#18: Retail Is Dead

Date: August 30, 2020

Episode: 18

Title: Norman Farrar Introduces Cash Riley Jr., a Successful Businessman, a Father, a Marketer and Entrepreneur who is Determined to Keep Moving.

Subtitle: “Business is all about relationship, how well you build them determines how well they build your business”

Final Show Link:  https://lunchwithnorm.com/episodes/18-retail-is-dead-cash-riley-jr/

In this episode of Lunch With Norm…, Norman Farrar introduces Cash Riley Jr, a Successful Businessman, a father, a Marketer and Entrepreneur who is determined to keep moving.

Cash helped businesses succeed in management and sales through radio and onsite marketing opportunities. In 2019, he founded MCM Nutrition. He brings affordable, quality nutritional products to market using a direct to consumer strategy through Amazon.

If you are a new listener to Lunch With Norm… we would love to hear from you. Please visit our Facebook Page and join in on episode discussion or simply let us know what you think of the episode!

In this episode, we discuss:

• • 5:48 Cash Riley’s backstory
  • 7:31 Success in CPG Industry
  • 8:59 How to execute an outstanding product launch in both retail and online
  • 11:43 How to build your social media marketing strategy
  • 13:37 Best way to launch or invest new product
  • 15:03 Effective marketing tips to be a successful Amazon seller
  • 18:11 Importance of product quality to consumers
  • 21:29 Establish a good relationship to manufacturer
  • 24:39 What is multichannel marketing and why is it important
  • 31:27 Building better relationship with channel partners
  • 33:19 Choosing the best manufacturing partner for your product
  • 34:55 Why consumers feedback is important to business
  • 37:06 Amazon PPC

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Explore these Resources

In this episode, we mentioned the following resources:

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/cash-riley-jr-02a56022/
• https://www.mcmnutrition.com
• Cash@MCMNutrition.com
• https://www.facebook.com/cashrileyjr/
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Norman  0:03 

Hey everyone, it’s Norman Farrar, aka The Beard Guy, and welcome to another Lunch With Norm.

Norman 0:21 

Alright, we’re broadcasting live on Facebook and YouTube and before we get started, I just wanted to give a shout out to my son Hayden for making the intro. If anybody is interested in hearing more about Hayden’s music, just message us in the comment section. So Kelsey, what are we supposed to do?

Kelsey 0:42 

Alright, please like and follow us on our social media platforms and let’s see if you’re enjoying this. So just please like and share. It does a whole lot of good.

Norman  0:56 

Kelsey, around this time, I would probably be rolled up in the fetal position.

Kelsey 1:09 

Why is that?

Norman

When a guest doesn’t show, got a problem here. What do we do and we want the show to go on? So before we get started, as always, if you have any questions or comments, throw them into the comment section, sit back, relax, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy this show. It might end up to be a comedy show because you might actually see me rolling up in the fetal position crying a little bit. What we’re going to do is we’re going to change the format this is called On The Fly. So guess Kels, I’m going to put you in a position. What would you like to talk about today for our Amazon listeners?

Kelsey  1:48 

I think people would like to know kind of like, who is The Beard Guy? Like we talked about it so much. We brand you Norman Farrar, The Beard Guy. But, yeah, like how did you get your start in Amazon, I guess would be a good place to start.

Norman 2:06 

Okay, but if anybody listening has a question about Amazon, where it’s going fourth quarter inventory strategies, anything like that, throw it into the comments section and I’m going to try to answer those questions while we’re live. So I believe it’s going to be short live today. I’m going to do my best to not cry. Anyways, let’s see the reason for, well, The Beard Guy is just personal branding. So Roy Orbison had sunglasses. I thought I grow a beard. A friend of mine told me about it. And I went to a lot of events so it was something that people could remember me because you’d reach out to them and say, Hey, I saw you at an event. I’d really like to learn more, but they never remembered who you were. So the beard helps out. But this also helped out with Amazon. So like in my background, it was varied. Everything from the manufacturing side to, and that helped a lot, warehousing and fulfillment, promotions, branding all this stuff. Oh, hold it. Maybe I won’t have to. Let’s just hold on a sec. I’ll just finish this up. But anyways, putting all my past experience together was the perfect storm for Amazon. So I knew a little bit about Facebook advertising. I knew a little bit about social media. It was sourcing everything that could possibly be utilized in Amazon allowed me to go out there explore and launch my brand and  launch other people’s brands. But I just noticed that we have our guests on so I don’t have to cry so much. Let’s get down to Cash. Okay, Buddy. I was in the fetal position crying for a second there. You know,

Cash  4:13 

I was having headphone issues. Sorry about that.

Norman 4:17 

Oh great. So we are live, we’re broadcasting, we’re kind of doing it on the fly. So now I don’t have to just talk, which is not my best thing. So hey, let’s get right down to it. Absolutely, Cashs’. This is interesting because I met you. This is kind of like networking, you made a comment on a post that we put out and I just reached out and I just wanted to get your opinion and then we started talking. That’s how we got to know each other just by reaching out and talking to one another. So I always talk about networking and how important it is and just reaching out and we did and I’m glad we did because we got to talk and learn a bit more about each other.

Cash  5:05 

Absolutely, and it was a pleasure to do so, right? Because you just never know where a conversation could go just like the one we had just about the business of Amazon and how to bring products to market as well. Everybody has your opinion and not everything is on the same page as other people. A rise of different perspectives and that it just happened that I give you mine.

Norman  5:29 

Great and it’s interesting because now it led to this and just talking to you there was just some interesting points that you brought up that I never really thought about. So why don’t we just get right into it and just tell people a little bit about your background?

Cash  5:48 

Yeah, sure, and again, appreciate the opportunity to share my story. I’ve been in the world of business for over 20 years now. I started off my professional career playing baseball and it gave me a good glimpse into what success looks like and what the passion you have to do what you’ve got to do on a daily basis is to there to realize it and wanted to take that to the business world started off my career in radio broadcasting on the sales side. I got to help a lot of businesses achieve a lot of success over my 10 plus year career there and just was looking for something more at a life and taking the same things that I was doing for other people but doing it for myself. That was just a personal goal of mine that I really wanted to try to figure out how to achieve. Over a period of time through a lot of twists and turns I,’m here today, brand owner of MCM Nutrition. I sell on Amazon, I’ve been doing that for the last six years now and selling on Amazon and I started MCM Nutrition probably about a year ago. So I’m an entrepreneur, Father, wife, avid runner and just the guy who just likes to win.

Norman 7:03 

That’s what I like to hear. That’s that competitive edge, the pro baseball in you, right?

Cash:

It does.

Norman 7:10 

Like today, we’re gonna be talking about the Consumer packaged goods (CPG)  industry and I don’t think a lot of people really understand it so that’s why I’m interested in having you on the show today. First of all, why don’t we talk about Consumer packaged goods (CPG) and what it is? A lot of people don’t understand it.

Cash  7:31 

Yeah, so anything you see in a store primarily is what you see as a consumer packaged goods. You got a lot of, there’s different levels, you have brands, you have brands that have sold some of their items to other people to resell on me for different names but at the end of the day, consumer packaged goods, anything you find in the grocery store or store that your local go to.  I’ve been in that business probably about 11 years now and have had a lot of success there along the way. This kind of understanding the nuances of it all, because it’s definitely different in the sense that it’s evolved over time and as I mentioned to people quite often now, retail is in that respect change, and really is dead in the sense that it’s changed so much, and all the opportunities that used to be there are really no longer there. So it’s been interesting to see how it’s evolved and I’ve been through the twists and turns of that, as well, because it was not easy understanding the landscape. But then once I was able to kind of figure things out, I knew there was a better way to not only bring products to market but also to really realize their full potential really what you’re trying to do with a product and where you’re trying to go with it as well.

Norman  8:48 

So over those 11 years, have you seen any differences in the way people would launch products in retail compared to online?

Cash 8:59 

Yeah, when I first got into it, I had a bottle of water company, it was called Southern Water. I was with a private equity firm at the time and we launched it. It was a Canadian spring water, it was very high priced, but we primarily went into the hotels and really high end retailers in order to distribute it. And what I quickly found out there is that there’s a lot of turnover that exists in those areas. So the managers and the general managers that I would speak to, and the buyers that was speak to in order to pick up my product and bring it into various stores and locations. They kept on moving and I was really being dictated to what can happen with my future and I put all my energy into making this work. So hearing that someone doesn’t like your product or thinks it’s overpriced or thinks it is not going to work really has changed, right? Because there’s so many more opportunities and retail channels and distribution channels that you can bring products to market so that is really what has changed the mindset going into it originally was everybody told me go to retail, go to retail. And go speak to the buyer or go to this big box store. And that’s where you’re going to really achieve success. I was really dependent upon those buyers liking me picking up my product, and being grateful for the opportunity, but there became a lot of work that’s involved in it as well, that a lot of people don’t realize when they get into the big box stores. I mean, you have to have people watching the shelves, restocking the shelves, promotional, marketing that goes into it.  That’s when I just said to myself, I had to take a step back after about four years of doing it and launching that particular bottle of water into I think about eight states with a liquid distributor and it just became so much work, time and energy. I just felt not only overwhelmed, but at the same time that there has to be something else out there that can help me really achieve my goal which is really bringing products to market that let the consumer dictate if it’s going to work or not.

Norman 11:11 

If you’re in a big box store or a retail store, compared to Amazon, are there things that you don’t have to do with your packaging? I noticed that a lot of brands, when I’m bringing them to market, they’re bringing the brand as they would in a retail store and I wonder what your opinion is on this. Should a brand change their packaging to fit Amazon or should they stay with their same packaging?

Cash 11:43 

You speak into my heart my man. This is what I’ve learned and I tried to tell people and kind of educate them along the way that not only is the distribution channel of Amazon different but also the mindset, it really starts with you. After I started Southern Water, I left that and started to work with another water company and that’s where I really got introduced to Amazon and had some success there. Along the way, the mindset of the group I was a part of just wasn’t understanding online marketing, online sales distribution channels, as opposed to what you would find traditionally in traditional marketing. If you don’t have the right idea, mindset, packaging, about really the e-commerce channel, it’s not going to work with the marketing that you’re doing, traditionally. I mean, there is no body, there’s no store to go to, there’s no location to restock. It really depends upon the marketing opportunities and what you’re able to convey to the consumer through social media, from websites and things of that nature content in order to really help them understand really how not only what a success looks like, but what you can really achieve because as we who sell on on e-commerce channels, specifically on Amazon, really the sky’s the limit. I mean, there are 300 plus million people that are out there socially and on the internet that can access and see what they like and price compare and things of that nature can’t pull the consumer these days, like many people did before.

Norman 13:28 

Do you know if there’s any courses or training for the Consumer packaged goods (CPG)  industry?

Cash 13:37 

There’s a lot of great books that are out there, right? So I mean, if you go pick your favorite that you would like to go see or you believe in. For myself, the way I approach the industry is, you got to figure out where things are going. To really figure out where you need to be and what you want to do as far as launching a product or even investing in the product. Trying to do the same old, same old expecting different results is never gonna work for you. The consumer is highly educated and they have instant access to not only people’s opinions, but also products and their effectiveness as well. There’s really no fooling anybody about it. Figure out where things are headed and really stay there in that spot when you’re thinking about where the industry is going because it’s innovation that’s winning and it’s or commodities that will always be there but you’ll never have the margins are really a successful business unless you do a lot of it. It really depends upon what your passion is. My passion is health and wellness. It’s always been since I was a baseball player  and nutritionist so it’s easy for me to live in that space. But really at the end of the day, it’s your core belief and following your heart.

Norman 14:56 

If you’re a new amazon seller coming into the marketplace, Where should I start?

Norman  15:03 

Man, so I wouldn’t even start on Amazon, right? I would have to say you really have to educate yourself about the platform, just like you would go in and see any one of these big box retailers, and hiring somebody or talking to somebody that can be able to help you in the ins and outs of it all as well. That’s what you really have to do. You really have to educate yourself, you really have to understand the platform and what you’re about to get yourself into. There’s plenty of great people that are out there that could do that but I always tell people I had to spend probably about three years of really understanding Amazon to be in the position today where I’m taking advantage of what Amazon has to offer.  It’s not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Everybody or anybody can sign up for an account and start to list a business and to start to sell whatever products they may be. Third party sellers that are having success. Amazon’s really focused on brands these days so if you’re a brand owner and you’re really wanting to not only achieve success on Amazon, I would just say you really have to just educate yourself on Amazon. There’s great books that are out there and really understand where you’re trying to go. Truth be told, I educate and I help a lot of people just try to stop them from doing certain things. Because some of the things that they want to do just won’t be realized or really understood on the Amazon platform. You could use me as a resource as well and I’ll be happy to share my opinion because again, like I said at the very beginning, everyone has their own opinions. Some are better than others, but at the end of the day, it’s all about you and taking advantage of what you feel is the best opinion to have.

Norman   16:57 

Very good so now you understand Amazon and by the way, I call that paying your Amazon tax.

Cash

Yes, you do.

Norman  17:07 

You’ve got to learn.

Cash

Not only you have to learn,  you have to actually get on it on the platform and work it and understand it and live it to really understand what it’s all about and really where you’re at going to be and where you want to be as well.

Norman 17:26 

That’s one of the things when I’m looking or talking with consultants, or Amazon managed services, a lot of people, but they’re not on the platform, so many are failed Amazon sellers, but you have to be on the platform to experience what’s happening and still live through the pain. The IPI restrictions that have just come out, how do you get it? How do you work it? And working through it, you can pass that on to your clients. But alright, let’s take it where the new amazon seller has gone through the courses. They’ve got their brand going but they’re looking at packaging. What would you advise them to do?

Cash 18:11 

Yeah, less is more. I mean, what you see traditionally in big box retailers and in retail is just a nice fancy packaging that you spend a lot of money on to bring to market because you think that that’s the best way to do it. At the end of the day, a product that is being delivered by Amazon is being sold on Amazon is coming to you the consumer in a brown box and chances are you already saw everything that you needed to see to make that purchase before you even get the package in your hand. So by the time you get it in your hand, the only thing that you want to do is rip it open and get whatever it is that you got and and start to consume it or start to play with it or whatever the case may be. So less is more. Packaging is not what you need. It is least to be the focus. You really need to focus on the quality of the product and keep things simple. On Amazon, you have a lot of people that are on there. Not only brand owners, but also customers that understand the platform that are not looking for the fancy stuff. They’re looking for the stuff that is innovative, creative and works and priced effectively that they can try it. Because they’re looking for different options,  which is really at the end of the day, what you’re doing is you’re offering people a different option, and different opportunities to see what it is that you have to offer so they can experience something different. So innovation again, is key.

Norman 19:41 

Now you have your product, you’re looking at it, it’s simple, but now it comes down to price. Are there any hidden charges or anything that you can be expected that the manufacturer will charge?

Cash 19:56 

On the manufacturing side, I mean, that’s pretty set in stone. If you’re buying something from or you’re having something manufactured, chances are, you already have a price that’s there, that’s going to stay stagnant, or you increase your volume, it will change over time. But from the Amazon perspective, what you’re going to see there is you are going to see whatever charges that they’re going to charge you are going to be right there for you to see. It’s gonna be pretty easy for you to understand where your margin needs to be where your price needs to be, in order for you to make sure that you’re hitting whatever those numbers are that you need to do even before you start selling. Now a lot of people see that and they get caught up in the advertising on Amazon, which is a great tool once you get started and really understand not only the platform or what the charges are, but really what your voices and how much you’re going to spend in order to get your voice heard out into the marketplace on Amazon.

Norman 20:56 

One of the things that I do not, this is strictly on the packaging side, people will come in, they’ll want 250 items, 500 items, and you know you’re gonna get charged up here. I always tell people, look, go for the 1500, or the 2500 units. It might be instead of $2 for a package, it comes down to 79 cents, and just ask your manufacturer to store them for you. And usually there’s no storage fee, because you’re going to come back to them and use those boxes.

Cash  21:29 

Yeah, It happens to manufacturing. When you’re on Amazon, I mean, it’s an open platform, anybody can buy your product. You need a great relationship with your manufacturer, just like I have. And really, that’s really the reason for the success of the company. If it wasn’t for that, and having the opportunity to scale as needed, and be priced competitively, that’s where you really are missing the boat there. Not a lot of people understand that. Even on the manufacturing side, if that’s something that people need some help with, I can be able to assist them just in the sense of just help them educate them and offer some resources that might be available to them as well.

Norman 22:11 

Alright, so we’ve got everything in place, what can be expected by developing your product packaging?

Cash

One more time you faded out.

Norman

Okay, so you’ve got everything in place, you’ve got your package, it’s on Amazon. So what can the seller expect by developing a proper product package?

Cash 22:32 

They are going to, from a seller’s perspective, you’re going to see pretty quickly how your product is going to be received into the marketplace. With that, you’re going to understand what needs, what changes need to happen. Opinions are readily available on Amazon, good or bad. As an experienced amazon seller, believe me, I wish I could take some things down but it is what it is and I like it actually. Because it gives you the truth for whatever that product may be. But you also understand if it’s sustainable. If you really have a business, chances are you put your life savings and you put money aside to make this dream happen and quite honestly, you want to know pretty quickly if things are going to take place or not for you so you can understand what investments and what the future is like for this well. Even with my company, I really gave myself a benchmark of x months to really hit some plateaus, so I can understand where I needed to be and where I wanted to be as a company, and this is actually feasible. And I was able to do that. Those are the same things that are going to be available for other sellers. Just to see where you are and where you potentially can be is probably the biggest asset that Amazon has to offer. An entrepreneur, a businessman who’s looking at investing into a product and even a brand owner to understand if their brand is actually going to be picked up really promoted and marketed appropriately. Not only from you, but from people who are enjoying your products as well.

Norman  24:08 

Yeah, if I’m going to sell online, I’m going to start with Amazon. But I really don’t want to be a one legged stool.  I know you are a master at multi channel.

Cash  24:22 

Give yourself opportunities.

Norman 24:24 

Give yourself opportunities. Amazon is definitely the largest search engine for buyers. Do you do anything differently when you want to go to Shopify or if you’re selling on Walmart, or do you have any advice on that?

Cash  24:39 

Sure. I started off on Amazon originally, I’m just telling you my own personal perspective. I like to take it from that particular viewpoint. I started off on Amazon because I knew it and I knew I could really get things going. Then once the pandemic hit earlier this year, Amazon started to change some of their logistics and products were being shipped in or they couldn’t be sold and what have you, so kind of freaked me out. I was kind of like I got to really figure other opportunities. My own website mcmnutrition.com, people can buy the product there, which is a great resource. But even adding another ecommerce platform to it was key for me. I had a pre existing relationship also with Walmart from my other company that I was working with. They have an open platform just like Amazon as well, walmart.com, and quite honestly, that’s what I was able to really focus in on and have my products there as well and diversify the channel there, which gave it another marketplace to be into. And really with this energy, that it’s really being generated over the last year of the company being a business. I’ve gotten to understand certain platforms better than others, and where the success can be realized at the end of the day as well which is perfectly what you want as a business as you grow it. It can give you the confidence to continue to scale appropriately wherever you need to be and wanted to be as well.

Norman  26:08 

Are you shopping through  aFacebook marketplace or on Google?

Cash 26:13 

Yeah, Facebook marketplace earlier this year, they really launched that or relaunched that, I should say. We have our products there as well. Again, give yourself the best opportunity to really be successful. It’s still developing on Facebook. On Facebook, you don’t really go there to shop, you go there to hear other people’s opinions and things that are going on. So things could be a little bit differently in that sense, what’s your experience there. But at the end of the day, Amazon wins. I mean you got 300 million people that are on that platform. It’s not going to be that way forever. Walmart’s gonna continue to evolve and develop and grow their marketplace. So you’re gonna have competitors. But at this particular point in time where we are as a country and what we’re dealing with the pandemic, everybody’s habits have changed. If you’re not online shopping or if you’re a brand owner, if you’re not online with your products, chances are you’re hurting. Unless you figure out a pivot to really figure out how to energize or be a part of that new marketplace where people are going to be at wherever that may be for you, you’re not going to be successful. That’s the brutal, honest truth to where we are today. I have left my home  for quite some time now. This myself dealing with what’s going on outside and trying to stay safe.  But I still need to eat, I still need to consume, I still need to purchase things. Then seeing how things are now evolving and changing with the delivery methods and things of that nature, It makes it a lot easier to not only work from home but also provide for my family as well.

Norman 27:50 

I’m kind of interested in your marketing strategy. Forget about PPC, it’s important on Amazon sponsored ads sponsored brands. But are you doing anything to drive external traffic to your listings?

Cash 28:05 

Yes, I am and I do it organically. I take the respect that me, as a consumer, I kind of think about it. My marketing strategy from my perspective going forward, right? So my strategy was, be authentic and people will follow. Especially when you’re dealing on an ecommerce platform like Amazon, where you have other entrepreneurs, other people that are in the business world that are looking for good quality goods and honest price and want to support you, a seller that’s on the platform. So I keep it simple, is my approach and I just am authentic, and I let really the product be the voice not me. I’m just a user of the product and brand owner but at the end of the day, it’s the users, it’s the customers that are out there that are benefiting from whatever you have. I let their voices really be the driver to help us market the company as we move forward which is my marketing approach and those of many others that are successful on the business on Amazon platform as well.

Norman 29:16 

I’m interested. You’ve got nutritional products on Amazon. Show me some of the tough lessons that you’ve learned on Amazon trying to market these products.

Cash  29:31 

You really have to understand your channel of what your category is. And what I mean by that is nutritional space is tricky. I was in the bottom water space previously and that was within itself tricky because it has its own nuances. But in a nutritional space, you just don’t know what’s out there. Amazon is really stringent on their policies as to getting even an opportunity to sell on the platform and even with Walmart as well, they really want to make sure whatever you have is legit. Thankfully, the manufacturer that I work with Mcore (?), really helps us really understand that quality is there. It really provided for us as well, because at the end of the day, I launched my company last year, about a year ago now, literally weeks ago, a year ago. And the first two weeks I got suspended off the platform. I mean, I could not believe it. But truth be told, it was not a fun process to go to. I know that was suspended, but that was suspended for like almost two or three weeks and I just got going and it was just hard. I learned a lot through that process, what needs to be done so that you can take care of how Amazon works and really make sure that you’re adhering to their standards and procedures. Because everything is different at the end of the day, and you just really want to make sure that you’re doing the best practices, not only for the sales channel distribution that you’re using, but also for your company as well, to maintain its integrity as well.

Norman  31:14 

Have you been one of the victims of the smear campaigns like the supplement industry or at least on Amazon? It is horrible for that.

Cash 31:27 

I think one of the reasons I got suspended because of somebody else saying something about my product, that’s the double edged sword, right? Good or bad, the product is there. It’s people to view and to try and to leave their opinions about. But establishing a good relationship and forget the distribution channel, establishing a good relationship with the partners that you’re a part of, is key, right? That means you are talking with them through the good and the bad and really understanding how they’re changing and evolving. That’s the good and the bad about Amazon as well. When they change, and they change quite often, you do have some bad actors that are out there that are not doing the right things. Their products are not what they say they are, or they do different things to convince a consumer otherwise and put themselves in a bad position so  that’s not good. But really, you have to have a great partnership with whoever you’re going to market with your brand just so that you can understand how to be better and better at what you’re doing and better how to really serve the customers that your product is going into their hands.

Norman  32:40 

This is interesting because we’re kind of off topic going where we’re going but it’s so interesting what you’re talking about. In supplements,  this is, I love perceived value. I love being able to create a product. Some of my competitors are selling it for 10, I’m selling it for 20. There’s a lot of garbage supplements, there’s a lot of people that have no idea what they’re doing. They don’t have a formula, they leave it in the hands of some manufacturer they found private labeling in China. How can you get that information across to your audience that you’re not one of those people?

Cash  33:19 

Going into and launching this particular company, I could have done it with anybody. And I chose to really focus on a vertical manufacturing partner that can really help me really take advantage of the platform that Amazon provides, because it’s all about product at the end of the day. If you have a great product you will win. The sky’s the limit. In going into this, record nutraceuticals (?)  who’s my manufacturer, was really the driving force behind me doing this because not only did I know that the product was good, but also knew that the product development and scale ability was there to really make it happen. And again, if that’s something that your audience could benefit from love to have that conversation with them, always open to it, because the last thing that you want to be a part of is just a bad manufacturing partner. And that puts you at risk of not really bringing to market good quality products that work.  I’m happy to say ours do, go look at our listings, and you see the feedback that’s out there and the wonderful comments that are made about the product that they work. That’s the important thing, and that’s why I’m so insistent on being authentic of who you are, because you can’t fool the consumer. At the end of the day. They’ll figure it out.

Norman 34:41 

You nailed it. Yeah. So we’re winding down and just wanted to, If there’s anything that you have to say or anything that you can add, what would that be?

Cash 34:55 

I would say what brought us together, of talking at the very beginning, I gave you my opinion and you asked me the why behind it and a lot of people don’t do that. They just take that comment to be what it is and quite honestly, I don’t really I’m not out there in the capacity that you are in getting people some knowledge base about what’s going on in the marketplace. I keep my opinions to myself because not a lot of people understand the platform and it’s different. But ask people why have those conversations as to why are you successful and we talk about products at the very beginning. Why is electronics better, why is nutritional space better, why is clothing better so that you can become more knowledgeable as to what you particularly want to pursue and want to do in the future with what you are trying to achieve as a brand owner, customer, whatever the case may be. Have those conversations because those conversations are being had, and it’s unfortunate because there’s a lot of great products that are out there. Brand owners that need a little bit of education  and just a little bit of help as well. Sharing is caring more than you know it, especially as a seller on Amazon and some of these e-commerce platforms because there’s a lot to be learned there  and unfortunately early on, I was given an opportunity to work with Amazon, but I wasn’t told how to work with Amazon. No one ever told me you know what to do and how to do it. They said, here goes the relationship. That’s it and at the end of the day, it took me understanding it, It took me to travel the country with Amazon and really understand what they’re looking for and how it works to really achieve the success that I’m realizing today with MCM Nutrition.  I’m a tool if anybody ever wants to talk with me about  not only Amazon but the e-commerce channel. I love to talk about it, kind of a nerd about it. If you ever want to reach out to me, please feel free to do so and you can get the information at the end of this broadcast.

Norman 37:00 

Fantastic and we did have a question from Melanie. How much do you use PPC?

Cash 37:06 

Off Amazon, none. On Amazon, and for people who may not know PPC it’s Pay Per Click but on Amazon I only really, Amazon already is its own platform where people are already searching for your products. Having an organic listing of where you are voicing your product details and what it is that you have to offer. You want to see what that does within itself before you really get into the you know buying of advertising because if you don’t know what you have, you never know what success looks like. Again, off Amazon, not really too much. We do some social media campaigns where we advertise and just for the company itself. But I always suggest to people you really have to bring to market your product, get your listings together, see what that looks like and then see where you need to be in order to get a little bit more scale because there is a product, right? It’s not infinite. I say what I always say, I’ll kick your coverage football analogy, you won’t be able to keep up with the demand that you’re building up and it could quickly get to you. And then you’d be in a backwater situation and that’s not what you want to do as well. Scalability is key. Take your time. I know it’s hard to understand that but the reality is, you need to understand your business in order to grow your business effectively.

Norman 38:46 

I’m curious. When you’re doing that, and you’re growing organic, you’re going off of the listing,  you got a great listing, you’re gonna get organic sales. Are you throwing an automatic campaign to gather information while this is happening? When you do want to grow PPC, you’ve got that information to see what the converting keywords are?

Cash  39:07 

Absolutely. What you’re wanting to do is really understand even going before your listing is really understanding what keywords are working and how those listings need to be really detailed and so that people can understand what it is that you’re trying to offer. Even before you build those listings, you really have to do your homework and understand what those other brands or sellers are doing  or what’s winning on there so that you can develop your ads around it. Because again  PPC off Amazon, totally different than PPC when you’re advertising on Amazon. It’s a different strategy. But one which needs to be in tandem with what you’re doing as far as the ads that you’re producing, and the listings, what they say and what they’re trying to achieve.

Norman 39:57 

Alright, and thank you Melanie for the question. That brings us to a close. I really appreciate everybody joining us on facebook live today and we’ll be posting it on Norman Farrar, aka The Beard Guy, ASAP. We’ll also have some shorter clips that you can catch on Facebook as well. So Cash, where is the best place for people to contact you?

Cash  40:25 

Yes. You can email me cash@mcmnutrition.com. That’s probably the best way to email me and I’ll be able to answer any questions you have. And like I said, it’s just my opinion. Everybody has one and what’s different than me the most is that I’m living in and doing it on a daily basis. It’s something that I’m going through the same battles and an issue that everyone is trying to do as well. Especially right now, like I said, and during this pandemic, you got to really finish, get things out for yourself and your business to succeed in the future and to realize your dreams.

Norman 41:04 

100% agreed. Okay, Kelsey, what do people do?

Kelsey 41:10 

Alright, if you enjoyed this episode please like and share and don’t forget to follow us on our social media. We got Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, Pinterest. We got it all.  

Norman 41:28 

There we go. Alright.  Cash, Thanks a lot for coming on.

Norman   41:38 

Awesome Oh, you like the gnome? That gnome is actually called, you can go on Amazon and buy it. It’s Norm the gnome.

Cash

Seriously.

Norman

I am not kidding you.

Cash

Is that your brand?

Norman

No, it is a friend of mine. I think it’s 100% coincidence. I don’t think they put it on Amazon for me, but that’s Norm the gnome.

Norman 42:03 

Alright, there you go. Alright, so thank you Cash. And we’re going to catch us next time and I think it’s next Tuesday and Thursday with Lunch With Norm. So enjoy the rest of your day everybody.

Cash

Awesome.