How to work with me in 2024

Welcome to the bring your product idea to life podcast.

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This is the podcast for you if

you're getting started selling

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products or if you'd like to

create your own product to sell.

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I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product

creation coach and Amazon expert.

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Every week I share friendly practical

advice as well as inspirational

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stories from small businesses.

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Let's get started.

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Hello and thank you so much for listening

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I hope your year is off to a good start.

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Uh, better start than this podcast anyway.

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This is the second time I've started

recording this because the first time

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I tried, um, a police car went past or

maybe a couple of police cars and it

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was really loud, so starting it again.

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This will be quite a short episode

as a lot of my solo episodes are

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now, because as you probably know,

I do believe that the star of this

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podcast are our guests and not me.

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But I wanted to record a really quick

episode to let you know a few changes

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in how I'm going to work this year.

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Or, I mean, you might not know me already.

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This could be the very first or one of

the first episodes you're listening to.

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I thought it might be useful to

share a little bit about who I am,

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what I do and how I can help you

regardless of whether the changes

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are going to be news to you or not.

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If you are already on my email list, you

might have seen some of this already, but

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of course I'll be going into a lot more

detail here because I can share a lot more

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when I'm talking to you than I can in what

I always aim to be a fairly brief email.

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And before I say anything else,

I also want to say thank you so

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much for choosing or continuing to

choose to listen to this podcast.

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Um, I am about to be in my fourth

year, which is unbelievable.

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I can't quite, yeah, I can't quite believe

I've been podcasting almost four years.

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So many exciting episodes

coming up this year.

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But I'm well aware that if you're

anything like me, you possibly

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listen to lots of podcasts.

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I know what I do and I'm

finding new ones all the time.

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So the fact you're listening to me

does mean a lot and I do appreciate it.

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So, if you don't know me already, or

perhaps you've known me for a long

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time and you just can't remember some

of this, because that happens doesn't

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it, when we know people for ages, we

kind of um, lose some of it, um, I

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started my own product business called

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second child, my daughter, was born.

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And so that was a bamboo baby

products, really high quality.

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Um, I've recorded episodes before,

I've spoken about that business in

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detail, so I won't go into that now.

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Um, but I guess it's just enough to

know that I had lots of challenges

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with starting that business and some

of the biggest challenges were around

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the information available at the time

that told me what exactly I needed

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to do to create a product to sell.

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I knew that I wanted to sell products.

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I knew exactly what the products

were, but the steps to go from idea to

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having a product actually available.

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Just baffled me and there was

so much conflicting information.

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I went down so many rabbit holes again.

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I won't go into more detail, spoken

about this before, but that's just to

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say that eventually, of course, I did

launch those products, but while I was

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doing that, I started a blog, which

was kind of my way of just documenting

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what I was doing in real time.

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And it was often actually mistakes I

was making as well as little updates

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about where I was for everything.

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So through that blog.

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People started to contact me and ask for

help with creating their own products

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and eventually I started my consultancy

where I help people with product

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creation and with selling on Amazon.

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The blog then led to the podcast

which as I said is almost four years

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now because I realised that while my

experiences were perhaps useful for

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people, what would be even better would

be to hear from lots and lots of other

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people that weren't me because of course

we all have our own stories, our own

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backgrounds, our own experiences and

so much that we can share with others.

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So the point of this podcast was and

always will be for other amazing small

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businesses to share their stories about

how they've created their products,

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why, things they've learned and so

much that we can all learn from.

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And of course I also have, well you

might say of course you may not know

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there's also a Facebook group which is

for listeners of the podcast who want

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to connect with each other, ask each

other questions, ask me questions, um,

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it's just like a really friendly place.

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So if you are selling products or you

are thinking about selling products do

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come and join us in the Facebook group.

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It's a really friendly group

and you'll be really welcome.

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And then the latest thing to add

to that, gosh, despite it gets

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So last summer I published my first book.

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Um, it's called Bring Your Product

Idea To Life, which ties in

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beautifully with the podcast, of

course, which is of course deliberate.

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And that book is all about how

to create a product to sell and

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the steps to go through in order.

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And it takes you through

exactly what to do.

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Um, and a bit, how exactly what

to do, how to do it, why to do it.

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And, um, if you follow the

process in the book, then

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you'll have a completed product.

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So that leads me on to the first

change I want to talk to you

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about, which is from this year.

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offering what I used to call

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product creation power hours.

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And those were sessions I would have

with people talking about product

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creation and yeah, how to the how to

around how to create your product.

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Um, and there's really two reasons

I'm not doing that one is because I

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really want to focus more on supporting

small businesses to sell on Amazon.

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Again, I've spoken a lot about Amazon

before and I won't go into detail here.

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It's probably enough to say that I still

think that for some products and some

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businesses, it's a great opportunity.

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However, on the other side of that, it is

not the most user friendly place to sell.

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It's a tough place to get started on.

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It's a tough place to grow on, even

though it offers all this potential.

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And I really do feel I can help a lot

of businesses this year and hopefully

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beyond to do really well on Amazon.

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And that's where I'll be spending most of

my time, and the other reason is it's been

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a long time since I created my products.

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And while I have a lot of knowledge

about the process, I am a bit out

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of the loop on certain things.

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I have to be honest and tell

you that, you know, I haven't

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sourced a product for a long time.

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So while I know the steps that you

need to go through, it's been a

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while since I've actually done it.

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And of course, not that much changes

in terms of what you have to do,

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but invariably there will be certain

things that change, whether it's

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changes to shipping, which has changed

massively since I know, since I created

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my products, um, even down to the

marketplaces that you can sell on.

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I mean, I, in my book, I deliberately

don't go into lots of detail into areas

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that may well change or have changed.

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Um, and the book is, of course, really up

to date and will be updated as needed, but

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I just feel that because I'm not working

with selling my own products day to day

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anymore, I'm maybe not the best person to

help in that area, and I also genuinely

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believe that the book is a really good

resource and that through the book, and of

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course, you're always welcome if you have

questions to email me or ask questions in

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the Facebook group, I'm really happy to

help out answer your question or help out

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when needed, but I think the Best way and

the cheapest way definitely for you to get

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my advice is by buying my book, which of

course will be linked in the show notes.

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So this now leaves four core ways that

you can work with me going forwards.

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I'm going to explain now what they are

and importantly, I think who they're for.

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And because if you, if working with

me is something you've thought about,

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or maybe you haven't even thought

about it, but there's a you know,

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there's something you need help with.

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I think this will really help you

figure out which service might be

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best for you if indeed I can help you.

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So the first thing that I

offer is an Amazon Power Hour.

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And this is a one hour session

that we can use however you like.

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In the past, clients have used this time

to complete tasks on Amazon with me in

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real time to ask me lots of questions,

maybe to carry out a specific task.

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I think this will be great for you if

you want some support with selling on

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Amazon, but you don't have a huge budget.

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Um, you don't need ongoing work.

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You have specific questions you

want covered off, sorry, or you

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want to just do one thing or maybe

you just need a bit of training.

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Maybe you're like, you know, I

don't really understand how Seller

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Central works and I need someone to

spend some time showing me around.

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So as I say, these calls can

be used however you want.

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They are recorded so

we have them via Zoom.

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We can do screen sharing so that I

can see your screen and I can talk you

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through things or I can share mine if

that works better, whatever you want.

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And then you have that recording to refer

back to as well, which I also think is

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helpful because it means you don't need to

take tons of notes if you don't want to.

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Um, I do, as you can imagine, I do

quite a lot of these calls and I get

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really, really good feedback on them

and people who see instant results,

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who get their questions answered.

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And I do think that this, um, is

one worth considering if you want

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some support, but like I say, it's

not ongoing or you don't have a huge

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budget for work because you will be

amazed at what we can do in an hour.

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And if you want any more information

on this or any of the services,

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then of course you can let me know.

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Um, these also might be good for you

if you are thinking about selling

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your products on Amazon, which

we'll talk about a bit more later.

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You're thinking about selling your

products on Amazon, but you're like, I

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don't actually know how Amazon works.

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I don't know what I need to do.

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I do have lots of free resources

that cover this as well.

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So you can always go to

my website and get those.

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But if you have specific questions, a

call like this might be really good.

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So the next service that I offer, which

ties in is an Amazon strategy session, and

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this is for if you think Amazon might be

a good marketplace for your business and

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products, but you're not 100 percent sure.

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So what I then do is I carry

out research to find out whether

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it's going to be worth your while

selling your products on Amazon.

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So I look at your products, I look

at other competitors and products in

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your niche, and I do some really in

depth research around is your product

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likely to do well on Amazon and if

it's a yes, um, how, you know, my best

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advice on how you might achieve that.

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So to give you an example, I worked

with a business based in the U.

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S.

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recently who sell loungewear,

um, in a range of sizes.

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And what I did notice was that

there weren't many of the larger

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sizes available on Amazon.

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So the extended sizes, and that was a

real opportunity for her because she had

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the, she had the product, she had the

sizes, importantly, she had the imagery.

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Because when we looked into those products

on Amazon, when I did my research, I

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saw that there were, um, businesses

on Amazon, and this is in the U S that

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was selling similar products to hers,

um, in the extended sizes, however, the

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picture of the model might be wearing

a size 10, despite the fact the text

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telling you that, you know, they're

selling a size 20, and I felt that that

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was maybe causing a bit of disconnect.

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So I suggested to this client if she

did go ahead, um, it would be great to

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use those images that she had in those

listings Because that would really help

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her differentiate and that's just one

example of the kind of advice that I

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give and also on the call that we have.

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So I spent a couple of hours

doing some research for you.

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I put together a report.

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We then have a call where I talk

you through what I found, what

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I recommend, why I recommend it.

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And then if you are thinking of

getting your product onto Amazon,

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I talk you through the steps you

need to take to make it happen.

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And I also provide you with a

download that explains exactly that.

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Those steps as well.

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And then of course you can

ask me questions and I give

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you lots of useful advice.

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So this costs a little bit more than

a standard power hour because of

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the work I have to do beforehand.

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However, I think this is a really good

investment because this can save you a lot

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of time and money and heartache really.

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The price of this session is actually

going up as well from the 1st of February.

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Um, but if you book before the end

of January, you can benefit from

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it at the existing price, even if

you plan to actually have me do

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the work a bit later in the year.

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Um, I still do think this is

a small investment, so the new

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price, I should say, will be 250.

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However, I still think this is a

small investment when you think about

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all you can save, because what you

don't want to do is find out whether

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your products will sell on Amazon via

listing your products on Amazon and

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then finding out that actually it's

not the best marketplace for you.

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So I think this is one worth considering

if there's a bit of a question

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mark in your mind at the moment.

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So if you decide that you do want

to sell on Amazon, whether you have

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any other service with me or not,

something else I offer is what I

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call the Amazon launch package.

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And this is where I set up

Amazon for you and get you off

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to the best possible start.

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This is great if you're ready to start

selling on Amazon, but maybe you don't

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quite know how to do it or you don't

have the time or you, you know, you

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really want to know that it's done as

well as possible, or it might actually

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be that you just don't want to do it,

which is absolutely fair enough because

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Amazon can be a complete headache.

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So what I do with this package is I

research and write your product listing.

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I set it up for you, using of course, the

images that you would provide me with,

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but I give you advice on, you know, which

ones to select and if you, and things

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like that and how to present your listing.

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I set up all your settings.

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If you're sending stock into Amazon, um,

I'll set up your shipping plans for you.

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If you're not sure about what you

want to do, we can talk about that.

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I can, I also offer a month of Amazon

ads management in that as well, as well

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as other advice on how to get started,

how to get reviews, how to launch.

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Basically, I do everything I

possibly can to get you off to

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the best possible start because on

Amazon, that is really, really key.

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You, you want to.

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You want to do well, um, and

it does take a bit of work.

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Um, so my goal here is to do, I was

about to say all, the only thing I

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can't do is set up your account for

like legal reasons, but the majority

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of the work for you is you get off to

the best possible starts on Amazon.

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So if you're looking to start selling

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something you're interested in.

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And then finally, if you are already

an Amazon seller, and maybe you've

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reached a point where your sales have

stalled, or perhaps even your sales have

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decreased, and maybe you're not seeing

growth, or maybe you're just not sure

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what to do next, maybe things on Amazon

are ticking along fine, but you're

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like, should I be doing a bit more?

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I offer an Amazon account audit, and

this is where I review your entire Amazon

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seller central account or accounts.

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If you have them in multiple countries,

you can let me know what you need.

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And I provide you with a really detailed

list of recommendations for things

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you can do to improve your sales.

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So the kinds of things I look at are your

settings, your orders, your conversions,

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your account health, your listings.

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And I come up with lots of

opportunities and actions.

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I say opportunities because what I

sometimes find when I carry out these

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audits, it's just, there's really

simple things you could be doing,

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but you're not doing, perhaps because

you just don't know about them.

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Um, but usually when I work with people

on this, I come up with at least one

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page of A4, sometimes more of really

practical things that can be done.

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Some of them will be tiny housekeeping

things, some of them will be bigger

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projects, but, um, I can give lots

and lots of suggestions of how you

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can improve your account and of

course I can help implement any of the

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suggestions that I suggest as well.

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I couldn't think of a better way

of saying that, but of course

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there is absolutely no obligation.

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You know, I can do this for you and

then you can go off and do all the work

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yourself or I can do some of it for you.

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I can do all of it for you.

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Something you will hopefully know about

me by now, if you've listened to any of

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these episodes, it's I'm pretty flexible.

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My goal is to support you with

selling your products on Amazon and

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I will do what I can to make it work.

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So that is a bit of an overview

of how I'll be working this year.

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So just to summarize, I will

not be offering any more product

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creation services at the moment.

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Um, and instead if you want some

product creation support, the best

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thing you can do is buy my book,

which is available on Amazon and

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will be linked in the show notes.

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And perhaps also join the free Facebook

group as well because you can get

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lots of support and advice in there.

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You can ask me questions and of

course you can email me as well.

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If you want to ask things, um, for the

services that I've mentioned, which

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are all based on supporting you with

selling your products on Amazon, you

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can find out more details on all of

those and book them on my website,

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which is linked in the show notes.

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And I guess to end, I just want to

say, I'm really glad that you're here.

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Um, I have some really great

episodes already recorded

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to share with you this year.

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I've actually recorded episodes

up to the end of March now,

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which is crazy, isn't it?

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And I have so much in the pipeline

that i'm really excited to share

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with you including some catch

ups with previous podcast guests

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to find out where they are now.

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I'm super excited in some cases.

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I know in some cases.

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I don't know.

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I can't wait to find out.

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And the final thing is, if you

enjoyed this podcast, you can now

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leave a one off tip for any amount

to help me continue sending you

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this podcast for free every week.

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Um, absolutely no obligation of

course, but if you did want to

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leave a tip of any amount at all,

you can do that via the show notes.

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But of course, um, you can always

continue listening for free.

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I really value you listening.

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I'm so excited that you're here.

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Uh, thank you.

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And yeah, here's to another great year.

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Thank you so much for listening

right to the end of this episode.

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Do remember that you can get the

full back catalogue and lots of free

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resources on my website, vickiweinberg.

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com.

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Please do remember to rate and review

this episode if you've enjoyed it

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and also share it with a friend

who you think might find it useful.

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Thank you again and see you next week.