Step-by-Step

[Audio] RESEARCH REPORT | Q1 2019 SELLING ON AMAZON FROM START TO FINISH Step-by-Step Plan Amazon FBA.

[Audio] Contents TIMELINE 3 REGISTERING A COMPANY 6 PRIOR RESEARCH 7 MANUFACTURERS 8 CUSTOMISATION 10 ORDERING STOCK AND PAYMENT 11 SHIPPING 13 DELIVERY 14 CREATING A LISTING 16 FREELANCERS YOU MIGHT NEED TO HIRE & EXTRA LINKS 18 GIVEAWAYS, SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING 20 PPC 22 ROUGH ESTIMATIONS ON EXPECTED COSTS (in US$) 23.

[Audio] TIMELINE Below is an approximate timeline of when you should focus on which action. Each of the actions is described in more detail inside the report and you can return to this timeline after you've read the plan. At the moment (as well as potentially in the near future)there might still be delays in full operations of some factories due to coronavirus and, there can also be delays with shipping – this can continue to be an issue for months to come. There are higher shipping prices for shipping which is often delayed, especially at the customs in the US and there might be sudden unexpected changes in shipping restrictions, listing on Amazon etc. so do make sure you are always keeping up to date on what the latest situation is and ideally also wait a while before proceeding (current sellers don't have as much freedom to simply stop replenishing their stock when they run out of stock but if this is to be your first product, you have the flexibility to try and avoid as many potential issues as possible. Even when everything is running smoothly and there are no other factors such as coronavirus, I would still always advise you to take it slower rather than being in a rush as agreeing on and preparing a good quality customised product is of utmost priority. In the below timeline (and in the attached Cheat Sheet) I have assumed that you'd be ordering sometime in December. You can, of course, also do it earlier or later. 1st Month • Before you start contacting manufacturers you should first think of the structure of your business if you haven't yet done so. Decide whether you will be trading as an individual or as a company and, if needed, seek professional advice. You might also want to consider opening a separate bank account for this venture. If you decide to open a corporate bank account, this would probably take longer as you'd have to first register a company. You can always update this later in your seller account and start simply with your existing account and a simple structure until you see whether this is something you'd enjoy pursuing long-term. • Think of a company/brand name. You don't have to sell under the same name your company is, but if you do have a separate brand name and you don't register it, someone else can easily take it and possibly sue you in the future. • While thinking of and waiting for your company to be set up or a new account opened, you can start reviewing your competition more in depth – read main competitors reviews and think how you could customise your product. • Once you have decided on your company/brand name, you can already start communicating with manufacturers to find your model. Check about prices, models on offer, possibilities of customisations, order samples to decide on your best manufacturer. Screen as many manufacturers as possible to find the best deal and the most professional one. • Get a freelancer to make you a logo. • If you decided to register a company and open a separate bank account, you should be set up (or close to finished) within a month, depending on the timelines in your country and at your banks. • Start listening to some podcasts about selling on Amazon FBA; you will get more of a feel for the market and will become more familiar with various terms, tricks, rules, etc..

[Audio] 2nd Month • Continuing discussions and placing sample orders or start contacting manufacturers if you haven't done so - you might be able to already make a decision on the manufacturer and the exact model you want. I do also want to point out here not to feel rushed to decide on manufacturers and their samples. The most important part of the while process is to source a high quality product from a good manufacturer and rushing can often lead to poor quality or frauds (mostly in the sense of sending broken or severely sub-par stock which you could not move on Amazon). • Research photographers in your area (or online) and contact them so you know their lead times and are ready to ship product to them once you receive your finished sample (after having ordered your customised products). • Once you do decide on your manufacturer, it is time to hire a graphic designer freelancer to do a mockup of customisation of the product which you will send to the manufacturer. You have time to start working on your listing as soon as the manufacturer confirms the customisation, however, make sure you focus your full attention on the order process. • You should start collecting quotes from freight forwarders based on the approximate measurements, weight and date ready to ship which your manufacturer will communicate. 3rd Month • Sometime in December (or before or even later, this would entirely depend on you and again, don't feel rushed) you might be ready to place an order. • If you've chosen your own shipping method, you should confirm with freight forwarder and give your manufacturer the details of where your shipment company will take the stock over from them. (Have the manufacturer send a few finished items to your home by express mail – you will use those for product photography and send to any reviewers (influencers, Instagrammers, blogs, etc.)). • Do not rush this step as it is crucial in getting the best quality for the best deal, as well as making sure you and your chosen manufacturer are both on the same page and that they understand your quality and customisation requirements that you'd like to pursue. • After you've done probably the riskiest part and have focused on it fully, you are ready to either create your listing or hire a freelancer to write an optimal listing for you (you have all the customisation details). You can always change it, but you should slowly prepare the basic listing and publish it so Amazon can assign you a warehouse and FNSKU codes, which you should email to the manufacturer soon after they start production. • You should think of how you will present your brand and create social media profiles, populate them, start posting and start getting followers. You could get someone to think of the branding for you and how to communicate with your target customer online. • Prepare (or commission) some articles for your product with which you could approach various blogs and internet media outlets to publish for you. Start making arrangements with them to publish once your listing is up..

[Audio] • Prepare a spreadsheet/list and calendar for all the above mentioned advertising efforts so you don't lose track and know exactly when to do what (while many "Amazon gurus" say you should start preselling your product, I personally don't see much sense in it as you aren't selling an invention and if you peak someone's interest but your item is unavailable, what is there to stop them from ordering from your competition? Therefore I believe it's best to actually start promoting the product itself once it reaches Amazon warehouse and the listing goes "live". • You might receive a few pieces of the finished product via express mail from manufacturer a few weeks after placing your order. Until then, research product photographers in your area (or those online who specifically work with Amazon product photography). Send them the sample and get photos taken. Once that is done (it could take 2-4 weeks or so), update your listing with product images. 4th Month • Double-check your listing and/or hire someone to double-check and possibly optimise it • Research how to do PPC yourself as well so you are knowledgeable when approaching the freelancers, as well as so you know how to work with the campaigns on your own in order to be, both, more successful, as well as spend less on specialists. • Your shipment might arrive to the country around this time or a couple weeks later (it would depend on the manufacturer and shipping, of course, as well as there might be delays due to holidays with shipping companies); they will be transported to Amazon's warehouse and in a week or 2 your listing will be updated and will go live. Keep an eye on when the listing finally says "in stock" and get started with advertising. • Update your listing with product photography if you haven't done so yet. • Before shipment arrives, research PPC freelancers and hire 2 or 3 to create a few good campaigns for you • Start with your social media advertising once stock is received and listing goes live • Start with PPC advertising.

[Audio] REGISTERING A COMPANY You can either sell as a company or you can also sell under your own name on Amazon if you wish to be a sole trader. You will need this information to create your Amazon seller account, though, so you need to think of your legal structure carefully before you open a seller account. Countries accepted for seller registration are noted in the following link: https://amzn.to/34mfllt If you are not a US resident, you don't need a USD bank account. The following currencies for payments are accepted: https://amzn.to/3nexfzC You might also want to open either a company or a separate personal bank account for your Amazon sales (as well as expenses) to keep a proper book of your incomings/outgoings. You should prepare this first, although you can always change the bank account you are receiving funds into later. The following page on Amazon with Program Policies is a very useful one for all the important information on being set up correctly: https://amzn.to/3jrseRR Also don't forget sales tax obligations for which you might want to consult a tax advisor before starting to sell on Amazon US to make sure everything is in check: https://amzn.to/3l8r8e1 With regards to company name versus brand name; the company/sole trader name with which you will have to register on Amazon with won't be the same as the brand you choose for your product (it can be, of course, if you'd like it to be). Depending on how specific the name of your brand selling the product is, you could always have a more generic company name, so that you could potentially use the company for another brand later on (it's possible that when you roll out your next product, you will want to have it under a different brand name). Whatever the case might be, you should always register both, the brand and the company name (if different) to make sure nobody takes them. It is as well preferable (but not necessary) to trademark your brand name, but you can work on that down the line once your brand takes off and hire a trademark lawyer to assist you with this. 01 ..

[Audio] PRIOR RESEARCH 1. Research competitors and think of customisation options While you wait for any company registration or new bank accounts, you have time to think of how you could customise your model and how you could brand it, as well as what kind of photos you'd like to create, in order to be an attractive alternative. Keep in mind sourcing prices compared to the products on offer, in order to customise your product in such a way that you could sell it at a higher price point (but still not higher than all competitors, of course) but that your sourcing costs would get so high that you'd actually need to sell at significantly higher prices to make a profit. It's a good idea to have a few customisation options which you will later discuss with the manufacturers to see what is possible and what not. Do also think of how you will customise and design the packaging, but don't yet go and hire a graphic designer before deciding on the specific manufacturer, model and before discussing options with the manufacturer. Simply take this time to jot down any ideas you might have and develop a few rudimentary versions. 02. 7 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] MANUFACTURERS Once you know what kind of set up you are going to have and are either waiting for it to be processed or if it is ready, start contacting manufacturers to get quotes, model options, discuss customisation options, etc. You should contact as many as possible and get their quotes on different models they have. Once you decide on some of the contenders, order samples. This could cost anywhere from $20-100 per sample; these are the prices and samples will be sent by express mail. Manufacturers mostly accept payments via PayPal for samples so do not be startled, this is normal. During some of the first communications, you should also ask about their in-house quality assurance, how they handle FNSKU codes, etc. You can also discuss about arranging for a third party pre-shipment quality control service to come and have a look before the transaction is complete. More on this in the ORDERING STOCK AND PAYMENT section. Communicating with manufacturers China would overall be the best place to source generic products to sell on Amazon from simply because average selling prices on Amazon are so low as most are sourced from China, that if sourcing from elsewhere your sourcing costs could quickly run too high to be able to make a profit. If you sell at higher prices to most, though, it would be more difficult to compete for visibility as there are hundreds or thousands of listings for pretty much any product selling on Amazon. Chinese manufacturers are also used to dealing with Amazon sellers and are also very open to customizations and assistance with labelling and packaging the products as per Amazon's requirements (you do need to request this and specify your requirements, of course). I would highly suggest you create a new email to communicate with manufacturers as some might 'flood' your inbox. I also suggest you create a "professional" email that makes you look like an employee in the company. You could create a signature and make yourself a Sourcing Agent/Sourcing Department Assistant, etc. This is useful in a couple of ways; firstly, the manufacturer will think they are dealing with a larger company which might in the future place large orders with them – as such they might be more willing to respond promptly and be more willing to do customisations at smaller orders as they will consider you a serious buyer with potential of return purchases. Secondly, it will give you time to consider your options before making any decisions, especially when talking through phone or Skype – your go-to phrase can be: thank you for the information, I will forward it to the department in charge and will get back to you shortly on our decision (or something along those lines). Of course, if you don't wish to pretend as you might wish to have a long lasting relationship with the manufacturer, you can also say that you have business partners, investors, whom you need to discuss any decisions with so you never feel pressured into deciding anything on the spot and have time to carefully think everything through. Another thing to be wary of when you are introducing yourself as an employee in a company in charge of sourcing; you should know what questions to ask and the lingo. Therefore, to start with, communicate by email and when things become more serious (when you decide on your favourites.

[Audio] making it sound more complicated than it is, mind you). Never ask the manufacturer what FOB or MOQ is, research it so you are aware. As an example of an initial email you could send, please see the below sample from mywifequitherjob.com blog, which is also a great source of information on selling Amazon FBA. Mind you, while the below example could be helpful, I would advise you against using a generic template as many likely use it and it would quickly show you as a first time buyer which can hurt you later on at the price negotiation stage, as well as the manufacturer might not be as careful with quality control if they didn't consider you a larger return client. Read more on how to communicate with vendors here: https://mywifequitherjob.com/how-to-approach-anew-vendor-or-supplier-for-your-online-store/ 9 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] CUSTOMISATION Once you decided on the exact manufacturer and the model you wish to order, it is time to prepare for discussions on customisation. This step is very important and you will also be discussing your exact quality requirements, which need to be specified word by word and possibly double-confirmed in a phone/video call, just to be on the safe side. You will have thought of customisation options beforehand, at least a few days before you start contacting the manufacturers (see PRIOR RESEARCH section). Once you have made your first contact to establish model option and prices, make sure to also discuss what customisation options are possible to do in-house. Many factories might not create packaging in-house and when they offer to outsource this themselves, there is a higher risk of quality standards being lowered. Make sure they are able to implement all the necessary customisations in house. You can then select your preferred manufacturers and order samples. When you decided on the manufacturer, contact some graphic designers to create a mock-up of the model and of the packaging. The same designer can also create your logo if you haven't made one yet (see a few graphic designer options in the FREELANCERS section below). Make sure the designer creates the mock-up with all the measurements, including the measurements of the distance of the logo/design etc. from the edges. Don't expect the manufacturer to comply if you simply state (the logo should be in the middle of the product/box); make sure you have evidenced exactly how you want the item and package to look like. Send the final mock-ups to the manufacturer and discuss any final details and possibilities. Before confirming and placing the order, collate all the information up to date in a document (or a contract, if you will – especially if you are pretending you work for a company), complete with your exact quality requirements and send it to the manufacturer to agree on. It is important to note that many manufacturers might not agree to a customisation of a smaller batch of products. Most will require an order of at least 500 if not 1000 pieces. Do ask around and be strict in order to see if they could customise an order of 500. When it comes to the package of the product, make sure you are in line with Amazon's requirements on how to package, especially if you are bundling multiple items together. You can read up on this here: https://amzn.to/2F4d1VW You'd also want t read up on how the product needs to be packaged to be shipped to Amazon's warehouse (you will see further down that in general your stock will be shipped from a port in China (make sure the manufacturer offers you FOB (free on board) prices, so that you don't have to arrange to pay transportation from the factory to the port) to a port in the US, from where a special delivery will be booked through your Amazon seller account to drop off your item at the assigned warehouse(s) for you: https://amzn.to/2IJTcTG You can also have Amazon prep the product for you at an extra cost: https://amzn.to/2nE1p1F. 04. 10 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] ORDERING STOCK AND PAYMENT Agreeing on a payment plan is always the tricky part and it differs slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer. During this process you should remember that the manufacturer is weary of you as well as they don't know you and want to make sure they receive settlement for a product they are manufacturing and shipping. There are issues you can avoid and things you can do to secure yourself as much as possible, however, there will always be risk involved in the transaction. Most manufacturers will require a bank transfer when placing a larger order; if they have Trade Assurance and are willing to accept "Alibaba secure payments" you can also make a transfer via Alibaba website (the payment is done to the bank account and Alibaba doesn't hold the funds, however, the transaction is noted on the platform and in case anything goes wrong, you can create a dispute on the site. If things do go "belly up", don't expect Alibaba to solve anything, however, as they have no ability to pressure the manufacturer into returning funds, but they can disable their listings, which isn't beneficial to the manufacturer. While not an ideal "safety precaution", it still is an extra little step you could do to "secure" yourself a bit more. Some manufacturers might say that the process of placing an order through the Alibaba website doesn't work for them (even if it is noted on their profile that they accept it) but do insist; they will agree if they wish to sell you the goods. If they don't, I'd be cautious of them. Some manufacturers might require half of the payment upfront and the other half either before shipping the product, or possibly a smaller amount to be paid after you've received your order. Of course, it is ideal to pay a smaller part up front and the larger later on, but not all manufacturers might agree to this for a first time buyer. This depends on the manufacturer, as well as on your negotiation skills. While being asked to settle the order in full before it is shipped might sound very risky, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are being tricked. It depends on the manufacturer. But do be cautious at all times, do your due diligence before placing the order on both, the manufacturer (ask them for their exact address, whether the sales team is located within the factory, how many workers they have, possibly ask for a short video tour while chatting over Skype, etc.) as well as research the bank to which they wish you to transfer funds to. For a piece of mind, you could always also ask about some customers they have who are happy with them and who'd be willing to give a recommendation. This could happen organically once you are in the elimination phase and your preferred manufacturer is aware that you are deciding between factories. Quality control You have a few different options on safeguarding yourself on the quality of your products. You can hire: 1. Pre-shipment inspection 2. Have items inspected by a company working with your manufacturer 3. Fulfilment company First option: pre-shipment inspections can help you achieve the quality levels you're looking for. To do the inspection, an inspector will go to your factory in China once your order is about 80% completed. The inspector checks a specified number of products, based on a standard called.

[Audio] following blog: https://bit.ly/2GkHbEG). The company that wrote the blog post also has offices in China and does pre-shipment inspection. You can check with them for a quote. Some other quality control companies: • https://bit.ly/2D66iaP • https://bit.ly/2D4I3Kg • https://bit.ly/2GR0y6l • https://bit.ly/2D8FUgI Second option: this one is cheaper but less secure, of course. It depends on you and on the quotes you get on whether you'd want to proceed with or without a third party inspection. Third option: A fulfilment, inspection and prep company can help you inspect, package, label, photograph and ship your items (FBM). This can be especially useful if your packaging is prepared at another manufacturer, but this would of course incur extra costs and would take a bit longer. If, on the other hand, you have sufficient investment to hire such a company, you'd save yourself some worry and be sure the order will be taken care of properly. When starting with selling on Amazon and selling a lower cost product, I wouldn't advise using services of such companies as you'd be better off spending the extra funding on advertising. Again, this depends on your preference and on how much you wish to spend on quality control. Below is a list of a few such companies (they are based in different locations and depending on where your warehouse would be, you could chose the one closest): • Fbainspection.com • McKenzieservices.com • Primezeroprep.com • FBAprep.com (located in China) • FBAops.com (located in China) • FBAinandout.com • FBAexpress.com • Swanpackaging.com I would highly advise you to have each of your shipments checked, but to specifically check the first few until you become more comfortable with your manufacturer. I would not have them ship directly to Amazon themselves without any checks in between as there could be a number of faulty pieces, missed labels, poorly packaged products, etc. which would only attract negative reviews and refunds and while shipping straight to Amazon by the manufacturer is often quoted as cheaper, it could actually end up costing you more (especially if they don't take care of import fees and Amazon then declines to accept the stock in which case you'd then have to arrange for it to be shipped elsewhere at your expense (and then back to Amazon)). All in all, while you could get very well made products from Chinese manufacturers, this shouldn't be taken as a given and you would need to establish with them the exact level of quality you expect, as well as check if they delivered what was agreed on until you are comfortable enough with them to not have to check every time anymore (although it is always best practice to have every shipment checked, of course, as you'd also want to know what you are selling to allow for longevity of the operation and satisfied customers). 12 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] SHIPPING There are a few shipping options and many companies who can offer you shipping quotes. Manufacturers also work with shipping partners and it is always useful to ask them about the companies they partner with and ask for quotes. If the price of manufacturer's shipping partner is competitive, it could actually be better to use them – when a manufacturer uses their regular third party connections, it can sometimes be easier to mitigate any massive delays with shipping during the holidays (this can be useful for this time next year). But beware and do ask for a direct contact with that shipping agent aka freight forwarder If not, it might be easier and less hassle to find a freight forwarder who could assist with as much red tape as possible for you. There are 2 main persons you should find when shipping your product from China to the US; first one is the abovementioned freight forwarder and the second one is a customs broker. Sometimes the freight forwarder is also a customs broker, but not always and you need to make sure of this before you start working with them as you are the only one responsible for following the import rules and regulations and a freight forwarder will not check with you if you have everything in control. To get back to the freight forwarder: this is the person who works on logistics and physical transportation of cargo. They are in touch with the entities which handle the shipment from manufacturer to the entities which move the shipment via boat or plane to the US. They will complete and prepare various documents and compliance filings for you. A customs broker, on the other hand, is a company or an individual which assists importers in meeting US requirements (you can also deal with the paperwork on your own as a US resident or have a business partner who is a US resident). They submit information and payment on behalf of you to the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and are especially required if you aren't a US person and/or don't have a company incorporated in the US. I'd use a customs broker in any case, especially in the beginning, as they will make the process much easier for you. In most cases, if your shipment is larger (and yours would be) it should go as an ocean shipment; air shipments are normally more expensive but sometimes necessary if you don't plan carefully and are in danger of running out of stock. Your first order (or few) will most definitely not be a container full, and your boxes will be put into containers with others' orders, which is why you need to arrange through Amazon seller account how to then get the boxes from the port to the warehouse. You can do this when you are creating your listing after having placed the order with the manufacturer and already have shipping details. See how to arrange this step by step here (it starts a few scrolls down, below the description of shipping options): https://bit.ly/2Rqt0jj Customs broker: You should contact a customs broker whom you can find on the following website (https://www.cbp.gov/contact/find-broker-by-port ) after you've got quotes from shipping companies on what port your items will arrive at. If you re arranging.

[Audio] There are a few companies and websites with whom you could talk to get quotes on your shipment: https://bit.ly/2C6A13V (this one is especially good as they work with you very closely and even access your Amazon Seller Central Account) https://bit.ly/2D8byuH https://bit.ly/2HTct7T https://bit.ly/2G9kQue https://bit.ly/2TvXGBw https://bit.ly/2GntOmV DELIVERY There are 3 main delivery options: 1. Get stock shipped to yourself 2. Get stock shipped directly to Amazon warehouse (during the limits on how many pieces a new seller can send to Amazon's warehouse, you could store the rest locally in a storage unit in order to be able to quickly restock when running low – this can also be useful with sourcing as when purchasing a larger stock, manufacturing as well as shipping cost per unit can be lower) 3. Get stock shipped to a 3rd party fulfilment company (which can be a great alternative to FBA, especially at the moment with limits to how many pieces a new seller can send to Amazon's warehouse) First option: It is always safest to receive the first shipment yourself and check it for quality. In this case you would give the manufacturer your own address or, if arranging for a shipping agent yourself, arranging with them to ship it to your home. It could happen that there isn't the right amount of products or that some of them are broken/faulty. Amazon will not check this for you and your customer could receive a faulty product which will end up in them either returning it, getting a refund or worse, leaving a negative review. Second option: Once you publish your listing, you will receive the code for your product. The code is called FNSKU code, which you then email to the manufacturer who can attach the code to the boxes. When you publish the listing you will also take care of delivery method inside the listing. Again, you can read more details on how to go about it in the following detailed post: https://bit.ly/2Rqt0jj Even though your listing is already published while your products haven't even been manufactured yet, Amazon is aware of this and your listing is marked as "items out of stock". When the warehouse receives your shipment and it is processed, the listing will automatically update itself and your listing will go "live". If you choose this option, you should get a few items (10-20) to be shipped by express mail to your home for product photography and advertising uses. You should receive these as soon as manufacturing is done. 07. 14 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] Third option: This would be one of the fulfilment, inspection and prep companies mentioned in the previous chapter (additional costs). CODES You might have read some of the forums on Amazon FBA and noticed talk about bar codes, etc. You only need 2 types of codes, the UPC and the FNSKU code. FNSKU codes *FNSKU stands for fulfilment network stock keeping unit. This is an internal number which Amazon uses to track your Fulfilment by Amazon(FBA) inventory. This code is assigned to you when you publish your listing (more on creating and publishing your listing in the below chapter). How to get the FNSKU barcodes? • Create the product listing • You go to your seller central • You go to inventory • On the products you're going to be sending into Amazon you click on the drop-down button and select "print item labels" • It will take you to a page where you can print the barcodes How to place FNSKU labels on products? In order to place your FNSKU labels onto the products, you have more options: • If you personally send the items to Amazon's warehouse, you can place the labels yourself before shipping. • You can pay a fee to Amazon and they will take care of it. Read more about their FBA Label Service here: https://amzn.to/2BaKsp5 • If your items go from the supplier directly into Amazon's warehouse, you have to email the FNSKU labels to the supplier and have him print the FNSKU barcodes on packaging or place FNSKU labels on the boxes. UPC codes * UPC stands for Universal Product Code, mainly used in North America. The UPC code is required when creating a product listing page as it's used to track the product in Amazon's database. Also, it may be used in the Amazon warehouse for their inventory if you don't provide an FNSKU code. However, if you do have the FNSKU code, there is no need to actually attach UPC codes to the boxes and you should only have one or the other, not both. You will need the UPC code to add it to your listing. With UPC codes, you only need one code for the specific product – if you sell 2 different types of folding beds, then you need to apply for 2 UPC codes, but if you have 500 of the same models, you only need to purchase 1 UPC code. Legally, you need to buy UPC codes from GS1. The UPC is directly associated with your brand's name if it's purchased from GS1. The costs for 10 UPCs are $250 flat and a $50 yearly fee to keep the barcodes registered 15 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] in your company's name. You can also get them from other non-authorised sites, but at your own risk and you might experience problems with Amazon, so best to play it safe and spend some more money to have a piece of mind (copied from https://bit.ly/2Ttpu9t). CREATING A LISTING First let's create an Amazon seller account As already mentioned above a few times, you noticed that you will create and publish your product listing before you have the photos for it and before it is even manufactured. This is okay as you can always go back into the listing and make amendments. If you haven't yet, you should create an Amazon seller account while you are placing your order or shortly after, as that is approximately when you would be placing your order with the chosen manufacturer. It doesn't take long to create it and to familiarize yourself with the backend of your seller account and to create a rudimentary listing in order to obtain the warehouse address, so there is no need to waste time focusing on this step from the beginning as you will have other more important things to do at the time. You have 2 options; either create a basic or a professional seller account; one is free and the other one comes with a monthly payment. I would suggest you start with the basic account and upgrade once you start selling over 40 items per month, which should of course, hopefully, happen soon. However, as you will be waiting at least a month for your stock to arrive and might have a rocky first month, it is for you to decide whether you'd want to pay for the first 1, 2 or maybe even more 'slow' months or not. Listing When it comes to creating a listing, the most important thing are the "keywords". Now, you can spend as much money as you want on various programs which research the best keywords for your product, or you can simply research your top selling competitors and pay close attention to their keyword usage. Once you have all the relevant keywords written down, and have noted which ones are the most prevalent and considered the most important (being featured at the beginning of titles and sentences of most high selling listings), you can then get help of a freelancer to determine the most important keywords and help you with your listing optimisation. For the future, especially to run your own PPC ads, however, you would benefit by having one or two of the programs for checking your main keywords (one would be enough and you can always pay $5-10 for a freelancer to search and update you with some more with a different program. You can either use Jungle Scout's Web App which includes keyword search, or Helium (which is an amazing tool for checking keywords, giveaway amounts, assistance with writing a listing, PPC and much more). There is also Merchant Words. (I also found a low cost Fiverr freelancer who can do keyword research if needed: https://bit.ly/2Bj63JD I could not recommend them as I haven't used them, though.) *The listing should comply with Amazon's rules as well, which can be find in your Amazon seller account guidelines TITLE – don't worry about stuffing the title with as many keywords as possible. The most important one should go at the front but it's also nice to make sure the.

[Audio] providing a high quality copy that will inform the potential buyers as well as give them the feel that your product and brand are of high quality, all while you are also stuffing the bullet points with keywords strategically. In order to have actual bullet points, you can write and add bullet points in Word and then copy paste into the listing. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION – Expand on your product features and write an outstanding sales copy that drives the potential buyer to close the deal. Not all the listings/products/sellers are "awarded" the extended description page you see with some products. If you don't have one, you will only have the basic short description where you cannot add any additional photos. Nevertheless, use this space wisely and see how your competitors wrote their descriptions. CATEGORY AND SUB-CATEGORY – Add your product into the most relevant, most niche category you can. Check your top competitors for this. As buyers niche down until the last sub-niche, if your product isn't in that sub-niche, but is in the bigger sub-niche above it, it will not show for the customer. SEARCH TERMS (backend of listing) – fill the spaces with as many relevant keywords as possible. These will not show in the listing, they are at the back end, so don't worry about how it looks like. This is an extra Amazon SEO opportunity and do take it seriously as it has been proven to help with rating. Don't miss out on this opportunity to add extra keywords and do not add irrelevant ones! Adding good keywords can help you immensely in the beginning as Amazon indexes your listing for people to find when searching wish specific search terms. It is important to try and make sales as soon as you launch so having your front and back end of listings fully optimised before you go live is important. One note about search terms; do not repeat keywords from front end of the listing; don't repeat words (such as: jade roller face roller – simply write: jade face roller), don't add commas between keywords (I know, it will look messy and odd but don't worry), do use up all available words and also add them into the SUBJECT MATTER box, and do not add irrelevant keywords as Amazon might 'punish' you for it. For more details on how to create the perfect optimised listing, you can start by reading the following: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/amazon-seo-write-listings-that-sell/ https://startupbros.com/optimize-amazon-fba-keywords/ http://www.azmarketers.com/blog/amazon-seo-strategy-to-best-sellers-rank/ 17 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] FREELANCERS YOU MIGHT NEED TO HIRE & EXTRA LINKS 1. Tax advice You might want to seek sales tax advice before setting yourself up on Amazon US. Some of the professionals you could contact can be found in the following link. Of course, there is no need to use any of these, but it would be best if you sought advice from a specialist in eCommerce or one that specializes in Amazon sales, as they will be most up to date. This would be specifically important to familiarize yourself with sales tax obligations which can get quite confusing with selling on Amazon (Amazon chooses the warehouse where you will store your products and your sales tax would depend on that). https://www.taxjar.com/sales-tax-accountant-directory/ 2. Amazon FBA See a PDF guide from Amazon on how to prepare the products to ship them to Amazon and how to open a seller account and add new products. It will rehash some of the things I already mentioned: https://bit.ly/2IO1IiS Also attached is a page from Amazon explaining FBA services in a very organized way: https://amzn.to/2KVYX3r 3. Listing creation/optimisation When you've placed your order and know exactly how your product will look like, you might want to hire a freelancer to either create you a listing or simply look through the listing you created and advise some amendments in order to optimise it. You could also hire them to have a look just before the listing goes live. I would suggest hiring 2 (or possibly 3) low cost freelancers to either create or go through your listing to see how they differ or for each of them to give you an opinion of the other's work in order to see which one seems more knowledgeable. Of course, this isn't necessary and you can always just hire one or create the listing yourself. If your product isn't seeing sufficient sales after a month, even when you're running ads on it, you could ask another freelancer to have a look at your listing and offer some advice on amendments. Whenever you do amend your listing, do wait at least a couple of weeks before deciding whether or not it made any change before you go and make new amendments. A few freelancers I found on Fiverr are as follows: https://bit.ly/2TnXT8U https://bit.ly/2G7lJ6J https://bit.ly/2UKsSNJ https://bit.ly/2SoMcT6 4. Graphic design Once you have received your samples and decided on your preferred manufacturer, you should contact a few graphic designers to get help creating a mock-up of the customised product as well as of the packaging. You might only need one graphic designer for this and do make sure they can provide a detailed design complete with all the measurements of the product, as well as of the positioning of the wording, logo, etc. 09 . 18 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] Mock-up design services: https://bit.ly/2GnK9by https://bit.ly/2RCsaA7 https://bit.ly/2GaFz0Z Packaging design services: https://bit.ly/2DRI0D7 https://bit.ly/2BkoQEc https://bit.ly/2S8aGk3 You might want to hire a few designers for the logo itself in order to receive something that you like. You can get started with this asap, as soon as you decide on a brand name. It is always best to have as simple a logo as possible, as it will also cost extra to have any colourful logos added to the product, so be aware of that. The simpler and/or shorter, the cheaper. Don't worry too much about the logo, though, and don't spend too much time on it as it is one of the least important things in selling a product. It is much more important how the entire package and product looks as a whole and who your ideal audience is, ie. how you will address your potential clients with your listing and social media advertising. Logo design services: https://bit.ly/2GmU9BR https://bit.ly/2DTq5w2 https://bit.ly/2D4pyWh 5. Social media management Not necessary, but you might wish to seek assistance of a low cost social media whiz to come up with a plan on how to brand your social media channels and what kind of things to post and when. Once they create a cohesive plan and a timetable, you can then run the profiles yourself. At a small extra cost you can let someone else work out the plan for promoting your product on social media and possibly also write a few posts for you to publish and a few articles for you to share, etc. Such social media manager can also create paid ads for your Facebook (and possibly even Instagram) profile which you can start running once your item is in stock. You can get your graphic designer to also design a few cover photos alongside the logo for you. You can ask them to this and some extra branding materials you might need for social media after they've done the mock-up, as you have about a month to receive your stock after ordering. Social media services: https://bit.ly/2UCDH47 https://bit.ly/2Gn2mFT https://bit.ly/2S7Zdkl 6. PPC management You should definitely invest in a couple of freelancers to set up your first PPC campaigns. As mentioned before, you should test one campaign for at least 2 weeks without making any changes to it in order to see how it works. I don't have any good ones that I'd personally recommend, but I found a few that could be worth giving a try. You can always also ask if they'd do a video or phone call and teach you some of the basics as you will need them later on. https://bit.ly/2Sm7yAx https://bit.ly/2GmBgin https://bit.ly/2BgOSbG https://bit.ly/2UypTrk 19 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] GIVEAWAYS, SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING One way to start getting quick reviews is to enter Amazon Giveaway "program". You would need a professional seller account to do this and you can enter by going into the advertising tab in your account. You will then receive coupon codes which you can email to as many people as possible. You should get as many people purchase your item as soon as your listing goes live. Sure, you will give some items away for free and at a discount, but it can more than pay off by receiving reviews from the winners. There are different tools which estimate the number of giveaways per keyword, such as Helium 10 Cerebro tool (no need to pay for the entire membership, you can select the cheaper 'pick-and-choose' membership and go for the Cerebro tool only) or Jungle Scout's keyword scout tool. They both show quite different numbers, but I'd suggest trying to go with at least the lowest number. Another important thing is how much you will discount the product for; it should be low enough to entice potential customers to purchase. You should keep this in mind and add the cost the giveaway to your expenses – this should be treated as advertising costs. You can read more on how to get started here: https://bit.ly/2Gl2JRA While you could try and giveaway your products through various websites and Facebook groups (without explicitly asking for reviews), there are also programs that assist with getting more feedback from the buyers of your product, such as the following option: https://www.feedbackexpress.com/ I would also highly encourage you to create social media profiles for your brand; especially Facebook, but if you are into photography, you could also start an Instagram account, as well as Twitter and Snapchat accounts. However, it is always best to focus on one or two channels only as more than that might be harder to keep track of. Social media advertising is one of the best ways to gain more sales and rise in ranking besides PPC. You can start with Facebook which is one of the best channels for paid advertisement. It might be best if your page provides useful articles and posts on your broader niche and not simply advertise your product every day. Provide value and attract followers and once people are engaged, ask them to try out your product as well. There is no need to paste the link to your listing multiple times or directly; it is best to not be too "salesy" and rather run paid ads on FB while keeping your page filled with useful information instead. On Instagram you could either post photos of people using your product, or, possibly, asking your satisfied customers to # your brand to the photo of them using your product (you can add a leaflet to the product package). Of course, this might not work for every type of product. Another idea would be to engage influencers on Instagram and/or Youtube to review and advertise your product as long as your product is something which could work in that arena. If it's a more generic product which doesn't have an advertising appeal, you could simply have a review of it made by a freelancer (or yourself) and post it to Youtube (you could advertise that through your social media channels, such as FB). If your product does have advertising.

[Audio] You might also want to write up a few articles on your niche or on a problem which your product solves (or commission a freelancer to do it) while promoting your product. You can also write a "top 5" article which is always a great clickbait and submit it to multiple mid-sized blogs within your niche which are looking for additional content and who might even pay you a bit for your article. Of course, you should also approach a few blogs and ask them how much they would charge to feature your product in one of their next posts. The traffic you could get from this effort could be significant and, most importantly, semi-passive and long-lasting. You don't need to do all of this at once when your listing goes live, but it is a good thing to note in case you get frustrated with PPC; there are plenty of different ways you could drive traffic to your Amazon listing. Ranking with PPC can actually take longer than the abovementioned methods; it can also be pricier. Therefore I not disregard the importance of advertising off of Amazon via social media and by doing a strong giveaway campaign. DO NOT try to get fake reviews either; it can get you in trouble with Amazon. The best thing you can do is excellent customer service, always replying to questions, offering refunds and exchanges if someone is unhappy and with that gathering organic positive reviews. 21 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] PPC It is very important that you start running PPC ads as well as ideally any other off of Amazon advertising as soon as you launch your products. You should run a few different campaigns with a few different keywords to see which ones fare the best. When a new listing launches, Amazon shows it close to the top for a week or 2 (depending on how many new ones are launching at the time) to give new listings a chance to be seen. During this time, which is the perfect time to make sales, you'd want to sell as many pieces as possible, so you'd also want to advertise aggressively, try to get as many reviews as possible (giveaways), advertise off of Amazon to drive traffic to your listing, etc. If you sell a lot in a short amount of time since you launched, Amazon will believe your product is in high demand like the other older listings and will assign you a good ranking. This will help you stay more visible later on. If you don't sell much and don't invest into advertising enough, then your listing will likely be outcompeted by others and will go down in pages, making it less visible to potential buyers and your chances of selling will get lower (so the more you can invest strategically, the better your chances of success and the more you try to cut on costs, the less possibility of breaking even or profiting). There is quite a bit to take into account with PPC and if you aren't yet familiar with it I would highly recommend hiring specialists to get you started with some proper setups and from whom you could learn the ropes. To learn some basics about Amazon PPC, start reading through the following links to get the basic idea of how it works: https://bit.ly/2HQS3MU https://bit.ly/2Tv2HdD https://bit.ly/2PDu6vd https://bit.ly/2fUxBbA https://sellics.com/amazon-sponsored-ads-ppc-manager 11. 22 www.amz-doc.com.

[Audio] ROUGH ESTIMATIONS ON EXPECTED COSTS (in US$) COMPANY/BUSINESS NAME REGISTRATION Depending on jurisdiction SAMPLES Up to $20-500 (depending on how many you order) SOURCING Approx. $2500-15,000 (if ordering around 500 pieces) PRODUCT MOCK-UP $100-200 (product plus packaging) LOGO/BRANDING $10-100 SHIPPING $900-7000 (if shipping around 500 pieces by sea – if shipping more, cost per unit would be lower) PPC FEES + GIVEAWAYS $2000-7000 PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY $50-300 LISTING CREATION ASSISTANCE $20-150 SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANCE + INVESTMENT IN INFLUENCER MARKETING + SOCIAL MEDIA ADS Budgeting for FB ads, I'd say $500 in the first month (you could go slower so as not to run out of stock too quickly) + social media assistance up to $100 + influencers and blogs – you'd have to get quotes PPC MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE $50-250 TOTAL Mind you, these are all VERY rough estimates and are generally slightly inflated to be on the safe side. It will all depend on the product and model you choose, its size and weight, on the quotes you get from manufacturers, freight forwarders, freelancers, on how many pieces you end up ordering, when they will be shipped out, etc. The numbers are also exaggerated to expect the highest expense. If counting the worst scenario (but without the social media, listing and PPC assistance and without FB ads you could (very) roughly be looking at around $30,100 (if sourcing 500 pieces). Worst case scenario, including all of the above (minus influencers and blog posts) – roughly $31,000 (or less). *Neither option includes the expenses related to opening and running a company. 1 2. 23 www.amz-doc.com.

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