My Amazon Guy

Send us a textYou’re building a business. But why? Is it to flip it and sell it later? Or are you building to hold it forever? For some of you - you’re building an Amazon business to become an entrepreneur and not work for “The Man.” Whatever your reason, this will be an authentic reveal of my personal journey on this question as a Founder and sole owner of the My Amazon Guy agency. My name is Steven Pope and this is the My Amazon Guy podcast.I’ve been approached by 3 organizations who were interested in buying my agency. None of these inquiries got serious. But it forced a major transformation in me personally. For starters If I was going to sell My Amazon Guy, how much would I sell it for? How much is my company currently worth? Do I want out or do I want to run my agency for the rest of my life? It turns out most of the organizations looking to buy me just wanted a cheap acquisition. They weren’t interested in what our team had built. They just wanted to acquire more clients, take our knowledge, but offer limited value in exchange for it. In the past month I’ve consumed dozens of hours of Gary Vee. I really respect this man. I love his message. I dislike his delivery - I wish he could stop with the F bombs so I can play his videos in front of my wife and kids without cringing. But he’s authentic. When Gary Vee was first starting his agency he got some advice. That his average tenured employee would work for him for 18-24 months. He was thinking to himself, maybe at YOUR agency they stay 18-24 months. But at MY agency they are going to stay 5 years. 10 years. Maybe even 15 years. This interaction blew me away. In 2 years of owning My Amazon Guy, I had never once considered that anyone was going to work for me this long. I’ll tell you why. No company I’ve ever worked for asked me to do it. No company I’ve ever worked for asked what it would take to get me to stay for 5 years let alone 2.I worked for so many failed startups. 4 jobs in a row I worked for a company and my boss quit within the first 3 months. Like no joke guys, that’s how lucky I was. I turned that split suit 2/7 hand (Texas Hold’em reference) and I found two pair on the flop or by the river. I found my resolution recently. I am building my agency to hold it. And for the first time I’m trying to figure out how to truly invest in my people.I onboarded Wonderlic Won score to test candidates.Gave all employees a DISC profile test. And came up with a semi scientific profile of who I want to hire DISC wise.I took the Culture Index and just this week gave all my staff the same survey.I have started to ask my employees for the first time. What would it take to get you to stay 5, 10, 15 years? They don’t have an answer yet. And nor do I. We don’t know what we don’t know. I can’t tell you how often I feel like I am “faking it until I make it.” I run a wildly successful agency. What we do works. We are literally helping 70+ clients grow sales on Amazon each month. And the feedback we get is overwhelmingly positive. Leads are coming in quickly. And I can honestly look them in the face and say “We grow sales. It works. Here’s how we do it. Here’s some free advice on our first 15 minute call to grow your sales whether you hire me or not. And I have 300 tutorial videos on YouTube explaining how to tackle hundreds of problems nobody else is even speaking about.” Can you find that anywhere else? No you can’t.Fishy Fishy Fishy. My 1 year old daughter's first non parental word made me cry last night.Support the show

Send us a textThe Good Better Best product strategy helps improve conversion rates, traffic, margins, and more. It's a core ecommerce strategy - Steven Pope.How Marcus Lemonis Saved a Dying Business From Its Feuding FoundersHere's how the host of CNBC's The Profit, got failing drums company SJC back in the black" Diversify the product line. Instead of making custom drums that only a certain group of consumers could afford, Lemonis implemented a good-better-best product line with three price points: $895, $1,700 and $6,000. "We know the product you make today is awesome, but we're leaving a segment of the market to fend for themselves," Lemonis said during the episode."https://www.inc.com/graham-winfrey/how-marcus-lemonis-saved-a-dying-business-from-its-feuding-founders.html"Capitalizing on G-B-BG-B-B’s benefits come from three approaches: offensive plays aimed at generating new growth and revenue, defensive plays meant to counter or forestall moves by competitors, and behavioral plays that draw on principles of consumer psychology, whatever the competitive landscape.Going on the offensive.Offensive plays can help brands grow revenue in at least four ways. First, companies can dramatically lift margins by creating a high-end Best version that persuades existing customers to spend more or attracts a new cohort of high spenders. In my work with companies, managers consistently underestimate customers’ willingness to spend and the number of customers who might upgrade to Best, even at prices that were previously unthinkable. Across a range of industries, it’s not unusual to observe up to 40% of sales landing on the Best option."https://hbr.org/2018/09/the-good-better-best-approach-to-pricing#:~:text=A%20multitiered%20offering%20can%20use,by%20customers%20who%20want%20more.Support the show

Send us a textThere’s a battle between Digital native brands and national retailers with brick and mortar presence. And while there’s room for both to sell on the platform, today we will look at how both digital native brands and brick & mortar brands need to compete with each other, and where their weaknesses and strengths lie. I’m now joined by James Thomson, Buy Box Experts & PROSPER Show Founder, as well as author of The Amazon Marketplace Dilemma. It’s a pleasure to have you on the show, thanks for joining me.For my listeners today whether you’re a digital brand or brick and mortar, there’s going to be some good information. James - you have a Ph.D. in Marketing, so I’m excited to tap into your knowledge and skillset on our podcast today. Let’s first define what a digital native brand is vs a brick and mortar, James how you would you define it?Eating your lunch. Market place pressures What do digital native brands need to do today to compete?B2B B2CCostco vs KrogerWhat do brick and mortar brands struggle with?UNFI for retailTight control over branding/distribution/pricingFallout - What do digital native brands struggle with? Don’t setup proper infrastructureBuy a batch of stuff.Lay of the landHow deep is the lake, pollution?No ™, no GS1, patent. Other countries ™. Sell a batch of widgets. Nobody talks in business school about sourcingDistributor could sell product list.Agreement - Incentive to buying discount for larger quantities. How do you track. - Transparency programProduct development™ Resource - International IP attorneyOnline reseller policies MAP policy Unauthorized resellers. Are there areas private labelers have surpassed national retailers?Culture - top downSell sell sell to sell sell protectWho is going to represent the brand?Punish/fire the bad actors - even if known for 20 years. How long does this shift take?6-12 monthsSource root problem solving, no bandaid.First sale doctrine™ violation issues don’t workLevels of chaos.Other than COVID What’s different today than say 12 months ago? States collecting sales tax across country.3% compliance a few years ago. Compliance at a all time high.Protect IP, brand.You made a recent comment about Amazon’s culture and it was quoted in the Washinton Business Journal, quote: “Part of Amazon’s culture is to beg, borrow and steal resources from other teams because you’ve not been allocated those yourself. You’ve got to have meetings to convince others to be involved with your project.” - I’ve personally always felt like Amazon was a silo’d organization running around with its head cut off. Can you weigh in further on Amazon’s culture and future as an organization?Amazon hire Type A personality, responsible very specific things and go fast.Test ideas. Prove they work. Then go the resources to scale.Amazon corporate staff tripled since 2013.Collection billion dollar companies under one company name.Gaps occur. - Necessary evil. Growing so quickly so fast.Get Amazon consulting at www.myamazonguy.comSupport the show

Send us a textSelling internationally can feel overwhelming. Today we talk to an Amazon expert who will help you simplify the process to expand your business to other countries. Kevin Sanderson, host of the Maximizing Ecommerce podcast and a successful Amazon seller. Kevin is fresh off his PPC summit where he gathered some of the top PPC experts and if you didn’t participate in that I recommend my listeners check it out at maximizingecommerce.com/steven for PPC. There’s a special offer for $97 to get all the videos from the summit.So before we talk international, what’s on your mind this week?Is now a good time to go international?Yes - Kevin UK sales surpassed the USA for short time.How big should you be in the USA before you go international?Small - function of money in and money out.Focus Canada firstGoing to our podcast topic today, how do sellers get started and scale international markets for Amazon?Register with national government GST / HSTGST = VAT LIKESales tax added onCovers all provincesFile annuallyStuck on Pesticides gating? Answer key here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRbsQvqV3t0NARF - remote fulfillmentSend FBA USA inventory to Canada/Mexico https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2GNJAl2XdATaxesCustomsVATVAT resources https://services.amazon.co.uk/services/vat-resources.htmlWhich markets should be prioritized and why?CanadaUKGermanyRest of EuropeAustraliaJapanSingaporeSelling business - Seller Net Profit 3xExample: 100k USA net profit10k CanadaThe 3x goes to 3.1 multiple because of diversityFirst year 6.5% Full guide for getting started on international http://maximizingecommerce.com/mag with a special offer from Kevin Sanderson.Support the show

Send us a textWe talk with a Trademark expert who has filed more than 1000 trademarks. We’ll talk about everything you need to know about trademarks for your brands. Preston Frischknecht https://brandregistrytrademark.com/1000 Trademark registrationsWhat’s the funniest ™ you have had to file. (Four letter words)Who are you and what you do you do, tell me a little bit about what you do.How to pick the right type of mark.Is a trademark as easy as buying a domain. TMs are difficult because the analysis requires research. You have to look to see if there’s a similar type of mark. Phonetically similar. SpecimensIntent to use base application vs selling currently.Thoughts on Trademark IP Accelerator, but costs moreSpeed is goodPre Negotiated rates are high however, significantly higher costs.How do you know if you have a good Trademark?Come early enough - to pick right ™ for guidelines.More distinctive and more protect-able.Too descriptive. Locations in ™ name.Descriptiveness - if too descriptive we don’t want you to lock it up like city names. Caveat if geographically if lesser known location.Me as an Amazon Agency and my clients they just want a ™ to get brand registry. But Trademarks aren't just valuable for Amazon purposes are they?Brands can be appraisal assetIf you infringe on a trademark, what should you do? Nebulous territory. Where do rights begin and end?Get Amazon Consulting at https://myamazonguy.com/#trademark #brandregistry #amazonselling #amazonseller Support the show

Send us a textGet Amazon Consulting at https://myamazonguy.com/My adjustable dumbbell listing has been doing really well. It is the number 4 bestseller in the fitness weights category on amazon. It looks like I will be out of stock in two weeks, having sold half the stock in the same period of time. I have ordered another container of these dumbbells but it won’t arrive for around 3 months. In 3 months I think the market will be very different. There will be much more supply as sellers would have restocked by then and less demand because some gyms would have reopened and people would have bought all the weights they have wanted to buy. This means I will need to be more competitive with respect to price and marketing.My question is - what strategy should I adopt in the situation where I will be out of stock in two weeks with no further stock for another 10 weeks after that.Some things that you might want to consider in your advice:- should I now temporarily increase the price to slow down the sales?- what should I do with my PPC campaigns now and during the period I’m out of stock.- can I do pre-sales on my listing? It is this only for people who have brand registry?- should I deactivate the listing so that amazon doesn’t think I’m doing zero sales.-----Answers:When stockouts are guaranteed raise prices and shut off ads.Q4 will still be a good quarter so continue with your order.Once you reach zero stock you could close the listing but you'll probably get a return or something that would allow another sale.You can't do pre sales.#stockout #supplychain #amazon #inventoryflow #amazonselling #amazonseller #amazonfbaSupport the show

Send us a textHow does an Amazon agency work, how does My Amazon Guy run? In today’s podcast I reveal how I run the agency like a news organization. Many of the principles I use are applicable in most organizations.Roles in a news organizationGeneral ManagerNews DirectorTV reportersAnchorsProducersSalesReporter for 2 years before I started MAG and before I got my MBA. In Idaho and Wisconsin. Client communication is fundamental.The show must go on at 5pm each and every day.If you don’t have a story, you go find one. (Find the sale or next project)Support the show

Send us a textSignup for ShipStation. How do you automate shipping across your marketplaces, Amazon, and website? One of my favorite solutions is joining our podcast today to talk about ShipStation. Cody DeArmond - Sales Director at ShipStation. First 20 employees ShipStation and now the rest is history.You’re busy right now. How do you deal with Amazon delayed shipping FBA.So why Shipstation is a good solution to automate shipping with marketplaces and your website.Time and moneyTrackingMarking as shippedBusiness reports for all integrated channel in place.Shows real shipping costs.Net value on what you pay vs customer paysShipStation is software, not a 3PL, doesn’t physically ship the item.How do you deal with International shipping?Should I ship internationally?Automate custom documentsWhich carrier should I use?No all eggs in one place.Automate rulesLightweight to X carrierExpedited to Y carrierOther shipping advice?Built in discounts into ShipStationThink of shipping as an extension of your business, not an afterthought.Last good book you read and why everyone should read it?Hard things about hard thingsPeacetime and wartime businessAmazon consulting at www.myamazonguy.comSupport the show

Send us a textTo get 15% off Zon Tools use promo code "myamazonguy" Tarik Ozkan CTO of Zon ToolsSearch Term IsolationPhilosophy to only advertise on converting keywordsDecreasing bids doesn’t always lower ACOSZon Tools - Automation of PPCAutomate existing campaignsBulk EditorZon Tool has a dozen of product offerings, all with their one unique Trademarked name.Algorithm Black Box - curiousHow does Zon.Tools work? Interactive Rule Flow Bot brain here: www.zon.tools/flowAM 3.0 works on all Targets (PAT and EAT) and Keywords (all matches). Every 6 hours adjusts your bid based on your ACoS goals (“Max ACoS“), clicks (“Min. Action Click“) and spend (“Max Spend“).The new bids are calculated based on:ClicksSalesMax ACoSMin BidMax BidAM 3.0 will wait for one of the 3 conditions before starting working:The Keyword or Target reached “Max Spend” without sales –> AM 3.0 will immediately drop its bid to “Min. Bid” regardless of the number of clicks it hasThe Keyword or Target reached “Min Action Clicks” and there are no sales –> AM 3.0 will immediately drop its bid to “Min. Bid“The Keyword or Target reached “Min Action Clicks” and there are sales –> AM 3.0 will then look at the keyword ACoS compared to “Max ACoS” and adjust bids as defined below:AM 3.0 algorithm will calculate the optimal bid for each entity (Keyword or Target) based on its conversion rate.The system willmove toward the optimal bid with daily increments or decrements of 0% to 100% / day based on the assigned Change Rate at PGN creation or Edit Rule Configuration.AM 3.0 bid range is limited by “Min Bid” and “Max Bid“.AM 3.0 will never Pause nor Enable your Keywords or TargetsKeyword Miner & Term-Inator:KWM and TI work every 6 hours on 3 main triggers (thresholds):Min Action ClicksMax SpendMax ACoSOrders7Relevancy Trigger (KWM)KWM and TI will wait for one of the 2 conditions before starting working:The Customer Search Term reached “Max Spend” without sales –> TI will negate regardless of the number of clicks the search term hasThe Customer Search Term reached “Min Action Clicks” –> KWM and TI will then look at ACoSIf ACoS is above threshold –> TI will Negate the search termIf ACoS is below the threshold and “Orders7” equal or above “Relevancy Trigger“–> KWM will Mine the search termHow KWM mines:Exact Campaign: Exact MatchPhrase Campaign: Phrase Match + Negative Exact — Search Term Isolation —Broad Campaign: Broad Match + Negative Phrase — Search Term Isolation —How TI negates:Phrase Campaign: Negative ExactBroad Campaign: Negative ExactAuto Campaign: Negative ExactSupport the show

Send us a textGet Amazon Advertising Management at My Amazon Guy. You can search for campaigns, ads, keywords and product targets, and ad groups by entering all or part of the name in the search box at the top of the table. By layering multiple filters you can analyze specific performance drivers based on the benchmarks you set.To search in the campaign manager:Navigate to the campaign manager.Navigate to the page you'd like to search within, such as campaigns, ad groups, ads, targeting, or negative targeting.Click the search box at the top of the table.Type all or part of the campaign, ad, or keyword name and press Enter.Click Filter by and choose a filter.Select your filtering criteria from the options presented. Often this consists of a range for the filter (such as greater than or less than), and a value.Click Save to create the filter.Review your filtered results and modify the filter as needed.Edit your campaigns as needed by clicking any editable fields in the table.Note: You can choose which columns show in the campaign manager. To change the settings, click Columns, then Customize Columns on the right side above the table.List of Amazon Advertising FiltersTypeTargetingBudgetImpressionsClicksCLickthrough rate (CTR)SpendCost-per-click (CPC)OrdersSalesAdvertising cost of sales (ACOS)NTB Orders% of orders NTBNTB sales% of sales NTBAlmost or out of budgetPortfoli#AmazonFilters #AmazonAds #PPCSupport the show