🚀 The Lesson That Built My Network

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

• 🔥 The Business Lesson That Built My Network [True Story]

• 🌎 Top Amazon News and Updates

• 💰 The $100 Million Productivity System

• 🔍 How Much are Amazon Shoppers ACTUALLY Using Rufus?

• 🚀 Top 10 Apps For Entrepreneurs

• 🚨 Simple Fixes to Skyrocket Website Conversions

Big announcement! Lunch With Norm now has an official subreddit. Come hang out with the community.

 🔥 THE LESSON THAT BUILT MY NETWORK  [TRUE STORY] 

Back when I first met Ron in Tampa— Here’s the first part if you missed it.

That same night, we talked about more than just cigars.

Ron was big in the food and frozen meat industry, and as we got into some business talk.

I mentioned that I had worked with a large Canadian franchise with over 300 stores.

As we went back and forth about what he could offer, I told him I had a contact in Canada who might be a good fit for his business.

He handed me his card and said, "If you get the okay, I’d appreciate an introduction."

Here’s where things usually fall apart.

Most people say they’ll make an introduction, but it never happens. 

Good intentions, no follow-through.

The next day, I picked up the phone.

I called my Canadian contact, and explained who Ron was and what he did.

I got the green light to make the introduction.

I went straight to Ron’s office, shared the details, and connected him with my contact.

Ron was stunned.

He told me most people talk a big game but never deliver.

The fact that I had actually followed through made an impression.

To show his appreciation, Ron took me to Thompson Cigar in Tampa.

At the time, they were selling bundles of 100 cigars.

Without hesitation, he bought me a bundle.

I told him he didn’t have to, but he waved me off.

That moment turned into a conversation that opened doors for me, not just in Florida, but across the country.

At one point, it even led to an opportunity with the President of the United States!

All of that because of one simple introduction - One small act of following through.

Business Lesson: Follow-through builds trust.

Most people don’t follow up.

That’s what makes it so powerful when you do.

A simple act of following through makes you stand out, builds trust, and creates opportunities you never saw coming.

Amazon Seller Lesson: Reliability wins buyers.

On Amazon, just like in business, reliability matters.

From responding to customer questions to delivering on product promises, every small action builds trust and creates repeat customers.

At the end of the day, your word is only as good as your follow-through.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

🗞️ AMAZON NEWS & UPDATES 🗞️

🚀 LOOKING FOR MORE AMAZON CONTENT?

If you’d like more deep dives on Amazon strategies and tips, I highly recommend Kevin King’s Billion Dollar Sellers Newsletter.

In his latest issue, he released the best tips and tricks from the last 6 months.

You can subscribe here 👇

 🛠️ PACKAGING DESIGN MADE SUPER EASY

Here’s Just One of The Many Tips From the Billion Dollar Sellers Newsletter

This is a really cool tool that generates stunning package designs and photography in seconds.

Once you’ve come with your dream design (after testing with PickFu or Productpinion of course!), they can connect you to packaging suppliers worldwide who can make your gorgeous creation for you.

💰 THIS SIMPLE PRODUCTIVITY SYSTEM MADE ALEX HORMOZI $100 Million

I was going through some of Alex Hormozi’s content, and one thing that stood out was his productivity system.

And honestly… He’s spot on.

This is what he said:

1. The Two Types of Work: Manager vs. Maker

Most people don’t realize it, but there are two completely different ways to work—and mixing them up is a recipe for wasted time.

• Managers live in meetings, emails, and quick decisions. A full calendar feels productive.

• Makers need long, uninterrupted time blocks to create—whether that’s writing, coding, designing, or strategizing.

Here’s the problem: Most entrepreneurs are both.

You need manager days to run your business, but without maker days, you never actually build anything scalable.

2. The Biggest Productivity Mistake Entrepreneurs Make

Ever had one random 30-minute meeting destroy your entire morning?

That’s because deep work takes time to get into flow—and if you get interrupted, you’re back at square one.

Hormozi figured this out and started stacking all his meetings into dedicated manager days, leaving full blocks of uninterrupted time for deep work. No distractions, no quick calls, no Slack messages—just execution.

I’ve done the same thing in my business, and it’s a game-changer.

3. Why Amazon Sellers Need This System

If you’re constantly reacting—answering customer service emails, tweaking your listings, hopping on supplier calls—you’re in manager mode all day long.

That’s why so many sellers struggle to scale. They never carve out deep work time to:
✅ Research new products
✅ Create real systems & automations
✅ Develop long-term strategies

Instead, they’re stuck putting out fires all day.

4. The Fix: Protect Your Time Like Your Business Depends On It

If you want to grow, audit your calendar right now.

• Block out full days for deep work (product research, PPC strategy, automation setups).

• Stack all your calls & meetings into one or two days per week.

• Stop saying “yes” to every quick chat or “got a minute?” request.

The biggest businesses aren’t built by doing more—they’re built by doing fewer things, better.

Final Thought: Control Your Time, Or Someone Else Will

Hormozi’s right—saying “no” is one of the most profitable skills you’ll ever learn.

If your calendar is packed but you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, it’s time to make a change.

If you’d like to watch the video I saw, check it out - 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!

🔍 HOW MUCH ARE AMAZON SHOPPERS ACTUALLY USING RUFUS?

Excerpt from Ecomtent’s Max Sinclair

In a recent post on Max Sinclair’s LinkedIn, Max took a deep dive on how much are Amazon shoppers actually using Rufus?

274.3 million daily questions, or ~13.7% of total Amazon searches by my maths.

Amazon has not released any data on Rufus usage publicly; except from stating that Rufus had serviced "hundreds of millions of purchases" in beta testing when announcing the full rollout of Rufus onstage at Amazon Accelerate in September '24.

However, whilst they have not given us raw numbers, in October '24, in an AWS blog they did tell us how much compute they had to allocate for Rufus queries during Prime Day: 80,000 AWS Inferentia and AWS Training chips, collectively processing 3 million tokens per minute.

In true Amazonian style, we can therefore work backwards to calculate how many queries Rufus got during this period.

Assuming the average query length on Rufus is similar to that on Perplexity, 10-11 words, and each word comprising approximately 1.5 tokens (common in natural language processing), this results in an average of 15.75 tokens per query.

Given that Rufus' infrastructure was built to process 3 million tokens per minute, Rufus' handled approximately 190,476 queries per minute. 

Over a 24-hour period, this translates to a capacity of 274.3 million queries per day.

Amazon receives approximately 2 billion searches per day, thus Rufus accounts for ~13.7% of these in October '24.

This percentage is growing rapidly, and we expect it could reach 25-35% by the end of 2025.

Read the full Ecomtent blog - here 

🔥 HIDDEN SEO STRATEGIES THAT YOU ARE MISSING! | DAN KURTZ 

Here’s 10 Takeaways From This Episode:

1. Own Your Brand Across Platforms – Secure your business name on all major social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Reddit) and niche platforms like Medium and Quora to establish omnipresence and increase brand discoverability.

2. Utilize Zero-Click SEO Strategies – Google is prioritizing zero-click searches, meaning answers appear without users clicking on a website. Optimize for featured snippets, FAQs, and Google Business Profile updates to still get traffic.

3. Leverage Press Releases for SEO & Authority – Distribute press releases to 400+ news outlets to get high-authority backlinks and boost rankings. These are safe, white-hat links that help establish brand credibility.

4. Automate Content Distribution – Use IFTTT (If This Then That) or Make.com to syndicate blog posts, images, and updates across multiple platforms (Google Drive, Medium, LinkedIn, Blogger, etc.) for automatic backlink generation.

5. Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile – This is critical for both local businesses and online brands. Post weekly updates, create events, and add product listings with shoppable links to drive free traffic to Amazon or Shopify.

6. Use Reddit & Quora for Backlinks & Traffic – Join discussions in relevant subreddits or answer Quora questions related to your niche. Insert valuable insights with natural links to your content to drive traffic and build authority.

7. Build Authority with Google Knowledge Panels – Google recognizes authority figures and brands through structured data. Ensure your socials, press mentions, and content are interconnected to trigger a Google Knowledge Panel.

8. Use Google Drive for SEO Benefits – Public Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides with embedded links act as high-authority backlinks (Google loves its own properties). Update these regularly and build backlinks to them for better rankings.

9. Don’t Ignore Backlinks for Amazon Listings – Even if selling on Amazon, building backlinks to your product listing can increase rankings and visibility in Amazon search. Affiliate marketers can outrank you if you don’t protect your rankings.

10. Create an AI-Optimized Content Strategy – AI-driven SEO now requires humanized, engaging content. Use ChatGPT or Perplexity to refine tone and branding, and make sure your content feels genuine and insightful rather than robotic.

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

🚀 TOP 10 APPS FOR ENTREPRENEURS!

• Krisp – Noise-Free Calls & Meetings - Background noise is distracting, but Crisp eliminates it completely. Whether you’re in a noisy coffee shop or have barking dogs, this AI-powered tool ensures your Zoom calls and webinars sound professional.

• SaneBox – Smart Email Management - Drowning in emails? SaneBox uses AI to sort your inbox, prioritizing important messages and filtering out distractions. It saves hours each week by keeping your inbox organized automatically.

• Loom – Quick Video Messaging - Need to explain something fast? Loom lets you record and share screen videos in seconds. Perfect for team training, client onboarding, and giving feedback—without the hassle of scheduling meetings.

• StreamYard – Professional Live Streaming - StreamYard makes going live on Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn effortless. It supports multi-platform streaming, guest interviews, and screen sharing—perfect for content creators and coaches.

• Remove.bg – One-Click Background Removal - Want cleaner, more professional images? Remove.bg instantly removes image backgrounds, making it easy to create polished marketing graphics and social media posts.

• Evernote – AI-Powered Note-Taking - Capture ideas, organize notes, and collaborate seamlessly with Evernote. It syncs across devices and uses AI to help you find what you need instantly.

• Flow – Task & Team Management - Keeping track of daily tasks and projects is easy with Flow. It’s a simple yet powerful to-do list and project management tool that helps teams stay organized and meet deadlines.

• Google Drive – Cloud-Based File Organization - Store, share, and collaborate seamlessly with Google Drive. From documents to video files, it keeps everything accessible across devices for better workflow.

• TubeBuddy – YouTube Growth & SEO - For content creators, TubeBuddy is a must-have. It provides keyword insights, competition analysis, and video SEO tools to help grow your YouTube channel faster.

• Notion – All-in-One Workspace - Notion combines note-taking, project management, and databases in one platform. Use it to organize workflows, manage content, and streamline business processes.

🚀 CATCH UP WITH THE MARKETING MISFITS!

🚨 SIMPLE FIXES TO SKYROCKET WEBSITE CONVERSIONS [CRO TIPS]

Here are my favorite TIPS from this episode!

1. Place Your Phone Number in the Top Right Corner: Even if people don’t call as much as they used to, a visible phone number signals trust and credibility. It reassures visitors that your company is real and accessible, increasing conversions.

2. Avoid Entry Pop-Ups: While pop-ups can be useful in some cases, immediate entry pop-ups frustrate visitors and often decrease conversion rates. Instead, use exit-intent pop-ups or contextual pop-ups that appear when the user has engaged with the site.

3. Use Action-Oriented CTA Buttons: Avoid generic CTA text like “Submit.” Instead, use clear, benefit-driven text such as “Get My Free Quote” or “Schedule a Call with an Expert” to make the action feel more purposeful and engaging.

4. Optimize Your Lead Forms for Engagement: If you require multiple fields, break them into a two-step process. First, ask for an email, then follow up with more details. This reduces friction and improves completion rates.

5. Leverage Heatmaps & Visitor Recordings: Use Microsoft Clarity (a free tool) or Hotjar to analyze user behavior. Watch where visitors drop off, where they click, and what confuses them—then optimize based on real data.

   🚨 Watch the full episode here

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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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