[00:00:00] Welcome to the Professor’s Podcast where we discuss the best strategies to massively improve the reach and bottom line of your business in the current virtual and economic landscape. Your host, Howard Thai, generates over $5 billion for his clients annually using innovative tactics, both on and off Amazon.

[00:00:21] Hey everyone, Hurricane Liz, back here for another Professor's Podcast. And with me, he's back and he has already traveled. I mean, Howie you've traveled even amidst the COVID concerns, you're still out there. You’re still out there, trying to grab, not just speakers, but underground sellers to attend your already elite list of some pretty big-time sellers.

[00:00:41] I'm certainly fired up to meet everyone for the first time in a very long time. It's been over a year and a half. We got a special guest with us today who's been to several live events, so he knows exactly what goes on behind closed doors. But Howie, let's talk a little bit more to you before we jump into this special guest. Let's talk about what you were [on the road doing, first off.

[00:01:01] And then, then I've a couple other questions that you, since it's been a while, since I've seen you on here. For me, I think it was the Billion Dollar Seller Summit I was at recently, a couple of days ago. I came back like four days ago or something and we just try to network with people. You know, we went just really crazy stuff.

[00:01:17] Like we had like four, four days of fun and two days of like events, speakers speaking. So we're listening to what people are saying, things like that. You said you had four days of fun and two days, event. Tell me, which ones of the days were more valuable and why? I mainly go there for the networking so that, you know, just trying to find these underground, the speakers and sellers, so that they could come on to our events, you know, and trying to learn what they're doing.

[00:01:47] So this is a kind of, part of work. Now I, you know, I guess I imagine that you had to sign an NDA, but is there anything you could share with the people listening to this as to what you've learned there? Maybe it wasn't something that you learned directly from one of the people that were presenting. But maybe it's something that you’ve learned

[00:02:05] while you were having four days of fun. I think the next thing that people are going to go into is more deeper in to marketing, not just ending in things that, you know, like go and build your audience more, you know. How do you build it? How do you keep it? How to nurture it? Things like that is probably the, the next thing that I see a lot of people are doing, or at least for the future, in the future.

[00:02:33] Yeah, absolutely. With us today, our special guest is someone that caught Howie, again, combed the globe, found this talented man who was been part of quite a few of the live events. Again, I will give details to everyone about the live event coming up, October 4th and 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Then again, we not had in quite some time, but this gentleman that we're about to see, he's

[00:02:55] a long time attendee. He's one, not only, I think he's won the best speaker award and the smartest marketer award. Is that correct, Howie? Has he won both? I think so. He, I think he might actually be the only person that's done that. Although there is another speaker coming up at this event who's guaranteeing he's going to win and he's won

[00:03:14] The smartest or the best speaker. He has not quite yet won the smartest marketer, but he's going to be gunning to win more titles. But Leo, let's go ahead and introduce you.  Your name needs no introduction. You've been in the Amazon community for quite some time. And on top of that, you've been at many of these events, earning yourself a nickname like Rocky Balboa, the Italian stallion of Amazon.

[00:03:35] And let me, let me ask you this, Leo. How excited are you to finally get out of your house, get live back with people and do what you do best, which is network? Surely Liz, I can't wait. I've been on lockdown here in Canada and I escaped from there in June to go to Europe cause I couldn't really take it anymore.

[00:03:52] So I can't wait to meet everyone and get to network again and share the stuff that I'd been kind of keeping for myself for the past two years. But I totally agree with Howard here when it comes to the future of Amazon and overall, the e-commerce space, which is building audiences. That's, you know, what we've been working on for the longest time.

[00:04:10] So I couldn't agree more with him on that point. Yeah. And you know, I know Howard has a lot to ask you. It's  been a while. So we caught up, but the big thing that I have to ask you is, the last time that we had this event, we were obviously all gung ho. We were excited to learn more about chatbots and chatbot was like the big thing back in Cabo,

[00:04:29] if you remember, what big shifts have you seen other than people using chat bots, less and less, but what other big shifts have you seen with the big time Amazon sellers that are out there that is just kind of, you just never saw coming. Well, look, I think Liz, what I'm seeing here is a shift definitely from this kind of commercial solutions to bespoke solutions that are less utilized by the masses.

[00:04:58] And more geared towards that individual brand or storefront. So for example, some of my customers on the combo mat site, for instance, they have transitioned from Facebook messenger to a standalone chat bot that are based on the web, right. And that allows them not only to avoid all these suspensions, but also build that audience,

[00:05:21] Ihave a closer interaction with people. So what they do now, which is why I agreed with Howard earlier, they start sending traffic from outside. Anywhere really, before they were just tied to Facebook. Now, they do Google. They do Pinterest. They do any, anything else that is not Facebook. And they send traffic to landing pages, which leads them after to eventually a web bot.

[00:05:43] So this is what I'm seeing more majority of the larger sellers doing and what happens after the retarget reach out, back to their audiences, get SMS or email. So that is great to see, cause he's not on going to have to reacquire that customer over and over again or try to look for new leads. Well, you can actually leverage that audience

[00:06:03] Obviously you're already built. And now the CPA that you either see a $10, it's now going down to 5 and then 2 and a half and a 1.25 and so on. Right. So forth. So that's really what I'm seeing, sellers becoming smarter and better. Right. And, you know, after you saying that it's obviously the big sellers are clearly shifting away from things that get them suspended.

[00:06:24] I mean, they've already been there. They've done that. They're trying to do the smarter things. Do you find that where we're at right now? Are we in an Amazon where it's almost impossible for the newbie or mid-level seller to succeed? No, I don't think so. I think there is still a big opportunity in this space.

[00:06:43] And I actually see a lot of success coming from who's coming in the space. I mean, the, the, the, the veterans are, obviously they know the game. They know how to scale. There's more money coming in this industry, but the new brands, I actually just got an email yesterday from an aggregator, an interested in a new brand.

[00:07:00] It's like two products only, not too old. So I, I do see still big opportunities in the space. But you know, obviously the game has changed. People have to know what they're doing. They have to perhaps get to meet people like guys that can facilitate that process, that transition. But I can definitely see still this market being very odd for the next.

[00:07:23] Right. And, you know, with that being said, I know you mentioned that there's a ton of different external traffic available out there for big sellers to send. But what traffic are you yourself, kind of like in love with, I know in the past we were all like, oh, Facebook, the chat bot is working fantastic, but that doesn't seem to be the case so much anymore.

[00:07:43] So what traffic are you right now focusing on, Leo. So Liz, I am actually, I always, always being in love of Google traffic to say, find Google search traffic, to be much better and have a higher quality compared to any other kind of traffic. They know Google traffic starts with a search is an intent to purchase.

[00:08:04] I went down correctly. And so that kind of traffic, if you use it together with video, it's actually very powerful. And so what we are using more and more is Google traffic to landing pages or Google traffic or, YouTube traffic. That's what we're seeing working very well. So a part of my presentation will be about boosting or giving that

[00:08:26] Boost to a launch by, by using these external traffic such as Google or YouTube, and kind of owning the SERP on the Google search results, as well as YouTube to drive more traffic to Amazon. Yeah. You know, before we jump into a what topics you're going to talk about, Howie is there anything you wanted to add so far?

[00:08:46] Well, Everyone's saying Leo, everyone's saying that, oh, like Facebook and, and a mini chat is not working that well. Or what do you have to say? I don't necessarily agree with it. I always think that things work or stop working based on the individual behind it, you know, back in the day people said, oh, bots no longer work.

[00:09:08] And you have proved that bots we're still working. I remember add to carts and all that. And that's because, you know, the algorithm evolved, but people didn't evolve with it. So I think as long as people keep innovating, they keep analyzing and understanding how something works, there will always be a way to make it work.

[00:09:26] I think things stop working with people stop learning and understanding and innovating. So if that answers your question, I think it's really subjective. I actually, I, I understand now because like, I remember people used to do the bots thing and all of a sudden they stopped. They say it's not working, but then, but then, and then someone comes up, comes in and say, Hey, it works here.

[00:09:53] Watch and learn. So that was, yeah, that's kind, kinda understand because they couldn't get it to work for a while. And so then they saw that it's not going to work and they just gave up, they don't go to the next level to go deeper into it. And in your case was figuring out that the buyer profile is very important. Yeah, very important.

[00:10:17] Yeah. So how we, yeah, let's talk about a little bit about what you decided this time around that you want it to really incentivize the speakers. Like obviously we're giving them this belt and calling them a nickname and stuff like that. And you know, the belt did get stolen. I don't know if Leo knows this.

[00:10:33] I think Leo does have a belt, but the belt got stolen from two other speakers. You're the only person that has the belt, I think Leo, I can't think of any. Howie, can you remember who was the fourth person that took a belt and a one year stolen? Cedric stole got stolen. Kory's got stolen as well. So two people's belt got stolen and you, you might be the only existing person on the planet that still has that belt, Leo.

[00:11:03] That's about as, as valuable as an NFT right now. That's a three-year that I actually have it here somewhere. It's on my it's actually upstairs, but I do have it. I see you're the only person that has that belt. Howie let's talk about how again, I said you wanted to make this one so special that you decided to give a cash prize for two different people here.

[00:11:23] Let's talk a little bit about those, telling everyone what that decision was. Well, so, so let's go back. You were calling Leo names. So I think the Italian Stallion came from you.  They were good names Howie. I think it came, it came from you, you made that, coined that phrase on Leo. Right, Leo? Or was that always there?  I made it up.  It’s true, Liz made that name.

[00:11:44] I stole it from Rocky. Come on, let's be serious. I took it from a Rocky Balboa. That's it. But he actually won the title that I call, we were in Miami for a mastermind and I made up the title, name is Mr. Worldwide. Obviously, it was based on Pitbull song, it says Pitbull’s, you know, from around here, he lives around.

[00:12:01] I decided that let's call it whoever wins this contest, Mr. Worldwide. So the Mr. Worldwide winner at this year's Las Vegas, have it again? October 4th and 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada will win, how much money Howie? Well, usually if we just give people like big prizes and like maybe a system services or something like that. Now we're going to make it more.

[00:12:22] I see people. Like the green stuff more. So we're going to the prize for the winner would be 7,500, if I'm not correct. Right. That would be the winner of the speaker. So I I've seen Kory's talk. Not, I've heard his, his topic. I think I heard Leo what he’s going to talk about and some other ones, I think it's going to be pretty good.

[00:12:48] You know, I know Leo for awhile, so I know how competitive he is. So I'm sure that look at him. He's, he's, he's, he's competitive.  That’s Italian Stallion blood in him, come on. Those horse racing, you know, like your Italian Stallion meets to win, you know. So Kory wants to get another belt to replace his belt that he lost, you know. So I'm sure that Leo, so this time around, we cannot take in any more like, like presentation after someone starts speaking, because I've seen like last time people, like when they hear people talking, they changed their presentation to make it even more better.

[00:13:29] That's kinda unfair. Right. I saw, I thought. I saw this happened this time around to you at this event, I went to you. So I thought it was kind of fair because then that's how they upped their game by giving more. So I think we should stop that whenever someone, someone speaks no more turning in or actually should turn in beforehand anyways.

[00:13:52] So. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And there's a 2,500 for the smartest marketer, right? Yeah. $2,500 for the smartest marketer, which means if you're sitting at home with a terrific idea, why not share that idea? You might as well take home 2.5 K in your pocket. I can certainly think a lot of things that you can do in Las Vegas with 2,500 in your pocket.

[00:14:14] Sure it’s not going to last that long, particularly those of you out there that are degenerates. I know, I know those degenerates out there in the Amazon space, they usually do come to this event. So it won't last that long, but you will have a terrific story to tell. It's going to be fun. So, so for this event, it’s Las Vegas.

[00:14:31] This is where I kinda met, like three years ago or three or four years, three years ago, I met Leo from this Las Vegas event too. Right. Leo, my first Las Vegas event. I think so. Yeah, I think so. So it's almost like you guys, friendiversary.

[00:14:49] That's terrific. That's a terrific place to celebrate a friendiversary. So Leo, the big question now is after you've heard the grand prize for the best speaker after you've heard the fact that you'll get a second, Mr. Worldwide built, what topics are you thinking about, talking about at the event? Well, now I have to put in a little bit more work into it.

[00:15:11] I think $7,500 in Vegas. I mean, I can definitely use it. It's 7500 Leo. Yeah. So it's a, quite a bit of money initially. I was thinking to talk about the chatbots and take it to the next level. But then actually not too long ago, I started testing a new method on now, which is, which consists of pretty much blowing up or lunch or with YouTube videos and the Google traffic, which is working extremely well.

[00:15:38] So I'm thinking to the person station on the, on that, which will, I think leave a lot of people are surprised and shocked.  I hope this method works. So hopefully I can win the battle. Yeah, but that's again, you know, I know you have a brand new baby, so we're not going to keep you any longer. I think we got some pretty good information out of you.

[00:15:55] Howie, anything else to add before we say goodbye to Leo and we give people details about how to get to the event. Well, well this a 7,500. I know that this, this past two years, we're on, we're in lockdown and everything. And you actually had a kid within this two years. So hopefully that 7,500 for the price can get you another kid.

[00:16:18] Yeah. So Leo, I know, I know you got to go, go right ahead. I'm going to close it out here. Howie clearly doesn't have any children. But Leo, have a good one. So Howie, that was awesome, right? I know Leo had to leave, but I mean, let's face it. He got a seven month old baby. He's got to take care of his baby.

[00:16:35] Let's talk about how now that you've been able to spread the word about this. How much more positivity, how much more things are you getting like Leo talking about? He's going to spend extra time on the presentation. And the reason I'm saying this is because you clearly did this, so you could get people's best and the best typically attracts

[00:16:56] Again, the best from the audience. So I imagine that this one, like no other is going to attract the best of the best and the best secrets will be shared as a result. But tell me how pleased you feel that you've been able to do this. I think we did a good job with it. I like for Leo especially he just made his game go up one notch, as well as Kory.

[00:17:17] I know he's, he's doing that. And other other people I've talked to are really serious about this, this cash prize. Right. And how we, I guess we'll leave it. That was, I think the cash prize really has changed people's perception on how to give the best, like we're going to have an all out battle war between these speakers to win that cash prize.

[00:17:36] So I'm excited about that. I know you're excited, but let's give people some details on how they can attend. There's a very few seats left, but you can head on over to howardthai.com/elite2021. That's howardthai.com/elite2021. That event will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 4th and 5th.

[00:17:58] I was about to say November, but that's pretty much it for me. I'm going to sign off here. On behalf of Howie and I, and I'm super fired up. I know Leo's fired up. I know Howie is, but we'll see everyone later. Okay. Bye bye. Welcome to the Professor’s Podcast where we discuss the best strategies to massively improve the reach and bottom line of your business in the current virtual and economic landscape.

[00:18:22] Your host, Howard Thai, generates over $5 billion for his clients annually using innovative tactics, both on and off Amazon.