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- [LWN] How I Almost Lost Thousands 💰 The Tale of Two Steves
[LWN] How I Almost Lost Thousands 💰 The Tale of Two Steves
Lunch With Norm's weekly newsletter - how to save your valuable Amazon data, my crazy nights in Taiwan, and so much more
💰 How I Almost Lost Thousands in Taiwan
Find out how a case of mistaken identity in Taiwan almost cost me thousands of dollars! Turns out, clearing up a rumor can turn a cold shoulder into a lasting partnership — and maybe a few piggyback races at 3 am in the morning…
What you’ll find in this week’s newsletter
👯♂️ The Tale of Two Steves [True Story]
✅ Quick Tip to Save Data for Years
🤔 What You Missed Last Week
🌍 Where in the World is Norm
🎙️ 3 Upcoming Podcasts
🗞️ In The News
💡 Brand Spotlight
🤖 AI Tip of the Week - Writing the Optimal AI Prompt
💨 Cigars and Buddies
📅 Upcoming Events
The Tale of Two Steves [True Story]
Back in the late nineties, my brother, Steve, and I experienced a crazy misunderstanding in Taiwan.
The plan was to set up a network of manufacturers.
Everybody was treating us extremely well… except one manufacturer.
He was actually extremely rude. He wouldn't even look in our direction.
We ended up walking out.
Later, our translator called us.
In our hotel room, we found out there was a rumor in Taichung that an American named Steve had allegedly ripped off another manufacturer.
Since my brother's name is Steve, they assumed he was the one!
Our translator explained the misunderstanding to the manufacturer.
Thankfully, he understood, and by the end of the next day, we had signed a great contract that lasted for years.
We celebrated with the manufacturer, dining at a five-star hotel, and even ended up piggyback riding in the halls of the hotel.
I had the owner of the company on my back, and Steve had the general manager on his.
I like to think I won the piggyback championship, but that's beside the point.
The real lesson here is: don't take anything at face value.
In this case, there was a lack of direct and indirect communication mixed with cultural differences.
Once we figured it out, we all had a good laugh and Mr. Cow became one of our largest and most loyal vendors we worked with.
If you know someone who might enjoy my stories and this newsletter, please share this newsletter with the link below 🙂
— Norm
QUICK TIP
SAVE DATA ON THE AMAZON AD CONSOLE FOR YEARS!
This tip brought to you by IG PPC
Amazon only gives us limited data for most reports—65 days of data for search term reports, 90 days for targeting, etc 👎
Many brands and sellers don't save the data they download. These are goldmines of data that you aren't saving 💎
Here is a quick and easy way that takes a few minutes, and you'll have your data saved on Amazon's platform for years.
🟠 Go to Create Report
🟠 Instead of clicking "Now" Click "Recurring"
🟠 Choose a Frequency
BOOM 💥
You'll now have these reports downloading automatically onto Amazon's console, and they will stay there for years.
ProTip: Add an email address there, so if Amazon ever starts deleting those downloaded reports, you'll have it in your inbox.
Reach out to IG PPC to get a free comprehensive PPC audit.
WHAT YOU MISSED LAST WEEK
Revolutionize Your Amazon Launch & Rank Strategy
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Generating Commission-Free Revenue on Amazon: Leverage subscriptions for products and services.
Emphasis on Bottom Line Over Gross Revenue: Focus on net profit rather than gross revenue. There are pitfalls of not accounting for all expenses and the illusion of success created by high gross revenue.
Find Influencers for Amazon Live: Start using influencer services to promote your products on Amazon Live to drive sales to your listing.
Harnessing AI For Digital Marketing Success
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
The Persona-Based Marketing Lie: The classic Persona-Based marketing methods can often fail to accurately capture the diverse and specific characteristics of real audiences.
Quality Data for AI Effectiveness: You need to be feeding AI high-quality, verified data. Poor data can lead to inaccurate AI conclusions and decision-making, leading to big problems.
AI Content Creation: AI has an ability to adapt to different business needs and styles.
ORGANIC TIKTOK STRATEGIES THAT ACTUALLY WORK 2024
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Utilizing TikTok Features: Leverage TikTok's features like voiceovers, duets, and stitches. TikTok favors content that utilizes these tools, potentially enhancing visibility and engagement.
Be 1% Better Every Video: Aim for gradual improvement in video content. This could be better lighting, hooks, editing styles…etc.
Optimize your TikTok SEO: Optimize your TikTok content within TikTok. This involves adding keywords in the video's spoken content, text overlays, captions, and thumbnail to improve discoverability.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE BEARDED GUY?
Can you find Norm in the picture above?
THREE UPCOMING PODCASTS
You can watch all episodes on YouTube or our Facebook page at 12 pm ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!
**Guests and topics are subject to change**
Monday - Cancelled 😞
Unfortunately, Monday’s episode is being rescheduled. We’ll be back to our regular live podcast on Wednesday at 12 pm ET !
Wednesday - Freight Forwarding 2023: Navigating the Future
Refael Elbaz, Founder of Unicargo, an e-commerce logistics expert for the Israeli export institute, a public speaker at international logistics and supply chain conventions, and an angel investor.
Friday - Mastering E-Commerce Marketing Without Waste
Michael Kaminsky is a co-founder and co-CEO of Recast, a media measurement platform that helps marketing teams save millions of dollars of wasted advertising budget. They do so through a proprietary measurement model.
🗞️ IN THE NEWS 🗞️
CHATGPT PLUS SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE BACK! 😱
OpenAI opened ChatGPT Plus subscriptions are back up again after a couple of weeks of new customers not being able to subscribe.
**Provided by Creator Climb
TIP YOUR AMAZON DELIVERY DRIVER FOR FREE?! 🚛
Amazon's holiday offer, "Alexa, Thank My Driver," is back!
Express gratitude to your delivery driver by simply saying "Alexa, thank my driver" for your latest delivery. The first 2 million appreciations result in a $5 bonus for the driver, entirely free for you. Spread a little extra kindness this Christmas by thanking those hard working people who serve us so well.
**Provided by Levanta: Happy holidays from Rob and the Levanta team 🎁
WALMART NEWS! BOOST SALES WITH THE UPCOMING SALES MARKETPLACE SPOTLIGHTS EVENT 💡
Now’s the perfect time to set up promotional pricing in the Campaigns Management Dashboard, leverage Sponsored Search campaigns, and submit your items.
If you don’t have access to the Campaigns Management Dashboard, you can still take advantage of heightened site traffic by offering fast, free shipping.
LUNCHTIME LAUGHTER
BRAND SPOTLIGHT
MORE DATA, MORE SALES [CASE STUDY]
Check out how a fitness accessory brand used Amazon Brand Analytics to understand customer needs, innovate, and grow
“Quarterly sales jumped over 40%”
HERE’S HOW THEY DID IT:
Identifying a Market Need and Product Innovation:
Recognized a gap in the market for convenient, shoe-friendly shin guards for weightlifting.
Designed and prototyped shin guards that met this specific need, leading to the creation of the brand.
Using Amazon Brand Analytics for Insightful Data Analysis:
They studied the sales funnel and Search Catalog Performance dashboard to identify where customer attention dropped off, making adjustments to product titles, images, and content accordingly.
This approach led to a 40% increase in quarterly sales after optimizing for the best search terms.
Expanding Product Line Based on Customer Data:
The Market Basket dashboard in Amazon Brand Analytics helped them develop product bundles by showing which products customers frequently bought together.
This data-driven approach helped them expand their product line to include belts, guards, and gym attachments, filling gaps in the weightlifting accessory market.
AI TIP OF THE WEEK
This tip brought to you by Creator Climb
LEVEL: MEDIUM
Do you ever struggle with communicating with AI and getting it to perform the action you desire?
Writing The Optimal Prompting Formula
Step-By-Step Guide
Why use this prompt structure 👇
✅ This helps the AI clearly understand what you are asking and create exactly what you need
✅ Perfect for when you want the AI to think critically or come to certain conclusions based on the information you provide
Instructions:
When you start writing the prompt, first define the purpose and personality of the AI. '
Specify what the AI should and shouldn’t do and set the tone of its response.
For example: “you are the best sales copywriter in the world”
Rules and Guidelines:
Now, it’s time to detail the steps the AI should take to complete the task. Here it is important to communicate with the AI as if you were instructing a teammate as well as provide the context it needs to complete its task.
Response Format:
For the best results, you need to specify the length and formatting of the AI responses. Be explicit about what should be included in the responses.
Response Example(s):
We like to provide one or more powerful examples of the ideal answer we are looking for. Write out the exact responses you want the AI to generate. This step helps train the AI to understand your preferences.
BUT WHAT DOES THIS ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE?!
This is an example of a prompt we have constructed using the guidance we have explained so far: 👉 FULL PROMPT EXAMPLE
If you want to learn more, Creator Climb recently released an entire course teaching creators how to leverage AI in their business, and how to build their own “AI Team”, including custom GPTs that help write prompts for you!
Learn how to use AI to automate your business, and join a community of solopreneurs like you: Creator Climb - AI Elevate Program
TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
Kevin and Norm's now-famous cigar nights
📍 Kevin King's inaugural BDSS event. The Historic Driskill Hotel, Austin, TX 📍
Whether in Austin or anywhere across the globe, these evenings have become our signature, a space where opinions flow as freely as the smoke in the air.
It's more than just a gathering; it's where differences don't divide but enrich our conversations. Laughter, debates, growth – all are part of these memorable nights. If you spot us at an event, feel free to join – no need to be a smoker. It's about camaraderie, sharing ideas, and enjoying the moment.
If you spot us at an event, feel free to join – no need to be a smoker. It's about camaraderie, sharing ideas, and enjoying the moment.
By the way, can you spot any familiar faces in the photo?
Let us know in our Whatsapp group.
UPCOMING EVENTS
MARK DOWN THESE EVENTS!
Dec 20 - 1 PM EST - Hosted by our close partner Nick Penv from Hellotax Speakers: Jo Lambadjieva, Max Sinclair, Luca Borreani, Chad Rubin.
Jan 9 - 11 - Las Vegas - Starting at $1995
Jan 21 - 28 - Miami - Mexico - Starting at $300 + Cruise ticket
What Did You Think Of This Week's Issue? 🤔 |
And that’s it, Beardos!
P.S. Make sure you don’t miss any updates by joining our community here.
See you next Monday!
- Norm
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