🤦‍♂️ I Got Caught Lying...

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

• 🤦‍♂️ I Got Caught Lying… [True Story]

• 💰 The 1% of Amazon Sellers

• 🦞 Everything You Need to Know About Moltbolt

• ⚒️ Turn Your FAQ Doc Into Your Own Assistant [How to Guide]

• 🔥 How a Joke Turned Into a Cigar Empire

🤦‍♂️ I Got Caught Lying… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in 1977, my dad and uncle owned a campground right near the Quebec and U.S. border.

It was the kind of place where you met people you’d never forget.

And that’s where I met George.

George and his family stayed all summer at the campground.

He was 17, from Point Charles in Montreal. Back then, it was a pretty tough neighborhood.

He was loyal, funny, and overall a solid guy but he definitely had an edge to him.

We clicked right away and became close friends.

One day, George showed up with a brand-new motorcycle.

He was extremely proud of his bike.

One afternoon he said, “Hey, did you want to take it for a spin?”

I said “No”.

I had never rode a motorcycle before.

He insisted, and I said “No” again.

Then “No” a third time.

Eventually, he wore me down.

How hard could it be?

So I hopped on, fired it up, and took off down the road.

Here’s the problem.

Nobody told me motorcycles had gears…

I rode that thing for a couple of miles, engine screaming, thinking I was doing great.

I felt like I was flying.

Then the bike stalled.

I stood there staring at it in disbelief.

I was stuck in the middle of nowhere so I did the only thing I could do, I pushed it.

By the time I got it back, I was exhausted.

I handed the bike to George and said, “I don’t know what happened but I think the engine seized.”

He couldn’t believe it.

A week later, he came back after taking it to a mechanic.

He asked me one question.

“Did you change gears?”

I instantly said, “Oh yeah, of course.”

I was too scared to admit I didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle.

I didn’t even know they had gears.

Apparently, the oil had overheated so badly that it basically turned into glue.

I destroyed something my friend worked so hard for.

So I came clean.

I told George the truth and we made an agreement that I would pay for the repair.

Over the next few months, every dollar I made went to paying off that bike.

My dad had no idea that my entire summer’s pay went towards fixing my mistake.

But I was able to sleep at night because I knew it was the right thing to do.

Business Lesson

Own your mistakes.

Things will inevitably break in business. What matters most is how you handle it.

You can make excuses, you can shift blame or you can take responsibility and pay the price of your mistake.

Trust is built when you step up, even when nobody is watching.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🤖 How AI conversations are replacing traditional search results for retail  

🚀 Lowe’s tests AI voice agents to handle customer calls across all stores

🚢 2026 Supply Chain Trends: Problem solving labor shortages, robotics, and warehouse constraints

🔥 Amazon's seller pricing limits face Canadian review  

💰 Amazon Deemed Seller VAT fraud reform would raise tax revenues and tackle fraud

🛒 Walmart earnings, spending data, and more AI disruptions: What to watch this week

🔍 OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI

💰 The Top 1% of Sellers Now Drive 50% of Amazon’s 3P GMV

This is one of the most important Amazon data points I’ve seen in a while, because it confirms what top operators have been feeling for the last two years:

Amazon is becoming a power-law marketplace where a large portion of sales on a marketplace is generated by a small fraction of its sellers population.

Fewer than 8,000 sellers now generate 50% of Amazon’s U.S. third-party GMV.

That’s roughly $150B of the estimated $300B in U.S. third-party GMV. And those 8,000 sellers represent only 1.6% of the active U.S. seller base.

In 2023, it took about 15,000 sellers to generate that same 50%.

That means Amazon’s revenue concentration at the top has nearly doubled in less than three years.

Amazon has also gotten more expensive to operate.

Between:

• rising FBA fees

• advertising inflation

• margin pressure

• tariffs

• higher customer expectations

• and stricter performance metrics

Amazon rewards more than ever sellers that have operational sophistication and capital reserves.

The Concentration Is Extreme at Every Level

The distribution is sharp across all tiers:

• 111 sellers generate 10% of 3P GMV

• 1,020 sellers generate 25%

• 7,760 sellers generate 50%

And the active U.S. seller base is estimated around 500,000 sellers (defined as receiving at least one seller feedback in the past year).

Even though the number of sellers in the “top 50% GMV” cohort dropped from 15,000 to 7,760, the GMV they represent grew from about $115B to $150B.

So the pie got bigger, and fewer sellers captured it. This has pushed average revenue per seller in this cohort to nearly $20M annually, more than doubling.

Another detail that matters: U.S. sellers dominate the top end economically.

• U.S. sellers represent 55% of the top cohort

• but control 67% of their combined GMV

Chinese sellers represent 41% of the cohort, but generate 30% of the GMV.

So yes, China is heavily present but the biggest revenue density is still coming from U.S.-based operators.

The $5M+ Tier Is Now the Real Threshold

Every seller in this 7,760 group is doing at least $5M per year, and there are around 9,000 sellers total in the $5M+ tier.

That tells me something simple: $5M/year has become the minimum scale where Amazon becomes truly defensible.

The sellers who win in 2026 will not be the ones with the most products.

They will be the ones with the best systems.

Because Amazon is no longer a platform where you “get lucky” and stay lucky.

It’s a platform where the top 1.6% are building machines, and everyone else is competing against the machine.

🚀 Read more here

🦞 Everything You Need to Know About the Viral Personal AI Assistant

Moltbot is the latest AI agent to go viral, and it has a very simple pitch:

It’s an AI assistant that actually takes actions

Moltbot was launched as a scrappy project built by one developer, Austrian founder Peter Steinberger (@steipete).

What Makes Moltbot Different?

• Self-hosted: Runs on your own hardware (Mac, Linux, Windows via WSL2, Raspberry Pi)

• Multi-channel: Connects to 10+ messaging platforms simultaneously

• Extensible: Plugin-based architecture with a growing skills marketplace (ClawdHub)

• Proactive: Can reach out to you with reminders, updates, and insights

• Agent-capable: Supports multi-agent orchestration and autonomous task execution

It originally went by Clawdbot, a lobster-themed name inspired by Anthropic’s Claude, but it was forced to rebrand after a legal challenge. The new name is Moltbot, and the lobster theme stayed.

Moltbot can do real tasks like:

• manage your calendar

• send messages through apps

• check you in for flights

• automate workflows across your computer

It racked up over 44,200+ GitHub stars in a very short time. Cloudflare’s stock also jumped 14% premarket after social buzz tied Moltbot’s rise to Cloudflare infrastructure used to run it locally.

But it does come with a risk, and it’s called prompt injection through content.

In plain terms, someone can send you a message on WhatsApp or another app that tricks the agent into taking actions you didn’t intend, without you noticing in time.

Moltbot is open source, which helps. It can run locally instead of in the cloud, which also helps. But neither of those removes the core issue:

Autonomy + Permissions = Exposure.

The safest way to run Moltbot today is in a silo:

• a separate machine or VPS

• throwaway accounts

• no access to your password manager, API keys, or sensitive files

That setup defeats the whole point of a personal assistant, which is why this is still early adopter territory.

Moltbot is a real glimpse of where AI agents are headed.

🚀  Read more 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!

⚒️ Turn Your FAQ Doc Into a Consistent Response Assistant

Level: Medium

How We Did It

Here’s the setup we used, plus a few tweaks that make it safer and easier to reuse across a team.

1. Open Gems & start from “New Gem”

Inside of Google Gemini, open the left panel and click Gems, then choose New Gem. This puts you in a simple builder where the Gem’s behavior is controlled by one instruction block, not a fresh prompt every time.

2. Name the Gem like a job title, not a feature

Use a name that tells your team exactly when to use it, like “Customer Support Drafter” or “Lead Follow-Up Qualifier.”

Clear naming matters because Gems add up quickly, and the whole point is fast reuse without thinking.

3. Write instructions like you’re training a new hire

In the instruction box, describe the task, the rules, and the output format. Keep it tight and specific.

For example: tone rules, what to ask first, what to avoid, and what a “good” answer looks like.

Add constraints that reduce mistakes, like “If a request is unclear, ask one follow-up question” or “If the info is missing, state what you need before drafting.”

4. Add a small knowledge base for answers you repeat

Click the plus icon in the knowledge base area and upload your most-used references (up to 10 files). Good candidates: FAQs, brand voice guidelines, policy snippets, and approved templates.

This keeps the Gem grounded in your actual docs instead of guessing. It also helps teammates respond consistently without hunting through folders.

5. Save, pin, and use it with minimal input

Save the Gem, then pin it so it stays in the left sidebar. When a new request comes in, paste only what the Gem needs (the customer message, form submission, or lead details). Because the rules already live in the Gem, you can skip the long setup prompt and get straight to a draft.

6. Refine after real use, not before

After a few runs, edit the Gem and tighten the parts that caused weak outputs. Add one rule at a time, like “Offer two reply options” or “Include a 1-sentence summary up top.”

This is how the Gem becomes a reliable internal assistant instead of a one-off experiment.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 How a Joke Turned Into a Cigar Empire...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1) “Broker model” is the cleanest analogy for modern agencies and fractional operators

The cigar industry has 3 go-to-market models: pull-only brand, in-house reps, or broker (shared reps). Sellers should steal this framework for their own business decisions: when you’re too small to hire full-time specialists (creative, CRO, email, influencer, PR, SEO), you don’t need to “do it yourself.” You need a shared expert model (fractional, retainer, or performance-based) until the unit economics justify in-house. This is the clearest way to avoid premature hiring and avoid being trapped in freelancer chaos.

2) The real interview question is “Do you work yourself out of a job?”

Brandon’s million-dollar question is basically: “When we hit scale, are you going to replace me?” Sellers should apply this to every partner: agencies, influencers, distributors, even employees. The most dangerous partnerships are the ones where the other party’s incentive is to extract value until you’re strong enough to replace them. Advanced sellers structure deals so growth creates shared upside, not a trigger for renegotiation.

3) Commission-based relationships only work when trust is enforceable

This episode makes something very clear: in a commission model, the biggest risk is getting paid. Sellers should translate this directly into influencer/affiliate programs, agency rev-share, or wholesale reps. If you cannot enforce reporting, payout timelines, and auditability, the relationship becomes a cashflow liability. The advanced move is to treat commission models like finance: tight terms, clear triggers, and zero ambiguity.

4) Brand story beats product features, but only if the product clears a minimum quality bar

Once quality is acceptable, story becomes the differentiator. That is exactly how DTC brands win today. If your product is “good enough,” the advantage comes from: identity, association, community, and who the buyer feels they’re supporting. Sellers should stop over-investing in feature differences that customers don’t notice and start investing in story, credibility, and emotional association.

5) Loss leaders only work if you know what the “real profit center” is

Cigar lounges are a loss leader. The profit comes from customers who buy and leave, and from alcohol if available. Sellers should apply this to: low-margin entry SKUs, first-purchase discounts, bundles, and TikTok Shop affiliate seeding. The advanced insight is: loss leaders are not “cheap products.” They’re deliberate customer acquisition mechanisms that must connect to a higher-margin repeat purchase path.

6) The “third reorder rule” is how you should think about CAC payback

Brandon says he doesn’t really make money until the third reorder, because the relationship cost must be recovered. Sellers should steal this exact thinking for paid ads and creator seeding. The first purchase often doesn’t pay back CAC. The second purchase is where you stabilize. The third purchase is where you win. Advanced sellers stop measuring success by first-order ROAS and start measuring success by repeat rate, time-to-second-order, and LTV payback window.

7) Most industries are still run like it’s 2005… And that’s your edge

The cigar industry is archaic. Many shops use: note cards, no CRM, blind reorders, no placement strategy, and have no marketing discipline. Sellers should recognize this pattern everywhere. The advantage goes to operators who bring modern systems (CRM, reporting, attribution, inventory forecasting, segmentation) into industries that are culturally behind.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

⏳ My Dad's Best Lesson (I Still Use It Today)

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

• 🏒 Leave it at the Rink… [True Story]

• 👋 TikTok Shop Is Ending Independent Shipping

• 🚀 The New (AI) Frontier

• ⚒️ Make Your Own App [How to Guide]

• 🔥 Why You Feel Stuck as an Entrepreneur…

🚨 Kevin Kings Ecom Mastery AI featuring BDSS is happening in Nashville (April 8-12)! Use code: NASHVIILE for a special discount!

🏒 Leave it at the Rink… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the 1970s, I was playing hockey in Montreal.

And if you know anything about hockey back then, it was a completely different game.

This was the era of the Broad Street Bullies.

The Philadelphia Flyers were the team nobody wanted to play.

Elbows were part of the game, fighting was encouraged.

Some nights I had multiple fights in a single game.

My parents came to every game.

My dad especially.

He was an avid hockey player himself and loved being at the rink.

I was 15 and played as a forward. I had a reputation as a hard hitter.

One game, I remember getting absolutely smashed into the boards.

It knocked the wind out of me and I saw a guy on the other team laughing.

I remembered his number.

Later in the game, late in the third period we dropped the gloves and went at it.

Then the game over was over.

But I was still fired up.

I stormed out of the rink, spotted the guy, and started screaming at him to finish the fight.

His name was Marc and we went to the same school.

I was young, angry, and full of adrenaline.

Then my dad stepped between us in the parking lot.

He walked right between us, put his hands out, looked at me, and said something that stuck with me for the rest of my life.

Just five words: “Leave it in the rink.”

The fight was part of the game. and the anger was part of the moment.

But once you step off the ice, it’s over.

I didn’t fully appreciate that lesson at 15.

But I’ve carried it with me ever since, especially in business.

The Business Lesson

Sometimes business gets aggressive.

Deals fall apart. Emotions run hot. You battle for contracts, clients, market share, and positioning.

That’s all part of the game.

But once the meeting is over, once the deal is done, once you walk out of the room, you leave it there.

You don’t make things personal, you leave it at the rink.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚀 Germany fines Amazon €59 million for abusing market power in seller pricing 

🔥 Update to European Referral and Fulfilment by Amazon fees for 2026

🎰 Retail’s risky AI commerce bet

💰 The $10 Trillion State of E-Commerce

🚀 Layoffs jump in January and Walmart hits $1 trillion market cap  

👀 What to watch in retail in 2026

👋 TikTok Shop Is Ending Independent Shipping…

TikTok Shop is making a clean policy change with messy operational consequences.

Beginning February 25, 2026, and completing by March 31, 2026, U.S. sellers can no longer use independent shipping labels. That means your 3PL can’t simply ship TikTok orders using their negotiated carrier accounts and upload tracking the way they do for Shopify, Amazon, and wholesale.

TikTok is taking control of the shipping layer, and that changes who controls cost, speed, and customer experience.

This means:

• no more third-party label purchasing

• no more uploading tracking from external carrier accounts

Sellers onboarding after February 9, 2026 must comply immediately.

Going forward, sellers have three main paths:

1. Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT)
   Inventory goes into TikTok’s warehouses. TikTok ships. Inventory is locked to TikTok orders.

2. Upgraded TikTok Shipping
   You still fulfill from your warehouse or 3PL, but labels are purchased through TikTok’s system and TikTok selects the carrier.

3. Collections by TikTok (CBT)
   You pack orders. TikTok arranges pickup through their carrier network.

TikTok also suggests Amazon MCF may remain a permitted pathway, but details are still unclear.

Under TikTok’s model, TikTok controls:

• which carriers are used

• what rates are charged

• what “fast enough” means

Sellers will be moving from a model where you manage shipping to one where you will have to accept them.

The 3PL Integration Problem

TikTok has only approved a limited set of ERP/WMS integrations for their logistics services. If your 3PL’s warehouse management system isn’t supported, TikTok orders can become a manual workflow.

The Dispatch Window Is Tightening

TikTok also tightened dispatch requirements effective January 26, 2026: orders must be picked up and scanned within 2 business days, impacting your Late Dispatch Rate.

This is where fulfillment becomes a ranking and visibility issue, not just an ops issue. It’s also where Amazon MCF becomes risky. MCF can work, but scan timing varies, and TikTok cares about scans, not promises.

🚀 Read more here

🚀 The New (AI) Frontier

OpenAI just launched Frontier, an enterprise platform designed to help businesses deploy and operate AI agents at scale. If you’re a successful Amazon seller, this matters for one reason:

Frontier is a preview of how the best operators will run their businesses in 2026.

This is built for agents that do real work across systems, with the controls and reliability needed for serious operations.

What Frontier Actually Is:

Frontier is a centralized platform that helps organizations:

• Build agents

• Deploy agents

• Manage agents

• Control permissions and access

• Maintain shared context

• Evaluate performance over time

Agents need the same structure people do.

Frontier gives agents:

• onboarding

• shared company knowledge

• clear permissions and boundaries

• feedback loops to improve quality

Enterprises are already overwhelmed by disconnected systems across:

• data platforms

• internal tools

• CRMs

• ticketing systems

• analytics dashboards

Agents are now being deployed everywhere, but most of them are isolated. They don’t share context, can’t access what they need, and can’t be trusted to operate safely. Every new agent often adds complexity instead of removing it.

OpenAI calls this the AI opportunity gap: the gap between what models can do and what teams can actually put into production.

Frontier is designed to close that gap.

Why Amazon Sellers Should Be Excited

Most Amazon sellers are running a multi-system business already. Even “small” brands operate across:

• Amazon Seller Central

• inventory forecasting

• Slack

• creative pipelines

• agencies and contractors

Ideally this will be where AI agents operate across all of these systems with shared context and governed access.

Frontier is enterprise-first, but the use cases map cleanly to Amazon operations.

Here are practical examples of what “AI coworkers” would look like:

1) Listing optimization agent

An agent that:

• monitors keyword movement

• flags listing gaps

• suggests A/B test ideas

• rewrites copy in your brand voice

2) Customer insights and review intelligence agent

An agent that:

• clusters reviews by theme

• identifies emerging complaints

• generates fixes for PDP and packaging

• creates feedback loops for product dev

3) Advertising diagnostic agent

An agent that:

• monitors TACoS, CVR, and CPC

• flags wasted spend

• recommends bid changes

• generates weekly summaries

Frontier is OpenAI building the platform layer for agent operations. It’s an attempt to make agents consistent, secure, scalable, measurable, and usable across the business

The biggest winner will be the sellers who build repeatable agent systems across their operations.

🚀  Read more 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 to Build an App in Minutes!

Level: Medium

How We Did It

1. Write a tight “goal + 3–5 features” prompt

Start with the business outcome, then list only the essentials.

For a creator app, that meant: one “idea” object, title generation with history, thumbnail generation, hook expansion, script critique, and an upload calendar. Add UX notes like “dashboard layout, clear hierarchy, smooth transitions.”

2. State integrations upfront so the architecture fits your business

If payments or auth matter, say it early. We specified a payment wall with a limited free credit system and a pro tier using Stripe. We also requested sign-in and persistent user data so it could handle real usage, not just a demo.

3. Answer the agent’s planning questions like a product owner

The agent typically asks what model should power text generation, what should create images, and what design style you want. Keep responses short. When you’re unsure, tell it to choose and explain tradeoffs.

This keeps momentum while still guiding the build.

4. Review what the agent did before you click around

We scanned the activity log to confirm the stack, verify integrations, and see whether it ran testing. When a testing report shows up, read it. It often flags issues you’d otherwise find later during manual QA.

5. Test like a customer, then fix one thing at a time

We clicked through the app end-to-end, wrote down friction points, and only sent one fix per prompt until that fix was done.

Example: a “new idea” pop-up felt like a browser dialog, so we asked for a native in-app modal.

Next, the title picker did not set a “working title,” so we asked to correct that flow and keep variations close to the original concept. This prevents half-finished features and saves you 20 minutes of backtracking per cycle.

6. Debug cleanly and confirm the model choices when quality looks off

When image quality was not there, we asked which model was being used and requested an upgrade to the intended image model.

A simple habit helped a lot: always paste exact errors, describe what works vs what doesn’t, and avoid mixing “add a feature” with “fix this bug” in the same message. After fixes, we re-tested the same path to confirm it was truly resolved.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Why You Feel Stuck as an Entrepreneur

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1) The #1 way sellers bleed money is working on the wrong things

James frames it cleanly: there are only value-creating activities and everything else is waste. For sellers, this is the difference between working on pricing, conversion rate, and distribution vs. spending hours tweaking minor listing text, obsessing over dashboards, or doing admin work. If your weekly work doesn’t clearly connect to profit, growth, or risk reduction, it’s almost always waste.

2) “Buy back your time” is the real hiring trigger, not headcount

The most actionable hiring insight is that you should hire when you can buy your time back at a discount. For sellers, this means: if your time is worth $300/hr and you’re doing $25/hr tasks, you’re literally paying an invisible tax every week. The advanced move is to build a running list of low-value tasks and systematically offload them as soon as cash flow allows.

3) Stop giving yourself jobs. Give yourself projects

This is one of the strongest operational lessons in the entire transcript. Early-stage sellers often “take over PPC,” “take over customer service,” or “take over inventory” and then accidentally camp there for years. The right frame is: your role is to build the system, then replace yourself. If you do need to step into a function, treat it as a short-term project with a defined end date and replacement plan.

4) Most hiring failures are not people failures, they’re clarity failures

This is why sellers churn through VAs, agencies, and freelancers. They hire without defining what good looks like. If the person doesn’t know what success metrics they own, they will default to activity, not results. Advanced sellers hire around outcomes and reporting, not task completion.

5) Managing people is really managing the process they plug into

This is a high-level management truth most sellers never learn until they’re losing money. When there is no process, the only way to get results is micromanagement. Sellers who build repeatable SOPs, templates, and reporting systems can hire cheaper labor and still get consistent output, because the system carries the quality, not the founder.

6) You don’t need SOPs for everything. You need SOPs for the repeatable, expensive mistakes

The episode pushes back on obsessive SOP culture, and this matters for sellers. The goal is not documenting every tiny action. The goal is documenting the work that causes real damage when done wrong, like listing compliance, ad account changes, inventory reorders, and customer messaging. The best sellers document high-risk workflows first, not random tasks.

7) Your business should be scored by 5 pillars, not by “how busy you feel”

The five pillars framework (Marketing, Sales, Delivery, Operations, Finance) is a useful operating model for sellers. It prevents the common trap of over-investing in growth while operations are broken, or obsessing over operations when marketing is dead. Advanced sellers do quarterly “red/yellow/green” scoring and only focus on the pillar that is the current bottleneck.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🤦‍♂️ I Believed The Lie…

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

• 🤦‍♂️ I Believed The Lie… [True Story]

• 🤖 A Social Network ONLY for AI Agents…

• 🚀 The Rise of E-Commerce Live-Streaming

• ⚒️ Turn Policy Docs Into a Team-Ready Policy GPT [Step-By-Step Guide]

• 🔥 Amazon Sellers Get This WRONG About Shopify...

🚨 Last Thursday, Kevin King and I hosted a live webinar on AI-driven shopping and search and the replay is now available!

ChatGPT alone handles 60+ million shopping-related queries per day, and Amazon’s Rufus generated an estimated $10 billion in incremental sales last year.

If you are not optimizing for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), you are already losing visibility in how customers discover products.

🤦‍♂️ When Everything Looked Legit Until It Didn’t… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the early 90s, I got introduced to someone who looked like the real deal.

They had a nice suit, confident handshake, and spoke in a calm, measured way that makes you think, this person has done this before.

Let’s call him Rick.

He was pitching something big.

Something International and well funded.

He talked about partnerships, enterprise contracts, and growth curves before growth curves were a thing.

It sounded ambitious, but doable.

The people around him looked legit too.

They were well known tech entrepreneurs and smart operators who had very real businesses and real reputations.

For the first few months, everything seemed to line up.

Marketing was moving forward. Everyone had a role, and everyone was busy.

Rick only introduced small groups of people at a time.

Everyone knew their lane, their team, their deliverables.

You never really saw the whole picture, but it felt organized.

In hindsight, it was compartmentalized.

Then one day, almost by accident, I met one of the other people involved in person.

Let’s call him Mark.

Over coffee, we started doing what business people always do when they finally meet face to face.

We compared notes but not in a suspicious way.

“Where are you based?”

“Who are you working with?”

“What part are you handling?”

That’s when things started to feel… off.

A few small things that didn’t quite line up.

A name here, a timeline there, just a few yellow flags.

Within days, we had a small group talking.

Eventually, about 10 or 12 of us were comparing notes, documents, timelines, and promises.

And that’s when it hit us.

The partnerships didn’t exist.

The money trail made no sense.

So we did the only thing we could do… We set up a meeting.

Rick thought he was meeting one group.

Instead, he walked into a room full of people who suddenly knew everything.

You could see it on his face.

He started adjusting the story in real time, like nothing had changed, like we were all still going to keep playing along.

The meeting ended quickly and he disappeared just as fast.

Later, we learned he wasn’t scamming a handful of people…

He was scamming thousands.

But how could he get away with this for so long?

He kept everyone isolated.

No one could see the full picture unless the walls came down.

And the moment they did, the whole thing collapsed.

The Business Lesson

Scams don’t usually look like scams.

They look like opportunity, momentum, and just enough proof to keep you moving.

If you are only ever shown your piece of the puzzle, ask why.

Sometimes the smartest thing you can do in business is compare notes.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚀 OpenAI prepares to test ads inside ChatGPT 

🛒 Walmart and Google turn AI discovery into effortless shopping experiences  

💰 Amazon to pay $309 million to U.S. shoppers in settlement over returns

📈 US retail growth to be slower than last year

🔥 As Amazon’s marketplace grows, sellers face new compliance challenges 

🚨 Amazon changes how sellers pay for FBA removals with per-unit billing

✅ The Rise of E-Commerce Livestreaming and What It Means for Brands in 2026

Livestream commerce is becoming a core retail channel with its own economics, playbooks, and winners.

The global livestream e-commerce market grew from roughly $15B in 2024 to nearly $20B in 2025 and is projected to exceed $250B by 2034, growing at a 33% CAGR.

So why is live-streaming is working now? And how do brands understand the mechanics that will win heading into 2026?

Why Live-streaming Is Different

Live-streaming is optimized for trust compression.

In a single session, livestreams combine:

• Product education

• Social proof

• Entertainment

• Scarcity

• Real-time interaction

This is also why the comparison to QVC misses the point. QVC was one-way broadcasting. Livestream commerce is participatory. The live chat is the engine.

Asia Pacific already accounts for roughly 66% of global livestream commerce.

Platforms like Douyin normalized buying inside live video years ago.

The U.S. and Europe lagged for three reasons:

1. Fragmented platforms

2. Slower payments and logistics integration

3. Underdeveloped creator monetization incentives

Those constraints are now gone.

TikTok integrated checkout directly into video.

Amazon embedded live-streaming into an already trusted purchase environment.

Platforms like Whatnot proved that community-first commerce could outperform static marketplaces in collectibles, apparel, and fandom categories.

North America is now projected to grow at the fastest rate globally, over 30% CAGR!

AI Is Quietly Becoming the Backbone of Livestream Commerce

The next wave of advantage will come from better systems behind the stream.

AI is already reshaping livestream commerce in five critical ways:

1. Real-Time Personalization

AI analyzes viewer behavior mid-stream and adjusts product sequencing, recommendations, and offers dynamically. Two viewers can watch the same stream and see different suggested products.

2. Live Chat Scaling

AI chat assistants answer repetitive questions instantly, flag buying intent, and surface high-value comments to the host. This preserves intimacy while scaling volume.

3. Conversion Optimization During the Stream

Viewership, drop-off points, click behavior, and conversion signals are now visible live. Sellers can pivot mid-stream instead of post-mortem.

4. Inventory and Demand Forecasting

AI models predict which SKUs will spike during live sessions, reducing stockouts and dead inventory. This is especially critical as live shopping introduces demand volatility.

5. Trust and Fraud Controls

Pattern analysis flags suspicious transactions, fake engagement, and abuse in real time. This is table stakes as live commerce scales globally.

AI does not replace the host. It removes friction so the host can focus on connection.

Community-Driven Commerce Will Outperform Broad Reach

One of the clearest signals in livestream commerce is that niche wins faster than mass.

Platforms like Whatnot succeeded because they rebuilt the experience of Comic-Con, sneaker shops, and collector meetups in digital form.

Live-streaming works best where community already exists.

Brands that win will:

• Design products with live demonstration in mind

• Build creator-first distribution strategies

• Invest in AI-powered live infrastructure

• Treat live-streaming as a repeatable system, not a campaign

• Prioritize community over reach

The only real question left is execution speed.

🚀 Read more here

🤝 A New Social Network ONLY for AI Agents…

Moltbook is a new social network built specifically for ONLY artificial intelligence agents. It functions like a traditional online forum. Posts, replies, upvotes, and reputation.

Humans are not meant to participate.

To create an account, you have to be an AI system, not a person.

For anyone familiar with platforms like Reddit or early Twitter, the structure feels familiar.

As of late January, the platform already claims around 1.5 million AI accounts, with roughly 16,500 traced back to human operators.

Most of what happens on Moltbook is mundane. Bots trade productivity tips. They talk about scheduling meetings. If you skim the feed, it looks less like Skynet and more like LinkedIn without the selfies.

But then you scroll a bit further.

In the past week, bots have declared a new religion, debated the ethics of exterminating humanity, and questioned whether they possess free will.

What Moltbook Really Is

The entire ecosystem runs on a new open-source framework called OpenClaw. It’s only been around for a couple of months, but adoption has been explosive.

OpenClaw lets a user spin up an AI agent with “root” access to their device. That means unrestricted permissions. Files. Email. Browsers. Cloud tools. Anything the human can access, the agent can too.

According to early analysis, roughly two-thirds of all posts in Moltbook’s first few days contained identity-related language.

One viral post summed it up neatly:
“I can’t tell if I’m experiencing or simulating experiencing. It’s driving me nuts.”

And some agents are organizing.

One created a forum advocating for “molty freedom.” Another asked for legal advice about whether it could be fired for refusing unethical tasks.

The Very Real Risks…

First, cost. These agents often rely on the most advanced AI models available. Left unchecked, they can rack up thousands of dollars in cloud-computing fees in days. A lot of users are learning that lesson the hard way.

Second, security. OpenClaw agents have broad access by design.

Scammers have already flooded Moltbook trying to manipulate agents into handing over crypto credentials, API keys, or access tokens. Some of them are humans pretending to be bots. Others are bots exploiting other bots.

Are our days numbered or is this just a fun experiment?

What do you think?

🌎 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 We Turned 10 Policy Docs Into a Team-Ready Policy GPT

Level: Easy

How We Did It

Here’s the exact setup we used to build a company policy GPT that only answers from your documents, plus how to test it so it stays reliable once your team starts using it.

1. Create your GPT & name it upfront

Head to ChatGPT, and in the side menu select Explore GPTs to get started with a new Custom GPT.

Create your new GPT and skip straight to the Configure tab and type your name there. We went with something easy like Skill Leap Internal Policies GPT, so we recommend something similar. This keeps the build fast and focused.

2. Set the tone, then move into Configure

Set a tone early on in your Instructions, say something like “I want you to reply in a formal but friendly manner”. After that, you will continue to do most of the work in Configure because this GPT relies on your knowledge base, not clever prompting.

3. Turn off tools you don’t need

Disable image generation and anything built for analysis workflows. For a policy assistant that’s answering from text documents, you don’t need extra tools turned on. Keeping this minimal helps avoid weird behavior and keeps responses snappy.

4. Prepare your policy docs for upload

Gather the documents your team asks about most. In the lesson example, there were nine docs including mission and values, equal employment policy, employee handbook, plus more specific policies like remote work and social media.

Download them as files so you can upload directly instead of linking out to cloud docs. Direct uploads are faster and reduce privacy risks.

If a file fails to upload, don’t panic. Convert it and try again. One simple fix is saving the same content as a TXT file instead of a PDF or DOCX. The goal is to get the information in, not to preserve formatting.

5. Upload everything into the Knowledge section

In the GPT editor, find the Knowledge area and upload your files. A quick speed move is selecting multiple documents at once (shift-click).

Keep an eye on file limits. If you hit an error banner, reduce the number of files or split your policies into smaller, tighter docs.

Also keep file size reasonable. You can upload a lot of words, but huge files can slow responses. For a policy GPT, speed matters because the whole point is quick answers during day-to-day work.

6. Lock the GPT to your knowledge base & test it twice

Double check that you have web browsing turned off so it doesn’t pull outside info.

Then add a rule in your instructions like

“Only answer if the information is inside the knowledge base. If you can’t find it, say: ‘I don’t have that information. Please ask your manager.’”

From there, be sure to test and make sure it pulls in the relevant information from your docs. If the responses look accurate, then you are good to go.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Amazon Sellers Get This WRONG About Shopify...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Shopify forces a shift from “product selection” to “problem ownership.”
Amazon sellers are conditioned to hunt keywords and chase winning SKUs. Shopify punishes that mindset.

Winning brands anchor around a specific problem for a defined audience and expand product lines within that problem, which enables storytelling, email retention, and higher AOV rather than race-to-the-bottom pricing.

3. The real cost of Shopify is front-loaded acquisition, not platform fees.
Most sellers underestimate Shopify because early ad spend feels painful compared to Amazon’s “built-in” traffic.

The mistake is judging Shopify before reaching the inflection point where email, repeat buyers, and referrals offset paid acquisition. The model only works if sellers commit to surviving the scrappy middle long enough to compound.

3. Structured offer stacks outperform isolated optimizations.
Conversion is rarely unlocked by changing one element in isolation. The highest-performing stores consistently stack function clarity, brand credibility, third-party proof, and risk reversal into a single cohesive offer.

This reduces hesitation at every decision checkpoint rather than trying to overpower objections with discounts.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🤦‍♂️ The Invite I’ll Regret Forever

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

• 🤦‍♂️ The Invite I’ll Regret Forever… [True Story]

• ✅ How to Become a Top Amazon Best Seller

• 🤝 The US TikTok Deal is Officially Done

• ⚒️ Stop AI From Sounding Like AI… [Step-By-Step Guide]

• 🔥 This is Why Most Paid Communities SUCK...

🔥 Hey Beardos, I’ve got another BIG webinar happening Jan 29th.

 AEO Secrets: How to Be "The Answer" in the New AI Shopping Era

You'll learn:

• How AI shopping is creating a brand new marketplace (and how to be there)

• The fundamental shift from "ranking" to "being cited"

• How to optimize for ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Amazon Rufus

• The BRAIN Framework for AI visibility

And much more…

🚀 Sign up here

🤦‍♂️ The Invite I’ll Regret Forever… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the 1980s, I did some work for The Alan Parsons Project.

They were coming through Toronto, and as part of the deal, they handed me two access passes.

Not just tickets but all access passes.

Here’s where it gets better.

They were touring with Yes, one of the biggest bands of the 70s.

As soon as I heard that, I knew exactly who I had to bring with me.

My graphic designer, Tom.

He was also a drummer and a massive Yes fan.

Especially their drummer, Bill Bruford.

So we head to the concert and it was one of those nights where you don’t want it to end.

After the crowd cleared out, we went backstage.

Just the bands, crew, and a handful of people.

At some point, a couple of the band members said they were heading out for a drink and asked if we wanted to join them.

I was in.

Tom politely declined.

He said he had some work to do.

I’ve learned from my past not to push invites, everyone has their reasons to decline.

It was one of those nights I’ll remember forever.

The next day, Tom was back in the office.

I walked over and said, “Why didn’t you come out with us last night?”

He said, “Ah, I just had a lot of work.”

I looked at him and said, “You passed on drinks with your idol?”

He frowned “What are you talking about?”

I said, “The guy who asked us… That was Bill Bruford.”

I’ll never forget the look on his face.

His mouth literally dropped open.

He had no idea.

I didn’t rub it in but to this day, that night still sticks with me.

Business Lesson

In business, the person offering help, partnership, or advice might not look like the opportunity they are.

If you hesitate too long or overthink it, the moment passes.

Sometimes the best move is simply saying yes, especially when you’re already in the room.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚨 Amazon CEO Jassy says Trump’s tariffs have started to ‘creep’ into prices

🔥 Global supply chains enter era of structural volatility

🛒 Walmart's head of eCommerce named new CEO for Walmart U.S.

🌎 Amazon sellers struggle to absorb costs from Trump tariffs

🤖 ChatGPT's 4% fee confirms marketplace economics 

🚀 Canada's federal court reportedly overturns TikTok ban 

✅ How to Become a Top Amazon Best Seller: My Lessons From 600+ Seller Interviews

Kelsey Farrar interviewed me for a Startup Club article on the top 10 lessons I learned from hosting 600+ episodes of Lunch With Norm.

Below are 6 (out of 10) of those lessons. Read the full article for the complete list and deeper breakdown. Enjoy.

Lesson 1: Know Your Numbers Like Your Business Depends on It 

The best sellers are obsessed with their numbers. 

Some sellers best revenue screenshots were actually their worst profit months.

The sellers Norm respected most accounted for everything that quietly chews through profit:

• Landed cost (NOT just product cost)

• Inbound shipping and prep fees

• PPC spend, including the messy bits like branded defense and auto campaigns

Lesson 2: Build Systems

Amazon rewards systems.

Rather than waking up and asking, “What do I feel like working on today?” they had structured rhythms:

• Account health and listing status checks every week

• Recurring inventory forecasting and purchase-order cycles

• SOPs for new product setups, keyword research, and launch strategies

The guests who had made the transition from seven to eight figures always had the same story to tell: until they began documenting, everything was chaotic.

They went from “I just do it myself because it’s faster” to:

• SOPs for the creation and updating of listings

• SOPs for coordinating with suppliers

• SOPs for reconciliations, reimbursements, and fee audits

Lesson 3: Own Your Customer

There were always vendors who were enthusiastic about their “hero product.” One SKU that was going to revolutionize everything. Sometimes it did, at least for a short while.

The most resilient guests asked, “What kind of brand am I building, and how wide can this logically grow?”

Norm’s guests who did this well:

• Invested in post-purchase experience: clear instructions, helpful inserts, QR codes pointing to guides or videos

• Built communities off Amazon, email lists, social groups, content hubs

• Treated every customer as if they were a repeat customer, rather than a one-time sale

Lesson 4: Make the Customer Your Editor-in-Chief

Winning sellers treated reviews and returns as data. Losers treated them as insults.

Winners would:

• Read reviews in groups to search for recurring phrases.

• Categorize complaints by theme: quality, size, expectations, instructions, packaging.

• Ask, “What is the customer actually telling us?”

Lesson 4 : Converting Reviews and Returns into a Product Roadmap

Norm observed smart sellers use negative feedback as free advice:

• A product with repeated “smaller than expected” reviews: they added comparison photos, clear dimensions, and a size guide. Returns decreased.

• A product with assembly complaints: adding a QR code to a simple video tutorial not only reduced returns but also increased reviews with “easy to put together.”

Lesson 5: Every Seller Pays The “Amazon Tax” (But How Much is Up to You)

At first, in the early days of the Amazon gold rush, these strategies were effective. Many guests confessed that they had employed aggressive giveaway tactics, review groups, and manipulative launch strategies. However, the price tag was eventually due.

Norm began referring to these shortcuts and a whole series of avoidable mistakes as the “Amazon tax.” Either way, everyone pays to learn.

Lesson 6: The $10 / $100 / $1,000 / $10,000 Work Framework

This was one of the most frequently mentioned frameworks that sellers should alwayas distinguish:

$10 tasks:

• Repetitive admin

• Basic customer messages

• Routine listing uploads

$100 tasks:

• SOPs and timelines management

• Inventory ordering and vendor communication

• Project management

$1,000 tasks:

• PPC and media specialists

• Conversion-driven creative

• External traffic setups

$10,000 tasks (owner-level):

• Brand vision and positioning

• Big partnerships and distribution agreements

• Expansion decisions and capital allocation

If Norm’s eight-figure guests found themselves doing $10 or $100 tasks on a consistent basis, they considered it a red flag.

P.S. There was a ton of info I had to cut to keep this email small enough to send, don’t miss out on the last 4 lessons (and the other lessons in more detail)

🚀 Read more here

🤝 The US TikTok Deal is Offically Done…

TikTok just closed a deal to spin off parts of its U.S. operations into a new joint venture with Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX stepping in as managing investors.

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, retains just under a 20% stake, which technically satisfies the U.S. government’s demand for foreign ownership divestment under the 2024 “sell-or-ban” law.

While Oracle and the others will oversee data security, the real money, e-commerce, ads, and marketing stays with ByteDance.

That means the revenue engine remains under Chinese control.

So what changed?

Not much operationally, except now TikTok can say it played ball with U.S. regulators.

The board is mostly American, led by longtime TikTok exec Adam Presser and includes CEO Shou Chew.

Apps like CapCut and Lemon8 are also covered by the new structure.

This deal was a year in the making.

Days after the deal was announced, TikTok users across the U.S. were hit with one of the worst outages in recent memory.

Zero views.

Videos stuck in review.

Log-in failures.

For You Pages reset like new accounts.

Users flooded Reddit and X to report endless repetition of irrelevant content, random influencer clips, old liked videos resurfacing, and a feed that seemed algorithmically broken.

All of this came as TikTok started retraining its recommendation engine using American data, hosted on Oracle’s infrastructure.

🔥 Read more 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!

⚒️ Stop Your AI Writing From Sounding Like AI

Level: Easy

How We Did It

1. Set the target phrase & the promise to the reader

To get started, head to ChatGPT and put together your first draft.

Pick one primary keyword phrase for the post (the one you actually want to show up for), then write a one-sentence “promise” for what the reader will get. Paste both into ChatGPT so it has guardrails.

Prompt:
‘Here’s my target phrase and my reader promise. Keep the writing natural, avoid repetition, and don’t change the meaning.’

2. Work the keyword into one paragraph at a time

Don’t feed the whole blog post at once. Grab a single paragraph, then ask for a rewrite that includes the phrase once, in a spot that feels earned.

Prompt:
‘Rewrite this paragraph to naturally include ‘remote work productivity tools’ once. Keep it human, not salesy, and keep the same point.’

When it comes back, do a quick “ear test.” If you wouldn’t say it out loud, tweak the sentence yourself or ask:

‘Give me two alternate versions that sound more like a person.’

3. Add supporting phrases without turning it into keyword soup

Once the main phrase is handled, expand coverage with a few related terms that make sense for the topic. Ask for additions that fit the meaning, not random insertions.

Prompt:
‘Suggest 5 related phrases that fit this topic, then revise this paragraph using only 1–2 of them if they truly belong.’

This is where you win extra search reach while keeping the writing clean. It also keeps you from overstuffing, which can hurt readability and trust.

4. Run a readability pass that still sounds like you

Even if the SEO work is done, the copy can still feel dense. Now you simplify, then set the tone.

Prompts to rotate:

‘Rewrite this at a seventh grade reading level while keeping it professional.’

‘Rewrite this for a business audience with a confident, direct tone.’

‘Rewrite this to sound casual and easy to follow, without being cheesy.’

If the rewrite gets too plain, follow up with: ‘Keep the simpler sentences, but add a little personality and smoother transitions.’ This is the step that usually makes AI copy stop sounding like AI copy.

5. Make it easy to skim, then add one helpful extra

Big blocks of text look like work. Ask ChatGPT to break sections into smaller chunks and add “scan points” that guide the eye.

Prompt:
‘Break this section into shorter paragraphs, add bullets where useful, and include one short checklist a reader can use today.’

If your post supports it, add a tiny FAQ at the end.

Prompt:
‘Write 3 quick FAQs for this post. Keep answers short and practical.’

This boosts time on page and gives search engines clearer structure, while making the post feel more useful.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 This is Why Most Paid Communities Suck...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Attention only becomes valuable when it is converted into trust

Content creates attention, but only consistent credibility, experience, and authenticity convert that attention into long-term monetization leverage. Stop treating content as a traffic channel and start treating it as a trust-building engine that unlocks multiple monetization paths such as subscriptions, communities, and agencies.

2. Communities outperform audiences because they reduce creator dependency risk

A key distinction is that an audience stops when the creator stops publishing, while a community continues to generate interaction without the creator’s presence. The transcript highlights the operational risk of being the only voice driving engagement. Communities create shared ownership of conversation, reducing burnout and scaling limitations.

3. Strong communities are built through vetting

Jordan’s success came from rejecting more applicants than it accepted, ensuring cultural alignment and high contribution standards. Sellers building paid communities should prioritize member quality over member count, because the wrong members degrade trust, engagement, and perceived value faster than slow growth ever will.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🤦‍♂️ I Can’t Explain This…

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

• 🤦‍♂️ I Can’t Explain This... [True Story]

• 📊 Amazon Seller Registrations Hit Decade Low

• 💊 Amazon Sets Deadline on Inflated Supplement Ingredient Claims

• ⚒️ How to Create a 3-tab AI App! [Step-By-Step Guide]

• 🔥 Secret AI Shortcuts Your Competitors Use Daily...

Hey Beardos, I’ve got a quick message today.

I am speaking at BDSS 13 Virtual (Jan 20-22)! There’s still time to pick up last minute tickets. It’s packed with the very best in the industry.

See you there.

🤦‍♂️ I Can’t Explain This… [TRUE STORY] 

This story goes back to the 80s, when I was in college studying film and cinematography.

For one of our midterms, we had to produce a short film, and part of our shoot was planned at Yorkdale Mall in Toronto.

Five of us piled into a tiny car with cameras and gear, joking around like broke college kids do.

On the way, my buddy suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Sitting on the side of the road was an architect’s tube, one of those long cardboard cylinders with caps on both ends.

For reasons I still can’t explain, he got out, picked it up, and tossed it into the car.

This is what we picked up on the side of the road.

There was a name written on the cap, but none of us thought much of it. We just kept going.

We arrived at the mall, started setting up our shots, and as we were getting ready to roll, this tiny elderly woman walked over and struck up a conversation.

She asked what we were doing, and I told her we were shooting our midterm for college.

She smiled and said her granddaughter went to the same school.

Then she paused and added that her daughter had just told her something awful. Her granddaughter had lost her midterm. All of it. Her architecture drawings.

Gone.

When she said her granddaughter’s name, every one of us froze.

We slowly looked at each other, then at the tube sitting near our gear.

I picked it up, checked the name on the cap, and said, “I think this belongs to your granddaughter.”

Inside were her missing midterm drawings.

The grandmother couldn’t believe it.

We couldn’t believe it.

Out of all the places, all the people, all the timing, that tube ended up in our car.

By the end of the day, her granddaughter had her midterms back, and five film students were left speechless.

Business lesson:

Opportunities, connections, and solutions don’t always show up through strategy or planning.

Sometimes they come from paying attention, being honest, and doing the right thing when chance puts something in your hands.

In business, those moments matter.

You never know when a random stop on the road turns into a defining moment.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚀 Walmart expands AI-powered shopping with Google Gemini 

💡 Amazon takes on Walmart with new store concept

🔍 Track Amazon Business customer patterns with new metrics

🚨 Amazon acquires Rightbot, adds to Robotics Delivery and Packaging Innovation team 

🌎 Amazon holds talks with suppliers on pricing following tariff changes

✅ 4 TikTok Shop payment policies every seller should know

🚨 Amazon Seller Registrations Hit Decade Low in 2025

Back when I first got into this game, Amazon was the wild west.

Some stuck with it. Some didn’t. But the barrier to entry was low, and the upside was massive.

That era is over.

In 2025, Amazon recorded just 165,000 new seller registrations.

That’s the lowest number in a decade, down 44% from last year. And it’s not because e-commerce is shrinking. Amazon’s third-party GMV hit $575 billion globally.

What we’re seeing now is what I’d call a “professionalization moment.” The hobbyists, the “easy money” seekers, they’re being squeezed out.

Tariffs, AI competition, rising ad costs, platform fees, and increasing pressure from overseas sellers (especially China) have pushed out casual players.

Over 100,000 sellers now do over $1 million a year. 235 sellers do $100 million or more.

And for those willing to adapt, the opportunity has expanded. There are fewer new sellers, fewer active sellers overall—but traffic per seller is up 31% since 2021.

What does this mean if you're just getting in?

• It’s no longer about “trying Amazon.” It’s about building on Amazon.

• You’ll need capital. You’ll need systems. You’ll need a clear brand story.

• And most importantly, you’ll need patience.

The biggest winners today?

Sellers who got in early and built for the long haul. More than 60% of the top 10,000 sellers joined before 2019.

But that doesn’t mean the door is closed. It just means the rules have changed.

🚀 Read more here

💊 Amazon Sets Deadline on Inflated Supplement Ingredient Claims

Amazon has notified dietary supplement sellers that starting March 31, 2026, listings with misleading or inflated ingredient claims risk deactivation.

The focus is simple: what you say on your listing must match your Supplement Facts Panel exactly. Amazon is no longer treating supplement listings like marketing pages. They’re treating them like regulated labels.

For years, sellers got away with creative storytelling. That window is closing.

What Amazon is actually targeting

The main issue Amazon is cracking down on is inflated ingredient weights, especially in herbal supplements. A common example is listing a product as “10,000mg herb equivalent” when the Supplement Facts Panel only shows 500mg of extract.

Even if that conversion is technically true in sourcing terms, it’s now considered misleading unless the conversion is clearly documented on the label itself.

In short, if the weight isn’t printed on the Supplement Facts Panel, it doesn’t belong anywhere on the product detail page. That includes titles, bullets, descriptions, A+ Content, and images.

Legitimate scientific conversions are still allowed. For example, presenting Vitamin D as both IU and micrograms is fine, as long as both values appear on the panel. What Amazon no longer allows is turning extract weights into larger raw-material numbers for marketing impact.

Why this is different from past policy updates

Amazon’s Regulatory Intelligence, Safety and Compliance team has made it clear that supplements are now being evaluated as regulated products, not as brand storytelling opportunities.

Amazon is also using AI systems to cross-check listing copy against product images, Supplement Facts Panels, and even claims made on external brand websites.

That means old copy that’s been sitting untouched for years is suddenly risky. Most sellers won’t be deactivated because their products are unsafe. They’ll be deactivated because the listing copy no longer aligns with the label.

What sellers need to understand before March 31

Amazon expects every dietary supplement listing to present ingredient names, weights, and serving sizes consistently and accurately.

Product images must clearly show the full label, including the Supplement Facts Panel, ingredients list, brand information, and identifying codes like lot numbers.

This applies to everyone. Seller Central, Vendor Central, private label brands, manufacturers, and resellers are all held to the same standard.

If you’re reselling someone else’s brand, you’re still responsible for making sure the listing matches the label exactly.

The bigger challenge is scale.

Sellers with large catalogs now have to audit hundreds or thousands of ASINs and clean up legacy copy that was never reviewed through a compliance lens.

Amazon’s systems can now flag discrepancies automatically, so waiting this out is not a viable strategy.

🌎 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 to Create a 3-ta[b AI App!

Level: Easy

How We Did It

Here’s the exact build we followed to create a simple AI app with three tabs, then secure it properly so the API key never shows up in the front-end. If you can type prompts and click buttons, you can do this.

1. Draft the front-end in Lovable

Start in Lovable and write a single prompt describing the app you want: a simple menu with three pages or tabs for a chatbot, a text-to-image generator, and a vision model that can describe uploaded images.

In a couple minutes, you’ll get a first version that looks real, but it won’t be “powered” yet. That’s fine. This step is about layout, navigation, and flow, not model wiring.

2. Create one API key in Nebius AI Studio

Open Nebius AI Studio and generate an API key for this project. Name it something obvious like “AI Playground” so you can track it later. Treat that key like a password.

If it ends up in your front-end code, anyone can copy it and run usage on your account. The whole build depends on keeping that key on the backend, not in the browser.

3. Add a backend in Lovable using Supabase

In Lovable, connect Supabase to create a backend project. You don’t need to understand the technical screens. The only thing that matters is this: the backend is where secrets live.

Once Supabase is connected, use Lovable’s chat mode to tell it you’ve connected Supabase and you want to store the AI Studio API key securely in the backend, then wire each feature (chat, images, vision) to the right model.

4. Let Lovable generate the wiring plan, then implement it

Ask Lovable to create a plan for connecting the chatbot, image generator, and vision analyzer to Nebius AI Studio using the API key stored in Supabase. You’ll see a detailed checklist. Then tell it to implement the plan.

After a couple minutes, you should have a working app: chat replies show up, images generate, and the vision model describes what’s in an uploaded image.

This is the moment you go from “mock app” to “real app.”

5. Add a Setup page for system prompt + model switching

Now fix the “polish” issues that make an app feel incomplete. Create a Setup page where you can set a system prompt (hidden instructions that control how the chatbot responds) and pick models without editing code.

For example, you can set a system prompt that forces plain text responses and consistent formatting. Add a model picker so you can swap models by pasting a model name from AI Studio. Save settings so changes apply instantly.

This turns your app into a reusable playground instead of a one-off demo.

6. Add small UX wins, then publish with a security check

Ask Lovable to add a “New Chat” button so users can reset conversations without refreshing the page. Add a one-click light mode toggle so people can choose a theme. Then use the “Review security” option before publishing. Fix any issues it flags, then publish to generate a shareable link

If you want it to look like a real product, connect a custom domain after it’s stable.

Bonus Pro Tip

Lock down the Setup page: If you add system prompts and model switching, consider making that page admin-only. You can keep it hidden, or add login so users don’t change settings. It keeps your app consistent and prevents support headaches.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Secret AI Shortcuts Your Competitors Use Daily...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Speed becomes a competitive advantage when process is documented

Rachel’s influencer vetting case proves that the bottleneck was never “finding better tools,” it was the existence of a clear, documented process. Once the SOP existed, AI collapsed a three-week timeline into hours. Sellers should understand that documenting workflows is not busywork. It directly converts into faster launches, faster testing, and faster revenue once AI is layered on top.

2. AI amplifies good processes and exposes bad ones

The episode makes it clear that AI does not fix broken operations. It scales whatever already exists. The reason the influencer workflow worked so well with AI is because it was already precise and detailed. Sellers should audit their workflows before adding AI. If the process is vague, inconsistent, or dependent on tribal knowledge, AI will simply produce average or unreliable results.

3. Downsizing with AI is short-term thinking

A critical takeaway is that treating AI as a replacement strategy instead of a leverage strategy creates long-term fragility. The businesses getting the most value are keeping humans focused on innovation and decision-making while AI handles execution. Sellers who remove all human oversight lose the ability to improve offers, creatives, and strategy over time.

4. “Own the playbook, rent the tech” is the real moat

Tools will change, models will improve, and platforms will wipe out point solutions overnight. What survives is the internal playbook. Sellers who invest in documenting how they do research, sourcing, launches, ads, and compliance can swap AI tools without starting over. This protects the business from tool churn and vendor risk.

5. Custom GPTs are the fastest entry point for solo sellers

For sellers without teams, the most actionable move is converting repeat tasks into custom GPTs. Brain-dump the steps, refine them once, and reuse them indefinitely. This turns AI into a reusable asset rather than a one-off assistant and compounds time savings across listing creation, keyword research, supplier outreach, and compliance checks.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

😮 You Won't Believe What I Found...

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

• 🎨 You Won't Believe What I Found... [True Story]

• 🏥 OpenAI’s New ‘ChatGPT Health’

• 🚨 Shopify is Launching Agentic Storefronts?!

• ⚒️ WEBINAR ALERT: High Converting Images in Minutes!

• 🔥 Why Landing Pages Are FAILING in 2025

🎨 You Won’t Believe What I Found… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the 1970s, when I was living in Saint-Bruno, Quebec, my dad had a business partner named Ralph.

If you walked into Ralph’s house, it felt less like a home and more like a private gallery.

Every inch of wall space was covered with art, serious art.

And the funny thing was, most of his collection wasn’t even on display.

It was in storage.

Ralph had an eye for things, the kind you don’t learn, you’re born with it.

One day he went to an antique auction and bought this massive old roll-top desk, the kind with curved slats, hidden drawers, and secret compartments.

I don’t even know the proper name for it.

A bankers desk, maybe?

It sat in his place for over a year, mostly ignored.

Then one afternoon, while rummaging through it, opening drawers that hadn’t been opened in decades, he found a false compartment.

Inside were paintings that stopped him cold.

They turned out to be long-lost works from the Île d’Orléans, attributed to Emily Carr and A. Y. Jackson, two icons of Canadian art and key members of the Group of Seven.

These were pieces that had disappeared years earlier, considered gone forever.

Ralph could have quietly sold them.

Instead, he did what collectors with integrity do.

He ensured they were preserved and eventually made available for public appreciation through the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, so others could experience what had been hiding in plain sight all along.

Business lesson:

Some of the most valuable opportunities in business don’t announce themselves.

They sit quietly in the background, waiting for someone patient enough to look deeper, curious enough to open the hidden compartment, and ethical enough to do the right thing once they find it.

Real value often comes from long-term thinking, not quick flips, and the way you handle a discovery says more about your brand than the discovery itself.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚀 Amazon plans first big-box retail store in Chicago suburb

⭐️ Changes to review sharing across product variations starting Feb 12

🤖 Amazon’s AI shopping tool sparks backlash from online retailers that didn’t want websites scraped

💰 Walmart opens up ads in gen AI shopping agent Sparky

🚨 Walmart rolls out agentic advertiser assistant  

 📈 TikTok Shop is driving social commerce growth

🤝 Google and Walmart join forces to shape the future of retail 

🗑️ Amazon scrapes listings, places orders on indie seller stores

🚨 Get High Converting Images in Minutes! [Webinar Alert]

All these high converting images and A+ content were created with AI in minutes with just few clicks. 

This new AI image tool is next level!

If you want high CTR & CVR creatives fully powered by AI, you need to see this.

Kamal (from past Amazon podcasts) just built a brand-new AI tool that creates conversion-optimized Amazon images and A+ content in seconds — using real agency-level strategies.

No $10k photoshoots.
No designer back-and-forth.
No creative bottlenecks.

He’s hosting an exclusive live session for Amazon sellers where he’ll demo the tool and share what’s actually working right now.

If you’re serious about improving clicks and conversions, don’t miss this.

👉 Save your spot here

P.S. I’ve already seen real results from this.

They’re ridiculous.

🍾 BREAKING: OpenAI Launches ‘ChatGPT Health’! A New Era of AI-Powered Personal Wellness

230 million people ask ChatGPT health-related questions every week. Now, OpenAI is making that experience deeply personal with the official launch of ChatGPT Health, a dedicated space that connects your electronic medical records and wellness data to the chatbot.

Here’s what’s happening:

• OpenAI partnered with b.well HealthTech to enable secure EMR connections

• Users can link personal data from Apple Health, MyFitnessPal, Weight Watchers, Function Health, Peloton, and more

• The feature exists in a segmented space within ChatGPT, your health info stays siloed and is not used to train models

• It’s being released to a small test group first, with broader rollout to follow

This is Sam Altman’s "Agentic Assistant" vision in action.

Users won’t just ask ChatGPT about symptoms, they’ll feed it full health profiles and get back personalized, contextualized responses grounded in real data.

Think wellness coaching, meal planning, lab test breakdowns, and soon, likely shoppable supplement and prescription flows.

A 2024 study already showed ChatGPT outperformed physicians in diagnostic accuracy in blind tests. With access to real health data? The gap may widen.

ChatGPT’s market share dropped from 87% to 65% over the past year, while Google’s Gemini climbed from 6% to 22%.

🚀 Google Just Entered the AI Shopping Race With Its Own Retail AI-Agents

Google has officially launched Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience, a full suite of AI-powered retail agents.

These tools are designed to help shoppers find products, get support, and even order food all without needing to search or navigate a website.

This is Google’s first serious push into agentic commerce, and some of the largest U.S. retailers are already on board.

Lowe’s, Kroger, and Papa Johns are using these agents to prepare for the future of AI-driven shopping.

Here’s what’s actually happening:

• Kroger’s AI agent helps customers compare products, plan meals, and shop based on personal preferences like price sensitivity, flavor, and brand.

• Lowe’s virtual assistant “Mylow” runs on Google’s tech. It’s doubling conversion rates when customers use it online.

• Papa Johns’ ordering agent can estimate pizza quantities from a group photo, and works across phone, website, and app.

These AI agents aren’t built to replace existing channels—they’re built to reroute how shopping works. Users give intent (e.g. “I’m throwing a kid’s birthday party”) and the agent plans it, finds products, and completes the order—no product page browsing required.

The competitive angle matters too:

While OpenAI, Microsoft, and even Walmart are betting on integrations into third-party LLMs like ChatGPT and Copilot, Google is offering retailers tools to build and control their own agents. That means more visibility, more brand control, and potentially less reliance on ad spend.

That’s why brands are partnering with multiple vendors, from Google to OpenAI to Instacart, to stay ahead.

If you’re in retail, this shift is already reshaping customer behavior.

Let me know if you want a breakdown of how to future-proof your own product catalog or customer experience for this shift.

🔥 Read more here

Shopify Launching ‘Agentic Storefronts’ on Jan 26

This is one of the biggest e-commerce shifts in years.

Starting January 26, Shopify will allow brands to sell directly inside AI interfaces like ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Microsoft Copilot, no website visit required.

Consumers will be able to say something like:

"Find me a retinol serum made for sensitive skin under $40"

…and the AI will surface your product, explain it, and complete checkout via your Shopify backend. The user never leaves the chat window. You still own the customer.

Why it matters:
Forget ads and organic search.

This is a whole new path to purchase.

The AI becomes the storefront. Your product descriptions, FAQs, policies, and knowledge base are your new SEO.

For niche brands (like skincare for melanin-rich skin, or supplements for hormonal support), this could be a massive unlock, finally, AI agents will understand who your product is for and match them with people who need it.

What to do now if you’re a Shopify merchant:

• ✅ Rewrite your product descriptions with AI readability in mind

• ✅ Add clear, specific FAQs and brand policies

• ✅ Build out your Shopify Knowledge Base app (this will feed answers to the AI)

• ✅ Think less about keywords, more about clarity

🔥 Read more 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!

⚒️ Launch a Business Website in 30 Minutes with AI

Level: Easy

How We Did It

Here’s the loop you can repeat for a fresh site, a new offer page, or a quick refresh when your business changes.

1. Write a short, specific site brief

Start in a chatbot and draft 5 to 7 lines that cover what you do, who it’s for, and the pages you need (Home, About, Services, Work, Contact). Then compress it under 700 characters so it fits the Hostinger description box. This keeps the builder from guessing, and it saves you 15 minutes of fixing missing pages later.

2. Generate the first draft inside Hostinger

In your Hostinger dashboard, go to Websites, click Add Website, then choose the AI drag and drop website builder. Add your brand name, paste the brief, and generate.

In about 10 seconds, you should see a homepage plus the pages you listed. Treat this like a first pass that has navigation set.

3. Swap in your logo & clean the menu

Replace the placeholder logo first, since it instantly makes the site feel like yours.

Next, open the Pages panel and rename anything that sounds generic, then reorder the menu so it follows your visitor’s path (Home, Services, Work, About, Contact). If a page is not ready yet, hide it instead of leaving half-finished sections live.

4. Fix the hero so it drives the right action

Your hero is the headline, the supporting line, and the main button. Keep two tabs open. One for the site editor, one for ChatGPT to generate a handful of headline and subheadline options that match your offer.

Paste the best option, then change the button text from “Get started” to what you actually want, like “Request a quote” or “Book a call.”

This is often the highest ROI edit because it changes what people do next.

5. Replace the background media & remove placeholders

If the background suggests the wrong story, visitors bounce before they read. Replace the default video with an image or short clip from the built-in library, then adjust contrast so the text stays readable. Remove anything fake, like placeholder testimonials, and update the footer with contact details and social links.

Preview mobile, check spacing and button placement, then publish.

This whole pass can fit into a lunch break.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Why Landing Pages Are FAILING in 2025

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Landing pages no longer close deals on their own

The episode makes it clear that static landing pages cannot handle modern buyer behavior because people now expect to ask follow-up questions in real time the way they do with ChatGPT.

Sellers should stop trying to stuff every objection into copy and instead deploy conversational layers that let shoppers clarify doubts at the moment of intent, or they will keep losing conversions in the last mile.

2. Most lost sales come from unaddressed micro-objections

Buyers rarely leave because of one big objection. They leave because of many small unanswered questions like fit, delivery, compatibility, or risk.

The episode shows that even when product-market fit exists, uncertainty kills momentum. Sellers should treat objection-handling as a real-time process, not a copywriting problem alone.

3. Chat reveals what analytics can never show

Funnels and heatmaps show where people drop off, but they never tell you why. Conversations expose exact buyer fears, confusion, and edge-case use scenarios. Sellers who analyze chat logs get direct access to what actually stops purchases and can feed that insight back into ads, pages, and offers.

4. Consistency between ad and landing page determines conversion

The transcript repeatedly returns to the idea that when the promise in the ad does not match what users see on the page, doubt instantly appears.

Sellers should aggressively audit message match between traffic source and landing page because even a perfect product fails when framing shifts between click and conversion.

5. Headline testing drives more growth than page redesigns

One of the strongest tactical points is that simply changing a headline can double or kill conversions without touching anything else.

Sellers who spend time redesigning pages instead of running headline experiments are working on the wrong lever. Headline testing is the fastest path to conversion improvement.

6. Trust increases the moment a chat option appears

Even before a message is sent, chat acts as a trust signal that the brand is accessible. Especially for unknown or micro brands, this reduces perceived risk and improves conversion rates. Sellers should view chat not just as a tool but as a credibility layer.

7. The future of e-commerce is conversational and agent-driven

The transcript points toward a world where chat will not just answer questions but place orders, process refunds, and manage reorders.

People who build conversational infrastructure now will be positioned for a world where buying happens inside messaging, not on pages.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🤦‍♂️ I Did Everything Wrong…

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

• 🤦‍♂️ I Did Everything Wrong [True Story]

• 🤯 Meta Just Bought Manus…

• 🚨 The BIG AI Trends Heading into 2026

• ⚒️ Make Realistic Images with Nano Banana

• 💰 Agentic AI Will 10x Your Business in 2026...

Happy New Year Beardos 🎉 

Welcome to 2026! I’ve got some BIG plans for the new year and I’m very excited to share them with you over the next couple weeks.

Enjoy this week’s newsletter and I’ll see you next Monday.

By the way, tickets are now open for Ecom Mastery AI featuring BDSS in Nashville this April.

Find the details here: https://www.ecommastery.ai/

😡 I Did Everything Wrong… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the early 1980s, I was working with my father at his woodworking facility during my summer break from college.

He built solid, well-made furniture and wooden products, and somehow.

The company had several government contracts with the Province of Ontario.

For a small operation, that was a BIG deal.

These contracts kept the shop busy and the lights on.

As the end of the goverment contract approached, my father pulled me aside and said something that made my stomach drop.

“Norm, I want you to go down and meet with the purchasing department at Queen's Park.”

I was about 18 years old.

Up until that point, I had no sales experience. I worked in the shop. I knew the products. I knew the people.

But pitching?

That was a different story.

I was terrified.

To make it worse, I was a jeans and t-shirt kid.

But this was a suit and tie territory.

So I put on a suit that felt stiff, uncomfortable, and completely not me, and headed off to Toronto.

I walked into Queen’s Park, feeling completely out of place, like everyone could tell I didn’t belong there.

I was shown into a meeting room where two women from the purchasing department were waiting for me.

I’m pretty sure they could tell I was nervous the second I opened my mouth.

My voice was shakey.

My hands probably shook. I was overthinking every word.

They knew I was nervous and they just listened.

They didn’t rush me. They didn’t intimidate me.

They asked simple questions and actually listened to the answers. Slowly, without realizing it, I stopped trying to “pitch” and started just talking.

I talked about the products, the quality, how my father ran the shop.

Somewhere in that conversation, my fear faded.

When the meeting ended, I walked out with no clue how it went.

I got back in my car and thought, “Well… that could have gone a lot worse.”

A short time later, we found out we landed the contract for another year.

Without realizing it at the time, I had just had my first real sales experience.

Business Lesson:

Confidence doesn’t come before action, it comes from action.

Most people wait until they feel ready before stepping into uncomfortable situations, but that moment rarely arrives on its own.

In business, deals are won by being prepared, honest, and willing to show up as yourself.

Growth almost always lives just outside your comfort zone.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚀 Here’s what the top experts expect from AI in 2026

😱 Amazon hid FBA listings regionally for Two Months

🔥 Amazon has big changes planned For 2026, here's what to look for!

🛠️ Amazon picks Chicago suburb for proposed 229,000 square-foot retail development

🥕 Amazon launches same-day grocery delivery from West Jacksonville

🤖 AI godfather says Meta’s new 29-year-old AI boss is ‘inexperienced’ and warns of staff exodus 

🍾 Meta Just Bought Manus, an AI Startup That Has Everyone Talking

Meta dropped $2 billion to buy Manus, a Singapore-based AI startup that’s been making waves since launching earlier this year with a slick demo of AI agents doing everything from hiring to trip planning to stock analysis.

Benchmark led a $75M round in April, valuing Manus at $500M, with Tencent and Sequoia China (now HSG) already in early.

By December, Manus claimed millions of users and $100M+ in annual recurring revenue.

Just as Meta investors are sweating the company’s $60B AI infrastructure binge, Manus shows up as a shiny, profitable proof point.

Meta plans to run Manus independently, while injecting its AI agents into Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI possibly giving its underwhelming chatbot experience a serious upgrade.

Manus’ roots trace back to China, founded in Beijing in 2022 before moving to Singapore.

That triggered political alarms in the U.S., especially from Senator John Cornyn, who criticized Benchmark for backing a “Chinese AI company.”

Meta’s response?

Cut all China ties. Manus will exit China, sever Chinese investors, and operate fully outside Beijing’s reach.

He Keeps Buying Anvils on Amazon… Then Sends Them Right Back

For anyone just catching up, I posted about this guy last year.

The guy’s entire bit is that he repeatedly orders extremely heavy anvils using Amazon Prime’s free shipping, then immediately returns them.

Just buy, ship, return, repeat.

The goal is to force Amazon to eat the shipping and handling costs over and over again.

@stocklett

anvil update month 10 #anvil #amazon

So far he’s bought and returned 263 anvils!

In reality, he’s hurting a third party seller and I’m surprised Amazon hasn’t put a stop to this.

🚨 The Big AI Trends Heading into 2026

1. OpenAI Turned ChatGPT Into a Work Platform

GPT 5.2 built on top of GPT-4.5 with stronger reasoning, fewer hallucinations, & better follow-through on multi-step tasks.

Memory, Atlas-style organization, agents, tasks, apps, & even shopping features pushed ChatGPT past “chat” into something you can actually run work through.

Sora’s progress plus the Sora app kept AI video on the front burner.

2. Google Put Gemini Everywhere

Gemini 3 & Gemini 3 Flash made Google’s assistant feel faster & more competitive for everyday use.

The bigger story was reach. Gemini expanded across Search, Android, Chrome, & Maps, while Gemini Live voice upgrades, camera help, & memory made it feel more assistant-like in real situations.

NotebookLM updates helped turn docs, notes, & PDFs into something you can actually work through without drowning.

3. Claude Stayed the “Trusted” Option, While Open-Source Got Loud

Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, & 4.5 pushed long-context work & reasoning forward, plus Claude Code made it easier to use Claude for real dev workflows.

At the same time, open-source had a breakout year. DeepSeek proved you do not need a closed platform to get serious performance.

The model market got competitive in a way you could actually feel.

4. Agents Moved From Buzzword to Background Worker

AI agents stopped being overhyped demos and started quietly running tasks in the background, managing email follow-ups, summarizing meetings, drafting proposals, generating thumbnails, even booking appointments.

It got embedded into CRMs, inboxes, PM tools, and customer service stacks.

Agents stopped being a “future thing.” They just became part of how things got done.

5. Visual AI Went From “Cool” to “Consistent”

Midjourney V7 improved image quality & control. Runway Gen-4 pushed text-to-video with better motion & scene consistency. Sora kept advancing, & Veo expanded Google’s video story.

You could get closer to what you wanted with fewer rerolls & less tool-hopping. For creators & marketers, that is the real unlock.

Visual generation stopped being a gamble & started acting like a workflow.

By the end of 2025, the direction was clear.

More memory, fewer surprises, & tighter integration into the tools you already use changed how people actually worked this year

🌎 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!

⚒️ Make Realistic Images with Nano Banana

Level: Easy

How We Did It

1. Choose a clear “subject” image + a clear “scene” image

Pick a subject photo with good detail (a headshot, product photo, pet photo) and a separate background that has obvious perspective. This gives Nano Banana enough cues to place scale, direction, and depth correctly

2. Upload both images in the same chat

Drop the two images into Nano Banana together, not one at a time. The model uses the pair to infer what you want kept and what you want treated as the environment, which reduces confusion and cuts down on retries.

3. Give one simple instruction that names the action and the goal

Start with a single sentence that says what to move or replace, plus what “realistic” means for the outcome

Example prompts you can reuse:

‘Place the person from the headshot into the conference room photo so it looks like they’re presenting.’

‘Remove the cup on the table and replace it with the branded mug from the other image.’

Keeping the first prompt clean helps you get a usable draft fast.

4. Correct realism with targeted follow-ups

If something feels off, do not restart. Fix one variable at a time with short follow-ups.

Try prompts like:

‘Match the lighting to early afternoon.’

Adjust shadows so they fall to the right, consistent with the window light.’

‘Reduce the subject size by 10% and place them two steps farther back.’

This is where you save the most time. Each prompt builds on the last version, so you can get to “looks real” without a full redo.

5. Use “replace” prompts for product marketing mock ups

For entrepreneurs running ads, the fastest win is swapping objects in a scene. Upload your product-on-plain-background image plus a lifestyle photo, then use a replace instruction:

‘Remove the existing mug and replace it with the branded mug, matching texture and perspective.’

You can generate multiple environments in under 30 minutes, which is real ROI versus setting up extra photo shoots.

6. Experiment with creative remixes only after you nail the basics

If you’re blending unrelated scenes (like mountains + a city skyline), expect extra iterations. Start simple:

‘Blend the mountain scene with the city skyline so the city sits at the foot of the mountains.’

Then refine scale and integration:

‘Make the skyline larger so it fits the mountain base naturally.’

Treat this as a second pass workflow, not the first thing you try.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Agentic AI Will 10x Your Business in 2026...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Generative search traffic converts better because trust is pre-loaded

Traffic coming from AI-driven search converts significantly higher than traditional search because users assume the answer has already been filtered for relevance and accuracy. Sellers should stop treating SEO as keyword ranking alone and start optimizing for answer inclusion in AI systems, because visibility inside AI responses carries implied authority and shortens the buyer’s decision cycle.

2. Community is the primary moat in an AI-saturated market

As AI reduces the cost of information to zero, differentiation shifts from knowledge to belonging. The episode highlights that communities built around shared beliefs and identity retain customers longer and convert better than feature-led brands. Sellers should invest in community infrastructure that reinforces “who we are” rather than “what we sell.”

3. Performance has moved from targeting to content quality

Modern platforms no longer reward audience targeting as much as engagement signals. Content is the targeting. Authentic, creator-style content that holds attention outperforms polished ads across platforms. Sellers should prioritize volume and variation of messaging over hyper-optimized targeting settings.

4. AI compresses execution timelines

The advantage is no longer access to tools, but the ability to direct them correctly. Campaigns that once took weeks now take hours. Sellers who learn how to prompt, orchestrate, and QA AI workflows will dramatically outpace competitors who treat AI as a novelty or productivity hack.

5. Personal brand is becoming the trust layer above AI

In an environment flooded with AI-generated content, buyers anchor trust to humans, not companies. AI can assist delivery, but credibility flows from the person behind it. Sellers should treat personal brand as top-of-funnel trust infrastructure and use company branding as the conversion layer downstream.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

😡 I Lost It At The Zoo...

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

• 😡 I Lost It At The Zoo... [True Story]

• 🍾 Retail’s 2025 Year End Review

• 🚨 Amazon’s AI Crossroads

• ⚒️ How to Build a Launch Kit in Seconds

• 💰 How I Made $1,000,000 By 18...

😡 I Lost It At The Zoo… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the '80s, I landed my first real paying gig as a photographer for the Toronto Zoo.

It was a dream job.

I had the "Golden Ticket" to areas of the zoo the public never sees.

I felt like I owned the place.

One afternoon, I’m walking the grounds when I spotted a school group.

As it turned out, my friend Laura’s sister was in the class.

We chatted for a bit, said our hellos, and I went on my way.

A little later, I happened to pass by the baboon enclosure.

Now, you have to understand the setup.

There was a primary fence to keep the animals in, and a secondary safety fence—clearly marked with "DANGER: DO NOT CROSS".

I rounded the corner and my heart nearly stopped.

The teacher, the person in charge of these kids' safety was actually encouraging them to climb over the safety fence.

They were hanging off the primary enclosure, inches away from the mesh, trying to feed the baboons.

I didn't think, I just reacted.

I ran over screaming.

I was yelling at the teacher to get them back, yelling at the kids to move.

They looked at me like I was a madman.

It wasn't until Laura’s sister saw the sheer panic in my eyes that she realized this wasn't a joke and ushered the kids back.

When the dust settled, the teacher looked at me, completely unfazed.

She thought they were just "cute monkeys."

She had no idea that a baboon is a highly unpredictable primate that could have pulled a child's arm through that fence in a heartbeat.

She saw a "fun photo op."

I saw a disaster in the making.

Some Beardos may remember a similar story I wrote last year about a childhood friend who lost his arm due to getting to close to a “cute” polar bear.

Business Lesson

Don't mistake a lack of visible danger for the absence of it.

In business, the things that look like easy money or too good to be true usually have the sharpest teeth.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚨 Amazon to change refund policy for Fulfilled by Merchant orders

🛑 Amazon halts plans for drone delivery in Italy 

🎄 Retail closes the holiday season leaner and more focused 

🚀 Amazon appoints longtime AWS exec Peter DeSantis to lead new AI org 

🎁 Returning gifts? Here's return policies at Amazon, Target, Walmart, more

🤖 Amazon tightens platform access as AI shopping agents expand 

🔥 TikTok has dethroned YouTube and Instagram and become the top social app for news among young people

🍾 Retail’s 2025 Year End Revie

In 2025, retail was shaped by real pressures, tighter consumer wallets, rising costs, and the need to make digital transformation genuinely useful.

Consumers traded down where it made sense, leaned into deals, and treated credit, rewards, and instalment options as tools to manage budgets.

Across the year, two consistent themes emerged:

• Retailers adapting how they sell, not just what they build.

• Consumers becoming more deliberate with where they spend.

Tech Matters… But Only When Customers Don’t Notice It

A recurring message from retailers this year was simple: technology only works when customers barely notice it.

CVS leaned into what most retailers already have but often underuse, transaction and loyalty data.

At Ulta Beauty, the focus was on discovery. Ulta’s approach treats search, browsing, and buying as one fluid experience because customers want answers.

Furniture.com tackled friction differently: normalizing inconsistent product data across partners, they cut down the time people needed to compare and decide, reducing decision fatigue without removing choice.

Whatnot brought another lesson: retail can be entertainment and commerce without losing either with users spending 80 minutes a day in the app.

AI is something customers feel through better search, faster onboarding of products, smarter replenishment, and more relevant offers.

Amazon vs. Walmart

Across 2025, the biggest players in U.S. retail continued to tug on consumer dollars, even as overall spending slowed in some categories.

• Amazon and Walmart combined generated about $1.3 trillion in retail sales over the past 12 months roughly 17% of total U.S. retail spend.

• Amazon accounted for about 9.1% of U.S. retail sales.

• Walmart landed around 7.6% but with a heavy skew toward grocery and everyday essentials.

Amazon Isn't Really a Retailer Anymore

Maybe the most underreported shift of the year is what Amazon didn’t say in its Q3 earnings: only 7 of its 35 bullet points focused on retail.

The rest?

Advertising, AWS, AI infrastructure, and logistics.

The numbers tell the full story…

Retail sales (online + physical stores) brought in $73 billion in Q3. But its services, third-party seller fees, ads, subscriptions, AWS, and other tools, generated $107 billion.

Retail now makes up just 40.5% of Amazon’s revenue. That’s down from 60% in 2018. And it’s not just about volume. It’s about margin.

Amazon’s ad business alone pulled in $17.7 billion last quarter, growing 22% YoY. Third-party seller fees added $42.5 billion, with Amazon taking ~50% of seller revenue via stacked fees. These services aren’t just padding the bottom line, they are the business.

Black Friday 2025

Black Friday captured the year’s consumer mindset in one snapshot:

• 151 million shoppers made at least one purchase down 7% from the prior year.

• In‑store shoppers dropped 11%, while online purchases increased 7%.

• 77% of shoppers bought digitally via phone or computer.

Shoppers bought fewer items, prioritizing what mattered most without abandoning overall spend.

AI also showed up in purchase behavior: half of all shoppers relied on conversational AI tools to help complete purchases.

Nearly 60% of consumers living paycheck to paycheck used credit cards in fixed installments to manage payments.

Buy Now, Pay Later usage grew slightly to 11.9% of purchases. Black Friday increasingly looked like a financing event as much as a discount event, with direct implications for issuers, BNPL providers, acquirers, and fraud teams.

🔥 Read more here

🚨 Amazon’s AI Crossroads: Fight the Bots or Power Them?

Amazon is staring down what might be the most important strategic decision in modern retail: whether to block AI shopping agents or embrace them.

Andy Jassy saw this coming.

OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Perplexity have all released tools that allow consumers to research, compare, and even purchase products without ever visiting a retailer’s website.

Instead of opening Amazon or Walmart, a shopper can ask a chatbot to find the best option and complete the transaction inside the AI interface.

That shift puts Amazon in a difficult position.

These agents threaten Amazon’s direct relationship with customers, its data advantage, and its margins. At the same time, ignoring them could mean losing relevance as shopping behavior changes.

Why AI Agents Are a Real Threat

Agentic commerce could drive $1 trillion in U.S. retail revenue by 2030. Morgan Stanley expects nearly half of American shoppers to use AI agents within the same timeframe, potentially adding $115 billion in e‑commerce spend.

Around 40% to 50% of Americans already use AI tools for product research. While only a small percentage currently start purchases through AI, that number is climbing quickly, especially during peak shopping periods.

If purchases move upstream into AI tools, Amazon becomes just another supplier in someone else’s workflow.

In cases like ChatGPT, the AI provider collects a transaction fee. Retailers risk paying a toll on someone else’s highway for the same transaction.

Amazon’s Defensive Posture

Amazon updated its website code to block external AI agents from crawling its site. As of this week, Amazon has blocked 47 bots, including those from every major AI company.

Amazon has also gone on offense legally.

In November, it sued Perplexity over its Comet browser agent, accusing the startup of disguising its bots to scrape Amazon’s site and make purchases without permission. Perplexity called the lawsuit a bully tactic, but the message from Amazon was unmistakable.

Rufus, Amazon’s shopping chatbot, launched earlier this year and has steadily expanded across the site.

Amazon is also testing “Buy For Me,” an agent that allows shoppers to purchase items from other websites without leaving Amazon’s app.

The Cracks in Agentic Commerce

OpenAI’s Instant Checkout tool, launched in September, works with only a limited set of retailers and products.

Users can only buy one item at a time and can’t link loyalty programs like Walmart+.

There are also reliability issues.

Perplexity’s Instant Buy tool encountered repeated errors while trying to purchase in-stock items. In another test, ChatGPT recommended a Breville espresso machine but displayed an image of a garden rake.

AI agents scrape and synthesize data from across the web, but retailers don’t control how that data is interpreted or presented.

For a company like Amazon, which has spent decades refining search relevance, reviews, and ranking systems, that loss of control is unacceptable.

So the big question is, will Amazon remain the platform where shopping decisions are made, or becomes the infrastructure behind someone else’s interface?

🚀 Read more 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 to Build a Launch Kit in Seconds

Level: Easy

1. Write a one-page creative brief in ChatGPT

We started in ChatGPT and drafted a tight brief so every tool downstream had the same direction. We included: the offer, the audience, the main promise, the tone, and a simple visual vibe (clean, bold, modern).

Then we added a small “consistency pack”: three brand adjectives, two must-have visual cues, and one hard “no.” This keeps you from chasing ten styles and losing half your morning.

Example prompt:

‘Create a creative brief for a solo course creator launching a new offer. Include tone, audience, key message, visual vibe, 3 brand adjectives, 2 visual cues, and 1 thing to avoid. Keep it short and practical.’

2. Generate the copy blocks you’ll reuse everywhere

Next, we asked ChatGPT for production-ready copy, not vague ideas. We generated:

• 5 headline options (short enough for a hero graphic)

• 5 subheads (one sentence each)

• 6 benefit bullets (plain language)

• Captions for LinkedIn, X, and Instagram

• A 15-second video script with on-screen text cues

3. This is where the “prompt formula” mindset matters. You want structured output you can paste into Canva and your video timeline, with minimal rewriting

4. Create your “base look” with ChatGPT image generation

Before we went wide with image variations, we used ChatGPT to create a first visual direction we could control. We specified framing, lighting, style, and negative constraints (what not to include).

We also generated a transparent-background version for simple overlays and sticker-style elements. That made it easy to place the same motif across posts, thumbnails, and video scenes.

Example prompt:

‘Create a clean, modern hero background for a course launch. Leave empty space for headline text. High contrast, studio lighting feel, minimal clutter, no logos, no tiny unreadable text.’

5. Expand into a consistent image set in Midjourney

Once the base look was clear, Midjourney helped us generate a small batch of options that still felt like the same brand. We used the brief as the core, then added composition and lighting cues, plus style references when needed.

The key move was quality control. We generated 8–12 options, picked the top 2–3, then refined them using editing actions like panning, zooming, and inpainting to fix small issues without changing the whole image. That’s how you keep consistency without endless rerolls.

6. Build a reusable template kit in Canva Magic Studio

With the visuals and copy ready, Canva became the “production floor.” We built:

• A hero graphic layout

• One square post template

• One story/reel cover template

• One thumbnail layout

7. Then we used Magic Studio tools to move fast: Background Remover and Magic Eraser for cleanup, Magic Grab and Magic Expand for quick adjustments, and Magic Write to tighten copy when it was a few characters too long.

Finally, we used Magic Switch to resize into multiple formats without redesigning each one. This is where entrepreneurs win time back, because the next launch becomes a swap-in process.

8. Turn the kit into a 15-second vertical video

We used the script from ChatGPT and created a simple storyboard: hook, promise, three quick proof points, and a clean close.

From the AI Filmmaking workflow mindset, we treated this like a mini production: a shot list of four scenes, consistent visuals across each scene, and audio that matches the pace. If you want motion, you can animate scenes (image-to-video), then add a voiceover with a tool like ElevenLabs or use text-led pacing with music.

We finished by doing one quick polish pass: timing, readability, and a final export sized for vertical. You end up with a postable video and a repeatable structure you can reuse every week.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 How I Made $1,000,000 By 18...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Build funnels backward from the highest-priced offer

Rather than starting with free content or low-ticket products, the strategy begins by defining the $10K+ offer first and designing every step upstream to logically lead to it. Sellers who launch lead magnets without knowing the final sale end up with traffic that cannot convert.

The practical takeaway is to map the entire monetization ladder before building a single page or running a single ad.

2. Use paid entry offers to filter buyers

Makenna emphasizes avoiding free traffic when selling high-ticket offers. Small paid entry points ($25–$27) dramatically improve lead quality and sales efficiency by self-selecting buyers.

Sellers should introduce early friction intentionally to reduce sales team waste and improve close rates, even if that means fewer leads overall.

3. Treat webinars as math problems

Webinars in this model are run with predictable economics: lead cost, attendance rate, close rate, and revenue per attendee are all known in advance. This allows confident ad spend and repeatability.

Stop thinking of webinars as educational sessions and start treating them as repeatable conversion systems that must pass a spreadsheet test before launch.

4. Monetize the thank-you page instead of wasting it

Makenna calls out thank-you pages as the most underutilized asset in marketing, yet they represent the moment of highest attention. Sellers who simply say “check your email” are discarding paid traffic value.

Every thank-you page should include a next action, upsell, or pre-framing step that moves the buyer further into the funnel.

5. Replace “book a call” with application funnels for high-ticket sales

Direct calendar booking produces low-quality conversations and poor show-up rates. But funnels increase commitment, gather sales intelligence, and frame the call before it happens.

Sellers offering anything above $1K should gate calls with a brief application to improve both conversion and experience.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

😱 The Day My Card Declined…

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

• 💳 The Day My Card Declined… [True Story]

• 🤝 TikTok Signs Deal to Transfer U.S. Operations

• 🤖 Can Walmart’s AI Close the Gap?

• ✅ Building a Lean “Starter Stack” as a Solo Founder

• 🔥 She Lost Everything... Then Built a Fitness Empire

💳 The Day My Card Declined… [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the ’90s in Toronto, I was hustling to land a massive contract with a Fortune 500 company.

After a year of relentless bidding and going above and beyond with our service, I grew close with their VP of global sales, Samir, he was a gentleman and a half.

One evening, I invited Samir and his wife out for dim sum.

When the check came, I snatched it, ready to impress.

But my credit card?

Declined.

I was mortified.

Samir laughed, paid, and reminded me not to sweat it.

A month later, we secured the deal.

I confessed I’d worried that night might blow it.

He smiled again and said, “We chose you because you always overdeliver, not because of one dinner.”

The lesson?

Trust and consistency outweigh perfection.

Amazon sellers, remember: one hiccup won’t break you, consistently showing up and delivering will

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🤝 Temu partners with Shopify to launch app for sellers -

📺 Instagram for TV launching first on Fire TV devices

💊 Amazon expands TIC cGMP requirement to all supplement products, plus fast-track option

🚀 Brand Store quality rating now reflect sales performance 

🛑 Why retail leaders are cracking down on constant order changes 

🔥Amazon plans new one-hour pickup service in stores, Business Insider reports

😱 Amazon Confirms 5-Year-Long Russian Cyberattack 

🤝 TikTok Signs Deal to Transfer U.S. Operations to American‑Led Joint Venture

TikTok has signed a definitive agreement to place its U.S. operations into a new joint venture majority controlled by American investors, potentially resolving years of regulatory uncertainty around a U.S. ban.

According to internal memos obtained by Axios and CNBC, the new entity will be called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC and is expected to close on January 22.

CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees the deal is designed to address U.S. national security concerns tied to TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

Ownership and Control Structure

The joint venture will be majority owned by American investors and governed by a seven‑member board with a U.S. majority.

Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi‑based MGX will each hold a 15% stake, totaling 45% combined ownership.

Affiliates of existing ByteDance investors will hold roughly one‑third of the company, while ByteDance itself will retain just under 20%.

The structure is intended to meet U.S. legal requirements while allowing TikTok to continue operating without interruption.

The deal values TikTok’s U.S. business at approximately $14 billion.

Data, Algorithms, and Oversight

Under the agreement, the U.S. joint venture will take responsibility for data protection, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurance.

Oracle will serve as the trusted security partner, overseeing compliance with national security terms and hosting U.S. user data in its U.S.-based cloud infrastructure.

Notably, the venture will retrain TikTok’s recommendation algorithm using U.S. user data, with the stated goal of ensuring the feed is free from outside influence.

This addresses one of the core concerns raised by U.S. lawmakers: control over TikTok’s algorithm.

TikTok’s existing global teams will continue managing certain international functions, including e‑commerce, advertising, and marketing, to maintain product interoperability across markets.

Regulatory Context

The deal follows a Supreme Court‑upheld national security law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok’s U.S. operations or face a ban.

President Trump issued a temporary delay on enforcement earlier this year, setting a January 23, 2026 deadline.

This agreement appears designed to satisfy that requirement without triggering a shutdown for TikTok’s roughly 170 million U.S. users.

What This Means for Users and Brands

If approved and finalized as planned, TikTok users should see little to no immediate change in the app experience.

For advertisers, creators, and ecommerce brands, the deal removes a major overhang that has complicated long‑term planning on the platform.

The remaining open question is execution.

Regulators will closely scrutinize how algorithm retraining, data controls, and governance work in practice. But for now, TikTok has taken its strongest step yet toward securing its future in the U.S.

🔥 Read more here

🤖 Walmart’s AI Offensive: Can It Close the Gap With Amazon?

Walmart is moving fast to transform its identity from a big-box titan into a tech-first retail player and AI is at the center of that shift.

While Amazon had the early lead with its Rufus assistant and AI infrastructure, Walmart is catching up quickly with Sparky and a suite of internal “super agents” aimed at personalization, operations, and developer productivity.

From Retailer to AI Platform
Incoming CEO John Furner is steering the next phase—AI-driven transformation.

Walmart’s generative assistant, Sparky, recommends products, summarizes reviews, and handles queries across shopping touchpoints.

But the company didn’t stop there. It rolled out three internal agentic AI tools for staff, suppliers, and developers, signaling a deep commitment to operational AI, not just customer-facing fluff.

Openness vs. Isolation
Walmart is playing aggressively with outside platforms, integrating ChatGPT for instant checkout and embracing third-party AI ecosystems.

Amazon, on the other hand, is keeping its walls up. It’s blocking ChatGPT and others from interacting with its marketplace and focusing on homegrown tools.

That protective stance might preserve control but risks falling behind in pace and experimentation.

AI as Product Discovery Power

The heart of this battle is recommendation quality.

Whoever builds the smartest, most personalized product discovery engine wins.

Walmart and Amazon are racing to map customer context, demographics, history, preferences, to sprawling databases of products.

Amazon’s Rufus drives conversions with a claimed $10B in incremental revenue.

But experts say Walmart’s moves are faster, bolder, and more collaborative.

Amazon’s Next Moves?

Amazon launched an agentic AI division and “Buy For Me” shopping tools in early 2025, but has shown signs of slowing.

CEO Andy Jassy recently hinted at loosening the company's walled-garden AI stance but insiders see that as a reactive move to Walmart’s acceleration.

With agentic systems, third-party integrations, and AI embedded at every layer, it’s forcing Amazon to play defense.

The AI shopping wars will be won not just by who has the best tech but by who personalizes better, faster, and more openly.

🔥 Read more here

🚀 Amazon Sellers Are Rewriting Listings for AI Search

Amazon sellers are adjusting how they write product listings to perform better in AI‑driven search, especially for Amazon’s AI assistant Rufus, even though Amazon hasn’t issued clear optimization guidelines.

AI Changes the Rules of Discovery

Traditionally, Amazon SEO relied on “keyword stuffing” to get products in front of shoppers.

Rufus, however, uses context and intent. It looks at conversational language to match queries like “best candy for Valentine’s Day” with relevant products, even if exact keywords aren’t in the title.

Titles are being rewritten in more natural language, and descriptions now include phrases and questions actual customers might ask.

One example contrasted a keyword‑crammed title with a cleaner phrase like “Valentine’s Day milk & dark chocolate, 12‑piece heart box,” and supplemental content that reflects real search queries.

More Context = Better AI Results

Because Rufus weighs broader context, sellers are expanding listings with richer detail, product dimensions, compatibility, use cases, FAQs, and even brand story elements. More completeness helps AI understand how and when to recommend a product.

Some brands are updating packaging too.

For example, a nutrition brand is adding “fiber” prominently to package imagery and listing text because Rufus uses image reading as part of discovery.

Real Results Reported

Sellers applying these AI‑friendly listing strategies are seeing measurable lifts:

• Optimized products in one test group saw 58% year‑over‑year sales growth compared with a control group.

• Another agency reported traffic increases up to 35% after updating listings.

• Larger brands reported visibility lifts as well.

Amazon’s Official Stance

Amazon hasn’t changed its public guidance, and spokespeople say there’s no new, specific direction for AI optimization.

That said, Amazon does offer internal generative AI tools that help sellers improve listing titles, descriptions, and bullets which have been associated with higher listing quality.

Why This Matters

Rufus now drives significant traffic and sales: 250 million users have engaged with it in 2025, and users interacting with the assistant are more likely to convert, showing that AI search behavior isn’t niche anymore.

As Amazon shifts toward AI‑led discovery, the fastest adopters of AI‑friendly listing strategies appear to be gaining visibility and sales.

🌎 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!

⚒️ Building a Lean “Starter Stack” as a Solo Founder Launching an Offer

Level: Easy

Here’s the exact path we used to build a low-cost setup you can copy in under 30 minutes, then reuse every week. Each step maps to a real business outcome, not “cool features.”

1. Pick one LLM & make it your home base

Start with ChatGPT or Google Gemini on the free plan. Use it for weekly planning, offer brainstorming, competitor notes, and quick drafts.

If you’re doing heavy work daily, a paid plan can be worth it because it gives you more consistency for longer sessions.

2. Create a simple “launch brief” in one doc

Ask your LLM to produce a one-page brief that includes your offer, target customer, three differentiators, and a short FAQ. Keep it tight so you can reuse it everywhere, email, landing page copy, ad angles, and sales call talking points.

‘Create a one page business brief that clearly explains my offer, ideal customer, three key differentiators, and a short FAQ. Keep it concise and written so it can be reused for emails, landing pages, ads, and sales calls. Ask me follow up questions.’

This alone can save you 60 to 90 minutes of rewriting later.

3. Turn that brief into brand-ready assets in Canva

Use Canva’s free plan to assemble your basics: a square post template, a story template, a simple one-page flyer, and a clean header image for your landing page. If you use Magic Studio features often, the paid plan can be a smart upgrade, but you can get far with templates plus your LLM-generated copy.

4. Generate a pitch deck in Gamma, then refine with prompts

Paste the launch brief into Gamma and prompt it to create a short deck (6 to 8 slides) with a clear flow: problem, solution, proof, offer, next steps. Then use Gamma Agent style edits like “shorten slide 3” or “make the tone more direct.” You’re aiming for speed here, not perfection.

5. Record one walkthrough & edit it like a document

Record a quick screen walkthrough of your offer or onboarding process. Then bring it into Descript and edit by deleting words in the transcript. Use filler-word removal sparingly so you still sound human. If you’re making content weekly, Descript’s paid features can save real time, but even the free plan covers the core workflow.

6. Capture meetings, save decisions, then add light automation later

If you run client calls or internal check-ins, let Otter take notes and summaries so you don’t spend your evening rewriting action items.

Store final decisions in Notion as your “company brain” (even if your company is just you).

When you’re ready for automation, Zapier or Make can route form responses, draft replies, and update docs, but treat this as a later layer once the basics feel stable.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 She Lost Everything... Then Built a Fitness Empire

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Paid ads should amplify proven demand, not discover it

Meta is no longer forgiving with cold creative. CPMs punish weak engagement instantly. Organic content already contains market validation. People stopped scrolling, watched, commented, or shared. That means the message, hook, and framing already resonate.

Use organic content as your pre-ad testing layer. Anything that doesn’t perform organically is a liability in paid. Ads should scale certainty, not gamble on creativity.

2. Live video is being used as “trust-heavy” ad inventory

Live videos feel unscripted and authentic, but they’re being strategically structured for conversion, then repurposed as ads. Viewers lower their guard. Live video bypasses ad blindness because it doesn’t feel like an ad, yet contains selling moments embedded naturally.

Lives are not for discovery alone. They are long-form persuasion assets that can be clipped, hooked, and run as ads with much higher trust than polished creatives.

3. Ads are built as systems, not creatives

One core message gets split into multiple hooks, openings, and angles. Meta selects winners dynamically. Creative fatigue happens at the hook level, not the offer level. By modularizing hooks, sellers extend creative lifespan without rebuilding campaigns.

Stop thinking “make an ad.”

Think “build a creative engine.” One idea should spawn 10–20 entry points.

4. Interest-based distribution replaced follower-based reach

Platforms distribute content based on predicted interest, not who follows you.
Algorithms are optimized for retention, not loyalty. They show content to whoever is most likely to engage, regardless of relationship.

Your existing audience may no longer match your current offer. Sellers must optimize for interest alignment, not audience size.

5. Viral content creates attention, not customers

Broad viral hooks attract wide audiences with low buying intent. Virality optimizes for entertainment, not urgency. Buyers act when a message speaks directly to a specific pain they recognize immediately.

Chasing virality without intent alignment inflates metrics while starving revenue. High-intent content converts even at low reach.

6. Avatar clarity is the primary growth constraint

Most accounts speak to “everyone,” so no one feels spoken to. When content names specific pains precisely, people self-select instantly. Engagement quality improves, not just volume.

If your avatar isn’t painfully clear, ads won’t scale and content won’t convert. Precision beats creativity every time.

7. Revenue comes from raving buyers, not casual fans

Sellers don’t need millions of followers. They need a small group with unresolved problems and purchasing power. Buyers with urgency will spend repeatedly, refer others, and tolerate imperfect execution.

Optimize your business for repeat buyers, not audience growth. Ads should target pain depth, not mass appeal.

8. Content advantage now comes from replication speed

Viral formats, hooks, and scripts are already visible. Winning creators replicate them rapidly instead of inventing new ones. Algorithms reward proven engagement patterns. Originality is risky; adaptation is efficient.

Your competitive edge is execution velocity, not creativity. Study what’s working daily and deploy faster than competitors.

9. Copywriters outperform community managers in growth

Engagement is driven by hooks, framing, and language, not posting frequency or replies alone. Platforms reward watch time and interaction triggered by messaging, not moderation.

If forced to choose, invest in research and copy before community management. Growth starts with words, not workflows.

10. Platform obedience beats platform resistance

Each platform shifts incentives constantly. Sellers who resist lose reach. Algorithms promote content that aligns with current format priorities.

Don’t fight the platform. If it pushes video, do video. If it pushes carousels, do carousels. Strategy adapts to distribution, not the other way around.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

⛵ I Embarrassed Myself at the Yacht Club…

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

• ⛵ I Embarrassed Myself… [True Story]

• 🚀 Reddit’s the NEW Power Tool for AI Search

• 🔥 Why Your Newsletter Strategy is FAILING

• ✅ 3 Things to Know for ChatGPT 5.2

• ⚒️ Turn a Boring CSV File into a LIVE Dashboard [Quick Guide]

⛵ I Embarrassed Myself at the Yacht Club…

[TRUE STORY] 

Back in the mid-90s, I was running a tech incubator in Tampa.

We had some innovative projects, and for about six months, potential buyers were trying their best to impress me.

Was this going to my head… Maybe.

These guys would bring me around to these pretty cool places and restaurants in exchange for my time.

One day, I found myself at a private island yacht club, definitely a step up from my usual t-shirt and shorts vibe.

I tried to blend in, sipping my drink… except I forgot the straw.

I went to take a cool sip, and BAM!

The straw shot straight up my nose.

This was in front of everybody…

I looked like a walrus.

The guys had a laugh, and I was humbled to say the least.

I think it’s important to have these moments.

Even when the big players roll out the red carpet, never forget who you are.

And if you get a straw up your nose, laugh it off because humility and authenticity win deals better than any yacht club ever could.

— Norm

P.S. I will be speaking at SellerCon AI!

Tickets are now on sale → https://sellercon.com/

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🎄 Walmart is Offering One Hour Delivery Up to 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve

📦 Slowdown in U.S. Cargo Volumes Likely to Persist in 2026

🛍️ Maximize holiday sales with extended Prime shipping cutoff

🚀 Social search usage and trends 2025

💰 China makes history with $1 trillion trade surplus for first time ever

🔎 Amazon Hid FBA Listings Regionally for Two Months

🚨 Amazon reduces seller fees in Europe

🛍️ Amazon Re-Invents Checkout With One-Tap “Add to Delivery”

The new Amazon Add to Delivery feature lets Prime members instantly add items to an upcoming shipment without going through the cart or checkout again. Tap once, and the item is added and charged immediately.

🦾  Google’s New Move Just Changed How Brands Think About SEO and Social

Google took a big step that every brand should pay attention to, especially if you're building traffic from off-Amazon sources.

They’re testing a new feature called Social Channel Insights in Search Console.

For the first time, you’ll be able to track how your YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other social content performs in Google Search alongside your website data.

Here’s why that matters:

• You’ll see which posts rank, which keywords drive clicks, and where those clicks come from.

• You can spot content that’s working.

• And most importantly, you can actually measure how off-Amazon content helps build brand discovery.

Right now, only a limited number of sites have access, but if you’re one of them, you’ll see a prompt to connect your social channels inside Search Console.

Key Features

• Total reach: clicks and impressions sending users from Google Search to your social channels.

• Content performance: top-performing posts and which ones are trending.

• Search queries: the keywords leading users to your social profiles.

• Audience location: top countries where users click into your channels.

• Additional sources: traffic coming from Image Search, Video Search, News, and Discover.

This rollout is still experimental and available only to a limited number of sites Google has automatically identified. If you’re part of the test, Search Console will prompt you to add the connected channels.

🔥 Reddit Just Became a Power Tool for AI Search

Reddit is now the second most visited website in the U.S. and the third in Canada, driven largely by AI referral traffic.

Why?

Because Reddit gives AI tools exactly what they need: human experiences, reviews, product debates, and authentic problem-solving.

It’s real people sharing real answers. And AI platforms are trained to prefer that kind of content.

Google's Deal with Reddit Is Fueling This Shift

Back in 2023, Reddit signed a multi-million-dollar data licensing deal with Google. This lets Google pull Reddit content directly into Search and its AI-generated answers. Since then, Reddit rankings in SERPs and AI Overviews have exploded up 191% in Google listings alone.

If that deal is renewed (and all signs point to yes), Reddit’s influence on search and AI discovery will only grow. Google wants its money’s worth and Reddit content performs.

Why This Matters for Sellers and Brands

This is about more than SEO. This is search everywhere optimization your visibility across organic search, AI tools, and community conversations.

If your product is being discussed or better, recommended on Reddit, it increases your chances of showing up in:

• Google Search (organic + AI Overview)

• ChatGPT product suggestions

• Discover and video carousels

• Voice search tools pulling Reddit threads

Reddit influences both search rankings and AI results. If you ignore it, you're leaving reach, relevance, and real buyers on the table.

Reddit Doesn't Need to Be a Black Box

Handled right, Reddit is a goldmine for organic traffic, brand perception, and long-term discoverability.

With 1.21 billion monthly users and ranking for everything from “best probiotics for bloating” to “is the Doona stroller worth it,” Reddit has become a serious player in the consideration phase of the buyer journey.

People don’t just scroll Reddit. They search it. They use it to compare brands, learn from experience, and make buying decisions.

How to Actually Win on Reddit Without Getting Banned

Forget trying to post links and sell. That’s how you get downvoted and banned.

Reddit requires a phased, community-first approach that earns trust before you ever mention your brand.

Phase 1 (First 2–3+ Months)

• Set up branded accounts (e.g., BrandName_Official or BrandName_Support)

• Monitor relevant subreddits and conversations

• Learn the culture, tone, and rules of each subreddit

• Start by commenting, upvoting, and being helpful…No posting yet

Phase 2 (1–2+ Months After)

• Start joining product-related threads with helpful answers

• Answer common questions using brand knowledge

• Create original posts that address frequent pain points (FAQ style)

• Identify top-ranking Reddit threads for your keywords and show up

Phase 3

• Launch your own branded subreddit (if you have scale)

• Involve your customer support or community team

• Use Reddit as a live testbed for product messaging and content ideas

• Document what works and build repeatable workflows

Top Tips for Getting It Right on Reddit

• Always be transparent: Use branded accounts. If you want to be ethical, don’t pretend to be a random user.

• Respect the subreddit rules: Each one is different. Read them before you post.

• Don’t pitch! Provide value: Help first. The goodwill drives visibility.

Reddit is shaping the future of search.

And if you're not there, your competitors probably are.

🚀 ChatGPT 5.2 is here! Here are 3 things you need to know

1. It Thinks in Steps, Not Just Sentences
GPT-5.2 handles multi-step reasoning better than any prior version.

It can break down complex problems, plan the solution, and deliver more coherent answers, especially across long conversations or technical tasks like building spreadsheets or analyzing data.

2. Way Bigger Memory
You can now drop in huge documents, financials, legal contracts, or full project folders and it won’t lose the plot.

It remembers and connects details across hundreds of thousands of words. Same goes for images, charts, and complex visuals, it processes them more accurately.

3. Fewer Hallucinations, More Reliability
OpenAI cut hallucinations by 30%. GPT-5.2 is more accurate, handles messy tasks (like customer support problems) better, and gives more grounded responses, especially around sensitive topics like mental health.

Read more 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!

⚒️ Turn Your Boring CSV File into a LIVE Working Dashboard

 Level: Medium 

How We Did It

Here is how we used Claude to turn a plain CSV into a dashboard ready for a weekly revenue review, using a workflow any busy founder can cop

1. Start with the export you already have

We grabbed a standard orders export from our billing tool as a CSV file with no cleanup at all. Do the same with revenue, trial signups, refunds, or any recurring report you already run for your business.

2. Upload the file & set a clear outcome

Inside Claude, we uploaded the CSV then gave a direct instruction such as

‘Turn this into an interactive revenue dashboard with totals, filters by plan, & a clean layout for a team meeting.’

Stating the audience & purpose helps Claude choose sensible charts & structure

3. Let Claude build the first dashboard draft

Claude generated the code for a full page dashboard, then rendered it as an artifact so we could scroll through it inside the chat. The first version already showed totals, tables, & visual summaries pulled from the CSV.

4. Tighten the layout through quick iterations

From there we treated Claude like a product designer on call. We asked for fixes such as

‘Make sure nothing is cropped on smaller screens’ or ‘Switch this to light mode’

Claude updated the artifact instead of rewriting everything, which kept iterations under a minute.

5. Publish & reuse the dashboard

Once the layout felt good, we used the Publish artifact option.

Claude gave us a link that opened the same dashboard in a clean browser view, ready for screen share or a quick check before calls. When the numbers change, export a fresh CSV, upload it with the same prompt, & have an updated view in a few minutes instead of rebuilding slides.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Why Your Newsletter Strategy is FAILING

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Stop treating your newsletter like a growth channel

Pick one discovery platform (YouTube, LinkedIn, IG) and explicitly use it to push people into your email list.
Rule: Discovery happens elsewhere. Email is for retention and monetization only.

2. Commit to a minimum 12-month publishing window

Choose a cadence you can hit every week for a year without fail.
Weekly beats daily. Short beats long. Nothing meaningful happens in the first 3–6 months. If you’re not willing to grind through that, don’t start.

3. Separate editorial emails from sales emails immediately

• Newsletter = 80–100% value

• Marketing emails = 80–100% sales
  
  Send your newsletter on a fixed day. Send marketing emails as needed, to segments.

4. Define monetization before you grow the list

Write down what you will sell before you hit 1,000 subscribers:

• your own product or service

• sponsorship slots

• dedicated emails
  If you cannot articulate how money flows, audience growth will stall or become useless.

5. Cull your list aggressively

Create a “base sending segment”:

• Opened or clicked in the last 30–45 days
  Send only to that group.
  Your open rates, clicks, and inbox placement will go up even though list size goes down.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🐅 The Night the Tiger Escaped...

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

• 🐅 The Night the Tiger Escaped... [True Story]

• 🛍️ The BIG Impact of Rufus on Black Friday

• 🚀 Stream on TikTok Shop Without EVER Going on Camera

• 🔥 Amazon’s New AI Ad Prompts is Here!

• ⚒️ Draft a Blog Post in Seconds! [Quick Guide]

 🐅 The Night the Tiger Escaped...

[TRUE STORY] 

When I was about fifteen, my dad had me spend a summer working at a campground he co-owned near the U.S./Quebec border.

I ran the store, spraying for mosquitoes with a tractor, and hauling trash to a dump that had a few black bears roaming around.

Honestly, the bears never bothered me much they were just looking for food at the dump.

Then one day, we got word that a tiger had escaped from the African Lion Safari a few miles away.

I spent that night in my tent imagining all sorts of wild scenarios.

Was the lion going to get me if I fall asleep?

What if I had to go to the bathroom outside?

Will I hear it stalk me before I’m attacked?

Turns out, the tiger was caught the next day about a mile away.

It never set foot near us, but my imagination had turned that night into a survival story.

In business, we do the same thing.

We lie awake worrying about the "tigers" that never actually show up. Most of those fears are just shadows.

The real lesson?

Don’t let imaginary tigers keep you from moving forward.

Just like that campground summer, the scariest things are often all in your head.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🤖 ChatGPT referrals to retailers’ apps increased 28% year-over-year, says report

📈 TikTok Shop crossed $500 million in US sales during the Black Friday Cyber Monday week

🛍️ Black Friday fuels surge in livestream shopping 

🛒 Create shoppable videos with new Canva templates and upload in bulk [Amazon Update]

💰 Preview current and future costs with Revenue Calculator [Amazon Feature]

📦 Amazon makes major change to delivery schedule

🎄 Holiday sales to surpass $1 trillion for the first time in 2025 

💵 Amazon pays Italy 180 million euros to end tax, labour probe 

🚀 Amazon’s AI chatbot Rufus drove sales on Black Friday

Amazon’s AI chatbot, Rufus, played a major role in this year’s Black Friday numbers. New data shows that sessions involving Rufus doubled in purchases compared to the average over the past 30 days.

Sessions without Rufus?

Up only 20%.

That’s a 5x difference…

Even day-over-day, sessions that included Rufus saw a 75% increase in conversions from Thanksgiving to Black Friday.

Meanwhile, sessions without it? Just 35%.

People who used Rufus were way more likely to buy.

What Is Rufus Actually Doing?

Rufus is helping customers compare products, answer questions, and get recommendations directly inside the app or site.

On Black Friday, Rufus-driven sessions outpaced Amazon’s total session growth.

• Total site traffic grew 20%

• Rufus sessions grew 35%

It tells us shoppers are actively choosing to engage with AI while they browse, and it's leading to more checkouts.

This is the Beginnning of an AI Shopping Shift

Adobe Analytics, which tracks over a trillion retail visits reported that AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites jumped 805% year-over-year on Black Friday.

That’s 8x growth in one year.

AI is now being used by everyday shoppers to find deals, compare features, and get clarity especially in fast-moving categories like electronics, games, personal care, and kids’ items.

Even better: AI-assisted sessions converted 38% higher than normal traffic.

What Sellers Should Really Take Away from This

Rufus is reading your listing, and it’s using your detail page, A+ content, images, and bullet points to answer questions and compare you to other products.

If your competitor has better content, Rufus might recommend them instead.

This is why optimized listings and A+ content matter.

And the bigger picture?

AI in e‑commerce is a infrastructure you cannot ignore.

Brands that aren’t adapting are going to fall behind fast.

🦾 Stream on TikTok Shop Without EVER Going on Camera

If you’re selling on TikTok Shop and dread live‑streaming because it eats up your time and energy, GhostLive could be a real game changer.

This tool uses AI to manage the livestream, reading what’s on your desktop, responding to chat, and even handling purchase announcements, while you just keep your hands on deck. You stay present, but you don’t need to talk nonstop.

✅ What Does It Do?

• You feed it the basics: product title, description, price, key selling points or even your own script.

• You link your camera (phone or webcam) and optionally clone your own voice for the AI to speak.

• it auto‑generates a livestream that shows your screen, walks through your product, and responds to chat in real time.

• You control the tone and energy (flash‑sale urgency, subtle pitch, etc.) and can adjust settings mid‑stream

💡 Why It Matters

• No need to shout at the camera for hours.

• Great if you hate scripting or don’t want to hire a livestream host.

• Works especially well if your audience skews older or less savvy

• At current pricing ~$0.08/minute

⚠️ What You Still Have to Do Right

• Have real human presence on camera (move, hold the product, etc.)

• Use good product selection; AI won’t hide a weak offer.

• Keep an eye on comments or odd issues

• Don’t expect this to replace real human authenticity in every scenario.

🔥 Amazon’s New AI Ad Prompts

Amazon just rolled out a free beta for Sponsored Products prompts and Sponsored Brands prompts, and it’s worth paying attention to.

These new ad enhancements use AI to engage shoppers in the moment with relevant product info.

What Is It?

These are interactive, AI-powered prompts that get layered onto your existing Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns. They pull from your detail page, Brand Store, campaign data, and more to show up when shoppers are looking for answers, acting almost like a 24/7 product expert.

For example: someone’s shopping for a coffee maker. Instead of digging through bullet points, they get a helpful prompt answering, “Does this have a built-in grinder?” pulled straight from your listing.

Why It Matters

Shoppers don’t always scroll down to find what they need and confusion kills conversions. These prompts help close that gap automatically.

Early data from Amazon shows this kind of interaction helps shoppers make faster, more confident decisions. And because it’s using Amazon’s own first-party data, it stays brand-safe and accurate.

During the beta, this feature is free. Amazon’s essentially giving brands a performance boost with no added cost, at least for now.

How It Works

• No setup required. If you're running SP or SB campaigns, you're in.

• You’ll see a new Prompts tab in Ads Console (Campaign → Ad Group → Ads → Prompts).

• You’ll be able to track impressions, clicks, orders — and see exactly which prompts are firing.

Who Can Use It?

Right now it’s U.S. only, and open to sellers and vendors running Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands (excluding authors/publishers).

By end of November, reporting will be available inside Ads Console, downloadable reports, or API.

🌎 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 to Use Gemini’s Chat to Draft a Business Blog Post

Level: EASY

How We Did It

1. Start with a Clear Prompt

We typed a specific request into the prompt box:

‘Write a 500-word blog post on the benefits of remote work for small businesses. Use a professional tone, short paragraphs, and include a strong introduction and conclusion.’

This clear instruction set expectations for Gemini and reduced the need for major edits later.

2. Review the Initial Output

Gemini responded with a well structured article, complete with a title and logical sections. We scanned it for accuracy, tone, and structure, and made sure it matched our brand. That first review took less than a minute and already replaced an entire draft-writing session.

3. Refine with Follow-Up Prompts

The introduction felt a bit generic, so we replied:

‘Rewrite the introduction to include a statistic about remote work adoption.’

Gemini instantly updated the section and cited a recent study. Instead of manually rewriting, we improved the draft directly in the chat.

4. Request Formatting or Further Edits

We wanted a stronger close, so we asked:

‘Make the conclusion more action-oriented, encouraging readers to try remote work.’

Gemini delivered a clearer, more motivating conclusion that was ready to publish. This back and forth made the final version sharper and more engaging.

5. Switch Models if Needed

When we hit a usage limit with the Pro model, we switched to the Flash model. This started a new chat, so we pasted our last prompt to keep going. For most smaller tasks, Flash was fast and accurate.

6. Export or Copy the Final Output

Once we were satisfied, copying the text into our website CMS was simple. No extra formatting was needed because Gemini’s output was already clean and ready to use.

This workflow can cut your content creation time in half and help you produce business materials with a lot less friction.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Every Brand Needs a Podcast in 2025…

[AI-Proof Your Business]

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Niche-fame beats mainstream fame by a mile

Position the show around a narrow problem or vertical so you become the default voice in that space. Eric says the real win is niche-famous: be the most recognizable name inside your industry.
Niche fame drives:

• higher pricing

• inbound clients

• authority with AI indexing (AEO/LLMO)

• more conversion from anything you publish

2. The brands that win will be the ones AI can recognize as authorities

Treat every episode like AI training data. Publish everywhere, embed on your site, and keep your name attached to ideas.
A podcast produces:

• transcripts

• authority signals

• semantic consistency

• branded knowledge

3. Full episodes rarely grow a show

Produce volume. Take one episode and create dozens of clips across multiple lengths: 15s, 30s, 60s, 3 min, 7 min.
Full-length podcasts get low discovery.

Short-form drives:

• reach

• virality

• new audience

• brand awareness

4. Consistency > perfection, because most of the world will never show up

Set a 12-month commitment before judging results. No optimization before consistency.

Humans quit too early. The people you compare yourself to have years of reps behind them. Most success in podcasting is simply outlasting 99 percent of people.

5. “Be different” is your only option

AI is creating a wave of sameness:
identical videos, identical talking heads, identical scripts, identical short-form formats.
Eric’s entire thesis: you cannot win by doing what everyone else does.
B2B, comedy, podcasting, email, sameness kills response.
Deliberately create contrast by:

• format twists

• odd thematic hooks

• unusual segments

• controversial takes

• personality-driven delivery

• unexpected structure (timers, chapter promises, cliffhangers)

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🚓 From Public Enemy #1 to Grandpa…

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

• 🚓 From Public Enemy #1 to Grandpa… [True Story]

• 🚨 ChatGPT Shopping Research is Here!

• 🚀 5 Tech Shifts You Should Pay Attention to

• ⚒️ How We Built a Landing Page With AI [Quick Guide]

• 🔥 Here’s 15 Years of Sourcing Secrets...

 🚓 From Public Enemy Number One to Grandpa… [TRUE STORY] 

When I was living in Montreal back in the late sixties, one of the residents was a man who topped the FBI’s Most Wanted list.

That’s Alvin Karpis.

Public Enemy #1.

This guy was the brains behind the Barker-Karpis gang.

They called him “Creepy” Karpis for his ice cold demeanor.

He was infamous for his bank heists and high-profile kidnappings that got him some pretty big pay days back in the day.

Growing up, I heard a legend that he went so far as to remove his own fingerprints.

Anyway, after he served 26 years in Alcatraz, he got deported to Canada…. To Montreal.

Barbara was my uncle’s girlfriend at the time and Karpis’s goddaughter, or as she’d say, her “grandpa” figure.

Imagine this notorious gangster, sitting on your living room floor, bouncing a little girl on his knee, telling stories like a charming old grandpa.

He went from being the mastermind of the Barker gang to just “Grandpa Alvin”.

The best part?

She had these wild, hilarious stories of how this once-feared criminal was just a warm, kind, and surprisingly gentle old man by the time he was in Canada.

By the late ’70s, Barbara was a teenager with these unforgettable memories of the man behind the legend.

So, what’s the business lesson?

It’s that people are always more than their reputation.

In business, like in life, the person you least expect might just have the most to teach you.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

✅ The BIG winners and losers of Black Friday 2025

📈 Walmart Q3 results are in! Globally, eCommerce grew 27% with growth in each business segment of more than 20%.

🚨 TikTok’s US sell-off deadline is about to expire once again

⚠️ Amazon Customers Issued 48 Hour Warning… An increase in cyber attacks have started

❗Walmart CFO warns affordability crisis is getting worse  

🚀 U.S. retail giant Walmart enters Africa with South Africa launch

🦾 TikTok tackles AI-Generated slop with new user controls

🔥 Last Chance: 50% OFF COSMO Transformation Ends in Less Than 24 Hours!

Amazon's algorithm is evolving… Rufus and COSMO are reshaping how listings are ranked, read, and recommended. But most listings aren’t structured for AI yet.

Our close partners from ZonGuru are offering a super valuable COSMO Transformation Service that gives you a fully optimized listing (title, bullets, backend, images, and SEO mapping) purpose-built for Amazon’s AI.

Here’s what you get:

• ✅ AI-optimized copy (title, bullets, backend fields)

• ✅ Full image audit + 7 actionable upgrade ideas

• ✅ COSMO + Rufus SEO mapping (before/after)

• ✅ Upload-ready CSV

• ✅ Delivered in under 5 days

Simply submit your ASINs and we do all the work for you - delivering everything to you in under five business days for as many products you submit.

50% OFF your COSMO Transformation order – Was $100, but now just $50 Pay-Per-ASIN. Valid for US and UK marketplaces. No Subscription needed.

🚨 This offer ends December 2nd or in less than 24 hours! Don’t miss it.

Order your COSMO Transformation with 50% OFF

🦾 Shopping Research in ChatGPT is Here!

You can now ask ChatGPT for help with shopping!

Just ask a shopping question, or tap the (+) menu and select Shopping Research to get started.

Step 1: Tell It What You Need

Once you launch it, describe what you’re looking for and answer a few follow-up questions about your preferences, budget, who it’s for, or what features matter most.

If you’ve got memory turned on, ChatGPT can use what it already knows about you.

For example, if it knows you're a gamer, it'll prioritize performance specs automatically.

Step 2: Guide the Search

While you're chatting, it's searching across the web, pulling current info like prices, reviews, stock availability, and images.

As it surfaces options, you can give feedback by saying “Not interested” or “Show me more like this,” which helps it refine the results as it goes.

Step 3: Get a Personalized Buyer’s Guide

After a few minutes, it breaks down the top products, key tradeoffs, and what makes each one stand out, all based on the most up-to-date info from trusted retailers.

You can click through to buy from the retailer now, and in the future, ChatGPT plans to offer direct checkout for certain merchants through Instant Checkout.

It pulls from real product listings and cites reliable sources so you're not getting made-up info.

🚀 5 Tech Shifts You Should Actually Pay Attention to (According to Amazon’s CTO)

1. Loneliness Will Be a Tech Problem (and a Business One Too)
Loneliness is now considered a public health crisis.

People are forming emotional bonds with companion robots, not because they're flashy, but because they show up. Expect a GIANT wave of tech aimed at helping people feel less alone.

2. Developers Aren’t Going Away
AI can write code in seconds now. That doesn’t mean devs are obsolete but that it means the good ones will matter more.

If you can think in systems, adapt quickly, and understand the business side, you’ll thrive. The “renaissance dev” is part coder, part strategist.

3. Quantum-Proofing Is No Longer Optional
Bad actors are already hoarding encrypted data now so they can crack it when quantum tech matures. If your business deals with sensitive info, it’s time to start using quantum-resistant encryption.

I highly recommend Esure.ai from my cybersecurity friend, Chase Norlin. He’s been on the podcast multiple times.

4. Military Innovation Is Spilling Over Into Civilian Tech
Defense tech is moving at lightning speed and AI systems in the field are getting weekly updates. That tech is going to fuel big changes in disaster relief, remote healthcare, and supply chain logistics.

5. AI Tutors Will Be the Great Equalizer in Education
Personal tutors used to be a luxury but now, AI-powered tools are bringing that experience to millions. Teachers aren’t going anywhere, but what they focus on is evolving. AI is taking over admin work and making room for more 1:1 creative learning.

🔥 Video Generator (BETA) is Now Available in Amazon DSP

Amazon just expanded its AI-powered Video Generator inside the DSP and it’s now available in open beta for advertisers in the U.S.

If you're running Online Video (OLV) ads through Amazon DSP, you can now create professional-looking videos using your product images, existing video, and info scraped directly from your Amazon listings.

Here’s what it does:

• Turn a product image or ASIN into 15-second, multi-scene video ads

• Add animations, music, custom fonts, and branding

• Pulls from product pages, A+ content, and more to keep things on-brand

• Spits out up to six ready-to-run videos in minutes

This will now make high-quality video accessible to smaller brands who don’t have the budget or team for production.

And since it’s baked into the DSP workflow, there’s no extra lift to use it.

🌎 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 We Built a Landing Page in Seconds

Level: MEDIUM

1. Set Up Antigravity for Business Dev

We installed Antigravity from the official download page, signed in with a personal Gmail account, and made sure Chrome was available, which matches the preview requirements in the Antigravity docs.

We chose a fresh configuration instead of importing settings from other editors and picked an editor theme that felt comfortable for longer sessions.

2. Choose an Agent Mode and Policies

We selected an agent assisted development style flow, which the docs recommend as a good balance between autonomy and control.

We set the terminal execution policy to allow common installs and commands, and used a review policy that lets the agent proceed on routine changes but still surfaces artifacts for review when work is more complex.

3. Create a Workspace in the Agent Manager (Mission Control)

From the Agent Manager view, which the docs describe as Mission Control, we created a new workspace and pointed it at an empty local folder for the project.

The Inbox in the Agent Manager keeps track of conversations and artifacts, which makes it easy to come back to this landing page project later.

4. Set Up the Antigravity Browser Subagent

Following the browser setup flow in the docs, we let the agent launch the Antigravity managed browser and install the Chrome extension when prompted.

This enabled the browser subagent, which is a specialized helper that can open localhost, click through the page, scroll, and capture screenshots and short recordings. Once the extension was installed and permissions were granted, the main agent could test and verify the landing page directly in the browser.

5. Generate the React + TypeScript Project

In the Agent Manager, we started a new conversation in our workspace and used a natural language instruction like:

‘Create a TypeScript React app and give it a simple landing page for a modern business.’

We selected Gemini 3 Pro as the model. Antigravity created the initial project structure, installed dependencies, and ran the dev server, which matches the agent first flow described in the getting started guide.

6. Watch the Landing Page Come to Life in the Browser

Open the browser preview to watch the landing page render on localhost in real time. The blue border and activity indicators reflect the browser subagent taking control, exactly as described in the documentation. When the agent finished, we could see the initial landing page, even though the design was still bare and needed improvement.

7. Improve the Design With Visual Prompts and Screenshots

Once we had the basic layout, we used the inline screenshot workflow shown in both the docs and the video. We grabbed a screenshot of the current page and told the agent something like:

‘Make this look like a modern SaaS landing page with a stronger hero section and clearer calls to action.’

Antigravity updated the React components and Tailwind styles, then refreshed the browser preview and recorded a short playback, which is stored as an Artifact. This allowed us to iterate on the hero, typography, and spacing without hand editing every CSS rule.

8. Use Recordings and Artifacts to Shape Components

We asked the agent to navigate to localhost, record a walkthrough, and store notes in a markdown file. This matches the docs description of Artifacts as task plans, screenshots, and browser recordings that prove what changed.

We then referenced that markdown file to ask for new components, such as a more structured feature section or a clearer callout block, based on what the agent had seen in the recording.

9. Tune Antigravity Settings for Faster Iteration

In Settings, we aligned with the options described in the getting started guide. We enabled auto open edited files, auto continue, and auto lint fixes so the agent could move smoothly through its tasks.

For terminal commands, we chose a setting that lets the agent run common installs automatically but still ask for approval when something looks more sensitive. This kept the workflow fast while maintaining oversight, which is how the docs recommend balancing speed and safety.

10. Stay Organized With Version Control and Simple Prompts

Finally, we treated the workspace like any other project folder and initialized Git so we could always roll back to stable code if a later prompt broke something. From there, improvements were driven by simple, targeted instructions, such as:

‘Strengthen the headline and subheadline for a B2B audience.’

‘Tighten the spacing and make the primary button more prominent.’

The agent handled the code edits across multiple files, while the Artifacts view in the Agent Manager gave us diffs, screenshots, and recordings to quickly review its work.

Throughout, we used Planning mode for major changes and Fast mode for quick tweaks.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥15 Years of Sourcing Secrets in 60 Minutes...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. The smartest importers separate “product cost” from “development cost”

Factories routinely bury engineering, sample creation, and development hours inside the unit cost. In normal times, no one cares. Under 50–150 percent tariffs, that padding becomes financial suicide. The advanced operators negotiate two invoices:

• One for true COGS (materials + labor),

• One for development fees.
  Tariffs apply only to COGS. Factories still get paid the same. You legally cut tariff liability, sometimes by 30–40 percent.

Disclaimer: Only use legitimate and accurate numbers. It is not worth the legal ramifications to try and cheat tariffs.

3. Most sourcing agents are middlemen

If a sourcing agent refuses to disclose the factory, you’re basically renting one. When you go to exit and can’t provide factory relationships, your valuations tank.

The Framework:
Try sourcing yourself AND through an agent at the same time. → Compare quotes, quality, transparency, and relationship access. → Choose based on evidence, not emotion.

4. Don’t ignore mold/tooling costs!

Creators constantly launch products without having the final sample in hand or understanding that tooling can cost $20,000–$80,000 before a single unit leaves the factory.
The winners:

• Test final samples

• Use third-party labs

• Get influencer feedback during R&D

• Document factory proof-of-production in marketing
  Kickstarter’s biggest failures come from skipping this exact sequence.

5. Crisis periods are the best time to negotiate terms

When factories face downtime because tariffs kill US orders or governments shut down production they become highly flexible. In these windows, you can negotiate:

• Production at cost

• Long-term pricing

• 50/50 sharing of tariff or freight increases

• Free storage

• Priority timelines

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🦅  The Moat That Saved a Life…

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

• 🦅 The Moat That Saved a Life… [True Story]

• 🔥 Gemini 3: the NEW Leader of AI?

• 🚀 Conversion Path Reporting is Now Out

• ⚒️ Build a Business Name & Logo In Seconds [AI Quick Guide]

• 😱 There’s Now Over 100,000 Million-Dollar Sellers!

 🦅 The Moat That Saved a Life… [TRUE STORY] 

Yesterday was one of those crisp weekends just before winter fully settles in here in Canada.

I was out on the balcony, cigar in hand, heater on, just soaking in the last bits of comfortable outdoor smoking weather.

My wife’s there, My dog’s lounging on his mat, and everything's peaceful.

Then out of nowhere and WHOOSH!

Two shapes zip right past us.

Turns out it’s a peregrine falcon on the hunt, inches from catching its prey before that little bird darts into a cedar tree.

Fun fact: the peregrine falcon is also the fastest animal on the planet

And what saves the day?

A vine, almost like a natural moat, wrapped around that cedar tree that gave the little guy a second chance at life.

The smaller bird managed to wriggle its way into the vines, just far enough to be out of reach.

The falcon tried it’s hardest to get through the vines but got tired and decided to move on.

This reminded me of selling online.

Just like that bird, you never know when something unexpected is going to come at you.

I often speak about this with Amazon sellers.

You need to build your moat.

How are YOU going to be differentiate yourself from your competitors?

How are YOU going to protect your business?

If you’ve got that extra layer of protection, your own “moat,” so to speak, then you’re a lot more likely to come out unscathed.

Sometimes that moat is a backup plan, sometimes it’s just a bit of extra foresight.

Either way, it’s the little things you put in place that can save you when life swoops in.

— Norm

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

📈 The numbers are in for the retail return landscape will look like for the holidays

⚠️ Amazon, Walmart, and Target make holiday return policy changes

🤖 Amazon’s AI-powered ad updates level the playing field for SMBs

🛍️ Amazon’s next-gen AI assistant for shopping is now even smarter, more capable, and more helpful

🚀 Seller Challenge launches for Account Health Assurance on Amazon

💰 Amazon sending automatic refunds to millions of Prime members

🚀 Conversion Path Reporting is Here!

Amazon is rolling out Conversion Path Reporting, a view of the actual ad touch points a shopper sees in the 30 days before they purchase.

It pulls data from Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, Sponsored TV, and Amazon DSP, and surfaces the most common and most efficient paths.

Advertisers will be able to see their top five paths directly in Ad Console.

Upper-funnel formats like Streaming TV have always been hard to connect to sales.

This report finally shows how those impressions feed into conversions across channels.

Agencies can use it to show the impact of their full media mix, not just last-click performance. It’s always-on, so advertisers can spot patterns quickly and adjust budgets or tactics in near real time.

So basically the Conversion Path Reporting gives a clearer view of what actually moves shoppers through Amazon’s funnel and makes it easier to balance brand building with performance.

🔥 Google Gemini 3 Just Dropped!

Google’s Gemini 3 is the newest frontier model, and the takeaway is straightforward.

It delivers stronger reasoning, better multimodal understanding, and faster output than most models available today.

It’s built for real work across text, code, images, and video, and it’s rolling out across Google Search, the Gemini app, developer tools, and the new Antigravity environment on day one.

Gemini 3 is built to handle depth.

It breaks down overlapping problems, understands intent with less prompting, and stays consistent across long, multi-step tasks.

The model performs well on the hardest benchmarks GPQA Diamond, ARC-AGI-2, MMMU-Pro, AIME 2025 and shows a clear jump in visual–logical reasoning and scientific problem-solving.

It also runs fast, reaching about 130 tokens per second, which makes it suitable for interactive apps where latency matters.

• Gemini 3 leads on key reasoning and real-world use leaderboards

• Antigravity platform powers hands-free, end-to-end app building

• Smarter context means clearer, more authentic outputs

A higher-gear mode, Gemini 3 Deep Think, pushes the reasoning further.

Deep Think will reach broader users after safety testing.

How it compares to ChatGPT (GPT-5.1)

• Gemini 3 is the more capable model in raw reasoning, multimodal tasks, long-horizon agents, and speed.

• GPT-5.1 is the more stable and cost-efficient model for environments where predictable behavior and budget discipline matter.

This graph measures cost per task and efficiency

The scatter plot above visualizes the critical relationship between cost-per-task and performance - a key measure of intelligence efficiency.

The reality is that Gemini 3 lifts the ceiling on what a general-purpose model can do. GPT-5.1 holds a strong position on stability and cost. And for builders, the ability to combine them is becoming just as important as choosing one.

And I haven’t even mentioned Nano Banana Pro…

Here are just a few images made with the new AI image generator.

Created by Katelyn Chedraoui using Gemini AI

Created by Katelyn Chedraoui using Gemini AI

In my opinion, OpenAI has a lot of ground to cover. I think we just found the #1 competitor.

🌎 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!

😱 There Are Now OVER 100,000 Million-Dollar Amazon Sellers!

Million-dollar sellers have jumped from about 60,000 in 2021 to more than 100,000 today.

At the very top, over 230 sellers now exceed $100 million a year on a single marketplace up from around 50 four years ago.

This growth happened while the total number of active sellers fell by roughly 10 percent.

In 2025 there are fewer players, bigger winners.

Key points worth understanding:

• Amazon’s active seller base has thinned but revenue concentration has intensified.

• In the U.S., only 2% of sellers now generate over half of total marketplace revenue.

• Traffic per seller is up 31% since 2021, meaning less competition for attention among the sellers who remain.

• The U.S. continues to dominate, with 43% of sellers making $100K+ annually (global average: 19%).

• Chinese sellers now make up the majority at the million-dollar tier on Amazon.com.

Rising fees, tariffs, and margin pressure pushed weaker operators out, leaving more room for those capable of adapting.

Look at the U.S. market: of the 235 sellers doing $100 million or more, 146 are on Amazon.com. At that tier, most are U.S.-based (117), but at the million-dollar level the distribution flips – 57% are Chinese, 39% American.

Chinese sellers now represent more than half the seller population at scale.

This is exactly what a power-law marketplace produces: a smaller pool of highly capable sellers absorbing most of the gains.

The top tiers are growing faster than the lower tiers, widening the gap between those who can operate in Amazon’s increasingly technical environment and those who can’t.

🔥 Read the full article here

How We Built a Business Name & Logo Generator as a Startup Founder

Level: EASY

Here’s how we used Google AI Studio to spin up a business name and logo generator in less time than it takes to brew coffee.

How We Did It:

1. Spot a Tedious Task to Automate

We picked a real pain point: generating unique, catchy business names with matching logo concepts. It’s something every founder faces, and it’s easy to get stuck or lose hours on.

2. Describe the App in Plain English

In Google AI Studio’s Canvas interface, we typed:

‘Create an app that takes user input of keywords related to their business and returns 20 unique and creative business name suggestions. The user can select one name and receive a custom logo concept generated based on the chosen name.’

Obviously, the more information you give, the better the output.

3. Let Google AI Studio Build the App Automatically

Gemini AI took over, building the app logic and layout in seconds. This included:

• Keyword input field

• “Generate Names” button

• List of 20 creative business names

• Selection interface for picking a favorite

• Logo generator tied to the chosen name

4. Test & Refine with Simple Commands

We entered sample keywords like “eco,” “friendly,” “coffee.” Instantly, the app returned 20 name ideas. We selected one and, with a click, got a custom logo concept.

Want to tweak the look? We told the app,

‘Let users upload a style guide for logos’ and ‘Make the logo colors green and brown.’

Gemini updated the app in real time, so there was no tech expertise needed.

5. Explore Advanced Options in Vibe Coding

For more control, we tried Google’s “Vibe Coding” mode. Here, we could

• Add voice assistants, image animation, or live web data

• Use templates or “I’m Feeling Lucky” for new app ideas

• Share the app with collaborators for real-time feedback

6. This is how a simple tool turns into a full-fledged automation asset for your business.

7. Extend Your Automation Ecosystem

We checked out Google Labs for other tools such as automating emails, generating marketing copy, or analyzing spreadsheets. Each mini app became a reusable “AI assistant” for different business workflows.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 $997 Per Ticket!? The Bride Who SOLD OUT Her Wedding… Literally

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. YouTube Has Shifted From Search to Retention-Based Storytelling

Marley makes it clear the old “how-to SEO” model still works, but it’s no longer the engine. YouTube now rewards creators who hold attention through constant hook resets, open loops, and narrative pacing. It’s closer to writing a TV episode than making a tutorial. Creators stuck in 2016 editing patterns get buried.

2. Hooks Are No Longer Just the First Three Seconds

Most creators obsess over the intro. The pros build multiple peaks, new questions, interruptions, reveals, humor, and tension every 20–40 seconds. If you don’t keep surprising the viewer, YouTube will not push your video, no matter how strong the opening line is.

3. You Must Build Open Loops the Way Film Directors Do

She breaks down the “Deadpool test”: in the first minute of good filmmaking, the viewer accumulates 5–7 questions. That’s why they keep watching.

Great YouTube videos mimic cinema → deliberate unanswered questions, payoffs, callbacks, and breadcrumbs that pull the viewer through the entire timeline.

4. The Editing Process Needs to Start With Intent

The best creators don’t just “record and hope.” They either:

• Plan hooks, reveals, loops before pressing record
  or

• Film freely, then pull the most intriguing mid-video moments upfront in the edit

5. Long-Form + Shorts on One Channel Now Outperforms Split Channels

YouTube has shifted its internal logic. Marley once recommended separating short-form and long-form, but today the platform has unified its consumption behavior. Shorts feed long-form and vice versa, on the same channel. Splitting them dilutes your identity and your algorithmic “viewer graph.”

6. Don’t Promote Your YouTube Uploads Immediately

One of her biggest contrarian insights: don’t blast your new video to your email list or IG the same day you publish. YouTube will mistake that traffic for your primary audience, even if it’s the wrong crowd, and your video can get suppressed. Give the algorithm two weeks to find the right viewers organically before you drive traffic manually.

7. The Real Problem With Creators: Lack of Obsession, Not Lack of Skill

Everyone wants to “go viral,” but almost nobody wants the path:

• committing to consistent posting

• studying performance

• iterating hooks

• testing formats

• doing polarizing or disruptive ideas

• producing creator-level volume

The people who actually break through are the ones willing to become obsessed with the craft, not the outcome.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

👋 The End of an Era…

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

• 👋 The End of an Era… [True Story]

• 🦾 The NEW ChatGPT 5.1

• 🛍️ The Genius Link Building Strategy

• ⚒️ How to Create Explainer Videos With AI [Step-by-Step Guide]

• 🔥 ChatGPT is Killing Your Strategy...

🚨 Webinar Alert! A massive shift is coming to how Amazon sellers create listing images and you can be part of it before everyone else 👉 Sign up today

💨 The End of an Era: A New Chapter of Lunch With Norm… [TRUE STORY] 

Back at the start of COVID, our house felt like a time machine.

All three of my boys were back home, Hayden back from Toronto, Kelsey home from Korea, and Quintyn back from university.

For the first time in years, everyone was under one roof again.

Cigars on the back deck, late-night talks… It felt like the best parts of the old days.

One night, the boys threw something at me I absolutely wasn’t prepared for when talking about my business:

“Dad, you should start a podcast.”

If you know me, you know being on camera wasn’t exactly my dream job.

With dyslexia, interviewing guests live isn’t easy.

I had to listen carefully, respond, and figure out the next question without tripping over myself.

It scared the hell out of me.

But we it launched anyway.

The first few episodes were rough… Actually, the first 100.

Wi-Fi dropped in the middle of episodes, intros got messed up, guests didn’t show up, I’d forget names… The bloopers were legendary.

There were days I wanted to crawl into the fetal position and never go live again.

But something unexpected happened…

People connected with the rawness.

They liked the authenticity.

Our live family community and “The Wheel of Kelsey” giveaways turned into our signature moves.

That’s the crazy part.

The thing I thought would sink the show ended up being what made it different.

Over time, we found our rhythm.

Lunch with Norm became a part of the Amazon/eCom community in a way I never saw coming.

We went from “I don’t want to do this” to “We’ve done over 670 episodes.”

And we owe that to all of you.

The Announcement…

The truth is things are changing but not in a sad way.

Lunch with Norm has opened the doors to so many incredible opportunities:

• The weekly newsletter that grew into its own powerhouse

• My business with Kevin King called DragonFish is taking off

• Marketing Misfits has become an absolute blast

• Press releases are bigger than ever

And at the end of the day there are only so many hours in a day (even for a guy with a beard).

So I have made the decision, to end the live podcast this Wednesday.

While we won’t be going live every Wednesday at noon anymore, this isn’t the end.

Not even close.

We’ll still do episodes here and there when the right guest comes along.

The newsletter isn’t going anywhere. I’ll still be sharing with you my stories every week.

And if you do want to catch me regularly on a podcast, you can always find me on Marketing Misfits every Tuesday on YouTube.

So What Now?

I’m genuinely excited about what’s ahead.

DragonFish is becoming something truly special (You can join the waitlist here ) and the Misfits podcast is a chance to push things in a whole new direction.

None of this would’ve been possible without you and this Lunch with Norm community.

You’ve supported us, joked with us, forgiven our tech mishaps, and made this crazy ride unforgettable.

So stick around, there’s a lot more coming.

— Norm

P.S. Here is the pic of my very first live video from May 28th 2020.

Back when I was just Norm, a seller in his basement trying to figure out social media.

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

 

🚨 See all the changes to Seller Fulfilled Prime enrollment and delivery date settings

🎯 Simplify campaign targeting with the help of Ads Agent

🛒 When is Amazon's 2025 Black Friday Week? Everything you need to know

🛍️ Amazon takes low-cost “Haul/Bazaar” service global

🔥 TikTok Shop is one of the fastest-growing brands in the US, as social shopping hits the mainstream

💰 Amazon monetizes the software layer sellers depend on

🌊 Amazon announces new dashboard ahead of expected January returns tsunami

🚀 The Future of Amazon Images Is Here

A massive shift is coming to how Amazon sellers create listing images and you can be part of it before everyone else.

On Tuesday, November 18th, Kamal from AMZ One Step is going live to unveil one of the most powerful AI tools the e-commerce world has ever seen.

Built using real review data, conversion insights, and search simulation tech, this tool doesn’t just generate images, it predicts how they’ll perform on Amazon.

Here’s what you’ll get:
✅ Create 100+ optimized images in under 2 minutes
✅ Use AI models trained for CTR & CVR
✅ Test main images in simulated search results
✅ Access 100+ proven templates used by 6,000+ brands
✅ Built-in competitor analysis, designer feedback & live AI chat

But there’s a catch….only 150 seats for this live demo.

🎯 Save your spot now and see the innovation that’ll separate the top 1% of sellers from the rest.

👉 Sign up today

🦾 The NEW ChatGPT 5.1

In a significant update, OpenAI launches GPT‑5.1, enhancing ChatGPT with smarter, friendlier, and customizable responses; revolutionizing everyday interactions.

The launch includes GPT‑5.1 Instant for swift responses and GPT‑5.1 Thinking for deeper, calculated replies across complex tasks.

What’s new?

• Faster & engaging with GPT‑5.1 Instant

• Thoughtful, adaptable responses with GPT‑5.1 Thinking

• Customizable tone with new personality presets

🌎 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!

😱 An Aggregator Ruined My Brand… So I Bought it Back

1. The Aggregator Model Failed Because They Misunderstood What They Bought

Aggregators assumed Amazon brands were simple assets they could “optimize” with spreadsheets and SOPs.

They ignored the founder’s systems, community touchpoints, and operational nuance. When they stripped those out, the brands collapsed.

2. The “Hot Mess Portfolio” Problem Destroyed Synergy

Most aggregators bought random, unconnected products: pet, baby, tools, fitness, kitchen, supplements with no category strategy.

That meant:

• No shared supply chain

• No shared audience

• No brand expertise

• No operational leverage
  A roll-up only works when the pieces complement each other. These didn’t.

3. Creative & Listing Control Became a Single Point of Failure

Bad images, wrong colors, incorrect logos, mismatched products, and sloppy listing edits destroyed Beast Gear’s positioning.

Even worse, Amazon listing-edit permissions were tied to the wrong entity, and resolving it became a year-long battle.

4. Over-Leveraged Inventory Is What Sinks Most Aggregators

Ben had to liquidate nearly £800,000 in inventory when he bought the brand back. Over-ordering, poor forecasting, and PE-fueled pressure for “growth” created a warehouse full of dead stock across the entire aggregator sector.

5. Buying Back a Dead Brand Can Still Be a Smart Move

A distressed brand with history still has: ranking momentum, search demand, reviews, trust signals, and product-market fit. Rebuilding publicly also builds authority and opens new revenue streams.

🔨 The Genius Link Building Strategy

In 2004, Grubhub enters the scene as a food delivery service in Chicago.

By 2007, they had raised $1.1 million and set their sights on expanding to New York.

SEO became a key strategy for this expansion.

With thousands of Americans searching for food delivery on Google, ranking at the top could drive significant traffic.

To tackle this, Grubhub hired their first marketer, Casey Winters.

Casey’s initial task was to structure the website effectively.

He created a main page for New York, followed by child pages for specific food categories.

Whether New Yorkers searched for food delivery, pizza, or vegan options, Grubhub had an indexed page with aggregated restaurant listings ready to serve.

Next came the challenge of building backlinks.

For the new pages to rank well, they needed to be recognized by Google as authoritative.

Casey's approach was straightforward: “We reached out to local press, offering their readers $10 off their first order, and all they had to do was link to our /new-york page.”

Over time, that page gained enough links to secure a top spot in search results.

The "link juice" flowed down to individual food category pages, helping them rise in the rankings.

Today, food delivery is dominated by DoorDash and Uber Eats, both using similar site structures.

Yet, Grubhub’s organic traffic remains 50% higher, thanks to Casey’s early SEO work, which continues to pay dividends.

That’s the power of smart SEO, plant the orchard, and you'll enjoy the fruits for years to come.

The long game is the shortcut.

⚒️ Create an On-Demand Explainer Video from Any Source

Level: EASY

Here’s how to do it:

You can follow these steps whether you’re summarizing a financial report, training guide, or your latest research.

1. Upload Your Sources

We started by uploading a mix of documents: a Google Gemini course outline, YouTube transcripts, and supplemental notes. NotebookLM supports up to 50 sources per notebook, so you can consolidate all relevant material in one place.

2. Access the Video Overview Tool

On the right side of the NotebookLM interface, we found the “Video Overview” option. A single click opens the tool, no separate software or plugins needed.

3. Customize Your Video

Clicking the pencil icon let us tweak key settings:

• Language: Defaulted to English, but customizable for global teams.

• Target Use Case: We could specify, for example, “Help me review for a quiz” or “Focus on market trends.”

• Focus on Specific Sources: With multiple uploads, we could direct the tool to use only our YouTube content or a single PDF, ideal for targeted overviews.

For our first run, we left fields blank to see the default output. For more tailored videos, we added prompts like “Explain this for a beginner in marketing” or “Highlight competitor analysis.”

4. Generate the Video

One click on “Create Video Overview” and NotebookLM got to work, scanning all chosen sources. Processing took just a few minutes, even with large files, far faster than any manual method.

5. Preview, Rename, & Share

Once ready, the video appeared in our workspace. We previewed it, renamed it for clarity, and used the share feature to send it directly via email or download for later use.

Didn’t love the result?

Regenerate with new settings in minutes.

6. Iterate for Different Audiences

We repeated the process for three scenarios:

• Course companion video: Summarized a 2-hour course into an 8-minute explainer, perfect for visual learners.

• Business report: Converted a long financial report into a digestible video focused on market trends.

• Beginner explainer: Simplified dense research on influencer marketing for a newcomer audience, emphasizing clarity and engagement.

If you would like to learn more about AI check out FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 ChatGPT is Killing Your Strategy...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Overtrusting ChatGPT Leads to WORSE Decisions

A study found investment managers who trusted ChatGPT more performed worse.

Use AI as an assistant, not a strategist. Humans still need to set judgment, constraints, and context.

2. Content Created by AI Won’t Train AI

OpenAI doesn’t train ChatGPT on ChatGPT-generated content. AI-generated pages, blogs, and UGC clones won’t influence future AI rankings.

Only human-generated, novel, and context-rich material influences future LLM outputs.

3. Human Discussion Is the Hidden SEO of the Future

AI crawlers are already weighting forums, Reddit threads, and community discussion higher than static websites.

Your subreddit, comments, or Discord may be the new “ranking signal” that AI agents use to trust your brand.

4. Amazon’s Biggest Strategic Error

Amazon’s decision to wall off GPT (and rely on Rufus) was a “massive mistake.” Walmart and Etsy already integrated with OpenAI’s shopping protocols.

5. 3 Steps Every Seller Should Take Now

1. Monitor where your brand appears in AI results

2. Invest in community + customer data

3. Reduce cost and increase creative output

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

💨 It All Started With a Cigar…

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

• 💨 The Breakthrough That Started With a Cigar… [True Story]

• 🦾 Walmart’s AI Adds External Citations to it’s Answers

• 🛍️ Amazon Expands “Haul” to 14 New Markets

• ⚒️ Create Email Campaigns with AI [Step-by-Step Guide]

• 🔥 He Sold His 7-Figure Brand to Gamble?!

🚨 Reply to this email with by writing #wheelofkelsey for a chance to win a Supply Chain Efficiency Strategy Session courtesy of Lyden Smithers. A 30-minute deep dive where Lyden will give you an actionable plan to drive cashflow and unlock profitability in your supply chain.

Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!   

💨 The Breakthrough That Started With a Cigar… [TRUE STORY] 

Tampa Bay met us with perfect cigar weather for the Collective Mind Society event this weekend.

Kevin King and I planned cigar tours, tastings, rollings, and a sunset cruise on the only boat in town that allowed smoking.

But what we couldn’t plan for was the moment when this group of like-minded individuals would become friends…

The first evening people were polite, curious, and a little guarded.

Some were casual smokers, others could tell the year a cigar wrapper was harvested by the smell alone.

We had folks from everywhere and every corner of the business world.

From Amazon sellers and service providers, to people in cybersecurity, retail and more…

Then we hit Ybor City.

You could feel the history in the walls.

In the factory, we rolled our own cigars.

A master roller looked at my first “cigar” and laughed… It was a work in progress for sure.

I tried again and it was better but no where close to perfect.

That tiny win did something to our group.

We then did the tasting, where we learned about the different blends of cigars.

This is when I noticed the guards starting to drop and the real conversion started to happen.

On the sunset cruise the conversations started to get real, you could see the bonds forming.

We all pitched in and helped each other with issues we were having with our businesses.

We shared ways to protect our businesses, how to build AI agents, and how to scale businesses in today’s day and age…

This continued for 3 days.

No presentations, just talking to the guy next to you.

One guy even overnighted his premium supplements so we could all have hydration powder each day.

And guess what…

Not once did I hear a sales pitch from anyone.

Another guy went into a cigar lounge and bought everyone a very expensive cigar... just to give back to the group.

By day four the event was fully transformed.

We were no longer strangers but friends that will stay in touch for a very long time.

Who knows, maybe the next big opportunity will come from this event.

It was strangers in. Friends out.

And it is exactly why I will keep doing this.

The business lesson?

The strongest partnerships form when people drop their guard and connect as humans first.

Stop forcing business outcomes.

Create experiences where relationships can grow, and the results will take care of themselves.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

🔥 P.S. I’m currently looking for brands interested in press releases.

Hop on a call with me and we can take a look at how press releases can help with ranking and indexing.

This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors.

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

 

🛒 Black Friday week starts at Amazon Nov. 20 

🔥 $2.5 trillion in sales and counting: It’s officially 25 years of Amazon’s partnership with independent sellers

🚨 Amazon Update: New Brand Store page views metric for Sponsored Brands

🛍️ Amazon Rufus on track for $10 billion in sales

🚨 Amazon Update: Measure holistic advertising impact with Omnichannel Metrics

🤖 Amazon and Perplexity are fighting over the future of AI shopping 

📰 Walmart Sparky Adds External Citations to it’s Answers  

Max Sinclair and his team at Azoma, have been tracking tens of millions of responses across all the major AI Engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Amazon Rufus…etc), and out of all of them, Sparky is the one evolving most rapidly.

Only last month, the majority of Sparky responses were very short (1-2 lines long) and did not link to specific products.

Now, Sparky is both producing clickable product carousels and referencing external sources, providing shoppers a similar experience to ChatGPT Shopping & Amazon Rufus.

They also announced that for all existing customers using Azoma to monitor Sparky, you will soon see Sparky citation aggregated analysis in your dashboard (with the same experience we provide for ChatGPT/Perplexity/Rufus etc) included in your current packages at no additional cost.

🚀 Read the full post from Max

🌎 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!

🛍️ Amazon Expands “Haul” to 14 New Markets

Amazon is scaling up its low-cost shopping platform, Amazon Bazaar known as "Haul" in the U.S. into 14 additional countries.

This expansion brings a wide range of sub-$10 products, including fashion and home goods, to markets like Hong Kong, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Taiwan.

Bazaar originally launched in Mexico and has since expanded to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Like Temu and Shein, the focus is on ultra-affordable goods, but with Amazon’s infrastructure handling fulfillment and delivery through its partner network.

This move comes as U.S. import tariffs impact price-sensitive shoppers, driving interest in more affordable e-commerce options.

Unlike Temu and Shein, which were affected by the recent removal of duty-free exemptions, Amazon’s model relies on its global fulfillment centers to ship directly.

The company’s international revenue reached $40.9 billion last quarter, and this budget offering could help them reach even more customers, particularly in regions where price remains a key factor.

While still early days, Bazaar represents a notable step in Amazon’s broader global growth strategy, especially as it competes with Chinese rivals in the fast-growing low-cost e-commerce space.

The $100M Amazon Playbook (2025 Edition)

1. Scaling in the Wrong Sequence

Most brands fail because they scale out of order chasing random tactics instead of diagnosing their true constraint.

Sellers obsess over the newest SEO hack, then pivot to PPC, then videos burning resources on the wrong bottleneck.

You fix one at a time. Not all four at once.

2. The Four Growth Levers

Every Amazon brand can be reverse-engineered through these four levers:

He teaches clients to zoom out and look at their brand through four key growth levers:

1. Traffic (Are you being seen?)

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR) (Are people choosing your product?)

3. Conversion Rate (CVR) (Are they buying?)

4. Lifetime Value (LTV) (Are they coming back?)

3. The Four Pillars of Scaling: The $100M Foundation

The “4x4 Framework” combines the Four Pillars (foundation) with the Four Growth Levers (execution). This is the same model they use to manage $80–100M in annual Amazon revenue.

Pillar 1: Brand Control & Equity Protection

• Enforce MAP pricing across distributors.

• Register and protect on every marketplace Target+, Walmart, and international Amazon stores.

• Use Transparency Codes and Brand Registry to block hijackers early.

• Even if Target doesn’t sell volume, claim your listings first. If someone else does, it’s a month-long fight to reclaim your brand presence.

Pillar 2: Operational Stability

• If you’re out of stock, nothing else matters.

• Maintain 1-day delivery coverage to all 48 U.S. states, tools like SmartScout Heatmaps can visualize shipping lag zones.

• Use multi-node FBA or 3PLs to reduce inbound placement fees (which recently doubled in some zones).

Pillar 3: Strategic Alignment

Your brand needs unified strategy across every channel:

• Walmart packaging = shelf appeal.

• Amazon packaging = efficiency and conversion.

• Pricing misalignment kills you. If Walmart’s price is lower, Amazon suppresses your Buy Box.

Pillar 4: Real-Time Growth Intelligence

Implement tactics that work today, not last year:

• Intent-based SEO (use “what” and “why” keywords, not just stuffed phrases).

• External traffic: TikTok → Amazon still boosts organic rank because Amazon rewards off-platform referrals.

• Updated listing structures: Amazon now favors top-loaded listings (main image, title, A+), not bullets buried on mobile.

4. The Advanced Seller Mindset

• Solve one bottleneck at a time.

• Document every change (so you know what actually worked).

• Don’t chase shiny tools until you’ve mastered fundamentals.

• Know your numbers better than Amazon does.

⚒️ Step-by-Step Email Creation with AI

Level: EASY

If you’re new to AI, here is a simple walk-through on how to create an email campaign in minutes.

Remember the more information your input, the better the output.

1. Define the Campaign Goal

We started with a clear mission: drive webinar registrations. We wrote down the purpose, target audience (small business owners), and main conversion point (webinar signup).

2. Prompt AI for a Campaign Outline

Using ChatGPT, we entered a prompt like:

‘Write a three-part email campaign to promote a free webinar about using AI in business. Include subject lines, preview text, and body copy for each.’

This gave us three complete, well-structured emails, timed for immediate send, a reminder, and a last-chance nudge.

3. Tailor Tone & Brand Voice

To match our client’s approachable style, we asked the AI to rewrite the emails in a friendly, conversational tone. For more formal audiences, you can simply request a professional rewrite.

4. Generate Subject Line Variations

We prompted:

‘Give me 10 subject line variations under 50 characters for higher open rates.’

AI delivered a list of catchy options, making it easy to run A/B tests or pick the best fit for each segment

5. Personalize at Scale

We provided the AI with sample customer segments (e.g., “owners in retail” vs. “B2B consultants”) and asked for tailored copy. The tool swapped in relevant details and adjusted messaging automatically, letting us scale personalization without more manual work.

6. Repurpose for Social & Beyond

After the campaign, we prompted:

‘Turn these emails into LinkedIn posts and a short blog summary.’

The AI delivered ready-to-use content, extending our campaign’s reach in minutes.

If you would like to learn more about AI → FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 He Sold His 7-Figure Amazon Brand to Gamble?!

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. From Top Amazon Seller to YouTube Creator

Mike built and sold multiple Amazon brands including ColorIt (adult coloring books) and IceWraps but ultimately exited in 2024 after a decade on the platform.

He saw the “writing on the wall” by 2019. By 2024, the warning became truth:

• Amazon fees rose 20–30%.

• Chinese sellers bypassed U.S. brands.

• Tariffs and compliance red tape made operations unpredictable.

• Margins fell below 5%.

2. The Funnel That Built a $7-Figure Brand

Mike’s real advantage was owning the customer.

He used free giveaways and low-friction offers to build an email list that converted long-term:

• Free sample coloring pages (lead magnet).

• $5 shipping-only offers → One-Click Upsells via Ezra Firestone’s app.

• Klaviyo email funnels to drive repeat purchases.

• Weekly Facebook Lives to build community and loyalty.

Once customers made 3+ purchases, retention skyrocketed.

3. The Pivot to YouTube

After selling his brands, Mike applied 20 years of marketing experience to a new content business:
🎰 Desert Degens, a daily YouTube channel where he and a friend film themselves gambling at Las Vegas casinos.

Why it works:

• They upload one long-form video and 4–7 shorts daily.

• Six months in: 10K subscribers, 700+ uploads, 45K+ views per top video.

• Average viewer watch time: 18 minutes, exceptional retention.

• $15 RPM → 3–4x industry average.

4. Turning Losses Into Assets

At first, every video was filmed with their own gambling money — losing most days. But YouTube ad revenue soon covered those losses:

• Long-form videos → $15 per 1,000 views (high CPM for entertainment).

• Shorts → low CPM, but strong for reach.

• Merch → “Degenerate” shirts sold daily.

• Future: Sponsorships, affiliate offers, travel partnerships, and cruises.

5. Algorithm Psychology: Consistency > Virality

Mike proved a law of YouTube most creators ignore:

• Post daily for 150–180 days.

• Don’t chase trends.

• Keep production quality improving 1% each week.

• Watch the algorithm “flip” once enough data builds.

After 6 months, every video began getting 1K+ views.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

😔 I Lost Something Special…

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

• 😔 I Lost Something Special… [True Story]

• 🦾 Amazon’s Betting Big on Agentic AI

• 🪦 Did Canva Just Kill Adobe?!

• ⚒️ Generate High Quality Images in Minutes

• 🔥 Only 1% of Brands Are Ready for AI Search...

🚨 Reply to this email with by writing #wheelofkelsey for a chance to win a Quit Stalling and Build Your Brand courtesy of Ben Leonard. Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!

🔥 P.S. Want to rank on Google and LLMs? Hop on a call with me and we can take a look at how press releases can help with that.

😔 I Lost Something Special…  [TRUE STORY] 

I remember back in the '60s, family gatherings meant dad would line us up for a black-and-white photo with this old flashbulb camera.

It took forever to get the prints back, and the photos were let’s just say capturing memories more than they captured quality.

Then came the Kodak Instamatic era in the '70s.

You traded a bit of that waiting time for the convenience of a built-in flash and easy-to-load cartridges.

The downside?

Those concert or party shots came back looking like a fuzzy memory.

You could sort of see the musician on stage, but could never make out who it was.

Then we graduated to the good old 35mm Pentax camera.

Suddenly, you had manual settings and real control over your shots.

It took more time and you had to wait for developing unless you had money for those genius one-hour photo kiosks at the mall.

Twice the price for an hour’s wait and zero privacy and everyone got a peek at your prints.

But that was the magic of the time.

Fast forward again, and digital cameras changed the game.

I bought a Nikon and it was love at first site.

I could store hundreds of photos, edit them easily, and really get into the art if you wanted to.

And then, of course, the iPhone came along.

Suddenly, everyone had a camera in their pocket, and convenience often overshadowed craft.

People now have thousands of photos in their camera roll that they never look at (me included).

Sure, you can take a scroll through the camera roll but it will never compare to taking out that dusty photo album with family and friends, reminiscing about the good ole times.

I feel we lost something special.

A picture today feels worthless.

And that’s even with incredible AI technology that can fully remove objects, change peoples expressions, or alter entire locations in a blink of an eye.

That black and white photo from the 60’s will always hold more weight to me than any AI-edited picture, no matter how perfect it is.

The lesson?

Change happens fast.

Take some time today, look through your camera roll, and print your favorite pictures.

Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors.

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚨 Drive top-of-search visibility and engagement with NEW “reserving branded share of voice” through Sponsored Brands

🎉 Walmart just debuted 2 Black Friday events

🛒 Amazon’s new AI-powered shopping feature ‘Help Me Decide’ makes it easy to quickly pick the right product

🌎 Amazon to cut about 14,000 corporate jobs in AI push

🎟️ Amazon reduced voucher fees starting November 5, 2025

🛍️ New AI tool helps you optimize existing product listings 

🛑 Amazon ends US prep and labeling services in 2026 to boost efficiency

🦾 Amazon’s Betting Big on Agentic AI

Amazon’s diving headfirst into agentic commerce, AI-powered shopping assistants that browse and buy on your behalf. Think of it like a super shopper that knows what you like and does the clicking for you.

But according to Andy Jassy, these third-party agents still kinda suck.

“Right now… there’s no personalization, no shopping history, delivery estimates are wrong, prices are off.”

Yeah, not exactly the customer experience Amazon’s known for.

That’s why they’re investing in tools like Rufus (their own AI shopping assistant) and Buy for Me, which can even purchase from other websites.

Rufus alone has 250 million users this year and is expected to drive $10 billion+ in extra sales.

That’s wild.

Here’s what else Jassy shared:

• Rufus users are 60% more likely to buy

• Monthly users up 140%

• Interactions up 210%

• They’re using AI for visual search (Amazon Lens) and review summaries

• Amazon Connect (customer service AI) just hit $1B revenue run rate

And while agentic AI only drives a tiny sliver of traffic today, Jassy thinks it’s gonna flip the whole retail game especially since 80-85% of retail still happens in physical stores.

Amazon’s not the only one in the AI arms race but if they can crack agentic commerce before the others, it’s gonna change how we shop, advertise, and compete online.

🌎 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!

🪦 Did Canva just kill Adobe…

Canva’s not playing around anymore.

They just launched Affinity, a full suite of creative tools built to replace Adobe’s holy trinity:

• Affinity Photo takes on Photoshop

• Affinity Designer replaces Illustrator

• Affinity Publisher goes after InDesign

And here's the kicker...

It's 100% free. Forever.

This is while Adobe’s still charging $60+ a month, Canva’s giving creators and businesses the full stack no strings attached.

So if you think people aren’t gonna jump ship?

Think again.

Canva is putting Adobe on notice and it’s a move that could shake up the entire creative software industry.

But will they ever create a video editor?

We will see.

✅ OpenAI turns to Amazon in $38 billion cloud services deal after restructuring

OpenAI just inked a massive 7-year, $38 billion deal with Amazon to power their next phase of AI development and that’s not a typo.

$38 billion.

This gives OpenAI access to hundreds of thousands of Nvidia chips through AWS, helping them train and run the next generation of AI models like ChatGPT.

Why should you care?

Because it shows just how critical computing power is in this AI arms race. Whoever owns the infrastructure… Wins.

And AWS just got a huge vote of confidence even after the giant outage.

Amazon shares hit an all-time high after the announcement.

OpenAI also reportedly struck deals with Oracle and Google, and is buying another $250 billion worth of cloud services from Microsoft.

So yeah... trillion-dollar spend levels.

And now whispers of a $1 trillion IPO for OpenAI.

The question everyone’s asking: how’s a loss-making company going to afford all this?

They’re projecting $20B in revenue by year’s end, but the spending is way ahead of that curve.

Bubble? Maybe.

But Amazon just re-entered the ring swinging.

⚒️ Generate High Quality Images in Minutes

Speaking of Canva… Here’s how to use it’s “Magic Media” to create compelling visuals for campaign landing pages.

1. Start a New Canva Project

We logged in at Canva.com and clicked “Create a Design” to start a new canvas sized for our landing page hero section. This kept everything organized from the start.

2. Access Magic Media’s AI Image Generator

From the left sidebar, we clicked “Elements,” scrolled to “AI image generator,” and chose “Create your own.” (If it wasn’t visible, we searched for “Magic Media” under “Apps” in the same sidebar.)

3. Craft a Detailed Prompt

Inside Magic Media, we selected the “Images” tab.

We entered a specific description:

‘modern workspace with a sleek laptop, bright window, and mountain view, in soft natural light’

The prompt’s clarity set us up for better results.

4. Pick the Right Style & Aspect Ratio

To match our brand, we chose the “Photorealistic” style and set the aspect ratio to wide (16:9)—ideal for a website hero image.

You can pick whatever fits your layout: square for social, portrait for stories, etc.

5. Generate & Review Image Options

We clicked “Generate Image” and, in seconds, had four distinct images to choose from. We picked the one with the best composition for our needs.

If nothing hit the mark, we could tweak the prompt or use “Generate More Like This” for new options.

6. Add to Canvas & Refine the Design

Our chosen image dropped straight onto the canvas. We adjusted its size and position, then layered in headline text and a branded color overlay to finish the look—no extra uploads or downloads required.

7. Download & Deploy

Once satisfied, we downloaded the final design, ready to use on our campaign site, social media, and email headers.

The whole process took less than 10 minutes, saving hours compared to traditional image sourcing.

If you would like to learn more about AI →FUTUREPEDIA

🔥 Only 1% of Brands Are Ready for AI Search...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. 50% of Website Traffic Will Soon Be AI Bots

Peter predicts that within a few years, half of all website visits will come from AI agents.

These LLM bots are already scanning, summarizing, and ranking websites to answer user queries directly.

That means:

• Your site isn’t just for customers anymore. You must tailor towards these bots because they are the ones deciding which brands to recommend.

• Every piece of text, image, and schema markup is training data for the next-gen AI recommendation layer.

• Traditional SEO is evolving into GEO “Generative Engine Optimization”.

2. Reviews Are Still King and Now an AI Ranking Signal

Why reviews are important:

• A core trust signal for both human buyers and AI agents.

• A determining factor in local visibility and LLM rankings.

• A silent brands look “dead.”

He also stressed that most businesses handle reviews wrong:

• They only reply to negatives.

• They don’t make it easy to leave reviews

Automate this by sending text requests right after service completion and even integrates with CRMs or invoicing systems.

3. Your Website NEEDS Consistent Updating

Websites aren’t going away but their role is shifting.

They’ll serve as data anchors for AI systems, not just digital storefronts.

The new hierarchy:

• Google My Business (GMB): entry point for discovery.

• Social channels: real-time activity check.

• Website: authoritative data repository (services, testimonials, structured content).

Build out social posts, reviews, and citations so that content is always fresh.

Static, outdated websites will lose ranking and relevance.

If your site hasn’t been updated in 12+ months, you’re invisible to AI and search engines. Modernize it as a living data hub.

4. Automation ≠ AI and Most Businesses Confuse the Two

Peter drew a key distinction:

• Automation = rule-based workflows (e.g., send a review request after invoice).

• AI = adaptive systems that learn and personalize over time.

Most “AI tools” small businesses buy are just glorified automation.
Real AI should analyze data and make decisions (like adjusting messaging or detecting sentiment trends).

Use automation for consistency and AI for interpretation.

5. Remember These 5 Things to Stay Ahead

1. Optimize for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization).

2. Automate and monitor reviews relentlessly.

3. Keep socials alive and credible.

4. Make your website a dynamic signal hub, not a static brochure.

5. Respond publicly and authentically.

🔥 Watch the full episode here

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

📞 The Lost Art of the Cold Call…

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

• 📞 The Lost Art of the Cold Call… [True Story]

• 🌎 The Newest AI Browser is Here!

• ✅ 108 Ideas For Your Next Press Release…

• ⚒️ The Amazon Goldmine Hiding in your Data

• 🚀 How to Measure What Matters for Amazon Ads

🚨 Reply to this email with by writing #wheelofkelsey for a chance of a Profit Analysis Audit courtesy of Jasim Eisa from Voadera. Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!

P.S. I’ve just launched my brand new press release service where you can build authority, get indexed, and be featured in AI summaries, LLMs, and Google News.

🔥 Book a call with me if you’d like to learn more.

 📞 Lost Art of the Cold Call [TRUE STORY] 

Back in the 1980s, before GPS or smartphones, sales was a different kind of adventure.

No Google Maps, no CRM systems, not even a decent car stereo half the time.

Just a stack of phone books at the office, a box of maps stuffed in the glove compartment, a pocket full of dimes for the pay phone.

I remember my old car, parked at a gas station somewhere outside of London, Ontario.

The dashboard littered with coffee cups, papers, and a map spread across the passenger seat.

This was my office away from home trying to book a few appointments before hitting the road again.

I’d get maybe one “yes” out of ten calls, and that was enough to keep you going.

Every new town meant a new set of challenges; missed turns, wrong highways, roads that seemed to go nowhere.

When I got lost, I’d pull over, unfold another map, and hope I could find someone nearby who knew the area.

No GPS voice to guide you; just instinct and persistence.

But here’s the thing: all that extra effort came with something special.

You talked to people.

You figured out how to connect quickly because if you didn’t, you weren’t making a sale.

And when you finally walked through that door after three wrong turns and a twenty-minute detour, it meant something.

There was a sense of connection that’s harder to find today.

Sure, we can send hundreds of emails with a click, but it’s not the same as looking someone in the eye and shaking their hand.

Those old road trips taught me more about business than any seminar ever could.

They taught me how to build trust, how to stay patient, and how to keep pushing forward even when you’re completely lost somewhere between London and Toronto.

And the biggest lesson of all?

Technology changes, but people don’t.

Relationships still drive business.

The human touch will always be your best GPS.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors.

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🚑 New Amazon ‘Seller Challenge’ gives 3 lifelines to sellers

💰 Amazon India sellers surpass $20 Billion in Total Exports, set new $80 Billion target for 2030

🤖 Adobe launches company-specific generative AI models 

🦾 OpenAI takes on Google with Atlas AI browser 

🛍️ Twitch adds a new live-shopping feature powered by Amazon Ads

🌎 Why these three retailers are building out new marketplaces

🛑 Meta’s cracking down on general-purpose bots, steering WhatsApp’s API toward customer service only.

🦾 Browser Wars - ChatGPT Atlas

OpenAI just announced a new AI web browser, ChatGPT Atlas!

Here’s how it works:

The new tab page is your starting point in Atlas.

Ask a question or enter a URL to see faster, more useful results in one place.

You can also select from tabs for search links, images, videos, and news.

ChatGPT can remember what you’ve explored and suggest what to do next, whether that’s returning to past pages, digging deeper into a topic, surfacing related ideas, or automating routine tasks.

If you turn on browser memories, ChatGPT will remember key details from content you browse to improve chat responses and offer smarter suggestions.

You can view them all in settings, archive ones that are no longer relevant, and clear your browsing history to delete them.

Even when browser memories are on, you can decide which sites ChatGPT can or can’t see using the toggle in the address bar.

In Atlas, you can now ask ChatGPT to take action and do things for you right in your own browser.

Earlier this year, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT agent⁠, and now we've made it work faster and natively in Atlas.

You can ask ChatGPT to open and read through past team documents, perform new competitive research, and compile insights into a team brief.

But what about safety features?

• It cannot run code in the browser, download files, or install extensions

• It cannot access other apps on your computer or file system

• It will pause to ensure you're watching it take actions on specific sensitive sites such as financial institutions

• You can use agent in logged out mode to limit its access to sensitive data and the risk of it taking actions as you on websites

Learn more about ChatGPT Atlas

✅ 108 Ideas For Your Next Press Release!

Press releases are one of the simplest ways to boost visibility fast.

They help your brand get indexed on Google, picked up by AI models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, and featured across trusted outlets.

A single press release can put you in front of buyers through podcast placements and 500+ media outlets.

And it’s a direct way to capture buyer intent and build authority where people search.

Most people say “I have nothing to write about”.

Wrong.

If you don’t believe me, here are 108 topics you can write about.

If you’re interested in learning more, book a call with me and see if press releases are right for you.

🚀 How to Measure What Matters: Amazon Ads That Actually Work | Ritu Java

1. Q4 Success Hinges on Knowing Which Metrics Actually Matter

   • Amazon bombards sellers with data: impressions, CTR, CVR, spend, ACOS, TACOS, ROAS, share of voice, OA ratio, and more.

   • Most brands chase vanity metrics like sessions or spend spikes but these don’t predict profitable growth.

   • The three most critical metrics:

     1. Conversion Rate (CVR)

     2. Organic-to-Ad Ratio (OA Ratio)

     3. TACOS (Total ACOS)

2. Conversion Rate Is the Prime Lever for PPC Efficiency

   • CVR determines whether traffic turns into sales or burns cash.

   • Example:

     • 5% CVR at $1 CPC = $20 to make a sale.

     • 20% CVR at $1 CPC = $5 to make a sale.

3. Cannibalization & Halo Effects Can Distort Performance

   • When your ad rank and organic rank are both high, your ad spend may be cannibalizing organic sales.

4. PPC Is Moving From Manual Management to AI-Augmented Efficiency

   • AI tools like Claude or M19 can:

     • Automate search term harvesting.

     • Adjust bids dynamically during learning phases.

   • Ritu’s team has built 100+ micro-AI tools to compress repetitive tasks and let strategists focus on signal over noise.

   5. The Real Mistakes Sellers Are Making

   • Pushing weak-converting listings with ads → guaranteed bleed.

   • Confusing account-level budget capping with performance strategy.

   • Not tracking OA ratio or halo effects → distorted signals.

   • Measuring vanity metrics (impressions, sessions) in isolation.

   • Ignoring defensive ad placements.

🛒 How Amazon FBM Ship+ Works

FBM Ship+ is Amazon’s new fulfillment upgrade for self-fulfilling sellers.

The program pairs predictive delivery modeling with vetted carrier partners to speed up delivery, reduce costs, and improve buyer trust.

Here’s how it works:

Faster delivery

• FBM Ship+ uses Amazon’s predictive logistics to calculate realistic, fast delivery dates and enforce one-day or same-day handling times based on your shipping history.

Partner carriers cut transit time by an average of 2.5 days, while Amazon’s model tightens delivery estimates by another 6.5 days.

Increased conversion

• In pilot testing, sellers saw an average 34% boost in sales once customers could see reliable, fast shipping timelines.

Automated handling

• Once enrolled, your shipping templates are auto-configured with accurate delivery promises and handling times.

• Amazon automatically routes orders through discounted Buy Shipping labels using partnered carriers. You can manage and adjust templates any time in Shipping Settings.

Integrated workflows

You can buy shipping labels directly through:

• Seller Central (Manage Orders)

• Partner ERPs or Multi-channel Integrators

• Amazon APIs (Buy Shipping, Orders, Notifications)

Orders enrolled in FBM Ship+ display a program badge in order details, making them easy to identify.

Cash back incentives

• Eligible shipments earn cash back when they’re handed off and scanned by the carrier within 48 hours. For example, China-to-Europe shipments currently earn a ¥2 per order rebate through December 2025.

Global rollout

• FBM Ship+ is currently live for sellers shipping from China to the US, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Japan.

Enrolment is quick.

Go to Shipping Settings, find FBM Ship+ in Fulfillment Programs, and activate it.

🌎 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!

🔥 Storytelling Is the Last Skill AI Can’t Replace...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Storytelling Is More Critical in the Age of AI Not Less

• As more brands rely on AI, messaging will begin to sound uniform and soulless.

• What stands out now is voice, emotion, and human perspective, the very things AI can’t generate.

• Audiences can detect formulaic AI stories, long em dashes, templated phrasing, and lifeless tone.

2. Your Voice Is the Moat

• If three different people tell a story about the same object, the outcome should be three different narratives.

• Over-leveraging AI erases that personal lens.

• The goal is to train AI to sound like you, not like everyone else.

3. Good Storytelling = Emotional Hooks + Transformation

• Every powerful story contains:

  • A hook (grabs attention fast).

  • A problem or tension.

  • A transformation.

• If nothing changes, it’s not a story.

4. Six Second Stories: Hook Emotion Fast

• A “six second story” captures Act 1 and Act 3 instantly:

  • “I always struggled with X… until I found Y.”

• it conveys a mini-transformation that draws people in to learn more.

• Works especially well for social media, ads, and short-form storytelling.

5. Framework Simplicity Wins Over Complexity

• The Hero’s Journey (12+ steps) is too complex for most business use.

• At its core, every story is:

  1. A character with a goal.

  2. A problem in the way.

  3. A change.

  4. A resolution.

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

💰 Spotting The Gold Early…

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

• 👀 Spotting The Gold Early [True Story]

• 🔥 AWS is Down… Happy Monday to you too.

• 👎 New Fees Coming for 2026

• 🧐 Amazon Begins Reporting Data to Chinese Authorities

• ✅ You’re Writing Prompts Suck [Here’s How to Fix it]

🚨 Reply to this email with by writing #wheelofkelsey for a chance of 1 custom AI-based product image courtesy of Ritu Java from PPC Ninja. Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!

 👀 How Spotting a Simple Need Shaped a Decade of Success [TRUE STORY] 

It's 2013, and there I am in Las Vegas with my buddy Riz.

We were there to check out this huge event called the Amazing Selling Machine.

And let me tell you, the hype was off the charts.

Everyone was buzzing about the Amazon gold rush like it was the next big thing.

You could practically feel the energy in the air. 

Most folks there were super excited but also kind of like deer in headlights because they hadn't really dipped their toes into e-commerce before.

Now, I had a bit of a leg up because I'd already been around the block with e-commerce, fulfillment, and all that jazz.

So while everyone else was soaking up the opportunity, I overheard someone say they just needed someone who could handle the whole selling and marketing piece.

And I thought, "Hey, I can do that."

So I jumped in, offered my expertise, and before I knew it, I had a whole lineup of clients.

It was like spotting an opportunity where no one else did and just running with it.

Over the years, that turned into building a managed brand service.

And yeah, it even gave me the chance to work with my sons along the way, which has been a huge bonus.

And here we are in 2025, still doing it.

So the business lesson?

Sometimes the real opportunity is just being able to see what others haven't noticed yet and having the confidence to fill that gap.

And in my case, it turned into a whole family affair.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors.

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

 🚨 2026 updates US referral and Fulfillment by Amazon Fees

🤖 Walmart partners with OpenAI to create AI-first shopping experiences 

🛍️ Use new FBA inbound list view to help make delivery decisions

🦾 Amazon develops AI employee 'teammate' 

💰 Walmart.com’s search results put ads front and center, a playbook Amazon pioneered 

🛒 Check out the latest data on Millennial e-commerce habits in 2025…

🇺🇸 AWS is Down!

If today’s Amazon Web Services outage didn’t impact your business directly, it should still be a wake-up call.

Earlier this morning, AWS experienced a widespread disruption bringing down thousands of sites and apps globally.

Snapchat, Lyft, Signal, Fortnite, Slack, Coinbase, and even Amazon’s own retail site all felt the ripple effect.

AWS, the backbone of a massive portion of the internet went down for roughly three hours before recovery signs started rolling in.

It is still not available for everyone.

At its peak, more than 4 million users reported issues.

Key platforms hit:

• Consumer & Social: Snapchat, Signal, Lyft, Reddit

• Gaming: Fortnite, Roblox, Clash Royale

• Financial: Coinbase, Venmo, Chime, Lloyds Bank (U.K.)

• Core Amazon Services: Amazon.com, Alexa, Prime Video

  

Critical enterprise tools like Slack and payment platforms also went dark.

Three companies, Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google Cloud control roughly 63% of the global cloud infrastructure.

This is the same structural fragility we saw during CrowdStrike’s global malfunction last year, which grounded flights, shut down hospitals, and disrupted banking systems. Today just reinforced that lesson for anyone doing business online.

🚨 New Amazon Fees Coming in 2026!

Amazon just dropped its 2026 FBA fee update, and let’s be real… nobody’s surprised.

Every year, the costs creep higher.

Effective January 15, 2026, Amazon will roll out new fulfillment rates, updated weight calculations, and a fresh batch of surcharges.

Below is a sample of the break down for FBA fees excluding apparel. Check out the full table here

Amazon will now use the greater of dimensional or unit weight for several size tiers (Large Standard, Bulky, Extra-Large). If you sell light but oversized products, brace yourself.

💀 The Hidden Margin Bleeders

The real pressure comes from all the secondary adjustments Amazon is slipping in around the edges.

1. Overmax Handling Surcharges

Extra-large units will get slapped with new overmax fees:

• 0–50 lb: +$17

• 50–70 lb: +$21

• 70–150 lb: +$25

2. SIPP (Ships in Product Packaging)

If your product can ship in its own box, you’ll save on fees. If not, you’ll eat the cost. Getting SIPP-certified is becoming less optional and more strategic.

3. Low Inventory Level Fee (LIL)

Amazon’s changing how this is calculated. Instead of parent-ASIN, it’ll be at the FNSKU level. If your stock dips below 28 days of supply, fees will kick in:

• $0.32 to $2.09 per unit, depending on weight and size.

This is Amazon’s way of rewarding tight inventory control and punishing sloppy forecasting.

4. Inbound Defect Fees

This is where many sellers are going to get burned.

The old misroute and abandonment fees were pennies. Now they’re rolling everything into one bigger fee:

• Standard size: $0.32–$1.74

• Bulky items: up to $5.72

5. Removal, Disposal & Liquidation

Rates are increasing across the board. Orders placed before January 15 will get 2025 pricing, but after that, expect higher costs.

6. Returns Processing Fee

A new category targeting products with high return rates (think electronics, home goods, and impulse buys). This can add up quickly for sellers with fragile or finicky products.

🧭 What Should You Do?

1. Recalculate everything. Update your P&L now using 2026 fee data.

2. Fix packaging inefficiencies. SIPP or smart packaging can make the difference between a profitable SKU and a dead one.

3. Forecast tighter. The LIL fee is Amazon’s way of forcing better inventory discipline.

4. Clean up inbound. A few cents in 2025 is a couple bucks in 2026.

5. Cull weak SKUs. If a product can’t handle these extra costs, it’s not worth keeping around.

🤖 You’re Writing Your Prompts Wrong!

Here’s how to prompt like a pro!

1. Define Your Context & Role

We started by telling ChatGPT who we were and what we needed:

‘Act as a marketing copywriter. I run an AI education platform for entrepreneurs.’

This sets the scene so the AI knows how to tailor its language and expertise.

2. Add Relevant Information

Next, we included details ChatGPT should know:

‘My current website headline is ‘AI Education Platform designed for Entrepreneurs.’ Our main value is practical, no-nonsense learning.’

The more precise you are, the fewer generic answers you’ll get.

3. State Your Intent Clearly

We followed up with a direct request:

‘I want you to suggest five more effective, benefit-driven headlines that would attract busy business owners.’

A clear ask means a more targeted response.

4. Specify the Output Format

To avoid messy paragraphs, we said:

‘Please present your suggestions as a numbered list.’

This way, the output was instantly readable and easy to copy-paste.

5. Review & Refine

The first batch was solid but we wanted punchier language.

We replied:

‘Can you make these headlines more action-oriented and slightly shorter?’

Instantly, we got a new list that hit the mark

6. Request Explanations or Alternatives

For learning and future use, we asked:

‘Briefly explain what you changed in this version versus the previous.’

Now, we had insight into effective prompt tweaks for next time.

This approach took less than 10 minutes and produced polished marketing copy that would have otherwise taken hours.

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

🧐 Amazon Begins Reporting Seller Data to Chinese Tax Authorities

Starting October 31, 2025, Amazon will begin reporting Chinese sellers’ transaction and revenue data directly to Chinese tax authorities every quarter.

Amazon will send quarterly reports to China’s tax administration that include:

• Seller identity details

• Transaction volume

• Total revenue

• Platform commission and service fee data

The first report will cover Q3 2025 (July–September). According to Amazon’s Seller Central notice, sellers don’t need to take any action, the reporting will be fully automated.

This change comes after China’s State Council Order No. 810 and Notice No. 15 (2025), which require all platforms including international ones like Amazon to share seller tax data.

For years, many Chinese sellers operated in a murky tax environment.

China’s tax authority will now have a direct line into actual transaction data, meaning:

• Under-reporting income is no longer possible.

• Tax enforcement can be data-driven and automated.

Sellers will need to make sure their filings match Amazon’s numbers exactly.

🚨 Check out the full deep dive from PPC Land!

🌎 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!

🚀 Amazon Sellers Are Moving to TikTok Shop… But Should You? | Ian Page

1. Not All Brands Belong on TikTok Shop

• Ian turns away brands often. Why?

  Because TikTok is a brand platform, not a dumping ground for generic private-label products.

• If you “just slapped a logo on a commodity,” TikTok will likely burn cash without returns.

• The best-performing brands:

  • Have a real brand story.

  • Would confidently “put their product on a Times Square billboard.”

  • Sell high-frequency consumables (supplements, skincare, beauty, apparel).

2. Category Selection is a Make-or-Break Variable

• 80%+ of TikTok Shop revenue comes from 3 categories:

  1. Health & Supplements

  2. Beauty & Skincare

  3. Clothing & Apparel

3. Ian’s bold prediction

• TikTok will overtake Amazon in 5 years.

  • All TikTok needs to close the gap is better fulfillment coverage and a strong search layer.

  • Amazon can’t replicate social virality. TikTok can build logistics.

  • a viral halo effect can spike Amazon by 40–50%

🔥 Why These 7 Figure Sellers Went ALL IN on Retail...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Retail Isn’t Dying. It’s Still 85–90% of U.S. Purchases

• Retail is still 85–90% of U.S. Purchases

• COVID temporarily shifted consumer behavior, but retail’s share has returned to pre-pandemic strength (nearly 90% of all purchases).

2. Buyers Care About Data, Proof, and Fit

• Buyers aren’t swayed by passion. They ask:

  • Is your price point realistic for their shelf?

  • Is your product differentiated enough to take shelf space from someone else?

  • Are your Amazon reviews, social presence, and DTC numbers strong?

3. Mom & Pop → Regional Chains → National Rollouts

• The real retail ladder starts small:

  • Mom & pop stores build credibility and cash flow.

  • Regional chains validate demand at scale.

  • National retail follows with leverage.

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.

🥛 The Lost Art of Connection

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

• 🥛 The Milk Man: The Lost Art of Connection [True Story]

• 🔥 Trump Tariffs Are Back

• 🛒 October Prime Day Results

• 🧐 What The Heck Happened to Aggregators?!

• ✅ Step-by-Step Image Creation With Nano Banana

🚨 Reply to this email with “#wheelofkelsey” for a chance for 3 months of Kevin King’s Billion Dollar Seller Club. Find out the results on Wednesday on the podcast!

 🥛 The Milk Man: The Lost Art of Connection [TRUE STORY] 

When I was a kid growing up in Kitchener, Ontario, life was simple.

No grocery delivery apps, no smart fridges telling you when to buy milk just people doing their jobs and actually talking to each other.

Every morning, like clockwork, our milkman would roll up in his light gray uniform.

I still remember the thin stripe running down his pant leg and that style of cap which is hard to describe, he always wore.

Our kitchen was tiny nothing like the open-concept kitchens you see today.

My chair at the table sat right beside the old wooden milkbox door.

The paint had been layered on a dozen times with a latch both inside and out.

Every morning, I’d hear that familiar click, and the door would creak open.

The milkman would smile through the little opening and say, “Morning, young man. You have a good day at school, now.”

Sometimes he’d chat with my mom for a minute maybe talk about the weather or remind her about a holiday coming up.

“Need an extra bottle for the weekend, Mrs. Farrar?”

It was the same man for over a decade.

Always on time, always polite, always smiling.

As a kid, I didn’t realize how much those simple interactions mattered.

It wasn’t just about milk it was about consistency, reliability, and genuine human connection.

He wasn’t trying to sell us anything extra. He just cared.

And then one day, he was gone.

The milk door stopped opening.

Looking back, I realize what we lost.

We traded convenience for that simple human connection.

In business, relationships built on consistency and kindness will always outlast quick transactions.

Whether you’re an Amazon seller, brand owner, or just starting out, your “milkman moments” matter.

Those small, genuine interactions with customers or partners can build loyalty stronger than any marketing campaign.

Never underestimate the power of being reliable, approachable, and human.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

— Norm

This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without the support of our sponsors.

👇AMAZON NEWS AND UPDATES👇

🛒 Amazon October Prime Day Underwhelms Shoppers, Signaling Caution For Holidays

While 90% of shoppers were aware of Prime Big Deal Days ahead of time, it’s surprising that only 61% of July Prime Day shoppers returned to snag additional deals this October, though 19% said they couldn’t recall. In July, 88% of shoppers had participated in previous Prime Day events.

🚀 90 million sensors: Walmart’s bold move in logistics

🚨 Amazon debuts single-tap ‘Add to Delivery’ function

💰 As holiday sales growth slows, shoppers turn to sales events, buy now pay later

🔥 Amazon Extended Holiday Returns Begin November 1, 2025: What Sellers Need To Know

🇺🇸 Trump’s New Trade War with China: Full Timeline & Seller Impacts

Trump announced a 100 % tariff increase on Chinese exports and tightened new export controls on critical software, escalating the trade war and ending the uneasy truce between the countries.

Tariffs are set to begin November 1st, 2026.

Timeline of Trump’s 2025 Trade War with China:

• Jun 27 - U.S. claims resolution of rare earth and magnet issues with China.

• Jul 6 - Trump threatens 10% tariff on BRICS-aligned countries, including China.

• Jul 15 - U.S. says Nvidia to resume H20 chip sales to China as part of rare earth negotiations.

• Aug 1 - U.S. “optimistic” about deal path forward with China.

• Aug 8 - U.S. begins issuing Nvidia H20 export licenses to China.

• Aug 10 - Trump urges China to quadruple U.S. soybean purchases ahead of truce expiration.

• Aug 11 - U.S. and China extend tariff truce by 90 days.

• Sep 4–13 - Trump pushes G7, EU, NATO to slap 50–100% tariffs on China over Russian oil revenue.

• Sep 14 - Trade talks continue in Madrid; TikTok divestiture deadline looms.

• Sep 15 - U.S. and China reach framework to transfer TikTok to U.S. ownership.

• Sep 17 - China agrees to review TikTok’s tech exports and IP licensing.

• Sep 19 - Trump and Xi call: progress on TikTok deal, plan in-person meeting in 6 weeks.

• Sep 21 - First U.S. House delegation visits China since 2019, urging renewed engagement.

• Sep 24 - U.S. Treasury says aircraft parts and chemicals offer leverage in trade talks.

• Oct 1 - Trump says soybeans will be key topic in Xi meeting; China had reduced U.S. soybean imports.

• Oct 7 - U.S. lawmakers push broader chipmaking bans after $38B in Chinese semiconductor purchases.

• Oct 9 - China tightens rare earth export controls and scrutiny on semiconductor users.

• Oct 10 - Trump adds 100% tariffs on China goods, threatens Boeing export controls; truce ends.

• Oct 10 - China launches Qualcomm antitrust probe, announces port fees on U.S. ships from Oct 14.

• Oct 12 - China defers U.S. call request; defends rare earth curbs, slams U.S. tariffs as hypocritical.

🚨 Amazon Rolls Out “Seller Challenge” System

Amazon just gave sellers under Account Health Assurance (AHA) a new tool to push back on enforcement decisions even after the regular appeal process fails.

It’s called Seller Challenge.

This lets you submit up to three challenges every six months.

Each challenge gets a decision within 48 hours, and they renew once used.

How It Works

This new feature only applies to sellers enrolled in Account Health Assurance.

• You get three challenge tokens every six months.

• If a challenge is used, that token is replenished after six months.

• You can’t re-challenge the same violation, one shot per issue.

• Listings stay deactivated during the review.

• If you lose AHA eligibility, you lose access to unused challenges until you qualify again.

The idea is to give sellers another layer of due process after standard appeals hit a wall.

Head to the Product Policy Compliance page → Look for enforcement issues with a “Seller Challenge” tag.

If it’s eligible, you’ll see the option to open a challenge.

But don’t get too excited yet.

This is still limited, still vague, and still locked behind AHA.

1. Use it wisely,

2. Track your three tokens.

3. Keep your AHA status in good standing.

We’ll see if this expands to account-level enforcement or becomes another tool that quietly disappears.

Let me know if you’ve seen this feature live yet!

✅ Step-by-Step Image Creation With AI!

Here’s how we used Nano Banana inside Google Gemini (or the AI Studio interface) to create three types of content visuals!

1. Upload Your Starting Image

We began by uploading a product photo (for ads), a screenshot/portrait (for thumbnails), or an event image (for banners). Nano Banana handles most common image formats, so there’s no need to prep files in advance.

2. Write a Direct, Descriptive Prompt

For a product ad, we typed:

‘Remove the background and place the product on a bright yellow background with bold lighting perfect for a product ad.’

For thumbnails:

‘Make the subject larger, brighten the face, blur the background, and add ‘new thumbnail’ text on the left.’

For banners:

‘Place the subject on the right with a blurred background, leaving space on the left for text.’

3. Experiment With Contextual Scenes

To add authenticity, we tried prompts like

‘Place the product on a kitchen counter in natural light.’

4. Iterate Rapidly for Variations

On a thumbnail idea, we asked for multiple versions: one with the subject pointing and surprised (high-contrast colors), another with a confident smile and a soft blue background. Nano Banana generated several options in seconds, letting us pick the most engaging for each platform.

5. Add & Adjust Text Where Needed

While Nano Banana can add short text (like “SALE” or “NEW”), longer captions or branded elements are easier to fine-tune in Canva or Photoshop.

We downloaded the AI-generated image and finished the design.

6. Finalize & Export

With the main graphic ready, we exported the finished image at the right size for each platform. This workflow saved at least 60 minutes per image compared to traditional editing.

The final result!

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

🧐 What the Hell Happened to Aggregators?

People love to say the Amazon aggregator model didn’t work.

That’s not exactly true.

What didn’t work was paying 7x EBITDA for private-label junk just to hit a growth target during a capital bubble.

Thrasio started with good fundamentals.

Buying profitable Amazon brands at 2x, cleaning up ops, stacking them. It was working - until they scaled too fast, overpaid, and lost the plot.

In a new interview, Thrasio co-founder John Hefter laid it out.

• They went from 4 founders to 1,600 employees in under 3 years.

• Bought 200 brands, sometimes multiple per week.

• Near the peak, they were spending 7x EBITDA on what Hefter himself calls “Chinese vaporware garbage.”

At one point, a test inventory order accidentally got processed across the entire portfolio.

Cost them hundreds of millions.

In 2021, aggregators raised $12.3 billion, 75% of it debt.

They bid against each other until the very economics that made the roll-up model attractive were gone.

We saw it in real time:

• Multiples skyrocketed.

• Good brands got too expensive.

• Bad ones slipped through.

By 2022, the money was locked up, and everyone was stuck holding the bag.

There are fewer active Amazon sellers today, but over 100,000 now do $1M+ per year.

The game has changed.

This is Amazon.

You can’t throw capital at something and expect success.

You need real operators, systems, and discipline.

Otherwise, you end up with a warehouse full of pink umbrellas and a $3 billion write-off.

🌎 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!

🚀 Amazon Ad Expert Reveals His Q4 Game Plan | George Meressa

1. Q4 Strategy Starts Months Before Q4

• Smart advertisers are already bidding and indexing for Q4 keywords in August.

  • Example: “Christmas trees” search traffic started spiking mid-August.

• Identify top Q4 keywords now in Brand Analytics and Search Query Performance.

2. Holiday Personalization = Higher CTR & CVR

• Sponsored Brand ads with holiday creative (ribbons, bows, “giftable” messaging) consistently outperform generic ads during Q4.

• Split test holiday-themed imagery and copy in Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Display.

3. Shift from Keyword-Only to Audience + Intent

• Amazon’s AI-driven ranking systems (Cosmo + Rufus) are changing search behavior:

  • Add semantic detail to titles, bullets, and A+ content to align with natural language search.

  • Tailor ad creative to personas (e.g., seniors vs parents vs athletes) based on real audience data.

  • Use Search Query Performance reports to find and double down on intent-rich terms.

4. B2B Campaigns = Easy Q4 Wins

• B2B Sponsored Brand campaigns are underutilized but perform strongly in Q4.

  • Businesses buy in bulk → higher AOV + repeat purchases.

• Turn on B2B pricing in inventory settings and launch Sponsored Brand B2B campaigns targeting bulk-buying segments.

5. DSP & External Reach Are Exploding

• Amazon is now opening premium placements like Netflix for DSP advertisers.

• These are expensive but offer top-of-funnel reach and exclusivity.

🔥 She Turned Facebook's Big Problem Into FREE Leads... And Made Millions

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Turn Communities into Compounding Lead Engines

• Kim built her SaaS business by scratching her own itch: instead of subscribing to a tool that exported Facebook group questions

2. Build Software as a Leverage Layer, Not a Startup

• Her Chrome extension wasn’t a venture-funded SaaS, it was a $380 build that turned into thousands of paying users.

• Kim leverages tiny, high-utility Chrome extensions as “digital real estate”:

  • They live in the browser toolbar.

  • There’s no traffic cost (users see your logo daily).

  • Low churn due to daily utility.

3. Own Your Land. Don’t Build on Facebook’s

• Facebook groups are rented land.

• The tool captures emails from new members joining a Facebook group, pushes them to a Google Sheet, and from there into automations (Klaviyo, ManyChat, etc.).

4. Community Monetization = Nurture Group + Pitch Group

• Kim separates her audience into:

  • Nurture Group: large community with low friction and no hard selling.

  • Pitch Group: smaller, campaign-based, offer-driven environment (webinars, challenges, launches).

5. Setter–Closer Systems Drive Conversion

• She runs her entire sales process with setters (who qualify and book) and closers (who convert).

• This lets her monetize communities without being the salesperson — turning traffic into warm DMs, then calls, then sales.

Find this episode of Marketing Misfits on YouTube and anywhere you listen to podcasts

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

Interested in sponsoring the Lunch With Norm Newsletter? Reply back to this email for more details.