In this enlightening episode of "Invest in Yourself: the Digital Entrepreneur Podcast," host Phil Better sits down with Dylan Lam, the mastermind behind Omni Rank.
Dylan shares invaluable insights on overcoming networking fears, the importance of validating business ideas before significant investment, and how Omni Rank helps clients thrive on platforms like Amazon and Kickstarter. Learn about Dylan's journey from an Ebay seller to an advisor for 8-figure Amazon brands and discover the best practices for ecommerce success.
Tune in for a deep dive into digital entrepreneurship, essential skills for young entrepreneurs, and the power of creative problem-solving in the competitive digital marketplace.
Timestamps:
- [00:00] Introduction and Welcome
- [02:15] Overcoming Nervousness at Networking Events
- [08:00] The Celebration of Entrepreneurship
- [10:45] Introduction to Omni Rank: Services and Strategy
- [16:30] Validating Business Ideas: Customer Trust and Engagement
- [22:15] Transition from Amazon to Omni Rank
- [28:40] Advice for Young Entrepreneurs: Skills and Creativity
- [35:00] The Importance of Diverse Skill Sets in Digital Entrepreneurship
- [42:20] Closing Thoughts and Call to Action
Guest Bio:
Dylan Lam, known as "Digital Dylan," is the visionary founder of Omni Rank, a digital marketing agency specializing in ecommerce and Amazon. He has a background in performance-driven marketing and extensive experience working with 8-figure Amazon brands. Dylan began his journey as an eBay seller and has since become a leading advisor in the ecommerce space, supporting brands to grow beyond the Amazon ecosystem through innovative strategies and multi-platform engagement.
Key Takeaways:
- **Overcoming Networking Fears:** Focus on one person at a time to build comfort.
- **Validating Business Ideas:** Ensure the viability of products before heavy investment through customer trust and engagement metrics.
- **Ecommerce Success:** Leverage PPC, media buying, and diversified marketing strategies to avoid saturation on Amazon.
- **Young Entrepreneur Advice:** Emphasize creativity and diverse experiences to build a strong foundation.
- **External Platforms:** Understand the need to diversify beyond Amazon and Shopify to succeed in the competitive digital market.
Resources and Links:
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Call to Action:
Love what you heard? Subscribe to "Invest in Yourself: the Digital Entrepreneur Podcast" on your favorite platform, leave us a review, and stay connected for more insights from leading digital entrepreneurs. Additionally, if you’re looking to validate your business idea or need assistance with ecommerce growth, reach out to Dylan Lam at Omni Rank.
Contact Information:
- **Host:** Phil Better - [LinkedIn] | [Instagram]
- **Guest:** Dylan Lam - [LinkedIn] | [Omni Rank Website]
SEO Keywords:
Digital Entrepreneur, Dylan Lam, Phil Better, OmniRank, Amazon brands, Kickstarter ventures, ecommerce, business idea validation, PPC (Pay-Per-Click), product launch assistance, lead generation, media buying, email campaigns, customer journey, nervousness at networking events, investing in oneself, performance-driven marketing, Amazon competition, Shopify, external platforms, dropshipping, creative skill sets, entrepreneurial success, Omni Rank full-service agency, engagement analysis, cost-per-click analysis, back conversion, advisory boards, networking habits, podcasts, entrepreneurship events, Amazon ecosystem, alternative skill sets, digital marketing strategies
welcome to invest in yourself the digital entrepreneur podcast join the podcast murder Phil better as he interviews successful entrepreneur that make their living in the digital world now let's join your house Phil better and your special guest today on invest in yourself the digital entrepreneur podcast ladies and gentlemen welcome back to another exciting episode of invest in yourself the digital entrepreneur podcast I'm of course your host with the most feel better the podcast and muggle and today we have a truly luminary guest in the digital marketing realm our guest today is the master mastermind behind omnirank a leading digital marketing agency that has been a catalyst for success for e-commerce and Amazon sellers around the globe with a wealth of experience under his belt our guest is a driving force behind omnirank's expertise in lead generation PPC media buying media buying and cutting-edge email campaigns all meticulously designed to deliver data-driven results but that's not all they were multiple hats in this e-commerce arena he is not just the head of omnirank he also serves as a valued member on the advisory board of various eight-figure Amazon brands in this influence in influential capacity our guests has fine-tuned his skills and acquired invaluable insight from the dynamic world of Amazon in e-commerce think about it working with multiple a-figure brands there's no doubt his multifaceted experience propels omnirank to the greater heights and ensures that everyone receive a comprehensive and up to the minute approach to digital marketing success little wonder why he's affectionately known as digital Dylan so without further ado let me extend a warm welcome and to the master of digital marketing and the go-to expert for e-commerce triumphs our guest digital Dylan Dylan Lam Dylan thank you so much for being here thank you so much for having me on the podcast field I mean I love the adoption there's a passion behind there thank you for that you're very welcome well when when we connected I and you told me a little bit of what omnirank is doing and how incredible your story is I just knew I had to make an intro that was just as incredible as your stories so thank you very much for being here I can't wait to share your story and omnirank with my audience so this is a beneficial podcast so with all the you know the hot steam if you will blowing up each other's about how awesome we are I'm Dylan I want to know why did you want to become a digital entrepreneur what made you decide to start omnirank or start in this world of Amazon and e-commerce mmm the way that I started being a digital entrepreneur like I was a ebay seller but I was like even uni time right back in the days that was like 2014 or 15 and then and then like I started selling on ebay and graduated to Amazon and then graduated to like selling on our south Amazon like Kickstarter or Shopify right and so the benefit comes with it like even before like I scaled my own brand to seven figures before that I was working after a graduate from uni I was working for a job shipping company so so when I was working in that job shipping company they were like a nine figure business during that time they had this office in Hong Kong there's a snoker table in the in the in the work area it's like a day station there's like a sleeping room just for people to go for a nap you know and and they start as well that you can play dot like to chill out if you want to so that gave me like that inspiration of oh my god being like seven or nine could avoid office like that a team like that and uh with the culture that everyone loves uh loves about that you know and on top everyone is passionate on the work so that was eye-opening that was uh after the year that I graduated from uni right and so I was like oh if you can do it I can do it as well because I started my my Amazon brand like after I was doing uni and then I was like running the that I was on brand myself like even I was working right and I was like oh okay that is something that I should aimful so that gave me the feeling that okay okay that's not what I meant but that's what I'm gonna aimful in the next five years something right there I love that I love how you lucked out working for a multi a huge organization that was doing drop shipping and gave you the inspiration to have to create a business a brand that has the same type of environment that this this company has I love how you lucked out and it's urge you to be your own entrepreneurial king if you will um it's a thought for omnirang come from because it's it's a very interesting one it's a very interesting name if it's like an old name if you will because omnirang means you're like you're ranking on multiple platforms being the number one on multiple platforms so I love that with that inside baseball kind of name where did the concept and the idea come from to do a digital marketing instead of just staying as a seller on Amazon or e e-commerce brands um so the center of the platform means that like we are being uh strangled on playing by the rules and and it means that like everyone knows how to sell on the platform because information is transparent right running on any kind of platform uh like how to run air how to actually read the listing by the images or or maybe like uh what's the fundamental of the A9 algorithms right so eventually like uh when I when I when I was when I bootstrapped in the business like we were like helping businesses to run Amazon BBC like Amazon advertising and then I saw the struggles right um the struggles was like um they all are competing with other people so everyone is trying to get a competitive advantage from what they're doing um so they started to double outside of the external world of Amazon like using Facebook or uh native ad or maybe uh Twitter or or even Microsoft ad as well to really drive traffic to Amazon or to get rid of the or get rid of the situation that they are putting all the eggs in one basket all right so they want to separate like uh the let's say 50% to Amazon and 50% of the revenue coming from Shopify so that's what they are all aiming for and that's why the term only rank you don't just rank on Amazon you rank on Google you rank on tech talk algorithms you know you got you to get your virus and that's the terms only it's confirmed I love that I love that when did you start in your journey because obviously you started in eBay and you were staying in their ecosystem then you moved over to Amazon and graduated to Shopify and probably other platforms when did you in that journey when did you start going wait I need to look outside of this little force that I'm in this ecosystem I am to apply the concepts like you just mentioned you know going to Microsoft going to Facebook going to Instagram going to all these other platforms to drive business to your your original platform Amazon or Shopify when did you decide to like when in your journey do you think that became apparent to you there's two major factors like uh first factor this um um the problem with like Amazon product in the past when we get started it's all about white label we you just go on to Alibaba you snap on your logo and you put on Amazon but everyone knows that everyone how to do it and therefore uh there's just prize pool coming in on every part of that I was trying to sell right back in the days uh people are only utilizing the Amazon platform to drive chart rigs they haven't think about using influencer they haven't think about using native ad or using like a interactive marketing ad or google shop paying to to get more sales right and that's why I know oh that's the that's the ash that I can go for because I came from job shipping background uh in the past I was a media buyer whenever I started uh in the in the in the in the in the labor workforce uh when it first started it's like a performance different marketer right and therefore I was like okay I know this I know that and that's why why don't we give it a go right and that's why like I realized um without like uh knowing how to bring external products to Amazon or do a drug fat chart by store uh you know then eventually that we are gonna be like in the loophole that we launched product gain to mature to cycle and then there's a lot of copycat copycat coming to uh copy your order you know or you're suffering appetite as well or you're getting uh your forever um suffering uh high cdc uh week by week one by month uh because of the uh the more in more converters coming in right and therefore like I know that like I go that like because you have the data to look at that I made data scientists right look at the data you know that oh that is not the solution you know by doing that you know you got like Amazon fee increase top spicy fee increase and then you still get the risk of the activation right so the only way to get out of that rat race is to really find another loophole or another um uh skill set to tackle to tackle those problems I love it I love how you uh just inferred that being inside the Amazon or the Shopify ecosystem is similar to a rat race because it is it's a career thing you're trying to move up inside this company if you will because their ecosystem marketplace is your company because you want to move up to the be the top you're in this rat race because you're just repeating the same thing just like you're doing if you have your own corporation or you're you're an everyday person working you're in your little rat race running around circling and you do need an outside skill set you need something like you said either media buying understanding ads understanding another platform to drive people over you'll be able to find your exit from the rat race like you have done with Omni rank um when you launched Omni rank were you already sitting on the board as an advisor to multiple uh huge Amazon brands or did that come later where because of the success that Omni rank uh brought so not multiple but it was once before because like I went and exited job shipping company um there was a time that they wanted to go back to Amazon so they had me uh to bring the brand to Amazon so um that was the first brand that I was like on the board we've uh for console density and afterward like I was helping Chinese client um to uh like acting as a CMO for them and so they know that oh this guy is not just like uh know about Amazon or they know about outside of Amazon and that's the value that I can provide to them uh that uh is really a customer journey that we are creating for e-commerce businesses no matter you start from Amazon uh you know Shopify you know in the end you all we all aim for brand building we all aim for a better customer service or customer journey to increase the AOV or to increase the lifetime value for um all for the business so that is the thing that we do got a lot of that and it's it's great um in your journey so far obviously you've been investing in yourself to get to where you are what are some of the habits or routines that you have that help you continue to invest in yourself into your skill set to become a better marketer a better version of yourself right um I will say I will category into uh free things uh podcast um and attending event and networking so back in the days uh podcast was one of like the uh life saving uh thing that I would do uh to really uh get myself like into like the business the uh the the feeling of like being a part of a family of being a digital entrepreneur because like back in the days e-commerce is like when you told your friends that you're selling and buying and selling on needing that you know they were like oh that's it that's a big sense oh oh um there's a earn money right so the only way to really uh uh get into like uh a family like a a connection you know I wasn't really networking back in the days right so I was like listening to tons of podcasts there's ozane like the best I mean the the your closest five friends will shape uh uh the current you right so that same as back in the days you know when I wasn't networking I was listening to podcasts when I was like in a toilet when I was like uh playing games as well when I was like in a shower right I was like or in podcast right and then those like kind of like educational things that they're providing those things that they're sharing you know it's always like uh being like oh I just I just like had that feeling oh I just had that problem I just had that problem oh this is how it how it works right so from people sharing things and from uh from things that uh that I am struggling as well during those time you know that podcast was my life saver because no one can help so after that been through that stage on podcasting I went on to uh attending event I had attending a webinar in-person event and so in-person event there's two things there's always the latest information from the market and also um there is uh networking power the networking power provides me the highest level of information because those are the uh those are the people who uh who have like the insider information or when those things that wouldn't want to share to other people uh in the world because uh because like you know there's competitive contest like industry street industry uh secret like it always happened like every like every month there's different kind of different kind of like industry secret that would give you a edge on getting more sales on either on the Shopify or on Facebook right so those happen in networking where those or webinar or those like uh workshop that I attend or in-person event uh those are the ones that would like um uh I gave you the fundamental or like inspire you to work on something that I'm yet to understand first right oh there's both way reading both I think if you if you name all the both about marketing I think I read all those yeah that's how it shaped me yeah I love it I love those pieces of advice that you get like podcasting because it is very true the five people that you hang around with on a daily are the are going to shape the future version of you and what's better way of doing it than listening to podcasts from the people you want to be around like if you can't physically be around those people podcasts is a great way because they're sharing their knowledge and it's like you're right there with them um and books as well are just it just is important as podcasts so like those go hand in hand because you can get such great books about business from the advice on podcast because I know there's some podcasters that ask like what's one book that you suggest entrepreneurs read or when book marketers should read and this and that and those are great questions because if if you're listening to someone like you Dylan like let's say you're on a marketing podcast and you get asked what is a what is a book that you suggest someone starting a marketing read pretty sure with what you have accomplished if I was listening to that podcast I'd definitely go out and buy that book because the value is tenfold if you found it valuable then it's definitely something valuable um so I love that suggestion of listening to the podcast and then going to in in-person events to network when you started networking were you nervous like did you have a level of nerds? Definitely like it was it was like uh it was like so nervous like when I was so I was like a speaker I wasn't like uh like I know that I have stuff in me I know that I achieved great things but when it comes to in person uh for me it's like always nervous because like uh when I first started of course right now I don't get nervous of course like but then like nowadays like when I first started I was like I'll share a walk with the him first or should I just like pretend that I want to listen sending next to them right so so those are the things that like I was nervous about um so the things that I do is like I would just uh whenever I started when I want to overcome what's going on I would just focus on one person first right it's okay if you just focus on one person and the next day you get another person right uh so in total if this is a free day event then you met free person no matter how good they are or how bad they are but then when you get first started I mean it's all about just like just just try to uh if you're introvert like me when you first started like you just want to like get a feeling of what's going on or or what is the feeling about uh when I come to talking to people with that it's either better than you or either like you know uh it's not like as helpful as you think you know but you still get a feeling of like uh oh that is what it looks like and next time when you come back you will know what you should do right um so networking is fun or impersonating is more of like uh knowing friends and most importantly have fun I would say so um that's my little two cents when you first started we are a bit nervous at the time and it's a good piece of advice having fun because these events are to to celebrate what we're doing as entrepreneurs you know like given the each each each event can be specifically on a niche of the industry but inside that you're having thousands of people are in different niches inside the the general niche you know they've subnished and you're you're there to have fun because you're there to celebrate what you guys are doing you're all there to learn to share and it's like harking back to school where what did you do at school you had fun at school like yes when you were in class you were paying attention but outside of the class time you were joking around having fun with your buddies you know learning sharing gossiping and so I like how you you said like the first event like the first time you go is there to have fun like that is such a key point and that's what entrepreneurship that I find is about is having fun exactly um I would like to touch on omnirang because we we've talked about your journey a lot uh however we we we briefly touched on omnirang and I would love to hear maybe a success story maybe recent from your beginning of omnirang's journey that omnirang was able to possibly change the lives or change the business of one of your clients do you have maybe a success story you'd like to share with us it's of course like um so omnirang is like more of like a full surface agency uh but the term of full surface agency uh there's a lot of definition it is a full surface on Amazon it is a full surface on uh Shopify or is it full surface on nudge and kickstarter campaign because hours of a second including include all those but I like what what I would tell like what I would tell customer is like we are a CMO for your digital uh e-commerce business uh because what we do is we use funnel to help you um create a to break down the trustful from your customer we help you uh to funnel your idea before you start investing money into uh the business that you are about to go into the niche that you want to create right so this is that story that we are able to have a client is um we help them funnel their product so there's uh amb person amb customer okay so a customer would just start Amazon and then uh would just want to go on to Amazon they would just like buy 60 days worth of inventory and then uh they would just like uh the typical route is 60th inventory and then what in those uh inventory is there is a hyperized Amazon they have to get and under 40 days of inventory to avoid our stocks right so the way that we we um we help customer is uh we help them to validate the idea on Kickstarter or using one of our one page funnel to look at the engagement rate and then after the engagement rate we will look for the cost per click after the cost per click will look at the revenues so there's free stage of validation that will help people validate their business idea for us before they do anything uh that involved with a huge capital right so then you just see like 60 days worth of inventory if you still start on Amazon with the violating if it failed if if the if the idea failed uh failed on the let's say on a 60 days then you're stuck with a lot of inventory right the warehouse without like being um with it it's hard to turn them into liquid catch because um those idea is not selling and that's why they're stuck with 60 days initially and the third day is afterward so that is the risk that we are helping them to decrease when they want to find the product so product father j is just one of our service but of course there's like PVC is our core uh service uh that we offer uh because that's how i brush draft the business so what i do is like in the process i i was just a 60 because seven now i made seven figures seven because we used those PVC uh that we uh we we help our client to to um to run at on and then put it all to my own brand right now and so so yeah PVC is one of our core ones so that there's tons of KCD that we can talk about if you come to our website in the future so um yeah that's pretty much i love that i love how you're one you're saving people thousands and thousands of dollars uh before they even try to uh start their amazon journey by validating whether or not it's worth the capital to invest in this product before that's 60 days worth of uh merch like you said because who knows like do i really want to be stuck with a whole bunch of gizmos it's sitting in my garage um that haven't sold and i have to figure out how to get rid of this before my wife kicks me out of the house you know that those are some that those are some of the like other problems that people may not realize come with you know starting an amazon business like luckily if you were a single person you don't have to worry about being kicked out of your house but you still have to worry about that 60 days worth of merchant that's just sitting in your garage collecting dust and taking space whereas if you work with dylan and omirank you can validate the idea whether or not it's worth investing that your your net stake that is into an amazon business or a product i i love that you're doing that and then do you normally see clients who take the the validation option turn into uh your ppc clients um those five vision option is we help them uh too far they their idea but then if they go on to uh want us to help them to launch a product then we will request them to go for full service so we can handle the funnel and we handle the ppc so they are kind of like separate service that we're offering but yeah if they if they default that it's good they could just go graduated to the ppc service that we're offering as well awesome so when when so do so i guess uh i'll re re-ass do you see a lot of clients go from that okay you you help me validate to being full service like do you see a lot of that conversion that is yeah yeah that is do us i love that i love that we are coming close to the end of the episode dylan and i hate this because i i'm sure you have more more knowledge to share and more stories of success however um i i really want to get this question in here um i have your 10 year old version of yourself right next to me he's he's a fun kid we're talking pokemon we're talking you know adam a we're talking all the fun stuff 10 year olds talk about however i would really love for you to share one piece of advice to your 10 year old self like if you could hand back that one piece of advice i would help 10 year old dylan what would that be um i would say uh the 10 years old dylan i would say uh start picking up uh different skill set um no matter is like uh work wise or like uh no work wise because when it comes to digital entrepreneur it's all about connecting the door so your world your world feels your world feels and your paradigm uh is your asset in the future to have a creative mind because connecting the door uh requires a lot of experience either muscle marriage or either like uh memory that uh we uh we come from uh very uh exciting moment or emotional moment those can allow and then shaving you to become a better you in the future and i would say it's also this skill set that i um i started the adult like uh since the uni time like 10 years ago like because of this skill it made me the today's me and so i would strongly recommend um to try anything either karate or maybe president jiu-jitsu or badminton or football or wherever you want to go for you only have the time to do it when we were young but you don't have time to do it when you start working in the future i love that i love how tries and many things as possible before your time gets eaten up by being an adult um and like like some people say the youth is wasted on the youth uh because they have so much free time in that they don't they wasted but uh dylan this has been a fantastic talk i'm going to jump off stage here i want you to let my audience know how they can work with omnirank work with you to uh get uh the success that you have uh given your clients so the floor serve is yours so um if you guys want to like sell a e-commerce business or follow that your business first before you put in all your capital uh to do uh or like go to before you go all in into uh one uh idea that it is the best right you guys can just come to omnirank.com to just go on to the whatsapp button and just message me or you can go to lincoln uh it's digital dylan digital dylan uh so you can speak with me and then we will see i would not be a good fit and if we all uh we'll just schedule we'll just schedule a discovery call thank you awesome dylan dylan i can't thank you enough for being here and sharing your advice it's very true that you are digital dylan um so i can't thank you enough for being here and sharing your time with me thank you feel i mean i'm so i'm so happy that like we we just have a such a meaningful conversation i am as well to my audience make sure you check out the show notes down below to connect with digital dylan and omnirank and take your uh vision for a potential amazon or e-commerce brand to the next level i thank you so much for listening and as always remember to invest in yourselves
