Good marketers are obsessed with numbers. They look at them every morning and end their day by checking them “one last time.”

Online store owners swim in a sea of fierce competition dominated by Amazon and Best Buy, among others. You can’t always be number one. But with a strong desire and the right tools, you can become a leader in your niche.

“But you can’t put links in your Instagram posts. How are you supposed to drive any sales at all?”

Although eCommerce receives most of the limelight, 91.6% of U.S. sales still take place offline. With all the benefits of buying online — lower cost, wider choice, no need to put on pants — how come retail stores are still a thing?

It’s not every day that marketers use the words “email” and “CRO” in the same sentence. After all, most email marketing strategies for eCommerce are mainly focused on sending newsletters, promotional emails, transactional emails, and maybe even cart abandonment messages.

The truth is people don’t like getting sold to; they like being told stories through content. Content engages people in a way no sales pitch can. Content touches people’s emotions: it makes them sad, angry, happy, excited, and much more.

Instagram and ecommerce are logical bedfellows. The brand-audience engagement rates here outperform all of the mainstream social channels, while the visual elegance of Instagram posts are perfect for showcasing people enjoying beautiful products in the wild.

Every year it feels like TV and radio stations, retailers and other businesses start the “holiday season” talk earlier and earlier. Some people complain. Some people love it. I’m usually thinking about other things — like how to stay sane.

Running an online business can be a lot harder than it looks, especially when you consider the vast amount of sites out there that you’re competing against.