Today’s podcast comes to you from Las Vegas. I’m at an Amazon Conference along with about 800 other people.  Today I’ll take a look at a few things all the sellers are buzzing about here.  There is another conference in early August that I’ll be here for.  It’s a sourcing show and a good place to get ideas for merchandise, to meet people and do some wholesale sourcing.  You can find out more about it at asdonline.com

One topic of discussion here is cash flow.  The cash flow problems associated with growing quickly can be crushing. It’s sometimes hard to be able to reorder product as you wait for the money on your sales to come in.  Banks don’t generally lend large sums of money to at home businesses and credit cards can pose some difficulties. I solved this problem by using Kabbage.  They are able to analyze your bank transactions and business accounts very quickly and pre-approve you on the spot.  They will then debit your account monthly with a small and reasonable fee.  It’s a very fast process.

The sellers here are also talking about the abundance of tools.  I feel that if a tool impinges on your cash flow, don’t buy it.  Get educated and get your product going and then take a look at tools you think you need for your business.  Don’t get overwhelmed by all the tools that are out there.

Lots of talk here too about the use of Youtube and Facebook video ads.  Those ads lead to rankings on Amazon.  The great part about them is the re-targeting ads which tell somebody, especially on Facebook, that we saw you didn’t buy the product and here’s a discount if you buy now.  These types of ads are really taking off.

The last thing I talk about is Amazon Prime Day.  The media may have downplayed the success of it, but a whole lot of people saw a big increase in sales during the one day event.  Amazon says it was a bigger sales day for them than Black Friday.

Please check out my upcoming free online bootcamp.  My  private label FBA bootcamp will give you the help you need to get started, step-by-step.  If you’re already a seller, we’ll have some tips to propel you further. Sign up today!

What crazy thing have you done today to move your business forward?  Let me know marketingcrazy.com/crazy. Please check out my podcasts at marketingcrazy.com/podcast.   If you enjoyed today’s podcast, please leave a review in iTunes.

Today has been a crazy business day. I have a list of things that I’ve accomplished just today in launching a new product. I want to take you along on my trip down the rabbit hole and give you some key points about what I’ve done today.

First, an important reminder that my free online sellers bootcamp is coming up on July 22.  It’s time to sign up for the bootcamp which will give you an overview of what it takes to become an FBA Amazon private label seller.

I am putting out new products on a steady basis and here’s a quick summary of what I accomplished just today:

* Got a product out starting with a bare bones listing to generate things for a shipper to use and my product arrived at Amazon

* Contacted people for professional pictures of my product

* Set up a page listing on Amazon – using search terms and keyword analysis, I developed and submitted a two thousand word description

* Created coupon codes with four different price points for four different groups of people

* Got a super URL through Amztracker and posted a listing on Tomoson to begin to drive traffic. (For more details on these tools, check out my previous podcast.)

* Sent out a friends and family email to about 100 people, giving them the super URL link and asking them to purchase the product at full price

* Organized a special promotion on Facebook. (I’ll have more details on how to do this on our upcoming bootcamp.)

* Sent out a press release on the new product

* Set up a tool which will allow me to track and manage the numbers side of things

* Thought of four more products and learned they were available so began the process for those

The product is already selling and there are still a few more things for me to do today!

What have you done today? Let me know at marketingcrazy.com/crazy. Please check out my podcasts at marketingcrazy.com/podcast.

The topic today is all about product reviews.  Customers that leave feedback impact the buying decision of other potential customers and that’s a big part of the reason product reviews are so very important.

For reviews, my first step is to reach out to family and friends.  I will record a quick video that has them go through the process of searching for my product on Amazon and purchasing it.  This usually involves 100 people for me.  I then continue to email them to see if they followed through.  I usually get a 50% response rate and end up with 20 to 30 product reviews.  As I explain, this is an involved process which requires me to be tenacious.

My next step is using Tomoson which allows you to give away products to bloggers and target groups who then create word of mouth buzz about the product.

Then I follow that with a Facebook funnel review group. I add AMZ Tracker and private Facebook review groups.

A very important step is an automated sequence of emails, where the buyer is told their order has been received, then the product has shipped, asking if they received it and asking if they could leave a review.  There are tools that automate the process and I recommend Feedback Genius.  Another automation tool is Feedback Five.  Tools like these keep sales and reviews going over time.

Please understand that the review process takes time, but the reviews will be worth the time it takes.

I will be offering a one and one half hour Boot Camp that will tell you what the first stages are in starting an Amazon business.  Head over to Online Sellers Gone Wild to learn more about it.

What have you done that’s crazy that has propelled your business this week?  Let me know at marketingcrazy.com/crazy. Please check out my podcasts at marketingcrazy.com/podcast.

 

I’m on the road again!  Today’s episode is all about how to move along the process of sourcing your product and how not to get hung up on forks in the road.  Once you’ve done all the research and have a product you believe people will want, now it’s time to get it!  Woo Hoo!!

On today’s episode of the Online Sellers Gone Wild podcast, I’ll go through the steps of sourcing and the things that need to be done while you are engaged in the act of sourcing.

First stop is Alibaba.  Search your product out there and then contact 5 vendors that catch your eye as far as matching your request and your pricing.  This will be your starting point for negotiations.  And you’ll have to do a lot of negotiating.  Ultimately, you’ll want to work with 3 to 5 vendors who can produce your product and can continue negotiating.  Instead of doing this by email and waiting on responses, consider using Skype to speed up the process.  However you negotiate, keep good records of which vendor is sending what to you.

While you are doing that, also check Google for a supplier in the U.S.  It can be a good way to save time and shipping costs.  If you find a vendor in the U.S. call them and negotiate by phone.

While you are continuing the sourcing process, start to hammer out the details.  Here are some things you need to work on while the sourcing is ongoing:

* Use one of the freelance sites, like Elance, Fiverr Work, and Upwork to find somebody to design your logo, your boxes, your product inserts.

* Also set up your initial Amazon listing.

* You’ll need to get a UPC Code or a Bar Code.

* Do keyword research using a tool such as Keyword Inspector.

As for the forks in the road, those are the things that sidetrack you from getting your product in a box and listed.  Especially if this is your first product, stay away from the distractions.  The only exception to that would be any legal matters you need to get straight.

What have you done that’s crazy this week?  Let me know at www.marketingcrazy.com/crazy.  If you’re enjoying the show please leave us a review in iTunes.

This time I’m actually driving in my car while podcasting…Woo Hoo.  That’s crazy!  I’m inspired by John Lee Dumas and his daily podcast Entrepreneur on Fire. He inspires me to do more podcasting which in turn allows me to break down what I’m doing as I discuss it.

On today’s episode of the Online Sellers Gone Wild podcast, I talk about product selection as it applies to Amazon business.  When you are choosing a product there are two really important factors to consider:

* Choose a product based on your passion.

* Research it thoroughly to really be sure it’s a product buyers want.

My product selection method has changed dramatically.  I now go through a number of very important steps before settling on what I’m going to sell.  It’s all about research for me.

Some of the tools I use in research include:

* Amazon searches and that includes selling ranks, categories and all similar products.

* Jungle Scout, an Amazon product research tool.

* Camel Camel Camel, an Amazon price tracker which I use to see how a product performs over the long term.  

* MerchantWords, a tool to which shows what Amazon users are searching.

* Amz Shark and Amz Tracker  

Knowing the conversion rate of a product is essential and using tools like these will help you determine if your passion is going to translate into a business.

Here is the lineup I have planned for future episodes.  Leave a message with your vote for the topic of the upcoming shows.  I’ll discuss the results of the poll in upcoming shows:

* Review Mastery – How to Catapult your Review Getting Process. The before, and the after.

* Review Automation – How to Automate your Reviews

* Keyword Domination – Find All your Keywords, Rank them in Order, Spy on your Competition

* Product Listing Optimization – List your Products on Amazon Right, the First time.

* Sourcing Workshop – Step by Step Sourcing from China, with Examples

* (Secret Sauce) How to Make Your Box, and what to put IN IT, besides your Product

* Google Adwords and Other PPC Traffic – The Right Way, the Wrong Way, and the difference.

* Keep your Product Ranked, Selling and Dominating – on Autopilot

* The Top 3 BEST Places to Promote your Products, and How to Use them (versus the other way around)

* Your Business as a Business – Get Legal, Stay Legal, It’s easier than you thnk

* Cease and Desist – The Impenetrable Shield of Your Product Protection

* Work less, Make WAY More – The Top Tools for your Amazon Business

* Amazon Coupon Code Creation and Use Workshop – Top 3 Coupon Sites for Amazon

* Youtube Domination – Capturing the Right People for your Amazon Product (PPC)

* Youtube Video Creation Workshop – How To Create, And Advertise, your first video

* Autopilot Amazon – The Top 3 Things to do Every Day, and the Top 5 to Do Every Week

* Before and After : Interview with a new seller before and then after, they “made it”.

* Moving off of Amazon: Why, How, and When

* Shopify – Beyond Amazon FBA, The World Beyond Amazon

* Ecommerce – Data Feeds? Shopping Networks?

SGW 007: One Day on the Shopify Tour, 3 Mind Numbing Realities and how they relate to our Amazon Business, Private Label and FBA, and our Future

Woohoo, Episode #7! Something crazy every week. Yes, this episode came out of the blue, as many undoubtedly will, as I went to the shopify retail tour, and spent the day among experts, gurus, and aimless wanderers.  Lesson learned? Canadians Rock. No really.

I walked away with an even greater appreciation for what we do, and how we are positioned in the online selling space. I know we’re here to talk about Amazon (for now), but allow me to digress for one short episode.

This is something that has the potential to propel your business forward.

Join our Brand New Facebook Group here, www.MarketingCrazy.com/fb

We’d love to hear from you! Please, comment away, ask your questions, and of course, let us know what you’ve done crazy today at, www.MarketingCrazy.com/crazy/

Did you miss Episode #1? Or Episode #2? or Episode #3? And of course, Episode #4 and #5, – You might want to listen to those first, and #6, which isn’t hyperlinked yet.

TRANSCRIPT:

 

Speaker 1:     Test, test, test, test. All right. It looks like we’re doing good. Hello, everybody. Welcome to Online Sellers Gone Wild, episode number seven of our crazy, crazy podcast. This is an unscheduled episode because something cool happened to me today and I thought I’d share it with the crazy nation. What have you done crazy this week? We’d love to hear what have you done crazy in your business, www.marketingcrazy.com/crazy? Let us know what you’ve done that’s a little bit wild this week. We would love to know. All right, so I’m going to get right to Sellers Gone Wild episode number seven, One day on the Shopify tour. Three mind-numbing realities and how they relate to our Amazon businesses, private label, FBA and eventually, our future.

Heavy stuff, but it’s going to be a very short episode, very, very short indeed. This is just how I spent my day and then few big things kind of came up, then I decided I would share it with all of you. This is episode number seven and we’re talking Shopify. That’s right. We’re not going to talk necessarily directly about Amazon and that’s a little bit off because we just finished our kind of Amazon FBA overview, but today, just in my business, I was working on Ecommerce outside of Amazon on a shopping platform called Shopify. We use many different kind of tools to build our online stores that are off of Amazon and we also build stores in WordPress and things of that nature, but Shopify is actually a kind of online monthly fee where they make building a store extremely easy.

I’m new to Shopify, relatively new. They’ve been around for a few years and I to say that it was the easiest store I’ve ever built in my life. It was literally about an hour that it took me to build that stor...