There are 10 things I learned in the last year and a half of selling on Amazon. Some of these that I’m going to share are tactics that will increase your sales. However, some of them are things that I wish somebody told me when I was starting out.
Cash Flow
One of the things you have to remember is revenue is not profit. You have to understand your numbers and your cash flow. In my case, I have $746,114.67 in revenue. I paid $252,399.50 for the actual products. I spent $107,763.72 for the Amazon fees and another $110,078.10 for the Amazon FBA pick-and-pack fees. I also spent $40,464.97 for Amazon PPC, $10,166.15 and $13,000 for other expenses like paying the LLC. In total, I earned $212,242.23 in profit for the last year and a half. However, that does not go into my pocket. I reinvest it back into the business.
Don’t Compare
This is a toxic mentality. When you look at other YouTube gurus talking about how much money they are making online, remember lesson number 1. Also, if someone is making more money than you, see what you can learn from them. They could be doing something that you are not aware of. You also have to remember that as you get more success in life, there’s always someone who going to be more successful than you are. However, that is not a bad thing. There are lessons that you can get from them.
Document and Share
Document your journey and share your knowledge. However, I’m not doing this to brag. One of the reasons I do this is because people like watching what are the real raw numbers. I want to be 100% honest as possible and be truthful about what’s behind the entrepreneurship curtain. Also, I noticed that people tend to watch those videos for longer. I also want to show you that I know what I’m talking about and what I’m doing actually works.
Talk about all the ups and downs and the lessons that you learned. From the moment you start your entrepreneurship journey, you’re at least one step ahead as most people have not even started yet. What I recommend doing at least on a monthly basis, sit down and turn on a camera.
Fear
Fear and anxiety have been holding me back a lot recently. Talking to the camera, as silly as it sounds, has been very therapeutic. What I try to do is think of the lessons that I have learned from this fear and anxiety.
You’re going to have fear but you’re going to be successful because eventually, you become braver. It’s like taking a high dive. There’s a part of you that’s nervous but you learn to overcome it.
Don’t Private Label
Don’t private label, dropship, or sell some random junk that you don’t believe in. Instead, find something that you really believe in and passionate about and you sell that. When you sell your own passion product, you are able to unlock certain parts of your brain that will otherwise stay hidden.
Crowdfund
After you have an idea of a Passion Product, the next step is to crowdfund for it. You can do an Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Don’t take your life savings and invest that into an idea. Every step, you should be testing. Crowdfunding is one of the ways to do this.
Launch Group
Whatever kind of business you are creating, don’t do it by yourself. Create a launch group. It does not have to be on Facebook. You can do it on Instagram, Reddit, or even a group that you meet with in person. Have a community that will help you develop your product.
Learn from Others
In the first two years of my journey, I wanted to do everything by myself. This is such a huge mistake. The biggest turning point was when I listened to a podcast about e-commerce.
New Products
One of the best ways to double or triple your sales is to launch new products. For me, this is something that I realize that I actually enjoy.
Avoid Simple Mistakes
There are so many mistakes that you can make on Amazon that could cost you thousands of dollars. One of the mistakes I made was buying products that nobody wanted. For instance, I sold jars of PNB.