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[LWN] 😱 A Mistake I'll Never Forget...

[LWN] 😱 A Mistake I'll Never Forget...

Lunch With Norm's Weekly Newsletter - Amazon News & Updates

April 21, 2025 • Estimated Read Time: 16 minutes

😱 A Mistake I'll Never Forget…

What you’ll find in this week’s newsletter:

😱 The Dumbest Mistake I Made After Prosper… [True Story]
🚨 Check Out the NEW Tariff Calculator
🚀 Customize Trainings & Resources Using AI
✅ How Smart Brands Keep Customers Coming Back

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Happy Easter from the Farrar family! To everyone who reads my newsletter. Thank you for spending a bit of your week with me. It means a lot to know that these life stories resonate with so many of you. I genuinely love hearing from fellow Beardos who’ve experienced something similar or just want to share a moment.

This community has become something I’m incredibly grateful for and it’s all thanks to the amazing people I’ve gotten to connect with.

– Norm

😱 THE DUMBEST MISTAKE I MADE AFTER PROSPER! [TRUE STORY]

If you’ve ever done an event or conference in Vegas, you know it’s a marathon.

Early mornings, workshops, dinner, parties, late nights, and usually a cigar(s) with friends.

This trip was no different.

I flew in early and caught a killer Grateful Dead show (the Sphere was unreal), then spent 2 days at the MDS event, and finally dove headfirst into the Prosper Show.

By the end of it, Kevin King and I wrapped things up with a Marketing Misfits live podcast, followed by a cigar event at the EIGHT Lounge, and then jumped on a party bus to Rich Goldstein’s suite at the MGM… which just happened to be the Barbra Streisand Suite.

We capped the night with—you guessed it—another cigar, then the next day sitting in the airport experiencing delay after delay.

I landed at 3 a.m. absolutely exhausted.

I’m not in my 30s anymore.

I’m 60 and my body knows it.

Anyway, somewhere during that trip, I ran out of toothpaste.

So I went to a convenience store and grabbed one of those travel-size Colgate tubes in white and red packaging.

Fast forward to that night… I’m half-awake, completely exhausted, and see the tube sitting on the bathroom counter.

I squeeze some on my toothbrush and start brushing.

But something feels… off.

It doesn’t foam. Doesn’t taste right.

I look down…

It wasn’t toothpaste.

It was hydrocortisone.

I ran out of the bathroom yelling, “Connie! I think I just poisoned myself!”

She’s a nurse, by the way.

She takes one look at me, bursts out laughing and says, “You’ll be fine. Just stop brushing and rinse your mouth.”

And just to make sure I didn’t repeat my genius move, two minutes later I saw her swap the hydrocortisone for the actual Colgate tube.

The “toothpaste”

OK I admit, sometimes I feel like I can hide my own Easter eggs.

Business Lesson:

When you’re running on fumes, it’s easy to make dumb mistakes.

In business, it might not be hydrocortisone on your toothbrush, but it could be a misstep with a contract, missing a deadline, or sending the wrong file to a client.

That’s why it’s important to build in safeguards. 

Double-check your work. 

And when possible, have someone like Connie around to swap the steroid cream for toothpaste before it gets worse.

— Norm

Don’t forget to subscribe to my favorite newsletter 👇

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🔥 US IMPORT TARIFF CALCULATOR

Determine exactly how these new tariffs will affect your business costs. Simply enter your product’s current normal duty rate and the country of origin to see a side-by-side comparison of your costs before and after the new tariff implementations.

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👇TOP MUST READ STORIES THIS WEEK 👇

🔍 Walmart’s Push For 25% Ad Spending Highlights Retail Media’s Trust Problem - Read More

😱 Some desperate sellers say Amazon is penalizing them for raising prices to combat Trump’s China tariff increases - Read More

📢 Temu pulls its U.S. Google Shopping ads - Read More

🚨 Chinese suppliers are offering U.S. Amazon sellers a tariff solution—but it’s not legal - Read More

🚚 Amazon makes urgent move to avoid US-China trade war impact - Read More

💰 Faced with tariff spending fears, brands look to Amazon’s search ads and DSP - Read More

🔥 CUSTOMIZE TRAININGS & RESOURCES USING AI!

^{Brought to you by}^Futurepedia

Use ChatGPT and Gamma to quickly create customized versions that land perfectly with everyone—no matter their department or role.

Your core message will stay rock-solid—but now everyone gets it because:

You’re speaking their language with examples that click for their daily work
Teams actually follow procedures because the instructions make sense to them
People lean in when they think ‘Hey, this feels made just for us’

No more Sunday nights creating five different versions from scratch. Your sanity will thank you.

Example Use Cases

Customize onboarding for any department
Tailor product information in ways that make sense to different teams (e.g., sales vs. tech teams)
Roll out new policies successfully by showing each team exactly what they need to do

Part 1: Create Content Outlines Using ChatGPT

Step 1: Nail Down The Core Information

What does everyone absolutely need to know? Pinpoint those non-negotiable essentials that must make it into every version.

Prompt:
‘Create a training on [topic]. Outline the core information all departments need to understand, including key policies, procedures, and objectives.’

Step 2: Customize Content For Each Team

Sales folks care about closing deals, IT needs technical specs, and HR wants compliance details. This step tweaks your core message to focus on what makes each team tick while speaking their language.

Prompt:
‘Customize this training for these departments: [list departments]. For each department:

Identify their specific terminology, role in the process, & examples that would resonate
Then adapt the core content using their language, relevant examples, & appropriate technical depth
Address their likely questions & concerns’

HR & IT Team-Specific Content Examples

Step 3: Create Presentation Outlines For Each Department

IMPORTANT NOTE: Be sure to repeat steps 3 & 4 for each department.

Prompt:
‘Format the customized [department name] content as a presentation outline with clear slide titles and bullet points. Include speaker notes where helpful.’

Mechanics Team Example

Step 4: Turn Outlines Into PowerPoint Files To Download

Prompt:
‘Export this presentation outline to a PowerPoint* file.‘

*Don’t want a PowerPoint file? Tweak the prompt above to have ChatGPT create the file in whatever format works best for you, like a PDF!

Part 2: Turn Outlines Into Polished Presentations Using Gamma

Step 1: Upload The PowerPoint Files

Sign in to Gamma & select ‘Create New with AI’
Choose ‘Import’ then ‘Plain Import’
Select ‘Upload a file’ to add your PowerPoint or PDF file

Step 2: Choose Your Presentation Look

Select ‘Transform content’ then either:
1. Click ‘Theme’ to pick a style that’s on-brand
2. Select 'Edit all cards with AI' button (top of the screen) to manually describe the look you want

‘Make this presentation more modern with blue and white corporate colors’

Step 3: Make Final Adjustments

Edit text by clicking on any text element
Adjust layouts using the formatting options in the right sidebar
Replace images by clicking on them & selecting new options
Missing something? Add or remove slides using the ‘+’ button between slides (Want AI help? Just click on the ✨ wherever you see it)

Step 4: Add Department-Specific Visuals

Make your presentation really land by adding visual elements that speak to each team—think pipelines for sales or system architecture diagrams for IT.

Click 'Edit with AI' on any slide
Use the prompt: "Add visuals that would resonate with our [department] team"
Select the visuals that best fit
(Optional) Rearrange visuals—either click & drag to reposition, adjust sizing using resize handles, or layer elements by selecting ‘Bring forward’ or ‘Send backward’ in the right-click menu
Repeat this step for each slide

Step 5: Export Your Finished Presentations

Click 'Share' (top right corner) then 'Export'
Choose your preferred format (e.g., PDF or PowerPoint)
Download each customized presentation

🚨 If you would like to learn more about AI → FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 HOW SMART BRANDS KEEP CUSTOMERS COMING BACK…

Here’s 5 Takeaways From This Episode:

Retention > Acquisition—Build It First
Most brands chase new customers but ignore retention, where the real profit lies. Stop treating retention as a bolt-on and start designing for it from day one. Think long-term relationships, not just one-time sales.
Go Beyond ‘Subscribe & Save’—Engineer Real Offers
“10% off monthly” isn’t a retention strategy. Instead, build tiered offers that match usage behavior—starter kits, maintenance bundles, perks, exclusive drops, and education. Make the subscription feel like ongoing progress, not just auto-ship.
Use Feedback Loops in Every Flow
Every email (especially post-purchase and cancellation flows) should ask why someone bought or left. Feed that info back into your strategy to adjust offers, timing, or education. Customers leave clues—most brands ignore them.
Track the Right Retention Metrics
Don’t obsess over churn alone—it’s the symptom, not the cause. Monitor early indicators like time-to-first reorder, subscriber satisfaction by day 30, reactivation success, and offer-to-subscriber conversion rates to predict issues early.
Use Surprise & Delight to Deepen Loyalty
Dan recommends adding handwritten notes, unreleased samples, or asking for feedback directly. Small, unexpected moments create emotional connection and keep customers subscribed longer.
Automate Personalized Retention with AI
Set up systems using tools like Make.com and n8n to trigger smart flows based on behavior—skips, delays, upgrades, inactivity.
Use Subscription to Build Brand Breadth
A good subscription model forces you to think like a brand, not just a product. Dan emphasizes that it helps define your long-term vision—just like BoxyCharm did before scaling to a $500M exit.

Find this episode of Lunch With Norm on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE BEARD GUY?

Can you find Norm in the picture below? Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see the answer!

🔥 THE “ BILLION VIEW FORMULA” THAT WILL HELP YOUR VIDEOS GO VIRAL

Here are my favorite TIPS from this episode!

Use the “Promise–Proof–Plan” Formula in Every Video
Structure your videos by starting with a Promise (what the viewer will get), then show Proof (results, stats, or social proof), and finally share a Plan (steps they can take). This framework increases retention and builds trust fast.
Open Strong with Market Research Hooks
Hook your audience in the first 3 seconds by using phrases that reference proven success—like “This video got 1.2 billion views…” or “Here’s what every viral video does in the first 5 seconds.”
Split-Screen Thumbnails with Bold Quotes Win Attention
Use thumbnails that feature close-up faces, clear expressions, and a bold quote or insight from the video. Highlight keywords in yellow or red and keep text left-aligned for mobile readability.
Emotion Drives Views—Show It Visibly
Choose facial expressions in thumbnails and video moments that reflect curiosity, surprise, or confidence.
Test Titles with Variations of the Same Promise
Try 3–5 versions of your title using frameworks like:
- The Billion View Formula That Works
- The Secret Behind Every Viral Video
- How to Get Millions of Views (Even with a Small Audience)
Track which gets the highest CTR and adjust future videos accordingly.