739: Start Your Own AMAZON Business Without Making A Product with Brian Creager - a podcast by Michael ONeal and Unemployable Co-Hosts

This was a REALLY fun episode, because I didn’t know this business model existed.  You can think of a product, find a manufacturer to make it for you, brand it, and sell it on Amazon without carrying a warehouse full of inventory and shipping it yourself.  This was a really interesting, informative show.



* 6:08 May 2015, Brian was signing the paperwork to leave his corporate gig

* 7:06 Brian had the dubious task of making concrete look good

* 9:19 When you have an industry that is woefully behind you can innovate in the space like no other

* 10:12 Meeting Chris Ducker and the catalyst to becoming a full-time entrepreneur

* 11:12 23 Years incorporate – somebody wants what you know, and how private labeling came about

* 12:59 What an air conditioning company private label and ultimately focusing on the branding

* 14:29 Born and raised in Pennsylvania and moved to Atlanta in mid-2000’s

* 14:50 What the catalyst was to start selling private label goods and selling them on Amazon

* 17:13 Locking down a product from an intellectual standpoint. You need to find out if that brand of product is available to be used (i.e., Trademarks and Patons)

* 19:45 Krieger + Söhne® hair care products – How Brian came to this brand

* 22:22 Description for Krieger + söhne® 99Designs project

* 24:02 The day the sample bottles came through

* 25:28 Shooting the products – Not using stock photography was important

* 26:16 The whole day shooting the product with the suite and the models cost $5000!

* 26:55 Typical start up costs for a project like this, Brian’s for this for inventory order was $30,000. You don’t want to cut corners on the packaging design, photography, presentation and copywriting.

* 28:51 How Amazon works for someone who does private labeling. A traffic platform in addition to a sales platform and using FBA – Fulfilled By Amazon. Brian’s products also qualify for Amazon Prime as his company is a 3P Seller (3rd Party)

* 31:13 Images are the single biggest impact on a conversion rate for a listing

* 31:44 Taking your products live on Amazon and steps for new sellers to get traction. Everything we do to generate sales is designed to impact either traffic or conversion.

* 32:29 Conversion Rate: A really bad listing would convert under 20%, Unt Session Percentage (USP – An Amazon term), The number of units you sell has a factor to the number of sessions (A session is a unique visitor with a 24hr period). This is the Amazon measure of conversion rate, not page views. You want a conversion rate over 20%. Anything under means your listing is not optimized (maximize your images). Images, headline and reviews all factor into your conversion rates.

* 33:47 Bullet points are important to conversion. This is where the power of copywriting and storytelling come in. People want to buy a story.

* 34:09 The story around the Krieger + söhne® brand

* 34:32 How to get reviews when starting out, using follow-up emails to ask consumer feedback

* 36:28 The first 48-72hours – Getting traffic, using PPC (Pay Per Click) optimizing for keywords

* 38:23 It had taken six months before Brian knew he had a successful product, in that time Bryan was making income that would replace his income at his corporate job

* 39:22 Entrepreneurial mindset – Business changes, what you have to do, the activities you have to undertake to be successful changes. Business changes. You need to adapt. What you need to a major faith in and not give up on is your business model. Whatever that maybe.

* 41:33 Going retail at the right time

* 43:05 Not knowing a thing about men’s hair care products, how Brian went about finding a manufacturer. Your supplier can make or break your business.

* 44:36 Trying to sell on a smaller budget,

Further episodes of The Solopreneur Hour Podcast with Michael O'Neal

Further podcasts by Michael O'Neal and Unemployable Co-Hosts

Website of Michael O'Neal and Unemployable Co-Hosts