Mark Ferrara, owner of Anthem-Sports.com, comes on the podcast to talk about how he started the company in 2002, when he brought it to ecommerce, the painful migration, his biggest challenges, being tied up in a trademark lawsuit, what he's most proud of, and more!

Today on My Digital Story from www.triangledirectmedia.com, we talk to Ira Woods from www.oneworldmemorials.com on why he started the company, his blog at www.conscious-departures.org, how he built the Shopify site, how he got to the first page of Google for “cremation urns”, getting into wholesale, and his inspiration and motivation. 2:20 Ira’s wife gets sick and he becomes her primary caregiver 3:40 Why did Ira start his blog Conscious-Departures.org? 6:00 “Every day you’re facing a challenge you never expected, and you don’t know what to do” 7:00 Why did Ira start OneWorldMemorials.com? 9:45 “I was fortunate to work 7 days a week because it never felt like work” 10:15 What was the guiding vision for the site? 12:45 When the site launched and the first sale 15:45 When did Ira know that the business would work? 16:30 What was the online marketing and SEO strategy? 21:00 What boosts conversion rate by 600%? 21:45 What’s Ira’s biggest challenge? 24:00 What advice would Ira give to someone starting up an ecommerce store? 26:00 How did Ira come up with the name OneWorld Memorials? 27:15 What’s next for OneWorldMemorials.com?

Chris Pratt from CandyWarehouse.com joins the My Digital Story Podcast (www.triangledirectmedia.com) to discuss how he started the online business in 1998, the hustle to get the business off the ground, the mistakes he made while trying to compete with companies who had VC backing, how he’s grown the business, big events he’s worked (like the Oscars), and how he plans to turn the online store into a traditional retail store that’s anything but traditional. (3:40) Chris starts his career in Electrical Engineering making electric cars in the early 1990’s (6:15) Starting an online business with no inventory, no digital camera, no experience (8:15) Mars and Hershey were asleep, and Chris took advantage (9:15) Learning about shipping when the product can melt (12:00) When Chris decided to quit his job and do CandyWarehouse.com full time (13:15) VC funding backs eCandy.com with $20M, Chris gets nervous and takes on partners (17:00) Chris buys back the business and comes up with creative ways to market the business (21:30) How CandyWarehouse.com utilizes Amazon (24:30) What are the best forms of marketing for the business? (27:30) Big life changing events using candy buffets (28:30) Harry Potter, Jimmy Kimmel, Katy Perry, Madonna… (31:15) Opening up the warehouse to the public and making it a traditional retail store (36:30) Advice to anyone who wants to start an online business

Simon G Jewelry is on the My Digital Story podcast from www.triangledirectmedia.com. Zaven Ghanimian is the CEO of Simon G (www.simongjewelry.com), and he talks about how his dad started the company from nothing, why he initially had no interest in taking over for Simon, what it’s like to take over, and what legacy means. (3:30) From humble beginnings…Simon escapes from Lebanon to come to the United States with $200 in his pocket (6:30) How did the name become Simon G? (7:30) How did Simon initially get business? (9:30) Initially Zaven had no interest in working for his dad, so how did Zaven become a part of Simon G? (15:30) What did Zaven learn from his travels to Israel and India? (18:00) What are some of the major marketing challenges that Zaven faces? (20:30) Celebrity influencers and micro-influencers (22:30) What happened when Zaven took over as CEO? (27:15) What’s next for Simon G? (31:30) Why did Zaven start www.zeghani.com?