312 Amazon Power Sellers - a podcast by Michael Veazey

What we’re talking about today is strategy. What does it mean? And why does it matter to Amazon Power Sellers?



“Vision without action is a daydream;

Action without vision is a nightmare.”

-Japanese proverb





1:02 - Amazon power sellers, or would-be Amazon sellers,  fall into 3 camps:



Vision without action

Action without vision

Action lead by vision



1:11 - Camp 1: “Vision Without action”

This is very common with people who are starting out or want to start out. Often, they end up staying wannapreneurs, meaning they never actually make any revenue. Revenue is how you can tell if you have a business! Even spending money is a good sign.



Most Amazon power sellers seem to get excited about the idea of the business opportunity. And, as I confess I did, they even get seduced by the idea of passive income and the fact that you don't have to exchange time for money.

2:14 - What is your vision for the customer?

So the would-be entrepreneurs at this stage have an idea of what they can have for themselves, but here’s what they don’t have: they don't have a vision of what they're going to give to the world. In fact, they're very, very vague in most cases about that. They thrash around using tools and other people’s systems to try and substitute for imagination.



When I’m working with clients - whether mentoring clients or in the Private Label Process course - I also try to get entrepreneurs to start by having a vision of a particular person with a particular pain. In fact, vision is a rather general word for that; they need to be very specific.



If this is you, ask yourself: what is it you really know about? What do you really care about? Let's get very, very specific before you go out and rely on tools to do stuff for you.



In a way even then, rather than saying that vision is wrong, it's not about vision is wrong, is that their vision isn't strong enough. Sure, they have a vision for themselves, of sitting on a beach using their laptop (which is an absurd idea, by the way, I've never done it, they have sand on beaches, it's not a good mix!). But they don’t have a vision of what their business offers the world.

14:00 - Camp 2: “Action without Vision”

The second level is the Amazon power sellers who are doing stuff! They've had the chutzpah, the courage, to be part of the small percentage, who actually sell anything on Amazon. It’s probably the 80/20 of the 80/20 of the people who have the idea of selling on Amazon.



They actually do sell on Amazon, but then they're stuck in the nightmare. They did their market research; they’ve ordered the product;  they’ve tried their best to ensure product quality; they did their branding work in the sense that the superficial aspects of the brand, the visible aspects, meaning they have a logo that looks nice and have good packaging. And, you know, maybe they have a nice strapline or whatever, on the packaging.



Sadly, they're struggling.



And I think the reason they're struggling is because they've taken a lot of action, which is great, and they'll learn from that. But what they need to learn from that is, okay, now I've tried selling a “me-too” product. Let’s not do that.



Again, they've learned a lot of the mechanics of how to do something on Amazon, and how to order from China and so forth. Now, mechanics really matter. Having a system to really read the marketplace and crunch the numbers are critical. You need to use tools for ordering from China; getting proper negotiation systems and principles in place. practicing proper Supply Chain Management including quality control; measuring financial numbers; having a launch strategy and a very precise set of tac...

Further episodes of Amazing FBA Amazon and ECommerce Podcast, for Amazon Private Label Sellers, Shopify, Magento or Woocommerce business owners, and other e-commerce sellers and digital entrepreneurs.

Further podcasts by Michael Veazey

Website of Michael Veazey