the amazon profit plan · p2 © step 1: product research firstly, download the research...

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© www.MySecretHandbook.com

Introduction

In this Handbook, I’m going to show you how to build your own brands and products leveraging

the power of the world’s biggest buyers’ engine… the $100 BILLION global juggernaut that is

Amazon.

This is suitable for newbies and experts alike, can be scaled to big numbers will no experience,

can be run from anywhere in the world and is also rewarding and enjoyable to do.

You can leverage this information, no matter what you are doing right now to either build up

a new business from scratch, or increase the profits and create additional assets in an

existing business.

For instance, if you are selling digital products in say, the weight loss business, you can use this

information to create additional physical products (assets) in the same niche and market them to

your existing user base. Of course, you can also market your existing digital products to your new

user-base that will be generated from sales of your physical products.

There are 10 Steps to follow in this Handbook which will show you how to get your first product

up, running and selling on Amazon.

Then I will be soon releasing “Part 2”, which will focus on how to promote your products. Let’s get

started with Step 1…

http://www.mysecrethandbook.com/

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STEP 1: Product Research

Firstly, download the research spreadsheet provided in the member’s area so you can begin

adding in potential products and data.

Download the spreadsheet from here

To begin, you will need to decide if you will sell your physical product on the:

Amazon.com marketplace (US) or...

Amazon.co.uk marketplace (UK) or...

An Amazon marketplace for another country (Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain

and so on).

Amazon US is preferable because of the larger traffic volume and potential. However, if you lived

in the UK for instance and wanted to sell on Amazon.co.uk that is fine.

Once the above is decided, you will need to start your research to find product types that are

PROVEN to sell well on the Amazon marketplace.


https://s3.amazonaws.com/deltaproject/spreadsheet.zip

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Your aim here is to create a list of 30 or 40 products ideas.

To make things as easy and fast as possible, for your first product, you are not looking for anything

ground breaking or truly unique. You are looking for a proven seller initially so you can learn the

process and move ahead quickly. Think well, but don't dwell. More detailed research will come

later on.

Just get an initial list together for now and add your product ideas into the spreadsheet in the

‘Amazon Products’ tab, within the ‘product description’ column.

When you are looking for products ideas, use this initial set of criteria:

AVOID these types of products:

Products that appear to be selling for under $10 across the board (we will come back to price

in a moment, but use this criteria for now). NOTE: think about multi-pack possibilities though.

ie. 3 pencils may sell for $1. However, a pack of 50 could sell for $30)

Products within categories where you need Amazon approval prior to selling.

(A list of those can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14113001)

All types of products that use electronics.

Big/heavy products that would be expensive to ship.

Products where you would need to offer many sizes, colours or other variations.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=14113001

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Products which would need to be assembled by the customer.

Instead, look for products that:

Are simple and uncomplex in structure.

Are light in weight.

Are not too bulky.

Would be inexpensive to manufacture (Use common sense.... Plastic Cups: Inexpensive.

Tennis Ball Machines: Expensive).

Would be easy to 'Private label' (ie. Would it be feasible to put your brand name on the actual

product and/or the packaging?)

Are in markets where buyers would also be interested in other product types. (For example:

Golf. Someone buying Golf Tees would also be interested in golf balls, golf gloves, golf hats

and so on.)

Here are some examples of GOOD product ideas.

(for the reasons that I list above)

Baby Bottles

Running Belts

Jump Ropes

Gym Chalk

Exercise Discs

Golf Tees

Hand towels


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Reflective vest (for running)

Business card holder

Kick mats for car seats

Stainless Steel Kids drinking cups

Running Gloves

Yarn

Copper Mugs

Vinyl Sheets

And here are some examples of BAD product ideas:

Dog beds (Too large to ship. Dogs also come in different sizes. Woof.)

Car Seat (Too big. Would need liability insurance possibly)

Home Cinema System (Too big. Electronics category which is restricted)

Socks (Would need to offer many size and colour options. Clothing category is also

restricted)

Weight Lifting Equipment (too heavy, clearly)

Here are 3 methods to find product ideas:

Method 1: Go to the Amazon website that you wish to sell on and locate the 'best sellers' page.

Products that are found on these pages obviously sell well. You can search through main

categories and sub-categories looking for ideas. The best seller’s pages are located here:


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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Sellers-Welcome/zgbs/ in the UK

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Welcome/zgbs/ in the US

Method 2: Do some general browsing in the main Amazon directory which you can locate by

clicking the drop down link called 'shop by department' located at the top left of the Amazon home

page and selecting 'full directory' which is the bottom link on the list.

Method 3: Once you have found some initial ideas for general markets and products, go to

Amazon's search bar and type in the main broad keyword for the market to generate additional

product ideas.

For instance, if you had yoga mats as a product idea, by typing in 'Yoga', Amazon will start to auto-

complete with product suggestions based on search popularity. In the case of 'yoga', you can see

some ideas that could be looked into in the image below, namely Yoga Socks, Yoga Block ...and so

on.

See the image on the next page which helps explain methods 2 and 3…


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Sellers-Welcome/zgbs/

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-

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STEP 2: Test Product Viability

After creating a list of initial product ideas, you will now need to do some additional checks to

assess viability. Namely:

Buyer volume

Seller competition

Product Price

General traffic volume

Facebook Reach

First, identify the Main Product Keyword:

Before you can begin your assessment, you will need to work out what the main keyword is for

each of your product ideas. It's usually simple to work out. Just imagine what people would search

for.

The main product keywords for Yoga Mats and Golf balls would simply be 'Yoga Mats' and 'Golf

balls'. However, if you identified a product such as in the image below, the main keyword would not

be 'Tritan Bottle', as that is a brand name.

The product is a water bottle, so the keyword would simply be 'water bottles'.


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Once you have identified the main keywords for your product ideas, add them into the

spreadsheet (in column B) and move onto the tasks below.

To avoid repeating myself, add in all the below information into the spreadsheet too. All the

columns are labelled so it will be obvious where the information needs to go.

1. Gauge Buyer Volume:

To check buyer volume, you will need to assess the BSR (best seller rank) of the top ranking

products that appear when you search Amazon for your main product keyword. (ie. Yoga mats,

golf tees etc)

If the BSR's are HIGH, this indicates that the buyer volume is likely LOW, so it won't be worth


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moving ahead with a product as you won't be selling much, even if you hit the top rankings.

Do the following: Type the main product keyword for each product idea into Amazon's search bar,

making sure you have 'All departments' selected.

When the search results appear, make sure 3 out of the TOP 5 listed products have a BSR of

5000 or under for the top level category that the product is listed in. You will have to click through

to each product page and scroll down to find the BSR number. See the image below on how to

find it.


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2. Determine Seller Competition:

If the BSR numbers are viable, you can then move on to assess seller competition.

At a high level, seller competition can be determined by the number of reviews the top ranked

products have.

This is because generally speaking, the more (positive) reviews a product has, the higher Amazon

will rank it and the more difficult it will be to beat it in the search results.

If you are competing against 3 products all of which have 1000+ reviews, then you are going to

need to sell thousands of products to get as many reviews. It's going to take far too long to get

rankings. Make sure all of the top 3 products that appear in the results each have MORE than 30

reviews but LESS than 500 reviews (although if one has 28... or 510 then ok, let's not nit pick)

3. Assess Product Price:

For each product type that passes the Buyer Volume and Seller Competition criteria, you can then

assess the product price.

Make sure the top 3 products listed are all priced over $10 but under $75 (or the equivalent in


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your currency). Look at the 'sale price' if the product is on sale, not the crossed out 'non-sale'

price. (almost all products on Amazon are ‘on sale’ all the time!). Remember also what I said a few

pages back – also think about multi-pack possibilities though. ie. 3 pencils may sell for $1.

However, a pack of 50 could sell for $30)

Recommendation:

There is a great tool called ASINspector which will really help with this part of the research. Rather

than click through to each individual product listing to check BSR’s and other information, you

simply click a button when you are on any Amazon search results page and it will give you all the

information you need in one easy to understand snapshot.

In addition to this, it also gives you the estimated amount of revenue a product is generating on a

monthly basis which can be extremely useful.

Check out the example screenshot below…


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You can find out more about ASINspector here >>> http://www.asinspectors.com


http://www.asinspectors.com/

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4. Check Traffic Volume:

In some ways, using the revenue estimator feature on Asinspector could actually replace the

general traffic research as revenue volume is a good indicator of traffic volume. Having said that, it

is probably a good idea to also complete the below research as well.

So to assess general traffic volume, either use www.MerchantWords.com or Google's Keyword

Planner tool (or both). You want to see a volume of at least 5,000 monthly searches in Google and

more than 20,000 in Merchant Words. (I base this on the typical volume range you generally get

back from these tools. Just trust me on the numbers.)

For Keyword Planner, go to: https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner, type in your keyword

and select the parameters as laid out in the image on the left below. Then go to the keyword ideas

tab (view the image on the right) to see the volume for specific keywords.


http://www.merchantwords.com/

https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

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If you want to use Merchant Words, which is an excellent (paid) tool that estimates actual traffic on

Amazon itself, type in the main keyword, search, then sort by volume. Click the link below to

access a big discount that I organized a while back. (I don’t get any commission per sale, just so

you know)


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https://www.merchantwords.com/projectdelta

During this process you may also find related keywords or other product ideas which also have

good traffic volume. (note: 'Yoga Mat Bag' in the image below) That is a good thing. Note down and

also do the full research on those products too.

Add the traffic data into your spreadsheet.


https://www.merchantwords.com/projectdelta

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5. Test The Potential Facebook Audience:

Next, you will need to make sure that there is a targeted Facebook audience that you could market

the product to. The audience needs to be at least 150,000 people. Preferably it should be more

than that.

Set up a Facebook account if you don't have one already.

Once you have the account set up, (or when you are in your existing account) go to the 'create

ads' link via the drop down to the top right of the page:

Then select the 'Send people to your website' ad creation option. Then do the following (also refer

to the image further below):

Enter the country where your Amazon product will be selling. US, UK etc.

For the age range and gender, think about who would be buying this particular product. If the


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product was surfboard covers with a skull and cross bones graphic, it would be a safe guess

to assume the audience would probably be males between the ages of 20 and 40. For anti-

ageing face cream, maybe females between the ages of 35 and 50. For water bottles for

sports, gender would be ‘All’ and the age could be 20 to 50. You get the idea. If it is not totally

obvious, then leave gender as 'All' and set the age range to be between 25 and 60.

(Note: there is a way to determine interests per gender using Facebook 'Audience Insights',

however, we don't really want to get too deep into that at this point. We are still at the initial

research phase, so the above is sufficient.)

There are a couple of methods to assess what the size of the audience will be for a particular

product. Which one you use depends on the product you are doing research for.

Method 1: Type in the broad market keyword (NOT the main product keyword) into the

'interests' area to see how many people on Facebook have tagged this area as an interest of theirs.

For instance:

For Yoga Mats you would type in 'Yoga'

For Golf Balls you would type in 'Golf'

See the image below as a guide:


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In some cases, you may need to be more specific. If say, you were doing research for a dog collar

specifically for Labradors, you would not type in 'dog' as the collar is not for all dogs. In this

instance, you would type in 'Labradors'.


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Method 2: Alternatively, you may need to use the 'More Demographics' option to find your

audience. The reason why is because if you are trying to gauge the size of an audience of people

interested in say, 'Hooded towels for babies' clearly hooded towels is not going to be something

that people will list as an actual 'interest' on Facebook. Nor would 'babies'. I suppose people could

'like' babies, but these people are most likely to have never experienced having one! - and are

therefore not your audience.

Instead, you would find this audience by selecting:

Browse > Demographics > Parents > All Parents > (01 – 02 Years) Parents with Toddlers

Browse > Demographics > Parents > All Parents > (0 – 12 Months) New Parents

Parents with a child from 0-2yrs would be the audience for this particular product. They are the

most likely audience to be interested buying in 'Hooded towels for babies' as they would be using

one on a daily basis at bath time.

See the image below…


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Depending on the market and product type you are researching for, you will simply need to use

your initiative to find your audience in this way. Facebook offers many options for finding them

using the ‘Browse’ feature.


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Note down the size of the potential Facebook audience for each product in your spreadsheet as

you will need this number when you are deciding which product to move forward with.

6. Refine and Confirm Your Product List

To start, you should have had a list of 30 to 40 product ideas.

However, after putting each product through the above stages of research and adding all the data

into the spreadsheet to discover which products are viable, you can now refine this list down to

maybe 5 or 10 potential products which hit all the criteria.

You can now take this refined list and move onto the next stage.

An important general note about product selection and competition:

Don't stress too much about the potential competition and whether there are known brands selling

the same type of product. The reality is you can get instant traffic from Facebook as soon as you

launch. You will have no problem in getting exposure.

It is MUCH more important to focus on the viability of the product in terms of buyer volume,

potential audience, longevity of product and product line expansion potential.


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Remember you do not need to be selling some advanced breakthrough product to make money

on Amazon. People literally make hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars per year selling

the simplest products imaginable. Stuff like dish clothes, wooden spoons, plastic plates and so on.

Don't think ‘breakthrough’ for your first product. Think Simple. Think Proven. Like I said earlier, you

can always do something more innovative later on.


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STEP 3: Test Product Profitability

You should now have your list of viable products. Next, you will need to determine which ones

could be the most profitable on Amazon. You will need to:

1. Check that there are suppliers for each product

2. Find out roughly what the cost per product unit will be

We will delve deeper into choosing suppliers in a moment. For now, follow these steps:

Go to www.Alibaba.com and type the name of the product into the search bar. Find two or

three relevant suppliers and see roughly how much you will be able to buy each product unit

for (/Piece). Don't worry about 'minimum order' numbers or 'FOB' (free on board) or anything

else at this stage, just look at the unit prices which are displayed like this:

US $7-11.8 /Piece( FOB Price)

Once you determine what each individual product will likely cost, go to

https://salecalc.com/amazon. Now bear in mind you are going to be pricing your product

slightly higher than your competitors', and as such make more profit than them for each sale.

Open your spreadsheet again, look at the top 3 ranked products for each product idea and

locate the most expensive of the three, then add 50% to the price. For example, If the most

expensive product is $15, add 50% ($7.50) so it will be $22.50.


http://www.alibaba.com/

https://salecalc.com/amazon

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Add this information into the calculator as shown below, along with the other relevant

information and make sure that you are clearing at least $10 profit per item you sell. Here is

an example for 'yoga mats':


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In the above example, I have done the following:

I looked at the most expensive Yoga mat in the top 3 ranked products which was $20. I added

50% which works out at $30 and added that price into the calculator.

I then estimated the weight of the product by looking at the product details of other yoga mat

listings on Amazon. If you can't find this information, then look at listings in other online stores

selling a similar product.

I set the shipping method as 'domestic one day'.

The Shipping price is what it costs to send the product from Amazon to the customer. I

usually put $3 here as default. It is better to overestimate.

I am a PRO merchant so I've ticked that box. (You will be too, so also tick it)

To work out the cost to acquire each individual item, I looked at the top 3 suppliers in Alibaba

and worked out an average cost per yoga mat of $9.

The 'Cost to ship' is what each individual unit would cost to get to Amazon's warehouse from

the manufacturer in China (or wherever your supplier is located). For instance, if the total cost

to ship 100 yoga mats was $200, the cost to ship each unit works out as $2.


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As you can see, the net profit to me after Amazon fees, would be $17.05. Which is above the $10+

profit threshold that we are ideally looking for.

Therefore, this product passes the initial profitability test.

You will need to do this for all the remaining products you have in your spreadsheet. Archive any

product that does not pass this profitability test.

STEP 4: Select Your Top 3 Products

At this point you should have a good idea of which products on your spreadsheet have the most

potential. It should be clear by looking at the traffic data, audience size, potential profit per unit sold

and so on.

You are now going to need to pick out your top 3 product choices to move forward with for

the remaining parts of the research.

Don't discard your other product possibilities, keep them all safe.


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STEP 5: Find Suppliers

Next, you will need to delve a little deeper into finding suppliers who manufacture these 3

products.

Firstly, do a Google search and try and find a supplier in the country where you will be

selling the product on Amazon. Even if you have to pay a little more, dealing with a local supplier

will, in most cases, be easier. Even if you make $3 profit less per item sold, it could still be worth

doing.

There could also be a USP (unique selling point) if you can say that your product is manufactured

in the country that you are selling and marketing it in. Obviously for an item like plastic spoons, it

won’t make a difference, but for some other types of product, it could be an advantage.

To do this, just type into Google 'Yoga Mat manufacturer USA' or 'Yoga Mat manufacturer

Germany' or whatever your country is.

Out of interest I just did a search for 'Yoga Mat manufacturer Germany' as a random example, and

in fact there is one: http://www.yogamatsandmore.eu . I didn't look into costs, but my point is, local

suppliers are out there.


http://www.yogamatsandmore.eu/

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Having said this, the reality is, that in the majority of cases you will have to go to a supplier in the

far east. That is totally fine.

Here are the steps to take:

Go to www.Alibaba.com and sign up for an account.

Type your main product keyword (yoga mats, dog collars etc) into the search bar and see

what suppliers appear.

Only look at Gold suppliers of 2 years or more, who have had: an on site check, have been

assessed and have trade assurance. You can use the filters at the top of the page to only

show these suppliers. Also look at the 'response rate'. If it is low, under 70%, I would avoid

that particular supplier as it could be a sign of bad communication. Good communication is

key.


http://www.alibaba.com/

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Identify three suppliers for each of your top three products who look to be credible and

organized and whose products look to be of a decent quality. Do they have lots of images of

the product? detailed descriptions and specifications? photos of their workshops and offices

on their Alibaba page?

It is also best to deal with suppliers who specialize in one type of product (or a small number

of products in the same category). You want to avoid suppliers who have a huge range of


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different types of product as they may be wholesalers rather than the actual manufacturer of

the products. For instance, if one of your potential products is microfiber towels, you would

want to deal with a company like this who only do towels. http://bolitextile.en.alibaba.com

rather than a company like this http://tangju.en.alibaba.com who deal with all sorts of different

products.

Note down the Alibaba URL's of these suppliers in the 'Suppliers' tab in the research

spreadsheet. Also add in the stated MOQ (minimum order quantity) which can be negotiated

(so don’t panic) as well as the price of the product.

The next stage is to send each supplier a polite and clear email saying that you are considering

going into the market and asking something along the lines of the following: (again, I'm using the

Yoga mat example)

“Hello,

We have a popular sports goods ecommerce business in the US and are currently looking to

expanding into Yoga related products.

I was looking at the yoga mats you have displayed on Alibaba and I have a few questions:

(I am specifically looking at the black nylon mat 180cm x 90xm)


http://bolitextile.en.alibaba.com/

http://tangju.en.alibaba.com/

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Would you be able to add our brand name onto the yoga mat itself? Do you supply packaging? If

so, are you able to add our brand logo onto the packaging? If you do not do packaging, do you

know a company who does?

Would it be possible to send us samples? If so, could you let me know the costs and how long it

would take to be shipped to the US? (We would be looking to order samples ASAP)

I see your minimum order is stated as being 500 units. I have no doubt that we will be able to good

volume on yoga mats, however, until we know that an actual mat style will prove popular and sell,

500 is quite a lot of inventory to order up front. Would it be possible for our initial order to be

between 50 to 100 units? Subsequent orders would be a larger volume. If this is acceptable, would

you be able to give me a rough idea of how much an order of say 100 units would cost to

manufacture and then ship to mainland USA.

If we were to order 100 products initially in one style, with our brand logo on each mat, what would

the lead time on that order be?

Thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Your Name


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Of course, you will need to adjust the above based on the product, where you are shipping to and

so on, but the sample email gives you a good idea on what questions you need to be asking.

Send an email to each of the 3 suppliers you have found for each of your top 3 products. You will

be sending emails to 9 suppliers in total. If they don't reply within 2 days send a follow up email. If

they don't reply after another 2 days, move on.

Once you receive the information and numbers back, run them through the sales calculator again

to make sure you are going to be making a profit when selling the product on Amazon. Then add

the details into the spreadsheet (in the notes column of the suppliers’ tab).

One final note. Giving a supplier your direct email address is fine. Most will ask for it. However, I

would not give them your Skype details or phone number at this stage, in case you decide not to

move ahead with them. Nothing will “happen”, but Chinese sales agents tend to be quite pushy,

and you do not want to get pestered. Emails are easy to ignore.

Alibaba Buying Requests

Another option to find suppliers is to submit a “buying request” which you can do from within your

account. To find the link to this section, see the image on the next page.

In this instance, what you do is post a request about what you are looking for and in what quantity,


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then this will be sent out within the Alibaba system and suppliers will get in touch with you if they

can provide what you are looking for. Essentially request exactly the same items as in the email,

but make it more ‘general’. I usually find that writing the request in short bullet points works well so

the request is fully understood. Like this…

- 500 pieces

- Made from carbon fiber

- Logo printed on product

- plastic packaging

…etc


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STEP 6: Select The Product to Move Ahead With

Once your suppliers have got back to you with information on price, minimum orders and so forth,

and you have assessed all the numbers, you will need to choose a physical product to move ahead

with.

The decision should be based on the potential profits, traffic, audience and competition on

Amazon.

It should be clear looking at your spreadsheet which is the best opportunity.

The next stages are these:

Order a product sample from your chosen supplier along with a sample of the packaging.

This will take a few days to arrive. (There is information about packaging further along)

Whilst you are waiting for it to arrive, start thinking about brand names and packaging.


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STEP 7: Branding & Packaging

The aim is to be a premium brand. Like I mentioned before, people will always pay MORE for

premium, even on Amazon. 'Premium' wins because of the increase in 'perceived value', even if

there may be no difference in the actual product itself.

I always think a good way to demonstrate this is with the jewelry market. Take two identical 3mm

wide wedding rings made in Platinum. One from ‘Tiffany’ and one from ‘Blue Nile’. The actual

product is (and really is) identical in EVERY way. However, look at the prices:

Tiffany can charge double for the same product and still outsell Blue Nile because there is a

perception that because *it's Tiffany* and because the product is more expensive, it must be


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superior, even though it isn't.

It's not just a price thing, of course. Much of it has to do with the power of the brand as well as with

the packaging.

I don't think Blue Nile would spend more than $5 on packaging and inserts. It'll just be a simple

standard box and bag.

But with Tiffany...

With all those outer Tiffany-blue boxes, inner boxes, inserts, bows, ribbons, bells, whistles, the

works... they probably spend $50 on packaging just for this simple ring. But then in terms of

profit for this particular sale, they STILL make three times more money than Blue Nile.

It's a totally different 'Experience' for the customer... it's the feel good factor, the special feeling

when you buy a premium product... and even more so when you give it to someone ...or if you

receive it. The feeling you have when you open it...and so on.

When you open a new Motorola or Blue Nile ring do you get the same feeling as when you are

opening your new Apple iPad or Tiffany ring? No.

The point is, this is not about product superiority, this is about people WANTING to pay for that

feeling. They WANT to pay premium. So premium is the playground where you need to play.


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Also remember that you will successfully kill your competitors because by charging more than they

do for a similar product, you are by default making their product seem inferior and sub-par. People

will (hopefully) think that there is something wrong with their product, and buy yours instead. That

is what tends to happen.

Just remember, never ever mix cheap prices with premium branding as it will make a potential

buyers suspicious and think something is wrong.

Here are the steps you need to take…

1. Brand Name Research

The aim here is to think of a premium brand name and matching domain which is related to your

chosen market.

It is preferable to have a one word .com domain (although two words is ok). Owning a brand name

with its matching one word .com domain name (ie. Apple | Apple.com) increases the perceived

credibility and trustworthiness of the brand. Not only will this help to increase conversions and

sales, it will also make marketing your products and services easier.

Of course, high quality one word .com generic domain names cost big money and I'm not


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suggesting you need to go out and buy yoga.com or dogcollars.com and so on. (unless you want

to pay these sort of prices: http://dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm ).

However, you can still register never-been-used high quality one word .com names for a $10 hand

registration fee. They may not be descriptive domains and directly relate to your market, but this

doesn't really matter...

If you think of some of the biggest brands in the world

like Apple, Coke, Virgin, Starbucks, Ikea, Reebok,

Adidas, Cisco, Unilever, Nestle and so on, do those

names any direct correlation with the products that

they sell?

Of course they are associated with certain product

types now, but originally? In most cases, no.

The other advantage about having a name that is not directly related to a specific product type

within a market is that you can venture into other markets under the same name and not have to

go through the whole process of finding and paying for new names, domains, registering

trademarks and so on.

It can be time consuming trying to find a decent one word .com name that is available to register

but it can be done.


http://dnjournal.com/ytd-sales-charts.htm

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I use this excellent free tool to generate one word names (and domains) for brands that I set up:

http://wordoid.com.

They are there for the picking. (Note: You can also use Wordoid to generate brandable .com

domains which can be bought for $10, then flipped on Flippa.com for between $50 to $100. I've

done that a few times) On the next page there is an image which shows you how to use Wordoid.


http://wordoid.com/

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Of course, you can use any name and domain you like. If you would prefer to use something more

descriptive like:

BillsBrands.com ...YogaFreaks.com ...ProSports.com …HeavenlyCosmetics.com ...Ma

xBurn.com

…then that's fine.

Once you have thought of two or three names ideas, check them against the US and UK/European

trademark databases to search for potential trademark conflicts.

If there looks to be any conflict, move onto a different name. You do not want any issues in this

area at all.

The US database is here: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4803:64z8jt.1.1

The UK/European database is here: https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmtext.htm

Once you have decided on a name...

1. Register a domain name for the brand.


http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4803:64z8jt.1.1

https://www.ipo.gov.uk/tmtext.htm

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2. Set up a Facebook fan page with your brand name. Go to:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/create and choose the 'brand or product' option.

(Instructions: https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/set-up-facebook-page/)

Important Note: I mention this a few times later on in the manual but wanted to make a separate

clear point about it in this section also. You need to try and keep your design style consistent

for all your products.

What I mean is when it comes to your product packaging design and product labels as well as your

website design, app design and Kindle cover, you need to try and keep the colors, fonts and

general feel of the designs as similar as possible. This will make it easier to build up a recognizable

brand. It will also help to make your marketing and promotional pieces more effective.

2. Create Your Logo

Once you are decided on your brand name and have registered the domain name, you will need to

create a logo.

All my logos are clean, crisp and word based and I generally use just one or two colors. Here is an

example of the type of logo I use. This is not a brand name of mine, I just made it up for the

purposes of an example and created this quickly in Photoshop.


https://www.facebook.com/pages/create

https://www.facebook.com/business/learn/set-up-facebook-page/

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My advice is to try and do your logo yourself and save money for inventory or other outsourcing

jobs.

In order to do this, I really recommend learning the basics of Adobe Photoshop.

You can get a 30 day free trial which for now is all you need (look for the TRY button on this page:

http://www.photoshop.com/products) and then if necessary pay a monthly fee thereafter, rather

than a lump sum.

I started to learn Photoshop about 12 months ago and I estimate that in this time, knowing the only

basics and being able to do my own (text based) logos and other non-complex design work has

saved me at least $20,000. If you would prefer not to do this, then outsource the creation of the

logo at either www.UPwork.com or www.99designs.com

If you want to try creating the logo yourself, do the following...


http://www.photoshop.com/products

http://www.upwork.com/

http://www.99designs.com/

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First, go to http://www.1001fonts.com and type your logo name into the search bar area which

says 'Your Text Here'. Hit return, and you will be able to see your brand name in hundreds of

different fonts. You can refine by font type at the top of the page.

See the image on the next page...

Choose, then download the font and install it

on your computer (Google search how to do

this).

Open your free trial of Photoshop (or if you

want, hire someone on Upwork to do the rest)

Create a 'new image', then hit the text button,

enter your brand name then adjust the

colours, font size and so on.

Crop the image, then save it as a .psd as well

as a .jpg file

On the next page is a simple image

demonstrating the basics of Photoshop.


http://www.1001fonts.com/

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3. Design and Organize Your Packaging

It is absolutely essential to have fantastic packaging because it will:

Increase the perceived value of the product you are selling.

Allow you to be able to charge more money for your product.

Boost conversions

...and therefore increase your profits.

For your first product try and have the packaging created/organized by the supplier. Your supplier

may not be an expert in packaging, however the likelihood is they will have some standard

packaging you can use, and if not, will probably know a packaging company in a nearby factory

who can deal with this.

You can always look into improving the packaging at a later date when your product has started

making sales and you are looking into your second (or perhaps third) inventory order.

What you want to do, is to keep your packaging simple to save money and to avoid production

and quality issues as well as delays. It depends on the product you are selling, but most of the

time, simplicity is more effective anyway.


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Look at Apple's packaging. It's super simple, but

arguably the best packaging in the world ...so good

in fact, that most people can't bring themselves to

throw it away. Their packaging is almost a product

in itself.

I do what Apple does and stay simple and smart

(which is why I have a preference for simple, clean

text-based logos).

I would choose a plain colour for the box, carton or whatever packaging is being used, then have

your text-based logo on the packaging, and that is it. (Look at the iPad Air text on the product

image featured above. Conclusive proof that this method is totally sufficient when done right)

In order for your packaging to stand out, I would request a very light coloured packaging with your

logo in a dark color (like Apple)... or the opposite – a dark coloured box with a white or very light

coloured logo.

The other advantage of doing the above is that you wont really need to get any packaging

'designed' at all, as the design will simply be your logo on a plain color background. The

supplier should be able to deal with this themselves.

In addition, it will also save you money and be easy for the supplier to understand.


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4. Design and Create Your Product Labels

If your logo (and any other details) are printed directly onto your packaging, then you will not need

a label. However, if they are not, (if for instance you are using a clear transparent “opp bag” for

your packaging) you will need to get one created by a designer on either www.Upwork.com or

www.99designs.com or you can design it yourself using the service at: www.labeley.com. You will

then need to send the label design onto your supplier to print and attach to your products.

What type of labelling you need and what is included on the label is dependent on the product and

the type of packaging you are using. However, at a minimum you will need to include your brand

and product name along with your logo.

You should also consider including:

The product UPC barcode (more details below)

Where the product was made. ie. Made In China (keep this text small).

Warning labels or other information if required by law. (Choking hazard/suffocation

warning… not for children under the age of XX etc.)

Alternatively, you can have FBAinspection attach these three items when your products arrive in

the USA – see further below for details for more details on this.


http://www.upwork.com/

http://www.99designs.com/

http://www.labeley.com/

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In terms of label design, like I was saying earlier in the section on logo creation, I tend to design my

own as my presentation is generally slick and simple. However, if you need to have something

more complex created, you will need to have a designer make it up for you like I mentioned a

moment ago. Here is an example of a well designed product label:

5. Create Your Product Insert (optional)

A product insert is a piece of paper or card that is included within your product packaging. What

needs to be included and how it should be designed again depends on the product. Here are a

number of things that you should consider including:


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Your Logo / Brand name.

A note thanking the buyer for their purchase.

Any necessary instructions for the product.

Your website URL

Details about your other products and services.

An Amazon coupon code to give the buyer a discount on further purchases

A request for a review and instructions on how to do this. This is incredibly important as the

higher number of positive reviews your product has, the higher it will rank in the search

results. (generally speaking) Something like the below would work:


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You can design your insert in photoshop yourself,

or get a designer to create it on 99designs or

Upwork.

Once complete, send the source files to the

manufacturer, ask them to print it and ask them to

include one inside the packaging of each product.

Alternatively have FBAinspection print it and add it

into your packaging.

On the right you can see a good example of a well-

designed product insert.


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STEP 8: Order Your Inventory

Once the sample has arrived, check the quality, and assuming all is ok, move ahead with the

supplier and get your first inventory order confirmed.

Order no more than the MOQ. Even though ordering a larger amount of inventory will decrease

the cost per item and will increase your profit per sale, it is important to keep the risk as low as

possible so order the smallest amount you can get away with.

You will likely need to put down an initial deposit for your inventory with the supplier which in most

cases will be 30%. You will pay the remainder when the inventory is ready to ship.

If you find your supplier through Alibaba, try to pay them through the Alibaba website so you are

covered by Alibaba’s trade assurance policy. Alternatively pay them through Paypal as there is a

level of protection there too. However, most of the time a supplier will want you to pay them into

their own separate company bank account. Put up some resistance, but honestly, if the supplier is

genuine then it should be fine. Personally I have never had an issue.

Important notes:

1. When your inventory is complete, make sure that you ask the supplier to send a couple of

fully packaged products directly to you, so you can take photographs for your listing. It may


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also be useful for other promotional activities. This is assuming the sample you had sent

was not a full 100% ready sample with logo and packaging already completed.

2. Using an air express courier such as UPS, DHL or Fedex to get the shipment from the

supplier to the US, or whichever country you are selling, will likely be the best option for

your first inventory order, even if your profit per sale is reduced slightly. Remember, even if

sending by air costs an additional $500, for a batch of 500 products, that is only $1 more

per product. It won’t make that much difference to your overall profit per sale.

3. Plus, if your inventory is sent by sea, it will take around 30 days to arrive (to get from China

to the US) and if the value of your inventory is over $2500 (which it should not be) then you

will need to use a freight forwarding company to help as bond and formal entry to the

country will be required. I recommend (as do Amazon) Shapiro.com to help with this if you

need to go this route. You can find out more about them here:

http://www.shapiro.com/amazon-fba/

4. Ask your supplier to add a ‘Made in China’ sticker onto your product packaging as well as

a suffocation warning, if your packaging is clear plastic opp-bag packaging. You can design

this into your product label if you are using one – or have FBAinspection attach when your

products arrive like I mentioned a moment. (also see next point)

5. If your products are being made in China and sold in the US, I would highly recommend

using FBA inspection (http://fbainspection.com) to receive, inspect and then send your


http://www.shapiro.com/amazon-fba/

http://fbainspection.com/

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products on to Amazon. They will also be able to add your UPC code to your products and

make sure the paperwork is in order (I’ll explain more about UPC codes and paperwork

later). They are based in California and are a separate company to Amazon. I use them all

the time and they are a very well organized company. Using them will ensure that there are

no mishaps when your products arrive at Amazon as you cannot, and should not, fully rely

on a Chinese supplier to get all the paperwork and other intricacies correct.

An important note on the above. Obviously there are additional costs in using air express and

FBA inspection. Your supplier will be able to quote you on the air shipping before you make an

order and FBAinspection will be able to quote you on their prep charges in advance. Work them

into your costings.


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STEP 9: Amazon Account & Listing Preparation

As you are going to be using Amazon FBA and will be having your products shipped out to your

customers directly by Amazon, there are a number of things that you will need to think about,

prepare and do after placing your order.

Here is an explanation about how Amazon FBA works:

Step 1: You send your products to Amazon's fulfilment center(s).

Step 2: Amazon stores your products.

Step 3: Customers order your products.

Step 4: Amazon picks and packs your products.

Step 5: Amazon ships your products.

And here is your task list:


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1. Set up your Seller Central Account

You will need to set up an Amazon Seller Central account and register as a Professional seller.

You will need to do this in the country when you intend to sell.

If you want to sell on Amazon.com (US) sign up here: https://sellercentral.amazon.com and register

as a Professional seller.

If you want to sell on Amazon.co.uk, get set up here: https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk (Amazon

Services Europe)

For other European countries, also use: https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk (Amazon Services

Europe)

For any other country, do a Google search to locate the sign up page.

If you want to sell in the US but do not live in the US, there will be some additional steps to take.

However, over the past year, Amazon seem to have made setting up as a foreign based seller on

Amazon.com an easier process. You will need to set up an Amazon seller account in the US.

Go to this link: http://services.amazon.com/content/sell-on-amazon.htm .


https://sellercentral.amazon.com/

https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/

https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/

http://services.amazon.com/content/sell-on-amazon.htm

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2. Purchase a UPC Number:

UPC means 'unique product code' and is a 12 digit code used to identify your product. You can

see an example of one (along with its barcode) in the image below.

You will need to purchase a UPC for each product that you sell on Amazon. There are a number of

websites out there where you can purchase codes. I use https://www.cheap-upc-barcode.com as

you can buy them for $10 or under each. You only need to have ONE code per product type - not

one code per unit. So if you have an inventory of 500 identical baby blankets under the same

brand, you will need one code, not 500.

After you purchase the UPC code you will be given a PDF file with the printed code by the website

where you ordered it from. You will need to save this PDF so you can send it onto your supplier to


https://www.cheap-upc-barcode.com/

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add to the product packaging (or FBAinspection) when the time comes and they will print it and

stick it onto each of your products.

Alternatively, you can use Amazon’s own FNSKU codes, but I generally just use a UPC.

3. Create A Basic Product Listing:

Once you have your UPC you will need to get an initial basic product listing set up on Seller

Central.

Log into your account, create a new product by going to INVENTORY > ADD A PRODUCT at

the top of the page. You will need to CREATE A NEW PRODUCT LISTING rather than search

for your product within Amazon’s catalog as your product/brand is new and will not be there.

Then select the category, then narrow down by sub-category until you find a match for your

product. You can look at what categories your competitors’ products are in if you are having

difficulties. In most cases, it should be self-explanatory.


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Then enter only the basic information that Amazon require for the listing to be set up and

saved. They mark each required area with red asterisks and they will not allow you to save

your product listing until all these areas are filled in. You will have to enter… product title,

manufacturer, UPC code, price, condition (new or used) and possibly some additional details

which vary depending on the product and category. All of these details, including the product

title, will be optimized later before you launch your product so don't spend too long on this

right now.

4. Convert your product to ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’

Once you have created your product listing, return to the ‘Manage Inventory’ Page, click the

checkmark to the left of the listing, then click the dropdown ‘Action on’ button above and convert

to FBA. Done.


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5. Get your inventory shipped from your Supplier to FBAinspection:

When your inventory is ready to ship, and before making the final payment, ask your supplier to

send you photos of the inventory, just to be sure everything is in order.


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Then you will need to ship it direct to FBAinspection (assuming you are using them). You will need

to create a new ‘work order’ once you have created your FBAinspection account. You will see a

link on their home page to create both your account, and once approved, your work order.

When creating your work order, you will be required to enter in details about the shipment such as

the number of cartons and products that will be sent. The supplier will be able to give you these

details.

You will also need to tell FBAinspection what preparation work you want them to do. Ie. Attach

UPC, Made in China labels …etc.


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Once your work order is approved, you will be given a work order CODE.

You will need to give the supplier FBAinspection’s address and the CODE to add to the shipping

address label. FBA inspection will send you an email with all of these details once your work order

is approved and you simply have to pass them onto your supplier.

The address label should be formatted like the below:

Once the shipment is on its way, send FBAinspection the tracking number, and sit tight until your

shipment arrives.

Note: Don’t ship your products to FBAinspection before receiving your work order approval and

work order number.


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5. Preparing your inventory to be shipped to Amazon:

Once FBAinspection have completed their services and are ready to ship your products to

Amazon, they will send you an email with the details of the shipment and you will need these to

create the ‘incoming shipment’ within your Seller Central account.

The email FBAinspection will send you will include the following information which is what you will

need.


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Once you have this information, log in to your Seller Central account and go to Inventory >

Manage Inventory and do the following:

Check the box next to your product in the far left column. From the drop down menu, select

‘Send/Replenish Inventory’ as shown below.

o

Now you will create the Shipment Plan. Add FBAinspection’s address, select 'Case Packed

Products', then on the next page enter the number of ‘units per case’ as well as the ‘number


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of cases’.

Click continue on the ‘Prepare Products’ page as this will already be done.

On the Label Products page select ‘Merchant’ and click continue.

Then approve the shipments on the next page as per the example image below. As you can

see, sometimes Amazon will want you to send your products to more than one location.


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On the Review Shipments Screen press the 'Work On Shipment' button as shown below.

On the next page, Prepare the Shipments adding in any weight and dimensions information

that Amazon requests (which you can find in the email you will receive from FBAinspection),

select the Amazon’s preferred shipping carrier, Calculate the shipping cost and accept the

charges.

Then download and save the PDF label to your computer. (You will need to send these files to

FBAinpsection)


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Repeat for any other shipments.

6. Three Important Points:

1. The first time you create a shipment for a product, Amazon will likely ask you for some

additional information about your product size. You will find the required information in the

email from FBAinspection. They will have measured it for you.

2. There are some variables to the above, depending what you are shipping. If you have any

concerns or queries, it is best to contact Seller Central support who will be able to assist

you.

3. Once your shipment arrives at Amazons fulfilment center(s), you will be able to activate the

listing and make it ready for sale, once you have completed your listing contents, which

we’ll cover in a moment.


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STEP 10: Product Listing Optimization

Next you will need to optimize your product listing in order to get high conversion rates and to

receive the maximum exposure and organic traffic from Amazon once your products arrive and

are ready to sell.

Some of the steps I have listed below contain elements that most people ignore. However, they

can have a massive impact on traffic and sales.

Bear in mind that the options available in the ‘edit product listing’ area in your seller central

account vary from category to category. However, the below will give you a good overview.

1. Vital Info Tab

Firstly, optimize your product title. It is really important to get this part right as your title has a big

impact on rankings as well as click thru's to your product page from the search results.

Your title should include (in this order):

The main keyword you want to rank for.

Product Detail.


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Your brand name (for exposure)

A powerful USP to capture attention.

A call to action to attract clicks.

It should also be under 100 characters (Amazon has begun placing quality issues on titles over this

length now)

Here is an example of a good product title:

Plastic Storage Boxes - 46 Piece Easy Find Lid Food Containers by [your brand name] –

Exceptional Craftsmanship – View The Details Here


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2. Offer Tab:

This is where you add in the price of the product. First add the 'non-sale' price. Make this around

25% more than what you actually intend to sell the item for. Then in the sale price section, add the

price that you are actually going to be selling it for.

Use a price that ends in a .99 or a .95 or a .49 (Such as $18.99 or $19.95 or $24.49) has been

shown to increase conversions.

You will also need to add a sale start and end date. Add today's date, then make the sale end date

3 or 4 months into the future. You can adjust it later.


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3. Images Tab:

You listing will be ‘supressed’ until you add images.

Creating good images is incredibly important and can have a dramatic effect on your conversion

rate. You need to use images that are exceptionally high quality and extremely clear. Try and use

every image slot available and be sure to take note of Amazon's image guidelines.

Here are some tips for your images:

The main product image must be against a white background

The main image should show the main product only, no accessories

Images should be jpeg format

Take photo's of the product yourself in real world relevant scenarios

so potential buyers are able to visualize themselves using it. Have a look at this listing as an

example:

http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Crenova-Lightweight-Adjustable-Extra-

Long/dp/B00WFWZMHC

Don't include text, logos or watermarks in the main image

Don't show multiple views of the product in the main image

Don't include images of compatible products (eg. if you're selling phone cases,

don't picture them with iPhones in them)


http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Crenova-Lightweight-Adjustable-Extra-Long/dp/B00WFWZMHC

http://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Crenova-Lightweight-Adjustable-Extra-Long/dp/B00WFWZMHC

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4. Description Tab:

Key Product Features:

First, you have the option to add in 5 key product features which you MUST take advantage of.

They are incredibly important as on most listings they appear above the fold and can convince

people to take action and order your product.

See the next page…


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You should add the 5 main BENEFITS of

your product in CAPITALS then a further

explanation of each benefit also including

features in lower case text. You have a

maximum of 500 characters for each bullet

although I would only use 300 characters. The

image on the right is a good example of how

they should be formatted:

(Those 'tick' icons are against Amazon

guidelines so don't use them! They need to be

changed)

Here are some additional tips:

If applicable add model numbers

If applicable add product dimensions.

Write numbers as numerals, not words

(example: 4, not four)

Spell out measurements (feet, not ft....

Inches , not In ...etc)


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Product Description:

In the description area you are able to add additional written content which you can use to

describe more about the features and benefits of your product.

There are two main issues with the product description area:

It does not stand out well as it appears well below the fold. (which is why it is important to

write up exceptional bullets, as they are ABOVE the fold.)

When you write content, it stretches the whole way across the page and as a result is difficult

to read.

Rather than using general content formed as paragraphs, I compose 15 benefits of the product

formatted as bullet points and separated by a line break (the code for a line break is: ). I

have found this to work considerably better because it is easier for the reader to locate and digest

the information when formed as bullets.

It usually takes me a 2 or 3 hours to create these additional bullet points but it's worth it as it

definitely increases sales. The code I use looks like the below. Feel free to use it. (A note: Amazon

only allows the code to be used now in descriptions. Any other html mark up is no longer

allowed.)

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Features and Benefits Of Using Kitchen Master PRO:





- SHORT EXPLANATION OF BENEFIT: Then a further explanation in lower case just one sentence









...and so on. It will look like the below on the page:

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5. Keywords Tab:

Platinum Keywords:

If you are just starting out, Platinum Keywords won’t be available as you need to be approved by

Amazon in order to use them. Don't add anything for now.

Search terms:

These are incredible important and most people do them wrong. Make use of all 5 lines available

(by clicking ‘add more’). Here are the best practices:

Add single keywords separated by a space. You don't need to use a comma between words.

Don't use 'phrases', use only single words.

Do not repeat any words that are in your product title as they will already be counted as

keywords.

Add in relevant words associated with your product and market which you think could be

included in high traffic search terms. (see tips below)

Also include simple words like 'her' and 'him' and 'and' ...and so on, if they are contained

within popular search phrases.

Here is how to find high traffic search terms and words:


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Method 1: Use www.MerchantWords.com if you are subscribed to it. Search for your main

product keyword, then order the results by the highest searched for phrases according to their

system. Pick out words from these phrases which you deem to be relevant and add them in.

Method 2: Go to Amazon's search bar and input in your product name (as in the top level name

such as 'plastic storage pots', 'dish clothes', 'wash bags' etc) and see what phrases Amazon auto-

suggests (which are usually the most searched for phrases).

For instance, if you were selling wash bags, you would type the phrase 'wash bags' into the search

bar like in the below image:


http://www.merchantwords.com/

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The first phrase that appears is 'wash bags for delicates', then 'wash bags women', then some

others. Based on the results in the above image, you would add these words into your search

terms:

for delicates women mens bras

You would not add in the words wash and bags as they would likely already be included in your

product title. (not sure about 'soap nuts'! You would need to do a Google search to see if that was

a relevant term). You then enter the words into the search terms area like in the below image.

What this means is that when someone types in 'wash bags for delicates' you are more likely to

appear higher up in the search results for that phrase, than you would have done previously as you

have now included the words for and delicates as search terms.


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Keep searching for words and do not stop until you have filled in ALL the space that Amazon

allows for adding search terms.

6. More Details Tab

Add in as much relevant information as you possibly can. The more relevant and useful the

information you can give a potential buyer, the more likely they are to buy.

The information that should be added in this section entirely depends on the product type you are

selling. The available fields vary a huge amount so I can't get specific. When you are at this stage,

just use your initiative.

COMPLETION!!

At this point your product is ready to promote, so you can move onto the Amazon promotion

manual. It will be available very soon.


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