Shownotes
What actually makes a product great — not just good, but something people buy again, rave about, and recommend?
In this week’s episode, Vicki chats with Tricia Connor Jackson, who brings a fascinating mix of experience to the table. Tricia is a professional model, actress, and content creator who’s worked with over 350 brands, as well as a former Vice President of Sales at Procter & Gamble and Nestlé. She’s also one of the expert panelists on Amazon Prime’s Shopping Court, where she reviews and judges real-life products in front of a global audience.
This conversation is a goldmine for anyone selling a physical product or building a brand. Tricia shares what she’s learned from reviewing hundreds of products — what makes some shine and others stumble — and gives practical, honest advice to help you make yours the best it can be.
You’ll hear:
What really makes a product stand out – from packaging and price to function and clarity. Tricia explains why it’s never just one thing that wins customers over.
Tiny mistakes that trip brands up – like unreadable labels, unclear instructions, or packaging that looks beautiful but doesn’t actually work.
How to think like a consumer again – testing your own products as if you’d never seen them before.
The dos and don’ts of working with content creators – what to expect, how to brief them properly, and how to build strong, respectful relationships that produce great content.
Why authenticity matters most in creator partnerships – and how a well-chosen creator can become one of your best advocates.
How to make your Amazon listings do the selling for you – and why most brands accidentally undersell themselves online.
Tricia also shares fascinating behind-the-scenes stories from Shopping Court — Amazon’s reality-style product review show — and explains how her judging experience has sharpened her eye for what makes a product truly irresistible.
If you want to improve your packaging, work better with influencers, or simply make sure your product experience delights customers at every touchpoint, this episode is for you.
USEFUL RESOURCES
Tricia Connor Jackson Website: https://triciaconnorjackson.com/
Tricia Connor Jackson Instagram https://www.instagram.com/triciaconnorjackson/
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Transcripts
Welcome to the Bring youg Product Idea to Life podcast. This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling products or if you'd like to create your own product to sell.
I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product creation coach and Amazon expert. Every week I share friendly practical advice as well as inspirational stories from small businesses. Let's get started.
Hi and welcome to this week's episode. Today I'm speaking to Tricia Connor Jackson. Tricia is a model, an actress and also a content creator for brands. She also has a real background in products and product development, product marketing, including a really long career at Procter and.
Gamble and she is also one of the panelists on the Amazon prime show, Amazon Shopping Core. So Tricia has a lot of experience. In products and that is why after meeting her very unexpectedly, I invited her. To join me on the podcast today.
So Tricia shares with us lots and lots of knowledge about what makes a product great from her experience of reviewing hundreds of NOW products. What makes a product great? The small things that might trip you.
Up that you might not even be aware of. And she also talks about how to work successfully with content creators or influencers yourself if that's something you're looking to do.
So there's an awful lot to learn in this conversation and I would love now to introduce you to Tricia. So hi Tricia, thank you so much for being here.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Hi Vicki, it's great to be here. I really appreciate the opportunity.
Vicki Weinberg:So can we please start with you, give an introduction to yourself, your business and everything that you do.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yes. Tricia Connor Jackson. I'm based out of Los Angeles, California but I'm also have a home in Spokane, Washington which is what you can see here.
I'm a full time actress and model. I tend to do commercial modeling. I've done worked for about probably at this point, Vicki, about I'd say 350 brands.
I tend to focus or I tend to be hired primarily for the health, beauty, fitness, skin care, hair care and home products. So in sporting good products. So not a lot of mechanical or it or anything like that doesn't mean I haven't done it or can't do it.
It's just not the area where I tend to get hired that much.
I do been in a lot of films, a lot of vertical films and recently made a decision to kind of move off of that business and focus on feature films and have done a few student films just trying to grow my reel and to get myself out there in a, in a different way. Not that I have anything against vertical films. It was a great learning platform for me, but decided to move off them.
Prior to this, for 20 plus years, I was the sales executive. I was the vice president of sales running the United States salesforce for companies like Nestle, Prena, Proctor and Gamble Stride. Right.
And so my areas of expertise would, you know, 20 plus years in business and then you combine that to be a creator, actress, model, and they do really, believe it or not, coincide pretty easily.
Vicki Weinberg:Brilliant. Thank you so much for that overview.
I mean, there's so much I want to ask you about, but let's just get straight in with when you are asked to represent a product, what are you looking for to make sure it's an authentic fit for you?
Tricia Connor Jackson:I want to make sure that the folks that are hiring me are coming to the table with a real professional attitude and that they are addressing the business and what they're asking me to do with the same level of professionalism that I'm going to use to create the brand. Because the areas where I found the disconnect, Vicki, have been where I've gone towards the project with.
Give me a good brief, give me a clear brief. Have the product show up on time, have it show up when I say it's going to show up, and be responsive to any questions I might have.
Versus those relationships work great when on the other side they have the same attitude of professionalism. They're astute, they're attuned, they're responsive. Those are the relationships at work.
Where I see the biggest disconnect is where brands will contact me and then I'll send him my, you know, proposal and then I don't hear from him for two weeks and then the product doesn't show up for a month. And then, you know, I have four products sitting over here right now where I've agreed to produce for them.
I've had the products for a week and now I'm trying to get the briefs. And that's hard for you to do a good job? Yeah, you know, I.
It makes it harder for me to do a great job if I don't feel as though they're as much of a partner in the process.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, that makes sense. And actually, can you explain to the audience, like what kind of content you're. Producing for brands just so they get an idea.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Gosh, you know, I do everything. I mean, this morning I will be doing what would be called a video sales letter. I'm sure you're familiar with that.
That's where typically it has over 500 words to maybe 4,000 words.
So I'm doing one of those and then I'm doing a little bit of B roll where I have to, you know, put something on my hands and kind of show how it made my hands feel. Then I have to go outside. And then I'm going to a grocery store this morning, meaning I have to get there early enough like this.
So the store is kind of empty, so I have the permission to film. And I'm doing a kind of a video sales letter and a, you know, just hand shots of me dropping things in grocery carts.
And I hire a film assistant to help me do that. They're very, very good. Done a lot of work with this gentleman and he does a great job. So I do that.
I do, you know, I do things like skincare, hair care, you know, get in the shower, show myself, washing my hair, styling my hair, bare face, makeup, bras, jeans, creation. I'm doing something for pest control today. So, you know, Vicki, it's a lot. It's pretty much, you know, I don't do a lot of cooking in the home.
I've done several cooking videos, UGCs, but those are. Those are so time consuming that my dollar per hour is. I don't make a lot of money on those after the number of hours I put into it.
You know, things like I gotta go to the grocery store, I gotta buy the food, I gotta get it home, I gotta prepare it, I gotta cook it, I gotta show the different scenes of the cooking it. Those are not my favorite. So I kind of turned myself away from those.
Vicki Weinberg:That makes sense. And is the content you're creating, is it mostly intended for social media? Is that where most of it ends up?
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yes, yes, yes, definitely. Yep.
Vicki Weinberg:So I know you've worked with, like, big global corporations and you've worked with much smaller brands. Do you see any differences in how they approach promoting their products and the storytelling around their products?
Tricia Connor Jackson:I'd say that the bigger brands probably are more articulate at telling what their story or what they want you to say. Their asks are less broad, they're very specific.
Whereas newer brands, what I find is they will send me the product and just say, do a review on the product.
Now note on that, I think you get more authenticity when you do send me the product and ask me to speak about the product and give an honest review versus sending me a script telling me verbatim what I'm going to say. I think they both hold their important place in being a creator. And I think brands that are at the higher level.
They know what their push points are, so they know that they need to have those in the script. So I very much adhere to that. But I also enjoy and appreciate the opportunities where I can give honest feedback on brands.
Vicki Weinberg:That makes sense.
And so for my audience who are product brands, it sounds like if they're going to work with a creator like yourself, it would make sense for them to share that product with them so they can get some authentic content and so the person can actually use the product and for themselves.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, no question.
I worked for so many brands, but one recently where I noticed their ad that they have out there is just blowing up is where they literally said, hey, Tricia, just, you know, I mean, granted, I had a very long script, you know, probably 500 words, followed it word for word, but then they sent me this one sentence. Hey, just tell us what you think about the product. Well, that's the one that I see out there every day that they're using and that.
So, Vicki, I think it shows that when you do give experienced creators the opportunity to really speak about a product with honest feedback, maybe you could get even better content than you could with a scripted brief.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you.
And with all of the experience of products that you've had, what do you think makes a product stand out both to reviewers and content creators, but also to consumers?
Tricia Connor Jackson:I think it's. I view life as a pie, and I view products as a pie as well.
I mean, having 20 plus years of experience in branding and working for undeniably one of the best consumer products companies in the world, which is Procter and gamble. I mean, 64 brands, 16 categories, a leader in most every category.
What I've noticed is that when you look at a brand, you have to look at multiple factors. You have to look at the packaging. Is it clear? Is it specific? Does it sell what you want it to sell? Is your price point appropriate?
Is your, does it deliver a need to your consumers that's relevant? Is it special in that area? And then is your marketing, you know, coming around in the same way?
And so you see, I'm saying, Vicki, I don't think it's just one thing that makes a product terrific.
I think it's really understanding where you fit in that category and setting yourself apart not only by what you can do, but is your price appropriate? Is your packaging appropriate? Are your directions once you open the package, are they clear and specific? Can you read them?
Those are things that trick people up and I see it all the time. With product that shows up at my door that I'm thinking it might be great. And I've had many products that are great, but the packaging isn't good.
The. You can't even read the ingredients on the back of it. Like, that doesn't work.
You know, the lettering is so small that you can't even read the ingredients. Well, we, as consumers, we want to know what we're using and putting in our body or putting in our homes. Those things matter.
Vicki Weinberg:Definitely. I brought a supplement recently, and it's like, the packaging is beautiful. It's like a corally pink. And the writing with the ingredients is like.
It's. It's gold. I can't read it.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Okay.
Vicki Weinberg:I read it. I don't know what's in it.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, I appreciate you saying that, because I really try to get that across to brands, is that you have to put what's in the product. And we're smart. I mean, we're smarter. We're smart.
Your consumers, most of them do want to know, especially if it's a supplement or skin care or hair care, those things that you literally put into your blood system. We want to know what. What's in them.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah. And it's really important. And it's such a shame because the product is great, the packaging is beautiful. But for me, it's.
It's not functional because I didn't even know how many to take. Trisha. I had to go on the website to find out how many of these I'm taking because I can't read it on the bottle because it's so small. And it's.
It has, you know, it's a really small thing. But for me, that's made my experience of this product so much worse because it was inconvenient. I didn't want to have to Google how many I'm taking.
Tricia Connor Jackson:I'm so glad you said that. And I'm telling you, if I could get that across to brands, it's so, so important that you have to make your labels readable.
You have to make the instructions understandable. And the miss on that. And then I've had brands say to me, well, they can go to the website and watch how to use the product. I'm like, no, I'm excited.
The product showed up at my door. I want to be able to open the package and make it work for me. I took the time to research it and buy it.
Can't you take the time to explain how I'm supposed to use it or tell me what's in it. I mean, it's presumptuous of brands to believe that we would tolerate otherwise, in my opinion.
Vicki Weinberg:That is such a good point about how to use it. I didn't think about that because that often happens where you scan a QR code and it takes you somewhere and it's just another step.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, why would I do that? I already satisfied you by buying it using my money that I've earned to buy your product. Can't you give it to me in a way that just.
That tells me how to use. Makes no sense.
Vicki Weinberg:You know, obviously, Tricia, don't give us names or anything, but do you have any other examples of products that you've seen or you've reviewed where you thought this would be great?
But just an example of a small thing that's kind of made you go, this would be perfect, if only because I think that's sort of things really useful for people to hear. So you hear it, you go, of course. That makes sense.
But I'm sure lots of us can sometimes get tripped up by these things, not even realizing that we're doing it.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Totally. Yeah. Funny. A little example of a product.
I've got two product examples, for example, and I won't give the names, of course, but because I have respect for both of these brands, and these brands actually did, which is interesting, Vicki. They did hire me to instruct them on what I thought was wrong with both of these brands, because it was three of them, in fact.
And I just said, you know, great brand. Here's the problem I had with it. And all three of them got on a zoom.
Different companies got on a zoom call with me to say, tell me why it didn't work for you. Well, one of them was a wonderful cleansing product for your face, but you couldn't. It was a gel, kind of a formula.
But you couldn't squeeze the bottle to get the product out. So you opened the thing and you had to shake it down, shake it down, shake it down. And you couldn't get it out.
So then you had to take the cap off, shake it down, get it into your hand, and then apply it to your face. Okay, so packaging completely wrong, right? That was one. The second product was a body, like a body scrub.
And great product, smell good, very good ingredients, et cetera. But when you put it on your hand and you got into the shower, the product would. You couldn't apply it to your body and have it adhere.
It didn't stick. It fell off your body and into the drain. So this $45 tube of cleanser. Literally, I watched it going down the drain. I'm like, that's a defect. Right.
And then the other one was a product that you would put on your skin and it really felt good. And I knew there was a very high concentration of vitamin C in it, which is so important for brown skin, sunspots, sun damage.
It's critically important. But the dropper didn't work. There must have been some sort of a defect in the dropper because you couldn't get it to work.
So then you'd pour it into your hand, Vicki. And then you'd have all this serum and your hand way too much and you'd waste the product. So those are kind of.
One is a quality issue and the other two were packaging issues.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you for sharing those. I think it's really useful to hear real examples.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, I mean, I have more. I mean, I've. But. But those are. I'd say the biggest defect I see in a product is the dispensing of the product. And is it.
Have you created it in such a way that he. She can use it in the manner in which it's intended to be used? That's the biggest defect.
And I have another one of another example of a lotion, a body lotion. Beautiful product. Wonderful. I love it, love it, love it. But when I tried to pump it, it would slip out of my hand.
So I said, you guys just need to make a ridge around the bottle. So when I am pumping it. Because you're supposed to use it when your body's wet.
So when I am pumping it, that I'm holding it and pumping it, that it doesn't slip out of my hand. And she's like, we never even thought of that. And I said, then that's the point.
When you give the instructions as to how to use the product, do it yourself before you create the package or once you create the package. Yeah.
Vicki Weinberg:I mean, does it surprise you that some of these things haven't been picked up already?
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, I really am. It does. And sometimes I laugh. I'm like, I don't even have to use it once to know that it's a packaging defect. Packaging.
This goes back to that question you asked me earlier. What makes a product good? And I know I said, it's a lot of things and packaging is one of them.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, absolutely.
Tricia Connor Jackson:So I encourage people who are creating products to recognize it's not one thing that's going to make you successful. It's not. It's packaging, product label, price. Do you meet the need. Are your directions clear? Can they read the packaging?
Are you delivering what you said you were going to deliver? All of it.
Vicki Weinberg:And when you're talking about packaging as well, the key thing I'm taking from you is that it has to obviously look good, but it also has to be functional.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Oh, gosh, yeah. Because each of these products that I just mentioned to you, their packaging was good.
On all of those brands I just mentioned to you, pretty and well done. But the functionality of those, Pat, those packages was just defective.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah. And that's such a shame because I see that sometimes with things that I buy, they hit one or the other. And.
Yeah, like, I brought a conditioner recently for my daughter and it's a child's like, hair conditioner.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yes.
Vicki Weinberg:She's nine, so she washes her own hair, but she can't get this conditioner out of the bottle because you have to shake it, hold it upside down, shake it really hard, something, and she's fine. She's not going to do that. But this is a product for children, so I can't understand why it's not more child friendly.
Like, it could be in a tub, scoop it, or it could have a bigger hole so it was easier to see squeeze. And it really frustrates me every time.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah.
Or the bottom of the package, have a suction so that it does stay in the shower and she can simply walk up and just pump, pump, pump, you know, because let's face it, getting a nine year old to wash and condition their hair is a feat within itself. But for us to make it difficult for them, they're like me, they're just not going to do it.
Vicki Weinberg:No. And then it makes it difficult for me because I then have to get involved. So I. You know what? It just means I'm never going to buy that brand again.
And it's a shame because it smells nice and it makes her hair lovely. But, yeah, just an inconvenience. And it's such a tiny, tiny, tiny thing.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Tiny thing, yeah.
I've even taken products, Vicki, that I've liked and I've removed them from their original packaging and put them into a package where I can actually use them and dispense it. And I don't almost ever want to do that, but I also hate to throw away good product because it's, you know, in an unfunctional package.
So I've done that before.
Vicki Weinberg:That's actually a good tip.
Tricia Connor Jackson:I was going to suggest you do that with that conditioner because she's not Going to use the rest of it, but you need to get in a package that it works for.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, that's a good tin and I'm going to do that. So, Tricia, you're now a product reviewer on Amazon's MGM series Shopping Core.
Can you tell, particularly my UK listeners who may not have heard of that series yet, can you explain what that is and then tell us a little bit about how you got on there and what your role is?
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, it's really cool. I don't. If you guys. Do you guys have Amazon over there? Amazon Live or Prime?
Vicki Weinberg:We do have Amazon prime, yeah.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Okay, well, you can go see the show. It's called Shopping Court. It's on Amazon Prime. It was originally a live show and I'll tell you a little bit about that.
But basically the concept of the show I think is wonderful, is they take a myriad of products from Amazon. So each week is a different category. There's six episodes each week is a different category. Home, travel, beauty, fitness, etc.
And they bring on multiple products. I think it's roughly 7 to 10. And the jurors, there were six of us who were chosen and a very wonderful diversity of men and women.
And we actually were given the products in advance to use them and try them. And then we came to the ship and gave our review of the products and we would give a thumbs up to buy or a thumbs down not to buy to consumers.
The judge leading the show is Bianca Del Rio, who's a wonderful, I don't know what you call it, cross dressing, whatever you call it, but a wonderful character, very talented. And then the bailiff is a gentleman who's very talented as well. And so we basically are reviewing the products and sharing feedback on the products.
And at the end of the day, the judge will then decide to either rule with us or rule against us. The best part is Vicki.
It is funny because they've chosen a really strong group of jurors, very diverse and that, you know, anytime you get true diversity in any relationships, you get the best, most great, the best chemistry. And we really do have great chemistry. We were chosen by having to review a product in advance. So I picked two products that I liked.
That one works well to get on its own, one works well on its own. But when you put these two products together, it's like magic.
And that's what I did in my interview, is to say, here's a great product, here's a great product, but these two need to be in partnership with one another. And that's what makes things amazing. And that's how I was. That was my audition for it and just other questions that they asked me.
But it was really fun. And we've got season one out there and we're just plugging away for season two. So, please, I hope everybody watches it.
If nothing else, you're going to get a good laugh.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, that sounds great. And also, you might get some ideas for Christmas presents as well while it's time this goes out.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah. And any people watching, by the way, I will tell you that if I vote yes for a product, I'm picky.
And you gotta trust me, if I have voted yes for a product, it's good.
Vicki Weinberg:That's really good to know.
So obviously you have so much experience in product, so I'd love to know from you, Tricia, what do you think brands overlook when they're trying to get their products seen, trying to get visibility for their products?
Tricia Connor Jackson:I think that.
I think that a lot of people think they can create something, and they do, but it's really the delivery of that product and delivering the message of what that product can do to the consumers. I got this product not long ago that was supposed to alleviate pests in your home, but it only talked about one kind of pest. It only talked about.
Sorry to say this, but I mean, only talked about roaches. And so I communicated with the brand a couple times back and forth, and they're like, oh, no, it works great for ants. Oh, it works great for mice.
Oh, it works great for this. It works. I'm like, well, you didn't say that on the package.
So you're missing your ability to really, you know, get yourself out there by only focusing on one thing. So I think that when brands create themselves, I think you really need to say, what is my brand going to deliver? And do you.
Do you identify that in the marketing and your verbiage of it? Do you explain that? Well, people are searching more and more because they have more avenues to search, Vicki.
They're searching more and more on the Internet before they buy a product. So once a person gets to your product, tell them what it does and tell them how it does it better than any other or as.
Or as well, at a better price, for example.
Vicki Weinberg:Right, Definitely.
And it's interesting you say that because when I talk to people about their Amazon product listings, that's one of the things I say a lot, is that your listing has to actually sell your product. You can't be shy because Amazon, like everywhere else, is so, so busy.
There are so many products like yours, someone has, you know, you search for something, you get all of these results. They first will have to decide to click through and look at your product.
So the price has to be right, the picture has to be great, they click through and then you really have to sell it.
Because if you sell it and tell people what it is, what it does, what the benefits are, they'll go and find another product probably quite similar to yours. It does.
Tricia Connor Jackson:You know, I love that you say that because sometimes I talk to people in my life and my career and coaching people, you know, professionally in their jobs and to get jobs and have interviews and everything. And I'll say, I'll say when they're in an interview, a job interview, I'll say you need to tell them that you won that award.
And they go, well, gosh, do you think they'll think I'm bragging? I'm like, if not, then, then when?
If you aren't to sell yourself during a job interview, if you're not to sell or promote yourself during, during a listing on Amazon, if not, then, then when nobody else is going to sell you or promote you any better than yourself. And when you have the opportunity to speak to what you can do better than everybody else or as well at a better price, don't be shy.
Vicki Weinberg:It defeats the purpose, absolutely. I mean, especially on a product listing, because your listing is there to sell your product. That is its only purpose.
And of course, when I say sell, it's not about selling your product to everyone, but it's about selling your product to the person who needs your product.
So in your example, if you've got a product that kills ants and nowhere in there does it say that kills ants, and I'm a person with an ant problem, I could buy your products, but I won't because you haven't told me that you can solve my problem.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Exactly. And he was just so, he was like, oh wait, should I put that on the thing? I'm like, yeah, I should be saying that in the UGC I'm creating for you.
I should be mentioning all the things that it alleviates and why and how. He didn't even tell me how and why it worked. Why didn't they tell me how and why it worked? I couldn't believe it.
So that was an example of a wonderful relationship that has since formed with this client. And I've worked for them multiple times now because there was a good back and forth communication of what does your product do? How does it do it?
How come The UGC doesn't tell why it works, how does it work?
Vicki Weinberg:And I'm sure by having that relationship you've really helped that brand as well. Because these are probably questions that they hadn't considered and they're important questions.
But I think sometimes when we're really close to our own product, we know it so well, we forget what other people don't actually know.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Right.
Vicki Weinberg:Because we know all of it. So we.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's funny. Another brand that I work with, they are very much focused on neuropathy.
But I said, you know, I put it on my hand and the arthritis in my hand, it felt better. They went, oh, we never thought about that. Of course it does help that.
So now we're branding it to not only work with neuropathy, but also work with arthritis pain in your hands.
And, and I'm like, see, isn't that neat where that relationship, you can work back and forth with a creator and really get good feedback on how to promote your product.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, definitely.
And actually I've got a follow up question on that which is, so what advice have you got for someone listening who wants to work with a product creator to help sell their products or review their products? What advice have you got for making that a really successful relationship?
Tricia Connor Jackson:I think it started with what we said at the very beginning is be responsive, be clear, be timely, give good insight on the front and then allow the creator to ask questions if they have questions back and forth. Because nobody wants to spend two hours creating something and then finding out that it wasn't what the brand wanted and you have to reshoot it.
So be responsive in that respect. The other thing I think is really important that I think, here's an example. I got a message yesterday from a brand that would like to work with me.
They sent me two briefs and the total number of B roll and the briefs, Vicki was 43. B roll. Okay. Do you, you know what B roll is, right?
Vicki Weinberg:Yes, yes. But please do explain for anyone who doesn't know. I know, but I can't. We can't assume everyone will.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Okay. B roll is where you want the creator to create, to do non speaking actions that relate to the use of the product. Okay.
And you know, so example, for example, let's say this is a water bottle.
Have the creator pop the lid open, show the opening and drink the pro and drink from the product and reseal it, put it down and take it with them to the gym or, or pack it up in their to go bag and take it with them. To the gym. Okay. That's called B roll. And B roll is time consuming very. And it's very hard to get the shot exactly the way they want it.
So asking me for 43B roll, and I sent him a message. I said, for me to do that brief with 43B roll is going to be approximately 15, $25. Okay. I know this brand doesn't have the money for that. And I said.
They said, well, can you work with me on the price? I'm like, eliminate some of the B roll.
Some of it was duplicative, you know, Some it was show the brand on the table in the sunlight and get up close and show the ingredient list. Okay. You see what I have to do, I have to put it on a table, make sure it's good light, bring it in, and see if the ingredient list is clear.
That's hard. And I think that these brands think that this B roll, I think they need to trim their B roll list to be more meaningful and more realistic.
And unless you want to pay for it.
I mean, one of the things that they asked me to do was to have my kitchen table full of gift wrap that's all messed up and tape and, you know, gift bags and everything, and tissue paper all over the table. Right. And show your frustration with trying to wrap a present. Okay. How much time does that take for me to set that up? Think about it.
I have to go out to the garage, get all this stuff, put it on the table, mess it up, use my own gift wrap, use my own tissue, use my own everything, and set up the camera for one shot. Like, okay, I'll do it, but you're going to pay me to do it. And I have a minimum rate for B roll.
And I'm pretty strict to it, too, because that's money. I mean, my time is money. And I think brands need to realize that.
When you're asking a creator to create, be really thoughtful of what you're asking them to create.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for explaining all of that. I think that is really useful people to know. And I guess B roll does have a place.
But from your experience, because you've created a lot of content, what is the type of content that you've seen that works really well for brands? Because I'm assuming it isn't the B roll. I think it's. B roll is good to have for various things, but I'm sure that isn't what drives sales.
Tricia Connor Jackson:I don't. I think it's. Truthfully, I think it's Product review. It's talking about the product. It's sharing the experience of how the product worked. And.
And then with a little bit of B roll. I mean, I've done. You know, I work for so many brands, and the B roll that I see works is where I'm saying, you know, this.
This really worked, you know, to. To build up the thickness of my hair, and my hair feels better than it ever did. And I can wear it in a ponytail, and I can, you know, and.
But did you see right there, I just did. To B roll, right? I put. I showed here, and then I went. I put it in a ponytail. That's B roll. That's 2B roll. But didn't you feel like it was believable?
B roll?
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, absolutely, because you were saying it. You were saying it to me while you were doing it, and it felt very natural. It didn't feel contrived.
It felt like you were just showing me how this product works. Your hair.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Exactly. And those are the B rolls that I think work really well. And, you know, so many of them want me to do B roll.
Like, you know, here's the fitness product we want you to take, and then we want you to go to the gym and be lifting weights, looking in the mirror, and doing biceps and doing triceps.
I'm like, guys, okay, first of all, it's going to cost you a lot of money for me to go to a gym, drive there, set up a camera in a gym, and shoot film in a gym. By the way, most gyms don't let you do shoot film in a gym.
So note to self, you're asking your creator to do something that it's very likely very difficult for them to do. And. But I understand that, you know, you need that. Why don't you have them doing it in their home?
Why don't you have them lifting weights in their home? Why don't you have them, you know, doing some cardio or something out, you know, in the front yard, walking down the street?
But these videos, these B roll, where they're asking you to go to the grocery store and get in the shopping cart and go buy coffee. Okay, well, I'll do it, but you're paying for it. And I think that those are the. Vicki. Those are the projects that I just. I price them out.
I give my price, and then I walk away if they can't meet the price. I'm like, you're too difficult to work with because you do not understand what you're asking because you personally haven't done it.
Vicki Weinberg:So for anyone who wants to work with a creator for their content and has a limited budget or a smaller budget, would you suggest that product reviews are the best way to go? So if you could only one thing, that'd be what you would suggest.
Tricia Connor Jackson:I always do this. I always say ask for. Like, I know I'm going to end up a conversation with this brand today where I gave them the fifteen hundred dollar price.
I know I'm going to get their business, but I also know how I'm going to get it. I'm going to say let's do a product review and then let's do 4B roll.
Let's pick from the list of 43, let's pick the four that you think are going to sell the product most. Because that ad that they're creating, Vicki, it's only 15 to 30 seconds and each B roll shot is usually about 3 seconds.
So to get a good product review, you want to spend 20 seconds doing that and maybe 3B roll or 4B roll, that's it, that's, that's realistic. But 43B roll, it's.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, that seems, that seems like a lot. And I think from what I'm taking what you're saying the best.
If you're working with a creator, the best thing you can ask for is for them to give their honest opinion of your product while having your products turned.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yep. Yeah.
And, and also what, I love it when they give me bullet points of the things they want me to mention in the product review because that's what they again think is the most important thing to sell their product.
Just tell me what you think makes your product better than everything else and then, yeah, let me sell it and then give you some pretty nice, you know, some really nice, clean, beautiful B roll and let's give it a shot and see how it works.
Vicki Weinberg:Out of interest, Trisha.
And this is, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but what do you do or do you ever find yourself in a situation where you get the bullet points and they say these are the key features of our products and you look at the product and you go, this doesn't quite match up. Does that ever happen?
Tricia Connor Jackson:Not very often.
Vicki Weinberg:That's good.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Believe it or not. Yeah. Not, not very often at all.
And if that is the case, like I said, Vicki, what I will do is communicate with the brand and say, hey, I'm absolutely going to say this because you've hired me to, I will say this, but here's what I noticed as a problem. And so I always. I'm just always honest in a very polite and professional way to share, yes, I will do this. But I don't see.
I see a slight inconsistency.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah.
And I think that feedback's really useful because as we said earlier, I think hopefully people are getting feedback on their products before they get to the point where they're working with someone like you.
You'd hope they are, but if not, and perhaps you're the first person outside of the brand to use the product, I guess that feedback is really valuable because until you start selling something, you don't actually always know what's wrong.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Exactly.
Vicki Weinberg:The first product that I ever sold, I didn't realize how bad my packaging was. Like, it wasn't strong enough for the product.
And it wasn't until it was getting shipped around that I realized that, because it was fine when you just were handling it, but as soon as you put it in a box and shipped it somewhere, it was getting damaged. But I didn't know that because I hadn't posted anywhere. So I think it's really easy as founders to miss things because we're so close to it.
And maybe you can't test every single stage of the process.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah. Yeah, man. That's what a great point that is. I mean, that's wise.
I do think that when you're selling a product, you should be the consumer from the start to the finish. You know, you and maybe you and two other family members be the consumer and test it out.
But if it gets in the hands of a creator, you know, I hope for the brands that you're. That we, you know, that you're representing.
I hope that it gets in the hands of a creator that is honest and is forthcoming and shares feedback of that product to help it improve. Because I want my brands to succeed. Oh, my gosh, do I want them to succeed. And I'm their proponent.
And I don't want to work for a brand if it's not going to succeed. So what I can do to help. I hope. I hope I'm not the only creator that does that.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, I hope not. And I'm sure you're. I'm sure there are lots of really great creators out there.
I mean, there are lots of people whose career is as a product creator, a content creator. Sorry.
So you would hope that the reason that they are in that and the reason they're doing well in that field is because they are working with brands in a really constructive way.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, that's our goal. Right?
And I hope that brands, Brands have mutual respect, because I think sometimes brands hire people like myself and they think, oh, you're just some actress. You're some. Just some model. You're not professional. You're not this, you're not that.
I do sense sometimes some disrespect, and that really sends me over the brink because, you know, for example, I've worked with brands where it takes me two months, three months to get paid. And I'm like, you know what? You sent me a note and said, can you create this? Can you create it in 48 hours? Can you deliver good content? And I did.
And I see them using it and not paying me. That's. That's just wrong. I think they think that we. We just. We're just, you know, sometimes.
I hate to say this, but ditzy models out there, but we're not. And, you know, when we deliver for you, show us the same respect that you. That you know when. That you deliver to us. Which is payment.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely not okay. Well, thank you so much. No, it's not. Thank you so much for everything that you've shared.
I've got one final question for you, Tricia, before we go, if that's okay.
So for everyone listening, I'd love to know, what's your number one piece of advice for things, something they could do today that would help their products connect better with their audience? So many of us are obviously selling our products online at the moment.
Tricia Connor Jackson:I think that it is read your description on Amazon and ask other people to read your description on Amazon and ask them to say, after reading that, tell me what you believe this product to do and tell me any questions that you have. That's it.
Vicki Weinberg:That's a really good piece of advice. Thank you.
And out of interest, I hadn't planned to ask you this, but as part of shopping court, do you look at the Amazon descriptions for the products that you're. That you.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Of course.
Vicki Weinberg:Product subscriptions, and do you find discrepancies between the listings and the products themselves?
Tricia Connor Jackson:I find that they undersell themselves, yeah.
Vicki Weinberg:This is what I mean. I find that people very rarely oversell themselves.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah. Almost never, really. And no, I find that they undersell themselves. They don't list all the things that the products really can do.
Because in the shopping court, when I would give my reviews, I was like, well, here are the great things about this product. And this and this and this and this and this. And then you read the description and some of those great things aren't even in there.
I'm like, how did they miss that? That's so obvious.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah. It comes back to what we were saying earlier about selling.
And I think sometimes people are reluctant to kind of brag about their product or I know on a product listing, but I think. I think it's maybe on your own website it's slightly different.
But I think on Amazon in particular, you have to just really see why to buy yours and not go back to the. The next one because the competition is so much. It's really interesting you say that because I've also had the same experience.
I've never seen anyone oversell or make promises that they can't deliver. I've never seen that. It's always been the other way.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah.
Vicki Weinberg:Where I'm like, hang on, your product is this. And you haven't said it or. Yeah, there's something great about their brand.
Like, I don't know, they have great environmental credentials or something. And I think you haven't put that anywhere. And that's really important.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yeah, I mean, I mean that, Vicki. I'd say that's by far the number one miss I see on Amazon is not. Is underselling themselves and not listing all the things that it.
That makes this product a great product. And, you know, I think they should look at their reviews and see what the reviews are saying is great about it and make sure that that's.
If that's a repetitive statement in their reviews, make sure that that's noted in their listing.
Vicki Weinberg:It's funny how aligned we are on this because we haven't spoken about this, but that's something I actually talk about. And also to look at the reviews and if people have questions, questions to pick up that. Okay, we haven't done a great job of talking about this.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Absolutely. It's the two things I said. Make sure that it's selling what you want to sell and find out if it's answering and if you need to answer any questions.
Those two things. That's it.
Vicki Weinberg:This has been so brilliant. Thank you so much, Trisha.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Thank you.
Vicki Weinberg:I really enjoyed talking to you.
Tricia Connor Jackson:I enjoyed talking to you. I'm glad we made this work.
Vicki Weinberg:Yeah, me too.
Tricia Connor Jackson:And thank you for getting at the dawn of day.
Vicki Weinberg:I know I've been watching as we've been recording, I've been watching it slowly get light outside your window.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Yes. Well, if any of your brands have any interest in working with me, I would be most interested in working with them. It'd be great.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you. And I'll put all of your details in the show notes.
Tricia Connor Jackson:Thank you so much. Okay, see you later.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you so much for listening right to the end of this episode. Do remember that you can get the full back catalog and lots of free resources on my website if you please.
Do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it, and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful. Thank you again and see you next week.
