Podcasts about tiktok shop

Amazon's 2026 Big Spring Sale dates are set. Sponsored Brands ads no longer need custom titles/creatives. TikTok Shop sellers react to the new shipping change.   We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's VP of Education and Strategy, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.   Amazon quietly revealed the 2026 Big Spring Sale is back on March 25-31, shown inside Seller Central's Deals/Lightning Deals section, where some products are already being flagged as eligible. Sellers should start planning promos now—locking in Lightning Deals early or lining up Prime Exclusive Discounts ahead of the event. Exclusive: Some TikTok Shop sellers are pulling back as the platform moves to end independent shipping in the U.S. https://www.modernretail.co/operations/exclusive-some-tiktok-shop-sellers-are-pulling-back-as-the-platform-moves-to-end-independent-shipping-in-the-u-s/ This week's strategy shows how to uncover competitors' proven sales-driving keywords using Amazon-confirmed data in Helium 10's Brand Analytics (ABA Top Search Terms), not just estimates from Cerebro. Add competitor ASINs, choose high-spike weeks, and filter for more than 1% conversion share to reveal keywords Amazon verifies are converting. New Feature Alerts: Helium 10's TikTok Ads now adds automation rules for GMV Max so you can auto-add high-performing affiliate videos and remove underperformers (like a “negative match” for low ROAS). There's also a new Creative Insights page to track ad, affiliate, and authorized posts in one place and quickly move winning videos into campaigns. Helium 10's Keyword Tracker got a small facelift, and the Boost button is finally back to red instead of blue. Boost is the feature that checks rankings up to 24 times a day across rotating browsing scenarios to track organic and sponsored position. New section-level shopper engagement insights on Brand Stores (Beta) https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/brand-store-insights-at-section-level-beta/ Join our free live AI workshop on Monday, 8 am PT, to learn how to prep your product/brand images and prompts so AI generates the exact look you want. We'll demo it live using real Project X images and show the before-and-after results. Register free at http://h10.me/aimfeb Bradley will be in Dubai next week at the Worldef Conference, filming case studies and potential podcast interviews with sellers in attendance. If you're there, come say hi and message me on Instagram @SeriousSellersPodcast to get on camera. Event info at http://h10.me/dubai In episode 492 of the AM/PM Podcast and Weekly Buzz, Bradley discusses: 00:00 - Introduction 00:43 - 2026 Amazon Big Spring Sale 02:04 - Amazon Sponsored Brand Update 03:22 - Competitor Keyword Sales 05:17 - TikTok Shop Exodus? 08:01 - TikTok Ads 09:44 - KW Tracker Boost 10:55 - Amazon Brand Store Insights 11:45 - Upcoming Events

TikTok was never meant to replace Amazon or Shopify. And treating it like a checkout channel is the fastest way to MISS OUT on massive opportunity.In this episode, Neil explains the TikTok halo effect, why off-platform conversions matter, how TikTok drives Amazon and Shopify sales, and how operators should measure real eCommerce performance.If you are evaluating TikTok based only on TikTok Shop sales, you are missing the bigger picture. This episode explains what TikTok is actually doing for your business and how to use it correctly before the next wave of adoption hits.

In this episode of Parting Shot, we sit down with the "Powerhouse in Pigtails" herself, Margaret Josephs. While the future of Real Housewives of New Jersey remains a hot topic, Josephs is busy proving she is much more than a reality star. We dive into her "full circle" journey as a licensing expert—from the Macbeth Collection to her new TikTok Shop sensation, Soirée. Josephs also gets transparent about her wellness journey with LifeRX and explains why authenticity has always been her ultimate business strategy. Whether you're a Bravo superfan or a budding entrepreneur, this conversation on the art of the deal is a must-listen. Josephs discusses everything from navigating the "generational trauma" of the RHONJ cast to why she is leaning back into her creative roots to build a massive lifestyle empire. Shop Soirée: https://drinksoiree.com/ Learn more about LifeRX: https://tinyurl.com/mv8yzufs Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow H. Alan Scott: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, I talk about the biggest opportunity you have in 2026: Live Shopping. Learn how to get started selling on platforms like TikTok Shop, Whatnot, and more. I also discuss why I am doubling down on written content and how focusing on execution, not semantics, is critical for success.You'll learn about:Why I believe 100% of your happiness and unhappiness is 100% your faultThe rise of Collectibles as a lifestyle genre alongside music, sports, and fashionWhy blaming politicians or external circumstances has "zero" impact on your ability to win

In this episode I sit down with Ian Page of Bullseye Sellers to uncover the brutal truth about why most TikTok Shop sellers never make it past their first few months. Ian breaks down the exact strategies and mindset shifts that separate the struggling majority from the elite few who are building million-dollar brands on the platform. What You’ll Learn Common Mistakes That Sink Most Tiktok Shop Sellers Smart Strategies Top Sellers Use To Scale Fast Key Metrics And Habits That Make Consistent Millions On TikTok Sponsors SellersSummit.com – The Sellers Summit is the ecommerce conference that I’ve run for […] The post 623: Why 90% of TikTok Shop Sellers Fail & How The Other 10% Make Millions With Ian Page appeared first on MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.

The "Growth at All Costs" era is over. Welcome to the era of Trust and AI Efficiency.In this episode of The Watson Weekly, Rick Watson sits down with Gareth Cummings, CEO of eDesk, to discuss the massive shift in how brands interact with their customers. From pioneering domain-specific language models in 2018 to navigating the rise of TikTok Shop and Agentic Commerce, Gareth shares a masterclass in staying ahead of the tech curve.Gareth Cummings is the CEO of eDesk, an AI-native customer support platform built specifically for e-commerce. With a background in banking and telecom, he brings a unique, data-driven perspective to online retail.In this interview, you'll learn:The Evolution of AI: Why customer skepticism has turned into an expectation for AI-driven support.Surviving the SaaS Slump: How e-commerce brands are pivoting toward profitability and value.TikTok & Authentic Engagement: Why new channels are essential for building brand trust in 2026.The Rise of AI Agents: What happens when AI starts making the purchases for us?Chapters / Timestaps0:00 - Introduction: Meet Gareth Cummings, CEO of eDesk2:15 - Career Evolution: From Banking and Telecom to E-commerce Tech5:40 - The Early Days of AI: Building Language Models in 20189:25 - The Shift in Consumer Mindset: From AI Skepticism to AI Expectation13:10 - Navigating the Modern SaaS Economy: Profitability vs. Growth17:35 - Building Brand Loyalty: Why Trust Outperforms Price21:50 - TikTok Shop and the Power of Authentic Engagement26:15 - Turning Support Data into a Business Strategy Engine30:40 - The Future of Agentic Commerce: When AI Does the Shopping35:20 - Leadership Advice: Embracing the Pace of AI Change38:45 - Closing Thoughts and Where to Follow GarethThe Watson Weekly is sponsored by Rithum. In commerce, timing is everything. That's where Rithum comes in. We help brands and retailers keep every channel connected, so when the moment comes, you're ready to act—launching faster, adapting quicker, and growing smarter. See how your business can grow at rithum.com. that's R-I-T-H-U-M.com#Ecommerce #AI #SaaS #CustomerSupport #TikTokShop #AgenticCommerce #TheWatsonWeekly #WatsonWeeklyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Join host Wendy Liebmann as she sits down with Kelsie Johnston, a retail strategist with a career spanning Macy's, Walmart, Coty, and most recently, TikTok. In this episode of Future Shop, Kelsie breaks down the seismic shift from traditional omnichannel retail to the exploding world of social commerce and the dawn of “Agentic AI.” They discuss why brands and retailers must move beyond transactional selling to build genuine community and trust in an era where algorithms and AI agents will soon curate what we buy.Highlights:From Omnichannel to Agentic: Tracing the evolution of shopping from “buy online, pickup in store” to AI-driven discovery.The TikTok Strategy: Why the platform is less about selling and more about fueling the “trust signals” of the future.Fast vs. Slow: Understanding the modern shopper's desire for friction-free speed or immersive, slow retail experiences.Retailer Advice: Why prioritizing pace and psychological safety is critical for legacy brands trying to survive the next disruption.Send us a textVisit our website for transcripts, links mentioned on this episodes, and video podcasts. Subscribe and rate us with your favorite podcast app!

In this episode, I sit down to talk about how retailers can take advantage of the current "attention world" we live in. I start by discussing the metrics that actually matter for retail, criticizing the industry's addiction to "silly reports" and subjective opinions, like brand lift studies. I argue that we are now in an era of Relevance Warfare and introduce the single most important metric for every retailer: Views Achieved. I dive deep into why your best organic creative is the key to winning with paid media and share my strong conviction that live social shopping, with platforms like Whatnot and TikTok Shop - is a colossal opportunity that too many are ignoring.You'll learn about:The biggest mistake Fortune 500 companies made in the last 20 years.Why brand loyalty is about to become more important than ever with AI.Why you need to shift your mindset from "Social Media" to "Interest Media".How to use your top-performing organic content for "Performance Selling".The profound, often underestimated, value of being on LinkedIn.My thoughts on AI influencers and how they will affect the market.

On this episode we talk Tyler Single Party, Big Game Parties, TikTok Shop, Crypto & More! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TikTok changed fulfillment rules—what does it mean for Amazon MCF? Amazon prices are shifting under tariffs, plus two live workshops to help serious sellers unlock more profit.   We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's Senior Brand Evangelist, Shivali Patel. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level. There has been a scare lately with TikTok's announcement of needing to use TikTok Shipping for FBM, that MCF would no longer be able to be used. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7420180485252861952/ Tariffs starting to bump up product prices, Amazon CEO tells CNBC https://www.reuters.com/business/davos/tariffs-starting-bump-up-product-prices-amazon-ceo-tells-cnbc-2026-01-20/ TikTok Shop eyes Europe with new logistics strategy https://daoinsights.com/news/tiktok-shop-europe/ TikTok Shop Expands With the Launch of Shoppable Posts https://www.lindseygamble.com/blog/tiktok-shop-expands-to-shoppable-photos TikTok Thursday is back with a workshop on the non-negotiable foundations for building a million-dollar TikTok Shop, covering product selection, listing setup, fulfillment margin killers, how TikTok rewards promotion, and a repeatable content plus ads engine. Register here: https://h10.me/tt261 There's also the Keyword Research Masterclass Part 2 showing how to find competitors' converting search terms fast and turn that into better listings and PPC. Register here: https://h10.me/kwmc2 In episode 490 of the AM/PM Podcast and Weekly Buzz, Shivali covers: 00:00 - Introduction 00:45 - MCF Still Allowed? 04:32 - Tariffs Pricing Pressure 07:03 - Refunds and Heat Maps 12:04 - TikTok Europe Upgrade 14:28 - Diamond and Elite Exclusive 15:12 - Shoppable Photos Launch 16:58 - Workshops Next Week  

Creadores Peseteros? Equipo Basura, TikTok Shop y La Mala Calidad

TikTok Shop just tightened the screws on shipping—and a lot of brands are panicking. In this video (recorded January 22, 2026), I break down what TikTok's “Logistics Services” push actually means, what it doesn't mean, and why this is good news for real operators.The headline: TikTok is moving toward being the source of truth for labels + tracking (Amazon-style standards), which helps purge bad actors and clears the field for serious brands. TikTok has already been rolling out shipping policy upgrades (including requiring certain labels—like USPS—to be generated via TikTok Shipping). I'm Jordan West—former BC Ambulance paramedic turned entrepreneur. I've built 8 brands, 2 agencies, a software company, and a restaurant. Today, I help brands win on TikTok Shop and social commerce with systems that scale.In this episode, you'll learn:✅ What “TikTok Shop Logistics Services” really is (the data layer, not “fire your 3PL”)✅ The timeline brands should pay attention to (and how to plan for it)✅ 3 paths forward: label switch, middleware integration, and hybrid FBT✅ Why this change raises the barrier to entry—and helps serious brands win✅ A simple checklist to stay compliant and keep shipping on timeIf you're a serious operator, this is noise—not a threat.

Destaney sits down with Laura Pattison, BTR Media's new VP of Retail Media, to break down what's changing across Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, and beyond and what it takes to build a retail media strategy that actually scales.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

He quit Amazon, then launched One TikTok Shop SKU to 7-figures. Our guest breaks down content systems, creator outreach, FBT, cash flow, and scaling his product into the US.

Takeaways:El crecimiento real empieza por entender los números del negocio, no solo las ventas.El margen neto debe considerar logística, marketing, operaciones y costos ocultos.El live shopping ya no es una tendencia, es un canal activo de venta y comunidad.No necesitas TikTok Shop para hacer live shopping, puedes integrarlo directamente a tu tienda.Las stablecoins como USDC permiten pagos 1 a 1 con el dólar, reduciendo fricción y fees.Aceptar nuevos métodos de pago abre oportunidades para ventas internacionales.La estandarización de catálogos permitirá que productos aparezcan directamente en búsquedas hechas desde plataformas de IA.El ecommerce se está moviendo hacia experiencias más directas, conversacionales y automatizadas.Prepararse para estas infraestructuras hoy es una ventaja competitiva para 2026.Chapters:00:00 - Introducción y contexto del ecommerce en 202603:30 - Enfoque, delegación y crecimiento estratégico07:00 - Importancia de entender los números reales del negocio11:00 - Costos, márgenes y el concepto de “marketing tax”15:00 - Live shopping como canal de venta y comunidad20:00 - Integración de live shopping con Shopify y automatizaciones25:00 - Pagos con stablecoins y oportunidades internacionales31:00 - Reducción de fees y fricción en ecommerce36:00 - Catálogo universal y productos visibles en plataformas de IA41:00 - Cómo prepararse para el futuro del ecommerce Recursos mencionados en este episodio: ✅ Descarga tu checklist BFCM aquí: ed-digital.com/BFCM

Most brands fail on TikTok Shop because they post randomly — creators here, discounts there, no clear signal. TikTok doesn't reward chaos. It rewards alignment.In this video, I break down the TikTok Shop Momentum Framework — a simple system to create predictable growth by running focused “moments” instead of constant posting.You'll learn:What momentum actually means on TikTok ShopThe 5 types of moments brands can run (launch, blitz, restock, pricing, platform campaigns)A 5-point moment checklist to plan campaigns in minutesHow to choose between focused vs open creator participationA repeatable bi-weekly cadence for long-term growthIf you want TikTok Shop to work like clockwork instead of guessing what to post next, this video is for you.===============================

Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupThomas Robinson has helped build full‑funnel growth engines for brands like Tiege Henley and now Breath Death — where he's turning chaotic traction into scalable funnels and converting creator buzz into sustainable growth.For growth leaders scaling DTC with low‑AOV products.In this episode, Thomas breaks down:How YouTube influencer authenticity became a systematic funnel driver (not a one‑hit wonder).Why TikTok Shop is the top strategic revenue channel — and how it boosts Amazon performance.The three‑part funnel framework: Hook → Integration → CTA + cohesive landing page.Why psychographics beat demographics in creative.Omni‑channel retention: SMS, email, DM automations, WhatsApp.Who this is for: D2C marketers scaling early‑growth brands, content and performance teams, founders wrestling with low‑AOV CAC.What to steal:Turn creator moments into evergreen assets for Meta, TikTok, and YouTube.Build landing pages that mirror ad intent (don't lose momentum).Segment email/SMS flows by customer psychographic intent.Timestamps00:00 — Turning creator buzz into scalable growth02:00 — Why Breath Death chose TikTok Shop as a core channel04:00 — Gen Z targeting, nostalgia, and early audience signals06:00 — Learning from Liquid Death's polarizing brand strategy08:00 — Turning influencer moments into evergreen funnels10:00 — Structuring ads with hooks, integrations, and CTAs12:00 — TikTok Shop, Amazon halo effects, and channel synergy14:00 — Affiliate strategy from nano creators to macro partners16:00 — Why YouTube influencers compound better than paid ads18:00 — SEO, Reddit, and authority in AI-driven search20:00 — Scaling low-AOV products on Meta ads22:00 — Psychographics, motivations, and creative archetypes26:00 — Q4 growth, LTV focus, and retention strategy28:00 — Email, SMS, WhatsApp, and DM automation31:00 — Long-term brand storytelling vs direct response34:00 — Personalized landing pages and post-click experienceHashtags#dtcpodcast #dtcbrands #ecommercegrowth #tiktokshop #influencermarketing #creatorcommerce #brandstrategy #performanceads #youtubeinfluencers #affiliatemarketing #consumerbrands #foundermarketing #growthmarketing #directtoconsumer Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

Megan Spencer, better known online as Meg the Creator, is a content creator and mentor who helps introverts and “everyday people” earn real money online without becoming influencers. Through her Anti Influencer Method™, she teaches practical side hustles like Amazon Onsite Commissions (“Amazon reviews”), UGC freelancing, and TikTok Shop so students can build sustainable income streams without relying on follower counts or virality.​ On this episode we talk about: How Megan went from local government and social media management to building a multi–six-figure online business as a creator and mentor.​ The exact early steps of her social media agency: landing first clients on Upwork, charging low retainers, then scaling to $5K/month per client with a niche in holistic doctors.​ How Amazon Onsite Commissions works (horizontal product-review videos on Amazon product pages, no follower minimum) and why it can become “magic money” once you have enough videos live.​ Beginner-friendly UGC platforms (like JoinBrands and Billo), typical starter rates ($50–$80 per video, paid product photos), and how to turn that into recurring brand work.​​ What's inside her Anti Influencer Method™ Skool community: training on Amazon Onsite, UGC, TikTok Shop, freelancing, and a steady stream of brand opportunities for students.​ Top 3 Takeaways You don't need an audience to get paid. Models like Amazon Onsite Commissions and UGC let you piggyback on Amazon's traffic and brand audiences instead of building your own following.​ Start small, then level up. Early UGC jobs might pay $50–$80 per video or $15 for a quick photo set, but they build your portfolio, skills, and confidence—so you can later charge much more.​​ Community and environment matter. Being in a group of people all learning the same skills (and sharing brand deals) accelerates your progress and makes the whole process far less intimidating—especially if you're introverted.​ Notable Quotes “I didn't want to be famous—I just wanted to be paid.”​ “Courses changed my life. That first $997 course led to my first $2,400 client and proved I could make money online.”​ “You have to build what people want, then give them what they need on the back end. That's true for brands and for creators.”​​ Connect with Meg the Creator: Website & resources: megthecreator.com​ Anti Influencer Method™: antiinfluencermethod.com​ Instagram: @megthecreator__​ ✖️✖️✖️✖️

In this webinar, Jordan West breaks down how top e-commerce brands are engineering momentum on TikTok Shop instead of relying on luck, discounts, or random posting.You'll learn how to create intentional growth moments by aligning creators, content, offers, and timing — so the algorithm receives clear signals that lead to scale.This session covers:Why “posting and praying” fails for most brandsHow engineered moments create predictable sales momentumThe Momentum Strategy used by leading DTC brandsContent blitzes, creator activation, and signal-based scalingHow to turn TikTok Shop into a repeatable growth engineThe difference between random virality and designed momentumWhether you're launching on TikTok Shop, scaling a DTC brand, or struggling to convert content into sales, this webinar shows how momentum is built — not hoped for.

In this episode, the VENDO team is joined by Bryan Rangel, Head of Partnerships at Cruva, to break down TikTok Shop growth strategies just in time for BFCM and the holiday season. From creator-led acceleration and affiliate strategies to cold-starting brands and driving halo effects across Amazon and other marketplaces, we share actionable insights to help brands build momentum and scale with confidence. Topics Covered: Halo Impacts (1:30) What performs well on TikTok Shop? (5:00) Affiliates on TikTok Shop (7:50) What is TikTok Affiliate Partner(TAP)?(10:00) What winning TikTok Shop setups look like (12:05) What is "Cold Start" (14:45) What is a healthy mix of sales? (17:35) Success on TikTok Shop: building the infrastructure (22:35) BFCM on TikTok Shop (24:45) Best Practices/Tips & Tricks (27:00) Speakers: Bryan Rangel, Head of Partnerships, Cruva Delaney Del Mundo, VP Account Strategy - Amazon & TikTok Shop, VENDO Want to stay up to date on topics like this? Subscribe to our Amazon & Walmart Growth #podcast for bi-weekly episodes every other Thursday! ➡️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr2VTsj1X3PRZWE97n-tDbA ➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HXz504VRToYzafHcAhzke?si=9d57599ed19e4362 ➡️ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vendo-amazon-walmart-growth-experts/id1512362107

Is there a new universal order for AI e-commerce that excludes Amazon? Set PPC bids based on keyword rank. Will your product soon appear in an Amazon brick-and-mortar superstore? We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's VP of Education and Strategy, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.   Google announces a new protocol to facilitate commerce using AI agents https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/11/google-announces-a-new-protocol-to-facilitate-commerce-using-ai-agents/ Walmart's head of AI reveals the key difference between its shopping deals with Google Gemini and ChatGPT https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-ai-head-reveals-difference-in-gemini-and-chatgpt-shopping-2026-1 New Feature Alert: Helium 10 Ads is testing rank-based bid automation. Elite/Diamond users can auto-adjust bids using Share of Voice metrics when organic or sponsored rank changes, reducing manual checks and optimizing ad spend. TikTok Adds More AI-Powered Tools To Assist TikTok Shop Merchants https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/tiktok-adds-more-ai-powered-tools-to-assist-tiktok-shop-merchants/809789/ Strategy of the Week: Helium 10 Inventory Heatmaps show where FBA inventory and sales are located. They help sellers avoid poor conversion from slow shipping, decide when to reopen listings, and optimize restocks by tracking inventory and sales distribution. Amazon takes on Walmart with new store concept https://www.grocerydive.com/news/amazon-big-box-store-plans-walmart-grocery/809423/ In episode 488 of the AM/PM Podcast and Weekly Buzz, Bradley talks about: 00:00 - Introduction 01:05 - Universal Commerce Protocol 04:21 - Walmart x Gemini 08:54 - Keyword Rank PPC Rules 12:49 - AI TikTok Seller Tools 14:33 - Inventory Heat Maps 17:58 - Amazon Superstore?

In this episode, the VENDO team breaks down Amazon's AI Seller Assistant and how brands can use it to streamline operations and improve performance. We explore the reports and insights it provides, its personalization capabilities, key limitations, and real use cases that show how AI can support smarter, faster decision-making for sellers. Topics Covered: Amazon AI Seller Assistant (2:13) Specific reports and data AI Seller Assistant provides (5:20) Performance Limitations (8:50) Personalization of AI Seller Assistant (10:50) How AI Seller Assistant has helped (12:40) Use cases (17:00) Speakers: Russell Hsu, Director of Analytic, VENDO Delaney Del Mundo, VP Account Strategy - Amazon & TikTok Shop, VENDO Want to stay up to date on topics like this? Subscribe to our Amazon & Walmart Growth #podcast for bi-weekly episodes every other Thursday! ➡️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr2VTsj1X3PRZWE97n-tDbA ➡️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HXz504VRToYzafHcAhzke?si=9d57599ed19e4362 ➡️ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vendo-amazon-walmart-growth-experts/id1512362107

In just 99 seconds, Jordan West explains why TikTok Shop isn't about posting more content, but about building the right offer, leveraging creators at scale, optimizing your shop for conversion, and only boosting what already works. No theory, no fluff — just a proven system real brands are using to grow without burning cash.If you're a brand owner, operator, or marketer trying to win on TikTok Shop in 2026, this is the framework you need to understand.===============================

Amazon's rules changed—and that's good news if you know how to play the new game. We sat down with Neil Twak, co-founder of Voltage Holdings and Cayman Data, to unpack why algorithm shifts have compressed launch windows to roughly 30 days, how structured data now acts like a prompt into Amazon's Cosmo engine, and why intent beats keywords for ranking and profitable growth. Neil makes a clear case for relaunching weak ASINs over reviving old reviews, and he explains how to train the algorithm with PPC while optimizing for tacos, not ACOS.We dig into pricing strategy and brand defensibility in a world of rising fees and policy risk. The winning move is to build in tier two and tier three price bands—$50 to $500—protect at least $12 per-unit profit, target 40 percent ROI, and turn inventory four times a year. That math lets you buy customers aggressively while maintaining healthy margins. Neil also maps a practical channel sequence: capture demand first on Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok Shop, then graduate to Shopify demand creation when your numbers justify the lift. You'll hear why TikTok's GMV Max ads preview Amazon's future, and how display and DSP can send qualified traffic to your DTC store without breaking terms.Data is the moat. Neil pulls back the curtain on Cayman Data's intelligence engine that identifies the small set of customer needs driving most of Amazon's revenue and greenlights product plays that slot into real demand. The big mindset shift: adopt portfolio thinking, validate fast with structured data and lean bundles, then double down only on the SKUs the market proves. If you're stuck in mid six to low seven figures, the unlock is moving from micro-ops to CEO mode—deploy capital faster, tighten cash cycles, and manage by tacos, ROI, and inventory turns.Ready to future-proof your brand and grow profitably on Amazon in 2026? Follow the show, share this episode with a seller who needs it, and leave a quick review with your top insight. Your feedback helps us bring more sharp operators to the mic.Ready to scale your Amazon business? Click here to book a strategy call. https://calendly.com/firingtheman/amazon Support the show

No filters, no fluff, and definitely no 12-step routines. Skincare has never been more confusing (or more aggressive) and in this episode, your favorite celebrity's favorite esthetician, Shani Darden, is giving her unfiltered take on what actually works for good skin… and what's mostly just really good marketing.We talk about why sun damage is still the biggest issue she sees, when lasers can be helpful and when they can actually backfire, how to use retinol correctly on both your face and your body, and what peels really work for scars and pigmentation. We also get into LED masks, overhyped beauty categories, desert-island products, and the easiest ways to make your skin look better fast.Plus, we have some fun talking about the weirdest beauty products she's ever tried and things we've both been influenced to buy on TikTok Shop. It's super educational, super relatable, and very real; basically everything you want when you're trying to take better care of your skin without falling for every new trend.Visit @well.pod for a full list of products mentioned in this episodeThis episode is brought to you by:Go to Hungryroot.com/blonde and use code blonde for 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice.Visit livemomentous.com and use promo code blonde for up to 35% off your first order.Go to YourReformer.com to shop their New Year Sale on now to save.Visit armra.com/WELL or use code WELL to get 30% off your first subscription order. Go to Ritual.com/BLONDE for 40% off your first month.Visit fatty15.com/WELL and use code WELL at checkout for an additional 15% off their Starter Kit.This episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct, or indirect financial interest in products, or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

durée : 00:03:08 - Un monde connecté - par : François Saltiel - Plus de deux ans après l'adoption de la "loi influenceurs" de 2023, un nouveau rapport met en lumière les "angles morts" de la réglementation actuelle, notamment les pratiques de vente dérégulées sur TikTok Shop et la propagation d'idéologies haineuses comme le "masculinisme".

#746 If you're still thinking about Amazon FBA as a keyword game, this episode will completely change how you see selling online! In this episode hosted by Kirsten Tyrrel, Neil Twa returns to break down what “omnichannel” really looks like — and why you shouldn't rush into TikTok Shop, Shopify, Walmart, or retail until your Amazon business is truly incubated and profitable. He shares a three-stage framework (discover, build, optimize) and explains how today's winning sellers think less like “keyword hackers” and more like data scientists — feeding Amazon's AI the right listing data so the engine can match your product to customer intent. Neil also demos how his team uses customer-need driven product research to build SKU pipelines inside proven “nodes,” avoid the low-price commodity trap, and identify higher-margin opportunities — then pairs it all with the capital strategy required to scale without running out of inventory! What we discuss with Neil: + Amazon as an incubation engine + Omnichannel timing matters + Discover, build, optimize framework + Customer need over keywords + AI-driven listing data + SKU depth before scale + IDQ scores and algorithms + High-margin node selection + TikTok halo effect + Capital strategy for scaling Thank you, Neil! Check out Voltage Digital Marketing at VoltageDM.com. Check out Greenlight Caiman Data at CaimanData.com. Use code MillionairesU to get a free copy of Almost Automated Income With FBA — limited to the first 10 people! Follow Neil on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter. To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MillionaireUniversity.com/training⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the landscape of modern publishing, the “isolated author” is a dying breed. To succeed as an indie today, you don't just need a gripping story; you need a community. This past Friday, the Writing Community Chat Show (recently ranked #3 in the UK!) sat down with a man who has mastered this evolution: indie thriller author William Lee.Known for his dark, atmospheric mysteries and a rise on TikTok, William joined us to pull back the curtain on his process, his live streams, and the upcoming release of his second book.From Failing English to Crafting Thrillers.It's a story many of us can relate to: William didn't start out as a bookworm. In fact, he admittedly “badly failed” his mock exams in school. It wasn't until a wake-up call from his father that he dove into creative writing techniques, eventually picking up reading as a hobby after high school.That spark turned into a flame, and eighteen months later, he released his debut, Gone Before the Moon. What started as a “superhero” concept morphed into a gritty, supernatural series when William realized he preferred realistic, high-stakes tension over “red spandex.”The “Secret Sauce” of TikTok Live.While many authors view marketing as a chore, William has turned it into a cornerstone of his brand. He moved away from shouting “buy my book” into the void and instead leaned into the power of TikTok Live.Why it works for him:* The Personal Touch: He wraps orders, signs books, and adds extras like bookmarks and tea bags live on camera.* Royalties: Selling directly through TikTok Shop is often more beneficial for indie authors than the traditional Amazon cut.* Vulnerability: By showing his face and chatting about his day, he sells himself as a person, which naturally leads to people wanting to read his work.Overcoming the “Indie” Hurdles.William was incredibly candid about the struggles of the self-published path, particularly Imposter Syndrome. Even with five-star reviews calling his work “atmospheric” and “un-put-downable,” he admits to worrying if book two will live up to the hype.His advice for those “dragging their feet” on social media? Just start. The community is supportive, and being “consistent” is far more important than being “perfect.”What's Next: The Black Veil Files.Fans of the series won't have to wait long for more. William shared that he has a five-book arc planned for The Black Veil Files, with short stories and a prequel novella also in the works.The next instalment, Dragged into the Maw, is slated for a March or April 2026 release. It promises to keep the supernatural thrills going, featuring a “Negan-esque” villain inspired by The Walking Dead.Watch & Listen.You can watch the full, hour-long interview below to catch William's live reading of the Gone Before the Moon prologue and hear his answers to community questions about his “superhero” inspirations and his “worst fears.”Connect with William Lee:* TikTok: @william_lee_author* Website: williamleebooks.co.ukFor more interviews with the world's best indie and traditionally published authors, subscribe to the Writing Community Chat Show here and on Youtube.Catch it on the go wherever you get your podcasts. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thewccs.substack.com/subscribeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-writing-community-chat-show--5445493/support.

La inteligencia artificial está transformando la forma en que los vendedores de Amazon crean y escalan sus negocios. En este episodio del Serious Sellers Podcast en Español, Artur Espinosa explica cómo herramientas como Nano Banana y Banana Pro permiten generar imágenes profesionales, infografías y palabras clave en segundos, ahorrando tiempo, reduciendo costos y mejorando la calidad de los listings. Además, la conversación aborda la automatización de tareas como hojas de cálculo, planeación de inventario, programación de contenido y sourcing de productos. Artur resalta la importancia de mantenerse actualizado con las tendencias de IA y comparte nuevas oportunidades de crecimiento como TikTok Shop, mostrando cómo los vendedores que adoptan estas herramientas pueden crecer más rápido, trabajar de forma más inteligente y escalar con menos recursos. En el episodio #191 de Serious Sellers Podcast en Español, platicamos de: 00:00 - Introducción y presentación del invitado 02:00 - Impacto de la IA en Amazon 03:00 - Generación de imágenes con Nano Banana 05:00 - Truco de Google Ads sin marca de agua 19:00 - Automatización y hojas de cálculo 22:00 - Investigación de productos más rápida 24:00 - Oportunidad de TikTok Shop 26:30 - Consejos finales y despedida

Amazon just changed how reviews work, dropped new discounted MCF pricing, and AI shopping tools are creating serious tension for brands. These and more buzzing news on this week's episode! We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's Senior Brand Evangelist, Shivali Patel. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level. Amazon changes to review sharing across product variations starting Feb 12 https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-news/articles/QVRWUERLSUtYMERFUiNHNzQzV0JEN0RBN1pQNFFR Multi-Channel Fulfillment 2026 Preferred Pricing https://sellercentral.amazon.com/help/hub/reference/G53QRBEHXR2G5CCT Helium 10's exclusive automatic keyword harvesting lets sellers set-and-forget rules to surface competitor and own-product keywords, saving hours of manual research. Amazon's AI shopping tool sparks backlash from online retailers that didn't want websites scraped https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/06/amazons-ai-shopping-tool-sparks-backlash-from-some-online-retailers.html Walmart Opens Up Ads in Gen AI Shopping Agent Sparky https://www.adweek.com/commerce/walmart-opens-up-ads-in-gen-ai-shopping-agent-sparky/ For our New Feature Alert, Helium 10 combines Cerebro and Magnet into a single, upgraded Cerebro, allowing sellers to run ASIN- and keyword-based research with flexible seed ASIN controls in one place. Track Amazon Business customer patterns with new metrics https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-news/articles/QVRWUERLSUtYMERFUiNHVEg1NVVVOUpNNjY2RllD In episode 486 of the AM/PM Podcast and Weekly Buzz, Shivali discusses: 00:00 - Introduction 00:37 - Reviews Get Decoupled 05:05 - MCF Gets Cheaper 07:39 - Automate Keyword Harvesting 12:56 - AI Shopping Backlash 15:48 - Walmart Opens AI Ads 17:21 - Cerebro Update  20:46 - Track New B2B Metrics

We're kicking off Season 8 of The Playground Podcast with two conversations about changing retail environments. Retail in the toy business has always been dynamic. Howeverthe last 30 years since the launch of eBay and Amazon has seen almost constant evolution. Today, we are at the forefront of yet another development—social shopping.Already established in China, where I got to see this phenomenon in action—and the power of reaching a targeted, responsive audience—it will inevitably gain traction worldwide. Just look at TikTok Shop.To get a better view of the medium and the opportunities fortoymakers, I sat down with Nic Jones of Situaction UK. Nic has been around the toy biz for 30 years, and his company a leader in the current conversation about Social Shopping. Listen in as we explore the medium and the opportunities.

Most brands treat Q1 like a slow season, but it's actually one of the best windows to test new channels while CPMs are down and competition is quieter. In this solo episode, Nik breaks down the smartest growth levers to focus on right now, starting with internal creators: the content “assembly line” that makes every channel faster, cheaper, and more effective. He explains why this role is a force multiplier for paid and organic, how it tightens your creative feedback loop, and why more brands should stop outsourcing everything to agencies. Nik also dives into how to approach YouTube sponsorships and evergreen creator partnerships, why creator integrations can compound over time, and how to think about TikTok Shop, affiliates, and LIVE.  And, what's the most underrated tactic for building “secondary presence?” You may already be doing it. If you're trying to scale beyond Meta and Google (and want to build a stronger middle-of-funnel that drives conversion long after the ad spend) this episode is for you. Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Learn more at advertising.roku.com/limitedsupply. Want more DTC advice? Check out the Limited Supply YouTube page for more insider tips.   Check out the Nik's DTC newsletter: https://bit.ly/3mOUJMJ   And if you're looking for an instant stream of on-demand DTC gold, check out the Limited Supply Slack Channel for Nik's most unfiltered, uncensored thoughts.   Follow Nik: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/mrsharma

Send us a textEric sits down with Megan (Meg the Creator) to talk about her journey from a traditional 9–5 in Southern Virginia to building multiple online income streams—without a massive following.Megan shares how motherhood and a high-risk pregnancy during COVID pushed her to bet on herself, starting with virtual assisting and quickly scaling into consistent income. From there, she explores her pivots into UGC, Amazon Influencer, and TikTok Shop, including the unexpected story of a “messy” dry shampoo video that generated $60,000.They break down what actually works right now—strong hooks, curiosity, volume, and consistency—plus the realities of burnout, parenting, and staying motivated as a creator.In This Episode:Transitioning from 9–5 work to online incomeGetting started with UGC and TikTok ShopBeginner pricing and content volume strategiesAmazon Influencer vs TikTok ShopWhy curiosity drives watch timeStaying consistent as a parentConnect With Meg The Creator:Meg's WebsiteMeg's Facebook GroupMeg's YouTubeThe Podcast Haven Resources:Follow me on YouTube: @podcasthaven - The page is growing!More tips, tools, and resources: The Podcast HavenPlan, Name, and Equip Your Show — All in One Place

What does 2026 hold for indie authors and the publishing industry? I give my thoughts on trends and predictions for the year ahead. In the intro, Quitting the right stuff; how to edit your author business in 2026; Is SubStack Good for Indie Authors?; Business for Authors webinars. If you'd like to join my community and support the show every month, you'll get access to my growing list of Patron videos and audio on all aspects of the author business — for the price of a black coffee (or two) a month. Join us at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn. Joanna Penn writes non-fiction for authors and is an award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author as J.F. Penn. She's also an award-winning podcaster, creative entrepreneur, and international professional speaker. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. (1) More indie authors will sell direct through Shopify, Kickstarter, and local in-person events (2) AI-powered search will start to shift elements of book discoverability (3) The start of Agentic Commerce (4) AI-assisted audiobook narration will go mainstream (5) AI-assisted translation will start to take off beyond the early adopters (6) AI video becomes ubiquitous. ‘Live selling' becomes the next trend in social sales. (7) AI will create, run, and optimise ads without the need for human intervention (8) 1000 True Fans becomes more important than ever You can find all my books as J.F. Penn and Joanna Penn on your favourite online store in all the usual formats, or order from your local library or bookstore. You can also buy direct from me at CreativePennBooks.com and JFPennBooks.com. I'm not really active on social media, but you can always see my photos at Instagram @jfpennauthor. 2026 Trends and Predictions for Indie Authors and Book Publishing (1) More indie authors will sell direct through Shopify, Kickstarter, and local in-person events — and more companies like BookVault will offer even more beautiful physical books and products to support this. This trend will not be a surprise to most of you! Selling direct has been a trend for the last few years, but in 2026, it will continue to grow as a way that independent authors become even more independent. The recent Written Word Media survey from Dec 2025 noted that 30% of authors surveyed are selling direct already and 30% say they plan to start in 2026. Among authors earning over $10,000 per month, roughly half sell direct. In my opinion, selling direct is an advanced author strategy, meaning that you have multiple books and you understand book marketing and have an email list already or some guaranteed way to reach readers. In fact, Kindlepreneur reports that 66% of authors selling direct have more than 5 books, and 46% have more than 10 books. Of course, you can start with the something small, like a table at a local event with a limited number of books for sale, but if you want to consistently sell direct for years to come, you need to consider all the business aspects. Selling direct is not a silver bullet. It's much harder work to sell direct than it is to just upload an ebook to Amazon, whether you choose a Kickstarter campaign, or Shopify/Payhip or other online stores, or regular in-person sales at events/conferences/fairs. You need a business mindset and business practices, for example, you need to pay upfront for setup as well as ongoing management, and bulk printing in some cases. You need to manage taxes and cashflow. You need to be a lot more proactive about marketing, as you won't sell anything if you don't bring readers to your books/products. But selling direct also brings advantages. It sets you apart from the bulk of digital only authors who still only upload ebooks to Amazon, or maybe add a print on demand book, and in an era of AI rapid creation, that number is growing all the time. If you sell direct, you get your customer data and you can reach those customers next time, through your email list. If you don't know who bought your books and don't have a guaranteed way to reach them, you will more easily be disrupted when things change — and they always change eventually. Kindlepreneur notes that “45% of the successful direct selling authors had over 1,000 subscribers on their email lists,” with “a clear, positive correlation between email list size and monthly direct sales income — with authors having an email list of over 15,000 subscribers earning 20X more than authors with email lists under 100 subscribers.” Selling direct means faster money, sometimes the same day or the same week in many cases, or a few weeks after a campaign finishes, as with Kickstarter. And remember, you don't have to sell all your formats directly. You can keep your ebooks in KU, do whatever you like with audiobooks, and just have premium print products direct, or start with a very basic Kickstarter campaign, or a table at a local fair. Lots more tips for Shopify and Kickstarter at https://www.thecreativepenn.com/selldirectresources/ I also recommend the Novel Marketing Podcast on The Shopify Trap: Why authors keep losing money as it is a great counterpoint to my positive endorsement of selling direct on Shopify! Among other things, Thomas notes that a fixed monthly fee for a store doesn't match how most authors make money from books which is more in spikes, the complexity and hassle eats time and can cost more money if you pay for help, and it can reduce sales on Amazon and weaken your ranking. Basically, if you haven't figured out marketing direct to your store, it can hurt you.All true for some authors, for some genres, and for some people's lifestyle. But for authors who don't want to be on the hamster wheel of the Amazon algorithm and who want more diversity and control in income, as well as the incredible creative benefits of what you can do selling direct, then I would say, consider your options in 2025, even if that is trying out a low-financial-goal Kickstarter campaign, or selling some print books at a local fair. Interestingly, traditional publishers are also experimenting with direct sales. Kate Elton, the new CEO of Harper Collins notes in The Bookseller's 2026 trend article, “we are seeing global success with responsive, reader-driven publishing, subscription boxes and TikTok Shop and – crucially – developing strategies that are founded on a comprehensive understanding of the reader.” She also notes, “AI enables us to dramatically change the way we interact with and grow audiences. The opportunities are genuinely exciting – finding new ways to help readers discover books they will love, innovating in the ways we market and reach audiences, building new channels and adapting to new methods of consuming content.” (2) AI-powered search will start to shift elements of book discoverability From LinkedIn's 2026 Big Ideas: “Generative engine optimization (GEO) is set to replace search engine optimization (SEO) as the way brands get discovered in the year ahead. As consumers turn to AI chatbots, agentic workflows and answer engines, appearing prominently in generative outputs will matter more than ranking in search engines.” Google has been rolling out AI Mode with its AI Overviews and is beginning to push it within Google.com itself in some countries, which means the start of a fundamental change in how people discover content online. I first posted about GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) in 2023, and it's going to change how readers find books. For years, we've talked about the long tail of search. Now, with AI-powered search, that tail is getting even longer and more nuanced. AI can understand complex, conversational queries that traditional search engines struggled with. Someone might ask, “What's a good thriller set in a small town with a female protagonist who's a journalist investigating a cold case?” and get highly specific recommendations. This means your book metadata, your website content, and your online presence need to be more detailed and conversational. AI search engines understand context in ways that go far beyond simple keywords. The authors who win in this new landscape will be those who create rich, authentic content about their books and themselves, not just promotional copy. As economist Tyler Cowen has said, “Consider the AIs as part of your audience. Because they are already reading your words and listening to your voice.” We're in the ‘organic' traffic phase right now, where these AI engines are surfacing content for ‘free,' but paid ads are inevitably on the way, and even rumoured to be coming this year to ChatGPT. By the end of 2026, I expect some authors and publishers to be paying for AI traffic, rather than blocking and protesting them. For now, I recommend checking that your author name/s and your books are surfaced when you search on ChatGPT.com as well as Google.com AI Mode (powered by Gemini). You want to make sure your work comes up in some way. I found that Joanna Penn and J.F. Penn searches brought up my Shopify stores, my website, podcast, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even my Patreon page, but did not bring up links to Amazon. If you only have an author presence on Amazon, does it appear in AI search at all? Do you need to improve anything about what the AI search brings up? Traditional publishers are also looking at this, with PublishersWeekly doing webinars on various aspects of AI in early 2026, including sessions on GEO and how book sales are changing, AI agents, and book marketing. In a 2026 predictions article on The Bookseller, the CEO of Bloomsbury Publishing noted, “The boundaries of artificial intelligence will become clearer, enabling publishers to harness its benefits while seeking to safeguard the intellectual property rights of authors, illustrators and publishers.” “AI will be deeply embedded in our workflows, automating tasks such as metadata tagging, freeing teams to focus on creativity and strategy. Challenges will persist. Generative AI threatens traditional web traffic and ad revenue models, making metadata optimisation and SEO critical for visibility as we adjust to this new reality online.” (3) The start of Agentic Commerce AI researches what you want to buy and may even buy on your behalf. Plus, I predict that Amazon does a commerce deal with OpenAI for shopping within ChatGPT by the end of 2026. In September 2025, ChatGPT launched Instant Checkout and the Agentic Commerce Protocol, which will enable bots to buy on websites in the background if authorised by the human with the credit card. VISA is getting on board with this, so is PayPal, with no doubt more payment options to come. In the USA, ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Free users can now buy directly from US Etsy sellers inside the chat interface, with over a million Shopify merchants coming soon. Shopify and OpenAI have also announced a partnership to bring commerce to ChatGPT. I am insanely excited about this as it could represent the first time we have been able to more easily find and surface books in a much more nuanced way than the 7 keywords and 3 categories we have relied on for so long! I've been using ChatGPT for at least the last year to find fiction and non-fiction books as I find the Amazon interface is ‘polluted' by ads. I've discovered fascinating books from authors I've never heard of, most in very long tail areas. For example, Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby, recommended by ChatGPT as I am interested in medical anatomy and anatomical Venuses, and The Macabre by Kosoko Jackson, recommended as I like art history and the supernatural. I don't think I would have found either of these within a nuanced discussion with ChatGPT. Even without these direct purchase integrations, ChatGPT now has Shopping Research, which I have found links directly to my Shopify store when I search for my books specifically. Walmart has partnered with OpenAI to create AI-first shopping experiences, and you have to wonder what Amazon might be doing? In Nov 2025, Amazon signed a “strategic partnership” with OpenAI, and even though it's focused on the technical side of AI, those two companies in a room together might also be working on other plans … I'm calling it for 2026. I think Amazon will sign a commerce agreement with OpenAI sometime before the end of the year. This will enable at least recommendation and shopping links into Amazon stores (presumably using an OpenAI affiliate link), or perhaps even Instant Checkout with ChatGPT for Amazon. It will also enable a new marketing angle, especially if paid ads arrive in ChatGPT, perhaps even integrating with Amazon Ads in some way as part of any possible agreement, since ads are such a good revenue stream for Amazon anyway. The line between discovery, engagement, and purchase is collapsing. Someone could be having a conversation with an AI about what to read next, and within that same conversation, purchase a bookwithout ever leaving the chat interface. This already happens within TikTok and social commerce clearly works for many authors. It's possible that the next development for book discoverability and sales might be within AI chats. This will likely stratify the already fragmented book eco-system even more. Some readers will continue to live only within the Amazon ecosystem and (maybe) use their Rufus chatbot to buy, and others will be much wider in their exploration of how to find and discover books (and other products and services). If you haven't tried it yet, try ChatGPT.com Shopping Research for a book. You can do this on the free tier. Use the drop down in the main chat box and select Shopping Research. It doesn't have to be for your book. It can be any book or product, for example, our microwave died just before Christmas so I used it to find a new one. But do a really nuanced search with multiple requirements. Go far beyond what you would search for on Amazon. In the results, notice that (at the time of writing) it does not generally link to Amazon, but to independent sites and stores. As above, I think this will change by the end of 2026, as some kind of commerce deal with Amazon seems inevitable. (4) AI-assisted audiobook narration will go mainstream I've been talking about AI narration of audiobooks since 2019, and over the years, I've tried various different options. In 2025, the technology reached a level of emotional nuance that made it much easier to create satisfying fiction audio as well as non-fiction. It also super-charges accessibility, making audio available in more languages and more accents than ever before. Of course, human narration remains the gold standard, but the cost makes it prohibitive for many authors, and indeed many small traditional publishers, for all books. If it costs $2000 – $10,000 to create an audiobook, you have to sell a lot to make a profit, and the dominance of subscription models have made it harder to recoup the costs. Famous narrators and voice artists who have an audience may still be worth investing in, as well as premium production, but require an even higher upfront cost and therefore higher sales and streams in return. AI voice/audio models are continuing to improve, and even as this goes out, there are rumours on TechCrunch that OpenAI's new device, designed by Jony Ive who designed the iPhone, will be audio first and OpenAI are improving their voice models even more in preparation for that launch. In 2026, I think AI-narrated audio will go mainstream with far-reaching adoption across publishing and the indie author world in many different languages and accents. This will mean a further stratification of audiobooks, with high quality, high production, high cost human narrated audio for a small percentage of books, and then mass market, affordable AI-narrated audio for the rest. AI-narrated audiobooks will make audio ubiquitous, and just as (almost) every print book has an ebook format, in 2026, they will also have an audio format. I straddle both these worlds, as I am still a human audiobook narrator for my own work. I human-narrated Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition (free audiobook) and The Buried and the Drowned, my short story collection. I also use AI narration for some books. ElevenLabs remains my preferred service and in 2025, I used my J.F. Penn voice clone for Death Valley and also Blood Vintage, while using a male voice for Catacomb. I clearly label my AI-narration in the sales description and also on the cover, which I think is important, although it is not always required by the various services. You can distribute ElevenLabs narrated audiobooks on Spotify, Kobo Writing Life, YouTube, ElevenReader, and of course your own store if you use Shopify with Bookfunnel. There are many other services springing up all the time, so make sure you check the rights you have over the finished audio, as well as where you can sell and distribute the final files. If they are just using ElevenLabs models in the back-end, then why not just do that directly? (Most services will be using someone's model in the back-end, since most companies do not train their own models.) Of course, you can use Amazon's own narration. While Amazon originally launched Audible audiobooks with Virtual Voice (AVV) in November 2023, it was rolled out to more authors and territories in 2025. If your book is eligible, the option to create an audiobook will appear on your KDP dashboard. With just a few clicks, you can create an audiobook from a range of voices and accents, and publish it on Amazon and Audible. However, the files are not yours. They are exclusive to Amazon and you cannot use them on other platforms or sell them direct yourself. But they are also free, so of course, many authors, especially those in KU, will use this option. I have done some for my mum's sweet romance books as Penny Appleton and I will likely use them for my books in translation when the option becomes available. Traditional publishers are experimenting with AI-assisted audiobook narration as well. MacMillan is selling digital audiobooks read by AI directly on their store. PublishersWeekly reports that PRH Audio “has experimented with artificial voice in specific instances, such as entrepreneur Ely Callaway's posthumous memoir The Unconquerable Game,” when an “authorized voice replica” was created for the audiobook. The article also notes that PRH Audio “embrace artificial intelligence across business operations—my entire department [PRH Audio] is using AI for business applications.” And while indie authors can't use AI voices on ACX right now, Audible have over 100 voices available to selected publishing partnerships, as reported by The Guardian with “two options for publishers wishing to make use of the technology: “Audible-managed” production, or “self-service” whereby publishers produce their own audiobooks with the help of Audible's AI technology.” In 2026, it's likely that more traditional publishers — as well as indie authors — will get their backlist into audio with AI narration. (5) AI-assisted translation will start to take off beyond the early adopters Over the years, I've done translation deals with traditional publishers in different languages (German, French, Spanish, Korean, Italian) for some fiction and non-fiction books. But of course, to get these kinds of deals, you have to be proactive about pitching, or work with an agent for foreign rights only, and those are few and far between! There are also lots of languages and territories worldwide, and most deals are for the bigger markets, leaving a LOT of blue water for books in translation, even if you have licensed some of the bigger markets. I did my first partially AI-translated books in 2019 when I used Deepl.com for the first draft and then worked with a German editor to do 3 non-fiction books in German. While the first draft was cheap, the editing was pretty expensive, so I stopped after only doing a couple. I have made the money back now, but it took years. In 2025, AI Translation began to take off with ScribeShadow, GlobeScribe.ai, and more recently, in November 2025, Kindle Translate boosting the number of translated books available. Kindle Translate is (currently) only available to US authors for English into Spanish and also German into English, but in 2026, this will likely roll out to more languages and more authors, making it easier than ever to produce translations for free. Of course, once again, the gold standard is human translation, or at least human-edited translations, but the cost is prohibitive even just for proof-reading, and if there is a cheap or even free option, like Kindle Translate, then of course, authors are going to try it. If the translation gets bad reviews, they can just un-publish. There are many anecdotal stories of indie success in 2025 with AI-translated genre fiction sales (in series) in under-served markets like Italian, French, and Spanish, as well as more mainstream adoption in German. I was around in the Kindle gold-rush days of 2009-2012 and the AI-translation energy right now feels like that. There are hardly any Kindle ebooks in many of these languages compared to how many there are in English, so inevitably, the rush is on to fill the void, especially in genres that are under-served by traditional publishers in those markets. Yes, some of these AI translated books will be ‘AI-slop,' but readers are not stupid. Those books will get bad reviews and thus will sink to the bottom of the store, never to be seen again. The AI translation models are also improving rapidly, and Amazon's Kindle Translate may improve faster than most, for books specifically, since they will be able to get feedback in terms of page reads. Amazon is also a major investor in Anthropic, which makes Claude.ai, widely considered the best quality for creative writing and translation, so it's likely that is used somewhere in the mix. Some traditional publishers are also experimenting with AI-assisted translation, with Harlequin France reportedly using AI translation and human proofreaders, as reported by the European Council of Literary Translators' Associations in December 2025. Academic publisher Taylor and Francis is also using AI for book translation, noting: “Following a program of rigorous testing, Taylor & Francis has announced plans to use AI translation tools to publish books that would otherwise be unavailable to English-language readers, bringing the latest knowledge to a vastly expanded readership.” “Until now, the time and resources required to translate books has meant that the majority remained accessible only to those who could read them in the original language. Books that were translated often only became available after a significant delay. Today, with the development of sophisticated AI translation tools, it has become possible to make these important texts available to a broad readership at speed, without compromising on accuracy.” (6) AI video becomes ubiquitous. ‘Live selling' becomes the next trend in social sales. In 2025, short form AI-generated video became very high quality. OpenAI released Sora 2, and YouTube announced new Shorts creation tools with Veo 3, which you can also use directly within Gemini. There are tons of different AI video apps now, including those within the social media sites themselves. There is more video than ever and it's much easier to create. I am not a fan of short form video! I don't make it and I don't consume it, but I do love making book trailers for my Kickstarter campaigns and for adding to my book pages and using on social media. I made a trailer for The Buried and the Drowned using Midjourney for images and then animation of those images, and Canva to put them together along with ElevenLabs to generate the music. But despite the AI tools getting so much easier to use, you still have to prompt them with exactly what you want. I can't just upload my book and say, “Make a book trailer,” or “Make a short film.” This may change with generative video ads, which are likely to become more common in 2026, as video turns specifically commercial. Video ads may even be generated specifically for the user, with an audience of one, maybe even holding your book in their hands (using something like Cameos on Sora), in the same way that some AI-powered clothing stores do virtual try-ons. This might also up-end the way we discover and buy things, as the AI for eCommerce and Amazon Sellers newsletter says about OpenAI's Sora app, “OpenAI isn't just trying to build a TikTok competitor. They're building a complete reimagining of how we discover and buy things …” “The combination of ChatGPT's research capabilities and Sora's potential for emotional manipulation—I mean, “engagement”—could create something we've never seen before: an AI ecosystem that might eventually guide you through every type of purchase, from the most considered to the most impulsive.” In 2026, there will be A LOT more AI-generated video, but that also leads to the human trend of more live video. While you can use an AI avatar that looks and sounds like you using tools like HeyGen or Synthesia, live video has all the imperfect human elements that make it stand-out, plus the scarcity element which leads to the purchase decision within a countdown period. Live video is nothing new in terms of brand building and content in general, but it seems that live events primarily for direct sales might be a thing in 2026. Kim Kardashian hosted Kimsmas Live in December 2025 with a 45 minute live shopping event with special guests, described as entertainment but designed to be a sales extravaganza. Indie authors are doing a similar thing on TikTok with their books, so this is a trend to watch in 2026, especially if you feel that live selling might fit with your personality and author business goals. It's certainly not for everyone, but I suspect it will suit a different kind of creator to those who prefer ‘no face' video, or no video at all! On other aspects of the human side of social media, Adam Mosseri the CEO of Instagram put a post on Threads called Authenticity after Abundance. He said, “Everything that made creators matter—the ability to be real, to connect, to have a voice that couldn't be faked—is now suddenly accessible to anyone with the right tools.” “Deepfakes are getting better and better. AI is generating photographs and videos indistinguishable from captured media. The feeds are starting to fill up with synthetic everything. And in that world, here's what I think happens.Creators matter more.” It's a long article so just to pick a few things from it: “We like to talk about “AI slop,” but there is a lot of amazing AI content … we are going to start to see more and more realistic AI content.” I've talked to my Patreon Community about this ‘tsunami of excellence' as these tools are just getting better and better and the word ‘slop' can also be applied to purely human output, too. If you think that AI content is ‘worse' than wholly human content, in 2026, you are wrong. It is now very very good, especially in the hands of people who can drive the AI tools. Back to Adam's post: “Authenticity is fast becoming a scarce resource, …The creators who succeed will be those who figure out how to maintain their authenticity [even when it can be simulated] …” “The bar is going to shift from “can you create?” to “can you make something that only you could create?” He talks about how the personal content on Instagram now is: “unpolished; it's blurry photos and shaky videos of people's daily experiences … flattering imagery is cheap to produce and boring to consume. People want content that feels real… Savvy creators are going to lean into explicitly unproduced and unflattering images of themselves. In a world where everything can be perfected, imperfection becomes a signal. Rawness isn't just aesthetic preference anymore—it's proof. It's defensive. A way of saying: this is real because it's imperfect.” While I partially love this, and I really hope it's true, as in I hope we don't need to look good for the camera anymore I would also challenge Adam on this, because pretty much every woman I know on social media has been sent sexual messages, and/or told they are ugly and/or fat when posting anything unflattering. I've certainly had both even for the same content, but I don't expect Adam has been the target for such posting! But I get his point. He goes on:“Labeling content as authentic or AI-generated is only part of the solution though. We, as an industry, are going to need to surface much more context about not only the media on our platforms, but the accounts that are sharing it in order for people to be able to make informed decisions about what to believe. Where is the account? When was it created? What else have they posted?” This is exactly what I've been saying for a while under my double down on being human focus. I use my Instagram @jfpennauthor as evidence of humanity, not as a sales channel. You can do both of course, but increasingly, you need to make sure your accounts at places have longevity and trust, even by the platforms themselves. Adam finishes: “In a world of infinite abundance and infinite doubt, the creators who can maintain trust and signal authenticity—by being real, transparent, and consistent—will stand out.” For other marketing trends for 2026, I recommend publicist Kathleen Schmidt's SubStack which is mostly focused on traditional publishing but still interesting for indies. In her 2026 article, she notes: “We have reached a social media saturation point where going viral can be meaningless and should not be the goal; authenticity and creativity should. She also says, “In-person events are important again,” and, “Social media marketing takes a nosedive… we have reached a saturation point … What publishers must figure out is how to make their social media campaigns stand out. If they remain somewhat uninspired, the money spent on social ads won't convert into book sales.” I think this is part of the rise of live selling as above, which can stand out above more ‘produced' videos. Kathleen also talks about AI usage. “AI can help lighten the burden of publicity and marketing.” “A lot of AI tools are coming to market to lessen the load: they can write pitches, create media lists for you, send pitches for you, and more. I know the industry is grappling with all things AI, but some of these tools are huge time savers and may help a book more than hurt it.” On that note … (7) AI will create, run, and optimise ads without the need for human intervention Many authors will be very happy about this as marketing is often the bane of our author business lives! As I noted in my 2026 goals, I would love to outsource more marketing tasks to AI. I want an “AI book marketing assistant” where I can upload a book and specify a budget and say, ‘Go market this,' then the AI will action the marketing, without me having to cobble together workflows between systems. Of course, it will present plans for me to approve but it will do the work itself on the various platforms and monitor and optimize things for me. I really hope 2026 is the year this becomes possible, because we are on the edge of it already in some areas. Amazon Ads launched a new agentic AI tool in September 2025 that creates professional-quality ads. I've also been working with Claude in Chrome browser to help me analyse my Amazon Ad data and suggest which keywords/products to turn off and what to put more budget into. I'll do a Patreon video on that soon. Meta announced it will enable AI ad creation by the end of 2026 for Facebook and Instagram. For authors who find ad creation overwhelming or time-consuming, this could be a game-changer. Of course, you will still need a budget! (8) 1000 True Fans becomes more important than ever Lots of authors and publishers are moaning about the difficulty of reaching readers in an era of ‘AI slop' but there is no shortage of excellent content created by humans, or humans using AI tools. As ever, our competition is less about other authors, or even authors using AI-assisted creation, we're competing against everything else that jostles for people's attention, and the volume of that is also growing exponentially. I've never been a fan of rapid release, and have said for years that you can't keep up with the pace of the machines. So play a different game. As Kevin Kelly wrote in 2008, If you have 1000 true fans, (also known as super fans), “you can make a living — if you are content to make a living but not a fortune.” [Kevin Kelly was on this show in 2023 talking about Excellent Advice for Living.] Many authors and the publishing industry are stuck in the old model of aiming to sell huge volumes of books at a low profit margin to a massive number of readers, many of them releasing ever faster to try and keep the algorithms moving. But the maths can work for the smaller audience of more invested readers and fans. If you only make $2 profit on an ebook, you need to sell 500 ebooks to make $1000, and then do it again next month. Or you can have a small community like my patreon.com/thecreativepenn where people pay $2 (or more) a month, so even a small revenue per person results in a better outcome over the year, as it is consistent monthly income with no advertising. But what if you could make $20 profit per book? That is entirely possible if you're producing high quality hardbacks on Kickstarter, or bundle deals of audiobooks, or whole series of ebooks. You would only need to sell to 50 people to make $1000. What about $100 profit per sale, which you can do with a small course or live event? You only need 10 people to make $1000, and this in-person focus also amplifies trust and fosters human connection. I've found the intimacy of my live Patreon Office Hours and also my webinars have been rewarding personally, but also financially, and are far more memorable — and potentially transformative — than a pre-recorded video or even another book. From the LinkedIn 2026 Big Ideas article: “In an AI-optimized world, intentional human connection will become the ultimate luxury.” The 1000 True Fans model is about serving a smaller, more personal audience with higher value products (and maybe services if that's your thing). As ever, its about niche and where you fit in the long long long long long tail. It's also about trust. Because there is definitely a shortage of that in so many areas, and as Adam Mosseri of Instagram has said, trust will be increasingly important. Trust takes time to build, but if you focus on serving your audience consistently, and delivering a high quality, and being authentic, this emerges as part of being human. In an echo of what happened when online commerce first took off, we are back to talking about trust. Back in 2010, I read Trust Agents: by Julien Smith and Chris Brogan, which clearly needs a comeback. There was a 10th anniversary edition published in 2020, so that's worth a read/listen. Chris Brogan was also on this show in 2017 when we talked about finding and serving your niche for the long term. That interview is still relevant, here's a quick excerpt, where I have (lightly edited) his response to my question on this topic back in 2017: Jo: The principle of know, like, and trust, why is that still important or perhaps even more important these days? Chris: There are a few things that at play there, Joanna. One is that the same tools that make it so easy for any of us to start and run a business also allow certain elements to decide whether or not they want to do something dubious. And with all new technologies that come, you know, there's nothing unique about these new technologies. In the 1800s, anyone could put anything in a bottle and sell it to you and say, this is gonna cure everything. Cancer — gone. And the bottle could have nothing in. You know, it could be Kool-Aid. And so, the idea of trying to understand what's behind the business though, one beautiful thing that's come is that we can see in much more dimensions who we're dealing with. We can understand better who's the face behind the brand. I really want people to try their best to be a lot clearer on what they stand for or what they say. And I don't really mean a tagline. I mean, humans don't really talk like that. They don't throw some sentence out as often as they can that you remember them for that phrase. But I would say that, we have so many media available to us — the plural of mediums — where we can be more of ourselves. And I think that there's a great opportunity to share the ‘you' behind the scenes, and some people get immediately terrified about this, ‘Ah, the last thing I want is for people to know more about me,' but I think we have such an opportunity. We have such an opportunity to voice our thoughts on something, to talk about the story that goes behind the product. We were all raised on overly produced material, but I think we don't want that anymore. We really want clarity, brevity, simplicity. We want the ability for what we feel is connection and then access. And so I think it's vital that we connect and show people our accessibility, not so that they can pester us with strange questions, but more so that you can say, this person stands with their product and their service and this person believes these things, and I feel something when I hear them and I wanna be part of that.” That's from Chris Brogan's interview here in 2017, and he is still blogging and speaking at writing at ChrisBrogan.com and I'm going to re-listen to the audiobook of Trust Agents again myself as I think it's more relevant than ever. The original quote comes from Bob Burg in his 1994 book, Endless Referrals, “All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust.” That still applies, and absolutely fits with the 1000 True Fans model of aiming to serve a smaller audience. As Kevin Kelly says in 1000 True Fans, “Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum bestseller hits, blockbusters, and celebrity status, you can aim for direct connection with a thousand true fans.” “On your way, no matter how many fans you actually succeed in gaining, you'll be surrounded not by faddish infatuation, but by genuine and true appreciation. It's a much saner destiny to hope for. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.” In 2026, I hope that more authors (including me!) let go of ego goals and vanity metrics like ranking, gross sales (income before you take away costs), subscribers, followers, and likes, and consider important business numbers like profit (which is the money you have after costs like marketing are taken out), as well as number of true fans — and also lifestyle elements like number of weekends off, or days spent enjoying life and not just working! OK, that's my list of trends and predictions for 2026. Let me know what you think in the comments. Do you agree? Am I wrong? What have I missed? The post 2026 Trends And Predictions For Indie Authors And The Book Publishing Industry with Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

TikTok Shop has caused irreparable damage to Kenzie's financial status. Chicago’s best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page. Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101. Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kenzie's TikTok Shop purchases, Brian & Kenzie's Weight Loss Challenge, the 4 F's, and more! Chicago’s best morning radio show now has a podcast! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and remember that the conversation always lives on the Q101 Facebook page. Brian & Kenzie are live every morning from 6a-10a on Q101. Subscribe to our channel HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@Q101 Like Q101 on Facebook HERE: https://www.facebook.com/q101chicago Follow Q101 on Twitter HERE: https://twitter.com/Q101Chicago Follow Q101 on Instagram HERE: https://www.instagram.com/q101chicago/?hl=en Follow Q101 on TikTok HERE: https://www.tiktok.com/@q101chicago?lang=enSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TikTok GMV Max ROI looks amazing on the surface—but it's not a true return on ad spend.In this video, Jordan West breaks down what GMV Max really is, how TikTok Shop attributes sales, and why the ROI number is a blended metric that includes paid ads, organic sales, and creator/affiliate revenue. He explains how TikTok credits all orders for promoted products during a GMV Max campaign—even if the buyer never saw an ad—and why this can make performance look better than it actually is.Jordan also shares practical ways brands can unblend GMV Max, understand what's driving real growth, and avoid scaling based on misleading data. If you're running TikTok Shop ads or managing GMV Max campaigns, this video will help you measure performance correctly and make smarter decisions with your budget.===============================

The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Marta Bowles, Chief Communications Officer and Global Marketing Centers of Excellence at NielsenIQ. This conversation is all about NIQ's latest consumer habits and trends report published Sept 2025. We also cover what to expect in 2026.Follow Marta on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martabowles/Follow NielsenIQ on Linkedin at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nielseniq/posts/?feedView=allConsumer habits report download : https://nielseniq.com/global/en/insights/report/2024/mid-year-consumer-outlook-guide-to-2025/Here's what we asked her : Marta, let's start by understanding what these reports are, when did you release them and what data inputs went into them?Your report says 2026 will be defined by consumer caution—even among financially thriving households. Why do you think this cautious mindset is sticking around, and how should brands respond to this ‘insurance mentality' consumers seem to have?Two-thirds of consumers say brand trust is very important. In a world where ‘less is more,' how can brands earn and maintain that trust—especially when shoppers are cutting back and being more intentional with their purchases?AI is rewriting product discovery, but there's still distrust in AI-driven shopping. How do you see this tension playing out? Will consumers embrace AI as a shopping assistant, or will skepticism slow adoption?You talk about retail media networks and creator commerce as game-changers for visibility. How do you see the balance shifting between traditional retail strategies and these new digital-first approaches in 2026?Historically, shopping started with intent — increasing, platform like TikTok Shop show us that it now begins with inspiration. How is the consumer changing how they shop?Private label is no longer just a trade-down option—it's becoming a first choice. What's driving this shift, and how should national brands rethink their competitive playbook?Your report mentions anti-obesity medications, functional snacking, and commodity volatility as catalysts for change. Which of these trends do you think will have the biggest impact on CPG innovation in 2026—and why?We see a note on consumers to prioritize core expenses over many CPG items own 2026. What does this mean?Marta, with all the uncertainty and change consumers are navigating, what makes you most excited about 2026? And why should brands and retailers see this as a year of opportunity rather than just challenge?CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.comFMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.comSheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/Rhea Raj's Website: http://rhearaj.comLara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.

Amazon may soon let ChatGPT shop on its site. Here's what sellers need to change quickly. Plus USPS shipping updates for TikTok Shop and more in this week's Weekly Buzz.   We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's VP of Education and Strategy, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.   Amazon faces 'leader's dilemma' — fight AI shopping bots or join them https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/24/amazon-faces-a-dilemma-fight-ai-shopping-agents-or-join-them.html TikTok Shop tightens Postal Service shipping options for sellers https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/tiktok-shop-usps-label-requirements-change/806303/ TikTok Shop offers incentives to new sellers, as U.S. uncertainty is finally over https://digiday.com/marketing/tiktok-shop-offers-incentives-to-new-sellers-as-u-s-uncertainty-is-finally-over/ TikTok Shop is offering substantial US incentives again. Start your account now and sign up through Helium 10's special link at http://h10.me/ttstart Amazon Hid FBA Listings Regionally for Two Months https://www.ecommercebytes.com/2025/12/14/amazon-hid-fba-listings-regionally-for-two-months/ The Weekly Buzz has moved to the AM/PM Podcast, while the Serious Sellers Podcast now focuses on real seller and brand stories from Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and Shopify entrepreneurs. We're holding an open casting call! If you've hit meaningful success and want to be featured in the Serious Sellers Podcast, email your story to mhel.d@helium10.com In episode 484 of the AM/PM Podcast and Weekly Buzz, Bradley talks about: 00:00 - Introduction 00:59 - Amazon Vs. AI 03:46 - TikTok Shop USPS Issues 06:28 - TikTok Shop Listing Conversion 08:51 - TikTok Shop Incentives 10:06 - Amazon Hid Listings? 15:06 - Podcast Invite

In this 2025 Wrapped episode, the hosts reflect on a year that laid the foundation for everything that's coming next—delusion, discipline, and decisive action included. From Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance and a new president to TikTok Shop chaos and why Labubu feels like the new NFT, they unpack the culture shifts that defined the year. It's a conversation about believing big, moving strategically, and understanding that some years exist solely to prepare you for what's next. Delusional meets action—and they're not apologizing for it.Follow & stay connected:IG: @thanks4urconcern @berenicediazm @ellaltudorTikTok: @thanks4yourconcern @berenicediazm @ellaltudorYouTube: https://youtube.com/@thanksforyourconcernpod

Learn TikTok Shop promotion in 2026 with content that builds brand awareness, creator and affiliate outreach, GMV Max ad strategy, plus sending TikTok traffic to Amazon.   TikTok Shop isn't an overnight success; it's a brand-building game first. In this session, Bradley sits down with TikTok Shop expert Tamara Žeravljev of Add2Ads to break down what to expect in your first 3–6 months, and why consistency matters more than “going viral.”   You'll learn how to start the right way: build your TikTok profile, test content styles, and use hooks that stop the scroll. Then we get into creator and affiliate strategy. How to choose better partners, set expectations, and keep momentum so you don't disappear from the algorithm.   The conversation then shifts to TikTok Shop advertising, with a clear explanation of GMV Max campaigns and the key factors required to make them successful. Tamara explains why creative volume is critical, how to think about daily budgets, and what to do if you can't spend at the higher end. Finally, they cover how TikTok can still boost your Amazon sales through smart traffic strategies, what the customer experience looks like when you send users to Amazon, and why tracking may be imperfect even when the sales lift is real.   In episode 483 of the AM/PM Podcast, Bradley and Tamara discuss: 00:00 – Introduction 01:05 – Why TikTok Matters More In 2026 02:25 – TikTok Ads Versus Amazon PPC Differences 03:25 – Tamara's TikTok Shop Background And Experience 04:45 – Why TikTok Sales Are Not Instant 06:30 – Start With TikTok Profile Before Shop 08:10 – Video Content Strategy And UGC Basics 10:20 – Build Followers And Brand Trust 12:10 – Affiliate Outreach And Creator Collaboration Tips 14:30 – GMV Max Setup Creatives And Budgets 18:55 – Sending TikTok Traffic To Amazon 22:45 – Reviews Creators Commissions And Tools Q&A

Most side hustles fade fast. A few turn into real businesses.Rich Somers sits down with Nick Fowler to break down how he went from $0 to $50K per month using TikTok Shop, and why this model may be one of the most overlooked opportunities heading into 2026. Instead of chasing virality, Nick explains the systems, discipline, and repetition required to make TikTok Shop work consistently—not just once.The conversation dives into what actually drives conversions on the platform, why most people fail after early traction, and how Nick approached product selection, content volume, and iteration without relying on hype or shortcuts. He shares the mistakes beginners make, the mindset shift required to scale, and why treating this like a real business—not a quick win—is the difference maker.Rich and Nick also unpack where TikTok Shop fits into the broader creator and ecommerce landscape, who this model is not for, and why execution beats creativity every time. From testing and reps to staying focused when results are uneven, this episode breaks down what it really takes to build durable income in a noisy space.This is a clear, practical conversation for anyone curious about modern side hustles—and serious about turning attention into predictable revenue.Join our investor waitlist and stay in the know about our next investor opportunity with Somers Capital: www.somerscapital.com/invest. Want to join our Boutique Hotel Mastermind Community? Book a free strategy call with our team: www.hotelinvesting.com. If you're committed to scaling your personal brand and achieving 7-figure success, it's time to level up with the 7 Figure Creator Mastermind Community. Book your exclusive intro call today at www.the7figurecreator.com and gain access to the strategies that will accelerate your growth.

AllMyLinks.com/BBWBadgirl Main site: LosAngelesBBW.com Email: BellaMartinLA@gmail.com Premium Onlyfans: onlyfans.com/BBWBadgirl or BBWBadgirl.com Free Onlyfans: Onlyfans.com/bbwbadgirlbella The BBWBadgirl podcast where Alan Rickman fangirl and supersize BBW Isabella Martin (LosAngelesBBW.com), discusses sex, life, and sexwork (virtual, escorting, phonesex + BDSM domination etc). She explores kinks, desires and shares her experiences while giving valuable tips to men on topics such as having an affair, fat sex, approaching fat girls, weed & sex, sex toys for men and so much more. For open-minded men who love, lust, and appreciate FAT women. Episode #149: Final Countdown 2025 or how Tiktok shop saved Isabella's life Old Topic: * Isabella's Social Media handles and marketingnon X changes New Topics * Best Bites of the year: Homemade & Restaurant picks. 2025 was Isabella's year of Thai food. * Most Interesting sexwork representation: Companion (movie, Amazon Prime) * Best BDSM: what did and didn't work? Babygirl (movie, HBO) vs Dying for Sex (tv, FX found on Hulu/Disney +) * Recommend: Male content creator: James Sexton @nycdivorceattorney on IG * Using social media to connect more with women via Tiktok: What would the holidays look like without women? * Best movie Moments of the Year * Noteable Television recommends: Adolescence, episode 3 + more *and of course how Isabella was saved in 2025 by TiktokShop Twitter: @BBWBadgirlPOD or @IsabellaBBW or @IsabellaCrush IG: BBWBadgirlPOD Contributions to this podcast's development can be made at cashapp $BBWBadgirlPOD

In this episode, host Travis Chappell and producer Eric swap stories about the strangest, most unconventional ways people are making real money—from TikTok shops to doodle detanglers—and how “weird” ideas can turn into serious income. Travis also opens up about his own nontraditional paths to getting paid, from door-to-door sales to a short-lived modeling side quest. On this episode we talk about: Creators making $40–50K/month purely from TikTok Shop affiliate commissions with no physical products How an eight-figure landscaper turned his experience into “Uber for lawn care” with the GreenPal app Flea market and Facebook Marketplace flippers who drive around, buy underpriced items, and resell them on eBay for five-figure profits on single deals A niche e‑commerce brand built around a single problem: detangling doodle dog hair and scaling it to seven figures Remote “job stacking” and how one guest runs three work‑from‑home jobs for a combined multiple six‑figure salary Travis' own unconventional income streams: podcast sponsorships, coaching days, Facebook Reels payouts, and even a paid modeling gig in college Top 3 Takeaways Weird often wins. The money is frequently in ultra-specific problems—like doodle hair detanglers or lawn-mowing logistics—rather than trendy, crowded ideas. Distribution is a cheat code. Platforms like TikTok Shop, Facebook Reels, and niche apps can turn other people's products and systems into meaningful cash flow if you understand how to drive attention. “Unconventional” is the new normal. Door-to-door sales, stacked remote jobs, arbitrage flipping, and content monetization show there are many viable ways to earn beyond a traditional 9–5. Notable Quotes “He doesn't even have products—it's all affiliate. He just cranks out videos and commissions.” “You can build a seven‑figure business solving one really specific problem… even if it is just tangled doodle hair.” “Almost everything I've done to make money has been the nontraditional route.” ✖️✖️✖️✖️

Hidden listing keywords. An Amazon & TikTok Shop reality show. And a tool that exposes the Amazon influencers hyping your competitors' products. Special edition Weekly Buzz today. Let's go!   We're back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10's VP of Education and Strategy, Bradley Sutton, and Helium 10's Principal Brand Evangelist, Carrie Miller. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, TikTok Shop, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10's newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level. 1️⃣ Listing Builder combines 8 tools into one, integrating keyword research and listing creation so you can find, analyze, and optimize Amazon listings in one place. 2️⃣ Helium 10's Scale Stories YouTube series follows real sellers at different stages, with expert mentors guiding beginners and stuck sellers step by step to grow. 3️⃣ TikTok Product Finder helps sellers discover winning TikTok Shop products using filters like category, price, sales, GMV, affiliates, and influencers. 4️⃣ Helium 10's Chrome extension now supports Amazon Saudi Arabia, letting sellers analyze sales and opportunities in this fast-growing market. 5️⃣ TikTok Hot Videos shows top-performing TikTok Shop videos by keyword, category, and timeframe, helping sellers and influencers replicate high-converting content. 6️⃣ Amazon Influencer Finder helps sellers discover, analyze, and contact Amazon influencers making product videos, making it easy to recruit proven creators for listings. 7️⃣ TikTok Shop Ads tool lets sellers analyze GMV Max ads by platform, product, and video to spot top-performing creatives and improve ROI. 8️⃣ Helium 10 Share of Voice shows how much page-one visibility your brand owns across organic, sponsored, and video placements, revealing true share of shelf beyond rankings. 9️⃣ Keyword Tracker now includes built-in translation, letting sellers instantly understand and analyze foreign-language keywords across global Amazon marketplaces.

Why is your margin getting smaller even when sales look fine? Your revenue is growing, your ads look fine, and orders keep coming in. So why does it feel harder to make money than it used to? This episode explains why margins shrink as platforms mature and how sellers get caught off guard.In this Week in Review, Neil explains how platform maturity removes early incentives, raises costs, and quietly compresses margins long before dashboards turn red.Using TikTok Shop changes, EU policy updates, and platform maturity patterns, we'll hear why margins shrink under the surface and how operators plan ahead. If you depend on one platform, this episode shows what to watch before 2026.

Graham Rigby is the President and CEO of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), the leading trade association for the herbal products industry. With 20 years of experience across startups and industry leadership—including serving as Chief Innovation Officer at Care/of—Graham has helped shape how modern supplement brands navigate regulation, formulation, and go-to-market strategy.In this episode of DTC Pod, Graham shares what it actually takes to launch and scale a supplement brand without getting burned by regulators. He breaks down exactly where the line is between claims that sell and claims that get you in trouble, why so many founders get blindsided by FDA and FTC enforcement, and how to work with contract manufacturers when you're just starting out. Graham also gets into the real opportunity in supplements right now—why clinical trials cost 90% less than they did two decades ago, how AI is changing the formulation game, and why a $70 billion market growing at 6.5% still has plenty of room for new entrants. Plus, his take on the brands that are doing it right, from AG1 to Ritual, and what founders can learn from their playbooks.Episode brought to you by StordInteract with other DTC experts and access our monthly fireside chats with industry leaders on DTC Pod Slack.On this episode of DTC Pod, we cover:1. The evolution and growth of the herbal supplement industry2. Key regulatory milestones: DSHEA, GMPs, and FDA compliance for supplements3. What founders must do to stay compliant when launching a supplement brand4. The distinction between pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, and nutraceuticals5. Marketing, claims, and the importance of substantiation6. Emerging opportunities with clinical trials and claim innovation7. DTC, Amazon, TikTok, and brick-and-mortar distribution channels for wellness brands8. The practicalities and risks of supplement retail (and when to scale beyond DTC)9. Practitioner and non-traditional channels for supplement sales10. How Ingredient AI, Infinite Garden, and other platforms are applying AI to supplements11. Content creators, credentialed doctors, and the new face of trusted health advice12. The role of diagnostics, wearables, and personalization in driving supplement trends13. Growth outlook: Why the supplement market is just getting startedTimestamps00:00 Intro to DTC POD and Graham Rigby02:25 20 years of supplements: Startup vs. regulatory side03:00 The exponential growth of the herbal products market04:44 Regulatory basics: DSHEA, FDA oversight, and GMPs explained07:14 How AHPA helps brands navigate compliance and education08:03 Launching a supplement brand: Key compliance steps and best practices10:00 FDA's post-market regulatory process and founder responsibilities13:04 Supplements vs. pharmaceuticals: Safety, claims, and approvals17:32 Telling stories and using clinical research for marketing claims20:00 What marketers can and cannot say: Health vs. disease claims22:04 Substantiating claims and the importance of compliance for growth24:31 Label vs. online claims: How rules apply to different channels27:02 DTC vs. Amazon, TikTok, and expanding to retail and practitioner channels30:19 The risks and rewards of brick-and-mortar expansion35:14 AI and technology's role in supplement industry efficiency and safety40:47 The rise of content creators and doctors shaping supplement education46:34 Diagnostics, wearables, and the future of personalized wellness51:13 Supplement industry outlook and advice for emerging brands52:25 How to connect with Graham and AHPA, and upcoming founder programsShow notes 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 here.Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internetOlivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplementCastmagic - AI Workspace for ContentFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokGraham Rigby - President & CEO of American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of CastmagicRamon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic

From Project X newbie to a $3M Amazon seller, our guest shares product research, Helium 10 tactics, TikTok Shop commissions, and how she defends her profits from copycats.