• Celebrating our milestone episode with a topic crucial for every e-commerce entrepreneur: "Ads Don't Work Anymore" - a deep dive into Facebook and Instagram ad strategies for 2024.

In Today's Discussion:

• We tackle the common perception that ads on Facebook and Instagram are losing their effectiveness.
• Explore the significant changes in Shopify's integration with Facebook and Instagram ads and how they impact your business.
• Address the key question: Why do many feel that ads don't work anymore?

Understanding the Shift:

• Analyze the current trends in social media advertising and how they differ from past strategies.
• Examine how consumer behavior and algorithm changes are influencing ad performance.

Strategies for Success:

• Learn actionable strategies to make your ads work effectively in the current landscape.
• Discuss the importance of adapting your approach to stay ahead in the dynamic world of online advertising.

Avoiding Common Mistakes:

• Identify the pitfalls that many businesses encounter with Facebook and Instagram ads.
• Understand how to avoid these mistakes to optimize your ad campaigns for better results.

Key Takeaways:

• Gain insights into why some ads fail and how to pivot your strategy for success.
• Learn the importance of evolving with the platform changes and consumer expectations.
• Discover how to view ads as a part of your broader Shopify journey.

For Our E-commerce Entrepreneurs:

• Whether you are just starting out or looking to refine your ad strategies, this episode offers valuable insights and advice.
• Equip yourself with the knowledge to navigate the changing landscape of social media ads.

Additional Resources:

• Visit LaunchandScale.co/Gold for a comprehensive range of e-commerce resources and guides.
• For personalized advice and strategy planning, book a consultation with our experts at LaunchandScale.co/apply.

In this episode:

• We're exploring essential tips and common mistakes to avoid in managing a successful brand ambassador program.
• Understand how to select the right ambassadors for your brand and the pitfalls to avoid in this process.
• Learn about setting clear expectations and goals for your brand ambassadors.
• Discuss strategies for maintaining effective communication and building long-term relationships with your ambassadors.

Key Takeaways:

• Discover how to leverage brand ambassadors to enhance your brand's reach and credibility.
• Insights into integrating ambassador programs with your overall marketing strategy.
• Practical tips for measuring the success of your brand ambassador program.

For E-Commerce Entrepreneurs:

• Whether you're just starting out or looking to refine your existing program, this episode is packed with actionable advice tailored for e-commerce entrepreneurs.
• Tap into the potential of brand ambassador programs to drive growth and engagement for your online store.

Additional Resources:

• Visit LaunchandScale.co/gold for a wide range of e-commerce resources and guides.
• For personalized advice and strategy planning, book a consultation with our experts at LaunchandScale.co/apply.

In this session, we will:

• Uncover key trends set to dominate e-commerce in 2024.
• Analyze how shifts in consumer behaviors and technology advancements are reshaping online shopping.
• Discuss strategies to adapt and thrive in the changing e-commerce environment.

This session is crucial for anyone in the digital marketplace, from established online retailers to new entrants. Equip yourself with insights and tactics to stay ahead of the curve in 2024.

Other Resources:

• Access a wide range of e-commerce resources and guides at LaunchandScale.co/gold
• For personalized advice and strategy planning, book a consultation with us at LaunchandScale.co/apply

Let's work together to tailor a successful strategy for your e-commerce business in 2024 and beyond.

Episode Outline:

1. Foundational Prep: Establishing Your Unique Selling Proposition

• How to define your 'Oasis Positioning' and set your brand apart.
• Evaluating if pre-orders fit your business model.

2. Crafting The Irresistible Offer

• Overcoming the challenge of selling without social proof.
• Strategies to make pre-orders enticing: discounts, exclusive perks, and storytelling.
• Understanding customer motivations and leveraging scarcity.

3. Building a Predictable Sales Engine: Effective Customer Communication

• The crucial role of clear communication in pre-order phases.
• Tips for keeping customers informed and engaged (emails, website alerts).
• The risks of poor communication: dealing with refunds and chargebacks.

4. Driving Traffic: Sustaining and Growing Your Customer Base

• Emphasizing the importance of ongoing marketing efforts.
• Practical daily and weekly marketing actions.
• Insights from "Atomic Habits" by James Clear on the impact of consistent small changes.

5. Leveraging OPA for User-Generated Content and Social Proof

• Starting with budget-friendly, organic marketing approaches.
• Creative ideas for grassroots marketing and influencer collaborations.
• Sharing success stories from peers and clients.

6. Optimization and Scaling: Managing Consistent Order Volumes

• Strategies for sustaining and increasing order flow.
• When and how to scale your pre-order strategy effectively.

Next Steps:

• For in-depth guidance and additional resources, visit LaunchandScale.co.
• Stay updated with the latest in e-commerce strategies by subscribing to our podcast.
• Ready to elevate your e-commerce game? Book a session with us at LaunchandScale.co/apply for personalized strategies to grow your brand.

What We'll Cover:

- Identifying Your Brand's Specific Marketing Needs

- How to Vet Potential Marketing Agencies

- Understanding the Importance of Agency Specialization

- Key Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Agency

- Red Flags to Watch Out for in Agency Partnerships

- Crafting a Collaborative Relationship with Your Marketing Agency

Conclusion:

Choosing the right marketing agency can be a game-changer for your brand, whether it's your first time or you're looking to switch. This episode will guide you through the nuances of this decision, ensuring you're equipped with the knowledge to form a fruitful partnership that aligns with your brand's goals and values.

Next Steps:

- For more detailed guidance and resources, visit LaunchandScale.co/gold. Here you'll find a wealth of information to assist you in your marketing journey.

- Keep up to date with the latest e-commerce strategies and insights by subscribing to our podcast on your preferred platform.

- If you're ready to take your brand's marketing to the next level, schedule a Million Dollar D2C Brand Launch and Scale Session with our team at https://launchandscale.co/apply. We're here to help you navigate the process and ensure you find the perfect marketing partner for your brand's unique needs.

What We'll Cover:

- The Impact of Vague Messaging on Customer Engagement and Conversion

- Over-Reliance on Amazon: Risks and Limitations

- The Pitfalls of Unoptimized Pricing Strategies

- Effective Communication: Crafting Clear and Compelling Brand Messages

- Diversifying Sales Channels Beyond Amazon

- Implementing Dynamic Pricing Strategies for Maximum Profitability

Conclusion:

The wellness industry is booming, yet many brands struggle to capitalize on this growth due to common yet critical mistakes. This episode aims to shed light on these issues, offering actionable strategies to enhance your brand's messaging, diversify sales channels, and optimize pricing. Implementing these insights can lead to significant improvements in sales and overall brand health.

Next Steps:

- For in-depth insights and actionable tips, visit LaunchandScale.co/gold and access a treasure trove of free resources.

- Keep up with the latest trends and strategies in e-commerce by subscribing to the podcast on your favorite platform.

- To personalize your brand's growth strategy, schedule a session with our team at https://launchandscale.co/apply. Join us for the Million Dollar D2C Brand Launch and Scale Session, where we'll help chart a successful course for your wellness brand.

What We'll Cover:

• Challenging Traditional CPA Metrics
• Understanding Blended CPA: A Holistic View
• Assessing CPA Across Various Digital Platforms
• Implementing Omnichannel Strategies for Precise CPA Analysis
• Strategies to Streamline Your Marketing Expenditure Across Channels

Conclusion:

In today's ever-evolving e-commerce landscape, sticking to traditional CPA metrics may not provide the complete picture needed for effective decision-making. Embracing a blended CPA model offers a comprehensive look at your marketing efforts, enabling you to optimize strategies and expenditures. Keep these insights in mind as you navigate through the complexities of digital marketing for your brand.

Next Steps:

• Visit LaunchandScale.co/gold to grab free resources that can propel your e-commerce journey.
• Stay updated with the latest e-commerce strategies. Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform.
• For a tailored blueprint towards achieving your brand's success, visit https://launchandscale.co/apply and schedule your Million Dollar D2C Brand Launch and Scale Session with our team.

Introduction:

Welcome to Episode 93 of the Launch and Scale Podcast. I'm Khierstyn Ross, your host and e-commerce strategist. Today, we're diving into a critical topic that every entrepreneur should consider – the viability of your product. We'll examine scalability from a margins perspective to help you make informed decisions about your business idea.

What We'll Cover:

• Assessing Product Viability
• Margins and Profitability
• Case Studies on Product Viability
• Strategies for Scaling with Healthy Margins
• Risk Assessment for Scaling

Conclusion:

• It's essential to remember that product viability and margins play a significant role in the long-term success of your business. As you evaluate your ideas and plan for scalability, keep these insights in mind. Making informed decisions now can set the foundation for a thriving brand in the future.

Next Steps:

• Visit LaunchandScale.co for detailed show notes and resources.
• Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform to stay updated with our latest insights on building a successful brand.
• For a personalized blueprint to your brand's success, schedule a Million Dollar D2C Brand Launch and Scale Session with our team. We're here to help you achieve your business goals.

Next Steps:

• Visit LaunchandScale.co for detailed show notes and resources.
• Don’t forget to subscribe for more insights on building a successful e-commerce brand.
• Schedule a Million Dollar D2C Brand Launch and Scale Session with our team to create a custom blueprint for your brand’s success.

In today’s episode, we delve deep into the crucial decision every entrepreneur faces: selecting the right platform for launching their product. We weigh the pros and cons of two major players, Kickstarter and Shopify, guiding you through the maze of product platform fit, investment considerations, and strategic planning for your launch.

Key Discussions:

1. Product Platform Fit:

• Understanding Kickstarter's audience demographics (age, geography, psychographics).
• Exploring trending product categories on Kickstarter including technology, board games, design, and fashion.
• Evaluating your product’s alignment with Kickstarter’s unique audience and categories.

1. Investment for a $100K Launch:

• Vanity metrics vs. reality in Kickstarter campaigns.
• The real costs of a successful Kickstarter launch, including audience building and marketing.
• Comparing the controlled and predictable launch strategy on Shopify with the variable nature of Kickstarter.
• A detailed breakdown of costs for both Kickstarter and Shopify launches.

1. Fundraising Goals & Order Quantities:

• Assessing the actual fundraising needs for your startup.
• The dilemma of Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) for startups.
• Weighing the pros and cons of Kickstarter’s fundraising model against the Direct-to-Consumer approach on platforms like Shopify.

Conclusion:

We conclude with a reflection on the vital aspects to consider when choosing between Kickstarter and Shopify. Whether it’s aligning with Kickstarter’s community or opting for a more controlled, scalable approach with Shopify, the decision shapes your brand’s path.

Special Offers:

• Take our tailored Kickstarter vs. Shopify quiz to find the best fit for your product.
• Schedule a Million Dollar D2C Brand Launch and Scale Session with our team to create a custom blueprint for your brand’s success.

Next Steps:

• Visit [Podcast Website] for detailed show notes and resources.
• Don’t forget to subscribe for more insights on building a successful brand.

If you're serious about growing your Shopify store, then listen to this episode! We'll discuss the different factors that can affect your store's growth, and how you can fix them.

If so, then you'll love this simple method for crowdfunding on your own Shopify website! This method is easy to use and doesn't require any special skills or knowledge. So if you're looking for a way to get your project funded without all the hassle, then this is the way to do it!

Hire Our Expert Team To Launch And/Or Scale Your E-Commerce Product Brand ➡️ https://launchandscale.co/apply

=============

About Kurt Elster:

============

One of the most highly regarded independent consultants in his industry, Kurt Elster is a Senior Ecommerce Consultant who helps Shopify merchants like Jay Leno’s Garage uncover hidden profits in their websites through his e-commerce agency Ethercycle. With two million downloads, Kurt is best known for hosting The Unofficial Shopify Podcast.

Get the Crowdfunder Shopify App: https://apps.shopify.com/crowdfunder-...

With the guidance of industry experts like Chase Clymer, you can take your e-commerce brand to new heights.

Watch to learn if your store is ready for traffic, some common pitfalls to avoid, and how to get started.

Work With Us For As Little As $1 With Our Product Launchpad Accelerator ➡️ https://launchandscale.co/product-launchpad

Hire Our Expert Team To Launch And/Or Scale Your E-Commerce Product Brand ➡️ https://launchandscale.co/apply

If you're thinking of starting your own business and you're not sure where to start, then you should watch this video! Suzy Weeks is a successful e-commerce entrepreneur who shares her secrets with you in this video. In just one month, Suzy Weeks managed to hit $20,000 in sales with a new baby brand with just one product!

So if you're looking for tips on starting your own e-commerce business, then you should watch this video! It's packed with valuable information that will help you succeed in the online marketplace.

Visit them at: https://www.movifamily.com/

We interview 8Fig.co to understand their inventory cash flow financing options better for Amazon and Shopify Sellers.

By using cash flow financing, you can get the funding you need to grow your business without having to take on large credit risks. With access to a range of funding options, you can find the right option for your business and reach your goals faster!

Validation is the process of determining whether a product or idea is sound and meets the requirements specified by a customer or client. By validating your product, you can ensure that it is quality-checked and meets the needs of your target market. This video will teach you everything you need to know about validation and help you get started on the road to launching a successful product!

If you're looking to take your e-commerce business to the next level, then watch this video interview with TikTok's own Ryan Rali!

If you're looking for a blueprint for starting your own online e-commerce business, then you need to watch this video! I'll show you how our Product Launchpad member, Brodie Wilkinson of BigSpoonPillow.com launched in 30 days from scratch.

This video is full of valuable information that you can use to start or grow your own e-commerce Shopify brand.

This video will give you a sneak peek into the dangers of running a Kickstarter campaign and help you avoid some of the common mistakes made by entrepreneurs. By watching this video, you'll be well-equipped to launch a successful Kickstarter campaign

Mindfulness is a powerful tool that can help you to manage stress and stay productive. In this video, we'll give you tips on how to practice mindfulness and use it to improve your life as an entrepreneur. We'll discuss different ways to incorporate mindfulness into your life, from work and study to everyday tasks and relationships.

If you're looking for ways to improve your productivity and manage stress, then this video is for you!

Are you looking to build a pre-order pipeline for your Shopify eCommerce store? In this video, you'll learn everything you need to know about setting up a pre-order system that will keep your customers happy and increase sales.

How do the most successful eCommerce brands push through adversity, source products, position their marketing, and increase their revenue?

Whether you're growing your store on Shopify or leveraging your own website, the mindset is the same.

International transaction fees and exchange rates can eat up profit. Luckily, OFX helps reduce your fees and lock in foreign exchange rates for up to 12 months.

Crowdfunding can actually hinder the growth of your product launch and can slow down, if not halt your scaling efforts.

In this podcast, I'll explain why crowdfunding can be dangerous and also provide a solution.

But what happens when you're ready to move beyond Kickstarter? In 2022, the answer may be Shopify. The move from Kickstarter to Shopify is not only profitable but necessary for your business.

Kickstarter is a Crowdfunding platform, which means that businesses can solicit funding from the general public in order to launch their product or service. In return for their investment, backers typically receive rewards such as discounts or early access to the product. Kickstarter is best suited for businesses that are looking to raise capital quickly and have a solid plan for how they will use the funds.

Shopify is a powerful e-commerce platform that provides all the tools you need to run an online store. Unlike Kickstarter, which is focused on raising funds for a single project, Shopify lets you sell products and services on a long-term basis. In addition, Shopify offers a wide range of features and plugins that can help you grow your business.

So enjoy this latest podcast where we discuss, How To Move From Kickstarter To Shopify In 2022 (8 Steps To Maximize Profit & Keep Up Momentum)

Kickstarter isn't the platform it once was and it may not be the right platform for you. In fact, most Kickstarter Product launches fail. In this video, we're going to talk about the reasons why you should stop using Kickstarter in 2022.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Why would I want to stop using one of the most popular crowdfunding platforms in the world?"

Well, it turns out that there are a few key reasons why Kickstarter might not be the best option for your crowdfunding campaign in 2022.

So if you're planning on launching a Kickstarter campaign in the next few years, make sure to listen to this podcast episode!

I want to share with you top five mistakes that people make when scaling their business on Shopify. You don't want to be one of those people who end up wasting money and time or not getting the results they were expecting - so listen to this podcast episode for some great tips on how to avoid these common pitfalls.

In this podcast, I'm going to share the reason your launch failed and five product launch strategies that will fit it.

With so many options to choose from, it can be hard knowing which email marketing software is right for you. There are some things that every shop owner should consider before making their final decision like; free or paid service plans, automation features and simplicity/ versatility. In this podcast, I'll show what factors into my choice of an excellent Shopify-compatible Marketing Automation Tool (that's also permanently available)

Do you remember Field of Dreams, if you build it, they will come? Well, what happens when you build it and they don't come? Having the right e-commerce marketing strategy matters when selling a new product on Shopify or whatever e-commerce platform you're using. The fact is that the difference between having a product after launch is able to scale comes down to these 5 pre-launch marketing strategies.

So if you're looking to grow a Shopify brand and build your dream of growing an eCommerce business then enjoy our latest video on our 5 pre launch strategies.

But don't worry, I've got you covered!

Launching a new eCommerce product can be daunting. There are so many things to think about - from finding the right supplier to getting your marketing strategy right.

In this podcast, I'll share with you five fail-proof strategies for launching a successful eCommerce product.

So what are you waiting for?

Start planning your next big launch today!

There are so many unknowns and yet, what if we had a system to reduce the risk of launching a product and increase our profits?

Validating your product before you bring it to market can save you thousands of wasted money. In the past crowdfunding was the best way to validate products but as the market mature shifting to a pre-order launch, strategy is the best way to launch a product in 2022.

In this podcast, we teach you how to validate your product ideas using pre-orders.

This is a conversation about mental grit and continuing on when the odds are against you winning.

** Or do you want to Scale your e-commerce brand? Check out our advanced E-commerce program, The Scale Mastermind: http://joinscalemastermind.com/

For this reason, in the last LS episode, I’m talking about how you can set prices when you don’t know your shipping costs, so you can avoid losing your profitability due to inadequate prices.

Want to personally work with Khierstyn? Go to www.workwithKR.com

Here’s the bad news… the large CPG brands can’t either. 

But here’s the GOOD news… the large CPG brands are so slow that you can still beat them at their own game if you know what to do. Today’s guest, Ainsley Moir, is a veteran of the FAB world, working for big brands such as Coke, Campbells, Vitamin Water, and more.

She has been in the boardroom meetings for these large companies with infinite bank accounts and decades-long relationships with retailers. The disturbing news is they still take 4 YEARS to launch new products. Ainsley believed that this was way too slow and so on evenings and weekends she successfully launched her own FAB. coffee startup using proven corporate marketing strategies with startup speed.

In this episode, Ainsley walks you through exactly what retailers want for you to get your product in stores.

 You will learn: 

• The single piece of paper (double-sided) you need to get your product into a retail store
• How to find CPG buyers and get a meeting
• What it is that Food and Beverage buyers actually want (and it’s not flavor)
• How to test your message and assumptions about your market cheaply before you blow a bunch of money developing a product no one wants
• Why some products lose money for each unit sold… and how to avoid it
• How to get proof of demand before you’ve even sold a single item

Want to learn more about how to get your FAB product off the ground? Check out AinsleyMoir.com

****

Want to work with Khierstyn directly to launch and scale your product? Go to www.workwithKR.com to learn more.

How about 13 endorsements? 

Well, that’s exactly what Jon “Of The Chords” Ng did to raise over $300K on Kickstarter for “Lord of the Chords: The Punniest Music Theory Card Game in the World”.

While doing his research on how to launch a Kickstarter Campaign, Jon noticed a pattern:

A large percentage of campaigns that raised over six-figures had a celebrity endorsement. The problem was that he had no connections to anyone famous in the music industry and so had to “find another way” (as he likes to put it). 

In this episode, Jon reveals the L.O.R.D. framework he developed that enabled him to get 13 celebrity endorsements.

L - Locate

O - Offer an amazing gift… Something unique and relevant to your project

R - Record their reaction

D - Don’t quit when things go wrong… and find another way!

We also cover: 

• Jon’s Top Strategies for Locating celebrities and how to get past their “people” to meet them backstage at concerts
• What to Offer them that will make them go “WOW” and remember you forever
• How he recorded the endorsements for use in future product sales
• How he edited a video with those recordings to make “marketing that doesn’t feel like marketing” to grow his email list
• How he set up his Facebook Ads Campaign to build the email list...and what he would do differently if he was going to do it all over again
• The Classic AIDA advertising formula, and why the first “A” is the hardest.
• How he tactfully promoted his campaign on Reddit and got over 800 upvotes, without getting banned

Want more details on the LORD Framework? Check out Jon’s article on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-secrets-lord-chords-used-build-social-proof-from-13-ng/

******

Can I work with you to launch your product? Go to www.workwithKR.com to learn more

While she thought she was getting as far away from city life as possible and experiencing nature, she was constantly brought back to reality. 

Even while 100 meters offshore surfing, she would encounter plastic.Plastic bottles... plastic bags... plastic particles. She even kicked a dirty diaper trying to catch a wave!Gabby was determined to figure out how she could do her part to fix the problem. After doing her research, she discovered that we can now take old plastic and upcycle it into a polyester microfibre. 

Gabby realized that meant that it was now possible to take used plastic bottles and turn them into fast-drying, sand resistant, and compact beach towels!

That’s when she founded SomerSide Towels and successfully launched on Kickstarter, even delivering early.In this episode, we talk about the steps Gabby took to deliver a premium fabric upcycled from plastic bottles in the ocean from diaper to launch and go over many of the lessons Gabby learned along the way. 

We also cover: 

• Having high standards GOOD! Spending the time upfront to manage product quality is crucial for a successful business after the launch
• While volume is manageable, you need to be involved in every step of the process
• Why you need to be backing other projects while planning your own launch
• Be willing to write 300 or more thank you letters to your backers… and watch what happens as a result.

Did you resonate with Gabby’s story? Check out SomerSide Towels here at https://www.somerside.com.au/ and pick a towel at the same time.

***

Want to work with Khierstyn directly to launch and scale your product? Go to www.workwithKR.com to learn more.

E-commerce is shifting away from selling exclusively on Amazon and investors are starting to prefer buying a brand. In this episode we’ll dive into that, as well as:

• The process of selling an e-commerce brand 
• What investors expect from your business
• When it’s the right time to sell your e-commerce business and its correlation with scaling
• Why some people shouldn’t sell

More information on Coran can be found on https://thefbabroker.com/about

Resources Mentioned:

Investing in DTC (Direct to Consumer) Brands, Podcast

Raising Capital from VC’s and Angels, Podcast

Profit First, by Mike Michaelowicz

Our interview with Profit First author, Mike Michaelowicz

Lisa Myers recently launched Ceres Chill on Indiegogo. She hit her launch goal of $15K in the first 12 hours of her campaign, and how she did it was extremely impressive.

Ceres Chill is the world's first breastmilk cooler. As a full-time lawyer with two young kids at home, she had to completely bootstrap the tooling, development, and manufacturing.

And as you can imagine, this wasn't a cheap project.

Because her budget and time was tight, she had to think outside of the box for ways to get support for her campaign without breaking the bank.

Instead of throwing thousands of dollars at Facebook ads to build up her audience, she decided to focus on a resource she already had -- her network.

The weeks leading up to her campaign she focused on building up awareness and support through people that knew her and would help if she needed it.

In this interview, we go through:

* EXACTLY when and how she communicated with her network ahead of time * HOW she got their verbal commitment for a certain $ amount to pledge on the first day of her launch * How she treated this launch as if she were raising money for a political campaign

... And how she brought all of these things together to raise $15K in 12 hours.

What I absolutely LOVE about this conversation is that she systemized a way to do one of the most uncomfortable things: ask for help.

* how to know for sure if your Kickstarter is failing * why it might be failing * what to avoid at all cost * how to handle a failed campaign

No one likes being told what to think, but everyone trusts their own ideas. Rather than pushing your idea on the buyer, in this interview, Oren will show you how to guide them to discover it on their own. Then they’ll feel more confident and enthusiastic about working with you. 

Oren Klaff is one of the world's leading experts on sales, raising capital and negotiation.  His first book, Pitch Anything, is required reading throughout Silicon Valley, Wall Street and the Fortune 500, with more than 1,000,000 copies in print worldwide. 

In this interview, we uncover a series of actionable steps including:

• How to achieve Status Alignment: Make sure that your potential buyer or investor recognizes you as a peer on the dominance hierarchy by using a status tip-off, a strategically placed remark that identifies you as an insider who can relate to your client’s concerns

• Close the Certainty Gap: Lessen your buyer’s fears about going into business with you by delivering a flash roll, a practiced display of mastery that proves your expertise in the domain
• Present your idea as Plain Vanilla: Don’t go overboard trying to present your product as cutting-edge, first-of-its-kind solution. The more you emphasize the familiar, reliable elements of your product, showing that it’s just “plain vanilla”, the easier you make it for your buyer to say yes

The sales landscape has changed and it’s not enough to just make a great pitch. This conversation and Oren’s latest Flip the Script will equip you with the tools to stand out and close more deals.

Finally, she will share a piece of important advice that will protect your products from becoming a mere commoditized product. Tune in and find out how!

"People buy based on emotion. People buy results." – Khierstyn Ross

"Lead with the result that the product gives in someone’s life." – Khierstyn Ross

Timestamps:

1:19 – The things you need to consider when trying to market your product and the best way you can present them in the market

3:13 – The advantage of comparisons on premium solutions over comparison on price differences

3:56 – How you build a brand that stands out

4:44 – Why is it important to look at the impact your product gives to someone when you are facing struggles in marketing your product?

5:44 – What does “results-driven marketing” means and how it is advantageous for you

Hey guys, welcome to Launch and Scale. This is episode seven. In this episode, we are taking a look at what is the best route to market for your product. A while there are several types we could talk about, two that I come across most in the eCommerce space is do you launch your product on Amazon first or do you launch on Kickstarter first? This is the question that was inspired by Stein Devolder. He asked, really, what are the benefits of first launching your brand on Kickstarter and then going to Amazon instead of just launching your brand on Amazon? And so that is an awesome question. I wanted to dedicate an episode to that. And keep in mind if you guys do ... If you have a question that you want to be answered on the show, you can do so by going to khierstyn.com/ask, how you spell that is K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N dot com slash ask, and you'll be able to ask a question through a voicemail or email it in and then we'll be able to cover it on a future episode. So which one should you start with? Should you do Amazon or should you do Kickstarter? And I think that really depends on where you're at in your journey. If this is your first product, then the question is going to be, do I start on Amazon or do I start on Kickstarter? But what if you are already selling on Amazon? What does that look like? So I get, I think my audience is an even split between those that sell on Amazon and they're looking at building a brand off of Amazon for reasons I'll get into in a second. But then I have first-time product creators that want to get their product online and they're like, do I do Kickstarter? Do I do Amazon? And so we'll get into that, as well. In terms of benefits of Amazon, Amazon is a global marketplace, so it gives you the same benefits as Kickstarter does in that it gets your product in front of people that otherwise may not have known or caught an opportunity to learn about your brand. So I think that way, as a marketplace, it is extremely powerful and you should, if you're selling a product online, you should absolutely be on Amazon. But having your product exclusively on Amazon has its drawbacks. Where Amazon could be a really great place to get started online, if you white label a product, whereas you go to Alibaba, you find an existing product and then you put your label on it and create a brand and sell that exclusively on Amazon. That is a great way to get into selling online. However, it has its drawbacks because as you start to scale on Amazon, you don't have complete control over your listing. Essentially, Amazon owns all your customer data. So you don't have a direct way to contact your customers. And you are very susceptible to price wars on Amazon. Where when if you first go into a category where it's very profitable and there isn't a lot of competition on your product, very soon, competitors are going to come in and start undercutting your prices, which means it's a very quick race to the bottom for you. With Amazon being a go-to marketplace, it is a great place to get started, but it's extremely competitive and it is very volatile. So you can get your listing shut down at any point. You don't own customer data. And it's really not, it's not safe, essentially, to have your brand only on Amazon, in my opinion. And while there are ways around it, I believe the best way to build a foundation and a legacy for yourself and your family online is to have complete control over where your product is listed. So that's why I, regardless of whether you're on Kickstarter or Amazon, you 100% need to have a spot where your product lives online, be it your own website. So regardless, again, Kickstarter, Amazon, you need to be building yourself a spot offline. So the reason I get a lot of Amazon guys coming to me is that they understand the risk they take by only selling on Amazon and they want to be able to expand, to be able to scale and build a brand. Because building a brand, if you go back to episode...]]>Transcript

Hey guys, welcome to Launch and Scale. This is episode seven. In this episode, we are taking a look at what is the best route to market for your product. A while there are several types we could talk about, two that I come across most in the eCommerce space is do you launch your product on Amazon first or do you launch on Kickstarter first? This is the question that was inspired by Stein Devolder. He asked, really, what are the benefits of first launching your brand on Kickstarter and then going to Amazon instead of just launching your brand on Amazon? And so that is an awesome question. I wanted to dedicate an episode to that. And keep in mind if you guys do ... If you have a question that you want to be answered on the show, you can do so by going to khierstyn.com/ask, how you spell that is K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N dot com slash ask, and you'll be able to ask a question through a voicemail or email it in and then we'll be able to cover it on a future episode. So which one should you start with? Should you do Amazon or should you do Kickstarter? And I think that really depends on where you're at in your journey. If this is your first product, then the question is going to be, do I start on Amazon or do I start on Kickstarter? But what if you are already selling on Amazon? What does that look like? So I get, I think my audience is an even split between those that sell on Amazon and they're looking at building a brand off of Amazon for reasons I'll get into in a second. But then I have first-time product creators that want to get their product online and they're like, do I do Kickstarter? Do I do Amazon? And so we'll get into that, as well. In terms of benefits of Amazon, Amazon is a global marketplace, so it gives you the same benefits as Kickstarter does in that it gets your product in front of people that otherwise may not have known or caught an opportunity to learn about your brand. So I think that way, as a marketplace, it is extremely powerful and you should, if you're selling a product online, you should absolutely be on Amazon. But having your product exclusively on Amazon has its drawbacks. Where Amazon could be a really great place to get started online, if you white label a product, whereas you go to Alibaba, you find an existing product and then you put your label on it and create a brand and sell that exclusively on Amazon. That is a great way to get into selling online. However, it has its drawbacks because as you start to scale on Amazon, you don't have complete control over your listing. Essentially, Amazon owns all your customer data. So you don't have a direct way to contact your customers. And you are very susceptible to price wars on Amazon. Where when if you first go into a category where it's very profitable and there isn't a lot of competition on your product, very soon, competitors are going to come in and start undercutting your prices, which means it's a very quick race to the bottom for you. With Amazon being a go-to marketplace, it is a great place to get started, but it's extremely competitive and it is very volatile. So you can get your listing shut down at any point. You don't own customer data. And it's really not, it's not safe, essentially, to have your brand only on Amazon, in my opinion. And while there are ways around it, I believe the best way to build a foundation and a legacy for yourself and your family online is to have complete control over where your product is listed. So that's why I, regardless of whether you're on Kickstarter or Amazon, you 100% need to have a spot where your product lives online, be it your own website. So regardless, again, Kickstarter, Amazon, you need to be building yourself a spot offline. So the reason I get a lot of Amazon guys coming to me is that they understand the risk they take by only selling on Amazon and they want to be able to expand, to be able to scale and build a brand. Because building a brand, if you go back to episode one about the difference between having a brand and a me, too product, that's really where you are going to be able to build something that the people love. Build something that really serves a person and you're going to be able to build that seven, eight-figure company a lot more easily than you will by only listing on Amazon. So if you are an Amazon seller, you need to be looking at building a brand and building an awareness of your product and what you do, off of Amazon. And whether Kickstarter's good platform for you or not, that's a conversation that you can email into me, to get my opinion on your product to see. But generally, if your product sells to consumers and there is a need for it, and there's something unique about it, it is definitely worth looking into Kickstarter to get your product momentum for the brand. So we'll get into Kickstarter in a second, but you can email me at support at K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N dot com, and I'm happy to vet your product and just give you my opinion on whether I think as a Kickstarter product or not. So that's the first thing, is if you are an Amazon seller listening to this, you should 100% be looking to build a brand off of Amazon so that you are using Amazon as a sales channel, not your main hub. So that's the first half. But the second half is should you go to Kickstarter first. So again, if you're a current Amazon seller, you by default cannot go to Kickstarter first because you're on Amazon, but you should still consider Kickstarter. But what if you are a first-time product creator or you have been selling products offline in retail and you want to start building a presence for yourself online? I did this with Sago Mini Pillow Play Sets. It was a children's company residing in Toronto, Canada, that sold into multiple retail stores across Canada. And they were launching this cool throw pillow that converts into a children's play set because they really wanted to start getting serious about selling online. So this was a really great gateway product for them. And so they went to Kickstarter. So if this is you, if you are that first product or you're selling offline and you want to get momentum for your brand online, I believe that Kickstarter 100% needs to be the go-to route that you take. Because when you go to Kickstarter, and you have the right product, you have the right messaging, and you're successful, Kickstarter is able to get your product in front of hundreds of new people. You're able to walk away with that customer data and a relationship with these people. And those hundreds of backers, if not thousands of backers that you have taken off of Kickstarter, you then have a really strong foundation to then continue and transition that over to having a strong launch on Amazon and other sales channels online. But by going to Kickstarter first for that product, you're able to establish brand credibility and social proof for your product that makes your Amazon launch really, really great. So instead of starting with that, so I do believe that, yeah, just, you need to have a brand online if you're serious about playing the eCommerce game. And if you want, if you fall into the category of having a brand versus a me-too product. And again, if you are just doing your research at this point, check out episode one, it'll help give you some clarity as to what kind of product and company really wants. And if it is a brand that you are looking to create, then I 100% think that Kickstarter is the right platform for you. But again, if you don't know, just email me support@khierstyn.com. This wraps up this episode. More awesome questions and topics to come. I guess if you guys are looking for free resources, case study, or even just to set up a call to talk about your product launch goals, please head over to khierstyn.com/schedule. Again, my name is impossible to spell, so it's K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N dot com slash schedule. Apart from that, we will see you in the next episode.

Transcript:

Hey, everyone, welcome to Launch and Scale. This is episode six and today I'm really excited to dive into a topic that comes up on every single phone call I have with you. People that are really looking to launch products, be it Kickstarter, Amazon, or just online, in general. And that question is how to discover your niche, or even if you have an idea of who your customer is, how do you narrow it down to the right one that's going to resonate with your product to make sure that you have maximum success when it comes to your product launch. So in this episode, we're going to be having a deep look into what that looks like and why it's so important with your launch and how even having the wrong niche or not focusing on this can really bomb your launch. Before we get into that, this episode is brought to you by Launch and Scale. It is a group program that helps take creators and anyone launching a product from zero to getting them funded on Kickstarter and be able to create a foundation for a strong E-commerce brand. I've been working on Crowdfunding campaigns and product launches for the last four years, and I've raised multiple six figures with the clients that we've worked with. So to find out more, please do head over to khierstyn.com that's spelled K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N .com. Click and if you want to book an actual session with myself, or the team, please do go to khierstyn.com/schedule, and you can line up a time to talk about your product launch needs. Apart from that, how do we pick a niche for our product and why is this even important to begin with? When it comes to having a strong launch on Amazon, Kickstarter or any really online marketplace that looks to rank projects and products based on popularity, it's important that you come in with an audience of people ready to buy your product because it helps you rank on the site. With Kickstarter specifically, if you've followed my work on the Crowdfunding podcasts or even just the talks that I've done and stuff like that, you will know that the biggest mistake that people make when it comes to Crowdfunding and product launches, in general, is they assume just because Kickstarter has this huge audience that all you have to do is rock up, and you're going to raise $100,000. It's quite the opposite. You do have to prove to the platform that you're popular and worth being shown to other community members. And the way that's done is by understanding how the algorithm works. And so right up until now, you may have an understanding or whatnot that you need an audience of people ready to buy your product as soon as you go live. But when we go into looking at why product launches underperform, so not do as well as the person-creator hoped, it's generally because they're niche, and the audience that they built up or the person that type that they were trying to sell their product to was actually misaligned and it was wrong. So when comes to niching down, I wanted to have an open, honest conversation about this because this is somewhere that first time creators, and even if this is your second or third product, you may, if you're struggling to sell and you're struggling to get a good conversion rate with your sales, it is most likely because the product offering that you have is not in alignment with what the niche is that you're going after. So how do you get it in alignment? The first thing to know is that the mistake that most people make is they don't want to...]]>Not having a strong understanding of who your customer is, niching down, and focusing on who you want to serve is by far one of the biggest barriers to success on Kickstarter (and launching products successfully) that I see. Struggling to find your niche or narrowing down your message can seem limiting, but trust me, it’s the opposite. Ever heard the phrase: “If you end up trying to reach everyone you reach no one”. Here’s a test for you to see how focused your niche and message are.

Transcript:

Hey, everyone, welcome to Launch and Scale. This is episode six and today I'm really excited to dive into a topic that comes up on every single phone call I have with you. People that are really looking to launch products, be it Kickstarter, Amazon, or just online, in general. And that question is how to discover your niche, or even if you have an idea of who your customer is, how do you narrow it down to the right one that's going to resonate with your product to make sure that you have maximum success when it comes to your product launch. So in this episode, we're going to be having a deep look into what that looks like and why it's so important with your launch and how even having the wrong niche or not focusing on this can really bomb your launch. Before we get into that, this episode is brought to you by Launch and Scale. It is a group program that helps take creators and anyone launching a product from zero to getting them funded on Kickstarter and be able to create a foundation for a strong E-commerce brand. I've been working on Crowdfunding campaigns and product launches for the last four years, and I've raised multiple six figures with the clients that we've worked with. So to find out more, please do head over to khierstyn.com that's spelled K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N .com. Click and if you want to book an actual session with myself, or the team, please do go to khierstyn.com/schedule, and you can line up a time to talk about your product launch needs. Apart from that, how do we pick a niche for our product and why is this even important to begin with? When it comes to having a strong launch on Amazon, Kickstarter or any really online marketplace that looks to rank projects and products based on popularity, it's important that you come in with an audience of people ready to buy your product because it helps you rank on the site. With Kickstarter specifically, if you've followed my work on the Crowdfunding podcasts or even just the talks that I've done and stuff like that, you will know that the biggest mistake that people make when it comes to Crowdfunding and product launches, in general, is they assume just because Kickstarter has this huge audience that all you have to do is rock up, and you're going to raise $100,000. It's quite the opposite. You do have to prove to the platform that you're popular and worth being shown to other community members. And the way that's done is by understanding how the algorithm works. And so right up until now, you may have an understanding or whatnot that you need an audience of people ready to buy your product as soon as you go live. But when we go into looking at why product launches underperform, so not do as well as the person-creator hoped, it's generally because they're niche, and the audience that they built up or the person that type that they were trying to sell their product to was actually misaligned and it was wrong. So when comes to niching down, I wanted to have an open, honest conversation about this because this is somewhere that first time creators, and even if this is your second or third product, you may, if you're struggling to sell and you're struggling to get a good conversion rate with your sales, it is most likely because the product offering that you have is not in alignment with what the niche is that you're going after. So how do you get it in alignment? The first thing to know is that the mistake that most people make is they don't want to limit their options. So your first instinct may be to go broad and have you ever heard the phrase, "If you end up trying to reach everyone, you reach no one?" The reality is that when you focus your messaging, and you focus your product to serve a specific niche, so a really narrow audience and a narrow kind of person, you're actually giving yourself a lot more leverage because your messaging is more specific, and it's going to resonate way more with that target market. But, unfortunately, what I've noticed that our clients, people I have spoken to on the phone and just anyone that is new to launching a product online or fairly early in your E-commerce journey is that you may not really have taken the time to define who the person is that you want to serve and really, really focus on serving a specific kind of person. And so what I want to do in this episode is I have four questions that I want you to ask yourself. And these four questions are meant to give you clarity on who your niche is because I guarantee if you are listening to this episode, it's because you may feel that your product messaging or being more like really honing in and narrowing down your niche is something that you could work on or can always be improved on, or maybe this is the first time you've ever considered this. So I want to take you through four questions that's going to help you gain clarity on who your niche is because this is so important. It's often very overlooked and not something people really think of until their product launch doesn't do as well as they'd hoped, and then they have to go back and really analyze what happened. And knowledge is power. Hindsight is 20/20 I can go on with all these different quotes, but the reality is that this homework and taking the time to really define who your niche is and then going out into the field and testing that hypothesis, that's really going to increase the chances that you are going to hit the goals that you want with this launch. So I want you to pull up pen and paper, and when you do that write down these questions. So what I would do is I would take one or two sheets of paper, just give yourself enough space to write and take notes. And after each one of these questions you're going to write this down. And then I want you to pause the podcast, answer the question, and then come back and then proceed to the second step. Okay? So the first question is if you have a landing page or if you have a website. So question number one, "Is the copy of my landing page clear and concise? Does it clearly state what my product is about and what the main benefit of it is?" Okay. And if you don't have a website yet, then here's a second version of that. "When you describe your product to a friend, do they fully understand what your product is about and what the main benefit of it is?" So question number one is really about clarity. So please write that down, pause the video, write it down, and then when you're done, proceed to question number two. Okay, now that you've done question number one, question number two, is this, "Is it clear who my target audience is?" Pause the video, come back. Question three, "Is it clear why my target audience should want to buy my product?" Again, pause and then come back. And the last question, question number four is, "How does my product stand out and how is it different?" Awesome. So now that you've gone through and, of course, I'm not going to sit on the podcast waiting for you to go do that. Just pause it and do this exercise. Thank me later. If you did go through these questions, and you breeze through them, and you already have complete clarity over your product and who your demographic is, then awesome. If not, then I really encourage you to start there. This should absolutely be one of the first things you do prior to starting your audience building. But hey, even if you have been in business for two plus years, you are launching product number three or four that's cool. Please go back to the drawing board because you may, for the new product that you're launching, your niche is always going to be slightly different. So you really do want to become hyper-clear on who your niche is and what your messaging is so that it conveys a strong point of differentiation between your product and what's already on the market and making sure that when you go and launch your product that it is in alignment with what your niche is looking for and then you perform, and you get funded. So apart from that, this is a critical step that you need to take. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you do have questions you want to get in touch, or you want to submit a question for the podcast, you can do so by going to khierstyn.com/ask, A-S-K. And, yeah, my name is spelled K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N .com/ask and apart from that really stoked. We have a ton of awesome resources on the website from the podcast to free case study to even a spot for if you want to talk about protocol and strategy and how to make sure that you're getting the best results out of your launch. Please do go to khierstyn.com and schedule a call. Apart from that, we will see you in the next episode.

Today's episode is going to be focusing on how to really validate and give you confidence in your idea, prior to sinking thousands of dollars into it. As a recap, here is the question that Brett asked. "If we're all hoping to avoid the price wars on Amazon as a seller, how can we be sure people will want what we decide to make? I know myself and a lot of others rely heavily on Jungle Scout to tell what and how much is selling on Amazon, and when I first started the Me-too product thing. I still look at Jumbo sales numbers when developing my new product and tried to give the market what it seemed like it needed, based on personal preference and examining reviews of other products on Amazon. Beyond that, though it's a little bit of a crapshoot. Would love to hear some input on this."

So, Brett, great question. In terms of how to make absolutely sure your product sells before you sink thousands of dollars into it, while you can gauge market interest online by looking at Google Trends, you can look at similar products that are selling to yours on Amazon and look at the reviews. Ultimately, if you are bringing a proprietary product to market that is a new version of something that already exists and something that you patent and something that has IP that you own, versus doing the white label side of things by slapping your brand on to an existing product, that information you get from Jungle Scout, Amazon and others like Google Trends, is really limited.

So, how do you know that people are actually going to buy your product? A few weeks ago now, I was going through Netflix late on a Saturday night, we'll say, and I came across a documentary called Mad Men. It is a behind the scenes look at Steve Madden, the fashion shoe brand as of a couple of years ago, was doing over a billion dollars in sales in the fashion industry. And because I didn't know much about this brand, I know that I like the shoes, but in terms of the founder, I hadn't really heard much about him, so I press play. And within the first few minutes of the documentary it shows their office in Brooklyn, I think, New York, and there's something that they did that really stood out to me.

It's really the reason, in my mind, why Steve Madden is such a powerhouse of a brand and why they've successfully brought products to market over and over and over again, that have been best sellers. And what it comes down to is Steve Madden, when they get an idea for a design, so their head of product design gets an idea, or Steve feels inspired by something he sees on the street, then they bring it back to their office. They sketch up a prototype of this new design that was inspired, and they have two choices at this point.

If they think, "Wow, this is a great shoe and it's going to be a best seller," they can go and create 10,000 units of this thing right off the bat, and spend thousands of dollars and start to plan to roll it out into their stores. But doing that, they don't have actual concrete evidence of whether the shoe is even going to sell. They get great ideas all the time, but how do you know that all of their ideas are good.

Brett, where he's at in his product cycle is he is an Amazon seller that is now creating a proprietary product, so a product that is his own. It's not necessarily a white label product or a commoditized product like on Amazon because he wants to actually build a brand around a product that he owns the IP for. His question had that in there, so I was like that would actually also make a good branch of an episode. I'm going to read his question in episode two because his question is heavily related to product validation and being sure that someone wants your product before you actually go and sink money into it. For this episode though, the question really is do you have a me-too product or do you have a brand? Because frankly, in my mind, I think that you cannot have both at the same time. I think that one should evolve into the other or you make the conscious decision to go with one and grow into it as you go. Let's start by looking at what a me-too product is.

A me-too product is as it sounds. It's like a knockoff or it is a white label version of something that's already selling. If you are someone that wants a me-too product, you would generally go to Alibaba, look for the manufacturer of that product, and then slap your brand name on it and then start to sell that product. With me too products, typically you'll find them on ... in my world, it's Amazon sellers that start off with the me-too products. There's nothing wrong with me too. I think it's an excellent gateway plan to learn the ins and outs of manufacturing and bringing a product to market. It does have its downsides, which we'll talk about with the what is a brand in a second, but me too products have one thing that I don't like, and it is a race to the bottom. In my mind, you sell a product or a service based on price or quality. With Amazon, with me too products, unfortunately, it is just so easy to sell based on the price that you, by actually being a best seller in a product, may have another seller come in and undercut your prices because they've found a way to manufacture and create your product better and faster.

So, it's a quick race to the bottom of the price war, which actually is a detrimental long term strategy because if you have a product that's selling really well and you have healthy margins and everything is great, any day some other seller can come in and undercut your prices in half. Suddenly, they start to take all the traffic that you got, and it's dangerous because at that point you're going to be ending up slashing your prices if you are only selling to people that value price over value. With that quick race to the bottom, unfortunately, your prices,...]]>Hey, guys. Welcome to episode one of the Launch and Scale podcast. If you are confused and wondering why there is an episode before this, that is the overview episode. That is a way to give you a flavor of the show and see if this is something that you want to give a shot and listen to. If this is your first time listening to the show, be sure to head over to khierstyn.com/podcast and subscribe to the show, and if you like what you hear, please do leave a review, as it helps other people find the show. If you cannot find my name, it's probably because you can't spell it. No one can spell my name properly, but that's the fun in this. My name is spelled K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N.com. I'm just stoked about this episode. Last week, I emailed the Crowdfunding Uncut family, which is the name of the old brand. That launch and scale evolved too. I asked them what do you want to learn in e-commerce? Here are the name and the topic of the new show Launch and Scale. What is a question you'd like me to cover? Brett Buxton is one of the people that emailed in a question, and actually, his evolved into a two-parter. The meat of his question is covered in episode two, so the next one, which is how to make sure people actually want your product before you sink thousands of dollars into it.

Brett, where he's at in his product cycle is he is an Amazon seller that is now creating a proprietary product, so a product that is his own. It's not necessarily a white label product or a commoditized product like on Amazon because he wants to actually build a brand around a product that he owns the IP for. His question had that in there, so I was like that would actually also make a good branch of an episode. I'm going to read his question in episode two because his question is heavily related to product validation and being sure that someone wants your product before you actually go and sink money into it. For this episode though, the question really is do you have a me-too product or do you have a brand? Because frankly, in my mind, I think that you cannot have both at the same time. I think that one should evolve into the other or you make the conscious decision to go with one and grow into it as you go. Let's start by looking at what a me-too product is.

A me-too product is as it sounds. It's like a knockoff or it is a white label version of something that's already selling. If you are someone that wants a me-too product, you would generally go to Alibaba, look for the manufacturer of that product, and then slap your brand name on it and then start to sell that product. With me too products, typically you'll find them on ... in my world, it's Amazon sellers that start off with the me-too products. There's nothing wrong with me too. I think it's an excellent gateway plan to learn the ins and outs of manufacturing and bringing a product to market. It does have its downsides, which we'll talk about with the what is a brand in a second, but me too products have one thing that I don't like, and it is a race to the bottom. In my mind, you sell a product or a service based on price or quality. With Amazon, with me too products, unfortunately, it is just so easy to sell based on the price that you, by actually being a best seller in a product, may have another seller come in and undercut your prices because they've found a way to manufacture and create your product better and faster.

So, it's a quick race to the bottom of the price war, which actually is a detrimental long term strategy because if you have a product that's selling really well and you have healthy margins and everything is great, any day some other seller can come in and undercut your prices in half. Suddenly, they start to take all the traffic that you got, and it's dangerous because at that point you're going to be ending up slashing your prices if you are only selling to people that value price over value. With that quick race to the bottom, unfortunately, your prices, you keep slashing them and slashing them and slashing them to a point where you actually barely make any margin or profit off of that product anymore, and suddenly you don't have a sustainable business because you need margin in the product to be able to actually grow this company. While me too products are, I think, a really great gateway to getting into e-commerce, it's dangerous in my opinion to stake your whole livelihood and build a business off of me too products because there is the risk of other people undercutting you on price, which is why I'm in the brand category.

Well, a brand in the traditional sense is any product that is manufactured under a specific name. Technically speaking, you could say that me too products, if you have a product with your logo on it, that is also a brand. But, that's not what I mean when I say that I'm in the brand category. Brand and building a brand is by building a product with an associated name, where that name has quality and a perception of value behind it. A name brand, for example, can be both. A name brand could be Mercedes. A name brand could be McDonald's, where those names inspire certain feelings inside of you. They inspire a certain image of quality behind it. Whereas your perception of McDonald's may be crappy food, it could also be a great hangover cure. Whereas if you're looking for someone who values quality and workmanship in a vehicle, you may not buy the Ford or the Toyota, you may go and buy the BMW, the Mercedes. So, there is a different element of perception of value when you're actually looking at designing a brand for yourself.

The brand is something where the main objective for the buyer when they buy your product is they are purchasing your product because of the perception of value, which is very different from selling based on price alone, which is when you are focusing on getting into certain product niches on Amazon that sell just because they're hot markets right now. That's dangerous because you're selling based on price versus a brand. When you have a brand, I associate this with having your own website, your own name, your own customer service ethos, and you're really looking to have a premium product where you stand behind the workmanship, that's what I mean by brand. To take this a step further, brands focus on the person they are selling to. Let's look at the difference between that and the product focused.

Whereas with me too products, if you are looking at white labeling something, typically the reason you're doing that is that you're looking for an opening in the market where there's a healthy amount of people buying but a low amount of competition, so it's a profitable niche for you. At that point, you're making your decisions on the product purely from this thing is going to sell standpoint. That's really where a lot of sellers get their start online. While you may have a successful business off of that, if you're looking at building something more fast growth, long term sustainable, the way to do that is by selling to the person. Let's look at why that is. Let's use the example of yoga. If I decide to go into me-too product space online and I've identified that thin, lightweight yoga mats are hot sellers right now and there isn't a lot of competition, I might decide to slap my label, Khierstyn's Yoga Mats, onto an Amazon product and sell it. However, the downside to that is that when I start to become a best seller in that category, someone else can come in and undercut my prices and sell the same thing for half the price. That is just how it goes. Then, I'll be constantly competing on price as opposed to perceived value.

Let's say I then, after that failure, I decide to go and launch khierstynsyogamats.com and this time I choose to not stake my success in all one product, but I decide to use a rebrand as a premium yoga mat where the name Khierstyn has this perception of value. I now can sell my product at a premium price, I can have product guarantees, and then I can now interact with my customers because I decide to do cool health tips via email marketing and choose to really build a relationship with people and use khierstynsyogamats.com to eventually build out a suite of products. The difference with that versus a me-too product is the me-too product really focuses on that one product that can get bombed really quickly on Amazon versus by you looking long term with your product, by associating it with a brand and a website that you own, you can actually do a lot more for the customer and focus on creating products that serve their needs and also being a resource online for them in that space. When I say an online brand, that is the route I mean. Again, downsides with the brand are that it takes some time to build up that trust and credibility. However, you are building your house, essentially, because you're building something that has longevity, something you own.

You own your customer list and you are not at risk of say, Amazon shutting down your account or getting involved in that price war on Amazon. I wanted to use this episode to really define the difference between me too white label commoditized products versus a brand because ultimately Launch and Scale is about how to brandify your products, essentially, to give you longevity to create something that you can sell, something you own, and something that truly serves the person that you are going after. It really takes your product to a different dimension, depending on really what you're looking to build with this thing and to see what the right method is for you. Hey, if you aren't sure what the right approach for you is or if you want to talk about brand strategy and go to market, head over to khierstyn.com/schedule and you can schedule a strategy session with myself or my team. Again, to spell my name, it's K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N.com/schedule. Apart from that, that wraps up this episode. If you like what you hear, please do subscribe. Email into the show if you have a question that you want covered on a future podcast. We do give shout-outs, as you know. Again, to reach me or our team will be support@khierstyn.com. Apart from that, that wraps up this Launch and Scale episode one, and we'll see you next time.

Because what I've noticed is with Kickstarter launches you have one chance, really, to make a great first impression. You have one chance to position your product properly, one chance to make sure that your message is right, the pricing is right, and not only that, but that you have an intimate understanding of why your customer is going to buy this product so that you can have a great sales message, a great video and all that. What I've found is that with Kickstarter campaigns, because it is, traditionally, people have a very high failure rate on Kickstarter whereas the success rate on Kickstarter's about 37%. The big factor with that is to make sure that you not only have an audience of people ready to buy your product when you're live but the other side is making sure you have the right audience because you want to make sure you're building up the right audience of people that are actually going to resonate with your product and love your products so that they buy it on your Crowdfunding campaign when it goes live.

And so because of that and because of the whole getting to know your customer and how much it builds into positioning your product properly, I find that the work that we've done and why I have such a high success rate of campaign success on Kickstarter is because we do a lot of due diligence leading up to a launch of who is your customer. Let's prove that hypothesis through Facebook marketing, let's prove that hypothesis through customer interviews through a structured beta test, which we talk about in episode two, and through different things like that to really make sure that the assumptions we make about our product and who is going to buy and why people love it, we make sure that that is market tested and proven so that when we go to spend so much time and resources launching this product that we get it right the first time.

So, I've found that after working with beginner brands who were using Kickstarter for launch that first product versus an eCommerce client that maybe selling a dozen or so products on Amazon and they know want to build up their audience using Kickstarter as an addition platform, I noticed a trend in that the things we do so early stage with beginner brands to really scope who the customer is, market test demographics and make sure that they are predictably setting up the way we position our product. I realized that that in a lot of the eCommerce brands like the current ones that we approaching me didn't have that locked in. So, I thought, okay, well, I want to take this conversation more mainstream and everything that we have done with Kickstarter campaigns to make sure that we have a six-figure launch, to make sure we are positioning the product and the message we have really resonates with the person we put it in front of.

I wanted to take that conversation more so that people who are looking at taking their product off of Amazon and selling on their Shopify site or building a physical product or even looking to create that round two of a product for a launch, if you're on the Kickstarter...]]>Hey everyone, welcome to the overview episode of the Launch and Scale™ Podcast. I'm Khierstyn Ross, and I am so excited to be officially kicking this off. For those that have been following the Crowdfunding Uncut podcast for a while, you know that I did that for the last three years where that podcast focused really heavily on how to bring physical products to market through the Kickstarter route. Over my last four years being in the trenches with creators, really bringing products to market, managing very large crowdfunding campaigns of multiple six-figures, and advising E-commerce brands on how to bring new products to market, I felt that it was time to evolve the brand. And really evolve the conversation to taking everything I've learned from the Kickstarter route, and bringing products to market successfully, and really applying that to any product launch online.

Because what I've noticed is with Kickstarter launches you have one chance, really, to make a great first impression. You have one chance to position your product properly, one chance to make sure that your message is right, the pricing is right, and not only that, but that you have an intimate understanding of why your customer is going to buy this product so that you can have a great sales message, a great video and all that. What I've found is that with Kickstarter campaigns, because it is, traditionally, people have a very high failure rate on Kickstarter whereas the success rate on Kickstarter's about 37%. The big factor with that is to make sure that you not only have an audience of people ready to buy your product when you're live but the other side is making sure you have the right audience because you want to make sure you're building up the right audience of people that are actually going to resonate with your product and love your products so that they buy it on your Crowdfunding campaign when it goes live.

And so because of that and because of the whole getting to know your customer and how much it builds into positioning your product properly, I find that the work that we've done and why I have such a high success rate of campaign success on Kickstarter is because we do a lot of due diligence leading up to a launch of who is your customer. Let's prove that hypothesis through Facebook marketing, let's prove that hypothesis through customer interviews through a structured beta test, which we talk about in episode two, and through different things like that to really make sure that the assumptions we make about our product and who is going to buy and why people love it, we make sure that that is market tested and proven so that when we go to spend so much time and resources launching this product that we get it right the first time.

So, I've found that after working with beginner brands who were using Kickstarter for launch that first product versus an eCommerce client that maybe selling a dozen or so products on Amazon and they know want to build up their audience using Kickstarter as an addition platform, I noticed a trend in that the things we do so early stage with beginner brands to really scope who the customer is, market test demographics and make sure that they are predictably setting up the way we position our product. I realized that that in a lot of the eCommerce brands like the current ones that we approaching me didn't have that locked in. So, I thought, okay, well, I want to take this conversation more mainstream and everything that we have done with Kickstarter campaigns to make sure that we have a six-figure launch, to make sure we are positioning the product and the message we have really resonates with the person we put it in front of.

I wanted to take that conversation more so that people who are looking at taking their product off of Amazon and selling on their Shopify site or building a physical product or even looking to create that round two of a product for a launch, if you're on the Kickstarter side of things, you can use this information to make sure that you are going to have an even more successful product launch. So, what we're covering in Launch and Scale Podcast is, really, how to build a strong foundation for your eCommerce physical product even if you're using Kickstarter, you're using Amazon or whatnot because ultimately there is a reason why I've had such a strong track record bringing products to market and I want to make sure that information is available to more of you guys.

So, what you can expect of this podcast where Crowdfunding Uncut was heavily focused on the interview side of things, this time around it's going to be a less formal approach. So I'm looking to doing a mix of shorter episodes where it will be led by questions submitted by the audience or I'll do a 10 to 15-minute segment on answering that question. We'll be doing behind the scenes experiments. If there is a topic through an expert that I want to bring on then we will do a more long-form interview. So, the format is going to be loose, it's going to evolve with the show and evolve with feedback. What I've done is I've created the first few episodes off of questions that were emailed in from the Crowdfunding Uncut family. So we're in for a really juicy start. Thank you so much for your support. If this is the first time listening to the Launch and Scale Podcast, please be sure to head over to khierstyn.com/podcast and in there you will be able to select iTunes or Stitcher and go in and subscribe to the show.

And if you love the content, please do leave an honest review of the show. It does help other people think the content that is helpful for them and their unique situation. My name is also impossible to spell so it's K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N.com/podcast. Apart from that, if you are not familiar with my story and how the heck I got into product launches, this is where I'm going to talk about that. So, about four and a half years ago, I went to a networking event and I had a little bit of experience online and I ran into this founder of this quirky product that he eventually sold me on it and he got the idea, because we were talking about Matt Ward from Art of the Kickstart before he sold it to Aventis with Roy [Morjan 00:06:47], and a few days later, Adam came back to me and he's like, "Hey, so this product, I've been thinking more about it and I want to bring it to Kickstarter."

And I was like, "Huh, interesting. I don't know anything about Kickstarter." And so the conversation goes back and forth, he's like, "No, no, no, I think it could be really good if we partnered up on this. You know the marketing side of things and I'm the product creator. A perfect world." I was like, "Okay, cool." So, eventually, a few weeks go by and I commit to helping him market this product. And we go and we spend about three months preparing for it, really not knowing anything of what we were doing and if what we were doing was right and we went up to this launch. And that very first launch we did on Indiegogo and it was an absolute disaster. We made every mistake in the book but at the time we didn't know that. So we pressed the launch and then nothing happened.

So, over I think it was a 34-day campaign we ended up failing horribly so we set our goal at $50,000 and by the end, we only raised about $17,000. It was a disaster, to say the least. After that campaign failed we had two options. We could quit and pack up shop or we could really explore and see what we did wrong. After feedback from a few marketing professionals, we realized that it actually wasn't the product. The product was pretty good and it was most likely to sell. What was wrong was how we approached the campaign. So we used that time, about four months, to readjust and redo our marketing plan. So we realized where we went wrong was a classic mistake. On Kickstarter, you have to go in with an audience of people ready to buy so that the algorithm picks you up and shows you to more people and creates a snowball effect. So there's that.

But the other thing is we completely butchered the product positioning. Here we were, two skinny people, trying to sell a weight loss product in an industry that neither of us really understood and we didn't take the time to really talk to our customer and get to make sure that the product positioning and I guess the sales pitch and the video we'd put together to make sure that it was actually in alignment with what would get people to buy and it really wasn't. So we took this feedback and we ended up going to our market, getting feedback to completely change our product positioning and building up an audience. So we did those two things really differently, really focused on that for the next three to four months and then we relaunched that product. And when we launched it, that time, the thing explodes. We end up raising just shy of $600,000 on Indiegogo for this product.

And that really launched my career. I was in denial at the time because I was like, "I hate Kickstarter. I don't want to do it." But it's funny because a couple of months after that point, I was forced to do a talk in Toronto because the founder didn't want to do it and so I did the talk on the transition between how we went from a $17,000 failure to a $600,000 success. And there was the founder of my second official campaign or client in the audience, David from Tapplock. And he's like, "I really like what you did with this product. Can we talk?" And so I ended up working with Tapplock and that was my second big win where Tapplock went and raised $342,000 on Indiegogo. And then from that, I got partnered up with Maneesh Sethi of Pavlok where we launched the Shock Clock 2 and that ended up doing another $350,000. And then I eventually met Chris from Jam Stack. Again, he's one of my most talked about case studies.

We did an $82,000 launch and then a $362,000 launch and it just kind of went from there. So, that's when, about three years ago, I committed to niching completely into Kickstarter Indiegogo launches and built the podcast and really here we are today. So, over the time that I've spent in the trenches in the last four years, I've had some major wins bringing physical products to market. I've been in the trenches with people and success speaks for itself and that's really my backstory. If we ever get on a call, if you're listening to this, if you want to find a little more information, happy to share but that's kind of like the Cliff Coles Notes version of what the brand was with Crowdfunding Uncut and the reason I've decided to really create this new brand Launch and Scale is because I absolutely love products that are different and unique and serve a specific purpose in the market. And I've noticed that Kickstarter is an amazing platform to give your brand momentum.

So, it's been a great way to literally kickstart a couple of seven-figure brands that I've worked with and multiple other people. And so I thought my sweet spot is not only in product launches but is really helping with that early stage development of fast scale, fast growth, from zero to $5 million points of strong foundations and building an amazing product off of customer feedback, really that is what I've been doing in the field. And so I felt that in keeping the Crowdfunding Uncut podcast to be specific to Kickstarter but now we're really talking about launching and scaling profitable, eCommerce physical brands with predictably and success. So really excited. As mentioned before, episodes are crafted off of your feedback so if you have a question, a topic or you just want to say hi, the best thing to do is to send our team an email at support@khierstyn.com. So again, it's K-H-I-E-R-S-T-Y-N.com.

And if you actually schedule a call with me to talk about your product, please head over to khierstyn.com/schedule. Apart from that, I am going to wrap up this intro episode and jump into the first official episode where we are handling the debate between brands or me too products.