DTC POD: How The Best Brands Are Built

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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