# Joshua Uebergang

Joshua Uebergang is an ecommerce marketer focused on Shopify and search marketing. Joshua shares practical advice and case studies on paid search, brand growth, and running an agency.

- Profile: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/creators/joshua-uebergang/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuauebergang
- LinkedIn followers: 1,208
- Topics: ecommerce, ecommerce-marketing, unit-economics
- Based on 13 dated posts, latest 2026-10-07

## Summary

Shopify search marketing specialist useful for paid search pilots beyond Google.

- Best for: Shopify ecommerce stores wanting a Microsoft Ads pilot with measurement and clear scope.
- Not for: Sponsored-content retainers with guaranteed reach, engagement targets, or broad consumer audience.
- Check first: Ask for platform demographics, engagement data, and recent results on comparable topics.

### Takeaways

- Microsoft Ads added $100,000 a year for a one-person Shopify store.
- They say Microsoft Ads will not replace Google and has smaller search volume.
- They specialize in Shopify search marketing and started in 2015.

## Main ideas

- **Pick one market, then say no to the rest**: Their reasoning is that generalist agencies say yes to everything and end up spending twice the time and money to solve a problem half as well. The alternative is to choose a single market and treat focus as mostly refusal: 'Focus is saying no to a lot than yes to the few.' A market is judged against four tests — does it have money, is it growing, does it feel pain, urgency or irrational passion, and are people actively searching for a solution. Missing one is survivable; missing two makes everything harder. Shopify in 2015 passed all four, at a time when people who could not write code were launching brands in a weekend while competing platforms cost thousands and broke on launch day.
- **Saturated markets need earned evidence, not another promise**: A store can explain what a product does and still leave a shopper asking why it would work when the last purchase did not. Uebergang argues that customers in crowded categories have heard every promise, guarantee and logo, so the job is to offer a reason to believe based on real results rather than manufactured claims. The method has three parts: start from the frustration behind the purchase instead of adjectives like 'simple' or 'effective'; carry the same argument through the whole chain from ad to product page to images and demonstrations; and check that each claim has proof. Proof is specific, not louder.
- **Judge a channel by who actually uses it, not by its reputation**: Their case for Microsoft Ads rests on audience composition rather than targeting tricks. The 50-64 age bracket is overrepresented on the platform, often people who bought a Windows computer from a local shop, opened Edge and never changed the default search engine. Because fewer advertisers compete there, clicks cost less while conversion rates stay comparable, which underpins the return. The argument is deliberately bounded: the channel will not replace Google and represents roughly 10% of Google's search volume, so the case is margin per conversion rather than scale. Evaluation is proposed over months, not days.
- **Profit by channel beats headline revenue**: Both the brand teardown and the personal origin post make the case that revenue is not the same as progress and should be tracked by channel. Channel and placement decisions are framed as unit-economics questions, with a stated willingness to decline high-end retail placements that looked impressive but lost money after staffing costs, channels that will not work for a particular store, and retainers sold to people who do not need them.
- **The owner changes the business; nobody else is coming**: Their advice to store owners is deliberately blunt: owners wait for a YouTuber with the latest secret, a hire, a mentor, an investor or an agency to turn the business around, but they say that the person who changes the business is the owner. The working rule behind this is to avoid making a dollar that does not help someone — not save-a-life help, just being able to tell a customer they made a good choice. It informs choices visible in the other posts: working only on Shopify, saying on a first call that a channel will not work, and not selling unnecessary retainers.
- **Fix quality, sourcing and operations before buying growth**: The recommended sequence for a product business starts with the product and the operation, not acquisition. Meet and test suppliers in person when quality is the bottleneck, because emails only go so far; build fulfilment as if demand were already proven, because high minimums can force scale on a brand; and put formulations through repeated rounds because buyers decide quickly and will not reorder without results. The same instinct appears in a manufacturing post, where small, systematic changes are credited with freeing space and improving how the work feels. That post separately names its guest: Ryan Tierney, author of Lean Made Simple, who acquired the 63-year-old metal company Sperrin Metal and led the improvement work.

## Work to read

- [A $100,000 Microsoft Ads case study for a one-person Shopify store](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_we-added-100000-a-year-in-revenue-for-a-activity-7513476501258838016-VWz9)
- [Why the agency bet everything on Shopify search marketing in 2015](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_in-2015-i-bet-the-whole-agency-on-doing-activity-7507989585734590464-5FGk)
- [Selling $140,000 of male supplements at 23, and the rule that came out of it](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_at-23-out-of-my-parents-house-i-sold-about-activity-7507956906876088320-oi8u)
- [How Jaxon Lane sold 30,000 sheet masks without paid ads](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_how-jaxon-lane-sold-30000-sheet-masks-without-activity-7419248834322608128-PdaI)
- [Why customers need a reason to believe, not another promise](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_when-was-the-last-time-your-gave-your-ideal-activity-7510958390458634241-6Amo)
- [Fifty days of continuous improvement at a 63-year-old metal company](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_ive-never-seen-a-good-example-of-continual-activity-7455532513734811648-lA1e)
- [On waiting for someone else to fix the business](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joshuauebergang_what-do-i-wish-someone-had-told-me-10-years-activity-7508065084229804032-VW5d)

## Brand relationships

- **Shopify** (disclosed_partnership)
- **Microsoft Ads** (mention)
- **Jaxon Lane** (mention)

## Partnerships

Joshua Uebergang's posts describe client and consulting work rather than creator sponsorships. They show a Shopify-focused search marketing practice that takes on store owners as clients, turns down work it thinks will not pay off, and publishes how-to walkthroughs alongside client results. In one post about running Microsoft Ads, the piece ends with "I've got a video showing the steps in-depth on YouTube," pointing readers to instructional content rather than a sponsorship or brand-collaboration offer. Another post says the practice will tell a store on the first call if a channel will not work for them and will not sell retainers to people who do not need one, framing the commercial relationship as a service engagement judged on the client's outcome. The posts do not publish sponsored-content formats, audience specifications, pricing, deliverable requirements or a way for brands to inquire. Brands considering a paid collaboration should ask directly whether one is available and confirm format, scope and terms; the posts describe service engagements, not a published partnership package.

## Alternatives

- Robin Tesselaar: Consider Robin if a campaign needs to determine whether Google Ads is generating profitable new-customer growth, rather than choose a second search platform. In one post, Robin explains why ROAS can hide low margins, returning-customer sales, and diminishing returns, then recommends checking profit, new-customer acquisition, and incremental spend. That analysis could help a Shopify brand set its economics and reporting criteria before testing Microsoft Ads.
- Richard Wyatt: Consider Richard if the paid-search decision is mainly about dividing a product catalog between Performance Max and standard Shopping campaigns. One post describes using product labels, sales and impression thresholds, best-seller data, and margin information to structure those campaigns. That is useful when a store’s immediate concern is giving products more deliberate coverage within Google Ads.

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AI-assisted summary of public posts. Audience demographics are not available. Engagement appears only where we checked recent posts. Method: https://b2binfluencer.marketing/methodology/