🚨 The World Just Changed Forever…

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

• 🔥 A Party, a Broken Back & a Business Deal [True Story]

• 🤖 ChatGPT Just Changed The World…

• 🚀 The ‘Catch-All’ Campaign to Drive Sales with Low ACoS!

• 🚨 You’re Scaling Your Ads Wrong!

• 📈 How AI is Changing Sourcing Forever

🚨 NEW REFERRAL PROGRAM!

I’m rolling out a brand new referral program for Beardos. If you refer my newsletter to someone new, you will receive my comprehensive ChatGPT AI prompt book courtesy of Skill Leap Futurepedia. I’ll be adding even more prizes shortly!

🔥 A PARTY, A BROKEN BACK & A BUSINESS DEAL [TRUE STORY] 

Back in college, Regan (you may remember him college stories in the newsletter) and I decided to throw a graduation party at our apartment.

It was the end of an era.

We’d made it through exams, sleepless nights, bad cafeteria food, and now… It was time to celebrate.

So we decided to have a party at our apartment.

The place was packed.

I mean shoulder-to-shoulder packed— The music was pumping, drinks were flowing.

Everyone was letting loose for one last night before stepping into the “real world.”

Around 3 a.m., I decided to call it.

I said my goodbyes and headed off to bed.

Regan, stayed up on the balcony with a few stragglers.

That’s when it happened.

One of his classmates, Todd, was talking on the balcony still having a good time, but he was pretty smashed.

He leaned back a little too far… and fell off the third-story balcony right into a garbage bin.

Yes, you read that right.

I woke up to the sound of chaos.

Regan had rushed downstairs, carried Todd back up to the apartment in a fireman’s carry, and laid him on the couch.

Next thing I know, paramedics were in our living room, losing their minds over Regan moving the guy.

Why? Because it turns out our friend had broken his back.

He ended up in a cast that made him look like the bionic man for months, but thankfully, he recovered.

Despite the insanity of that night, a lifelong friendship between Regan and Todd was formed.

In fact, they even ended up going into business together later down the line.

Business Lesson:

You never know what kind of situations will test your decision-making.

And sometimes, out of total chaos, something valuable is born—like a friendship, or a business partnership.

Also maybe don’t lean on third-story balcony railings after a few too many beers.

— Norm

P.S. I had a great time in Las Vegas at the Prosper Show!

And if you want to take a look at what a true Canadian ice storm looks like, check out the bottom of this newsletter. I haven’t had power in 2 days…

🚨 THE WORLD JUST CHANGED… CHATGPT’S PRO-LEVEL IMAGE GENERATION

Forget DALL·E 3.

OpenAI’s new GPT-4o makes it insanely easy to create super detailed, realistic images—directly inside ChatGPT or Sora.

Whether you’re looking to design a logo or create an infographic, simply type your request to get a custom, high-quality visual in seconds.

Check out our video to see ten practical use cases for GPT-4o.

Key Highlights

• ✅ Photorealistic Images: Create realistic visuals for marketing, educational materials, & more

• ✅ Detailed Metadata: Know how each image was created & trace its origin

• ✅ Wide Availability: Pro users get first dibs but it’s coming to Plus & free tiers soon

Here’s just a few examples:

The world has changed…

🚨 If you would like to learn more about AI → Ultimate Guide to Generative AI

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👇TOP MUST READ STORIES THIS WEEK 👇

🔥 YOU’RE SCALING YOUR AMAZON ADS WRONG - HERE’S HOW TO FIX THEM!

Here’s 10 Takeaways From This Episode:

1. Use Sponsored Product Ads for Ranking Impact – Focus your budget on sponsored product ads, especially for newer sellers. Sponsored brands and display ads don’t significantly impact organic ranking.

2. Run Catch-All Auto Campaigns – Launch a low-bid auto campaign with your entire catalog (e.g., $0.15–$0.30 bids). These campaigns are low maintenance and highly profitable, especially for large catalogs.

3. Vet Underperforming SKUs via Catch-Alls – Add mid-tier or neglected products into a catch-all campaign, then track which ones generate sales at a low ACoS. Use those insights to scale winners without risking large ad spend.

4. Build a Feedback Loop for Bids – Optimize bids with continuous data feedback based on product performance and total ACoS, not just ad metrics. Tailor bid strategies per product instead of applying generic rules.

5. Audit Ad Spend by Product Contribution – Identify what % of total sales and ad spend each product contributes. Prioritize optimizations where spend is high but returns are inefficient or where there’s room to scale efficiently.

6. Avoid Wasted Spend with Time or Data-Based Bid Adjustments – Use time-based (e.g., twice a week) or click-based thresholds to adjust bids methodically and avoid overreacting to limited data.

7. Launch with Fast Bid Adjustments – During product launches, adjust bids 1–2 times per day until you see impressions. Then shift focus to conversion performance for scaling decisions.

8. Maximize B2B Sales with Tiered Pricing – Enable Amazon B2B Central, set bulk quantity pricing, and use Amazon's optimization suggestions to grow B2B sales without extra marketing.

9. Measure Ad Efficiency with Total ACoS and Ad Sale % – Use total ACoS and ad sales as a % of total sales to measure dependency on ads and highlight scalable opportunities.

10. Access DSP via Fractional Providers – Skip Amazon’s $35K requirement by using a fractional DSP partner. Start with $3K–$5K monthly budgets for advanced retargeting and audience targeting.

🚨 You can find our next live episode here at 12 pm ET on Wednesday!

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THE BEARD GUY?

Can you find Norm in the picture below? Scroll to the bottom of this newsletter to see the answer!

📈 AI JUST CHANGED SOURCING FOREVER…

Here are my favorite TIPS from this episode!

1. Shift Your Competitive Edge to Logistics and Sourcing: Profit is made in the supply chain. Focus on improving sourcing, packaging, and logistics to reduce costs and increase margins, especially as tariffs and production costs rise.

2. Use Perception to Justify Higher Price Points: Invest in high-end packaging and storytelling to elevate your product's perceived value. Kerim explains that adding just $1–$2 in packaging could let you sell at a price $8–$10 higher, allowing you to play in a premium tier.

3. Explore Nearshoring—But Vet the Infrastructure First: Nearshoring to countries like Mexico can reduce tariffs and shipping costs, but factories may not be equipped to meet your quality or volume needs. Always conduct thorough due diligence on manufacturing capacity before shifting supply chains.

4. Reengineer Products by Changing Materials: If margins are tight, look at the raw materials. For example, swapping wood for resin or aluminum could reduce your costs by up to 70% without sacrificing quality, as shown in Kerim’s real-world case study.

5. Leverage Alibaba for Non-China Sourcing & U.S. Exposure: Kerim was the first U.S.-based verified supplier on Alibaba. Brands can now use Alibaba to source from the U.S. and other regions, making it a valuable global sourcing tool—not just a platform for Chinese goods.

🚨 Watch the full episode here

🌎 MARK DOWN THESE EVENTS! 🌎

And that’s it, Beardos!

See you next Monday!

- Norm

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

Last thing before I go… We had a wicked ice storm this weekend.

No power for 2 days… Might as well pick up some burgers.