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Podcast episode number 22 is now live on iTunes
In this podcast episode I fly solo while answering common questions about a business I�ve been building on the side selling private label physical products on Amazon.com (my own brand). I’ve been selling on Amazon.com for less than 3 months and I�m already on track for a six figure+ business. I hit the $10k in the last 30 days mark recently and that�s from only one product.
I still have 9 and a half months to scale sales to an even greater level before the one year anniversary of my first sale on Amazon.com. I started this business because I was inspired by Podcast 17 guest Brian Leyde who in less than one year built a much much larger Amazon business. I�m completely confident that this will be a solid six figure revenue business with the potential to go even beyond that.
[yellowbox]BONUS: Click here to access your free video training on how to create a 6 figure plus Amazon FBA business in your spare time.
This step by step guide is the exact formula I’ve used to create my Amazon business[/yellowbox]
Video Proof Of Selling On Amazon
Items Discussed In This Episode:
– 30 days of sales $10,248.79 (My listing went live less than 3 months ago)
– Roughly one hour per day on this business
– ChrisLoves.com/first30 (My first 30 days of sales blog post)
– ChrisLoves.com/first68 (My first 68 days of sales blog post)
– Why I got started selling on Amazon (Inspiration from Brian Leyde in Podcast 17)
– My three rules for businesses I start
1. Freedom to work wherever I want to
2. Freedom to work whenever I want to
3. Ability to scale
– Our Amazon sellers mastermind reopens for a second time on Oct 16th and closes Oct 24th (Info on joining here)
– What is a private label product
– Why I created my own brand instead of selling someone elses
– How much does it cost to get started
– What is the process to sell on Amazon FBA
– What are the fees for selling on Amazon FBA (Fullfillment fees which vary by weight and referral fees which vary by product category)
– How you actually get sales and why I chose to sell on Amazon.com first
– How do you get reviews
– How often do I reorder units
– TED talk by Derek Sivers on why you shouldn’t share your goals
– My secret monthly revenue target by July 28th 2015 (one year anniversary of first sale)
– How to join our private coaching mastermind for selling on Amazon (Information here)
– Why I chose to learn from Amazing Selling Machine
Links Mentioned
Private Amazon Coaching Mastermind Group join the waiting list
Amazing Selling Machine live event (The live event component from the course that Brian and I learned from)
Derek Sivers “Keep Your Goals To Yourself” TED talk
How To Get The Podcast:
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or via RSS to get future episodes automatically
Download the podcast MP3 here (Right Click + Save As)
[yellowbox]BONUS: Click here to access your free video training on how to create a 6 figure plus Amazon FBA business in your spare time.This step by step guide is the exact formula I’ve used to create my Amazon business[/yellowbox]
Great podcast! I can’t believe you are doing this well with just one product! Exact opposite approach than me! Nice work!
Thanks Will, yah the more I learn about selling on Amazon the more I discover there are so many different angles. This is the one I’ve chosen though because of low start up costs and ease of scale.
Yes, the typical and rather “old school” approach to selling on Amazon is with a bunch of products. Even Amazon promotes it that way. They will say that the best chance of success on their platform is with a wide variety of products. That is because the third party selling platform was originally intended for people selling other big name brands. Amazon did not originally intend for people to build their own brands. So, yes, if you are out there competing for buy boxes then you likely need a host of products. However, if you build a brand that sells a particular product, then your approach HAS to be different. You spend more time, money and energy on building a brand identity and marketing the features of your flagship product. In my opinion, these distinct differences are what allows for much greater success, quicker. You are able to focus more funds on marketing and you build a following. This is much more scalable than reselling other brands.
Hey Chris,
You are one of the very few “gurus” who offers genuine content value. Your material is packed with information from start to finish. I wish you continued success! And I thank you for all of this great material!
Nick. 🙂
Hey Nick, I’ll take that as a complement :D. I mean ultimately I want people to join our mastermind and help push people to the early success I’ve had (and beyond) and it will be for some people and not for others. Just trying to provide value to everyone.
Great podcast.
Loved the part about hiring a copywriter to write for Amazon products because I’ve been writing copy for Amazon products for about a year now.
And finally, after doing it for so long, I’m starting to import and sell my own stuff. I’m expecting my samples to arrive on my doorstep this week.
By the way …I also listened to that same TED talk several years ago. I think there’s truth to it, but everyone I mention the concept to doesn’t get it.
Hey Raymond,
That sounds great. Perhaps I’ll have to follow up with you RE: copy stuff
Chris
Chris,
You should definitely do a post on writing copy for Amazon listings. One of the biggest issues I see with new sellers is struggling to optimize and increase conversions. It really is an art, and it is simple, but not for the uninitiated. That would be of extreme value for your readers IMO.
Yah that’s a good post idea. Most of the time I outsource my copy for other projects so I’m probably not even that great of a copywriter hah.
Yeah, for sure. Just let me know if you want to talk about it. We can hop on Skype or something.
These past few months, I’ve been getting an increasing amount of copywriting requests from Amazon sellers wanting help with their product pages, autoresponders, websites, and so on. Almost all of them who contact me — who do $5-$125k a month — say they wished they started sooner.
I don’t think people realize the power of Amazon until they get started. It’s a strong platform that rewards the fast action takers.
Awesome yah sounds good – Chris
Awesome! Chris
Btw when u mention marketing u mean on ppc or similar website that match the product to put banner there ..?
Can you tell little bit. . If that’s ok with u
Thanks .. man
Which part did I mention that in? I do use Amazon PPC but my budget is less than $15 a day and I’ve never actually hit it before. It’s only about $5 per day (I probably should have talked about Amazon PPC but just forgot to heh)
This is really interesting information. We need to listen and learn how it can work. Thank Mr. Chris Guthrie
Thanks 🙂
Chris
Regarding your supplier, how many did you have to go through to find the one you are working with? Do you have a backup supplier in case things fall through? To me, it appears finding a supplier that can deliver quality would be a big challenge.
Hey Davidson,
I contacted like 4 or 5 before I found the one I went with? No I don’t have a backup supplier yet but I could likely easily get one. You’d be surprised how persistent suppliers are with wanting to work with you.
It’s really not too complex just a matter of trying something you’ve not done before and taking steps and action.
Chris
Hey Chris – I’m relatively new to internet marketing and only recently came across your name in some of my research. It sounds like, based on what I’ve read, that if someone is starting from scratch and doesn’t already have a developed business, the FBA program offers one of the best options in terms of scale and revenue as opposed to some of the other internet mkt options out there. Is that a fair statement?
Also, I’ve signed up for the sellers mastermind that you and Brian are hosting. In the podcast with Brian, he mentions a class or webinar where he first learned about FBA, but I don’t recall seeing any specifics on it. Can you share what that was and whether your sellers mastermind will cover the same topics in as much detail? Thanks for all of your help.
Hey Greg,
Yes that assumption is correct. Had you asked me 6 months ago I wouldn’t have been certain, but I’ve been making money online from various activities for over 8 years (and full time for 5 years). I’m a pretty no hype kind of guy (feel free to browse the rest of my blog), but this is by far the fastest thing I’ve ever started – and seen others in our mastermind start – and get results with quickly.
It makes sense too. There are millions upon millions of people with credit cards on file with Amazon and where they do all of their shopping. Why not go to where the shoppers are right?
The only thing I’ve made faster money with is software and that’s only because I was able to leverage my existing platform of tens of thousands of people on my email list to promote. With this business I intentionally moved into something I had no semblance of an advantage (no list, website etc to help launch my product).
The class that Brian learned from and was referring to is called Amazing Selling Machine and it’s exactly what I learned from as well. On the webinar we’ll be opening up our mastermind for folks that want to join the Amazing Selling Machine (our mastermind is something we stack on top of Amazing Selling Machine along with all of the other bonuses we’re offering). Since this is the second time we’re doing this the people that join on Oct 16th through the 24th will have an even better edge because we know how to better run our group having done it before.
Feel free to email me if you have any other questions or ask them on the webinar.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the info in this podcast. I listened to the one with Brian a few weeks ago and I thought it was one of the more interesting podcasts I’ve listened to. Glad to hear that you are already having a lot of success.
Hey Marc,
Thanks yah this has been a fun business model to play with for sure :D. Looking forward to 9 months from now when I hit the 1 year anniversary of my first sale.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I just came across your older posts on Amazon Affiliate sales/tips – which are more than 3 years old. Would you say those strategies you discussed are still valid today, or has Amazon changed/evolved significantly? Also, what about your Niche Profit course? Does that still work?
Thanks.
Hey Neil,
The strategies are still valid (with the exception of link building stuff – because that is constantly changing). I’ve shifted my attention entirely over to selling on Amazon though and not on the affiliate side.
So much more money to be made selling than as an affiliate. Yet again another “if I only knew” moment. Ah well there will be plenty more in my lifetime. Time to make up for it now.
Chris
Chris,
I recently placed my 1st international order with a supplier on Alibaba. The product itself will be selling at a $30-$35 price point. The product I source costs $4.37, but the shipping is almost $11.91 for 5-7 day shipping. I have called a couple freight forward but they only work with customers who ship in pallets and containers. Do you get your products by air or sea? I know you do not want to give out any details but could you point me in the right direction please?
Thank you
Hey Walsh,
You need to slap your supplier. They should be able to pack your items how you want them to in order to suit your needs not their needs. Tell them you need them in containers and on pallets. Simple as that.
I do air right now but for my 5,000 unit order I may try sea… probably not. But maybe.
This is why you need to be in a mastermind group like ours though so you can ask other experienced sellers these questions (and all the countless other ones that will likely come up as you continue onward) and so that you can help avoid costly mistakes.
I’m 100% positive that the people that join our group will get far more in value than the initial cost. If I weren’t confident of that I wouldn’t be so heavily pushing sellers towards it.
Chris
Chris,
Would it be possible to join your mastermind without purchasing
Amazon Selling Machine?
Thanks
Hey Tony,
No. The only way in is if you purchase Amazing Selling Machine. We use that course for the base knowledge and huge community of helpful sellers. Then we stack everything we do on top of it to provide a lot more value.
If you had previously purchased Amazing Selling Machine we have options for them but joining without getting ASM via our link as well you wouldn’t know what to do.
Going through the course has certainly been worth it for me and I’m looking forward to scaling up even more and I owe it to the course and Brian for letting me know I should try this out.
Chris
Hi Chris, I lived in China 4 years and still have a trading company there with one girl working with me since 8 years. Now I am in Thailand but regularly visit back to China. I have imported lots of stuff to my country so I have all the knowledge about sourcing, quality checking, etc. Before I was an importer and I know very well the pain when you received ballet shoes instead of bowling shoes you ordered.
Anyway I just think maybe we can work something out for arranging stuff for your customers……
Hey Gabor will follow up with you if I think we can make something work thanks for the comment 😀
Chris,
With selling physical products do you have any concern about liability? Do you have /need insurance for that?
Hey Marc,
I don’t really concern myself over liability insurance for my product – but only because my exposure is really low – if you’re selling a consumable or something obviously you have greater risk (but I’m not). If I do get this added it’s something I’ll discuss in future blog posts. Trying to decide if I should do monthly income reports perhaps.
Chris
Only recently found your Site and listened to 2 of your Podcasts (including the Amazon one). Top quality info. Very much appreciated
Hey Martin,
Thanks glad you listened and I appreciate it 😀
Chris
Thanks for the info, Chris. This sounds like an exciting way to make some money, but how are you protecting yourself? If you’re the “manufacturer” it seems like you should at least have some general and product liability insurance. Do you run this through a corporation of some sort and carry liability insurance in case of a lawsuit?
Hey Neal, the product I’m selling has such low exposure I’m not even really concerned about it. But I’ll add it to my list to get a quote and will report back in a future update.
But yah this is a separate LLC.
Chris
Hi Chris! Fantastic podcast, thanks for all the great info.
One question – you mentioned you spent about $10 for UPC codes. Did you pay a $250 setup fee as well? That’s what I’m seeing on GS1, but not sure if I’m missing a different service somewhere?
Thanks again!
Hey Susan,
No way! $250 set up fee where did you find that at? I could be confusing my Susan Osborne’s as another Susan was emailing me and wanted to join our group. Email me though.
Chris
Hi Chris! It was on GS1. Glad to hear there are other options :). Just emailed you as well. Thanks for all the great tips on this!
Thanks Susan, was happy to answer your email earlier and wish you the best.
I would love to hear you answer on the UPC codes, thats my roadblock now too. I am seeing the same $250 setup fee with GS1. How are you getting around that? Thanks!
Can you elaborate on GS1? I’ve not paid anything like that.
Hi Chris! How many students do you roughly think we’ll be joining in your second mastermind group ? Because I’m seriously thinking of joining, after listening to the podcast, and reading a bunch of reviews about the system 🙂
Have a nice day.
Hey Adrian,
I’m posting my review on Monday. I wanted to wait enough time to really share an exhaustive review of it but – spoiler alert – it will be positive.
I think we’ll end up with 100. Maybe 150 if it goes crazy. This time around we have the social proof of myself selling, the social proof of our first batch of mastermind members selling and we’re doing stuff for our bonuses that none of the other affiliates are doing.
Hit me up via my blog contact form or just email chris at (my blog’s URL) and I can answer any questions you have.
Chris
Hey Chris,
Do you use a the same seller name for each product that you sell on Amazon, or do you have a different seller name for each product?
Thanks.
Davin
I only have one seller name but I only sell one product. I will likely use the same name unless of course the product was in a different niche.
Quick question, if you pay the full price up front, can you get access to the entire course right away, or do you have to wait out the 2 or 3 months or whatever for the content to fully drip? tks
No the content is only offered via the way it is (dripped out etc). This is ultimately to your benefit. When things start ramping up you need to be taking action on the information you’re learning.
You need to be contacting suppliers, setting up your Amazon account, testing samples etc. Even if I were in charge I’d do it the same way. When I went through the course I didn’t go onto the next modules until I was done with what was told in the first ones.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for all your advice 🙂 One quick question – when choosing a product, you mention choosing one with low to medium competition. What do you define this as? Many thanks 🙂
500 – 2000 BSR (which is why we built a tool to find products outside the top 100 easily)
Hi Chris,
Thank for releasing this podcast.
I enjoyed listening to it.
Take care and have a nice day ahead.
Hi Chris,
I’ve just finished listing to your awesome interview with Spencer Haws of Niche Pursuits. Thanks for sharing all that valuable information.
Just a quick question I have about product bar codes. What type(s) of bar code(s) do you need on to ensure your private label product has (not the Amazon labels) before shipping to Amazon.
Thanks again,
Daniel
Hey Daniel,
You can use a regular bar code or an FNSKU bar code. You’ll know if you’re being charged a labeling fee by checking your reports.
Chris
Thanks for the great info Chris… This may be a silly question – but as an Australian, can I simply place items on Amazon (in the US) to sell via this means? Or are there requirements re residency, business registration and the like? Can i just sell something in the US and get paid without the need to transfer funds etc? If so, are the extra costs to consider for this? Any pointers appreciated.
Hey Carl, I can only comment on what I personally know. The course that I learned from covers how to sell internationally and we have members in our mastermind that are from Australia, Belgium, UK etc but it doesn’t open until April 2015.
So I don’t really know the answer other than to say it’s possible.
Chris
Chris
In this podcast you mentioned following up with customers who purchased products via a three contact system so as to hopefully secure some positive reviews.
But, in an earlier podcast I thought I heard you or a guest state that Amazon protects this information.
Does Amazon provide you with the email contacts for those who purchase your products? If not, can you please clarify my confusion as to who/how you are contacting these customers. Thanks!
Amazon does give you their email addresses via a uniquely created @amazon.com email address but they track what is said in those so you need to stick to their guidelines.
Hi Chris:
This is great info. Thanks for sharing. But I am skeptical that anybody can compete with small volumes, even with their own brand. Every product on Amazon seems to be available in many different brands. Each brand shaving margin in pennies in order to get a best price and get on top of the other brands. I am looking here at Minecraft Baby Mooshroom doll, about 64 different brand /price offerings (its #1,050 best seller so fits within your range). Based on Alibaba cost of this product at small unit count, how could the average small-fry compete?
Hey Peter,
You’re looking at this wrong. The example you gave is precisely what I tell people not to do (selling other brand products). You’d create a brand of something else based on what you see selling well. A Minecraft doll is a bad example though because you can’t sell another doll and expect to get those sales (unless there is a no name doll getting sales out there) because people are buying because of the Minecraft name.
There are thousands of products where this isn’t the case though.
Chris
Is the Oct 16th webinar recorded and available online anywhere?
Thanks,
Dan
No, but we’ll be doing a new webinar with new content etc when we open our group up in April. We only keep it live for a limited period of time and then we take it down when our group is closed.
Hi Chris,
Can you share with us what is really covered in the ASM program? For the ASM program, you must go to Vegas?
Thanks-
It’s an 8 week step by step course and massive community and then anything you aren’t certain on you can just ask in our Facebook group. No you don’t need to go to the live event (about half of the people that join our group the last two times end up coming to the live event).
Still on target to open up the group in April again?
Dan
Yes – I believe the price of the course is going up but they’re adding considerable more to it and revamping a ton of stuff. We’ll of course be adding even more value with new bonuses we do etc.
More to come soon.
Hi there,
Can you explain about finding a good product to sell as it Vs seing a product which sells and having a supplier to customize it a bit different ..maybe improve it. and when Customize, how can you communicate what you want to the supplier..the needs and make sure he got it right before he starts producing it..?
Thanks,
Anwar