Lunch With Norm
Posts
[LWN] 😱 Trapped in a Foreign Country...

[LWN] 😱 Trapped in a Foreign Country...

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

April 28, 2025 • Estimated Read Time: 15 minutes

😱 Trapped in a Foreign Country…

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

😱 Trapped in a Foreign Country… [True Story]
🚨 The Ports are Quiet
🌎 Amazon News and Updates
🚀 7 Steps to Launch Your Business
✅ Smarter Meetings with Less Busy Work [AI Lesson]

😱 Trapped In a Foreign Country… [TRUE STORY]

About thirty years ago, my brother and I booked a last-minute flight to Taiwan.

And when I say last-minute, I mean we grabbed the two worst seats on the plane - right at the back, jammed beside the bathroom.

No seat recline.

Constant lineup of people.

A symphony of flushing toilets for fifteen straight hours.

It was memorable…

We finally landed and shuffled off the plane.

I made it through customs no problem.

My brother, though... not so lucky.

Somewhere during the flight, someone had pickpocketed him.

Passport… Gone.

ID… Gone.

Everything he needed to get into the country… Gone.

Cue the panic.

Luckily, we had a factory in Taiwan, and our general manager and her husband showed up just in time.

They talked to customs, vouched for my brother, and somehow miraculously, they let him through.

No passport.

No ID.

Just a couple of trustworthy faces and some frantic explaining.

I couldn’t believe it.

He was able to sort it all out later at the Canadian embassy, and when it was finally time to fly home, you better believe we upgraded those seats.

Business lesson:

You can survive a disaster if you have strong relationships.

If we didn’t have trusted people on the ground - people who knew us, believed in us, and were willing to step up - we would’ve been absolutely stuck.

Relationships aren’t just "nice to have" in business.

They’re your insurance policy for when things hit the fan.

— Norm

Don’t forget to subscribe to my favorite newsletter 👇

	Billion Dollar SellersCutting Through the Clutter for the World's Top Amazon & E-Commerce Sellers

👇THE TOP MUST READ STORIES THIS WEEK 👇

🚨 Trump backs down on China tariffs day after meeting with CEOs - Read More

🔥 India under tariff pressure to give Amazon and Walmart full market access - Read More

🌎 More than a third of global consumers are willing to pay more for sustainability as demand grows for environmentally-friendly alternatives - Read More

📈 Maximize impact with Amazon DSP bid adjustments - Read More

🛒 Amazon & Walmart sellers hoard goods in Canada to wait out tariffs - Read More

🧐 Amazon allows some sellers to boost prices without repercussions - Read More

🚨 Have news stories you want me to cover? Send them to [email protected]

🔥 IT’S GETTING UGLY AT THE PORTS

Chinese freight ship traffic to busiest U.S. ports, Los Angeles, Long Beach, sees steep drop.

April 23rd 2025 - An empty port of Seattle

If you haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on at the ports lately, here’s the short version:

Since April 7, 2025, U.S. ports, especially big ones like the Port of Los Angeles, have seen a major drop in Chinese freight traffic. We’re talking a 35% dip in import volumes almost overnight.

Why?

The new 145% tariffs that kicked in on April 9 slammed the brakes on shipments from China.

Shipping companies are saying bookings out of China have dropped by 60%—and it’s not just boats. Air freight out of China to the U.S. has dropped about 30% too.

If you’re selling physical products right now, expect higher prices, longer lead times, and maybe even some empty shelves this year.

Some companies are scrambling to reroute supply chains through places like Vietnam and Cambodia, where there’s a temporary 90-day tariff pause.

It’s helping a little, but it’s not a full fix.

Bottom Line:

Chinese imports are way down.
Shortages and higher costs are coming.
Southeast Asia might ease some pressure, but it’s not enough to patch the hole yet.

Check out my top 10 tips from my latest youtube channel at the bottom of this newsletter with Titan Network’s Dan Ashburn!

🚨 Read more → Here

🚀 THE ART OF THE START

7 KEYS TO LAUNCH YOU NEW BUSINESS (FROM START. SCALE. EXIT. REPEAT)

1. Solve a Real Problem: Start by solving a problem for yourself, then scale that solution for others.

2. Fall in Love with Your Idea: Your passion will keep you going when the tough times hit (and trust me, they will).

3. Choose a Scalable Idea: Pick something that can grow fast and wide without you doing all the work.

4. Defend Your Idea: Be ready to protect your concept - intellectual property, branding, and a strong market position matter.

5. Partner with Opposites: Hire or partner with people who have complementary skills and different personality profiles - if you’re ops-minded, find a killer salesperson to balance you out.

6. Set Up a SMART Stage Gate: Create Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals (e.g. “Land 10 distributors by Sept 1, 2025”) - If you miss the mark, pivot or kill it.

7. Establish KPIs Early: Define your Key Performance Indicators from day one so you always know if you’re winning or just spinning.

Bonus Tip:

Join an Incubator or Find a Mentor: Entrepreneurs with mentors are 3X more likely to succeed - SCORE (in the U.S.) offers free mentorship programs, and local incubators can be a game-changer.

EXTRA Bonus:

Stock Up on the Right Books: Start with Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat. Axiom Top Book of 2025 for Entrepreneurship. The ultimate guide for launching, growing, and selling a business.

Get freebies by sharing the newsletter!

🚨 MOST SELLERS RELY ON ADS TO GROW

🚨Get My Shift Calculation → 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!

🔥 SMARTER MEETINGS MINUS THE BUSY WORK [AI WALKTHROUGH]

^{Brought to you by}^Futurepedia

I found this new tool, that’s a gamechanger when it comes to meetings.

Use Fellow to:

Build clear, collaborative meeting agendas.
Automate human-level notes, decisions, and action items.
Summarize & share polished meeting recaps with one click.
Organize all your meetings into a searchable, secure library.

Here’s how you can put it to work.

Step 1: Set and Load Your Agenda

Before the meeting starts, open Fellow and create an agenda. Add your topics—and let attendees add theirs—so everyone shows up prepped.

Note: We don’t actually have a big meeting with OpenAI, but one can dream!

Step 2: Link Fellow to Your Meeting Platform

Fellow joins your Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet call and captures the conversation. Launch Companion Mode to keep your agenda visible while Fellow’s AI captures:

Notes
Action items
Key decisions

If you need to pause recording for sensitive moments, you’re in full control.

Step 3: Create and Share a Full, Shareable Recap

Right after the meeting, Fellow generates an instant professional summary

Meeting notes
Action items
Full transcript with clickable timestamps

You can tweak the summary if needed and then easily share it via Slack, email, or project management tools.

Need just one key part?

Clip it and send only what matters most to your team.

Step 4: Put it into Action

Assign tasks to owners and push them directly into your workflow. Fellow integrates with Asana, ClickUp, Trello, HubSpot, and even automatically updates CRM fields.

Step 5: Create a Searchable Archive - for Every Meeting

Use Channels to organize meetings by client, team, or project, making Fellow your meeting memory.

Sensitive discussion?

Use redaction tools to erase parts you don’t want on the permanent record.

Let me know what you think!

🚨 If you would like to learn more about AI and want courses, resources and bootcamps, check out → FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 MOST SELLERS WON’T SURVIVE THIS...

Here’s 10 Takeaways From This Episode:

Accept That Tariffs Are Here—Adapt Quickly
Complaining won’t change it. Tariffs are active and will impact costs. The brands that adjust now (sourcing, pricing, messaging) will survive and thrive.
Audit Your Current Product Portfolio for Tariff Exposure
Review your products’ HS (Harmonized System) codes immediately. Identify which ones are affected by the new tariff rates, and prioritize strategic decisions around them.
Talk to Your Suppliers About Sharing the Tariff Burden
Open a dialogue with your factories about absorbing some tariff costs. Suppliers who value long-term partnerships may split or reduce costs with you to maintain business.
Consider Reclassifying Your Product
Engage a trade attorney or customs expert to explore legitimate reclassification opportunities. Small changes to packaging, assembly, or labeling can sometimes shift products into lower-tariff categories.
Diversify Supply Chains—But Be Strategic
Don’t just rush to Vietnam, India, or Mexico blindly. Analyze the total landed cost, production capacity, and quality control. Plan methodically before moving manufacturing.
Negotiate Payment Terms to Ease Cash Flow
With added tariffs straining margins, negotiate 30/60/90 day payment terms with suppliers to create breathing room without immediately raising prices.
Communicate Price Increases Smartly to Customers
If you must raise prices, explain it with transparency: tariffs, cost increases, supply chain challenges. Customers are more forgiving when you control the narrative.
Bundle Products to Protect Margins
Increase average order value without raising prices by offering bundles, kits, or value packs. This spreads tariff costs across more units and preserves profitability.
Invest in Brand and Differentiation Now
Generic, commoditized products will suffer most. Focus on building a real brand with clear positioning, better packaging, stronger customer relationships, and product uniqueness.
Stay Informed and Stay Flexible
Tariff lists and trade policies can change fast. Regularly monitor updates, and keep flexible sourcing, logistics, and financial plans in place to adapt quickly when new announcements hit.

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

MEET YOUR NEW IN-HOUSE AMAZON CREATIVE TEAM!

_{Sponsored Post}

House of AMZ is the leader in combining marketing & branding with a laser focus on Amazon.

Their team specializes in Full Listing Graphics, Premium A+ Content, Storefront Design, Branding, Photography, Renderings, Packaging Design etc.

With 9+ years in the space- skip the guesswork, trust the experts. No fees, no retainers, pay per project!

🚨 Elevate your brand with House of AMZ → HERE

🔥 HOW SMART BUSINESSES ARE USING AI TO 10X THEIR INCOME

Here are my favorite TIPS from this episode!

Use AI Masterminds to Solve Business Problems
Create custom GPTs to create “panels” around experts (e.g., Kevin King, Perry Belcher, Mr.Beast) and simulate mastermind sessions where the AI experts ask questions, debate solutions, and give answers for your brand.
Leverage YouTube for Long-Term Sales Growth
YouTube content has a long shelf life compared to TikTok. Focus on titles, thumbnails, and the first 3 seconds to maximize engagement. Post "how-to" videos related to your products to drive traffic organically for years.
Enhance Emails with AI Timing and Personalization
Use tools like Inbox Mailers to send emails exactly when customers are online. Pair it with AI personalization—like referencing customers’ pets or hobbies scraped from social media—to skyrocket open rates and engagement.
Replace Staff with AI Content Pipelines
Norm replaced 20 human writers with an AI-driven content system for press releases, keeping only one senior human editor for final checks. You can automate repetitive writing tasks like product descriptions, blog posts, and press releases
Pre-Train AI on Your Brand Voice Before Hiring Humans
Instead of training new team members from scratch, upload your best blogs, emails, and customer feedback into a private AI tool. Then use it to generate content examples, tone guides, and customer avatars — so new hires have a complete brand playbook on day one.