Shownotes
Okay I do like to talk, I admit it. Good news is that so does Barry and we spend some real time (long time!) breaking down the evolution of Barry’s business and what went right and what went not so right. Barry let’s it all out there and his candid honesty will help you understand everyone makes mistakes, everyone has their challenges and life still goes on. This is part 1 of 2 with some real perspective from someone who had built up a large ecommerce business and lost it all. Then reinvented it again but smarter and more within his control this time.
Mentioned:
Sponsors:
Gaye’s Million Dollar Arbitrage List
Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect- it does seem to be getting better)
Stephen: [00:00:00] If you’re a subscriber of my e-mail newsletter you would have seen a note from me mentioning that yes I will prep your product for free and I’ve gotten a bunch of questions about that and are like wait wait what do you mean you’ll prep it for free. So
Stephen: [00:00:15] here’s the deal. You know Andy Salomon’s an amazing freedom their sponsor of my show and their courses launching and it’s all new open for a week or two. Just about that and Andy pays me I mean that’s quite frankly if you sign up for his course he pays me. We all know that. I’ve been very clear about that. And to entice you to come through me which doesn’t cost anything additional. We have offered my wife my son and I will prep your first private label product that you develop through his course. Now his course is phenomenal. I’m
Stephen: [00:00:48] in there so you’ll get to see me. You’ll get to consult with me and we can talk about you know what the prep is going to require you’ll send it to our warehouse at our location. We do have a loading dock so that’s going to save you some fees. You don’t have to get a lift gate or any of those things. Your first order up to a thousand units. I am going to qualify it and say you’ve got to do it within six months because I want you to take action.
Stephen: [00:01:09] But here’s the deal. No fees whatever. Know labels bags whatever. That’s your responsibility but outside of that we’ll actually do the work for you. We’ll do a cursory inspection for you and we will absolutely ensure that your product gets there the best way it can. And you know I’m excited about that because I want you to focus on developing a product and then launching it. That’s where the hard work is and that’s where the road is going to help you the most is launching a product don’t worry about packing it up and getting it in there. We can help you with that. And again I’m going to do the first thing for free. How do I make money on it. Well Andy pays me. So I just want to be clear about that and offer that to you. The only way you’re going to get that we are not a prep center.
Stephen: [00:01:53] The only way you’re going to get that is if you joint through my link and it’s on this episode it’ll be on the next couple of episodes. But it’s amazing freedom. Com forward slash momentum and it’s a hyphen. And the word joining the link there. But it’s amazing freedom. Come forward slash momentum with the hyphen join. And if you put that in there you click on that link.
Stephen: [00:02:16] All behind the scenes wizardry will get notified and then to send me a note saying hey I signed up through your link and I want to work with you and your family Steve. First the most success. Everybody
Stephen: [00:02:27] knows that Andy and I have a warehouse 12000 square foot warehouse. So kind of a connected deal anyway but I’m going to do the work myself or my wife and my son. We’re going to do the work for you to get you started off to a phenomenal 2018. It’s only going to last for you know this opening. I’m not going to continue it. And if you have questions send me a note.
Stephen: [00:02:51] You got to do it. You got to take action and this is a chance 2018 to take the money that you made from Q4 and develop a real business a real brand. We’ve all seen those businesses getting sold out and check some of the sites that are selling businesses they’re multiples because they’ve created brand started selling them multiples pretty phenomenal.
Stephen: [00:03:10] And so again the only way you’re going to get that is if you come through my link there’s no extra charge I’m the only one offering it. It’s amazing freedom. Come forward slash momentum hyphen join want to take a chance and thank my other sponsors today two solar labs with scope scope is a phenomenal product men just got done talking about launching a private label product. Well here’s the deal. In order to launch it you need to know the keywords that will work. Scope is a phenomenal tool where you can find the number one number two competitors of the products that you’re launching and find with their keywords are. That’s
Stephen: [00:03:43] the beauty of it. Then you use those. There’s no sense in reinventing the wheel. You use them because they’re already proven. It’s the proof of concept you’re looking for. So it’s a phenomenal tool. So you go to solar lab stock come forward slash scope used to code momentum momentum and you going to save 50 bucks and you going to get some free keywords. OK so that’s what you want to do. So take that take that course from Andy and now all of a sudden you scope. Right. Use those keywords to help launch that product. That’s where the hard work is. And
Stephen: [00:04:14] then again we’ll prep it for you. And I also don’t want to miss. You know Karen from solutions for e-commerce is phenomenal. I just saw somebody else posting it was John Lawson or somebody else posting a recommendation for her because it’s a phenomenal service. We’ve
Stephen: [00:04:30] used it we’ve used it for now a couple of years. And again we pay the same price.
Stephen: [00:04:34] She does pay me again. We all know that she’s a sponsor of the show but I wouldn’t be recommending her if I didn’t use the services and it’s been a phenomenal service. So if you go to solutions for e-commerce the number for e-commerce dotcom forward slash momentum. You’re going to save 50 dollars a month. Yep. Fifty dollars per month no extra cost and she’s going to do that inventory health report for you were use her for cinema. So back to this private label you’re going to launch a new product will you need to get your listings created. Well that’s what Karen specializes in. So she’ll help you get those listing credit you got variations even better. And what’s very cool is she’s now into Shopify. She can help you with eBay you know launching it out on eBay. It’s just really been a phenomenal service for us.
Stephen: [00:05:18] So again you go to solutions for e-commerce dotcom forward slash momentum save the 50 dollars. Get that inventory Health Report. Start out 2018 with all three sponsors. You know Andy Slamdance corps get in there and get started with the private label product. Use solar labs to help you launch that product right with those keywords using scope and then have Charron manage your account. It’s a phenomenal set of tools.
Stephen: [00:05:45] You’re going to see me in all those groups because we use all those services. Let’s get into the podcast.
Cool voice guy: [00:05:51] Welcome to the e-commerce momentum podcast where we focus on the people the products and the process of e-commerce selling today. Here’s your host Stephen Peterson.
Stephen: [00:06:04] Come back to the e-commerce in a podcast. This is episode 267.
Stephen: [00:06:09] Barry mark or Barry Treebeard as we all know him. This is really kind of different for me. This is I broke this up into two episodes and that was kind of plan. We originally talked about going 3 and it does go a little long special the second episode. But I think it’s a perfect perfect episode series for the beginning of a new year. It’s a new year it’s a new slate. Right. Your taxes will get filed unless you extend them like I did and buy them way at the end but you’ll get there there. It’s a new year to kind of start over again your accounts start over the Amazon clock starts over the eBay clock starts over new tax year as I said. So this is a chance to redo rethink and reorganize. And I think Barry’s a great example of what the potential is.
Stephen: [00:07:03] And Barry’s not done reinventing himself. You’ll hear that in our Talk Talks plural but it’s not all rainbows and unicorns and berries here to tell you that. But you know he created an incredible business before it was. And I think it’s really important to understand that and I think it’s a great time of year to do that. So let’s get into the podcast. All
Stephen: [00:07:29] right welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast very excited about today’s guest because we’re going to do it a little different than what we normally do. And when I’ve asked this person to come on it’s to help inspire to help. To help you realize that things don’t always work out. Things get complicated. Life happens things outside of your control. Things are going to change. Like right now Amazon’s evolving faster than ever. And yet if you persevere you can get through it and come out on the other and probably stronger. I going ask that that’s probably going to be my first question. Barry mark or as we all know him Barry Treebeard. Welcome
Stephen: [00:08:10] Barry. I’m doing really well. Is it true that no matter what happens now I don’t know. I guess maybe that’s too general but you do come out stronger.
Barry: [00:08:23] Oh yes definitely.
Stephen: [00:08:25] You think so. I mean I you know maybe there’s some some circumstances where it doesn’t happen but at least if nothing else you’re smarter. Right. You you’ve seen it and so you could you could you know see it again and start to recognize it.
Barry: [00:08:38] Well maybe yes you may. Unlike the proverbial economists on the one hand on the other hand. So on the one hand you learn a lot you learn a lot of mistakes not to make second time or third time around. On the other hand you might be gun shy and risks that maybe in the past you would have taken you don’t take and it’s hard to tell hindsight. But maybe it has struck gold but taking those risks and which are you. Oh it’s me. I see both sides of every action. Yes. You’re saying more and more guns wasn’t.
Stephen: [00:09:15] OK. OK. I get it. Well that also comes with wisdom to back then risk risk was relative right. I mean it’s like yeah I might break something but jeez it’ll heal. Now you break something it’s like OK I’m going have to have a replacement. Sure. Well I’ll show you some of your turns. You’re an old dude you’re so old your soul could be like a stand up routine. Because this is funny but it’s true and I think it gives some perspective. So let’s start out.
Barry: [00:09:46] I’m so old that I’m so old that I used the image that was called the darker net.
Stephen: [00:09:54] Is that really the dark Banat. So this is the way I understood it the Internet. Internet Internet was started by colleges right it was a way for them to communicate is that correct.
Barry: [00:10:06] Sort of that was the second phase the first phase was in the 60s. The government can’t do anything right. It was try to devise a way with think tanks and an agency called the defense. I can remember was called back and and he wanted a way to maintain communications in the event of a nuclear war. Because the way everything was set up with AT&T in the olden days it was old almost like point to point. You had a trunk line from New York to California to Chicago. And the Internet was the amazing thing that people came up with was that you could cut off drastically cut off many parts of it and it would self heal and reroute itself. Initially it was done for that way and then they used it for research. Like you said select colleges because many companies couldn’t afford the huge expense of setting up the giant you know slow speed party line almost. So universities like research universities became members to share data.
Stephen: [00:11:19] And because I remember I actually do remember some of the heavy you know if you wanted really good internet usage you had to go to a university to use it. I mean it was in my lifetime too. I remember that.
Barry: [00:11:31] And remember when you couldn’t do a commercial usage of the Internet because of the non-profit status of the universities. I don’t know it was like a social thing. It was users of the Internet frowned on it and it was a happening in Arizona immigration attorney that advertised or or Perotti themselves on the Internet and it was like there was shame for a little while than ever and after a short time said Oh who cares if it’s appropriate for commerce. Could
Stephen: [00:12:02] you imagine those people now looking where we are with the you know just just to your cell phone. How much technology’s in that cell phone. Right. And you know just thinking you know because we all supposed to have flying cars but so much of what they thought really has come true.
Barry: [00:12:19] Oh it’s amazing. And you just remind me of how our jury rigged the Internet was when it became commercial. There was a you know there are 12 or so nodes where everything is swished on trafficker’s which know one man in the air. It was important that he was either no with DNS which is the master at his book is suspicious it was one note that one of the pioneers ran it and was kept in his apartment the computer. That’s it. And that one day he had emergency surgery. And then after that they figured that we better make it into a real robust system.
Stephen: [00:13:00] Is probably not a good place to keep in this dude’s kitchen or what have you.
Stephen: [00:13:05] You’re so old that you remember computer class in seventh grade.
Barry: [00:13:13] Yes it was a required was required six months of basic programming. It was literally basic programming and we programmed by writing a program is on paper tape through or through teletype machines. I
Stephen: [00:13:27] don’t think most people would understand what a teletype machine is and do your best to explain it because I remember them we had them.
Barry: [00:13:35] It’s hard to explain. It’s basically it’s like almost like a communal computer or a computer as typeset as a typewriter that was connected to a communication line to in this case digital will be called the PDP 10.
Stephen: [00:13:50] I think and it would put holes in paper correct. And certain places and that meant something.
Barry: [00:13:58] Basically we had paper tape and then next year it was still active. We ran out punch cards with the basic theory was computer time was so expensive and the computer could work so much faster than a human could. So if you sat typing in one letter at a time the complete waste of time. And it also you couldn’t have a class of 25 people working so basically it all your work. And then you just shoved it up the computer and said Here it is.
Stephen: [00:14:25] Do my program. You know again think about those people who were doing that and to think of what what. Today we have that we take for granted on your calculator. I mean just hitting certain functions on your calculator have more capacity than these machines did because that teletype machine you had to create a fish if you did the long paper type the reels and then you fed that into another machine you took that off wound it then you fed it into another machine and that that had instructions or whatever it...