👋 The End of an Era…

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

• 👋 The End of an Era… [True Story]

• 🦾 The NEW ChatGPT 5.1

• 🛍️ The Genius Link Building Strategy

• ⚒️ How to Create Explainer Videos With AI [Step-by-Step Guide]

• 🔥 ChatGPT is Killing Your Strategy...

🚨 Webinar Alert! A massive shift is coming to how Amazon sellers create listing images and you can be part of it before everyone else 👉 Sign up today

💨 The End of an Era: A New Chapter of Lunch With Norm… [TRUE STORY] 

Back at the start of COVID, our house felt like a time machine.

All three of my boys were back home, Hayden back from Toronto, Kelsey home from Korea, and Quintyn back from university.

For the first time in years, everyone was under one roof again.

Cigars on the back deck, late-night talks… It felt like the best parts of the old days.

One night, the boys threw something at me I absolutely wasn’t prepared for when talking about my business:

“Dad, you should start a podcast.”

If you know me, you know being on camera wasn’t exactly my dream job.

With dyslexia, interviewing guests live isn’t easy.

I had to listen carefully, respond, and figure out the next question without tripping over myself.

It scared the hell out of me.

But we it launched anyway.

The first few episodes were rough… Actually, the first 100.

Wi-Fi dropped in the middle of episodes, intros got messed up, guests didn’t show up, I’d forget names… The bloopers were legendary.

There were days I wanted to crawl into the fetal position and never go live again.

But something unexpected happened…

People connected with the rawness.

They liked the authenticity.

Our live family community and “The Wheel of Kelsey” giveaways turned into our signature moves.

That’s the crazy part.

The thing I thought would sink the show ended up being what made it different.

Over time, we found our rhythm.

Lunch with Norm became a part of the Amazon/eCom community in a way I never saw coming.

We went from “I don’t want to do this” to “We’ve done over 670 episodes.”

And we owe that to all of you.

The Announcement…

The truth is things are changing but not in a sad way.

Lunch with Norm has opened the doors to so many incredible opportunities:

• The weekly newsletter that grew into its own powerhouse

• My business with Kevin King called DragonFish is taking off

• Marketing Misfits has become an absolute blast

• Press releases are bigger than ever

And at the end of the day there are only so many hours in a day (even for a guy with a beard).

So I have made the decision, to end the live podcast this Wednesday.

While we won’t be going live every Wednesday at noon anymore, this isn’t the end.

Not even close.

We’ll still do episodes here and there when the right guest comes along.

The newsletter isn’t going anywhere. I’ll still be sharing with you my stories every week.

And if you do want to catch me regularly on a podcast, you can always find me on Marketing Misfits every Tuesday on YouTube.

So What Now?

I’m genuinely excited about what’s ahead.

DragonFish is becoming something truly special (You can join the waitlist here ) and the Misfits podcast is a chance to push things in a whole new direction.

None of this would’ve been possible without you and this Lunch with Norm community.

You’ve supported us, joked with us, forgiven our tech mishaps, and made this crazy ride unforgettable.

So stick around, there’s a lot more coming.

— Norm

P.S. Here is the pic of my very first live video from May 28th 2020.

Back when I was just Norm, a seller in his basement trying to figure out social media.

🚀 The Future of Amazon Images Is Here

A massive shift is coming to how Amazon sellers create listing images and you can be part of it before everyone else.

On Tuesday, November 18th, Kamal from AMZ One Step is going live to unveil one of the most powerful AI tools the e-commerce world has ever seen.

Built using real review data, conversion insights, and search simulation tech, this tool doesn’t just generate images, it predicts how they’ll perform on Amazon.

Here’s what you’ll get:
✅ Create 100+ optimized images in under 2 minutes
✅ Use AI models trained for CTR & CVR
✅ Test main images in simulated search results
✅ Access 100+ proven templates used by 6,000+ brands
✅ Built-in competitor analysis, designer feedback & live AI chat

But there’s a catch….only 150 seats for this live demo.

🎯 Save your spot now and see the innovation that’ll separate the top 1% of sellers from the rest.

👉 Sign up today

🦾 The NEW ChatGPT 5.1

In a significant update, OpenAI launches GPT‑5.1, enhancing ChatGPT with smarter, friendlier, and customizable responses; revolutionizing everyday interactions.

The launch includes GPT‑5.1 Instant for swift responses and GPT‑5.1 Thinking for deeper, calculated replies across complex tasks.

What’s new?

• Faster & engaging with GPT‑5.1 Instant

• Thoughtful, adaptable responses with GPT‑5.1 Thinking

• Customizable tone with new personality presets

🌎 Where in the World is The Beard Guy?

😱 An Aggregator Ruined My Brand… So I Bought it Back

1. The Aggregator Model Failed Because They Misunderstood What They Bought

Aggregators assumed Amazon brands were simple assets they could “optimize” with spreadsheets and SOPs.

They ignored the founder’s systems, community touchpoints, and operational nuance. When they stripped those out, the brands collapsed.

2. The “Hot Mess Portfolio” Problem Destroyed Synergy

Most aggregators bought random, unconnected products: pet, baby, tools, fitness, kitchen, supplements with no category strategy.

That meant:

• No shared supply chain

• No shared audience

• No brand expertise

• No operational leverage
  A roll-up only works when the pieces complement each other. These didn’t.

3. Creative & Listing Control Became a Single Point of Failure

Bad images, wrong colors, incorrect logos, mismatched products, and sloppy listing edits destroyed Beast Gear’s positioning.

Even worse, Amazon listing-edit permissions were tied to the wrong entity, and resolving it became a year-long battle.

4. Over-Leveraged Inventory Is What Sinks Most Aggregators

Ben had to liquidate nearly £800,000 in inventory when he bought the brand back. Over-ordering, poor forecasting, and PE-fueled pressure for “growth” created a warehouse full of dead stock across the entire aggregator sector.

5. Buying Back a Dead Brand Can Still Be a Smart Move

A distressed brand with history still has: ranking momentum, search demand, reviews, trust signals, and product-market fit. Rebuilding publicly also builds authority and opens new revenue streams.

🔨 The Genius Link Building Strategy

In 2004, Grubhub enters the scene as a food delivery service in Chicago.

By 2007, they had raised $1.1 million and set their sights on expanding to New York.

SEO became a key strategy for this expansion.

With thousands of Americans searching for food delivery on Google, ranking at the top could drive significant traffic.

To tackle this, Grubhub hired their first marketer, Casey Winters.

Casey’s initial task was to structure the website effectively.

He created a main page for New York, followed by child pages for specific food categories.

Whether New Yorkers searched for food delivery, pizza, or vegan options, Grubhub had an indexed page with aggregated restaurant listings ready to serve.

Next came the challenge of building backlinks.

For the new pages to rank well, they needed to be recognized by Google as authoritative.

Casey's approach was straightforward: “We reached out to local press, offering their readers $10 off their first order, and all they had to do was link to our /new-york page.”

Over time, that page gained enough links to secure a top spot in search results.

The "link juice" flowed down to individual food category pages, helping them rise in the rankings.

Today, food delivery is dominated by DoorDash and Uber Eats, both using similar site structures.

Yet, Grubhub’s organic traffic remains 50% higher, thanks to Casey’s early SEO work, which continues to pay dividends.

That’s the power of smart SEO, plant the orchard, and you'll enjoy the fruits for years to come.

The long game is the shortcut.

🔥 ChatGPT is Killing Your Strategy...

Here are my favorite tips from this episode!

1. Overtrusting ChatGPT Leads to WORSE Decisions

A study found investment managers who trusted ChatGPT more performed worse.

Use AI as an assistant, not a strategist. Humans still need to set judgment, constraints, and context.

2. Content Created by AI Won’t Train AI

OpenAI doesn’t train ChatGPT on ChatGPT-generated content. AI-generated pages, blogs, and UGC clones won’t influence future AI rankings.

Only human-generated, novel, and context-rich material influences future LLM outputs.

3. Human Discussion Is the Hidden SEO of the Future

AI crawlers are already weighting forums, Reddit threads, and community discussion higher than static websites.

Your subreddit, comments, or Discord may be the new “ranking signal” that AI agents use to trust your brand.

4. Amazon’s Biggest Strategic Error

Amazon’s decision to wall off GPT (and rely on Rufus) was a “massive mistake.” Walmart and Etsy already integrated with OpenAI’s shopping protocols.

5. 3 Steps Every Seller Should Take Now

1. Monitor where your brand appears in AI results

2. Invest in community + customer data

3. Reduce cost and increase creative output

🔥 Watch the full episode here

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

And that’s it, Beardos.

See you next Monday!

- Norm

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