DTC POD: A Podcast for eCommerce and DTC Brands

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC POD, we dive into the fundamentals of launching a product across different types of companies. We discuss why internal marketing and communication are vital, and how a lack thereof can lead to a failed launch. Derek explains how launches involve more than just a checklist of tasks, encompassing planning, coordination, and support. We learn the importance of building a centralized repository of knowledge and automating processes to streamline launches.(00:03:44) Launching diverse companies(00:06:54) Planning, enablement, iteration(00:09:49) Brand consistency & scaling(00:13:21) Strategy, assets, automation(00:15:51) Automated tools overview(00:18:50) Retrospective survey benefits(00:21:50) Systematizing & automation(00:24:20) Automating launch process(00:28:40) Information hierarchy & iteration(00:31:16) Tips for successful launchShownotes powered by Castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokDerek Osgood - Founder & CEO HaveIgnitionRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated 

On this episode of DTC POD, dive into the art of content creation, Philip joins Blaine to share his insights on defining content pillars and optimizing for views and followers. They discuss the importance of hyper-testing and copying when starting out, as well as the power law of content distribution. They chat about what makes unique and memorable content, and how content differs for B2B and D2C brands. They also touch upon the importance of content ROI and share case studies of successful startups.Here's what you'll learn..1. What are content pillars, and why are they important for content creation?2. What are the two types of content best suited for organic?3. What is the best starting point for creating content?4. What is hyper testing, and why is it important for content creation?5. The Power Law in content distribution. How do you get to be in the top 0.1%?Timestamps[00:07:47] Define content pillars, use well-known brands, optimize for views.[00:11:15] Multiple platforms = credibility, two case study examples, intangible ROI.[00:16:58] Copying is good, hyper-testing helps, repurposing is key.[00:19:30] Separate hires for each social media platform, understanding content creator tiers.[00:23:10] Stand out, invest in high quality production, be in top 1%, waste no resources.[00:27:00] Educational, voiceover-based videos, differentiate for success, faster revisions.[00:32:54] Consistency is key, incorporate news, find sustainable system.[00:35:36] Wide variety of content, analyzing performance, Chat GPT for ideas.[00:40:25] Create content around problem-solving for DTC brands, balance entertainment vs. educational for B2B.[00:43:17] Unique content is important, Duolingo's unique brand identity example. Shownotes powered by Castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokPhilip Ruffini - Founder and CEO of Content AssistantRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC POD, Scout joins Blaine to dive into the world of branding, marketing, and entrepreneurship. We talk about Katy Perry's involvement in building her flagship non-alcoholic beverage brand, as well as exploring the lasting trend of health and wellness driving consumer behavior, the importance of social media presence, and the impact of beverage sales in-store. We learn about De Soi's scrappy approach to working with brand ambassadors, finding product-market fit in their direct-to-consumer (DTC) business, and their focus on efficient and sustainable growth.[00:03:16] Learnings from consulting generalist to startup.[00:06:22] Katy Perry + Morgan McLachlan create De Soi.[00:10:36] Health and wellness trends & sober curiosity.[00:16:02] Katy's role in brand development[00:20:03] De Soi's DTC launch, media features.[00:24:54] Strategy: DTC, wholesale, and social media.[00:31:40] Target audience and location for branding.[00:34:33] Leveraging Brand ambassadors & events.[00:37:43] Navigating fundraising and strategy.[00:41:39] Shift to efficient, sustainable growth and profitability.Building A Brand With Katy Perry: "It's been really important to us along the way that De Soi is its own brand. It's a brand that resonates with Katie and her personal values, whether that's celebration and fun, if it's empowerment, if it's wellness, but that it also stands on its own because at the end of the day, it is De Soi."— Scout Brisson 16:02Could Alcohol Disappear Forever?: "Our consumers have they've gone to almond milk and then to oat milk and then back. They're looking at all of these decisions across the board of things that they're consuming or that they're buying, and they're saying, what is the better option? And so when you look at people talk a lot about, at least in my bubble, right, that Gen Z is a generation that just drinks so differently than even millennials or our parents generations. But I'd say millennials and Gen Z are driving this trend of people just drinking less and less every year."— Scout Brisson 10:36A Nightmare Trend For Booze Companies "but knowing that you want something that feels really indulgent in the moment, but you're pairing this inner and outer wisdom of okay, I want something that tastes really good, hits that sweet tooth, feels very satisfying, but is also going to make me feel physically well afterward."— Scout Brisson 4:00 Shownotes powered by Castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokScout Brisson - CEO of De SoiRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC POD, Sydney Sykes of Lightspeed Venture Partners joins Blaine & Ramon to talk about the current state of direct-to-consumer brands and e-commerce. Sydney shares her experience in venture capital and growing direct-to-consumer brands, and offers advice for founders seeking investment. We also dive into various topics including circular fashion to generative AI and SEO, and how they are transforming the modern e-commerce landscape. We also discuss how to create unique demand and distribution advantages, the importance of networking, and which businesses are best suited for vc funding.Timestamps[00:01:37] From psychology major to venture capitalist.[00:04:52] Investing in direct-to-consumer brands evolution.[00:13:10] Diversity in venture capital is important.[00:16:00] Women can bring good returns to VC.[00:18:10] Ways to reach investors and get funded.[00:20:53] Common mistakes made by founders.[00:23:59] Investment in unique brands with advantages.[00:28:32] Exciting times for brands due to enablement tools and AI.[00:34:48] Importance of content and personalization.[00:38:23] Circular fashion's growing market and benefits.Shownotes powered by Castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokSydney Sykes - Partner at Lightspeed Venture PartnersRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, We dive into the challenges of building a product that combines traditional accounting, finance, and tax with the progressive world of DTC, and the importance of financial statements, tax-saving opportunities, and inventory management. We also explore the impact of integrating real-time cost of goods sold data, the importance of understanding profit, financing, and cash flow, and the potential of measuring return on net profit. Finally, we talk about ways to identify profitable products and unlock business opportunities, and why focusing on conversion alone may not necessarily lead to profitability. [00:01:34] Real-time ecommerce bookkeeping. Inventory system coming.[00:04:12] Lios background in accounting and law.[00:08:35] Essential financial basics for DTC brands.[00:12:02] Ecommerce-specialized bookkeepers and software.[00:16:02] Finaloop - high-value real-time accounting.[00:23:54] Full ledger with SaaS functions. Investing in R&D.[00:27:47] Integrating inventory management system.[00:31:06] Real-time financial data. Net profit-based ROAS.[00:38:37] Understanding profits, cash flow, and financing is crucial.[00:47:53] Tips: pick up deductions, recognize bad debt, legit deductibles.The Rise of DTC Brands in the Financial Ecosystem: "I just couldn't ignore the big opportunity of combining, I'd say, the traditional word of accounting finance tax into the progressing word of DTC. And this is basically how Finaloop was born."— Lio Pinchevski 4:12Outsourcing Bookkeeping: "Even for these firms, the bookkeeping work is usually a loss making part of the business that is just meant to cross finance the more profitable part of the business, which is the CFO and the taxes."— Lio Pinchevski 16:02Challenges of building a broad MVP: "With us, we're a different animal. We are somewhere between an infrastructure company and a SaaS company. So we built on one side a ledger, a full ledger, and then on the other side, we need to add SAS features to this ledger. This is unique because if you think about bookkeeping, either I do your bookkeeping or I don't do your bookkeeping, and then you need to get a bookkeeper."— Lio Pinchevski 23:54Real-time Business Management: "If we ask 100 brand owners right now how much money in cash and in profit they did yesterday, 100% would tell you that they don't know. They know roughly how the business is doing. They don't know exactly how it's doing. And the difference in 2023 between roughly and exactly is huge." - Finaloop's focus on real-time PNL, balance sheets, and KPIs can revolutionize brand management by providing exact information instead of approximations.— Lio Pinchevski 31:06powered by castmagicEpisode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokLio Pinchevski - Founder and CEO of FinaloopRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC Pod, Izzy Joins Blaine to lead a masterclass on saving on shipping.1. What are the most common mistakes when negotiating shipping rates?2. What surcharges and hidden fees most commonly drain shipping budget?3. What are the most common overlooked details that make brands lose money on shipping?4. What type of shipping carrier is best for my store?shownotes powered by castmagic 00:04:28 - Shipping costs = 10% of revenue00:09:31 - Create account, leverage resellers00:14:08 - Consult peers, ask for transparency00:18:01 - Use lightweight services, regional carriers00:24:41 - Optionality and reduced rates with regionals00:28:03 - Service, volume, contract negotiation = cost00:31:34 - Know carrier, understand data, negotiate everything00:37:41 - Negotiate discounts; be proactive about rate increases00:42:21 - FedEx EB increasing costs, offer discounts00:46:16 - Negotiate for peak period costs Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokIzzy Gewirtzman - Founder of ShiplionRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC Pod, Athan joins Blaine for a deep dive in what it takes to launch one of the fastest growing travel brands. Here's a few of the questions we answer on the show:1. How did July create the world's lightest carry-on luggage?2. How did they find market validation before even talking to one customer?3. What is July's biggest secret to rapid growth?4. How is retail driving the brand forward in 2023?5. How many product iterations have they gone through in 4 years?0:00 - 1:30 - Introduction to July00:02:32 - Partnered to enter mobile market dominated by Samsonite.00:05:39 - Entered luggage market, opened store, faced 2020 slowdown.00:12:57 - Founders Club presold products, leather tags popular, containers sold quickly.00:21:11 - Started with no 3PL, shipped product ourselves, nurtured early stages.00:22:51- Customer feedback key, world's lightest double wheel created.00:29:04 - Investment in physical retail, China launch during COVID, lux & lightweight luggage.00:36:42 - Two new polycarbonates created for US and Australian, expanding to Europe.00:41:00 - Richard helped company sell in China, built international personalization engine.00:47:23 - Remote US launch, UK launch with physical presence from day one.00:53:15 - UK launch, experimenting with new products, creatively fulfilling category.Shownotes powered by Castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokAthan Didaskalou - Founder of JulyRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC POD, we delve into the world of product development and supply chain management. We look at the success story of Canopy, a company that created a beauty-focused category-defining humidifier. We also cover the challenges faced in bringing new products to market, the value of validating demand, and the importance of a shored-up supply chain.Here's 5 key questions we'll answer on this episode:1. What is the pain point with traditional ultrasonic humidifiers, and how did Canopy solve it?2. How did Canopy successfully promote their product with a limited budget?3. What are the pitfalls to avoid when building a new product and brand from scratch?4. How did Canopy position their humidifier as a beauty tool and what experts did they bring in to do so?5. What are the key differences between starting from scratch and building a custom product, versus starting with an existing product and customizing it for your needs?Timestamps:[00:03:36] Working & Factories In Asia[00:08:07] DorisDev for startups: supply chain & branding.[00:12:24] Validate demand before investing.[00:17:06] Two paths: custom or off-the-shelf.[00:19:35] Incubating products: humidifiers for beauty.[00:24:42] Canopy solves "white dust" problem.[00:27:18] Product positioned as beauty tool.[00:32:17] Limited budget, invested in beauty media.[00:36:37] Supply chain software manages quality control.[00:42:17] Factored quality platform for single solution QC. Shownotes powered by castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours.Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokJustin Seidenfeld - Founder of Doris DevRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC POD, Marshall joins Blaine to dive into the world of affiliate marketing. Here's what you'll learn:Strategies in setting up an effective affiliate program, including identifying target customers, partners, and commission rates and networking options.Common mistakes made in affiliate marketing, the right partner mix, and low-value publishers who can negatively impact the program.The role of influencers in affiliate marketing, how to find them, and how they can drive interest and promote brands.How affiliate marketing has evolved over the years, from being deal and coupon-focused to including content production and influencers, and how tech has expanded its reach.How affiliate marketing is a cost-effective and performance-based way for brands to connect with third-party partners and drive sales, & how multiple affiliates can influence a single sale.Creating an Effective Affiliate Strategy:"We want to try to get in those articles because if you're looking for maybe best betting and you type in what is the best betting to Google, that first article is going to get a lot of traffic. And if you are able to be in that article, you're going to get a lot of traffic to your site in return." — Marhsall Nyman 00:10:09Performance PR: Forging Relationships and Getting Editors Interested:"It really takes a lot more than just setting it up in the platform. I think that's probably the biggest misconception that I get from people when I talk to them that have an affiliate program. We set it up, nothing's happening. Yeah, nothing's happening because you haven't gone out and done anything. You have to go out, you have to forge relationships with these publishers and get them interested and excited about your brand." — Marhsall Nyman 00:15:09Shownotes powered by castmagic Episode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours. Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokMarshall Nyman - Founder of NYMO & Co.Ramon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

Episode brought to you by Trend & Finaloop.On this episode of DTC POD, Celia Lewis and Stephanie Kimmel discuss how they identified a market gap in the cannabis industry and built a brand around their innovative product that preserves and locks cannabis in a home decor piece. They reveal how they launched their product with a grassroots approach due to limited funds for marketing and discuss their successful product launch strategy. They touch on the challenges they faced due to federal regulations around cannabis and how they continue to adapt and grow.3:00 - Stephanie and Celia Background7:45 - The story behind Tulip's founding12:50 - Branding and identity for Tulip16:30 - Launch strategy and early traction23:15 - Unique color strategy for Tulip28:45 - Fulfillment and inventory management32:30 - Adapting to sudden increase in demand37:40 - Partnership with manufacturer43:00 - Navigating federal regulations around cannabis48:20 - Social media strategy for TikTok and Instagram54:00 - Two-way dialog with customers59:30 - Upcoming content series from TulipHere's some questions we answer on the show1. How did the founders of Tulip identify a market gap in the cannabis industry, and what inspired them to create a product that preserves cannabis and also doubles as home decor?2. What was the process behind developing the Tulip product, and what were some of the challenges faced along the way?3. How did the founders build the Tulip brand around the authentic nature of how they got started with the product for personal use?4. What were some of the early traction and product-market fit indicators that helped drive growth for Tulip in its early days?5. What was the launch strategy for Tulip, and how did the company leverage personal networks to drive initial sales?6. How has the company adapted to sudden increases in demand, such as those caused by viral social media videos?7. How does Tulip approach manufacturing and production, and what role do personal relationships play in these processes?8. What challenges has Tulip faced with marketing and social media due to federal regulations around cannabis, and how has the company adapted its content strategy?9. What are the content pillars and upcoming content series for Tulip, and how does the company value customer feedback and participation?10. How does Tulip's mission involve social change and awareness around the injustices that still exist today, and how does the company seek to destigmatize cannabis use?Shownotes powered by CastmagicEpisode brought to you by Finaloop, the real-time accounting service trusted by hundreds of DTC Brands. Try Finaloop free - no credit card required. Visit finaloop.com/dtcpod and get 14 days free and a 2-month P&L within 24 hours. Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokCelia Lewis - Cofounder of TulipStephanie Kimmel - Cofounder of TulipRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Jonathan joins blaine to talk about Automating fulfillment process with 3PL, Specialized Shopify developers, Starting a Shopify store, Balancing presence on, Shopify and Amazon, Customizing Shopify apps, Local delivery/pickup, Customizing Shopify Plus, Headless Shopify, Shopify's features, and more.[00:03:09] Start Shopify store with no code; buy theme, get product design on Fiverr; focus on sales and marketing.[00:05:19] Automate fulfillment process with 3PL (Third Party Logistics).[00:08:33] Brand owners fear Amazon taking their business, so they are balancing presence on Shopify and Amazon to avoid being cannibalized.[00:12:03] Customizing Shopify apps requires cost analysis and potential development for desired automation, branding and functionality.[00:14:43] Specialized Shopify developers understand the ecosystem and can avoid costly custom development.[00:18:31] Shopify allows customization of themes and blocks to make it look unique, but headless is not typically the best option because it requires custom technical work and breaks data tracking.[00:26:04] Apps to help businesses run local delivery/pickup for physical items.[00:27:36] Local businesses thriving in Miami due to increased support from customers.[00:32:07] Shopify releases new features quarterly or every six months, similar to "hype drops", including AI-generated product descriptions.[00:35:35] Shopify Plus now allows customizing and adding blocks to Checkout, increasing options for merchants to increase conversions and create apps in the Checkout ecosystem.Shownotes powered by castmagic Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokJohnathan Solorzano - Founder & CEO of Solo Media GroupRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

When she and her colleague Melissa Duren Conner hit a crossroads in their careers, they decided to join forces and create their own agency, Jennifer Bett Communications (JBC). Jennifer and Melissa wanted to create an agency that approached media relations in a strategic and creative way, focusing on meaningful storytelling and more intellectual PR. Since then, JBC has helped launch some of the top names in consumer brands, including Parachute, Magic Spoon, Recess, Cuyana, Andie, Knix, July, M.Gemi, Cuup, and more just to name a few.[00:00:41] Two friends start PR agency after realizing traditional agencies were ill-equipped for the shift in media landscape.[00:08:21] PR is essential for brand launch; many options and partners available to fit any budget.[00:15:55] PR should not be an afterthought; time should be invested to ensure messaging is communicated across all platforms and that the PR partner understands the brand.[00:21:24] Positioning Ben for success in food and beverage beyond CBD.[00:23:10] Helping brands reach their goals over time with targeted press.[00:27:27] Empowering women in healthcare, particularly in fertility, is important to Melissa and the agency. Nodal is an example of a brand doing this.[00:30:23] Food & beverage division works with innovative brands in climate tech and sustainability, particularly small, independently owned brands, with increasing presence of women.[00:33:06] Passionate founders, mission-oriented brands, and innovation.[00:35:02] Innovation and fresh ideas excite people and make them want to be involved.[00:38:44] Launched affiliate division and executive speaking division, hiring experienced talent, launching brands in various industries.PR Is Essential for Brand Launches: "I can't stress the importance of PR. I think there's a lot of brands that we've talked to and they'll come to us and they're like, listen, we decided to just launch with influencer, or we're just launching with digital marketing. And they come back three months later and they're like, Shit, we needed PR."— Jennifer Bett"The Power of PR: "We firmly believe that it is the most scalable investment you can make in your brand 100%. Because the stories that are told exist in real time, all the time. It is truly something you can repurpose for paid media. It impacts how hard or easy it is to work with influencers. It makes it much easier when you want to work with other brands for strategic partnerships. It helps with investors."— Melissa ConnerShownotes powered by Castmagic Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokJennifer Meyer - Founder of Jennifer Bett Communications (JBC)Melissa Duren Conner - Co-Founder of Jennifer Bett Communications (JBC)Ramon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Nathan joins Blaine to talk about how to work with manufacturing partners to bring a product to life. They cover lessons from working with over 1000s of factories in several countries, avoiding the biggest pitfalls of manufacturing, building software to streamline the process, moving from CEO to the board, frameworks for building companies, new projects he's excited about, AI and it's application to CX, finding scale, and more.Timestamps:[00:03:01] Bringing a product to life requires many details; choosing the right factory is essential for successful ecommerce.[00:05:59] COVID has prevented travel to Asia, alibaba is pay to play, communication via WeChat, verify factory capacity and history, specs detailed in tech pack, test production run, third party inspection.[00:11:03] Factories typically produce same products in same city; forecasting and transparency important; visit factory to understand how product is made; consider potential defect areas.[00:14:15] Few ask how product costs are determined.[00:16:03] Started in 2016 with flat fee product sourcing, raised seed round, built software, SaaS revenue plus commission on production, saved customers 10% of unit costs, worked with/outgrown by customers, new deal with isba, hired CEO, reinvest in technology/team/customers.[00:20:05] Building relationships with suppliers and expanding sourcing team to source globally for better terms and pricing.[00:23:28] China remains the world's manufacturing hub due to low cost of labor, electricity and nuclear energy. America is providing incentives to bring manufacturing back to the US, but it is difficult to compete with China.[00:26:54] Never be single-sourced; have backup supplier; consider cost and lead time when exploring outside of China.[00:29:38] AI used for faster iteration in marketing and customer service with Caffeinated CX for improved efficiency.[00:32:19] Using AI to increase brand impressions by clipping and reposting ads on YouTube Shorts, TikToks, etc., and looking at blended ROAS for success."Bringing Products to Life: "There's so many nuances to it, even this hat, there's so many different materials that go into a simple hat like this. A lot of people come to us and say, hey, we want to produce a T shirt, right? But there's so many cuts and trims and fabrics that go into a shirt that you really have to dial in exactly what you want."— Nathan Resnick 03:01"Third-Party Inspections: "When you receive product and it's not what you expected, it's a horrible position to be in - so get third-party inspections done, even at the scale of sourceify, we always do them, because it's just insurance for your product."— Nathan Resnick 05:59Shownotes powered by Castmagic Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokNathan Resnick - Founder of SourcifyRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC POD, Ramon & Jenn dive into the ins and outs of content creation. They discuss the categories and pillars of content creation, common mistakes brands make when creating a brief and how to provide specific instructions to avoid frustration. They also cover revisions, the cost of additional assets and how to handle it.Timestamps[00:01:13] California native transitions from healthcare to creating content for CPG brands, using Trend for UGC content.[00:05:17] Filming weddings is unpredictable and requires flexibility and creativity to create beautiful content.[00:14:30] Create brand brief by analyzing content performance and consider environment, lighting, aesthetic, and clothing.[00:18:01] Creative instructions needed for different platforms; content, technical, audio, clothing and lighting details; hook ideas, features, benefits and CTA.[00:21:10] Provide creators with voiceover clips to prevent frustration and save time.[00:25:15] Evaluate content usage, quality, and brand consistency.[00:27:31] Cost depends on level of effort.[00:29:58] Rates for photo assets range from $50 to $200, video assets from $100-$250+, additional fees for props and set design.[00:35:06] Creating content for brands streamlined with Trend, less time spent in pre-production, brands come to creators ready to work.Adaptability in Creative Situations: "I think that was like the best first experience as a creative because I got to kind of just get thrown into the craziest lighting situations, location situations, timeline situations, too. Sometimes you're running from one place to the other. And so I think that's what kind of gave me that foundation to be super flexible, that I can look at any environment and say, okay, I know I'm going to shoot this. I know I'm going to set the lighting. I know how I'm going to put my angles, like, exactly how I want it to look that kind of gave me that foundation to be able to do that."— Jenn Jennings 00:05:17-00:06:22The Power of Content Creation: "It's really what it takes is spending some time understanding what it is that you want as a brand and why. And that is like taking a really hard look at your current content and what's performing. Because sometimes the things that do really well are not things that seem that obvious to someone who maybe doesn't come from a creative background."— Jenn Jennings 00:14:30-00:16:43The Power of Specificity: "I like very specific instructions and I would think most people probably do appreciate that. So I kind of like to have a breakdown of, number one, where's this content going? Is it going to be on TikTok, Instagram? Is it going to be for paid ads?"— Jenn Jennings 00:18:0100:19:52Setting Expectations for Content Creation "The best thing you can do is really share examples of what you're thinking so that they can look at that and say, okay, how long is this going to take me? Do I need to purchase any props? Do I need to travel? What is that going to look like? Because they can then give you a proposal that's going to make sense to them for the level of effort that it's going to take."— Jenn Jennings 00:27:31-00:29:09Streamlining the Content Creation Process: "I want to create, I want to get a product, I want to get a brief, and I want to go execute on that. And so the fact that it is sort of taken out that beginning portion and you guys are basically doing all the pitching for us right at Trend. And I love that."— Jenn Jennings 00:35:06-00:36:52Shownotes powered by Castmagic Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokJenn Jennings - Creative director of Nosh MediaRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC POD, we discuss the key factors that investors look for in a business, such as product excellence, differentiation and the ability to manage capital responsibly. We cover benchmarks for what it takes to be successful at each stage of raising capital for your brand. We discuss the best types of businesses to launch, what VCs look for in a crowded space, and the importance of retail margins and unit economics when launching a business. Timestamps[00:03:58] Networking and pattern recognition in CPG industry vital for success in BD; takes 6 years to know if VC is successful.[00:08:47] Austin is an excellent city for CPG, supportive culture, helpful community, and over a third of portfolio companies are based there.[00:11:11] Portfolio companies doing well; 15x markup, 300%-200% growth, 98% retention rate, 8-9x growth[00:17:24] Investing in pre-revenue businesses requires special conditions such as high retention rate, LTV to CAC ratio, high AOV, and other metrics.[00:23:04] Founders need to manage capital responsibly, focus on break even and not overhire; gaps between funding rounds are getting longer.[00:26:04] Need resources, plan, and know-how to succeed; don't forget freight costs; raise money sooner; treat retailers like laboratories.[00:31:55] Valuations have been compressed, but there are still some companies that can get high valuations if they have strong metrics and a compelling founder. Some companies are being undervalued and some are being overvalued.[00:36:52] Exploring a variety of categories, looking for something special and unique.[00:45:31] Get advice from experts and understand your product's channel and unit economics to find the path of least resistance. VC Investments are Paying Off:"Within 18 months, one of our portfolio companies just had a 15x markup, another is growing 300-200% every year, and Jolie Skincare is doing unbelievable on a monthly basis." — Ryan Springer 11:11Metrics for Pre Revenue Success:"If you're under 20% on retention and customers order twice or more in a year, it's going to be tough for us to get interested. You have to be like a couch that's a little outside of where we would normally invest." — Ryan Springer 21:43Valuation Compression:"We've seen valuation compression. It's definitely real, but it's not the same. We use projections to see whether or not you have a realistic understanding of how the business works, not what weight to value a company. We don't do trailing twelve months either, necessarily."— Ryan Springer 31:57Shownotes powered by www.castmagic.io Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokRyan Springer - Founding partner of MidnightVP & Founder of High Desert Cactus VodkaRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, CMO Julia Perez chats with Blaine about everything related to OmniChannel growth. They talk about the importance of understanding the customer on a deeper level, the attention to detail of the Red Bull team, and the need for solid processes. They also cover topics like content marketing, retail strategy, unified brand messaging, field marketing, positioning, creator briefs, finding ad arbitrages, building new product lines, and more. [00:01:00] Plant-based nutrition company, known for ready-to-drink protein shakes, top 8-allergy free, mission to clean up protein space, transparency and healthier products.[00:04:10] Addressing medical needs and cultural space simultaneously with cool, delicious flavors.[00:07:17] Career journey in beverage, CPG, digital, wellness, and fitness marketing, culminating in successful business exit.[00:12:41] Have a team that understands the brand. Stay focused and understand your customer. Building team and understanding brand, customer, and strengths; focus and not adapting to competitors.[00:21:37] Focus on brand mission, understand customer needs and habits, invest in retail and train sales associates.[00:26:26] Red Bull gear was restricted to Wings team members and education pamphlets were required with every can. Two team members were required on a mission and gifts had to be given with one hand in the pamphlet and one hand in the bottle.[00:34:18] Testing field marketing programs in New York and South Florida.[00:38:38] Switch influencer budget to TikTok for more impressions and reach right customer with right message.[00:43:13] Approved by registered dietitian; empowering consumers; unified messaging.[00:47:49] Innovating new product line, investing in medical marketing and retail, growing subscription base.Building Something from Nothing:"Creating a brand and a personality out of this beautiful water bottle and telling a story"— Julia Perez 00:07:17Team and Understanding Are Paramount:"Right away I'm thinking about the team. It's really all about the team and understanding. It's really important to have someone in the content position who deeply understands the brand and the lifestyle you're trying to convey. Know your strengths as a CMO and build a team that can fill the things you're not so good at. Focus on your own brand and how your customers use it, rather than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole."— Julia Perez 00:12:41Staying Focused on Your Brand:"Going back to staying focused on what your brand is delivering and what your brand's mission and purpose is, because it's really easy to see what other peers are doing in the space that might be more D to C or might be more Amazon, and you might want to try things and test things out. But again, going back to the customer's position is that we are not a deed to C exclusive brand, and nor is that where the majority of our growth is coming from. So while it might be fun to do all these fun D to See tech implementations all the time, it's not necessarily what Owen needs to be doing. So, again, like, staying focused on what's driving your business and not getting distracted with what competitors are doing is key."— Julia Perez 00:21:37Data-Driven Field Marketing:"We're very data driven. We're still a startup, so we're not just going to build out a whole field marketing team and go from there. We have a DTC business, we have an Amazon business. We have so many other focuses we need to focus on. So we're going to be doing testing over time."— Julia Perez 00:34:18Leveraging Nano Influencers on TikTok:"We decided, well, I looked at it. I said, let's just switch all of our influencer budget to TikTok, everything, and let's just spend there and we can get a lot more for our money. And we can work with Nano influencers and have you know, for an example, instead of having three influencers talk about you for the month of February, you could have 30 for the same price and you still have the same number of impressions. Make more impressions."— Julia Perez 00:38:38Shownotes powered by CastmagicPast guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokJulia Perez - CMO of OWYNRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC POD, Pontus joins Blaine to take an in-depth look at the world of ecommerce platforms and the players driving these marketplaces. We discuss the pros and cons of starting a brand, solving for inventory management, distributed sales and more. We also explore the potential of creating a platform-agnostic approach to creator led commerce, existing infrastructure, legacy solutions, opportunities for brands to leverage creator distribution, simplifying collaborations for creators, and more on where the industry is headed.Timestamps[00:02:39] Creator commerce rapidly growing; enablers of starting own brands; marketplace builders and enablers; decentralization, social curation, transparency, financial rewards.[00:07:20] Social-centric commerce enabled through Shopify, dropshipping of modern retail products.[00:11:08] Drop shipping, marketplaces, and curated marketplaces are terms used to describe online retailing.[00:13:35] Pontus started with interest in retail, studied Business and Business of Fashion, then worked in management consulting and start up accelerator incubator, Anther, leading to current project, Offscript.[00:16:06] Started with scrappy ecommerce for influencers, built integrations for ecommerce platforms, focused on working with creators to build marketplaces.[00:21:13] Build marketplace with decentralized user acquisition and existing integration to supply side or brands for network effects; single platform for storefront and marketplace technology for virality.[00:23:07] Marketplace Connectors: connect brands to other ecommerce platforms, such as Miracle and Walmart, or building one platform with checkout powered by Stripe.[00:28:37] Shopify and enablers enabling marketplace and distributed salesforce for creators, brands, and collaborative conversations.[00:35:17] Onboarding relevant brands for creators to sell through multiple creators using a simple app.[00:39:42] Creators with a niche can use their existing traffic to increase their revenue by introducing readers to a curated marketplace.Quotes00:07:20-00:10:19 The Rise of Decentralized, Social-Centric CommerceThe end customer is kind of struggling to say, find the product that someone has recommended and just as you're on to here, you can obviously use affiliate links and then you're directed away. But then that product gets out of stock or the link dies or the tracking has some issues and whatever it might be, So then the insight was like, why can't I just basically buy this product from the person that has inspired me to buy the product?"00:02:39- 00:05:49 Creator CommerceI think that ecommerce has still some innovation to tap into, especially in the west. If you compare to how the behaviors look in east, in the Asia and so on, it's much more catered around kind of individuals curation and trusting other peoples and recommendations and so on.Some Key takeaways from the show:1/ Starting out as a scrappy operation, Off Script has become a sophisticated platform that allows influencers to build their own marketplaces and sell products from brands they already have relationships with. The platform supports many of the world's most prominent ecommerce platforms and makes it easy for entrepreneurs, creators, curators and other communities to sell relevant products. Offscript has a niche focus, allowing them to work closely with creators and build the marketplaces for them. They also have a unique go to market approach to acquiring brands and creators for their platform.2/ Creator commerce is a rapidly growing industry, with enablers such as Pietra helping people to start their own brands. Poosh and Goop have paved the way for creating strong, community-centric ecommerce destinations. In the future, shopping is expected to be more decentralized and social, with shorter conversion funnels so customers can buy products they see on social media platforms quickly. Additionally, creators will likely receive more financial rewards, and customers will be able to find brands that match their values and preferences.Shownotes powered by castmagic---Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokPontus Karlsson - Co-founder and CEO of Off ScriptRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Stefany joins us to dive deep into the world of commerce, content, regulation, and go to market as it pertains to the functional mushroom and psychedelic space. They cover the details of their formula which does not contain psilocybin, the patenting process, tailwinds around psychedelics, promising academic studies, the roadmap towards potential decriminalization, how things are unfolding globally, building infrastructure ahead of regulation, the overlap between the two lines and the distinct differences, brand voice, taking mojo into retail, and much more.[00:02:04] Psychedelic Renaissance spurred by pandemic leading to popularity of functional mushrooms which improve health and immunity.[00:03:34] Stefany found new purpose in career in psychedelics after pandemic hit and previous work in greenhouses in Arctic.[00:06:27] Psychedelics gaining research and attention; legalization uncertain; cautious optimism.[00:08:52] Many creative people using psychedelics to improve health, lifestyle and consumer brands.[00:11:14] Gwella and Mojo created to provide guides and tools for exploring psychedelics and microdosing, and to make it more accessible.[00:14:00] Psychedelics are hallucinogenics such as psilocybin, LSD, DMT, etc. with different strengths and experiences, and can be bred similarly to fruits or vegetables.[00:17:11] Mojo is legal, contains no psilocybin, and includes functional ingredients, nootropics and adaptogens.[00:18:42] Different retail locations require different verbiage depending on consumer understanding. Use of "microdose" versus "brain boosting" may be better suited for different stores.[00:21:17] Patenting formula to protect product from copying; focus on building brand and community to deter copying.[00:28:44] Psychedelics to be used medically, with potential for personal use, to help with mental health; brands to create micro doses for recurring revenue; offshoots like guides, clinicians, clinics, events, retreats to grow with or without legalization.powered by castmagic---Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more. Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokStefany Nieto - Founder & COO of GwellaRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Zawwar joins Blaine & Ramon to talk about the intersection of creators and commerce and how the most successful creator brands are built. We cover brand management at P&G, developing brand strategies, the three types of creator archetypes, how each creator type lends it self to brand creation, aligning products with a creator, how to create buzz around a product, different outlets for creators to monetize, creator owned brands versus endorsements, successful outcomes, where the creator economy is moving, hot takes, predictions for 2023, and more. Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more. Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokZawwar Khan - Founder of Rel BrandsRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Anders and Andy join Blaine & Ramon to discuss the next wave of creators and commerce. They talk about social commerce, creators as a performance channel, innovation happening in the space, what personalized storefronts mean, the opportunity for creators as key brand affiliates, the current funding landscape, when to bootstrap versus raise venture, and more.[00:01:37] Andy and Anders have co-founded companies previously, with experience in building in both the bootstrapping and vc frameworks.[00:03:40] Commerce merchant needs assessed and personalized landing page created with custom features; minimal customer/creator work needed.[00:20:37] Both paths of bootstrapping and fundraising can be beneficial depending on business, market, timing and other factors.[00:23:51] Evaluate exit potential and acquirers to determine future success.[00:26:34] Engage with brand, understand community, incentivize customers and creators, focus on performance, recruit, activate and educate customers and creators, focus on top 5-20%.[00:29:59] Social commerce is affiliate links to product pages and microcommerce experiences, with fully contextualized experiences tailored to traffic source.[00:36:22] Shift to service-based ecommerce, embedding commerce into organic posts, medium shift to AR needed for new social commerce platform.[00:41:54] Merchants define subcategories, hire in-house; ideal customer >$5 million, shareable product, find champion, 300-500 influencers to double down on 10-20.[00:45:02] Merchants build basic landing page and add content from Trend, influencers, creators. Customers and creators select content, upload own content. Merchants recommend doing most of the work. Activation levers to get more success.[00:47:55] Create best mobile video storefronts for marketers to test and find their top customers/creators.  Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more. Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokAndy Cloyd - Co-founder of SuperfiliateAnders Bill - Co-founder of SuperfiliateRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Megan joins Blaine and Ramon to talk about how brands can better leverage consumer insights to validate ideas, develop new products, build more powerful brands, increase revenue and purchases, build better wholistic customer experiences, mitigate risk, find exciting opportunities, build off flagship products, and much more. Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokMegan O'Brien - Founder of Arch InsightsRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Adam joins Blaine to discuss building and formulating products from the ground up. They talk about identifying a problem, coming up with a unique formulation, what you need to take the product to market, navigating restrictions and FDA, positioning yourself to sell in other markets downstream, patents, ingredient licensing, launching Paris Hilton's line, the pros, and cons of working with celebrity talent, navigating managers and other involved parties, leveraging talent for retail distribution, and much more. 35:48 - The Formulation Behind Paris Hilton's Skincare LineLaunching a product line with a celebrity, it's just exciting because you can immediately get an interested consumer. There's instant, recognition of your brand because you're tying it to and someone like Paris, I think you said it earlier, she did a lot of things first. And being a celebrity that wanted her own skincare line yeah, she was one of the first. And the way she wanted to do it was different, I think, than most celebrities. She wanted to own it.40:30 - The Reality of Partnering With Celebrity TalentEspecially when you get into bigger influencers or bigger celebrities. And that's the challenge. Developing a working relationship and a business structure that satisfies everybody. You have to take into consideration maybe not a lot of celebrities understand the difference between royalties and owning a business. Maybe a business manager has never done a deal where there's equity in a company. Maybe they're only used to royalty checks.27:00 - Save These Q's For Your Next BrandYou have to decide your brand position in the market. Are you the cost leader? Are you prestige? How are you going to price it? what is your brand position? What's on the box? What colors are we going to use for not just the logo, but everything to develop the brand feel. Is this going to look clinical, or should we take it the other way and make it look super high end? Like you'd buy in a, blue Mercury or a Sephora? Where are we going to put this? Is it ultimately going to be in a drugstore? Or are we going to sell it in Nordstrom? Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokAdam Xavier - President of XG FormulationsRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated

On this episode of DTC Pod, Jack joins Blaine to talk about how to build a brand in today's landscape. They talk about identifying a problem, bootstrapping, which channels to start on, how to think about capital, working with suppliers, building at the right pace for your business, speeding up cash conversion, subscription & retention from the customer's pov, the importance of unified data, the power of layering brand at the right time, and much more. Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- This episode is brought to you by:OpenStore- Visit https://open.store to get a free, no-obligation offer for your e-commerce business from OpenStore in 24 hours.Recharge- Visit https://rechargepayments.com/dtcpod to see how over 15,000 commerce brands power their subscription