In this week’s episode, I share the ways that I can support you and your small business.
I specialise in promoting small businesses on Amazon. I know Amazon is not for everyone. So I wanted to share why I work on this platform, and the advantages I believe it offers small businesses. I am not affiliated in any way with Amazon, these are just my honest, professional opinions.
Listen in to hear me share:
- An introduction to the topic (00:39)
- Why Amazon is a good opportunity for your small business (02:02)
- The advantages of selling on Amazon vs your own website (04:10)
- How using Amazon FBA can save you time and space! (05:24)
- How Amazon can give you an easy global reach (06:15)
- My strategy sessions (08:17)
- Getting in touch with me (09:44)
USEFUL RESOURCES:
Is Amazon Right For You? Mini Strategy Session
LET’S CONNECT
Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators
Transcript
Welcome to the Bring Your Product Ideas to Life podcast, practical advice
Speaker:and inspiration to help you create and sell your own physical products.
Speaker:Here's your host, Vicki Weinberg.
Vicki Weinberg:Hi.
Vicki Weinberg:So today I wanted to record a quick episode, um, to talk about
Vicki Weinberg:something that I've been thinking about sharing for a while now.
Vicki Weinberg:So you might have thought in the past perhaps, um, about working
Vicki Weinberg:with me, and if you haven't by the way, that's absolutely fine.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and as you might know, I can help you with creating your product to
Vicki Weinberg:sell, in all aspects of that, and also about selling your product on Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, however, I do know that lots of people aren't keen on Amazon, particularly
Vicki Weinberg:for those who support small businesses.
Vicki Weinberg:And in the past I've had people not want to work with me or decline invitations
Vicki Weinberg:to come onto this podcast because of the fact that I help people sell on Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:First of all, I want to say, this is okay.
Vicki Weinberg:Genuinely I'm not offended.
Vicki Weinberg:And I do agree that if something goes against your principles,
Vicki Weinberg:then you shouldn't do it.
Vicki Weinberg:I mean, I do exactly the same with other things, so I do completely understand.
Vicki Weinberg:So if you've been thinking of working with me, you might actually be put off
Vicki Weinberg:by the fact that I work with Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:Well, not with them as such.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, Amazon is a platform that I'm extremely familiar with and I support
Vicki Weinberg:people to get started and grow on it, mainly because I have so many years
Vicki Weinberg:of experience working on Amazon and it is not the easiest of marketplaces.
Vicki Weinberg:I know it's not.
Vicki Weinberg:But I also know that for me, something that might take someone else half an
Vicki Weinberg:hour, I can sometimes do in five minutes.
Vicki Weinberg:So I do believe that what I offer is a really valuable service.
Vicki Weinberg:But the thing is I also support small businesses.
Vicki Weinberg:I also shop for small businesses, and I don't think these two
Vicki Weinberg:things are necessarily exclusive.
Vicki Weinberg:I still think that for some products and some businesses, and I say some because I
Vicki Weinberg:don't think this is the same for everyone.
Vicki Weinberg:Amazon offers a really good opportunity.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, for example, loads and loads of people shop there.
Vicki Weinberg:You possibly shop there yourself.
Vicki Weinberg:In fact, I'm, I'm thinking lots of us probably do.
Vicki Weinberg:I certainly do, um, because people trust Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:Uh, you know, it's a trusted platform probably, you know, you might have
Vicki Weinberg:your card details saved on there already, which makes it really, really
Vicki Weinberg:quick and easy to make a purchase in just a click or a couple of clicks.
Vicki Weinberg:Very few of us want to put our details into a random website and
Vicki Weinberg:one that, you know, we don't know.
Vicki Weinberg:So you might come across a small brand, for example, and think I'd love to buy
Vicki Weinberg:from them, but is this website secure?
Vicki Weinberg:Is there a padlock?
Vicki Weinberg:I haven't heard from them?
Vicki Weinberg:Will it come?
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I actually had a really bad experience just before Christmas buying
Vicki Weinberg:from a website that I'd never heard of.
Vicki Weinberg:And I have to say it has put me off a little bit.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, basically what happened in case you're interested is I ordered something
Vicki Weinberg:and it did turn up okay, which was good.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, but then it was broken and I contacted them and I didn't get
Vicki Weinberg:a refund, I didn't get a reply.
Vicki Weinberg:They told me they were going to send me a re um, a replacement.
Vicki Weinberg:They haven't.
Vicki Weinberg:And in the end, luckily I paid via PayPal when I was able to go
Vicki Weinberg:through PayPal to get a refund.
Vicki Weinberg:You know, I submitted everything, all the pictures that I'd sent
Vicki Weinberg:to the, the um, brand, I sent them to the, directly to PayPal.
Vicki Weinberg:And they said, yes, it doesn't sound right.
Vicki Weinberg:And they just gave me my money straight back, which was brilliant.
Vicki Weinberg:But as you can imagine, it's a little bit of stress and um, you
Vicki Weinberg:just, something you just don't need.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and it has put me off shopping with websites that I've never heard of.
Vicki Weinberg:But for most of us, Amazon feels really secure.
Vicki Weinberg:Most products will be delivered the next day.
Vicki Weinberg:If you do have an issue, it's super easy to get a refund or to return the
Vicki Weinberg:item, you know, so, so for lots of reasons, you know, people shop there.
Vicki Weinberg:I have to say as well, as an aside, if I did want to shop from a small
Vicki Weinberg:brand now and I couldn't find them on Amazon, um, I would also look on Etsy.
Vicki Weinberg:Because Etsy is obviously a great marketplace for, for small brands, so
Vicki Weinberg:just putting that out there as well.
Vicki Weinberg:Amazon is certainly not the only place that I would shop with small
Vicki Weinberg:businesses or that I would suggest that small businesses list their products.
Vicki Weinberg:And selling on Amazon isn't the same as trying to get people over to your
Vicki Weinberg:website in a good way, in my opinion.
Vicki Weinberg:Because if your product is what people are looking for, it can be a lot easier
Vicki Weinberg:to convert them into buyers than on Google, for example, as they are usually
Vicki Weinberg:on Amazon to shop in the first place.
Vicki Weinberg:So yes there is some SEO involved in getting it right.
Vicki Weinberg:So I've spoken so many times about how if you decide to list your products on
Vicki Weinberg:Amazon, you really need to do it well.
Vicki Weinberg:You need to have a great product listing.
Vicki Weinberg:You need to have fantastic images.
Vicki Weinberg:And importantly, you need to make sure your listing contains all
Vicki Weinberg:of the terms that people will be searching for if they're looking
Vicki Weinberg:for a product like yours on Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:And of course, once people are on Amazon, there are tools and strategies
Vicki Weinberg:you can use to help traffic to your listing, for example, paying for traffic.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, this isn't what this episode is about, but I will say, um, because I've said
Vicki Weinberg:this before, I might as well say it again.
Vicki Weinberg:If you decide to list your products on Amazon, you will need to do something
Vicki Weinberg:to get people over your listing.
Vicki Weinberg:It honestly isn't enough just to get your, a great listing put up there.
Vicki Weinberg:You do have to do more.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, that's completely off topic.
Vicki Weinberg:However, I don't, I feel it's worth mentioning because I say it all the
Vicki Weinberg:time and I feel like it's one of those things I just can't say enough.
Vicki Weinberg:So also if you decide to sell on Amazon, you can use Amazon fba, so fulfilled
Vicki Weinberg:by Amazon, which means that you can offer prime delivery to customers, which
Vicki Weinberg:means that Amazon can store your product and ship it out for you, and they can
Vicki Weinberg:most likely pack and dispatch orders faster than you can if you even want to.
Vicki Weinberg:All be it at a bit of a cost.
Vicki Weinberg:It means that delivery and even returns are pretty easy
Vicki Weinberg:and quick for the customer.
Vicki Weinberg:There's no arguing if they want to send something back.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, you might remember on a podcast episode last year, um, Cara spoke
Vicki Weinberg:about making the buying experience as easy as possible for the customer.
Vicki Weinberg:And I'll be honest, I couldn't really agree more.
Vicki Weinberg:Yet it'll cost you as a seller a little bit more to you to be fullfield by
Vicki Weinberg:Amazon, but it might be worth it if it helps customers buy from you and of
Vicki Weinberg:course if you've got the margin to do so.
Vicki Weinberg:Because I fully appreciate that um, not everyone will.
Vicki Weinberg:And finally you can sell globally.
Vicki Weinberg:So there are Amazon marketplaces all over the world.
Vicki Weinberg:I think I counted 18 at the last count, but I actually think it might be 19 now.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, it grows really fast.
Vicki Weinberg:So there were plenty of opportunities for expansion.
Vicki Weinberg:I always suggest starting off selling in your own country, or at least only in one
Vicki Weinberg:marketplace, which ever one you choose as that makes the logistics a bit simpler.
Vicki Weinberg:And then once things are up and running, you can look at expanding.
Vicki Weinberg:Now when Amazon, um, just as an aside, it's much easier to sell in Europe,
Vicki Weinberg:for example, without paying all the duties because there are sort of
Vicki Weinberg:things you can do within Amazon to keep all your stock in the UK and, and
Vicki Weinberg:fulfill European orders using that.
Vicki Weinberg:And, um, it gets around lots of the paperwork and the fees that are, that are
Vicki Weinberg:needed, if you were going to send your product in bulk to Europe, for example.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, again, that's an aside.
Vicki Weinberg:If you want to talk to me about that in more detail, you can just get in touch.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, but yeah, that's just a little bit about why I think for some
Vicki Weinberg:companies and some products, Amazon is a great opportunity.
Vicki Weinberg:As I said before, I don't think it's right for everyone, and I would
Vicki Weinberg:never, ever try and talk you into it.
Vicki Weinberg:In fact, if I'm honest, I'm more likely to try and talk you out of
Vicki Weinberg:it because I'm nice and I'm polite.
Vicki Weinberg:Ultimately, I want you to succeed, and if I don't think Amazon is the
Vicki Weinberg:right place for you or your product, I will politely tell you that, and I
Vicki Weinberg:will tell you the reasons why, because as I've said before, It's not an
Vicki Weinberg:easy marketplace to get started on.
Vicki Weinberg:A lot of work goes into it.
Vicki Weinberg:You're going to have to spend some time or some money, or possibly
Vicki Weinberg:both to do it really well.
Vicki Weinberg:And I wouldn't want to suggest that you do that unless I thought
Vicki Weinberg:there was a, you know, you had a really good chance of succeeding
Vicki Weinberg:and, and of your product selling.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I should say again, that doesn't, you know, that does take time and money.
Vicki Weinberg:And you're not going to do amazingly well overnight.
Vicki Weinberg:Some people do, but fewer and fewer.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, I have lots of episodes on selling on Amazon, and you can listen to all
Vicki Weinberg:my reasons for this over there, so I won't sort of say everything again here.
Vicki Weinberg:What I will say is I do offer a strategy session where I can research whether
Vicki Weinberg:there's a market for a product like yours on Amazon, and I will share that with you.
Vicki Weinberg:And I would also.
Vicki Weinberg:If I feel like there is potential for your product on Amazon, exactly what's involved
Vicki Weinberg:in setting up launching your product on Amazon and how to do it really well.
Vicki Weinberg:Of course that means that you could spend a few hundred pounds with me
Vicki Weinberg:to find out that actually I say I don't recommend you doing it, but I
Vicki Weinberg:still think that's much better than spending a lot more money plus a lot
Vicki Weinberg:of time finding this out after you've done all the hard work getting set up.
Vicki Weinberg:So what I mean here is I don't want you, you know, spend all that time and effort
Vicki Weinberg:getting set up on Amazon and then just finding, actually I'm not making any
Vicki Weinberg:sales and it's because this marketplace is completely saturated, or because
Vicki Weinberg:there's another seller who's been on there for 10 years and you know, they're
Vicki Weinberg:just getting 99% of the sales for that particular niche or wherever it is.
Vicki Weinberg:So ultimately, I guess I see my goal as helping you to understand
Vicki Weinberg:whether Amazon might work for you.
Vicki Weinberg:Making it clear what's involved, simplifying it as much as possible
Vicki Weinberg:because it isn't simple, and then helping you either to get started selling on
Vicki Weinberg:Amazon or to optimize what you have on Amazon already to sell even more.
Vicki Weinberg:So, in other words, I'm not here to tell anyone including you that
Vicki Weinberg:you should be selling on Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:But if you want to sell, if you want to sell on Amazon or you want to even think
Vicki Weinberg:about, okay, could this be an opportunity for me, you know where to come for help.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, you can go to my website, which is vicki weinberg.com.
Vicki Weinberg:You can send me an email, which is vicki @vicki weinberg.com.
Vicki Weinberg:That's Vicki with an I.
Vicki Weinberg:You can find me Instagram.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, you can find me everywhere.
Vicki Weinberg:And the links to contact me as always will be in the show notes for this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:So I appreciate this is a very short episode.
Vicki Weinberg:They can't all be long, can they?
Vicki Weinberg:Um, and it's only so long I'm sure you want to hear my voice for, but
Vicki Weinberg:I did think this was a useful one to record because I, I do know, I am aware
Vicki Weinberg:that sometimes people go, oh, well I'd quite like to work with her, but
Vicki Weinberg:then again, she does work with Amazon.
Vicki Weinberg:Um, just to reiterate, I'm not affiliated with them in any way.
Vicki Weinberg:The way I see it is if this is something that you are interested in, um, I
Vicki Weinberg:have a lot of experience and I can often do things quicker and simpler
Vicki Weinberg:than it would be for you to figure it yourself, um, it's the way I see it.
Vicki Weinberg:I'm just offering a service, and if you're interested, then that's brilliant.
Vicki Weinberg:And if you decide, you know what, Amazon isn't for me for whatever
Vicki Weinberg:reason, that's great too, because as I say, it definitely isn't going
Vicki Weinberg:to be the right place for everyone.
Vicki Weinberg:So thank you so much.
Vicki Weinberg:s is my first solo episode of:Vicki Weinberg:If there is anything in particular you'd like me to cover, any questions
Vicki Weinberg:you have for me, um, as always, you can just send them over and,
Vicki Weinberg:um, yeah, that would be great.
Vicki Weinberg:I always love to know what you would like to hear me talking about.
Vicki Weinberg:So I'm going to close out this very short episode now and, um, I will
Vicki Weinberg:speak to you again in a few weeks.
Vicki Weinberg:Thank you so much for listening right to the end of this episode.
Vicki Weinberg:Do remember that you can get the full back catalogues and lots of free resources
Vicki Weinberg:on my website, vicki weinberg.com.
Vicki Weinberg:Please do remember to rate and review this episode if you've enjoyed it,
Vicki Weinberg:and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful.