160 | The Difficulties of Marketing Vice Products | with Charles McElroy

Charles McElroy is founder of Goldleaf, a science-forward printing company specializing in guided notebooks and elegant prints for cannabis patients, growers, and enthusiasts.

Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Goldleaf sells to 5 continents and custom designs for like-minded organizations around the world.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:12] Quick background for Gold Leaf
• [01:53] Where the idea of Gold Leaf came from
• [05:49] Working to gain experience
• [07:52] Novel ideas vs niches
• [10:51] Marketing vice products
• [12:44] The challenges and benefits of SEO
• [14:30] Sponsor: Electric Eye electriceye.io
• [14:50] Sponsor: Mesa apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [15:34] Sponsor: Gorgias gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• [17:00] Sponsor: Rewind rewind.io/honest
• [17:33] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [18:20] SEO capabilities of Shopify
• [19:20] The iterative process of SEO
• [19:47] On-page and off-page SEO
• [23:41] The Shopify link structure
• [24:56] Goldleaf’s tech stack
• [27:51] Native vs third-party integrations
• [28:57] Customizing Shopify notifications
• [29:06] Integrating orders from multiple sources
• [31:27] Go where your customers are
• [34:08] The difficulty of being shadow banned
• [36:30] The Farm Bill actually made the industry worse
• [37:51] Where to find Goldleaf

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Botanical science with thoughtful, minimalist design shopgoldleaf.com
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• Respond to any of Rewind’s welcome emails and mention HONEST ECOMMERCE to get 1 month free rewind.io/honest
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/honest

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!