🏍️ Biker Gang Encounter: The Great Cake Robbery [Real Story]

What you’ll find out this newsletter

• 🔫 Held at Gunpoint [My True Story]

• 🎥 Amazon Post Video Update

• 😮 What You Missed

• 🌎 Where in the World is Norm

• 🎙️ This Week’s Lineup

• 📈 Amazon Fees Increase

• 💰 CASE STUDY: Doubling Sales in 1 Year on Amazon

• 🚗 Trip Down Memory Lane

• 🤖 AI Prompt of the Week

• 🧠 App of the Week

• 📅 Upcoming Events

Held at gun point… I Swear it Wasn’t My Fault 🤦‍♂️

One fateful day, I uncovered a shocking truth about our trusted receptionist, Mary.

She had not only stolen from us but had orchestrated an entire birthday party theft, from the gifts, the clown, the balloons, and yes even the cake.

I couldn't believe what I unearthed a trail of theft that had been going on for some time. My partners and I felt completely betrayed.

Naturally, we had to part ways but that's when our tale took a wild twist.

And did I mention her boyfriend? He belonged to a notorious motorcycle gang.

We had always been on good terms, to the point where he gave me gifts on my birthday and Christmas.

Looking back, those gifts might have been stolen, too.

I had always kept my nose out of his affairs, and I think he liked my sense of humor. That was until the day I fired his girlfriend.

I thought our story ended there, with a thief caught and no police involved. I couldn't have been more wrong.

One day, right after lunch, Tank and his friends made an unexpected entrance.

My partners fled to hide in the parking lot, leaving me alone at the boardroom table, facing six menacing leather-clad bikers.

I don't remember all of their names except for Tiny, Bones and Bear.

I noticed they weren't here for a friendly chat over coffee and cookies, I wasn't going to offer, considering I recently terminated our coffee maker which was his girlfriend.

Here's where it got real.

So...what can I do for you?

The suspense peaked when they placed a gun on the table and uttered chilling words: 'I like you, Norm, but this is business. Give us $5k, and we'll vanish. Or face the consequences.'

By the way, did I mention his day job? He was a union buster. Yep he busted heads for a living.

Although, I knew this was against everything I believed in this was a no-brainer, I happily cut a $5,000 check, even though I knew it was wrong.

Later, when I saw my partners, they confessed that they had never been so stressed. Lesson two: one person's stress doesn't equal another's.

By the way, to this day I still have the motorcycle club's thermal water/beer mug they gave me to remind me of this valuable lesson.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

AMAZON POSTS NOW HAS VIDEO?!

Amazon Posts is rolling out video content! - Courtesy of Abdullah Imran from our WhatsApp Group. Be part of the conversation and join our Lunch with Norm WhatsApp Group!

What you need to know:

• Videos can be anywhere from 6 - 45 seconds

• This update isn’t available for everyone yet**

• Keep an eye in your dashboard 👀 

WHAT YOU MISSED

Mastering Business w/ Colin Campbell - 4 Winning Strategies

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Culture of Experimentation: Create a culture of testing and failing more, cutting losers quickly, and scaling winners big.

• Focus on Systems and People: For Amazon sellers, this includes understanding aspects like virtual assistants and efficient systems for scaling.

• Leverage Free Resources: like incubators, legal services from universities, and government funding to support startup growth.

• The Four Sticky Note Business Plan: a simple yet effective planning tool involving four sticky notes representing story, people, money, and systems, to help entrepreneurs quickly strategize and focus on key aspects of their business.

Norm & Kevin's 2024 Brand Domination Revealed

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Fee Changes by Amazon:The Amazon Fee increase (The specific fee increases are listed below)

• Amazon's Warehousing Strategy: Amazon shifted from a cross-docking approach ➡️ to a regionalized system for more efficient distribution

• Creating a Newsletter The RIGHT Way: Honestly, there’s too many tips Kevin dropped here. TLDR: Make sure you create a newsletter that delivers highly targeted and relevant content to its audience. Each newsletter should offer real value to the reader.

• Check out Kevin’s Billion Dollar Newsletter Secrets Webinar Replay available now

4 Cashflow Hacks You Can’t Afford to Miss w/ Oz Merchant 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Create a Rainy Day Fund: Build a financial buffer that can help tackle unexpected expenses and challenges, providing peace of mind and financial stability.

• Negotiate with Suppliers: Building a good relationship with suppliers can lead to more favorable payment terms, such as extended payment periods, which can significantly improve cashflow.

• Optimize Advertising Spend: Regularly reviewing and optimizing PPC and other advertising strategies can prevent wasteful expenditure and improve cashflow.

• Cut Unnecessary Expenses: Fee Changes by Amazon:Regularly review and eliminate non-essential expenses, such as redundant software subscriptions or services that are not contributing significantly to the business.

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE BEARDED GUY?

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 - Revolutionize Your Amazon Launch & Rank Strategy

Founder of Rebaid.com. The Rebaid marketplace has grown rapidly since it's inception and now processes nearly $1MM in monthly rebate transactions. Find out how Rebaid facilitates seemless redemptions of promotional offers and fast, efficient processing of rebate payments.

AI Wednesday - Harnessing AI For Digital Marketing Success

Jason and Norm will be going over tools and strategies utilizing AI with social media and paid advertising. Specificity is an avant-garde digital marketing strategy firm which constantly seeks and deploys new digital marketing technology and implementation tool

Friday - Profitability Demystified: A Step-By-Step Profit Margin Analysis

We’re going to take you step by step on how you can understand your margins by product and which reports to pull. You’ll learn about what is a healthy level of inventory, contribution margins and much more.

IN THE NEWS

AMAZON IS INCREASING THEIR FEES 😱 

Amazon is restructuring its seller fees in line with its regional fulfillment strategy. Amazon is introducing new fees (also reducing some existing fees), aiming for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. These changes come amid an ongoing FTC lawsuit alleging fee increases and monopoly power.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Introduction of a new inbound placement service fee:

• Averages 27 cents per unit for standard items

• Averages $1.58 per unit for large bulky items

Reduction in Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) fulfillment fees:

• Average decrease of 20 cents per unit for standard items

• Average decrease of 61 cents per unit for large bulky items

Lower referral fees for apparel:

• Apparel priced under $15: Decrease from 17% to 5%

• Apparel priced $15-20: Decrease from 17% to 10%

Fulfillment fee discounts for items in their own packaging through Ships in Product Packaging program

Reduction in non-peak monthly storage fees for standard items:

• Average decrease of 9 cents per cubic foot

Introduction of a low-inventory-level fee for standard items with consistently low inventory relative to unit sales

Expansion of returns processing fee to apply to high return-rate products in all categories except apparel/shoes

LUNCHTIME LAUGHTER

Blast from the past. I remember the first episode. I think we were still using two tin cans and a string to communicate. This image is from our very 1st podcast!

BRAND SPOTLIGHT

How To Double Your Sales In One Year

HexClad Cookware doubled its sales in one year. How did they do it?

HERE’S HOW:

1. Amazon Brand Registry and Enhanced Brand Content:

   • HexClad utilized Brand Registry tools for brand protection and brand building, including the ability to create a branded storefront —If you’re still living under a rock, it’s time to sign up for Brand Registry!

   • Hexclad made a point to consistently highlight the unique hybrid technology of their cookware and the lifetime warranty — How can you stand out? Identify your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)!

2. Utilizing Brand Referral Bonus (BRB)

   • HexClad implemented BRB campaigns particularly around Prime Day in July and October.

   • They prepared ad content with BRB links for Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, as well as SMS campaigns.

   • “In terms of attribution, the total product sales on our first Prime Day were over $296,000,” They generated a $27,000 credit from Amazon for these campaigns. Wow!

3. Engaging with customers through Posts and Manage Your Customer Engagement (MYCE):

   • Through Amazon’s Posts and MYCE, HexClad increased their followers from over 6,000 to nearly 10,000 and their list of repeat customers from over 15,000 to nearly 26,000 within a year.

   • They utilized MYCE to send targeted email campaigns, with a noted campaign in February 2023 achieving a 44 percent open rate.

4. Using Amazon Brand Analytics (ABA)they identified popular combinations of their products and created virtual bundles

   • They offered discounts on these bundles while keeping single-item sales at full price, an approach that “fueled a tremendous amount of growth,”

   • Not only does this increase sales but encourages customers to purchase more items together.

AI APP OF THE WEEK

LEVEL: BEGINNER

Use an AI summarizer like MaxAI to easily identify pain points.

1. Identify the competitors of your product category — for example portable waterproof speakers

2. Go to the listing of your competitors/niches. Let’s take a look at a JBL speaker.

3. Use Max AI to summarize the page and extract any information you are looking for.

4. Use the prompt above and tailor your prompt. You can identify gaps in the market using negative reviews on your competitors listings. Rinse and repeat with different listings.

TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE  

We began the week as a group of like-minded business associates and Formula 1 enthusiasts, and we parted ways as lifelong friends. I can’t stress enough the importance of getting to know people outside of just a conference; the power of breaking bread has the ability to forge lifelong bonds.

Join Kevin & Norm next summer for CMS 2 - The Canadian Rocky Adventure

MY FAVORITE APP THIS WEEK

This week’s app is Loom!

Loom is probably one of my most used apps. My team and I use it to communicate ideas, record systems and processes, and so much more. Perfect for detailed instructions. I’ve probably talked about it 30 times on the podcast.

Here’s just some of the ways you can use it👇

You can check out Loom here

UPCOMING EVENTS

MARK DOWN THESE EVENTS! 

Holiday Party 2023 - Amazon Sellers & Internet Marketers

Dec 13 8 PM CST - Austin, Texas - $99

Traffic and Conversions 

Jan 9 - 11 - Las Vegas - Starting at $1995

 Online Seller Cruise 

Jan 21 - 28 - Miami - Mexico - Starting at $300 + Cruise ticket   

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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