Opening the Gates of Opportunity - Michelle Ross - Amazon Legends - Episode #128

06/09/22 • 50 min

Launching a new product on Amazon is a big, complicated process, but you don’t have to go in blind! Michelle Ross, a former teacher turned an entrepreneur, is the Co-Founder & COO of Cosmo Technologies. Michelle shares her experience of successfully launching a brand on Amazon and overcoming the challenges that new sellers face. You’ll hear about understanding what your customer really wants, how most effectively use your listing’s content, and what goes into thoughtfully forecasting demand.

Takeaways:

When selling products meant for children, you need to attract and sell to their parents. What parents are looking for in a product is much different than what a child is looking for. You really need to understand what the decision-maker is looking for.
Even if your listing is facing resellers, you can outperform them by better understanding what perceived attributes your customers are looking for beyond just a spec sheet, such as brand reputation, security, and privacy.
Amazon is a great place to find new customers. 50% of parents shop for their children on Amazon. Amazon can act as the lead gen source, but you also need the other aspects that are expected of a brand.
You need to be intentional about the content that goes into your listings, this includes everything from written content to video content. Your listing has the opportunity to educate your customers about the product and the brand if done correctly.
The graphic and video content in your listings should give customers a visual understanding of the product they are purchasing, how to use it, and what to expect from it. This helps take the place of the experience of physically interacting with the product.
You need a strategy for launching your product on Amazon. Before your listing goes live, you need to have the necessary fulfillment team in place and a strong understanding of the platform and its analytics.
If you get a product complaint, you need to answer it and address it as soon as possible! If this lingers unanswered, Amazon may take your listing down, especially with new products.

Quote of the Show:

“It does take a team and it also takes a good sense of adventure and humor to be an Amazon seller ” - Michelle Ross

Links:

Ways to Tune In:

Takeaways:

When selling products meant for children, you need to attract and sell to their parents. What parents are looking for in a product is much different than what a child is looking for. You really need to understand what the decision-maker is looking for.
Even if your listing is facing resellers, you can outperform them by better understanding what perceived attributes your customers are looking for beyond just a spec sheet, such as brand reputation, security, and privacy.
Amazon is a great place to find new customers. 50% of parents shop for their children on Amazon. Amazon can act as the lead gen source, but you also need the other aspects that are expected of a brand.
You need to be intentional about the content that goes into your listings, this includes everything from written content to video content. Your listing has the opportunity to educate your customers about the product and the brand if done correctly.
The graphic and video content in your listings should give customers a visual understanding of the product they are purchasing, how to use it, and what to expect from it. This helps take the place of the experience of physically interacting with the product.
You need a strategy for launching your product on Amazon. Before your listing goes live, you need to have the necessary fulfillment team in place and a strong understanding of the platform and its analytics.
If you get a product complaint, you need to answer it and address it as soon as possible! If this lingers unanswered, Amazon may take your listing down, especially with new products.

Quote of the Show:

“It does take a team and it also takes a good sense of adventure and humor to be an Amazon seller ” - Michelle Ross

Links:

Ways to Tune In:

Previous Episode

Creating Millionaires - Greg Elfrink - Amazon Legends - Episode # 127

You’re probably great at selling your products, but you’re probably not so good at selling your business. That’s where Greg Elfrink, the Director of Marketing at Empire Flippers, comes in to share his expertise from his experience as a broker working to help sellers get the most from selling their business. Take a peek behind the curtain into the tricks buyers try to use to fool sellers, how to properly evaluate your business, and what you can realistically expect to earn from selling your Amazon company.

Takeaways:

When entrepreneurs go to sell their business, 60% to 80% of their net worth may be tied up in their business which can make the process very emotional for them. Sellers need to disabuse themselves of emotional equity to avoid overvaluing their businesses.
Buyers are counting on sellers not to understand the process of selling their business and to act irrationally based on their emotions towards their business.
Brokers help protect sellers from themselves by removing the emotional component from the deal. Because brokers are specialized in these deals, they provide the expertise in the handling of the deal, its terms, and the valuation of the company.
The types of deals you will get depend on the size of your company. For good companies worth 7-8 figures, they should typically be looking for 80-85% upfront from the buyer. The remainder can be paid as a stabilization payment or an earnout.
A stabilization payment is, in essence, seller financing. At a base level, it means that payments will be made to the seller, provided that the business stays roughly stable while the buyer becomes integrated.
Brokers have the fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interest of their clients. They will actually get paid as their clients get paid, even in cases of earnouts, stabilization payments, etc. They will also manage those deal structures for the client.
Two ways to increase your company’s valuation are to lower your risk by diversifying your products along with your marketing channels and by building out an email list of clients, although the latter can be harder to accomplish through Amazon.

Quote of the Show:

“Most entrepreneurs want to sell, but most entrepreneurs don't often sell businesses” - Greg Elfrink

Links:

Shout Outs:

On Writing by Stephen King

Ways to Tune In:

Next Episode

Starting My Amazon Store with 20 cents of Red Neoprene - Sean Halpin - Amazon Legends - Episode # 129

Creating a new product to sell on Amazon can be as simple as solving a solution to a problem that you have that doesn’t already have a solution. Sean Halpin, the founder of Halpin Solutions, has created many products such as PowerSk8r, DiscTreever, and Putt Anywhere, which have found success on Amazon. Sean discusses his process for creating new products, what you need to know to get on the first page of Amazon, and how best to advertise your products.

Takeaways:

When promoting your product and brand using ads on sites like Facebook and Google, you should link those ads to your Amazon listing instead of your website. This will lead to better sales and Amazon’s algorithm prefers products that bring in traffic to Amazon.
Don’t be afraid of experimenting with different advertising channels. If your targeting and messaging are specific enough, even print media like magazines can be highly effective.
If you are dealing with a problem and there are no solutions available when you search on Google, Bing, etc. you have the opportunity to create a product to solve that problem that other people are likely also facing.
When naming a product, you need to be careful with the words that you use, as some may be trademarked and the trademark holder may threaten legal action.
If you are considering manufacturing your products in China, you need to work with someone there who can actually walk through the factories and ensure the quality of your products.
If your product is very heavy, it may make sense to fulfill the orders yourself, instead of using FBA. However, there are other risks you run by not using Amazon’s fulfillment that you have to weigh against the potential cost savings of FBM.
Before you can ever even dream that your product could make it to the first page of results on Amazon, you need to have lots of reviews of your products.

Quote of the Show: