Shows
Product Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaTurning Your Product Idea Into A Product Development Plan With Lisa McCarthy Of Make My Idea RealOften, one of the challenging things many creatives face is not finding product ideas but bringing them to life. How do you get things done, planned, and brought to reality? In this episode, Tracy Hazzard is with none other than the creator of Make My Idea Real, Lisa McCarthy. Lisa breaks down the steps in creating a product development plan, which includes zoning in on your target market and goals because there is no one-size-fits-all. She shares some guide questions and tools to help you understand the process not only for today but also for the future. As the saying...
2025-08-2040 min
Product Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaWhat Women Want: Challenges Of Launching Female-Friendly Furniture With Dana BakichContrary to what many believe, women care about the desks and the chairs that they buy. They want features that no one's ever thought of before. On today’s show, Dana Bakich joins Tracy Hazzard to discuss the challenges of launching female-friendly furniture. Dana is a nonprofit consultant and the Founder and CEO of herdesk, a desk made by and for women. At the end of the day, women are constantly on the hunt and looking for the right thing. When they find it, they will find money to pay for it because they've been looking for it. Be sure you’r...
2020-10-0642 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaDesigning With The End Mind & PLAE-Fulness Too with Ryan Ringholz and Jonathan SpierStarting and then having the capacity to scale a business in such an entrenched branded community can be very daunting. For Ryan Ringholz and Jonathan Spier, that is coming into the shoe industry establishing the first lifestyle brand to start with kids through their company, PLAE. In this interview, Ryan and Jonathan take us into their journey from when they first launched entirely online in 2013 to evolving with their wildly successful approach to adults in 2017. At the heart of their brand is the word “play” where they recognize freedom of thinking like a kid. They’re taking this unique concept into t...
2019-08-3037 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaProduct Inventors Rights with Natasha and Fred RuckelIn this day and age, the quest to be different and stand out has become so competitive that it becomes tempting to steal someone’s work, ideas, or concepts. Natasha and Fred Ruckel of the Randy Cooper Foundation joins us today to talk about protecting your products from infringement. Embodying Randy Cooper’s passion and desire to stand up for the product inventor’s rights, Natasha and Fred help protect, educate, and empower inventors. As they unfold the ways infringers play in the field and give us advice on how we can combat them, they also go deeper into the rules...
2019-08-2059 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAsian Sourcing Tips with Rhod NeedhamBroadening your lines and reaching out to source products beyond Amazon can sometimes be daunting for many entrepreneurs out there. After all, it is a whole new territory that needs to be tread carefully. If this new territory for you is in Asia, then you are going to be learning a lot from this episode. Rhod Needham, a product sourcing expert and the Co-Founder of Market Source Asia, pours in his knowledge about sourcing for products in this region, giving some great Asian sourcing tips. They specialize in launching products and collections for both global retailers and start-ups, and Rhod...
2019-07-0344 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAs Stolen On TV with Paula Brillson PhillipsThere are some inventors who are not so lucky when it comes to owning their products and gaining the necessary income and praise because of manipulators and false advertisers. Paula Brillson Phillips, a managing partner of Digital Law Group, has built her career advising start-up companies and mentoring hundreds of individual inventors worldwide to navigate the complex process of getting a business or product off the ground as well as helping them make effective decisions to protect their intellectual property, meet their business goals, and leverage the value of what they have already created. Her book, As Stolen On TV...
2019-06-1147 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaFrom Shark Tank To The Kids Table: Food Product Start-Up Lessons with Joanna ParkerJoanna Parker, the co-founder of Yumble, explains how she was inspired to open her own company as a mom. Yumble has three pillars which are all centered towards providing healthy food for children. Joanna says children’s diet and appetite greatly vary, and that is why she is customizing the foods she offers, providing options for both picky and adventurous eaters. She narrates how it is working with his husband side by side while taking care of their kids, sharing the struggles they had while their business was growing and how they overcame it. For those who want to do a...
2019-06-0429 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaNui Foods with Victor Macias and Kristoffer QuiaoitEverybody wants a sweet life, but when it comes to food, too much can become an addiction. Victor Macias and Kristoffer Quiaoit, founders of Nui Foods, are on a mission to annihilate sugar addiction by creating products that are both indulgent and healthy. Victor and Kristoffer take us into their journey, starting from having no baking background to producing a product that brought them to Shark Tank. As rookie entrepreneurs, Victor and Kristoffer know the struggle of starting, and they share to us the ways they overcame those challenges. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How...
2019-05-1626 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaProduct Pitch Advice From A Shark with Kevin HarringtonMost products in the consumer market, whether it’s mass market or eCommerce, has a seven out of ten failure rate. However, when you have access to good data, you are able to pitch products in a way that people want to buy it and elevate that level of success. Kevin Harrington says that nowadays with the internet, we can target our offerings to people in certain niches, categories, or demographics such as age or zip code. Kevin is an original shark from the hit TV show Shark Tank and a successful entrepreneur for more than forty years. He invented th...
2019-05-1031 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaThe Rockefeller Strategy: Corporate Asset ProtectionIn today’s world, the biggest mistake you can make is to not look at yourself as a business. Whatever product you have is not just an invention or a brand. It’s a business and you need to be getting the full benefit and the full protection of that. In this episode, Aaron Young talks about corporate asset protection and the Rockefeller Strategy. Aaron is the CEO of Laughlin Associates. He is a consummate entrepreneur as he’s been an entrepreneur pretty much his whole life. Too many inventors or sellers think they’re too small and don’t really nee...
2019-03-2954 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaSouth American Sourcing Of Products with Tim JordanSourcing services are usually accessible only to huge conglomerates and big brands, but not to smaller brands. Tim Jordan of Hickory Flats, however, offers alternative sourcing ideas and services to the small guys out there. He founded the Private Label Legion, a community of like-minded entrepreneurs dedicated to great learning and group collaboration. He’s also built a seven-figure business. Tim shares how he found eCommerce and Amazon selling by accident and changed the game, and how it led him to look for alternative resources. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Product Launch...
2019-03-1538 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaBranding Through Product Packaging with Apurva BatraPackaging is what breaks or makes a product. As entrepreneurs, we want our customers to be satisfied right from the get-go by making our mark on their impressions right from the packaging alone. Apurva Batra from FlexiblePouches imparts his expertise on that as he talks about branding through product packaging and the competitive business happening on the retail shelves. He also takes us on a different journey with his personal business experience. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Product Launch Hazzards community today:ProductLaunchHazzards.comProduct Launch Hazzards FacebookProduct Launch Hazzards TwitterProduct Laun...
2019-02-1530 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAmazon Seller Legal Issues with CJ RosenbaumAs the world moves into the digital space, it has become very important for us to keep ourselves secure, most especially for those Amazon sellers whose products are sold virtually. CJ Rosenbaum of Amazon Sellers Lawyer takes us into some Amazon seller legal issues, talking about what is going on with this platform and how you can keep yourself, your IP, and your products secure and safe. He talks about digital rights management, the listing hacking process, and establishing your brand – from trademarks to copyrights and patents. CJ also touched on starting from Kickstarter and Indiegogo, and how you can pr...
2019-02-0834 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaCelebrity Product Placement Process That Actually Works with Sarah ShawThe marketplace has indeed evolved, but one thing that remains the same is the influence. We all know the power of having celebrities to be your product endorser due to their wide influence in the market. This is what led Sarah Shaw to craft this trend of endorsement and marketing into a new mold. Sarah talks about the Celebrity Product Placement Process which actually works for more and more entrepreneurs. Discover how you can scale your business by getting celebrity access for your products. You may get these influencers to use your product, be photographed with it, and get them...
2019-02-0142 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaPlanning And Managing Product Engineering with Orlin WetzkerIt takes an amount of technology and engineering to pull together all the power-buttoned gadgets that we know and love. When most companies in the US throw over the fence to a factory in Asia the ideas they come up with for development, it’s great to have Orlin Wetzker’s company develop and engineer all these things in the US. One of the main projects that Orlin talks about is the moisture sensor which brings high technology to farming. Given the different technology life cycle of the kind of developing and product engineering that he’s doing, Orlin is no exe...
2019-01-2530 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaScaling Successfully On Amazon with Jason MageeHow do you increase your sales? Have you ever thought that your brand can be at par with big players in the business? There is no difference between small brands or large brands. The key is to understand the actual metrics of your business. The goal is to be profitable. What’s your gross profit as a company? How do you make sure that the product market fit is right? Jason Magee, Director of Seller Partnerships at Teikametrics, is obsessed with helping entrepreneurs scale successfully on Amazon. Jason talks about building an ecosystem of best-in-class partners to help people as we...
2019-01-2349 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaLeveraging E-Commerce Chatbots For Product Launching with Michelle Barnum SmithIt costs to play today. Product launching is no exemption. It’s not a fast return on investment as much as you want it to. Marketing veteran Michelle Barnum Smith joins Product Launch Hazzards to discuss how you can leverage ecommerce chatbots as a marketing tool. She quickly became an expert in the niche once she realized how powerful Facebook Messenger bots can be. Michelle recounts how she got started in product launching and marketing, and talks about the importance of list building and leveraging e-commerce chatbots to launch your products and create engagements. Love the show? Subscribe, rate...
2019-01-1834 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaInfluencing Multiple Unit Purchases With The Right Amazon Promotions with Jenna LieberThere are so many products sold on Amazon, yet if you take a look at them, the majority tends to hold out only one piece of the product. They tend to overlook the value of multiple unit purchases. Jenna Liebner of Turnkey Product Management has seen time and time again how sellers on Amazon are not trying to influence how people purchase multiple units. Jenna goes over a number of Amazon Promotions that will help you to try to get people to buy more than one product from you in a single transaction. Not only will this influence potential customers...
2019-01-1518 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaGrow Your Product Sales Into The UK & EU Plus eCommerce Brexit Risks with Karen CoddAmazon UK and EU market are definitely the potential recourse for those who want to expand. If you are aiming to grow your product sales into the Amazon UK and EU market, then you have to learn what they need. Amazon selling strategist Karen Codd answers some questions that bugs most Amazon sellers. Karen talks about the product changes you need to make in order for them to perform well in the UK and Europe, and gives tips on knowing when you are ready to move your brand. Getting deep into some Brexit risks, Karen lays down the effects it...
2018-12-1928 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaInvesting Time Or Money In Market-Making Or Disruptive InnovationTracy gives an insight into one of the talks she gave at a City Summit event in Salt Lake City. With innovation becoming the buzzword for this day and age, we can’t help but get too caught up in just investing on what seems catchy. It’s time to actually think it over and start to think carefully about how you are going to invest in innovation, whether you are investing your time or investing your money. Tracy looks at the difference between disruptive and market-making innovation. She gets down to answer whether or not you’re in a disrup...
2018-12-1224 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaFormulating Beauty Products with Nadia FleuryThere are so many beauty influencers today that we can’t help but think how easy it must be to create your own beauty products. Nadia Fleury proves otherwise. She is a French-Canadian entrepreneur, life strategist, and chemist who founded the skincare line, Avesence. Nadia talks about the bumpy path of developing and formulating a beauty product while letting us in on some beauty secrets. She breaks down our preconceived notions as she discusses the truth behind “natural” and why pH is bad. She also gives some great advice to aspiring entrepreneurs about the importance of having an inventory, carrying a bran...
2018-12-0743 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaPitching Product Gift Guides And Product Review Publicity with Dave FarrowGetting the word out about your amazing product is getting harder and harder. You’re tasked with the burden of presenting it in the best light. However, one of the biggest mistakes is trying to do a product pitch on your own. Unless you’re sophisticated and have the experience, you can almost destroy your brand if you don’t do it right. Dave Farrow of Farrow Communications talks about the different kinds of product publicity and how to do gift guides and get product reviews. Dave has been doing this for a long time, and he’s shifted his business...
2018-11-3045 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaFour Amazon Strategy Pointers For Quarter Four with Jenna LieberThe holidays is just at the corner; this means more people shopping on Amazon and more people coming at you. While it may seem that the surge of potential buyers will mean more for your business, it is not always the case—most especially if you have not properly optimized your Amazon strategy. Fortunately, Jenna Lieber of Turnkey Product Management has the answers for you! She gives out some big pointers that not only apply for quarter four, but also to your business in general. She talks about four different topics and breaks every single one of them just for yo...
2018-11-2321 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaPitch Product Value Lessons Learned from The Pitch Queen Michelle WeinsteinWe dive so often into the product world and we get all caught up in our features and functions that we forget about pitching our value. After years of sitting in a cubicle, Pitch Queen Michelle Weinstein realized it wasn’t the life she envisioned for herself. Michelle went from being a real estate analyst to accounting to products, and learned about contracts, legalities, product manufacturing, food manufacturing, lawsuits, investment money, pitching to top investors in the country, and more. People buy people. If you’re pitching whatever you’re doing, they’re buying you because you’re solving this massive pr...
2018-11-1636 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaFocus On Product Impact And The Sales Revenue Flows with Wendy Lipton-DibnerImpact is the measurable difference that we make in people’s lives as the direct result of contact with us, our teams, our message, our marketing, our products, and our services. When we put something into the world, the goal is ultimately making a difference for people, and that difference will be measurable. Impact strategy is how do we make that happen? How do we create the product? How do we innovate the product? How do we design a product not just for market fit but for market impact big time? Impact strategy queen Wendy Lipton-Dibner dives into the subject of...
2018-11-1340 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaGlobal Sourcing Using A Retail Buy Plan with Tracy Hazzard and Brenda CrimiPart of growing your business is expanding. One of the routes you take with that is global sourcing, specifically in one of the booming markets in the world, China. However, doing it for the first time can be quite challenging and intimidating. With the help of Brenda Crimi of AMZ Alliance, Tracy guides you into the world of product sourcing in China for the first time using a retail buy plan. They talk about going to the Global Sources Summit and how to make the necessary preparations for it. Sourcing is not about being impulsive, that is why you need...
2018-10-1541 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Flexible Packaging Expert Apurva BatraOne of the important aspects that small companies tend to overlook during the product launch is packaging. In fact, it shouldn’t be the case since this could serve as the starting point of entry for your products to the market. The packaging is the first interaction of consumer to your product. That is why when you do it, you have to do it right. Flexible packaging expert, Apurva Batra, goes in depth on how to effectively package your products. He discusses the many material choices and considerations in order to formulate the right package. Concentrating on flexible packaging, which is...
2018-09-2130 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Crowdfunding Launch Expert Will FordMany startups find it challenging to launch their products successfully. They can’t seem to crack the market and have the right support. Will Ford, serial entrepreneur of LaunchBoom.com and an expert on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and startup funding and crowdfunding, talks about how he and his team successfully launched million-dollar crowdfunding campaigns. He discusses what they do at Launch Boom and what processes they make to ensure success. Covering the heart of the company, which is digital marketing, he shares his insights on getting the right content across to the right demographics. Ultimately, he shows how he created this ef...
2018-09-2033 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Product Advertising Expert Ian SmithRelationship building should be a priority for business owners. It does not only reach customers, but also keeps them with you. Ian Smith of Evolve Media talks about that in relation to marketing and advertising. He pushes forward the importance of having the right and consistent message through content while providing you tools to grow—from ManyChat to Facebook messenger. Touching also on reviews and social proof as well as the importance of follow-ups and giving your customers a way out, he urges business owners to build that customer relationship. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Her...
2018-09-1452 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAmazon Brand Registry And Trademark Protection with Jason WebbOne of the big issues facing people who are doing commerce online is that Amazon has become a huge dominating force in the market. A lot of sellers don’t like Amazon. It is difficult to work with but buyers love Amazon, and that’s one of the reasons why sellers aggregate towards Amazon. It’s often one of the first places to look if they want to go buy something. If you want to be part of that market, you need to be part of what Amazon is doing. Amazon has been aggressive and successful at doing the things that b...
2018-09-0518 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAmazon Competitive Analysis with Jenna LieberIt’s tough when you first get on Amazon. You don’t know where to start, what keywords to use, or what images to put. Jenna Lieber of Turnkey Product Management suggests doing an Amazon competitive analysis so you can hone in on what you need to start with. Jenna thinks everyone needs to. If you’re already on Amazon, she recommends doing this once a quarter to see if your competitors have changed or if there’s anything new going on that maybe you’re not doing yet. It’s very simple and valuable for everyone to do it. Jenna goes t...
2018-09-0430 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaGlobal Sourcing Tradeshows with Meghla BhardwajGrowing your brand means having to step up your game by going out there and source. A great venue to kick start that process is through tradeshows and fairs. However, there is a difference between the two, which most people do not know. Fortunately, Meghla Bhardwaj of Global Sourcing can guide you through that. She talks about the different types of tradeshows and fairs happening around the world, telling which is which, what’s the best one for you, and what to expect. She also provides some great insights as well as some tips on how to go around these ev...
2018-08-3129 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Big Branding Expert Gerry FosterCreating a brand is more than just pasting an image or a logo for your business. It is about creating a perception. It’s about telling people what you are instead of them telling you who you are. Brand is your business’ reputation and it is the promise you give to your consumers. Only by realizing this will you be able to create a perfect and memorable brand. Branding expert Gerry Foster teaches the ways you can harness and find the brand that truly speaks for you. As someone who has worked for major companies, he is the person whom you...
2018-08-2929 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaBest Consumer Market Research Tools – Field Agent with Rick WestWhen you’re selling a product or service, you need to be able to know people’s feedback in order to improve. But how? Through research, of course. Tracy, together with Laura Hazzard, brings Rick West of Field Agent to talk about the best consumer market research tools.. With years of credible experience, Rick shares his work of promoting real time, location-based mobile research for companies who would like to get more user feedback. Offering both quantitative and qualitative data, they work great for those who are still figuring things out. Going down into mobile technology and more, Rick shows the...
2018-08-2443 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet David Chitayat of GenimexEnsuring the product quality is a must for a business. Otherwise, it just won’t work and would bring the business down. You need to properly go through the process to secure the value. There is no shortcut even if time is not on your hands. David Chitayat, one of the three group CEOs of Genimex, chats about the processes from planning to getting your products on the shelf to the importance of category expertise and the relationship between quality and price. He goes deep about the crucial aspects of production that some business owners fail to do while giving us...
2018-08-2328 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your Reta5 Big Amazon Mistakes Brands Make with Jenna LieberThe most successful brands continually look for ways to increase conversions and improve customer satisfaction. Established brands usually have their systems in place, but when you’re constantly dealing with the day-to-day operations of your business, it’s difficult to see the glitches in your processes or strategies, and that could affect you in terms of competition or changing markets. This is the reason why we often see established brands making common mistakes that can hurt their bottom line. Jenna Lieber from Turnkey Product Management came up with the five big Amazon mistakes brands make to help you avoid these over...
2018-08-2126 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaGuiding Brand Growth With An Executive Level Customer Advisory Board with Betsy WesthaferIn order to have sustained and continued innovation, have brand development, and growing your brand to be bigger, you’ve got to be aligned with what your customers think and what they want, and you’ve got to provide that continued service. If you can’t have that conversation with them and you don’t have a system for having that conversation, then you’re really not on a path for the right type of big brand growth that you’re looking for. Betsy Westhafer, entrepreneur and bestselling author of ProphetAbility, developed a system called Executive Level Customer Advisory Boards that help en...
2018-08-1729 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaBrand Funding And Licensing Timing Issues with David LiebersteinAs inventors, when we have great ideas, we like to find the perfect manufacturer to license our product and sit back and make tons of money. Dream product guru David Lieberstein is an expert in brand licensing and got to experience the pros, the cons, and the pitfalls of all that’s entailed in doing so. David had his own companies for a number of years in the houseware and gift industry. The last company he had for 25 years was called Wine Things Unlimited where he worked with the artists for designs but also did a lot of licensing for th...
2018-08-1615 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaTop 5 Project Management Strategies To Innovate And Mitigate Risk with Loren WestKnowing the strategies to innovate and mitigate risk is essential for every company, especially those that are product-based. It’s key for a company to stay on top of how are you going to innovate, whether that will be through some new technology in your product, or bringing a new product being first to market, or expanding as a company and bringing more innovation to your process flow. Alongside innovation, the other element is to mitigate risks, whether that be a financial liability as you launch a new product, or operational risks as you move forward launching a new brand. Lo...
2018-08-1527 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaIs Your Brand Ready To Be A Big Box Retail Product? with Tim BushIs your brand ready to be a big box retail product? Tim Bush of TLB Consulting says you should make sure that you are ready because if you hit up a buyer and things don’t go well until that buyer swaps out and changes positions, you are going to have a tough time going back to that buyer. That’s where you’re at it unless something majorly changes. Tim shares some things you should be looking at when you’re getting your product ready for retail such as pricing, packaging, sales, the uniques, your customers, your target retailers, and mark...
2018-08-1525 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaPlanning Inbound Freight Logistics And Order Fulfillment with Paul D’SouzaLogistics and order fulfillment as part of the initial process you make before launching is vital to to customer satisfaction. Paul D’Souza of Source Select breaks down why it should be on the top of your list in order to offer the complete customer experience and later on reaping the benefits from it. Paul shows how he helped many clients with his expertise on handling and fulfilling this particular need, He gives some great advice and tips on how to be more efficient with your order fulfillment, from picking your market and partner to keeping your product safe. He ro...
2018-08-1025 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaUS Product Classifications For Tariffs And Import with Abby DuffieldSo much goes into getting your products classified in the US that many still find problems with the entire process. Abby Duffield of Shapiro breaks down all the necessary things you need to know about US product classifications for tariffs and import. She gets down into the details of the information you need to present about the products and gives some instructions that will help you identify what you have to provide, like how to know the country of origin, among others. Abby also presents real-life examples that show what goes under the entire process of having your product classified...
2018-08-0926 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAsia Product Sourcing PitfallsSourcing products internationally need some expertise in order to successfully crack into the global market and avoid some pitfalls. Equipped with that expertise, Tom shares his twenty years of experience product sourcing in Asia. He offers some ways on how to avoid those and ensure overall quality as he lays down the problems most people encounter, Learn more about deceiving samples, communicating with the factory, quoting products, and the manufacturing process and inspection as Tom goes into all of them one by one and gives some great insights that will help you source and receive the right product. Love...
2018-08-0832 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAmazon Review Policy – Don’t Get Shut Down! with Brenda CrimiAmazon reviews are a big part when it comes to selling your products on that platform. Yet many people still find themselves falling under some wrong ideas about how to go about it. It is now time to iron those misconceptions out and go deeper into the nature of Amazon reviews. Brenda Crimi from AMZ Alliance tells the truth about how reviews affect your ranking and conversion of sales as well as the policies that surround them. She also speaks about how to and how not to solicit for reviews, how to tell which reviews are which, and how to...
2018-08-0724 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaSuccessful Product Marketing For Sharks with Seth GreeneThe only two things that matter in your business is if you’re selling product, you need the right people to see your product, and then you need them to actually buy it. Hopefully, if it’s consumable, they’ll buy more than once. Marketing magician Seth Greene of the Sharkpreneur podcast says they encompass successful product marketing in the traffic and conversion departments. Whether traffic and conversion is taking place online via a marketing funnel that takes people through a series of steps designed to get them to punch in their credit card, or whether it’s taking them to a phy...
2018-08-0330 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaProvisional Patent Application Guidelines with Jason WebbProvisional patent applications are a relatively new type of application that has only been around for twenty years or so. It wasn’t always possible to do a provisional patent application. What it was called back then was utility patent where it took months to get these filings in because there are so many formality requirements and so many things that you can’t change once it’s filed. However, we need them filed quickly because priority date is important, so what did they do? What they decided to do was to allow a temporary application with fewer requirements, fewer standa...
2018-08-0223 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaThe Engineering Design For Manufacturing Viewpoint with Dennis Shaver and David ReckerYou can take different features from different concepts and combine them into a more cohesive design. The next step is to take all those different ideas and refine the design. Design refinement is where you start to utilize computer aided design tools to start building the product. It’s a terrific tool as a way to visualize the part with all the features that it needs to be able to be manufactured. The CAD file could go directly to a 3D printed part or a machine part. Engineer David Recker says it’s important to have somebody who is in tune...
2018-07-3139 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMissteps In The Early Market Research Process with Laura HazzardIf you don’t understand who’s buying your product, how can you make a product for them? That’s what research is in a nutshell, but secondary research is understanding what exists out there. Secondary research is just information in the marketplace that’s already out there. Some of the biggest retailers and brands out there are spending millions of dollars a year on research and secondary research. Market research expert Laura Hazzard recommends doing secondary research at all phases of your product launching because research affects the features and the usability of your product, the colors, the styles, the pack...
2018-07-3022 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaGet Your Brand Covered with Joe TarnowskiThere are a couple of things that are common with any editor in the industry. They’re very overworked and have a ton of work that they do across a lot of different things. They manage the overall editorial direction, they plan out all of the stories, they usually have multiple news stories that they have to post online every day, they’re all involved in social media, plus they travel a lot. They visit retailers, they visit trade shows, and they do a lot of speaking engagements and webcasts. At the same time, they are also getting bombarded with pres...
2018-07-2826 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaProduct Launch Timing is EverythingTime creeps up on you fast. If you’re thinking about launching a new product, you’ve got to think about when you want to be on the market and work it all the way back. Product launch timing is often an overlooked issue, especially with people that are new to product launching. It’s probably the most significant and critical factor to success. It can sneak up on you because it happens in different ways for different people. It’s not the same for everybody, but it is super critical. It’s multi-level because it’s not just the timing of th...
2018-07-2730 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaStrategies to Grow Amazon Sales Fast with Jeff Lieber and Jenna LieberHow do you make your Amazon listings standout amid the tough competition? Jeff and Jenna Lieber are sharing some of their proven Amazon sales strategies that they use for their clients at Turnkey Productions– from Amazon promos like giveaways, coupon clippings, tiered promos and more, Jeff and Jenna will give you product launchers some insight on how you can best utilize them to boost your sales and grow your brand as fast as possible on the world’s biggest e-commerce platform. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Product Launch Hazzards communit...
2018-07-2638 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaShipping Incoterms And Transit Times with Abby DuffieldThe biggest thing to know about transit time is the different pieces in the entire timeline chain that we’re looking at. Abby Duffield of Shapiro, a customs brokers and freight forwarder company, says sometimes when you’re looking at a quote, more often than not, when it hits the transit time, it’s talking about the port to port transit time. If you’re looking at a transit time for the sea and air shipment, that transit time is going to be from one port to the other. It might say two to three days. That doesn’t mean that your...
2018-07-2516 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaA to Z of a Cosmetic Product Launch with Loren WestCPG Beauty and Beyond founder Loren West takes a deep dive into specific processes and stages involved in successfully launching cosmetic products, which could also very well apply to many other different categories. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting out with your own beauty brand, dabbling in producing cosmetics, planning a cosmetic product launch or are working on a totally different product category, you will definitely have something to learn from Loren’s rich industry experience. As she connects one beauty product launch process to another, she will show you how all of its moving parts, from teams working on pr...
2018-07-2445 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAmazon Wants to Buy Your Product Directly – Is That a Good Thing?If you are already an Amazon seller, or maybe an entrepreneur looking for opportunities to grow your brand who is considering to sell your products on the world’s leading e-Commerce platform, you might have heard of the terms “seller central,” and “vendor central.” Being on the seller central side in Amazon means you own the product and have complete control of the sales process of your products, from listing to marketing and promotions– while being on the vendor central side means Amazon has bought your product. While it seems like a very handsome prospect, being a vendor central brand means there...
2018-07-2311 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaSeasonal Amazon Strategies with Brenda Crimi & Tracy HazzardIt’s Christmas in July, especially for your product launchers and entrepreneurs as you prepare and finalize your holidays sales plan. July is usually the deadline for getting your holiday retail planning done in retail, but the bigger your business is, the more ahead of the game you should be so you will not miss sales opportunities. Thinking about Christmas as a buyer versus being a seller is way different mindset– sellers should plan according to researched trends, designs, and materials forecast months ahead, making purchase orders in huge volumes way in advance to supply the demand. Brenda Crimi gives advi...
2018-07-2135 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaHoliday Design Trends with Tracy HazzardWhy do design trends matter? Design trends matter because we have all kinds of decisions that have to be made. When we’re investing in inventory or when we’re making these decisions so far in advance, it helps for us to understand what’s going on in the generalized marketplace. It helps for us to understand what might be going on and how design is shifting. What’s going on with those design trends? When we look at them, we can make some more micro decisions about our products and where we’re going to take them. Get an idea on wh...
2018-07-2020 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaSeasonal Inventory Planning for Retail with Timothy Bush and Tracy HazzardIf you want to head into mass market retail, there are a whole lot of things you’ve got to think about. Timothy Bush joins Tracy as they give you some prep about retail. Timothy Bush is the resident Product Launch Hazzards expert in all things on the shelf of retail. Tim says one of the hardest things about retail in general is you’re never in the month you’re in. You’re never thinking about talking and dealing with and wondering about the month that you’re in. In fact, people that are just entering into Big Box retail, th...
2018-07-1935 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaHoliday Color Trends 2018There is a concerted color trend every holiday season. Color forecasting is the science and math of choosing colors for the next season. You have to do research on this field for your product development, because we have said before, color is a big factor for consumers when making purchase decisions, especially during the fourth quarter holidays, from Thanksgiving, to Christmas, to New Year’s. It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year for retail. We are sharing our holiday 2018 color trend report with you, just in time for making purchase order decisions, scaling up your product inventory, an...
2018-07-1821 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaGetting into Big Box Retail FasterIf you have a product, or are thinking of going into retail, your number one concern might probably be the length of time it takes to get your product to sell. At the end of the discussion, our resident Office Hours Expert Timothy Bush answers that number one question product launchers ask. He will not give you false hopes, but instead enlighten you with his full transparency on what it truly takes to get your products into big box retail. He dives into core sales and marketing information to consider and prepare for, which will mean the difference between product...
2018-07-1729 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaIs Your Idea Patentable? with Jason WebbIs your idea patentable? How can you tell whether something is patentable or not? Intellectual property attorney Jason Webb says one of the key pieces is you want to look at if something is appropriate for a patent or maybe appropriate to be protected in some way. For example, your branding, the name of your company, or the ends of your products are all protected under trademark. The books that you write, the art that you create, the songs or the videos that you put together, that’s all copyright things that you can keep a secret. They’re valuable beca...
2018-07-1616 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaResearch & Design Budget GuidelinesIt takes a lot of time to get from planning, to sampling, to launching, to marketing. There are so many aspects to take care of in the product launch process, and it takes doing it in the right order to ensure success. Our goal here at Product Launch Hazzards is to make sure that everything you spend money and effort on as you make and market your product ends up as an asset, an not a liability. We will give you pointers on how you can make a feasible and sustainable research and design budget plan including how to incorporate...
2018-07-1515 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMarket Research Timeline: What Research to Do and WhenIn general, most, if not all of you here right now are at different stages of product development. Some of you might be drafting your ideas, some of you might be on the invention phase, some of you might be in prototyping phase. Maybe you already have a new product out in the market, or maybe you are looking to expand your SKUs and your brand as a whole. Succeeding at every stage and knowing for sure if someone wants to buy your product requires a great deal of market research, which comes in many different forms, including doing a...
2018-07-1316 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaIs Your Product Right for Amazon?Certified Amazon Expert Brenda Crimi helps product launchers and business owners like you determine if Amazon is the right platform to sell your product. From the lens of an experienced and successful Amazon seller, she starts with the reasons why you should consider launching your brand on the e-commerce giant’s platform because it brings great exposure, builds brand awareness, and the data availability from product to market, which will automatically give you customer feedback so you can adjust your marketing strategies accordingly. She then dives into reasons not to sell on Amazon, which mainly touches on product fit for th...
2018-06-2823 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaIs Product Patent Protection Worth It?Two of our legal experts on Office Hours, Attorneys Jason Webb and Rich Goldstein, have both emphasized the need to do a thorough assessment of one’s overall business strategy before considering filing for a patent because it can both be a daunting and costly process. With over 38 patents (pushing 40) under our belt as product designers, Tom and I have pretty much mastered how to make a business case for patenting products under development in our business. We have learned that patents should be filed only when you are truly sure of selling or commercializing your idea or product, especially if...
2018-06-2629 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaWhen Should You Patent?Maybe you have a fresh idea or product concept that is underway, and you are thinking whether filing for patent will help you and your business. Attorney Rich Goldstein, founder of Goldstein Patent Law has over 25 years of experience as a patent attorney, has advised over 10,000 inventors and entrepreneurs from different industries on patenting, and has an impressive record of having over 2,000 patents approved under his belt. Over the course of his career, he has learned that the costliest part about patents for inventors, product designers, or business owners is their misinformation about the patent process. Rich discusses the patent...
2018-06-2533 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaThe Ins and Outs of Product ToolingIf you are not just fabricating materials off the shelf and are going to use certain manufacturing processes to make your product, it will most probably involve tooling. Tooling requires a one-time fee that varies from product to product. It involves unique molding, stamping materials, or creating customized tools, fixtures, or mechanical device used to manipulate the materials of your product as it is being made in the factory– it takes many different shapes and forms, depending on materials used, or set manufacturing processes of each factory. With more than two decades of experience as product designers who have launched ov...
2018-06-2437 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAmazon First StepsCertified Amazon experts Jeff and Jenna of Turnkey Product Management teaches you how to market on Amazon faster with the definitive building blocks of a high-converting online store on the world’s biggest e-commerce platform. They apply these basic principles in their own Amazon production management company, where they help clients from a range of different industries with widely diverse product categories sell over $1,000,000 in total a month. Jeff and Jen give you the lowdown on why selling on Amazon is worth the time and effort, and reveal concrete fundamental solutions on how you can extend your reach by maximizing th...
2018-06-2443 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaHow to Create a Me Only Product with a Killer Unique Selling PropositionWe often talk about how having a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for any brand is vital for product launch success. In the product design world, we also call a unique or original product as “Me Only Product.” When we say “Me Only,” it means that it is something that only you are manufacturing, that you are the only one selling it in the market, that you are the only game in town. It is easy to throw unique features, and all sorts of bells and whistles onto a product at the marketing stage and say that it’s the only one in the...
2018-06-2221 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Branding and Video Marketing Expert Rick CesariAfter graduating with a degree in biology, our branding and video marketing expert Rick Cesari, founder of Direct Branding got involved into real estate marketing, and discovered that he had a knack for it– from then on, he continued treading the marketing path and branching out to other industries, approaching things with a direct response mentality. His passion for marketing and branding lead him to set up his own company back in 1989, where he became part of the team that made juicing popular to consumers, and in bringing other health products into mass retail. Since then he has contributed his ex...
2018-06-2124 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaWhat Comes First, Brand or Product?So you have a product that you think will sell on Amazon, or through Walmart’s or Target’s shelves. Maybe you are still playing around with the idea, or you might be in the early stages of product design and development and you want to take a step back by asking which comes first before launching your product: is it branding, or perfecting your product? Many innovators, inventors, and non-business savvy people get completely shocked when we say that branding must come first. The truth is that many of the things involved in product development and the design process are...
2018-06-2035 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Design for Manufacturing Expert Dennis ShaverOur resident design for manufacturing (DFM) expert Dennis Shaver from Product on Demand serves you “inventreneurs” his invaluable industry knowledge and insight to help you get from mind to market to profit faster. Born and raised in a dairy farm in Michigan, Dennis has the unique experience and skill set honed by years of working side by side with his brothers and parents for the farm’s upkeep– during those formative years, he learned how to be resourceful when it came to repairing and inventing things as he dealt with both livestock and machinery. This has become a solid foundation for Denn...
2018-06-2031 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Product Licensing Expert David LibersteinA self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur,” David Liberstein of Dream Product Guru started his very first business that lasted 10 years while he was in college back in the 70’s. He monetized his passion for photography by making photographic note cards with inspirational quotes on them, first in a darkroom at his parents’ basement garage– until it grew into an operation with its own in-house designers that made up to $100,000 for half of the fiscal year as a young company. They joined trade shows where big companies took an interest in their designs, asking if it was possible to use their creations as prints for...
2018-06-1936 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaPricing By Design: Formulas for How to Profitably Price your ProductsMany of you probably think that product pricing is purely science, because it involves a lot of math, data, and pieces of information consolidated and analyzed to get optimal results. We are seasoned product designers and entrepreneurs here, yet pricing products is an ongoing struggle because it does not wholly rely on scientific data and mathematical formulas– identifying the perfect product price also relies heavily on human psychology, on ever-changing cultural, sociological, economic and political climates, and ultimately rides on how much you understand your target market’s behavior and what drives them. It requires making a thought-out plan with clea...
2018-06-1734 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaAvoid These Top 7 Market Research MistakesOur resident consumer market research expert Laura Hazzard warns product launchers about the top 7 consumer market research mistakes that can cause a lot of damage and possibly torpedo your overall business and marketing strategy. She packed in a lot of meaty information in a span of seven minutes, solidifying her excellent points on quantitative and qualitative market research fails and how to avoid them. Laura says that good market and product research sets the path forward to great product development, usability, distribution, advertising and marketing, building your brand, and ultimately selling more products for bigger profit. You can get a...
2018-06-1707 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaKnow the Difference Between Styling, Branding, and DesignStyling is just one small component of design. Think of celebrity stylists who dress celebrities for red carpet events– they shop for their clients, putting together accessories, clothes, and other components to make a whole look. Product styling is not so different, in that it merely deals with combining colors and materials that work well together. There is no design or invention involved, as it does not deal entirely with features that are focused on the users’ primary needs, unlike in product designing. At its core, styling is about achieving a certain look to convey brand image– that is why it is...
2018-06-1615 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Joseph Tarnowski, Expert in Connecting Brands to Retail BuyersOffice Hours Expert Joseph Tarnowski has multiple industry experience when it comes to watching companies do what goes right and what goes wrong in terms of retail and marketing. With a degree in Trade Media Journalism, he has had extensive experience working in the food industry, general merchandise, health & beauty, and pharmaceutical industry. He is with Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM), a company that helps connect retail buyers to prospective retail suppliers such as you product launchers. We have known Joe through ECRM, where we used their time-saving and cost-efficient service as buyers in the contract furniture industry. Know the...
2018-06-1529 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaWhat to Sell Next: Stacking Consumer Product Growth S CurvesNo product lasts forever. Consider yourself lucky if your original product is still in the market for five years– we call it a platinum record if it reaches the five year mark. Some of the products we have developed have been in the market for decades, including the Aeron Chair, which is still being sold 25 years after it first came out. How do you stay on top of the game and keep consumers coming back for more from your brand? An S curve is an oft-used tool in product management and project management, a graph that tracks the growth rate of...
2018-06-1418 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet E-Commerce Implementation Expert Abby DuffieldAbby Duffield is the e-Commerce Implementation Manager for Shapiro, an established freight forwarder and brokerage company that has been in business for over 100 years. She shares industry knowledge and informed insights on logistics, regulatory compliance, customs brokerage, purchase order management, e-Commerce shipping and more especially to small business owners, up and coming entrepreneurs, and product launchers like you who need guidance with their freight forwarding concerns. Learn from her anecdotes, get great advice and valuable tips on how to navigate the realm of international shipping, importing in the US, partner government agencies (PGA) compliance, US Customs to FDA as well...
2018-06-1326 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaSecrets To Working With Your SpouseIt is no secret that Tom and I are husband and wife business partners. It is our competitive advantage – what sets us apart from all the other product design firms in the market. Because most people cannot imagine working with their spouse at all, they are always fascinated by the idea that we do this 24/7, in a home office and have made it over 21 years so far. Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here’s How »Join the Product Launch Hazzards community today:ProductLaunchHazzards.comProduct Launch Hazzards FacebookProduct Launch Hazzards TwitterProduct Launch Hazzards LinkedInProduct Launch Hazzards Pinter...
2018-06-1204 minProduct Launch Hazzards – The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your RetaMeet Product Management Expert Loren WestLoren West is a process and systems expert who has a ton of experience in growing brands by optimizing processes in big companies to make their business run more smoothly and efficiently. She gained her core professional strengths in business processing and marketing by working in the packaging, beauty, and health industry for years. Loren has worked for big brands like O.P.I., Keiser, and has also branched out into consulting for other companies from diverse industries to optimize their structural system flows and business processes. A lot of you product launchers are owners of up and coming brands...
2018-06-1131 min