack Group: https://form.typeform.com/to/fKSJhbKs?utm_source=XL%20PR%20-%20Ecom%20Growth%20Show&utm_medium=XL%20PR%20-%20Ecom%20Growth%20Show&utm_campaign=XL%20PR%20Podcasts ⏱️ Timestamps 00:00 – Welcome to The eCom Growth Show 00:35 – How Matt Holman got into community building 03:14 – Why building community matters 07:57 – The first steps to building a strong community 10:32 – Why value should come before selling 17:01 – How community builds trust and solves real problems 19:14 – What keeps people coming back 22:26 – Building a community vs. chasing an event business 31:24 – Events that serve the real needs of a community 36:11 – How to join the Commerce Catalyst Slack community 37:11 – Closing thoughts #TheeComGrowthShow #CommerceCatalyst #eCommerceCommunity KEEP IN TOUCH: 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danancoleman 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecomgrowthshow 👥 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheeComGrowthShow 🐦 X (Twitter): https://x.com/eComGrowthShow YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@eComGrowthShow Danan Coleman is an expert in the Amazon field. He's been actively selling on Amazon since 2010 and in the SaaS and Service network for Amazon sellers since 2018. After helping companies like ManageByStats and Carbon6 scale and be sold, he started his eCom Triage [https://ecomtriage.com] to help sellers with solutions to complicated and seemingly impossible tasks like removing negative reviews and detecting critical and detrimental changes to your product detail pages. He also consults both brands and agencies in the Amazon space.