Hey, everyone, this is Stefan from ProjectLifeMastery.com
and in today's video, I'm being joined by
my lovely girlfriend, Tatiana, who's gonna
be sharing with you guys a little bit about
her journey to building a successful online
business today.
She's gonna share with you guys a little bit
about how she got started, building her business,
starting on Amazon doing physical products,
and then building her own store, and building
her brand, Luxx Health to where it is today,
to even venturing into affiliate marketing
and different income streams.
And the purpose of this is I've been wanting
to bring to you guys different references,
different role models, different examples
of people that started with nothing, that
built their business from the ground up, and
someone that's did it at a very young age.
You know, she's 23 years old, been doing it
for the last two and a half years, someone
that, you know, quit their job, you know,
doing this full time and everything too.
And so bringing you guys more inspirational
examples and stories.
'Cause I find the more of that that you have,
the more it shows to you that it's possible,
that you could do it as well and I think everyone's
gonna relate to totally different people.
I know some people, they relate to me, other
people gonna relate to different people that
I bring on to interview.
And then also, I just wanna pick Tatiana's
brain a little bit about, you know, different
things that's been working for her.
How she built her business, different strategies
because, you know, you're very much involved
in the trenches of your business.
You know, you've been through a lot of the
barriers that a lot of people that are watching
might've had and you've overcome them and
you're still growing and you've got an awesome
community.
So I wanna thank you for taking the time and..
- Of course.
- Do you wanna maybe share with people just
a little bit how you got started in your business
today?
- Okay, so.
Hi, guys, thanks so much for watching this
video.
I'm really excited to be here.
Thanks, Stefan, for doing this video.
Okay, so, we both took a course about two
and a half years ago called ASM.
Amazon-- sorry, Amazing Selling Machine.
And this is the course that I took that basically
opened my eyes to an online business.
So prior to this, I didn't do anything online,
I had a job, I was going to school full time,
and it just wasn't even something that crossed
my mind and it wasn't interesting to me at
all.
So we took the course, I started getting into
it, and I was like really interested 'cause
it sparked my attention, it just seemed something
that...
Seemed like it was tangible, seemed like it
was something that I could really do.
And so I got excited because I felt like okay,
I could do this while I'm still working and
while I'm going to school.
It's not like I had to consume my whole entire
time building, you know, this business.
And at the time, I didn't really think much
of it, I just thought, you know, I'll make
a couple hundred dollars a month and that'll
be good.
It's some extra cash, right, why not?
Pay for some textbooks maybe.
So, but, you know what?
It's amazing what it can turn into and you
know, even now, I feel like I'm doing so much
better than I was in the beginning, but it's
still just the beginning.
That's the cool part, it's just the beginning
and it's like every day, every month, it grows
more, and more, and more.
And I feel like when you have a normal job,
you have room to grow, but the amount that
you can actually grow with an online business
is unimaginable, it's just, it's limitless
and that's the amazing part.
So it's really, you decide how much you wanna
earn.
And that's the coolest thing.
Because I never thought that I would be able
to pick a number and say, "Okay, that's what
I wanna earn."
And it's really, it is really like that.
It's not as easy-- well of course, it's not,
you know, saying okay, I'm gonna earn five
million dollars this year but you know, to
an extent, I can decide, okay, am I gonna
earn an extra $10,000 this month?
I know what I have to do to earn that money.
Now it's a matter of if I'm gonna actually
do it.
So it's a matter of want, need, and you know,
all your goals and everything.
So I started with the ASM course and then
I, you know, started on my first project,
I did that, you know, of course, part time,
just whenever I had time and just learning
the process of creating a product online is
what led me to my second product, and then
my third product which is the product that
I've turned into a brand.
So I don't know if you wanna go into detail
on that or what you want me to touch on.
- Yeah, so just kinda taking a step back.
So, just give people actually first, an ex--
an idea of how well you're doing.
Do you wanna share a little bit?
Just terms of the numbers of...
Maybe even initially, just kinda starting
back when you first started, the first product
you did, you know, the initial experience
you had, the initial sales, and then the journey
of the different products you went through
to where you are today, which is doing really
well.
- Okay, so my first product.
I picked a product that was lightweight, that
is affordable, something that I didn't have
to put a big down payment on because I didn't
have a lotta money.
I mean, I'm a student and I'm working, it's
just, there's not a lot of wiggle room.
So I picked a cognac sponge, which is, if
you don't know, it's a natural beauty product.
I knew that it wouldn't harm anybody.
And it was just kind of a good way to test
out trying out a product, right?
So I did that and I actually did pretty well,
so.
I did everything myself, so the artwork, everything
was done myself so I really saved money that
way, but I think I only invested $300, actually.
I say a thousand dollars, but I think I actually
only invested $300.
- Well you sourced it from China, right.
- From China, so I sourced it--
- And how much did it cost for each unit?
- So each unit costed somewhere around like,
maybe like 10 cents.
And so shipping was the largest cost.
But still, I think I only paid $300 for my
first shipment.
And brought it to Amazon and was selling them
for around $14.99 or $9.99 depending on if
there was a sale.
So I mean, it's good profit margins.
But the thing is, there became, you know,
after a few months...
So I was getting a lotta traction, it was
doing good, I was so excited.
I actually remember the first day that I made
a sale was at the ASM event.
So ASM holds an event-- I think is it every
year?
An even every year where everyone who's taken
the course can actually go and kinda meet
everybody and learn more and just further
your education.
So we went there and the first night of the
event, I went on my laptop and I had my first
sale and I remember-- do you remember that?
I was so excited, I got a first sale.
So it was really fun.
And then...
- How long did it take you, would you say?
'Cause I know, you know, 'cause we both did
our products together.
I did a supplement, L-Carnitine was my first
product.
I think you got, you made money before I did,
but I remember just taking a few months because
you have to source, get samples and stuff,
so from the time that you started taking the
course, you know, you're working on it part
time and what not, how long before you started
to make some money?
- Yeah, so it took me about two and a half
or three months.
And I think that's mainly because I was doing
it part time but also because if you are talking
to suppliers overseas, it does take time to
get samples and go back and forth with people
so you have to really factor in the time.
And that's why I think it is good to do on
a part time, like, don't just jump into it
and quit your job straight off the bat.
Like you're gonna have extra time for things.
Because it doesn't consume all your time right
away.
I think you have to kind of scale up to that
point.
So I mean, I was just doing a, you know, after
school or after work and stuff and I think
it took two and a half or three months.
So I made my first sale and then, yeah, so
then a few months later, I started to get
traction and I actually, that product was
doing about 3,000 a month when I started to
kinda just focus on my next product.
So it was doing pretty well, I was like, you
know, of course, you know, thinking I'm only
gonna make a couple hundred dollars a month,
that was a large amount of money for me.
Especially, you know, being a student and
having a job I'm like, "Wow, I'm making more
money now with this online product "than I
am doing at my job."
So it was super exciting.
And so then I got excited to do my next product.
And so with my next product, at the time,
I didn't have the mentality that I do now.
I was thinking, "Okay, I'm just gonna find
the next best seller."
So for me, it was okay, I'm just gonna look
at what's hot right now and what's selling
rather than looking at from the perspective
of okay, what am I passionate about?
And what can I build my brand around?
So I wasn't really looking long term because
for me, it was just about kinda shooting out
products that I can make money from versus
actually thinking, "Okay, what's something
that I can see myself doing "long term and
building a actual brand around?"
Because what happens is eventually, you're
gonna wanna take whatever products you have
and take them off of Amazon and build them
on your own website or other e-commerce stores
and you can't really do that when you have
a bunch of different products in different
categories.
It's much, much simpler to do that when all
of your products are in one category, branded
under one, you know, brand name and it's just,
it makes more sense for your customers.
So my second product was a product that was
a trend, it was kind of like a hot seller,
it was really popular at the time and for
me, my mentality thinking was okay, I'm gonna
hop on this wagon and hopefully, you know,
by the time I get my product on Amazon, that's
when the market's gonna be at its hottest
and I'm gonna already be established on there
with my product.
So, that did kind of happen that way but what
I realized was that the product that I chose
was too much of a trend.
So you really do need to do your product research
thoroughly.
Because if you don't, then you're gonna get--
you're gonna end up with a product like what
I did and it was just a trend.
It wasn't something that worked for everybody,
although I loved it.
What it was was a 3-D fiber mascara.
So for all the women watching, I'm sure you
know what that is.
For all the men, you probably have no idea
what I'm talking about.
But it's basically a mascara that really makes
your eyelashes super long and you loved the
product.
Every time I wore it, he was obsessed with
my eyes because they would just be so bright
because the mascara, but it's just it didn't
work for everybody.
So that one did well and I think that one
did about $5,000 a month.
- An you also sourced that from China.
You remember how much?
That was a lot more money, too but you also
realized you wanted to go after a product
where you could charge more money for it as
well, right?
- So at that point, I was like, "Okay, so
I've done my first product, "I've you know,
I basically learned "the steps on sourcing
a product, "so now I'm gonna do a product
that's actually "going to be able to scale
more," because you wanna go with a product
that's about over $20 or just around that
area because that's where you actually see
the true profits, good profit margins and
all that.
Obviously, the cheaper your product is, the
less you're gonna make.
- And the sponge was hard 'cause you'd have
to...
You could only sell it around $10, right?
'Cause everyone else was selling it for that
amount and there wasn't enough of like, a
differentiator for that product, right?
- That's the thing too.
So with the sponge, there wasn't so many things
I could do to make my product stand out, right?
Like, you really wanna make sure that the
product that you pick, that you have leeway
to actually make it unique.
Because if you don't, then you're gonna kinda
just blend in with everybody else and then,
you know, why would they buy from you?
So the sponge, it didn't have that much potential,
I guess.
So my second product, I felt, okay, I'm gonna
market it a different way.
It was called Wow Lash and I got the name
of the brand because I was working at the
bank, which it was my job and I would wear
my mascara and all the customers would come
in, they'd be like, "Wow, your lashes are
so long."
I was like, "That's a good brand name, Wow
Lash."
So it was fun, it was fun but I also, what
happened was I just realized that, you know,
I wasn't super passionate about that product.
And I don't think you have to be super passionate
about the product that you pick on Amazon
but personally, for me, because I knew I wanted
to be the face behind the brand, I wanted
to market something that I was just so excited
about and that I used on a daily basis.
And I did use it on a daily basis, but there
was just something about it that wasn't really
what I truly wanted to do.
I wanted to make more of an impact, I think,
on people's lives than just mascara.
- Yeah.
And then part of it, too, was it wouldn't
work for everyone and you know, even for some
people, like it like, even just putting something
on your body, too there's the effect of just
like, having like a reaction to the eyes.
And then also I remember at one point, it
was a bit of an issue where with the supplier
in China-- and this is actually a good lesson
if you're, if you're, I think, putting anything
on your body or consuming it, you wanna source
it domestically in the U.S. and I remember
there was like a certain ingredient that afterwards,
you found out was not allowed and it got caught
up like, in Customs one time.
Remember that?
- Yeah, so this is a big point.
So if any of you want to get into the beauty
or even health supplement category, you really
need to do your research and not just research
what's allowed, you know, in the United States,
or in Canada, or whatever country you're in,
but what's allowed on Amazon.
Because Amazon has their own set of rules
that you really have to take you know, a magnifying
lamp to and really analyze.
Yeah, so for me, what happened was you know
my product was FDA approved and all this stuff
but there was some sort of ingredient that
Amazon didn't like and so, you know, it got
caught up on Customs and what happens is,
when you have something caught up on Customs
and you're really needing it for your inventory,
on Amazon, if you don't have inventory and
people, you know, aren't able to buy from
you that are going to your page, they're gonna
drop your listing.
So Amazon will rank you lower and they're
gonna basically punish you for not having
inventory.
So it was a big hit to me and I didn't fully
recover from that.
So caught up in Customs for I think like,
a month.
So it was really hard to pick myself back
up from that.
So at that point, I started to get really
disheartened and just I felt kind of like,
you know, giving up.
I felt like, "Oh, this sucks, it's not working
out now," and, you know, it's just so much
easier to get a job.
Honestly, though that's the truth, guys.
If you want the easy route, you're not gonna
be an entrepreneur, you're just gonna get...
Not that having a job is easy, but being an
entrepreneur, everyone thinks that it's like,
you know, you can just sit on the couch all
day and do whatever you want and go and sleep
on the beach and it's really not like that.
Sure, you can do that with the time that you
dedicate to that, but there's just so much
more work.
Like now, I actually work more hours in a
day than I did when I was at my job and when
I was studying for school.
It's kinda crazy but I actually enjoy it.
So it's a completely different kind of...
- And you don't have to, but you just like--
- I don't have to, but I want to.
- Becomes like an addiction in a way where
you just get so excited about your business
and you like...
Especially when you got customers and interacting
with them and everything.
So it just becomes something that like, it
becomes like a hobby or something you're so
passionate about that you just love to do
it.
- Yeah, exactly.
And it just, it becomes addictive and it's
a little bit dangerous because you can find
yourself all of a sudden, becoming more anti-social
because all you wanna do is work and it's
like anytime that you're not working, you
don't feel productive.
That's how I felt.
And then, you know, Stefan's like, "Chill
out, like, "it's okay."
So yeah, it's a big learning curve.
- So what led you to now your third product?
And really it's not a product 'cause you have
like, so many skews and so many different
sizes and stuff.
But do you wanna share now the transition
to what you're doing now?
- Okay, so how did I get to my third product?
So what I did is I really took a step back.
So I stopped kind of doing Amazon for a while
and I was just like, "Okay, what am I doing
wrong that I can really improve on?"
And I was thinking, "Okay, do I buy on Amazon?"
And the truth was I really didn't shop on
Amazon that much.
I only shopped on Amazon for products that
I wouldn't have otherwise been able to buy
at my local grocery store or my local mall,
right?
So for me, I was like, "Okay, as a consumer,
I'm gonna take myself "as an example."
I was like, "Okay, so what do I shop for on
Amazon?"
So I went to my Amazon account and I looked
at my previous purchases history and I was
like, "Well recently, I had been buying waist
trainers."
And I had gotten into waist trainers because
of recommendation from my mom because she
used to use waist trainers, my family history
was with waist trainers and so I was buying
them on Amazon.
I actually bought quite a few of them because
every time I would buy one, it would break
and then I would have to buy another one and
it would break.
And so I had like, a bunch of purchases, I
was like, "Wait a minute, what the heck am
I doing?
"I know how to create products.
"I know how to source products.
"Why don't I just create my own product of
a waist trainer?"
So I was like-- first of all, I got that lightbulb
in my head, I was like, "That's stupid, you
know, why am I paying for a product "when
I can create it myself?"
And then secondly, I did the product, the
market research.
And, you know, waist trainers aren't really
something that everybody knows about.
It's very niche.
And I actually really liked that thought because
sometimes going niche is the best way because
it's not too saturated.
If you go very broad, then you just have so
much competition.
And if you're very niche then people are able
to find you better.
And the one trouble with the waist trainer
is that the sizing.
So if you go into, you know, a clothing business
and stuff and if it's all online, there's
issues with sizing, you know?
And waist trainers really have to fit the
client perfectly.
And I call them my clients because I really
feel that way.
It's not like a one stop transaction with
me and the people that buy from me.
They're not just customers, I really like,
you know, I've evolved my brand so that everyone
who buys from Luxe Health is truly a client
and we keep in touch with them.
So, making sure that the sizing was correct
was a big struggle.
And so you even told me like-- remember, you
were like, "This is not a good idea," for
the waist trainer.
- Right.
- And so many people told me--
- Just because there's a lot of refunds that
you have to deal with in that business.
- And that's a thing.
- 'Cause it doesn't fit, people send it back,
they get a different size.
And you've kinda improved that a lot, like
you got a sizing chart, and you know, people
that before they buy, they have to measure
their waist and everything before they pick.
- Yeah.
So I would say that's a really big thing so
if you're going into like a clothing category,
sizing is gonna be a big issue.
Especially on Amazon because Amazon is amazing
for their customers, but they're not that
great for their sellers.
So that's my one complaint with Amazon.
So for them, it's like anyone who has a Prime
membership, okay, you want a refund?
No problem.
Here's your refund, don't even return the
product.
Sometimes they do that.
And for the sellers, it's like, you know,
you kinda get screwed over sometimes.
I had somebody return a product to Amazon,
I picked it up myself to see it, and it wasn't
even my product in the box, you know?
It's like this happens all the time so I realized
that that was gonna be a big problem and I
realized, okay, how am I gonna make sure that
people measure themselves?
Because not everybody would measure themself.
So that's when I started to get to social
media.
So I don't know if you want me to get into
that now.
- Yeah, sure.
- Do you wanna talk ab-- okay.
So then I discovered okay, social media is
gonna be a great way to market my product.
Amazon is very expensive to do Amazon ads.
I recall that when I was making the money
with the cognac sponge, my first product and
my second product, I was basically reinvesting
all that money and any extra money I was paying
in advertising.
So technically, I made no money for myself.
So it is very expensive to do Amazon ads.
So really, if you can utilize social media
to your advantage as a marketing tool...
- Get free traffic.
- It's free, it's free.
So right now, I pay zero dollars in any marketing,
I don't do any Google ads, Facebook ads, Instagram
ads, none of it because I don't need it.
I don't say that like, to boast or anything
but I just know how much money I was spending
before on ads.
And it's like it's really not necessary.
If you can be the face behind your brand and
if you can market your brand on YouTube, on
Snapchat, on whatever, kudos to you.
That's going to save you a lot of money.
And if you can't do that, I would actually
recommend that you find an influencer.
So if you find somebody who is on YouTube
who already has a big following or on Snapchat,
or Instagram, or whatever and they have a
big following, and you actually hire them
to be the face behind your brand, then they
can do all the marketing for you with the
followers that they have.
I mean, it does have to be niche.
You have to make sure that their followers
are into what your product is but then they
can kinda be the face behind your brand so
that you don't have to.
But I really recommend having a face behind
the brand because the thing is with people
on big companies or even sellers on Amazon,
a lot of people, you know, they don't recognize
the brand and they don't know how to be in
contact.
But if somebody all of a sudden, recognizes,
you know, the face behind the brand, they're
gonna buy from you like, if you compare it
to any other product, they're gonna buy the
product that they kind of recognize from online.
So it just worked out really well for me and
I stopped paying for all ads and yeah, it's
amazing, social media.
- So I know initially, with this product...
So this, also, like what you've learned along
the way is, I remember one thing you learned
was like you wanted a product that you could
sell at a much higher price point?
- Yeah.
- Just because, you know, the higher the margins
that you can get, the better, right?
Like the more wiggle room that you can have.
And especially if it's a product that people
are willing to spend so much more on.
So I remember like you also got into that
because you knew, you're like, "Wow, like..."
You looked at, you contacted a bunch of suppliers
and you realized like, wow, this is what I
can get it made for, this is what I know that
I could sell it at, right?
And so you kinda factored that in.
That was one attractive thing for you.
But also, I remember, you know, just kinda
you, when you first ordered it, because it
was more expensive than the other ones, you
only ordered, you know, I think it was like
one size or what did you do?
- Okay, let me get into that, then.
So just so you guys know, when you first start
off at Amazon, even if you're an experienced
seller, whatever, you don't have to all of
a sudden order a thousand units.
I believe in testing out the market before
you make a big investment.
So what I did was I bartered with the manufacturers
and I was like, "Look, I really wanna see
if, you know, "my market will work for this
product.
"I'm not gonna purchase a thousand units MOQ
from you.
"I'm willing to do 200 units."
So I mean, they want your business in the
end so you can find a supplier that really
does care.
And when you land on that one, then you can
test it out, see how it works.
So initially, I was selling...
You know, when I first launched my product,
I sold it for $28.99, okay?
And I was still making a good profit on that.
And then, when I started to do social media,
all of a sudden, I was getting so much more
traffic.
And I was also able to improve my product--
- But you first did it though, didn't you
just first do Amazon ads and make...
Like first got sales before you even got into
like YouTube and all that.
- Yeah, so first, I was selling for $28.99
and I was doing Amazon ads.
Started to get reviews from real customers.
I started to get so excited--
- You didn't even do any giveaways 'cause
it was like so expensive for you to giveaway
a product.
- Oh, yeah.
Actually, a lot of people don't do giveaways
now.
So back in the day, a lotta people used to
do giveaways on Amazon because this was a
way that you could give somebody your product
at a deeply discounted price, like two dollars,
and basically, you would ask them to leave
an honest review for you.
Now Amazon has changed their policies and
they don't allow for that.
So, you know, I didn't even do that because
my product was too expensive.
My product is a high quality product so I
knew that if I was going to build a brand,
I would have to build it with a solid foundation
of high quality otherwise eventually, it's
gonna bite me in the butt that it's a low
quality product.
I'm gonna get returns and most of all, the
word's gonna get out that my product's not
good.
So it was high quality and I was paying a
lot for it when I didn't have that much money.
So I didn't do any giveaways.
So instead, I did some Amazon ads, started
getting a little bit of traffic, started getting
some natural reviews, which really help with
your Amazon ranking.
So the more reviews that you have, the more
that your product's gonna rank, especially
in the beginning, so.
Release your product the moment that you're
able to get a bunch of reviews, I would say.
And so, once it started to get reviews, I
started getting more excited about and I saw
that it was helping people and then, I started
to get into social media, I believe, yeah.
So then I started my YouTube channel and nobody
was watching my videos but I didn't care because
that's how everything starts, you gotta start
somewhere.
And eventually, I started my Instagram and
YouTube started picking up more.
And with YouTube, it really helped me because
every video I did, I used the keyword.
So I did my keyword research, make sure you
do that, it's really easy to do.
My keyword was waist trainer.
And the thing is on YouTube, there's not a
lotta people doing waist trainer videos.
And also, there's no big brands on YouTube.
They have some videos here and there but there's
no like, dominant brand that is releasing
a bunch of videos.
So I was the only one.
So that was really special for me and really,
it really helped my business.
So waist trainer keyword in every single video
and eventually, that picked up and I started
getting views and followers.
And now I have 18,000 followers.
And it doesn't seem like that much but honestly,
it's--
- You get really good engagement.
- I get really good engagement, like I have
a video that's 400,000 views, like you know,
different videos have different amount of
views but everybody is so targeted.
That's the cool thing.
It's like it's not just a bunch of random
people, it's everybody-- almost everybody
who follows me is really into waist training
so they learn a lot from my videos and they
get a lot of value from them and then I also
get a lot of value from the people watching
them 'cause then they go to my pages, or they
buy my products, et cetera.
And I have to say that the reason also I came
out with this next product is because it was
really because I found that it gave me great
results, I loved it, I knew I could stand
by it, I knew I could sell it to my mom, my
grandma, anybody close to me 'cause I believed
in it.
And I didn't feel like I was scamming anyone,
I didn't feel like I was just trying to make
a sale.
I actually felt like when I recommended this
to somebody, I was actually recommending it
to them because I wanted to help them change
their life.
And it sounds silly because it's a waist trainer,
but the truth is for a lot of women, you know,
even losing a little bit of belly fat can
shoot your confidence straight through the
roof so it was really, now I realize that
now that I have a community on Facebook.
So I have a community of all of, you know,
almost, not everybody, but I have a large
community of people who buy my products and
we all congregate on the private Facebook
group, we share photos, we post motivation,
tips, everything on there and this way, I
can really see okay, what's working with the
product, what's not working, what do people
think?
I can actually get live feedback, you know,
like just a couple minutes ago, I posted a
picture of a new color that I was thinking
about doing for waist trainers, I was like,
"What do you guys think?"
Everyone posts their comments.
Some like it, some didn't like it.
I take the majority of that and that's my
next product.
So it's like now I'm actually able to see
my like, actual data from people who are really
using my product.
It's really cool.
- I think that is one of the most important
things 'cause I think a lot of people, they,
I think initially, you kinda start off thinking,
"Okay, what's the product that I wanna sell
or launch?"
And that's the one you get traction in and
hopefully, you know, by your story and also
what I share as well is for people to think
like, bigger picture, think the brand that
you wanna build and, you know, think on that
bigger scale because you've built a brand
and the brand is what's allowed you now to
build a relationship with people like, you
know, your product is higher quality than
like, a lot of other waist trainers and it's
also more expensive than other ones, too on
Amazon.
And people, they line up to buy from her.
Like even, there's been a lot of times where
your product's out of stock, right?
And you're waiting for like, the next shipment
to come in but people won't buy from anyone
else 'cause they're waiting to buy from her
when she gets stock, sometimes many weeks
because they know that, you know, they wanna
be a customer of yours.
Like they know the value that you provide,
you know, the videos, the training that you
provide and everything too and so I think
that's one of the valuable things that you've
done at building a brand and you've got raving
fans that a lot of them, they buy again and
again because they wear it, they get results,
and then now they have a smaller waist and
they have to buy another smaller one because,
you know, 'cause now it's changed.
And you know, you've also now done affiliate
marketing, there's a lot of things that you've
done and you can do because you built the
brand.
- One thing I wanna touch on that you said,
yes, my product is really high quality and
yes, I think it's one of the best that you
can find but perhaps, there is other waist
trainers that are of equal quality or maybe
even better.
But they're not really buying from them at
least, the people who buy from me aren't,
because I'm the one who's most known on social
media.
And that's why social media is so valuable.
So even the really expensive waist trainers,
or the really big brands, or the really high
quality, they're not using YouTube or Instagram
or whatever to market their products, so my
customers come to me because they're familiar
with me.
They feel like they know me and they trust
me and so they come to me for that reason,
not just because they believe I have high
quality but because also, they know that they
can get in contact with me and they really
feel like they know who I am as a person.
- And yeah, you've done that I think, building
the relationship and I think you've also done
that by providing value, like content marketing.
You know, you've done awesome videos, and
you share your results, and share your experiences,
and your before and afters, you're transparent,
you're doing things that like, you know, someone
that's into waist training, they're gonna
gravitate more towards you because they're
like, "Wow, like this person, "you know, has
so much knowledge," and you're giving them
so much more that they wanna become a Doll,
right?
They wanna, you know, be a part of your brand--
- Yeah, we call them our Luxe Dolls so whoever's
in our Facebook community, they're our Luxe
Dolls.
And all the Dolls are basically the women
who waist train.
And we do challenges together and all this
stuff.
- Yeah, so you do so much more.
You also have like a free guide that you give
them, you share them how to workout with the
product and you answer their questions about
it.
And you know, I think, you know, for anyone
that's watching this, again like, you gotta
think about building a brand, not just a product,
but actually building a brand, actually building
a business, and you know, so that's what you've
done so it's pretty amazing.
- Yeah, I think that's the ultimate picture.
And if you can't picture that right now, you're
gonna have to try.
Because, you know, although I didn't see...
You know, for me, I personally thought that
my waist trainer, when I came out with that,
I thought that was a one time purchase and
little did I know that people get results
so quickly that they're buying every single
month.
And one customer turns into like, a five purchase
deal and it's amazing.
So it's like I really realize that this product
is a brand and so just growing it from every
sphere.
And you don't have to be, you know, overwhelmed
with all the things that you can do 'cause
trust me, there's even a million things that
I can do right now.
It's just really focusing on the one thing
that you decide that you're gonna focus on
for the next month, accomplishing that, then
working on the next one because if you take
ASM, or if you take any course, or if you
do YouTube videos, or whatever, you're gonna
get so overwhelmed by all of the information
that you're gonna get and there's really just
so much that you can do but you need to decide,
okay, what's gonna work best for me right
now at this moment in time for my business
and for my personal life, too?
Because it's gonna impact your personal life
and decide on that and then work on that one.
- Yeah.
Do you wanna talk about the decision you made,
you're doing well on Amazon but then you decided
that you're actually gonna create your own
store on your own website, start selling there
instead.
You still make good money on Amazon and you
rank on Amazon, you get traffic from that,
you use them for that, but for the majority,
you're sending people to your website and
you know, could you share some, yeah...
- Yeah, so okay, so I was doing well on Amazon.
I was doing around 41,000 a month on Amazon
at the time that I decided to get off of Amazon.
So the reason--
- Not off of Amazon, but just...
- I'm still selling on Amazon, but I choose,
I'm out of stock right now, I'm out of stock
most months, I still sell sometimes on Amazon
because I wanna keep my listing live and because
there's some people that...
I mean, everybody wants to buy on Amazon 'cause
you get Amazon Prime free shipping and really
great return policy.
But let me tell you why I stopped focusing
on Amazon and decided to focus on my online
store.
So Amazon provided me with the client base
that I didn't have.
You know, coming into a business, an online
business, nobody knew who I was, I didn't
even...
You know, I just wasn't a well established
brand so I used Amazon's enormous client base
to bring me sales and traffic.
So once people started giving me their reviews,
my products started rating really well, I
started, you know, getting external traffic
from YouTube, I started developing more of
a relationship, more of a brand presence,
then I decided, okay, maybe I should start
taking it off of Amazon because what happens
is Amazon is great for that reason but like
I said, they're not really great with their
sellers.
And if you try to get ahold of Amazon, if
you have some sort of issue with your product
or, you know, something's going on and you
call them, like anyone who's done this before,
you know what I'm talking about, you will
rip your hair out of your head.
It's like so frustrating to talk to them because
a lotta times they don't understand what you're
talking about and it's just, it gets really
frustrating.
So I had countless times where I think I even
called you a couple times where I'm like,
"I quit, I hate this, this is BS," like this
is just not how I wanna live my life on a
phone on hold--
- 'Cause some people would even order the
product and you know, Amazon wouldn't even
ship the right product to them.
Like a totally different color, like it's--
- It's just not really reliable.
- Amazon, I think the challenge with them
is like they're awesome for sellers like in
a way 'cause they make it so easy but they're
growing so fast and they're so big that they
have all these different departments and it's
like people within the company are confused.
Like, they don't have good communication and
there's like, they just grow, grow, grow,
grow and they don't have the systems in place
so they end up making like a lot of mistakes
in a lotta cases that makes you frustrated
as a seller.
- Yeah, that's the thing is like you have
to understand that Amazon is just so big and
you are like a grain of salt to them.
Unless you're a really big seller, you know,
you're not really that significant.
So it's, they have a lot to manage.
So I understand that and I understand why
it can be frustrating for me to communicate
with them.
But regardless, it just wasn't an enjoyable
process and I thought to myself, you know,
"I'm building this online business so I can
de-stress, "so that I can have more freedom,
and clearly, "none of that is happening really
well."
So I figured, okay, I'm going to start to
get off of Amazon by diverting my traffic
to my website.
So customers didn't really like that because
they love to shop on Amazon because they trust
it, they've got their one-click buy now, they've
got the great return policy.
But inevitably, if they really are your follower
then they're gonna follow you.
So I started to sell on my own Wordpress website.
I got my website built for $300 from Upwork,
somebody on Upwork.
And I made it a WooCommerce friendly website
and so I started to just divert.
So on all my links on YouTube, instead of
going to Amazon now, now they go to my website.
So anytime I'm promoting something, I don't
promote it to Amazon, I promote it to my website
or my squeeze page.
And obviously, the reason for that is 'cause
I'm trying to not sell as much on Amazon.
So, yeah, so I started to sell on my website
and you know, like last month, I did 34,000
on my website and so it's just been really
well.
The thing with the website, also the reason
I did that is because when I was selling on
Amazon, I was selling on Amazon.com.
I was not selling on Amazon.ca nor was I selling
internationally and because my brand was growing,
I had a lot of people inquiring how can I
get your product?
You know, I live in Norway, or I live in,
you know, Dublin, or whatever, Australia,
how can I get your product?
I'm like, "Sorry, I don't sell internationally."
So it didn't look very good and I realized
that there was a demand for it.
And for me, if I wanted to stay on Amazon
and sell internationally, I would actually
have to ship my products to the fulfillment
centers in those continents.
And for me, that was too costly because I
would have to basically, you know, triple
how much inventory I was buying.
So I'd have to buy, you know, say, a thousand
units for .ca.
A thousand units for .com.
A thousand units for Europe.
You know, and it just became to costly and
also quite a lot to manage for one person.
So I figured okay, if I can find a fulfillment
center that can actually ship worldwide for
me from one place, sure, it's gonna cost the
customer more in shipping but I'm pretty confident
that my clients will pay for that shipping
and this way, I don't have to break my back
on shipping, and inventory management, and
all those stressors.
So yeah, I found a fulfillment center with
a lot of hard work.
It's possible to find them, you just gotta
do your research.
And then that fulfillment center linked with
my website and so they automatically fulfill
orders that come in, they have a system.
It works really, really well.
It is quite costly but I would say honestly,
it's only a little bit more than it cost me
on Amazon and my life is so much better.
I just feel so happy, just so much less stress,
and I really feel like I have the freedom
now that I wanted when I started an online
business.
I didn't start the business to make a lotta
money.
You know, like I'm not super money driven,
I'm freedom driven.
And all I really wanted was to be able to
hang out with Stefan when he wanted to hang
out, you know, at the crazy hours, to travel,
and to you know, just all of a sudden, you
know, let's go do this and let's go do that
and I just didn't have the freedom to do that.
So now, I really feel like I have it and I'm
so blessed to say that but you can do it too.
Anybody can create it.
It's really not that hard, you just have to
believe that you can do it.
And I think that really, getting as many influential
people in your life, people who have done
it that you can just follow and you can ask
questions to, it really gives you the confidence
to keep going.
Because sometimes, there's gonna be a lot
of points in this journey where you will not
be motivated and you're just gonna feel beat
down and you need to find something that's
gonna keep that edge up, that's gonna keep
you going because it's not always gonna be
sunshine and roses.
- Yeah, so I think, you know, like Amazon
is the way to start because they make it a
lot, just so much more easy for you, right?
Like to set up your own store and everything
is a lot more work and you only did that once
you've proven that there was a demand there,
there's a market there, and everything.
And so Amazon, Amazon is still like awesome
opportunity, like an amazing gift, an amazing
resource, there's so many people that you
can find and attract there but thinking bigger
and not being so dependent on them is the
ultimate goal, especially when building a
brand.
Now I know for you, like when you first started
this, you didn't, you know, you had a job,
you went to school.
I think you were 21 years old when you first
started, about two and a half years ago.
And you didn't have much money--
- I was 20.
- 20 years old.
And I think like a lot of people may be watching
this like they often have an excuse, they
have a reason, and you know, like for you,
I know going through Amazing Selling Machine
and me as well, that's kinda what guided us
and gave us a lotta confidence and especially
going to the events that they had.
Like what would you share like, just maybe
your mindset at the time?
'Cause I know like initially, there was some
like uncertainty.
Can I do this?
Is this gonna work?
I know a lotta people like, for me, I haven't...
Like, it's been so many years since I was
back in that point but for you, it was just
two and a half years ago.
So for those of you that are in that position,
taking that first step, like what were some
of the fears that you had, the concerns, and
then how did you overcome that?
- Okay, so that's like actually a bigger topic
than what we can discuss 'cause there's a
lot that goes into the psychology of it.
But I think really, for me, first of all,
when I met Stefan, you know, and I was seeing,
you know, how well he was doing and successful
within online business, which is basically
I thought he was just like a blogger.
I was like, "What?
"How is this possible?"
And I never honestly really wrapped my mind
around it.
I didn't think about it that much.
I was like, "Okay, he's doing his thing and
whatever it is "that you're doing."
And I was just kind of like, "Okay, I wanna
do that.
"I wanna be able to make that much financial--
"Have financial freedom."
But I was really limited, I wasn't able to
get past this block in my mind that you know,
you're only allowed to make a certain amount
per year.
You know, for me it's like my goal was to
graduate from university and make like 100k
per year and that was, I would be so happy
and that would be it, you know?
But it's like when I met Stefan, you know,
he's done the work, he's done the self-development
and this is what you guys see on a continuous
basis on his videos is that it's really you
have to just open your mind to possibilities
that you never thought of before.
If you wanna make a million dollars, you can.
You just need to believe it and you need to
truly feel it within you and you need to do
the steps to actually visualize it everyday.
You know, you need to write it as a goal,
you need to visualize it in your mind, you
need to actually make sure that you're doing
certain things on a daily basis that are going
to lead you to that end result.
So for me, I think really, first of all, just
taking a leap of faith.
I think that's what it was initially.
It's like okay, you know what?
I don't know if I'm going to be successful
or not but I'm going to try anyways because
if I don't try, then I'll never know.
So just taking a leap of faith and then what
really got me excited is going to the ASM
event.
So, when we went to the ASM event, they had
some speakers on stage.
And there was, you know, there was this one
woman, which I can relate to more, of course,
than a man because for obvious reasons.
So there was this one woman on stage who was
from Australia, I can't recall her name but
she was making somewhere around 60,000 a month.
And just hearing those figures, you know,
per month, you know, 30,000 a month, 40,000,
50,000 a month, I'm like, "That's what my
income would be for a year."
And I thought they were joking.
And I realized that yeah, there's people making
100,000 a month.
There's people making 200,000 a month.
There was people making $500,000 a month!
And I just didn't understand it.
But the thing is, I knew that they weren't
lying.
I know that they're just not up on stage putting
this facade, it's not...
Like they're being legitimate.
They're trying to share that with us.
And it's just up to us to really decide if
we're going to believe it and if we're going
to use this as motivation or if we're just
going to say oh, this is fake and this isn't
true.
So that's what a lotta people on YouTube do
too.
There's probably gonna be a ton of comments
on the comment section where people say, "Oh,
this isn't true.
"You can't do an online business, it's all
a scam.
"You can't make money.
"Nobody makes $50,000 a month," like there's
always the naysayers and the people who are
negative.
But it's up to you if you're gonna step up
and if you're gonna really be the person who's
going to accept that this is a possibility
for me.
So that's kind when my eyes opened.
It's during the event.
I got so pumped up, I couldn't wait to get
home and get started on the business and yeah,
that's what kept me motivated.
And then til now, I'm still just always feeling
like I can't wait to grow more because I wonder
what else is possible.
I wonder, you know, my initial goal was, you
know, 3,000 a month, then 5,000 month and
I told him, we were in the mall at Nordstrom
and there was this...
How much were these glasses?
$500 sunglasses.
I was like, "You know what?
"When I'm making $10,000 a month, I'm gonna
buy those "$500,000-- "$500 sunglasses."
Then I made $10,000 a month and I didn't even
buy them 'cause I still felt like they were
too expensive.
And so it's like, you keep on, your level
keeps growing.
- And I think, you know, like attending the
event and also going through Amazing Selling
Machine, like I remember in Amazing Selling
Machine we first watched the first like, first
module together.
And they had like interviews with people that
they interviewed that were making all this
money on Amazon, I think, like after that,
like the beliefs started to change.
I was like, "Okay, like wow, this is possible.
"Like other people are doing this."
And then also, you know, even going through
like the ASM free training videos and then
like investing in the course, like you just
get more confidence because you feel like
okay, this is gonna guide me.
Like this is gonna tell me what to do.
'Cause there's so many logistics in this business
from like sourcing, and doing foreign stuff,
and suppliers, and inventory, like so many
logistics but it broke it down like step by
step.
And I know like, when we went to the ASM event,
like you're actually meeting people like there's
over a thousand people that you're actually
talking to the person next to you whose got
a business and the person next to that person
and it's very different 'cause I know for
you and more so for you than for me, 'cause
all my friends are internet marketers now
but you didn't have any friends.
Like your family, you couldn't really talk
to them about it, your friends, you couldn't
talk to them about it 'cause they didn't understand,
you know, really what you're doing.
They didn't understand this whole world that
you're in.
- That is so true.
And honestly, to this day, most of my friends
have no idea what I'm doing.
They don't even ask questions, they just,
you know, are just my friends.
We just talk about whatever but not business.
And I find that for me, you know, coming from
a smaller town, smaller than Vancouver, there
wasn't a lot of people that I could relate
to or that I could even share with.
You know, I came back from the event so pumped
up.
It's like going to a Tony Robbins event and
then you come home and you wanna share it
with everyone but everyone thinks you're like
a lunatic.
So it felt like that.
I came home and I was, you know, sharing with
my mom, "Hey guess what, this person was making
$50,000 a month "and I can do it too."
And she was just like, "Oh my gosh, just stay
in school," you know?
Like, it's just a lot of negativity that got
thrown on me and that's almost led me to giving
up multiple times.
But it's just really about finding the people
that in your tribe, you know?
If you have to make your own tribe, go for
it.
You know, there's apps like Meet Up.
There's meet ups for, you know, online entrepreneurs
now.
There's even an ASM meet up that I saw recently.
It's pretty cool.
So definitely going to the event and just
like, meeting new people that you can connect
with, you know, connect with later on Facebook,
have a weekly call with, that really can push
you forward.
Because sometimes you can't find that support
in your family life or in your relationships.
So it's really important to find it somewhere
because you're gonna need it when it gets
really rough.
- Yeah, that's awesome.
Alright, so I'm gonna wrap it up soon but
what advice would you give to someone maybe
that's watching this right now or listening
to this that has aspirations to start online,
build an online business, and they're looking,
you know, what's the best way for them to
start?
Like, how would they get started?
'Cause I even know we did that one video,
you know, we did a live stream together on
the YouTube channel and it got a lot of views
and a lot of people even contacting you, like
even asking you, like how to get started,
what do you recommend for them, so for anyone
that's watching or listening, what would you
say for them?
- Okay, so I have to say personally, that
if I did not have this course that I would
not have been able to do what I did.
Because it is pretty complex.
And the thing is yes, you can learn this yourself
and take the hard way and really just try
and find free information from YouTube and
free information from blog posts and stuff
but it is gonna be a lot harder and it's gonna
take more time.
For me, I believe in the whole thing of you
know, if someone's already been successful
at something, I'm going to take their advice
and I'm gonna learn from them.
So it's just like taking a course, you know?
If this course is available for you and it's
gonna make your life so much easier and it's
going to make you probably more like, so much
more successful than you would be without
it, why not take it?
So for me, the course is, it was just, it
helped me so much because there's certain
things that I had no idea of.
You know, I didn't know how to source in a
different country.
I didn't know about shipping and overseas
shipping.
I didn't know about marketing, I didn't know
about just, you know, artwork and all of these
different things and it really just pieces
it out for you and makes it simple with video,
and with written script, and with you know,
forms that they give you.
It just really makes it simple and for me,
someone who didn't even have a computer and
all of a sudden, I was able to do this, it
just shows you that anyone can do it.
You know, coming from somebody--
- And she shared that, you started just on
your iPad.
- Yeah, I started on my iPad, like doesn't
get more ghetto than that.
So you can definitely do it.
If you have internet connection and you can,
you know, put aside some money to invest in
a good course.
ASM for me, was the best course.
You know, at the time, when we did that video,
I was recommending Marketplace Superheroes,
but I think ASM is the best course.
It's really thorough and just really, so many
people have gone through it and have been
super successful.
They give you the tools that you need.
And then, finding maybe a coach to help you
along the way if you need it.
- And I think also, you know, you've demonstrated
like you don't need a lotta money to get started.
I think like the information, the knowledge,
and the steps, the strategy is the most valuable
part but beyond that, like, you can do it
inexpensively.
And I know one fear that a lotta people have
is like okay, well what if I launch a product
and it doesn't sell?
And like, you, you know, you even 'cause there's
certain products for you like you're still
like, able to sell back the inventory on Amazon,
recoup back the investment because I think
a lotta people I think like, you, your two
products before what you're doing now like,
they made money but they weren't like your
big success.
And I think like your first product doesn't
have to be.
Like for me, I started with L-Carnitine and
I was didn't really know what I was doing,
like I was going through ASM.
I made money on that and it still makes good
money but you learn so much from that first
product that you then take that for your next
product and then the product after that.
But I think like there's very little risk
in that sense because you can sell it back.
Of course, there's other things you like,
a good course will teach you like, especially
if you are doing giveaways or coupon codes.
Some people, they don't know what they're
doing 'cause they don't have a good course
and they, like for example, some people, they,
you know, the coupon gets leaked out and they
lose a lotta inventory and things like that
but.
But yeah, I think it's just so important to
have that to guide you how to do it.
- Mmhmm, totally.
So my thoughts on that, you know, like I wouldn't--
I feel like I'm a very honest person and I
would never recommend something to someone
that didn't work and for me, this course was
just obviously, it changed my life.
Now I have financial freedom, I can enjoy
the things I want.
But you know, obviously it's an investment
and it is scary to take the risk and to do
this but like Stefan said, the thing is yes,
you're investing in the course but the course
is going to teach you and you'll make all
that money back.
But also the initial investment that you have
doesn't have to be large.
You know, I started with $300.
My second product, I started with $500.
My third product, which is the product I have
now, I started with only $1,000 invested in
inventory.
So you really can take a little bit of money
and even if it doesn't work out, there is
ways to get that money back.
So even if it's at the value that you purchase
it at rather than at you know, what you were
gonna sell it at, even if you just make equal
amount with what you purchased it at, you
can still do that.
So you know, for my first product and my second
product, I'm still just basically getting
rid of them, selling at the same price that
I was buying them at just because I wanna
get rid of them.
And I'm not losing money, I'm still, you know,
making that money back.
Of course, if you all, you know, are someone
in a position where you can't even pay your
rent and your kids are depending on you, you're
like, don't put a big investment down right
now.
Maybe find some other sources or save up for
a while.
But if you have the means right now to do
this and to take this course and you really,
truly believe that this is what you wanna
do and that this is the right path for you,
then just go for it.
You just have to try because you know, it
works for so many people, it's just a mindset
thing.
And if you can really conquer your mindset
and really go past that, then you can do this.
- That's awesome.
And so, I'll put a link to ASM and also a
free training that I've put together.
Different interview, videos, and what not.
I'll link to that below this video.
Or if you just go to ProjectLifeMastery.com/ASM
you can check that out.
But do you wanna share with people just on
a final note like how your life has changed
because like, you know, I've been an online
entrepreneur for so many years now but for
you, it's been more recently that you've been
able to like enjoy a totally different lifestyle.
So do you wanna share with people now?
- Well, it's honestly just every day I wake
up and I'm just so grateful.
I'm just, I feel like the most blessed person
and I truly believe that I am.
And we're all just blessed.
I mean, you're in North America, you're blessed
for just being born here.
But it's really changed my life.
Like I remember just I used to walk down the
street and see people in coffee shops that
would just stare out the window and just like
look at people and I was like, "How do they
have time for that?
"How do they have time to just sit there "and
not do anything and just be still?"
And now, I feel like if I allow myself, I
can have the time to do that 'cause I'm in
charge of my time.
I don't have to be at a certain place from
nine to five.
I can do whatever I want from nine to five
as long as I get the work that I need to get
done throughout the week, I can do whatever
I want with the rest of the time.
And that is the most valuable thing that you
can have.
No money can be you know, more valuable than
having that freedom and having that time.
It's just gonna get better and better, you
know, as the business grows, you just have
more freedom.
And I think it's just amazing.
And I feel so blessed now.
We're going traveling and we're doing all
these things and you know, it's just made
my life so much, so much more calm.
You know, there's still a lot of work and
sometimes a lot of stress but you know, I've
got a great morning ritual, you know, and
I've just really able to enjoy myself now
and I really, truly wish that for everybody
who watches this video.
- That's awesome, thank you.
Do you wanna share with people how they can
find out more about you?
- Sure.
So after that last video, I got a lotta requests
for coaching and I did coaching for a while
but I'm not doing coaching anymore just because
I just don't feel like I have the time for
it.
So please don't ask about that.
But you can find me, you know, I'm Tatiana
Beret on Instagram, on Facebook.
You can find, you know LuxeHealth.com or Luxe
Health on Instagram.
That's my brand.
But yeah, if you wanna connect and be friends,
sure, let's do that but I'm not doing any
coaching.
- Yeah, so we'll put some links to her YouTube
channel, Luxe Health, Instagram, everything
so if you guys wanna follow her.
Especially if you're a woman, highly recommend
it and especially if you wanna lose weight
or get in better shape, her waist trainer
and some of the advice that she has available
is really been awesome.
But, my love, I just wanna say thank you.
Thank you for doing this for me.
I asked her to share this 'cause I, you know,
get so many questions about Amazon and people
really enjoy just like the interviews and
having other people besides myself giving
advice.
But other people sharing their story, their
journey.
And hopefully it just shows people what's
possible, shows them that anyone can do it.
Like I've not met a person that can't do it.
Like regardless of where you live in the world,
regardless of your circumstances, like there's
so many people that I've met and seen doing
it and I know some of you don't know people
like that and that's why I'm trying to bring
them on my YouTube channel and share them
with you so that you guys can be more empowered
and have the belief to do it and go for it.
And it's a life changing thing.
- If you believe you can't, then you won't.
And if you believe you can, then you will.
So just make sure you change your mindset
before you start anything like this.
- Yeah, awesome.
Alright, well thank you guys for watching
this video.
Check out the free training that I've put
together as well at ProjectLifeMastery.com/ASM.
We'll have some links below.
And then if you're interested in the Amazing
Selling Machine I'll have a link to that as
well.
Alright, guys.
Thanks for watching, bye.
