My Amazon Guy Amazon Journey: Mark Lewyn "The $500 start-up on Amazon" #110
Mark Lewyn, long time Amazon seller who just wrote a book about his journey on Amazon. Serieral entrepnuer. Former journalist. Jumped into the internet early.
As a journalist, you have no fear. When Mark was a journalist, you could reach out to people like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates and they'd pick up! You got immediate feedback from readers, you get that too in ecommerce.
- Tell me a little about how you ended up selling on amazon
- Why did you decide to write the book “The $500 start-up on Amazon?”
- Don't follow your gut, follow the data. Got into darts.
- Tell me about some of the crazier products you sell or decided not to sell?
- How do you sell high quality goods on Amazon
- Went into darts, did great, went into dart accessories and failed. People just wanted darts.
- Got into diaper bags/caddies, but market got saturated.
- Product life cycle. Amazon mutual fund. Spread risk out.
- Amazon entering maturity phase, harder to sell. Busineses buying up Amazon sellers. Amazon sellers have to up their game, increase spend to be competitive.
- Have to take on investors or debt to grow. So sometimes you sell.
- Levels of improvement.
- Easy layup. Just optimize the page.
- Other forms of optimization. Supply chain optimization. Advertising. Diversification of geo locations.
- Craziest product I didn't choose to sell: Looked at sex toys.
- How does it feel to be getting close to 7 figures as a seller. Nervous sometimes with the risks.
- Risk reward - from 500k to 1mil. Personal question how to do it.
- Amazon is still a great market. Lots of opportunity. Start small on interesting niches to add value.
- Make sure you excercise to keep the Amazon stress down.
Mark: "I started my Amazon business in 2015 and since I have launched all sorts of crazy products. Today I'm approaching seven figures, which only a teeny-tiny percentage of Amazon sellers ever do.
That said, I've tried to capture the flavor of my crazy ride in a book that just came out this week called "The $500 Start-up on Amazon: How a dad of three launched a business on Amazon and escaped the hamster wheel of 9-5."
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+500+start-up+on+amazon&crid=11I8SSEQ0F63A&sprefix=The+%24500+start%2Caps%2C151&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-a-p_1_13I
Below is a quickie summary of what's included:
Mark Lewyn had built a successful career as a journalist and technology executive until his last company crashed and burned, leaving him high and dry: No job, a wife and three kids, and a mortgage to boot. In the age of Covid-19, it's a dilemma facing an increasing number of people, both in the U.S. and abroad. Mark knew needed to figure something out, and quickly, and whatever he did couldn’t require a big wad of cash to get started. His answer? Amazon, specifically selling new products on the world’s biggest digital store. His initial investment: just $500. Today Mark is one of the leading sellers of products on Amazon. Not the biggest, mind you, but definitely up there. In "The $500 Start-up on Amazon,” Mark takes you on his journey of discovery on Amazon. He shares with you everything he learned along the way so that you can profit from his successes and avoid his mistakes. The $500 Start-up is the perfect read for anyone who is curious how a new generation of digital cowboys are cashing in and how you can do it too.