Busted! 8 Amazon myths (Jason Fladlien)
By Jordan Malik
Ed note: You've asked me for help with sourcing profitable, replenishable products for your Amazon business. ('Private label' means sourcing mass produced goods and labeling them with your own 'brand'.) I'm bringing it to you with my post below and this conference call replay with Jason Fladlien (above) of Operation Physical Products (OPP).
The replay will be removed on 11/12/16
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I’ve met a lot of successful Amazon sellers over the years. I’ve also met a lot of people who can teach their approach to other people.
Jason Fladlien is one of the top Amazon selling experts (with proof in smarts AND his own performance launching more 7+ figure eCommerce businesses.) His success stories are mired in truth and legitimacy, and his reputation is bulletproof.
Why?
Because Jason understands our (us sellers') psychology. Specifically: how that psychology determines whether you and I are successful on Amazon…or if we fail.
How many times have you asked yourself "Can selling my own private label product on Amazon really work? If it does work, will it last?"
There are myths we believe that can paralyze us. They did for me. Those myths allow fears to rush in and overcome the truth. They tell you and I we cannot do it when we truly CAN.
Jason joined me in last week's conference call (the replay is here). Not only did he give away gobs of private label success tips and ideas, he busted several Amazon myths. (The very same myths that hold us back from pursuing or succeeding in private label.)
Here they are:
MYTH #1 - You need user reviews for Amazon to put you in the top search results.
Not true. Other sellers - your competition - who don't deserve to be on page 1, are there anyway. Although getting honest, multiple positive reviews should be your goal, MANY winning Amazon private label products - that are poorly listed and poorly optimized and with little to NO customer reviews - appear at the top of popular search phrase results in Amazon. And they're generating hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. What if you 'did better' in selling an identical product (labeled your own) that was listed and optimized properly - which is VERY easy to do.
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MYTH #2: Amazon's search engine is finely-tuned and perfect, and it automatically surpresses new sellers' listings.
Not true. Amazon technology is VERY imperfect in displaying who they display for first-page results (for virtually any product search). And it's easy for you to capitalize on those imperfections.
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MYTH #3: Amazon is over-saturated with sellers and/or products.
Not true. Amazon's growth far outpaces the amount of 'stuff' available, and there are plenty of products that customers ask for which aren't even available on Amazon yet. (Translation: the 'golden days' of selling on Amazon are not over.)
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MYTH #4: It takes a lot of money to get started with Private Label.
Not true. For 2 reasons: the providers you need (everything from manufacturers to Amazon software tools) have adapted to the 'little' guy starting out.
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MYTH #5: You have to buy 10,000 or more units in a first order
Not true. Actually doing that is a surefire kiss of death. Instead, the (far cheaper) method of buying 200-500 units is the saner, more proven approach to growing your business. Running out of product is a good problem to have because it simply justifies your research. To replenish, you can always re-order or 'get more' another way. (Versus housing 10,000 units of unsellable product and having to start all over again.)
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MYTH #6: U.S. Private label manufacturers are faster than China Manufacturers.
Not true. In many cases, sourcing from China tends to be faster. Because of their manufacturing's sheer manpower, technology, and the ease/fluidity of air shipping products to the U.S.
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MYTH #7: At some point I have to fly to China to meet my suppliers. "In person relationships are EVERYTHING".
Not true. Travel is NOT required to be a successful seller importing private label products from China. There are plenty of successful Amazon sellers, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars, who have never stepped foot off the U.S. mainland for dealmaking. (Knowing a reliable China-based broker helps tremendously).
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MYTH #8: My product's images, packaging, and presentation on Amazon are hardly important. I just need reviews and a cheap price.
Not true. Many ship-shod sellers are using 1 crappy, blurry image with the wrong background (yet some of them are still making bank on Amazon). Submitting images that comply with Amazon's rules help with your initial sales and customer experience, and can even mean the difference of your customer bypassing better-ranked products and selecting yours instead.
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Two final notes:
1.) At the end of the replay is an offer for Jason Fladlien's (excellent) Operation Physical Products (OPP). I received a couple emails from folks that are trying to 'call me out on a contradiction.' Specifically, why I have endorsed OPP today when (over a year ago) I had critiqued a now-defunct, similarly-priced Amazon private label system. (I can't mention the name of the program, but it rhymes "A Hazing Selling Obscene.")
So if you're wondering why I'm not 'doing the same' to Jason's OPP, here's why:
- The other system was not run by folks with Jason's multifaceted experience launching multi-million Amazon sellers, nor did that system offer anything exceptional that you couldn't find in a far lesser-priced program.
- Jason's Operation Physical Products offers FAR more superior content, more (quantity) content, better support, more helpful software (versus useless 'filler' software), and proprietary, legitimate techniques and software that the 'other' program didn't provide.
- The success stories that OPP is generating is of Amazon sellers who are not just 'copy-cat' sellers of existing private label products. What OPP's clients learn to do successfully is: source and offer, on Amazon, superior products and/or uniquely different products and/or products that don't even exist (previously) in the Amazon marketplace, and/or better-marketed products. By the last one, I mean private label products that are nearly identical to existing products on Amazon, but are presented/marketed/communicated to the prospective buyer in a far superior way vs. the competition.
2.) If you decide to buy Operation Physical Products (I give it my full endorsement, and yes I'm an affiliate), please keep this top of mind: Follow the process and do the work. Stick to the process OPP lays out for you, step by step (don't skip anything or jump around). And stay committed. Doing so is the difference between success and failure. I see so many sellers invest money in a system/process/course (at any price) and they don't do anything with it, or they skip around and then wonder why they fail. Sometimes they get angry at the course publisher (or me), yet their only mistake was not following through. Success (in doing anything) doesn't work that way. You have to be diligent, exercise some patience, and have a lot of faith in this proven process, and faith in yourself.
- Jordan
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