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is the president of PROSPER Show, an educational organization focused on developing training and best-practice materials for early-stage online sellers. He is also an advisory member of Buy Box Experts.
James Thomson is the former business head of Amazonservices.com, Amazon.com’s portal for recruiting new third-party sellers. He developed the original FBA opportunity nudge program, and served as the Category Manager of Amazon’s Sports third-party business.
He has ten years’ experience as a management consultant, advising Fortune 200 and mid-cap companies on how to grow their businesses profitably through comprehensive strategies and on-the-ground tactical implementation.
He earned a Ph.D. in Marketing Strategy from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University, and an MBA in Marketing and Operations from Vanderbilt University. He has guest lectured at more than a dozen top business schools around the world, and been quoted in Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Huffington Post, CBC, Globe and Mail, CNBC, Bloomberg and many more.
What I’ve done in the past:
– “Think Big” puzzle solver, driven by data analytics & scrappiness to execute plans and drive operations
– Strong bias for action and ownership, driving responsible growth through highly scalable initiatives
– Analytically trained, building and leading teams to develop data-driven corporate strategy initiatives
– 15+ years’ experience developing and implementing strategy for clients in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia
– 8+ years’ experience managing and growing $500MM – $45B e-commerce portfolios
– Certified in Six Sigma Greenbelt, Operational Excellence
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 2:57 Introduction of the guest James Thompson.
• 4:52 James talks about how he started his career.
• 8:15 What are the best practices thriving brands can do to be succesful?
• 11:19 How does an Amazon Seller stay relevant?
• 14:48 How do companies manage prices and profitability?
• 19:35 What Amazon Sellers do that stop them from growing?
• 25:47 James discusses Outsourcing.
• 30:09 Where is the best place to look for human capital?
• 34:31 What not to do when Outsourcing
• 39:28 What does a successful Amazon Business look like?
Notable Quote:
“Focus on the products that are going to make money. It’s sound so simplistic to say and yet most of us don’t do it very well.”
Resources:
• Prosper Show | Internet retailer trade show, workshops for Amazon seller.
• Box Experts | Marketing agency for medium to large online sellers.
• | LinkedIn
• | Twitter
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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is an Inc. Columnist and the co-host of three top-ranked podcasts: Feed Your Brand – just listed as one of CIO’s Top 26 Entrepreneur Podcasts to listen to in 2018; the newly launched members-only Product Launch Hazzards; and WTFFF?! – the 3D Print innovation start point featured as one of the exclusive live podcasts at SXSW 2018. With a constant stream of content and products from her authority platform, reaching over 100,000 listeners and viewers each month, Tracy influences and casts branded content and $2 Billion worth of consumer products and innovation around the world.
Hazz Design leads the conversation about strategic & tactical launch planning as the Mass Market and Amazon Product Launch Expert, advising on product design & development, brand & business growth, and services or resources that actually work. From 25 years of experience as a Retail Product Strategist and from the last decade as an Amazon Product Launch Expert, I regularly advise corporate executives, start-up incubators, marketing, and sales teams to rethink their product launch strategy to create success by design, remove launch land mines and build impact so they can turnaround their product mix to deliver brand promise.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 00:30 Introduction
• 1:38 Introduction of guest Tracy Hazzard
• 2:46 Tracy talks about what she and her husband does in the last 25 years
• 4:08 How did Tracy and her husband Tom started consulting with independent Amazon Sellers? How do they help them?
• 6:33 Isn’t it easier and cheaper to just order the products in Alibaba or other sourcing company?
• 9:41 What if you have one successful product, what’s next?
• 15:29 Tracy and Tom don’t like to ignore or leave people behind who needs their help
• 24:04 What does a 9 figures acquisition look like?
• 29:45 “The big brands are pretty isolated and egotistical, there’s no question about it right?” – Tracy
• 33:00 How do we get started if we want to create our own new product?
• 37:58 What are the elements of a likable brand?
Notable Quote:
“If your goal is to build a bigger brand, if your goal is to get acquired you got to give them a reason to acquire you. You got to give them a reason to come to you and not one of your other competitors.”
Resources:
• Product Launch Hazzards | The Right Things in the Right Order with the Right Resources for Your Product Launch Success
• Feed Your Brand Podcast with Tracy & Tom Hazzard
• WTFFF?! | Your 3D Printing Launch Pad
• Get a discount of $100/month of the regular monthly membership fee for the next year by using the coupon code – FBAM18 at checkout.
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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About 3 years ago Vladi Gordon started to write a software himself because in his opinion there was little or no software that made a sensible profitability analysis.
With AmzControl he has created a product that shows the profitability in real time. Analyze your key metrics: sales, profits, detailed information on Amazon fees (eg FBA, sales charge), PPC expenses, reimbursement and return costs, expenses for promotional campaigns, fixed costs (eg VA, Prep Center, tax consultants, photos, Amalyze ) by period (eg today, yesterday, this month) and by product or marketplace.
Amzcontrol automatically collects all Amazon fees and expenses. Moreover, it is possible to insert / enter fixed costs and other expenses manually, e.g. Warehouse (Prep Center), Accountants, Virtual Assistant, sample order costs, software tools, etc. Monthly expenses are automatically updated. Issues may be general or product specific (e.g., photo shoot or packaging design). Product-related expenses are taken into account in the profitability calculation of the product.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 0:38 Introduction
• 2:42 Will talks about how he and Vladi Gordon met.
• 4:13 How did Vladi started selling on Amazon?
• 9:14 Vladi shared how Amazon changed his life.
• 11:15 Is this a good time for other Amazon business owners to grow their business in Europe?
• 13:05 “I think the biggest problem (in Europe) is really bureaucracy” – Vladi
• 21:48 What are the advantages in starting an Amazon business in Europe?
• 24:27 Vladi discuss about the products/niches that works well in the Europe.
• 26:16 What’s the difference between orders and transactions?
• 28:36 How to calculate refunds and returns? How about hidden fees?
• 29:09 Vladi talks about his company Amzcontrol.com.
• 33:23 Vladi’s SPECIAL OFFER for FBA Millionaires listeners!
Notable Quote:
“When you’re sitting in the office the whole day and basically just checking what the status of Seller Central is and how many have you sold and then you noticed you just made money without actually working on it. It’s pretty amazing! I guess it’s make you want to do it again.”
Resources:
• Amzcontrol | Profitability Dashboard for Amazon Sellers
• | Facebook Page
• | Twitter
•
• SPECIAL OFFER for FBA Millionaires listeners!
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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Larry Lubarsky is from Brooklyn, New York. He is an Amazon seller. He started his business back in 2014 utilizing Amazon FBA, a wholesale business model, and a lot of hard work. Over the last 3 and a half years he scaled his business from an initial $50,000 investment, into over $10,000,000 in sales. Annually.
In January of 2017 while watching a Gary Vee video, he was inspired to start documenting his journey on Instagram. The purpose was to inspire, help people, and just give them a behind the scenes look at a real 8-figure Amazon business. Now Larry is super excited for this next chapter, starting a Amazon wholesale based YouTube channel.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 0:53 Introduction
• 1:56 Will’s introduction of Larry LAST NAME?
• 3:44 Larry talks about his background
• 6:04 Will asked how much sales Larry had last year
• 6:52 Larry discuss the Wholesale Business Model in Amazon
• 9:07 Is Wholesaling dead?
• 11:35 How do you pick the right Wholesale Product?
• 14:12 How to start/establish a relationship with a Wholesaler?
• 24:46 When you get the product how long does it take to liquidate?
• 31:04 Larry believes that you should avoid selling against Amazon
• 32:44 How do you manage the calculations of profit margins if you have a lot of products?
• 40:48 Is there any software that helped Larry when he was still starting?
• 43:55 Which market is the best for Wholesale?
Notable Quote:
“The main thing when working with the brand or with the distributor is not even so much who the actual distributor is. It’s having the ability to negotiate discounts because without discounts you are going to find it extremely tough to find a good selection of profitable products that you want to carry.”
Resources:
• | Instagram
• | YouTube Channel
• | Twitter
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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is the CEO of Product Labs, one of the top Amazon Management Consulting companies in the world. His business experience has won him 3 entrepreneurship awards, including #1 Global Graduate Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 and 1st place in Utah’s Student 25 in 2012. He spent over 2 years at Amazon as a Business Leader, managing the 3rd Party Seller Platform, which is used in 10 countries by over 2M merchants to serve more than 200M customers purchasing more than $60B (at the time of management). During his time at Amazon he also created the “Amazon Seller” Mobile App for 3rd Party Sellers, which went on to do BIG business for Amazon. Brad has his MBA from Brigham Young University.
Brad an MBA, won multiple National HBO Film Awards, and also speak Hungarian. He believe if it isn’t big, it isn’t worth doing. Favorite quote: “Learn something about everything, and everything about something.” – Thomas Huxley
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 2:07 Will’s introduction of Brad Moss.
• 2:52 Brad talks about his background, how he started with Amazon and developing the Amazon Seller Mobile App.
• 7:09 Brad had struggled with how to organize the app for a better user experience.
• 9:20 What are the things Amazon Sellers can do to increase their rank?
• 14:21 What would Brad recommend to Amazon Sellers to rank in a profitable way?
• 21:51 Brad discuss about the importance of Branding and Costumer Relationship.
• 25:32 With the craze of Private Label in Amazon today, what is the best business model?
• 33:25 Is Private Label the best way to make the most profit?
• 42:55 Brad’s advice for Amazon Sellers who are discouraged and quite unsuccessful.
• 46:58 Brad talks about his company Products Labs.
Notable Quote:
“One of the most healthy things you can do as any Business or Entrepreneur is to take an honest look at your strengths that you have as an individual, your performance strength as well as what you developed out there”
Resources:
• Best way to sell on | Amazon Product Labs
• Metrics behind building a Million Dollar Amazon Business | Prosper Show
• Product Labs Services
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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Bryan Bowman is a private label seller with more than 10 years of entrepreneurship and eCommerce experience. He is a full-time traffic and conversion consultant for companies listing their products on Amazon and is passionate about helping sellers develop a successful online marketing strategy to take their businesses to the next level. He hosts a weekly podcast, eCom Underground, that is dedicated to helping Amazon sellers increase their traffic, conversions and the profitability of their business. His background is in Math, Statistics and Financial Risk Management Consulting. He’s passionate about teaching people how to use data and trend analysis to take their businesses to the next level.
When he’s not working you’ll usually find him on the mats training for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 2:06 Introduction of Bryan Bowman.
• 3:35 Bryan helps Amazon Sellers increase their traffic, conversions and the profitability of their business.
• 4:20 “I think it’s important to take a step back, and this applies to not only what you do on Amazon but off Amazon, when you’re marketing, when you’re driving traffic and ultimately trying to get those conversions”
• 7:30 What type of traffic does Bryan recommend?
• 12:11 What hacks or shortcuts can Amazon Sellers use?
• 17:42 Which is the best way to convert in eCommerce?
• 24:13 How do you build your audiences?
• 29:35 Bryan also has his own Podcast: Marketing for eCommerce by Bryan Bowman.
Notable Quote:
“We are all so close to the product, we know everything about the product…but we always forget and we don’t even realize nobody cares about your product”
Resources:
• Marketing for eCommerce with Bryan Bowman
• All session by Bryan Bowman | Prosper Show
• | Facebook Group
• | Twitter
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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is the Managing Partner / Principal Consultant of Cascadia Seller Solutions, which is an Amazon-focused digital marketing agency that provides brands with guidance on improving discoverability, increasing conversion, data driven new product development strategies, and careful and conservative approaches to Amazon Terms and policies.
Rachel is an Experienced and strategic Product Development & Marketing consultant who’s delivered unique and highly successful solutions for clients across multiple account launches and marketing content launches on Amazon. Especially deep experience in developing compliant & safe product for startups that will meet their quality and cost goals.
In her not significant free time, She do fiber crafts such as spinning, crocheting, and embroidery, and she have been in a community band since 2009, playing French Horn, Trombone, or Euphonium depending on the band’s needs that season.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
• 1:23 Introduction of Rachel Greer.
• 5:00 Rachel talks about her company Cascadia Seller Solutions, an Amazon-focused digital marketing agency.
• 6:17 What are the reasons why Amazon sellers are suspended?
• 13:17 Rachel points out the different risks with co-mingling between Wholesales and Private Label Sellers.
• 15:48 Rachel discusses about the FBA Product Compliance Team.
• 20:10 If you have purchased products from a distributor and then the manufacturer comes for you, what does Amazon do?
• 21:30 Is Amazon acceptable with sellers that do bundles?
• 27:45 Is there such thing as Suspension Insurance?
• 31:23 If a Seller has an Amazon Loan and was suspended, are they stuck with that loan?
• 32:45 How do you open a multiple accounts in Amazon?
• 36:35 Rachel talks about how her agency Cascadia Seller Solutions help other people.
• 42:47 People like to listen or consult with gurus or the so called experts, how do we know if they’re real or not?
Notable Quote:
“If you choose to follow somebody else’s method of doing it, great! But you should know what the TOS (Terms of Service) compliant way of doing it. If you don’t know that, then you don’t know what you’re doing.”.
Resources:
• – Product Development & Marketing Consultant
• Cascadia Seller Solutions | An Amazon-focused digital marketing agency
• Cascadia Seller Solutions Consultants
• Cascadia Seller Solutions Blog
• EMAIL:
Sponsors:
• SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
• Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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, Amazon Advertising Consultant and Co-Founder of PPC Scope, a PPC measurement and optimization tool for Amazon sellers. His career has spanned across technical, marketing, and entrepreneurial pursuits.
His current expertise is in helping sellers advertise their private label and branded products on the Amazon marketplace, focusing upon Sponsored Products- and Amazon Marketing Services- advertising.
Brian have co-founded companies in training in advanced advertising strategies, in advertising analysis and optimization software, and have built an advertising community of Amazon sellers on Facebook.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
1:29 Introduction of the guest Brian Johnson
2:30 Will considers Brian as one of the masters in Amazon PPC (Pay Per Click). How did Brian start?
5:57 There are Amazon Sellers who are successful without doing a lot of advertising. But when they
decide to invest in advertising, they don’t know what their objectives are. Why is having an advertising
objective important?
11:41 Will said, “Sometimes you need PPC, sometimes you may not need PPC”
14:15 Brian is still sourcing and selling products on Amazon. Does being an active Amazon Seller gives
Brian an advantage in helping other sellers?
17:19 What are the top 2 Amazon Metrics concerning PPC that Amazon Sellers should look at?
22:55 Brian talks about the CVR or the Conversion Rate
26:43 “You start your automatic and manual campaign the same day. There’s no waiting period.” – Brian
29:40 How do we save money or not overspend on PPC?
35:10 If you’re just breaking even on a campaign, should you continue or just stop it?
38:09 What’s the best keyword tool for research?
42:10 Brian talks about his work, software and how he helps other people.
Notable Quote:
You would think that being the PPC guy that I would always be a promoter, always to continue to run
your advertising perpetually forever but NO, it’s a business decision. If it make sense, if it’s
accomplishing your goals, your objectives that contribute to your product selling business then continue
to use it, either wise don’t.
Resources:
– Amazon PPC Coach: Co Founder at PPCScope.com and SponsoredProductsAcademy.com
Amazon PPC Strategy Basics Guide
Brianrjohnson.com
PPCScope – Software for managing and analyzing Amazon PPC, Amazon Sponsored Ads
Sponsors:
SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
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(Founder/CMO) at Empire Flippers and host of Empire Flippers podcast, Justin is the brand ambassador of the company. From content to paid traffic, he keeps the sales staff busy and the lead funnels full. He’s also a digital nomad (i.e. homeless), but spends most of his time in Manila, Bangkok, and Saigon. When not geeking out on sales funnels and marketing automation, he loves fruity drinks by the beach and watches Game of Thrones as a guilty pleasure.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
5:34 Introduction of Justin Cook of Empire Flippers.
5:44 What do Empire Flippers do?
9:42 How long does it take to sell someone’s Amazon business?
13:49 “More than 80% of the businesses we sell, sell in less than two months” – Justin
14:27 What type of mistakes do sellers make?
15:38 Justin discuss about some of the reasons why people sell their business.
19:36 How much can people make selling their Amazon business?
22:45 Justin talks about what’s the best thing to do when starting a business to sell.
26:13 Justin gives advice on hiring, training or building a remote team.
30:51 Justin also talks about a type of flippers that buys business, add value to it and then sell it.
33:11 For those people who are interested in buying an Amazon business, what do they need to know about financing?
Notable Quote:
When starting a business:
“The first priority is to make money. Everything else is unimportant.” – Justin Cook
Resources:
– Buy, Sell & Invest In Online Businesses
– @EmpireFlippers
Podcast – Empire Flippers Podcast
Amzcontrol – Profitability Analytics Software for Amazon Sellers
Sponsors:
SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
Promo:
Amzcontrol analyzes your amazon data, calculates indicators and presents them in an actionable form. Register using this LINK and get 2 month FREE ACCESS!
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Background:
is the CEO / Co-Founder of Viral Launch. Viral Launch built and designed SaaS + Services platform helping sellers source, launch, and dominate on Amazon.
Successfully performed over 30,000 Amazon product launches for 7,000+ brands responsible for billions of dollars in sales on Amazon.
Helped multiple products achieve #1 best seller ranking in their top level category on Amazon.
Current team size of 40+, comprised of extremely talented and caring developers, creatives, coaches, and management.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
2:12 Will met Casey Gauss, the CEO and Co-Founder of Viral Launch, a few years ago and Casey is a big inspiration to him.
4:46 Casey talked about his humble beginnings.
8:56 Casey and his company is now earning 8 figures.
9:51 What are the products and services do Casey offers to Amazon sellers?
13:45 What is market intelligence can it take into consideration when deeming a product as acceptable or have a good chance for success?
22:59 What is a successful Amazon seller and how do they stay ahead of the game?
29:53 Will says, “I learned a lot from actually Casey himself. You know, having people around you that know what they’re doing and successful people always hang around and talk to people that are smarter than you. That’s how you elevate your game.”
30:37 Why do Amazon sellers fail and what changes they should do to get better results?
32:14 Casey shared what he learned throughout his journey.
35:24 What is the difference between Market Intelligence and Jungle Scout?
40:11 Special coupon for the listeners.
Notable Quote:
“I see so many people that are making decisions because they know that they can make a bunch of money or some quick money… everybody’s looking for the silver bullet. So few people are really focus on or have really thought about what is the long term… and then putting a plan or action to achieve that long term success.” – Casey Gauss
Resources:
– Dreamer | Tech Nerd | Analytics Enthusiast | Wannabe
– @CaseyGauss
Forbes– This 24-Year-Old CEO Is A College Dropout
Sponsors:
SkuTask – Amazon Marketplace Ecosystem
Upfund.io – Smart inventory funding designed to keep you out of debt
Viral Launch– The go-to software and services platform helping brands Source, Launch, and Dominate on the Amazon marketplace.
Promo:
Get 20% OFF of ALL Viral Launch services by using this code: FBAMillionaires
