Merch Minds Podcast With Glen And Yong

Yong is upset. In fact, he's quite pissed. Once again, Glen has hogged the spotlight. Our very own Glen Zubia was featured in an article by Time magazine. Since Glen found early success on Merch by Amazon, he was contacted by Time magazine for an interview. Glen tells the backstory on how he was contacted and interviewed by Time. Congratulations to Glen for the exposure and a great article. Also, our good friend Michael Essany from Merch Momentum was also featured in the same article. You can find the URL to the article below.   Time/Money Magazine featuring Glen Zubia Jr. https://ti.me/2QqDLSL   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

You might recognize the names Jose Fernandez and Ruben Lopez from the Merch community. Jose has made a career of designing shirts for well-known companies from Disney to Old Navy. Ruben has been scaling his Merch account under Jose's tutelage and they both been stellar members primarily in the Spanish Merch groups. Because of the lack of information in Spanish they recently came out with a course for the Spanish community. It was well received, and it was only a matter of time before they came out with a course in English. They announced the pre-launch of the course exclusively on the Merch Minds Podcast. So how does the course differ from dozens of other courses out there already? Jose has mastered what he's now calling the "Organic Rabbit Hole Research Method." He will teach you how to do research and find the perfect niche without any paid services or products. He will teach you how to find micro-niches that leads to other valuable discoveries. This is a good thing because if you discovered a niche by acci

Glen is out of town this week as he was attending eCom Chicago. Dale Roberts, aka Kelli Roberts husband, stops by to talk with Yong. Dale has been a staple in the print-on-demand community especially with self-publishing. Dale talks about how he got into his entrepreneurial lifestyle. He talks about how tough it was in the beginning but with hard work and perseverance, he's able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He's also doing a little Merch by Amazon to help him diversify his income portfolio. Dale is also very big on branding and content creating. He's been scaling his YouTube channel and is experimenting with Twitch. Also, be on the lookout for his course in January 2019, which will help everyone that wants to learn about self-publishing.   Self-Publishing with Dale https://selfpublishingwithdale.com/   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

This week the boys talk to the very talented BeeJay DeLong. BeeJay is a designer and illustrator who got into Merch by Amazon just this year. In his tenure on the platform, he's quickly catching up to the Glen and Yong's numbers. The most heartwarming thing about BeeJay is he'd taken his talent and teaching graphic design in Ohio. However, his students aren't just regular students. His students are special and have impairments that affect their life activities. BeeJay is a true talent and his story needs to be heard. The community needs more people like BeeJay and his services. Make sure and check out his work on his website. BeeJay DeLong https://www.beejaydel.com/   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

Amazon Merch launched two new updates to their content policy. You can now have designs that contain profanity, drugs, alcohol, violence, and sexual content in adult sizes. However, they will not be allowed on youth sizes. This was a surprising move considering Amazon was quick to pull the plug on these content. If you were on Amazon Merch from the beginning you know that almost everything was allowed back in the wild west. Make sure and review the content policy before starting to upload the new designs. Glen and Yong discuss how this will open up new niche markets. They talk about what they believe is allowable and their plan of action. What about you? What do you think of the new policy and will you be uploading in these new niche markets? Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55

The 100th episode of the Merch Minds Podcast was a huge success! Thank you to all our loyal listeners and the Merch community. What started as a podcast to share our personal journies evolved into a show where listeners tune in for advice and a little entertainment. Listed below are the winners of the prizes. If the prizes are not claimed a winner will be drawn.   Dale L. Roberts - Winner for Local Merch Course jhrennie - Winner for No Content Book Publishing goudj230178 - Winner for Design Bundle from Merch Design Factory ric60640 - Winner for Lifetime License for Pretty Merch Pro aquadocpools - Winner for Lifetime License for Pretty Merch Pro goudj230178 - Winner for Lifetime Subscription to Merch Momentum Strategy Guide yazide79 - Winner for Lifetime Subscription to Merch Momentum Strategy Guide verdammt - Winner for Lifetime Subscription to Merch Momentum Strategy Guide klee - Winner for One Course of Choice from Pin Traffic Power aquadocpools - Winner for One-Month Subscription to Merch Inform

With days away from the Merch by Amazon conference in Seattle, Glen and Yong talk about what to expect at this year's conference. The boys attended last year and they both agree that all the talks last year were great. This year they will be both presenting but they are more excited about the networking. They probably said this about a thousand times by now. Networking is important for all business models. Even if you can't attend the conference they encourage you to reach out to other members of the Merch community and network. If you are attending the conference make sure and say hello to the boys. They love meeting other members of the Merch community. And who knows, you can be working with them in the near future.   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55

What would you do if you lost your Merch account today? What other platforms are you selling on? Would you be able to survive without a paycheck from Merch by Amazon? Yong recently had multiple conversations with people who had their Merch by Amazon accounts suspended. It is one of his biggest fear in the Merch community. Whether it was an honest mistake or not the Amazon is not our platform and everything that we worked for can be taken away. The boys the importance of a diverse income stream. Besides Amazon, everyone should be selling on other POD platforms. There are countless platforms out there that can bring in a nice revenue outside of Amazon Merch.   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55

Chances are you are using the Pretty Merch Chrome extension in your Merch by Amazon dashboard. It is the number one extension when it comes to Merch. It's only right that Haris Petrasitis is a guest on the Merch Minds Podcast. Haris is the developer of the Pretty Merch Chrome extension. While selling shirts is fun and for some profitable Amazon doesn't give us any data. With Pretty Merch Pro you get sales update and lifetime analytics of the 100 shirts you sold. In the business of e-commerce this is very important because you need to what sells and what doesn't. Haris also puts the conspiracy theory of stealing your data to rest. There is some conspiracy theorist in the community that claims that extensions like Pretty Merch are stealing their data. While it is possible to steal your data Haris is running a legitimate business with the Pretty Merch extension. He wants everyone to know that none of your data is being stolen and invites anyone to take a look at his code. Pretty Merch Pro https://gumroad.com/a/

Q4 is almost here. Labor Day is officially over and the leaves are starting to change. That means that Halloween is creeping up on us real soon. This week Glen and Yong talk about their Q4 predictions and expectations. On a previous episode, Glen even hinted maybe doing FBA again because he thinks there will be another freeze or throttle. Yong agrees. With Amazon having launched Merch Collab, PopSockets, Merch UK/DE, and Merch AMS all in one year there is a great chance of some kind of freeze this Q4. Also, if you're publishing on CreateSpace take note that they are officially merging to KDP. For a while, there have been rumors about the move but Amazon announced last week that the move will happen. Make sure and learn the ins and outs of KDP!   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

Matt Carlett from Merch Design Factory joins the Merch Minds Podcast this week. Matt was one of the original members of the Merch community and experienced early success on Merch. He comes from the reselling community and talked about how he transitioned from doing Amazon FBA to Merch by Amazon. Matt agrees that we need to drive traffic to our listings. He talked about how he leveraged Pinterest to drive traffic and for the most part, it worked. Driving traffic to our listing is important because Amazon likes it when we drive traffic to their site. Make sure and check out Merch Design Factory. They offer unique designs that are ready to be uploaded on to Merch by Amazon. All designs are sold once and have been checked for trademarks.   Merch Design Factory https://merchdesignfactory.com/ Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55  

First off, both Glen and Yong apologize for the technical issues that they had last week. Unfortunately, they don't see or notice any technical issues on their end until it's uploaded. Yong thinks RJ Martinez hijacked the show somehow. This week the boys talk CreateSpace in depth. For the past couple of months, they have briefly mentioned CreateSpace and how the platform complements Merch by Amazon. And the popularity of Kelli Robert's course created a buzz in the Merch community. So is CreateSpace worth publishing on? While Yong is on board with CreateSpace Glen is uncertain about it. Many have already found success after taking Kelli's course, and some are already making over $1k per month. What do you think? Have you found early success on CreateSpace? If so let drop us a message and let us know how you're doing. Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

Glen and Yong discuss UK and Germany marketplace. While they both don't have access to the marketplace they discuss the potential. They also discuss the new policy changes because of the new marketplace. While the new marketplace has the potential to bring in more income we all have to be careful. As we all know Amazon is notorious for making policy changes without making any official announcements. So this episode is a reminder to keeping checking the content policy on a regular basis. Let the boys know if you have the international marketplace yet? If so how is it and have you started making sales yet? Typography Dissected Poster Digital Download [Free] https://gum.co/eAFbD Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

Spencer and Shannon from the Merch Lifestyle Podcast stop by this week to talk to the boys. They are ex-neighbors from Cincinnati that got into e-commerce together. Spencer now lives in Mountain View, CA not too far from Yong. They talk everything about print-on-demand. They discuss how difficult it is to scale on Merch by Amazon. They also talk about how they're scaling they're Esty store, which they have more control of. They are two smart guys building their online career. They're creating multiple income streams and creating sustainable income on multiple channels. Make sure and subscribe to their YouTube channel listed below. Merch Lifestyle Podcast https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_aEvn11t35Eboo0qKqGSSQ Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55    

We talked about how saturated the Merch by Amazon is these days. With more and more competition our products are getting lost in hundreds if not thousands of the same type of listings. While some are still finding success with the organic traffic on Amazon most of us are getting frustrated with the lack of sales. Yong hinted in the past about creating niche affiliate websites around his best selling shirts. This way we control the traffic and the data. So this week they talk to Alex Park who has made a career of creating niche affiliate sites. Yong met Alex back in May and they discussed how niche sites can help with Merch sales during the slow times. It's more than Merch sales. When you pick the right niche you can double dip on other products through the Amazon Associates program. This isn't for everyone. If this is the route you're going to take you won't see results immediately. Depending on your niche and products you might not see results for up to a year.   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer

Yong is back! He may sound like he's better but he's still coughing. The good thing is his fever is down and he's able to continue with the show. This week Glen and Yong are catching up. Glen was out of town visiting his brother in Austin. Yong was in beautiful in Morro Bay on a workcation and to just get out of town to rest. They are catching up with their lives and Merch by Amazon. Yong talks about his frustration with Merch. Although he's grateful for the opportunity he's finding that it's getting harder to scale as more people are being approved for Merch. While he won't give up on Merch he discusses how he will focus more on how to drive traffic to his listings. Creating an affiliate website is one of the ways he's planning on driving traffic to his shirts. He also talks about how he will revamp his Etsy store since he has more control over it. Yong also talks about a potential private label opportunity. He was given an opportunity to mass produce a skin oil by a guy who is retiring at the end of the yea

Iron Man has finally broken down. Since starting the podcast, Yong has never missed an episode. Unfortunately, he missed episode 88 because he was coughing up his lungs all last week. Glen holds down the show and interviews the young entrepreneur Jacob Bates. Jacob is a young guy but light years ahead when it comes to running online businesses. They talk about everything about print on demand and even Createspace, which happens to be the hottest trend right now outside of Merch. His portfolio of running print on demand business range from Merch to the Etsy Printful integration. He also runs a design service company where you can purchase pre-made designs. How many millennials do you know that run multiple online businesses like Jacob? Merch Ready https://merchready.com/   Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55  

With AMS dead what are you doing to drive traffic to your listings? Most of us know that Amazon has great organic traffic but they also control our listings. That's why it's important to utilize platforms like Pinterest to drive traffic to our shirts. Glen and Rose talk to Teresa Rose who has done just about everything from eBay to having her own Shopify store. One thing she learned during her business endeavors is how important it is to drive traffic to your store and listings. She found that Pinterest is a great platform to utilize to get more potential customers in front of our products. Teresa offers a comprehensive course that teaches us how to leverage Pinterest efficiently to get the most traffic to our products. The number one lesson learned from her interview is "keyword." Remember that and make sure and check out her course below. Pin Traffic Power: Pinterest For Merch By Amazon Bundle https://pintrafficpower.thinkific.com/bundles/pinterest-for-merch-by-amazon?ref=c87e98   Sponsors Merch Informer h

Yong is back from VidCon and HustleCon! He reviews each conference and they both get very different reviews. In a nutshell, VidCon was a bust and HustleCon was weird but very interesting. PopSockets are officially here. After a week into uploading designs for PopSockets the boys talk about how they did. Also, are you guys making edits to your listings since Amazon said we need to describe the design? Let the boys know if you are and what changes you're making. Also, Kelli Roberts released her course No Content Book Publishing. This is the same course that both Glen and Yong paid for to learn how to publish blank journals. Kelli is making $6k per month and in December of 2017, she made a whopping $17k! Kelli's course will complement your Merch by Amazon business. You can take your Merch by Amazon designs and use them for your cover on Amazon. And since we're not writing anything the work is half done already. You can purchase Kelli's course by going to the URL below. No Content Book Publishing https://gumroad.

This is a late post but it's better late than never. It's been a crazy week for the boys. Yong is currently in Anaheim attending VidCon in hopes of learning from Merch by Amazon as they will be there. This week the boys talk about the PopSockets that was just announced by Amazon. Amazon will be releasing them on a rolling basis and it's not clear who all has them so far. Glen and Yong have them and they been slowly uploading their designs. In fact, Yong already has a few sales for PopSockets already. While they are no experts they discuss possible strategies. Amazon said they released PopSockets because their data stated that they are good sellers. Let's hope their data is correct. Sponsors Merch Informer https://merchinformer.com/223.html Merchinator https://merchinator.com/s/e66c4a55