My Amazon Guy

Send us a text[00:00:00] There is a technology war out there right now, and most people don't realize it. I don't think people are talking about this and this is a very strange subject and is very loosely related to Amazon cell. So you're not going to hear, like, how to grow Amazon sales and this particular podcast. But I felt so strongly after seeing the signs that I wanted to talk about this today so that you are generally warned you need to think about this topic, in my opinion. My name is Stephen Pope. I'm the founder of my Amazon guy. And today we're going to talk about the technology war. [00:00:44] I'm going to start with some examples because I feel like most people are going to think I'm crazy initially when I talk about the subject. Ticktock, great example, because it shows how there's a conflict between two nations, China and the United States. So. All the government entities are like, yeah, China is infiltrating everything with Tic-Tac and they're taking control data and they're stealing people's information. And initially what happened on that timeline was like the government's like, hey, nobody can have ticktock consulting their phones. There was leaks about Amazon doing the same thing. And basically, eventually the government's like, hey, we're going to ban Tick-Tock. Are you going to sell this platform? You can't own a China. And if you think about that, that's never happened before on a technology scale of mass adoption before. This is one large sign of what I'm seeing, there is not a single software application you can log into right now without them shoving down your throat, sign up for OTP one time password. Have you enabled OTP yet? Why? Why is that? And it's because there is so much infrastructure being attacked right now that if you don't have in place, you're you're guaranteed to have a leak. If you look at the last couple of years, this problem's been escalating where we've seen, you know, the biggest the biggest release of personal information was when one of the credit score agencies got hacked, rather. [00:02:28] I mean, I use that word loosely, right? They didn't really get hacked so much as their security just sucked. Right. And then all of a sudden somebody just ran off with all of our information, your Social Security number, every credit source that you have available. Identity theft started spiking. They were supposed to pay people money in this big lawsuit. I didn't see a dime. I don't know if you guys did. And the list goes on from there, the situation. And like the catalyst that made me like want to talk about this was when Amazon's own system completely bonkers, broked. And and this is just one of many things that's been breaking at Amazon, of course. And if you've been listening to the podcast, you're like, OK, Steven's talking about things breaking in Amazon yet again. I get it. But this one's very unique. This is a very unique angle. So I have an agency with 30 employees and half of my agency is in the Philippines. So I had created this very intricate way of having everybody log into our accounts. Right. So I would have half of my accounts on one email address and half in another email address. And then I would have every once OTP code transfer over into my Google Voice text messages, and then I would order for that to the entire organization. Support the show

Send us a textParentages no longer combining reviews, the norm is now seperation Vine will start charging on seller central as early as January.Amazon Live - getting hot, need iphone app.Can no longer due partial refunds on Amazon, must do a full refund. One work around is to ask customer to open a return request and charge a “restocking fee”Book a coaching call with My Amazon Guy at https://myamazonguy.com/book-a-coaching-call/Support the show

Send us a textVine Canada: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/vine/ref=xx_vine_dnav_xxHas it's own set of 5 enrollments.Global Export setting: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/ssof/configuration/index.html/ref=xx_fbasettings_dnav_%5ENARF (North American Remote Fulfillment): https://sellercentral.amazon.com/rafn/inventorywww.myamazonguy.comSupport the show

Send us a textGrowing traffic to your website through SEO is a free and longterm solution to increasing your sales. Even if you don't focus on your website, and are an Amazon seller, take 5 minutes today to set your meta tags for your homepage. I tell you how.3 Tips to Improve SEO Traffic to Your WebsiteSet the HTML Title and Meta Description of your homepage.Title tag 60 CharactersMeta description 160 CharactersImprove your website speed. Check your site speed and what issues to fix using Google Developer tools https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/Set the title tag and alt text of your photos.Find keywords to chase as well as your own current keyword rankings using this free tool sponsored by My Amazon Guy. https://myamazonguy.semalt.global/Support the show

Send us a textThis survey and inforamtion comes from Cleveland Research Company.  Business Performance & Profitability: Online channels continue to drive better than expected demand with 70% of respondents indicating their Amazon sales trended ahead of plan in 3Q. Profitability, however, is a growing concern for many manufacturers, with 46% citing they expect their profit margins to decline with their largest omnichannel customers next year.  As we covered throughout the Summit, the margin pressure at omnichannel customers is likely to result in a range of asks, including greater investment into media programs, higher co-ops, and funds to offset increased shipping costs. We expect this trend to be most evident with omnichannel customers as margins at pureplay eTailers have improved as a result of growing volume during the pandemic.  Commerce Marketing Focus: Nearly every company polled indicated they are participating in advertising on Amazon, and there is growth occurring with the number of brands participating in similar digital activations on sites like Walmart.com and Target.com.  Almost two-thirds of brands, however, reported not having enough quality access to data and reporting to efficiently refine and optimize their commerce marketing efforts. Retailer Paid Search:  Manufacturers continue to be drawn to paid search advertising activations across different customers.  71% of those responding indicated they spend 75% or more of their ad budget on Amazon within paid search activations.  In addition, investing more and refining paid search strategies on Walmart.com was the top area of focus cited by brands selling on the site.  The Instacart panel discussion also highlighted that manufacturers are primarily focused on maximizing the paid search opportunity on that platform before moving onto other digital activations like coupons or delivery promotions. Retailer Programmatic:  Many companies are looking to layer in DSP spend on Amazon to help reach consumers across the sales funnel, citing the targeting improvements Amazon has developed as a key rationale for increased spend. 60% of manufacturers are looking to increase their investment in this area in 2021 (vs. 33% maintaining investment level and 6% reducing).  Amazon’s retail rivals do not yet appear to have as robust of offerings on the programmatic side and brands seem less focused on upper-funnel spend with these retailers.  Analytics Focus:  Similar to what CRC presented in its opening session, the polling data suggests manufacturers have a major need to build out their analytics capabilities.  To do so will take a combination of headcount and technology, something which nearly half of respondents indicated characterize their investment plans for next year.  42% of companies indicated they currently lack the headcount needed to action eCommerce data, and only 13% indicated they actively leverage eCommerce data into their product development needs.Marketplace Control: Approximately one-third of companies report having a distribution strategy that recognizes the dynamics around marketplaces, and nearly half report working on this initiative currently.  MAP policies can be one part of this strategy, although, only 19% reported having a MAP policy in place that they are actively enforcing.Support the show

Send us a textNils Oldörp lives in China and has become an expert in sourcing. But he got off to a rocky start and shares his story with My Amazon Guy. How was your experience sourcing in China when you started?Cultural issuesChina understands tough competitionLearning taxHave sourced 1000 items in past yearOnly 10% of sellers do the 2nd order (reorder)Chinese going direct to consumer, from manufacturer straight to buyer. Jungle Scout advertising in China.How do you find new items?Who cares about the reviewsPick based onDemandProduct sizeCan we control supplyProfit marginsLead timesChinese focus on "me too" products.Still focus on give away products, rebatesHow did you figure out how to solve your issues?Canton Fair still driving market.What does it take to source products for you now?Changing landscape?Huge domestic market in ChinaCopyright isn't a thing. Others jump on it fast.China has changed a lot - skyscrapers brand new in past 5 years.People mentality has changed a lot. Haven't touched cash in 2 years.QR code hanging around neck.Who do I want to serve vs how can I make a profit?Brand buildGet a mentorTakes a decade out of the journeySame criteria can be used in the Jungle Scout and Helium 10 tools.Check out Nils at:https://www.easypeasycall.com/pls?utm_source=stevenhttps://www.easypeasysourcing.com/Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8VkTw3mfZX2z5-NvZMamAAbout Nils Oldoerp: "I am born in German and moved to China in 2013 as an intern. What started as an internship became a great job living in China and Vietnam for about 2 years before the corporate reality hit and I wanted to start my own business.I quit and tried selling my own products on Amazon. After losing all my saving and gaining a ton of experience I started a small sourcing company, helping fellow sellers source products in China.Sourcing was the one thing I struggled with the most so I wanted to improve it. I got frustrated with suppliers not responding, getting ripped off and samples looking nothing like the pictures. The next 5 years I spend expanding and growing my business and my team. I found multiple brands that sell 7 figures on and off amazon. This recent prime day we sold 4,300 units in 24hours on Amazon.com alone - more than my first 2 years combined. At the same time we created a sourcing business that helps export 1,000+ units a year, located in Shenzhen, China.Support the show

Send us a textRobyn, the co-founder of Marketplace Blueprint, a digital agency that specializes in listing optimization and advertising on Amazon joins My Amazon Guy for a podcast on black swan events.  She has over a decade of experience of selling online on Amazon, eBay, and other eCommerce venues. Exciting to have such a great expert on for our 100th podcast episode!What’s your storyHealth near death experience, blood clot in lung, thyroid cancer. “When things are going well, you don’t think to take time to have backup and set up ready to go and network to rely upon for unexpected growth”Happy habits https://www.businessinsider.com/gretchen-rubin-the-four-tendencies-framework-2017-4Upholders generally meet both inner and outer expectations, meaning they don't let others or themselves down.Questioners meet only inner expectations. They push back against and question all expectations. Above all, they do something only if they think it makes sense — they hate anything arbitrary.Obligers meet outer expectations but not always inner ones. In other words, they usually need some form of external accountability.Rebels resist both inner and outer expectations. They value authenticity and self-determination.Growing businessSometimes you need a year of plateau to get big growth.5% growth each year vs 0% one year and 50% the nextWhat laptop are you using to get Amazon passive income?Rich dad poor dad https://www.amazon.com/Rich-Dad-Poor-Teach-Middle/dp/1612680194https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharonlechter/What’s on your mind?When Amazon makes a change, why are they trying to solve?Q4AdsLogisticsMake sure cash flow in place3PL in place, MFN not just FBAProfitCan’t talk to someone at Amazon catalog teamManagement by abdication It’s also about Rocket Fuel About Robyn Johnson:Starting with only $100 taken from their emergency fund, she built a seven-figure business selling on Amazon and eBay in just a few short years. In the years since then, Robyn has not only continued to sell directly on Amazon but also to build a consulting and coaching business working with the most successful resellers in the space. Robyn is a regular contributor for Search Engine Journal and speaks at some of the most prestigious Amazon and Ecommerce conferences in the US and abroad.  She has written a best selling book on Amazon called The Unlikely Entrepreneur about her journey starting her business. She has hosted multiple successful podcasts, including the Unstoppable Entrepreneur Show and the Marketplace Blueprint Podcast. Support the show

Send us a textIntellectual property is NOT a sexy topic. But it’s a hot topic in 2020 as the landscape is changing. Amazon is making it easier to control IP and get on brand registry faster. Today we talk to Steven Forte with an IP law firm Smith Hopen to learn some of the latest and best practices. Why should Amazon Sellers invest in intellectual property?Amazon project zero. https://brandservices.amazon.com/projectzeroHow do you enroll your brand into Amazon's brand registry?Faster way to get brand registry now https://brandservices.amazon.com/pending-trademark-requestCommon trademark mistakesName is too descriptiveFile trademark in company nameHow do you renew a trademark?Send in specimen and still used in commerceWhat is Amazon's Neutral Patent Evaluation?https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2020/06/03/navigating-amazons-neutral-patent-evaluation-real-life-part-ii/id=122107/“According to Amazon’s rules, an accused seller has 21 days in which to decide whether to sign Amazon’s agreement and participate in the Neutral Patent Evaluation Process. If the seller signs the agreement and agrees to the evaluation, its listings will remain active until the conclusion of the neutral evaluation process. However, if the seller does not agree to participate in the evaluation process, Amazon will remove the listings of the seller’s accused products from Amazon’s marketplace.”How do you fight a TM/Patent report against your own company?It’s all about the claims and the lawFree consultationhttps://smithhopen.com/Steven Forte “This year, we have hosted several charitable events that directly benefit the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation (NPCF). In fact, we recently wrapped up our big CLE For Charity events and would like to do more to help the NPCF and give back.”Support the show

Send us a textI feel like the taxi driver of ecommerce. You get 100 economists in a room and 100 taxi drivers and ask them how they economy is doing and the taxi drivers will be far more accurate. Get Helium 10 to track suppressions https://www.helium10.com/?crsh_reqid=1296071&aid=427Prime day post mortemBuy box percentages cut in halfListings flipped from FBA to FBM in buy boxSales lift very dependent on categoryAll accounts up at least 20%  but if that’s all you’re up that doesn’t make up for the 20% down leading up to prime dayMany categories like outdoor womens goods up 100%Feels like about 35% lift when you average it all outExceptions may apply - especially if you ran a big promotionProven right that discounting for Prime Day was just giving your margins away this year.I told everyone to not run deals this year for Prime day and some people thought I was crazy.I am predicting massive supply chain woes and stock outs first week in December. And discount didn’t even drive much for people on Prime Day.Go ask 10 people, did you buy something for prime day, and that poll will give you a pretty good idea of how big prime day was this year.Ultimate question - will prime day kick off holiday buying season early this year?No - I don’t think so.Amazon newsInternet explorer losing seller central support. Could be the thing that kills the IE web browser.9/25 algorithm update, massive keyword ranking shifts, and still no public word from AmazonI am dubbing the past 30 days as the largest amount of Amazon catalog bugs that negatively impact sales of all time, worse than the past year combined.Face masks are the fidget spinners of 2020Who are Amazon sellers these days?You can’t go on linkedin and see this clearly. Maybe 50% of Amazon accounts are side hustles. And most don’t advertise their involvement in their business publicly. The larger a business gets the more public they may want to be. But it’s not required to.Manufacturers are increasingly flocking to Amazon but still sluggish to adopt the necessary agility to succeed.Wholesalers are starting to take ownership of their own retail business, but often are better off staying as wholesellers.Support the show

Send us a textExpertise is hard to quantity and qualify. In our conversation today I want to talk about the varying differences between expertises. When you run an Amazon business, you need to be an expert in one of the following 3 areas. Then any niche area within each of these, you need to hire out tools and experts to get help.FinanceOperationsMarketingList of 3rd party services we recommend.Finance is the easiest to speak to, and the shortest conversation so we’ll start there. Either you have money, or you have to obtain money. How you finance is up to you. Use your own funds, raise the funds, you get the idea. Financial expertsQuiet Light Brokerage - buying and selling businessesCertified Public accountantTax expert Obtaining finance, having funds on hand, raising capital businesses OperationsWarehouseHeavily rely upon FBA3 PLLogisticsManufacturingBuildingMakingMarketingDesignImageryTrafficSEOPPCAgenciesSupport the show