The 2026 eCom Trends Report
Top Report Findings: This is our sixth Trends Report with 300 owners representing $3.5...
Usually when I invite a guest on the show, it’s to learn all the trade secrets of what they do really well, but today’s guest joins me because he’s an incredible human being that also happens to be really good at running an eCommerce store. Meet Josh Willard, the founder of Josh’s Frogs, an 8-figure business and the largest producer of captive-bred poison dart frogs in the United States—and possibly the world!
Listen in as we dive into Josh’s interesting approach to building a values-based business, where he gets the most bang for his buck when it comes to marketing, and why he decided to only sell frogs that are raised in-house. We also talk about why Josh shares the company’s financials with his team (including revenue, profit, and even his own salary) and the benefits and risks of opening the books in this way.
You’ll learn:
- All about Josh’s Frogs: the numbers and the products. (5:10)
- How Josh approaches marketing today and which platform is working the best. (11:00)
- Why he shares the company’s financials with his team and how he handles the challenges of doing so. (15:30)
- The profit-sharing structure of Josh’s Frogs. (21:00)
- Why Josh has made it part of his company culture to discuss core values often. (24:20)
- Why he decided to only sell frogs that are raised in-house. (29:10)
- How frogs are shipped across the country. (33:25)
- Lightning round. (41:15)
(With your host Andrew Youderian of eCommerceFuel.com and Josh Willard from Josh’s Frogs)
What Was Mentioned
- Josh Willard: Website | LinkedIn
- Elements Brands
- eCommerceFuel Forum
- Klaviyo
- One Click Upsell – Increase Sales 15%+ with Pre-and Post-purchase Upsells. (On average, Shopify users increase sales 15% immediately after installing the app!)
Image from JoshsFrogs.com featuring their Pasco Poison Dart Frog.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
“It's really hard for us to gain a new customer, but once we can gain a new customer, the lifetime value of that customer is really really high.” - Josh Willard Tweet this “We don’t spend a lot on paid traffic. We focus mainly on content creation.” - Josh Willard Tweet this “It’s hard to convince someone who is Facebook scrolling to decide to get a pet frog.” - Josh Willard Tweet this
Post by Andrew Youderian
Founder and Chief Instigator, eComFuel
Andrew quit an early finance job to sell CB radios online — an admittedly unorthodox career path. It set him on a course to found and sell multiple businesses, host a decade-running podcast, lecture at Harvard Business School and create eComFuel, the leading community for 7- and 8-figure online business owners. Andrew is fascinated with branding, AI, building community, investing and growing meaningful businesses that don't require sacrificing what truly matters.
