Actualize Freedom | Amazon FBA with Danny Carlson | Private Label Ecommerce Selling on Amazon

Most "automatic" Amazon Ads software is hit or miss, and learning to do it yourself is (lets be honest) BORING.

But sellers can't just ignore the most powerful ads platform to sell more products, right?

Brand owners should understand Amazon Ads well enough to hire someone, and know if they're doing a good job.

Otherwise, your entire revenue is left in the hands of your ads manager.

I've literally audited an ads account managed by another agency that had ZERO changes in more than a year!

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast, I grill Mina Elias about the top things non-technical Amazon sellers must know in order to effectively outsource their ads.

Guest Name: Mina Elias

Founder of  Trivium Group

https://triviumco.com/

If you sell products on Amazon & you don't know the math behind your conversion rate, you're definitely dumping profit in the garbage.

In this video I'm going to show you in simple terms how much more profit you could be making with very small conversion rate improvements.

If your competitors are doing even half of what I'm going to show you & you're NOT... over time, they will win.

Do any entrepreneurs actually like bookkeeping?

I did meet an Amazon seller in Vancouver who did, but he's a freak.

Unfortunately, this fear of books often causes HUGE financial problems.

Especially for ecommerce businesses that deal with long cash cycles, payment processing fees, and thousands of transactions.

I sat down my friend Nathan Hirsch to ask him everything ecom entrepreneurs MUST know to avoid a cash flow crisis.

He outlined how to find & work with an ecom bookkeeper and understand your brand's profitability at a glance.

Don't wait for a cash flow crisis to learn how to interpret your books.

Want the video? Comment the number from 1-10 that best represents how much you hate bookkeeping and I'll DM it to you.

Nathan is offering 1 free month of bookkeeping for the Kenji audience. Reach out to Nathan's company Ecom Balance here.

Speaker Name: Nathan Hirsch

Speaker Email: Nathan@ecombalance.com

Speaker Bio: Doc: https://tinyurl.com/4hztcauu

Speaker Website: ecombalance.com

Speaker Topics: Doc: https://tinyurl.com/4hztcauu

Amazon businesses are among the most "sellable" types of business in 2022. Huge investment firms are acquiring multiple brands per month at 6, 7, and 8 figure payouts.

But lots of the aggregators have been laying off employees and slowing down acquisitions.

Have the golden days of selling Amazon accounts passed us by?

According to Greg Elfrink, yes and no. A good Amazon account will still get a crazy multiple, but one that's making these mistakes will have a harder time selling.

Unfortunately, a lot of Amazon sellers don't realize they're cannibalizing their future business sale multiple.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast, we dive into everything you need to ensure your business can sell for the most money possible, no matter what the market is doing.


Check out their website: https://empireflippers.com/

Crowdfunding isn't just for crazy inventions anymore. My buddy Vance has been doing six-figure launches with regular products easily available on Amazon.

Most e-commerce brand owners misunderstand the REAL value of Kickstarter. It's evolved a lot since 2009.

Everyone from small startups to big-name brands are building massive audiences through their campaigns. Audiences they own and can sell to forever (unlike Amazon customers).

They're launching products with zero risk and taking the strain off their cash flow by getting paid FIRST instead of 45-90 day cash cycles.

In e-commerce, cash is king, and Vance's $7 million Kickstarter strategy is the most effective way I've seen to free more of it up.

This episode could literally save you from bankruptcy, and at the very least will give you a massive leg up on your competitors on Amazon.

Watch/ listen to the podcast here:

Kenji Exclusive: Kickstarter Launch for Amazon Sellers Workshop (free)

I was so impressed during my conversation with Vance, I convinced him to put together a special workshop just for you guys.

It's a 1-off live workshop going into Kickstarter launches specifically for Amazon Sellers. I'll be there, Vance will be there, and we're encouraging interaction from you guys as well.

Those who need more hands-on help will have the opportunity to work further with Vance, but this is not a sales pitch-loaded workshop, everyone will walk away with super valuable strategies they can implement themselves to make their own six-figure Kickstarter launch.

To register, go to Kenjiroi.com/kickstarter

Why do shoppers buy or NOT buy your product on the Amazon marketplace? Most FBA sellers have some ideas, but they don’t really know.

Truth is, most shoppers aren’t even sure why themselves!

There is so much information being processed subconsciously that if you as a seller don’t understand it, you’ll miss out on thousands per month in sales.

This presentation was originally given by myself (Danny Carlson) at White Label Expo London 2022, and I’ve recorded a higher quality version for all of you in internet land which you can check out!

What we’ll cover

• How to capture the attention of Amazon shoppers so you can sell products 
   
• How to KEEP that attention until they complete purchase
   
• Actionable steps you can take to improve sales on your product listings

Why do Amazon Shoppers Buy? (or not)

It’s important to get inside the mind of your customers so you can optimize your Amazon listings to sell more effectively.

• They don’t necessarily know WHY they buy. It’s based on subconscious thoughts.
   
• They often buy on gut feeling
  • Processing dozens of data points subconsciously
     
• There are different types of shoppers that make buying decisions differently
  • Product expert vs. naive
  • Readers vs. Visual
  • Insta-buy vs. compare to the death
     

Don’t exclude any of these customer types. Have great images, copywriting, videos, etc to cover them all.

Visuals are Processed 60,000 x Faster in the Brain Than Text

Images are the most important part of your Amazon listing optimization.

• It takes your brain just 13 milliseconds to process 1 img
• 2 seconds of viewing an image is equivalent to reading 30,000 wpm
• My reading speed is 400 wpm…

You can SHOW an incredible amount of information much faster than you can explain it using text or audio. 

The Brain Evolved with Images, Language is New

• Written language is only 5000 years old. The brain is not naturally evolved to use language.
• You have to learn it for years as a child before you’re good at it, but visuals are understood by toddlers.
• Visuals are understood across languages

Conclusion: Show all key product info just within the images But don’t exclude the readers!

How to capture the attention of more Amazon shoppers

• It doesn’t matter how good your product page is if no one clicks on it.
   
• You are selling the click, not the product
   
• Increasing Click Through Rate by just 0.1% can translate to $1000s
   
• Be the best option relative to the competition

Main Image Optimization for Amazon Products

Your main image on Amazon is your visual first impression, and the better it is, the more shoppers will click on your product instead of competitors.
 

1. Clearly communicate what the product is. Ask “how can I make it visually obvious?”
2. Strikingly stand out when put next to other options on search results
3. Follow Amazon’s image guidelines (optional)
4. Very bright, professional studio lighting
5. Fill the maximum amount of given space

Title Optimization on Amazon Listings

Your title on Amazon is also important to your click-through rate, but should also be well optimized for the right search terms.

• Clearly communicate the most key info about your product
• Have your main keyword phrases in exact match, but not at the expense of making key info difficult to find within a messy title

Reviews and Price: Do They Matter?

They definitely do! I won’t go into that here because as Amazon sellers, we have less control over these than we do on the images and keywords for example.

Just keep in mind that the more reviews, the better, and the better your price is compared to other options, the better.

How to KEEP Customer Attention Until They Buy

Otherwise known as “conversion rate.” The higher the percentage of shoppers that view your product page and end up buying, the higher it will be.

• You as a brand owner have a skewed view of what’s cool about your product (No one cares your water bottle can also be a paperweight.)
   
• Don’t waste attention spans on anything that’s not the key info that will give them the confidence your product is the one right for them
• Use all the tools available: A+ Content description, Amazon listing video, Amazon Brand Storefront, Amazon product photography

Instead of having all white background images with a bunch of text, how can you SHOW this information without words? 

• Icons
• Lifestyle images

Make them intentional and focused on showing Key Info

Key Takeaways

• Just one of these things can increase sales permanently
   
• Every time you shop on Amazon, analyze your own thoughts
   
• Know your customer better than they know themselves

Amazon Ads are getting more competitive, but new tactics are emerging while Amazon releases new types of ads more & more.

The seller community is complaining of high advertising costs, and their past strategies not working any more.

So that's why I brought in Vitalii Khyzhniak, CEO of Profit Whales, a company with millions in adspend managed, to share the newest trends of what's working.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast:

• The hidden potential of Sponsored Brands Advertising for Amazon Brands.
• Internal and external traffic for brand growth acceleration to win on Amazon.
• Increasing conversion rate for better PPC results.

Listen to the podcast for these and more!

This podcast episode partner is Synder, a Powerful tool to manage cash flow and ensure you have the accurate financial information you can use to make key business decisions.

• Multi-channel data tracking in real-time
• Automatic sales and expense categorization.
• Setting and monitoring KPIs that work
• Simplify tax filing closing books and reconciling in several clicks.

If you wanna check them out, use coupon code EASYBOOKS to get access to 1 month of free usage - it saves more than $40 on https://synder.com/

About Vitalii Khyzhniak

Vitalii Khyzhniak is an Amazon advertising and marketing expert, Chief Executive Officer at Profit Whales, a full-service marketing agency for Amazon brands, that accelerates sales growth using on & off Amazon traffic to give them an edge over competitors and diversify the revenue streams while increasing the business evaluation.anymore

We get successful Amazon sellers sharing their personal experiences on this podcast, but we don't often get people with insight into dozens of successful brands.

Repeated success is evidence of mastery, and Daniel Fernandez has exactly that with long-term Amazon success.

He's the owner of an agency with 27 employees that works with many brands doing 7 and 8 figures and has some unique takes on what's working well today.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast, we cover:

• How to launch products without rebates.
• Black hat tricks used by Chinese black-hat agencies.
• Listing optimization tricks
• How to figure out what Amazon wants you to do.
• How blockchain will revolutionize ecommerce.

Watch or listen for these insights and more.

You can reach out to Daniel Fernandez here:

daniel@amzclever.com

This podcast episode partner is Synder, a Powerful tool to manage cash flow and ensure you have the accurate financial information you can use to make key business decisions.

• Multi-channel data tracking in real-time
• Automatic sales and expense categorization.
• Setting and monitoring KPIs that work
• Simplify tax filing closing books and reconciling in several clicks.

If you wanna check them out, use coupon code EASYBOOKS to get access to 1 month of free usage - it saves more than $40 on https://synder.com/

About Daniel Fernandez, CEO of AMZ Clever

Born in Lima, Peru. Started a career in sales at a very young age. Later moved to the US and started working for Apple. In 2015 left a promising career in Silicon Valley to follow his dream of growing his own company. Found early success in the Amazon Selling industry and it was then that AMZ Clever, a full-service Amazon management agency, was born. In 2017 moved to China to grow a brand presence in Asia. In early 2020 moved to Bali, Indonesia where he lived the “tropical nomad” lifestyle. Daniel has spoken at several E-commerce and Amazon Selling events in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Netherlands, and Canada. After several successful years in Asia, he now lives in Virginia, USA where he currently runs a 7-figure agency with team members around the world.

We've all heard how combined, Amazon's European marketplaces are equal in size to Amazon US. That's no small amount of revenue up for grabs.

But you've likely also heard horror stories.

• 20% taxes
• Strict customs regulations
• Stuck shipments
• GDPR, and other acronyms that give us headaches.

 That's what has kept thousands of successful American brands from expanding internationally.

But if it's really so difficult to expand to Amazon Europe, why are so many brands of all sizes finding success there? 

From 8 figure supplements brands to 1 product startups, Amazon Sellers are increasing their revenue by selling the same products to more people in more countries. And it's probably easier than you've been led to believe.

We brought on expert in all things international e-commerce Rael Lowenthal to give us the playbook for quick, easy, and low-risk expansion from US to EU marketplaces.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast:

• How to test European markets by risking less than $1000
• Why "good debt" is a key pillar for fast-growing Amazon sellers
• How to avoid dumb mistakes with legal compliance in multiple foreign countries
• VAT broken down into easily understood terms (for non-lawyers, ex. regular people)

You can reach out to Rael and his team at zee.co to inquire about help with anything to do with expansion to European marketplaces on Amazon. VAT setup, importer of record (IOR), customs compliance, stuck shipments, or international freight.

What is An Importer of Record?

In simple terms, it's a government's way of ensuring that every foreign brand has a domestic company that will take responsibility for ensuring proper compliance with local import regulations. 

You can't import into many countries in Europe without a local company acting as your importer of record or IOR. 

It makes sense when you think about all the black-hat Chinese sellers who were blatantly ignoring VAT regulations. The governments have little power over bad-actors in other countries. By making an IOR mandatory, there's at least a local company who must take responsibility for illegal activity if the company they are representing is breaking laws or failing to pay their fair share.

What is VAT?

VAT is short for Value Added Tax, and is the big scary 20% (ish) tax that Amazon sellers have nightmares about. At first it sounds complicated, but once you understand how it works it's not as bad as it seems. 

It varies by country and we highly recommend working with a company to help you ensure correct compliance.

"The European Union value-added tax (or EU VAT) is a value added tax on goods and services within the European Union (EU). The EU's institutions do not collect the tax, but EU member states are each required to adopt a value added tax that complies with the EU VAT code. Different rates of VAT apply in different EU member states, ranging from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary."

• wikipedia

Stuck sitting at his desk after a back injury, Rolando Galeana started his first brand on Amazon during his recovery. After selling his brand, he now works for JungleScout and helps new Amazon sellers get their brands up and running.

Product research on Amazon is one of the most important pieces, and where some of the biggest mistakes happen.

Choosing the right products in a competitive Amazon marketplace can mean the difference between a $50k per month gem or a $10k debt.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast, Rolando Galeana shares his best tips for choosing the right product to sell on Amazon whether you're brand new or are expanding your existing product line.

Rolando Galeana YouTube Channel and Website

• JungleScout Product Research
• JungleScout YouTube Channel

James Dihardjo is co-founder of MerchantSpring and has been part of the

e-commerce space in Australia since the early days. James is responsible for customer

success and is obsessed with providing industry leading e-commerce analytics to sellers all over the world.

Hellotax helps Amazon EU and US sellers to expand in Europe and provides

online VAT and OSS Registration & VAT Filings to reduce your workload in Europe.

Stay tax compliant within Europe and start monitoring your thresholds with our free tool today.

1 min hellotax dashboard demo video: https://youtu.be/6FRoxWmrCEs

2 min Expansion to EU package video: https://youtu.be/UQ-CW1tkP6M

10% discount for Kenji ROI views/clients:

Link: https://hellotax.com/?_get=kenjiroi

Coupon code: KENJIROI

There's few feelings more helpless than going out of stock on Amazon while your inventory sits in a Chinese port.

Unfortunately that's the situation many Amazon sellers are facing in Q4 2021.

The global supply-chain shortage is hitting hard, with reports of some brands paying 40k + per shipping container.

But it may not be as hopeless as you think...

Some brands have found creative solutions to these crippling issues.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast, Ivan Torlopov shares:

✅ A creative, time-saving shipping strategy most people don't know is an option

✅ How big brands are minimizing damage from the massive shipping fee increases

✅ How to limit downside risk, and avoid a Q4-killing supply chain catastrophe

Just one of these tips could be the difference between xmas coming early and Jeff Bezos giving your Amazon payouts to another seller on the nice list.

Watch the podcast on Youtube now.

Speaker Name: Ivan Torlopov

Speaker Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivan-torlopov-fba-ecomm-consultant-4599b340/

Speaker Website: https://sellerplex.com/supply-chain-challenges-in-2021/

Did you know that Amazon's EU marketplaces together are equal in sales to the US market now?

The US is still king, but Amazon is growing much faster in their foreign marketplaces & it's becoming impossible to ignore.

But so many brand owners make embarrassing mistakes localizing their listings. Don't make the mistake so many Chinese sellers make with poor translations, weird wording, and assuming their images will work well overseas.

Even between the US, UK, and Australia the spelling of many words is different, making keyword localization super important.

The conversion rate difference between localized and non-localized listings can mean thousands, even tens of thousands per month more revenue.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast, host Danny Carlson digs into Omar Angri's deep knowledge of Amazon Listing Localization from his agency Margin Business. They've been focused specifically on this problem for years and have a team of more than 20 tackling the issue.

Omar Angri's Contact Info

• Margin Business Website: https://marginbusiness.com/
• Omar Angri's Email: omar@marginbusiness.com

The 10 figure unicorn is a very rare company, even rarer as a teenager. But that's exactly what Shaahin Cheyene accomplished before his 20th birthday!

And he did it before Facebook ads even existed.

His supplement brand touting a "legal but barely" supplement blew up across the US, going viral in mass media and exploding demand.

Now a grown man in his 40's Shaahine has built multiple successful brands and is highly focused on the Amazon marketplace.

What lessons did he learn from his meteoric rise to a billion, and how does he implement them in his brands today?

And what was it like as a teenager making more money than the GDP of a small city?

All this and more in this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast

Shaahin Cheyene Podcast and Website

• Billion Podcast (about his story growing to a billion)
• Hack And Grow Rich Podcast (About selling on Amazon)
• www.shaahincheyene.com

Can spiritual practices help you grow your business faster?

If you're like most online entrepreneurs I know, you've dabbled in spiritual practices like meditation to help grow your business.

Gone are the days when all things spiritual are dismissed as "crazy hippie stuff" and today it's rare to find an Amazon seller who doesn't have some type of spiritual practice.

Personally, spiritual development has been a key part of growing as an entrepreneur. I simply couldn't have broken through my mental barriers and insecurities to grow a 7 figure company without it.

In this episode of the Actualize Freedom podcast, we're thinking outside the "Amazon FBA" box and diving into spirituality with Ryan Cropper, a YouTuber with a 200k subscriber channel who teaches about advanced spiritual techniques.

Even though this podcast is about Amazon, when my favorite spiritual YouTuber arrived in Bali I couldn't pass up the opportunity to interview him at my villa!

In This Episode of Actualize Freedom

• How to get past the "woo-woo" and extract the business benefits from spiritual practices
• How to be spiritual without developing "Spiritual Superiority Syndrome"
• What the world-famous Bali spiritual community is like from 2 location independent online business owners.

Ryan Cropper YouTube Channel and Website

• Youtube
• Ryan Cropper's Website

Driving external traffic to Amazon products has always been tough, but in 2021, it's practically a requirement to succeed.

Manychat bots have new restrictions, Facebook Ads is losing effectiveness, and Amazon Attribution has been released to the masses.

So what is the best external traffic strategy for Amazon in 2021?

Alex Czechowski from Helium 10 has been neck deep in this transformation, and part of the team building their new tool that is studying this evolution.

On this episode of the Actualize Freedom Podcast with Danny Carlson, we go into what the most effective strategies are today for boosting the visitors to your product pages, ultimately leading to more sales.

You don't need me to tell you that launching a new product to page 1 on Amazon is getting harder and harder these days.

Not only is the Amazon algorithm constantly getting more and more sophisticated...

But the increasingly large number of Amazon sellers are getting craftier as well.

What works today might be obsolete 6 months down the line...

Thankfully, Brendon Fields joins us on this episode of the podcast who is an expert on product launch strategies.

In the episode we go over:

✔️ Why rebates might be one of the most powerful launch strategies in 2021

✔️ How to successfully run a rebate launch strategy the right way (and avoid losing thousands of $$$ from scams)

✔️ How you can get a leg up on the competition as Brandon shares his predictions for how product launch strategies will evolve in the future

If you are an Amazon seller continually looking to stay on top of Amazon's ever-changing landscape, this episode is for you!

YouTuber with more than 250k subscribers Mike Vestil shares one of the darkest periods of his entrepreneurial journey...

A series of obstacles including losing $20k per day on Facebook Ads, getting $5k+ worth of camera gear stolen, and going all-in on a new business venture that failed left him re-thinking his life direction.

Then he met a millionaire in Bali that heard his story, and told him to meditate for 4hrs every day.

Mike took his advice and has manifested his online business success once again.

Mike's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYON...​

Mike Vestil's Website: https://www.mikevestil.com/

Ecommerce moves faster than lightning, and strategies that worked well 2 years ago have shifted, or disappeared altogether.

That's why I'm bringing in an expert from one of the largest Amazon external traffic agencies for a free live masterclass.

It's exclusively for my Facebook group, so if you're not a member, comment TRAFFIC below and we'll invite you.

In this masterclass you'll see...

- Insights into what external traffic strategies are driving sales & ranking for 8 figure brands in 2021 (from a huge agency that manages tons of 7 & 8 figured brands)

- Biggest DO's and DON'Ts of running paid ads to Amazon, and how to avoid spending thousands but getting no results

- How to effectively MEASURE ROI of external traffic to Amazon, even when Amazon doesn't provide you with accurate data

- How you can implement these traffic strategies to generate sales and keyword ranking on Amazon

The masterclass is free, but only for members of the Amazon Value Library Facebook group.