💰 THE $25K LESSON I’LL NEVER FORGET

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

• 💰 The $25K Lesson I’ll Never Forget… [True Story]

• 🌎 Amazon News & Updates

• 🚀 Top 10 Digital Marketing Books

• 🤖 The Secret Behind High-Converting Hero Images

• 😱 Your AI Content Strategy is COMPLETELY Wrong

• 🔥 The Full Chat GPT 4.5 Deep Dive

Don’t forget to subscribe to my favorite newsletter 👇

💰 THE $25K LESSON I’LL NEVER FORGET… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the early ‘90s, I was the classic micromanager.

If something needed to get done, I was convinced I had to do it myself to make sure it was done right.

The idea of handing off responsibility—of trusting someone else with decisions that could impact my business?

Terrifying.

But then came the moment that changed everything.

I had just hired a new project manager and was working with an embroiderer on a rush order.

The process was simple: double-check everything. 

The project manager would review the checklist, and then the embroiderer would do one final check.

Easy, right?

Except… that didn’t happen.

A $25,000 order of garments came in—embroidered with the wrong logo.

I was furious.

I wanted to lose it.

I wanted to call everyone into the office and lay into them.

But here’s the thing—they already knew they had messed up. 

They were just as upset as I was, if not more.

So I held back.

I knew if I exploded, it would undo everything I was trying to build—a performance-driven culture where people took ownership, not just orders.

Instead, we focused on fixing the problem.

• The garment company gave us a discount.

• The embroiderer redid the order for free.

• We took the hit, and we learned from it.

And that project manager—the guy who made the mistake?

He became one of my best employees.

As for the embroidering company?

I bought it. 

And it turned out to be one of the best business decisions I ever made.

Business Lesson: Let Go to Grow

If you want to scale, you have to trust your team.

Mistakes will happen—that’s part of the process.

But if you punish every mistake, no one will take ownership, and your business will never grow.

The key isn’t avoiding mistakes—it’s learning from them and building a team that solves problems instead of fearing failure.

That’s how you evolve.

That’s how you build something bigger than yourself.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

🚀 TOP 10 BOOKS FOR DIGITAL MARKETING!

Check out this list of 10 top digital marketing books:

• TRACTION by Gabriel Weinberg & Justin Mares – A blueprint for startups to systematically attract and retain customers.

• BUILDING A STORYBRAND by Donald Miller – Learn how to clarify your brand message using storytelling to attract and convert customers.

• CONTAGIOUS by Jonah Berger – Explores why some ideas and products go viral and how to make your brand more shareable.

• THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING by Al Ries & Jack Trout – Timeless marketing principles to help brands stand out and stay ahead.

• THIS IS MARKETING by Seth Godin – A fresh perspective on ethical marketing, customer connection, and creating impact.

• THEY ASK YOU ANSWER by Marcus Sheridan – A strategy for using transparent, helpful content to build trust and drive sales.

• INFLUENCE by Dr. Robert Cialdini – Breaks down six psychological principles behind persuasion and how to apply them in business.

• THE LANGUAGE OF TRUST by Michael Maslansky – Master the art of communication to build credibility and win customer loyalty.

• FRICTION by Roger Dooley – How reducing friction in customer experiences leads to higher satisfaction and business success.

• HACKING GROWTH by Sean Ellis & Morgan Brown – A practical guide to using data-driven experimentation for rapid business growth.

👇TOP MUST READ STORIES THIS WEEK 👇

🔥 THE SECRET BEHIND HIGH-CONVERTING AMAZON HERO IMAGES

Here’s 10 Takeaways From This Episode:

1. Your Hero Image Should Stand Alone – A strong hero image should sell the product without requiring a click-through. If customers need to investigate further to understand what it is, you’re losing sales.

2. Stop the Scroll with Pattern Interrupts – Use bold colors, clear text, and lifestyle imagery to differentiate your product on the search engine results page (SERP). Your image must immediately grab attention in a crowded marketplace.

3. Prioritize Packaging Design – Your packaging should clearly communicate the key selling points. If it’s not optimized, you’ll need to rely on post-editing to make your product stand out.

4. Test Your Hero Image in Real-World Contexts – Use PickFu click tests to compare your hero image vs. competitors in a SERP screenshot. Find out where real buyers are clicking first and why.

5. Show Benefits, Not Just Features – Instead of technical jargon like “Titanium Triple Blade Mixer”, highlight a clear benefit: “Crushes Ice Instantly for Smoothest Blends”.

6. Post-Edits Can Boost Conversion – Modify your hero image with clearer text, enlarged product details, or added elements like flavor indicators to improve click-through rates without misleading buyers.

7. Use Lifestyle Images that Resonate with Your Audience – Ensure your lifestyle shots match your target customer. Selling a senior dog supplement? Your image should feature an older dog rather than a young puppy.

8. Affordable Photography Hacks – Save money on high-end photography with JCPenney’s Portrait Studio ($20 sitting fee + $100 digital package) or Airbnb Experience photographers for cost-effective, high-quality lifestyle shots.

9. Consider 3D Renderings for Certain Products – If done well, 3D renders can enhance your product presentation (especially for utilitarian items). However, they may not be ideal for apparel or texture-sensitive products.

10. Optimize for Amazon’s Future AI Search – Amazon’s AI (Rufus & Cosmo) is evolving. Ensure AI can “see” your product by making text and product descriptions clear, specific, and benefit-driven.

🚨 Watch this week’s LIVE episode here at 12 pm ET on Wednesday

🤖 CHATGPT 4.5 - WORTH THE HYPE?

OpenAI just dropped ChatGPT 4.5, and while it boasts improvements in writing, emotional intelligence, and accuracy, it’s far from a game-changer. With slower speeds, lingering hallucinations, and high API costs, is it really an upgrade?

Here’s a quick breakdown of the good, the bad, and the ugly from Skill Leap. 👇

The Good ✅

• Improved Writing & Emotional Intelligence – More natural and empathetic responses.

• Better Accuracy – Fewer hallucinations compared to 4.0.

• Expanded Knowledge Base – Broader coverage of topics.

• Solid for Business & AI Tools – Generates more detailed ideas and business plans.

• Legal Document Analysis – Decent at reviewing NDAs and flagging key issues.

The Bad ⚠️

• Not a Reasoning Model – Falls short in deep logical problem-solving.

• Speed Issues – Considerably slower than competitors like Claude and Gemini.

• Pricing Concerns – API costs are absurdly high, making it impractical for developers.

• Confused Search Capabilities – Sometimes pulls wrong information even when search is enabled.

The Ugly ❌

• Still Hallucinates – Made-up answers persist despite improvements.

• Too Many Model Choices – OpenAI’s multiple versions are overwhelming.

• Underwhelming Upgrade – Changes are subtle, making 4.5 feel like a minor improvement over 4.0.

Final Verdict

If you already have GPT-4.0, there’s little reason to upgrade. It’s a small step forward, but still not the game-changer people hoped for. GPT-5 is expected to solve many of these issues.

You can get the full deep dive on Chat GPT 4.5 from Skill Leap → Here

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!

😱 YOUR AI CONTENT STRATEGY IS COMPLETELY WRONG

Here are my favorite TIPS from this episode!

1. Brand Authority is the New SEO Battleground: Google's recent algorithm updates favor brands with a strong online presence beyond just a website. Businesses that create social profiles, maintain YouTube channels, and engage in multi-platform content (press releases, blog posts, podcasts) rank higher than those relying solely on keyword-stuffed websites.

2. Optimize for Google's AI Scraping: Search engines now extract content for "zero-click results" (where answers appear at the top of search results without users needing to click). To get featured, structure content with clear headers, bullet points, and well-marked schema markup so Google can easily recognize and surface your content.

3. Leverage Infographics & AI-Generated Podcasts for Visibility: Create AI-generated podcasts and infographics summarizing your articles. Distribute them across multiple platforms (Pinterest, SoundCloud, Reddit, Quora, etc.) to increase reach and earn backlinks, which enhance rankings.

4. Optimize for Emerging Search Trends: Search behavior is shifting toward platforms like Reddit, Quora, and Perplexity as users seek community-driven insights. Brands should actively engage on these platforms to establish credibility and capture organic traffic.

5. Google is Fighting Bots – Expect More Changes: Google's latest updates now require JavaScript to render search results, allowing them to better distinguish between bots and real users. This signals future changes in how data is scraped and ranked, meaning businesses must focus on authentic content, real user engagement, and authoritative link-building rather than shortcut SEO tactics.

   🚨 Watch the full episode here

🌎 MARK DOWN THESE EVENTS! 🌎

And that’s it, Beardos!

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See you next Monday!

- Norm

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