Listen to our exclusive interview with Jennifer Kayla Ruscin:
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What does it take to get your product in a store like Walmart? We spoke to expert, Jennifer Kaylo Ruscin to find out the secrets to winning in retail today.
More About Jennifer:
She has dedicated the last 17 years to serving shoppers in the retail space, both brick and mortar and online, bringing to market innovative products and brands.
In serving her clients, she has sat at the table with hundred-million dollar CEO’s, helping them to create multi-million dollar brands in retailers.
And in creating her own million dollar company she has learned how to attract a perfectly aligned client, and create both the business and personal life you dream about.
Learn more about Jennifer and her work at > Jenniferkayloruscin.com
We also recommend:
- Parker Stevenson: Understanding Your Financials to Get the Most From Your Biz
- Richard Lau: Choosing the Right Logo For Your Business
- Adam And Amy – Why So Many Entrepreneurs Start on a High and Later Crash And Burn
Transcription of Interview
(Transcribed by Otter.ai, there may be errors)
Adam G. Force 00:03
Welcome to the Change Creator podcast where entrepreneurs come to learn how to live their truth, get rich and make a massive difference in the world. I’m your host Adam forest co founder, Change Creator and co creator of the captivate method. Each week we talk to experts about leadership, digital marketing and sales strategies that you can implement in your business and life to go big. Visit us at Change Creator comm forward slash go big to grab awesome resources that will help drive your business forward. Hey, what’s up, buddy? Welcome back to the chase credit podcast. This is your host that unforced Hope you guys are doing amazing today, we have a really great conversation that we actually recorded a while ago with Jennifer Ruskin. And we never put it live because it snuck away from us. And it’s kind of like that thing that went between the cushions of the couch and you just kind of lost track of it. So we are excited that we found this and we have it ready for you to check out Jennifer is a rock star, somebody that was in our mastermind summit that we met back in California in 2020, before the whole COVID thing really struck. And so I was excited to have this conversation. She’s been in business for like 20 years, serving people in the retail space. So both brick and mortar and online. So she helps people bring innovative products to market. And she’s worked with, you know, $100 million brands and retailers that she has supported and consulted for so she has a ton of expertise. And you don’t want to miss this out especially if you’re in the retail space. Now if you missed the last episode was with Parker Stevenson from evolved finance, we talked about what you need to know about your numbers, when you should start thinking about it, how to get organized, how to maximize your profits, all that good stuff. That’s not a conversation you want to miss. So make sure you go back and check that out. Last but not least, don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, we have a strong presence there. And that’s kind of where we do all our, our sharing. And we have our Facebook group via Change Creator, we get a little bit deeper into some of the insights around branding, storytelling and all that fun stuff. Alright guys, without further ado, let’s dive into this conversation with Jennifer. Okay, show me the heat. Hey, Jennifer, welcome to the Change Creator podcast show how you doing today?
Jennifer Kaylo 02:27
I’m awesome. Thank you for having me.
Adam G. Force 02:29
Yeah, well, thanks for being here. And I appreciate you taking the time. You know, um, you know, ecommerce is not our space here at Change Creator. So I love to tap into other people’s expertise and just learn a little bit more about you know, like, you have incredible program helping people get into Walmart and stores like that, which could be game changers for people, right? So tell me a little bit about your background, and just kind of how you got to this position of like, why you’re doing what you’re doing. And you know, a little bit what’s going on in your world today.
Jennifer Kaylo 02:58
Awesome. Thank you. Okay, so my background is really it’s brick and mortar, and it’s mass retail. So I started at Walmart, home office, I don’t know how many people actually start at Walmart home office, working for the largest company in the entire world. But it was me, that’s what I did. It was back in 2005. And I was in my mid 20s. And I fell in love with retail. Like, it was so amazing to watch, the buyer that I worked for have the power to choose what ended up on the actual retail shelves that other humans went and purchased, it was the coolest thing. And at one point, I got to even develop a totally organic all natural hair dryer that failed miserably once it hit stores. But it was so cool to get to be a part of that process. And I think, you know, I think that your audience is really full of small business owners and entrepreneurial spirits. And hey, maybe they’ve tried to make a hairdryer and maybe they’ve tried to make barbecue sauce or something and you finally get it out into the world. And sometimes you have to tweak it a little bit, right once it finally gets out. So after spending seven years at Walmart, I realized, I think that there might be more than just these little cubicle walls that surround me I’d had my first child, my second child, I finished my MBA, and I looked up like bright and shiny eyed and I thought I’m gonna go get on LinkedIn. Okay, it’s time to like get a LinkedIn profile and see what else is on the other side of my cubicle walls. And within Walmart, this is like a really dirty bad thing to do. Like you don’t go work for the dark side is what they call it, which is like the supplier world. But that’s what I did. So I left and I started working for nature’s path organic food, and fell in love with the food business. I grocery is so much fun. And it’s always innovative and to see what food trends are cool this year, but like not cool the next year and what’s coming next is so much fun. And I think as we’re all preparing for Expo West, in just a couple weeks, we’re all like anticipating what’s going to be the next food trend. So I did that for about a year and a half and then I got really bored like Adam, I was like okay, I’ve had my MBA, I’m super smart, I’m used to working the job of five different people at Walmart. And all I do is yoga all day, like I have nothing to do working for natures path, I’m so bored. And so I thought, I’m just going to open up my own brokerage firm, then I can sell like bicycles and tents and food if I want to. And so that’s what I’ve done for the last five years, almost six. I’m in my sixth year now. And so I help companies sell into Walmart, in stores and into Amazon.
Adam G. Force 05:27
Interesting. That’s pretty cool. Yeah. And, and so I guess what are some of the commonalities of like getting into a place like Amazon versus Walmart, I guess some of the differences and commonalities?
Jennifer Kaylo 05:41
Well, you know, I kind of looking, I kind of look at it as a stepping stone or like as a launchpad. So for me, Amazon can be multiple things for you, it can be the one destination that you sell your product based business in. And you can literally grow a million dollar plus account just being on Amazon. The amazing thing about Amazon, there’s no buyers, there’s nobody to tell you. No, there’s no slotting fees, there’s like there’s so many amazing positives to Amazon, one negative, well, there’s a lot of negatives, but the first one that pops out to me is you don’t own your customer, you don’t own the customer, you don’t own the customer experience. There’s third parties everywhere, right? So it’s kind of like the Wild West, and you never know how your product is going to end up in the hands of shoppers and consumers and people that can write you a bad review. So there are definitely some ways that you can control that shopping experience for your shopper and for your brand. And that’s where I think people like me come into place to help educate you and teach you or even manage your account. I manage 20 different Amazon client accounts at this point. And I only keep 20 on my roster, but we help them get those third party wild west guys off. So I love Amazon so much. There’s so much waste so many ways to make money on Amazon. But then there’s other people in another boat where they’re like, Hmm, I really want to be in brick and mortar, or I want to expand my brick and mortar distribution. So they might be in smaller stores like a bylo or a shop ride or something like that. Yeah. And they want to be in target. They want to be in Walmart, they want to be in larger grocery stores and chains in mass retail. Costco, you get the idea. Oh, yeah. And so in those instances, I like to use Amazon as a launch pad to get into brick and mortar.
Adam G. Force 07:27
Gotcha. Gotcha.
Jennifer Kaylo 07:29
Yeah. Do you want to know how to do that?
Adam G. Force 07:31
Yeah, I’m gonna let you keep on going until us yeah.
Jennifer Kaylo 07:34
So the ways to do that are you have to get your products on page one for your category. Again, there’s definitely a way in the system to do that. But you want to get your products on page one. So for example, like I’m looking at my desk right now, and I have Lacroix sitting on my desk. I if I am Lacroix I want to be on page one, so that the other retailer start to see me they know who I am, they might decide that they want Lacroix in their own stores. Because I’ve done all the heavy lifting. And shoppers are now looking for me. They’re looking for me in Walmart, they’re looking for me and target. And so you kind of have you have a much more weight as a brand. When you can say, look, there are millions of customers that are buying from me off of Amazon every single year. Why would you not put this on your shelf? I at least deserve a buyer meeting.
Adam G. Force 08:21
Yeah. And so is it difficult? Like I mean, obviously, it’s difficult, but like, what are some of the criteria like is it super saturated? Like I just give a quick example, like I was reading about this guy, Mike pero for because you mentioned Costco, it made me think of him and he’s like head of merchandising over there. And he said that, you know, they get saturated, let’s say you have a laundry detergent that’s good for the environment or something and you want to get on the shelf at Costco, well, they have 100, laundry detergents pitching for that shelf space, right. And he’s like, you know, everyone, you can compete on price, you compete on different features, whatever it might be. And in the end, he’s like, I have to make decisions about who gets on the shelf in Costco, and it comes down to who I liked the most and who I trust the most.
Jennifer Kaylo 09:08
Uuuh. Know, like and trust. Those are three really important terms, three important factors to be as a brand. A I think club business is very different than even brick and mortar business, and especially in mass and that club only has four slots for detergent. That’s it, and it’s gonna be the four top brands, they may have one position where they’re willing to try something like new and upcoming and hot and whatever, right. For Sam’s Club, they’ve almost done like the opposite. And I know that kirklands is super strong and Costco and they do have a really great house brand. But Sam’s Club is now like we only want to be private label. So they swung in like the totally opposite pendulum, which is really frustrating as a brand. Because you may have had distribution and now you don’t. And now you’re scratching your head like what where the hell do I sell if I can’t sell online, or I can’t sell in a big brick and mortar and there’s a bunch of different ways, I think to protect yourself as a brand, where you can’t put all your eggs in one basket anymore. You can’t just be on Amazon because Amazon might shut you off. Right?
Adam G. Force 10:10
And so what is it? What is a company like? So we talked about like Costco, which is like these, you know, club brands, and then we have like a Walmart. So, what’s different? Like, what is Walmart looking for? I mean, you talk about getting that presence on page one and all that kind of stuff, because you’re stirring the demand. Okay, the demands there. So give people what they want. What What is like the criteria from Walmart, and how competitive is it really to get on the shelf in comparison to the Costco’s of the world and stuff?
Jennifer Kaylo 10:39
That’s a great question, I would say a little less competitive, but only because Walmart has way more shelf space and way more options. And they may have one facing as opposed to an entire pallet in a cost. Or you only have four options. I think what we’re seeing in terms of private label in Costco in Sam’s Club in all these other guys, it’s the same thing is happening within Walmart, it is becoming so difficult to get items into Walmart. So you really, really do have to be best to the best. So even if you are on page one, and you may be our position one, position two, or even position five on Amazon, even that is a challenge. Now I will say you can use Amazon to get a buyer meeting, you can use Amazon to continue to get some space in brick and mortar. But even just a few years ago, where I’d almost guaranteed you a spot on a retail shelf, just because you were positioned one or two and Amazon, I would say even even now in what 2020 it’s becoming increasingly difficult now I don’t know if we’re gonna see a trend in retail away from private label, like the pendulum has swung so far into private label right now, that unless you’re a mass CPG brand, you’re really not going to be on shelf, right? Unless you are so incredibly trendy. Like I’m thinking bulletproof, like bulletproof coffee, right? If you walked in Walmart today, and you’re over in that OTC area, you’re gonna see a big feature like an endcap, full of bullet bulletproof coffee. And it’s all fixtured. And it’s beautiful, and it’s branded. But they’re not necessarily sitting in the middle of an aisle. Right, right. Because even them even they haven’t earned a spot permanently in the fixture there. They’re testing it, they’re trying it. So there are some additional options to within brick and mortar. And I would assume Walmart is very similar to the other ones that you can at least get a feature in or get a test in, because you have shown up and done your work on Amazon.
Adam G. Force 12:38
Okay. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. It’s kind of like, cuz you mentioned earlier, it’s like a stepping stone in some of these strategies, just to, I guess, kind of keep increasing your distribution. And it makes me think to like, I guess, targets gonna be similar, right? It’s a big store, they expanded quite a bit with the number of stores, more shelf space, all that good stuff. And like I was in there with my wife, you know, we stopped in there every so often. And I would look at some of the men’s clothing and I saw, like, you know, the socks, t shirts, underwear, all that stuff, they have everything. And I saw this brand Goodfellas. And it was just like one small section. And the next thing you know, I see another section, another section. And then they redesigned the store just last week, and they have all this other product lines like men’s like you know, stuff for your beard and your hair and everything else. And I’m like, all of a sudden, over the past like three to four months, this brand has started as like a spotlight like test and it’s just started taking over Target like how Yeah, how does that happen? Did I lose you?
Jennifer Kaylo 13:42
Nope, sorry. I’m right here. How does that happen? I think Target for one is very, very open to trying new things, right? So they’re willing to like go all in on the Goodfellow line and bring it in like the beard oil and bringing in the cap and bringing in the belt and all of that stuff and putting it all in one space, which is so cool. But as you as you just mentioned, though, they started small, right, like and that’s their own private label brand. So they test it.
Adam G. Force 14:10
Was it is it I didn’t even know it was there own private label. I told Luanne, my wife, I was like, I bet you this is their own brand. That that’s why it’s getting so much attention here too. Yes, it is. And target is another good example of private label ownership. And I actually did another podcast just on this exact topic. As women we want to go and buy Archer farms because it’s so trendy because target knows what we want as women. Like if you go into target and you go into the coffee section, you’re going to find like delightful caramel macchiato with a splash of mint like something that’s really decadent and really interesting. That’s not on shelf in any other retailer. But target knows what women want. Right? So the cool thing is they’re figuring out what men want now to do right with this Goodfellow brand and it’s like Men want these really trendy sunglasses that are so cool and different that they can’t find anywhere else. Or this like super amazing moisturizing, good smelling shave gel. Right? That you don’t find at Walmart. Yeah, no, it’s true. It’s true. And, you know, it’s interesting, because if you’re doing your homework, you look around at these things, and you look at what’s being featured and grows, you could start seeing what’s starting to expand in the store. And then obviously, you know, that’s what’s selling. So you can look at that and say, okay, there’s the trend, like, that’s, that’s what’s working today. That’s what people want, right?
Jennifer Kaylo 15:33
Yeah. And the cool thing about private label for a retailer is they can move so much faster, because they have direct relationships with that manufacturer, versus having to go through a third party, which are what most brands do today, right? We go and we source it from China. And we’re the middleman between the retailer and the manufacturer. But when it’s private label, they have the direct line to the manufacturer to go, Hey, this blouse in this particular color blue with these particular buttons are selling like crazy. Can you quadruple our order and get it to us in like two weeks, right? Yeah. And then they can even airfreight it over it’s just it’s totally changed the game.
Adam G. Force 16:11
Now, have you seen Oh, sorry. Go ahead.
Jennifer Kaylo 16:13
No, I was just thinking I’m like, but has the customer or have we decided that brands aren’t important anymore? And that’s what I think we’ve yet to figure out.
Adam G. Force 16:22
Yeah, that’s an interesting concept. I mean, in my mind, I think that it depends, like I see it depends on products. But like, just for example, I just did a video the other day about this, because it’s fresh in my mind. But I there, the Edelman report came out in 2019. And they do a trust barometer. And so what they found is that less than 50% of the general population trust brands, and then when they’re buying products, one of the top ranking factors they consider when buying a product is brand trust. So when you start thinking about does the brand matter? I don’t know. Like if it’s something like buying toothpaste, maybe maybe not. But I think that brand trust does play a role. And if you’re Apple or Google, you’ve already taken the time and the effort and spent the money to build brand trust. But when you have your brand in the first couple years, you’re gonna have to earn that trust, because people are putting red flags up, right? They want to know like, are you doing something that is going to pollute our oceans? And are you? Are you fair trade? Or are you paying people poorly? Like, what is your circumstance? And I think you’re seeing more of that from people today.
Jennifer Kaylo 17:28
Mm hmm. And then does it matter even by age range? Is it the boomers care so much about the give back? Or is that a millennial or Gen Z thing? Right, exactly. I don’t know if you’ve known noticed this or not that PBS is doing. They’ve just produced something about Amazon. It’s all about Jeff Bezos, my husband and I were watching it the other night. And you hear Jeff Bezos say, we are creating a brand that people love. And he said this like 20-30 years ago, and everybody looked at him like what are you talking about? And you think about the brands that you love, like you and I are about the same age. And I would say like I love Tesla. I can’t wait to own a Tesla. I love Amazon. I want to deliver what I want.
Adam G. Force 18:10
Why do you love Tesla?
Jennifer Kaylo 18:10
Why do I love Tesla, I love the way that it looks. I love the way that it feels sexy. I love the way that it’s good for the environment. I love the idea of never having to put gas in my car ever again. I love Elon Musk because he’s a little quirky, but he is so futuristic and brilliant. And I want a piece of that.
Adam G. Force 18:28
And that’s that, I feel the same way. And like he said we’re around the same age and like what Elon musk stands for. And I like what he’s doing because it’s it’s sustainable. It’s big thinking and I feel like he’s doing he’s always pushing to do what’s in our best interest not only for us now but for future generations, you know.
Jennifer Kaylo 18:49
Yep, absolutely. And through this PBS special Bezos is actually saying the same thing. Like there’s this video with him as a kid giving a speech about the future and about you know, traveling to space and colonizing…
Adam G. Force 19:04
Colonizing
Jennifer Kaylo 19:06
Colonizing. And it’s so cool like is then they do a slash forward and it’s like his spaceship taking off like him and Matt and Ilan I think are so similar in terms of being like so much farther beyond any of us and so much smarter than they you know, ever get. Like none of us are anywhere near as smart and intelligent as they are and it’s so cool to watch them create these companies that explode but also have the love trust factor, right?
Adam G. Force 19:32
Yeah, they did a really good job with that. And you’re right see, they’re out there telling these stories. They’re out there sharing their like, what they stand for what they believe in and all of a sudden the brand is driven by that stuff and it does connect with people. And and I think you made a great point about age bracket because it the younger the kids get, the more they’re looking for the organic, sustainable fair trade like you know, the plastic pollution things obviously become huge. So You know, we want to see brands, like seventh generation on the shelf at Target and Walmart, right? Because they have good ethos. So yeah, it’s really great. And I’m hoping that as people are listening here today, you know, they have these e commerce products that they can get excited about. And I want them to work with people like you to get them on the shelf, if they’re making a difference, you know?
Jennifer Kaylo 20:20
Yes, yeah, for sure. And cool. The coolest thing is, and back to like back to take us back from Jeff Bezos in space to Walmart. Yeah, I’m gonna ground us back in Walmart again. And I don’t know how many of your listeners actually shop at Walmart. I know, like, just depending on what state you’re in, and even what city some of them are dirty and gross. And some of them are amazing and spectacular, like the ones in Bentonville, Arkansas, where I live. But almost every single category now has an organic option. And last week, I bought like $200 worth of groceries and cleaning supplies, everything was organic. And I thought if I was at Whole Foods, I guarantee my basket would be 400 $500. Yeah, yeah. And I’m so grateful that Walmart has like taken the positioning of, we’re gonna find out how to help you save more and live better, even with organics, and even in specialty foods. And, and these really amazing brands are starting to show up on shelves.
Adam G. Force 21:15
Yeah, no that’s good to hear. Because, you know, they produce so much and there’s if they have a stronger stance on those things, it would help pull in brands and make them successful, they can really be a big factor in solving some big issues like that. Right. So it’s always easy to promote the cheapest thing, but that’s not there’s actually other costs aside from money than then when you have like dirty products, you know what I mean?
Jennifer Kaylo 21:41
Sure
Adam G. Force 21:42
Yeah. And that’s one thing I loved about Costco, too, is, you know, they, he has quite a story. It’s all about trying to do what aligns to certain values and stuff. And there’s a lot of good options in there. So anybody listening, I don’t know. But like, we find a lot of stuff. We’re vegetarian, my wife and I, and we find all kinds of good, organic, healthy, like they really do push the envelope and try to bring in products like that also. So yeah, it’s interesting to see how things are evolving. And I’m curious if you’ve noticed with, you know, startups and stuff, I’m one thing I’ve always shied away from e commerce, why I always shied away from e commerce and products and stuff is it feels kind of like, wow, I have to like figure out one a product, like the development, the testing, and then I got to have inventory and I gotta have fulfillment. And it’s, it’s a pretty like expensive cycle. It feels like a lot of overhead expense wise. And I’m curious how you have noticed, maybe some of the entrepreneurs like is it? Like you can’t do drop shipping, right? If you want to get in a store? Like how does that? Do you have any insight around that how that works
Jennifer Kaylo 22:44
It is. I just wrote an article just last week, or even earlier this week, I can’t even remember, a few days ago that was about that. Like, if you don’t have capital, and you can’t do it well, don’t do it at all, please don’t, it will only cost you money and energy and frustration. And so of course, there’s amazing groups that do help you get investors and help you with preliminary funding and all of that kind of stuff. And so if you’re listening, and you don’t have that, go seek that out, either ask me or ask Adam or find somebody because it is so expensive to do business with brick and mortar. It’s even very expensive to do business with Amazon. I mean, I would say it’s the cheapest, fastest, quickest way to make money. But to really do it right and to really grow the brand. And for me, I only work with clients that have the potential to make a million plus dollars in revenue per year. So I wouldn’t take a barbecue sauce. You know what I mean? I know what it takes. There are certain categories that just currently today, if it’s a really easy, cheap commodity in a brick and mortar store, people are probably going to stop off at the dollar store and grab it on. Yeah, but there’s so many categories, especially in food that are growing, triple, quadruple digit, it’s incredible how fast they’re growing. So your question, I guess is particularly just around brick and mortar, and yeah,
Adam G. Force 24:06
I think you’ve answered it . It’s expensive.
Jennifer Kaylo 24:09
It’s expensive. Yeah, if you’re selling directly to Walmart stores, you have to get set up with EDI, you have to have million dollars plus just in liability insurance, you have to have a system in a warehouse. And I mean, like it’s very expensive. If you were to ship with Amazon, you could sell, you could you could just set it up in Seller Central and have Amazon be responsible for the shipping and the distributing and the logistics and the customer service and all of that which is amazing. And you bet you basically consign your inventory to Amazon and every two weeks they cut you a check. It’s beautiful.
Adam G. Force 24:39
So you could drop ship through Amazon but you obviously can’t do that with like Walmart and stuff. So the brick and mortar is more Walmart and if you didn’t want to have inventory and fulfillment, responsibility responsibilities, Amazon can handle that for you.
Jennifer Kaylo 24:52
Totally, yes.
Adam G. Force 24:54
Okay. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. And have you noticed certain types of products you mentioned food space is growing rapidly. Like, is there like men’s nutrition? Women’s, you know, health care products? Like, have you noticed anything else that’s been pretty popular?
Jennifer Kaylo 25:11
I’ve noticed that everything is growing at least 20, 30, 40% year over year, just in general, food is exploding. There’s some categories that are tougher. So you mentioned men’s nutrition, I have a kid’s vegan, organic gummy vitamin that is so expensive these days to advertise it, again, unless you have major capital, it is almost it’s almost impossible to grow. Because keyword bidding on keywords are three to $5 per click, right? So unless you have 5000 to $10,000 a month marketing budget that you’re willing to not make any ROI office for at least six months. Yeah, don’t play in those overly saturated categories. Again, foods doing great, ready to eat great, dry grocery, anything in the direct grocery space. Think also outside of food, anything that’s expensive. And light is where you find the most profit. That’s a great tip.
Adam G. Force 26:09
Expensive and light. I like that. Yeah, I’ve heard people talk about that. With e commerce they keep you want simple products that are not really expensive to produce, but they have like a lot of value behind them and stuff. And yes, that’s smart.
Jennifer Kaylo 26:24
And conveyable like don’t think kayak. If it’s not conveyable it’s really difficult and really expensive for Amazon to move that around the country for you.
Adam G. Force 26:33
Yeah, I mean, a three or $4 just to get a click. That’s, that’s, that’s expensive. You definitely need an investor on that. Yep. Damn, all right, interesting. Well, cuz I’m like, I’m like, I shaved my head, I went… As soon as I saw I started losing hair. I was like, I’m just doing the the shave. And that’s it, taking the hair off. And I got into like some of the men’s products, like, you know, stuff to take care of your skin or your beard and stuff like that. And I was always like, man, it would be really cool. There’s some things missing in the market that I look for that I don’t really find. And I would be like, man, I would love to get into that space. And I know it can do well, but it would take a ton of marketing power, a ton of like, you know, money just to get the brand set up. And I always shy away from it. We’re not there.
Jennifer Kaylo 27:20
Yeah, it’s really expensive. So one thing that I’ve noticed, and I’ve been managing clients now for almost six years, as I mentioned, in theirs, there was a point last year where I was like, This is exhausting, it would be so much easier if I just created my own products. But when you start to look at what that costs, and the time and the energy, it’s really a full time job, at least in my opinion, to figure out really what’s the best item and then find the manufacturer and then have them create a prototype and then have them send it from overseas, and then you look at it and then you approve it, or you send your changes and then and then you have to order it and then you have to pay for it. And you have to not get scammed while you pay for it. So like a quick side note, use Alibaba because there’s insurance and I had a friend lose like $40,000, because he got scammed through some other thing. It was not Alibaba, and he was like, I’ll never not go through there again. So if you are interested in that, I love Jungle Scout, and they just rolled out a brand new tool that you can subscribe to that will tell you by item on Amazon, exactly who their manufacturer is over in China or whatever country it is. And they’ll tell you, you know, hey, here’s how to get ahold of them. And here’s how, you know if you want to go create your own thing. And one thing I would caution you to is, you don’t want to be first to market unless you have a million dollars sitting in a bank to go spend to launch the product, right, you want to find whitespace in the market. So use tools like Jungle Scout use tools like merchant words. And I’ve got an online course as well as when I managed my one on one clients where I teach you and I use these tools, and I show you how to use them. And that’s what you want to do. So you want to find something where there’s high search ability, so people are looking for it. But then there’s a low amount of actual sales and a low amount of actual products that show up for the search results. That gives you the whitespace. And that’s where you know shoppers are looking for it. They can’t find it on Amazon, or they can’t you know, are they and this is these are particularly you know, Amazon programs because that’s what I deal with all day. But they’re great tools to use and then go Okay, we need to go develop something like a great example. I have a real example for you. And it’s with trash cans. So I had a potential client, I didn’t end up working with them. So I feel comfortable sharing this story. But they came to me and they were like, Hey, we sell these boxes that are for recyclable things that your normal recycler doesn’t take. So it’s like batteries or whatever, those kind of things, one off things. And so you go on Amazon or you go to them directly and you get this box sent to your home, you put the weird thing in it and then you send it back to them and then they recycle it. So these are people that like really love the planet and really, really, really want to pay extra to go send their stuff back And apparently there’s a huge market for it because they’re making millions of dollars a year doing this. So I started to research on Amazon and I used the tools, I got to Jungle Scout, I use merchant words, I’m looking at shopper search, I’m looking at what’s coming up. And there’s nothing like that in the market. But there’s a huge whitespace for recyclable trash cans, and recyclable bags that go in trash cans, and three and four sorting trash cans. So if anyone’s listening, and you want to go find an item, that there’s white space for everyone, I gave you like a whole category. And what’s interesting in that space is no one’s really winning in this space. There’s no one or two brands that are the top brands in that space. So you could easily go dominate, and then come back in with your kind of like one off brown boxes that you mail out for the weird things that you need to recycle, right? And then then you have like validity, and customers are like, Oh, yeah, I know that brand. Because it’s sitting in my kitchen. It’s the trash can in the kitchen. Oh, yeah. Those are the bags that we use for the bathroom. Yeah, bathrooms, right? Yeah. So you get the idea.
Adam G. Force 31:02
Yeah, no, I love it. Okay, so listen, we’re I mean, that’s all super, very helpful. A lot of good tips, guys. So hope you’re taking notes and listening closely. If you’re looking to get in the e commerce space and get heavy on products get out there, Jennifer will be a great person to work with. And we’ll give a shout out in just a minute to where you can connect with her and see what she has going on and how she can help you. I also don’t want to scare you from creating your own product. It is it’s been done over and over again. Look at the Jake or x of the world that we’ve interviewed. He has his own products that are doing incredible things for the world. Look at Crystal Earle. She came out of Dominica, and she’s helping people over there. And it’s amazing, Jennifer, she basically was taking these tires that were filling up landfills causing all kinds of disease and infestations and all these problems with the community. And she decided she would make shoes that would use the tires, rubber for the soles of the shoes. And she had them like put together she started selling them on her own and the brand started catching and she did a lot of like roadshows going a little like tradeshow conferences and stuff. And now they have clothing and all kinds of other stuff. So they expanded. So there are grassroots efforts for small ecommerce companies like that, that do a build up. And then as those brands catch fire, you’d be ready to get out maybe in bigger stores and stuff like that. So it depends on your process and your strategy. Right. So you just gotta like, figure out the game plan. I guess.
Jennifer Kaylo 32:24
I love that you said that. Because that’s a huge caveat. Here I am. My background is mass retail. And I think in mass and how fast you can scale. Adam, you’re totally right. There’s two different ways to grow. One is organically, it’s profitably, it’s slow and steady wins the race, which is exactly what you’re talking about. The other is how fast can we scale. And a lot of times scale to sell, which may be a very small portion of who your listeners are. But I just wanted to give you my perspective from a mass retail specialist.
Adam G. Force 32:54
I mean, it’s important because even if you are small and you start organically, you could start selling locally at little like, you know, farmers markets for all I care. But I have another friend who started making her own food like cookies, and they were gluten free and a certain type of thing going on there. She went to farmers markets for like a year. Next thing you know, she’s in Whole Foods, right? So it’s like, oh, cool. This is what happens. And like, yeah, you know, so I think it’s a multi stage strategy, you just have to think, how do I start proving this? How do I do that little, you know, very cheap, like product test and get it out there. See if people like it. And if it starts catching you just slowly build on it, slowly grow it and then you’re ready to get into the marketplace, like Target potentially, or whole foods or whatever. So it’s just a matter of strategy. And I think you’re a mass you get into the mass markets. But there is a very important place for that. So Timing is everything, right? Absolutely. So let’s give a shout out. Because we’re running out of time here. I want to give an actually on behind here. So let’s give a shout out. How can people find you? You know, so if they’re ready to really scale up on Amazon and Walmart, where do they find you so they can learn more about how to connect?
Jennifer Kaylo 34:01
Yeah, and I’m sure that Adam will put this link in the show notes. My website is Jenniferkayloruscin.com And you just click on work with me. And there’s multiple different ways one leads to courses. So if you’re interested in Amazon, I have something called the a game A stands for Amazon. And then if you have interest in Walmart, I have one called the path to Walmart. So either one of those will teach you from step one all the way till the end. It’s a DIY method of how to sell and both of those retailers super valuable guys. So
Adam G. Force 34:33
Super valuable guys. So check that out. If you’re in the ecommerce space, it might be perfect timing for you. Jennifer, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate it.
Jennifer Kaylo 34:41
You’re welcome. Thank you so much for having me.
Adam G. Force 34:42
You got it. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for tuning into the Change Creator podcast visit us at Change creator.com forward slash go big to get access to free downloads and other great resources that will drive your business forward.
