The Unofficial TikTok Shop Podcast with Jordan West

Send us a text

Perceived value is everything. When a customer sees a high level of credibility in your brand, they will most likely be willing to pay for your products because a high level of credibility comes with a high level of trust.   

In this episode, Norman Farrar, one of the first Amazon consultants, shares the strategies he has used for years to increase the perceived value of the products he sells.

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• What's hot right now is product innovation. You don't want to put time, effort, and money into a product everyone else is selling. 
• Press releases get you traffic and great content.
• Press release writing is different from writing a blog article.
• The title is everything. Put keywords in your title but make it engaging. Do not make it promotional, make it newsworthy.
• Put your press release article on your website or in the news or media room.
• A lot of entrepreneurs have a pretty big ego thinking that somebody is going to look for their company - but that’s not going to happen.
• A lot of the social media-style press releases won't get you a lot of traffic, but rather, lends itself to brand authority in your space.
• Don't do just one, do ongoing high-quality press releases.
• Paying bigger bucks for social media press releases that will get you national exposure and great results will be worth every penny.
• Perceived value is everything.
• Brand consistency is like press releases. Authority equals trust and trust equals sales.

Recommended App:
Data Dive https://www.godatadrive.com 

Recommended Podcast:
Lunch with Norm https://www.lunchwithnorm.com 

Today’s Guest:

Norman Farrar was one of the first Amazon consultants back in 2014 and now manages an Amazon services company and has Honu and Netfluence

Honu Worldwide is a sourcing company and Netfluence is a content and influencer marketing company. 

Connect and learn more about Norman Farrar here: 

Website:  https://www.normanfarrar.com
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/normanfarrar
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/normanfarrar
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/normfarrarjr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norman.farrar.9  
E-mail Address: [email protected]

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today.

Send us a text

Black Friday is the biggest shopping period of the year. This is a massive opportunity and brands should be well-prepared.

In this episode, Jordan West talks about his tried and tested tips to prepare for Black Friday sales.

Listen up and enjoy this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Black Friday is famously the best time for people to open up their wallets, and this year is no exception. Even with the looming recession that we’re in right now- this is the time to sell.
• There’s going to be a longer sales season. 65% of people say that they are going to make their purchases before Black Friday.
• Make sure that the user experience on your website is going well. This starts with your site speed.
• Double down on your top sales channels.
• Create a contingency plan. Make sure that you understand what you are going to do if the sale that you launched doesn’t go crazy.
• Serve shoppers in person. If you have a warehouse, run a Black Friday Warehouse sale to bring people in and experience your brand more. 
• Have your delivery strategy down. Make your customers understand that it might take a longer time for their products to be delivered.
• Look into Late Shipment.

Connect with Jordan here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today.

Send us a text

When you see something that is working for you and your business, ride that wave and never stop.

In this episode, Jordan interviews Tray Brunner and Mariah Steen of Bamboo Ave. They talk about what they learned from working at Meta and how it equated to an incredible business success.

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Feedback will help you evolve your business.
• Focus on establishing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and hiring the right people.
• When you have a wave that you are riding, keep riding it. Don't stop!
• Hire a passionate creator for your brand to create organic content.
• Always connect with people with your content.
• Build a die-hard community that is as obsessed with your brand as you.
• Build trust as you build your brand.

Recommended App:
Klaviyo https://www.klaviyo.com/
Blyp https://www.blyp.ai

Recommended Book and Podcast:
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Phil-Knight-audiobook/dp/B01CRJA470 

Ready, Set, Spill!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ready-set-spill/id1607915033
https://podcasts.google.com/search/Ready%2C%20Set%2C%20Spill%21 

Today’s Guest:

Tray Brunner and Mariah Steen are the founders of Bamboo Ave., a versatile adventure-wear brand that’s built to handle spontaneous lifestyles.

Connect and learn more about Tray, Mariah, and Bamboo Ave. here: 

Bamboo Ave.
Website: https://bambooave.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bambooave/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bambooave 

Mariah Steen
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariahsteen/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariah_steen 

Tray Brunner
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trayvondre/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tray_brunner 

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today.

Send us a text

Many D2C brands view wholesale as a dying industry, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Pairing wholesale and D2C together is a powerful combination as the two work so well in tandem. 

In this episode, Dusty Zeiner of Maileg talks about how their business transformed from wholesale to D2C. He shares the advantages of being a wholesale business first before going online and other practical tips for your e-commerce brands.

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Wholesale and D2C work well together.
• You make a smaller margin on wholesale business but you're not spending money on the digital acquisition of customers.
• Sometimes, you have to think if having sales reps works for your brand and decide to move away from it.
• You have to think of different ways to talk to different customers.
• Wholesale is the best acquisition for D2C.
• Going to tradeshows is not as expensive as one might think. Meeting new customers pays for the price.
• Learn to turn intuition into a decision.
• Not everything will work for every business in the same industry.
• Most decisions in business can be reversed if they are not working. 

Recommended Apps:
Evernote https://evernote.com/
Voice Memos

Recommended Podcast Audiobook:
Dune by Frank Herbert
https://www.audible.com/pd/Dune-Audiobook/B002V1OF70 

Recommended Podcast:
SmartLess
https://www.smartless.com/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smartless/id1521578868
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9wdnpoeURRbg
https://www.youtube.com/c/SmartLess 

Today’s Guest:

Dusty Zeiner is the CEO of Maileg North America

Maileg is a Danish brand that makes a wide variety of toy collections.

Connect and learn more about Dusty and Maileg here:
Website:  https://www.maileg.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/maileg
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustyzeiner 

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today.

Send us a text

Honing in on your attribution unlocks the ability to accurately figure out where you should be spending your money. In the long run, it helps you scale up in the most efficient way possible.

In this episode, Jordan West talks about how to weigh certain types of attribution and the channels that are driving business.

Listen and enjoy this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Your Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) comes into play when you’re doing marketing activities that aren't able to be tracked accurately.
• Google Analytics is the least effective to look at the actual return on ad spend and cost per acquisition.
• In-platform data weighing tends to lean towards them getting more credit on the platform. It's not always the case but it is not working right now.
• Triple Whale gives us a much more robust look at the customer journey.
• Post-purchase survey data weighs the heaviest because it gives data on where the customer first saw you and additional placements that may have been exposed to.
• When you can weigh all of these things together, it helps you put together a picture that ultimately will lead to scaling up what you are doing.

Connect with Jordan here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today.

Send us a text

When you build a community, you’re taking people with you on your journey and you let them grow your brand with you. The more organic and authentic the community is, the more it makes people stay. 

In this episode, Tom Worcester of Lunchbox Packs talks about building real physical communities around their brand and shares the way they scaled substantially 5 times this year with little to no paid advertising.

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Try to get in front of people and let them know that you have an answer to their problems.
• Building a community among people with the same interests and values is easier.
• An authentic community will keep people coming back and even bring more people to it.
• Great people are self-driven, smart, and can understand the big picture.
• When you bring on great people, empower, and trust them, there's no need to manage.
• Never take your foot off the gas of quality.

Recommended Tool:
Northbeam https://www.northbeam.io/ 

Recommended Book:
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30186948-think-and-grow-rich 

Subject Matter with Ben Bradbury
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/subject-matter/id1441317702 

Today’s Guest:

Tom Worcester is the founder of Lunchbox Packs, a brand that provides hydration bags and fanny packs for festivals and concerts.

Connect and learn more about Tom and Lunchbox Packs here:
Website:  https://www.lunchboxpacks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunchboxpacks/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lunchboxpacks 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/tzwor

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today. 

Send us a text

Influencer marketing has been a popular form of online marketing for years now. To make the most out of this type of marketing, you have to continuously improve your products, work with the right people, and find the right platforms to be on.

In this episode, Jordan sits down with Brendan Zheng and Mandrea Weber of Fancii & Co. They talk about how they're flipping the script with their influencers and the way they handle them. They also share the platform that gives them the best results.

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Fancii's influencer marketing program started with customers already using its products.
• Fancii gets the best influencer marketing results from Facebook.
• Influencer content should always be organic.
• Use Amazon as a way to gather ideas on new and exciting products in your business industry.
• Amazon is still the biggest marketplace in the world. A lot of searches begin on Amazon.
• User-generated contents are always great to communicate with your audience.
• It’s important to have an amazing core team.
• There are always different challenges in business and it is important not to be afraid to pivot.

Recommended Tools:
Social IQ  https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/socialiq-influencer-marke/edpcocadldfbbpllhfkfcebnpigleamn 

Later https://later.com/ 

Canva https://www.canva.com/ 

Recommended Book and Podcast:
The Power of Female Entrepreneurs
How I Built This with Guy Raz

Today’s Guest:

Brendan Zheng is the owner and CEO of Fancii & Co.
Mandrea Weber is a co-founder at Fancii & Co.

Fancii & Co. is a D2C brand that specializes in lighted mirrors & premium beauty tools to make you shine from the outside, in.

Connect and learn more about Fancii here: 

Website: https://fancii.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fanciico/
TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@fanciiandco 

Bacon and Eggs https://baconandeggsmedia.com/ 

This month's sponsor is Triple Whale.  Triple Whale's powerful analytics platform clarifies your ad performance across channels, keeping you instantly in the know. Hit trytriplewhale.com/upgrowth and use our custom promo code provided on the link for 15% off today.

Send us a text

When consumers love your brand, they should be able to reach and access you from almost every outlet possible. Always be open, be versatile, and do not limit yourself.  

In this episode, Yoni Mazor, CGO of Getida, talks about Amazon and selling on different channels. He also shares his growth throughout the years. 

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• When you offer your products on Amazon, logistically speaking, you have two main options.

1. Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) - you have your fulfillment center or use a third-party logistics center that will store your inventory and once the orders come in from the marketplace, they're going to pick, pack, and fulfill them.
2. Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) - you can ship in bulk all your inventory to Amazon's fulfillment centers.

• If there are lost products, Amazon will activate their insurance policy and within this policy, they will provide reimbursement or refund.
• The Amazon industry is still growing. The only thing is that it's going slower than it was in the past two years.
• As long as you have a good quality product with a competitive price, you should be on Amazon.
• It's a reality that there are so many consumers out there that you don't have access to, but Amazon has them and their wallet is pretty much opened up. 
• List your product on Amazon and make it as beautiful as you can. You can drive traffic to it the way you drive traffic successfully into your website.
• Don't limit yourself. Think worldwide.
• You have to be versatile, you have to be everywhere, and you have to be a strong business.
• If you are versatile and you become a big brand, you are still a business even if your website or Amazon shuts down for whatever reason.
• When you put commitment, brilliance, intelligence, creativity, energy, and love as a professional into what you do, scaling becomes second nature.

Recommended App:

Slack https://www.slack.com 

Recommended Audiobook: Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham

Today’s Guest:

Yoni Mazor is a co-founder and the Chief Growth Officer of Getida. 

Getida is a technology company with the mission to help eCommerce brands with their auditing needs. 

Connect and learn more about Yoni and Getida here:
Website:  https://www.getida.com
Page: https://www.getida.com/yoni-info 

This month’s sponsor is OneLab Group, and Oracle NetSuite Partner who specializes in DTC companies.   They simplify the complex when it comes to building a scalable digital operations platform.  Visit www.onelabgroup.com to connect with them now. 

Send us a text

People want to feel that they are getting value out of their money and most of them want discounts. As an eCommerce brand, your job is to come up with the most creative ways to maximize your sales and profit, while still giving a compelling offer.

In this episode, Jordan West talks about Black Friday discounting, what kind of deals to run, when to start, and how long to run them.

Listen and enjoy this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• If you want customers in 2022, you have to have a discount.
• Do a reverse sale. Let your customers know that the prices will be going up on a certain date and call them to get the products before the prices increase.
• As soon as you start running discounts all the time, people wait for those discounts.
• Do different types of discounts and be creative with them. 
• Set shipping cut-off timelines for this December.
• Run a VIP flash sale.

Connect with Jordan here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/

This month’s sponsor is OneLab Group, and Oracle NetSuite Partner who specializes in DTC companies.   They simplify the complex when it comes to building a scalable digital operations platform.  Visit www.onelabgroup.com to connect with them now. 

Send us a text

What you think will work may not always work and what worked before may not work anymore. It is important to move fast and test everything necessary to see what sticks.

In this episode, Jordan West and Tim Keen talk about what is working in 2022 and the fundamentals that brands are not trying these days.

Listen and learn in this episode!

KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE

• Don't worry about the algorithm. Have good creatives and do what other brands aren't doing.
• Do whitelisting - running ads through non-brand handles.
• You need to do one of two things or both-- build a relationship with an influencer or create media pages of your own.
• Bring up whitelisting early in the conversation when building a relationship.
• It doesn't matter how big their page or following is. The point is it doesn't look like the brand's handle.
• People don't come to Instagram to look at ads. They want to look at content that they are interested in.
• Some of the landing pages that you can do are 5 Reasons Why, Sales Pages with FAQs and reviews, and Quizzes 
• TikTok-style ads or User-generated content are working best.
• The brands doing well and scaling on Facebook have native-looking content.
• Throw everything at the wall and test what sticks.
• Be willing to test, which means testing something that is not necessarily your favorite thing.
• Be willing to do whatever the account needs. Don't stick to what you think is going to work.

Recommended App:
Moloco
https://www.moloco.com 

Today’s Guest:

Tim Keen is a co-founder and the CEO of  Loop Club, a marketing agency dedicated to helping businesses and startups become more efficient and profitable.

Connect and learn more about Tim Keen here:
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-keen 

This month’s sponsor is OneLab Group, an Oracle NetSuite Partner who specializes in DTC companies.   They simplify the complex when it comes to building a scalable digital operations platform.  Visit www.onelabgroup.com to connect with them now.