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TAS 123 – Launching with Amazon PPC, Copywriting, Triple Index Keywords & more with Heath Thompson – The Amazon Alchemist

By Chris on February 27, 2022

I’ve just recorded an amazing conversation with Heath Thompson who is, I think, the world’s best Amazon PPC Expert. After listening in on our conversation I think you’ll agree.

Let’s put it this way, (I’m going to fess up here) I’ve been helping a client over the last few months with their PPC and managed to get their ACOS down to around 30% – To be honest, I was really struggling to get it any lower. In the last fortnight, Heath has taken over; totally transformed the account and has already dropped the ACOS to below 20% and it’s still improving. I’ve been schooled!

Learn more about Heath’s PPC course by heading over to www.theaustralianseller.com/heath

Heath has been interviewed by Jamie and Michael over at the Endgame Network as well as helping them directly with their Amazon accounts.

Speaking of Jamie, he’s speaking at Regina and my upcoming Mastermind event on the weekend of the 18th, 19th and 20th of March 2022 called the Amazon Collective. The conference will be held off-site in the beautiful Yarra Valley just outside of Melbourne. It’s strictly for 6, 7 and even 8 figure Amazon business owners based here in Australia and New Zealand – it’s not for newbies of beginners. Thank YOU for your support, and to our amazing sponsors, Zon Guru, FBA Prep Australia, Avask, Dolman Bateman, Elevate Brands and Payoneer.

For more info head over to the www.theaustralianseller.com/collective – there are 2 spots left!

In October this year I am insanely excited to announce that The India Sourcing Trip is back on after 3 years! I am so excited to be invited back by Meghla as a coach this year, so please join me and dozens of other Amazon and eCommerce sellers on the experience of a lifetime in New Delhi on the 12^th to the 19^th of October 2022. Register your “obligation free’ interest by heading to www.theaustralianseller.com/india

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group! Head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/facebook

And I am offering private coaching so please head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/chris to book an hour session with me to make sure you’re heading in the right direction!

If you own or work for a consumer products brand and need help setting up or running your Amazon business, feel free to get in touch with me – I have a new agency, Amasphere.com.au an official Amazon Service Provider.

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TAS 122 – What it takes in 2022 to Succeed on Amazon – Gary Huang 7FSS

By Chris on February 21, 2022

Today I welcome back Gary Huang from the 7FSS. Gary pre-records almost all of the sessions for the event that will be happening in a few short weeks from now so you’ll get the inside running on all the latest tips and strategies that 7 figure Amazon sellers have been and are using right now to grow and scale their businesses.

This year the 7FSS starts on the 28^th Feb 2022 and runs until the 4^th March, and best of all… it’s free!

Regina Peterburgsky and I are holding on weekend of the 18th, 19th and 20th of March 2022 called the Amazon Collective. The conference will be held off-site in the beautiful Yarra Valley just outside of Melbourne. It’s strictly for 6, 7 and even 8 figure Amazon business owners based here in Australia and New Zealand – it’s not for newbies of beginners. Thank YOU for your support, and to our amazing sponsors, Zon Guru, FBA Prep Australia, Avask, Dolman Bateman, Elevate Brands and Payoneer.

For more info head over to the www.theaustralianseller.com/collective

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group! Head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/facebook

And I am offering private coaching so please head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/chris to book an hour session with me to make sure you’re heading in the right direction!

If you own or work for a consumer products brand and need help setting up or running your Amazon business, feel free to get in touch with me – I have a new agency, www.Amasphere.com.au an official Amazon Service Provider.

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TAS 121 – Logistics, USP & Launch Strategies. Jamie Paros from the End Game Network & Shipsavy.com

By Chris on January 8, 2022

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing all round good guy, Jamie Paros from the End Game Network. Jamie and Michael Fenech have given so much to the Australian and International Amazon Seller Community so it’s awesome to have Jamie on the show today.

Today we discuss how Jamie and Michael approach product differentiation (USP), mindset, the logistics nightmare, new launching tactics now SFB and Rebates are against TOS and how to save $1,000’s optimising your master carton and pallets.

For 10% off your subscription to www.shipsavy.com use code AUSSELLER10

For more info head over to the www.theaustralianseller.com/collective

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group! Head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/facebook

And I am offering private coaching so please head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/chris to book an hour session with me to make sure you’re heading in the right direction!

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TAS 120 – When Amazon Basics rips off your product and how Peak Design responded.

By Chris on December 11, 2021

I’ve been so so busy building my little Amazon Account Management agency Amasphere – getting it set up as an official service provider that I have not had time to get a podcast episode out the door for over a month! Apologies!

Anyway today I have a special episode with Peak Design’s head of marketing Adam Saraceno.

Peak Design started 10 years ago with a single camera accessory product, the Camera Capture Clip. Peter Dering launched on Kickstarter and instantly had a runaway success becoming Kickstarter’s 3^rd biggest campaign of all time in 2011. Peter was so busy with the campaign, he called on Adam, his old college buddy to help out and Adam has been with Peak design ever since.

They’ve gone on to raise an astounding 34.5 Million dollars in crowdfunding campaigns over the last 10 years.

Today we discuss all of that and what happened when Amazon Basics copied one of their products, how they responded, and the lessons learned from that experience to help you reduce the chances of Amazon stealing your successful product ideas.

For more info head over to the www.theaustralianseller.com/collective

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group! Head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/facebook

And I am offering private coaching so please head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/chris to book an hour session with me to make sure you’re heading in the right direction!

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Thinking of Selling your Amazon Business?

By Chris on November 26, 2021

Build to Sell: A Q&A with Una Brands – The only Aggregator based in Australia

Q: What is the state of the FBA acquisitions market in Australia and globally?

The acquisition market for FBA businesses is booming at the moment! There are a few factors that are driving this. The first and most obvious driver is the COVID related spike in e-commerce that created increased profits for FBA business. Secondly, the aggregator “roll up” model was relatively unproven but it has now been shown to be highly successful. Thirdly, there is a wall of “dry powder” (investment capital) which is waiting to be deployed in the institutional and private equity markets. These three factors combined mean that we are very definitely in a sellers market for FBA businesses.

Q: How are FBA businesses valued?

FBA businesses are valued by applying a multiple to the annual profit. The profit figure that we use is the trailing 12 month Seller Discretionary Earnings (SDE) which is the Revenue – COGS – Amazon fees.

Q: What is a typical multiple for an FBA business?

The recent Empire Flippers report provides a range of current multiples for FBA businesses being 2.5 – 3.5x the annual SDE. We would need to take a holistic view of the brand before being able to determine the multiple.

Q: How can I prepare my business for sale?

There are four key focus areas in order to prepare your business for sale:

Create clean financials and customers metrics. Using accounting software or third-party dashboards, such as Xero, MYOB, and Helium 10 provides investors with a clear, transparent, and accurate view of the financials. This enables investors to create a fair valuation of the business.
Automate and streamline your business processes by using 3rd party software and outsourcing to virtual assistants.
Streamline your business strategy. Focus on your core product lines, geographical locations, and sales channels. Simple businesses with a clear focus promote stronger valuation multiples relative to more complex business models.
Ensure that your business is compliant with Amazon policy, blackhat activity is an extreme red flag for potential investors. It’s also vital to make sure that you have registered for trademarks and patents wherever possible to protect your IP.

Q: What makes a business more valuable?

Simple streamlined business:

Investors put significant value on the simplicity of your business, specifically in reference to the product line. Brand’s which have revenues derived from a few high performing SKUs are significantly more valuable than businesses with hundreds of SKUs.
Operational simplicity provides investors with clarity and assurance of success in the future, and thus improves the business valuation.

Financial history and market growth:

The financial performance of the business and the broader market are directly proportional to the valuation. It is optimal to sell the business during a period of time when you can clearly show long term sustainable growth, with limited downside volatility and strong positive market growth in the future.

Customer experience:

Amazon has become increasingly popular over the past 5 years, which has resulted in a significant level of competition. Investors provide a significant level of value to brands which have a large number of very positive reviews and a strong best seller ranking. Characteristics which drive success in competitive markets.

Q: Which categories are attractive from a valuation perspective?

For Una Brands, the most attractive categories at the moment are the categories of Home & Living, Children/Baby, Garden/Outdoor, Pets, Sport, Health & Beauty. We don’t buy businesses in apparel because the return rates are very high and the fashion cycle requires very fast product development. We stay away from supplements because of the regulatory complexity. We also stay away from commoditised electronics because return rates tend to be high and the R&D requirements are relatively onerous.

Q: Why do owners of eCommerce brands look to sell or exit?

When we talk to sellers there are a few common reasons for people to want to sell their business. Firstly, many brand owners are highly entrepreneurial – they enjoy building businesses and seeing their ideas come to life. They are less excited by the mundane operational functions that increase in complexity as the business grows. Hence, many brand owners choose to exit once their brand has been established to then move onto their next challenge.

Secondly, a lot of sellers saw record sales last year during COVID. It’s unclear how revenues will be affected as the world comes out of lockdown and a lot of sellers are seeing now as a good moment to cash out and take some of the chips off the table.

Thirdly, brand owners have a lot of ideas for their business but often they don’t have the time or the capital to do everything they want to. Sellers realise that they can oftentimes grow the brand faster by partnering with someone like Una Brands, and they get to participate in that upside through the profit share.

Q: How does the acquisition process work?

The acquisition process has been designed to be highly efficient and streamlined. In fact, the entire process takes just approximately five weeks from the initial conversation for the seller to receive the cash settlement in their bank account.

Throughout this process, the Una Brands team provides a valuation based on the data provided by the business in order to acquire 100% of the brand. After negotiations, Una Brands conducts in depth due diligence into the business where we look at legal, operations and financial data. In conjunction, the creation of the purchase agreement is started. Once this is signed, the money is transferred into the seller’s account and the deal has been finalised. It is important to note that no action is taken and no integrations begin until the money hits the sellers account.

Q: What happens to the brand after acquisition?

After acquisition, Una Brands integrates various functions such as operations, supply chain, logistics, finance and legal into its centralised operations to streamline costs where dedicated functional experts take over to implement the value creation plan. Once integrated into the Una Brands platform, our experts increase revenues through optimisation of channel diversification, product/category expansion, PPC, geographical expansion and marketing. Throughout this process, the seller has the option to stay involved on a product management and strategic level through the consulting agreement.

Contact Una-Brands for more info: Website: https://www.una-brands.com/

TAS 119 – How to Crowdfund your next Amazon Product. Crowdfunding guru Vance Lee Explains

By Chris on October 5, 2021

A really fun conversation coming your way today with Vance Lee from Live my Playground.

Vance and Johnny Loh are crowdfunding legends who have raised millions over the years on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, using a product launch formula they’ve crafted over many successful projects, not only for themselves but for their students and clients.

Kickstarter and Indiegogo are littered with thousands of unsuccessful projects and we chat in depth about what makes a successful campaign. The parallels between an Amazon launch and a crowdfunding launch, are in many ways, quite similar!

Today we dive into the formula and what it takes to create a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Next Tuesday the 12^th at 7.00pm Australian Eastern Standard time Vance and I will be holding a livestream webinar showing you what’s involved. To prepare for the webinar, we’d love for you to fill out a 1 minute questionnaire so head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/crowdfunding – or, if you’re listening to this in the future, please visit the link which will take you to a replay of the webinar.

Don’t forget to join my Facebook Group! Head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/facebook

And I am offering private coaching so please head over to www.theaustralianseller.com/chris to book an hour session with me to make sure you’re heading in the right direction!

If you own or work for an established consumer product Brand, please contact me – my company https://www.amasphere.com.au/ can help you get set up and selling.

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