Scroll, Post, Sell, Repeat: Damian Polak on Why Content Is the New Currency of Commerce
Damian Polak and Dennis Hoang on growing a liquidation business through influencers, live sellers and online communities.
At ASD Market Week, Damian Polak and live seller Dennis Hoang gave a session called “Scroll, Post, Sell, Repeat: How Content Is the New Currency of Commerce.” It wasn’t a talk about making more TikToks. Damian’s point was that the creator economy is now a distribution network, and liquidators and retailers need to understand it to grow, whether or not they ever post a video. Watch the full keynote
THE BIG IDEA
You Don’t Have to Be a Creator to Use the Creator Economy
Influencers have already done the hard work of building an audience. Damian’s advice was to find local ones through TikTok and YouTube searches and have them promote your shop, website or pallet house. Dennis asked the room how many had seen a bin store packed with shoppers after one influencer video went viral. Almost every hand went up.
LIVE SELLING
60 to 80 Regulars, Every Single Day
Dennis’s team goes live almost every day on eBay Live, selling fashion, footwear and accessories to a steady 60 to 80 viewers. Picture that many people walking into your bin store every morning. Liquidators who hate being on camera can get the same reach by consigning inventory to a live seller who already has that audience. Dennis said the technology behind his business took a while to build, but the community took longer, and the community is where the power is.
COMMUNITY
Use the Communities Other People Already Built
TikTok Shop, Whatnot, eBay Live and liquidation Facebook groups all host communities that trust the person who built them. Every liquidator has three or four groups now, Damian said, but the ones that work are real communities where people answer questions and meet up in person. If you start your own, start small, like a shop posting its local deals once a week. And keep your audience on more than one platform. “If Facebook gets upset with me, my backup is LinkedIn.”
THE REAL METRIC
Followers Are a Vanity Metric. Searchability Isn’t.
People now use Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok as search engines. When they want to check out a warehouse, they post in a Facebook group and ask, “Is Archer Logistix a scam?” At that point it doesn’t matter whether you have 80,000 followers or three. What matters is real photos and videos of you, at your address, with your inventory, on several platforms. That is hard to fake, especially when you post consistently. Dennis does it by filming short clips of daily operations at least once a week. That habit builds trust, and trust leads to new opportunities.
FROM THE Q&A
Partnerships and Picking a Platform
Damian explained that he’s a vetted consignment vendor to Dennis’s company, a model any liquidator can use with live sellers. On YouTube versus TikTok, his answer was both. Repost everywhere, and let your niche decide which platform comes first.
THE TAKEAWAY
Trust Is the Real Currency
The title called content the new currency of commerce, but the thread running through the whole talk was trust. Influencers, live sellers and communities put you in front of buyers who already trust someone else. Your own posts prove you are who you say you are. Either way, the businesses that show up online get found and called.
