A big part of launching any business is the fear you have to conquer because of the risk that’s inherent in starting a business. While the fear may be an obstacle, it doesn’t have to be such a big one. You can reduce the chances of failure (what you’re really afraid of) by checking out what’s already working in your product niche and duplicating those things for your product. On this episode Scott goes way outside his normal topics to show you how he looks at products and marketing approaches so that you can learn how to use other people’s hard work to make your own business less risky and more profitable.

How to use Amazon and eBay as incredible marketing research tools.

Most of the time Scott is talking about Amazon as a sales platform - and that it is. But you may not have considered that Amazon’s setup is also designed in a way that you can use it to research product ideas and market trends. On this episode Scott talks about how you can use reviews, data, and the “also bought” section of Amazon, eBay, and other platforms to make smarter decisions about your products and business.

Pay attention to the customer experience you have relating to products you buy.

When you buy any product - from Amazon or even your local Walmart - you should pay attention to the way the company has positioned your buying and follow up experience. Is the packaging appealing and cool? Does the verbiage on the package give you clear instructions? Does it encourage you to submit contact information so you can receive more from them? Does it offer you other ways you can benefit from your product or receive more information? Scott has begun observing these kinds of things and it’s given him all kinds of ideas for his own business and products. What about you? Learn more on this episode.

Why you should intentionally buy your competition’s product.

One of the best things you can do for your business is to know your competition. Not just who they are or what they sell, but also HOW they sell it and WHAT they do to follow up with their customers. The best way to do that is to become a customer. When you purchase one of your competitor’s products you’ll get to see exactly what they do to connect with their customers, follow up with them, offer them related products, and more. Then you can reverse engineer it to include those things in your process OR you can improve on it and blow your competitors out of the water. Find out more about tweaking your competition on this episode.

Don’t forget about print magazines and TV. They are great at marketing.

While you may never consider advertising your Amazon private label products on TV or in a magazine you would do well to pay attention to what advertisers on TV and in magazines are doing to sell their products. Advertisers have been using print and video for years and they really know what works. You can borrow their ideas and apply them to your promotions and advertisements to up your game. Scott goes through a ton of ideas for promoting and presenting your products better, on this episode.

OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE AMAZING SELLER

[0:03] Scott’s introduction to the podcast!

[2:07] This episode was sparked by questions from listeners.

[5:36] The importance of using Amazon.com and eBaby.com for data and insight.

[9:21] Using product reviews to refine products and build new ones.

[11:00] Buy a similar product and go through their customer experience.

[12:33] Search Google to find a product similar to yours and buy it through their website.

[15:32] Click a Facebook Ad for a similar product to yours and go through the process.

[24:16] Why you should pay attention to magazine advertisements.

[28:16] Opt in to somebody’s email list and observe their follow up process.

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