Jordan West

E-Com Investor & Podcast Host | Multiple Exits| Avid Golfer, Biker + Hiker | Dad Of 3 | CEO + CMO | Mastermind Host

My Journey 
When I was 23 I decided to buy a Taco Del Mar restaurant... I knew I had made a huge mistake at 2pm the first day when only 3 customers had walked in... (and two of them were my parents haha) 
For 5 years I worked hard to grow sales every way I could think of and in the end, tripled our revenue which still didn't seem to matter on the profit side. (I lost a lot of money 💰)

The one thing that I seemed to be the best at in the restaurant endeavor was marketing and getting people in the door. 

Fast forward to 2014 when my wonderful wife Carmen (definitely my better half) started a modest baby clothing line and was selling at craft markets. 

I asked if I could test running a few ads on Facebook... and the rest is history. I learned every up-and-coming strategy and tactic and helped grow the small start-up to a multi-million dollar company and still growing!

Since then we have acquired multiple DTC brands and have built an agency (upGrowth Commerce) to service our brands as well as others who are in a similar situation to us!

In 2019 we started the podcast "secrets to scaling your e-commerce brand" which is now in the top 50 business/marketing podcasts in multiple countries including Canada and the United States.

I love connecting with people, so please connect. (I do have a no a**holes policy though, so don't connect if that's you.) 

I talk all about scaling businesses using paid ads on “Secrets To Scaling Your E-Commerce Brand”.

Chief Executive Officer

We just helped a brand pass $3,000,000/month on TikTok Shop LAST MONTH and it wasn’t luck!!

We’re now ranked as one of the Top 5 TikTok agencies in North America at Social Commerce Club!!

What I've seen is... 

Most brands have no clue what the investment into TikTok Shop ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE!

They guess when to spend, when to restock, or when they’ll hit break-even.

We don’t guess.

We plan every move using a forecasting system we built in-house. 

It shows exactly:

 📈 When to scale and how fast
 💸 When you’ll hit break-even
 📊 How much to invest in creators, inventory, and ad spend
 ⚙️ When to pull back or double down

That system is the same one we use daily to manage multi-million-dollar TikTok Shop brands.

And now, we’ve decided to make it available to other operators.

If you want the same forecasting tool we use to plan, invest, and measure scale... comment “Forecast” and I’ll DM it to you. 

(must be connected)

Let me know what you think!

I want to be clear 🫠 
These daily random TikTok Shop GMV MAX screenshots that I share are from ADS driven results ONLY 🤩 

This doesn't include organic affiliate driven content 

I feel like the guy in 2015 trying to tell his friends that Facebook ads work (I was that guy lol) while the majoirty of people were waiting...

I realize that if you haven't gone HARD on TikTok shop you won't be able to to before BFCM 

But... 2026 will be the BIGGEST SHIFT into social commerce that we have seen. 

As AI content becomes more prevalent, HUMANS will crave human connection 

Which is why I believe that LIVE SHOPPING + Afilliate driven content will be the two biggest levers any brand can add to their arsensal. 

So what is my recomendation for bransnds in 2026? 

1. Talk to my team NOW to get in line at Social Commerce Club
2. If you can't afford us... I'll send you recommendations for cheaper agencies
3. If you're just trying to dip your toes in the water of TikTok shop join my skool group here https://lnkd.in/gMAu-gDZ

Me: “If you had one controversial take on what brands get wrong on TikTok Shop… what is it?”
Zohaib Rattu 🤳: “Over-subsidizing their products.”

Me: “Not could be cannibalizing your other channels… you ARE.”

That moment hit hard!!!

Because here’s what a lot of brands are doing right now:

They take their main hero SKU
Sell it full price everywhere else

Then make it stupid cheap on TikTok Shop “just to get sales” + get momentum

And then they’re shocked when

Amazon flatlines

TOTAL MER blows up

Retail partners start asking questions
TikTok didn’t break your unit economics.

You did!!

The way I think about TikTok Shop:

It’s the only channel that will pay you (even breakeven) to give you insane impressions.
If you even make $1 profit there

And you’re getting a $30 CPM worth of awareness for free
You’re winning.

The problem...

Most brands aren’t tracking the halo.
So they see “low-margin TikTok orders”

Instead of “cheap reach that lifts Amazon / Shopify / retail”.

If I were rebuilding your TikTok Shop strategy from scratch, I’d do 3 things:

1️⃣ Protect the hero
 
No more “fire sale” pricing on the SKU that drives your brand.
 Use:

 – Smaller bundles
 – Trial sizes
 – TikTok-only variants
 
And keep price architecture consistent across channels.

2️⃣ Define your blended model
 
Decide up front:
 – What MER are you happy with including TikTok
 – How you’ll measure halo (Amazon, Shopify, retail lift)
 – What CPM you’re effectively getting from organic + creator content

If TikTok is breakeven but blended MER is up and CPMs are down… keep going.

3️⃣ Make TikTok the awareness engine, not the profit center (at first) 
 
Creators get you reach.
 
Reach fills retargeting pools on Meta, Google, Amazon, retail.
 
Your job is to:

 – Seed a ton of creators
 – Let TikTok Shop break even
 – Harvest the profit off-platform

TikTok Shop doesn’t have to be “super profitable”. (at first)

It has to be super scalable.

Curious where you’re at...
 Are you still discounting your main hero SKU heavily on TikTok Shop? 

Or have you already pulled that back?

You’re talented?
Great! Let me tell you what matters more… 
And why talent is the thing that I look for last 👇👇 

Are you complainer? 
Are you a victim?
Do you not have a growth mindset?
Can you not take criticism?
Do you have a fragile Ego? 
Is it everything everybody else’s fault?


 if you answered, yes to any of the above, I don’t want you in any of my organizations.

If you are thinking to yourself, oh man, I have these people in my organization… do everything in your power to first coach and correct, but most likely you need to remove them. 

It’s incredible What will happen when you do! 

Anyone else with me?

Big ask LinkedIn 🙏
We’re looking for a head of live shopping at Social Commerce Club 

Will be insane growth over the next 5 years 

Maybe one of the biggest ops that I can think of TBH 

Will be sooooooo much work

But you will help us build something HUGE! 

NA based only 

Message me if you think it’s you. 

This role will report directly to the CEO btw

Yes yes yes 

We have been thinking more about what this role looks like from the agency perspective.

How we train fast

Who’s base knowledge makes them a good fit etc. 

And I will tell you what I know. 

99% of people don’t get it. 

They haven’t had the paradigm shift yet. 

It’s a new muscle 

It’s a new way of thinking. 

Working with creators is HARD! 

They don’t perform like ads do 😆

But this role is really big in terms of impact and responsibility 

Seems like more brands are catching on. 

But tbh I still feel like guy in 2014 telling their friends to invest as much as they can into Facebook ads and they laugh at me 🤷‍♂️🫤 when it comes to how big social commerce really is going to be!

Here’s how I look at this…

At Social Commerce Club we… 

1. take the highest performing tiktok shop content

2. Offer a percentage of ad spend (capped) to the creator to use their content on Meta 

3. Print brands cash with these ads omnichannel 

This is the 2025 playbook imo

Yesterday I was driving with my son who’s 6… 

We saw a bunch of billboards and he was asking about the messages on each

It reminded me of the classic Tim Ferris question… so I decided to ask him

“If you could put one message on a Billboard, what would it be?” 

He took about 3 seconds and said 

“My message would be “I love you””

This kid gets it ❤️

No alternative text description for this image

Jimmy Kim

eCom Email Marketer

Newsletter: Your dose of retention strategy, actionable insights, & exclusive industry news with Chase Dimond.

We help b2b saas technology companies leverage the community playbook to create the word of mouth to drive leads and awareness through social media, podcasts, newsletters, and events.

CEO & Co-Founder

Commerce Roundtable

Started as an internal event at Sendlane, built for the community. I acquired the event in Oct 2024.

Our vision is to become the foremost event for eCommerce and digital marketing professionals by delivering valuable insights, actionable strategies, and building long-term relationships among participants while delivering the best customer experience.

A community-focused event - with the community, for the community.

CEO & Founder

ASOM

ASOM Pod is the only video first e-commerce podcast that offers four different unique perspectives: A(gency) S(aaS) O(perator) M(arketer). Our goal is to provide a holistic view of the e-commerce industry by sharing four perspectives. 

Find us on YouTube or your favorite streaming service, just search "ASOM"

A Commerce Roundtable Production.

Co Host & Moderator

Send It! Podcast

The SendIt Podcast, hosted by email marketing experts and veterans Jimmy Kim and Chase Dimond, is your go-to for leveling up your retention game. Jimmy, Founder and mastermind behind Sendlane, brings over 15 years of hands-on experience in building successful SaaS companies, along with valuable experience growing a DTC brand. Chase, Partner at Structured, has driven over $200 million in email-attributable revenue and is named the #1 influencer to follow in eCommerce.

Together, this power duo breaks down the art and science of retention marketing into bite-sized, actionable tactics that you can put to work immediately. Whether you’re trying to drive customer loyalty, fine-tune your email and SMS campaigns, or master customer segmentation, the SendIt Podcast is your reliable resource for all things retention. 

Each episode is packed with the latest tools, strategies, and real-world insights to help you crush your marketing goals, increase lifetime value, and grow your brand sustainably. In today’s competitive landscape, this is the cheat code you’ve been waiting for!

Co Host

eCom Email Certified

A community and certification program for retention marketers (email & sms marketing) for eCommerce.

Join 325+ Retention Marketers at https://www.ecomemailcertified.com/join-community

Community Co-Founder & Certification Instructor

MentorPass

Mentorships on Startup, Email Marketing, Retention marketing, Growth, Business, Life...

Mentor

Sendlane

Chief Innovation Officer

Started as an internal tool in 2013…became a business in Aug 2017. Unified email, sms, and  Reviews for eCommerce. Series A, B, B1, C & C1

Founder & CEO

Vonage

Americas Customer Advisory Board

Knyew

Men's Streetwear Brand. Investor turned Managing Partner. Sold & Exited Partnership in Aug 2017.

COO & Partner

Snaptactix

Doodly.com, ClickPerfect.com, PixelStudioFX.com. Acquired Aug 2017.

Founder @ Sendlane, Co-Host of ASOM Pod

Do shit you love.

Email Marketer, Content Creator, Retention lover, Builder of startups, business and events. 

I also do podcasts and newsletters.

Fueling B2B eCom SaaS growth with alternative media

Started as an internal tool in 2013…became a business in Aug 2017.

Unified email & sms (soon Reviews!) for eCommerce

Remote Company. Backed by Five Elms Capital (Series A & B) and Zing Capital (seed) 

Five Guys gives you way too many fries.

You order a regular. 

They fill the cup, then dump another scoop in the bag. 

Every time.

Cost to Five Guys? About $0.80. Money they could save by just filling the cup.

But customers post photos of overflowing bags with captions like “Five Guys always hooks it up”.

That’s free advertising, worth far more than $0.80. And it makes people feel like they won.

The fries aren’t extra. They’re the marketing budget disguised as generosity.

Why it works:

If they advertised “20% more fries”, no one would care.

But when you *see* it, right in front of you, it feels personal. “They didn’t have to do that”.

And the timing is genius: the extra scoop happens at pickup, after you’ve paid. A surprise, not a promise.

Apply this idea:

What’s your “extra scoop” that costs little but feels big?

For coffee: 11 bags in a "10 pack" (one extra, shrink wrapped to look intentional)
For protein powder: 31 servings in a "30 day supply" (costs you 3% more, feels like a bonus day)
For candles: Fill them 5% higher than the label (looks generous, costs pennies)

The pattern is:

1. Identify something you can overfill or add without breaking your margins
2. Make it visible (they need to notice the extra)
3. Don't announce it upfront (ruins the surprise)
4. Make it consistent (every order, not random)

Five Guys could save $12 million a year by portioning fries correctly.

But they'd lose $40 million in word of mouth advertising from people posting overflowing bags.

The $0.80 in extra fries generates $3.50 in free marketing per order.

What can you overfill that turns your product into a story customers want to share?

Marketer of 17+ Years, 4x Founder. Former DTC/Retailer & SaaS Founder. Newsletter. Host of ASOM & Send it! Podcast. DTC Event: Commerce Roundtable

Netflix has 18,000 titles.
Disney+ has 2000 titles.

Netflix has 270 million subscribers.
Disney+ has 150 million subscribers.

But here's what's interesting:

Average time to choose something on Netflix: 13 minutes.
Average time to choose something on Disney+: 4 minutes.

Disney+ users start watching 3.25× faster with 1/9th the content.

The reason?

Too many choices creates decision paralysis, even when the product is entertainment.

On Netflix, you scroll for 13 minutes, pick something, watch 10 minutes, decide you hate it, scroll for another 10 minutes.

On Disney+, you see 6 Marvel movies, 8 Star Wars shows, and 20 Pixar films. You pick one. You're done.

A digital course platform tested this:

Before: Course library with 140 courses across 12 categories, all available immediately after signup
Average course completion rate: 8%
Average customer lifetime: 2.3 months
"Overwhelmed" mentioned in cancellation surveys: 67% of responses

After: Curated learning path with 12 courses unlocked progressively based on completion
Average course completion rate: 41%
Average customer lifetime: 7.1 months
"Overwhelmed" in cancellations: 19%

They gave people less access and people stayed longer.

Because they had a clear next step.

If you sell access to a library, a membership, or a content platform, don't dump everything on people at once.

Guide them. 

Give them a path. 

Unlock things as they progress.

Marketer of 17+ Years, 4x Founder. Former DTC/Retailer & SaaS Founder. Inboox.ai Newsletter. Host of ASOM & Send it! Podcast. DTC Event: Commerce Roundtable

IKEA's restaurant loses money on purpose.

$1 hot dogs. $2 breakfast. $5 meatballs.

Food cost is 60% of retail price. Labor and overhead push them negative.

Last year: $40 million loss on food.

But here's what the data shows: Customers who eat at IKEA spend 35% more on furniture.

And they stay 2 hours longer.

The restaurant isn't a service. It's a retention mechanism.

When you walk into IKEA hungry, you last 45 minutes before your brain screams "get me out of here".

When you eat first, you reset. Now you have another 90 minutes of shopping stamina.

But the real genius is the placement.

Restaurant is in the middle of the store. Not the end.

You eat at the halfway point, then you keep shopping.

If it was at the exit, you'd eat and leave.

Now apply this to your store:

What's the "meal" that keeps people browsing?

For online furniture stores, it's not food. It's room visualizers.

For fashion brands, it's styling quizzes.

For supplements, it's "Build Your Stack" calculators.

For home goods, it's "How Much Do You Need?" estimators.

The pattern:

1. Identify when people abandon (time on site, scroll depth, exit pages)
2. Place an interactive tool right before that drop-off point
3. Make the tool valuable independent of purchase (no "sign up to see results")
4, Use it to reset their mental state, not pitch products

IKEA could make their restaurant profitable tomorrow. Raise prices to $8 meatballs.

But then people would skip it. And spend 35% less on furniture.

The meatballs fund the couches.

What's your version of cheap meatballs that makes people spend more on the expensive stuff?

RXBAR put the entire ingredient list on the front of the package.

"3 Egg Whites. 6 Almonds. 4 Cashews. 2 Dates. No B.S."

That’s it. That’s the whole front label.

It looked strange. It broke every design rule. It wasn’t fancy.

And it helped them sell the company to Kellogg’s for $600 million.

Here’s why it worked:

The protein bar aisle is a mess. Every brand is yelling about protein counts, flavors, and which athlete likes them.

RXBAR just answered the question everyone really cares about:

“What’s actually in this thing?”

By putting the ingredients right up front, they did two smart things:

1. Made decisions easy: if you don’t like what’s in it, you move on.
2. Built trust: nothing hidden, nothing to worry about.

Here’s how you can use the same idea:

Stop hiding the important stuff at the bottom of the page or in the fine print.

Put it where people can see it right away.

Examples:

“Made in Ohio” (not hidden in the footer)
“Restocks every Tuesday at 2 p.m.” (not buried in a blog post)
“Takes 6 weeks to ship” (not revealed at checkout)
“Won’t work if you have X condition” (not in fine print)

The takeaway:

People always have one key question that decides whether they buy or not.

Figure out what that question is and answer it before they have to dig for it.

The faster they get their answer, the faster they’ll trust you (and buy).

Why people pay $150 for an Ember Mug but not $10 for a regular one?

Let me explain it to you:

It’s not about keeping coffee warm.

It’s about removing an invisible pain point most people didn’t even know they had.

Nobody thought: “I need a Bluetooth mug”

But they did think: “Ugh, my coffee gets cold too fast”

Here’s how Ember turned a basic product into a premium brand:

- They made the solution feel high tech
- They solved an annoyance people tolerated
- They positioned it as a lifestyle upgrade, not just a mug

Most DTC brands fail because they try to sell features.

The best ones sell problems people didn’t know they could fix.

Tesla doesn't advertise. $0 ad spend. Ever.

Ford spent $2.6 billion on advertising in 2022!

Yet Tesla sells more EVs than anyone else.

How?

They turned their customers into the ad.

Here's the strategy:

Step 1: Make the product impossible to miss

- Cybertruck looks like nothing else on the road
- Falcon wing doors on Model X
- Plaid mode that launches 0-60 in 1.9 seconds

Every feature is designed to start conversations.

Step 2: Give customers content to share
- Software updates that add features overnight
- "Fart mode" and Easter eggs
- Autopilot clips that go viral

Step 3: Make the founder the story

- Elon tweets and the internet talks about it
- Free press coverage worth billions

Result?

Tesla spent $0 on ads and sold 1.8 million cars in 2023.

Ford spent $2.6 billion and sold 1.9 million total vehicles (most not EVs).

Ask yourself:

What feature makes people text their friends?
What part of my product ends up in group chats?
What would make someone post an unboxing without being asked?

Your best marketing channel isn't paid or owned.

It's borrowed attention from your customers' social feeds.

Build for that first.

Advertise second.

Apple sells around 20 core product lines.
Samsung sells over 200 across phones, TVs, and appliances.

Apple does $383 billion in revenue.
Samsung does $244 billion.

But here's the crazy part:

Apple's profit margin is 26%.
Samsung's is 11%.

Apple's R&D budget is $30 billion (8% of revenue).
Samsung's is $22 billion (9% of revenue).

Apple makes 57% more revenue with 92% fewer products and better margins.

The reason?

Every product you add splits your focus and your marketing budget.

A Bain & Company study found that companies with streamlined product portfolios had 40% higher marketing ROI.

Why? Because they could afford to perfect the story for fewer things.

For your store, this means:

- If you're spending $5k/month on ads but promoting 30 products, you're invisible
- If you have 8 email flows running but weak performance across all of them, kill 5 and perfect 3
- If your Instagram highlights 15 different products per week, no one remembers any of them

Master one great product, tell one great story, and build one great experience around it.

Because people fall in love with the thing that makes you unforgettable.

Who pays $70 a day for salad?

Sakara Life charges $349 for 5 days of salads.

That's $70 per day for food you didn't cook.

For people who don't want to think.

Delivered to your door. 
Pre-made. 
Just eat them.

They did $150 million in revenue last year.

Here's what Sakara figured out:

People don't have a food problem. 
They have a decision problem.

Every meal is a decision:

- What should I eat?
- Is this healthy?
- Did I get enough protein?
- Am I eating too many carbs?
- Should I skip this meal?

It's exhausting.

Sakara removes every decision.

You wake up. There's breakfast. You eat it.
Lunch shows up. You eat it.
Dinner shows up. You eat it.

No thinking. No guilt. No apps to track macros.

And here's the psychology:

They don't call it a meal plan. They call it a nutrition program.

Programs sound medical. Scientific. Legitimate.

Meal plans sound like diets. And diets feel like punishment.

But here's the real genius:

The food comes in beautiful packaging.

Glass jars. 
Cloth bags. 
Wooden utensils.

It looks like a gift.

So when it shows up at your office, everyone sees it.

"What is that?"
"Oh, it's my Sakara"

Now you're not just eating healthy. You're signaling that you can afford to eat healthy.

The packaging is the marketing.

Their customer:
Not someone trying to lose weight.

Someone trying to project that they have their life together.

For your brand:

What decision can you remove entirely, not just make easier?
How do you make your product feel like a luxury service, not a consumer product?
What does the packaging say when someone else sees it?

Sakara doesn't sell food.

They sell not having to think about food.

You think you lost the sale because your price was too high.

Wrong.

They didn’t bounce because of the $89 price tag.

They left because they weren’t confident in the decision.

Here’s the thing .. customers don’t just need to want your product. 

They need to trust the purchase won’t blow up in their face.

The real reasons they abandoned:

Uncertainty: “Will this actually work for me?” 
Fear of hassle: “What if I hate it and returns are a nightmare?” 
Lack of control: “I’m locking myself into something I can’t undo”

So instead of slashing prices, lower the perceived risk:

Add micro-guarantees that remove friction: 
“If it doesn’t fit, exchanges are free & instant” 
“Try it for 30 days. Love it or return it, no questions asked”

Show real-world context: 
“Here’s how it looks in a small apartment” 
“This is how it fits different body types”

Use reversibility framing: 
“The only thing permanent is how good you’ll look” 
“Don’t overthink it. Returns take 2 clicks.”

The reality is this:
Discounts solve price objections. 
Guarantees solve trust objections.

Most brands have a trust problem, not a price problem.

Reduce friction, not price.

Tracksmith sells running shorts for $68.
Nike sells shorts for $30.

Both are polyester. 
Both have pockets. 
Both come in navy.

Tracksmith does $50M a year.

How?

They sell to people who want to be the kind of person who runs.

Here’s the difference:

Nike shows pros running 4 minute miles.

Tracksmith shows a 38 year old getting in 6 miles before work because it’s the only hour he has to himself.

Their emails don’t say “Run faster”.

They say:

“The morning run is where you figure things out”
“This is the hour that makes the other 23 possible”
“Running isn’t training. It’s thinking”

Suddenly the $68 shorts aren’t about fabric.

They’re about the person who values that morning hour enough to invest in it.

And here’s the genius part:

Tracksmith doesn’t sell on Amazon. 
No paid ads. 
No marathon sponsorships.

They built a media company disguised as a running brand:

A quarterly print magazine
A podcast about why people run
Essays about the relationship between life and running

Half their content doesn’t mention products.

Readers of the magazine spend 3x more than those who don’t.

Apply this to your men’s brand:

Men don’t buy products. They buy membership in a club.

The pattern:

1. Define what your product represents
2. Build content around that identity
3. Make it valuable even if they never buy
3. Add a physical component (print > digital for men)

Tracksmith could cut prices to $35, sell on Amazon, and triple revenue.

But then they’d be Nike, and there’s already a Nike.

The ritual funds the premium.

What’s your version of the $68 shorts that aren’t about running, but about the kind of man who runs?

Apple just released a $150 pouch for the iPhone last week..

It’s basically a knitted fabric pocket made by ISSEY MIYAKE.

It holds your phone, can stretch to fit a few other things, and comes in eight colors.

That’s it. A fabric pouch for $150.

A lot of people are calling it overpriced. “It’s just a phone case!”

But here’s the thing:

Apple isn’t really selling phone protection. They’re selling the idea of a fashion piece.

This pouch exists because Apple teamed up with ISSEY MIYAKE. It has a single 3D knitted design made in Japan.

And Apple is placing it next to clothing from ISSEY MIYAKE.

It didn’t cost Apple much to develop. 
They didn’t need new tech. 

They just worked with a fashion brand that already had its own style and following.

Now the product shows up in fashion stores, fashion conversations, and fashion Instagram posts.

In a way, it’s a $150 marketing move that happens to be a real product.

So what can brands take from this?

When you team up with someone outside your usual world, you’re stepping into their world…

Into their audience, their style, and their ability to charge higher prices.

Apple could have made a simple $40 phone case on their own.

But by working with ISSEY MIYAKE, they get to:

- Charge $150
- Get attention from fashion magazines
- Reach people who might never visit an Apple Store

This kind of collaboration isn’t about improving the object.

It’s about changing who the customer feels like when they buy it.

What artist, designer, or style focused brand could you team up with to reach a totally different crowd?

Yeti coolers are famously tough.

But their marketing focuses on the T-Rex latch, tested and certified to be bear proof.

Think about that. How many people actually need to stop a grizzly bear from stealing their groceries? Almost none.

So why feature it?

It's a "Proof Signal". It's a feature so extreme and over engineered that it makes all the normal benefits feel undeniable.

- If it can survive a bear, it can definitely survive your kid kicking it.
- If it can keep a bear out, it will definitely keep the weekend's heat in.

The takeaway for you: What's your "Bear Proof Latch"?

What over the top, almost unnecessary proof can you showcase that makes your core benefit unquestionable?

Extreme proof makes everyday benefits feel like a given.

Jocko Fuel sells protein powder for about $55 a tub
Optimum Nutrition sells theirs for $30

Same manufacturer. 
Same protein source (whey isolate). 
Same serving size.

The difference?

The guy on the label.

Jocko Willink is a former Navy SEAL.

And that military background is the entire margin.

Here's how it works:

When you buy Jocko Fuel, the product is secondary.

You're purchasing proximity to someone who has more discipline than you.

And that feeling is worth $25 extra.

But here's the system behind it:

Jocko posts a photo of his watch every single morning at 4:45am.

No caption. Just the time.

He's done this for 8 years. Never missed a day.

That consistency creates a permission structure:

"If he can wake up at 4:45am after 20 years of combat, I can drink this protein shake"

The product becomes evidence of your own discipline.

Now here's where it gets interesting:

Jocko doesn't pay for ads.

He just has a podcast where he occasionally mentions his supplements.

"Yeah, I had my protein this morning. The strawberry one"

That offhand mention converts better than a $50K influencer campaign.

Because it's accidental authenticity.

The results:
- $100M+ revenue
- 0 paid advertising
- 71% repeat purchase rate (double category average)

For your brand:

Can your founder be the product?

What personal discipline can you borrow credibility from?

How do you make your product evidence of identity, not just a purchase?

Jocko Fuel made protein for people who wish they were SEALs.

Most brands think email and SMS compete

They don't. They cover for each other 💡

Here's what I mean:
-  Email gets ignored in the morning rush
- SMS gets ignored during deep work
- Email is better for storytelling
- SMS is better for urgency

The best brands use both, but they don't send the same message twice.

Here's the workflow that actually works:

Scenario: Flash sale at 10am

9:55am: Send SMS: "Sale starts in 5 minutes. Link in your email"
10:00am : Send email with the full story, product grid, and details

Why this works:

- SMS creates the alert. Email delivers the context
- People who don't check email get the SMS
- People who hate SMS just check their inbox
- You're not annoying anyone twice with the same pitch

Scenario: Abandoned cart

Hour 1: Email: "Still thinking about it?"
Hour 6 (if no open) SMS: "Your cart's waiting. Need help deciding?"

The SMS is a backup for people who missed the email.

Scenario: Order shipped

Immediately: Email with tracking link and delivery window
Day of delivery: SMS: "Your package arrives today between 2-5pm"

People want shipping updates fast. 

Email gives them the details. 
SMS gives them the alert.

Here's the problem:

Most brands either go all in on one channel or blast both at the same time.

The magic is in the sequencing.

And the sequencing only works if your platform connects email and SMS in the same workflow, not as separate campaigns you're trying to time manually.

We've been running this in Omnisend because it's built for exactly this. 

One automation that triggers both channels based on behavior, not guesswork.

If you're running email and SMS in separate tools, you're making it harder than it needs to be.  

That's why I recommend you look at: https://omnisend.com

Email. SMS. and even PUSH notifications!

I'm a proud partner of Omnisend and these use cases can be performed on their platform with ease, with great customer support and more!

Most brands don’t realize their best converting email… was never opened.

No click. No open.

Still converted.

Here’s how:

Customer read the subject line
Went back to their browser tab
Completed the checkout they were already considering

It happens more than you think.

Because some emails don’t sell. They remind.

Which is why testing subject lines is more than clickbait tricks.

Try these types:

The “mirror": call out their action: “Still thinking about the blue tote?”

The “memory jog”: just mention the product: “About your weekend trip…”

The “gentle poke” — no brand, just frictionless cue: “You left something open”

If your subject line can bypass the click and push the user to act, it’s worth more than 100 witty headlines that get opens but no buys.

The inbox isn’t just a channel.

It’s a behavioral nudge.

Costco’s gas stations lose money on every gallon.

They price gas 20-30 cents below market, making maybe $0.03-$0.05 profit per gallon after costs.

Some locations even lose money once labor and maintenance are included.

Last year: $150M loss on fuel.

But here’s the key insight: members who buy gas visit the warehouse 3x more often and spend $200 more per visit.

Gas is a visit trigger.

When you need fuel, you have to stop somewhere. If Costco saves you $8 and is on your route, you choose them.

Now you’re already in the lot, so you grab paper towels or a rotisserie chicken.

The real genius? You need a membership to buy gas.

Non members see the price but can’t access it. That creates urgency to join. And once you’re paying $60/year, you justify it by shopping more.

Now apply this to your business:

What’s your “gas station” that drives repeat visits?

Coffee brands: free shipping over $30
Pet supplies: auto ship discounts that beat Amazon
Beauty: monthly point multiplier days
Apparel: early access to restocks for past buyers

The pattern:

1. Pick something customers need regularly
2. Price it below market even at breakeven
3. Require an account/membership to access it
4. Use it to expose customers to higher margin products

Costco could charge market rates tomorrow and make $300M more on fuel.

But those members would just go to Shell and Costco would lose billions in warehouse sales.

The gas funds the chickens and TVs.

So what’s your version of cheap gas that keeps people coming back?

Think about the last time you bought something expensive.

You looked for the negative reviews first, right? 

Your customers do the same.

You can beat them to it and build immense credibility.

Create a "This Isn't For Everyone" section on your product pages.

Headline it just like that.

Under it, list 3 types of people who should not buy your product.

Example for a high end, minimalist coffee grinder:

- "Don't buy this if you love programmable settings and digital timers. This is fully manual"
- "Don't buy this if you need to grind 10 cups of coffee at once. The hopper is small"
- "Don't buy this if you want to set it and forget it. This requires a bit of technique"

What happens when you do this?

1. You disarm the buyer's skepticism. They think, "Wow, they're honest"
2. You massively reduce returns and negative reviews. You've proactively filtered out the wrong customers
3. You make the right customer feel even more confident. They read the negatives and think, "None of that applies to me. This is perfect"

Your product's flaws are a filter.

Use them to let the wrong customers self select out, and the right ones will buy with total confidence.

Most ecommerce brands are still optimizing for Google.

Wrong move.

60% of European Google searches now end without a click.

AI agents are becoming the new storefront.

ChatGPT converts at 11.4%. Organic search converts at 5.3%.

Your customers are asking AI what to buy. 
- AI is recommending products. 
- AI is completing the purchase.
All without ever visiting your site.

The shift is here:
- 87% of shoppers trust AI recommendations
 - 21% of holiday sales will come through AI agents 
- AI traffic converts 7x better than social media

This is not a future problem. This is Q4 2025.

Swap just released a breakdown of the 10 reasons agentic AI is reshaping commerce.
It covers:

- How discovery moved from homepages to agents 
- Why SEO alone won't cut it anymore 
- What Ralph Lauren and Ulta are doing right now 
- How payments are going native to AI 
- The structural shifts happening at Target and Macy's

Download it here: https://lnkd.in/geqTDYma

Ready to make the move to agentic, book a demo now? https://lnkd.in/g49EvC_b

As a proud partner of Swap, I’m excited to share this AD what they are doing for the future of AI and commerce.

Marketers.. it was a tough 4 days.. but the truth is.. NOW is not the time to get quiet.

It's time to lean in. Let me explain. 

As a retention marketer, the #1 goal right now is to convert those Black Friday sales to a 2nd sale, as soon as possible.

This week on Send It! Podcast - Chase Dimond and I dive into 
- why the 2nd purchase is the most important
- the 4 stages of onboarding 
- 5 plug and play campaigns you can use right now
- And the metrics to focus on for 2nd time purchase during the season.

Hyper focused on what you are doing right now..

Listen to us here: https://lnkd.in/gkdjSBSh

And big big thanks to Omnisend, Kintsugi, and the newly launched Inboox.ai for your sponsorship of our podcast. We couldn't do this, without you!

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The Battle

Jordan West

Jimmy Kim

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The Battle

Jordan West

Jimmy Kim

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jordan West's LinkedIn Performance

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