Licensing (Paul Miller 1 of 2) - a podcast by Michael Veazey

The world of product licensing can be a murky place, but licensing a piece of intellectual property can bring credibility and prosperity to your brand. Our guest today is Paul Miller of Next Level Licensing and CozyPhones. He's an incredibly experienced Amazon seller and one of the industry's foremost experts on product licensing. Paul has made millions using licensing as an integral piece of his business model.







Paul's journey with Amazon came at the tail end of what would eventually become a failed experiment as a brick-and-mortar restaurateur. Like so many Amazon sellers, he was driven to the platform due to a growing need for supplemental income as his restaurant business receded from three stores to one. Just six months after deciding to pursue selling on Amazon, Paul exited the restaurant sector and began working full time in the online retail industry. Less than three years later, he’s licensing with Disney, Nickelodeon and the Whatif Monster.



If you’re interested in learning more about licensing, Paul has a free course to help get started. Just head over to https://www.nextlevellicensing.net/

On this Episode Paul & I Discuss:

Paul's transition from restaurateur to seven-figure Amazon seller (2:45).

What allowed Paul to make his transition to Amazon so quickly (3:39).

"What you think of as adversity could turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you."

The factors that drove Paul to put all of his energy into Amazon as he recovered from injury (5:12).

"Having the inspiration of other people around me, surrounding myself with great people who really, really understood how to make it on Amazon, that was key for me."

Finding mentors in the Amazon selling community (6:11).

Paul's most significant successes... (8:10)

"Using variations, I think, is a really strong technique because if you have one item ranked very well with a lot of reviews, a lot of times you can add variations to that same listing and kind of skip the launch process because you're riding on the coattails of your primary ASIN."

... and challenges as he built his Amazon business (10:59).

We discuss dealing with IP claims with CJ Rosenbaum’s team. Find those episodes at http://amazingfba.com/CJ.



I had a labelling issue myself not too long ago. If you’re interested in the story and the lessons I learned, check out http://amazingfba.com/239.

What drove Paul into the licensing model (13:48).

"We've got Nickelodeon on the label, on the packaging. You can imagine how that gives you amazing credibility. People think twice before they go messing with a product that's got Nickelodeon on it."

The Process: From design to licensing (18:34).

"Don't get pigeonholed and think that this product is only for a specific market."

Shifting markets with the same product (19:48).

The Experience: From licensing expo to licensing expert (20:36).

Message to Market Match is a rather big deal when it comes to marketing in general. You can get more information on that at http://amazingfba.com/124

Finding brand advocates who are also influencers  (22:45).

"A licensing arrangement with an influencer really gives them more of a stake in the outcome."

Taking things to the next level with The Whatif Monster (24:14).

What licensing is (26:09).

"A license, in general, is an agreement where you, as the licensee are renting somebody's intellectual property... for a particular amount of time in exchange for a payment."

The value of licensing as a business strategy through the lens of Paul's experience (29:07).

"We obtained a very high rank very quickly with little or no pr...

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