Last Updated: Aug 23, 2023

Our Japan

Connecting Craftsmen & Overseas Buyers

Note: Due to the challenges of getting enough craftsmen onboard, this project is currently on the back burner. Once I can better solve the conundrum of shipping logistics, I will look to revisit Our Japan with a renewed vigor.

For the longest time, I’ve been trying to crack the code of how to bring world class digital marketing services to Japanese craftsmen. Despite having the ability to regularly produce a 400% ROI for most of my clients, I just couldn’t figure out how to convince Japan’s talented artisans to work with me. Try as I might, my offerings either sounded like black magic (put money into the intrawebz, get 4x ROI) OR they were confused by the technicalities of digital marketing. As a result, craftsmen weren’t just biting and I soon realized I’d need to find an alternative to the client services model.

It was around this time that Ikeda Masato from Kyodo PR first approached me with a novel idea. His decades of experience in advertising had shown him that many of Japan’s producers were quite familiar with affiliate models. Seeing little potential in offering to do the marketing on behalf of craftsmen, he proposed an alternative business model. Instead of offering monthly retainer fees, we would alternatively charge a margin on any…