End Hype: Product Entrepreneurship For Impact

Entrepreneurship is an exciting and rewarding career path, but it also requires a great deal of hard work and dedication. In order to succeed, entrepreneurs need to develop certain leadership traits that will help them build and maintain strategic partnerships. These traits include communication, collaboration, trust, flexibility, vision, and resilience.CommunicationCommunication is an essential leadership trait for entrepreneurs. Effective communication skills are key to building and maintaining strong relationships with customers, partners, and other stakeholders. This includes being able to clearly articulate goals, objectives, and expectations and to listen actively to the needs and concerns of others.Getting startedStart a podcastLearn to speakCollaborationCollaboration is also an important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. By working together with partners and stakeholders, entrepreneurs can create more effective solutions and achieve greater success. This requires the ability to build consensus and to understand the perspectives of all parties involved.Collaboration goes beyond managementCollaboration means exchanging ideas and responsibilitiesGetting startedCreate content with someoneJoin a communityMentor someoneHelp plan an eventTrustTrust is another important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. Building trust with partners and stakeholders is essential for successful collaboration and for creating long-term relationships. This includes being honest and transparent and demonstrating a commitment to the partnership.Getting StartedBe reliable.Be consistent.Add value in a clear, measurable way. Make people people moneyFlexibilityFlexibility is also an important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. The ability to adapt to changing conditions and to respond quickly to customer needs is essential for success in the business world. This requires being open to new ideas and approaches and being willing to take risks.Getting StartedLearn PDCAAllocate a portion of time and energy to risky experiments. Learn to execute, analyze, and adjust. Get more comfortable with the unknown and being wrong.VisionVision is another important leadership trait for entrepreneurs. A clear vision of the future is essential for setting goals and creating strategies to achieve them. This requires the ability to think creatively and to identify opportunities for growth and expansion.Getting StartedUnderstand your North Star … the whyCreate a massive goalWork with a coach or mentor. They will ask uncomfortable questions.Communicate with employees and collaborators your shared destinyResilienceResilience is a critical leadership trait for entrepreneurs. The ability to bounce back from challenges and setbacks is essential for success.Nothing ever goes perfectly as planned.Even success can break a business system.Success requires having the mental toughness and determination to stay the course.You will have challengesBusiness success is a partially a game of attrition. Your competition quits.Getting StartedDo Hard Things Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Narek founded The Crowdfunding Formula helping people launch products through platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. From that experience, he developed a prelaunch platform for creators to validate their ideas with customers.We discuss why success requires testing, why entrepreneurs get pricing wrong, and why the best designed products do not always win.Learn Morehttps://prelaunch.com/https://www.narekvardanyan.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/narek-vardanyan/

Stephen Key is the world's leading expert on how to license a product idea and a 2018-2019 AAAS-LemelsonInvention Ambassador. As an independent inventor, he achieved repeat success commercializing products ranging from simple novelty gifts to complex packaging innovations. He is currently the patent strategist for Fishbone Packaging, the environmentally-friendly solution for single-use plastic rings. In 1999, he cofounded inventRight, the coaching program that has taught inventors from more than 65 countries how to harness the power of open innovation and the licensing business model to bring their ideas to market. He is the author of One Simple Idea, Sell Your Ideas With or Without a Patent, Become a Professional Inventor, and Licensing Ideas using LinkedIn. To help creative people become profitable inventors, he has written more than 1,000 articles for Forbes, Inc., and Entrepreneur magazines and published over 900 videos on his popular YouTube channel inventRightTV.LinksPersonal website — https://stephenkey.cominventRight website — https://www.inventright.comYouTube channel — https://www.youtube.com/inventRight/One Simple Idea — https://www.amazon.com/One-Simple-Idea-Revised-Expanded/dp/1522690379LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmkey/Twitter — https://twitter.com/stephenkeymediaForbes —https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenkey/Inc. — https://www.inc.com/author/stephen-keyEntrepreneur — https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/stephen-key

What if you could reach out to the people who add products to their cart but never log in and do not buy? That is only the start of what Retention.com enables e-commerce brands to do.Adam Robinson discusses- Using data to resolve deliverable, emails from web traffic- Growing his company without investment or paid advertising- The value of partnering and collaborating with other SaaS tools Learn more:https://retention.com/

Special edition of End Hype. Callye Keen brings on friend and small business business expert Julie Traxler to co-host.They talk- Using social media to build relationship- Why followers don't always matter- The silly, toxicity of the "bro entrepreneur" attitudeLearn more about SB Pace:https://www.sbpace.com/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bizquik/id1529912942

While running a well-known video editing agency, Ken Okazaki consistently heard from customers about the pain of setting up record content. Go Box Studio was born from those conversations.Ken teaches us about1. How join and participate in communities 2. How to involve customers in development3. Why learning technical skills creates better products... and moreLearn more:Go Box StudioKen Okazaki on IGContent Capitalist Podcast 

Dawn is a perfect case study in the power of developing relationships to launch a product and build a brand. We discuss: - Aligning passion to a mission bigger than you- Participating in community and engaging important conversations- The benefits and levels of pitching to win money, mentors, access, and investors- How partnerships with massive corporations work and how they change your businessLearn more about Dawn and The MOSThttps://www.instagram.com/dawndoesthemost/

Longplay Brands focuses on brands who are in it for the long play. Jess Chan provides expert insights in keeping customers engaged by building relationships with them through email and SMS.Struggling brands are obsessed with lowering customer acquisition costs by a couple of percentage points. Great brands obsess with the entire lifecycle of engaging customers. Learn more:https://www.longplaybrands.com/

Callye Keen talks to the mysterious Wiz of Ecom about the value of attention, building audiences, making money online, how starting an agency leads to launching a successful ecom brand, and why we should all give Twitter a second look.Learn more about Wiz of EcomTwitter: https://twitter.com/wizofecomThe Utopia: https://www.theutopia.io/

Lack of clarity plagues entrepreneurs. End Hype answers any question submitted by listeners. The most common questions people have lack enough focus where answers can have any meaning. How do I grow my business?How do I increase my product sales?What is the best strategy to market a product?These questions are common but general questions can only receive general answers.In this episode, Callye Keen explains a simple framework for getting clarity and asking better questions so you can grow your product business. Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Amazon accounts for almost half of all e-commerce sales. How to you succeed on a massive platform? How do you use the platform to create a brand?Mina Elias is the founder of Trivium Group. Their goal is to be the last Amazon agency you ever hire. Mina uses his experience as a successful brand owner and experience from help 100s of Amazon sellers to tell us the best strategies working today.Learn morehttps://triviumco.com/https://www.instagram.com/theminaelias/https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-elias-52313772/ Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

What if you could create a piece of content so good everyone watches, buys, and shares? Harmon Brothers have created some of the most memorable viral video ads including Squatty Potty and Purple mattresses. Benton breaks down how the philosophy of Harmon Brothers goes beyond creating great videos but focusing on growing customers into unicorns. Learn morehttps://harmonbrothers.com/homeRaising Unicorn Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-unicorns-a-harmon-brothers-podcast/id1462554440?uo=4 Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Ryan Lewendon is a Partner at Giannuzzi Lewendon, a premier boutique law firm that focuses on the representation of privately-held, high-growth consumer products companies.Since 2007, Ryan has focused his practice on helping innovative consumer products entrepreneurs grow their companies by navigating both the day-to-day hurdles and the tent-pole obstacles and opportunities a consumer products company must navigate on its way towards an acquisition.Ryan discusses working with Vitamin Water, Body Armor, and other major brands from inception through acquisition including collaborating with celebrity partners to enable rapid growth.Learn more about RyanGiannuzzi Lewendon - https://gllaw.us/Naturally New York - https://www.naturallynewyork.org/ Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Callye Keen and Alex Fedotoff talk about why some some entrepreneurs succeed against all odds and others crumble with every advantage. The episode covers a range of topics from mindset to action to partnerships.Alex runs a 30 million-dollar e-commerce business and coaches through his group E-commerce Scaling Secrets. Learn more:Program: https://www.ecommercescalingsecrets.com/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexFedotofffInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexfedotofff/ Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Kate James (Digital Commerce Marketing @ Coca-Cola) provides explains breaking through the noise with collaborative limited editions releases and experiences. Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

From selling solar to selling cookies, Bennett Maxwell breaks down his growth in the cookie business. Focusing on business processes allows him to franchise the business scaling from a single operation to selling 120+ locations.Learn more about Dirty Dough Cookies:https://dirtydoughcookies.com/ Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Part of me hopes I am wrong but recessions are inevitable. The US has avoided a true  recession for a long time.In this episode, I share what am I doing and what am I coaching clients to do to thrive I cover ...General StrategiesHaving a Purpose-lead BusinessStaying Relevant with PositioningCapturing Imagination and the conversationDiversifying Sales Channelsand ... a little on the Judo of Market DynamicsThis episode is fast. I want to lay the groundwork for other highly tactical episodes coming to help you build a recession proof E-commerce business Join our Free Discordredbluecollective.com/vslJoin The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Product Research to Validate Winning ProductsYou are in the shower, you got struck by some random idea. You got hit by Zeus's lightning bolt. ... And years of your life are just gone down the drainOR You're gonna be a millionaire.You had a million dollar idea. It's gonna skyrocket to the moon. All of your hopes, your dreams, your desires, your wildest fantasies are about to come true because you have just come up with a winning product idea.Well, probably neither of those things are true, but I wanna step through a very simple process. Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

What would I do if I started from scratch? If I lost everything, I had no money. Find out in this episode  Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Nathan Hirsch and Callye Keen talk through the evolution of business, stacking skills, and the power of outsourcing.EcomBalancehttps://ecombalance.com/Outsource Schoolhttps://www.outsourceschool.com/ Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

You want to launch and grow your product business.You want to have a brand.You want to turn that idea into something that impact your life and community.Maybe you have massive goals, maybe you're just having an obstacle you want to tackle today. Focus and follow what I tell you...In this episode, I have something very special to share. I know this sounds wild, but the technique I use to presale $700 fidget spinners is the same simple technique. I consistently use to sell eight figures of my products to the biggest companies on earth. If you listen to the show regularly, I share the lessons and strategies that I've learned. But the show is short. I try to make topics more entertaining. I bring on guests, we chop it up. But in the end to really teach you how I need to go in depth. We need to communicate. We need to collaborate. We need to ask each other difficult questions to get simple answers. Here's the deal.I, my clients, my partners are taking advantage of new opportunities in sourcing and marketing to build new products and to grow product companies. Without years of engineering experience or millions of followers or some rich uncle showering you with cash. When you click on the link in the notesRedbluecollective.com/movement You can watch the testimonials if you are that skeptical. But look. For any business or product or idea someone has already earned an audience who would want to buy. Why not let them sell. It for you. Instead of posting to social media every 10 minutes, instead of paying the skyrocketing costs of ads, instead of hoping some hot influencer goes viral. You create a legit brand, you sell premium products. And you sell using other people's businesses.Sure. If you listen to the show and join the community, You'll improve your core direct to consumer business. If that's your thing. But I can help position you and your brand to have an army of salespeople, distributors offline, online retailers. This scales. This scales from working with small online brands to wholesale, to partnering with massive corporations companies. Putting you on a platform. For success. I want to protect you from the scammers and gurus selling drop shipping, Amazon automation and marketing gimmicks that we all know don't really get results. I want to share with you the secrets that I've learned in a special private community called The End Hype Movement. We are laser focused on results. Growing your revenue. Membership to the end height movement includes weekly training driven by a roadmap of topics from you. Access to a vetted network of partners. We have product developers, manufacturers, access to capital consultants. And more partners coming. They're all just designed to solve your problems and speed your growth. I've got incredible guest experts, friends coming in sharing disruptive insights. We have a growing vault of training, videos and resources detailing exactly how to execute the specific strategies to grow your business. And yeah, a community of product owners to network and collaborate with on your business. It's pretty simple. I want to share with you what I've learned. I want you to be able to replicate that success. I want to share with you what I've learned over developing and manufacturing, hundreds of products for businesses of all sizes. gave me the opportunity to see how eight and nine figure businesses go from idea to growth, to acquisition. If you want support and advice from somebody with actual experience, this community is where I'm pouring my energy and attention focus is leverage. If I put more of what I do into one place, I can have greater impact. I'll see you on the inside.   Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Austin Larson shares his experience growing an e-commerce business to 8 figures without ads.Learn More about AustinIG: https://www.instagram.com/driven2do/FB: https://www.facebook.com/a.lars24 Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

On this episode, Callye Keen brings Weston Wenner to give real insight to winning in a competitive industry. We talk CBD and snakes.Learn more about WestonCBD: https://any1cbd.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/wildfire_retics/YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNkwPYAFrDVI4HQP2s1MjIQEvolve CPG - Brands for a Better WorldA behind the scenes look at the leaders, brands, and products that are changing the world.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Welcome back to the End Hype podcast.  In episode 112 Callye Keen welcomes back Julie Traxler, co-founder of SB PACE to dispel the myths around followers.  There is a misconception that there is a direct correlation between followers and customers.  That correlation doesn't exist.  10,000 followers does not equate to 10,000 paying customers.  And at the end of the day, that's what you need, paying customers.Paying customers means everything in business.  Followers don't matter.  Listen in as Callye and Julie talk about alternative methods to social media marketing, and why someone who is watching you on social media platforms is more likely to buy from you than someone who is actually following and engaging with you on social media and social networks.And you're more likely to make a purchase during a product launch from someone and then start following them to support a product or service you like than you are to follow someone and then make a purchase.  It's not a straight line from follower to sale.[10:03] Get out of your headYou've created some kind of crazy obstacle and you say if I do these things, then I'm going to be ready to offer something to my audience. I can tell you that you're just adding risk. And you're also building up an audience that doesn't know you're about to offer this thing. It's all in your head. You're complicating the product development process.[10:57] What are you afraid ofHow many people do you think are afraid to move off of social media as the marketing tool for their company because they're uncertain. Either they're afraid of the work effort to go someplace else. Or because they are afraid that maybe they don't actually have something that people want to buy? What if the fear is they will never make revenue, so they don't try?[12:34] Who already has the attention of your audienceIf he wanted to do this through social media, he'd have to create a Facebook page or start polling people, find all the Facebook groups created and start messaging. He'd have to do the whole social media thing from scratch. Now using the simple techniques that I use, we just went to the bike shop. Get in front of where the traffic already is. People in a bike shop, what do you know about them? Right off the bat. They like biking. They have a high intent ratio of purchasing like products.[17:00] Know your customerYou have to go where your actual customer is. I think a lot of people don't know where their customer is though, because they don't know who their customer is. Yes. So we dial it all the way back. And that's why I shared a new benchmarking tool that we're working on.[18:03] Partnerships Then I show them what you could do with B2B, what you can do with partnership deals. And it's this lightbulb moment, “I'm missing this whole other side of my brain”.[19:52] Ideal customerThat is not how things went, it was tons of networking to get in front of people, talk and figure out who our customer is and how we Underdog EmpowermentFrom over 5 years in prison to scaling businesses and rubbing elbows with...Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Evolve CPG - Brands for a Better WorldA behind the scenes look at the leaders, brands, and products that are changing the world.Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Join The End Hype Movementredbluecollective.com/movement

Welcome back to the End Hype podcast.  Today is Part 2 of Product Launch and Brand Breakdown with host Callye Keen.  If you missed part 1, check out episode 110. In today's episode Callye continues the conversation with business coach and operations expert, Julie Traxler of SB PACE, Tim Kincer and Logan Sanburn of Timberwolf Supply Co.In Part 1 we talked about the importance of your business name, the power of telling stories, how to build an audience, and how money doesn't solve problems, it just buys you speed.  In part 2 we talk about leveraging other people's products, why it pays to care more about your audience, brand development, marketing strategy, brand strategy, and speed to market.[00:25] Planning horizonRight now, because you don't have a brand, if it takes you more than a couple of weeks to get a prototype in hand, your idea is too complicated. If you have to invest more than a handful of dollars in it, it's too expensive.[01:25] Develop better productsI come from a product development world. And in that world, we think of everything as prototypes. And what a prototype's job is to reveal and answer questions. It's to reveal the gaps in our knowledge so we can make a better version of it. It's to help develop a solid product roadmap. Maybe improve an existing product.[02:22] Traction productsI have a different strategy I think works for physical products better. We've had clients make millions of dollars in a strategy called traction products. It's a tremendous tool to acquire new customers, clarify your target market, and get wins in the early stages.[03:01] Other people's productsThis is why I like beauty products. I like supplements because there's whole companies that provide white labeling and co-packing for you. You don't have to have an infrastructure business.  You don't need to follow a product development process. You can focus on white label products. You can look across the market for product ideas.[08:59] Care moreWhen you actually care and actually know your audience, it's really easy to step into that role of saying this is what I would want and reasonably assert that other people would want it as well. [14:34] Think fast and scrappyA big mistake that people make is making a walled garden for their business.  They think it's gotta be perfect before releasing it, having a really cool website and an awesome logo. When in reality, for a lot of supplements and supplement companies that are starting, it looks like getting a vile of stuff in a white jar. We need to start thinking fast and scrappy. [17:35] CommunicationCommunication breeds clarity. If you can't communicate your brand, it's very hard to do any type of meaningful marketing or any type of B2B sales.[21:43] Customer acquisitionIn general, acquiring a customer is getting more expensive. So then if you look at your costs and your margins, especially when you're starting, it's a really easy way to lose a lot of money.[24:31]I want you to think about this, how are you going to acquire a customer? Where are they going to buy from you? What's going to capture their attention on that platform? And once you can answer some of those questions, we can back into what you can do.“Businesses are here to make money and a business should be making you money and giving you freedom.” Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Product Launch and Brand Breakdown Live Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Create resilience or prepare for failure. Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Callye Keen sits down with Chalo Hernandez of El Paso, TX.  Chalo and Callye share experiences of growing up in family owned product businesses.  The challenges.  The opportunities, and how that experience has shaped their career paths.Chalo's parents immigrated from Mexico, and started Tortilleria Cuauhtémoc, their food based business with nothing more than a dream and their credit cards.  Now Chalo begins the process of taking over the business that has been in his family since he was eight years old.  Over the past 20 years that business has grown from nothing to 40 employees, six delivery trucks, and over 250 regular accounts. Their products are special because they have no preservatives in them.  There is nothing to extend the shelf life, which makes logistics a key component of their success.  As Chalo moves into that role he created an online store and has set a goal to ship their fresh tortillas and chips to all 50 states before the end of 2022.  [04:16] Family business before all elseIn middle school we would have parent teacher conferences and 99 percent of the time my parents wouldn't be able to attend because of the business. They were grinding it out. I would see my friends go out to the mall and I would call my parents, "hey, can I go with my friends? They are going to go hang out."   And that was just not allowed because I had to work in the family business.  There was always a need for more corn tortillas and flour tortillas.[07:23] No need for a resumeFriends don't understand when I tell them I don't have a resume.  I've never needed one.  I've never been on a job interview or filled out an employment application.  I've never had those experiences, yet I've interviewed lots of people for jobs in our company.  It's always been the family business for me. Even before my formal education was complete, I knew I would be working in a legacy business.[10:00] Employee mindsetPeople will bring the employee mindset into their business.  “I'm going to be my own boss. I'm not going to have to answer to anyone.”  The reality is every employee is your boss. Every customer is your boss. The bank's going to be your boss.  All you've done is sign up for every single person in the world to be your boss. [11:08] How do you sell tortillas?We've built this business without paid ads or an intentional marketing strategy.  The quality of our products and word of mouth have been the biggest factors in growing the business.  It's only recently that we have started focusing more on social media and marketing.  We've grown because we care about our customers and our quality.  We make a thicker tortilla, which makes for a better experience. [14:21] Layering successAs a business, how can you take what's already working and layer new success on top of that?  Subscriptions are one way to layer success.  [22:38] Start with the endStart with the end in mind. Understand what you want the company to grow into.. How do you want it to look?  How many employees?  How many locations?  Start building in that direction or you're going to end up somewhere you don't want to be.  Don't leave it up to chance.  “​​It sounds like magic, but it is a harsh reality. The thing that you want, you couldn't keep it if you got it, because you're not the person that would be able to run with it. Yet.” Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Welcome to End Hype podcast, in episode 106 Callye Keen is sharing some hard truths for entrepreneurs to hear, and they all center around email marketing. If you're a coach or a knowledge worker it's easy to understand the strategy behind growing a list and sending out lead magnet offers. But for product based businesses, an email list strategy can be confusing. It takes more than sending out regular newsletters to your list, and then hitting them with an offer when you have a new product launch. “Email marketing is both a powerful tool and it's an archaic annoyance.”[03:26] Email enhancementEmail is still very powerful, but how, and when can you deploy email to enhance the customer experience and enhance revenue? Let's put this in simple terms. How can we make money with email, make happy customers instead of annoying people? [05:43] The customer journeyHere's the big challenge: create an email that's worth reading, great headline, great hook, great content. It requires effort. It requires creating a customer journey. Most people don't want effort. They want magical thinking. They want silver bullets. They want to be able to slap and smash their product in somebody's face over and over again until they purchase it.[09:54] Lead magnetsIf you can figure out what your customer is trying to do, what their goal is, you can make a cheat sheet, an ebook, a guide that helps them mentally process what they're trying to do. Maybe it's a review. Maybe it's all the different products that they need for their camping trip. Maybe it's everything that they need to cook that perfect first date meal. I don't know what you sell, but you can definitely produce a lead magnet.  [12:18] Strong relationshipsI really like the idea of starting relationships off in a strong way. If I can help somebody achieve what they want to achieve, I can send emails that contain a lead magnet that puts me in the best situation. It also puts me in a really great situation to explain the context and value of that specific product or our product line, and then give them a call to action to purchase it. This improves conversion rates and helps build a successful brand.[14:21] Newsletters are trashDo I enjoy getting newsletters in general? The answer is no. Why do people do it? In theory they are still more effective than nothing. In practice it's because email marketers don't care about your customer. If you're using an email marketing agency, they don't care about your customers. If you use this tactic, you don't care about your customers. Customer feedback and open rates will confirm this.[20:30] Meaningful emailsIf it's supporting something that's important to those people, to your customers, you can fill them with positive energy, with happiness. Something that will motivate them to share it out, to spread your message. It's not going to be a discount. It's not going to be because you hammered them with a newsletter every week. It has to be something that goes to their core values.  Those emails result in customer interaction with your brand. Consumers will share that on Facebook.“​​Your emails. They annoy everyone. They prevent people from purchasing.” Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

When you hear some amazing piece of fortune cookie coaching, does that phrase unlock new thoughts and modes of being or is it BS?Is the opposite equally true? What if the biggest opportunities in life were from thinking the opposite as the trending "truth"? Contrarian Thinking provides exactly this approach.  Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Learn how social selling is changing ecommerce.How will you prepare and take advantage of this growing mega-trend? Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

End Hype host Callye Keen dives into the future of e-commerce, looking at Shopify trends.  It's hard to believe that e-commerce isn't the leading way consumers buy.  Online stores are so prevalent in our lives.  Especially after the past 2 years, with more businesses online.  E-Commerce is on the rise, and Shopify is the platform that most direct to consumer businesses use.  Shopify recently released The Future of Commerce report, and they cover the same topics I cover in group coaching, in my Facebook group, and on this podcast. Today we're going to talk about one of those trends, rising customer acquisition costs. A topic that includes brand messaging, brand strategy, and satisfying the market. “Direct to consumer competition is rising. Advertising costs are skyrocketing across platforms and brand building is helping attract and keep customers.”[01:44]  Brand loyalty and product fit is a necessity Rising acquisition costs are forcing brands to foster long-term relationships with their customers. Actually building real brands. Getting off the addiction to paid ads. As e-commerce grows, as more big brands see e-commerce as their main channel, the competition for eyeballs is fierce. [04:01] Don't blame iOSWe could also try to blame the iOS update and technical reasons for why ads are getting more expensive.  But I'm seeing this kind of cumulative effect because as ads work less, people are spending more to get less. Instead of people leaving the system, they're spending more money.  Ad expense is increasing as its effectiveness decreases.[06:15] Long term strategy over short term gainsIf you think of spending money on ads as a brand positioning exercise at the top of your funnel, in which you continue to nurture a community of customers, you're going to win.[09:17] Measure what mattersYou need to figure out how to measure what's important to you. How many customers do you need to get? What's their average order? How many customers do you need to return? Who's opening up your emails?[10:20] Position yourself for successThe long-term optimal scenario is to not spend any money on ads. Maybe on ads for growth or penetrating a new market, but best case scenario, no ads. Your product sells because people love you. They want what you have. And when you announce that it's coming, it sells out. That's what real product market fit looks like. [12:48] Try a marketplaceShopify suggests using marketplaces as both sales and marketing channels for your ecommerce business. A place where you can list your product and sell it everywhere. Amazon, Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Etsy are great examples. This doesn't have to be your home base of operations. But if you're looking at additional channels to test, if you're looking at new channels to acquire customers, these people own the eyeballs. Marketplaces are an effective marketing strategy. [16:00] DifferentiateIf you want to build a brand it needs to be simple and memorable. Something people can remember so they tell others, but it needs to deeply resonate with who they are. You don't need everyone. The world is big. “Everything works until it doesn't, but the brand will always work. It is an eternal strategy. So you've got to figure out how to speak to somebody. Create differentiation, create a community, curate that community, nurture that community.” Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Finally, an overnight success. Book Your Strategy Callhttp://collabproducts.com/book

Doing more of the wrong things will not become successful with effort.

How do you translate attention into customers into a growing business?Callye Keen and Dylan Cato discuss Altor locks including getting initial funding from Kickstarter, creating innovative, viral products, and moving into adjacent markets.Learn more about Altor:https://altorlocks.com/Watch Bicycle Magazine try to beat the SAF lockhttps://youtu.be/1HvMPh6JBBIWatch Lock Picking Lawyer reviewhttps://youtu.be/ixPFDFp8Cfo

What is a viral product launch?Jamie Grove and a team of friends launched Mini Museum on Kickstarter hoping to raise 10k or 20k. The kickstarter campaign did over a million. The team met while working at ThinkGeek  (acquired by Gamestop for 140mil). Luckily, they knew a bit about product development, manufacturing, and fulfilling large volumes of orders.Learn more about Mini Museumwww.minimuseum.com

Product Businesses are Built DifferentBill Strahan and Callye Keen talk pursuing passion and skills, developing products, and educating customers to introduce innovation.Learn More About Bill Strahanwww.billstrahan.comEPO Trainerhttps://www.armoredfitness.com/Red Blue Collectivehttps://www.redbluecollective.com/Get the Collaborative Growth Blueprinthttps://www.redbluecollective.com/collab

You are your biggest obstacleand the only one who can save youI love and hate this topicI need to speak on mindset issues because more entrepreneurs and ideas fail from inaction than lack of fundsEveryone has a million dollar idea and dreams die every day because people think they arent good enoughI hate this topic because it opens the door to evil, to the bloodsucking gurus and new age specters that plague personal development. They thrive off of mindset talks because if you fail...It isnt their fault. You just didnt believe the right way.Be wary of anyone selling you help without a deliverable.Lets talk imposter syndromeStoryWhen I started helping to design products ...When I started creating products, pitching products, speaking, mentoringRunning incubators, coaching, consulting ... I felt imposter syndromeNow, I ask what is my edge, my specialty instead of "why you"People with less experience and resources are doing what you want and living a life you dream about because you are not taking actionWhy do people think they are imposters?1. They are not sociopaths. Smart people see risks. Human brains evolved to detect the tiger in the grass.2. We are taught the lie of linear growth. Life follows a direct path from point to point. We are taught a system of false causality.3. They have not seen it. If  you want to collapse the time it takes to achieve a thing, get around people who have done it.How does imposter syndrome hold you back?1. Authenticity. Some people are quiet and pretend that stealth mode is strategic. Some people fake it until they make it and let the lies eat them up2. Building the right team. the right people cant help  you when you are pretending to be something you are not. no one can help you until you are taking action3. Pitching the deals deals. You can't play a next level game if you think you are not worthy.

Could the pursuit of your passion lead to a business?Scott Alexander breaks down his story from an interest in building a chair to building the skills that transformed into a growing business creating beautiful wooden bowls.If you are an artist or an artesian contemplating business, this episode covers insider information from a true craftsman. Learn morehttps://alexanderdesigns.us/

When is just an idea valuable? Almost never, but licensing is close.Bringing a product idea to market doesn't always mean spending money on development and marketing. Different forms of partnership allow entrepreneurs to focus on their zone of genius but still launch and grow.Licensing is a different business vehicle to arrive at a similar end. Many listeners requested this topic (which is NOT in my zone) so I invited an experienced friend to join us on the show.Ryan Bricker shares- Why relationships enable business- How his design background give him skills and credibility to open doors- Why licensing may be the right avenue to start a career  (or side hustle) in products.Learn more about Corcicle and the Whiskey Wedgehttps://corkcicle.com/https://corkcicle.com/products/whiskey-wedgeLearn more about Red Blue Collectivehttps://www.redbluecollective.com/Join our free Facebook grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/productsecrets

This is why I could never be an Internet guru.How many coaches do you need to launch a business and get to 100k per year in revenue? None. You don't have to magically learn everything on your own (I sure didn't). You can learn from working, reading, videos, or cheap courses.The real growth comes from applying what you learn ... from transforming information into knowledge into experience.Once you know the pain and problems, you have the context and value for hiring a coach. Instead of hiring a coach try building skills, developing the ability to work on a team, and cultivating a network of people also working to create something.Unless you have experience, revenue, and are ready to grow, do not hire me. Listen to the podcast. Join my free community. DM me and ask questions.Learn more www.redbluecollective.comGet the Collaborative Growth Blueprinthttps://www.redbluecollective.com/collab

Viral growth allows you to fail at an artificial levelThis time of year people waste time wishing. If you are an entrepreneur wishing for instant success, understand that success can crush your business.In this episode, Callye Keen explainsWhy credibility is a better focus than fameWhy revenue is better than chasing fundingWhy sales cannot (and should not) magically solve itselfLearn more on growing your product business with Red Blue CollectiveGet the Collaborative Growth Blueprinthttp://www.redbluecollective.com/collab

Making mistakes go away will not build your brand.Something will go wrong when launching a product or growing a business. What you are doing is new. Why would every little detail be perfect? How could it?Great brands are not built from avoiding every problem.Great brands are built from how they overcome problems.Think of every Kickstarter shipping late from manufacturing and fulfillment issues. The optimism  of entrepreneurs met reality and delays happen. Reputation comes from communicating with customer and navigating through solutions.In this episode, Callye Keen talks about Reputation Management.How can we use social listening to uncover problems?How can we solicit reviews and user generated content?How can we gamify referrals and sharing?How can brands create an authoritative presence and build an iconic brand?Download the Collaborative Growth Blueprintwww.redbluecollective.com/collab

A win is not the end but the starting point of your growth.How do we amplify success?In this episode, Callye Keen breaks down simple actions for the 5th step in the Collaborative Growth Blueprint: Amplify.How do we capture customer information?How do we turn new customers into our own community?How can we learn from each collaboration?How can we get referrals to take this win to another level?How and why do we iterate to grow? Why is iteration better than perfection?Listen to the entire Collaborative Growth Blueprint series to learn how e-commerce brands are growing without costly hack ad campaigns, relentless SPAM emails, pointless social media posts, guessing what products to make, or hoping people care enough to buy.Download the Collaborative Growth Blueprint to follow along with the content and map each action you need to take.www.redbluecollective.com/collabIf you have a product business and are ready to grow, book a call. Slots are always limited.http://www.redbluecollective.com/book

Great Execution is CollaborativeMost entrepreneurs launch a product with a little marketing hype running up to release and spend the majority of time, money, and effort pushing the product sales after release. Most product launches fail.Most businesses fail after successful launches.They do not understand we are in the demand generation business.While executing a collaborative product launch, the audience conversation starts immediately and builds the demand for what we develop.In this episode, Callye Keen breaks down the Execute step (step 4) of the Collaborative Growth Blueprint. Download your blueprint atwww.redbluecollective.com/collab

Pitches fail because the person is unknown and offers too little value.In the past, as a startup mentor, pitching for investment was a constant topic. The right magic slides did not unlock infinite money. Doing the work and getting into the right rooms was always the answer.Funny, doing the work seems to always land us in the right rooms.Currently, as a coach and consultant for product businesses, entrepreneurs have similar questions. How do I get customers to know and trust the brand? How do I get X influencer or thought leader to promote my widget? In this episode, Callye Keen discusses simple actions to get involved in your community and with the people who will change your life and business.The steps are simple but most people will not do the work. They will quit and go back to average tactics.Download the Collaborative Growth Blueprintwww.redbluecollective.com/collab

I see you posting. You are wasting time on trying to get attention.I speak with entrepreneurs every week creating and posting content in the hope of going viral or at least building traction.The whole content strategy is a little more difficult than people want it to be. Most people just give up.Instead of fake fame or clout, focus on building relationships. Use social media to be social.Stop dancing around on TikTok, livestreaming to no one, or posting nonsense in attempts to build followers or an audience. Start intentionally using platforms to develop relationships.This is the 3rd week in the series on collaborative growth. The engage step covers simple daily actions to authentically develop relationships.Download the Collaborative Growth Blueprintwww.redbluecollective.com/collab

Are they potential collaborators or definite parasites?How do you select the people to work with?How do you verify they are worth collaborating with?How do you actual build relationships that could change your life and business?In this series on collaboration, Callye Keen is breaking down the five steps of his Collaborative Growth Blueprint.The first step is to make a list of people important to your hyper-targeted customer. Listen to this episode to hear the pitfalls and tips in selecting these leaders.Download the One Page Collaborative Growth Blueprintwww.redbluecollective.com/collab

All your ad hacks, complex funnels, email lists, and follower growth tactics are distractions holding you back from real growthMost stores do not make significant revenue let alone significant profitYou work hard learning all the strategies and tactics, paying money for ads, posting everywhere to build a following. Putting in the workEntrepreneurs are sold another secret and another hack only to stay on the treadmill.Never really breaking freeE-com is an unbelievable opportunity but getting attention is difficultBreaking through the noise instead of contributing to it requires a different approachToday, I am presenting a blueprint that builds a foundation and provides a true multiplierHere is a simple formula:One customer TIMES one channel TIMES offer = powerful, scalable results for stagnate e-com brandsMake the formula of your business simpleContextIf I offer a glass of water to a man dying of thirst in the desert, I am a heroIf I offer the same glass of water to a man drowning in a pool, I am less than helpfulThe product is the sameI am the sameThe context is differentKnowing your customer reveals the channelWe know who they value, who they listen to, who they consider a thought leader.Why is this important?People are channelsPeople buy from people they know, like, and trust is a lieWord of mouth is free, viral, and an indication of customer satisfactionThought leaders provide authority and accessOver the next episodes, I will break each concept and stepFor today, here is a simple blueprintDreamIt's not about what you know, it's about who you know. Stupid but partially true. If the right relationship guarantees success, why are we not working to make the right relationships inevitable?Write a list of 20 of the right relationships.You should select peopleThese people are important to your customer not random famous people.EngageComment and share their postsPromote their events. Support them.If they write a book, buy, review, and promote. Use social media to invest in building these relationships everyday.If you don't want to support them, cross them off of the list. Simple.OutreachCreate a simple pitch with a clear askMake it easy to say yes.You need to be worth collaborating withWhen you have alignment and clear benefit, you will get yesesExecuteYour collaboration needs to make sense relative to who you are and what resources you have availableGet them on your podcast.Help them sell a program or promote their passion projectCreate limited edition collaboration boxes featuring both of your productsCreate special edition products with branded colors and packagingCreate a completely new product to co-marketAmplifyThis process is iterativeAfter getting a yes, other yeses become easierKeep collaboratingUse simple email captures and Facebook groups to rapidly grow your audience from each launchWe have seen resultsSix-figure sold out launches without a single dollar on adsCreating a 10k email list in days. you will develop products without guessing if people will want them, how to get in front of them, or how much customer acquisition will cost. You are interested in action not in excuses.You know this isn't some get rich quick hack.I have a start to finish program called the Collaborative Launch Blueprint. The blueprint outlines my signature strategy through clear steps, worksheets, and template. Check it out:www.redbluecollective.com/col

Resurrecting a legacy through upcycling and manufacturing watches in America.Vortic watches went from idea to Kickstarter to 7 figure brand but not without challenges. R.T. Custer shares the history, challenges, successes, and the future of Vortic watches.Episode HighlightsEnduring a legal battle with the largest watch company in the worldThe challenge of launching an American-made watch company against foreign competitionUsing a human approach to influencer marketing to gain traction and build a new audience Learn more about R.T. Custer and Vortic Watches:https://vorticwatches.com/