Lunch is Over... [The Lunch With Norm Finale]

Lunch is Over... [The Lunch With Norm Finale] Speaker 6: Hey everyone, this is Norm Farrar aka The Beard Guy here and welcome to another Lunch With Norm, the eCommerce & Amazon FBA Podcast. Well, today is the day, our last episode of the Lunch With Norm podcast. And today we're going to be sharing some of the memories of the last five years. We'll bring on some special guests and what I'm going to be planning in the future. So welcome to another, another, the last Lunch With Norm e-commerce and Amazon FBA podcast. Speaker 1: All right. Speaker 6: Like I mentioned, today is our last live episode of Lunch With Norm. But before we do anything and get into it, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel. Give us a thumbs up and share out this episode. As I say every episode, we cannot do this without our sponsors. I just want to give a special thanks to AZRank. AMZ One Step, Sophie's Society, The Titan Network and Connect Cash. So thank you so much for being a sponsor for these episodes. Okay, so if you have any questions for us, feel free to ask us at any time, but just put them into the comment section. And why don't we just get into this? We can just sit back, relax, grab a cup of coffee, and I'll ask myself a whole bunch of questions, unless we have some guests. I'm not sure. Do we have guests, Kels? Speaker 2: We sure do. Speaker 6: Oh, and by the way, you should be saying something too. You've been our producer for the last five years. You've been awesome, by the way. Thank you so much for being a part. I always have fun kind of, I don't know, kicking you between the legs, but I really do appreciate everything you did. Speaker 2: Well, I've learned to wear a jock. Speaker 6: I bet you have. Unknown Speaker: I'm a devil. Speaker 2: Pull it up. But I do, just before we get into it, I do want to go to our comment sections and welcome everyone. So yes, this is the last episode of Lunch With Norm. So we've done, I was counting up the episodes, 670 episodes over five years. And we've done a Patreon group before. We've got our newsletter. It's really grown into something special. Speaker 6: And that's not stopping by the way. Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that'll keep going. So we'll talk about that later on in the episode. But I do want to say hello to our live guests here in the chat. Business & Finance, wow, you've really helped me over the years. Thanks for everything. You'll be missed. Brian, it's good to see you. We've met Brian in person or multiple times. Ola from Puerto Rico. Marina, too. All these, everyone I think we've met in person. It's good to see you. Steve, hello Beardo Surgecy. You're leaving the podcast, Norm. We'll miss you. And Nathan, wow, Norm, I truly appreciate what you've done over the years and I'm grateful for the many lessons learned from you. Kelsey, also many thanks. Good luck to you both in the new endeavors. And Simon, it's over, boo-hoo. Yeah, it's a sad day, but we do have some great guests and friends joining us that we're gonna be bringing up throughout the show. And if any of you throughout the time want to come up that are watching to say hi in person, you can email me, k.lunchwithnorm.com, and I will send you the link and you can come up yourself. So yeah, let's bring on our first guest. She was probably one of our very first Beardo's. She was there for our first Beardo episode, I think number 100. So let's bring on Marcia Reece. Good to see you, Marcia. Speaker 6: Hello, Marcia. Speaker 3: Hello. Oh, Norm, how can I ever thank you for everything you've done? Your podcast has been such a gift, not only teaching me about e-commerce and helping me grow my little micro-business, but introducing me to so many wonderful, talented friends, many of whom I now call friends. And one of the fun memories that I will always cherish is a few years ago, I was invited to be a speaker at the Empowery Conference in Las Vegas. And the highlight of it all, Norm, was I got to have one-on-one time with you. Walking through that conference with you was like walking through with a real superstar, but I loved our time together. One other thing I want to share with you, Howard Kaufman is a friend of mine here in Scottsdale, Arizona. And many times we'll be chatting about some strategy or some way to do something and we'll kind of come up with what we think is best. And then one of us will say, let's check and see what Norm would do. So we email you and without fail, you get back to us timely and let us know what your best thoughts are. So your generosity and your encouragement has been so appreciated. And I also want to say a big thank you to your amazing sidekick, Kelsey. He has been a delight. Not only are you lucky to have him for a son, but he's been a great producer and a partner. And I do want to thank Connie and Hayden for letting us have these last five years with you. I'm sure the family had to have you all back together. I want to wish you a really happy holiday season and I'm truly excited to see what the next chapter holds for both of you. Now, if you ever find yourself In my neck of the woods or somewhere close within reasonable driving distance, let me know. There's nothing I would like more than to treat you to a real life Lunch With Norm. So you be happy, be healthy and stay well. Speaker 6: Oh, thanks Marcia. And the other thing that we have in common is Your husband and me share a birthday together and he's in the Hockey Hall of Fame. So that's the other thing. So it's been awesome. And by the way, I went to Market Masters with Kevin King's Market Masters on the weekend. Your name came up because somebody wants, and I'll get ahold of you after the podcast, wants to talk to you about doing some sort of collaboration. So there you go. Speaker 3: Thanks to you, I got a couple of great shout-outs in Colin Campbell's fabulous book and told many of my friends to buy it. I know they have. Great read. Norm, you have introduced me to so many people. You have made my life so much richer and I only hope we do get across paths again because I want to thank you in person. I've always had this secret fantasy. You know what it is? Speaker 6: What's that? Speaker 3: Oh God, I can't believe I'm going to say this. I want to braid your beard. Speaker 6: If we ever get the chance, you can braid my beard. Speaker 3: Oh my gosh. It's early in the morning and we can be goofy. Think of what it would be like. Speaker 6: But what would Teddy say? Speaker 3: Teddy is kind of in the same boat with Kevin King. He's had incidental calamities. No, he'd be just fine with it. He knows that I've got a norm fixation. Speaker 6: Okay. That's awesome, Marcia, and thank you so much. Speaker 3: Thank you, Norm. We can never, ever, ever repay all you've done. Thank you. Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much, Marcia. It's been amazing getting to know you, and yeah, this is amazing. So thank you for your kind words, Marcia. Speaker 3: Be good. Love to you both. Speaker 2: All right. Bye, Marcia. Okay. And speaking of Kevin King, we do have Kevin King joining us. Speaker 6: Oh, my God. Speaker 4: No, not again. I got to see this guy again. Speaker 6: Three weeks. Speaker 4: Three weeks. Speaker 6: Three weeks. Unknown Speaker: We're in the same bed. Speaker 4: No, not in the same bed. No, let's clarify that. Not in the same bed. You know what? I'm pissed off at you, Norm. Speaker 6: Why? Speaker 4: Because now what the heck am I going to listen to when I'm down in my warehouse shipping? I always catch up with the Lunch With Norm episodes. First, it was I Know A Guy. Speaker 6: Oh man, I love that one. Speaker 4: I caught up with all those one season. And now this season, at least I have some backwards to catch up with. So I can listen to the past ones. Congrats, man, to you and Kelsey on doing, what do you say, 6,242 episodes? Speaker 6: Something like that, yeah. You know what, Kev? If you ever want to, you can always go back to episode one and just work your way through it, you know? Speaker 4: I could. I wonder how much of that's still relevant now. You know what? Speaker 6: I was thinking about that the other day. How much of it is still relevant because Amazon's constantly, everything's constantly changing, right? Speaker 4: It is. It is. It is. I mean, but you've done a good job. I mean, you're doing it three times. I remember when you're doing it three times a week. I was like, I remember when you're with me sometimes. I'm like, Norm, don't you have to do a podcast today? Yep. Yep. I got to step out. I ran an event or you're at my house or we're traveling somewhere. You never missed it. In the worst case, you recorded it in advance and made sure that the audience always had fresh content. And I always honor that. I really admire that about your commitment to the show and to the episodes and to delivering value. And then when you started the newsletter, it started off a little... Speaker 6: Be nice. Speaker 4: But now it's an awesome newsletter. You and Kelsey have done a lot of work on that and I'm glad to see that that's going to continue going on. Is that going to still be just once a week or are you going to bump it up to twice a week like I do with mine? I don't know. Speaker 6: I've got to talk to Kelsey about it but I think we're going to keep it at once a week for now and there might be some A different angle. I don't know if I'm going to call it a newsletter. It might be something a little bit different. But yeah, it's going to be once a week, at least for a while until I figure out. There's a couple of ideas that got kicking in my head. Speaker 4: Cool. Well, you ain't going away. So those of us that are listening out there like, well, Norm is retiring. You're not going to hear his voice over the airwaves anymore. That's not true because we still got Marketing Misfits. Speaker 6: We got Marketing Misfits. Speaker 4: That's a surprise for me that you have on that. I'm assuming we still have Marketing Misfits. Speaker 6: No, we got marketing misfits and by the way, I should mention this the contents not going away So the podcast might but I'm still keeping the YouTube channel up and I still want to give you know Some some pieces of content out there or updates when things are happening in the space or anything new that's happening So that that part Kelsey's still got a job there doing some shorts. But no, yeah, although the podcast's going away, I still like the idea of sharing information and content with everybody. And the marketing misfits, of course. Speaker 4: And the Marketing Misfits, for those that haven't listened to it, how would you tell your audience that it's different than Lunch With Norm or what's out there? What would you say is super simple? Super simple. I just do all the talking? Speaker 6: Oh, yeah, that's it. Like Kevin does the talking. I sit and I nod and wave. But other than that, what we try to do is we try to bring on marketers from all over the world. Incredible marketers who think outside of the box, who might've failed, but whatever they've done, they've become successful. And some of these guys that we have on that Marketing Misfits show blow me away. I don't know a lot of the times who they are, cause you bump into them at trade shows or conferences and all of a sudden we're talking to them. And you know, you tell me prior to the show, of course, but it's just amazing who these are. So if you haven't heard Marketing Misfits, you got to check it out. Speaker 4: We just had a few of them at Market Masters, so you've got new content that you can put onto your YouTube channel as well from that. Speaker 6: Absolutely. By the way, I've got to say this. And I don't get anything from this. You don't pay me a commission, you should, but you don't compensate me in any way. I'm not an affiliate, but your last Market Masters was absolutely fantastic. You've heard it from, I don't want to blow your head up too much, but everybody was talking about it. It was a different format, although last format wasn't bad, but it was hot seats and the hot seats were incredible. But we had workshops and then we had networking and good food and it was just a good vibe. All the way around, I wanted to just thank you for putting out that content because you have done a great job with that and you've set the standard. You set the bar high in the industry for anybody to try to compete with that. Speaker 4: Market Master is my favorite event. I mean, I have an event coming up in April, eCom Mastery in Nashville, which is a really good event too. It's the evolution of BDSS. But Market Master is just something special. And I think I agree with you, the changes that we made this time, you can tell I don't have a voice. The changes that we made this time are, I think, are a big improvement. Still some tweaks to make. But I appreciate that from you. That's very kind. I can't smoke a cigar since I had work done on my mouth yesterday. It says on the instructions, do not smoke. I'm like, ah, I can't smoke a cigar now. It's like I was counting it up. I think over the last three weeks of us hanging out between the Big Smoke, our CMS event, and then Market Masters, I think it was something like 52 cigars I smoked. Speaker 6: See, and I behaved. I only had one. Speaker 4: You only had half of one because remember you had to put it down. Speaker 6: Oh, yeah. Speaker 5: There we go. Speaker 4: No, but congratulations on everything you've done with Lunch With Norm, you and Kelsey and the whole team over there. You've done an awesome job. I know I'll keep seeing you. We've got some cool stuff in the works with Dragonfish and with Market Masters. I'm sorry, with Marketing Misfits. And even at one point, someday, there'll be a newsletter with Marketing Misfits as well. Speaker 6: Don't let the can out of the bag. Speaker 4: There's some cool stuff coming. So looking forward to continuing to work with you and thanks for everything you do, man. You're a great guy. One of the best guys out there, one of the most honorable businessmen I know. So I appreciate everything. Speaker 6: All right. Thank you, sir. And hopefully I get down to Austin or you come up here one of these days. Oh yeah, that's right. I don't have any more Castro cigars here. Speaker 4: Yeah, you got to get the bait. You got to get the bait. Are we going to come up to that cold? Was it snowing? You texted me yesterday. It's snowing and like three feet of snow or something up there right now. Speaker 6: No, actually, it's a lot less, but it was snowing right until I came in. So the three days before, it was snowing. So yummy. Speaker 5: Yep. Speaker 4: That'll take a Castro. Speaker 2: All right. Well, thanks for coming on, Kevin, and we'll talk to you later. Speaker 4: Take care of yourself, Kev. All right. Speaker 2: All right. Well, we do have another guest in the background that we're going to be bringing up shortly. I'm going to just go over to the comment sections again. We have Jassim joining us, one of our guests as well. He says, Oh, wow. Glad I was a part of this before you retired the show. Wish you all the best, friends. Sahoon, Norm and Kevin Kreschitz. We've got Joseph joining us. I've learned a lot from you. I'll miss you. And Howard, congrats to a successful run. Going to miss the inspiring content. So yeah, this is the last episode of the live Lunch With Norm. Do you want to be sharing kind of what you're going to be doing now? What's in the works? What do you have planned for us? Speaker 6: Yeah, so a couple of things are in the works. So the first of all is You know, once you are doing this content and it's on a regular basis, it's hard to get away from it. So although the podcast is kind of going away, the content is still existing. So Kelsey and I, We are still putting out the newsletter. We're still going to be on top of it. The stories are still going to be there and anything that we hear, anything new in the industry will be in that newsletter. We're still doing those dedicated news emails, but the short content I'm going to be trying to do and try to do it in a different way. I haven't figured it out yet. But I'm not sure if it'll be done best on TikTok or done in just continuing on our YouTube channel. But I still think that's relevant. And I still want to continue to do that, even if it's in two-minute shorts or a five-minute or maybe bringing on a special guest or working and trying to how to figure out apps. Like if I'm having a problem, you must be having a problem or maybe having a problem. I like dealing with AI and trying to figure out what's happening with that as well. So, there's so many angles you go through going down that path. So, I still try to learn at least an hour a day. I try to do training for myself and go to events and try to understand new things. So, I like to pass that along. So, that's going to happen. Kevin and I have our podcast. And we have a company that we launched. Everything's in beta right now, but it's called Dragonfish. If you've been listening to the podcast, you've probably heard us talk about it. But it's an email deliverability company as well as an AEO company. So we're trying to get on top of things, getting people index, streamlining people with AI. And it's just a different avenue for us to kind of explore and help companies understand, or if they don't understand it, just get it done through us. One of the big things that's happened within that AEO section is something that I've done for 20, 30 years, and that's PR, press releases. And it's gone 180. Press releases now, if you want to be in the Google AI summary, It's a great way to do it. If you want to get indexed into the LLMs or into podcasts, it's a great way to do it. So it's come full circle and I'm probably doing more press releases now than I was doing back in the heyday when Amazon sellers back in 2000, what, 2017, 18, 19. We're doing it for the launches. So if you're considering it, let me know and I can send you some information. But this is primarily now. For authority. And this all is built into what's called the Google EEAT framework. And this is giving you original content experience and showing that you're in authority. And Google's loving that part so far anyways. So that's what's happening. And then just kind of kicking back and taking a few hours back in the day and having a nice cigar. So that's what I'm doing. Speaker 2: Alright, so I've got a few more questions that I'll be answering you just throughout the episode. Speaker 6: Answering me or? Speaker 2: You know what I'm trying to say. Speaker 6: Oh yeah. Yeah, I gotcha. Speaker 2: We do have another guest coming up. We have a couple coming up down the line. This next one, you've known for quite some time now. I think back in the 90s, I'm not sure. We've got lots of stories together and one that I'm a little scared to ask in more details. We have Colin Campbell. Speaker 6: X-nay on stories. Unknown Speaker: Well, morning Norm, I'm listening to you about the press release and I know a little bit about where you're going with this and we signed up to pressreleaseai.com and we're doing a press release tomorrow at 9.30 a.m. It's going out so it's being set up today with your system. And we followed your advice about doing an article. We did an article in Startup Club around the topic. Speaker 1: Yep. Speaker 6: And then we did the press release and we're linking the press release, the article in the press release. Speaker 5: Right. Unknown Speaker: So we followed everything you said to do here. And, you know, we did one already with you on something else. And within four or five hours, it updated all, most of the LLMs except for ChatGPT. ChatGPT seems to be a little bit slow, but It updated most of the LLMs with four to five hours with the correct language. So when we typed in something on the LLM, it actually pulled up our information. Speaker 6: In the Google summary too, I remember that. Speaker 1: Google as well. Unknown Speaker: Front page of Google as well. Absolutely. But, you know, it's a dual world, right? We're obsessed with getting on the front page of Google and we're obsessed with getting into the LLMs now. And I think your pressrelease.ai.com is going to take off. I know it's a big opportunity for you. And I'm looking forward to following that story. I think that your expertise in this area is something that's going to really help a lot of entrepreneurs and help out a lot of Amazon sellers, e-commerce sellers. I know with paw.com, we're going to be using pressreleaseai.com and we think that It has the ability to really, I mean, I'll be quite frank right now, like if you were to type in, hey Marcia Reece, I see you're there. If you were to type in best cooling dog beds on the LLM right now, it's like five or six or eight images of shitty dog beds and we're not there. We have the best cooling products in the world. We designed them in South Florida, obviously. And there are three levels of cooling. We have cooling blankets. We have special material designed for cooling that grabs the ambient temperature of the room. And we've got some really good looking, good products. We think we're leading the space in it. You can't even find us. So that's our next project is to get a press release, to get an article out. Get a press release on cooling beds, but we're waiting until after Groundhog Day to do this one. Because we get the timing of the season, right? And then we're going to use pressreleaseai.com and we're going to come out with that. And we're going to change the LLMs. You've done a great job with your service there. Speaker 6: Oh, thank you. Thank you. And by the way, for those of you that are looking for a different kind of strategy, this is what I told Colin to do, is to create that blog article, publish it, and then create, and you can have whatever hook you want in your title, but when you're creating the press release, make it a newsworthy title, and then you can link back to the blog article, but You can also make a video and put that video into the article and you can also have that in your press release. But your very last step, once this is all done, you can also add your press release link to your blog article. So it kind of is a full circle. Gives you a little bit more juice. By the way, Colin, when we published that press release for you, We started noticing changes within the hour and within three hours, a bunch of the LLMs had picked it up. So this is just strategy. Lunch With Norm podcast, you know, maybe there's one more lesson in it for everybody. Speaker 4: Exactly. Speaker 2: Exactly. Speaker 6: Now, I really appreciate it. Like a lot of the stuff that we've done over the years, I've learned from, and I've got to give a shout out to our guys in EO. We've been together for almost 30 years. And what we learned in business... We won't go into that one. Speaker 5: Huh? Speaker 2: We've even slept together, but we won't go into that one. Speaker 6: I said X thing on the stories, right? But the advice and everything that's helped me and everybody within the group, it's a reciprocal sort of thing, has been excellent. So if you're not tied into a mentoring group or a group like that, I don't know how much the prerequisite is now in sales, but if you're an entrepreneur, it's a lonely business. And going in and working and I enjoy my time with the guys at EO and I'm out of EO right now, but our forum still keeps together, but I would highly recommend it. So anyways, that's a little bit just for the guys out there. Unknown Speaker: Yeah, we talk a lot about that in the book Starscale Legs Repeat and how to really connect with others in your local incubator. A lot of colleges and towns have free incubators, shared work office spaces. There's an organization in the United States called SCORE, which they can increase your chances of success by three times. They have 10,000 volunteers. You're not alone. There are a lot of resources out there to help you with your business, with your startup, and we do cover a lot of that in the book. I remember launching this book on your podcast. We had no idea it was going to be this successful, but you seemed to. You seemed to be very positive about it. It's now won 37 global awards, the most awarded book on entrepreneurship in history. And it continues to defy the odds. I was just looking a few minutes ago, we're number eight in the United States right now on Amazon for starting a business. And a lot of that comes from the stuff that I've learned from you on how to promote products on Amazon, including the press release. I think that's probably been one of the reasons why We've done so well is when we did that press piece a few weeks ago, it did change all the LLMs. And then all of a sudden our sales started going through the roof because of direct information we got from you. So I don't know how we're gonna live without Lunch With Norm. I don't know how we're gonna, we've got a lot of great materials. I'm hoping that you'll be able to take some of your shows and using AI actually create articles with the raw and real content that you've developed And put them on Startup Club, because Startup Club, you know, gets every article that's printed there, it gets front page of Google. And we are looking for contributing authors. And we think you'd be great for keeping your message alive on Startup Club. Speaker 6: Oh, perfect. Thank you. And yeah, I think you'll probably squeeze a couple articles out of me. Speaker 2: Yep, there you go. Speaker 4: Exactly. Unknown Speaker: It's great content. You're one of the best experts on Amazon and eCommerce out there in the world. I don't know any news better. I do know that you've done a great job with this podcast and I know you've said it's time to move on to bigger and better things and you've got to focus. Focus like a laser beam. We talk about that, right? Speaker 6: Yep. And I think you're heading in the right direction with your pressreleaseai.com. Phil, thank you, sir. How much money do I owe you? Speaker 2: Yeah, that's it. Unknown Speaker: I truly believe it, Norm. You're a phenomenal individual. We're so thankful to have listened to so many of your shows and learned so much, our e-commerce companies, and applied what you've taught us. And Kelsey, you too, as well. You do get some contributions as well. Kelsey, by the way, Moonlights, and you may not know this, and he actually is one of the people who help us at Startup Club. Every month we come out with a masterclass newsletter. We're literally master class and it was all designed by Kelsey and he makes us work and put together the materials and every month it's of one topic and we just go really in depth and we only do one email a month on this newsletter but they're all phenomenal and Kelsey's the one who puts that together. Speaker 6: He does a great job with it. Is it just the two that you do, Kelsey, or do you do others? Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's just the two and then I hear there might be some other newsletters coming down the pipeline, right? Speaker 6: Oh, yeah. Yeah from Kevin. Speaker 2: But yeah, yeah, it's it's really great working with you Colin and It all starts with the content that you guys give me. So without great content the news that are It doesn't work, so I always appreciate working with you two. Speaker 6: You actually wrote, and you can check this out, How to Write a Great Newsletter. You can type in How to Write a Great Newsletter on Google Startup Club and his article will pop up, I'm certain, and he reveals all the secrets to writing a great newsletter. Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 6: Like father, like son. Speaker 2: Startup Club. Speaker 6: Like father, like son, right? Speaker 1: Just give back. Speaker 6: Yeah, but you don't drink as much coffee as I do, Kels. Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm catching up. Speaker 5: You gotta catch up. Speaker 2: All right. Speaker 6: No more cigars anymore. He did smoke cigars at one time. Speaker 4: Now he doesn't. Speaker 2: Yeah, starting to cut back now. Well, thank you, Colin, for coming on and sharing some moments. Speaker 6: It's awesome, Colin. Speaker 2: Thank you. It's always good seeing you, Colin. I'll listen to you. Speaker 6: We'll see you later. We'll miss the party this year. Speaker 4: Yep. Speaker 5: Bye for now. See ya. Speaker 2: All right. Bye. Speaker 6: By the way, guys, that guy throws the most awesome parties. Speaker 2: They are pretty crazy. All right, so we've got a lot going on. Do you want to go over to one of the ad reads? Speaker 6: Yeah, why don't we do that? Did I get an ad read? Speaker 2: I don't know. It's at the bottom of your script. So we've got three more guests coming up down the pipeline for everyone. So thank you everyone for joining us. We'll be back in a moment. Norm, are you all set up? Speaker 6: Okay, I think so. Here we go. I forgot about that whole ad read thing, but I think we all won. By the way, I'm going to be talking to you today about an app, a service from AMZ One Step. And hopefully this is the ad read I'm going to be reading. But I had a chance at the Market Masters to play with this. It is awesome. It is a game changer. So check this out. It's at the bottom of the ad. I'll read this first and then I'll get to it. But anyways, this is the ad read, but I can tell you I've tried it and it is awesome. So are you tired of spending hours with your Amazon images? There's a faster, smarter way. AMZ One Step's AI-powered creative platform creates high-converting Amazon images in minutes, not days. It's built for real review data, conversion insights, and search simulation tech. Search simulation tech. So you can see exactly how your images will appear. Now, Kelsey, I have a problem. The ad cut off. Can you, this is the first time I've ever seen this. So anyways, Kelsey, can you tell me, I think it's imageoptimization.ia. Is that what it is? Speaker 2: Dot AI. Speaker 5: Yeah. Speaker 6: Dot AI. Uh so image optimization dot AI. You know what? It's the last uh podcast. Unknown Speaker: I'm allowed a blooper. Speaker 6: You know, I I I have at least ten or twelve every podcast. So, go there, check it out at AMZ One Step. It's awesome. Uh literally, again, over at the the Market Masters uh uh workshop, we were able to do it like we were able to have a workshop and this is where I experimented with this and check it out uh because uh they've done a great job over there with this app. Alright, now let's get back to it. Alright, so um you do that just to to get me tongue-tied. Speaker 2: You know, what would be Lunch With Norm without it? Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 5: I owe you one. Speaker 2: You don't need me to do it for you. All right. So our next guest, he is actually, fun fact, the one that coined the term Beardo. So it wasn't us that came up with it. I think, I forget. I think I was trying to get Beard Nation to go, but then this cheeky guy from the UK... Speaker 6: Oh, I know who you're talking about. Speaker 2: Beardo, and he took my glory. And so we're going to bring up Simon now. Good to see you, Simon. And yeah, I'll take it. You can take it from here. Speaker 5: Now I'm nervous. Speaker 1: Norman, Norman, Norman, how are you doing? Speaker 6: Good. Unknown Speaker: How are you, sir? Speaker 1: Well, over the last five years, I've seen pretty much every single live or been involved in the live episodes. That's 670 hours of my life, and I spent quite a lot of those times waiting for you to turn up, going, is he... Ah, here he is, five minutes late again. Speaker 6: That's my MO. Yep, that's it. Oh my God. Speaker 1: I mean, when we first started out here, I knew absolutely nothing about Amazon or e-commerce and you've come up with every single strategy that should and could and maybe and perhaps and potentially could work on e-commerce and Amazon and Walmart and Clubhouse and PR and all of these things and I've absorbed it all. I've been on the wheel of Kelsey. I've won. I've been with experts and they've given me their time and their expertise and they've audited my this and that and everything else and five years later 670 episodes later I still know absolutely nothing about e-commerce. So I I am glad that you've come into an end because I don't want to spend any more time trying to absorb any of this stuff. I can get back on with my life and stop when Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, when you stopped Mondays and Fridays, I was like... I still come out on the Wednesday. But thank you, Norm. Thank you. Thank you, Norm. Thank you, Kelsey. Thank you to the man of the people, Hayden. I don't know where he is. We need him and his guitar. Speaker 4: That's right. Speaker 6: We need Hayden here. Speaker 1: Yeah, and where's Connie with a cup of coffee? Thank you very much. Speaker 6: Oh, she'll be coming down any second now. Yep. Speaker 1: Thank you for the Farrar family and the dog as well, all of you. You've just entertained and, you know, I've gone through some podcasts in my time, but I have stuck loyally to Lunch With Norm because you Come up with entertaining, educational, authentic, genuine, kind content that makes sense. It's work, it's usable, it's actionable, and it's kind of, it's, you know, it's bite-sized as well. But I still know nothing about e-commerce either way. Speaker 4: Me neither. Speaker 1: Thanks, Norm. Thanks, Norm. Thanks, guys. Absolutely amazing. Speaker 6: Now, no problem and I guess I owe you a couple of beer when I get over to the UK, everybody. Speaker 1: Absolutely, yeah. Get on over here. So when you came to London for, I think it was… Cellar Sessions. Cellar Sessions, yeah. Yeah, that's when we met and that was a blast. Speaker 6: Oh, yeah. It was definitely a blast. Speaker 1: Yeah, we know how to party in the UK, especially in London. So just, yeah, next time you're over… We'll meet up again. It's been an absolute blast and I'm definitely going to keep an eye out and we'll stay in touch. Some of the stuff that you've got coming in the pipe definitely sounds very, very interesting and very, very useful. Like you say, PR is such an important part of a business and the marketing is a big piece of the jigsaw puzzle in marketing. It has gone kind of full circle because it always was a thing and it kind of lost its appeal a little bit but it's definitely coming back and it's going to be a major part of anyone's business. I think you're onto something there for sure. Speaker 6: I hope so. All right, Simon. Well, thanks so much for being part of, and you're right, every podcast that I'm going live, all of a sudden I see Simon in the comments with his sarcasm, which I've come to enjoy. Speaker 2: It took a little time. Speaker 6: It took a little time. Speaker 1: I'm never serious. You've got to enjoy it. You've definitely got to enjoy a live podcast. I like throwing the odd spanner in your works. I know when you've read it. Unknown Speaker: Oh yeah, you'll see me. Speaker 6: I'll be cracking up. I'll be trying to ask a question and what did he say now? Speaker 2: All right. Well, thank you so much, Simon, for coming on. It's been great getting to know you over this last five years, and I'm sure we'll be talking to you again. Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks Kelsey. Thanks and thank you for the we love Kelsey. There we go. Absolutely. We love Butt2Bits and it's you know, it's unique. It's absolutely unique, but has great value and you know, it's I've enjoyed drinking my tea out of my Lunch With Norm mugs. Speaker 6: There we go. Speaker 2: Well, we've appreciated you, Simon. So, thanks for coming on and we'll talk to you later. Speaker 1: Thank you, guys. Thank you. Take care and all the best. Speaker 5: Thanks. Speaker 4: See you, Simon. Speaker 2: All right. Thank you, Simon. And our next guest is also a Beardo. And weirdly enough, I think how we got to this guest was through Marcia, and they live in the same area. And I've had my own calls with him, and he's a wonderful man. And Norm, I know you've had your own talks with him, so we're going to bring him up here. Howard. Good to see you. Speaker 5: Hey, Norm, Kelsey. First of all, congratulations. You both have been great. And I really appreciate the information. I'm only going to repeat a lot of what's already been stated. But the community that you've built, the knowledge that you've shared, and it's been very thought provoking, even things that you've covered. Especially when you're going Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It would also inspire other ideas that were maybe specific to what you were talking about, but it would lead to other things and other questions. As Marcia was indicating, we'd always be doing like a download on most of the episodes and talk about, hey, what we heard and what does this mean and how could that potentially impact us? So I want to congratulate you for the relevant content that you have shared with us. And then the other thing that I know was touched upon, but Norm and Kelsey, both of you, you both have a unique chemistry and that chemistry definitely created an energy that was very positive and very inspiring. So I just wanted to put that out there that In tandem, you guys are a great example of the so-called synergy where the sum of the parts are definitely, you know, you're greater than those sum of the parts. So with that, I just wanted to be able to say thank you and definitely looking forward to staying connected. And as your journey progresses, definitely look forward to, you know, staying connected and participating where I can. Very good, Howard, and I can't wait to see where you go with your product. Speaker 6: I mean, it's such an awesome product. Speaker 2: Yes, yes. Please keep in touch. Speaker 5: We definitely look forward to it, and I really appreciate the kind words and the support and also the advice you've given along the way. More than generous, and I feel any way I can reciprocate to you and certainly the rest of the community, that's what it's all about. It's all about, I truly believe the more you give, the more ultimately you do get back. And I really do very much appreciate at times, especially on a lot of these roller coasters, whether it's e-commerce in general, the rise of a micro brand, and certainly participating and experiencing Amazon. It's definitely a roller coaster, but both of you have always been like that sounding board of reason and always providing color, that guiding light. So thank you for that. Oh, you're very welcome, sir. Speaker 2: We really appreciate it. It's been a blast these last five years, and I can't believe it's finally coming to an end. Speaker 5: It's amazing, bud. This is just the starting point of your next chapter, and I'm sure it'll continue to be great things and great success for both of you. So, as I said, I look forward to staying in touch. Thank you. I really appreciate it. You got it, my friend. Speaker 2: And we'll we'll be talking to you later. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 2: All right. Thanks, Howard. It's great to see Howard. I don't think I've seen Howard in about a year or two. So on video calls. So it was great to catch up with them. We have one more live guest that we'll get to. Definitely the last but not least. I'm going to ask you a couple of questions just to like pick your brain a little bit. But what was the hardest part about running the podcast? Speaker 6: The hardest part, well, it was that more in the beginning, like, what the hell is a podcast? You know, we had to, I had to figure it out. And, you know, where do you go? So we were basically in a closet, you know, small room, but then what equipment? We must have burned through thousands of dollars of equipment. Just, no, that's the wrong light. No, these three cameras are wrong. Oh, the computer's wrong. Oh, this is wrong. So yeah, that's one thing. And actually, I tried to set you guys up at one point saying, now that we've gone and burnt through all this money several times, you guys could be consultants for We even had, I think it was called, I think because we stole Dragonfish for the new Kevin and Norm project, but it was called Dragonfish Podcast Management or PM. Because I thought there'd be such a shot with everybody trying to create a podcast during COVID. That nobody knew how to do it and they'd be paying their podcast tax. So that was probably the hardest point. But as for the podcast itself, I think anybody who knows that we're doing this, I am dyslexic. I am really dyslexic. And trying to just talk to a guest at first, was very tough because they'd be talking and I have to try to think of the question and while I'm listening, and if you have this, you cannot do that. So I had to come up with my own technique and I guess what we did is we just learned to embrace it and you know, I make a blooper. Okay, big deal. Let's move on. Where at the beginning I'd be in the fetal position at least five times an episode. So that was a great learning point for me too, to embrace some of the weaknesses that you have instead of, you know, making a big deal of it. So that was probably the toughest part. Speaker 2: Okay. All right. Yeah. It's the what we thought were our weaknesses ended up being our strengths or what made us, I think, more authentic and unique with this podcast. Yeah. It was pretty cool. And then last question, then we'll get to our group. Over the 670 episodes, with everything that we've talked about, what we've learned, what piece of advice would you give a seller going into 2026 now that the podcast won't be here to give them advice? What would your piece of advice be for an entrepreneur? Speaker 6: There's a few things. First of all, not everybody's meant to be an entrepreneur. You've gotta be able to be resilient. And if you're not willing to bounce back, or if you're not used to coming back from a setback, or hearing that Amazon's suspending you, or there's new updates that you have to kind of figure out and get around, and that every day is not gonna be a great day, If you can't figure that out, you might not wanna be an entrepreneur. If you're not, depending on your risk tolerance, you might not be set up for that. If you're looking for consistency and just making sure that you're stable and nothing bad's gonna happen, well, you probably want a nine to fiver. So a lot of people that I meet on the road They're playing with money that they need to have. This is their money that's been tucked away and they're playing. We talked about this actually. I talked to Kevin just recently about this a few days back about people who are running scared. So this is money that they can't afford to lose and that's the worst thing you can do, you know, going into a new business venture. I think that's probably, you know, the first thing I would tell somebody, but the next thing is being an entrepreneur is a very lonely position. A lot of us can suffer from depression. A lot of us, you know, because you just get in that rut, you know, you finish your job, you got Judge Judy going on in the background. That's it. And you've got to have some sort of mentor or you've got to get into a group Like the Beardos, but you know, go to events, meet up with people. You know, it's not about paying. A lot of the time, the more you pay in an event, The more high level they are or the more you'll get out of it, more people are willing to give you information rather than kind of tucking it up and having an ace up their sleeve. But get into these types of groups. If you're a bigger seller, get into an EO where you can really have this forum or board of advisors that you can just bounce ideas off if you really want to grow and scale. So that's two answers. Speaker 2: Alright, so without further ado, we have our last guest. This guest has been on multiple times. He has been always, I think, he's just super kind. He's a wealth of knowledge. I'm very reliable. He is one of those people where, you know, if we have a guest back out and we're looking to find someone and we're freaking out in the fetal position, we can always rely on this guest to help us out. And he always comes on with a smile, even though it could be a minute before that we've dragged him on. So it's been great getting to know him. And it's the one and only Steve Wiideman. Speaker 6: Hey. Oh my gosh. Speaker 2: Hey, Norm. Unknown Speaker: How are you, sir? Speaker 1: Doing good. Unknown Speaker: Actually, it's been kind of a weird year for everybody, hasn't it? It's kind of strange. Speaker 6: It's been a very weird year. And by the way, there has been times where it's literally been a minute. Speaker 4: Yeah. Speaker 6: Yeah. Speaker 2: It's crazy. Speaker 6: Hey, could you come back on in a couple of weeks? Unknown Speaker: Like anything for you, Norm. You just let me know when. Speaker 6: I'm going to miss that. Speaker 2: I'm going to miss that, but I have a feeling we're going to be talking a lot about this new product that you're creating. Speaker 6: I would have thought he would have followed it. Unknown Speaker: Yeah, who would have thought it would have come back around? I mean, we thought press releases were dead. We were paying press releases $125 to remove old posts that were showing up in Google Search Console manual actions, and now we're back to doing press releases. Speaker 2: Who would have thought, right? Speaker 6: Who would have thought? Yeah, who would have thought? Unknown Speaker: So yeah, I took some notes while we were listening in on all these incredible guests. I honestly don't know what I can say that hasn't been said. I can tell you I've really enjoyed just nerding out with you and talking e-commerce and SEO over the years. Maybe nerdier conversations on SEO. You're so innovative and our conversations have just been great both on and off the show. I think the friendship that we've made in those special moments has really culminated in some really awesome opportunities and just really great talks. You pick all the right guests for your show and always keep listeners engaged. I listen to a lot of podcasts myself and yours is the only one where I find like I don't drift. I'm always like 100% focused. There's high energy. Everyone's happy. It's just great. And I'm grateful because I feel like I've made two friends for life. I feel like I've met several people from the episodes that I've been on that I maintain relationships with today. And you've taught me and others how to create a podcast that everyone would love. And I think that's incredible. I mean, that's 670 episodes. But I do wish I would have talked more about Amazon Marketing with you. And I'm sure there's still time offline. Speaker 6: There's tons of time, sir. Unknown Speaker: I want to know all about Dragonfish and the press releases. Did you know we met in April of 2021? Jeez, it's almost five years now, right? We're coming up to 2026. I've learned some things that we have in common just on this episode alone. I learned that we always spend an hour a day continuing to learn. I start with my little feedly and I get the big list of all the news things that are happening in my industry. Social media posts and sub stack now and whatever. We're both leaning on mentoring groups. I have several and I love them. I don't know how I live without them. I think that plays on the entrepreneurship loneliness that you've mentioned. These mentoring groups are also a little bit of a therapy group. We both love to teach others, either through newsletters and podcasts. Me as well, but my favorite is teaching at some of the universities here. I think that's something that came new to me right around the time we started getting on shows together. We both drink a lot of coffee apparently. So much on my end that next year I'm actually starting a coffee website that I can't wait to tell you about next year as we get it going. Speaker 2: Are you serious? Unknown Speaker: Yeah, I'll tell you about it later. Speaker 2: We also love to kick back and have a good cigar. That's one of my favorite things to do, especially when you get those rare breaks that entrepreneurs don't usually get. But it's possible that only one of us have Judge Judy in the background when we're working. Speaker 6: Alright, you know, twice a day, by the way, twice a day. That's amazing. Speaker 2: I can't wait to check out Marketing Misfits and I definitely got to go back and catch up with some of the episodes because apparently I've missed some good ones. So, but anyway, I just want to say congratulations and I'm just super happy for you. Speaker 6: Oh, thanks, Steve. I mean, you've been awesome. I've learned so much from you and, you know, you're just this really cool, kind individual and, you know, it's just great talking with you. By the way, if you enjoy cigars, I wish I knew this because last week or two weeks ago, Kevin and I had our cigar event in Tampa. If you want, I've started a cigar WhatsApp group based on that for people that want to just talk cigar or enjoy cigars. I can send you the link if you want. Unknown Speaker: Absolutely. Count me in for that. Speaker 6: Perfect. Okay. You're in. Speaker 2: So cool. Unknown Speaker: I'm so excited for you. This next journey is going to be amazing. You've got so many people. I hope you don't forget that when you start this new thing, that all those people that were part of the old thing are still there, me included, to help, to give you feedback, to get an opinion, to kick the tires on something. Whatever I can do to help be a part of your journey, please count me in. Speaker 6: Oh, well, thank you. Again, I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Unknown Speaker: Kelsey, thanks for having me so many times. Speaker 2: Of course. Yeah, you're the name that pops up when we are thinking of someone that represents a great guest on the show. We could always rely on you. The way you explain yourself, how articulate you are, and just your kindness that I think everyone feels when they speak to you. Thank you, Steve. It's been amazing getting to know you. I hope we get to meet in person at some point. We're going to make it happen. Yeah, that'd be great. Speaker 5: Okay. Speaker 2: Well, thank you, Steve. We'll remove you now and we'll finish off this podcast and thank you for being a part of it. Speaker 6: Thanks, Steve. Speaker 2: So, I do have one other surprise. There were some guests that would love to be here, but they couldn't make the time, but they were able to send in some videos. So, I mean, a little compilation here of some of those guests. So, enjoy. Unknown Speaker: I want to say congrats on the amazing show. I'm sad that it's got to come to an end, but equally, I look back at it with a great fondness. It's been a brilliant companion to so many of us in e-commerce over the years, and I remember so many great episodes that have taught me so much. I'm grateful that I've got to be a guest on the show lots of times. I actually was just looking up on your YouTube channel. I went to your channel and searched my name. I think I was first on there like four or five years ago. I'm pretty sure I've been on at least five times, maybe more. And I consider you guys friends. We've never met in person, but we've met over the internet so many times, and I still hope we'll hang out one day. So thank you so much for all you've done for the community, all you've done for me, and for your friendship. Congrats on all the success with Lunch With Norm, and I'm excited to see what you guys do next. Speaker 2: Cheers. Speaker 1: Hey, this is Max from Ozoma and I just want to say a big thank you, Norm. Thank you for having me on your podcast years and years ago before it was called to talk about AI. So it's before people were talking about Cosmo and Rufus and really, you know, giving me my first initial platform. Super grateful to you and best of luck and I've really enjoyed listening to your podcast and being part of it occasionally and yeah, best of luck in the future. Unknown Speaker: Hey Norm, Jo here. I just wanted to say firstly thank you so much for putting one of the best podcast days about Amazon sellers and personally to say thank you because about two years ago I was just a girl with an AI passion and who liked to talk about AI and you invited me to You're one of the first people, actually maybe the first person to invite me on their podcast and to give me the opportunity to like talk about my passion and you know, gave me the opportunity to have a voice. So I wanted to say thank you so much. Thank you for being awesome. I'm sure that the next chapter is going to be as awesome. Speaker 6: Oh, that was very cool. Thanks. Speaker 2: All right, so thanks Ben, Max, and Joe for sending in those videos. And I think that's it. I think we had all of our guests on. We got all their messages. Speaker 6: Oh, and by the way, I was going to have her come on for a cameo. Mom came down and poured a cup of coffee, but nobody's ever seen mom. She's this kind of ghost in the background, but I guess she dodged the camera. Speaker 2: She got away. That would be great if we had a mom cameo. So we'll have to just splice her in on the edit. Speaker 6: Exactly. Yeah. Speaker 2: Okay. From Jessica, thanks everyone. It has been an absolute pleasure. You've taught us so much. We are very grateful. Thank you, Jessica. Thank you to everyone in the chat. Simon, the crowd emojis, Marina. Yes, and Norm or dad, as everyone knows, we are a father-son duo. I just want to say thank you for letting me be a part of this podcast. I know we... Unknown Speaker: Well, you pay me, actually. Speaker 2: Oh, you pay me. We started this five years ago and, you know, I had no idea what even Amazon was and being able to sit back and be a part of all of these episodes with all of these amazing guests. And just learn from you and how you conduct yourself and the guests that you have on and the knowledge that you have in yourself and your business experience. You're my mentor and I've learned so much from you. So I just want to say thank you from myself and yeah, we're going to miss this podcast. Speaker 6: Yeah, and it's not that it's done because we're still gonna do some shorts and some, you know, great content, but also it's been great because being able to see you grow into your own, having your own KelseyFarrar.com website, You know, just building yourself into, you know, some different areas, getting the startup newsletter going, helping us with marketing misfits, doing everything that you've done, you know, and just kind of keeping this together because there's been times that, you know, I'm not the easiest guy to manage at times. So, you know, keeping that all together, I really appreciate it, Kelsey. And, you know, you always know that, you know, just you're awesome. Speaker 5: Love you, buddy. Speaker 6: And thanks for everything. Speaker 2: Of course. My pleasure. All right. Well, I think that's it. Any parting words for the Lunch With Norm community? Speaker 5: You got to live your inner beard-o. Speaker 6: How about that? Speaker 5: Live your inner beard-o. Speaker 6: And that's it. If you see us at a conference, please come over, say hi. Don't stop listening. We're going to still have our Newsletter out there. Check out our YouTube channel. We still have our WhatsApp group and yeah, it's all new and exciting for us. So, you know, if there's, you want to keep in touch, definitely send us an email, do whatever. But like I say, at the end of every podcast, we could never do this podcast without you guys. So thank you so much for the last five years and we will see you later. Unknown Speaker: I'm Kevin King.